"It's so sweet of you to see you me off," Blair smiled at Chuck between kisses just outside the freshman dorms of NYU on a Monday morning. "I can't believe college is already here!"
Blair couldn't admit enough just how sweet she thought it was that he insisted on taking her to NYU this morning. True, they had spent the bulk of their summer after graduation in Europe blissfully together before spending the last few weeks at the house in the Hamptons. However the polo party at the Van der Bilt's last weekend had officially signaled the end of summer and it was now time for them to get back to the reality that is the real world, with her starting college and him officially taking over the reins at Bass Industries all while trying to find his next independent business venture.
"I have to object to you living in the dorms," Chuck stated as they pulled apart momentarily. "Fluorescent lighting, communal showers, public school girls... there's a place for that and it belongs in the back of a video store."
"It won't be for long – I can't rule the NYU masses from the Upper East Side. I need to spend time in the dorms to establish myself as queen," Blair happily explained to him once again.
"It's not Constance, Blair – the only queens at NYU are the ones with tickets to see Liza at Carnegie Hall," Chuck informed her.
"Chuck... I trust that when you say never drink Absinthe with Daniel Baldwin that you know what you're talking about. But when I say that the first week of college means scared, vulnerable freshman needing someone to guide them... I know what I'm talking about."
"Then I'm very excited for you," he tried to assure her, not fully believing her plan was going to work though.
"Thank you," she smiled once again as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for more kissing. "And if everything doesn't work out, I'll be back at our little love nest at The Palace with you," she added.
"Then in that case... I hope everything doesn't work out," he smirked at her.
"Of course they're together... and they brought a limo," they overheard a familiar voice quip from just a few feet away. Blair pulled away and looked around to confirm the source. Sure enough, on the steps to the dorms was Vanessa, standing with Dan and another poor looking boy.
"Go - time to establish hierarchy," Chuck told her as he urged her on.
"Love you," she told him as she gave him one last quick kiss before starting towards the dorms.
"Love you too!" she heard him call after her.
"Let's make it clear from the start – we don't know each other here," Blair told the Brooklynites as she proceeded to make her way past them.
"Works for me!" she heard Dan exclaim.
"Me too!" she heard Vanessa add.
One problem down, she smiled to herself.
Chuck had just gotten back to their room at The Palace when there was a knock at the door.
"Why hello, sis," he greeted Serena with a bit of surprise. "I assume you came for a few ounces of 'study aid' for Brown?" he curiously inquired.
"No..." Serena reluctantly informed him. "I... need a place to stay – I'm not going to Brown," she announced as she walked right in. Chuck watched her proceed to make herself at home on the nearby couch. He then noticed the help rolling a luggage cart through the door.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa... wait! What?! You're moving in?!" he asked in surprise.
"Just temporarily... until I figure things out," Serena told him nonchalantly as she began to flip through a magazine. "I already texted Blair – she said it was fine so long as I don't hog what little closet space is left."
Chuck sighed in annoyance as the help finished sitting her bags against a far wall. This was news to him.
"Yes, we may all be freshman, new to NYU and the dorms but that doesn't mean we have to embarrass ourselves," Blair informed the girls she had rounded up from around her dorm floor. "I can tell by looking around this room that none of you are from New York City..."
"Actually I'm from-"
"Riverdale doesn't count," Blair quickly cut the interrupter off. "Anyways, I won't be holding the sad truth of your hometowns against you. In fact – I want to help you! For example... who can tell me which is the only club to be seen at on a Saturday night?"
Oooh I heard Marquee!" one girl quickly answered.
"Wrong," Blair corrected her. "You should never be seen at a club on a Saturday night – it's strictly bridge and tunnel on the weekends. You're welcome! Now... Dorota and I have put together some gift bags filled with essentials for everyone!" Blair excitedly announced.
"I don't think you need week to run school," Dorota whispered to her. "You could do it in one day!"
"I know!" Blair gushed, thinking to herself how easy this was going to be – Chuck had no idea what he was talking about. "This is going even better than I hoped! And the best part is – I seem to have a single!"
But she had apparently spoken too soon.
"Sorry I'm late everyone!" Georgina announced as she burst into the room. Then she noticed Blair. "Blair?! Blair Waldorf?! Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! We're roommates!" she screamed as she ran and gave her a hug. Blair just stood there in horror.
"Girls... please if you don't mind – take five," Blair ordered as she quickly ushered the girls from the dorm floor out. As soon as everyone was gone she turned to Georgina. "Following me to NYU! Becoming my roommate?! I'm going to have Dorota file a restraining order!" she snapped at her.
