Summary: Blair goes through with it, and no matter how cut and dry the contract made it seem, this is one business deal that will have repercussions neither of them anticipated. Because she's not as strong as she pretends to be. Because he won, but it sure doesn't feel like it. Because selling out yourself or your girlfriend is a much bigger deal than either of them ever considered.
They slip into his Palace suite, room 1812, a few hours later, hand in hand with matching blissful smiles on their lips.
Chuck leads her inside and sets the plastic bag containing their dinner on the coffee table before turning to help her with her jacket.
She bites her lip to hold back a grin at the simple gesture, but her eyes find his and an energy passes between them; their deep connection expressed through nothing more than a look.
He smirks and reluctantly steps away from her to hang up her coat and then head toward his small kitchenette area. "So what do you say? Is tonight worthy of a little Dom '95 with dinner to celebrate?"
Blair laughs to herself as she watches him pull a bottle from where it is chilling in ice on the counter. "Do you always keep my favorite champagne cooled and ready just incase I decide to grace you with my presence?"
He snorts. "Don't you recall I told you I had tonight all planned?" he reminds her with an amused grin. "Restaurant reservations, candles, rose petals, champagne…" he trails off as he pops the cork on the expensive bottle. "But someone was too impatient to wait, so now we have to eat our dinner out of styrofoam containers on my couch."
Her cheeks flush a little as she laughs. "Like you really minded me changing your plans a little bit," she retorts with playful roll of her eyes.
Looking around the room, she suddenly realizes though that he was serious. There are numerous unlit candles sitting all around the king sized bed on the other side of the suite and she can't help but feel touched at what a romantic, albeit a bit cheesy, of a gesture it was. Stepping across the room she takes note of the red petals strewn across the bed, a few stray ones fallen onto the floor, and she smiles to herself.
She runs her finger across the edge of the comforter as she remembers the numerous nights they spent here together in the past. The summer after senior year she had practically lived here with him, spending nearly every waking and non-waking moment curled up together in this very bed. Back when everything was so new and almost innocent (as innocent as the two of them could possibly be) before the Empire and evil uncles and bulimia.
Biting her lip, she resolutely pushes all those thoughts away.
This is a fresh start. Of course they can't pretend none of it happened, but they can try and pick of the pieces and move on- and she sure as hell is going to do everything in her power to make sure that happens. That means she isn't going to let thoughts of the past mar one more second of her time with Chuck.
"Here you go, Waldorf," he speaks up softly at her side as he hands her a glass of bubbly liquid.
Immediately she goes to take a sip, but his hand comes up to rest warm and gentle on her wrist to stop her.
"To us," he toasts confidently, holding up his glass.
A warm smile curls her lips as she clinks her glass to his. "To us."
The two of them tip back their drinks, but keep their eyes locked on one another.
"We should probably eat before the food gets cold," Chuck offers, trying not to think about going for another round as he stands in such close proximity to her and his bed.
Blair nods, trying to shake the same thoughts. "Sounds good," she agrees. She lets him begin to guide her back to the couch with a hand on the small of her back when something catches her eye. "Wait." She stops suddenly, turning back to the bed. "What's that?"
Chuck follows her line of vision and his eyes widen slightly. "That's.. That's nothing."
Her brow furrows and she shoots him a look before making her way to the nightstand on the side of the bed that was always hers. There sits a crisp white envelope sitting propped up against an ornate lamp, and once she picks it up and inspects it further, she sees her name scrawled across it in handwriting she doesn't recognize.
She looks to him for some explanation and he shrugs.
"I forgot that was there. You weren't supposed to see that until after dinner and…" he trails off and sighs as he tries to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up. "I guess nothing is going to go how I planned it tonight, is it?"
Watching him in confusion, she runs her fingers over the letter, testing it's weight and trying think of what the hell it could be.
Chuck can't help but give in and smile, laughing to himself at her obvious intrigue. "Well are you going to open it or what?"
At his words, she doesn't hesitate to tear into the envelope, her sudden confusion and curiosity at the strange object driving her crazy. She pulls out a piece of paper and quickly unfolds it, skimming over the typed words as fast as she can.
Once she realizes what the letter means, she looks up at his in disbelief through abruptly wide and tearful eyes. "How… How did you…?"
"I have connections," he answers her simply, moving closer to her.
"But I turned them down. I told them I was going to Yale," she rambles dumbly. "There's no way Columbia would still take me after that."
Chuck smiles softly. "I told you, Waldorf. I have connections."
A tear slips down her cheek as it slowly it begins to sink in what is happening; what he has done for her. It feel like this huge burden is being lifted off her bit by bit; this huge sense of dread and regret and fear is getting smaller and smaller. Another tear, of relief and happiness and shock, escapes her and he wipes it away with his warm thumb and she suddenly can't believe how lucky she is that this boy loves her.
