Hey, everyone. So, chapter 9 was the last of the rewrites and this is the first of the new chapters. I think I got the formatting all sorted out but do let me know if there are any issues and I'll fix asap. I kind of know where I want this to go (even though I definitely don't remember the original plan, ha) but I am happy to take suggestions on the plot from here on out! Thanks again for reading. xoxo
Chapter 10
Blair smiled at her phone as she ate yogurt with her minions on the Met steps. Chuck's co-star was having a meltdown in the Today Show dressing room because they didn't have an almond milk mocha waiting for her and Chuck's narration was getting increasingly hilarious. She saw Serena hurrying towards the group and smiled at her best friend. She'd been so happy to finally tell S about Chuck and she couldn't wait to divulge more ... after she got rid of the minions. Before she could think of a reason to ditch them, Serena was already hugging her, "I need to know everything about Chuck!" Blair sighed. So much for getting the minions out of the way first. Penelope was the first to jump in, "You and Chuck Bass? Nice work, B. At Nate's party?" Blair rolled her eyes, "No, Penelope. I don't just go home with the first guy that hits on me like some people. I saw him a month later and he couldn't stop thinking about me. You saw him at my birthday party, didn't you? He bought me the Erikson Beamon necklace." Penelope's jaw dropped. Hazel's eyes widened. Kati and Is stared in disbelief. Hazel snapped out of it first, "Ch..Chuck Bass bought you that? Are you guys ... together?" She looked to Serena, who clearly now felt bad for blabbing to the minions. Serena added, "Yep. Chuck wouldn't shut up about her at family dinner." Blair smiled at the save. She sighed and waved away the minions in the interest of talking to Serena.
"I'm so sorry, B, I was so excited! I forgot." "It's okay, S. People are going to find out eventually. At least this way, when Penelope starts telling everyone, she'll have the truth rather than whatever rumor comes about when someone inevitably sees me leaving his suite." Serena laughed and looked at her expectantly, "Well, they're gone now, tell me everything!" Blair let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding and laughed along with her friend. "He's been a perfect gentleman." "Chuck Bass? Brown eyes, always wears a scarf, sleeps with anything with a pulse?" Blair laughed, "Make fun all you want but the girlfriend thing was his idea. And he told Eleanor we were dating. He helped me plan the Nelly Yuki take down!" "I'm so happy for you, B. So, are the rumors true ... is he as magical as the girls in the National Enquirer claim he is? Actually, wait, ew, don't tell me. I don't want to know." "I don't really have anything to compare to but it's pretty magical to me. But, S, it's more than that. When we're together, he makes me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world - like I'm the only thing he cares about. He likes everything I hate about myself." Serena smiled at her, "B, I'm so happy for you. No wonder you've been in such a good mood lately! I think he really likes you." Blair lowered her voice and leaned towards her best friend, "I think I'm falling in love with him, S. But it's so different than with Nate. I loved Nate but it wasn't like this. Am I crazy?" Serena's eyes widened and she hugged Blair tighter, "B, that's great. That's what love is supposed to feel like - the can't eat, can't sleep, over the moon, reach for the stars, can't live without you kind of feeling." "Did you just quote an Olsen twin movie to me?" Serena nodded, "Yes, yes I did." Blair shook her head at her friend.
A few moments of silence passed as Blair are her yogurt. But then her phone chimed, she's threatening to walk off set if someone doesn't get her this latte. She giggled. She looked up to see Serena looking at her with raised eyebrows.
"Okay, if you must know, Chuck's co-star is having a diva meltdown at the Today show and he's giving me the play by play. He's enjoying it so much I think he might have sabotaged her latte himself." "She seems so nice!" Blair rolled her eyes. Serena would buy the sweet act. "Well, Chuck can't stand her so take what you will from that." Serena smiled at her, "It's cute." "What is?" "The two of you! You're taking his side, disliking people he dislikes! You're in a real relationship ... with Chuck Bass! But, seriously, what's with the secrecy?" Blair sighed. She knew this conversation was coming sooner or later. "It's complicated, S. I didn't want to tell you at first because I was embarrassed about losing my virginity to some guy I barely knew, a world famous philanderer no less, and then I didn't know what there was to tell ... and once we defined the relationship, I just didn't know how to say it and we wanted to tell Nate first ..." "But now everyone will know. I mean, I'm surprised there hasn't been a Gossip Girl blast already." Blair sighed, "I know. I just ... I wanted to keep it to myself because I've been so happy. I just didn't want anything to ruin it." Serena hugged her, "Don't worry, B. I'm not going to let anyone come in between you guys." "I hope you're right."
After her chat with Serena this morning, she went off to study for midterms in the courtyard when the blast came.
Hey Upper East Siders,
It seems our Ice Queen has melted.
I have it on good authority that Queen B has a new King - and his name is Chuck Bass.
You heard me - our very own Blair Waldorf has hooked herself a Bass.
