Chapter Seventeen: The Bomb Inside the Bomb
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow, not too many comments on that last chapter. I'd like.. at least 160 before I start writing the eighteenth chapter.
And just a warning, Chuck isn't too nice in this chapter. He's starting to get normal people feelings of (oh no!) jealousy.
The words 'You would look beautiful in that' had been used far too many times today, yet not even once was it used by Chuck. They had been shopping for at least two hours now, visiting quite a few stores and spending record time inside. The words were all by nobody but the sales women, trying to persuade Blair in to buying everything that they held up. She ended up getting nearly everything that she tried on, and who bought it all? Chuck did. All of that money could've been spent on something better, but he knew that it made her happy, and it wasn't like he didn't have an endless supply of more cash. Plus, he was pretty sure that if she bought all of that with her own credit card, Eleanor may have thrown a fit. She was in to fashion, but she didn't spend that much money.
Now, they were at a jewelery store since Chuck hadn't gotten around to buying anything for her before, just because the timing of the fight with Nate was unfortunate and it didn't allow him to do what he said he would. Blair's eyes were focused on a beautiful engagement ring, which was worrying Chuck. They had barely been dating for over a month, and she was already looking at rings? He knew that she did that with Nate, but it had been different. They were practically forced together and it was common knowledge they'd get married. Chuck and Blair just happened to get together after a drunken night and they discovered that they had more chemistry than first guessed. Wedding bells weren't in their future.
"So do you want a necklace, or what?" he asked her, the silence between them slowly beginning to make him nervous.
She finally looked up from the ring and at Chuck instead. "Uh, yeah. Doesn't matter. I'm sure whatever you get me will be fine. You have incredible taste for a straight man," she commented, taking his hand and linking her fingers with his.
He rolled his eyes at the compliment. "You know that's not true. I'll just end up buying the most expensive thing that the sales person will recommend. It's far easier when you tell me what you want," he told her as he rolled his thumb over Blair's fingers. He glanced down at their hands together, and then noticed the ruby ring that she was wearing. "I could buy you a new ring. The one from Nathaniel is getting so old."
It also represented a good time in Blair and Nate's relationship, which was why he was even more eager for her to stop wearing it. He didn't like the idea that whenever his girlfriend woke up in the morning at got dressed, she'd think about her ex who she had been practically engaged to.
God, Chuck hated being so jealous over stupid things.
"But I've had this forever," she said in a quiet voice. She let go of Chuck's hand and brought her own up so she could inspect the ring some more.
"New beginnings, Blair. It'll be best to get rid of it. You can finally put Nate behind you," he told her. He took her hand again, and gently slid off the ruby ring from her finger. "Pick out a new one that you like. And not an engagement ring," he said, dropping the ring in to his pocket.
Blair looked upset for a moment, but then she just shrugged it off and went off to look at some of the rings. Chuck stood behind and watched her for a moment before grabbing his phone from his pocket. He began to write a new text message.
'Coming by l8er 2 drop sumthing off' it said, and he sent it to Nate. He didn't care that his ex-friend may not want him there, but he wanted to make it perfectly clear that there was no way Blair would ever want him back.
"Mrs. van der Woodsen!" he heard Blair exclaim, and he shot his gaze up to see his future step-mother. One of the last people he wanted to see right now, aside from his real mother.
"Blair? What are you doing here? You should be in school right now," Lily said. Chuck moved over to the two, and he put his arm around Blair.
"We decided to get out early to go shopping. It always makes Blair feel better," he said, smirking at his step-mother in almost a dare for her to call them on their behavior.
She seemed hesitant at first. "Right... I forgot that you two were dating."
"Didn't Mr. Bass tell you about it?" Blair asked.
"Oh, no. Bart doesn't talk about a lot of stuff. Misty told me, though, and I heard Serena saying something about it while she was on the phone," Lily explained.
It was just creepy that Chuck's step-mom-to-be was talking to his real mom. They were supposed to hate each other. Wasn't it typical for the ex-wife to hate the new wife? Or did that only apply when the new wife was much younger?
Blair stiffened up at the mention of Serena. "So what are you doing here, now that it's been established what we're doing," she said, quick to change the subject before she let herself become upset about it.
"Just picking up the wedding bands. It's hard to believe that the big day is only three weeks away," Lily said, her voice dripping with fake excitement. "You're coming, right, Blair? Serena is absolutely dreading it, but I'm sure if you're there that she'll be fine."
Because she wasn't one to make a scene and start bawling or screaming in the middle of a store, Blair simply said, "Yes, I'll be attending."
