Chapter 17

As per Gossip Girl's Thanksgiving tradition, I'm trading my laptop for stove top, and for the next 16 hours, the only thing I'm dishing is seconds. When the cat's away, the mice will play. Have fun, little rodents.

Blair smiled as she finished dressing for the day, excited about her favorite holiday of the year, Thanksgiving. This is the first Thanksgiving after the divorce of her parents and Blair honestly couldn't be happier, because this year daddy was coming home to spend the day with her. It'll be perfect. Just like last year. As Blair brushed her hair at her vanity, she remembered last year's Thanksgiving; Serena was, not surprising at the time, drunk for most of it, Blair and Nate were in a good phase of their relationship and Blair's parents were still happily together.

Every Thanksgiving was more like Blair's and her father, Harold's, day. She'd help with preparing his famous pumpkin pie as well as making the sides for the dinner. Daddy never believed in catering on this particular holiday, to which Blair agreed. And this year was going to be even better than last year, not only was Serena definitely cutting back on her partying days so Blair didn't have to spend the day watching out for her, but things have been going so well between Blair and Chuck since they started their secret relationship.

Blair had to chuckle to herself as she remembered the events that happened after the Gossip Girl blast came at the end of her birthday party. She and Chuck had sex in Kati's brother's bedroom before sneaking out and going back to Chuck's suite to spend the rest of the evening and the rest of Blair's actual birthday alone, which was surprisingly easy, since everyone assumed that she was heartbroken over Nate supposedly cheating on her despite her claim to the contrary.

Spending that time with Chuck, Blair honestly felt that their relationship was actually going to work. He understood her better than anyone else and it seemed at times that he could actually read her mind and was able to be what she needed or wanted without even having been asked. They agreed that when they decided to come out and tell everyone that they were together that Chuck would have to tell Nate about them first. This way there wouldn't be any public scenes between the two friends.

Blair sighed as she set her brush down and checked her Cartier watch just as Dorota called up to her to let her know that Serena had arrived, the only thing that would make this holiday perfect was if she could spend it with her boyfriend as well as her father.

Blair shook away the thought as she headed down with a ready smile of excitement as she lead Serena into the kitchen, motioning for her to take a seat at the kitchen island as Blair pulled out the recipe box from a cabinet, "I have to find this recipe before my dad gets here." She explained happily as she took a seat beside Serena as the servants bustled around the kitchen.

"Harold Waldorf's famous pumpkin pie," Serena clarified as she got to work on her napkin duties.

"Well, it may have been Bobby Flay's, but it didn't stop my dad from taking credit for it," Blair smirked as she began flipping through the box of card recipes, laughing with Serena before Blair squealed excitedly, "It's going to be perfect!"

Serena smiled, "Look at you. Quite the chipper sous-chef."

"Well, I'm in a good mood," Blair explained, and she genuinely was. To finally have her father home after everything would be wonderful. Out of either of Blair's parents she was always closest to her father. Not to mention that everything in Blair's life seemed to be in a good place and she wanted to enjoy it before any unknown bombs explode in her face. "It happens. Sometimes 'cause I increase my Lexapro, sometimes because my dad's in town." She continued on.

"And sometimes, mostly because things are good with a boy," Serena hinted playfully as she continued, "You and Nate get back together?"

Blair frowned in confusion at the question, "You mean since Gossip Girl published pictures of him and some skank? I haven't even spoken to him." Blair glanced over at Serena as she continued flipping through the cards, getting a bad feeling about where this was heading.

"So that's a no," Serena paused before asking her next question, "What's Chuck doing today?"

Blair raised her brows as she continued with her work, "Why are you asking me?"

"Well, you guys are friends," Serena stated carefully, making Blair even more subconscious that the blonde may know something as Serena continued on, "And, Blair, look, you know you can tell me anything. I'd be the last person to judge anyone."

"With good reason," Blair said bluntly, immediately going on the offense, hesitant on what she was going to do next.

"Blair, I saw you with Chuck," Serena stated bluntly.

Blair looked away and took a deep breath, figuring that this would be an opportunity to test the waters with Serena about her new budding relationship, "It wasn't planned okay?" She started off as she looked at Serena, "I mean, it happened so fast and then next thing I knew we slept together and-,"

"Wait. You slept with him?" Serena interrupted as she looked at Blair in shock, to which Blair shushed her, not even able to finish explaining everything to her before Serena made a noise of disgust, "Blair!"

Blair immediately went on the defense, "What happened to no judging?" She should have known what a lie that was. Maybe it was for the best that Serena interrupted her and just leaves her to believe that Blair and Chuck were simply sleeping together. If she was acting this way at just that prospect, Blair couldn't even imagine how she would react to the truth.

"I'm not, but I thought you wanted to wait," Serena stated, making Blair feel as if she were a child being scolded, "I thought you wanted to make things special."

