It's Thursday, my lovely readers, and you know that that means! Thank you all so much for the wonderful response to the last chapter. I think I got around 26 reviews, which kind of blew every other chapter out of the water in that aspect. So thank you so so much!
So just a few concerns to address before we start. Yes, Nate and Serena knows about C and B, sorry about the confusion. But they do know the truth. No, Louis didn't physically hurt Blair. He hurt her a lot emotionally, because the trust between them was broken. It'll play more of a part later on in the story. And finally about the smut, I can't promise there will be an explicit smut scene. It's a personal choice, I'm not particularly comfortable writing graphic smut. I know that smut is a big part of C and B and I don't mind dabbling in the racy, but you won't be reading anything 50 shades of grey in this fic. It's rated T after all. But again, I make no promises either way, we'll see...
Anyway, enough of my babble, on to the next chapter.
"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," Chuck's voice broke through her early morning half asleep haze.
Blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from her eyes, Blair slowly rose up on her elbows. "Chuck," she murmured, her eyes focusing on his figure standing at the edge of the bed. His hair was slightly damp and combed back as if he had just taken a shower, and he was dressed in a neatly pressed suit. "What time is it?"
"Six in the morning," Chuck fiddled with the sleeves of his jacket. "Our helicopter takes off in an hour."
For a moment, she struggled to place his words before it occurred to her. Their honeymoon, the plane, she wasn't even dress or packed. She shrieked, jumping out of bed. "And you didn't wake me up earlier?"
"It wasn't my place," he shrugged, but there was a smirk on his face that spoke otherwise, he was enjoying this.
She hurried to the nightstand where she had left her phone the night before. "What happened to my alarm?" She fiddled with her phone, wondering why the alarm she had set for earlier hadn't gone off and woken her up.
"You didn't wake up and it was bothering Evie," Chuck shrugged again, "So I shut it off."
"Ugh," she groaned, hurling a pillow at him, "I hate you."
"Same to you darling," he neatly sidestepped the pillow. He headed towards the door; "I had Dorota pack a bag for you since you decided to sleep in. Evie and I will be headed to breakfast, feel free to join us if you make it in time."
"Chuck Bass," she stalked towards him, "I will kill you."
Laughing he slipped out the door before she could make it half way across the room, leaving her steaming behind him.
Despite her apprehension about Dorota's packing skills, the outfit that Dorota had laid out for to wear on the plane pleasantly surprised her. They had met the helicopter just in time for take off and quickly she had slid into the jump seat before anyone could protest. Chuck and Evie slipped into the back.
Being a nervous flier herself, Blair had recognized all the signs in Evie. She clung to Chuck, he had to carry her out of the limo to the helicopter. Once she was strapped in, Chuck wove his arm through hers and forced her to focus on him. He spoke in a soothing voice, distracting her from everything that was going on around them.
"See Evie," Chuck said without pointing out the window, "We've already taken off."
Turning away from both of them, Blair glanced out of the window; by watching Evelyn and Chuck she had barely noticed take off herself.
Chuck had spoken too soon, though, because just as Blair and Evelyn began to relax, the pilot hit a bit of rough air. "Daddy," Evelyn squawked, clutching onto Chuck, while Blair stiffened in her seat, turning her heated gaze on the pilot.
"Everything is alright, Miss. Bass." The pilot assured Evelyn with a soft smile. "Just as spot of turbulence."
Blair was not convinced. "I think you should pull up a bit," she said icily. "No one in this helicopter enjoys turbulence."
There was a beat of silence, and then Evelyn let out a hesitant giggle. "I agree with B, Daddy," she said, relaxing a bit into seat.
"Sorry, Mrs. Bass." The Pilot said quickly, pulling up the helicopter a bit.
The rest of the flight had been relatively quiet. Chuck continued to play little games with Evelyn to keep her distracted, while Blair marveled at the ease with which Chuck interacted with Evelyn. As soon as they landed in Teterboro, they were ushered into the Bass Jet, where she settled into the large comfortable seat, placing her sleeping mask over her face and her noise canceling headphones over her ears.
It was only fifteen minutes when she felt a small poke in her side. She lifted the sleep mask and headphones, and turned to face Evelyn sitting next to her, a tablet in front of her. "Want to watch the Little Mermaid with me?" She asked Blair hopefully.
She had planned on sleeping during the flight, but Evelyn's earnest hopeful face changed her mind. "Sure Evie," she pulled the mask and headphones off completely.
