Blair stood on the sidewalk surrounded by her Louis Vuitton suitcases and raised her sunglasses on top of her curls as she peered at the large cruise ship looming in front of her. Blair had to admit it did look extremely luxurious but the sounds of her screaming classmates made her stomach churn again. Despite Serena's excitement and the fun they had had choosing bikinis Blair had still insisted Eleanor write her a note asking to be excused from this little excursion. Her mother, of course refused, wanting nothing more than to get rid of her for a few weeks so Blair stubbornly stomped out of the penthouse and here she was. Perhaps with Nate acting the way he had been lately it would be good to keep an eye on him.
"Blair, I'm so glad you're here" Serena yelled pulling her best friend into a tight
hug. Dan was trailing behind Serena carrying his old duffel bag on his shoulder and attempting to drag Serena's luggage along behind him. Blair rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Well I didn't really have a choice did I Serena" Blair said sulking.
Just then one of the teachers accompanying the students ordered them all to quieten down. The teacher began handing out the room assignments; Serena and Blair, Nate and Chuck, Dan and Adam, Jenny and Lauren, Nelly and Isabel, Penelope and Hazel.
A handsome man approached the group and ushered them to follow him towards there rooms. Serena grabbed Dan's hand and gave him a bright smile. Blair rolled her eyes again, sickened by their love but secretly she wished her and Nate could be more like them. Suddenly she was broken from her thoughts when she felt a hot breath in her ear. "Looks like our rooms are next door to each other Waldorf; perhaps we could arrange another late night rendezvous". Chuck glanced towards Nate and when he saw his eyes were focused elsewhere he slowly trailed his fingers from Blair's collarbone towards her cleavage. Blair could feel herself flushing and suddenly her legs felt wobbly as she quickly swatted his hand away and glared at him in disgust. She glanced at the corridor and noticed there friends had already entered the bedrooms so she grabbed Chuck by the collar and smiled insincerely "if you ever lay a finger on me again Bass I will make sure you are permanently out of action".
"Well that wouldn't benefit you much now would it Waldorf, I still have the memory of you purring and moaning my name playing over and over in my head"
"Your heinous" Blair said, suddenly feeling very embarrassed. "Stay out of my way Chuck" she warned.
"I never make promises Blair, especially when it involves a conquest, getting you underneath me again". Blair slapped him hard and would have again if they weren't interrupted.
"What's going on, Blair do you need help with your bags" Nate asked walking towards her.
Blair quickly turned around to face her boyfriend, her cheeks felt bright red and all she wanted to do was disappear into her bedroom, away from Chuck.
"Yes, thank you Nate". She stood on her tippee toes and wrapped her arms around Nate before kissing him passionately. Chuck shook his head still smirking, knowing that this was only for his benefit. Nate unwound Blair's hands from his neck before picking up her bags and walking into her bedroom. Blair turned to follow but not before giving Chuck one last death stare.
"Oh my god B, check out the views and we have our only private balcony, I never want to leave" Serena said excitedly swirling Dan around the room. Blair walked over to her bed and hesitantly lay down. Surprisingly the bed was quite comfortable. Nate walked over and lay down next to her.
"Comfy" he said goofily. Blair smiled and twirled her fingers with his. "If your bed isn't as comfy you can always join me here" Blair said suggestively. "I've already tested out mine, I think it's even comfier than yours" Nate said, either not catching on or ignoring Blair's attempt to get him in her bed. Blair's heart sank and she got up off the bed and walked out onto the balcony. Serena and Dan noticed the exchange and Serena followed her friend out onto the balcony for a girlie chat. Dan wasn't sure what to do so he suggested he and Nate go check out the rest of the ship.
Later that night everyone gathered in the dining hall for dinner. Everyone had done there own tour of the ship and all come to the conclusion that the ship was magnificent and this was going to be one hell of a party! Even Blair was pleasantly surprised, even if she was stuck with her boyfriend who didn't seem to want anything to do with her and Chuck who kept sleazing onto her and wouldn't leave her alone. Serena spotted Dan sitting with his room mate Adam, Nate, Chuck and Jenny and she dragged Blair towards there table. Serena sat down next to Dan, the only other empty chair was next to Chuck so Blair reluctantly sat down and turned her back towards him. Everyone at the table noticed but no one said anything. Serena interrupted the awkward silence.
