Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl. *sigh*

About Last Night

With one eye open, Blair Waldorf peeked through the mountains of her bed covers and gave notice to her bedroom. It was morning, a very bright one as Dorota made abundantly clear when she woke up Blair--scratch that: when she sternly forced Queen B to get her tiny butt out of bed. But she didn't want to get up; she had been dreaming about the night before, about Chuck, about--

"Up! Up! There's too much to do!" the maid threw open the curtains, allowing more Manhattan sunlight to creep into her bedroom. Blair groaned.

The brunette didn't understand why Dorota was fussing over Blair's "busy day". Having no luck falling back asleep, Blair finally "s'est réveillé"--as her father would say--and trudged downstairs for breakfast. Lethargically picking at her raspberry breakfast, it dawned on Blair why Dorota made such ado this morning: today was her 17th birthday.

Her eyes widened as she gasped, remembering the day of all days. Blair threw down a half-eaten raspberry and hurried up the stairs to get dressed.

After adjusting her favorite headband in her brown locks, Blair returned a few text messages and made her way to her favorite jewelry store with glee. This was Blair's most prized event of her birthday; she had good reason to carefully pick and choose from the most delectable and expensive collection of jewels, because her mother and Nate would be "giving" them to her.

It took one hour to decide, a record for the brunette. Selecting a delicate necklace by Erickson Beamon, and a simpler flower diamond bracelet, a satisfied smile grew on Blair's face as she admired the pieces.

"Charming," a familiar harsh voice whispered in Blair's ear.

Her smile was immediately replaced with a disgusted mien. "Not anymore."

She passed him to leave, but he grabbed her hand to stop her from exiting. "Wait, Blair," he began, "I need to talk to you."

Blair rolled her chocolate brown eyes. "Here? Now? You do realize it is my birthday. I have too many important things to do, more important than talking to you."

An eyebrow was raised in success as Chuck remained silent. Happy to be rid of the motherChucker, Blair spun away from him and made her way towards the exit, thinking of all the things she had left to do.

As Blair touched the handle of the door, Chuck made her stop in her tracks. "Well, I had wanted to speak to you about last night, but I suppose you're too busy for that. Oh, well."

Her heart picked up speed as he made his case. Blair's Marc Jacobs pumps clicked against the marble floor as she walked back to a smirking Chuck.

"What about it? I thought we agreed that it never happened."

For once, Chuck looked disappointed. "Right, of course," It was but one second before he applied his trademark smug grin.

"What brings you here, anyway? You didn't follow me all the way here just for that, did you?"

"No, no," he gave her his smoothest lie, "I was here to pick up a piece."

"For?" Blair knew Chuck well enough that he would never buy just anyone jewelery.

"One of my father's overseas clients," Chuck said, his smile growing, "She's been as good to me as she has to my father."

His eyes bore into hers, as if he were trying to say something, but couldn't. Blair fought back the urge to slap him across the face. Instead, she said, "I'll let you get back to that, then." She walked out of the jewelers, also fighting back the urge to cry.

"Blair, wait!" Chuck called after her, as her attempts to hail a cab were fruitless.

"No, you obviously have 'important' things to do, so I'll let you go," she opened the door to get in but again, Chuck stopped her. He threw a $20 at the taxi driver and told him to drive away.

Frustrated, Blair just wanted to be rid of the sight of Chuck; it wasn't even noon and he was already ruining her birthday. "What?"

"I lied to you," he confessed.

She sighed. "Great!" waving to him as she passed, she said, "Goodbye, Chuck!"

"I was here to pick up your present," he finally said.

For the second time today, Chuck had made Blair freeze mid step. She gave Chuck a half confused, half skeptical look. "Really? Why?"

Slowly, he drew in a breath and waited a few seconds to let it out. "Because I know that Nate won't to come get your present, because he can't give you what you really want, and," he paused for a brief moment before letting go of his insecurities, "because I'm crazy about you."

What was originally one intoxicating mistake had become something much, much more. A shy smile grew on Blair's face, instantly making Chuck grin. Without trying to hide their feelings, they embraced. Little did they know that someone nearby with their handy cell phone took a picture of the two--well, little did Chuck know; Blair was one step ahead of the Gossip Girl tipper, giving them a polite middle finger. Who said opposites attract?