'You need a push; I'll push you off
Open up the window and jump out into the blue'.
The sun was only just beginning to lower in the sky and the shadows lengthen over the sprawling lawn of Cece Rhodes' summer house. A dinner table was set under a white awning, chairs filled with a small group of beautifully dressed people.
"So." Lily helped herself freshly squeezed lemonade, skin golden from her holiday. Her marriage to Klaus wasn't quite looking quite so golden – he was still in Switzerland. Her own return to the Hamptons had come a lot sooner than expected. "How was Ibiza?"
"Oh," Serena grinned a little. "You know. Very tame."
Nate grinned too, and Eric raised an eyebrow at her from across the table as Cece snorted in good-natured disbelief. No one saw the little look Chuck and Blair exchanged. Tame indeed.
"Well," Cece mused. "Perhaps it's not the most appropriate topic for the dinner table." She smiled indulgently at her favourite granddaughter before turning to the girl opposite her. "Blair. It must be nice being home."
Chuck's arm was thrown over the back of her chair, and she was momentarily distracted as his fingers traced her bare arm. She gave him a sharp nudge. "It's great."
Lily smiled, warm. "And it's lovely having you back." She hadn't failed to notice Chuck's proximity. Or the fact that he'd resumed idly stroking her shoulder. Chuck and his antics had always amused her. She had to admit that he was her favourite out of all Serena's friends. And Blair was practically a daughter to her – she'd taken her and Carter in after the tragedy of their parents. "You must've missed her too, Charles."
"Mmm," Cece agreed drily. Blair's hand had slid onto Chuck's thigh now. What the older woman didn't notice was just how hard that hand was pinching him.
"It's been...torture." He managed to conceal his grimace of pain. Satisfied, she let go. And then stilled in fury as his hand resumed its place on her arm. Did he have any idea how distracting he was being? Not to mention how unsubtle?
Chuck couldn't quite help himself. She wore a pure white and green summer dress, and her skin still glowed from the sun. Perhaps not just the sun. The evening was lazy and warm, and her presence at his side was particularly delicious.
Cece decided that her gin and tonic needed more gin. She'd have to fire that bar boy. She'd reached that wonderful stage in her life where she rather enjoyed stirring up trouble and knowing no one could do anything about it. Being old had to have some benefits.
"You and Blair have finally got together, then?" she pressed now. Nothing made young people more awkward than relationship talk. "How sweet." Other than baby stories, of course. "I still remember the two of you as little toddlers pulling each other's hair."
And not that much had changed, she reflected with some wryness as Chuck's fingers brushed Blair's dark locks where they rested on her shoulder.
Chuck caught her hand in his other one before she could pinch him again, flattening it on her thigh. "Sadly not." He ached to move just a little higher, but suspected she'd punish him later for doing so. And not the kind of punishment he liked. "Blair's far too...busy to waste her time on boyfriends."
Cece chuckled. "You should be having fun, dear. When I was your age-"
"Yes, mother," Lily stopped her with a slight sigh. "You had every man in Montecito after you."
Cece gave her a little smile back as she took another sip of her drink. "Well, at least I wasn't after every man in Montecito."
Lily rolled her eyes silently.
Serena was keen to change the subject before her mother and grandmother got the chance to start on real sniping.
"Seriously though, B. You can't be too busy once we start Columbia." She glanced at Nate. "We want to double date!" She still wasn't entirely sure what was going on with Chuck and Blair. She'd hoped their 'agreement' would be that they were going out officially. It seemed she'd been a little to optimistic.
"Well," Blair reflected with a tilt of her head, "I'm sure I won't be too busy to look at my options. And college will have a wider selection than boarding school..."
She felt Chuck's grip tighten on her hand.
Cece chuckled. "Ivy League's a good place to start."
"Really?" Chuck drawled. "Desperate freshmen that have probably been so busy studying to get in they haven't seen a girl in months?" He wasn't looking at Blair, but his fingers shifted over hers, and this time he did move higher. High enough to brush her dress where it dipped between her legs. "I wouldn't get your hopes up."
