"You insulted my mother Chuck," Blair said angrily as she pushed the front door open, not caring that it had bounced back from the wall and nearly hit him in the face.
"I didn't insult her Blair, I just made a poke at her lack of parenting skills," he protested as he stepped in behind her and closed the door.
Blair shot him a glare of astonishment, "do you honestly not think that is an insult Bass?"
Chuck huffed and shook his head, his hand resting on the table that held the newest batch of fresh hydrangeas, "you Waldorf women…you get so testy over the littlest things."
"Testy? Testy?! All my mother did was ask if we have even thought about children and you told her that you didn't think I had a good enough role model to be a good mother quite yet!"
"And is it really that far off from the truth?!"
A fuming Blair poked a finger against his chest, "I'll have you know that I would be a damn good mother. The only reason you said that was because you aren't ready to be a father Chuck, and you know it. You're terrified that you're going to end up just like your father."
His eyes narrowed, and he pushed her hand away from him, "you want kids Blair? Fine, lets have kids right now. You and me," he said pulling off his jacket, his gaze filled with more anger than lust.
"I didn't say that," the brunette murmured, "we can't have kids Chuck. Not now," she looked down, "we aren't ready."
"That's not what you were saying a few minutes ago. You want kids, I know you do Blair, I know…I remember you talking about having two of them with Nate. You were going to have a Nathanial Jr., but you're biggest dilemma was figuring out if you were going to name your daughter Holly or Audrey. So you know what, let's have those two kids right now! Let me give you that perfect life you always dreamed of having Blair! Let's have Chuck Jr. and that doe eyed daughter!"
"Stop it Chuck," she whispered, looking away from him.
"No," he said firmly, grabbing onto her wrist as he realized that Blair was trying to walk away from him, "this is what you wanted Blair isn't it? The perfect life? The one you've been planning since kindergarten…the one I was never a part of."
"Please Chuck," she said, her voice breaking as his grasp tightened on her wrist, "you're hurting me."
"Is that why you don't think we're ready Blair," he asked, ignoring her plea, "is it because I'm not perfect enough for you yet?"
"Stop it Chuck," Blair said a bit more firmly, "you're acting crazy. This isn't you."
He laughed, almost evilly, "that's where you're wrong Blair. This is me. You may have thought you married your Prince Charming, but if you for one second think I'm going to whisk you off into the sunset on a white horse than maybe you should just walk out that door right now."
"If you had let go of me I would have already," she spat at him.
And that's when she felt the crack against her cheek. His free hand had come from no where and the back of it had connected harshly against her face. Tears immediately stung the brunette's eyes as she turned her head to look back at him.
"You hit me," she said, stating the obvious.
The look of anger, and the sneer on his face had dropped the moment the words fell out of her lips. The last time he had seen that look in someone's eyes, he had been four and he had stayed up past his bedtime only to see his father do the same thing to Chuck's stepmother at that time.
"Blair," he said, his mouth barely forming words, "I didn't mean to. I just…I didn't mean to…"
"Well you did, now let me go," she said pulling her hand away from his with little effort.
"Please Blair it was an accident…I was just angry," he said, fumbling for words.
"An accident," she scoffed, "an accident? Running your car into a tree is an accident! Hitting someone across the face is a plan. You don't accidentally hit your wife across the face Bass…obviously it was something you picked up on from your lack of a good parent figure too."
Watching her head towards the door, that bout of anger bubbled up in him again, "the plane leaves at eight! Don't be late!"
His answer was the slamming of the door.
Blair continued to stare at him, memories of the last time they had been together flooding her mind. He was staring at her, waiting for something, anything to show him that his Blair was still there.
"Blair," he said softly, stroking her cheek, "say something."
She flinched away even more noticeably, almost as if she could still feel the sting of his slap from that fight.
"You hit me," she whispered, staring angrily at him.
Chuck swallowed. So that was what was going through her mind? The very last time they had been together. Every day since the accident he had been kicking himself in the ass. Hating himself for not apologizing or telling her that he loved her. But she was here, now, in front of him. He had that chance, the one he had been waiting for since that fateful day, the chance to make everything right. But she was obviously still dwelling on their last moment.
Slowly he shook his head, "shh Blair, that was two years ago. Forget it."
"Forget it," she asked, her eyes narrowing, "you want me to forget that you laid your hands on me and then disappeared for two years? I thought you were dead Chuck!"
