Author's Note: Normally I don't update so closely together but I was very happy to get some more alerts and even some reviews on my last chapter!
So thank you to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favorited this story. It really means a lot.
And to my guest reviewer, A, I know that it seems like she prefers Serena, but please keep in mind that Blair was in Europe during the summer (I think it was Europe?) and didn't arrive to the Hamptons until the end of the summer for the party. So it may seem like Charlotte spends a lot of time with Serena, but that's only because Blair isn't there. Don't worry – there's a lot of Blair bonding in the chapters to come and there's even a scene that shows that she does not favor Serena.
So without any further delay, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or plot from Gossip Girl, save for my own. I also do not own any references to anything from any other franchise or show. Thank you.
"I really am so happy to see you," Blair grinned widely over at her sister. They were lounging in the yard of CeCe's Hampton's house with Serena as they attempted to soak up the sun and gossip. Chuck was nearby, hanging on to every word that Blair had said about her vacation. "I missed you so much, Charlotte."
"I missed you, too," Charlotte glanced over at her sister and gave her a bright smile, but it was obvious that she wasn't fully there in terms of paying attention.
"And I am so excited for you to meet James," she continued on, sipping at her daiquiri. Had Charlotte been paying attention, she would have realized that Blair was using the tone that she adapted when she was embellishing something to make someone jealous. In this instance, she was trying to make Chuck jealous.
Blair frowned when she realized Charlotte had gone back to staring at the pool with an unreadable expression on her face… again. "Charlotte?"
The eldest girl had been distant all day, her mind on a certain socialite that had been ignoring her for the past three days, since their talk on the beach. She knew that he said they wouldn't talk about it, but she didn't think that he had meant that they wouldn't talk at all.
She wanted to pull at her hair and scream – she wasn't supposed to feel this way about Carter Baizen, she hated him. She could list every horrible thing that he'd ever done to her without hesitating, but still all she could think about was the way that his lips had felt on her own and the feeling of electricity that had gone through her at his touch.
He'd stopped swimming when she was outside, opting to stay in and play video games. And when she would enter the house, he would go outside and get in the pool. It was like the first week they'd been in the house together all over again, except that this time around, it was killing her.
"Earth to Charlotte!" Blair shouted, snapping her fingers in the brunette's face.
"What? I'm sorry," she frowned. "Did you saying something else?"
Serena had to laugh at the annoyed expression on Blair's face. She, of course, knew what the mental battle was that Charlotte had been waging with herself just now. Charlotte had been texting her nonstop from the Baizen's summer home, asking for advice.
She tried to maintain that she couldn't tell Blair – she'd never hear the end of it, whereas Serena tried to counter that if Blair could fall in love with Chuck Bass, who was to say that Charlotte couldn't with Carter Baizen?
The blonde had also told her just to march up to him and kiss him like she had the night that they'd been drunk, but Charlotte had yet to do it. And if she had to be honest, she didn't know if she could.
"What were you thinking about?" Blair frowned, studying her sister's expression. It was all too familiar to her – the far off daydream-like look in her eyes.
"Nobody – I mean nothing!" Charlotte's eyes widened at her mistake.
"Nobody?" Blair now grinned wickedly as she leaned forward in her seat. "Did you meet a boy?"
The prospect of Charlotte and boys had been something that Blair had loved to hear about when she was younger. She felt as if she and Charlotte were more than sisters when the eldest Waldorf confided in her about boys – as if they were friends, as well. However, ever since the whole Jack incident before cotillion, Charlotte hadn't mentioned boys of any sort to her at all.
Blair had tried for weeks to get her to spill even a tiny bit about any boys in Paris, but Charlotte was like a safe – she wasn't giving anything up. She had to wonder if Charlotte had even dated when she'd been in France, or if she'd just focused on her studies.
"How would she meet a boy when she's been holed up with Carter Baizen for the whole summer?" Chuck snorted, deciding that he had to put in his two cents. "Unless… is it Baizen, you're thinking of?"
"No? What? Don't be disgusting," Charlotte chugged the rest of her drink – she'd opted for a martini instead of daiquiris like her sister and Serena. "I need another drink – I'll be back."
Blair glanced over at Serena accusingly as Charlotte rushed off. The blonde was smiling at the older girl's nervous behavior and Blair became instantly suspicious. She pointed at her friend, commanding her attention.
"Do you know anything about this?"