Blair just felt her anger rise at what Serena was insinuating and started to lash out, "Oh, so Nate gets the free pass, and I'm the slut?"

Serena looked at her as she asked softly, "Tell me you didn't sleep with Chuck for revenge."

Blair rolled her eyes at how little Serena knew her and just continued on with the lie, "Well, it wasn't because I like his natural musk, and besides, nothing hurts more than sleeping with the best friend, right, S.?" Blair purposely threw in that last dig just so Serena could get upset and leave already. She did not need this today of all days.

At the sight of Serena's hurt expression, Blair knew she had hit her target as Serena said softly, "Way to prove a point," before she stood up to leave.

Being sure to cover her tracks that this was exactly what she wanted, Blair continued on as she stood up, "Well, I learned from the master."

"If you're sleeping with Chuck, I'd say the student's become the master," Serena said as she turned back towards Blair.

"Are you jealous you didn't get to sleep with him first?" Blair taunted before she scoffed, "There had to be somebody left on the Upper East Side."

Blair stared at Serena dead in the eye, not flinching at her cruel words, fighting the feeling to escape and go call Chuck to calm her down as she heard her mother talking as she entered the room, "Blair, darling, are you going to help me at all?"

Blair rolled her eyes lightly as Eleanor didn't even wait for Blair to answer as she began speaking to Serena, "Serena, do you know when your mother's arriving?"

Serena turned towards Eleanor and stated bluntly before turning to leave, "She's not. We're not doing Thanksgiving here anymore."

Blair saw that one a mile away and wasn't even pretending to be surprised as Eleanor spoke in surprise, "Why?"

When Serena looked to Blair as if she was gifting Blair with a chance to apologize and back down from their argument, again as if she didn't know Blair at all, Blair answered firmly as she sealed the coffin, "Because I uninvited them."

As Serena and Blair stared at each other, Blair simply raised her brows and gave a firm wave goodbye as if to dismiss Serena from her home. Serena simply said, "Happy holidays, Eleanor," and left.

As Blair watched the blonde leave she felt a headache coming and leaned against the island beside her, resting her head on her hand as her mother looked at her, expecting some kind of explanation that Blair was not going to give.

xoxo

After Blair set up the pie to be put in the oven by the help she went upstairs, unable to refrain herself any longer from calling Chuck. She jogged up the stairs with her phone in her hands the second she reached her bedroom and dialed the familiar number and waited for him to answer. Fortunately she didn't have to wait much longer than two rings before he answered.

"I have to admit I'm a bit surprised to hear from you, I'd have assumed you'd be busy entertaining Serena and your father while making the famous Waldorf pumpkin pie I've heard so much about this past week," Chuck answered without a hello.

Blair smiled into the phone at the sound of his voice, "Unfortunately, daddy isn't here yet for me to entertain, but the pie is in the oven baking as we speak. And Serena has become uninvited to Thanksgiving because she likes to judge first and not let people finish a thought."

Chuck silently took in the information she just provided him before he asked, "What happened this time?"

"Apparently, Serena saw us at my birthday party before you and I snuck away. She confronted me about it," Blair said with a sigh as she sat on top of her bed.

"What did you say?" Chuck asked carefully, knowing that she wasn't ready to tell anyone about them yet.

"At first I thought it would be an opportunity to test the waters, to see if maybe I'm over reacting to how people would react to us, but she didn't even let me finish. She just jumped to the whole us sleeping together," Blair stated dejectedly, "let's just say that she got judgey and I got defensive, as of now she knows that you and I have slept together but she knows nothing else. I ended up purposely pushing some buttons just for her to get upset and leave."

Blair pushed her hair back, feeling tired after going over everything that happened this morning as Chuck said to her softly, "I'm sorry she reacted that way, I should have been there with you."

Blair smiled softly into the phone, "I would love nothing more than to have you here but you're off in Europe with your father, learning the ropes for the club."

"Maybe, I have a surprise for you," Chuck hinted into the phone, Blair could almost hear this smirk on his face.

"What kind of a surprise, Bass?" She asked as she stood up from the bed, getting excited.

"Turn around," he said before hanging up the phone on her.

Blair frowned and slowly turned before she let out a squeal at the sight waiting for her in her doorway, "Chuck!" She immediately went to him and hugged him tightly, "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe with Bart."

Chuck smirked as he held her back just as tightly before he kissed her lips slowly, wrapping his arms around her waist, "I was, but I was finished with my work before he was and he figured that I'd just get in trouble over there so he sent me back here, to which I did not argue with. Plus I missed you."

Blair beamed as she kissed his lips again and again, "I'm so happy to have you here, now it's going to be a perfect Thanksgiving."

"I admit my motives may be a bit selfish; I also wanted to come back so I can…," he broke of, looking a bit nervous, but he couldn't be. He was Chuck Bass, "So I can be introduced to her father."

