Disclaimer: I do not own the 'Gossip Girl' world.
A/N Thank you for all your reviews guys!
Hope you like this next chapter too. I think it's my favourite so far.
Chapter 4
"Blair, what the hell are you doing?" Dan tried to take his hand away again but she wouldn't let him. Now that she was out of Chuck's presence she felt herself deflating again. She'd been hiding her emotions all day and now she was utterly exhausted.
"I'm sorry, but you heard what he said. Shoving his relationship down my throat and pointing out that I'm all alone. I just wanted to wrong foot him." She sighed heavily and he pulled her into his arms. Unlike with Chuck she had no qualms about burying her face into Dan's chest. For starters, he wasn't wearing a designer suit and secondly she knew that Dan wouldn't read anything into it. The silence in the elevator and the gentle stroking of her hair finally broke her and the first tears escaped her eyes and leaked onto his clothes.
"Shhhh, it's going to be fine, Blair." Dan soothed continuing to stroke her hair.
The doors opened and Blair quickly wiped her eyes so that Vanya wouldn't see that she was upset and inform Dorota.
"Come on, there's no way I'm letting you stay on your own tonight." Dan said softly. "You're coming back to the loft with me."
Blair didn't have the energy to argue with him and if she was honest, she didn't want to be on her own either.
They nodded farewell to Vanya and Dan quickly hailed them a cab.
"Thank you for not calling me an idiot, Humphrey" Blair mumbled into Dan's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.
"You're not an idiot, Blair," he sighed. "The history between you and Chuck… it's complicated and none of us ever know for sure if it's definitely over between you two. This could well have been an attempt by him to rekindle your relationship." There was a pause. "Did you want him to propose to you?"
"I don't know," she answered truthfully. "I don't think I wanted to become engaged to him but nor did I want him to announce his engagement to someone else."
Dan shook his head. "I can't believe he just proclaimed it like that in front of you without any warning. That guy's still a colossal ass. He knew that you'd probably be upset – he admitted as much as we were leaving, but he still went ahead with it anyway."
"Discretion's not exactly his style," Blair muttered, recalling previous new partners that Chuck hadn't exactly tried to keep private.
"And then he had the gall to ask you to organise his wedding at such short notice." Blair made a strange noise that expressed her frustration and heartache at the situation but that did not, in fact, form any words. "I'm proud of you for being the bigger person here, Waldorf. God knows how strong you're being by accepting and agreeing to all this; stronger than me at any rate."
Blair shrugged half-heartedly. "I'm sure if Serena asked you to be a part of her wedding you'd do the same thing."
Dan shifted next to her. "Yes, I suppose."
They settled into silence for a while as the lights of the city blurred past them.
"Can we still pretend to be engaged?" Blair requested hopefully. "We only have to do it in front of Chuck – he thinks we're keeping it a secret from everyone else."
"I don't think – " Dan began.
"Oh, come on, Humphrey." She wheedled. "He already thinks I'm pathetic enough for getting engaged to you."
"Wow, Blair you really know how to charm a guy." He murmured sarcastically.
"Imagine what he'll think if he finds out I made it all up out of desperation!" She shuddered at the thought of that complete humiliation.
Dan gave a soft groan. "All right, Waldorf, I'll save your blushes by letting Chuck think how utterly in love with me you are and how you begged me to marry you."
Blair hit him playfully on the stomach and he half wheezed, half laughed. "You wish, Humphrey."
The feeling of mirth quickly died away and Blair was quickly plunged into a depressed state once more. She was determined not to cry again though. She'd shed enough tears for Chuck Bass over the years, letting loose any more would do her no good. She would just have to get through the next four days with as minimal heartache as possible and then she'd have to try and cut Chuck out of her life for good.
They were soon back at the loft. Blair walked straight over to Dan's extensive DVD collection. It was well established that they watch a classic film when one of them was upset and needed to forget about their problems.
Dan opened a giant bag of potato chips. "I'm not eating those," Blair commented.
"Who said they were for you?" Dan replied, his mouth already full of chips.
