Thank you so much for your reviews, I really appreciate them! I know that what happened to Daphne is shocking, but I think it explains why she is such a wise and strong character! As people say, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger!
I have 5 chapters left + the epilogue and a one shot! And get ready for Elisabeth because she's coming back in a few chapters. I can tell you that she's the last new character of the next 5 chapters!
As always, Thank you Cry for your help!
Previously:
Chuck and Serena scheme together against Penelope, who has told the press about Chuck and Blair night at the bm (4x22). Chuck and Blair take revenge on her, playing the fake-drunk and embarrass game at the Harvey's party. Even if it's just a game, all the touching and the kisses show Chuck and Blair how much they are still connected to each other
However, Daphne has to pay Penelope's silence to avoid a public scandal. She also informs Chuck and Blair that the pictures of their fake sex game are going to be published on every magazine.
Chuck, Blair and Daphne leave the party because something terrible has happened: Dan Humphrey and the Count have written an article about the baby Daphne has lost and her clandestine love story with Nicholas.
Is Chuck, who tells Blair that Daphne has been forced to hide both her pregnancy and the death of her baby because Nicholas believed in his father's lies against her.
Daphne stays at The Empire to avoid the press. Nate finds her there and comforts her.
Destroyed by all the revelations of the night, Blair finally finds the courage to apologize to Serena.
Chapter 10:
DENIAL
I fought with all of my strength not to sign that contract, not to pretend that my baby had never been a part of me. I fought to be able to walk with my head held high and start over. In that moment, with the coming out of the article about the past I was hiding, for the first time in years, everyone found out about my story.
Too bad it portrayed my life as one of those media bullshits written for a never ending audience-war. I couldn't bare it, the way my baby was coming to the world for the second time. It was a means of exchange to state who was the winner and who was the loser of the conflict.
I was shocked. It was my son, my pain, the death of my future, they were talking about. And, while the world was judging me without even trying to understand my sorrow, the press was becoming obsessed about Chuck and Blair's passion. I felt walked on for the nth time.
"Nate?" Dan called him out, walking out of the elevator of Chuck's suite at the Empire .
That morning had been a mess. His article was everywhere and everyone wanted to talk to him and ask him more details about his story. So he had run away from Brooklyn to pay a visit to his long-dated friend and finally find some peace, very far away from his own loft.
"Here I am". It was Daphne who showed up instead, taking him by surprise. She came out from Chuck's room.
Dan immediately understood that Nate was not there. He stood motionless eyeing her from behind his shoulder. Coming there had been a wrong move. He cursed himself. He knew he had to wait for Nate, downstairs at the hotel reception.
Actually, one thing was finding Chuck there, but meeting Chuck's sister, who he had written an article about and, the same one, who had advised him to stay out of her life, was another thing. But in that moment, as in his worst nightmare, she was right behind him, ready to hit him.
After breathing in and out, Dan slowly turned to look at her, scared by her possible reactions.
Daphne's face was signed by a waken night and a deadly glare. He gulped, but tried to be strong.
"I assume… that Nate's not here.." He begun, unable to cover his anxiety under her impassive expression. She stood speechless. "I-I…I should go" he pointed his finger at the elevator, his eyes never leaving hers.
He felt like a Medusa's victim, and Daphne was numbing him with her deep, penetrating gaze.
"Leaving so soon?" she asked, finally changing her facial expression. She was new to him, but her voice sounded controlled, as if she could contain her anger and be able to coldly enjoy any possible revenge. A slow and fulfilling revenge.
"Oh… I don't want to bother you" he explained, well aware that leaving that room was more difficult than what he'd whished. "I suppose you don't wanna..." he kept on talking, searching for an excuse to run away.
"Talk with you, about what you wrote about me'?" She finished the sentence for him, walking to the breakfast table at the center of the sitting room.
Dan was speechless. She looked like a killer. Her revenge wasn't going to be quick and painless. Daphne looked cold enough to shoot him down at the right time.
