Chapter 7– What the fuck happened in Paris
AN: Wow, I can't believe I'm already in chapter seven! Supposedly, Fashion Week is in two days, just so you guys know where the storyline is at. Also, I've decided to introduce more parties and formal events in the story, because, basically, that's the real essence of GG, right?
ATTENTION: I was REALLY liberal with word usage here. Don't kill me if I throw around a few curse-words.
Serena dinner gown: http : / / www . polyvore . com / blake_lively / set?id=11695994
Nate suit: http : / / www . polyvore . com / cgi / set?id=8418409
Blair's dinner gown: http : / / www . polyvore . com / names / set?id=23651134
Chuck's dinner outfit: http : / / www . polyvore . com / forgiveness_is_more_than_saying / set?id=12973993
The first thing that Chuck took notice was that Evan DeVeau was a lot handsomer in person. There was a mix of knight-in-shining-armor with sensibility and intelligence to him. Like he could read right through people, but never let them know. Chuck knew that was exactly the kind of man Blair needed.
Chuck's head screamed; who cares? His heart whispered; you do, stupid. So he did what he was programmed to and pushed those thoughts out of his head… even though they never left completely.
Evan went over to hug Blair tightly. He hugged her over the shoulders, around her neck. That was the way she hated being hugged the most. It made her self-conscious about her height. But Evan didn't know that. Only Chuck knew that.
Blair pulled him away, staring at Evan with a soft expression. Then, in a second, she smacked his arm and made an irritated face. "Why did you come without warning? And why, of all places, did you have to stay here? In this hotel? And maybe I'll ask an even better question: why were you with Jenny Humphrey?"
Chuck figured from that Blair hadn't seen Jenny yet. It was also weird that she hadn't known Evan was coming to New York.
"Blair! Calm down… J'étais perdu. And I just happened to bump into her in the street, she helped me get to your friends' place." Evan paused suddenly, realizing they weren't alone. He turned his head slowly to look at Chuck with a questioning expression. "Qui est ce?" he directed the question to Blair, but continued to look at Chuck.
"Evan, c'est Chuck. Mon... ami. " Blair also turned to look at Chuck.
"Pleasure." Chuck came out from the shadows that had been covering him and extended a hand out to Evan, which the man took immediately.
"Evan DeVeau, nice to meet you."
"Yes, I know who you are." Chuck let go of his hand and smirked giving a quick look at Blair, who was more than worried with all of this.
Evan seemed completely surprised, snapping his head back in Blair's direction. "Chuck? C'est celui que vous..."
"No." Blair lied immediately, knowing Chuck was listening in on every word. "Shouldn't we go inside?"
"Of course." Evan stepped aside to let Blair and Chuck inside the room. Evan went in after then and closed the door behind him. "Make yourselves at home."
"It's funny you say that."Chuck smirked. "It is my hotel."
Blair groaned, she was expecting stuff like this to happen.
"Oh." Evan stared at Chuck, and then stole a quick look with Blair. "Wow. I heard this hotel was owned by one of the richest men in the state."
"Yes." Blair said quickly, before Chuck could meddle anymore. "Chuck Bass is quite well-off. In fact he's the one I had to interview. You know Evan; for the freelance." With every word she said, her eyes pleaded Evan to not say a word about what happened in France, or the exam results Evan had brought for her. He seemed to get the message, but something triggered in him when he heard Chuck's full name.
"Chuck Bass? As in, Charles Bartholomew Bass?" Evan had to ask.
Chuck smirked. He knew why Evan recognized the name.
"You're the new investor in the clinic I work for?" Evan was completely shocked at this point.
Blair made an expression that made Chuck let out a breathless chuckle. She lifted her eyebrows, smiled a fake grin and her nostrils flared. She was probably thinking of the most painful way to kill Chuck. "You are WHAT?" her words came out slowly; because of she was putting all he energy into not suffocating him with his scarf.
Chuck didn't say anything to both of them; he just sat back in the couch and watched the scene as if from the outside. Blair took deep breaths and Evan's eyes were more than suspicious.
She mustered up the courage to turn to Evan. "Why didn't you call? Or say something."
Evan snapped from his inner thoughts and stared at her. "I'm sorry, but there have been some crazy things happening to me lately. My boss is pondering firing me because of something that wasn't even my fault… something I don't even know how to explain;" Evan's eyes were worried at this point. "My landlord upped my rent to five time more… he said it was because the building had been bought out. I ended up living with Angelique temporarily. My accounts were all frozen and friends are all avoiding me."
Blair's face was very pale. Her eyebrow was arched. She was about to blow. She turned on her heel to give Chuck a killer look. "It seems you really are back to your old self."
