IV.

We'll always have Paris

'Done! She won't come in today.'

Just like a chirping morning bird, Blair strutted to the bathroom all rested and ready to start another day.

'One would think you can't wait to make a mess out of this place.' Chuck drawled from the foam, his eyes resting in the warm scent. Though he was stretched out and relaxing on his own, he was glad to finally share a bath again after the tragedy occurred the morning before.

'As if we haven't already', Blair snorted, letting her night robe feather down her body with a flick, then cleared her throat, 'ehm, do you mind?'

Chuck immediately sat up with a grunt, and helped her get inside with his eyes awakening to that vision of skin and shape.

Blair sat down into the bubbles and slid opposite to him with a deep sigh, nestling her legs between his.

'Thanks my love, and how's your foot by the way? We'll be walking a lot today, sorry' she hummed, 'it's the perfect day for Gisèle to take off, so we can get back when we're tired and lay down or something.'

'Or something' he sneered.

Chuck still couldn't quite believe how often Blair would initiate things and with what passion, too; in their very first weeks together there hadn't been one time yet where he anticipated her. To think that over a year ago Chuck already thought he hit the jackpot, due to Blair's insatiable and much unforeseen curiosity and eagerness when he'd guided her through her first steps into carnal knowledge, but little did he know.

Now that they were actually together, he came to the conclusion that everything he had gotten out of her before was only the beginning. For all his debauched, yet cold hearted life he was convinced that there simply could not exist a match to equal his own unique, wicked obsession, but now that belief crumbled piece by piece before his eyes, because Blair easily proved him exhilaratingly wrong.

If anything, he had almost daily, and often surprising confirmations that his match in every sense indeed existed and it was her; she was his seventh heaven in hell to say the least.

'My foot is fine, thanks for asking about this work of your own making' he murmured, 'mh, could you move your feet a little? Your toes are tickly where they are at the moment.'

'Oh!' Blair smiled back, sliding her feet a bit higher and around his hips, then she stirred.

'Did it really take just this little?'

He looked at her inquisitively before a blow of air left his nose, 'Sorry to disappoint, but sometimes I just wake up like this. I assumed you had already figured that out by now? You've had plenty of chances,' he smirked like a cat, 'testosterone peaks in the morning and this only indicates just how healthy my nerves and blood flow are.' Chuck was so smug.

'Okay glad to know, but I don't need the specifics!' she splashed him.

'Speaking of feet, how many hours did you plan to spend at the Louvre? Just so I can better pick which shoes to wear' he sighed, that sneer still glued to his lips.

'Anything from four to six hours will do I think, you have no idea how much there is to admire' she said calmly while sponging bubbly water to her arms.

Chuck pinched the bridge of his nose, with his eyes shutting to the inevitable truth that Blair was absolutely serious, but still he tried, 'You're just saying, am I right?'

She glided forward then, broad smile and pleading, sweet eyes on full display as she lodged on his lap, grumbling, 'Oh Chuck, there are so many chefs d'oeuvre (masterpieces) I want you to see with me.'

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly as he just couldn't resist that face and her heartfelt intentions, 'I feel like we'll still be able to do that even in fewer hours. Wouldn't a couple suffice?'

'Definitely not. I could bargain on five hours max.' she scoffed with a smile, her fingertips tiptoeing from his brow to his jaw before kissing him back.

A bargain? His eyes widened at the sound of the word that gave him hope and especially options to play with. He kissed her again, deeper, longer and with more spice this time, then murmured to her mouth with the sweetest, most smarming voice he could manage, 'What about two hours and a half?'

'Naah' Blair grinned back, then plunged between his lips again, letting her tongue travel a little further.

Blair knew she could easily tease him enough to get him to surrender, and she definitely could do better than just a passionate kiss, thus she pressed tighter to his chest in such a swift, impulsive outburst that they heard water sloshing out from around them. To further elevate her persuasive power, Blair also made sure that her front would be brushing and tormenting his hardness now back to its full form, causing a pleasurable groan to flutter against her tongue. Checkmate.

