Hey everyone! It's been a while but this time I'm back and I got request about longer chapters so now you got a pretty long one although I have to say that you might get shorter chapters but more frequently updates. It's totally up to the story, depends on how the story goes
Thanx for the reviews, they make me happy as usual!
To answer your reviews, here we go :D
LiBy23: thanks so much! Hopefully you will like this chapter!
HnM skinnys: thanks again for your supporting words!
Thegoodgossipgirl: I understand how you mean that was not how I meant it. The thing would be that Chuck being Chuck obviously told Blair that he liked being single just to hurt her and also because he's afraid of saying what he's really feeling. So he didn't just give it a go, he desperately wants to get back with Blair but he doesn't really now how he can right now because he have hurt her so much in the past. Eric and Serena obviously knows that Chuck loves Blair so therefore Eric's advice to Chuck that he should just give the whole thing some time. You know what they say, Rom wasn't built on one day :P
Guardian izz: As always, I love to read your reviews! And I might actually take up on one, because as you say; doing something totally new is very much Blair's way of dealing with things. Haha, I'm kind of glad that you thought he was portrayed as a jackass because that was the writing I was looking for so I'm not insulted at all and now you're finally getting a longer chapter! =)
8. We're so close but yet so far apart.
After their first meeting they didn't see each other for weeks. Blair was glad for that. She tried to avoid him as much as possible. Instead she and Mike came even closer but every time Serena asked Blair firmly stated that they were just friends and they would keep it that way. It was on one of Blair and Mike's usually walks that it happened. She didn't really know how, but it did. They kissed, or it was more like a peck and she didn't really know how to react so she ran away, because exactly like a certain person she hadn't seen in weeks she was an expert in the fine art of hide and seek. Mike called the next day and Blair cursed herself for accepting to eat breakfast together because it was bound to be awkward, how could it now? He had been the perfect gentleman, first trying to just be there for her and make her laugh and then giving her a goodnight kiss and she had acted like she was terrified of boys and their bacillus. It felt like middle school all over again.
"Hey, there you are! I thought you ditched me," Mike said and laughed.
"Well, I certainly thought about it," Blair joked but as a matter of fact she had indeed thought about just skipping everything. Maybe New York wasn't the right place for her, she should just move to a quiet villa in the South or something. How good as that sounded reality came knocking on the door and a villa on the country would never be possible. New York was her life, she just had to accept that and stop wallowing.
"So, how are you?" Mike asked.
"I'm fine. Can't complain."
"So you're not upset or something about last night?" He asked curious.
"Well, of course not!"
"Because you seemed pretty eager to get away as fast as possible."
"No, what makes you think that?" Hm, maybe the fact that she had practically ran away from him, even with her high heels on.
"I like you Blair." She froze, this could not be happening… or could it? Damn it, she was not ready for this! So she answered something that was true, but maybe not the truth he was looking for.
"I like you too."
Mike raise his eyebrows, and studied her carefully.
"Well, I like you in a I-want-to-be-more-than-friends way. And something gives me the feeling that you don't like me the same way."
She couldn't deny that he was right and she couldn't lie to him because he deserved more. But maybe Mike was what she needed, he was like Nate, easy and no drama but he was unlike Nate in the sense that he was actually was interested in her and he wasn't so boring as Nate even though Nate had loosen up a lot since high school.
"I guess I understand. Chuck must've hurt you more than I ever imagine a guy could do. I understand that you need time but it's been two years Blair, you need to move on and I'm not like Chuck. I can't promise I won't hurt you but I can promise you that I will always be here for you and I will never leave you."
Blair started to sob. Why couldn't she just be head over heels for Mike? Then life would have been so much easier.
"Don't cry Blair," Mike said soothingly and brushed away some hair from her face.
"I- I just wished I would feel the same way for you. Then my life would have been so much easier."
Mike smiled at her, a sad one but also filled with admiration.
"Well, life's not supposed to be easy. I really wanted you to feel the same way as I did, that you felt that we might have something together but you're not feeling that and that's okay. What you need to know is that I will still always be here for you Blair," he said sincerely.
"I believe you and I love you for that. I want you to know how much you've done for me and how important you are in my life," Blair said and looked him in the eyes. He nodded and brushed away the tears that had fallen on her cheeks.
"Goodbye Blair."
"Goodbye Mike."
Chuck tightened his grip of the glass. It wasn't even noon and he had already started with the scotch. He had been on his way to work when he'd seen Blair together with some blonde dude and he couldn't stand how comfortable they looked together. He hadn't talked or seen Blair for weeks, she avoided him like the plague and he was too afraid to do anything. So, Gossip Girl had probably been right about him, he was a coward. Because he could blame Blair, he could be cruel to her, ask her why she'd never came to Paris for him, but in the end, it was the simple truth that he was a coward. Or otherwise he would have done something; he would have swallowed his pride for the only girl he ever loved. But he didn't and that made him weak. In a way Blair had never been. And she never would be.
She was weak. All she ever could think about was him. And the way he made her feel. And it wasn't just good, since he'd come back she had relived her pain in a way she knew he hated. Because when he got to know about it all these years ago he always blamed himself, even when she was with Nate. But that was who he was, he always took the blame. He always felt like a failure and when he did she jus wanted to hold him and tell him that he made her happier than anyone else could. She got up from the couch she sat in, it was enough! Hadn't she said, promised, him that she would not be weak anymore? It was time for her to keep her promises.
