A/N: Hello! Thank you all for the reviews, faves, and follows! You're too kind and much appreciated! I apologize for the long wait, but I hope you all enjoy this chapter. There are text messages in this and those are in the asterisks. Blair's are bolded and Dan's are italicized just so it's clear who is texting who. I think the time frame for chapters 1&2 is about 1-2 weeks in case anyone is wondering about that. That's about it from me for now. I'll be back soon! :)
A soft, insistent knock on his door sounds out into the loft. He stops stirring the sauce and wipes his hands on the dishtowel before he tosses it aside. He checks the time on his phone. 7:45. She's early. He does know that she's a stickler for punctuality. The knock comes more insistently this time. He goes to open the door before he starts to get annoyed. He can't believe his eyes when he throws the door open. "Blair?" He grips the door harder. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, Humphrey, let's think." She smirks and pushes him aside so she can come in. He closes the door and follows her. "What did we do the last time I was here?" She furrows her brow and very gently sets her bag on the counter.
"Uh, we—uh—we—" Is she—Does she want—Are they going to—Again?
She rolls her eyes. "Let me help you before you hurt yourself or, worse, I change my mind." She moves to him and grabs his face. She eyes him for a brief moment and then her lips are on his and he forgets about everything except kissing her. It's so…insistent. She is so insistent. He'd thought about her a lot for the first two days after their night and subsequent morning together. When he didn't hear anything from her during those two days, he decided to try letting it go. He was mostly successful, but her lips and her eyes and her skin and the way she moved would come crashing into his head at the most inopportune times. She makes a soft little sound and pulls him closer. He pushes her back against the counter and responds in kind to her advances. The kitchen timer goes off and he jumps away from her. He had someone coming over tonight. Shit. She's probably almost here. But Blair's here. He takes his bottom lip between his teeth as he decides what he should do, what he wants to do…..There's that sinking feeling in his stomach when he realizes those are two very different things. "Oh, God." She tosses her head back dramatically. "Now what's wrong?"
He widens his eyes. "N—Nothing. Uh, I have to go to the bathroom." He ignores her confused expression and lets his hand drop from her waist. He moves into the kitchen to turn off the timer and grab his phone. "I'll be right back. There's wine on the counter." He tells her before he locks himself away in the bathroom. Fuck. He unlocks his phone and sends Amelia a text saying he has to cancel. He doesn't give her a reason and he feels like a dick, but he's clearly gotten what he wanted and is in over his head with Blair so it's best to let Amelia go. It's dumb and he knows it. He and Blair haven't spoken since she left his place that afternoon and he knows nothing good will ever come of this, but here he is in his bathroom canceling a date with a perfectly nice girl, who is probably not hung up on a sociopath, just so he can have sex with Blair Waldorf, who is not really all that nice and is definitely hung up on a sociopath. And that whole sociopath thing is really just one of her problems. Maybe that's why he's making this choice though. Nothing can or will ever come of them. Not in this lifetime, anyway. His phone dings loudly with Amelia's response. "Shit, shit, shit." He whispers and fumbles his phone to try to turn down the volume because apparently Amelia does not take kindly to being blown off 10 minutes before a date and has sent him several texts. He hopes Blair didn't hear that. She can't know he's choosing her over someone else. He takes a second to collect himself and shove his phone in his pocket before he goes back out.
Blair's perched on a barstool, facing him, legs crossed, wine glass elegantly in her hand like she's 35 instead of 19. "Care to tell the girl you're about to have sex with about the girl you're not going to be having sex with?" She arches an eyebrow.
"I….What?" He scratches the back of his head and furrows his brow as he goes back into the kitchen. So they're definitely having sex again. He feels a rush of adrenaline push through his veins.
"Humphrey, I know you don't think I'm stupid." He cuts his eyes to her and pours a glass of wine. He takes a sip, a long sip. She sighs. "You're cooking, you have a bottle of wine open, two glasses, and you were trying to hide the fact that you were texting by doing so in your bathroom. I have more than enough evidence to convict you." She bats her eyes and smiles sweetly before taking a sip of her own wine.
"It was my dad." He says quickly.