"Jenny you look beautiful, I haven't seen you all day are you having fun?" Serena asked.
"Thank you" Jenny blushed "it's so amazing, Lauren and I have been exploring all afternoon, have you guys seen the cinema" Jenny asked. Nate smiled at Jenny. She was so different to the other Constance girls; she was so bubbly and innocent and didn't try to be just another Upper East Side princess. Blair noticed Nate staring at Jenny and that same uneasy feeling washed over her. She glared at Jenny who was chatting away happily. Serena was right she did look gorgeous tonight and she looked skinny, something that Blair wasn't. No wonder why Nate couldn't take his eyes off Jenny but couldn't even look at his own girlfriend. Blair yawned loudly and was just about to excuse herself from the table to head towards the bathroom when she felt a hand on her thigh. She shuddered and turned towards Serena to see what she was doing but both Serena's fingers were laced in her thick blond curls, twirling them around as she listened intently to Jenny babble on. She then slowly turned towards her right side only to see Chuck also staring at Jenny, pretending to listen intently. Blair didn't know what to do, she didn't want to draw any attention to herself but she certainly didn't want Chuck Bass's hand on her thigh. She tried to shift discreetly towards Serena but this only caused Chuck to move his hand higher up her thigh. Blair wanted to kick him where it hurt but that would most definitely cause a scene so she turned to him, smiled sweetly and asked in her politest voice "Chuck would you mind getting me a glass of water?" Chuck turned to her for the first time but didn't move his hand instead he began rubbing her thigh.
"Is it hot in here Blair?"
"No it's not Chuck I am just thirsty if you must know" she said icily, trying to remove his hand but he was to strong. Everyone had stopped talking and wondered what was going on between Chuck and Blair. Since when did they not get on, they were always coming up with some scheme to take down some poor soul. Serena saw Blair almost falling off her seat and she glanced down wondering why, that's when she saw Chuck's hand creeping up Blair's thigh. Serena nearly choked on her dinner roll as she coughed loudly.
"Chuck" she almost yelled, "um go get Blair some water, I'd like some to". Chuck removed his hand and Blair gulped, Serena must have seen and now she would know. She let her eyes fall to the floor avoiding Serena's gaze and began thinking of the hundred different ways she could explain this to Serena back in there room. Although, Blair thought to herself, it was likely Serena would just assume Chuck was trying to hit on her and there was nothing more to it.
"Anything for you Serena" Chuck said before walking off to get the girls some water. Blair breathed a sigh of relief. The rest of dinner passed relatively quickly and Chuck kept his hands to himself. Jenny and Nate were deep in conversation most of dinner and Serena was listening to Dan drone on about his Dad's 80's band. Chuck was out of his chair most of the night flirting with some tall blond girl so Dan's room mate Adam had taken it upon himself to switch chairs and sit next to Blair. Adam was a lacrosse player, on the same team as Nate and all Blair knew about him was that he was good looking and he knew it. Blair was trying to eat her dinner, well spoon it around her plate in peace but Adam kept trying to start a conversation with her. In fact he was openly flirting with her and to Blair's disappointment Nate didn't seem to care. Blair had had enough and she grabbed her best friend dragging her back to there room.
Serena and Blair were just finishing applying there make up.
"So what's the deal with you and cabbage patch anyway?" Blair questioned.
"I honestly don't know B. We broke up for a reason and I thought we did the right thing but now I'm not so sure. It just feels so, so right when I'm with him and I know he feels the same way"
"Well you know what you need to do then right?" Blair asked
"Talk to him I know" Serena sighed.
"No" Blair quickly stated "You need to get yourself checked out because you and cabbage patch are so done Serena, you ventured into Brooklyn and you found out what it is really like, disgusting, smelly, annoying and stole my spot at Yale" Blair whined.
"Blair, Dan did not steal your spot in Yale, you lost that on your own".
Serena could see Blair's nostrils flaring as she prepared herself for battle and Serena knew she would need to deflate the situation before Blair let loose.
"So um Blair, why did I see that perve with his hand on you at dinner" Serena questioned.
Blair suddenly froze unsure how to respond. She looked away and said "Serena he is Chuck Bass, it was either me or Nate sitting next to him and I guess he isn't into Nate so he chose me to annoy tonight". Blair hoped this settled Serena and it seemed to do the trick because she went back to talking about reigniting her lame relationship with cabbage patch again.