"There's nothing to say" he cut quickly. "It's my job, that's it" he justified himself, trying not to fall under her gaze. She looked even more powerful in that moment, looking down on him.
"Your job..." She seriously repeated it. She pictured a bitter smile. "Do you tell me, Daniel? Coming to the wolf's house after killing his own child, is a part of your job, too?". There was no sarcasm or uncertainty in her voice. She came right to the main point, cutting like a knife.
Dan was in trance. He couldn't help but notice the water springing in the corner of her eyes. It was pain, real pain. She made him feel a knot in his throat. He could see the dignity of a mother's sorrow for the lost her legacy in the way she was looking back at him.
"I'm just looking for Nate" he quickly changed the subject, unable to bear her agonizing eyes anymore.
"He's not here" she informed him, keeping on staring at him. She was destabilizing him.
"So…I'll go" he finally declared, in a brief moment when he thought that she was distracted by her own thoughts. He turned around and walked fast to the elevator.
"I'll see you in Court Humphrey" she communicated him while the elevator's doors were closing and dividing them. She had advised him. She would have left him in panties.
He found Nate at the reception, talking with the security. When Chuck was out, Nate was the one in charge, which was something frequent since Chuck had found his family.
"I'm sorry man, but I'm busy" Nate replied coldly to him.
"Come on... Ok, Fine! You're angry at me because of the article…" Dan got it.
"You're not the friend I used to know" Nate shook his head in disappointment. He was too honest to avoid that argument.
"I've spoken the truth. It's my job" Dan stated firmly.
"You've written an ocean of bullshits" Nate stood as secure as him on his position.
"Maybe Chuck didn't tell you what really happened to his sister" Dan was sure he was in the right about the story and about Chuck. Nate didn't make a move.
"I thought you were the good guy, Dan, an honest man, able to protect people from pain. Daphne has been wrongly accused by Nicholas father, who destroyed his own son's life, only to get at the Harvey." Dan opened his eyes wide. Nate kept on speaking.
"She risked her own life to give birth to the son of the man she loved. And she lost it. She lost both of them and has been obliged to hide her own child and live with that memory, for the rest of her life. If there's someone here, who doesn't know the truth, it's you" Dan felt it. Nate was a straight up man, he was not lying to him and, most of all, what he had listened, was not the story he had written about.
"Nate, Are you sure about it?" Dan asked him, shocked by the revelation.
"You should have been sure, too, before breaking a mother's heart and threw it to the sharks" Finishing the statement, Nate left him there speechless with a new truth.
Dan run his hand though his hairs. He had been an idiot.
"So, what are you planning to do?" Serena asked Blair while they were both sipping at their orange juices, sitting the Waldorf's living room breakfast table.
"We think it's better to let the press talk for now. In a few days Daphne and Nicholas will be interviewed by the CNN, for an exclusive confession. Something like Diana Spencer".
"It must be terrible... you Know? Losing a baby and be forced to keep it to yourself... never telling anyone…" Serena commented, still distraught by what Blair had told her about Daphne.
Blair froze, lowering her gaze. Every time Daphne's past became the matter of a talk, she felt the urge to take a depth breath and change the subject.
"These cookies are delicious! You want some more?" she pretended that everything was fine with a big smile pictured on her face. Serena sensed her change of mood.
"It's been two days that, when we talk about Daphne's baby, you start acting like this… Is everything fine, B?" Serena asked her with a suspicious look.
"Like this, how?" Blair got worried but faked perfectly a confusion expression, while putting a few cookies in her dish.
"As if this argument hit you in first person" Serena explained.
Blair stiffened a bit. She had to control her emotions. As the perfect actress as she was, she gave Serena an impeccable answer.
"You're wrong... It's just... it's so sad. If I only think about Daphne..." she stopped, realizing that she couldn't manage her emotions if she'd have gone further into that argument. Serena's questioning look told her that she had to find a great reason, to convince her.