She chokes on her wine and puts her hand over her mouth so she doesn't spit it out. She looks at him incredulously once she's recovered. "Do you and Rufus always have such romantic evenings together?"
"It's not that romantic." He mutters. Why? Why can't she just be like anyother decent human being and let him use his bullshit excuse to save a little face? Because she's Blair Waldorf and she gets off on this kind of thing, especially when it comes to him. She's infuriatingly aware of weakness and vulnerability.
She purses her lips and studies him. "Ok."
His eyes widen and dart around the room. "Ok?" He can't believe she's just going to drop it.
"Ok." She shrugs and he drinks more wine. "I'm only here to have sex." This time he chokes on his wine. "Whatever else goes on here is not my business, as long as you're safe." She says warningly.
He rolls his eyes. "I'm not sleeping with anyone….else." Her eyes lock on his and it makes him nervous. She narrows them almost imperceptibly as she traces a finger over her wine glass. "And we were safe both times anyway." He adds absently.
"I'm not….I haven't slept with anyone else since…." He furrows his brow and studies her closely. Why are they telling each other these things? "I—just—you know….so you know. For safety and what not." She takes a deep breath and finally stops looking at him. She sits up straighter and finishes her wine. He takes the opportunity to go back to his food. What the fuck is going on? "What are you cooking?" She's right beside him now and it makes him jump.
"Baked ziti. Nothing fancy." He says on a sigh. "Or romantic." He smiles at her and she smirks back at him. Her eyes take his breath away for a moment. He looks back at the food and clears his throat.
"So it can wait?" She asks quietly and her hand covers his. He looks at their hands before he looks back at her.
He turns everything off and turns to face her. "Yeah." He says softly and kisses her.
It's the way that she sighs as she tugs herself closer to him…..He wraps an arm around her and cups her cheek. He could get lost in her; he is getting lost in her. She breaks away from him and rests her head against his as she catches her breath. When she pulls away and looks up at him she looks like she's annoyed. "What?" He can't help but roll his eyes at her annoyance over whatever arbitrary line he's crossed. Her only response is a glare and a kiss that's much rougher than its predecessor.
He's quickly learning that sex with Blair Waldorf is a battle of wits and tenacity. He likes it. He even kind of likes the battle part he thinks to himself as he studies a long scratch on his forearm.
His head snaps up from his inspection when he hears her start to speak. "Do you like the girl you canceled on tonight?" She asks from the other side of the sofa and pulls the blanket closer.
He chuckles. "You are relentless." He says as he stretches and settles comfortably onto his side of the sofa. There's not much room and they're practically on top of each other. It's cozy. He shakes his head to get rid of that disturbing thought. He's constantly having to check himself with her.
"Is this new information for you?" She furrows her brow. "Stop deflecting and answer the question."
"Apparently not too much." He runs a hand through his hair. "Why do you care anyway?" He looks at her with narrowed eyes.
"I don't." She says quickly, defensively. "I'm making conversation." She looks around the room before she looks back at him. "Anyone I know?"
"No." He furrows his brow and shakes his head.
She nods thoughtfully. "What's she like?"
"Blair, seriously?" He tilts his head to the side.
She runs a nonchalant finger over the back of the sofa and follows the movement with her eyes. "I'm just curious about your tastes these days." She says patronizingly. "You've had quite a variety of love interests, you know." She arches an eyebrow when she looks back at him.
He shrugs a shoulder. "And you haven't?" Nate and Chuck may be close friends, but they couldn't be any less alike.
"Mine have all had one very important thing in common, Humphrey." She smirks.
"Dare I ask?" He eyes her hesitantly.
"Status." She says with a confident nod of her head.
He snorts. "Uh, I hate to break it to you, sister, but if status is your type then you're in the wrong place."
"Humphrey!" She yells as she scrunches up her face in horror. "This is not about type." She says hurriedly and gestures wildly between them. "This is about…..this is about ignoring your type and—and ambitions and only having meaningless, but satisfying, sex with a decent human being who has no power to hurt you and probably wouldn't anyway because he's decent." His mouth falls open slightly and she widens her eyes. Apparently neither one of them were expecting all of that. She takes a deep breath and eyes him cautiously. "And that's all."
