Happy New Year everyone! Enjoy!
I do not own Gossip Girl or Win A Date With Tad Hamilton.
Win A Date With Nate Archibald!
Chapter Nine
At 6:45, Nate left the motel he was staying in and headed over to pick up Blair from her house. He knew she still lived with her father, and he was slightly nervous about having to meet the man. The date itself didn't make him any less nervous either. He wasn't sure how Blair felt about their outing tonight, and he hoped she might feel the same way he did and try a relationship. Yes, he had told her that he just wanted to be friends, but he was lying to himself if he said he didn't want more.
He arrived promptly at 7:00 and knocked on Blair's front door waiting anxiously to see her. He wore jeans and a button up long-sleeved shirt and hoped he wasn't over or underdressed. He was finally greeted at the door by a man that must have been Blair's father.
"Hi, you must be Nate," the man said before smiling. "Must be…you are Nate, I know who you are," he laughed as he ushered the movie star into his house.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Waldorf," Nate said extending his hand.
"Oh it's Harold for god sakes, please come and have a seat. Blair should be down in a minute."
"Thanks," Nate said as he took a seat on the couch and tried to make himself comfortable.
Harold walked into the kitchen and called back out to Nate. "Can I offer you a chocolate martini?"
"Oh wow, look at that," Nate commented.
"I hear they're pretty big out your way," Harold said trying to impress the house guest.
"Um, yeah…I guess they are," Nate agreed with the man. "But um, I'm driving, so...no thank you."
"Good answer," Harold smiled as he poured himself a glass and joined Nate back in the living room.
"So I hear your last movie just about topped 100 million, that's fantastic," Harold said as he sipped on the martini.
"Oh, uh, I guess it did yeah. Thanks," Nate replied unsure what to say. He didn't really keep up with the earnings of his movies and he felt a little awkward discussing it.
Just then, Blair came down the stairs and into the living room wearing a casual skirt and shirt with a cardigan over top. Nate thought she looked gorgeous and immediately stood up from the couch to greet her.
"Hey," he said walking up to her.
"Hi!" she responded sweetly. "I see you've met dad."
"Yeah, we were just talking shop," Nate commented.
Harold smiled and nodded.
Blair turned back to Nate. "So what did you want to do tonight? I was thinking we could go see a movie or something."
"Yeah, sure, a movie sounds great."
"Oh, have you seen King Arthur of Britain yet?" Blair asked.
"I've been wanting to," Nate replied, trying to rack his brain to figure out if he knew what she was talking about.
"Well, have a great time guys. Have her back by dawn, and uh, no cocaine," Harold said standing up to Nate.
"No sir," Nate replied and laughed a bit at what he hoped was a joke.
Blair rolled her eyes, embarrassed by her father's behavior. Nate turned to leave toward the front door and as Blair went to follow Harold stopped her.
"How was I?" he asked in hushed tones.
Blair laughed and smiled. "You were great daddy."
"Okay, good. Have a great time sweetie," he said as he kissed her forehead.
***
After arriving at the movie theater and ordering them each a bag of popcorn and a soda, they made their way to their specific theater. As they walked through they ran into a cardboard cutout of Nate from his most recent movie. Nate paused and pointed at it smiling back at Blair.
"You look so sad there," she commented.
"Well give me a break, I just lost my wife and my goat," he joked.
Blair laughed and turned to keep walking, Nate following close behind.
***
Back at his apartment, Chuck sat in front of his TV with some food as he tried to forget the fact that Blair was currently on a date with Nate Archibald. He flipped through the channels landing on a war movie that starred Nate Archibald. Sighing he changed the channel again only to land on an old interview of Nate Archibald. Rolling his eyes again, he changed the channel, and this time a Spanish soda commercial starring Nate Archibald hit the screen. Chuck scoffed and shut the TV off, his attempts of blocking Nate and Blair out of his head failing miserably.
He got up off the couch tossing the remote off to the side and went back into the kitchen to find something else to occupy his time.
***
After the movie had finished, Blair and Nate casually strolled out of the movie theater side by side. Blair kept looking over at Nate and couldn't help but smile. Okay so maybe this could be a date, she thought to herself.
"So what do people usually do at this point in the evening here in Brooklyn?" Nate asked.
"Well, they go to the diner," Blair suggested.
"We could do that, I mean we haven't eaten anything in…fifteen minutes?" Nate joked looking at his watch.
Blair laughed. "Or they go home."
"It is a school night," Nate said jokingly.
"Of course if this were a date," Blair began, "we might go to the Heights Promenade."
"And what do people do there?" he asked.
"They park," Blair said nervously.
"And then?" Nate asked stepping a bit closer to Blair.
"And then…they marvel at the what a magnificent sight the Brooklyn skyline is," Blair explained almost sarcastically.
"But this isn't a date, so we can't do that," Nate said matter-of-factly.
