Chapter 8
Author's Note: This chapter was fun to write but difficult at points because I make a very concerted effort to keep the characters believable. This chapter is also a bit angsty but I feel it was necessary to bring the story forward. I hope I've succeeded and you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it =) Reviews make me super happy!
Let's take a moment to discuss Monday's episode. Whoa! Chuck is finally ready to crack, about time. Is it wrong that that made me very, very giddy? Blair takes charge with Dan, love it but wish we got more than only a freeze frame of their kiss.
And the preview for the next episode, Chuck ventures to Brooklyn? Is there a hit out on Lonely Boy, because there will definitely be a fight for Blair – finally! I am so excited that the writers have stepped up their game, let's just hope that they don't disappoint and send Chuck into another downward spiral. He needs to grow up and now is the perfect time for him to do it. I also think that Chair can't reunite until Blair has a real relationship with someone new so that she and Chuck are on a more level playing field.
Now that my rant about the direction of the show is complete, I feel better. Do you?
Thank you so much for all the reviews, I look forward to them and glean inspiration from them. Let me know what you want to see and chances are I'll incorporate it into the story. Also, thank you to those of you who have voted in my poll. I'll probably post a new story before this one is over. The wait for new episodes has my creative writing in overdrive.
If you have yet to review, please do so, I love hearing from readers!
Krazy4Spike – Thank you! Dan and Blair are so much fun to write, I'm glad you like it.
QueenBee10 – Thanks!
D4s – Thank you so much for the kind words!
Bloodyhell95 – Thanks! I get what you're saying about Serena and as much as she annoys me I do like her when she's with Dan. And because she was never with Ben in my story I have an easier time rationalizing her and Dan to myself ;)
Potterlover12 – Thank you, thank you, thank you!
TriGemini – Love the details, thanks so much! I so enjoy the Dair dynamic that I'm drawing out the Chair and Derena reconciliations =p Let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl, or Ed Westwick – sigh.
XOXO
Chuck spotted Lily in the living room as he got off the elevator to the van der Woodsen Humphrey apartment. He knew that she was the only one who could be responsible for returning Bass Industries to his control.
"Why did you do it?" Chuck asked as he took a seat next to a startled Lily in her apartment.
"Nice to see you, Charles," she said as she looked at him with surprise. "What do I owe this pleasure to?"
"Don't play coy with me, Lily," he told her. "I know you had something to do with Bass Industries becoming mine. I just came from meeting with the Board and they told me that an anonymous buyer signed over the company to me. You are the only one with the means and motive to do that."
"It was always yours, Charles," she said. "Now it's official."
"How?" he asked with incredulity, "Why?"
"I had to call in every one of my favors," she said. "And I would do it all over again. I was wrong to sell Bass Industries in the first place."
"Then why did you?" Chuck asked as he told himself that there must be a reason for his stepmother to do such a thing.
"The company started to decline over the summer and you were nowhere to be found," she told him. "When you came back from France the Board felt that you were in no position to head up Bass Industries in the foreseeable future. They had feelers out to sell the company since last fall."
"I never should have disappeared," he said shamefully. "None of this would have happened if I wasn't so reckless."
"No, you shouldn't have," Lily said, "But we all make mistakes. The important thing is that you are trying to rectify them now."
"Is Bass Industries really mine?" he asked with a hitch in his voice. He had wanted this for so long, as hard as he tried to fight it.
"It is, Charles," Lily said with tears in her eyes. "Your father would be so proud of you, I know I am. What I did was wrong and I am truly sorry. I just hope that you can forgive me one day."
She touched his face when he spoke, "You saved my father's legacy."
"You are his legacy, Charles," she told him as she leaned over to kiss his cheek, "Not Bass Industries."
XOXO
Blair kept her word and was on her way to visit Chuck at his new apartment. He called her after speaking with the Board and Lily. She knew how much he wanted to run Bass Industries and make his father proud so she agreed to meet him that weekend.
She was nervous to talk about their past but she knew it had to be done. Dan was right, if they got into another argument better now than when they were back together again. She took a deep breath as she stepped out of the elevator and saw him waiting for her.
"Congratulations," she said as he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. "Champagne to celebrate, and this is a little something for you," she told him as she handed him a small box while she went to open the champagne.
"Blair, these are beautiful," he said as she handed him a champagne flute. "Where did you ever find butterfly cufflinks with amethysts?"