He nods his head carefully lest he set her off again. "I know." She's not his type either. "And agree." He adds quickly. She's not his type? Why isn't she? She's ambitious, highly intelligent, witty, beautiful, sexy. Well, sure, she's ambitious and highly intelligent, but she has horrible judgment. No one with a fully developed frontal cortex would be as hung up on Chuck Bass as she is. Not that poor judgment has ever really been a deterrent for him before….And the witty thing….most of her jokes are at his expense and are just kind of mean. They're still funny though. Then there's the whole ice queen thing. She is right about the satisfying sex—His jaw drops a little and his breath catches. "Did you—You think the sex is satisfying?" He's pointing his finger at her accusingly.
She blushes. Blair Waldorf actually blushes. Her cheeks turn the prettiest shade of pink and his heart skips a beat….like when she comes. He's going to ignore all of those facts. She flips her hair back confidently and purses her lips. "Well, obviously, I wouldn't be here letting you fuck me again if it wasn't good, Humphrey." She flicks her hand in the air.
"Yeah, but—" He stops talking when she carefully moves the blanket aside and makes the short journey to his side of the sofa. Good. Now she said it was good. He breaks away from her lips. "Good, Waldorf?" She gives him a confused look before her cheeks color again. He can't help but smile a little as he takes her in. His hands roam over her back and press her closer to him. "You're getting downright effusive."
She's amused despite herself and it does something funny to his stomach. He registers, and dismisses, his relief that she seems to be enjoying herself with him instead of letting herself stew about whatever the hell it is she's using as an excuse these days. "You're getting too comfortable with me." She says softly. Her hand smooths up his neck and into his hair where she tightens her fingers and jerks his head back. He laughs when she cracks a smile just before she kisses him. He's also going to ignore that this kiss feels insistent in a different way.
They're a sweaty, tangled mess when they finish. She runs her hand through his hair and looks in his eyes for a long moment. He swallows hard when he finds that he can't look away. She kisses him full on the lips and suddenly jumps up from his lap. He leans forward to try to reach for her in protest, but realizes what he's doing and stops himself. Sex, only sex. She grabs the blanket off the sofa and he watches intently as she wraps it around herself. He eventually notices her eyes on him. He flushes and runs a hand through his hair. "So, will you be requiring food this time?" She smirks as she turns away from him and begins picking up her clothes.
"No." She stops and eyes him before she goes into the bathroom. "I got what I came for."
He's embarrassed to admit that he only knows she's still in town because of Gossip Girl, which he's even more embarrassed to admit he only checked because he's curious. There's a picture of her in a short, summery dress coming out of what looks like a lingerie store. He acts before he even realizes that he's acting out of—misguided—jealousy. He reaches for his phone and scrolls to her name.
*I'm glad you and Chuck have worked things out.*
"Fuck." He sets his phone down and scrubs his hands down his face, leaving them on his jaw as he considers what he just did. "Why the fuck did I do that?" He looks around with wide eyes. He grabs his phone again. He looks through their brief, very brief, text history and wants to die. They've never texted about anything other than school and Serena's, and occasionally Nate's, whereabouts and now here he is sending her smiley faces. Smiley faces. He groans just as his phone alerts him to a new message.
*Humphrey, what are you going on about?*
Fuck. Now he's really fucked. How the hell is he going to explain any of this?
*I heard through the grapevine that you two were back together. Just wanted to say 'congratulations'. Relax, Waldorf.*
Just play it cool, Dan.
He hurriedly sends her another text as a thought occurs to him.
*Not that I endorse you getting back together with him. I should really be saying 'good luck'.*
Shit.
*Not that I wouldn't be ok with you dating people or whatever. Because I would be. I mean we're just having sex. Which, of course, you know. So, date away.*
*Just….You could do better than Chuck. That's all.*
*And not that I think I'm better than Chuck. Well, I am, but I mean for you. Just, in general, in life, you could do better.*
What in the actual fuck is wrong with him?
*My God, you even ramble nonsensically in text messages. It's truly a feat. Hold your fingers, I have a few points to address; give me a moment.*
He rolls his eyes and sets his phone down on his desk. He can't believe he just did that. Any of that.