"Right, no, of course," Blair said trying her best to hide her disappointment. It didn't work.
"Blair, look, I don't want to do anything to harm the friendship," he explained reaching out to touch her arm.
"Oh, no, me neither," Blair agreed.
Fifteen minutes later, Blair found herself parked in a convertible at the Heights, making out with Nate Archibald. She didn't know how she got her, but she sure wasn't complaining. Her cardigan was off and tossed to the side, and Nate's shirt was unbuttoned almost halfway down his chest. She couldn't believe that she was here, with Nate Archibald.
Just then, his phone started to ring. Nate groaned as Blair pulled away. Nate reached into his pocket to take out his phone. Looking at the caller ID, he saw that it was Richard calling, and he had no desire to be talking to Richard at that precise moment. Not thinking, he turned off the phone and chucked it out of the car over the cliff.
Blair looked over at him in shock, and Nate just smiled pulling her back in to kiss him. Blair giggled and moved her way back closer to him in the car.
***
Harold sat at home reading a book and drinking coffee as the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Mr. Waldorf, it's Chuck."
"Oh, hiya Chuck. Uh, Blair's not here. She's out with Nate Archibald," he responded into the phone.
"Oh uh really? I hadn't… uh, okay, cool. Good for her then," Chuck said trying to play off the fact that Blair's date was the only thing he could think about the entire afternoon and evening.
"You know Chuck, he seems like a very nice guy," Harold said somewhat catching on to Chuck's concern.
"He does, a lovely…lovely guy. So um, where did they go?" Chuck asked casually.
"I think they went to see a movie," Harold responded.
"Oh, great a movie, so I guess the 7:00 would get out at like 8:45, 8:50," Chuck started looking at his watch before pausing to realize how stalkerish that sounded, "or so someone happened to uh mention to me in passing. Uh, so I guess that would put them out and about and onto their next…activity."
"I guess it would Chuck." Harold could tell that the date was worrying Chuck and he felt for the kid. "Look, I'll leave Blair a note that you called."
"Oh yeah, uh I just had an inventory question…uh, about the café, but uh, no don't worry about it, we can just clear that up tomorrow," Chuck said pulling shit straight from his ass.
"Okay, Chuck, goodnight," Harold laughed.
"All right," Chuck replied before hanging up the phone and rubbing his hands over his face. Well that wasn't obvious, Chuck thought silently cursing himself for seeming so pathetic.
***
Back in the car, Nate pulled back from their make out session. "Blair?" he whispered. He wanted to know what she was feeling and if she was okay with what was happening.
"Yeah?" she asked, slightly breathlessly.
Before Nate could finish his thought, they both jumped back when they heard a police siren. They looked over the side of the car and saw two cops walking up to them.
"Hi, could I see your driver's license and registra—" the cop started before realizing that Nate Archibald was in the driver's seat of the car. "Yikes-a-bee. Blair?" The cop finally realized that his old high school classmate was in the car with him.
"Hi, Tom," Blair smiled awkwardly. She felt extremely uncomfortable being caught in this situation.
"Hi, wow," Tom laughed nervously. "Oh boy."
Blair felt more and more uncomfortable noticing that Tom was clearly recognizing the position he had just caught them in. "Ok, then…"
"We uh, we heard you were in town, Mr. Archibald," Tom stated, a little star struck.
"Did you?" Nate replied feeling just as awkward as Blair was.
"Pretty fond of our Blair, over there, huh?" Tom tried to joke.
"Uh, yes, yes I am, Officer," Nate agreed not believing this was a conversation he was having with a cop.
Blair laughed nervously. "Uh, Tom…?" she asked wondering if he was ever going to get to the point.
"Right, right, uh, listen, we got a call saying that someone was parked here, and you know it's illegal after sunset, so…"
"You got a call at this hour?" Blair asked confused.
"Yeah."
"From who, a squirrel?"
Before Tom could answer, Blair heard the sounds of a car tires screeching and looked back over her shoulder. The car was driving away, but she caught the tail end and recognized the car immediately.
"Never mind," she sighed.
Tom agreed to let them off with a warning and Nate drove her home.
"I am going to kill that Chuck, bring him back to life, and kill him again!" Blair exclaimed frustrated that Chuck would do such a thing and ruin her date.
Nate got out of the car, opening Blair's door for her as he listened to her vent. "Look, just calm down, calm down."
"Well why aren't you upset?" she asked as they made their way to her front door.
"Because it doesn't matter. OK? What happened here tonight was a force of nature. Two people set out to be friends…but nature would have none of it. Nature wanted them to be more. And nature is going to want that tomorrow," Nate smiled; satisfied with the little speech he just gave.
Blair smiled before giving him a kiss goodnight, and turning back into her house.
***
The next morning, Blair sat at an open table refilling sugar containers.
"What did I tell you?" Chuck asked as he came up behind her, startling her a little. "What did I tell you about your carnal treasure?"