"I know nothing," Serena smiled innocently as she played with her straw, though the smile still played upon her lips as she took another sip of her drink. She glanced up to see Blair still staring at her accusingly. "So, what are you going to wear to the white party?"
"If I didn't know any better," Chuck Bass' smooth voice filled Charlotte's ears and caused her to cringe, "I would say you're developing a bit of a drinking problem, Miss Waldorf."
"All the better to tolerate you with, my dear," she raised her glass to him in a toast as the bartender handed it to her, giving Chuck an incredibly sarcastic smile. She then took a large sip. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you're still pining over my sister."
"Careful, Waldorf," he warned as he locked eyes with someone across the room and smirked wickedly in their direction. It turned into a full-blown grin when he saw how angry it made them. "Because I might have to mention to your sister how your eyes have been on Baizen all night."
"They have not," she frowned at him. Then, as her frown deepened when she realized he was right, she took another sip of her drink. She'd had a plan when she'd come here to have fun, but once she'd seen Carter enter the party that plan had changed. Now it was: Get in, get drunk, and get out.
"Are you trying to convince me or convince yourself?" Chuck raised an eyebrow. "I know that we don't get along, Charlotte, but you should really just go back to ignoring him. He's no good for you."
"Funny," she found herself smirking as she placed one hand on her hip and tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "I think the same of you, for Blair. Eric!" She beamed at the familiar face heading her way. "Hi!"
"Charlotte!" He brushed past Chuck and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "I'm so happy to see you here! There's someone I want you to meet," he brought a petite blonde forward. "This is my friend, Jenny."
"Jenny Humphrey?" Charlotte raised an eyebrow up. At Eric's confirming nod, she offered a small smile. "I've heard a lot about you from my sister."
"Oh," Jenny frowned. She began to play with her hands nervously.
"But any friend of Eric's…" She trailed off, her eyes still on the blonde. She was curious – Blair thought this girl was a threat? She looked like she was twelve years old… she'd have to keep an eye on her for her sister's sake. After all, keep your enemies close... And any enemy of Blair's was an enemy of Charlotte's.
"It's nice to meet you – I love that dress," Charlotte continued on, complimenting the younger girl. The compliment actually hadn't been a lie – the dress was cute. She noticed Chuck still standing nearby and she scowled. "Can I help you, Bass?"
"No, no," he smirked. He reached over and rested a hand on her shoulder for a moment.
"What are you doing?" She narrowed her eyes at him as he prevented her from stepping away.
"Getting Baizen over here for you," he commented, his eyes sparkling mischievously as he removed his hand and began walking away. "You're welcome in advance."
"Insufferable," Charlotte rolled her eyes. She needed to get back to getting a read on Jenny Humphrey. "Anyways, that dress…"
"Oh," Jenny blushed. "Thank you."
"Who made it?" The brunette inquired, genuinely curious.
"I did," her blush deepened.
"Shut up!" Charlotte laughed out. "Did you really? It looks so professional – I would have thought it was Marc Jacobs."
It may be cute, but it definitely does not look like Marc Jacobs, she snickered internally.
"Thank you!" Jenny squealed out, a bright smile on her face. "Thank you so much – that means a lot coming from you… I mean, your mother was my entire inspiration to get into fashion to begin with…"
"Oh, please, Eleanor would kill to be able to make something like that," Charlotte laughed out. That was not a lie – Eleanor's fashion sense was really going downhill lately.
"I was actually hoping to show her some of my designs," Jenny offered up shyly as Charlotte noticed Eric's eyes lock on something behind her. "I'm interning for her."
"That's great – she doesn't really take to that well, though, so let me smooth her over for you."
"You would do that?" Jenny's eyes widened. "Thank you – thank you so so much."
"Like I said," she teased cryptically. "Any friend of Eric's…"
She most certainly would not smooth over Eleanor for this girl, but she could let her think that. Besides, when would she see the wannabe fashion designer from Brooklyn again, anyways?
"Carter," Eric finally spoke up, his face contorted into slight confusion at the socialite that had been standing behind Charlotte for the past minute or so silently. "Hi…"
Charlotte froze up as Carter responded to the greeting from directly behind her.
"Hey, Eric – how have you been, man?"
"Fine," Eric frowned, still confused.
"Who's your friend?"
"This is Jenny," Eric's frown remained in place as he wrapped a protective arm around Jenny's shoulders. He'd known about what had happened with Chuck Bass and Jenny – he wasn't taking any chances with Carter Baizen, whom he barely knew. "And… we're going to go back over to Tinsley now, right, Jenny?"