*Point 1: I'm assuming your source is Gossip Girl and you should really a. be embarrassed and b. know better than to believe everything you read or see on that site. Not finished, do not text until I'm finished. The less I'm subjected to your babbling the better.*
He tosses his phone aside again and crosses his arms as he waits.
*Point 2: If I were inclined to get back together with Chuck, which I'm not—not that that is any of your business—I would not need or want your endorsement. As you very astutely pointed out, we're only having sex, so I will date away when I'm ready and with the lucky young man of my choosing. You should date away as well. Call that charmingly dirty NYU co-ed you ditched for me the other night; I'm sure she's still available. Still not finished.*
'Charmingly dirty' is actually an accurate description of Amelia. Is he that predictable or is she spying on him now? Probably the former.
*Point 3: If this was your not so subtle way of fishing for details about my love life to assess your chances of getting laid before I go back to Paris then….Frankly, I'm embarrassed that I ever let any of this happen in the first place. Put the phone down.*
He does put the phone down.
*Point 4: There are a myriad of reasons a woman might be in a lingerie store—yes, I'm convinved you saw that picture on Gossip Girl, don't bother insulting my intelligence and denying it—it is not always to buy something to please a man. I'd expect more from someone who claims to respect women as much as you do. Only two more points.*
*This is turning into more than a few.*
*Humphrey! If you interrupt me, it takes longer.*
He waits for what seems like an eternity for her next point. Why, he has no idea.
*Point 5: This point is a concession. I know, appreciate this moment. I may have been in that store for myself and for someone else…..I'll let you do the heavy lifting on that one, Humphrey. Last one…*
Oh. That's why. His eyes widen and he rises to his feet. He moves quickly into his room to change and try to do something with his hair that's becoming kind of unruly as it gets longer. He stops mid-primp. This is Blair, his fuck…..His fuck buddy? That implies that they're friends and they are definitely not friends. No way. Who cares? The point is, he doesn't have to impress her. He nods to himself and starts to leave his room. He doesn't make it to the door before he's back in front of the mirror trying to smooth down his hair.
He grabs his phone from the counter and reads her last text quickly on his way out the door.
*Point 6: A smiley face, Humphrey? Really?*
He snorts to himself and rolls his eyes. She never lets him get away with anything. He shakes his head and smiles as he shoves his phone in his pocket.
He's anxious and wired when he finally steps off of the elevator and into her penthouse. He looks around and hopes no one else is here. They're consenting adults, he reminds himself. They can do whatever they want. He turns toward the stairs in time to see her casually making her way down them.
She smiles when her eyes connect with his. "I see point 5 made an impact, Humphrey."
He narrows his eyes and quirks his mouth to the side as he makes his way closer to the staircase. "I think 'satisfying' and 'good' made the bigger impact, Waldorf." She glares at him, but takes his outstretched hand as she steps off of the last stair and stands in front of him. He finds himself running his thumb over her skin and drops her hand quickly like it's on fire. He clears his throat. "So…."
She furrows her brow. "Oh God." She groans and pulls him to her for a kiss. "Do you have to be such a rube every time?" She glares at him when she pauses for air.
He rolls his eyes and yanks his t-shirt over his head as her hands move to his belt. Thank God he finds her attitude repellent otherwise….otherwise there could be a problem for him. He swallows hard and focuses on her lips. "Do you have to be a brat every time?" He leans down and kisses her hard, effectively silencing her retort. She moans and falls into the railing of the staircase. She clumsily moves to the stairs and he follows with his hands on her waist. She wraps an arm around his neck and starts to lower herself onto the stairs. He breaks away and eyes her. She smiles and raises a challenging eyebrow. The stairs it is then.
He can't catch his breath as he lies beside her on the staircase. It doesn't sound like she can either. He didn't even get to take off all of her lingerie before he just couldn't wait anymore. He rolls onto his side carefully and runs a finger down her bra strap. She cuts her eyes to him and smirks. "This is for me?"
She rests a hand against the back of his neck and lowers his head so she can kiss him. "It was before your breakdown via text." He laughs and kisses her again. She's not wrong. "You were behaving so well and….almost cool, Humphrey. It was like you really understood the whole no strings attached thing." He frowns and she laughs. "Don't look so sad. Worst case scenario, you fooled Blair Waldorf." He rolls his eyes.