Blair frowned in confusion, "But he already knows you…"

"I know, but I want to be officially introduced to him. I know we wanted to wait awhile before we tell people about us, but I'd like to at least do this in an attempt to absolve my reputation," Chuck said hesitantly.

Blair couldn't have been happier in that moment as she leaned towards him and once again kissed her boyfriend fiercely, "I'd love to officially introduce you to my father, Chuck Bass."

Chuck sighed in relief as the pair rested their foreheads together; Chuck nuzzled his nose along hers as they just stood there in the middle of Blair's bedroom for a while. Not in a rush to head downstairs and face the world.

After a short time had passed, Blair heard a lot of rattling and movement happening downstairs and figured she better head down and sees if her father was here yet. Smiling as she took Chuck's hand in hers she led the way out of her room and down the stairs with lightness in her step. The smile disappeared at the sight of a bunch of caterers milling around the sitting room with all their food that was prepared for dinner with her mother in the middle of it all.

Blair looked up at Chuck in confusion to which he just shrugged and nodded over to Eleanor as if for Blair to go ask what was going on. He lingered by the stairs to give the two privacy as Blair asked her question out lout to her mother, "Caterers? What's going on here?"

Eleanor paused in her placement cards project as she looked at Blair, stating the obvious, "Everyone is getting ready for our lovely dinner, and you should be, too."

Blair frowned as she continued following Eleanor around the table, "Everyone except daddy. Where is he?"

Eleanor paused and asked as she removed her reading glasses from her face, "I thought you knew?"

Blair began getting that bad feeling again as she asked, "Knew what?"

Eleanor sighed before she spoke "Your father isn't coming. He didn't tell you?"

Blair felt her jaw drop at this news. She couldn't believe it and felt her face fall with devastation as Eleanor scoffed to herself as she continued to explain to Blair about her father, "He decided to stay in Paris. He's got either too much work, or Roman is too much work. Who knows?"

Blair shook her head slowly in disbelief, "I-I don't understand. If he wasn't coming, why wouldn't he just call me and tell me himself?"

Eleanor placed a hand on Blair's shoulder in comfort as she began speaking, "Darling, you should know by now that your father is not a fan of the difficult conversation. Now why don't you run along and change into something a little more… enchanting?"

As Eleanor turned away with a smile, all Blair could do was shake her head and turn back towards Chuck, still waiting for her at the foot of the stairs. In that way that was truly unique, he didn't ask questions, he just wrapped an arm around her in comfort as they walked back upstairs to Blair's room to change.

xoxo

Blair ranted as Chuck helped her comb through her closet for something more Eleanor approved to wear and she continued to rant as they waited for Dorota to come and help Blair dress. As Chuck stepped just outside her room to give her privacy, after the firm glare received by the Polish maid, she was still ranting to Dorota at the injustice that has befallen her. Frankly, Chuck found her extremely hot when she was angry and had no problems listening to her go on and on.

He smirked as he sat on the bench usefully situated just outside Blair's door as he listened to her talk. The longer he stayed here with her, the more in the right he felt in his decision at this surprise visit. Blair was so happy when she saw him standing in her doorway and she seemed truly touched by Chuck making the effort to clean up his reputation by formally being introduced to her father. He knew how important he was to Blair and how much she longed for his approval, she longed for it more than she longed for Eleanor's, and in return Chuck wanted it too.

"Ugh! How could he just blow me off?" Chuck heard Blair exclaim as she dressed just inside, "Thanksgiving is our ritual. You know, he didn't even call? How hard is it to pick up the phone?"

Chuck knew how hard she was taking this latest rejection from her father and he wanted to know too what was going on, because from what he heard from Eleanor and what he knew about Howard himself, this was completely out of character for Mr. Waldorf, when it came to his daughter.

"Miss Blair, maybe you pick up phone, call your papa," Dorota suggested. Chuck turned his head towards the door, intrigued by what the maid was trying to hint at, "Maybe he tell you the real story."

"Real story?" Blair asked.

But the maid was done dropping hints and went on to talk about accessories for Blair to wear. Chuck took that as his queue to be allowed to come back inside. The couple shared a look, their minds equally running over what Dorota could mean when she said the real story. Deciding to drop the subject until the two of them were alone, Chuck smirked as he took in Blair before him in her new outfit, "I must say, Waldorf, you were ravishing when I first saw you earlier, and you're still as ravishing now."

Blair smiled as he walked towards her and kissed her lips softly, he felt the butterflies rustle once again in his stomach as she deepened the kiss. The pair was interrupted by Dorota once again as she handed Blair a pearl necklace to wear before dismissing herself and leaving the room without another word.

After about five minutes of silence, Blair was the one to break it, "I'm scared."

Chuck looked at her and placed his hand on her cheek in comfort, "And what are you afraid of, Waldorf?"

"That the reason why he didn't show up was because he didn't want to be with me…that he's content with his life in Paris with Roman," Blair said softly, unable to meet his gaze.