"B, you're overreacting – the roommate thing is merely a coincidence," Georgina lied to her. "My parents said it was either Bible camp or college so... Go Bobcats!"
"So you're not in love with Jesus anymore?" Blair asked, skeptically.
"Oh I still hold him in my heart but Jesus and I have redefined our relationship," Georgina informed her.
"You mean he dumped you because he found out you were Satan!" Blair yelled at her.
"This could actually be a good thing, Blair – look! Manolo's – size seven, just like you!" Georgina squealed as she pulled out a pair of black stiletto Manolo boots. "Let me know if you want to borrow!"
"I'll win you know," Blair hissed at her with narrowed eyes. "I ruled at Constance and I will rule here – you can't stand in my way."
"Are we still playing this tired, old game?" Georgina wondered.
"Oh please! Like you're not!" Blair shouted at her.
"No, I'm not," Georgina fought back. "I'm actually here for a fresh start."
"Oh no... this is not happening!" Blair heard that familiar Brooklyn voice again over her shoulder.
"Vanessa?!" Georgina exclaimed as she saw Vanessa in the doorway. "You're in our dorm too!? Yay!"
"Your dorm?" Vanessa asked, confused. "Um yeah... my room's just down the hall so... yeah... that's... awesome..." She quickly went along her way down the hall.
"Hey so, B... Where's Chuck? Are you two still together? You should invite him over sometime – I'm sure he wouldn't mind a threesome... this is college after all!" she grinned devilishly at Blair.
That did it as Blair threw the Manolo boots down and stormed out of the room in a huff. She had her first class to get to.
"B... I was just kidding!" Georgina called after her. "That is... unless you're into that sort of thing! I recall Chuck used to be..."
"I was packing and talking to Blair about her classes and then it hit me – I wasn't excited about any of it," Serena began explaining to Chuck as he paced around the room. He had no idea how Serena living with them was going to work. The room was just big enough for him and Blair... adding a third roommate into the mix on the pullout couch... it could get crowded. "I have no idea what I want to do yet and going off to a whole new place to figure that out... I don't know, Chuck - I'm just not ready for that."
"Look sis, for people like us... a college degree is just another accessory, like an adopted foreign child or a poodle or chihuahua..." Chuck told her.
"Well, it's an accessory that my mother really wants me to have," Serena reminded him.
"So you want to hide out here in the new Bass Cave with Blair and me until you figure it out?" he questioned.
"Yeah... if that's alright with you – like I said, I already texted Blair and she was fine with it," Serena informed him again.
Chuck nodded, allowing it temporarily. While the hotel was pretty much booked at the moment, he would make a note to move her into her own room as soon as one opened up.
"I couldn't help but notice you with Carter Baizen still... at the Van der Bilt polo party last weekend – this wouldn't happen to have anything to do with his influence, would it?" he couldn't help but wonder.
"No, absolutely not," Serena replied. "Besides, I haven't even seen him since last weekend," she confessed.
"Good, but just one thing – I'm having a meeting here later this evening and I'd appreciate it if you weren't around," he requested.
"Chuck, I don't mind if your dealer stops by... in fact, I could use some of his product myself..."
"Jesse is in St. Bart's this week so you'll have to get your stash elsewhere until he gets back in town – this is actually something... much more legitimate," he told her as she gave him a skeptical look.
He hesitated telling her for a moment but then decided against it – he was excited to share the news as so far Blair was the only one that knew, being that she helped come up with the idea.
"You know that old art deco bank on 72nd between Madison and Park?" he asked her. "The one that went out of business last month?" she slowly nodded as she listened. "I want to turn it into a Speak-easy," he anxiously announced as he reached for some photos that were lying on the coffee table in front of them. "In the front – an elegant restaurant... but down in the vault - an after hours locale devoted to indecency, disreputable behavior and an old manner of debauchery," he grinned.
"A decadent homage to the last time the market crashed..." Serena uttered as she looked through the photos.
"The harder the times, the harder people want to party and forget about it," he stated.
"Chuck! This is really a great idea!" Serena gushed, sincerely proud of him. "I can't believe Blair never mentioned it to me!"
"That's because it's been our little project for the past few weeks," he grinned. "No one else knows yet."