The two of them went in to a conversation about designers and which were the best for dresses. Chuck wasn't interested in the conversation, wishing that Blair could just find a damn ring already so he could drop her off at home and then go by Nate's. The look on his face when Chuck pulled the ring from his pocket was going to be priceless. Nate may have broken Chuck's nose, but now he was getting his payback by breaking one of the most fragile things- his friend's heart. What could hurt more than getting back the ring that represented a 'long, loving, committed relationship'?
Chuck took the buzzing off his cell phone inside of his pocket to be the best opportunity for him to leave. He gently nudged Blair to grab her attention from Lily.
"I have to go. I have plans. Call me later tonight, okay?" he said, kissing her cheek before turning to Lily. "Pleasure to see you," he told her, even though she didn't think that she'd believe it.
When Chuck arrived at Nate's a while later, he was let in by Mrs. Archibald. She greeted him with a smile, and started talking about how glad she was that he was dropping by. Apparently, Nate had been in a bit of a bad mood lately and she had the feeling that the two boys had a falling out since they hadn't been hanging out for a while. Chuck asked where Nate was at the moment, and she said that she assumed he was in his room since she had just gotten home and he hadn't said anything about leaving the house.
Chuck went up to Nate's room and knocked lightly before pushing the door open. Just like many previous times (except with the roles reversed), he found his ex-friend engaging in a very heated make-up session involving little to no clothes. All Chuck could see of the girl was long bare legs and blonde hair, leading his mind immediately to Serena.
"Jesus Christ, Nate!" he said loudly to grab his attention, since it appeared that he had yet to have been noticed.
Nate's head jolted up, exposing the girl's face. The look on it was just as surprised at Chuck's was once he realized who it actually was.
"Jenny Humphrey? The Brooklyn Bitch?" he asked, the shocked look slowly disappearing and being replaced with one of his signature smirks. Now he could say that he had seen Jenny's Hello-Kitty underwear. And with Hello-Kitty underwear comes plenty of jokes.
"What are you doing here?" Nate groaned as he pulled on his shirt, then buttoned and zipped his pants.
"Came to drop something off. Didn't you get my text?" His eyes were still focused on Jenny, who looked completely embarrassed. Chuck had to resist the urge to grab his phone and take a picture of her struggling to pull her skirt up and looking like a slut in the process.
"Obviously not," he snapped. He grabbed his cell phone from his desk and checked to see that there was indeed a text message waiting for him. "I was kind of busy."
"As I can see. I didn't realize you were one for blonde shy sluts," Chuck said, putting extra emphasis on the 'shy'. From Nate's one night stand (if you could call it that) with Serena, he already knew that he liked blonde sluts, he just thought it was only the outgoing ones.
"She's not a slut," he protested.
"Really? Today she was smiling at me and now she's flashing her little girl underwear for the world to see. Seems like a slut to me."
Nate opened his mouth to say something but then stopped himself, rolling his eyes. "So what do you want, Chuck? You said that you need to give me something."
"Right," Chuck said as he fished the ruby ring out of his pocket. "Blair wanted me to give this back to you," he lied, holding out the ring for Nate.
Nate froze, his eyes dropping to the ring. "That's hers. I don't want it," he finally said. It seemed like he was trying to be strong, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't.
"Well, neither does she," he told Nate. He looked over at Jenny. She was sitting on the bed, her cheeks finally returning to their normal colour. "Humphrey, do you want it? Maybe you could sell it and your brother would be able to buy some decent clothes."
She seemed to light up at the thought of having one of Blair Waldorf's rings, until Nate shot her a harsh glance and she sunk down against the pillows. "No, I don't want it," she said quietly.
"Wow, Nathaniel, you've found a girl you can actually control. Congratulations. Blair was pretty easy to tame, with my experience and all. You should hear the way she--" Chuck started, only to be interrupted.
"I'd leave if I were you," Nate warned. "You don't want another broken nose, do you?"
"The only reason you won the last fight was because I was half asleep and naked. I'm more than certain that I could beat you now," he said, closing his hand around the ring before shoving it in to his pocket. "But I'll just leave. You deserve to get some pussy from your new girl before having her see you act like one." Nate just glared, and Jenny had to stop the giggle that was bubbling up in her throat. "Oh, and I hope you come to the wedding. You were like a son to Bart, and I'm sure Misty has felt something for you too. She always has liked the young oblivious ones."
"You can leave," Nate growled to Chuck before resuming his position on the bed.
And so Chuck did- making sure to drop the ruby ring in to a trash can outside the building before he got in to his limo.