'Mh, smart player,' he gritted to her proud, smiling mouth, 'what about three hours then?'

Before he was even done asking, his hand had ghosted to where their bodies met. Kisses poured to every corner of her mouth as his fingers kept playing their teasing game on her, while hers fisted tighter into his hair in both silent request and warning.

Chuck pulled back from her lips only to look at the spark in her fiery eyes as he let a finger slip inside, effortlessly but unexpectedly to catch her by surprise and to gain an advantage. Blair's former complacent smile now was to be found on his face, whereas her mouth was left hanging open as a quick breath flew from her throat.

It only took her a few seconds of readjustment to this new enhanced phase in their negotiation before she shook her head again, mouthing 'no' and grinding her hips around him, with more water now sloshing around and out of the bathtub.

'I'm sure six hours will be fine' she breathed out, making a pretence of composure and holding his lust-filled stare as he added another finger. Blair didn't manage to hold back a moan then and Chuck couldn't tell if that was out of frustration, pleasure, or both. She was warm silk, snug with friction around him and she clearly was sensing all of it as her hips only pushed to a steadier rhythm to meet his moves.

'Three and a half hours maybe?' he husked, trying again as his lips grazed down the hollow of her throat, kissing and nipping ever so lightly.

Blair gave him a negative silent answer once more, and before he could even register, she rose from his fingers and then sat back down but on his hard length this time.

'I can maybe drop- to five and half', she gasped as she slid lower and lower around him, slow and tight, letting that overfilling, and much more gratifying sensation take over her.

Chuck thought his heart skipped a beat with the deep, growling moan he had just let out.

'Four?' he groaned sharply and with difficulty as his senses started to rush towards that tight feeling of hers.

'No. Five is my last call', Blair muttered in a light, quivering voice, slowly lifting herself all the way up to his swollen head, and then hovered on him with a vixenish smile shining over his stunned expression. Chuck couldn't help but grin back at that show of mischievousness and exhaled, deeply, as he was evidently twitching in ache and need under her.

Her whole body was satin in his hands, glowing with soap and scented drops of water whose paths around her neck and breasts were driving him quite literally insane with lust, not to mention the way that lush part of her tipped on him at the moment.

Chuck could already tell that this game was one he would lose, but he still made one last attempt.

And again he stroked his palm from her hip down to her mound, touching and teasing her where she was the most exposed, playing her in a way that had her jolt and squirm in his embrace.

'Let's settle on four?' Chuck pleaded against the pit of her chest, where he felt soft draws of breath responding to his knowing touch. He looked up at her again, trying to deliver his best pitiable and loving face as he continued his attentive, delicious torture.

With a smoother, but still slow push, Blair took her control back and took every inch of him all the way in once more, causing a new tide to gush on the floor as she gasped louder, 'Five-'

They were both at last left breathless and as his head fell back in pleasure, Chuck realized that he would have walked on his knees through every museum in the world if that meant that he could have her like this for every day of his life.

Blair felt like a godsend, something more like a miracle actually if he ever were a believer, spoiling him with unconditional love and invaluable affection at all times, and she leveled their connection even closer to the divine when stroking, pulsing and heating around him with her own lust for him.

They stopped playing with numbers then, the final whistle having clearly ended their match and both agreeing that love making was the best result out of their negotiation. By the time they were done, it was left unsaid between them that they inevitably had both forgotten how many hours they had settled on.

'Bass, why don't you order that white chocolate meringue I've seen you eyeing up for five minutes instead of looking so amused?', Blair alleged at that grin of his as she took another picture.

Making up for their "lost" chance the evening before, their lunch took place at the renowned Epicure, by the magnificent Bristol Hotel that nothing but fuelled Chuck with inspiration for his future career. The Michelin three-starred restaurant offered them refined, expensive looking dishes in the most artful, colored compositions that Blair never missed taking pictures of.

