Chapter 29 - Wait!
Chuck nodded at the driver to acknowledge him as he stepped out of the car and onto the tarmac. He looked around and tried to convince himself that he knew she wouldn't be here. That he gave her the option to stay because it was the right thing to do. He reminded himself of the words he had said to her last night 'this isn't goodbye, it's just temporary'. They were true, it was only temporary. She had wanted to spend the night with him but he knew if he awoke to her in his bed, he would never leave and he needed to prove to her that their love could survive him being in New York and her being in Paris to follow whatever path she was on. He just wished he had more time in Paris to prove to her that there was nobody else that could come to close to how he felt about her. He hoped it was enough for her to have faith that he could be enough for her too.
He gripped either side of the railings to ascend up the stairs to the jet. He could do this. He could leave. It was just temporary. He would come back as soon as he could but for now, he had to remember he had responsibilities. If he stayed any longer Jack would use it to his advantage to prove to the board that he was not capable of running Bass Industries without sacrificing it all for Blair. He knew he would give it all up for her if he had to but right now Blair would never forgive him if he just allowed this to happen. Just as he was about to cross the threshold to the jet, he thought he heard her. voice He turned around to make sure he wasn't imagining it.
"Chuck! Wait!" Blair called out again. She hadn't meant to leave it so last minute but she was conflicted. Seeing him almost get on the plane without her made her start to panic. Had she been wrong? What if she had been a couple of minutes too late? Would he have really left without her? Blair knew it was her own fault for actually managing to deceive him into thinking that she didn't want to return with him.
Chuck couldn't hide the confusion from his face but found his body moving back down the stairs to meet hers. He instantly felt the pull to feel her touch but avoided it. "Blair, I thought we already said goodbye so what are you doing here?"
"I'm not here to say goodbye." She wasn't. It had taken her until she woke this morning to realise that her fear to take that leap of faith with him again was hurting Chuck and herself more than anyone. It was Eleanor who got her to realise when she asked her why she wasn't joining Chuck. Initially Blair thought she was letting him leave to prove that she could be Blair Waldorf without him but her mother got her to see that if he had come to Paris, not to force her to go back to New York but to prove to her that he would support her in any decision she made why was she letting him leave and staying in Paris? For Waldorf Designs? Blair expressed her desires to her mother about her interest in being involved in her company and it had shocked her. Eleanor had never suggested it as Blair had always explicitly said she had no interest but she explained that she didn't want anyone else carrying on her mother's legacy, that's if her mother wanted Blair to carry it on. For the first time Eleanor assured her that there was nothing she wanted more but she didn't want her to give up her happiness to do so and there was a lot she could learn from New York.
"Then what are you here for?" Chuck couldn't hide the pain in his eyes, he didn't want to face another goodbye even if it was temporary. It didn't mean another goodbye would hurt any less. It was time he would have to learn to spend without her.
"I didn't actually think you would leave." Blair winced at her confession. She knew he had Bass Industries and the Empire but she never faced the possibility of him actually leaving. He was willing for them to be together but live apart. Why would she choose that life when they could live in the same place? She knew every day wouldn't be like the last forty-eight hours. That had been like a fairy tale but to have even a glimmer of that everyday over not knowing when she would see him again was enough to convince her she had to try.
"Blair, I have to get back, I want to stay but Bass Industries and the Empire are a priority too especially when Jack is in town." He was still hesitant. Even to feel her touch in this moment would be too much. The pull would be too strong to convince him to stay and it hurt him to hear her confess that she didn't think he would leave because he didn't want to leave her either but they weren't children anymore they couldn't just do what they wanted as much as he wished they could.
"No, Chuck, that's not what I'm trying to say. I want to come with you, that's if, you still want me to." Blair had never considered the possibility that he might have changed his mind. She smiled at him nervously as she waited to see if she had left it too late to prove to him that she wanted to be with him. That he had proven they could be in a relationship and she wouldn't lose herself. That she could stand beside him and be more than Chuck Bass's girlfriend. That he would help her build her own legacy so the name Blair Waldorf held the same weight as his did.