"… Fine…" she admitted "The real thing is that I'm tired of talking about this with you, especially right now that we're back together. We should talk about us, going out for shopping, playing dressing up all day, doing a nice long chat about boys…"
"You're right, B!" Serena, excitedly smiled at her best friend. It was what she had missed the most while they were in war with each other. "We have tons of things to tell each other!" She grabbed a sweet from the table, staring at Blair.
She was looking at her phone. Serena knew that gaze pretty well.
"Talking about boys…. Have you seen Chuck?" she asked Blair.
"Chuck? No! Why?" Blair blurry replied to her.
"Nothing…. I was just wondering… You two work together now and I haven't seen him around..." She justified her curiosity.
"I assume he's with Nicholas" Blair said it, pretending not to know it. In fact she knew it, as Josephine had told her during their morning call.
"So, you two haven't seen each other since the other night at the party?" Serena was becoming insistent and Blair knew exactly what she wanted to hear.
"Of course not, S! Should I remind you that due to his brilliant ideas, I'm on every magazine as the one who sleeps with the boss?"
"That's not exactly the way they're defining you" The blonde underlined, smiling amused.
"The pictures of us look like a part of a sex tape" Blair was pissed about it.
"The press seemed to like the two of you together. They define you "fire & passion". They hope for new scoops"
"They can eternally wait for it" Blair cut her sentence. "There won't be anything else to discuss or better, to see. These pictures are out, only to avoid Penelope's scandal. That's it"
"If you believe it"
"I do, Serena! The times when Chuck Bass ended in my bed after 5 minutes of conversations are over" Blair was showing certainty.
"So, you're telling me, that when you were kissing, you weren't feeling anything anymore..." Serena was aware about Blair's denial phase. She did it every time she was falling again for him.
"Nothing"
"When he was unzipping your dress, neither?"
"Nothing" Blair replied trying to convince Serena, and her own self. She was internally cancelling the sensation of hotness she had felt when his hands were travelling on her tights.
"Neither when you climbed on him?" Serena faked surprise.
"I've told you Serena, Chuck and I, are two adults who can control their instincts when they are plotting. It's our Karma"
"B! That's Good to hear" Serena played her game.
"As you can see, We're just two exes, good friends, who are now working together, respecting each other's spaces and helping each other facing our enemies. That's all" Blair made a satisfied smile.
Serena glanced down. Blair had put Eleanor's tea into her glass, instead of the orange juice she had asked her.
"Just for curiosity..."Serena couldn't stop herself. Blair frowned in front of that intrusiveness.
"Ask me anything…. Remember… no more secrets between us" Blair allowed her, with a nervous smile.
"If you're not seeing Chuck anymore, why have you bought tons of La Perla's lingerie of Chuck's favorite colors, yesterday?"
Blair swallowed before composing herself back and answering her.
"Serena, the fact that I'm not with Chuck anymore, can't make me deny that he has impeccable tastes when we talk about lingerie".
"While the Harvey's tragedy covers every magazine, a few hot pictures of Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf caught everyone attention. The pictures portray the two of them in intimacy at the Harvey's party. It was only a week before, the media attack toward Blair Waldorf, based on her social climbing and royal addictions. However the love story between the young CEO and the famous-infamous billionaire, started when they were both 17. Sources tell us that their story is full of sparks. A love that had overcame death, financial issues and an almost wedding to a French prince…". Chuck turned off the tv, throwing the remote control on the sofa.
"Wow... these pictures, are... wua" Nicholas was taking a look at the papers for the nth time.
"We were plotting" Chuck tried to explain.
"Of course" Nicholas nodded.
"Between me and Blair there's nothing anymore" Chuck stood up and walked to the window.
"I can see it"
"It's all because of Daphne, if you can see those pictures" he was gesticulating with one hand, while the other was hidden in his pocket.
"Right... Penelope's hair?" Nicholas was pretending to make him feel right.
"She deserved it" Chuck was convinced about it.
"Totally!" Nicholas agreed. "The only thing I don't understand is, why making out in front of her..." Nicholas analyzed the main point "I mean… what did you wanted to prove?".
