Not as much fluff this time! Hope you'll still like it!
"That was completely unnecessary!" Blair scowled, storming out of the theatre with Chuck in tow.
It was Friday night and they were out on the town dressed to the nines. Blair had wanted a night out, tired by now of always staying in, and since they had previously established that Chuck and Blair don't go to the movies they had opted for the opera instead.
Except Chuck had found the opera incredibly boring, which had surprised Blair. He had never complained about going to the opera before, in fact she knew he was a fan of both "Aida" and "Madam Butterfly", but apparently tonight's show had bored him. Which was unfortunate, but she had at least expected him to keep his mouth shut about it during the show. Instead he had loudly voiced his opinion no less than three times, leaving Blair feeling so embarrassed that she decided to leave during intermission.
"Come on Blair" he now sighed, following three steps behind her.
"No, I will not come on" she snarled. "Just because you thought the opera was boring that doesn't mean you have to ruin it for everybody else."
"You can't seriously tell me you thought it was an engaging performance" Chuck countered. "It was like torture to the ears. And I like opera."
She spun around and shot him a death glare.
"I would have found it a hell of a lot more engaging if my boyfriend hadn't griped loudly every five minutes" she said.
He just shrugged a shoulder, not really caring what she thought about him voicing his opinion. It was the only thing he had been able to think of to keep himself awake and she would probably have been even more annoyed if he had fallen asleep.
"You could have just kept your mouth shut and suggested we leave during intermission" Blair continued.
"I'm sorry Blair, I hated the show and that's just that."
She scowled and turned around again, striding up to the waiting limo. He got in after her, noting how she demonstratively sat as far away from him as possible.
"You're overreacting" he said.
"No, I'm not" she said. "Arthur! Take me home to my mother's penthouse."
"Right, that's not overreacting" he said with rolling eyes.
"You don't get it, do you? I wanted a night out with my boyfriend and you couldn't even manage that without raining all over it."
"Well it was a nice opera you picked."
"First of all, how was I supposed to know you'd hate it?" she said. "Second of all, I actually liked it."
"You liked that?"
"I did. But I couldn't enjoy it, thanks to you."
"Okay, okay, so what is it going to take to make this go away?" he sighed. "Want me to sit through one of your Hepburn movies?"
"Don't bother martyring yourself by sitting through anything" Blair said and made a face at him. "I'm going home and you can spend the evening doing whatever the hell you want. Give my best to your hand."
"The idea makes sense to me" Chuck said. "I made you walk out of the opera you liked so in return I'll watch a movie of your choosing."
"You can't just trade them like that" Blair argued. "Besides, that's not even the point."
"Right, the point is I can dislike the stuff you like so long as I don't say anything."
"The point is you embarrassed me! I thought you had grown up, I thought you knew how to behave. Obviously I was wrong. I can't believe this."
"Blair…"
"You know what, don't talk to me. I just want to ride the rest of the way in silence."
He was quiet for a moment, eyeing her carefully. He remembered this issue, it had been brought up in junior year as her main reason for why they couldn't be together in public.
"I'm sorry" he said after a while.
"You always are. Then you go right ahead and do it again."
They rode the rest of the way in silence. Blair was furious and Chuck had no idea what to say or do to change that. This was unfamiliar territory. Not Blair being furious with him, but his girlfriend Blair being furious with him. Unlike before he couldn't just finish the argument off with a witty remark and withdraw to his own corner until she was ready to come out and play again. Now it actually mattered whether or not they parted angry.
Before he could figure out what to say or do they arrived at the Waldorf penthouse. Blair moved past him to step out of the car and he grabbed her arm. She glared at him but he didn't let that stop him.
"Blair I'm sorry" he said again.
She yanked her arm loose and got out without saying anything. The door slammed shut and he saw her stride inside her building just as the limo began to drive off. He closed his eyes hard and felt the all too familiar feeling of depression wash over him. He hadn't felt like this since he had professed his love for her. Now he was not only feeling down, he was feeling worried.
Deep down he knew it wasn't rational to feel worried. Couples argued, it happened. It wasn't the end of the world. But at the moment his relationship with Blair felt very fragile. It had taken such a long time and cost so much to get to where they were now and the strength of their relationship hadn't been put to the test yet. Not knowing how much it could bear before it would break was scary. Even though this particular argument wouldn't cause a break it made him wonder what kind of argument could.
So was the thought of going to bed alone tonight. Not only that, but going to bed having fallen out with each other. That thought scared him more than anything else. He wasn't sure how he should handle the situation. Obviously there was nothing he could do to prevent them from sleeping apart tonight, she had to cool off first.
