Blair's calendar is brimming with social obligations by the second week of June. Meanwhile, Serena's calendar, in contrast, is filled with obligations of the romantic variety thanks to her glowingly successful first date with Nate. Although on this particular Saturday, Blair had managed to finally secure her best friend's company, sans Nate and Dan, at Kati Farkas' pool party.
Blair is sipping her mojito, kicking her feet idly through the infinity pool as she sits at the edge beside Serena. As their conversation comes to a lull, a voice wafts over that belongs to the person she hoped wouldn't turn up this summer.
"Is that-?" Serena starts to ask as Blair's face contorts.
"I think that's my cue to swim over the edge of the pool and see where infinity leads." Blair announces standing up, kicking the water off her legs. Serena gets up too, wincing.
"Maybe it won't be so bad?" She asks hopefully.
Before Blair can answer, she smells his cologne as he leans in to kiss her on the cheek.
"Hello, beautiful."
"Carter," Blair's face remains neutral as she greets him icily. "What are you doing in the Hamptons? I thought you were added to the persona non grata list around here. Has security slipped?"
"Even Long Island security guards are a sucker for romance." He smirks. "I'm here for you. To win you back."
Blair wants to laugh at that. Did he rehearse this? It's far too trite. "Too late for that. If that's the only reason you're in the Hamptons I think you'll find this summer will be rather dull and lonely."
"It's never too late, Blair." His hand skates across her bare arm. "I want to talk to you, please. I know I screwed up last summer but if you just give me a few minutes to talk I can explain it all."
Blair looks down at his hand and the path it traced across her arm. Once she would have found a scattering of goosebumps. But not today. Not this summer.
"Go find another audience, I don't have time for your sorry excuses." Blair stalks off, leaving him standing alone by the pool.
Serena is waiting for her by the door to the Farkas summer house. The girls walk in unison inside, Serena eagerly waiting Blair's explanation. "What's he doing here? I thought he moved to Europe."
"He claims he's here to 'win me back.'" Blair scoffs.
"No, B." Serena's nose wrinkles, pushing her Chloe sunglasses higher on her nose. "Please don't get back together with him."
"Don't worry, not planning on it." Blair's reply comes readily.
"But I know how you are." Serena protests. "It's like as soon as he comes around, you drop all your standards for him. He's like your kryptonite."
Blair shoots Serena a cutting look, irritated. "I do not."
Serena tilts her head. "You sort of do. Besides, after how he left, you can't take him back. And what? One year later he's finally trying to make amends?"
"I know, S. All of those are the reasons I won't be giving him a minute of my time. Besides, I'm over him." Blair says and takes a sip of her drink after refilling it. "We'll just pretend he's not here."
After a nod of acquiescence, finally believing her, Serena follows Blair back into the backyard. They sit beside Kati, trying to ignore Carter on the opposite side of the yard. It works for a while, as a few of the guys keep him company.
As Blair heads back into the kitchen an hour later, clad with her and Serena's empty glasses he finally catches her.
"Dinner, Blair." Carter pleads from beside her place at the kitchen sink. "Please let me take you to dinner and if you still don't believe me after that, I'll leave. You and The Hamptons will be rid of me."
"Can't I just be rid of you right now?" Blair folds her arms across her bikini-clad body.
Carter runs a hand through his hair. "Look, Blair. I don't want to get into this here. I want to talk to you alone."
"Too bad." Blair turns away, placing the glasses in the sink and marching off for the backyard again to collect Serena. It's clearly time to leave.
Carter trails closely. "Lunch then?"
Blair feels herself relenting a bit. Maybe it's the mojitos or his persistence. "If I say yes, you'll leave me alone after that? If I decide I never want to see you again. "
"If that's what you decide you want." He looks a little crestfallen.
"Fine." Blair's lips pinch. "You can take me to lunch."
Carter smiles broadly, that charming smile that always gets him what he wants as he leans forward to kiss her cheek. Blair fights the urge to pull away and manages a polite smile.
"Ready to go, Blair?" Serena seems to receive Blair's telepathic message. She gives Carter an unfriendly look.
"Ready," Blair echoes. "See you tomorrow, Carter."
Once they're in the cab home, Serena gives Blair a sharp look. "You're seeing him, tomorrow?"
"Yes," Blair leans back in the seat. "I told him I'd hear him out. Oh, relax, S." She adds observing Serena's skepticism. "It's only to get rid of him. I'll listen to whatever clever story he's spun then tell him we're done and that'll be that."
"If you say so," Serena's suspicious tone comes before she turns her attention out the window.
