Blair stood, wedged between two people that she didn't want to talk to, scanning the room for anyone that she did want to talk to. Right now, her choices were limited by the people that showed up at her party. Her small get together with friends had predictably turned into a packed room of people that she only half knew with the original people she invited somewhere in between. It was like playing Where's Waldo except for a red and white striped sweater, she was looking for sparkling dresses and suits.
"Excuse me," Blair said, trying to look apologetic at the two people that were trying to engage her in conversation but feeling anything but. Squeezing through the crowd, Blair cursed herself for putting that those invited could bring guests.
"Blair," she heard and swung around. Chuck Bass was standing there, hand-in-hand with his new model girlfriend, with a bottle of champagne in his hand. "Let's make a toast," he said, practically gleeful has he swung his bottle to hit Blair's glass. Blair watched in horror as the glass cracked from the impact of the full bottle. "Sorry," he said, chuckling, and she wanted to throw her shoe at him. She had politely invited him with the caveat of him not doing their proposal act wouldn't happen but didn't expect him to show, since he usually stepped in to the room half an hour before midnight. Instead, he had shown up promptly at 10 P.M. with his red headed girlfriend, who Blair thought was named Charlotte but couldn't be sure. "What a party, Blair. I was thinking you went soft when I got that invitation but it seems you still have your magic touch."
She rolled her eyes in response, grabbing the bottle from his hand and putting her lips to it. Tipping it back, she let the dry liquid run down her throat. "I would have figured you would have had somewhere better to be," she said as she handed the bottle back.
"What's better than here?" Chuck said, throwing his arms open and in the process hitting a couple of people around them. He was already drunk, she realized with a sigh. "With my two favorite girls in the city." He swung his arms around the red head and then Blair, squeezing them closer to him. Blair tried to awkwardly push herself away from the embrace before finally giving up and let herself be squeezed. "I wouldn't miss this party for the world, Blair," he said, pressing his lips to the top of her head before she squirmed out from his embrace.
Blair nodded, looking around and looking for an escape. "Well, okay, thanks?" she stepped backwards. "I'll see you two around, I'm sure. I'm going to go get a new glass and look for Dan… or Serena… or Nate…"
"Anyone but me," Chuck said, nodding his head like he knew where she was going with it.
Blair shook her head, "No, but… I've seen you, it's time to mingle. Anyways, see you around. Have fun. Be careful with the glasses."
Blair turned on her heel, taking a deep breath. She hadn't realized, until she ran into Chuck, how much she tied this holiday with him. He had proposed, for real, one year on it after all and while they made a joke of it during subsequent years, it still sent her into somewhat of a tailspin when she realized what could have been. They had been in love once, she reminded herself, and while it was sometimes sad to completely let go, she was extremely happy in the place she was at now.
"Hey you," Nate called from the corner of the room where he had his arm around Serena's shoulder. They were talking with Dan, Blair recognized the outfit she had helped guide him to choose, and Jenny, who after Dan's protests had actually wanted to attend. "We were just talking about you."
"Only good things, I'm sure," Blair said, smiling, as she leaned into Dan who let his hand rest on her back. "Like how I throw an amazing party even when I planned to have a little crowd."
"Good thing you bought enough alcohol for the entire city," Dan laughed. She twisted her knuckle into his side. "I'm joking, of course. Only the residents of Manhattan would have had enough to drink."
"There is no such thing as too much champagne," she protested and pouted her lips. Dan kissed her forehead. "Anyways, I just got pulled into somewhat of a conversation with Chuck and his new girlfriend. How long have they been together, Nate?"
Nate shrugged looking to Serena who answered for him, "I think since Thanksgiving. At least around then. He asked if he could bring her my mom's Christmas Eve dinner."
Blair pursed her lips, "That seems forward."
Serena tipped her head to the side, "Well, that's Chuck. My mom said he could but he didn't end up even coming to the night. He said something came up with business." Serena leaned on her toes, "Where is she anyways? I want to see what she looks like."
Blair turned, trying to spot them in the crowd and giving up. "She has red hair and she's tall."
"How descriptive," Serena laughed looking down and seeming surprised that her glass was empty. "I'm going to go find more of anything to drink." She pulled Nate with her, "We'll be back."