There was a light knock on the door and then Nate and Chuck walked in.
"Hi sweetheart, you look beautiful as always" Nate said planting a kiss on Blair's forehead. "Your not so bad yourself Archibald" Blair giggled. Finally her boyfriend had acknowledged her and even said something nice to her. Nate laughed and wrapped some of Blair's curls through his fingers. "Are you girls ready" he asked Blair and Serena.
"One minute" Serena yelled from the bathroom. "Nate I need a guys opinion come here". Nate obediently walked into the bathroom. As soon as Nate was out of sight Chuck walked over and examined Blair's bed "this should be big enough for us Waldorf, although maybe we should be a bit more adventurous this time so we may need to remove a few of these pillows" he said throwing one on Serena's bed.
"Chuck" Blair hissed retrieving the thrown pillow. "I'm not going to warn you again, perhaps you have forgotten how much damage a pair of high heels could do to your most treasured areas".
"Blair I knew you enjoyed yourself the other night but I didn't know you now referred to my…" he looked down "most private parts as a treasure, this conquest is going to be easier than I thought" he said quietly as he got up and walked towards Blair. That strange feeling overcame Blair again and she actually felt nervous, but it was a strange, nice nervous. She slowly began backing away from Chuck as he continued edging toward her. He had that smirk plastered over his face and he laughed when Blair, almost against the wall, grabbed onto the dresser for support.
"Don't be afraid Waldorf, just go with it and let it happen we both want this" Chuck said quietly. He had no intention of doing anything with Blair…at the moment…with Nate and Serena only in the next room, although he we was craving her soft lips on his again so if by some miracle she kissed him he would definitely go with it. Interrupting his thoughts and his attack on Blair, Nate and Serena waltzed into the room to see an awkward Blair huddled against the wall and Chuck approaching her.
"What's going on man" Nate asked Chuck questioningly. "You know my girlfriend is off limits, right?" he asked with a bit of malice in his voice.
"Nate, Waldorf here is a virgin queen I wouldn't waste my time on her" Chuck answered confidently, "isn't that right Blair?" he asked.
Blair could have strangled him but instead she gained her composure and grabbed her boyfriend's hand before leading him out of the bedroom and toward one of the nightclubs on the upper decks. Nate was still unsure, he knew what Chuck was like and he and Blair had always been close. He decided he would have to keep a closer eye on his best friend and probably pay more attention to his girlfriend also. Serena watched them walk out and stared at Chuck intently. "Chuck what's going on?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about Serena" Chuck answered lighting up what Serena could only guess was a joint. She grabbed the joint and stubbed it out "Chuck I saw you at dinner, keep your hands to yourself and leave Blair alone, she is happy with Nate and she doesn't need you harassing her". Chuck would have loved to reply that Blair wasn't complaining when he was 'harassing' her that night in his limo but he didn't want that secret to come out almost as much as Blair didn't. Not because Chuck wouldn't want the world to know he took Blair's virginity and slept with the most gorgeous girl on the Upper East Side but because Nate was still his best friend and he wanted it to stay that way. As much as he enjoyed deflowering Blair he did feel guilty, that was Nate's job and he took that from him – not that Nate would really know the difference.
"Don't get your La Perla's in a knot Serena, I was just having some fun, our queen really needs to loosen up".
"No she doesn't Chuck, she is fine the way she is I don't want you corrupting her".
Too late Chuck thought to himself and a little bit of guilt ran through him. He hadn't spoken to Blair since she ran from his limo and he didn't really know what she was thinking but he would have hated for her to be regretting their encounter and feeling upset that she had slept with Chuck first instead of Nate. If he allowed himself to admit it, of course she was upset and regretted it, he saw it in her eyes, how she clung to Nate and how she was treating him but deep down he also knew that there was some part of Blair, even if it was a small part that had fun that night and he had brought something out in her. He knew he was getting under Blair's skin and he loved it, it only turned him on more.
"Hello earth to Chuck" Serena yelled, waving her arms in his face. Just as Chuck was about to make some snide comment regarding Serena's low-cut top and the empty bedroom her Brooklyn trash walked in.
"Hey Serena" he said before giving a nod to Chuck and then a weird glance to Serena wondering why her and Chuck were alone and looked like they were in a heated argument.
"Come on guys lets head upstairs, otherwise we will miss happy hour" as if money actually mattered to them.