Evelyn grinned broadly and unplugged the headphones from her tablet. She turned back towards Chuck, "Do you want to watch too, Daddy?"
Blair turned around to spot Chuck staring at his laptop intently, but his posture was stiff, as if he had been paying attention to their conversation. He looked up suddenly, his eyes boring into Blair, forcing her to look away from him. "No, baby." He said finally. "Thank you for asking, you and Blair enjoy."
Evelyn turned away from Chuck, to focus on Blair. "I love Little Mermaid," she said conversationally. "I know all the songs, even Under the Sea, which is the hardest."
"Good for you," Blair said, feeling a little lost. She had grown up with Funny Girl and Breakfast at Tiffany's as her childhood movies. Disney Princess movies were a bit outside of her scope.
"Do you know the songs?" Evelyn asked excitedly. "We could sing together."
She heard Chuck let out a snort behind her.
She coughed, "No, Evie." She shifted uncomfortably. "I've never seen the Little Mermaid."
Evelyn gasped. "No way," she shook her head. "Now you have to watch it."
The next hour and half that ensued Blair focused on the screen as Ariel fought for her true love, while Evelyn's eyes ping ponged between the screen and Blair's reaction to the movie. Every song had Evelyn singing along loudly and very off key. But Blair found it surprisingly endearing, there was something incredibly uplifting about her innocence.
"Did you like it?" Evelyn launched on her as soon as the credits began to play.
Blair smiled at Evelyn, "Yeah," she said. "It was great."
The movie was no Audrey Hepburn film, but it wasn't half bad either. She liked that Ariel had fought for her future, and that Eric was by her side in the end. Mentally Blair planned to introduce Evelyn to some of Audrey's finest when they got back.
Evelyn danced a little in her seat. "Yay," she squealed. "We should watch Mulan next," she said quickly, tapping a few buttons on the tablet. "Or maybe Aladdin."
"Evelyn," Chuck interrupted surprising Blair. She turned around to see him standing over them with an unreadable expression. "I think it's time for your nap."
"What?" Evelyn whined, crossing her arms over her chest unhappily. "Why?"
Chuck glanced at his watch. "Because we have another two hours until we land, and you don't want to be all sleepy when we get there do you."
Evelyn struggled for a moment with that. Finally she huffed and got up. "I'll sleep, but I won't be happy about it."
Chuck's mouth twitched, like he was fighting a smile. "Okay," he said, and Blair could hear the suppressed laughter in his voice. He led her over to the seat besides his, already reclined and lined with pillows and blankets. Despite her supposed anger, Evelyn quickly cuddled into blankets and pillows and her breathing evened out within moments.
Chuck looked back at her, several emotions passed over his face. "You should get some rest too," he said finally. "Sorry she roped you into watching the Little Mermaid."
"It was no trouble," she said softly, but he had already turned away from her.
"Welcome to Atlantis, Mr. Bass," the overeager front desk attendant trilled him, holding out the room keys in front of him. "We're very pleased to have you here. Your suite is already ready for you, and we set up the room for your daughter as you requested."
"Thanks," he said shortly, reaching over to grab the keys.
The attendant clutched onto them a little tighter. "And I'd just like to let you know that we have a wonderful kid's facility where you can drop off your little one, in case you and the Missus want some time alone." The attendant gave a very obvious wink, looking over his shoulder at Blair.
Chuck gritted his teeth, "Thank you, but I don't believe that will be necessary."
The attendant continued to look past Chuck with a very large smile, "I'm not so sure your daughter is on the same page."
Chuck whirled around to see a woman in a safari outfit and a ridiculous hat crouched in front of Evelyn, talking animatedly. Evelyn was smiling and nodding along eagerly to whatever the woman was saying, while Blair looked on nervously, unsure whether or not to intervene. "Thank you for your service," Chuck growled out, grabbing the key and stalking towards Evelyn and Blair.
Blair stood up as Chuck approached them; she hurried to his side, pulling Evelyn along with her. "She wanted Evelyn to finger paint," she sneered in Chuck's ear as they walked away.
Chuck shook his head; there was no way Evelyn would be going to a kid's club.
He was wrong.
As it turned out, Evelyn was incredibly persistent.
The first evening in the hotel, he had kept her sufficiently distracted, shuffling her from activity to activity, until she was properly exhausted. He had tucked her into bed and slept by her side, effectively avoiding sharing a bed with Blair for another night.