"Plus you had already gotten in on your own," he points out with a genuinely proud look in his eye, "so I didn't even really do that much. All I did was get a meeting, charm the dean a little bit…"
She sniffles and smiles a little at him. "I'm sure you did."
He grins and leans forward to kiss her forehead.
"I can't believe you did this for me," she mutters, still shocked as she clutches the letter and looks at him through watery eyes. "This is the sweetest, most romantic, amazing thing…"
"Well before you get too excited," he interrupts her, his smile faltering a bit, "I have to tell you there is one catch."
Her brow furrows. "What catch?"
"You can't start there until the spring semester."
"Oh," she breathes, thinking over that new piece of information before deciding that it doesn't matter. "That's fine. I can join a charity committee or maybe get an internship or-"
"Or you could spend it with me," Chuck suddenly speaks up, interrupting her ramble before pausing to take a nervous breath. "Traveling."
Blair's eyes widen. "What?"
"Well," he starts anxiously. "Seeing as you'll have to take a semester off and I currently have no hotels to manage or companies to run, I thought that maybe we could go away together. Travel the world, just the two of us."
Her mouth falls open as she takes in what he is saying.
"No pressure," he quickly adds off of her look. "I mean, if you want to stay in the city, we definitely can. I know things between us are still on shaky ground and everything is kind of a mess, but I thought it might be good for you to get away; get a chance to be stress free for a while. And maybe, on a slightly selfish note, I thought it might be good for us to-"
"Okay."
His mouth closes and he stares at her, unsure if he heard her right. "Okay?"
She frantically nods, more tears escaping from her big brown eyes. "Okay. Okay let's do it."
A grin breaks out over his lips and he can't help but rush forward and wrap his arms around her tiny waist. He hugs her tight, holding her as close as he can, before pulling back to kiss her lips, hard and excited.
"You sure?" he asks again breathlessly once they pull away from each other in need of air. "Because I know things have been hard on you and I wouldn't be mad if you wanted to stay home. Or even if you still wanted to give Yale a chance. Since I'm going to take some time off work, I could go up with you and help you get settled and used to it if you want. I know you've been unsure of what to do lately but that was always your dream. I'd understand if you still wanted it."
Blair quickly shakes her head, bringing both her hands up to rest on the sides of his face, making sure he is looking at her. "Dreams change," she tells him, suddenly feeling more sure of herself than she has in months. "I used to think that Yale was my dream, back when marrying Nate and summering in the Hamptons were my life goals," she explains and rolls her eyes at the thought.
He smirks at her, before turning serious. "So… What are your dreams now?
She bites her lips and runs a hand slowly through his soft hair. "You."
He pulls her even tighter against him, his eyes soft with complete adoration.
"And New York," she continues thoughtfully, "and… to be strong."
"You're already strong," he argues softly. "But we'll make you stronger."
She smiles gently, leaning forward to kiss him. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he whispers against her lips.
"Forever."
"And ever."
They kiss again, slow and intense, passion building and burning between them.
Blair's stomach suddenly growls, interrupting the moment, and they break apart instantly.
Chuck rests his forehead against her's and laughs while Blair's cheeks flush pink and she begins to giggle as well.
He places one last kiss on the very tip of her nose before reluctantly pulling away. "Come on. We'll reheat dinner in the microwave."
She allows him to pull her behind him for a moment, their hands entwined, before she slowly comes to a stop. "Chuck…"
He stops and turns to look back at her with a furrowed brow.
"Thank you," she tells him honestly, her voice thick with emotion, "For so much, I can't even begin to say."
Smiling a little sadly he shakes his head at her. "Don't thank me," he gently chides. "If anything I'm just trying to maybe, somehow get even remotely close to doing for you as much as you've done for me. But I don't think that will ever be possible."
She opens her mouth to protest but he shakes his head to stop her.
"Why don't we eat," he suggests her, trying to change the subject, no longer wanting to focus on their past but instead their future, "and we can plan out all the places we'll visit this fall."
A warm smile curls her lips. "Sounds perfect."
He pulls her hand into his and kisses her palm, leading her into the living area.
"As long as you're still going to order us the chocolate mousse for dessert?"
He breaks into a grin, chuckling to himself. "Whatever you want, Waldorf."
TBC….?
Feedback is greatly greatly appreciated! Any thought you have are great :)
AN: Figured I'd put this at the end. I hope there are some people still interested in this lol. I am still going to keep working on my stories- slowly, but surely- they'll get updated haha. I had planned for this to be much more angsty and blah blah, but I just couldn't do that after all they've been through.. plus I don't want to drag this story out a ton longer. I hope that it wasn't too fluffy. Any feedback would be great- let me know if you are interested in more. :)))