"I honestly wasn't trying to do anything other than be nice, Waldorf." He lies. He was jealous and he knows it, but it's purely biological. He had been sleeping with her and it seemed like she was probably going to be sleeping with someone else. He is more than his biological impulses though and so it's not a big deal. "I thought, you know, since—" His eyes scan her half naked body beside his completely naked body on her staircase in the foyer. "Well, since this is now a world where we've seen each other naked and have had sex, it might also be a world where we might be civil." She scrunches up her nose and he has to stop himself from kissing her again. "Sometimes." He smiles weakly and lies beside her again.
"I don't like the sound of civil." He turns to see her staring at him. She licks her lips. "It's only sex. There's no need to make it anything more or less." She sits up and shrugs. He sits up beside her and grabs his boxers from the stair below him.
He stands up and puts them on. "Are you still covering this subject for me or for yourself?" He grabs her underwear from the railing and hands it to her. She glares at him as she yanks them from his hand. "Because, trust me, I get it." He moves his hand between them. "Sex only. Carnal desires." He puts his hands on his hips and nods.
"Carnal desires?" She groans and he cringes internally. He did say that, didn't he? "What kind of bargain romance novel did you read that in?" She eyes him and pushes him aside as she makes her way down the last few stairs. "There's no one here to cook for me, Humphrey." She tugs on his hand and forces him down the rest of the stairs.
"Blair—" His mouth falls open. "This is only sex. I—I'm not cooking for you."
"Humphrey, I bought lingerie for you. The only real rule for this whole simply fucking thing is no feelings." She continues pulling him toward the kitchen and, well, he's not really putting up much of a fight. "Besides, I'm leaving town tomorrow night so I thought we might do a crash, rest of summer session." She trails a finger over his collarbone before she kisses him there. Fuck. "If you have other plans with dirty hippies then by all means….." She gestures behind him to the elevator. He looks over his shoulder at his escape. He bites his lip. He doesn't want to escape. Because of the sex. Today is their last opportunity for sex with each other for a while, maybe forever. His stomach clenches, but before he can worry about that Blair is snapping her fingers to get his attention. She looks up at him expectantly.
"Fine." He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "This is only because I care about people who for some unknown reason care about you and might be sad if you starved." She rolls her eyes and with a final tug, brings him into the kitchen…..where cooking becomes less of a priority than other things.
It's been dark for a few hours. By the time they finished having sex in the kitchen, then sanitizing and cooking, then eating, then showering and having sex in the shower, the day had pretty much passed. He's sprawled on his stomach on her bed reading a magazine when she gingerly places a DVD holder in front of him. "I thought since you prepared such a nice meal and worked so hard at….other things—" She smiles mischievously and he smiles to himself as he ducks his head down. She clears her throat and he looks up to see her fidgeting with her fingers. "I thought I'd let you pick a movie and watch it with me." She smiles almost pleasantly.
"How very magnanimous of you, Waldorf." He says cautiously as he sits up and starts flipping through her DVDs.
"You earned it." She says patronizingly and pats him on the head before she disappears back into the bathroom. He rolls his eyes and takes "Roman Holiday" out of its holder. Only because he hasn't seen it in a while; it has nothing to do with her love of Audrey Hepburn and wanting to make her happy. Nothing at all.
She huffs and lets her hand drop against the bed. "I can't see well."
He sighs. "You're the one who sat in Siberia, Waldorf."
"Humphrey, we can't cuddle and watch movies." She says plainly.
He furrows his brow and stares at her. "I didn't say anything about cuddling."
"Well, I know how you sappy types are." She narrows her eyes.
"No, you don't." He snorts. He highly doubts Chuck and Nate and the other guys she's dated have been all that sappy. "And I'm not sappy; I'm romantic." He adds as an afterthought.
She swats him with a pillow. "Don't tell me what I know and don't talk to me about romance." She grumbles and slides closer to him. He watches her and she huffs. "This is my favorite part."
"I'm sure." He rolls his eyes.
"I knew you'd pick a movie you knew I'd like." He turns his head to glare at her. "Why do you think I let you choose?" She tilts her head and smirks at him. "I know saps."