"I know for a fact that is not true. Harold loves you more than anything," Chuck tried to get through to her.

"Then why did he leave us?" Blair asked him as if he knew the answer.

"He didn't leave you, he left Eleanor. He left the lies and decided to be honest with you and himself. Granted it wasn't the best way to go about it, but I've seen how you two are together, there's no one in this world whom he loves more," Chuck kissed Blair's forehead gently before picking up the phone and handing it to you, "I suggest you do as Dorota said, and call him."

Blair looked at the phone, wearily before protesting, "I don't want to do it alone."

"Who says you will? I'll be sitting right here beside you through the entire phone call, ready to say "I told you so"," Chuck smirked at her causing her to give a faint smile as she hesitantly reached for the phone and sat down on the bed, pulling Chuck to sit with her.

As Chuck sat there quietly, listening to Blair on the phone with her dad, he wished to be able to have that kind of relationship with his own father. Granted, since his father gave his approval of Victrola, the two had seemed to have found a common ground, but it's not the same as the relationship he was witnessing now, even though the phone, with Blair and her father.

After about thirty minutes on the phone with her father, Blair hung up the phone and looked at Chuck. Since she wasn't in tears, he took that as a good sign and simply said, "I told you so," with a smirk. Blair just laughed and gave him a shove before explaining what the real story was. As she went into to depth about what Eleanor did in order to keep Blair and her father apart, Blair's anger returned tenfold. All Chuck could do was encourage her to talk to her mother about it after dinner was over to maybe get her real side of the story.

In the Upper East Side, there was always more than one truth to the story. Maybe Blair could get Eleanor to give her reason why she did what she did. It wouldn't fix the situation but at least Blair would have the entire story instead of just parts of it. After pleading his case with his girlfriend she agreed, always the one to know the full truth before charging into battle, especially after that whole Ostroff center/Eric mess that formed a couple of months ago, it became a new policy for the duo in regards to schemes.

xoxo

It was an hour later and Chuck and Blair were sitting at the dinner table filled with Eleanor's colleagues and no sign of family in sight around the long table. Blair mentioned how different it was compared to the previous year; Chuck had to take her word for it since he was off in Monaco last year to drink his troubles away at the constant neglect of his father. He wasn't the biggest fan of family gatherings, but for Blair he genuinely wanted to be a part of something this year. He wanted to actually try being all that Blair deserved in a boyfriend and that included being her back up if she should ever need one.

Chuck looked around the table and caught the eye of Eleanor. Ever since she spotted him coming down the stairs with Blair from her bedroom she'd been keeping an eye on him, but remained polite when Blair stated that he was joining them for dinner as she was trained to be as a society hostess. Every chance she got though she continued looking at both him and Blair with a question in her eyes on what was going on. To which Chuck was careful to not give anything away. He found he was content with keeping the relationship at Blair's pace and that was how it was going to stay until she told him otherwise. The last thing he wanted was to screw this up.

He glanced over at his girlfriend in question as she just sat at the table quietly, staring off into space as she held onto his hand. He didn't blame her for her lack of appetite the news that she shared with him would put anyone off their meal at the realization that a favorite holiday was sabotaged by someone so close. He made a point to not push her, sensing her fragile state. Unfortunately, Eleanor seemed to lack that particular observation when she glanced at her daughter briefly, noticing her full plate.

"Blair…," even though Eleanor lowered her voice, Chuck was still close enough to hear every word, "You haven't touched your food. Come on, darling. What has gotten into you?"

Blair seemed to have snapped out of it at her mother's question and looked at her as she continued to squeeze his hand under the table as if looking for support, to which he squeezed hers back gently as she began to speak, "Well, I was going to wait till after dinner, but I guess now is as good a time as any."

A concerned look passed over Eleanor's face before Blair asked a loaded question, "Did you call daddy and say that I didn't want to see him this Thanksgiving?"

"Of course not," Eleanor answered immediately, lying so easily that you could tell that she was born on the Upper East Side just like himself and Blair as she continued on in outrage, "What a ridiculous accusation."

"So you didn't tell him that I was so angry at him for leaving, that I didn't even want to talk to him today?" Blair asked, her voice rising a bit, drawing the attention of the table a bit. Eleanor sighed, knowing that she was caught. Blair continued on, "You had no right to uninvited him."

"When are you going to get it through your head?" Eleanor asked, "He left us."

"He didn't leave us. He left you," Blair lashed out, taking Chuck's words from earlier from upstairs in her room.

"That's enough," Eleanor said firmly before lowering her voice again, "That's enough. If you want to take this up with me, we can discuss it later, after our guests have left. Right now you either eat or leave the table."

Chuck rolled his eyes to himself at the ultimatum as Blair threw her napkin onto the table with, "I told you, I'm not hungry."

As Blair stood up from her seat after dropping Chuck's hand, Eleanor gave an alternative, obviously trying to save face, "Or maybe dessert will change your mind."