"Give me some credit here. I bought a building, got involved in the board of a private clinic, blackmailed a bank manager, and bribed his so-called friends. I must say, this must have been the best and fastest scheme I've ever pulled off." Chuck got up. He was being so nonchalant about this, it was almost annoying.
"You?" Evan's breath hitched. "You? You did this to someone you don't even know?"
Chuck smirked. "I know you pretty well actually, Evan-Jean DeVeau."
Blair could see Evan was furious, trying to stop himself from punching Chuck to a pulp. Evan was extremely against violence, but keeping his cool was easier said than done.
"Chuck!" Blair caught his attention. Then she said, almost about a whisper: "I told you not to meddle in my life. I told you to stay away from my friends, from my life. But you just can't stay away, can you? This is not something you can plot against. This is serious; it's not like destroying a high-schoolers reputation by spreading filthy rumors or hazing. It's my life. And whether you like it or not, Evan is an important part of it. He was there when you weren't."
"Blair." Evan called out for her.
"I'll talk to you later." Blair felt bad for being so curt with Evan, but she'd had enough. She walked out the door, leaving the two men to themselves.
To Chuck's surprise, Evan gave a sad laugh at all this. "You people. You're so scared to care; for fear that the other person won't care at all." He didn't look at Chuck while saying this, in fact, he was probably talking to himself.
Chuck wondered if he could slip out unnoticed. This was getting weird.
Evan's eyes turned on him, as if he read his mind. "You can leave." Chuck was about to do exactly that, when Evan called. "Wait. I think you deserve something first." And then Chuck felt a hard fist hit his face. There was a crunching sound and Chuck took a few steps back to balance himself. "That was for ruining my life and making Blair sad."
Chuck grabbed his jaw, to put pressure on it. He really wanted to punch Evan back, but Blair was outside, and he really needed to catch up with her. So he just left the room and ran after Blair, who was waiting for the lift.
"Blair." He acknowledged, going into the elevator just on time.
She didn't say anything, afraid talking would break the facade. She had to fix things with Evan; he was a good friend and her doctor. Blair owed so much to Evan and Angelique, more than Chuck could ever understand. More than Blair could tell Chuck about.
"I told you to stay away."
"I'm sorry."
Blair turned to him, and was actually thinking on telling him everything but the elevator stopped abruptly and the lights went off. Blair almost fell, but Chuck held her to his chest, his own back hitting the wall.
"Shit!" Chuck let out a groan of pain. "My back!"
"Chuck! Oh my God." Blair got off him and took his face in her hands. "Are you alright?"
Chuck looked at her, "I'm fine." He lied through his teeth. "What about you?"
Blair frowned. "I'm perfect."
"That, you are." He smirked.
Blair giggled. "Idiot." A big grin appeared on her face. "Thanks for catching me."
Chuck smiled and sat up properly, Blair still in front of him, on her knees. "My pleasure."
They stared at each other. Then he pulled her in by her waist to kiss her passionately. She stroked his chest with one hand and pulled his neck closer to her with another. They only let go for air. Her body trembling and hot from wanting more than she got. Blair still wanted to feel him close to her, so she rested her head on Chuck's chest, hearing the hard thud of his heart. It warmed her that he was so close. It was the perfect compensation for all those nights she'd wake up screaming for him. For the times she puked and couldn't even hold down water as she whispered his name. For the times she'd wake up with Evan's hand caressing her cheek and she'd pretend it was Chuck's.
"I won't interfere anymore. But you have to tell me: when are you going to let me know everything?" Chuck whispered silently.
Blair grimaced. She stroked his chest with the back her hand. "I really don't know. I don't want to tell you. It's going to change everything: especially with us. But I know I should tell you. Because…" I love you. "It all depends. I want to leave New York as soon as I–"
"Wait!" Chuck gently looked down at her, lifting her chin up with his hand. "You're leaving?"
"As soon as I finish my project on the New York Fashion Week." Blair bit her lip. "That's the plan. I just don't think that I belong here anymore. I have a life in Paris. A career and real friends. People that support me through anything." Blair clutched onto Chuck's shirt, as if for dear life.
Chuck hated seeing her like this. He just wanted to be the one she could trust with everything, but he'd ended up ruining that. "I used to support you through everything. Remember?" he said this on a limb. He wanted to hurt himself three times more than she was hurt. Chuck felt he deserved that.
"Yes. I remember more than you know." Blair confessed this sadly.
"Yeah. We were Chuck and Blair." He rested his forehead on the top of her head.
"Blair and Chuck."
He let out a chuckle. "We stuck by each other through everything."
