Around 8am, Blair decided she would go check in on Cornelia and get her up in time for her appointment with Doctor Moody.
Knocking lightly to announce herself, Blair carefully opened the door and peeked her head in. To her surprise, Cornelia was curled up on her window seat reading a book. In an oversized sweater that hung off one shoulder and her favorite lounge leggings from Luluemon, she had her still wet hair pulled back in a long, loose braid. She paused her reading and looked up to greet her mom.
"Hi Mom," she said softly with a smile.
"Cor, I didn't expect you to be awake already. Good morning, sweetheart."
"I woke up a little while ago and figured I'd just get a jumpstart on the day, get ahead on some of the required reading for AP Lit."
Blair took a moment to mentally analyze her daughter's appearance. To the untrained eye, she looked like she really was just an early riser getting a headstart on her coursework, but to Blair, the look of exhaustion and pensive contemplation were glaringly obvious. However, she knew that if she tried to pry her daughter would immediately shut her out.
She moved to sit on the chair at Cornelia's desk.
"How'd you sleep?," she tried.
"Fine. You know, I was exhausted after all the… excitement last night," Cornelia lied. She doubted her mother was buying it, but she didn't have it in her to have a heart to heart right now.
"How is your head?"
"It's okay, I just have a dull throbbing, but I took some aspirin a little while ago."
"Oh good idea. Are you hungry? Eugene is about to put out his usual Sunday spread. You should eat something before we go to Dr. Moody's."
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea. I'll be down in a few minutes, okay? I just want to finish this chapter."
"Okay. I'll see you down there," Blair returned as she stood up and lovingly ran a hand over her daughter's hair before making her way out the door.
#
"Daddy, can we go to the Met today?," Audrey asked with a saccharine sweet voice.
"I already told you, Audrey, you're going to Grandma Lily's today because you told her that you've been dying to have tea at The Plaza," Chuck explained to his daughter who knew full well that she was otherwise engaged for the day.
"But Daddy! They're previewing the new ballet exhibit and I must see it before Aria and Lorena," Audrey lamented with as much drama as a seven-year-old could muster, slamming a little fist on the table for good measure.
"Oh Jesus Christ. It's took fucking early for this," Henry muttered under his breath as he reached for the carafe of coffee.
"Oh Degas & his Dancers? I'm going to see what with Aunt Val today," Violet smugly added to the conversation as she breezed into the room and took a seat at the table, knowing just how much this would incite further rage from her sister.
"WHAT!?," she nearly screamed as she jumped out of her seat. "Are you kidding me?! Daddy, that's IT! I'm calling Gram right NOW."
"My head," Henry groaned as he pressed the heel of his hand to his left eye to stop the throbbing. "I can't do this. I'm going back to bed."
As he moved to leave the room, he was nearly run over by his baby sister brushing past him and intentionally jabbing an elbow in his side.
Violet couldn't help but giggle to herself before looking to her father who was smirking at her knowingly.
"Was that really necessary so early in the morning?"
"Oh please, Daddy. Someone has to ruffle her feathers from time to time to keep her humble."
"The ruffling could've waited until after breakfast, though."
Violet simply shrugged and returned her focus to selecting the perfect croissant from the pastry tray in front of her. Chuck shook his head, letting out a low laugh, as he reached for the Sunday paper to pick up where he left off when his youngest interrupted.
Moments later, Blair waltzed into the room and bent over to place a loving kiss on Chuck's cheek.
"I could've sworn I saw a tornado in the shape of Audrey blowing through the living room," she joked.
"Mmm, perhaps Violet could explain that one," Chuck murmured as he turned his head and pulled his wife in for a deeper kiss on the lips.
"You two are so gross!," Violet squealed from the other end of the table.
"Ugh seriously? I could be upstairs reading instead of being down here and getting nauseated by that display," Cornelia chimed in as she entered the dining room.
"Darling, how did we end up with such dramatic children?," Blair questioned.
"I haven't the slightest idea, dear," he returned and pulled her into his lap and began feeding her pieces of croissant dipped in fresh honey.
The four remaining Basses went on to enjoy a typical Sunday breakfast, discussing their plans for the day and the week to come before it was time for Blair and Cornelia to leave for her appointment.
#
As expected, Dr. Moody removed the hospital's stitches and redid them himself to ensure perfection, and sent Cornelia on her way with a prescription for scar cream.
Once they arrived home, Cornelia excused herself to go back to her room and lay down. The exhaustion was beginning to weigh on her heavily and she needed to try and sleep. However, two hours later she found herself still staring at her ceiling with her mind absolutely racing. She was about to lose her mind when there was a knock at her door.
"Come in," she called out.
As it opened, Henry appeared, entering the room and closing the door behind him.
"Hey," he greeted tentatively, unsure of what his next move should be.
"Hi," she returned, patting her bed so he knew it was okay to sit down.
"Soooo… What happened last night?"
She let out a long sigh before looking up at him and responding, "I knew Liam was mad at me for whatever reason, and I hate when that happens. So after a few more drinks, I decided the best course of action would be to go see him and make him talk it out. It was a great idea in theory, but then some guys mugged me in the park, so I never quite made it to him."
