Stuck With Each Other

Disclaimer: I don't own Gossip Girl, the song "The Way I Loved You" by Taylor Swift, or basically anything else mentioned in this fic.
A/N:
Please review! Thank you to all who have reviewed, and continue to review. Sorry that this chapter is so late for one thing, and that it was uploaded after Valentine's Day. Needless to say, my life has been crazy busy the last few weeks, and I apologize for making everyone wait! Any mistakes are mine--I tried to get this up as quickly as possible so I apologize for any errors.


Thursday Night

Blair was dozing peacefully after endless rounds of her favorite "welcome home" sex with Chuck, seeing as he had unboarded the jet a few hours ago from London, for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. Bass Industries had been rapidly expanding ever since Chuck had taken over the company, and to Blair it seemed like he was rarely ever home. For that reason, she basically assaulted him as soon as he stepped through the door of his Palace suite.

After the two of them were exhausted beyond belief, Chuck got out of bed to take a shower, while Blair drifted off to sleep. Barely two minutes into her nap, Chuck's phone went off and began to ring incessantly. Blair drowsily groped around Chuck's nightstand and finally answered it.

"Hello?" Blair whispered into the phone, silently hoping it was just Nate drunk-dialing or Serena calling with a minor family emergency, and cursing herself for not looking at the caller ID before answering.

"Hi, this is Cindy, Mr. Bass' flight coordinator. I take it this is Blair—I've heard so much about you! Is he in?" A random voice sounded on the line.

"Um, yes this is Blair…Chuck's not available at the moment. Can I take a message?" Blair replied, glancing at the steam puffing out from under the bathroom door.

"If you wouldn't mind telling Mr. Bass that his flight to Paris tomorrow evening has been delayed, that would be great. Also, please have him call Cindy as soon as he gets a chance. Thank you!"

This Cindy woman was acting way too perky for Blair at one in the morning. She ended the conversation quickly, and then glided back into her slumber. Blair suddenly woke up ten minutes later when she realized what that Cindy lady was implying. Chuck was going to surprise her by taking her to Paris for Valentine's Day!

Chuck was notorious for taking the world's longest showers, so Blair sat up in bed to wait for him, too wound up to go back to sleep.

He finally walked out of the bathroom with wet hair and a towel slung around his waist.

"Hey!" Blair squealed with joy. She felt bad about ruining his surprise, especially since he had obviously done such a fine job of keeping the trip secret. Blair was shocked that Serena of all people had not spilled it to her!

"Hey to you too…" Chuck replied, confused by her ecstatic facial expression. "What's up?" He asked, sliding into bed next to her.

"Sweetie, I'm really sorry to ruin your surprise, but I just got a call from your flight coordinator saying that our flight has been delayed. I can't believe you're taking me to Paris for Valentine's Day! This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me!" Blair leaned in to show her appreciation, while Chuck reeled backwards, utterly baffled.

"B, I don't know how to say this, but that flight is just for me. We're opening a new hotel in Paris, and this was the only weekend that was available for the majority of the team to fly out…I'm not going to be here for Valentine's Day," Chuck decided not to look up to face her, knowing that if he did, Blair would murder him on the spot.

Blair did not respond, but instead gracefully got up from the bed and went to search for her blouse and skirt.

"Blair, come on, just talk to me. I'm really sorry about this, and I didn't want our first Valentine's Day to turn out like this either. I promise we can figure something out," Chuck pleaded.

Instead of considering his offer, Blair buttoned the final button on her blouse and retreated towards the door.

"If you plan on keeping your favorite appendage attached to your body, never speak to me again, Bass." Blair made sure to slam the door hard on her way out.

And with that, she was gone.


The Next Day—Friday

Since Chuck was not going to come through for her, Blair decided to make her own Valentine's Day plans. And by saying that she was making her own plans, it really meant that she needed to scour the entire Upper East Side for the best-looking, richest, warm-blooded male to spend her (now dreaded) evening with to make her boyfriend insanely jealous.

Blair's minions were furiously searching internet databases and perusing society pages with Dorota's assistance to find the perfect date for their queen. Blair would have preferred to have Serena at her side, especially after Blair exhausted her resources trying to find that random Dalton guy for her for the masquerade ball, but everyone's favorite socialite had other plans. With that Brooklynite, Blair shuddered.

