AN: Sadly, I own nothing. Spoiler-free.
Chapter 2: It Ends Tonight
"Okay, so after dinner, we'll watch 'Cruel Intentions,' gorge ourselves on ice cream and forget all about you know who. And then tomorrow, we are going on a major shopping spree, so bring your favorite credit card." Blair said.
"B, I don't know if I'll be in the mood to go shopping." Serena whined.
"Nonsense, there's an old saying: spending tens of thousands of dollars on things you don't really need is the perfect cure for a broken heart." Blair said.
"That's an old saying?" Serena said.
"I've been saying it for years." Blair said with a smirk.
Serena rolled her eyes at her friend. Blair just wore a self-satisfied grin. Serena was smiling and laughing and seemed genuinely, well not happy, but definitely not as depressed as she was before. Mission accomplished.
"You are so full of shit sometimes." Serena said and laughed.
Blair held her hands to her chest, where her heart would be.
"Your words hurt, you know." Blair said feigning insult.
"Yes, I can see that you're devastated." Serena agreed scathingly.
"You know van der Woodsen; your sarcasm is not appreciated." Blair said.
"What, only you're allowed to be sarcastic?" Serena asked.
"I'm a brunette, I can pull it off. When blondes try to be sarcastic it's just pathetic." Blair said in exasperation.
"Where do you get this stuff from?" Serena asked.
"I make it up, mostly." Blair said with a shoulder shrug.
"Nice. Very nice." Serena said.
"Thank you." Blair said smugly.
The servants entered the room, clearing away the table and bringing out dessert, crème brûlée. Everybody dug in and silence engulfed the table once more.
Just as Serena and Blair were finishing eating and were about to leave, Bart turned to them.
"If you would like, you may use the in-house theater, on the eighth floor." Bart said.
Both girls gave him a confused look.
"For the movie you were planning on watching. I'll call down and make sure that it's empty." Bart clarified.
"Thank you." Blair and Serena said and the same time. Bart just nodded.
"So does your mom have Bart medicated or something?" Blair asked from her spot on a plush leather seat as the movie began to play on the large screen that covered the entire wall.
Apparently, Bart Bass believed that his hotels should be equipped with any amenity possible, and that included a movie theater complete with a full-stocked snack bar. Not that either girl was going to complain about it.
"I don't know. But ever since we moved in he's been trying to act all nice and caring. It really freaks me out." Serena said.
"Uh yeah!" Blair exclaimed. Both girls chuckled.
The girls then faced the screen and watched the gorgeous, rich, manipulative Sebastian have a "heart-to-heart" with his therapist.
As the movie progressed, Blair Waldorf realized something; she was an idiot. How she couldn't see this before amazed her. Chuck Bass was Sebastian Valmont. End of story.
Except, he wasn't. Because Sebastian loved Annette and Chuck certainly didn't love anyone other than himself. And for some reason, that pissed Blair off. Chuck didn't love her and he probably didn't even like her. He had probably just said that to get her into bed. She was such an idiot!
She was just a toy to him. A little toy that he liked to play with. A toy that he had unceremoniously discarded when it would no longer do what he said.
"Blair?" Serena asked.
"Blair?" Serena asked again after Blair didn't respond.
Blair finally looked up at Serena, wondering why she looked so blurry. Then she realized that she had tears in her eyes.
"B, are you okay?" Serena asked.
Blair wiped the tears off her cheeks and plastered a smile on her face.
"I'm fine. This movie always makes me cry." Blair said as nonchalantly as possible.
"You sure?" Serena pushed.
"Positive. What about you?" Blair answered, remembering that her best friend needed her to be strong right now.
Serena gave a bitter laugh.
"I've been better." Serena said as tears streamed down her face as well.
Then Blair burst into a fit of giggles. She couldn't stop, couldn't control herself. And more tears poured from her eyes. And soon enough, Serena was caught in her own fit of laughter and crying.
"We are so pathetic." Blair breathed, wiping furiously at her eyes, her tears unrelenting.
"Yeah we are." Serena agreed and they both cried some more.
"So, back to Nate for just one more second…" Serena began after her tears subsided a little.
"Ugh, S, do we really have to do this now?" Blair sighed.
"Blair, I am very upset right now over my break up with Dan and talking about this will definitely cheer me up." Serena said innocently. Blair glared at her.
"You seriously need to learn how to lie better." Blair said after a moment.
Serena just ignored her.
"Honestly B, if Jenny didn't tell him, would you have ever told him the truth?" Serena asked.
"Of course I would have told him Serena. It's just, with these things you have to find the opportune moment…and that's what death beds are for." Blair said.
"You are ridiculous." Serena said.
"You know you love me." Blair said and turned her head back to watch the movie, a smirk playing across her lips.
"Fate has me highly skilled and loaded with talent." Chuck boasted to Eric as his team scored yet another touchdown.
The two boys had retreated to Chuck's room after dinner had ended to play an intense game of Madden NFL 09 on Chuck's xbox 360. The game was already halfway through the second quarter and things were not looking good for Eric.
Eric growled in frustration. Chuck just laughed.
"Don't feel too bad, little bro, you're a hell of a lot better than Nate ever was." Chuck said.
Ever since Gossip Girl had informed the world, or at least the Upper East Side, of Chuck and Blair's affair, Nate had refused to speak to Chuck. And Chuck, having no other real friends besides Nate, had turned to Eric for companionship.
Eric was grateful that he and Chuck had bonded so well. He had never had many real friends himself. Chuck was a big brother, a mentor, and a best friend all rolled into one. He never babied Eric like Serena or his mother or anyone else did. And most importantly, Chuck treated him with respect.
However, Eric did not like the fact that Chuck was kicking his ass in virtual football for the millionth time that week. The guy was just too damn good and Eric was getting sick of it.
Suddenly a very Chuck-like smirk spread across Eric's face. He had not missed the fact that some very heated glances were transpiring between Blair and Chuck; you would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see it. An idea formulated in his mind.
"So, Blair was looking pretty hot tonight, wasn't she?" Eric asked smoothly.
Chuck said nothing, however, his jaw was clenched and his player dropped the ball he was holding. Eric smiled at the satisfactory response he got from Chuck and decided to see how far he could push him.
"I mean, I know she's my sister's best friend and all, and she's always been like a sister to me, but I would totally tap that." Eric said.
Chuck's hands turned into fists but he again said nothing. Eric's team was close to the end zone and he decided to go for the kill.
"Of course we all know that she is still madly in love with Nate but maybe she'll give me a chance. She does seem to have a thing for blondes, doesn't she?" Eric asked.
Eric's team scored a touch down and Chuck threw his controller at the wall with too much force to simply be angry about the game.
Eric smiled and wondered what else Chuck would do when he brought up Blair. This would definitely make for an interesting night of videogames.
Spotted: B and S pigging out on pints of Ben and Jerry's in The Palace's massive private theater watching "Cruel Intentions." I have to say, that movie is the epitome of the UES; sex, drugs, destroying reputations, lust, love, I could go on but you all know how it is.
C and E partaking in some bonding of their own. The two were playing xbox for four hours straight. Word has it E brought up a certain brunette Queen and C freaked. Hmm, what could this mean? You'll know as soon as I do. You know you love me. Xoxo, Gossip Girl.
"That's an old saying?"
"I've been saying it for years." – Monk (TV Show)
"…and that's what death beds are for." – Friends (TV Show)
"Fate has me highly skilled and loaded with talent." – The Break-Up (Movie)