"But… I was talking to Charl- okay," she sighed, defeated at the glance that Eric offered her. "It was really nice meeting you, Charlotte."
"You too, Jenny!" She smiled at the blonde and as Eric led her off, she turned to face the devil behind her, the smile dropping off of her face immediately. "I didn't think you were coming here."
"Word got out that I was in the Hamptons," Carter shrugged. "Mom told me that I had to go if I was here."
"Oh," she nodded, feeling awkward. "Alright."
"I uh," he frowned. "I saw Chuck over here… everything okay?"
So that had been what Chuck was smirking at. She frowned internally – the bastard.
"Should have known it would take Chuck Bass standing within ten feet of me to get you to speak to me again," she offered with an unreadable expression. "Who would have ever thought that you'd be the one ignoring me?"
"Look," he sighed. "You made your feelings towards me abundantly clear, Charlotte. So don't play victim because I don't want to play your games anymore."
"My games?" She asked, surprised. Her eyebrows rose up in confusion.
"Yes," he frowned. "You and Blair are scarily alike, whether you like to admit it or not. You play with people until you get bored and then after awhile you go back to them to do it all over again. I'm not… I can't do it anymore, Charlotte. I can't."
"Carter –" She felt a pulling sensation on her heart. That's not what she had been doing at all.
"I thought that maybe you'd changed, because we were getting along so well, but I guess it was just a new angle for you, huh? Mess with me because you finally figured out that I actually like you? So what? So that when I get upset about it, you can act like I'm being cruel to you by not even speaking to you?"
"Carter," she frowned. "That's… that's not it at all. I was actually enjoying your company, believe it or not."
"I don't," he offered, his expression offering her no clue as to what he was thinking. He looked annoyed, if she had to put a word to it.
"I was just caught off guard. I… Carter, I spent so much of my life hating you and fighting with you that it was just easier to push you away than to…"
"Than to what?" He was the one frowning now as she trailed off.
"Than to admit that I might actually like you," she whispered out. "Than to admit that I've probably actually liked you since the night that I had to patch you up for defending me? I… Carter, I didn't say anything at the beach the other day because I was scared."
Her hands began to shake and she moved to put her glass on a nearby table, before she reached forward and grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket to tug him closer to her.
"I was scared because I have never felt like this about anyone before," she confessed as her eyes locked onto his own, almost begging him to believe her. "I've barely been able to sleep knowing that you're right down the hall from me and that you won't even look at me."
"I never stopped looking at you," he mused as one of his hands found the way to the back of her neck and he played with some of her hair. It was the truth – although he'd stopped talking to her, he'd never stopped watching her from across the room. "I don't think I ever could."
And then, Charlotte Waldorf took the advice that Serena had been giving her for the past three days. She pulled Carter down and pressed her lips against his own as he pulled her even closer to him, until there was no space between them.
"Well," an incredibly confused sounding voice cut in. "This is unexpected."
"Blair," Charlotte gasped as she pulled away from Carter, though her hands stayed put on his jacket and his hands stayed put where they were as well – one tangled in her hair and one resting on her hip.
"So, I guess it was Carter that you were thinking of all morning, huh, sis?"
"Uh…" Charlotte blushed under Carter's smug smirk. She made a mental note to scream at Blair later.
"Um, anyways – I wanted you to meet James. James, this is my sister, Charlotte. And this is… Carter," Blair frowned.
"It's nice to meet you," James offered them a confused smile as he glanced between the pair.
"Um, you too," Charlotte gave him a forced smile in return.
As Blair led him off, she stopped to whisper into her sister's ear. "We will be talking about this later."
Carter just continued to grin down at Charlotte after the younger sister had left.
"What?" Charlotte laughed out.
"Nothing," he shook his head, that stupid grin still on his face. "All morning, huh?"
"Shut up," she laughed out, hitting his chest lightly. He laughed in response as her cheeks turned a darker red.
"Now… where were we?"
"Oh," she snaked her arms up to wrap around his neck. "I think we were right about… here," she pressed her lips against his once more and had to smile once she felt Carter's lips curve into a smile beneath hers.
What's this I see? Finally, something worth talking about.
Spotted: Charlotte Waldorf caught locking lips with Carter Baizen at the White Party. You started off the summer off the radar, C, but it seems that you're ending it with a bang… So that has me thinking…is this thing just a summer fling? Guess we'll find out soon enough… Labor Day's approaching fast.