"Aww... look at you two... the future Mr. and Mrs. Bass... working together to conquer the world," Serena grinned at him. Chuck just gave her an awkward smile. While the thought of referring to Blair as his Mrs. would have terrified him nearly a year ago, they had come quite a long way since then and truth was, he definitely wasn't opposed to the idea now.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, sis," he told her, trying to change the subject. "You know, my father turned his first profit by the time he was twenty-two – I hope to do it by the time I'm twenty-one," he informed her.
"Well regardless, Chuck – I'm quite proud of you," Serena stated as she patted him on the knee.
"Cool party!" one of the few dorm girls to show up told Blair. "I'm Amalia," she introduced herself as she helped herself to some sushi.
"I'm glad everyone seems to grasp the concept of being fashionably late, however this is a little bit ridiculous," Blair said to the girl.
"I think everyone's down the hall watching a movie or something..." the girl informed her as she rolled her eyes.
"What?!" Blair exclaimed in disbelief as she set out to find who had sabotaged her party with a lame movie.
She no sooner found herself stumbling into what appeared to be Vanessa's room with everyone from their floor and elsewhere applauding as the movie credits rolled with Vanessa's name on them.
"Hey Blair!" Georgina greeted her. "We just finished watching Vanessa's documentary on this community garden in her neighborhood... it was amazing!"
"No, it wasn't," Vanessa tried to come off humbly.
"Yes it was!" Georgina declared. "Vanessa I had tears! Actual tears! When that gang member picked up his first carrot..."
"Okay... the screening is over, the cocktail party has officially begun in the common room..." Blair announced but then her eye caught notice of one of her custom invitations lying around. "Is that my invitation being used as a coaster?" she curiously asked.
"Thanks so much Blair, but we actually just scarfed down like four pizzas and we're actually getting ready to head off to my nearby rooftop party..." Georgina informed her.
"Georgina, please – nobody wants greasy pizza and Vanessa's home movies when there's a sushi and sake party in the other room," Blair tried to entice everyone to follow her. "Did I mention wasabi facials?"
"Okay then..." Georgina remarked after an awkward silence.
"Shut the door – we want to watch one more of Vanessa's short films before heading to the party!" someone spoke up.
Georgina shrugged as she shut the door in Blair's face.
Blair stormed off once again, this time down the hall.
"Rooftop party... rooftop party..." she muttered to herself as she scanned the social events board out in the hallway. She no sooner found the flyer for the aforementioned party when she heard her unwanted roommate approach her.
"Hey look B, sorry about your sushi party..." Georgina started.
"If you're not out to sabotage me, then explain what this is!" Blair demanded to know, referring to the flyer for the rooftop party. "You deliberately ruined my party!"
"This paranoia has got to stop, Blair," Georgina told her.
"I am not paranoid – I'm right! Why else would you have formed an alliance with Vanessa – the one person I may just hate more than you!"
"It's not an alliance, it's a friendship – unlike you, Vanessa's cool and people like her... more than the weird girl who threw the fish party!"
"Sushi! There was torro!" Blair reminded her.
"Face it Blair, once upon a time in a far off land... you were a queen, but here you're just a loser who will never fit in," Georgina rubbed it in her face. "So, you won't be needing that..." she said as she snatched the flyer from Blair and proceeded back down the hallway towards Vanessa's room.
Frustrated, she wandered downstairs and outside to a little coffee shop around the corner. She saw more of Georgina's flyers scattered around the entrance, much to her annoyance. And then she heard a familiar laugh.
"I'm telling you! Everything I learned about women was from Judy Blume's 'Forever'!" she heard Dan say as a group gathered around him at a table all laughed.
She took a deep breath and coolly approached him.
"Humphrey... can I talk to you?" she said, trying to stay calm and in control.
"Uh yeah... what's up?" he wondered as he took a sip of his coffee, the entire table looking on.
"I was wondering... do you have a plus one for Georgina's party tonight?" she reluctantly asked him.
"Wait, what?" Dan questioned, completely confused and caught off guard by her request. "Blair are you feeling okay? You do know I'm not Chuck, right?"
"I'm fine and of course you're not – I could never confuse him for the likes of you..."
"Insulting me isn't going to win you any points, Blair..."
"Okay, fine! Georgina uninvited me and I need to be at that party, okay? So... please?" she pleaded with him.
Dan gave her a skeptical look.
"I just... I feel like I got off on the wrong foot here and I want to start again..." Blair sadly explained.
"Alright, fine..." Dan sighed, a little annoyed. "But you're going to want to change into something a bit less... you."
"As you can see the restaurant would be elegant... a seasonal menu, extensive wine list... now I know the space is big but I wanted it to have a more intimate feel," Chuck explained to the current lease holder as he went over his plans with the man.
