A/N: I am finally finished with all of my exams, so hopefully updates for all of my stories will be more and more frequent now. Reviews are loved and for those of you who are also following Turning Back The Hands Of Time, I will be updating that story later today as well!
Wednesday
Serena took another sip of her strawberry smoothie as she continued to walk beside her best friend. Chuck and Nate had already left to sharpen their tennis skills when they had woken up this morning, so she had no idea where Chuck and Blair stood after his run in with the twins last night. Blair had been a little too quiet all morning in her honest opinion.
"How did your long walk on the beach with Nate turn out or was that just an excuse to get out of the house of horrors?" Blair asked, trying to fill the silence.
"I'll admit it started out as an excuse to avoid the Chuck and Blair war, but it turned out to be a really romantic night," Serena replied, forgetting momentarily about her concern for her best friend. "Did you know about the drawing on the rocks?"
Blair raised an eyebrow in her direction, confusion etched upon her pristine features.
"What drawing?" she asked as she sat down on a nearby bench.
Serena laughed as she took a seat next to the brunette.
"Remember that summer where you were head over heels for Kyle Malone?"
Blair smiled at the reminder of Kyle. Her crush on him had been quite silly and childish, but Kyle had been such a gentleman about it. They had been good friends that summer despite several failed attempts on Chuck's part to ruin their friendship.
"I remember him," Blair reminisced. "He was such a sweetheart! It would be nice to see him again. I haven't seen him since that summer. I wonder what he looks like now."
Serena stopped slurping on her smoothie and turned to stare at her best friend, shaking her head slightly in disapproval.
"It would be nice to see him again?" Serena questioned. "You have a boyfriend who loves you B."
Blair scoffed. "I know that! I'm just stating a fact here. He was really nice to me that summer. He was truly the perfect gentleman. Besides, you know I'm in love with Chuck now and nothing is going to change that. It would be impossible for me to fall for anyone else."
"Even though he flirted with those twins last night?" Serena mentioned casually.
The blond bit her tongue the moment she heard her own question escape her glossed lips. She had been desperately trying not to bring up the word twins in her vocabulary for the entire day lest it trigger an unpleasant reaction from Blair.
"Relax S. Chuck and I are fine," Blair reassured her, patting Serena lightly on the shoulder.
"Really?"
Serena maintained a wary expression upon her face. Nothing was ever simple between Chuck and Blair. They were Chuck and Blair. Blair and Chuck. Blair would normally make him work himself to the bone for her forgiveness.
Blair smirked, smoothing out the non-existent creases in her dress.
"I did make him work himself to the bone for my forgiveness S. He worked long and hard for it all night long," Blair informed her as she stood up from the bench and made her way over to one of the dainty boutiques at the end of the street.
Serena rolled her eyes as she followed the brunette.
"You need to stop doing that thing where you read my mind Blair. It kind of creeps me out," she joked. "And please spare me the details of what happened last night."
Blair laughed. "You mean what happened last night over and over and over again?"
Serena shuddered. "Too much information B."
"Jealous S?" Blair teased.
The blond scoffed. "Whatever makes you sleep at night Blair."
Blair giggled as they walked out of the boutique and headed back in the direction of the house. They wanted to try their hand at cooking and lunch seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it. After all, the boys would surely be hungry when they returned from their pathetic attempt at sharpening their tennis skills.
"Oh! I never finished telling you the story behind the drawing that Nate showed me B," Serena gushed. "Apparently Chuck and Nate did it together back when we were still innocent children."
"Speak for yourself S," Blair retorted, interrupting the blond. "I am still as innocent as they come...minus...the Chuck part."
Serena burst out laughing. "Stop interrupting me! Do you want to know what the drawing was or not?"
Blair motioned for Serena to continue.
"The drawing was a heart with CB and NS written in the middle. How cute is that? Chuck and Nate have been in love with us since we were children!"
Blair rolled her eyes. It seemed to be a particularly frequent routine on this sunny morning.
"Nate was in love with you, knew Chuck was in love with me, and still asked me out?" Blair mumbled, cursing herself for not having noticed any of this earlier in life.
She could have had so many more years of all that was Chuck Bass. Instead, she had wasted most of her life on man bangs. She had overhead Dan use that term once or twice and Blair had to admit that it was a very fitting nickname for Nate. Who knew Dan could come up with such a great nickname for her ex-boyfriend?