"I had them made for you last year," she told him as she took a sip while he deftly switched out the cufflinks he was wearing for the ones she just gave him. "I was going to give them to you when everything was settled with the Empire but plans change. And now is as good a time as ever to give them to you, even if we are celebrating for different reasons."
He tried to kiss her again but she stopped him and sat at the table. He followed suit and sat next to her.
"We're similar, Chuck," she told him with a small smile. "Neither of us likes feeling vulnerable so I'm only going to say this once. We need a fresh start, if possible. We have to rebuild our friendship, get the trust back before we can be anything more."
She paused and Chuck took this opportunity to talk, "Anything that allows me to spend time with you is fine by me. I'll take what I can get."
"I want to spend more time with you but I can't do that until we discuss where things went wrong for us. I want to hear all about Bass Industries and your meeting with the Board but after we talk about what's happened. After that neither of us will mention it again. Ready?" she asked.
"Where do you want to start?" Chuck asked as he started to feel nauseous. His actions of the past year made him sick but if talking about them was what Blair needed he was going to do that for her.
"Jack and the Empire," she stated. "I still ask myself why you didn't trust me enough to come to me with his proposition. We could have worked something out, together."
"I wasn't thinking," he said. "I thought what I was doing was my only option. I took advantage of you and for that I will always be sorry. I was a fool to think you'd stand by me after I betrayed you like that."
"Yet I was going to forgive you when Dorota went into labor and I was late meeting you," she said softly. "You moved on so quickly, I thought you'd at least wait until it got dark for me show up."
"I should have," he said as he brushed back a piece of hair from her face. "I'm so sorry."
"Chuck," she began, "How I feel about Gothic Barbie is nothing compared to how I feel about you and Eva. I know you didn't feel anything for Jenny. Eva, on the other hand, you fell in love with her."
"You are the only woman I've ever loved," Chuck told her. "I was only with Eva to forget what I did to you."
"Maybe so," she said, "But you did feel for her. And you went out of your way to show the world just how in love with her you were. And then you went after me in the worst way when she left."
"You sabotaged her into leaving," Chuck exclaimed, "And I'm the bad guy?"
"Don't go there," she warned, "You did everything you could to sabotage my relationship with Marcus. Did you really expect me to sit back and watch you play house with some floozy?"
"What do you want me to say?" he asked desperately. "I can't change it. I wish I could."
"I need to know why you moved on so quickly," she said as she fought back her tears. "Tell me how you were able to forget about me so easily?"
"Blair, I was never able to forget about you," Chuck told her earnestly. "I tried and failed miserably. You are the only one I'm meant to be with."
"If we keep talking about this I'll just get more upset," she sighed. "It's in the past and that's that," she said more to herself than him. "Thank you for selling the Empire. I don't think I'd be able to look at that building let alone step inside it now."
"What about when I see you with Dan?" Chuck asked. "You two are practically best friends now. How do you think I feel seeing you with him after you kissed him?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew he crossed a line.
"You can't compare me kissing Dan to you declaring your love for Eva in front of all of Manhattan," she shrieked. "Do you know what a slap in the face to me that was? Telling everyone how that whore made you a better man, that was me you bastard!"
"Blair," he called as she stormed off. "I didn't mean it. Let me explain." He knew that he was the one in the wrong and shouldn't have said anything about her and Dan. She already told him she was sorry for the kiss.
"You will never change," she declared angrily as she grabbed her purse and furiously pressed the call button to the elevator.
Chuck wasn't about to let her go that easily this time. He jumped into the elevator just as the doors were closing and forced her to look at him.
"Don't run away from me again," he said heatedly. "We need to finish this conversation."
"No, we don't," she told him as she refused to look at him.
"Blair," he said he held her shoulders, "Stop looking for reasons to push me away because there will always be one. I'm not perfect but I'm trying to change for you. Allow me to be the man you deserve."
"I need to go," she said as the doors opened and she ran to her waiting car.
He was going to give her twenty minutes and then he was going to instruct Arthur to drive to Brooklyn. Her penthouse was too obvious a choice and they needed to finish this conversation.
XOXO
"Can I stay here tonight?" Blair asked as Dan opened the door to the loft.
"What happened?" he asked as he took her bag.
"Chuck and I got into a screaming match," she told him with tears in her eyes. "I know he'll be waiting for me at the penthouse so I won't go back there."
"Come here," Dan said softly as he pulled her into a hug and kissed the side of her head.