"I happen to like this movie. It has nothing to do with you." He practically sputters.
She rolls her eyes exaggeratedly to mock him. "I'm sure." She mimics.
He purses his lips. "This is your favorite part." He turns back to the movie. "And you supposedly hate talking during movies."
"The caveat to that is if it's me talking to prove I'm right." He arches an eyebrow and crosses his arms as he studies the screen. She sighs and he doesn't miss her sliding even closer to him. She is so infuriating. He turns to her suddenly and kisses her. She gasps into his mouth and shoves her laptop aside as she moves to his lap. The movie was almost over anyway.
He wakes with a start. He's hot and uncomfortable…. He looks around in confusion in the dark….who turned the lights off? His tired mind finally registers that there's a person sleeping on him, a naked Blair Waldorf person, more specifically. He sighs with slight annoyance and lays his head back on her pillow and looks up at the ceiling. She must have turned her lamp off at some point…..and gone to sleep on top of him. More things to ignore he thinks absently and rests an arm over her back as he tries to somehow get more comfortable. Then it finally occurs to him: This is just sex and she explicitly said no cuddling yet here she is right on top of him. They shouldn't be sleeping together like this all tangled up and close. "Waldorf." He says with a scratchy voice and tries to adjust her so he can sit up.
"Humphrey." She says with whiney authority. "Shut up and sleep." She raises her head and he doesn't have to see her face well to know she's glaring at him.
"But—" He starts and she cuts him off.
"It's just sleep." She says quietly, decisively. His eyes are beginning to adjust better and he takes in her disheveled hair and heavy eyes. He purses his lips and lays back down. She gives a heavy sigh and rests her head on his chest again. He's starting to realize that when Blair said there were no rules other than no emotions she really meant she'd be making the rules as she went. He rolls his eyes in the dark and tries to go back to sleep. He doesn't need this, he thinks as he settles into her probably way too expensive sheets and wraps his arms around her in an effort to get more comfortable. She sighs again and he swallows hard. It's good that she's leaving tomorrow he thinks as his eyes drift closed because he definitely doesn't need this.
He wakes up feeling like someone is staring at him and no longer sleeping on top of him. He opens his eyes to see the sun is just starting to peek through the clouds. He lifts his head slightly and looks over to see Blair lying on her side, nestled in her sheets with a pillow under her head, watching him. "Good morning." She whispers.
"Morning." He returns with a faint smile before he turns his head to look up at the ceiling.
"Do you regret this?" She asks quietly and he jerks his head to look at her.
"No." He says slowly. "Fuck, Blair, do you?" He rises to his elbows and studies her.
"No." She shakes her head. "You haven't sucked yet, Humphrey." She says in a half-hearted attempt at humor.
"Yet." He repeats and she shrugs a shoulder. He relaxes a little and lies back down. He turns on his side to face her and scoots closer to her. "Why'd you ask me that?" He asks softly and looks her over.
"I know what you think of me." She says and raises her dark eyes to his. "I was wondering if the shame had set in yet."
His eyes widen. "I don't—I'm not ashamed of sleeping with you or being— or spending time with you." He says carefully. "I told you before that I don't think you're terrible. We may not be compatible, but I think you should be happy and that you can do better than Chuck." She rolls her eyes. "I'm serious, Blair." He runs a hesitant hand through her hair and plays with the ends of her hair. She glances at his hand and he lets it drop; that might have been a little too affectionate for them. "Since when do you care what I think or feel anyway?" He nudges her calf with his foot.
She darts her eyes away. "I don't think you're terrible either, Humphrey." She places her hand over his. "I wouldn't want you to feel this way."
He narrows his eyes. "'This way?'"
She frowns. "I've done things I regret." He sees her eyes start to cloud with tears and he freezes. He's seen her upset before and he thinks he's seen her cry before, but it's different now. It's more intimate. "God, I'm sorry." She wipes at her tears quickly and sits up. She's about to get out of the bed and he reaches for her quickly. She looks at him. "Humphrey." She shakes her head. "You don't have to try to make me feel better. That's not what this is."