Henry and Ricky were the only people who knew that Liam and Cornelia would occasionally hook up. They'd seen it from time to time when they'd all be drinking together, but knew it was never very serious. Even still, they also knew that Liam and Cornelia were both jealous people and would occasionally let that jealousy come out when they saw the other with someone else.
Truthfully, Henry didn't know what to make of them. Their hook-ups seemed so sporadic and if you ever tried to talk to either of them about it, it was brushed off with a "we were drunk" and shrung of the shoulders. He figured it must be the truth, because nobody was telling them they couldn't do it. They just legitimately must not care, but to him and Ricky, it sure looked like they did.
After pondering this, he finally spoke up again.
"Did they hurt you? Have you spoken to Liam?"
"Well they gave me this little gash," she answered as she pulled back her hair to reveal the stitches she had strategically been hiding. "And no, I haven't. They stole my phone and I haven't gotten a new one yet, but maybe it's for the best. Maybe he needs some more time to cool off."
"Do you want me to talk to him?," Henry offered.
"No. No way. It's fine, Hen. He just hates AC, everyone knows that."
"Fine," he assuaged. "How are you feeling today?"
"Sore. Exhausted. Anxious. Pick one," she offered sardonically.
"Well then, how about a rooftop smoke?"
"Yes please," she perked up as they both got up and headed for their rooftop terrace.
Much like their parents, the Bass offspring seemed to share an affinity for rooftops. Whenever either of them needed to blow off some steam or clear their heads, Cornelia and Henry both loved spending time on their townhouse's rooftop, especially when they were sharing a joint together.
Sometime later, the brother and sister were both sufficiently relaxed and joined the family for dinner in the dining room.
That night, Cornelia was able to get some more sleep than she did the night before, but still not as much as she would've liked.
#
Rising early, Cornelia prepared for school and once again did some reading ahead for her classes before joining the family for breakfast.
At 8am, Cornelia, Henry, Violet, and Audrey piled into the family limo after bidding their parents goodbye for the day. Pulling up to the front gates of Constance Billard/St. Jude's, Cornelia told Henry to go ahead of her to the Met steps and she would walk their sisters to the lower school.
"You don't have to escort us, you know," Violet pointed out. "I can get us both to the front door if you want to head over to meet your friends at the Met."
"But then I wouldn't get to spend this precious bonding time with my baby sisters!," Cornelia explained in an overly excited voice as she pulled both of her sisters in for a hug.
"My hair!," Audrey yelled as she squirmed out of her sister's embrace.
"Nary a hair out of place, Audge," Cornelia assured her as she ran a hand over her baby sister's curls. "And look at that - we've arrived!"
As she bid her sisters farewell and wished them a good day at school, she checked her Michele and saw that she still had about 15 minutes before the first bell rang for the high school. If she were being honest, she really did not want to face her friends yet. Her stitches were once again hidden by her hair, but she knew she'd be facing an inquisition about where she disappeared to and why she wasn't returning anyone's texts. Most of all, she didn't want to face Liam yet. With her mind made up, Cornelia adjusted her purse on her shoulder and headed to Via Quadronno to grab a cappuccino in hopes that the caffeine and sugar would help her power through the day.
#
Cornelia had successfully made it through the day without having to face Liam or having time to really catch up with any of her friends. She had stayed late to practice piano, hoping that would also help her avoid seeing anyone in the courtyard after school; however, she forgot that on Mondays Liam stayed late for basketball practice.
As she finished putting her music book back in her locker, she closed the door and released the breath she'd been holding in all day, only to be completely startled by Liam's presence right next to her.
"Tough day?"
Nearly jumping three feet, Cornelia's eyes bulged in panic and she clutched her chest as she tried to control her breathing.
"Jesus Christ, Fitz," she yelled as she reached out and punched his arm. "Don't do that ever again!"
"Hey, relax," he said as he noticed that her eyes were actually brimming with tears. "Nelia, what's going on? Look, I'm sorry about Saturday. I acted like a jerk. You're not really still mad at me, are you?"
"I was never mad at you. You were mad at me!," she corrected him, still struggling to calm her racing heart and breathing that was now bordering on hyperventilating. She felt a tingle in the back of her neck and knew a panic attack wasn't far off, making her even more desperate to rein in her emotions.
"You never showed up, then you didn't answer any of my calls or texts all day yesterday, and now you've been avoiding me all day," he made a case in exasperation before he finally observed the telltale signs of his dear friend's panic attacks. "Nelia, it's okay. I'm sorry. Here, let's go sit over there."
Liam guided her to a nearby windowsill and offered her some water from his Hydroflask. "Here, drink this and take a deep breath. I'm right here."
Following his instructions, she closed her eyes and breathed in for five seconds and then out for five seconds, continuing the process her therapist had taught her until she worked her way down to one second each. When she finally opened her eyes, she could see the concern etched in her friend's face.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what just happened. I just got so startled and I -"
"What's going on? Talk to me. We're best friends. You can trust me."
She nodded her head in agreement before continuing, "Okay. Can we just walk?"
"Sure. Let's walk. How about we go watch the row boats in the park?"
"No," she quickly shut down the offer. "I mean, it's getting late. How about you walk me home? You can eat over if you'd like."
He looked at her strangely for a beat, not understanding why she was acting so peculiarly.
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Shall we?," he offered her his hand.
"We shall," she accepted as she intertwined her fingers with his and they made their way down the hall.