Knowing that's not a good idea Chuck frowned as he glanced back and forth between Blair and Eleanor as Blair asked in a slight panic, "Where's daddy's pie?"

"Hmm?" Eleanor asked offhandedly, Chuck rubbed his forehead, knowing that a bomb was going to go off and he had no idea how to stop it.

Blair looked around almost frantic as she spoke, "I don't see his pumpkin pie."

"Well, there were so many delicious choices coming from the caterer, we just sent that one down to the doorman," Eleanor said offhandedly as if it wasn't a big deal, "Well it is Thanksgiving after all, hmm?"

Chuck watched carefully as Eleanor gave her last declaration, "Now choose one of those amazing desserts."

Blair picked up a large pie in the center with a complacent smile and left the room, heading to the kitchen. Chuck felt the bad feeling he felt growing increase tenfold and looked at Eleanor to see if she seriously knew what she had just done. Chuck tried his best not to jump to the wrong conclusion, but the longer he sat there the more agitated he felt.

It wasn't until he noticed all the staff members leaving the kitchen, with Dorota amongst them, that Chuck couldn't take it any longer and stood up from the table with a polite smile and made his way into the kitchen briskly.

Coming in to the sight that he feared most, Chuck paused for a second; there she was, his girlfriend, stuffing her face with the apple pie, not even enjoying it, but crying. She just kept crying as she forced herself to take another forkful without even swallowing the last one. Chuck quickly ran over to her and took the fork out of her hand, holding her close as he spoke softly, "Either spit it out or swallow it. Those are your only options."

Blair cried as she looked up at him before she ran over to the sink and spat out everything in her mouth as she sobbed. Rubbing her back gently after she finished with the sink, Chuck scooped her up into his arms and walked up the stairs towards Blair's room and laid her down onto her bed. After removing his shoes and jacket he quickly got in beside her and just held her as she cried. Thankful that he was here this time before she gorged herself, he couldn't say how many times he kicked himself that he wasn't there for her before she got to the point where she was bent over the toilet and already throwing up the contents of her stomach. But this time he was, this time he was able to stop her from relapsing and it made him even more grateful for the decision on coming home for the holiday to be with her; his best friend, now his girlfriend in her time of need.

After Blair finally was able to gain control of herself and her sobs subsided, she looked up at Chuck and smiled at him softly. Chuck kissed her forehead in return gently as he held her to him closely. "Feeling better?" he asked.

Softly, Blair replied, "Thank you, for stopping me…for being here."

Chuck nodded softly, "I'm thankful that I was able to be here."

"You're always here when I need you, don't think any differently," Blair soothed him, as if she could read his mind.

"Do you want to call Serena?" He asked softly, knowing that at a time like this, Blair needed her best friend.

Blair nodded softly before she spoke, "But I don't want to have to choose between her and you. It makes me question if it was such a good idea for us to keep our relationship a secret."

Chuck smiled softly before gently brushing a strand of hair to the side of her face, "I know you don't, but you two need to make up and you need her during this time. I'll make a compromise with you call her and spend some time together and afterwards we'll meet up at my suite and spend the night together, how's that?"

Blair smiled and nodded in agreement before Chuck reached for her phone on her nightstand and handed it to her to make her call. He figured that while she and Serena hanged out for the afternoon, he could do some work that needed to be done for Victrola that had to wait till he was back in town for. All that mattered to him was that Blair felt secure and not on the verge of a relapse.

The phone call to Serena was short and Blair told him that she was on her way over. To kill time until Serena arrived they talked about Thanksgiving pasts, about all the fun times that Blair had when her dad was still married to Eleanor, and how even when things didn't go according to plan, it still ended perfectly. As their time was drawing to a close, Blair walked him to her bedroom door, giving him a tight hug, which he returned, not wanting to leave any more than she wanted him to go.

"The only thing that would have made my Thanksgiving better in the past, I think, would be if you were there," she whispered to him softly as she reluctantly let him go. Her words made him smile.

"I don't think so; I think I would have found a way to screw it up. You forget that I wasn't nearly as well-mannered as I am now," he winked at her playfully, earning a laugh and a light kiss.

"You keep telling yourself that, Bass. I'll text you when Serena leaves so we can make an official plan?" She offered as she continued to hold his hand. Chuck nodded, giving her one more kiss before leaving her there in her room. Chuck made a point to stay in his limo outside of Blair's building until he saw the familiar blonde climb out of a cab and head inside, unaware of being watched, before he told Arthur to drive him home. The further he rode away, the farther his mind was away from him, waiting for when he got the text message from Blair that he could be with her again.

xoxo

It wasn't even five minutes after Chuck left, that Blair heard the sound of someone knocking on her bedroom door as she sat on the floor next to her bed quietly. Recognizing Serena's voice, Blair couldn't bring herself to say anything to confirm that she was in the room, wishing that Chuck was still here to hold her hand as he did for the past couple of hours. Blair had to admit, that for a first time boyfriend, he was doing extremely well on everything she put him through. It made her feel that her decision to keep them a secret was the wrong one and she honestly didn't know how to go about changing that decision now that it had been made.