Blair sighed. She got up and went to press the emergency button. "Hello, this is Blair Waldorf. I'm stuck in the lift with Chuck Bass. Mr. Bass is owner of this hotel. I believe it unacceptable that help has not been sent yet."
On the other side came the voice of a scared man. "I'm terribly sorry Miss Waldorf! We had no idea Mr. Bass and yourself were stuck in the elevator. We are sending someone over right now."
"I do hope so. I'm not a big fan of these situations." Blair let go of the button and turned to see Chuck, already up and straightening his jacket. He looked at her after a while. "Chuck, why don't you, Serena, Nate and I have dinner tonight? I suppose there are some things I need to explain."
Chuck raised his eyebrows. He wasn't expecting her to give up the truth so easily. In fact, he wasn't sure he was ready for it. "Well, of course Blair." He would have to do some major scotch soaking up to get over that. Maybe that's not a good idea. I haven't had scotch in big quantities in a long time, a little voice whispered in his head. Fuck that, am I supposed to get through the night without it? A louder voice echoed.
"Blair! I have the hugest migraine!" Serena gave her response to Blair's request to go to dinner. "To handle Chuck Bass at his worse, I have to be in a patient state of mind."
"This is important." Blair grabbed Serena's hands from the other side of the kitchen counter. "I wouldn't be inviting all of you if it wasn't. Also, don't use Chuck as an excuse when it's so obvious it's because of Nate. Now, what has been going on?"
Serena shrugged. "Nothing."
Blair glared automatically. "You are almost as bad a liar as your boyfriend… and that's saying a mouthful. I know something has been going on. Nate told me some stuff."
Serena let go of Blair's hands and turned away. "So what?"
Blair followed Serena into the living room, grabbing her arm and swinging her around. "So what? Serena, you may be pregnant! Are you sure you want this? Are you sure you're ready?" Blair shook Serena, in a desperate attempt to wake her up. This is not the time to be immature.
"Do you think I'm ready B? I haven't even had the courage to take a test. I'm not ready. My relationship with Nate isn't ready. Even though we have moved in together.
"Please, Serena. Moving in together is as normal as a first date for Upper East Sidders! I mean, I did it with Chuck when I was at NYU and we'd been dating for how long? Three months?" Blair reasoned with her.
"Blair… lets be real with each other here: nothing you and Chuck did was normal. Still isn't."
She had to agree. Just an hour ago Blair had made out with Chuck in an elevator following their conversation in which they had decided that they were no more than friends... and all that after sleeping together the night before. There was nothing ordinary about that. "True. But you know I'm right. And you know you have to take the test!"
It was Serena's turn to give in and agree. "I will."
"And you have to come to dinner."
"No."
Blair bit her lip. Then she grinned. Serena had been curious about what happened in Paris for so long. She'd insisted to know what was happening. "I'm going to spill everything… how can you resist that Serena?"
Serena's whole posture changed "You're absolutely right, I'll come!"
Blair had decided on having dinner at the five star Italian restaurant, that had just opened. Of course, they had all gotten dressed up for the occasion. Blair had picked a blue one shoulder signature dress by Karen Millen and navy platform pumps to match her structured satin clutch. These had all been a present from her editor at Elle. The editor had access to all these designs and, it was the perfect birthday gift for her favorite employees. Blair being one of her favorites, of course.
"Blair, how do I look?" Serena came into Blair's room and twirled in her tight fuchsia dress. It was very fitting, had a big cut in the back and a black belt. She was wearing it with a Marc Jacobs's leather wallet, black glass bracelet and black onyx necklace that she'd bought on a whim that afternoon.
Blair scanned her. Then she gave the sleaziest and crassest comment she could think of, just to shock Serena a bit "Red burning hot."
Serena threw her a hazy look. Then she cracked a smile and commented, "I apologize, mon capitaine."
While Serena helped Blair fix her hair back, the brunette said "I'll let it slip."
"See Blair? You're a natural queen… a leader." Serena quietly remembered the times in high school when Blair was the head-schemer. Her smile gave out as she finished retouching her hair, half down, half pulled back in a braid.
"Serena, here's the thing: Upper East Side Queens aren't born on top; they climb their way up in heels no matter who they have to threat on to do it. Don't act like you don't know that." Blair turned around with a raised eyebrow and a smirk across her face.
Then they both cracked up laughing; only stopping when they fell on Blair's bed next to each other, tired. Completely breathless.
"Am I interrupting something?" Nate came into the room carefully.
Blair was the first to get up and look at him. "No, we were just having some girl time, Archibald."
"I think I miss you calling me that." Nate looked at himself on the mirror. He looked so handsome in his suit, grey shirt and black tie.
