Knock—knock.
The sound of knuckles rapping against the glass of the limo window startled Chuck awake. It was the sound of unintelligible ramblings and a face burrowing itself deeper into his neck that made him realize there was a pair of legs draped over his thigh. When he saw the dainty hand clasped into his large one, he smiled.
Knock—knock. "Mr. Bass."
Suppressing a growl, he rolled down the window and glared at his chauffer and held up his hand to preemptively stop him from speaking. He pointed towards the woman on his lap and placed a finger over his mouth. Arthur nodded and stepped back, while Chuck rolled the window up, before slowly disentangling Blair from his lap. She let out a murmur of protest when he laid her across the backseat of the limo, but promptly fell back asleep when he tucked his jacket around her. He closed the limo door behind him as quietly as possible and turned to Arthur.
"Mr. Bass, I'm so sorry to have woken you, but it is Sunday, and every Sunday morning, I take my daughter to church. I know it's only seven-thirty in the morning, but Mass starts at eleven and—."
"Fuck."
"Excuse me?" Arthur asked nervously.
He placed a hand on his temples and rubbed his head. He had forgotten that Arthur was supposed to be off hours ago. And he was going to have to sneak back into the penthouse. He opened his eyes and looked around him.
"Where are we?"
"Central Park, sir."
He nodded.
"When I give the word, drive us to Miss Waldorf's penthouse on 5th Avenue, but not before I give you leave," Chuck ordered. "When we get there, do not get out of the car, unless I give you word. Just park outside and wait."
"Yes, Mr. Bass."
A moment later, he slipped back inside the limo. Instead of sitting, he crouched down so he could be almost face level with the sleeping brunette, and tucked back a curl behind her ear.
"Waldorf," he whispered. "It's time to wake up."
She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. She pulled his coat over her face.
He laughed softly, before reaching over and tugging on his tuxedo jacket.
"Blair," he said more firmly. "We need to get you home."
He heard some muffled sounds from beneath the coat. Just as he was about to make an attempt to remove his jacket off of her, she popped up from laying position and sat up.
"What time is it?" She asked sleepily as she stifled a yawn.
"Just after seven-thirty," he answered as he sat down next to her.
"Where are we?"
"Central Park."
"Hmm." She rested her head on his shoulder and threw her legs over his thigh, resuming their position from earlier. As she placed her hand back on his chest, she said, "Wake me up when we get to my house, ok?"
And before he could say another word, she burrowed her head into his neck and fell back asleep.
He temporarily lowered the partition to instruct Arthur to drive, before placing his hand over hers.
.
.
.
Chuck quietly shut the door and leaned his forehead against it. He let out a sigh of relief—neither Bart, nor his extended family had been about, and he made it into his temporary bedroom undetected.
"Where have you been all night?"
Shit.
He turned around to see an angry Serena van der Woodsen sitting at his desk—her arms crossed and eyes furious.
"You and Blair disappeared shortly after we arrived at Victrola, and neither of you have been answering your phones all night. What did you do to her, Chuck?"
"Nothing," he hissed back. "In case you haven't noticed, Blair and I are both consenting adults, we don't need your permission to spend time together. Did it ever occur to you that neither of us wished to speak to you? And not that it's any of your business, but nothing happened, so you can retract your claws."
She stood up and perused him from head to toe.
"Sorry, but I don't believe a word you say. Look in the mirror and tell me you don't scream, walk of shame."
He didn't have to look, he had caught a glimpse of his reflection in the elevator, and he knew he had bed head and that his clothes were extremely rumpled.
"I wouldn't know, Sis, but I trust you're the expert in that department," he said coolly.
Two red spots appeared on her cheeks. "You're a fucking asshole. Stay away from me, and stay away from Blair."
He rolled his eyes at the irony that she was the one who had camped out in his room. "That's really a decision for her to make, don't you think?"
"I mean it, Chuck. If you don't, I'm going to tell Bart that you didn't come home last night—you know the house rules," Serena threatened.
He really was beginning to hate the blonde, and there was a quick retort at the tip of his tongue—until he remembered that he had convinced Blair to give him a chance in secret—and that included leaving both Serena and Nate in the dark.
"Whatever, you say, Sis. Now, if that's all, could you please leave? I'd like to get some sleep—I didn't get much last night and brunch is in a couple of hours," he taunted her.
She punched him on the arm. "You're such a pig!"
"Tell me something I don't already know. Now unless there was something else you wanted, get out."
"I'm leaving. Stay away from Blair, Chuck."
"As you wish."
Serena slammed the door loudly.
His room was now blissfully silent and he stretched out on his bed. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he felt his phone vibrating in his pants pocket. He pulled it out and looked down at the screen. 1 new message.
I forgot to thank you for last night. I had a lot of fun.
He tapped back a quick response, before putting his phone down on the night stand. He started to drift off to sleep with a smile on his face.