They both knew Chuck wasn't mocking her for it of course, it was just very sweet the way she would make a memory of every minimal new experience they shared far away from home, in public and private alike. His grin spread further as he hoped she'd remember to keep the two in separate folders.

He then finally gave in and politely signalled to the white suited garçon, asking for both the craved dessert and the bill for him to pay.

But Blair interjected, 'Oh, no I've already settled the bill, thank you!'.

Chuck turned his face back to her with a bewildered expression as he put his wallet back, 'You didn't have to, Blair. But thank you.' They beamed at each other.

'I know I didn't, but I wanted to. Let me spoil you sometimes too, I like it' she hummed.

Well, talk about firsts. Chuck was simply and slightly embarrassed, but in a good and surprising way, just like receiving good news when he hadn't been expecting any. Not only had he taken a very limited number of people out for a meal before, but he also would have never imagined being offered one, let alone by his own girlfriend. Up until that rapturous moment, Chuck always thought that it was an experience that would simply never exist in his universe, and now he felt extremely lucky against all his predictions.

'Well, I guess I'll pay for my dessert myself.' he drawled, treasuring her hand with his.

'Nope, that's paid for as well. I already knew you would want it' she grinned.

Chuck brought her hand to his lips then, and he kissed it in a way that told her exactly how he would have further shown his gratitude later in the day.

'It never gets old, look at her' Blair sighed.

'Well, it is very old to begin with', a pun, another pun of his; Chuck Bass was a downtown-bar comedian and she'd never known.

'You know what I mean.' she squeezed the hand entwined with hers.

They stood at the top of the grand stairs opening to the first, big entrance hall in the Louvre, and they were now facing the beautiful Winged Victory of Samothrace, the one that Chuck had only seen in Funny Face during their Audrey marathons. Blair's figure looked so tiny and graceful just like the actress's under the gigantic, arm-less goddess statue, he thought. There went another of his pictures.

She had explained how it would be best to start their long tour from the upper levels and then descend to the Ancient Art for last, as it usually was less crowded later in the afternoon.

So they went up to where they held the special, temporary exhibits usually focused on contemporary artists, but they didn't linger for too long as they both had already seen Kusama's and Marshall's works back in New York.

For the next unidentified number of hours, they paced floor by floor, hall by hall, and they were delighted to notice how they were being drawn to the same pieces through every era in Art History. Especially the obscure, dramatic light-and-dark tones of Caravaggio with his brutal representations of men, the more sacred and enigmatic Da Vinci's, and all French favorites of Blair, from Degas to Delacroix, Ingres, de La Tour and then to a few Monet's although her favorite Impressionist collection was to be seen at the Musée d'Orsay on another day.

They took a small break at mid tour and delved a lot around the grand Neoclassical halls which both of them admired so much.

Chuck had let his eyes gaze trail from up-close over the majestic thirty-three feet long painting representing Napoleon's coronation made by Jacques-Louis David, who was one of their favorites. She teased him for it and for his obvious taste for ostentation, which she perfectly knew she shared with him.

At last, Blair had them visit and look at every single statue in the vast Galerie des Antiques, a corner or marble paradise filled with glorious ancient art one could admire only there.

They nearly spent a good half an hour staring at the gorgeous, magnetizing "Psyche revived by Cupid's kiss" sculpted by Canova, from each and every side there was no matter how stiffened their legs now felt.

'You know, in the Latin novel Psyche had been warned by Venus herself to not open the jar of Divine Beauty gifted by Proserpina... But she gave in to her curiosity after her journey through the Underworld and did it anyway, but only to fall to the "Sleep of Innermost Darkness" which was its real content...' she paused as his arm hugged her tight at his side.