She stepped out of the apartment and started for the elevator. Her make up had been reapplied before they had started out, but her eyes were still bloodshot from crying. Serena was behind the brunette, rubbing her back softly.
"It's going to be okay B. From what it sounds like Chuck was just upset. I know what he did was wrong, but it's a long flight. You two will have everything worked out by the time we land. As long as I don't have to hear you two moaning in the bathroom before we land."
The joke got a small smile out of Blair as Dan stepped into the elevator with them after shutting the door to the apartment. There was a silence as the box moved down. Blair could see her best friend's husband curling into a fist. Obviously he had a real problem with Chuck hitting her. She gave him a small smile, surprised that he was protective of her, "I'm going to be fine Danny, don't worry about me."
His eyes narrowed at the new nickname; he would have preferred Cabbage Patch.
"I'll stop worrying about you as soon as that bruise on your cheek disappears."
She sighed as they stepped out into the lobby, the three of them getting a somber nod from the doorman as they headed out to the sidewalk.
"Is it really that noticeable?"
Before anyone could answer, there was a loud roar of what sounded like a plane engine and they all looked up and dropped their jaws at the plane that was taking off. It was no question as to whether that was their plane or not, it was the only one supposed to be taking off that night. She saw Dan look down at his watch, staring confused. Obviously it had left early. Serena had opened her mouth to ask the time when there was the sudden sound quite similar to thunder. And from that moment, it seemed as if the world had begun to move in slow motion. All three pairs of eyes were glued to the sky at the angry red and black clouds.
"Oh my God," Serena said, the first to speak.
Her eyes were glassy as she stared up at that immediately moving towards Dan. She knew that all he was thinking about was that Jenny was on that flight. Neither of them was really paying any attention to the shell shocked Blair. She was standing there, simply staring at the burning remains of the plane.
All of the sudden she broke out into a run. Dan having seen this went after her grabbing her around the waist and holding tightly onto her. She kicked and flailed in his arms, sobbing as she cried out.
"Let go of me Humphrey! I have to go! I need to get to Chuck!"
"Blair you can't do anything. He's gone."
But she wasn't having any of that, because that simply made her cry out and struggle even more. Bending her head, she bit one of Dan's hands and he yelped in pain and pulled away giving Blair a chance to start running again. It was Serena this time that caught up with her, grabbing onto her wrists.
"Blair stop. Calm down. Dan is right. You can't do anything. It's done. You'll do no good running after him like this."
"Let go of me Serena," Blair said angrily pushing her best friend to the ground.
The blonde stared up at her as she stood and brushed herself off, "what do you think you're going to do by going there Blair? He's dead."
Blair let her hand swing out with as much force as she could muster. The crack echoed and Dan was over in seconds pulling Blair away.
"He's not dead! I have to go to him! I have to be with him!"
"Blair stop it, this is not helping. Serena is right. Chuck is dead!"
Blair shook her head as she fought weekly against Dan, "he's not dead! Chuck isn't dead! He can't die. You can't fucking kill the Devil! He's not dead Dan…he's not dead."
By the end, her words sounded more like a plea than anything and slowly she sank to the ground, still in Dan's arms as she sobbed into his chest.
It was her turn to be angry, she pushed him away and stood.
"Dead Chuck! Do you understand that! I saw that plane explode and I thought you were on it! I cried for months! I haven't been able to get over you! And you just want me to forget it?!"
"You think you were the only one feeling that way?! I thought you were dead too! I've spent every night since then telling myself that I killed you! That if I hadn't done what I did that night then you would have been with me and you would have been alive! I thought I killed you!"
She looked at him, dead in the eye, "and I have spent every night since then wishing you had killed me Chuck," she whispered.
Before he could ask what she meant by that, Blair had brushed past him and headed back to the master bedroom, slamming the door behind her and leaving him standing there staring after her. Dan had woken from the commotion and had stepped out of the room just as Blair slammed the door shut. He looked over to see Chuck just standing there. With a sigh he walked out and waved a hand in front of his face. It took the other man a second to react but when he did his eyes narrowed, "why didn't you tell me she was here too?"
"Because I've been with her the past two years…she never completely accepted the fact that we thought you were dead. She's not the same Blair you knew Chuck."