Color me impressed, B. Let's see how long this one lasts.
xoxo, Gossip Girl
Ugh. She was so annoying. Now she'd have to deal with telling Chuck that their relationship was out in the open. Although she had been pleasantly surprised by him thus far, she didn't want to push the relationship thing too hard, lest his commitment issues rear their ugly head. Referring to himself as her boyfriend in private was one thing, but having everyone know? That was another thing entirely. She could only hope his feelings for her outweighed his deep-seated fears of commitment.
Despite her late night with Chuck, she was confident that she had aced her Shakespeare midterm. She looked around her locker for the history book she needed for her midterm tomorrow. The last day of midterms was always the most difficult and tomorrow she'd have both AP French and AP European History exams to contend with. She knew she would do well as soon as she found that damn textbook. Unable to find it in her locker, she checked in her classroom and mentally went through her room. As she was recalling the past couple of days, she realized she must have forgotten it in Chuck's suite and groaned. She just had to forget it in the most inconvenient place. Not only was the Palace nearly thirty blocks away, but Chuck was out doing press for his movie and he wouldn't even be home. She sighed. He had given her a keycard to his room ...so she could be his wake-up call or sneak into his room to await his return but this was an emergency.
She hailed a cab and before she knew it, she was in front of the hotel. She greeted Robert at the desk and he replied, "Miss Waldorf, lovely to see you as always. I'm not sure Mr. Bass is home, would you like me to call up and check?" She flashed her keycard at him and said, "I just left something upstairs." She made her way over to the elevator and up to the eighteenth floor. She briefly wondered what Robert thought of her and whether Chuck had referred to her as his girlfriend to the hotel staff. She adjusted herself in the elevator and then shook her head at herself. Chuck wasn't even home and here she was, making sure she looked her best. As she unlocked the door and walked in, she was surprised to see Chuck having lunch with two older gentlemen and a scantily clad woman. She paused at the door. All four people looked at her as she looked back at them in confusion.
"Blair, what are you doing here?" The other three people seemed as confused as she was. "I left my textbook here. I need it for my midterm." "It's on the coffee table. Blair, come here, this is my agent, Theo, my manager, Alec, and my publicist, KC. Everyone, this is Blair Waldorf ... my girlfriend." She shook their hands and felt completely embarrassed. First, she had been jealous of the scantily clad publicist - how ridiculous. Second, she had clearly interrupted a business meeting for Chuck and she felt awful. She should have asked Robert to call up or just texted Chuck herself. Theo smiled widely at her, "Ah, the reason Chuck's been staying out of trouble! It's so nice to meet you." A lifetime on the Upper East Side served her well as she charmingly engaged Theo and Alec in conversation. She noticed KC ignoring her efforts and tried not to let it affect her but she couldn't help but wonder ... why wasn't KC as thrilled about her relationship as Alec and Theo seemed to be? Did she think Blair Waldorf was unworthy of dating Chuck Bass?
As Theo relayed a story about his time at Yale, KC interrupted, "So, we'll see you at the premiere tonight, then, Blair?" Chuck shot her a look of annoyance and Theo let out an exasperated sigh. "KC, must I always remind you that your rudeness is off-putting, and, quite frankly, embarrassing to watch? You've been stewing since Blair walked in and now you're lashing out. My twelve-year-old is more mature than that." Blair hid her smile. She tried not to show how much she was enjoying Theo's admonishment. KC glared back at him, "I was just asking a question, Theo. Can't you go one day without belittling me? Is it because you know I do half your job for you?" Sensing the tension in the room rising, Blair interjected before Theo could respond, "Actually, I'm not coming to the premiere. I have to study for my midterm." She held up her recently retrieved textbook as evidence. KC's smug smile almost made her want to forsake studying and go to the premiere out of spite.
The silence that followed was awkward, as none of the men in the room could think of what to say and the women were silently daring one another to back down.
Theo fumed in annoyance with KC. It was only the most recent incident in a career of pissing him off. Her rudeness, ruthlessness, and constant enabling of Chuck's bad behavior was always getting on his nerves. She couldn't go ten minutes without being rude to Chuck's girlfriend. In her psycho brain, she was probably already condemning the relationship as a PR disaster because it would change Chuck's reputation. Nevermind that most people would find this a positive change in his personality, nor that Chuck actually seemed happy for the first time in the ten years Theo had worked for him. She was truly grating.