"Bring me some," Blair called after them. "And a new glass." Blair held up hers to Dan and Jenny, "Chuck broke mine." Jenny shot Dan a look that Blair couldn't decipher and she suddenly felt like the odd fish out with the two siblings looking at her. "He swung his bottle into my glass… never mind. How are you enjoying the party, Jenny?"
"It's a great reminder why I left New York," Jenny responded, lifting her glass slightly. Even though there was no inflection in Jenny's voice, Blair was still wounded by the words. Her face crumpled and Jenny, sensing the shift of mood, continued, "It's just a lot of chatter about nothing. People are talking but what are they saying?"
"Real deep, Jen," Dan laughed. His hand traced the cut out on the back of Blair's dress, "I think she's just trying to say she likes Europe more than the States. She's always complaining about the noise and how uncivil we all are."
Blair smiled, "Right. I loved Paris. My dad is over there. Well, not in Paris even though he does visit a lot. More in the country. Hey, you should go visit him any time you want to get out of the city."
Jenny nodded, looking noncommittal. "Yeah, sounds great. I think I actually saw Erik over there," she said, even though her back had been turned to the crowd. "I'll be back."
Blair watched her leave, turning and leaning her back against her wall. "She still hates me, doesn't she?"
"I think Jenny is a big proponent of forgive but don't forget," Dan said, shoving his hands in his pockets like he did most of the time when he got nervous. "It's not that she doesn't like you, it's more this whole scene. I tried to warn you."
"No, you said she wouldn't want to come."
"I was being gentle. It doesn't matter. She likes you just fine most of the time. I think it's seeing everyone else that reminds her of high school. I wouldn't worry about it."
"It's important to me that your family likes me," Blair pushed her back against the wall, digging her heels into the ground.
Dan put his hands on her arms and looked into her eyes, "They like you."
Blair shrugged, "Sorry, I think I'm just off right now. Seeing Chuck kind of threw me?" Open communication, her goal for the new year.
Dan nodded, "You see him all the time, don't you? I mean, the four of you and your non-judging whatever crowd get dinner together monthly?"
"Just in this setting," she tried to explain. "It's just a flash back. I shouldn't have invited him. Hey, what time is it?"
Dan looked down at his watch, "11:45."
"We need a bottle," Blair told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the kitchen. "It's not midnight unless we're toasting."
"I thought it was kissing."
Blair laughed, "Yeah but you toast before hand. Raise your glasses and say nice words about the host. Maybe you can tell everyone what a wonderful girlfriend I am."
"And how great she is in bed," Blair heard Chuck's familiar voice coming from the left of her and she stopped. "That's what I used to say every year."
"Nice to see you, Chuck," Dan said, his voice calm. "I think if I'm making a toast, I might leave that part out though."
"Suit yourself, Humphrey."
Blair opened her mouth to say something before shutting it again. It was wiser not to engage with him. She turned again, wordless, and started to pull Dan through the crowd, "Ignore him. He never used to say that."
"I'm sure because on New Year's, you only tell the truth and that would have been a lie," Dan laughed behind her.
"That's a quote from Love Actually and you butchered it. Especially since it's about Christmas."
"Is that really the important part?"
"No, but I'm choosing to not acknowledge you being vulgar," Blair said, swinging around once they got to her kitchen. She leaned into him and gave him a swift kiss on his lips, "Plus, you know that that was a lie. Your nose is growing."
"Is it?" he asked, putting his free hand on his nose. "I always wanted a bigger nose, so lucky me."
"You know, I always pray before bed to give me a boyfriend with a slightly bigger nose and slightly smaller hair."
"Ouch," Dan responded, before letting go of her hand and opening the fridge. "Bad news, Blair. There are not bottles in here."
"I bought out practically an entire liquor store. You can not tell me I'm out of Champagne."
"I'm kidding," Dan said, pulling a bottle out. "I can't believe you bought it."
"Ha ha," she rolled her eyes, "Very funny, Humphrey."
"You don't really want me to make a speech, do you?" he asked, his eyes widening.
"No," she shook her head. "I'll make it. I was just trying to get you nervous."