He wasn't prepared for quite how fast the nails of her other hand bit into his knuckles. Though she'd failed to realise that it now just looked like she was cradling his hand in her lap.
"I don't know." Cece was quite enjoying poking fun. "All those varsity players..." She smiled faintly, a droll gleam in her eye. She did love making them squirm. Particularly Chuck, who she knew Lily had a soft spot for.
"Blair doesn't like athletes," Chuck cut back. He ignored the death grip Blair now had him in. "They're too focused on their balls."
At that, Blair's chair scraped against the patio floor.
"Chuck." Her teeth were gritted through her sweet smile. "A word." Her hand tightened on his collar to drag him to his feet. "Sorry, Cece."
Lily flashed him an almost sympathetic look before Blair yanked him away.
Nate and Serena exchanged glances.
"So," Eric spoke into the silence. "I like athletes."
Blair waited till they were under the shadow of a large spreading cedar tree before wheeling on Chuck. "What the hell are you playing at, Bass?"
"What?" He arched an eyebrow back at her.
"Our deal," Blair seethed, "Quite clearly stated that this would be no strings attached, and that no one would find out." She was still trying to convince herself that sex this amazing with someone she wanted as much as Chuck – with Chuck at all - could be meaningless. And now it just felt like he was undoing all her efforts. Plus, if the secret got out then she'd actually have to face up to it. "Acting like a jealous boyfriend? Pawing me in front of everyone? Clearly not in the agreement!"
Chuck wanted to point out that she'd never had a problem with him pawing her before, but the heat of her anger was turning him on a little too much. Did she have any idea how adorable that glower was?
"Look," he sighed. "Evelyn's bound to ask Cece how the dinner went – I can't act indifferent to you, Waldorf."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "There's a very big difference between acting indifferent and trying to put your hand up my dress."
And at that, he smirked. "My hand stayed above material the whole time. But I like your thinking..." He caught her waist as he spoke, tugging her easily to him as he gazed down at her. He wanted to get under that material now. "I think we should rectify that."
Her hands somehow got caught against his chest.
"I mean it," she insisted. "If you pull anything like that again, the deal's over." Her voice wavered a little, though, as he drew even closer and his fingers caressed her sides.
"Really?" he murmured. She could feel the heat of his breath against her neck.
She opened her mouth to say really, but it somehow got lost as his lips captured hers.
She moaned a little as she found herself pressed against the trunk of the tree, fingers bunching on the lapels of his pale green jacket. Her voice was breathless in his mouth. "If you get grass stains on my dress, Bass-"
He sighed and switched positions (even though he didn't want grass stains on his suit either), and then her body crashed into his, hot, as she leaned up to kiss him, fingers burying in his hair. And as his hands squeezed her tight waist and he deepened the kiss, he found that he no longer gave a damn about grass stains.
Serena and Nate's witty anecdote – which had both Cece and Lily in stitches - was cut short by the arrival of an uninvited guest.
Damien Dalgaard had approached the table.
Cece made no attempt to disguise her disapproval as she appraised the boy. You didn't interrupt a dinner.
"Can I help you?"
Damien cleared this throat. "I'm sorry, your maid let me in."
(Wonderful, Cece thought. Another member of staff she'd have to fire. She'd told the useless girl enough times that when her family were over, all unwanted guests were to be sent away).
"I just needed to speak to Blair."
Damien had been trying to get in touch with her ever since she'd got back from Ibiza. But she kept disappearing, and he had no idea where. In fact, where the hell was she now? It took him a moment to realise that there were two empty seats. Side by side. He didn't even need to check to see who else was missing; it took him a moment to control his fury.
"What about, exactly?" Cece sounded quite cool. "We're in the middle of a meal."
"Well, Blair's clearly not." He tried to keep his tone polite and the sneer at bay.
"I'm clearly not what?"
He spun round. Blair had re-emerged, eyebrows raised. Chuck Bass was right behind her. His hand was on her lower back and he looked too smug for Damien to bear.
"Is there a problem?" he enquired now. His golden eyes flickered over the other guy, even.