'Sorry, I just adore it when you talk this way. Please don't mind me if I stare at both of you' he whispered in her ear, and she could hear his smirk surfacing over his words as her cheeks flushed crimson.

Chuck had always been cultured; he simply loved that pride of possessing erudition, enriching his knowledge, and he knew lots about art out of his sheer, genuine interest for the finest and cultural treasures that had marked history. That being said, Chuck had never been a museum person up until this very moment, as he most definitely wasn't an enthusiast of crowds, tourists, walking, or waiting. But peacefully strutting through galleries and halls that bursted with beauty, and hands in hands with Blair without a care in the world? That was a whole different business.

He absolutely loved it when Blair poured out all of her expertise and literacy for his ears to enjoy, and he would listen to her silently and carefully, even on those few times when he already knew everything she said. Chuck was so engrossed in her narrating, excited voice, and in the gleam dancing in her eyes with admiration and understanding that he would mistake the art they were looking at with the art that was Blair herself.

She cleared her throat, 'I was saying, Psyche fell into a long, dead state of unconsciousness until Cupid delicately roused her from her sleep with one of his infamous arrows. Canova wanted to immortalize exactly that moment, look at how he holds her so lovingly and leans down to kiss her' she explained with a soft, dreamy note lingering in her voice.

'So this depicts the precise instant when Love awakens the Soul from eternal slumber right? Just like what went down between me and you' he stated.

'More like the other way around!' she teased back, turning her face to stare at her very own Cupid's fatal blow.

'Do you know what had always been painters's custom to depict Psyche, the Soul? She has a very unique symbol' he charmed her, gloating to see a curious, questioning look morphe on her face for a change.

She urged, 'No, what is it?'

'Butterfly wings.'

Another tingly, soothing jolt ran through her muscle, making her lower back jerk in response against the mattress.

'Oh! Aaaaaah, oh my god, Chuck! You decide to show me this skill of yours just now?'

Blair had been mumbling this same exact sentence, moans included, over and over for the past minutes, eyes shut and buried deep into her bathrobe with her leg on his lap, following a much needed shower in their late afternoon break.

As predicted, their legs and feet were pulsing with soreness and straining tension after sweeping every corner in one of the biggest museums in the world.

Blair's feet especially were begging for mercy after she still had picked high shoes for the day and gave herself quite the treatment of her own doing. Chuck had watched her totter and stagger on her red, swollen heels out of the bathroom, so he promptly volunteered to ease her pain with a massage. Mere seconds after his hands had touched on her skin, Blair had declared she would never leave that bed again.

'I wouldn't necessarily call it a "skill", it's just visual reminiscences from my spa sessions and trips to Thailand… You need to thank my sensorial memory' he murmured, as his thumbs and palms pressed hard and rolled under her left foot.

'Well, I'll thank whatever, this is amazing. I feel relieved already', she hummed from behind her issue of Marie Claire.

Chuck spurted some luxury brand of warming balm he had placed next to him and started rubbing it with care on her foot and ankle, which had her jarring between his expert hands.

'Why is it warm? It's tickly' she giggled.

Blair couldn't keep her leg still under his pleasant, attentive yet energetic touch and kept digging her heel into his thigh in reflex as he pressed a key neuralgic spot.

'It's supposed to soothe the skin and improve blood circulation post physical exertion', he explained calmly, still intently massaging her.

'You have a lotion to help physical recovery, as in after training?!' she chuckled.

'Believe it or not, my muscles get sore too and I take care of that so I can keep performing at my best capacity for my ravenous, perfect girlfriend' he smarmed, bringing the side of her foot to his lips to kiss.

She almost kicked him in the face.

'Arrête! Tu es insupportable' (Stop it! You're insufferable), she scowled back, never looking up from her magazine as her cheeks tinged with warmth.

'You know, it would be nice si tu me regardais (if you looked at me). I feel like another one of your minions and there are more engaging ways for you to boss me around, if that was your wish' Chuck spelled out huskily, with his lips turning to a smile nonetheless.

