Author's note: All is fluffiness in the CB fandom. After the episodes of cringing torture we had to endure from S05 (*caugh*dair*cough*) our fandom has all taken a fluffy turn down the yellow brick road of happiness. God knows there's no such thing as too much Chair fluff.
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Three Words, Eight Letters: What is it
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When he entered their shared penthouse, he immediately knew something was wrong judging by the sight he found his girlfriend in as he found her in their bathroom.
Blair Waldorf had on an apron and latex gloves, a sponge in one hand. She was bent over the tub, scrubbing the porcelain. At a corner, neatly arranged, was what he recognized as the cleaning kit (consisting of various cleaning agents, detergents, cloths and sponges for scrubbing and wiping, etc...) for bathroom cleaning which the maid service had during their work hours.
For a while, Chuck just stared disbelievingly at her, astonished to find her cleaning, and damn, her ass looked firm and fine from his position. Blair was too distracted and concentrated on scrubbing some nonexistent taint on the impeccable white of the tub's porcelain that she did not notice his presence until she had to turn to soak the sponge in a bucket filled with suds.
She jumped a bit, startled to see him standing by the door of the bathroom. "Chuck!" She breathed deeply to compose herself and calm the nervous erratic beat of her heart as she held on to the edge of the tub. "God, you Basshole," her tone was soft with no irritation lacing her jab. "You scared me."
"Not as much as the sight of Blair Waldorf getting down and dirty cleaning made me doubt my sanity. I thought I just stepped into an alternate universe with the 'Maid in Manhattan' plotline."
She glared as she walked past him, the cleaning kit in hand. "When did you arrive?"
"A couple of minutes ago."
"And you were just standing there staring at me?" She scoffed, avoiding his eyes. "That is disturbing, by the way."
"At least I didn't pound my head on the wall as Nate would've done or accused you of being an alien inhabiting her best friend's skin as Serena might've reacted. And besides," he smirked as his eyes went up and down her body, "I had a great view of your ass."
"Ugh," Blair rolled her eyes as she took a duster in her hand after removing her cleaning gloves, "You're heinous."
"But you also love that about me." He followed her to the living room where she started dusting some of their furniture.
"So, is this some sort of role play? Because you look pretty kinky, by the way."
Blair straightened and immediately turned to him with a grimace. "Eww! Bass, you're gross! Can you stop thinking below your belt for a minute?"
Another confirmation of his suspicion. His lewd comments, when made in private, always made her coquettish and playful, turning her into a seasoned seductress, and he would always be drawn like a sailor to a siren's song. But this time, she was clearly bothered by something to actually resort to cleaning as a distraction. And she was keeping it from him, thus her attempts to push him away.
Chuck sighed. "All right. What is it?"
"Care to elaborate what 'it' is?" Blair countered, avoiding confrontation, keeping herself busy with her task.
He sighed again, as he knew she was dodging the question. "You're keeping something from me, and it's bothering you. What is it?"
Damn, Blair thought. She cursed how he knew her so well. She would've thought he could read her mind if he wasn't trying to pry 'it' out of her.
But Blair chose evasion. "What makes you think something is wrong?"
"You're jittery, your eyes are avoiding me, your intonation is higher than usual, you' re fidgeting in a way that you're trying to keep your hands perpetually busy so you'll have reason to not look at me, and you're cleaning with no reason. Well, not really without reason."
"Well your assumption is wrong, Bass!" Blair answered back as she put distance between them by moving towards a wall with portraits and straightening the frames. "Stop being so paranoid. What is so wrong with tidying up this place a bit, hmm? Apparently, you need to up your cleaning crew because this place isn't as tidy as you may think!"
Chuck sighed and, grasping her upper arms, turned her around to face him. She avoided his gaze by averting her sight upwards and sidewards, but he was having none of it. He lifted her chin. "Look at me." She did, widening her eyes and jutting her chin in a nonverbal expression of an irate "what".
"You can tell me. You can trust me. What is it?"
Blair's eyes watered and her lower lip trembled. "Well, I..." Blair's open mouth was suspended for a moment. "I can't." She turned away and briskly walked towards the guestroom.
Chuck raised his head to the heavens (more like to the ceiling of his penthouse) and sighed in exasperation, a prayer for patience. He followed Blair to the guestroom where Nate usually crashed in. She was taking out the pillowcases.
"The maids are responsible for changing the sheets, Blair."
She still avoided eye contact, proceeding with stripping the pillows of their covers. "Well they need to change this! Apparently your cleaning staff is incompetent! These sheets are old and stuffy! They need to be changed!"
"They were changed yesterday."
Blair paused in her movements before turning to him with a glare and stomping out of the guestroom, leaving behind the bare pillows and its cases on the floor. He followed her into the living room, here she was picking up the discarded feather duster.
"Can't I clean in peace?" Blair hissed through her teeth.
"Is this pre-graduation jitters?" He asked. Blair was graduating in two months and he thought maybe she was nervous. But he was pretty sure Blair had nothing to worry about, as it was pretty clear she would be graduating as magna cum laude with her current standing.
"No! I told you this is nothing. I'm just cleaning for the sake of cleaning. Now leave me alone and do some paperwork or something. I can't be bothered."
Chuck rolled his eyes in annoyance. He knew she was not the cleaning type. She usually left that to Dorota or the help. "Look, will you just tell me what's bothering you? I can assure you I will find out. Do you want me to have to find out through my P.I. or are you just going to tell me?"
Blair spluttered, looking terrified and nervous. "What, I... I... I told you I can't!"
Blair's vulnerable expression was starting to unnerve him. What could be so horrible that she would be hesitant to come to him? He was going to have to play hardball.
"I'm going to find out one way or another, sooner or later, so just tell me before I have to resort to extrajudicial means. I'm going to ask again: What is it?"
They both stared at each other for a while, Chuck waiting for an explanation and Blair waiting for courage to kick in. She shook her head and looked down. "I'm afraid."
Chuck was now deeply concerned. What could possibly frighten his headstrong girlfriend? "Is someone threatening you?" Chuck's voice rose; he was getting worked up from the thought that Blair might be in danger.
Blair shook her head, dispelling his fear. He sighed, but his apprehension could not be placated as of yet. "Who are you afraid of then?"
Blair could not look at his face. "You." she said in a low tone that Chuck barely caught.
He frowned in confusion and bewilderment. "Of me? Why would you be afraid of me?"
"Because!" Blair squeezed her eyes shut and lifted her face, taking a few shallow breaths before finding the nerve to finally speak. "Because… I'm..."
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A/n: NyahahahaXD~! Cliffhanger~! Bet you can complete that last sentence. The following chappies will follow this one. That's all I'm saying. XD XD XD Btw, I discovered two sets of 3w8L here accidentally, though I don't know if I'll use them. Praise for the one who spots it! HahaXD