Blair turned to Serena. "I can't believe I used to want a Romeo, he's so scatterbrained. A Hamlet is so much more fun, unforgettable." Blair looked down, sadly. "I could never forget my Hamlet."
The hidden message in what Blair said had Serena completely shocked. Nate didn't understand, so he just said; "Come on girls, the reservation is for eight o'clock." And he left the room.
"Blair, did you just say…" Serena sat up and touched Blair's shoulder.
B turned her head to Serena, and smiled sadly. "I do love him S. And what I'm going to tell you tonight is going to change everything."
Serena pursed her lips and grabbed her best friend's hand. They caught up with Nate and got into the limo on their way to the restaurant.
The waiter was getting impatient. Chuck hadn't arrived yet, he'd sent Nate a message saying he had a late meeting. "When will you order, sir?"
Blair sighed. "Nate, you can start ordering. Chuck will just have to eat alone."
"Alright." Nate twisted his mouth while deciding what to eat. "I think I'll have the Rosemary Chicken."
"And you, Miss Waldorf?" The waiter scribbled the order and turned to Blair, who was sitting next to Serena.
"Risotto with Fresh Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes, and Basil. And one more bottle of port wine please, the vintage Burmester… we've almost finished this one." Blair was decisive with her order.
"I'll have the Ribollita Soup. Also, the Marinara Rich Cream Sauce. And the Beef Rossini-Style." Serena scanned the menu. The waiter was about to leave when Serena continued. "And for desert; Stuffed Peaches with Amaretto."
Everyone stared at Serena. She just shrugged. "What? I'm hungry."
The waiter frowned but wrote everything down, repeated the order and left their table and the three Upper East Siders sitting alone. And silent. I swear I could hear a hair fall right now.
They just stared at each other. All of them thinking of different things.
Ok, Blair. Calm down, you can do this. Who's the Boss? I'm the Boss. I am going to tell them. I can't back out now. I'm doing this… getting past this lump, doing the article for Elle and going back to Paris as soon as humanly possible. On the outside, though, Blair Waldorf showed absolutely none of the fight that was going on in her head. Her face was cold and expressionless, as if bored.
Serena was anxious and it showed quite a lot. She was never good at hiding things. Wow, Blair's so calm. Doesn't she care at all? Oh, I hope Nate figures out that I may be pregnant. I don't want to tell him by myself. I really, really don't. Oh Nate, why can't Chuck just be an idiot as usual and tell you?
Nate just looked confused, not even trying to hide his emotions. This is weird. So weird. Serena looks like she's gonna have a heart attack. And Blair's got that look. That look she does when she's got to do something annoying. The look only one person could match.
Of course, Nate broke the silence. "Well, this is awkward."
"Fear not. Chuck Bass is here." His voice was silky and low, as usual. Pulling the chair next to Nate and in front of Blair, Chuck sat down, smirk across his face and cigar in hand.
"Oh, what a pity. I was hoping you wouldn't show." Blair's voice was venomous, making Serena and Nate tremble and Chuck laugh. She pursed her ruby red lips and took a sip of the equally red wine. "We've already ordered."
"That's not a problem. Not hungry." Chuck took a nip at his cigar before putting it out. "I want to get right to business. So, will you do the honors, dear lover? And tell us what the fuck happened in Paris?"
Blair stared at him for a while, completely defenseless. Even though he was wearing one of his best outfits, purple ascot and all, it was obvious to the three of them Chuck was drunk. It was surely a special occasion, because Basses had quite the tolerance. I can't tell him… not in this state.
Spotted, the Non-Judging Breakfast Club reunited for a dinner out of a movie we've seen oh so many times. Something that somehow resembled a double date? Or maybe not. After all, dear S looks pale and C wasted out of his mind. Oh, now I remember! A little something called drama. Lights, camera, action… let the play begin. Hope you're up for the encore.
You know you love me,
Gossip Girl
AN: This was an okay chapter for me. I had writer's block quite a few times while righting this, so I'm sorry if it's rubbish. this chapter was longer than usual because I had a very distinct story line for it and I couldn't really cut a lot of it (I mean, the C versus E scene was necessary, C&B need their hot time, a mix of bestfriend love with S&B is needed to keep things light, and then the dinner scene is a set up for next chapter!) I'm not sure AT ALL if next chapter Serena, Nate and Chuck will find Blair's secret out. Give me your opinion, do you think Chuck and the others should know NOW? Or maybe I'll do it later on and make it even more explosive and add Evan/Jenny/one of their parents/Dan/Vanessa to the mix? I don't know! Give me feedback. R&R -Carrie Violet