Alec watched the interaction between the two women and between his two co-workers with trepidation. The tension between KC and Theo was always palpable - she thought him to be a judgemental prick, always lending his moral compass when no one asked to borrow it, and he thought her to be a ruthless bitch, always doing what she wanted without caring who she had to push out of the way, so long as her client was at the top. He always tried to stay out of the situation but he always felt bad for Chuck, who inevitably had to step in to end their incessant arguing. He couldn't deny that he had been proud when they'd come into the suite earlier - for the first time, there weren't drugs or lingerie anywhere. Actually, the apartment barely had any trace of Chuck's partying and there was only one open bottle of booze. Although he kind of lived vicariously through Chuck's exploits, he was always hoping Chuck would get his act together. He learned early on that it was best not to bring up Chuck's obvious parental issues but he hoped Chuck would figure his shit out on his own. Today, coming into a normal looking suite and a sober Chuck was so refreshing. Seeing Blair Waldorf walk in made everything clear. At first, he was confused by the sudden presence of the pretty brunette. His confusion deepened when he realized she must have had a key - to Chuck Bass' apartment. Sure, she could have been a hotel employee, but she was clearly a teenager and wearing a school uniform at that. His confusion had deepened again when he saw the look on Chuck's face. Confusion, sure, but more importantly, happiness. Chuck was glad to see whoever this woman was. Then she mentioned forgetting her textbook and he wondered what a girl would be doing with books in Chuck's apartment. Then, Chuck introduced her as his girlfriend and he'd been speechless. She was lovely, sure. Chuck did have great taste. But to be introduced as Chuck Bass' girlfriend? That had never happened before. He could tell Theo was overjoyed by this development. To be honest, he was glad Chuck finally had someone who wasn't on his payroll to care about him.
Chuck's initial confusion when Blair walked into his suite was wiped away and he had been more than happy to see her after a stressful day. She'd come at a perfect time, too. He was nearly falling asleep out of boredom in this meeting. He'd noticed KC's attitude right off the bat and knew Blair would too. He had resisted the urge to groan when KC had been so outwardly rude to Blair. He was used to this behavior from KC but he knew Blair wouldn't take it. To his surprise, Blair hadn't made any sort of biting comment and was still acting like the perfect Upper East Side princess with impeccable manners. He could tell she felt victorious when Theo scolded KC but was trying to hide it. He didn't really know what to do when his girlfriend and publicist were engaged in a staredown and clearly neither one was going to back off. The room was tense and no one had said anything for over a minute. He picked up the tickets to tonight's premiere that were in a neat pile on the edge of the table. He took a handful and placed his other hand on the small of Blair's back. "That reminds me - Blair, would you give these tickets to Aaron and Cyrus? There's a few extra if your mother or fathers decide to come." His plan had worked. Blair looked away from KC and looked up at him. He could tell she was still pissed but at least the current situation was diffused. "The last thing Aaron needs is to spend more time with you. His obsession with you is creepy." "Blair, he's your step-brother and I already promised him tickets ... need I remind you that the premiere was only brought up because you lied to your mother about what we were really doing upstairs?" Blair blushed. "Speaking of my mother, you'll be charming if she comes tonight?" He opened his mouth to make a dirty joke but Blair cut him off, "Ugh, don't say it, Bass. You're disgusting."
He smirked at her and she couldn't resist a playful eye roll. She could hardly believe the power he had over her; all it took was a soothing hand on her back and a minute of their banter and she nearly forgot how annoyed she'd been with KC. "KC, you should prep a press release anyway for when people inevitably find out. My presence at the Snowflake Ball will make it clear if no one leaks it before then." She raised an eyebrow. Of course, she had hoped she would be able to convince Chuck to come to the ball, but she hadn't expected he would say yes. Before KC could respond, she added, "Well, actually Serena blabbed in front of a bunch of girls at school today and Gossip Girl already posted about it, so I would say it's been leaked." Chuck smirked at her. "It appears my soon-to-be-sister can't be expected to keep a secret. Make sure you have the press release ready." KC sighed, "I will." Blair felt victorious in her little stand-off with KC and turned back to Chuck, "I should really go." He motioned that he would walk her to the door and she politely said goodbye to Theo, Alec, and KC. She was nothing if not well-mannered. Chuck followed her into the hall and kissed her firmly. "Sorry about KC. That's how she is." Blair nodded, "Is that why you decided to come to the Snowflake Ball?" "It's important to you. Besides, I know you're not going to show up alone and I'm not letting you go with any of the guys I'm sure have already asked you." His jealousy was endearing. She leaned up to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close. The elevator dinged, and she instinctively pouted as she pulled away. Chuck chuckled and gave her one last quick kiss before she got on the elevator.
As the doors closed, she sighed contently. She couldn't help but note how different this was to her other relationships. Nevermind that Nate never seemed to know her well enough to calm her the way Chuck had, visiting Nate when they were dating never left her breathless. Despite dating Nate for years, she never left him feeling as light and happy as she usually did when she left Chuck. Sure, that could also be a natural response to orgasm, but that was yet another thing Nate showed little interest in pursuing with her. After all, she had practically been throwing herself at him and he was too preoccupied with Serena to make an effort. And Marcus, well, he'd nearly bored her to death and, although he was sweet, she never really felt anything when she was with him. Her other short relationships were short for a reason. This thing with Chuck was unchartered territory and she wondered if it was because she had lost her virginity to him or if it was truly something greater. Either way, she couldn't help how strongly she felt about him. She shook her head. She certainly couldn't be wasting time thinking about Chuck when there was European history to memorize. She couldn't expect Yale to accept someone who let thoughts of her boyfriend get in the way of her studying.