Thank you so much for all the reviews, favourites and follows! You really know how to motivate me to keep writing.
A small trigger warning for this chapter - mentions of Blair's history of bulimia towards the end, just in case anyone wants to skip over that bit.
Chapter 4
Blair closed her eyes as she heard Steve leaving the apartment. She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew her phone was vibrating on the bathroom floor next to her and she was shivering. She saw Chuck's name on the screen.
"Chuck?" She groaned. Her throat hurt.
Probably from all the vomiting.
"Blair? What's wrong?" Blair winced. She'd tried to sound as normal as possible when she'd answered his call, but the concern in Chuck's voice told her that she had not been successful. Her phone lit up again to warn her that her battery was about to die. She tried to formulate a sensible response, but her only thoughts were how cold she was and how unwell she felt. "Blair?" Chuck's concerned voice echoed around the bathroom again.
"Chuck, I need your help." She finally said, but the phone screen had gone black. Blair wasn't sure if Chuck had heard her. Even if he had, she'd never mentioned where Steve lived so he would have no idea where to find her. Blair moved to sit against the bath, grateful that the world was no longer spinning, and the nausea had died down to a dull aching.
Eventually Blair mustered up the strength to pull herself up, holding onto the sink for support. She braced herself as she looked up into the mirror and gasped at the reflection looking back at her. Her eyes were bloodshot, her face was almost grey, her mascara was smeared down her cheeks and her hair a tangled mess. She desperately wanted to go home. Looking around the bathroom, Blair regretted not leaving any of her toiletries in Steve's apartment. She turned the hot tap on and watched the water run until steam started to rise. Scooping the boiling water into her hands and splashing it across her face, Blair inhaled sharply as the hot water soaked her skin. She was stopped in her tracks by a sharp knock on the door followed by the sound of a key card in the lock.
Blair glanced around the bathroom again. There wasn't even a bathrobe available for her to wear to protect her modesty. She would have to greet the guest in the negligee that she was currently wearing, and it left very little to the imagination. Blair turned the lock on the bathroom door and braced herself for the embarrassing encounter that was about to play out.
"Blair! Thank god!" The bathroom door swung open with force as Chuck stepped into the room.
"Chuck!" Blair stumbled across the bathroom and fell into Chuck's arms. He held onto her tightly as she sobbed into his shirt.
"Waldorf, what the hell happened to you?" Chuck asked, looking around the bathroom trying to fill in the missing pieces. The faint smell of vomit hung in the air, Blair's phone was by the toilet and, if he wasn't mistaken, it looked like Blair had been sleeping on the floor.
"I… I don't remember." Blair choked out between sobs.
"What do you mean, you don't remember?" Chuck moved his hands to Blair's shoulders and pushed her back from his embrace so he could look at her. He hadn't really registered how she looked when he first saw her, he was just relieved that she was conscious and standing up. Now that he was able to take in her full appearance, he realised just how awful she looked. She'd attempted to wash off her make up but there were still remnants on her cheeks and her eyes were still bloodshot.
"The last thing I remember was telling Steve to leave. I was annoyed and drank way too much champagne. Next thing I know I'm waking up in Steve's apartment with the world's worst hangover." Blair blurted out. She shivered at the loss of heat from Chuck's embrace.
"You're freezing. Let me take you home." Chuck shrugged off his jacket and placed it around Blair's shoulders. "Sit down. I'll collect up your things, Arthur is waiting downstairs."
Chuck guided Blair back into the living room and gently pushed her down into the sofa. He handed her a glass of water and walked back into the bedroom, pausing in the doorway to turn back and watch Blair. She curled up into the cushions, her hand shaking slightly as she raised the glass to her lips. Chuck picked up Blair's dress from the bedroom floor, trying not to pay attention to Steve's clothes that had also been discarded next to it. He quickly moved on, grabbing her shoes and her phone from the bathroom then returned to Blair on the sofa.
"Did you have a purse?" Chuck asked. "I can't find it."
"I did. I'll look for it." Blair swung her feet off the sofa and stood up. Although she was feeling a bit better than she did when she first woke up, her body clearly was not responding well to the lack of fluids. Her vision clouded over, and she could hear ringing in her ears as her blood pressure plummeted, unable to respond appropriately to her sudden change in position. Chuck was by her side in an instant.
"Woah, Blair. It's fine I'll have another look. You need to sit and drink more water, we're on the fourteenth floor and the elevator is broken. I'm not carrying you down fourteen flights of stairs." Chuck smiled. Blair laughed in response and Chuck breathed a sigh of relief as a flash of colour returned to her face. He reached out and gently swept a strand of hair out of her face. "Drink up, Waldorf."
Chuck searched the apartment again and eventually spotted Blair's purse under the console table in the hallway. "You really should learn to put your belongings away properly, Waldorf. It would make it much easier to find the next day." Chuck waved the purse in Blair's direction then held out his hand to help her up from the sofa. His jacket barely covered her negligee, but he hoped it would be enough to get her into his waiting limo without drawing attention to them. "Ready?" Chuck asked.
"Take me home, Chuck." Blair smiled as she squeezed Chuck's hand and followed him out of the apartment.
...
The journey home was quiet. Chuck held Blair's hand in his, absentmindedly stroking her thumb with his own. Blair rested her head on Chuck's shoulder and closed her eyes. By the time they pulled up outside The Empire, Blair was fast asleep.
"Blair." Chuck stroked her arm as he softly whispered in her ear. Blair mumbled something incoherent but didn't wake up. Chuck couldn't bring himself to force her awake, so he gathered her up in his arms and stepped out of the limo. "Arthur, bring Blair's belongings up to my penthouse." Arthur nodded in acknowledgement and followed Chuck into the hotel.
