A/N- For those of you who were majorly pissed that there was no Chuck last chapter: I'm sorry. He's back today, and next chapter he'll be around much more. To SweetSas, Edwardslover09, Blood Red Kiss of Death, Gaara-LOve, laurienlaurie, Sad., CalGrl93, brenda, 123, simplybored, PattyWoods, toocrazy, forbrighterdays, quibler149, Michaellllla, Mel, Lisa, Teddy Bear, viv3, Luvs2shop721, PacificRomance, SmearedLipGloss, Jessica, hyacinth, Nikki, jumper, xoxo - Amber, ChuckArchibaldForever, lalaland, ggxoxo, dkmm, guardian izz, YESSS=), Krazy4Spike, klara, RustyJimmy, codswallop, poochbello, bookworm455, :D, dysenchated2, voldemort14, xoxogg4lifexoxo, flipped, niinjjakitten, blair4eva, renonoelle, .Slater and gh I LOVE YOU GUYS! Thank you so much for taking the time to review - you're awesome :)
Hope you all enjoy this next chapter, and disclaimer alert! I don't own Manchester Orchestra. Shocking, I know!
Five Doors Down
Chapter 36: Sail Boats and Trench Coats
"You're doing it again." Cassie muttered, glancing up from her textbook. "You're making me want to vomit."
"Because I was fixing my hair?"
"No, because you were fixing your hair with a satisfied smile on your face."
"I'm not satisfied."
"Nate Archibald doesn't satisfy you?" Cassie asked. "Hell, if I wasn't dating Asher he sure as hell would satisfy me."
"Cassie!"
The blonde raised an eyebrow at her friend who was still positioning the fascinator in her hair. "Just saying."
"Well can you not?"
"Fine. But if Nate's not delivering the goods then maybe you should rethink this relationship."
"One: we're not in a relationship. We kissed okay? There was no 'let's be boyfriend and girlfriend' speech. And two, Nate's not…" She wrinkled her nose. "Delivering the goods, because I don't want them delivered yet."
"You're abstaining?" Cassie asked, shocked.
"We haven't even gone on a date yet!" Blair returned, finally dropping her hands from her hair. "We don't want to rush things."
"Well you only have to rush to the good part. Then you can linger all you want."
"Well look how far the good part got me with Chuck."
"But you know to be careful this time."
"I was careful the last time."
"Well then does Chuck have super sperm?"
"I don't like this conversation." Blair huffed glancing at the door where there was a knocking sound.
"We're not waiting for you to answer anymore." Asher told the girls as he and Nate walked into their apartment. "You take too long."
"How'd you know we were even here?" Cassie asked, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend before kissing him. "And could you hear what we were saying?"
"No. Was it about us?"
Blair swallowed in relief. "Not everything's about you two."
"Well we heard your voices. My guess is that the apartments over the road can hear Blair's whining."
"I don't whine." The brunette replied indignantly.
"You do." Nate cut in with a smile. "But it's endearing."
Cassie looked between her two friends who were obviously having some sort of moment that she and Asher weren't part of. "Baby, I've got something to show you in my bedroom."
Asher grinned and followed his girlfriend out of the room.
"So are they really that obvious about having sex or was that the worst cover-plan ever to leave us alone?" Nate smiled.
"The latter." Blair replied. "Although with those two, you can never really be sure."
"So are you doing anything tomorrow?"
"Well tomorrow's Saturday so that means I'm either shopping or...shopping."
"Then how about you give your Amex a break so we can hang out?"
"Hang out?" Blair asked, part confused, part horrified.
Nate chuckled and rolled his eyes. "If I rephrased that as 'so we can go on a date' would you agree?"
She nodded with a smile and Nate laughed again.
"I thought Yale Blair would do things like hanging out now anyway."
"I do I guess." She replied. "I just don't like that phrase. It's unseemly."
"I'll remember that."
Blair frowned when Cassie's giggles filtered through the closed door, her expression matched by Nate's. "Are they-"
"Yeah."
"What time's your class today?"
Blair looked at her watch. "In two hours."
"Then do you want to grab some coffee? And just…not listen to that." He suggested, indicating the closed door.
She looked at her watch again and rolled her eyes when she heard more laughing. "I'll get my coat."
-
"So where are you taking Blair on your big date tomorrow night?" Asher asked Nate as they walked home from lacrosse practice.
"We're not going out tomorrow night." He replied. "I thought I'd take her on a day date."
Asher laughed.
"What?"
"Your 'big date' is a day date? Come on man, haven't you seen Just Friends?"