"Nate thought he could never have me," Serena explained. "As for Chuck, he was royally pissed off at Kyle for stealing you away from him. Did you know he actually crossed out the CB in the drawing at the end of that summer?"
Blair smiled. "Chuck deluded himself into thinking that he was over me and allowed Nate to pursue me? I bet it completely kills him still that he handed me over to Nate on a silver platter."
Serena fell into a fit of giggles again as Blair stopped dead in her tracks beside her.
"Hello Blair," greeted an unwelcome voice.
"Everything alright with you and Blair man?" Nate asked as he prepared himself to serve the ball.
Chuck returned his serve with ease. "Yeah. Why wouldn't they be?"
Nate shrugged. "Oh I don't know. When Serena and I left the house, it was a full on war between the two of you. She threw her purse at my head!"
Chuck laughed. "That was meant for me, but I was smart enough to duck. You're just a little slow in terms of reflex Nathaniel."
"I am not slow," Nate retorted. "It just takes me a little longer to react."
"Slow," Chuck reiterated as he returned the ball.
"It was clearly your fault. We could have avoided World War III if you hadn't flirted with those twins."
Chuck readjusted his grip on his racket and responded, "I was not flirting with those twins. They were flirting with me. Besides, I was only interested in their ramblings when they mentioned Kyle Malone."
Nate stood completely still upon hearing his name, causing him to lose yet another game to his best friend.
"Kyle Malone? You sure you heard right man?" Nate questioned.
Chuck nodded, grabbing his water bottle and heading towards a nearby bench.
"I'm sure Nathaniel. The twins were inviting me to some joint party of his with some British lord. I had no idea Kyle was even in the Hamptons for the summer," he elaborated.
"Are we feeling a little threatened there Chuck?" Nate teased. "From what I recall, the last time you dealt with Kyle, the summer ended with you crossing out the CB in our drawing on that rock."
Chuck scoffed. "You make it all sound so dramatic."
Nate laughed. "Whatever man. You and I both know you were miserable that summer and oh so jealous. They weren't even going out and you spent the entire summer coming up with schemes to ruin their friendship all of which failed by the way."
Chuck glowered at his best friend. "They did not fail. They just didn't produce the desired effects and I did not cross the CB out of the heart. My marker slipped."
"Yeah sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night buddy," Nate replied, patting him on the back. "So I'm guessing we're not attending that party then? I mean a party with Kyle and some random British lord certainly does sound like a lot of fun."
"Us?" Chuck laughed. "If anything, I'm not attending the party. I don't recall you getting an invitation from the twins."
Nate sat up abruptly in his seat when a thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Wait! Why didn't you just explain all of this to Blair right away? World War III could have been preventable!" he protested.
Chuck let out a chuckle. "It was absolutely unnecessary to inform Blair of his presence."
"Jealous Chuck?" Nate asked, mocking his best friend.
"Chuck Bass is never jealous of anyone. People are jealous of Chuck Bass. Get with the program Nathaniel," he responded. "Besides, I am protecting Blair by keeping her away from him. Kyle practically broke her heart when he told her he simply wanted to be friends."
"I'm sure she'd forgive him," Nate reminded him. "She's forgiven you for breaking her heart only about a bazillion times. Like I said man, whatever helps you sleep at night."
"Not helping Nathaniel," Chuck drug out, rolling his eyes. "Besides, I never explain myself in these kinds of situations. Hot and angry sex with Blair is out of this world. I have the scars on my back to prove it."
Nate scrunched up his nose. "Way too much information there. Thank you very much. I'm glad you and Blair are alright though. She's good for you and you're good for her. You're perfect for each other."
It was Chuck's turn to cringe. "You have seriously got to lay off the chick flicks Nathaniel. Only my sister would fall for that type of nonsense."
"Hey! Chick flicks aren't all that bad and girls dig romantics. By the way, if you ever want to romance Blair, I suggest taking her for a long walk on the beach at night. Last night was amazing. Serena and I had a great time."
Chuck raised an eyebrow, preparing to offer some perverted insight into the situation only to be interrupted by the blond.
"No Chuck. It wasn't great because of the sex."
Chuck laughed. "Why must you make it sound like I think about sex all the time?"
"Because you do?" Nate offered.
Chuck got up from his seat on the bench and grabbed his tennis gear. Nate followed suit.