"Really? But I thought... what about Waldorf Designs? Blair, I don't want you to come back to New York just for me. We will make it work; we've survived worse." Chuck didn't want her to sacrifice everything she wanted just to follow him back to New York. They had proven up until this point that they always found their way back to each other.
"I'm not. Yes, I want to be with you but New York is my home. My mother successfully ran her company from New York, if that's what I want to do there's no reason I can't do the same."
"Are you sure?" Chuck told himself that he wouldn't question her again. If this was her decision, he would happily allow her to board the jet with him but if he detected even a slight hesitation from her then he would reassure her that this could work. He could return without her but it did not mean that he was giving up on them.
"Just kiss me Chuck Bass."
Chuck smiled and stepped closer to Blair. He lifted her chin and gently placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
Blair opened her eyes and rolled her eyes at him. "Not exactly what I had in mind Bass." She wrapped her hand around the base of his neck to pull his lips closer to hers and kissed him. As she felt the familiar feeling of the butterflies and the warmth his body gave her, she knew she had made the right decision to follow him.
Spotted: Queen B returning with her Dark Knight. Is that smiles from both of them we see? Could it have something to do with the Prince placing a ring on another's finger? How does it feel to be her only option?
"Urgh! What is her problem?" Blair huffed and threw her phone on the quilt in front of her.
"Don't act like you don't enjoy the attention, Blair." Chuck raised an eyebrow at her. He knew she enjoyed the attention what she didn't like is not being in control of what was said about her.
"From a blogger that has done nothing but try to ruin my life since high school?" Blair couldn't understand why the blast hadn't annoyed Chuck too. Did he not care that Gossip Girl was taking a public swipe at their relationship?
Chuck didn't respond. He put on his suit jacket and walked over to her on the bed to give her a chaste kiss. He wanted to try and take her mind of the blast. As he pulled away, he caught that the smile on her face didn't last as long as he hoped.
"We're not in high school anymore. Aren't you at least bit curious to know who it is that tried to ruin our lives?" It was a bit of an exaggeration when most of the destruction Gossip Girl had done was caused by them sending in tips but it annoyed Blair that she still continued to play this game.
"Not really, no. We've tried to find out before and it just did more harm than good." Chuck thought back to the day of their graduation when the non-judgemental breakfast club had banded together to try and uncover who Gossip Girl was. It all did was end up in an argument and with their darkest secrets out in the open.
"Why are you not bothered, Chuck? Do you not care that she seems to always have something to say about our relationship?" Blair allowed her frustration at the situation to be aimed at Chuck.
"You are twisting my words, Blair. Don't think that because I find a blast about our relationship insignificant that I don't care about our relationship. I know you're frustrated but we know the truth. Your decision had nothing to do with seeing Louis or am I wrong and it did?" Chuck felt nothing towards Louis anymore. After he had finally met him and his fiancé and Chuck had seen Blair's reaction first-hand, he knew he had nothing to worry about. However, Blair's current reaction was something that worried him. He thought they were past this.
Blair instantly regretted questioning Chuck. She could see in the height of her annoyance she had jumped to the wrong conclusion. "Of course not." She realised her mistake in her actions causing him to question whether her decision having anything to do with Louis. Her decision was fuelled only by her love for him. It wouldn't have mattered whether she had seen Louis or not. Chuck had proved to her that he was willing to put her first, to be patient and support her without wanting her to be anyone other than who she was.
"Then why should I be bothered? You chose to come back to New York and in that decision, I thought your choice was you wanting us to focus on our relationship and face things together. That doesn't include letting Gossip Girl get in between us. It's happened in the past and I want to keep it in the past. I trust you and in turn I was hoping you trust me too." Chuck tried not to show that he was annoyed. He knew it wasn't going to be easy for them but he couldn't hide that he was frustrated that they had been back less than twelve hours and one Gossip Girl blast had Blair already questioning him.
"You're right, I'm sorry." Blair let out a sigh. It was too much to ask for it to be easy.
Chuck made his way over to sit down beside her and face her. "Blair, I don't want to leave for work like this. I hope you can see that you need to trust me."