'Fine! Sorryy.' Blair cooed, sitting up and tossing her copy to her night table.

'Also could you please stop speaking French, I'm too tired to be processing another language', she blatantly lied to his face.

'Oh, that's a new one ma belle', he smirked, pecking down the slope of her dainty foot again, then he continued, 'ma chérie' as he kissed higher on her ankle, 'mon amour', as he brushed his lips to the side of her calf.

He paused there when he felt a soft sprinkle of goosebumps rise all over her leg, and he perfectly noticed the way it also twitched on his palm at every word he uttered. Chuck realized then, and he smacked his lips on a disbelieving head shake as if he had just discovered a pot of gold.

'What?' Blair scoffed at the amused expression on his face, crossing her arms.

'It seems like you really appreciate my French' he said coyly, slightly turning in her direction.

'You pronounce it very well, that's true, but you need to get over yourself.'

He wily smirked.

'Peut-être. Mais je préfère ne pas le faire franchement' (maybe, but I'd honestly rather not do it.)

'That was a lot of unnecessary tongue rolling, Chuck'. Blair sighed then, a smile tugging at her lips because the situation unfolding started to spark interesting tingles somewhere down her stomach.

Blair wondered whether this new resisting challenge of theirs was worth fighting for at all.

She studied his expression change as her thigh emerged from underneath the bathrobe, slowly crossing it to the apex point on the other so that he could admire very much of her from where he was sitting. What she saw in his eyes then made her decide what to do next.

'I have a request.' she hummed.

Chuck rose to his knees as if that soft command pulled at his chords.

He crawled just a few inches closer to that beguiling amount of bare skin she was offering him, half smiling and half dazed in a trance.

'I'm listening' he husked.

Blair sank lower so that her back would lay fully against the bed, then raised her leg in the same fashion of that burlesque performer they'd seen recently, resting it on his body, with his hand instantly drifting to her knee to caress and support.

'My thighs are sore too, I think a warming massage is needed there as well' she grumbled, but with a smile on her lips that expressed a much different emotion.

Chuck nodded, mirroring her same smile as he brought her other leg to his right shoulder and gently wrapped his palms around the ankles that sided his neck.

'Avec plaisir, je les adore' (with pleasure, I love them)

Blair flinched, 'I said no more French? It's getting boring.'

'I won't stop. It's clearly working for you and I aim to please you, fully' Chuck murmured, brushing his lips down her calf.

'It's not pleasing me at all, you're just feeding your own ego.'

'Mh,' he grinned wider as he glanced down at what laid under his eyes, 'then what is this?'

Chuck made sure to hold her bewildered stare when his knee slid up and veered between her legs until it met her warm and ready.

Her jaw dropped an inch.

'Now, if you let me do my job...' he reached for the lotion again and then rubbed his slick, sultry palms all along her thighs, pressing to her skin in the most tantalizing way.

Blair again bent over the sheets at once as he worked a very sensitive area to her inner thigh, and she understood that whatever resistance she still had in her now had completely left her together with a deep breath she didn't know she was holding.

Chuck took great pleasure in each of her reactions, with his own body tensing and heating in response to the sounds and expressions Blair was displaying, and he shuddered when he felt more of her drip down onto his skin.

'Ton corps dit la vérité' (your body tells the truth).

'Coupable' (guilty), she crooned, batting her lashes as she freed the rest of her body from her robe in a silent, clear invitation.

He stirred at that view and rubbed his jaw as he often would anytime she'd surprise him in some way; the feeling of that warming tingle on his skin brought by the cream made him impossibly excited to let her relish a little longer under his massaging, even when the pressure to his groin was begging him to move it along.