"No I haven't. And it's not a big date, it's just a date."
"With the girl you've been in love with for the last year and a half."
"I'm not in love with Blair."
Asher rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"Look, are you going to help me or not?"
"Help you? With what?"
"I thought we'd go to Bowen Field."
"Ah, the place where she stripped to her underwear, got drunk and went night swimming in a lake. Romantic."
Nate shoved his friend playfully and shook his head. "I thought we could have a picnic by the lake and then-"
"So why do you need my help?"
"Well if you'd let me finish I'd have said that I thought we could race your boats."
"Aw man, I love you, but I don't love you enough to let you have my boats for the day."
"You really care about them that much?" Nate asked with a laugh. "They're motorised toys!"
"Collector's items!"
"Come on man please? Blair would love it."
"Blair doesn't strike me as a boat person."
"Well she would be if you let me borrow the damn things!"
"Fine." Asher relented. "But you can't leave them unattended. Somebody might steal them."
Nate put his hand to his heart. "I won't take my eyes off them, I swear."
"Ahh, maybe I should drop them off for you then pick them up an hour later."
"Are you kidding?"
"Come on, there'll be a picnic blanket and the girl you've been in love with for the last year. You're not going to keep your eyes on my boats."
"I wish you'd stop saying that." Nate mumbled. "And for the record, you just sounded really gay."
"You can borrow the boats." Asher said finally. "But prepare to lose a limb if anything happens to them."
-
The following morning was perfect February weather: not freezing cold, not warm either. There was enough sun in the sky to differentiate between light and shade on the grass and as Nate got closer to a beautifully-dressed waiting Blair, he found himself blushing a little.
"For some reason, I'm a little nervous." He mumbled as she walked beside him. "I think I've forgotten what to say to a girl when she looks this good."
She smiled, pressed her lips together and smiled again. "Tell her you like her trench coat."
"I like your trench coat."
They walked a couple streets until they reached familiar common ground. "I'm not swimming in that lake." Blair warned Nate as they walked through Bowen Field. She shuddered. "I can't believe I even did that."
"I can't believe I piggy-backed you all the way back to campus. In your underwear."
Blair groaned. "Thanks for the reminder."
"Well you don't have to worry – I didn't bring you here to swim." Nate replied. "We're going sailing."
"Are you kidding? It's a freaking pond!"
"No." He grinned. "Sailing with those." He pointed to Asher who offered a half-wave from under a tree down by the lake.
"Asher's here. Really?"
"He's not staying. I just needed him to set up the boats – they're his."
"Don't tell Cassie Nate did this for you." Asher asked when they reached him. "She'll be slating me for not doing the same."
"Or just making fun of you for having the boats in the first place." Blair suggested.
"If Nate and Cass didn't like you so much, I think I might hate you."
"No." She replied sarcastically. "If Archibald and Cassie didn't like me so much you wouldn't even know me."
"Strike." Nate laughed and slapped his friend on the back. "Thanks man."
"Yeah whatever. Just don't wreck the boats. And don't end your date too early. Cassie and I are planning on taking advantage of having her place to ourselves.
"Gross." Blair mumbled. "If you have sex in my bed, I'll kill you."
"Bye guys." Asher grinned. "Have fun."
"I mean it!" Blair shouted after him as he left the two alone. "I'll get Nate to kick your ass!"
-
"Why are you soaking wet?" Cassie asked, laughing at Blair's bedraggled appearance as her flatmate shivered her way to the bathroom.
"He shoved me into the freaking lake!" Blair fumed, pointing her finger at a bewildered Nate.
"Why?"
"Your boyfriend said I could kiss goodbye to my limbs if we broke his boats. Blair nearly stepped on one so I shoved her out the way." Nate replied. "But I shoved her the wrong way." He frowned. "If you know what I mean."
"Are the boats okay?"
"The boats are FINE!" Blair fumed again from inside the bathroom, her wet hair soaked against her freezing skin. "I am not!"
"Nice first date." Cassie smiled, pulling her dressing gown across her silk pyjamas as she flicked the kettle switch to make some hot chocolate. "I think two hours is a record."
"Okay baby, I got strawb…Nate." Asher trailed off, embarrassment flooding his cheeks as he put the box of strawberries he was holding bag in the bag they'd come from. "What are you doing here?"
"Blair nearly stood on your stupid boats, and to save them I pushed her out of the way and she ended up in the lake."
"First of all, my boats aren't stupid – you wanted to borrow them. And second, where are they? Are they okay?"
"YOUR FREAKING BOATS ARE FINE!" Blair screamed from the shower, her huffing audible above the flowing water.