He got back to the Palace and headed straight for the minibar while getting rid of his bowtie and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt. He glanced over at the bed and then emptied the glass of scotch he had just poured himself. He had never slept in that bed without her. Funny how he could react this way after only four weeks together. But the thought of getting into that bed without being able to reach out and touch her, without kissing her goodnight, made him feel depressed. Especially knowing that she was in her own bedroom being angry with him.
He sat down by the table and opened his laptop, eager to find something to take his mind off their fight. Nothing seemed to interest him though. He stopped by news sites, sports sites, porn sites, Gossip Girl and a few message boards but nothing seemed interesting.
With a groan he filled his glass again and opened up his e-mail account. He hadn't talked to Nate in almost a month, he might as well write him and ask how he was doing in Europe. Off being bored to tears with that Brooklyn broad no doubt.
He wrote quickly and without saying much about his own summer thus far. He hadn't gotten a chance to really talk to Nate about the whole Blair thing before Nate went to Europe and he wasn't quite sure it was alright to go on and on about what they were up to.
He finished writing and pressed send just as someone knocked on the door. He got up, took a sip of scotch, and walked over to answer.
It was Blair. Still in her evening dress, giving him a stern look.
"Fine" she said. "Storming off home might have been a bit of an overreaction. Though not by much."
He stepped aside and she strode in to the hotel room. He tried to hide the smile that came over his face. He wasn't forgiven apparently, but at least she was there.
Blair didn't say anything further. She threw the bedspread aside and yanked her pillow away to grab the nightie she had put there this morning. She then walked over to Chuck and turned her back to him.
"Unzip me."
He did as told and then watched as she walked into the bathroom to change into her nightie and brush her teeth. He shook his head, not really sure what the heck was going on, but decided to follow her example.
He shut down his laptop and got out of his clothes before getting into his silk pajamas. He then walked into the bathroom where she was removing her makeup. Their eyes met in the mirror and she looked away after glaring at him for a second. He gently nudged her to the side to make room for him to brush his teeth.
When he was done he walked back out and crawled into bed, opting for sitting up instead of lying down. Blair followed a few minutes later, not saying a word until she had gotten under the covers.
"I'm still angry."
"I got that."
"I felt humiliated at the opera."
"I'm sorry about that."
"You are such a stubborn, uncouth ass."
"I realize that."
She then seemed to soften a bit.
"I was really looking forward to going out tonight. I'm so disappointed that it ended up like this."
"I'm sorry I ruined tonight for you" he said. "I don't want to embarrass you, or make you angry. I guess I just… haven't figured out when to shut up yet. Or how to behave like a proper boyfriend in public."
Her next move surprised him. She sat up and moved so that she was straddling him, her arms resting on his shoulders.
"Promise me you'll at least try to behave" she said seriously. "I hate to nag, I don't want to be one of those girlfriends who tries to change who their boyfriends are because who you are is why I love you. Just… try to show yourself from your best side when we're out in public, okay?"
"Anything for you" he said.
She nodded slightly. He waited for her to say something else. She looked sad and he hated that. But at least she was there. She didn't want to go to bed angry any more than he did.
"I'm really glad you came, Blair" he said and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "I drank two glasses of scotch just to make friends with the thought of going to bed without you tonight."
"I didn't want us to end the night on the note we did" she said.
"Then let's end it on a better one."
He leaned forward and kissed her. She seemed to relax a bit and kissed him back.
"It was a stupid fight" she said with a little laugh.
"Maybe… Maybe not… You may have overreacted but you made some valid points."
She caressed his cheek and gave him a halfhearted smile. He felt himself starting to relax for real. So the fight was pretty much over. They had had their first falling out and it had ended with her straddling him in bed. Things could be a lot worse than that. It was luxurious to hold her like this after she had been so angry with him. To be able to fight and make up.
"You feeling okay?" he asked. "You look sad still."
"I'm just sad we had our first argument as a couple" she said. "And I'm sad we almost went to bed angry. And separately."
"But we didn't" he pointed out. "My wonderful girlfriend decided to be the better person and came over to sort things out before bed."
A genuine smile appeared on her face and he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.
"Technically we sorted it out in bed" she said. "But before going to sleep at least."
"Yes, which means you can give me another relationship lesson before we call it a night. One of the few sexual territories I'm not familiar with. Care to teach me all about make-up sex?"
Apparently she did. She kissed him hungrily and he hugged her as tight as he dared to. She was amazing. Their fight was nothing. And the evening he had feared would be the first where he went to sleep in this bed alone would end with the two of them making love.
Luxury.
Thanks for reading. Please review!