So he sat back on his heels like a professional, his hands travelling down her legs once more to the slowest pace as he decided where to touch her first. His palms then finished their descent to where her legs met her hips, and there his thumbs began their delicious, skilled movements. Blair moaned softly, her fingers pulling at the beddings when her lower muscles twitched again under the circles he was drawing; they felt like spirals of white hot flames that shot right to where she was already pulsing with heat.

Chuck kept whispering French words for which a translation was no longer needed to affect her, especially once his hands of velvet closed into her center, making her squirm and breathe louder as her raving hips responded on their own to his warming touch.

The enhanced, delirious sensation was driving her high and it only added to her arousal, giving Chuck the perfect scene of her rawest, most erotic and rapturous state he knew he would replay in his head for days.

Blair's legs felt like pincers to his sides by then, a signal of hers that Chuck had learnt to decode as "I need more".

More than happy to oblige then he leaned over her body, his knee still pressed and merged to the slick, wet juncture of her thighs as she started pushing and rubbing against it, looking for some sort of release to the maddening ache that had already built up within her. His smooth palms stroked their way up from her stomach to her breasts, their sudden scorching touch on her cold skin having her arch her back once again and then gasp when those eager fingertips curled over her nipples.

'Chuck-',

He searched for her eyes.

'Vite' (hurry) she mewled, almost imploring.

Her breathy voice had his lips crash against hers at once, and his hand drifted back between her legs where his traces of lotion blended with her much more heated wetness. Her moans grew deeper through their mouths, and Chuck only echoed her lustful sounds as more of his fingers fell and moved inside her ever so seamlessly. She groaned his name again, a muffled supplication under the escalating rhythm of their lips that commanded him into action.

He pulled back enough to let his robe fall down his lustered skin, giving Blair a sight that made her instantly reach up for him, her fingers clawing at his shoulders as they cascaded back onto the sheets.

Her every nerve was lit in searing pleasure even before he entered her, but when he finally did with one deep, smooth push, her body felt ready to go up in flames at any moment.

Their passion burnt them quickly, and lasted very much shorter than what they were so far used to. But after so much lecherous touching and long arousing each other, they simply experienced something new and different; it was frantic, intense, and it was consuming them to the point where no matter how fast, hard or stretching Chuck could be, they were always left desperate for more after his every thrust and after her every stroke back.

Mere minutes passed by the time Blair was marking red lines into his skin, drawing sharper and louder breaths and moans that matched his rhythm and drove him even more feral. When he heard her cry out in pleasure for his name, with her nails scratching fire into his back, then he exploded; and his own harsh growls and deepest, finishing thrusts pushed her over the edge once, and then twice when he didn't stop moving through her climax, engulfed in their release and indulging them both far into her coils clenching around him.

They stayed still and quiet for some time, their clammy faces beside one another as their heavy breathing fell to a steadier pace and calmer state with the passing seconds.

'That was…' she gasped, her warm breath tickling his ear.

Chuck groaned into the pillow where he buried his face, '... quick, sorry'

'Sorry? I had two mind-blowing orgasms and you left me with a sore throat… it stings, actually. And I need another shower now' she chuckled, still pretty much hoarsely.

Blair sighed to herself then, lost in the afterglow as she let her fingertip caress a red mark of hers at the base of his neck.

'It's just…'

He turned his head to look at her, his lips brushing to her dampened brow, 'What, what's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong. But I'll tell you later', she purred on a wide, sated smile.

Chuck felt too close to passing out to work his brain over what she could be pondering about, so his eyebrows furrowed and simply nodded at her bliss-induced mumbling.

'Will you speak French to me in bed again?' she drawled, smiling once more.

'With an outcome like this? I'll read you poems.'

Following the most cliché of sayings, their time in Paris literally flew before their eyes.

They managed to make the most of their stay even on the days they woke up feeling already exhausted for one reason or another. If Chuck was pleasantly surprised at how easy and natural it had been to let Blair in and share everything he had kept locked away to himself all his life, Blair was in a constant state of elation, something she hadn't felt in years if not ever at all.