"Ugh! Chuck, college is like Bizzaro Land! If you're trashy and from Brooklyn you're suddenly cool whereas if you're refined and polished from the Upper East Side you come off as a complete weirdo!" Blair whined as she stormed into the room in a hurry, completely ignoring the man sitting with Chuck at the table and proceeding towards the closet in the sectioned off bedroom area of the room. "What's going on? What is this?" she paused and double backed once she finally noticed Chuck's visitor.
"Blair... this is the current lease holder for the restaurant we had discussed..." Chuck informed her with a tone in his voice implying that she should keep her mouth shut.
"Oh that's right! I'm sorry, I completely forgot you had a meeting set up!" Blair apologized as she approached the man and extended a hand in greeting. "Blair Waldorf," she introduced herself.
"My long-term, live-in girlfriend, as I'm sure you've heard," Chuck clarified to the man who simply nodded in recognition. "Blair, what are you doing here? I thought you were staying in the dorms this first week?"
"I am... I just needed to stop by and grab a few things to help fit in," she smirked as she went to rifle through the closet. "I'll be out of your hair momentarily gentlemen - promise!"
Chuck tilted his head towards the man. "If we may continue?"
"Yes, um...where were we..." the man began. "How will you be using the vault space?"
"It's perfect for storage," Chuck quickly informed him.
"I have to admit... given your reputation, when you made the bid my board was a bit concerned..." the man told him.
"I understand – the neighbors don't want some ruckus club coming in, disturbing the quiet," Chuck acknowledged. "Believe me, I wouldn't want to bring that element to the area."
"Bye sweetie – see you in a few days," Blair subtly interrupted as she stopped by to give Chuck a quick kiss on her way out with a bag in tow. She nearly bumped right into Serena as she opened the door.
"S! What are you doing here?" Blair asked in surprise. Chuck sighed.
"Yes... what are you doing here?" he wondered as Serena proceeded to make her way in.
"Hey B! Sorry, Chuck – just pretend I'm not here! My heel broke!" she tried to whisper the last part as she noticed his potential investor was still there.
The man gave Chuck an inquiring look as Serena rushed around the room to her bags which were still unpacked in the corner.
"Step-sister," Chuck stated as he patiently waited for her to leave. "I apologize..."
Just then Chuck's phone rang. "And that would be my lawyer... excuse me while I take this," he told the man as he approached Blair still standing in the doorway. "Get Serena out of here!" he whispered to her as he answered the phone.
She nodded as she made her move. "S... come on, we can share an elevator," Blair beckoned to Serena who was quickly changing her shoes.
"Coming!" Serena announced as she hurried along. "I am so sorry for interrupting," she apologized to the man.
"It's alright, we were just finishing up anyways," he told her.
"Oh okay... are you the one investing in Chuck and the bank space?" she inquired.
"Well, I'm the current lease holder of the property – your step-brother definitely has a real vision!" the man proudly told her.
"I know! I'm just so proud of him – turn the vault into a club... it's genius!" Serena exclaimed. "Blair – I can't believe you didn't tell me about this!"
Just then Blair's face went white with horror – Chuck was going to kill her for not getting Serena out of there fast enough... that was, after he killed Serena first.
"Serena!" Chuck snapped at her as he heard her spill the beans.
"Excuse me? But a club in the vault?!" the lease holder asked in disbelief. "Well in that case... the deal is off, Mr. Bass. Ladies... have a good night," he said as he gathered up his things and promptly left.
"Thanks a lot, S!" Blair frowned at her best friend. "You just cost him the deal!"
"Blair! I asked you to do one thing – get her out of here!" Chuck snapped.
"Don't blame this on me! I was already on my way out when she arrived!" Blair snapped back at him. "And besides – I tried!"
"I don't understand... what went wrong?" Serena wondered, confused as to what just happened.
"He has to answer to a board, Serena!" Chuck began to clue her in. "And boards tend not to approve of coat-check girls who give happy endings!"
"Oh geez... Chuck, Blair... I'm sorry, okay? It was an honest mistake... neither of you clued me in on that little fact," Serena tried to apologize.
"Why do you think I asked you to go out tonight?" Chuck asked her, rhetorically. "Because I knew something like this would happen!"
"Fine, Chuck... I'm leaving, I'll be back later – don't wait up," Serena bluntly spoke as she walked away. "B... come on, you can tell me what you're scheming up in the elevator."
"S, go ahead – I'll catch up with you later," Blair told her.