.
.
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Lunch, Tuesday at 1pm—I'll send a car.
Blair smiled as she read the message on her phone and sprawled out onto her bed, ignoring the disapproving look Dorota sent her way. Last night had been perfect, so perfect, in fact that she had almost broken her cardinal rule and kissed him before she had gotten out of the limo. She actually wished that her maid would leave already, so she could act like Audrey in My Fair Lady, and dance around her room in her nightgown and hum "I Could Have Danced All Night" to herself.
Ring. Ring.
She looked at her phone and sighed. She should have turned her phone back off after she texted Chuck. For a moment she just glared at the offensive piece of electronics, but she had a sneaking suspicion that Serena would just call the house phone if she didn't answer. She cleared her throat and shooed Dorota out of her room so she could have a semblance of privacy.
"What, S?" Blair asked irritably in lieu of a greeting.
"Are you ok? Where have you been all night?" Her friend asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. Now is that all? Because I'm tired, and I'd like to go to sleep."
"You didn't—you know, with Chuck, did you?" Serena asked hesitantly.
"How is that any of your business? I already have one mother and last I checked, she's presently in Milan. I didn't get the memo that you were filling in for her," she snapped. Why was Serena suddenly feeling mother hen-ish? She couldn't recall the last time S took this much of an interest in her dating life.
"Tell me you didn't sleep with him, Blair," she begged.
"I didn't. You know I won't even kiss on the first date, so why would I sleep with him, when it wasn't even a date?" She huffed.
"Then what were you doing all night? I've already seen him this morning, so don't lie to me and tell me you didn't spend the night with him."
Sullenly, she refused to speak. It didn't matter what she told her best friend, it was obvious that Serena was hellbent on thinking the worst of Chuck. And just for that very reason, there was absolutely no way Blair was going to tell her that they spent the early hours of the morning watching Singin' in the Rain inside his limo, after he had forced her to select a movie at the 24-hour drug store in Murray Hill when she had rejected the limited DVD options he had stored in his vehicle. And she most certainly was not going to tell her how he had talked incessantly throughout the entire musical, but provided some of the most entertaining and biting commentary while pointing out the plot holes, forcing her to alternate between shushing him and kicking him in the shins. And she definitely wasn't going to tell her how after the movie, he had just held her hand while they traded favorite childhood memories, and watched the stars through the roof of his limo and how he had draped his suit jacket over her when she had gotten cold.
"Blair?"
"We just talked, ok?" She answered tiredly.
"I just don't want you to get hurt and Chuck moves really fast. And you're not used to guys like him who are after one thing and one thing only. He doesn't understand that you're Blair Waldorf, and that he needs to treat you like a queen."
But he did—the words were at the tip of her tongue, but they stopped there.
"Stop treating me like I'm some sheltered UES princess, who can't fend for herself against the big, bad Chuck Basses of the world, S. I can take care of myself," she said bitterly.
"I know you can, B, but you're my best friend and I'm just worried, ok? I promise, it's not you that I don't trust, it's him."
Well, I do, Blair wanted to scream in frustration. However, she didn't think that would do well to aid the illusion that her and Chuck were just friends. With a loud sigh, she fibbed, "If it's any consolation, Serena, I already told him that there wouldn't be a next time."
"Really?" Serena asked, the relief in her voice more than apparent.
"Yes, really. I'm not going to lie, I was very tempted to say yes, and he can be quite persuasive. But he agreed to respect my wishes."
"Well you made the right decision, B. Although, I wonder why he got so defensive earlier when I told him to stay away from you?"
"Serena!"
"What?"
"You're impossible!"
"I was just looking out for you! But that doesn't make sense why he would have overreacted—."
"I'm sure he was just trying to get under your skin," Blair interrupted quickly. "He did mention how entertaining it was getting a rise out of you."
"That must be it then," Serena said, a tinge of doubt still lingered in her voice.
"Oh, and in case you haven't figured it out, I will not be attending brunch this afternoon."
"Why not? Eric will be so disappointed."
"Because, Serena, it would be awkward," Blair said as she rolled her eyes. "You know, your stepbrother-to-be, Chuck? Won't he be there? Seems a little much to be having brunch with his family considering I wouldn't even agree to a date."
"That's why you were being so dodgy last night! Ugh! Yet another reason for me to hate Chuck—you'll never come over now! Why is it that I'm the one being punished here?" Serena groaned into the phone. "But you're right, it's probably best if you don't come for brunch."
"Give Eric my apologies and tell him we can grab lunch later this week. Is the interrogation over now? Do I have permission to go to sleep?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Call me later, ok?" She chirped cheerfully.
"Ok, S."
Blair hung up her phone happily. Finally! Just as she was about to set her phone down, it buzzed again.
1 new message.
Just so we're clear, I'm considering lunch our first date.
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.
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tbc