She had known for a while now, pretty much the whole previous year, that Chuck would be the perfect boyfriend for her despite all odds and doubts, but what she had been experiencing now day by day was close to indescribable. That was one of the reasons why her phone was already stacked with pictures of him, because she knew no one would have believed her when she'd describe how for exemple Chuck spent over an hour in the church of Notre-Dame, admiring sacred frescoes and listening to the holy chants with her. Besides of course, framing him while feeding pigeons together on the parvis like the most ordinary of tourists.

She also realized that not only was he deeply a romantic, an old-fashioned one at that, but Chuck also had a more profound soul than she had imagined.

Blair was very surprised when he asked her to change their itinerary one afternoon and have a stroll down one of the most fascinating cemeteries in the world, Père Lachaise. He wanted to pay his homage to his beloved Oscar Wilde, he said, adding then Rossini and Jim Morrison too. She knew that religion and God had nothing to do with this, it was merely his unique spirit: old, classic, Byronic and everything she began to love even more with each day that passed.

What Blair adored the most though - other than all the post-sightseeing massages, the countless macarons he bought her, the suprise flowers, his constant affection and sentimentalism and the best sex of anyone's life, was especially how effortless it all came to him.

She still perfectly remembered the way she had to beg Nate for attention, the way he forgot their plans everytime she would test him by not reminding him herself first. She had to instruct him and bend over backwards to make sure he would understand what her wishes were and when she liked to go on a date or spend quality time together.

As superficial as it was to even think about it, Blair surrendered to the fact that Chuck, instead, could read her mind like he could read a book.

He simply knew what to do or say to please or help her always, just like he anticipated most of her thoughts and intentions, and she was absolutely reveling in it - as frustrating as it could get at times. What Blair Waldorf was without her secrets, was Blair Waldorf with Chuck Bass; bare, seen, understood, reassured and encouraged.

Although she had been aware of their inexplicably strong connection since their childhood days, the stage they had reached now had gotten far beyond her wildest dreams; if someone had told her a year ago that Chuck liked to wake her up with a kiss, murmuring "I love you" while caressing her hair, she would have died of laughter.

Blair was reflecting over this, over him, her stupendous boyfriend, as he reminded her to bring a vest for their special dinner out. Her thoughts were whirling with happy words after Chuck told her he had booked that beautiful, slow drifting glass boat that would serve as the most romantic restaurant on the Seine, letting them enjoy an intimate dinner on the calm waters while admiring the city at night.

Chuck had booked it in secret after he noticed her staring in silence at those boats for the third day in a row.

'Don't tell me this was all because I offered you one lunch?'

'No, this was because I love you and I wanted to savour this gooey experience just as much as you did', he teased, kissing her hand over their candle lit table.

They easily were the youngest couple among the few that shared their cruise. It became evident that they were the most in love too, when the tour had ended and a waiter had to interrupt their latest kissing session over one last dish turned cold as they had no idea, and would keep doing so, that the boat had stopped moving.

There was something about crossing the gates of Versailles together that made both their stomachs twist with emotion, and it went beyond the golden flashing to their eyes or that air of historic grandeur that words failed to describe.

Past the glorious Hall of Mirrors, in which they obviously stopped to take a picture together, they went on and visited most of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's rooms in the gigantic palace.

'It's absurd to think about all the crazy things that happened within these walls. Look at that handrail; the whole court used to gather and stare at the queen's morning routine' Blair pointed the knot of their hands to the royal, light blue canopy.

'And sometimes at her night one, too' he joked.

Hours rolled before they made it out to the boundless, baroque embroidery parterre gardens, their guided tour having taken them to every wing and gallery in the château.

'Do you ever feel like a king? Not in a childish, arrogant way. Just like, feeling in control of where your life is going and the extent of the power you have.'