Blair sighed and decided to play along. "You said to guard it."
"I said to guard it. And what did you do? You practically chucked it at him," Chuck spat in an annoyed tone.
"Chuck, you're acting like it was some sleazy night. It wasn't. It was classy." Blair assured him, also trying to assure herself.
"Oh... classy... right. I mean it's not like he took you to the movies and felt you up in his car," Chuck mocked.
"The evening evolved, Chuck," Blair sighed exasperated.
Chuck was silent for a minute. "Oh my God, did he actually say that?"
"It started out as two friends going to the movies…" she began.
"And it evolved into dry humping," Chuck finished for her.
"He fought it! He didn't want to do anything that might wreck the friendship."
Chuck stood back and laughed at the ridiculousness of what she had just said. "Wow...did he actually... I can't believe he used that line. And…I can't believe that you bought it."
"It wasn't a line Chuck," Blair defended, putting down the sugar and looking up at him.
"Okay, um excuse me, guys," Chuck called the attention of a group of guys sitting at the bar drinking coffee, "a show of hands please. Who here has used some form of the 'don't want to harm the friendship' line," he asked them raising his own hand.
All four men raised their hands and Blair opened her mouth in shock. Chuck just smirked at being right. Serena who had been cleaning the table next to where Blair was sitting decided to come over and talk to Blair.
"Blair? What are Nate's pectorals like to the touch? Are they warm yet firm like…"
"S, that's really not helping right now," Chuck cut her off.
"Sorry Chuck, got caught up," she said as she went back to cleaning, all while eavesdropping in on what Chuck was going to say next to the girl he was so obviously in love with.
"Listen, Blair," Chuck started as he sat in front of her. "Listen to me, bottom line. Nate Archibald is an actor, OK? How do you know that he's not acting with you?" Chuck asked in a serious and concerned tone.
"He's not acting." Blair responded immediately completely sure of her answer.
"No. He is. He's playing a role. The role of Hollywood bad boy trying to find virtue," Chuck said calmly, trying his best to say what he needed to say without hurting her feelings.
"Chuck, he's not," Blair insisted.
"Look…after he…gets what he wants from you a couple of times…he is out of here, OK? You will never see him again."
Blair shook her head not believing what Chuck was saying to her. "And you would know exactly what that's like right Chuck? Mr. I sleep with girls all the time and never call them back. Look Chuck, maybe that's how you handle things, but Nate isn't like that. I know it."
Chuck sat back in the chair, shocked at what Blair had just said to him. He couldn't believe that that was how Blair saw him, and he was extremely hurt by the statement. "Well, I hope you're right then."
Blair watched a clearly hurt Chuck get up from the chair across from her and make his way towards his office. She felt bad about what she had said. Yes, Chuck was a bit of a player, but she may have exaggerated it a bit. She just couldn't believe that Chuck would insinuate that Nate was just using her for sex and then that was it. She refused to believe it was true, not after the things Nate had said to her.
Nate burst into the café, breaking her out of her reverie. "Blair, guess what? I bought a house. I bought a house! Can you believe it?" he exclaimed waving around what appeared to be the contract in his hands.
Chuck, who had not quite reached his office, heard everything and turned to look at the scene before him. Nate sat in the chair that he had moments ago been sitting in and pulled Blair into a hug.
"Really, you bought a house?" Blair asked completely taken aback by the situation.
"I bought a house," he confirmed with a huge smile on his face. "It needs a little work, but I bought a house."
"Wow, you bought a house," Blair repeated as she turned to look back at Chuck, giving him an 'I told you so' look.
"We're putting down roots, baby," Nate said as he leaned in to kiss her cheek.
Blair squealed giddily and hugged Nate again. Serena was also squealing until she turned and saw the look on Chuck's face as he watched them. It was a look of sadness…and maybe even heartbreak? Serena knew that Chuck was crazy about Blair, but he never acted on it. It's his fault that he waited so long, and now someone else was swooping in and sweeping Blair off of her feet, and she couldn't be happier for her.
"You have to come see it, maybe after work?" Nate asked excitedly.
"I'd love to!" Blair replied happily.
"Yeah, I'd love to," Chuck repeated as he moved closer to the happy couple. "Congrats, man, a house."
Blair and Nate looked at each other confused before turning to look at Chuck. Nate had obviously wanted it to just be him and Blair, but he figured if he was sticking around, he needed to get to know her friends.
"Great," Nate smiled. "I'd love for you to come see it. You too, Serena."
"Great!" Serena exclaimed.
"Great." Chuck agreed.
"Great," Blair sighed. This will be interesting, Blair thought.
Okay so what does everyone think? For those of you that have seen the movie, I am trying to keep it pretty close to the events in the movie with my own twist, so for those who haven't seen it, the story might seem a bit weird or slow. But stick with me!
Anyways, reviews are greatly appreciated and loved :)