"Eugh, Humphrey. Is that any way to behave in front of your fiancée?" Blair teased.
"Maybe you shouldn't have proposed to me then." Dan joked back. "Which Audrey film have you chosen for us to watch then, Waldorf?"
"Rebecca." She replied, slotting the disk into the player.
"That's not an Audrey film," he pointed out as she slotted down to sit next to him.
"How astute of you, Humphrey." She quipped.
"I hope this film doesn't serve as inspiration for you." Dan said seriously.
Blair frowned. "I'll admit that there are some possible similarities between my present circumstances and the plot of the film but it's not as though I'm dead, is it? And Chuck and I were never married anyway." Dan's steady look was making her nervous. "Besides, I haven't seriously schemed for months. That's all behind me now." She turned away from him and started watching the film.
They added comments throughout like they did on most film viewings. About twenty minutes in Blair started helping herself to the potato chips.
"Apparently Olivier wanted Vivien Leigh to play the lead because they were together at the time." Blair said between chips. "He treated Fontaine dreadfully because she got the part instead and then Hitchcock noticed how upset that made her so he told Fontaine that everyone on the crew hated her too so that she'd play Mrs de Winter perfectly to match what she felt in real life."
"Wasn't Hitchcock a nice guy." Dan replied sarcastically.
"This is the only film of his that won a Best Picture at the Academy Awards," Blair shrugged. "And Fontaine was nominated too."
"Yeah, but she didn't win. Ginger Rogers probably deserved it anyway."
Blair couldn't hold back a scoff. "Really, Humphrey. Over Fontaine, Bette Davis and Katherine Hepburn? I haven't watched 'Our Town' so I can't comment on Martha Scott's performance."
Dan blinked. "How do you remember all that? I can't even recall the nominees from this year."
Blair smirked. "It's a gift."
About halfway through the film Eric arrived home with a quizzical expression on his face. "What did you say to Chuck just before you left?" He asked once Blair had paused Rebecca. "He was acting really strange for the rest of the night?"
Blair looked over at Dan. "Can we let him in?"
He sighed. "I suppose so."
"I told Chuck that Dan and I are engaged to be married." She informed Eric and he quickly subsided into laughter.
"What? That's ridiculous. I can't believe he actually believes you." Eric chuckled. "Why'd you tell him that?"
"Blair was feeling insecure." Dan deadpanned and Blair elbowed him in the ribs. "What? That's what it comes down to." He objected.
"But everyone knows you're not engaged." Eric pointed out.
"I told him that we've been keeping our relationship a secret." Blair explained, annoyed that Dan had summed up her feelings so perfectly. Surely she was allowed to feel insecure when her long time love was getting married.
"And you really think you and Dan would've been able to keep a relationship between you a secret from me?" Eric leaned over and scrounged some of the remaining chips. "You'd never have been able to do that."
Blair threw up her hands in exasperation. "Fine! I'll tell Chuck that you already know. Happy?"
"Not really. These suck," he said, throwing the chips back into bag "and Chuck's asked me to be a groomsman. Although, my woes suffer in comparison to yours, almighty wedding planner."
"Ugh, don't remind me." Blair moaned. "Besides, you should be extra nice to me – and not just because Chuck's getting married but because as the almighty wedding planner I will have a very strong hand in deciding what you have to wear."
Eric paused. "Point taken. Can I just take this opportunity to say how beautiful you looked tonight and how poised and mature you appeared throughout tonight's proceedings?"
"Duly noted." Blair intoned. "Now sit down or leave, Van der Woodsen, so we can carry on watching Rebecca."
Eric mimed zipping his lips closed before sliding onto the coach on Blair's other side.
Blair sighed as she re-started the film. Today, in contrast to its potential to be one of the greatest days in her life, had actually turned into a complete horror of a day. But she had her boys at her side, a classic film showing and the prospect of this being only a short prolonged agony (if that even made sense).
She'd get through this.
The noise of her cell phone vibrating woke her from her slumber. She swept her hands underneath the pillow until they closed around the buzzing object and she brought it to her ear, eyes still closed.