"To embarrass her" Chuck stated as if it was the most common thing in the world.
"Of course, man!" Nicholas admitted, thinking about it. "I don't know how I couldn't think about it" There was irony in his voice.
Chuck looked outside of the window, without replying.
"You've become the hottest couple of the planet" Nicholas commented after reading other 4 international newspapers. Chuck stiffened.
"My associates won't think the same"
"I don't think there's much to say, if you take a look at the picture where you are raising up her skirt.."
"Stop looking at those pictures!" Chuck scolded him out loud, turning to face him.
Hearing comments about Blair's back, pissed him off. The only thought that the whole world could say the same was intoxicating him. It was hell. He was angry and the fact that he was shouting at one of his closest friend, was the proof that he was losing control because of Blair, all over again.
"Don't be gross!" Nicholas replied back, knowing too well how Chuck was feeling "I'm just saying that Blair..."
"Blair is not that kind of girl" Chuck ended the sentence, well aware about what a man like Nicholas could think about Blair.
"Well, she is a kind of girl..." Nicholas was smirking.
"A kind of girl who has nothing to do with someone like you" Chuck stated with firmness.
Instead of letting her go, he kept on defending her. He hated it. He hated her for keeping on messing up with him. He hated himself for letting her have the control over his emotions.
"Those pictures tell another story, man" Nicholas raised the paper and showed it to him.
"I have to put an end to this mess" Chuck took the phone and started a call. He was angry. A fury.
"What are you doing man?"
"Bringing an action to the press" he seemed determined to end up that mess. To set himself free of her.
"Thanks God, there's nothing between you two, because, if this is the way you react in front of nothing, I can't imagine how would you react if you really were together" Those comment stopped Chuck. Nicholas obviously didn't believe him.
"Blair and I are over!" he repeated him.
"Even now that you're the king of New York City?"
"Even now that she's working for my grandmother" He let it get out of his mouth.
Since when he had shared that moment of fake passion with Blair, he had been unable to control his emotions. He suffered from verbal diarrhea. He felt as if he was locked in jail, hunted by his worst fears and his great wishes. It wasn't good. He was living a nightmare. One taste of Blair Waldorf, and she was taking away every inch of his sanity.
"So… you're telling me that you won't fuck her up on your office desk?" Chuck faked a smile just to please him.
His best friend's dirty thoughts about Blair, made him sick, but he would have not given him the satisfaction to make fun of him all over again, much less, to make him aware of what would have really happened in that office with Blair if they would have lost control.
It was the reason why he agreed with Blair, that they had to put a distance between them and stay away from each other as far as possible.
"Blair and I, are just friends. Nothing more" he pretended to be indifferent.
"So there are no problems if she comes with us to find your mother in Minnesota?" Nicholas suggested. Chuck swallowed.
"Of course not" he replied, trying to make it sound natural.
"Tell her" his best friend provoked him.
"I'll have my secretary to make the call"
"Come on Chuck, it's just a call. What's wrong about making a call to a good friend?"
Chuck realized it. Nicholas was not going to back down in his game and he couldn't let him win.
He took the phone and, acting as if it was a common thing, he called Blair, never looking at his best friend in his eyes.
"I told you, not to call me" Blair answered on the other hand of the line.
"Good morning to you too, Waldorf"
"What the hell do you want Bass? Have you any kind idea of what could happened if someone is tapping us?"
"Relax Waldorf… no one wants to be as far away from you as I do" those words shut her up.
"So, what do you want?"
"Just telling you to get ready for lunch time"
"Why?"
"A mission"
"I don't know what part of our pact you didn't get. I'm not going anywhere with you! Have you forgotten that we can be seen together?"
"Believe me Waldorf, I would agree, if only we won't need a master in communication like you,
when we'll find my mother"
"Elisabeth?" she asked, not hiding her surprise. She knew that they have decided to play that card, but not that soon.
"I know you're in" he stated in the silence. 'You know I want you there' was the real meaning of his words.