She then paused in the doorway for a moment as Serena proceeded on down the hallway.
"Chuck? Are you going to be okay?" she asked as she sat down next to him on the couch, putting an arm around him as he held a hand to his face.
"Go - I'll be fine," he sighed. "I just need to sit and think. Good luck with whatever it is you're plotting, though..." he turned and told her as she leaned in and kissed him on the forehead.
"Thanks... and don't worry, you'll find another place for the club," she assured him. "You're Chuck Bass – I know you will."
Blair had stopped in her dorm room to change before meeting up with Dan.
"Are you okay?" he asked her as they ascended the stairs to the roof.
"I just wanted to say... thanks for bringing me, Humphrey," Blair hesitantly replied. Her first day of college was turning out to be quite a humbling one.
"Uh yeah, well... I would just like to think that if I needed some help that somebody would do the same for me," Dan told her. "Although let's be honest – we both know that somebody wouldn't be you..."
"True..." Blair had to admit as they continued to climb the stairs.
"And oh! No headbands in college, okay?" he declared as he pulled the one she was wearing out of her hair and tossed it down the stairs.
"Hey! The headbands are my signature! And besides, Chuck likes them..."
"Yeah well, he's not here and maybe it's time for a new signature, eh Waldorf?" Dan suggested. "Come on."
Once they reached the rooftop Blair struggled to take in all the unruly sights she was being subjected to.
You're definitely not on the Upper East Side anymore... she thought to herself as she witnessed a few guys doing a keg stand while a group cheered them on.
"Katie, this is Blair, Blair... Katie," Dan introduced her to a girl that she recognized from the coffee shop earlier in the evening.
"Cute necklace!" the girl complimented Blair.
"Why thank you!" Blair smiled politely. "I like your..." she paused as she tried to find something the girl was wearing she could compliment her on. Unfortunately she drew a blank.
"How about I get us all drinks and you two talk," Dan suggested as he attempted to break up the awkward silence. "Just not about high school," he warned.
"So was everyone at your high school totally jealous of Dan for being such a great writer?" the girl inquired to Blair as soon as Dan had his back turned.
"Dan's a writer?" Blair responded as she recalled that Dan was a complete nobody for the majority of high school.
She nervously stood around and watched her new classmates party like complete animals. She never felt more out of place.
"Are you insane?! Battlestar kicks TNG's ass! What other show in the history of the world has been asked to speak at the UN?!" Blair overheard a guy argue with another nearby. She had no idea what they were talking about.
"Dude, I can't even look at you right now!" the other guy argued.
"Fine then, don't look!"
Just then the second guy noticed Blair standing there. "Hey, what do you think?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know..." she sighed.
"Yeah, actually I do!" he pressed her.
Just then her text message notification went off. "Oh thank god! Saved by the bell!" she stated as the message announced an arrival she had been anxiously awaiting.
Chuck had resigned himself downstairs at the bar when he spotted Serena giddily making her way across the lobby towards the elevators with a guy in tow.
"Oh hell no," he sighed as he finished his drink in one gulp and proceeded to get up to go stop her. She was NOT bringing a guy back to his and Blair's room. As he spotted her a little ways ahead of him, he couldn't help but notice just who the guy was that was with her.
Carter Baizen, he growled to himself.
Unfortunately he just missed them get into an elevator and had to wait for another. By the time he got back to the room, he walked right in on Serena and Carter fooling around on the couch.
"No! Absolutely not!" he yelled at them both as he made his presence known.
"Chuck, come on..." Serena pleaded. "It's just Carter..."
"Exactly," he commented. "You! Out! Now!" he barked at Carter.
"Chuck, enough!" Serena snapped at him.
"He's not staying here! It's my room... my hotel actually... and you're a guest! No Carter Baizen's allowed! I don't want him near my stuff!"
"Is this about that whole mess two years ago, Bass?" Carter sighed. "You got your watch and baseball back... I swear I won't touch anything... other than Serena that is," he smirked as Chuck rolled his eyes.
"I thought you told me you hadn't seen him since the polo party last week?" Chuck asked Serena.
"And I hadn't... until tonight," Serena informed him.
"Isn't there somewhere else you two can go and get your freak on? Like his place?"
"Ugh, fine!" Serena sighed in annoyance. "Come on, Carter..." she told him as she pulled herself up off the couch and led him out of the room by the hand.
Chuck sighed in relief once he heard Serena slam the door shut. There was no way in hell he was letting Carter Baizen spend the night there, let alone get it on with Serena on his couch.