"Hello?" she mumbled.
"Blair? Where are you?"
Blair's eyes snapped open.
"Chuck?"
"Blair, I'm here to pick you up and take you to the airport."
She groaned and looked at the clock on Dan's bedroom wall. It was seven fifteen. "I'm sorry, Chuck. I'm in Brooklyn."
"Brooklyn?"
"I'm at Dan's." She explained.
There was a pause. "I see." Another pause and Blair realised what Chuck must have thought she was doing spending the night at the loft. "Will you be ready by the time I get there? Do you need me to bring a change of clothes over for you?"
"No, there's no need. I'll be ready. I always leave a couple of outfits here. It makes sense considering how often I stay over." This was perfectly true – she did stay at the loft every now and then but it was purely platonic, Dan would always sleep on the couch. But she wished she could see Chuck's face as he digested these words.
"I'll be there soon." He eventually ground out before hanging up.
Despite her overall bad mood, Blair laughed to herself for a couple of seconds before realising how tired she was.
She hid herself under Dan's duvet. She liked Humphrey's bed. It was so soft and comforting. Her bed was lovely too of course – but the silk sometimes felt cold and slippery against her skin. Being in his bed was how she imagined lying in a fluffy cloud should be (without the fact that she'd fall straight through and be instantly soaked).
She closed her eyes and indulged her tiredness for a while. She blamed Dan and Eric of course, because after they finished watching Rebecca they had made a joke plan of Chuck and Liberty's wedding. They made a dining menu of all the food that Chuck hated, Blair made quick sketches of the different outfits to be worn by the bride, groom and attendants. Eric cried out in horror at the lurid neon pink, beige and orange suit she'd designed for him. Dan made a mock-best man's speech highlighting the very worst of Chuck Bass and he did it in such a humorous fashion that Eric and Blair had been breathless with laughter.
But now the real wedding planning had to begin. She emerged from her duvet hideaway and opened Dan's wardrobe to look at the clothes she had available. Finding something suitable she laid it on the bed before making her way quietly to the bathroom so as not to wake Dan and Eric.
However, when she emerged she discovered Dan waiting for her holding a mug of coffee. She took it gratefully – Dan's coffee never failed to disappoint. "Chuck's on his way." She muttered, taking a quick sip.
"You got everything you need?" She nodded. "I'm gonna go out and get some fruit for a salad."
She frowned. "You hate fruit salad for breakfast."
"It's not really for me." Dan explained.
Blair smiled. "Thank you. That would be nice."
In the end it turned out that Blair was only able to have a few spoonfuls of fruit before there was an insistent banging on the door.
"Good morning, Chuck," Dan greeted as he opened the door. "Can I interest you in some coffee or food?" It was blatantly obvious to everyone that this was only a courtesy – Dan didn't want to serve Chuck and Chuck didn't want to stay.
"No thank you, Humphrey. I need to be on my way to pick up my fiancée."
"Sorry about this morning," Blair offered half-heartedly.
"Lucky for you Liberty's arriving at JFK, not Newark. So stopping here hasn't delayed us too much." Chuck drawled.
"What? She hasn't got her own private jet?" Dan joked.
"We're coming back to the city via helicopter." Chuck elaborated.
Dan paused. "Oh."
"As hard as it is to tear myself away from your stimulating company, Humphrey, I don't want to be late. Are you ready Blair?"
She nodded and hopped down from her bar stool. "I'll see you later, Humphrey." She was so used to calling him by his surname that she only realised afterwards she'd said it that it was slightly strange to call her fiancé that. To recover this error she walked over to Dan and kissed him on the lips. Luckily he wasn't too shocked to respond to the small kiss.
"Have fun, Blair-bear." Dan called to her as the door closed behind her.
"Isn't that what your father used to call you?" Chuck asked.
"Mmm-hmm." Blair replied blushing, because that was more than a little bit weird. She was going to have to have a serious word with Dan about acceptable terms of endearment when she next saw him.
A/N Thank you for reading. Reviews are very much appreciated
Love,
Lil Drop of Magic
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