When they reached the penthouse, Chuck gently placed Blair onto his bed and pulled the covers over her. He paused next to her for a few moments and watched her sleeping. Some of the colour had returned to her cheeks but she still looked gaunt, and her lips were cracked.
Probably from all the vomiting.
She was usually so headstrong and controlling but in this moment she looked fragile. He couldn't help but question the real cause of her illness. She had drunk a lot, according to Serena and Nate, but this was the most hungover Chuck had seen Blair and there was a nagging thought that maybe her history of bulimia was playing a part. A small voice disturbed Chuck's wandering mind.
"Thank you." Blair mumbled sleepily. Chuck smiled and stroked his hand through her hair, sweeping it away from her face.
"Don't throw up in my bed, Waldorf." Chuck jokingly warned.
"'Mm k…" Blair replied, her eyes still closed, as she tried to fight against falling asleep again.
"Sleep. I'll order breakfast." Chuck made sure Blair was covered up properly and silently left the bedroom before calling room service.
...
45 minutes later, the elevator doors opened, and breakfast was wheeled into Chuck's penthouse. He tipped the staff and poured out a cup of coffee to take through to Blair.
"Breakfast is served." Chuck announced as he walked into the bedroom. Blair groaned and rolled over to face him. For a fraction of a second, she was confused by her surroundings and the sight of Chuck standing at the end of her bed with a cup of coffee. Then the memories of the morning came flooding back and she cautiously sat up, gratefully accepting the coffee Chuck held out for her.
"No peeking, Bass. I hope you weren't spying on me while I was sleeping, you can get arrested for that." Blair pulled the bed covers up and tucked them under her arms. In her rush to take the coffee, the covers had slipped down to her hips and her inappropriate negligee was only just covering the important parts. Even in her sleepy state, Blair had noticed Chuck's eyes wandering.
"Relax. I've seen you naked, Waldorf. I only have to close my eyes to remember what that looks like." Chuck smirked. Blair scowled at him and waved her hand in the air to order him to leave her alone. Chuck continued to smirk at her but turned back to walk out of the bedroom. "Don't be too long, the food is getting cold."
Blair knew she had nothing to wear. Even when her and Chuck were dating, she never left any clothes in his penthouse, and she was almost certain he would never have kept any items of clothing from the many, many women he would bring back for a couple of hours before kicking them out again. Blair was still wearing Chuck's jacket, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being able to stare at her chest while they ate so she slipped off the jacket and pulled out one of Chuck's shirts, buttoning it up to the neck.
"I preferred the first outfit." Chuck joked as Blair joined him at the table. He'd gone overboard on the breakfast order and requested nearly everything on the menu. He told himself it was because he wasn't sure what Blair would want but he knew part of it was a test to see if she would eat it. He watched her as she sunk into the chair opposite him, hugging one knee into her chest, and helping herself to a selection of breakfast items on the table.
The pair sat in comfortable silence as they ate. Chuck tried not to watch Blair, but he caught himself, on more than one occasion, watching her more intensely than was acceptable for friends having breakfast together.
"It's rude to stare, Bass." Blair finally said, after catching him looking at her again. Blair was sure she saw a hint of embarrassment, but he laughed, and it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
"A beautiful woman wearing one of my best shirts, you're making my fantasy a reality, Waldorf." Chuck replied.
"Smarmy, Bass. Now tell me the real reason you keep staring at me." It was a reasonable explanation, but Blair knew Chuck too well and could tell he was lying. Chuck sipped at his coffee, contemplating whether to ask her the question that was playing on his mind.
"What's going on, Blair?" Chuck asked.
"We're having breakfast." Blair shot back quickly. She knew what he was really asking, he'd used her first name, and he only did that when the conversation was serious. Chuck didn't bother to reply, he continued to stare at her and waited for her to start talking. "I told you earlier, Steve and I had an argument. I drank way too much of that cheap champagne you'd supplied; by the way you really should sack whoever put that on the menu, and the rest of the night is a bit of a blur." Blair paused, hoping Chuck would say something but he continued to look at her, expecting her to continue. "I must have called Steve and we ended up back at his apartment. I think I passed out and woke up this morning with an awful hangover. That cheap champagne made me very ill. Steve tried to help but he had an important meeting to go to so when you called, I knew I could use you to help me get home."
"I saw the state of that bathroom, Blair." Chuck paused. Blair looked away, helping herself to some more food as a distraction from Chuck's stare. "Are you making yourself sick again?" Chuck finally asked.
"NO!" Blair shouted. She dropped the croissant onto her plate and snapped her gaze back up to Chuck's. "I told you, I drank too much."
"Blair, you couldn't even stand up." Chuck spoke softly, trying not to antagonise her further.
"Chuck, for what possible reason would I be making myself sick again? It was your cheap champagne." Blair retaliated.
"The champagne was Dom, Blair, I chose it myself." Chuck tried to remain calm. He knew Blair was ready to flee but he wanted to make sure she was okay.
"I am not making myself sick." Blair stated simply. Chuck watched her, waiting to see any flicker in her facial expression that would indicate she was lying. She held his gaze without faltering.
"You can talk to me. I want to help." Chuck knew he'd overstepped the mark before he'd finished speaking. Blair stood up, the chair she had been sitting on fell to the floor, and she ran into the bedroom to collect her belongings. Chuck ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He could see her shadow rushing around his bedroom. Blair reappeared a short while later and marched over to the elevator, still wearing his shirt and barefoot. "Blair, wait…" Chuck started.
"Not interested." Blair interrupted. "I've asked Arthur to take me home." Blair stepped into the elevator and hit the button angrily to close the doors. Chuck sighed and picked up his coffee cup, then launched it against the wall.
To be continued...