Chuck got up from his couch, he had to get out. He had been sitting in his suite all day and just pitied himself and that was not okay. Get a grip man, he He cursed himself. He ran a through his hair, he should have showered but he had almost forgot what it meant to be a normal person. He hadn't met people for weeks and all he could do was sitting all by himself, drinking and keep thinking about her. He was pathetic. And so in love.
He was on his way out when he spotted a photograph. It was of him and Blair. It stung in his heart, he looked at the photo. They looked so happy. It had been one of the best days in his life.
*Three years ago*
"Honey, we're gonna be late," Blair called out. Chuck smiled when he heard her voice, he had always hated pet names but he loved when she called him 'honey', although he would never tell her that.
"Don't call me honey!"
"You love it, just admit it!" she teased but little did she know that he indeed loved it. But mostly he loved her. He smiled at her and brought her closer for a kiss.
"Seriously, we really have to go," Blair said, slightly out of breath as she broke the kiss.
"Can't we just skip dinner?" Chuck whined. Apparently they couldn't because thirty minutes later he was sitting next to Blair and talking about white wines with his step-mother.
"So, you guys been together one year soon," Serena said enthusiastic. Blair smiled and squeezed Chuck's hand under the table. He pressed a soft kiss on the top of her head.
"Yes, we have," Blair answered dreamily.
"What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know. Chuck won't let me know," Blair said and pouted at Chuck. He just laughed. It was going to be amazing. But nothing near what she was. She was his entire world. He had lived so many years of his life without her by his side but now he could not imagine not having her right next to him.
"Well, that's because then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"
Blair rolled her eyes at him.
They continued to eat, laugh and talk about their lives since they didn't get the chance to eat together so often. It was nice, he never had a family like this but he was also dying to be alone with Blair.
"You want to get out of here?" He whispered softly in her ear. She looked at him, and she could see that was what he really wanted.
"Yeah, sure. Let me just go and get my purse." She kissed him softly and then left the table.
"Thanks for tonight but we have to go now. We'll se you all soon," he said and excused himself.
"You ready?" He asked.
"Yeah, let's go home."
"Actually, no."
Blair looked at him surprised.
"No?"
Chuck just smiled and took her hand. When they came outside there was a red cabriolet parked. Blair looked at him suspiciously when he jumped in.
"What are you doing Chuck?"
"What does it look like? Come on!" He grinned like a cheshire cat.
"Do you even know how to drive?" She asked with doubt in her voice.
"Blair, I was born rich, not dumb," he said and tried to look insulted.
They drove for a while, both of them were awfully quiet which wasn't like them but either of them minded really, it was a comfortable silence. Blair looked at Chuck as he drove the car, he looked so handsome and so happy which made her heart melt. After everything they'd been through they finally got the chance to be happy.
Chuck slowed down the car. They were on Staten Island now.
"Chuck… what are we doing here?"
"Wait. Come with me." They walked together for a while until soft music was heard.
Blair gaped, in front of her were a table with two chairs and there was an small orchestra playing her favorite song, Moon river.
"Is… is this for me?" She asked with watered eyes.
"Of course it is." Chuck looked at her worriedly.
"Don't cry Blair, I just wanted to surprise you because it's out one year anniversary tomorrow but I'm not gonna be able to be there because of the business trip, you know."
"I'm not sad, Bass. I'm happy. This is so romantic." She smiled and dried her eyes.
After the dinner Chuck asked her to dance.
"What's all this? You never dance and here we are, on the street, alone in the night, dancing?" She asked softly.
"You remember that movie we saw? It was the night after I told you I loved you."
"The notebook?"
"Yeah, you said that was your favorite right after all those old movies I know you like. And you said that sometimes you wished that you were Allie because she had Noah and he loved her even though they were miles apart. I wanted to give that to you, I hope I can give that to you because Blair, I will love you forever. I do believe, just like Noah, that our love can create miracles and that it can do anything we want it to." He looked at her with nothing but love and adoration in his eyes and then he pulled out something. A key.
"Noah built a house to Allie, even though he didn't know if she would ever come back. I didn't build this for you Blair but I was there all the time. I designed it and I decorated parts of the house, the rest I left for you."
"Where's this house?" She asked.
"It's in France. You know that little place we went to last summer? We both loved it, Montpellier."
"I don't know what to say. I just want you to know that I love you so much."
"That's enough for me Blair. And I want you to know that whatever happens between us, this house will always be yours. Just like my heart."
He didn't know what it was but something held him back. He wasn't ready to meet the outside world. Not yet. So he poured himself a scotch and lay down on the couch.
She was finally here. She hadn't been here for four years, because right after high school graduation Chuck bought the Empire which meant that it was always there they were or together in the apartment Chuck bought for them but she knew that he stayed at the Palace now. Serena had told her, not that she had asked but under the years they've been apart her best friend knew that even though she never directly asked about him she wanted to know how he was and what he was doing more than anything else. It felt weird to stand outside 1812. The place that held so many memories. For Chuck it was his home, he had grown up here. For her it was so much more, because she knew that Chuck might despise the place in a way because it reminded him of his childhood and all the bad things that had happened him but for her it was an oasis of memories. When she and Chuck had their affair during junior she came to the Palace as much as she possible could and it was something special with the room. She looked at the door. Then she just turned around and got in the elevator because she could change her mind. She couldn't do this. It was too much, too soon. She wasn't ready to let him in yet, even though she knew she would never be happy with another man.