Blair thought about it. She would have never left him alone again with that woman. Never again.
"I could…" she accepted "But on my terms"
"I'll always concede a friend like you, this privilege" he hid to both Blair and Nicholas the sensation of relief he was feeling.
"We'll travel on different cars" she stated.
"Fine"
"I can accept the same hotel but our rooms must be on different floors and in opposite areas of the hotel. We can't take the risk of fake gossip blasts again" she had to prevent it.
"I'm on the same opinion"
"We won't never be in the same place at the same time"
"I'll survive it"
"And… for all the mission long, you won't fuck anyone in my presence" Chuck's lack of answer made her realize that she had gone too far. She had to repair it.
"Even if they think we're together… which is not true" she specified "I'm not gonna play the part of the cheated again"
"It's an applicable condition…" Chuck agreed "… that I'll accept only if you'll do the same".
She was stunned by his request.
"Even if I don't need to agree" she stated with emphasis "I accept only for the mission"
"Fine. I'll be there at 12"
"At 12"
"Did you see?" Chuck looked at Nicholas. "We're two friends who respect each other"
"Just for curiosity…" Nicholas was not done just yet, which was something Chuck didn't like. "If everything is over, why she's still your number one on your dial calls?"
Chuck raised his lips to form a smirk. Nicholas would have never won the match.
"This is where you're out. Blair is my number one on the speed dial since when we were 11 and she took me to the hospital because I broke my leg. Real friends have always had the best places in my telephone book"
I've never looked for my mother. I know that it sounds strange, but it's the truth. I've never had the curiosity to know if she was still alive, who she was with or what she was doing. Never.
Maybe I hated her so much that I rather know her dead in my life. Maybe I was so used not to have her with me, that I didn't even need her anymore.
I had seen her for what she really was, long before Chuck. Stuck on that plane, waiting for closing that mess once and for all, the only idea of asking her a favor, really pissed me off.
"I'll come with you" Josephine said from the other hand of the line.
"You won't" Daphne stopped her.
"You don't know her the way I do"
"You can't move"
"John can come with us" her grandmother proposed.
"I know what you're thinking. I'm fine, believe me" Daphne lied to convince her.
"Sweetheart I know you better! You can't fool me!" Josephine scolded her, making her smile for the first time in days.
"Chuck is with me. Blair's too. I'll be fine" Daphne used the people her grandmother loved the most to appease her.
"Blair calls me 3 times a day to comfort us... she's so lovely" Josephine confessed her. "The only thing that makes me happy is that the press is changing opinion on her".
Daphne didn't speak, but her grandmother could read thought her new mood.
"I know how you're feeling... You're facing your own sorrow while the whole world judge you for your mistakes and go on, enchanted by a different love story"
"It's not their fault" Daphne replied, breathing in and out. She knew that Chuck or Blair had nothing to do with it.
"I've never forgive myself for agreeing to that pact, my love". Tears were pouring down Daphne's eyes at her grandmother confession.
"We've already talked about this" Daphne tried to stay strong, to resist. "It's ok, really"
"You know that the Empire is surrounded by the press?" Josephine informed her nephew, aware of the impact that it could have on her.
"Blair's car left a few minutes ago. She'll enter the garage and we'll take the helicopter from the roof" everything was planned. Josephine stayed in silence for a while.
"I wish I'd been a better guide for you" Josephine broke, unable to hold back her tears.
Daphne felt a knot in her throat. It was a terrible moment for her grandmother. Her illness and her past were hunting her, making her feel guilty.
In spite of all had happened, she loved her grandparents with every fiber of her being and she didn't blame them for the difficult choices they had made. Deep inside of her, she had always understood them and they have always been the strongest support she had ever had.
"You were. I wouldn't be here If you weren't there for me" Daphne assured her, crying too.
"Your grandfather is coming. I have to let you go" Daphne smiled again. She knew that Josephine didn't want to be cough by Andrew on the phone, like that. He always got worried and took the blame for it.