Damien tore his own eyes away from those fingers splayed against the small of Blair's back; he managed not to grind his teeth. Chuck was helping her into her seat now.
So just Damien was left standing.
"I wanted to say goodbye." He sighed. "I'm catching a flight to Prague tonight." His father would be waiting for him there; he liked to check up on the boy every so often. Make sure he was behaving. Damien resented the excuse for more of his father's criticism at the best of times – but now, he loathed it ten times more. The Hamptons trip had proved a complete waste.
Blair was aware of how bad Damien's father was.
She paused for a moment. And perhaps because of that, or perhaps because she was still a little caught up in the post-orgasmic haze of Chuck taking her against a tree, she was nice for once. "Well, have a safe flight."
Damien was too busy trying not to glare at Chuck to notice. His arm was back around Blair's chair.
"Right. See you."
He managed not to entirely storm off as he heard them go back to their meal behind him. He loathed Chuck Bass.
It was their last day in the Hamptons.
Serena was hot and bored of lounging by the pool. She wanted to go for a dip. Blair, however, was basking in Chuck's eyes on her as she rubbed in her sun tan lotion. She arched her back on the lounger as she ran her hands over her smooth legs – and she quite deliberately didn't look at him once.
If they went swimming, then her perfect hair would be destroyed. She was enjoying sweeping it off the nape of her neck to get to him. Sopping wet, it wouldn't have quite the same effect.
"You already put sun block on like half an hour ago," Serena grumbled. "How sensitive do you think your skin is?"
Blair managed not to snap back that at the moment her skin was sensitive enough to tingle just at the heat of Chuck's gaze.
She watched as he stood now, obviously on purpose, so that she could see his bare chest in the sun. He just gave her a little smirk before he turned and jumped smoothly into the pool.
Blair glanced at the water droplets clinging to his hair and rubbed lotion into the shoulder she'd just finished, spine curving that little bit more.
She hardly noticed when Nate joined him in the water.
"Come on." Serena was trying to drag her off the lounger. "We have to get in now!"
Blair pulled a face. "We do not."
But she didn't want to be left to sit on the side by herself. Serena was already springing towards the water, her splash resounding against the pool tiles.
Blair rolled her eyes. Her approach was far more restrained. She slipped down and dangled her feet in first. The water was deliciously cool against her calves. Chuck watched the water reflect off her skin in silence. She arched an eyebrow over at him; he just smirked.
And then that lithe body had slid into the smooth surface of the water, and her breath caught for a moment at its cold depth.
A pair of hot hands slid round her bare waist under the water – Chuck had swum up without her noticing. Of course. He could smell the coconut of her lotion on her smooth skin as she wriggled in his grasp; and then she'd dunked him, smirking, and kicked away.
He caught her ankle.
Serena and Nate both turned at her cry. But all they saw was Chuck, grinning, as he let her go.
"We should play water polo!"
Blair barely managed to suppress a groan. Of all the messy, clumsy sports -
"Shotgun Waldorf." His head was cocked down at her, infuriating, and she found herself wishing that lazy gesture didn't send quite such a shiver down her spine.
Serena was already clambering eagerly onto Nate's shoulders, long brown legs wrapping round him. Really, Blair decided, they had the most unfair height advantage. She remembered complaining about the same thing when they'd used to play - and no one had ever listened then either. She also remembered telling them playing water polo with four people was ridiculous. But since their games usually dissolved into splashing matches and wild giggling anyway, there was probably no point.
She glanced over at Chuck. Because when she'd climbed onto his shoulders aged ten, she'd thought nothing of it. Other than gratitude that his grip on her legs had been so tight that she wasn't quite so scared of falling off.
She had a feeling his hands on her calves now wouldn't produce quite the same effect.
"No funny business," she muttered as she approached him in the water. She could already see the gleam in his eye as he turned his back, ready for her to climb on.
"I'm can't promise that," he responded softly as her legs looped over him. He heard the hitch in her breathing as he stood up, hoisting her out of the water, and then he could feel the heat of her thighs on his bare shoulders. His hands slid over her ankles to grasp her legs.