When Blair chose Citrus, a cute airy cafe, she thought it would be the perfect place for her brief tet-a-tet with Carter. An added bonus of the restaurant was the counter service, meaning there would be no waiting around for their orders to be taken and delivered to the table. But she realizes she made a huge error as she sees the glass building is like a fish tank, open and visible for any Hamptoners to observe the scene inside as they walk by.
Carter smoothly pays for their meals, before Blair can even try to retrieve her wallet from her purse. She utters an annoyed thank you as he hands her the cup of grapefruit lemonade she ordered and carries their trays of food to a table. On the brightside, the spot they're seated at is near the door so at least Blair can storm out easily if need be.
"Thank you, Blair. For coming, I know you didn't want to." Carter reaches a hand to touch Blair's but she quickly reaches for her lemonade.
"So what's so urgent that you needed to talk about?" Blair cuts to the chaste, setting her lemonade back down.
"Still no-nonsense, huh?" Carter quirks a brow. "I always did like that about you."
Blair ignores her compliment and keeps her gaze fixed on him. She cocks a brow, indicating her impatience.
"Blair," Carter takes a deep breath and Blair realizes he seems genuinely apologetic. "I shouldn't have left like that last summer. I was going through a-" He looks down. "A rough time and I didn't have my priorities straight. I went to rehab though, a week after I left. I've been sober for almost a year now. I want to make things right."
He looks so sincere that Blair almost believes him. But she can't shake the sensation of deja vu.
"I've heard that before." Blair idly pierces an heirloom tomato from the Panzanella salad with her fork.
Carter sighs. "I know but I'm serious now Blair. I'm 30 years old, I know I'm too old for that shit anymore. I want to be with you and to get my career back on track. My dad lined up a position with me at his firm. I start in a couple of weeks."
Blair looks up at him, surprised. "That's really great, Carter. Honestly, I'm happy for you. But you shouldn't be doing that all for me because it's not going to change my mind."
"But it's for us. So we can have a future Blair." Carter gives her a hopeful glance, sliding his hand across the table to rest on hers.
"If I'm-"
Blair is interrupted by someone saying her name. "Blair?"
She peers to her right to see Nate Archibald and Dan Humphrey. Both holding bags of takeout orders. Perfect. An audience. She snaps her hand away from Carter and sits up straighter. "Hi."
"Hey." Nate greets her and then turns his attention to Carter. "Carter. You look well."
"You know each other?" Blair frowns looking between them.
"We went to school together," Carter replies blandly.
Nate nods and Blair notices that Dan hasn't said anything. Though she did notice his eyes focused on Carter's hand on hers, before she retrieved it from his grasp.
But if Nate and Carter went to school together, didn't Dan too? There's an awkward silence, fraught with inexplicable tension. Blair composes herself and forces a smile.
"How coincidental," Blair replies at last. "Carter and I were just catching up."
"We'll let you get back to your lunch." Nate raises a hand in farewell. "See you, Blair."
Dan nods at her as they leave and Blair is left with an unsettling feeling. He didn't say anything at all during the exchange. He couldn't even manage a polite hello and goodbye. Blair feels indignant at his slight and is reaffirmed he is an arrogant jerk. Even if they did get along last weekend for the duration of an evening.
Blair waits for Carter to explain that uncomfortable run-in but he says nothing. He just shifts the conversation back to the subject of the two of them. "You were saying?"
Blair lets out a breath. "I was saying that…" She tries to remember. "If I'm being honest with you, I'm not sure I was with you for the right reasons. In some twisted way, I think I liked that you were never serious about me. Call it rebellion, or what you want, but it wasn't right."
"But maybe it can be now?" Carter asks.
Blair shakes her head, a little sadly. If all of what Carter says is true, there's no reason she shouldn't give him a second chance. Except for what she just said. And what she knows is true, deep down. He was always a distraction, a distraction from her mother's insistences she think about marriage, from all the pressures of adulthood. Never for a second did she imagine him to the man she'd marry.
And she never would.
"Well," Carter looks resigned. "I promised you I would leave you alone if that was what you decided you wanted. So I will."
"Friends?" Blair offers.
His face is still a wash of disappointment but he nods. "Friends."
They bid each other a remarkedly civil goodbye and Blair lets her relationship with Carter finally stay behind in the past.
What lingers most as she crawls into her bed that night is not the crestfallen look upon Carter's face as she turned him down. But instead, that of Dan Humphrey's eyes lingering on the spot where her hand was entwined with another man's.