Chapter 4
The reasoning
"I would do anything for love
Anything you've been dreaming of...
But I won't do that."
Lyrics: Meatloaf
"I would do anything for love"
This is it. This, right here, is the moment she loves the most. The moment she lives for...the moment she lies for. This moment of utter and absolute freedom, when the world seizes to exist outside of this oddly decorated suite, in a once magical hotel. This split second after they'd made love –she refuses to think of it as simply having sex - when he pulled her close and she could just lay here, her head on his chest, eyes closed, ear pressed against his damp skin and listen to his slowly steadying heart beat. When she could press her palm against his abdomen and feel his breathing return to normal. It was all so...so invétéré. His hand would lightly rub up her arm, like a gentle caress, before settling in her hair, twirling a strand of her gleaming golden locks around his index finger.
Nate pressed a kiss on the top of her head, just above her brow, and whispered her name in a sigh. His breath felt warm against her moist skin, his lips scorching.
Truly, she must have died sometime in the last hour for this is surely what heaven must feel like. It was so easy to get caught up in the allusion when they were like this, but as all good things in life... this too must come to an end, and it did. As soon as she allowed herself to fall back to Earth and remembered that he wasn't hers...he belonged to – if not necessarily with- her best friend.
An almost poignant sigh escaped from Serena's lips as reality caught up with her and she turned out of Nate's embrace, the usual knot forming in her throat when their bodies were no longer touching. She sat up and reached for the robe she kept hanging over the bedpost. The red satin felt refreshingly cold against her heated skin, as she pulled the robe over her shoulders, tying it at the waist to cover her naked form. She knew he was watching her. She could feel his darling- now light- blue eyes burrowing into her back. His curiosity scribbled underneath the free falling façade he kept up, even now. They could both think more clearly now.
"I know I shouldn't have ...arranged this." She gestured randomly in the air in a slightly hopeless gesture, unable to take the suddenly thick atmosphere anymore, and equally unable to explain her actions. The tragic thing is, they had actually stuck to the plan for about a month until today, when she decided to give up trying to stay away from him and had sent him that blasted text, not even for a second doubting that he'd show up.
Nate sat up a little, pulling on the sheets as he reclined against the antique headboard, willing her to explain why she'd arranged a meeting, after they'd agreed- or rather she'd insisted- to stop as soon as his engagement became public knowledge.
Serena swallowed nervously, refusing to face him as she tying her hair up in a knot, her one hand digging in the bedside drawer for something to keep her hair up until she felt him move. She knew he was sitting behind her even before he touched her; his sheer presence was enough to make her hart race and her lungs strain. Her hand stilled the moment Nate's arms wrapped around her, pulling her to lean against his muscular chest. His lips fluttered across her shoulder in small butterfly kisses, before settling just below her ear, in her neck.
"It's alright, S. No need to explain."
His hands rubbed up her arms, resting on her shoulders as his thumbs gently pressed into her tight muscles, loosening the knots. Serena closed her eyes, relaxing against the hard body behind her. They stayed like that for a while. Serena almost getting lost in his touch before something occurred to her and her eyelids flew open and she spun around, facing Nate.
"Chuck can't know about this" Nate's hands halted for a moment, briefly showing his shock, at the unexpected words.
"What?" He asked slightly confused.
She sighed, taking his face between her hands and looking directly into his eyes.
"Nate, Chuck can't know. You can't tell him." She spoke slowly, enunciating the words as to press in the importance of what she's saying.
Understanding registered on his handsome features, of course she would know Chuck was back in town, they were sort of related. Serena pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, nibbling on it as she tried to find the words to explain her request, without telling Nate about the things she knew about Chuck's time abroad...or about Chuck and Blair's brief affair.
Nate frowned, observing her intently, noticing the way she nibbled on the inside of her cheek.
"He'll keep our secret, Serena. He's my best friend." A nervous breath slipped from her mouth as she looked away from him, focusing on something on the other side of the room. The silence stretched between them until Serena finally locked her gaze with Nate's again, seemingly finding a way to explain her request.
"He's changed, Nate. Please, I'm begging you. Don't tell him about us." Nate stared at her for a moment, searching for something he would not find. He nodded in surrender and pulled her closer.
"Fine, it'll be our secret." He felt, more than saw, her agree against his shoulder as her hands crawled behind his back and she rested her lithe body against him.