She would go into her whole spiel about how a Waldorf wins over Humpty-Dumpty any day, but she honestly just did not have the time to argue with her best frenemy. Blair Waldorf needed the hottest date on the UES and fast.

Blair was eating her yogurt in the courtyard as Penelope went through her contact list on her phone, suggesting countless names that seemed to be complete failures in Blair's opinion. Now she really was convinced that no one could compare to Chuck.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Blair began to gather her books.

"Leaving so soon, Waldorf?" a familiar voice sounded a few feet away from her.

Blair scowled back at Chuck, not willing to let him see her in such a state of desperation.

"Don't you have a plane to catch, Basshole?" she shot back.

Ignoring her, Chuck sat down at her table and examined the various reference packets scattered around its surface.

"This is private property," Blair snidely retorted as she tried to pick up as many of the packets before Chuck could realize what she was doing. "I could have you arrested."

"Eh, been there, done that," Chuck quipped. "You're kidding—Teddy Bettinger? The tool from Regis?" Chuck laughed so hard that he began having trouble breathing.

"I happy to see that you take pleasure in this, Basstard. Now I need to be off. Have a good time in Paris with your whores," Blair faked a smile as she stalked off in her Louboutins.

Shit. Chuck thought. He really fucked it up this time.


One Day Later – Valentine's Day

"Leave it to Chuck and Blair to be broken up on Valentine's Day," Serena chuckled as she and Dan sipped coffee in Central Park. "I swear that those two make the most dysfunctional couple ever imaginable…well aside from the fact that we share a brother and all. But that's aside the point." Serena scrunched her nose as she admitted yet again that she and her boyfriend shared a sibling.

"We would all make for such an interesting case study somewhere," Dan mused, staring off into the distance. "But enough about all the weird family and friend drama. Today is all about us."

"And I couldn't be any happier," Serena giggled, giving Dan a peck on the cheek. A few moments passed before either of them said anything, until Serena eventually broke the silence.

"You have to admit that it is really kind of funny in a twisted way that they aren't together on the most romantic day of the year. Like, it sort of fits their 'attachment- phobic' personalities perfectly."

Dan growled and rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed that the only thing that Serena was interested in conversing about today was the two people he hated most who just so happened to be in an evil, manipulating, and dysfunctional relationship together. It was turning out to be such a great day.

Serena's phone then rang, raising Dan's stress levels to new heights. Was it too much to ask to spend Valentine's Day alone with your girlfriend?!

"It's Chuck," Serena sighed as she pulled her phone out of her purse. "Mind if I answer it?"

"Go ahead," Dan grumbled as Serena flashed her best "I'm sorry that I'm ruining our perfect Valentine's Day" smile and got up from the bench.

Dan pulled out his phone as well and typed a quick text to Vanessa, wondering if her day with Nate was turning out to be as bad as his was quickly becoming.

He pressed send as Serena danced back over to their bench, clearly too excited to be around him while he was in such a bad mood.

"What is going on here? You're all thrilled after a conversation with your stepbrother from hell? This day has just gotten way too weird for me." Dan attempted to tease Serena, but the venom in his voice was apparent.

"I have a proposition to make!" Serena looked like she was going to explode if she did not tell him.

Dan mulled over the idea, then finally decided to let Serena spill. What more could ruin this day? He figured.

"Fine…Let's hear it."


Later That Day…

Blair's father and his lover Roman had flown in from France to visit Blair after they had heard about Chuck's abrupt disappearance from her life.

Blair was appreciative that they had wanted to comfort her while she was alone on Valentine's Day, but she felt like a bigger loner having to spend the day with her father and Roman. She tried to convince herself that being a third wheel with them would be a lot better than having to witness Cyrus and her mother pawing at each other all night, but this theory was not going as well as planned.

Harold and Roman wanted to surprise Blair for dinner, so they decided to meet her at the restaurant and have a car sent for her.

Being the pinnacle of taste that she was, a simple dinner with her father and Roman was no excuse to skimp on her outfit. Blair picked out a gorgeous red Michael Kors sheath dress and black peep-toe stilettos.

The car arrived punctually at 8 p.m. Blair pestered the driver endlessly to find out where he was taking her, but he would not let a word slip.