"It was not your fault. I need you to know it" Daphne said to her.
"Thank you, my love. Have a good journey"
Daphne stayed in silence for a while.
The idea of looking for her mother to clean up that mess, scared her. It was the only way to end that never ending war. That was what had been decided. She glanced down, caressing her belly with her hands. It was empty, empty like her.
"Where are we heading to?" Blair asked, walking on the plane, which was waiting for them in an old hangar, out of NY. All their ways to avoid the press had worked.
"Minnesota" Nicholas explained.
"What is she doing in the desert?"
"The phantom" he replied to her, sitting on the leather sofa. It was their very first conversation.
When Daphne walked in, Nicholas eyes were on her, which was something Blair couldn't stop but catch. Right in that moment Chuck came out of the pilot cabin followed by an hostess and the pilot.
"How are you?" Nicholas asked Daphne. He hadn't seen her in days and even if he pretended to be fine with Chuck, he was really worried about her.
"I want this over as fast as possible" Daphne briefly replied. That article had opened too many wounds, too many memories between them.
"We'll find her. I promise" he reassured her in a sweetly tone of voice that surprised Blair.
He was telling it to Daphne, as he believed that meeting Elisabeth, could cure them too, as it could make up for everything he had done. Daphne didn't reply, she simply nodded and headed to one of the little bedrooms of the plane.
Chuck and Blair stayed in silence until Daphne was out of sight and Nicholas was sitting back on the sofa, self-pitying with his head in his hands.
The pilot, who lied behind Chuck, said something to the hostess and came back to his cabin.
"My PI called me. Elisabeth is in Texas" Chuck announced.
"We'll go wherever she is. We have to find her" Nicholas was more than sure about it. It was about time to end their family war.
"Thanks God this plane is full of comforts. I'll retire in my bedroom" Blair puffed, pointing at one of the doors in front of her. The longer she had to be locked in the same place as Chuck, the further she had to stay from him.
"It's already taken" Chuck communicated her.
"Of course it's taken!" she pointed out to him, indicating herself.
"It's my plane!" he stated with a dark gaze.
That game was starting to piss him off. He felt like a puppy in her hands. He knew that she'd won, that he'd let her won, but Nicholas was right behind him, ready to make fun of him. Chuck Bass couldn't give up so easily. That was his plane, his reputation!
"It is, but you violated our pact" she justified.
"Which part?" her exit got his full interest.
"We should have travelled on different lines" He lowered his gaze and put his hands in his pocket. Arguing with her was so familiar to him. He just couldn't get enough.
"It was "different cars" and, if I'm not mistaken, this is a plane Waldorf" he specified trying not to laugh at her expression. She was not backing down. He wasn't either.
"It doesn't change anything, Bass…" she took a deep breath.
"Why don't you share the bedroom?" Nicholas intervened, proposing them something that they would have never accepted.
Chuck and Blair, both turned to look at him with a cruel expression.
"Are you out of your mind?" Blair accused him while Chuck stood in silence.
Lying in a bed with Blair was a terrible idea, especially when it came from Nicholas' devious mind. Chuck thought about it. Maybe he could have stayed on the seat and played poker with Nicholas.
"Take the room, I'll stay here" Chuck finally informed Blair.
She was still frowning at Nicholas, who was smirking at her. 10 minutes in a room with him and she already hated him.
"Lucky for us, we'll take different cars in Texas and I'll go with Daphne" she said with relief.
Staying with Chuck was obviously not an option, and Nicholas was unbearable. She had never seen someone as unpleasant as him. Who the hell he thought he was?
"I should say the same" Chuck nodded in agreement, trying not to eye at Nicholas, who was smirking at them in the background. "At least I could sit wherever I prefer" Chuck added, catching back Blair's attention. The only way to shut Nicholas up was pretending to be friends.
"Fine" she smiled before looking back at Nicholas who wasn't smirking anymore. "Don't you See?" she asked him. "A good deal, means long friendship!" she smiled at him with triumph.