"Not true Nathaniel. I often think of...Blair...You're right. I think about sex all the time," he finished with a wink.
Nate rolled his eyes at his perverted behavior, although for some odd reason, Blair saw it as a part of his charm. Nate knew that Chuck didn't think about sex all the time. He was just too chicken to man up to the other things he thought about when he had a spare moment or two. Nate bet that deep down inside; way deep down inside, Chuck was a romantic just like he was turning out to be. Blair and Serena brought out the best in them.
"What the hell?" Chuck cried as they approached the house, cutting through his thoughts. "What the fuck is Marcus doing on our porch and why the fuck is he talking to my girlfriend?"
"I'm going to talk a wild guess here and say that Marcus is the British lord who is throwing that party with Kyle," Nate suggested.
"You really think so Nathaniel?" he asked, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "What the fuck is this? Did I miss the let's-invite-all-of-Blair's-old-boyfriends-to-the-Hamptons event?"
Nate shook his head. "Calm down man. He's probably just inviting us to the party and for the last time, Kyle was not her boyfriend."
Chuck sent him a hard glare as he stalked towards the house. "Shut it Nathaniel."
"I hope you'll change your mind about coming to the party, but thank you again for forgiving me Blair. I know what I did was terrible and I am truly sorry that I hurt you."
Blair waved off his apology again. "Forget about it Marcus. It was humiliating yes, but we all make mistakes."
Marcus left them with a smile and a tiny wave and Serena couldn't help but grin at how much her best friend had matured. The old Blair Waldorf would have certainly thrown a fit at the sight of the British lord standing on their front porch. She had handled the situation with such maturity that Serena wasn't even sure if she had dreamed up the entire conversation.
"What did he want?" a voice hissed from behind them.
Blair swivelled around at the sound of his voice as she made her way into the kitchen.
"Nothing Chuck. He was inviting all of us to a joint party he's throwing with Kyle Malone."
"You hear that Chuck? I knew the British lord the twins were talking about was Marcus!" Nate exclaimed, earning another death glare from his best friend.
Blair giggled. "So that's why you wouldn't explain yourself to me last night! You didn't want me to know that Marcus and Kyle were in the Hamptons for the summer! This whole attack of the old boyfriends thing must really be killing you darling."
"Kyle was not your boyfriend," Chuck seethed, walking over to their soft ice cream machine and helping himself to a large swirl of vanilla ice cream.
"Jealousy is a cute look for you," Blair continued, relishing in the fact that Chuck was still so insecure about their relationship even though he refused to admit it.
"I am not jealous," Chuck retorted.
"Are too!" Blair shouted.
"Am not!" Chuck shot back.
Nate and Serena rolled their eyes at their childish behavior as they made themselves two chocolate ice creams.
"Am not!" Chuck continued.
Blair remained silent this time, leaving Chuck slightly confused. Before he could grasp onto what was happening, someone snatched his ice cream cone from his hands.
"Are too!" Blair protested one last time, shoving the cone into Chuck's face.
Chuck closed his eyes at the impact and stood still, letting the cone slide down his skin. He carefully removed the cone after a moment and placed it in the garbage can. Nate and Serena held their breaths and Blair even looked slightly horrified at what she had done. Chuck walked over calmly towards the soft ice cream machine and made himself another vanilla ice cream cone, although his face was still dripping with the remnants of his last one.
He smirked as he took a step towards Blair and said, "Come here baby."
Realizing the implications of his statement, Blair squealed and ran to the opposite side of the counter. Chuck ran after her and they began to run in circles around the counter much to Nate and Serena's amusement. Chuck finally caught up with Blair and smothered her in vanilla ice cream.
"Chuck!" she screamed as she felt the cold and sticky mess on her face.
"I bet you taste real good now Waldorf," he said playfully, pulling her in for a messy kiss.
Blair giggled just as Nate muttered under his breath, "Yup! Definitely childish."
Serena elbowed him hard in the ribs, but the matching smirks on Chuck and Blair's faces as they turned towards them told her that it was already too late. Serena grabbed Nate with her free hand and bolted out of the kitchen, sending his chocolate ice cream cone to the floor. Chuck and Blair grinned at each other and quickly made two more ice creams before heading out after them.
"You can run, but..."
"...you can't hide," Chuck finished for her.
Upstairs, a string of squeals and giggles could be heard.