As Serena stepped inside and saw Blair quietly sitting on the floor with puffy red eyes, she quietly shut the door behind her and sat down beside Blair on the floor. "It didn't happen, but it almost did…" Blair started softly as she felt her eyes fill up with tears once again as she remembered that if it wasn't for Chuck, taking the fork away and forcing her to either swallow or spit it out she would have found herself on the bathroom floor right now, feeling worse than she did now.

"I didn't see your dad downstairs," Serena spoke softly.

Blair rolled her eyes and sighed before she spoke again, tears silently streaming down her face, "My mother just decides everything, you know? Everything in the world is just totally up to her."

Blair looked at her blonde best friend, seeing understanding before she was pulled into Serena's arms with a soft, "I know. Hey, why don't we get out of here?"

Blair scoffed softly as she declared, "I'm not going back to that party."

"No, I mean, outta here, outta here. Out of this apartment, to a place a little more sane." Serena explained softly.

Blair looked away and figured that she could do with some fresh air, Chuck mentioned that maybe she should get out earlier before they agreed to call Serena, but she wasn't feeling up to it at that point. Blair sighed before turning back to Serena, "Any place would qualify." The pair laughed a little as the blonde wiped away Blair's tears and just focused on being Blair's friend, their earlier argument forgotten.

Thirty minutes later, Blair found herself in the back of a cab with Serena heading to Brooklyn and suddenly she didn't think this was such a good idea. When she checked in with Chuck via text message all he had to say that she better make sure she didn't catch anything! Some boyfriend! But the comment caused Blair to smirk to herself a little and she figured that it was good for something. She only checked in because she knew how much he worried about her when she was at the edge of the cliff as she was earlier. He didn't ever say anything, but ever since he had found her on her bathroom floor last year, he was always checking in whether it is by phone or he wasn't above sending Nate by to check in or Dorota.

Even though Blair acted like it annoyed her, she really found it sweet and she felt secure in knowing that she had at least someone always there to look out for her even when she claimed she didn't want it. Shaking her head clear of those thoughts as the cab stopped and Serena led up the stairs and into a loft where there was some people talking, Blair did her best to refrain from commenting on the borough, the building, and the interior decorating as Serena walked in with a bright, "Hey, guys. I'm back, and I…brought…Blair."

Blair simply said, "Hey." Sensing that they were interrupting something amongst the three adults in the room, Blair just shut the door behind her and made a point to not touch anything as she looked around.

"Wow. Weird vibe," Serena stated the obvious, "Okay. Where's Dan?"

Serena led the way into a room, finding Eric, Jenny, and Dan sitting around talking about something involving Eric's roots. Serena greeted the room as everyone started saying Blair's name in shock. She found it very amusing and smirked at the room with a light shrug, "Yeah, it's me."

She was feeling better already as she looked around the room as Serena got the information about what was going on with the parents, "Explanation to follow, but first, what's going on with our parents?"

"Oh, uh, our dad dated your mom," Jenny responded as if it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Yeah, we're not related, though," Dan was quick to point out.

"What?" Serena asked in shock

To which Eric quickly added, "Ignore my roots."

Blair was half paying attention when she realized something and just had to say something about it, like now. "You know what's really weird? There's a garage door in the middle of your room." Blair shook her head at the absurdity as she looked down at the Humphrey boy sitting in front of her before her eye got a glance at something else and she gasped, "Oh. Is that Cedric?" slowly making her way over to the bookshelf.

"Wow. This day just got a lot worse," Dan replied in obvious humiliation.

As Blair arrived at Cedric's side of the room Serena asked the dreaded question, "Hold on. How serious were they- our parents?"

"Uh, I think it's safe to say that they have had sex," Dan blurted out.

Jenny was quick to add, "To repeat, we are not related."

Blair turned towards the rest of them as she took this entire, wacky story in as Dan gave the basic information, "She was a groupie, and he was almost famous."

Blair had never felt happier to have her type of family problems until this very moment and with a light smile she said, "Suddenly, my family seems so sane." Before she goes back to picking at Humphrey's clothes.

Serena shook her head as she closed her eyes, "This is too much to handle on an empty stomach."

Dan replied firmly, "Well, we're not going back out there, so…"

"Well, can we leave here then, please?" Serena begged as she stood up off of Dan's lap, "Escape. I don't know. Maybe eat?"

Blair tossed an ugly looking hat, after she realized that it was in fact a hat, back on Humphrey's desk as he said, "Well, that's why they call it a fire escape." With those words the gang made their escape with the adults in the other room none the wiser.