The next morning, however, she had woken up early in the morning, slapping him awake with a simple, "I'm bored." She continually shook him, avoiding his pathetic calls for five more minutes, not relenting until he finally agreed to drop her off at the wretched Kid's Club.
The same woman with the safari's outfit was standing at the front desk of the room. "Evelyn," the woman crowed in delight. "It's so good to see you."
"When should I pick her up?" Chuck said, as he signed Evelyn in. "An hour or two?" He directed towards Evelyn.
"We're open from 7 am to 6 pm." The woman said happily, "You can pick up Evelyn any time in between."
"Pick me up in the evening, Daddy," Evelyn crowed out, over her shoulder as she ran into the room. "I'm going to make friends."
He stared after her pathetically for a moment, unwilling to go back to the room and face a day alone with Blair.
When he got back to the room, Blair was seating on the couch with plates of food surrounding her. "I didn't know what you liked," she shrugged, avoiding his eyes.
Chuck smiled, "Thank you." He sat beside her, floundering for a moment. It was their first time alone since the kiss and the garter toss, and he didn't have Evelyn as a shield anymore. There was a part of him that didn't know how to act around her. When the urge to kiss her again faded away, he was left feeling uncomfortable. "Blair," he said slowly, unsure of what to say.
"Let's be friends," Blair said suddenly, cutting him off, grabbing a platter off fruit in front of him.
"Uh," he stuttered, surprised by the sudden change. "What?"
"We have to spend a lot of time together," Blair said slowly, a slightly strained smile on her face, popping a strawberry into her mouth. "I think it would be easier if we were friends, not at each other's throats all the time."
"Oh," he said, feeling slightly disappointed, but mostly relieved. He grabbed a plate of eggs in front of him. "Sure. Friends." He mused on that, digging into the eggs, chewing thoughtfully. He did like Blair, and being friends with her wouldn't be all that hard. It would be quite enjoyable, in fact.
The smile remained on her face, but a spark in her eye dimmed a bit, and he felt like he had done something wrong again, before he could say anything, she cut him off again. "What's your plan for today?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe a massage." She rolled her eyes at that. "Maybe some golf. Drinks for sure," he mused.
"What about we go out and do something?" She offered. "I heard there's a beautiful snorkeling spot nearby."
He froze at that. "I'm not much of a snorkeler." He said quickly, avoiding her gaze.
"Oh," she slumped a bit at that, "You don't like snorkeling?"
"I'm not much of a swimmer," he admitted, casting his eyes downward.
"You don't know how to swim?" It comes out more surprised than she wanted it to. Chuck seemed to be good at everything; it was a pleasant surprise to discover something he wasn't good at.
"It is a common sport that my father didn't think was appropriate for me," Chuck spat out, instantly defensive.
"There's no need to get nasty," Blair said simply, "Swimming is important for anyone to learn. What if Georgina tries to throw you into a river?"
Chuck didn't even think that deserved a response.
"Look," Blair said softly. "Go put on your swim trunks and meet me on the beach, I'll teach you how to swim."
"Blair," he said slowly. He was really looking forward to a massage.
"Now, Chuck," she ordered, walking towards the bathroom, without glancing back him.
Sighing loudly, he grabbed a pair of red swim trunks and headed towards the other bathroom. By the time he had slipped out of the bathroom, Blair had already left, leaving behind a set of directions to the spot she had chosen.
He had to hand it to her, she had found a secluded part of the beach. It was a cove of sorts, completely enclosed by rocks, keeping the water calm. She was standing at the edge in a see through sarong, and underneath he could catch a glimpse of a red and white bikini.
"We don't have to do this," he tried one more time, sending the water anxious glances. He wasn't scared of water, drowning in a shallow calm pool didn't seem all that possible. What terrified him was the possibility of failing terribly before he even began.
"We do," Blair urged. She tossed Styrofoam board towards him. "This is a kickboard. It will help you float."
He caught it with the tips of his fingers, eyeing it disgustedly. "Is this used?"
"It was the best I could find on short notice," Blair shrugged, looking not all that sorry. "It was either this or the floaties." She walked towards the water, throwing the sarong off her body, making his mouth feel all dry at the sight of her in red and white bikini. "Now quit whining and follow me." He edged into the water behind her, until it was about waist deep. "This should be good. Now place the kickboard under your chest and try to float."