"What's wrong?" Serena asked as she walked into the living room. "I heard voices."
"If I can just crash," Blair said as she looked at her two best friends. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything."
"Nonsense," Serena told her as she pulled her into a hug. "What did Chuck do now?"
"Can we talk in the morning, S?" Blair asked. "I really just want to go to sleep, or at least try to."
"Yeah, come on," Dan said as he led them to his room. He and Serena talked with her until she finally drifted off to sleep. Serena was next to Blair with her eyes closed when Dan heard someone pounding on the door.
"Who is it?" Dan called as he walked into the living room.
"I know she's here," Chuck said, "Let me in, Humphrey."
"Shut up," Dan enunciated as he opened the door, "She finally got to sleep and will be pissed off if you wake her up. So will I for that matter."
"I need to talk to her," Chuck said as he walked into the loft.
"In the morning," Dan told him. "She needs time to cool off. You both do."
"Move out of my way," Chuck said in a dangerously low voice.
"You should leave, Chuck," Serena said as she came out from the room Blair was in. "Blair's pretty upset. We'll have her call you in the morning."
"Just let me see her," Chuck pleaded. "Then I'll leave."
"You're in my home, Chuck, and you can see her in the morning" Dan said evenly. "I know this is upsetting but you need to leave. Now."
"This isn't over," Chuck said as he stood his ground.
"It is for tonight," Dan told him as Serena ushered him out the door before going to the window.
"You know his limo will be parked outside all night," she said as she fell into the armchair.
"I do," Blair said as she walked into the living room when she heard Chuck was gone. "I knew he left too easily."
"I thought you were asleep," Dan said as he guided her to the couch.
Blair cuddled up against him as the tears streamed down her face. The sight of Dan comforting Blair didn't make Serena jealous, it only made her realize what made her fall in love with him in the first place.
"I've never seen you like this before, B" Serena said as she sat on Blair's other side and wrapped her arms around her. "This time seems different than all the times before."
"It is, S," Blair told her as she leaned into Dan to look at her, "If we mess up this time there's no fixing it. Too much has happened."
Dan and Serena locked eyes and he mouthed, 'Don't push,' and she nodded.
"Can we do anything for you?" Serena asked.
"No, but being with me helps," Blair told them as she wiped away the last of her tears. "I've never felt this helpless before. It feels like I'm floating and can't find my footing. I can see the ground I just can't reach it. I hate not being able to control this."
"I don't know what he said to get you so upset," Serena told her, "But I know that he wants nothing more than to be with you again. He's made mistakes but he's trying."
"You think I don't know that," Blair snapped. "I know he's trying but if I let my guard down to him and he does something again, it's over. I'm not able to foresee what will happen if it does."
"But you do need to trust him," Serena said gently as Dan glared at her. "This isn't easy for him either, you know."
Dan spoke before the two girls started fighting, "Remember when you mentioned a double date, Blair. What about we do that tomorrow? That way we'll be there when you talk with him."
"I second that idea," Serena clapped. "What do you say, B?"
"Sounds like a plan," Blair said as she rolled her eyes, wondering what her two friends were up to.
XOXO
In the morning Serena left Dan and Blair alone while she went to talk to Chuck.
"Good morning," Serena said in a very chipper mood as she poked at a sleeping Chuck.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as he slowly sat up. "Did Blair send you?"
"She did," Serena told him, " We are going on a double date for lunch. Blair requested that you get the private room at her favorite restaurant. She and Dan will meet us there."
"Ugh, Humphrey will be there," Chuck complained, "And you too."
"Hey," Serena said offended, "It's thanks to me and Dan that you are meeting her today."
"She's that angry at me?" Chuck wondered aloud.
"She's struggling," she said. "She feels weak and she hates herself for it."
"I want to be there for her," Chuck said to his stepsister, "She's the one who keeps pushing me away. Will what I did and who I've been with always stand between us?"
"No," Serena told him, "it won't. You know Blair and you know how she tries to do everything at once. She's taking six classes instead of five, interning three days a week with overtime, and trying to figure out where you two are. You hurt her and she's afraid you'll do it again. Show her you won't. We know what a good guy you are when it comes to her. Make her see you're not going anywhere."
"Any ideas?" he asked.
"You're on your own with this," she said with a laugh. "Be good at lunch."
XOXO
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything between you and Serena, last night" Blair said as they got into the car.
"Not at all, we're still in the talking phase," Dan said. "It will be a while before we go any further."