Clearly he was not used to lose.
"Now, if you could excuse me, I'm going to respect the "not staying in the same place together"" she let her hand slip on Chuck chest before turning to leave.
Chuck couldn't stop but smile taking a look of her back, while she was walking away from him, to sleep in his own bed.
"This must be a joke... I'm probably still on the plane dreaming to be in the middle of nowhere and a cowboy-Clint Eastwood kind of man running towards me on a horse while the dust is ruining my hair" Blair was nervous.
"I've already told you. There's NO mistake. We've changed the destination and the dealer had just a BMW left" Chuck explained to her for the nth times. He was annoyed.
"Who tells me that you haven't done it on purpose?"
"If you don't believe me, go and ask yourself to the gas station attendant who received the car" he made her street to the gas station attendant office.
She cross fixed him. 3 men stood outside of the office. She looked back at Chuck who had an amused expression that she couldn't stand. She quickly walked toward the office.
"I don't need your help" she stated nervously at Chuck, when she realized that he was right behind her to follow her. What if they would have seen them together and tell the press?
"Whatever you want" Chuck replied calm, answering with the smirk of the winner.
She desperately wanted to punch him. She hated him.
"Where's Blair?" Daphne asked Chuck. She was already inside of the car that Nicholas was driving.
"She's looking for another car" Chuck was amused. He stood by the gas station pump, his hands in his pockets and a blue electric refined suit under the hot sun.
"There are no other cars" Daphne replied.
"That's what I told her" Chuck was enjoying that moment.
Nicholas jokingly placed his forehead on the driver. It was going to be a very long day.
"Is it possible that in a huge state like Texas, there's just a car to rent?" Blair was complaining with the gas station assistant.
"Miss, this is not an hire shop. We just receive the renting car and give it to the costumers. That's it"
"I don't believe you! Give me another car now!"
"Believe what you want" the man puffed. She was annoying him.
"You don't understand!" she reasoned "I need that car!".
In the meantime, the man was accompanying Blair out of his room. She had changed her voice tone, not the authoritative spoiled girl anymore, but the needing girl.
Chuck lowered his gaze, smiling. That was the Waldorf scheme old school.
"I'm sure your friends will help you, bringing you to the next city to rent another car" the man was pissed by her insistence.
"They're not my friends! They kidnapped me!" She played her last card. She talked to the man in a whisper, pretending to be seriously in danger.
"They took me here, from NY city against my will! You have no idea what their capable of… You need to help me!" Blair tried to sound desperate.
"Nice try" the man was done with her. "Now, miss, get your ass in the car and leave"
"You have no idea of who you're talking to!" Blair fumed. Who was him to treat her that way?
"To a girl who's wearing a 14 cm high heels in the middle of nowhere?" he made fun of her.
"Those shoes cost at least as much as you can earn in a month!" she replied back. NO one could insult her Jimmy Choo.
"That's too bad. You'll get rid of them after this journey" he provoked her.
"The difference between me and you, is that I can get rid of them and buy an entire shop, while you can only buff yours once a month" she stated with arrogance taking a step toward him. Those words irritated the man.
He stocked his chest out, showing to her, the muscles under his shirt. Blair didn't step back. Chuck got worried.
"I apologize for my friend..." he stepped in to prevent any kind of problem. With a quick move Chuck took Blair's elbow and pushed her away from the man. "She is a little stressed from the jetlag"
Blair was killing Chuck with her gaze. What the hell was he doing? He had to defend her, not insult her.
"You can't think that after her accusation I'd let her go this way" The man stepped toward Blair, but Chuck covered her with his body to protect her.
"What do you wanna do to me?" Blair provoked him, pissed by the man's arrogance.
"Well, I'm sure that there plenty of other ways to end this..". With the certainty of the experienced man, Chuck took out of his pocket a bribe of money, and handed it to the man.
The man stubborn stared at the hand first and then at the couple in front of him. Without hesitations he punched Chuck on his left eye making him falling on the ground. Chuck screamed with pain.