He fumbled for a few moments, trying to place the kickboard under his chest, until he was finally in the position she had asked him to be in. "Okay," he huffed out from the awkward position, "Now what."
"Now I take the board away." She said reaching towards the board slowly.
"No," he snapped, clutching the board closer to his chest.
She giggled softly, "You're never going to learn if you use a kickboard to float all the time."
"I told you I don't need to learn," he said standing up, so he was towering over her.
"And what if Georgina throws," she started breathlessly at their proximity.
"What if Georgina throws me into a lake?" He finished taking a step towards her, so that they were standing chest to chest. "Then you'll be there to throw me a kickboard, won't you?"
"I—," she stuttered for a moment, taking a step back, and stumbling straight into the water.
He burst out into laughter as she sat up in the water, gasping for air as she struggled to push her damp hair out of her face. She gaped at him as he struggled to regain control of his senses.
"You are such an asshole," she spat out, pushing herself off of the ground in a huff.
"I didn't push you," he defended himself with laughter still in his voice.
She went to turn and storm off towards the beach, but he caught her wrist. For a moment, both of them stared at their joined hands, neither of them daring to breathe. Chuck suddenly let go, "Sorry," he mumbled quietly, looking away.
Blair felt a pang of disappointment. "It's okay," she muttered back. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. "It's getting cold," she said quickly, looking back towards the hotel, even though it was still midday and the sun was shining down mercilessly on them. "I think I'm going to go back and take a shower."
"Oh," he backed away from her. "I think I'll practice for a bit," he gestured uselessly around him.
"Okay, I'll see you inside." She said, walking away, leaving him alone with the kickboard.
"Daddy," Blair heard Evelyn's voice echo through the doorway. "You're hogging all the bed."
She hadn't been all that surprised when their encounter on the beach had led Chuck to spend another night in Evelyn's bed. She had been avoiding him herself. She had rushed through her shower and spent the rest of the day doing everything she could think of outside of their room. It was only at dinner when she saw him again, which hadn't been as awkward as she feared as Evelyn chatted through the entire thing about all the things she had done at the Kid's club.
He had all but darted into Evelyn's room when they had gotten back to the room. And Blair had settled into their large bed, unable to sleep.
She heard the sounds of scuffling and a loud thud. She sat up straight as Chuck shouted out Evelyn's name. Jumping out of the bed, she ran into the room next door to see Evelyn on the floor in a tangled mess of blankets and Chuck leaning over the edge of the bed to look at her worriedly.
"Daddy," Evelyn shrieked indignantly, glaring up at Chuck. "You pushed me off the bed."
"Sorry, baby," Chuck pleaded, trying to awkwardly lift Evelyn back on the bed.
As soon as she was settled back in the bed, Evelyn began to shove at Chuck uselessly. "Get out, go sleep in your own bed."
"Evelyn," Chuck tried to say sternly, but it failed as Evelyn's fists began to pound into his back.
"Leave, leave, leave," she chanted angrily, her voice growing with intensity.
"Fine," he grumbled, getting off the bed.
Blair watched on, only slightly amused, as he stalked past her, into their room. Evelyn sighed as she settled into her now unoccupied bed. "Evelyn," she said, trying to mimic the voice her father used to when he wanted her to know she did something wrong, "That was not very nice. You should apologize to your Dad."
It was surprising, how naturally the authoritative the voice came to her.
Evelyn moaned, "I'm tired," she squirmed in bed. Clearly she wasn't going to get out of bed for any amount of guilt. "I'll do it in the morning."
Blair sighed. There was no point in dragging a cranky Evelyn out of bed to an even crankier Chuck. "Fine," she said, shutting off the lights in the room. "In the morning," she warned as she closed the door.
She paused for a moment, inhaling deeply, before she made her way to the other bedroom. Chuck was already fast asleep on the side of the bed that she had been occupying. For a moment she melted at the sight of him. He looked younger, less troubled and restrained. She made her way to the other side of the bed, and slipped in beside him. Carefully, she placed a pillow in between them. The urge to curl up next to him was already too great; she wouldn't let herself be tempted.
Closing her eyes and listening his light snoring fill the room, she quickly succumbed to sleep.
Despite the size of the resort, it wasn't exactly easy to avoid Blair.
No matter where he went, he seemed to run into her. At the Spa, he was walking out of the Sauna, while she was walking into the pool. At the beach, he was enjoying a good book, while she was tanning. At the bar, he enjoyed a scotch, while she slipped into the seat beside him and ordered a martini.