He fights the urge to roll his eyes. He's losing track of what this is and isn't. "You're not your mistakes or your regrets." He says quietly. Her bottom lip trembles and she looks down. "You're right, you know." She looks at him and furrows her brow. "I don't have to make you feel better. I'm saying this because it's true. I don't know what's going on, but I know you're more than your past." He concludes with a shrug of his shoulder. She nods and wipes her tears away again. He clutches her sheet to stop his hand from reaching up to do it for her. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asks when she's calmed down.
"Not right now." She goes to slide out of the bed, but he stops her again. She eyes him curiously and he only hesitates for a second before he gently cups her cheek. He lets his thumb glide over skin and he can still feel the moisture from her tears. He kisses her other cheek before he kisses her lips. He eases her back onto the bed. It's the first, and probably last, time he really feels like she's giving into him completely; her hands smooth through his hair and over his skin with tenderness instead of her usual demanding and rough movements. He realizes it's the first time he's giving into her too as he kisses her more deeply than he has in their previous encounters and lets his hands linger more than they have before. He pushes aside what he thinks it might be and focuses on her.
He stays in her for longer than he usually does afterwards. He settles against her and buries his face in her neck as he tries in vain to steady his breathing and her fingers play with his hair. She smells amazing. He can't get enough and places a soft kiss against her neck as he breathes her in. He feels the quick rise and fall of her chest beneath him and it somehow calms him to know she's just as unsteady as he is. He lifts his head and he catches her eye before he kisses her gently. "Are you ok?" He asks and lets his hands get lost in her hair that's splayed across her pillow.
She smiles and laughs lightly. "Yeah." She kisses him again. She cups his face and studies him before she kisses him again. "You should probably go." Her thumbs stroke his cheeks and her eyes search his. He doesn't know what's happening and he hates to admit this, but the last thing he wants is to leave. He looks away and nods his head though. Not for the first time, he accepts that this is Blair's game. He eases out of her and she makes a soft sound when he does. She pulls him to her for another kiss. "I just don't want us to get caught." She says quietly. "Gossip Girl is on to me now." He furrows his brow and nods his head. "It'd be awful if everyone found out." She traces her fingers over his chest and avoids his eyes. "For one thing, they'd overreact and—and well, we wouldn't be able to do this again." Her eyes finally land on his again. He feels his heart beat faster and his stomach flutters. "We're shockingly good at this—at sex. It'd be a shame to let that go to waste." Her lips form into a slow smirk.
He buries his transgressive feelings that were just starting to form. "For once, we agree, Waldorf." He smiles down at her, but he wouldn't be surprised if this is the last time. She's going to a different continent and they're not really anything other than two people who don't get along in most situations and have too many friends in common and have now made it all more complicated by having sex. They might just want to forget about this by the time the fall rolls around. He also buries the sadness that he feels at that thought.
She follows him down the stairs and places her DVD case in his hands when they reach the elevator. He furrows his brow. "Payment?" He teases and her mouth falls open and her skin goes pale.
"N—No." She purses her lips and ties the sash on her robe a little tighter.
He shifts the case to one hand and lightly nudges her shoulder with his hand. "That's a joke, Blair."
"Hilarious, Humphrey." She grumbles. She's sensitive about the most bizarre things. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. This is probably the last time anyway. Despite what she said earlier, he just doesn't foresee this happening anymore. She's going to Paris and she'll move on or go back to Chuck. As for him, well, who knows. "That's our insurance plan." She gestures to her DVDs. "And plausible deniability." He arches an eyebrow in question. "We've been sloppy and someone has probably seen us so, if someone asks, we've been watching and discussing movies in preparation for a seminar on September 15th at 4pm. It's extra credit—or something."
Incredible. How does she come up with this stuff? "That is impressive—and creepy." He nods his head for emphasis.
She smiles. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He returns and extends his hand for her to shake. She eyes him skeptically and places her hand in his. "It's been nice not being friends with you." He smirks.
She grins and bites her lips. "Let's not do it again sometime." She arches an eyebrow and tightens her hold on him before she lets his hand go. He laughs and turns to press the elevator button. He takes in her glowing complexion, bright eyes, and messy hair. She looks almost happy and it makes something in his chest tighten to think he may have had some part in that. He smiles at her one last time before he steps into her elevator and starts the long, slow ride down.