"Excuse me everyone!" Blair called the crowd to attention as she took over the DJ booth. "Please, do you mind with that... music," she asked the DJ. "Hi everyone! Most of you don't know me – my name is Blair Waldorf – but a lot of you know my roommate who threw this amazing party – Georgina!" With that the crowd began cheering and applauding. "Yeah... I know, Georgina rocks, right?" The crowd cheered some more. "I mean, I never knew that a Jesus Freak could throw such a great party but I guess I was wrong... so, everyone – raise a glass... or a plastic cup of foam... to the coolest Christian I know – Georgina Sparks!"
Blair grinned as the staff from Georgina's Bible camp days invaded the party with their tambourines and gospel songs while passing out pamphlets to the crowd.
"Oh my god, everyone – this is a conversion party!" Blair announced over the microphone. "I can't believe it – Georgina threw this party and invited all her friends here to convert all the vulnerable freshmen!"
Seeing the look of horror on Georgina's face was more than enough to satisfy Blair. She had won this round she thought to herself.
"Hi there, VIP party at the Monkey Bar – limo's waiting downstairs! See you there!" Blair quickly began telling everyone she saw on her way to the exit.
"Blair! What the hell are you doing?" Dan stopped her.
"Georgina was turning everyone against me – you were just a casualty in the war for social dominance," Blair explained to him. "But don't worry, your loyalty has been rewarded – your name is on the VIP list at Monkey Bar... however yours isn't," she turned to Vanessa.
"Georgina wasn't turning people against you, Blair... you tried to bribe people into being your friend with sushi parties and gift bags and nobody liked it!" Vanessa remarked to her.
"I don't need these losers to like me in order to follow me!" Blair snapped at her. "Fear works better anyway... Dan! You've experienced Social Siberia before – if you want to try something new, I'll see you at Monkey Bar."
"Now when you get downstairs, you'll find limos waiting to take you to the club," Blair told a small group that had gathered around her. "But no sticking your head out the sunroof – this isn't East Ridge prom!"
"Excuse me everyone," she heard Dan speak over the microphone from the DJ booth. "Hi, hello... I'm Dan. I just wanted to let everyone know here that Blair Waldorf over there invited some people from Georgina's past just so that she can embarrass her. But you know what? We're all starting college here and college is supposed to be a place where you aren't judged by what you believe or who your friends were... you're supposed to make new friends and start over... or so last time I checked... and I think... I thought this party was pretty fun, right?" People in the crowd were agreeing with him. "Okay, so... who wants to leave with Blair over there?" he inquired. Much to Blair's embarrassment, no one responded. "Okay and who wants to stay here and drink cheap beer with me?" The crowd gave a roaring response to that. "It's a no brainer then!" Dan declared as he handed the mic back to the DJ and descended into the crowd.
Not wanting to publicly admit defeat, Blair quietly made her exit.
By the time she got back to their room at The Palace it was well past midnight and the lights were all turned down. Serena still wasn't back yet but Blair could make out Chuck's form in the bed. Quietly she slid into her neglige and carefully pulled back the duvet to climb in next to him.
"Hey..." he groggily greeted her as he felt her arm wrap around him from behind. "Back so soon?"
"You were right about the dorms... the lighting is awful," she told him as he reached up to intertwine his fingers with hers.
"Are you okay?" he gently asked her.
"I am now," she replied as she snuggled in next to him. "I think from now on, I'll just use my dorm room as a place to study in between classes."
"Mmm... I think that sounds like a good plan," he stated with a smile as he kissed her hand and pulled her close. "I missed falling asleep with you."
It was almost six in the morning when Serena crept into the hotel room. The sun had just come up a little bit ago and she knew the alarm clock wouldn't be going off for at least another hour. Carter had said he had some early morning business to attend to so Serena decided to head back and at least get a change of clothes for herself. Curious as to whether Blair had actually spent the night in her dorm like she had said she was going to, Serena tip-toed around the corner to see if Chuck was sleeping alone.
Not too surprised, she grinned when she saw that Blair was snuggled up next to Chuck, both fully clothed with their arms wrapped around each other. They looked so happy and peaceful together. Serena sighed as she wished that someday she could be as happy and in love as her step-brother and best friend were together.
AN: Thanks again to all those that read, reviewed and followed/favorited!
Sorry for the long wait this time - I'm still on vacation and won't be back til the weekend so this one will have to hold you over until I get back! (It's been in the 70s this week where I'm at while back home they're getting a snowstorm tonight! Mwahahaha - can't say I'm missing that at all!).