Even at night, he couldn't escape her.
After Evelyn banished him from her bed, she apologized in the morning for her harsh words, but didn't retract her order for him to sleep in his own bed. "You're a big boy, Daddy," she lectured him, when he had begun to beg.
Every night he pretended not to notice as Blair carefully slipped a pillow in between them when she thought he was asleep. Internally he was grateful for the forced distance, however it became a problem when he realized that every morning he had woken up before her to see her face inches away from his, as she was practically lying onto of the pillow.
In some ways, it was easier to let go. He had quietly begun to seek her out, finding her in the middle of a movie in their room, or catching her just as she was about to go to the pool and offering to join her. Giving into the notion that there was no escaping her had reduced his anticipation of seeing her by ten fold.
But in some ways, it was harder. Seeing her more frequently just reminded him that soon enough they'd be living together and then she would be completely unavoidable. And unlike the discreet resort, he couldn't fumble around her in New York, claiming that he was just leaving the bar, oh she was leaving, then he was staying.
"Are you okay?" She asked on the last day, over another martini in the bar. They had run into the bar more frequently as the week went on.
"Me?" He said quickly, too quickly. "I'm fine."
She eyed him closely for another moment as she took another sip of her martini. He felt sweat beginning to accumulate on the back of his neck. Moments earlier he had been wondering what it would be like to just take on the bar, to just give into his desires. She couldn't actually see that on his face, could she?
"Ready to go back home?" He asked quickly, changing the subject.
"Sure," she shrugged. "It'll be nice to go home and see everyone again."
Nodding absentmindedly, he tapped on his near empty glass, looking around the bar for something to comment on. He prayed for a moment that some blonde bimbo would walk in on the arm of an old man or the man they had spotted with three different women would walk in. It was one thing that they had found they had in common over the week, mutual disdain of those who were unworthy.
"Chuck," she said slowly, catching his attention. "Where is home?"
He opened his mouth to respond to her, when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned around to face a smarmy looking man dressed in a bellhop uniform. "Mr. Bass?" He asked.
"Can I help you?" He asked his voice dripping with venom.
He slid a piece of paper across the bar towards Chuck. "Chuck Bass, you've been served." He said, before turning around and walking off.
Chuck gingerly lifted the paper off the bar, knowing exactly what it was, yet still hoping it was a subpoena for something, anything else.
"What is it?" Blair asked, looking at him nervously.
He glanced over it quickly. "It's the subpoena for the custody hearing," he murmured quickly. "Three weeks from now," he finished, his mouth growing dry.
"How does Georgina know where you are?" Blair asked, looking around as if expecting to find Georgina lurking behind some column.
"She must have hired a PI, or kept tabs on us. She did this on purpose." He folded up the paper and slipped it into his coat jacket. "She would have wanted to try and ruin our honeymoon." He shrugged, standing up, buttoning up his coat. "I guess that means she had recovered from our little surprise."
"Where are you going?" Blair asked, looking up at him.
"First," he said, "I'm going to complain to the manager about this," he tapped on coat where the subpoena was burning into his chest. "Then I'm going to take Evelyn out of the Kid's club, and we're boarding the next flight home."
"Chuck," she said slowly, standing up with him.
"There's no way I can spend another day sunning on the beach when Georgina is at home building up a case against me. We have three weeks to find a way to fight her, and I won't waste another second." He spat at her angrily.
"I was going to say," Blair said slowly, not letting his harsh words impact her, "that I'll go back to the room and pack up."
He deflated a bit. "Thanks," he said quietly, sending her a soft genuine smile.
He turned around, and Blair's hand darted out, catching his wrist. He turned around to face her with a questioning glance. She smirked at him, "If it's a war Georgina wants, it's a war she'll get."
Tbc.
Oh side note, I guess I'd been absentmindedly writing Tbd in the last few chapters like a total ditz. Sorry about the confusion.
Let me know about what you think about the Honeymoon and Georgina making her first move on C and B. Interesting enough I actually rewatched the Little Mermaid around the time that I wrote this chapter, it's my favorite Disney Princess movie. As for the tensions between C and B, here's a little spoiler for you, it's going to boil over real soon, maybe even next chapter...
I'll let you muse on that one.
As always please review and favorite if you enjoyed the chapter, and please follow if you'd like to see more, because there's definitely more to come!