Blair stood motionless. Daphne slid on her seat to hide herself. Nicholas made a pained face.
"You're just two spoiled guys" The man stated. "Here In Texas we settle differences like men!" he threw the money back on Chuck, shaking his head in disappointment.
Chuck was touching his eye, feeling a sharp pain. Blair leaned to help him.
Before leaving, the man looked at Nicholas and Daphne, who still locked in the car, were quite embarrassed.
"Take them as far as possible from here. And muzzle her!" he pointed at Blair.
"It's a good idea" Nicholas agreed with low voice before receiving a dig on his chest.
"Shut up and lift him up" Daphne ordered him.
"The next time you want me dead, at least, apprise me first" Chuck mumbled after 5 minutes. They were all in the car.
"You got what you deserved for lying to me" Blair was looking out of the window.
"I didn't lie to you. The hire shop had just this car" he explained her again.
"You should have asked another hire shop" she was obsessed.
"Why haven't you called yourself?" he asked fuming. His eye was swollen and the only thing Blair was doing was complaining.
"Being a gentleman has never been your mantra Bass" she seemed offended.
"The gentlemen here, took a punch because of your being bitchy"
"Oh, poor boy! I'm pretty sure you've lost your sight" she made fun of him.
"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be this way" he blurted out.
"And if you didn't bring me in the desert, nothing would have happened".
"So, is this all my fault?" he was exasperated.
"Who else's?" she agreed "It's the only ways to solve this mess" she quoted him, with a theatrical tone. Chuck watched her cross, than turned to look out.
"And who on hearth, suggest me to muzzle myself? Me! Blair Waldorf!"
Daphne and Nicholas were listening rolling their eyes to the sky. It had been 10 minutes that Chuck and Blair were fighting, throwing at each other their pacts, their plans, mistakes, anything they could.
"If you had a muzzle, I wouldn't be close to death" Chuck comment was sarcastic.
Blair suddenly kicked his leg, making him scream again.
"Have you lost your mind?" he yelled at her.
"Look! You're still alive!"
"You'll pay for this Blair" he advised her.
"Let me guess…. What will the Great Chuck Bass do? Do you wanna fire me?" she was not stepping back.
"Ok, Enough!" Daphne couldn't stand them anymore. "Pull over the car" she ordered to Nicholas.
"What are you doing?" Chuck asked confused.
"Why are we stopping?" Blair was surprised too.
"We're all going out of the car and when you'll stop shouting, we'll leave" Daphne spoke clear.
"I'm not stepping out there, I'll ruin my shoes!" Blair complained.
"Under the sun? Risking an eye bleeding?" Chuck lamented.
"Get out of this car, NOW!" Daphne shouted with firmness.
Chuck and Blair looked at each other like two children on a punishment. They slowly opened their car doors and got out before closing the doors behind them with their heads held low. In that moment Nicholas locked the car doors.
"Ehy! What are you doing?" Blair turned on her heels like a cat.
"Nicholas unlock the doors!" Chuck ordered him with anger. What game were they playing?
"We'll be back in two hours to pick you up, when you'll finally behave like lambs!" Daphne explained to them.
"This joke is not funny!" Blair stated. "You can't leave me here with him. What if someone sees?"
"You're in the middle of nowhere baby, at least you'll meet a rattle!" with that, Nicholas left them there with the most pissed expressions he had ever seen in his life.
"Finally alone". Nicholas turned to Daphne with triumph. That little theatre reminded him their past intimacy.
Daphne looked at him with sufficiency, before making the radio lauder.
Nicholas understood immediately.
There were moments when I desperately wanted to kick Chuck and Blair in the asses. They had found each other back, but they were too stubborn to admit it. The past, the wrong choices, all the time thinking back at the other and the days spent to curse each other had simply flown away. That heavy stone that had divided them for so long had disappeared. They could start over, for good. Too bad, they were so proud and childish to keep on insulting each other, pretending not to love each other, instead of realizing that they were falling in love more and more every day.