"I do. You're right. I shouldn't have let it question us. I followed you because I wanted to. I love you. Forgive me?" Blair tried to show him she was being sincere. He was right and she couldn't blame him for being frustrated at her but she hoped he would see that it was just a momentary lapse in judgement.
"Always. I love you too." He said as he allowed his lips to hover as close to hers as he could get without touching them.
Serena bounded into Chuck's room without knocking. "So, it is true you two are back? Thanks for telling me B!"
"And thanks for knocking S!" Blair looked in Serena's direction but before she could say anything more Serena jumped onto the bed and hugged her.
Chuck got up off the bed. "I should be going." He didn't want to interrupt their moment.
"You leaving already?" Serena pulled out of her embrace with Blair and sat down on the bed beside her.
"Some of us have places to be." Chuck placed a kiss on Blair's cheek so she knew his words weren't aimed at her.
"Jack? I'm guessing? Mum mentioned he has been lingering around Bass Industries while you were in Paris." Serena hoped that now Chuck was back that Jack would leave New York and leave him alone.
"He has?!" Blair squealed. She thought it had been Lily that had kept calling him she had no idea it had been Jack. She couldn't be angry with him because she hadn't asked but surely, he should have told her? If Jack was still threatening Chuck at his CEO seat at Bass Industries and Chuck had convinced her they were better as a team, why didn't he mention Jack wanted to see him as soon as he was back in New York?
"It's not what anyone thinks or at least I don't think it is. He hasn't made any other threats but he has asked I meet with him this morning." Chuck shook his head at Serena. He hadn't mentioned to Blair that he was meeting Jack first thing because he didn't think it had anything to do with him or Blair. He was hoping it had more to do with the last thing he had said to Jack before Georgina had interrupted him.
"Maybe I should come with you?" Blair asked. She was aware that she had just told Chuck she trusted him but that was before she knew he might be trying to hide something from her.
"Blair, I don't think that is necessary." He appreciated her concern but if he needed her help, he would ask for it. He had nothing to hide but he knew as soon as he mentioned the meeting with Jack she would panic and think it was about them.
"Why not?" Blair was a little taken back that he didn't want her help.
"Because it could be about anything. It may even have something to do with a project he is working on, who knows. As soon as I do, I will call you but I really should leave so I don't keep him waiting." Chuck waited to see that Blair accepted what he said and then left his room.
"What was that about?" Serena turned to Blair and asked.
"I have no idea." Blair answered honestly.
"So how was Paris?" Serena was dying to know. She thought there would have been more Gossip Girl blasts keeping her updated but it seemed that Chuck and Blair had managed to stay under the radar so much so that until this morning she wasn't sure if they had even spent any time together in Paris.
"Oh S, it was amazing." Blair tried to ignore her apprehension about Jack and focused on the time with Chuck in Paris.
"Really?" Serena was surprised so they had spent time together.
"Yes. Did you not know why Chuck was coming?" Blair suddenly realised that she hadn't spoken to Serena since before Chuck left New York.
"Of course, I did but I wasn't sure if was actually going to be able to convince you that you should come home." Serena was rooting for Chuck and Blair to finally stop being so stubborn and face the fact that they would never love anyone else as much as they loved each other.
"Actually, he didn't try and convince me to come back. Well not really." Blair smiled at Serena.
"What? I thought that was why he came." Serena was confused. If Chuck didn't go to Paris to get Blair to come home, then why did he go and why was she here now?
"Well kind of. He came more to prove to me that whatever I decided he would support me. I didn't tell him I was leaving with him until he almost boarded the jet without me."
Serena rolled her eyes. "That's so Chuck and Blair. We all know you are connected and that you will always love each other but you have to both be so dramatic. Now come on go get ready. I've missed you. Let's have a girl's day of shopping and you can tell me all about what Chuck did in Paris."
A/N: I have no idea how this story has grown in the way it has and how I still have so much to explore. I don't want to be done with Jack and Georgina and I enjoyed how the writers used them in 6x10 so I think the next chapter you might see a little bit of them. Thank you for keeping up with your kind reviews!