Blair raised her glass up, Dan was standing behind her with his hands squeezing her shoulders. "It's almost midnight and I won't keep you long but I just wanted to say-"
Chuck interrupted her in a booming voice from across the room, "It's bad luck for all of us if the hostess makes a speech at her own party so I will do the honors."
"Chuck," Nate was standing next to him and looked horrified at the prospects. "I don't think that's a-"
"Good idea? You're right, it's a great idea. I would like to thank Blair, for lending out her apartment for the evening. She is such a lovely host, trying to dodge all the people that she didn't invite." There were slight murmurs in the room and Blair could feel her face turning red. "And not to mention the fact that she wanted to end a tradition. I couldn't let that happen, I know how much Blair loves traditions."
Dan's hands were squeezing Blair's shoulders slightly tighter as they both glared in Chuck's direction. Nate was trying to whisper to Chuck but Chuck was waving him off. "What a great speech," Blair said, trying to cut it short.
"I'm not done," Chuck said, his voice getting rough. "I always propose on New Year's ever since I did so with Blair and she rejected me. I know, people who only were invited last year are thinking that was one time. No, I proposed a few years ago and Blair thought it would be great fun to make it some running gag of her party."
Dan stepped from behind Blair and she pulled him back. "Don't," she said, her voice low. "It's not worth it."
"So I would like to propose another proposal, keeping with tradition, to my girlfriend, Christine," he said, theatrically getting down on one knee and taking out a ring. "Christine, will you be my wife?"
Blair turned away, not bothering to watch her say yes. "What time is it?" she asked, Dan looking from the scene on the other side to her, baffled. "Dan, what time is it?"
"Blair," Dan started before seeing that she was staring at his watch. "A few seconds to midnight."
"Good, so we didn't miss it," she said, looking at his watch before starting a countdown that the rest of the room joined in on.
In truth, Blair flashed through all the ways she could have reacted to that situations very fast in her head. When she saw Chuck on his knee, she felt rage and loss and relief all at the same time. In some way, she was offended that Chuck would take that day from them as an entity and wanted to make a scene about it. In other ways, she felt that truly they were over. In another way, she was relieved. That part of her life, although she had closed the book awhile ago, was finally sealed. Chuck could get married to who he wanted and whoever pleased him, and Blair was happy for him. It was this feeling that she chose to embrace.
So when midnight struck and she pulled Dan into her for the midnight kiss that she didn't receive the year before, she felt exuberant.
Blair rolled over, her hand going for the glass of water her drunk self had thoughtfully placed next to her bed the night before. "I'm in so much pain," she moaned, hitting Dan's chest with her other hand.
"Don't make my pain worse," Dan complained, rolling on his side. "My head is pounding."
"You drank less than I did," she countered finally finding the glass and her phone on her table. "I saw you starting to pretend to sip your champagne."
Dan laughed, "Okay, fine. You are probably worse than I am."
Blair smirked, "Thank you." She glanced at her phone to see a couple of text message from friends and one from Chuck. She quickly scrolled through the message, absorbing every third word or so with her headache.
"What are you reading?" Dan asked, squinting at her.
She put the phone to the side, "Nothing important. Chuck texted me some time this morning apologizing for last night." She rolled on her back and closed her eyes.
"You know, I have to say, I was very impressed that you didn't make a scene."
"Me? Make a scene? How dare you?" She laughed, "Ow, laughing hurts."
"I know, what a crazy thought."
"I thought about it," she said, biting her lip. "But what's the worth of it? I don't care that he's engaged. Good for him," she said, pressing her palm against her forehead. "I'm kind of upset that he did it on that night and in front of me, but he can be tacky and bitter and immature… it doesn't affect me anymore," she said, opening her eyes and looking at Dan who was smiling. "What?"
Dan shook his head, "Nothing."
"No, what?"
"I'm just thinking about last year and telling you that we would see what the new year would bring."
Blair smiled, "I think it was a very good year for us."
"Dare I say it again?"
"I think you should. It can be a tradition."
"Let's see what the new year brings, Blair Waldorf."
"Here's to topping last year," Blair said, leaning her forehead against his chest and closing her eyes. "But let's start trying to top it tomorrow."
"Good plan."