"That's good, I don't want to walk in on you two, ever," she said with a laugh.
"The same goes for you and Chuck," Dan grinned. "You really like sending him cryptic messages, don't you? First your favorite spot and now your favorite restaurant. What if he gets it wrong?"
"He won't," she told him, "When something becomes my favorite it doesn't change. Plus I like the reassurance that he still knows me better than anyone."
"You two sure are complicated," he said as he nudged her as the car pulled up to the restaurant.
XOXO
They sat around the table in silence, Blair was across from Serena and next to Dan on one side and Chuck on the other. Thankfully they were in the private room in the back in case things escalated.
"Chuck," Serena said in an attempt to break the ice, "How does it feel to have Bass Industries back?"
"Good, really good," Chuck told them as he looked at Blair. "But there are things in life more important than business."
"Did you work out a deal with Thorpe?" Dan asked.
"I didn't have to," Chuck said. "The company was signed over to me in full. It appears that Lily was more remorseful than I thought."
"Mom is so glad that you're speaking to her again. Eric and I met with her yesterday for brunch and she just went on and on about how proud of you she is," Serena said bubbly.
Chuck merely shrugged as he took a sip of his water.
"Those are cool cufflinks, man," Dan said when he noticed the butterflies Chuck was wearing. "I wouldn't have taken you to be a butterfly man."
Blair smiled in spite of herself and Serena bit back a giggle. "They were a gift," Chuck said, "From Blair."
"Why do I feel like there's a story behind them?" Dan mused as he looked at the three of them.
"Because there is," Serena said as both Blair and Chuck kicked her under the table, "Which I'll tell you. Don't you know how when you start to like someone you get butterflies in your stomach?" she asked as Chuck stared daggers at her. "Well, that's how this one felt when he and Blair first hooked up. He never felt that way about anyone before. So Blair had those made to immortalize the way he felt about her. It's rather sweet when you think about it, Chuck Bass with butterflies over a girl."
"That is sweet," Dan said before adding with a laugh, "I always knew you had to have a heart."
"Laugh all you want, Cabbage Patch," Chuck stated dryly. "But if you repeat that story to anyone, it will be the last thing you ever say."
"Stop it," Blair said with mock seriousness as she slapped his arm, "Dan knows to keep his mouth shut about that. I like that not many people know about the butterflies."
Chuck smiled as Blair added, "This room is filled with a ridiculous amount of tension, I can hardly breathe in here. Accept that Dan and I are friends and let's move on."
"I'll do it for you," Chuck told her. "But I still have my eye on you, Humphrey."
"Whatever," Dan said dismissively as he looked at the menu, "Can we order already? I'm starving."
The rest of the meal was rather uneventful as they kept the conversation light and avoided the serious issues. When they were done with their meal, Blair asked if she could have a moment alone with Chuck.
"I've been so focused on how to forgive you that it never crossed my mind that I might need forgiving as well," she said as she fidgeted, a sure sign that she wasn't herself.
"Don't think that," he told her as he took her hands in his. "What you did is nothing compared to what I did, it never will be. You only did what you did because of me, there is nothing to forgive. I love you."
"I love you, too," she said.
"Are we okay?" Chuck asked as he studied her face.
"We will be," Blair told him with a small smile. "You were right. I was looking for excuses and it was easy to find them. But I know you're trying, you did run after me, which was new. We just need time. Thank you for being patient with me."
"I'll see you around, Bass," she said as she kissed his cheek as Dan and Serena approached them.
XOXO
"I need a favor," Blair asked apprehensively as they sat on the couch back at the loft.
"Sure," he replied instantly, "What can I do?"
"I need to talk to your sister," she said as she looked him in the eyes.
"Why?" Dan asked with hesitation. Even though he and Blair were now close he knew that she hated Jenny.
"Something she said to me on Thanksgiving stuck with me," Blair told him. "And if I can forgive Chuck, Jenny needs to know that I can forgive her as well. And that she's no longer banished from Manhattan."
"I really haven't spoken with her since what she did to Serena," he said. "But if you can forgive her then I guess I can at least talk to her."
He dialed his sister's number and handed his cell phone to Blair.
"Hello," she said when Jenny answered, "It's Blair."
Please review to let me know you want me to continue and what you want to see next. Do you like how the characters are maturing?
Question – would you like to see Raina stick around in this story? I like her with Nate but don't know if I should keep her in my story. Please let me know what you think =)