Blair voiced her thoughts as they walked by the majestic Apollo's fountain, which resembled a large, marbled pool at the center of the upper grounds. Chuck knew she had been mulling over something when he caught her gazing with a furrowed brow at a group of art students painting the green scenery around them.

'I used to think I could rule the world, sometimes I still do' he joked, 'but no Blair, I understood, also because and thanks to you, that when the unexpected happens, your agency resets around the decisions you make and your power is what you make of it.' he squeezed her hand, teasing 'but you do make me feel like a king, just not like Louis XIV, I like to think I'm brighter and more attractive than that.'

Blair clicked her tongue, huffing but smiling at what an hopeless, high-and-mighty romantic he could be.

'You asked because… You don't feel like a queen anymore?'

Blair stopped her steps, inhaling and turning to him with both her hands in his, 'I asked because I'd give anything to stay here and be like Marie and never have to go to NYU in a few months.'

Chuck smirked as he had correctly picked up on her thoughts, 'Blair, she literally lost her head because of her title.' he teased, light-hearted. Yet, he still hugged at her waist and restarted their calm stroll under the sun.

'If there's anything I learned these past months it's that unforeseen events can be good even when you're absolutely terrified of them', Chuck stated, making it instantly clear for Blair to understand which event exactly he referred to.

'Nobody enjoys the unknown, me and you moreso than anyone, but if it's any help I'll be there through it all' he sighed, his hand stroking at her side in reassurance.

'Well that's a start', she found her smile back, 'Do you really believe things could just... work out? I feel a little lost… Not now of course, just at the thought of that place.'

'Why shouldn't I?' he kissed her then, only further proving his point.

'Shall we visit the humeau before it closes? It was her favorite spot to unwind and relax, maybe it'll have the same effect on you.' Chuck pointed to the rural, grey stone house past a little pond down the field, Marie Antoinette's personal rustic retreat to escape from the commotion at court.

Blair started, 'How did you know about it?!'

'I took history too' he sneered, 'and how could I miss anything about the historical figure whose full-scale painting takes up half a wall in your bedroom.'

Their last day in Paris was everything they had hoped it would be.

One last brunch at Ladurée, followed by one last stroll hand-in-hand down the Seine, then a long visit to one of the most influential, ostentatious and libertine court in modern history and a late romantic dinner steps away from the dazzling Eiffel Tower.

Like it had happened on other nights already, they spent the rest of their evening on the balcony, lounging side by side in their night robes with a flute of champagne, an old classic melody oozing out to them from the living room, and the parisian lights shining along the stars above them sprawled before their eyes, leaving the chatter from the streets far and stifled away from them.

'So, did you have enough of this place already?' Blair intruded in the comforting quiet surrounding them.

'We've completed our check-list, haven't we?' he sighed in a tired, raspy tone, 'I wouldn't mind staying here longer if that's what you want though, my French and leg muscle have gotten exponentially better.'

'Clearly. But no, I think I could use a change of setting now, we only have to choose which one. The apartment is ours until tomorrow night, we have all the time to pack and book whatever' Blair chirped, feeling the excitement of a new adventure rising to her by the second.

Chuck sat up from his chaise longue, shifting in his seat to glance at her in the moonlit shadows, 'If I may give my suggestion, there's a gem of a city not too far from here, which is honestly unfairly underrated. It'll be another few hours drive if you're up for it.'

Her eyes turned to a glint at those words, 'Of course I'm up for it if you like it! Which one is it?'

Chuck smiled at her enthusiasm and stood up, taking her glass from her hand and scooping her up at once in his arms. He kissed her lips curled on a giggle as he walked them towards the bedroom, 'I'll tell you later.'

A/N

Thank you for following this journey with me as always, I hope you didn't turn your nose too much at my new efforts at smut writing! I'm really trying to improve it since it's still so difficult for me. Thank you for bearing with me!

As always, any review, comment or suggestion is the most welcomed and see you soon with the next city!