-
"I don't even want to think about what you were going to do with this stuff." Blair mumbled, warm and dry in her fluffy bathrobe as the four of them devoured the strawberries Asher had brought in between sips of hot chocolate.
Cassie, having changed into her own more sensible robe rolled her eyes. "So does Nate get another shot at taking you on a date?"
The brunette pretended to consider before smiling and rolling her own eyes. "Only if this one involves a restaurant and water from a san Pellegrino bottle."
"Done." Nate grinned, adjusting his positioning so she could shift her back more comfortably against him.
"So are you girls up for a road trip to Princeton on Thursday?" Asher asked. "There's a lacrosse game and I was thinking we could all go up for a couple days seeing as these two have finally got it together and have overcome a Bowen Field mishap.
"Mishap?" Blair repeated. "I nearly drowned and might still develop hypothermia."
Cassie laughed. "Actually I have no class Friday so I could miss one on Thursday to spend the weekend in a different state."
"Blair?"
She shrugged. "Yeah me too."
"Is it sad that we only ever hang out with each other?" Cassie asked. "It's like Friends. The furthest we ever go is Chapel Street."
"Erm hello, we just agreed to go to Princeton." Blair replied.
"Yeah. Together."
"Do you want other friends?" Asher joked, receiving a playful slap across the chest from his girlfriend.
"I was just saying."
-
"Chuck?" Blair frowned at her ex-boyfriend as she exited her bedroom the following evening.
"Waldorf." A coral cardigan-clad Chuck nodded appreciatively from his place on the girls' couch, his eyes scanning her up and down. "Why do you look like you're dressed for sex?"
"Didn't you hear?" Cassie smirked with a cocked eyebrow reminiscent of high school Chuck. "Nate's taking her out tonight."
Blair waited for his reaction, watched as his eyes never gave anything away.
"Sex on the first date." He mused. "Classy."
"You'd know."
"I would know." He replied. "Nice to see you're taking pointers."
Blair rolled her eyes, still unable to fully remove the smile from her face. "I don't know why you're here, but as charming as this exchange is, I have to go."
"I think you're already gone." Chuck said, curling his lips into something of a semi-smirk. "You seem weirdly happy. Have you been drinking?"
"No."
"Must be the excitement of whoring yourself out to Nate. Have fun with your first-date sex."
"I will." She told him, opening the door to leave. "And FYI, this isn't our first date. It's our second."
"Well I bet that filled her with confidence." Cassie said sarcastically, smacking her hand across the back of Chuck's head after Blair had shut their apartment door.
"Waldorf loves a little game of cat and mouse."
"They're happy Chuck." She warned. "Don't screw with her."
"I know." He lifted a hand in defence. "I saw the smile."
"Good. Because it suits her."
"I know." Chuck repeated.
"So why are you here? Please tell me it was for me to tell you that no, you shouldn't wear pastel if you're male and over two years old."
"If I wanted fashion advice you'd be the last person I'd come to." He bit with a cocked eyebrow. "Your boyfriend does a better job of wearing v-necks than you."
"Ooh bitchy."
He shrugged. "Or honest."
"Fine. Then what are you doing here. Honestly?"
"There's a party at the SA house on Thursday next week. It's invite only and I thought you'd want to go."
"You thought I'd want to go or you want Blair to go?"
"I thought you'd both like to go." Chuck replied. "Manchester Orchestra are playing."
"Manchester Orchestra are playing at the Sigma Alpha house next week?" Cassie asked doubtfully. "How is that even happening?"
"Joshua - the president is friends with one of the guys from the band's brothers. He called in a favour and got them."
"So you're telling me that a huge band is playing your frat house on a random Thursday night as a favour? How did I not know about this?"
"It's Joshua's girlfriend's birthday and they're her favourite band. He's proposing. That's why you haven't heard and that's why it's invite only. It's a secret."
"It's Nate and Asher's lacrosse game on Thursday." Cassie replied, part sad, part cross. "Blair and I promised them we'd go."
"Aren't they playing Hartford?"
Cassie shook her head. "That was last week. It's Princeton. None of us have class on Friday so we thought we'd spend a couple days checking out the city."
"So you're going to pass up Manchester Orchestra for New Jersey?"
"Can't you get Joshua to reschedule?"
"Reschedule his girlfriend's birthday?"
"Yeah, I guess not so much. Damn it."
"Well if you decide your little orgy seems boring in comparison, the party starts at eight." Chuck said, prising himself off of the couch. "Oh, and tell Waldorf that her trench coat tonight looked sumptuous."