Title: La Vie En Rose
Pairing: Blair/Carter, Blair/Chuck
Disclaimer: I don't own Gossip Girl…sigh
A/N: I think I love Sebastian Stan. No, wait - I do. I honestly don't know where this sudden love came, but it's happened! Woo Chapter 2. I think I'm going to concentrate on getting this story finished before my other stories, so I'm sorry to anyone waiting for an update from Cross My Heart or Lullaby. I promise that I'll try to get to them as soon as possible, it's just that I am in love with Sebastian Stan. hehe! THANKS NAT!
When Blair sees her father standing at the entrance of the Saint-Exupéry International Airport with a bouquet of French tulips, she lets go of all the restraint she's placed upon herself and sprints towards her father, throwing her arms around him.
"I've missed you, Daddy," she whimpers, and he tightens his arms around her tiny body, savouring a moment with his little girl.
They finally let go of each other and Harold Waldorf spins his daughter under his arm, wondering when in the world she transformed from his 'Blair-bear' into a young woman.
"You've definitely grown since Christmas," he says proudly and she nods her head as she begins to tell him about her life in New York and how nothing compares to being with her daddy right now. They exit the airport hand in hand as her father drags her luggage when suddenly he brings up the topic she's been dreading the most.
"And where is young Charles?" he asks, oblivious to the cringe on his daughter's face. She merely ignores the question and diverts his attention, saying that she can't wait to see Roman and the châteaux. She even asks about the cat named 'Cat' and smiles inwardly when he forgets all about Charles Bass. The only problem is, why can't she?
Two weeks into her stay with her father, Blair receives a call from a frantic Serena. She can barely make out anything her best friend is saying except for something about 'Chuck', 'blonde hussy' and 'I'm so sorry' and then it all clicks. Blair politely tells Serena 'thank you' and hangs up. She sits upright in her bed and looks through her phone, realising that the last time that Chuck called her was over a fortnight ago.
She isn't surprised – at least, she tells herself she isn't. The truth of the matter is Carter Baizen was right and she should've known that a tiger doesn't change its stripes. Simply put, Chuck Bass will forever be Chuck Bass.
Blair can feel the gears in her brain working as she decides that she'll spend her next couple of weeks in France getting tanned, fresher and more revived before she has to come face to face with her 'lover'. She'll show him who's boss and she can already picture his face of regret when he realises what he's lost again.
Her father tells her that for her last two weeks in France, they'll stay in the French Riviera for the first, then in Paris for the next. She's excited and she and Roman spend a day in Lyon trying on different outfits. It surprises her that she's become accustomed to the man that stole her father from her family, but she supposes that if it had to be anyone, Roman at least had good style. Roman shows her all the tourist attractions in Lyon whilst her father attends to business and she truly enjoys her time spent with him. They stop at a café and she resists the urge to roll her eyes when they sit next to a couple reminiscent of her and that Bass boy.
She hates it that he evokes so much emotion in her and when her coffee comes, she drowns it instantly, pretending that it were a warm liquor that would make all her troubles disappear.
It turns out it's just coffee.
They leave the café (finally) and Blair feels her phone vibrating. She expects to see Serena's bubbly face pop up on the screen but instead sees the smirk that she's grown to hate.
It takes all of one second for her to press decline and suddenly she feels so much better. When he tries to call again later that night, she lets it ring for five seconds before she answers in a sweet saccharine voice, "You have reached Blair Waldorf. I'm not sorry I can't come to the phone because right now I'm having a ménage a trios with a couple of French boys who can fuck better than my lousy cheating boyfriend ever could. Au revoir!"
Blair hangs up after she hears him grit his teeth non-discreetly and proceeds with packing her suitcase, ready to hit the French Riviera. She doesn't regret what she did, he could've called to apologise but she wouldn't have listened. After her relationship with Nate, she learnt that she wasn't going play the second fiddle. If Chuck Bass seriously thought that an apology was all it was going to take for her to forgive him, then he really didn't know her.
Blair Waldorf never backs down.
It isn't before long that she, her father and Roman are in the French Riviera, basking in the golden sunlight that seems exempt from her Manhattan home. She lazes on the beach every afternoon, closing her eyes, letting the sweet sensations run over her body. The wind blows softly and the sunlight dances over her tanned body (who would've thought she'd have a tan?) and her ears suddenly perk when she hears the sound of laughter a few metres away from her. She opens her eyes and tilts her head, finding herself eye to eye with a group of young men. They wave and smile at her, but she doesn't move. Instead she lays back down, counting backwards from five.
It takes the men two seconds to walk over to her, and Blair entices them to sit next to her, proud of her achievement.
After all, Blair Waldorf does not chase after boys…they chase after her.
She finds out that they're all French and can barely speak a sentence of English. It doesn't worry her, though. In fact, it provides the opposite reaction as she dazzles them with her French skills, batting her eyelashes lowly at the youngest one – Louis – as she decides he's her target.
They spend the afternoon frolicking in the sand and when night falls, they build a bonfire and sit around it as Louis wraps his arm around Blair, shielding her from the nightly chill. The boys begin to sing 'La Marseillaise' and invite her to join in, but she declines, afraid that her voice will scare them away. She almost doesn't hear her phone ring over their loud, praiseworthy song and when she answers it, the first thing she hears is 'Waldorf, we need to talk.'
"Oh, really?" she replies and gives Louis her phone, wishing she could hear Chuck's voice as Louis says in a solid, French voice, "Bon soir. Comment vous appellez-vous?"
She laughs when Louis hands her back her phone with the sound of a dial tone and she almost tucks her phone into her bag when an idea sparks in her head. She brings Louis and his friends around her and asks one of them to take a photo of their joyous group. Making sure that Louis has his arms around her, she smiles brightly as the flash on her phone goes off and thanks the young French man when he gives her back her phone. She looks at the photo and sends it without hesitation.
It's about time that Gossip Girl went international.
Translations:
Au revoir - "See you again!"/Good Bye
Bon soir - Good Evening
Comment tu t'appelles? - What's your name?