After settling on a diner not too far away from the loft, the group found a table and ordered some much needed food. Blair ordered a club sandwich, with a side order of fries and some water since she didn't eat anything during the dinner at her place. The rest of the group was still trying to wrap their minds around the events that had been brought to light about their parents. Blair was just glad it wasn't her family, and was more than willing to randomly put her opinion in here and there light heartedly.

"Mom, is such a hypocrite, and all these years, she's been riding me about my behavior," Serena vented as she shook the ketchup bottle over her plate of fries.

"And here she's just mad at you for being her," Eric finished as he took a bite of his burger.

Dan added on with his own rant, "And all this time, my dad has been giving me this advice based on this girl he dated. This girl- a lot like Serena."

Jenny finished with a nod of her head towards Serena as she sat next to Blair, "It's her mom."

Blair looked over at Eric and Serena on the other side of the table as she spoke, "When you think about it, it makes total sense that your mom was a groupie. I mean, only a woman that had completely satisfied her sexual appetite in her youth would ever marry your stepdads." Blair shrugged lightly as she finished her explanation.

Serena shuddered in revulsion, begging, "Blair, can we not talk about my mom's appetite?"

"Yeah. Or who satisfied it," Dan added as he covered his face.

Serena continued on, "It's just…"

"Gross," the entire group said at once around Blair to which she just smirked as she took her last bite of her sandwich just as Lily, herself, made her entrance.

Blair found herself looking at the older woman in a whole new light and she had to mentally applaud Lily for living her life during her youth the way she wanted. Granted, it didn't end in a happily ever after, but she at least lived her life and had fond and some not so fond memories to live with. Blair kind of hoped that her new path that she was now on would lead to her having a slightly better, but semi similar experience, and she kind of wanted to go see Chuck now to tell him all the dirty gossip she found out today.

As she glanced at the group, she sensed that the Van Der Woodsens needed this time alone to talk about this new revelation as Lily ordered French fries. It appeared that Blair wasn't the only one who came to this realization because the Humphreys started making their excuses to head back to their loft and Blair stood up from her seat, saying her goodbyes.

As she made her way past Serena she leaned towards her, "S. Thank you for today. The sandwich was delicious. I'm calling Dr. Sherman tomorrow." With a final hug and kiss to both Serena and Eric, Blair made her way out the door to hail a cab to get out of this borough and back to Manhattan.

xoxo

During the long ride back to civilization as far as Blair knew it, Blair spent the entire time on the phone with Chuck. He told her about some of the paper work he was doing for Victrola's touch up to make her reach her full potential and Blair smiled as she listened to him go on excitedly about how great everything was falling into place with this project. After catching his breath he asked her about her adventure in Brooklyn.

Blair promised that she was pretty sure she didn't catch anything other than some juicy gossip that she had to share with him, but since he left her alone to fend for herself in Brooklyn, he had to wait until they were together that night before she told him. He took it in stride, knowing that she was teasing him. As the cab drove down Blair's street she sighed and said what she'd wanted to say since she first heard his voice on the other end of the phone when she got in the cab, "Chuck? I'm going to talk to my mother about what happened today. I want to know why she did what she did…"

Chuck paused before he spoke again, "I think that's a great idea. There's no point in keeping it a secret now so most likely she'd be open to explaining herself."

"I hope so…" Blair trailed off as the cab stopped, "Well, here I go, wish me luck?" she asked as she paid the cab driver as she climbed out from the backseat.

"You don't need luck, Waldorf," Chuck teased into the phone, "text me when it's over and we'll meet up then?"

"It's a date," Blair smiled as she said her goodbyes and hung up the phone, making her way inside of her building into her elevator, taking a deep breath as she goes. Not sure what was waiting for her upstairs.

When the elevator doors opened, Blair silently walked into her penthouse apartment, finding the place empty. It seemed that she was gone long enough for all the guests and the caterers were able to pack up everything and leave except for Dorota. Blair smiled at the Polish maid as she nodded towards the kitchen without even needing to be asked, and Blair headed in that direction, not even taking off her cape. As she arrived in the kitchen, she saw her mother in front of the stove, warming up a kettle for tea, like she would so many times after Thanksgiving dinner with daddy. Together they would put together some tea and cookies and they would just talk for hours as a family.

"Mom. Here you are," Blair made her presence known as she stood beside the island in their kitchen.

"And here you are. You had me worried sick," Eleanor said as Blair looked down at her hands, not sure if she had the courage to fight for the answers she wanted from her mother. But it turned out she didn't even need to say anything as Eleanor continued talking, "Blair, uh, I know I- I shouldn't have lied to you about your father."

Blair looked at her mother as she turned towards her, not willing to let her off the hook just yet, "That never stopped you before."

"True," Eleanor admitted as she walked towards Blair, picking up an envelope to the left of her, "But…the real truth…divorce papers from your father, and I'm supposed to sign them. I haven't yet."