With a short laugh Chuck sank down into the couch, "that's funny, because that raging bitch sounds pretty much like the same Blair I married."
Taking the spot next to him Dan looked down, "the Blair you married would never have done the things that the girl in that room has."
"What do you mean," he asked curiously looking over at him.
"You know how fiercely loyal she is Chuck. Blair might be a bitch if you rub her the wrong way, but she takes care of her friends."
"Stop making this a puzzle Humphrey and fucking tell me what the hell has happened to her in the past two years?!"
Taking a deep breath, Dan shook his head, trying to find a place to start, "after the plane exploded, Blair…she wasn't herself…not for days. She wouldn't come back here, so me and Serena took her to Eleanor's. Eleanor was in no shape to take care of her daughter, she was already half way to the grave by that time-."
"Wait, what?"
"She died, after her clothing line failed…drank herself to death," Dan explained before going back to the story, "Blair would lock herself in her room for days, not letting anyone in…not eating. And when she did eat, we'd hear her in the bathroom twenty minutes later. Whenever we tried to talk to her, all she would do was mumble your name and then bust into tears. You know how bad the city was before, so it wasn't like we could just go and take her to a doctor or a therapist for help. But when she fell into this sickness that lasted a couple of weeks, Serena had a talk with her, and Blair came out of it almost as if nothing had happened. She started trying to look for work, ignoring us any time we brought up the plane or you. One night, she came home with nearly two grand and when we asked where she got it, she told us that it was best if we didn't know. So, after a few weeks of this, I followed her," he paused and swallowed, "she was going to The Palace. At that time, it was housing a bunch of druggie gang bangers, but she ignored their ploys and grabs until she got to your old suite. The door was open, the guy inside was waiting for her. And when I finally chanced a peak inside…I saw what he was doing to her. I think it was a way for Carter to get back you," he said quietly, noticing Chuck's fist curl into a ball, "I mean, fucking your wife in your old bed…he'd pay her for it, but after he left town, Blair went and looked for different clients. We were tight on money, had to find a way to eat and keep electricity and running water. She pretended like what she was doing, selling her body, it didn't matter, but there were times when I would hear her in her room, sobbing…at one point she was even begging for your forgiveness. In these past two years, I've seen Blair broken and at her worst…the things she was put through…Serena and I haven't gone through anything half as bad as some of that stuff. It was a wonder she didn't go insane. But the one thing, she held onto from before, the one thing she could never let go of, was you…no matter how hard she tried to act like she had. The only time I ever saw Blair take off that wedding ring was to try and get some work. She visited this house every night, I know she did… That night, when the plane blew up, I lost a friend, and I lost my sister, but I still had Serena. Blair didn't have anyone for days after that. You were gone, Nate and Jenny…Serena was upset because of the way she acted towards her after the accident, and well me…she never had me. Until I started seeing that different side of her…and well, last night was just hell for all of us."
Chuck had been surprisingly silent as he spoke, looking at his hands most of the time, twirling his own wedding band around his finger, "does last night have anything to do with all of those cuts and bruises she has on her?"
The other man nodded, "yeah, a whole bunch of vagrants trashed the penthouse while we were in it. Georgina died, Rhyan and Serena managed to get out unscathed, but Blair and I…once again she got the worse end. The light at the top of the stairway nearly crushed us, so I pushed her out of the way. I ended up tumbling down the stairs, and Blair broke through the banister, and to keep herself from crashing to the ground she grabbed onto the floor, but there was a jagged piece of wood from the banister…it went straight through her hand. And towards the end, a beam from the ceiling was going to fall on me, but she tackled me out of the front window…she saved my life…"
His voice trailed off as he looked over at Chuck with a small sigh, "look, I'm still tired, and you've had a rough night yourself. Why don't you go take the bed that Rhyan was using? Sleep as long as you want."
He merely nodded and stood, going down to the empty room as Dan went into his. The master bedroom door creaked open and Blair poked her head out. Her eyes stared longingly at the door her husband had disappeared into. In those moments that he had talked to Dan, listened to what had been going on in the two years, she had decided; call it post traumatic stress, or just the shock at seeing the man she believed to be dead, alive, but everything that had happened, everything bad…she was planning on forgetting it. Her husband was back. Her Chuck was alive. Blair had the chance to be the perfect wife for him, and all be damned she was going to do it.