A few minutes into the journey, the car pulled over and slid into a stop. The driver opened the door for Blair as she took in her surroundings.

Victrola.

Everything was now clear: her father had arranged things with Chuck, and she was never going to dinner with them to begin with. It had been Chuck all along.

The driver ushered her through the doorway, where the burlesque club had turned into a dimly lit version of one of Blair's wildest, most romantic fantasies. Rose petals were strewn across the floor, and small white candles were speckled around the landscape. And there was Chuck with a smirk plastered across his face, waiting for her with a single red rose in hand and looking especially handsome in his tailored black Armani suit, next to a small table set for two.

"What, Ted the tool couldn't make it tonight?" Chuck teased as he pulled out a chair for her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice coming off more demanding than she had originally planned.

"Slight change of plans," he murmured, grazing her bare shoulder with his fingers.

Blair's mind was racing. Stop it, B. Don't let him win you back so easily—he was going to be in a foreign country, thousands of miles away from you, on Valentine's Day…But it does look like he put a lot of effort into putting this all together…

Before she knew it, Blair was back into Chuck's arms, kissing every inch of his exposed skin.

Suddenly, she pulled away. "Whoa, wait. I can't do this. No way am I forgiving you so easily after the stint you were about to pull!" Blair sunk back down into her seat, crossing her arms and arranging her face in her best pout.

"B, you know I'm sorry. This whole 'being in love' stuff is making me go crazy. I'm still new at this and I don't know all the rules…Trust me, I wanted our first Valentine's together to be perfect—like everything you ever wanted it to be. I was scared that I was going to disappoint you, so I did the only thing I know how to do: I ran. And do I regret making that decision now? Hell yes I do. I knew that either way, whatever I did was going to hurt you, so I was selfish and did what was best for me. All I ever wanted to do was to make you happy, and if that means we end it now, then we end it. Just know that I love you…And I never will stop loving you, Blair."

Chuck finally looked up at Blair, whose eyes were glistening with freshly shed tears, after he made his little speech. He tried not to think about the number of times she had cried over him.

Blair got up from her chair and walked over to where Chuck was standing with his head in his hands next to the stage.

"You are a total ass and I hate you," She said and gave him a light slap across the face for good measure (which he surprisingly took in stride). "…But, you can also be thoughtful and gentle, and that is why I am madly in love with you, even if it is against my better judgment."

Chuck and Blair made up for what seemed to be the millionth time—and both realized that this time would not be the last. It might have helped slightly that Chuck produced a light blue box from Tiffany from the inside of his sport coat, containing a stunning three-tiered platinum necklace, whose diamonds sparkled brilliantly in the candlelight.

"Make sure you thank Serena and Brooklyn for all of this," Chuck laughed, gesturing with his hands at the breathtaking scene Victrola had been transformed into.

Blair was so wrapped up in her perfect moment that she almost forgot about how angry she was supposed to be with Chuck after almost bailing on Valentine's Day. She enjoyed the moment for a few more seconds before she and Chuck both went at it again, Blair spewing every hate-filled comment she could towards him.

Finally, they both gave up.

"You do realize how difficult it is going to be for you to make up for this, right Bass?"

"You could not have made it more clear, B." Chuck whispered in Blair's ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Screw this, Blair thought to herself and attacked him with her lips.

After multiple minutes of passion, Blair ran back to the table to grab Chuck's gift out of her Valentino clutch. Even though she was completely pissed off with him, she had decided (against her better judgment, of course) to get him something. She had been considering giving the pin to him for a while now, but just could not find the right moment to do so. For that reason, she carried the pin with her at all times.

"You have no idea how long it took me to find this," Blair chuckled as she placed the gold heart-shaped pin in his waiting hands. "Dorota and I literally ransacked my entire room searching for it."

For the first time in his life, Chuck Bass was actually rendered speechless.

"Thank you, B…I love you," He smiled and cupped her face in his hands. "This means so much, I can't even begin to explain to you."

"You better appreciate it then Bass. And work hard to win back my trust," she smirked. "This has been the absolute worst Valentine's Day of my life," Blair began, watching Chuck's face fall. "But, at the same time, it has also been the best." His facial expression soared.

"And Bass—I would not have wanted to spend it with anyone but you."