Blair raised her eyebrows in surprise at this revelation, "Mom…He's living in Europe…with a man," the two share a soft laugh, "You can't be all that surprised that he wants a divorce."

"I'm not," Eleanor explained with a nod, "but what I- What I am surprise about is how it makes me feel. He was my husband, after all. My Harold, for almost 20 years."

Blair couldn't believe it as she saw tears gather in her mother's eyes, for the first time in so long, Blair witnessed her mother be vulnerable as she continued with her explanation, "I couldn't face him…during the holidays. It was always our happiest time."

Blair shook her head in confusion, "Why didn't you just tell me that?"

Eleanor scoffed lightly, "And let you choose between the two of us? I wonder who would've won that battle. Yeah, I would have been entirely alone," Eleanor set the papers away and waved her hand in front of her face to dry her tears with a chuckle, "Well, uh, I was anyway."

Without warning, Blair reached towards her mother and hugged her tightly. To her relief and surprise, Eleanor hugged her back just as tightly, bringing tears to Blair's eyes as the two women just stood in that kitchen comforting each other. After a few moments had past, the two parted. Eleanor wiping her eyes quickly and Blair watched and savored as she witnessed the last few moments of truly seeing her mother, because she knew that she wouldn't see her like this for a long time if ever again.

"It's still Thanksgiving," Blair offered softly with a smile.

"Yeah," Eleanor agreed with a smile and a laugh.

"What do you want to do?" Blair asked, figuring Chuck would understand waiting for a few more hours.

The two decided on keeping up with the tradition of tea and cookies and catching up on what's been going in each other's lives and they talked of the good memories they shared. Blair actually felt herself opening up to her mother about a few of her relapses and how she was seeing someone new. When Eleanor mentioned Chuck, Blair froze, she didn't realize how closely Eleanor was paying attention today and for some reason, instead of denying it, she confirmed that it was Chuck she was seeing.

What surprised Blair even more was Eleanor's response, "I always knew that he was more able to handle a Waldorf than Nathaniel could." Blair didn't even know how to respond to that except to laugh and cover her face with one of her hands. Who would have thought that Chuck Bass would have the approval of Eleanor Waldorf to date her daughter? Blair, more than anyone, knew how hard it was to earn her mother's approval, but with her on their side, Blair felt like the rest of the world that mattered would fall in line accordingly.

As the Waldorf women finished their tea, Blair's phone went off, indicating that she had a text message. When she checked it, she found herself smiling at who it was from. Before she could respond she heard her mother clear her throat and Blair looked up, seeing her mother smiling at her before she spoke, "Why don't you invite him back over so I can be properly introduced?"

Blair felt her smile grow and bit her bottom lip before she nodded and sent the text to Chuck explaining that she told her mother about them and that she wanted a proper introduction. She knew originally Chuck wanted the introduction with her father today, but figured that it would more than suffice if it was an introduction to her mother instead. When he replied that he was already downstairs and was on his way up, Blair beamed as she relayed the news as she helped with cleaning up.

Blair didn't even hear the elevator bell go off when she felt arms wrap around her waist from behind and a pair lips on her neck, causing a shiver to go down her spine before she turned towards her boyfriend with a smile. "Hello," Blair wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a proper kiss worthy of his station as her boyfriend. Careful to not get too carried away, Blair led Chuck over to Eleanor, who was still sitting at the kitchen table on the other side of the room and made the introductions.

Blair mentally laughed at how nervous Chuck was for a moment before he covered it with his mask of confidence as Eleanor Waldorf gave him a once over before gracing him with a smile before excusing herself from the couple with a "Nice to officially meet you Charles" and left to head upstairs.

Blair didn't feel like going anywhere after that so the couple headed upstairs to Blair's room to spend the rest of the day and evening together, watching movies and making out. Blair had to admit that, even though nothing went as she planned it for today, today turned out to be perfect. She wouldn't have traded that few hours heart to heart with her mother for anything. And she laughed at Chuck's expressions as she explained the Humphrey's loft in Brooklyn set up and all the gossip that ensued there. Yes, Thanksgiving was still Blair's favorite holiday and she was more grateful to the life she had then she did last year.

A/N: And that's the end of that chapter! :D What did you think of it? Eleanor was the first to know! Who was surprised by that? Who do you think is next? Next Chapter is going to be Cotillion! And there's going to be some trials and tribulations with Chair, but a revelation will be made by the end of it! I remember when I first watched this episode and Blair's illness was revealed and it just broke my heart, and I took this opportunity to do what I wanted to do for her, and that was to save her. Besides who doesn't love a Bass in shining armor? ;)

I'll see you next week with part 1 of the Cotillion episode and there will be a bit of lemony goodness because we all remember that very hot make-out scene with our beloved Chair in that episode and I'm gonna try my hand at it! Can't wait to read your reviews! Your response to the last couple of chapters was just heartwarming and I genuinely have a confidence boost when I read them.

I love you all!

-Plei4fun