Chuck closed his eyes as he pulled on the joint in his hand. The sweet taste of Hash filling his mouth and throat as the smoke worked its way into his lungs and, eventually, his bloodstream, finally giving him the release he's been dying for ever since he walked away from Blair. He studied the white roll of herbs resting between his thumb and index finger as he took in the once familiar taste. They say the sense of smell is usually the one to trigger forgotten memories, but he disagrees.
He closed his eyes, resting his head against the back of the coach. God, how beautiful she looked, and tasted. His body started to ache the moment his lips touched her flawless skin and her unique floral sent filled his nose. It brought back images and memories long forgotten. How he wanted to taste more of her. He wanted to taste every inch of her snowy white skin, it was a need so fierce and so unexpected that it had driven him to light a freaking joint, something he hadn't done in years. He knew he was being idiotic and stupid when he lighted the darn thing, but he needed something stronger than Scotch to pull his thoughts away from Blair's lips, her eyes, and all that delicious flesh buried underneath her prim and proper librarian outfit , begging him to pull her closer and awaken those long buried desires. He bet she would respond to his touch in a way that would surprise them both.
"Fuck."
He flew up, killing the glowing bud in a crystal ashtray on the small table, sitting in front of the settee. He rested his elbows on his knees, dropping his dark head into his hands. It felt strange being back, not at all how he thought it would feel coming home. He expected Nathaniel to be happy to have him return, he's like a puppy in that way, but he truly didn't expect his family to react the way they have... especially not his father.
Bart had been waiting for him when he entered the suite, and for the first time in his life, Chuck saw -for a split second- a hint of joy when Bart's eyes rested on his son. As usual, Chuck expected the worst when he noticed his father standing in front of the window, strait backed and superbly dressed in his black and gray pinstripe Armani, but, apparently all Bart had wanted was to greet his son and to remind him of the dinner Lily had arranged. Needless to say, Chuck was left speechless after his father patted him on his shoulder and left with a gentle smile curving around his normally harsh mouth.
It still stunned him.
Charles lifted his head, staring at the ash in front of him, before pulling some air into his lungs. Well, all will be revealed in due time, he supposed. He pulled his fingers thru his hair, before getting up and walking towards his bedroom. All he could do for now, was sleep off his jetlag and prepare for the night to come. He had a few questions for Nathaniel concerning is sudden departure, as well as some business to discuss with Serena.
Blair plopped down on her desk chair, dropped her Gucci bag next to her and focused on the stack of papers demanding her attention. It was on days like this she hated being a defence attorney. It always demanded her absolute attention, and usually she loved being able to focus on her work, but not today. Today she felt the uncanny need to stretch out on a coach with her most beloved Audrey Hepburn and work out way she couldn't shake the feeling that her whole world was about to change. She just knew Chuck was to blame for this, somehow. Her life was perfect until this morning. Blair sighed drawing the first file towards her, forcing her wandering thoughts to return to her client's file , only to stop in astonishment as she noticed the name typed on the top and stamped with a bright red 'confidential'.
Baizen , Carter
She skipped over the administrative information on the introduction page and went straight to case type.
Misdemeanour - first degree
Charge description: TRESSPASS AFTER WARNING.
Not too serious, she thought. So he trespasses, knowing Carter he was probably drunk or high or couldn't understand the person warning him off. She turned the page to the court phase, again just light reading until her eye caught the words PRETRAIL INTERVENTION. This was not too unusual, considering whom Carter's father was, and of course this could be found in most case files containing the names of the spawns of the rich and famous. She was sure that if Chuck was of age when he got arrested, the very same thing would have been printed in his files.
Next was a Deferred Prosecution Agreement with Crater's messy signature on the line above Defendant, page 2 was a Waiver of rights, 3 the defendant's –Carter- specific obligations under the agreement. She skimmed the obligations smiling at the second point -stating that the defendant will not use any intoxicants – knowing that he would never have been able to do abstain for that long. The rest was pretty straight forward. He could not contact the victim/s or the witness; he would give notice of change of residence and so on, and so forth. For curiosity's sake she went thru the rest of the documentation only briefly glancing of the victim's name.
Aviana faye.
The attached picture showed a blond haired beauty with deep green eyes. For some reason Blair hated the girl on sight, unable to deceiver the reason behind her sudden surge of dislike, Blair closed the file putting it aside for later processing and returned her attention to the case file she was currently assisting on.
A/N: I know I've been tardy with updates, and I truly apologise for this.
Lots of Love
E.B xoxo