This was hardly the most sexual thing they'd done over the past week, but somehow the warm weight of her and her knees pressed against his neck was doing funny things to his stomach. He ran his hands up her legs to distract himself. And then was a wrenching pain in his scalp as she seized a fistful of his hair.
Her hiss was right next his ear. "I said no funny business!"
He smirked through his grimace of pain. "And I said I wasn't making any promises."
He realised that this game would be even more pointless than usual. There was no way he'd be able to focus on catching a damn ball when her arms were wrapped around his neck and the curve of her stomach against the back of his head.
As predicted, they managed to keep score for all of fifteen minutes before the game became more about trying to knock the girls off. Blair had used to be the best at that part - she'd always been small enough not to overbalance, and she had a far tighter grip than Serena. Nate tended to get all caught up in the length of Serena's legs.
But Chuck's thumbs hooked around the back of her knees as her thighs squeezed him had proved a bit too much for her concentration. It was only Serena's giggling fit that let them win.
Blair had hastily climbed down from Chuck and told them she was going to get a drink.
She heard his soft pad of footsteps behind her as she moved across the kitchen and opened a cabinet. He watched that bare skin taughten against her spine as she reached up, the narrow curve of her bare waist. They were alone in the room now; alone where the shade was a sharp relief to the glare of the sun outside. And suddenly he was behind her, reaching for a glass too.
She turned and found herself caught against the counter.
His hair was still dripping, his chest cool against hers. The air conditioning was bringing goosebumps to her skin. He smirked, slowly, down at her as he tucked a wet strand of hair behind her ear. His arm wrapped around her, pressing into the small of her back as he kissed her and pinned her against the cabinet. It was only a light kiss, lips brushing, burning as their foreheads touched. But his hands were sliding down to cup her ass, slipping up the fabric of her bikini briefs and grazing the top of those thighs that had just been wrapped around him. She bit down on his lower lip; he groaned, faintly, into her as he went to lift her onto the counter.
He buried his mouth in her collar bone and his tongue found that drop of water between her breasts. Her head slipped backwards, wet hair sliding against her back as she gripped his shoulders for support.
Then her eyes shot open as they heard a door bang in the next room.
She pushed him away and jumped down from the counter just in time; he'd barely adjusted his trunks before Evelyn and Carter walked in.
The very last people that either of them wanted to see.
Evelyn's face was quite unreadable as she took in Blair's obviously swollen lips and the way they sprang apart. Carter's eyes had narrowed.
Evelyn had just been telling him all about the apartment she'd bought for Chuck. There were enough bedrooms for plenty more. Nate had already made it clear he wanted to live with his best friend; and where Nate went, Serena must surely follow.
Carter had tuned all that out as he'd been expecting it. (He'd been more interested in finding out how much the apartment was worth). And even then, he still wasn't convinced about the idea of his little sister shacking up with Chuck. It sounded like asking for trouble to him.
He'd only started listening when Evelyn had mentioned she'd seen Blair up one night, looking like she'd see a ghost. Did Carter really think it was a good idea for her to be staying in the Waldorf penthouse alone, she'd wanted to know, especially since it wasn't like he'd be there every night?
Carter had frowned. It was the first he'd heard of nightmares recently. He knew that just after their parents...but Blair had never mentioned it to him since. And he was sure she hadn't had any whenever he'd been around.
But now, sensing the vibe between Chuck and Blair and whatever it was he'd just been about to walk in on -
Well, all he was focused on now was glaring at Chuck. What, exactly, was Bass doing to his sister? Carter had seen too much of what Chuck did to other girls to be at ease with the obvious lust in his eyes now. Not when it was aimed at his baby sister. And the more he thought about it, the more he decided that Chuck knowing Blair from so young was only a bad thing. It gave him a hold over her, and it made Blair think she could trust him. It wasn't that Carter didn't believe a part of Chuck did genuinely care for Blair - it was just that Chuck wasn't a kid anymore.
And maybe putting all this pressure on Blair - going on and on about the Basses and Waldorfs all the time - wasn't great for her. He didn't want her to feel like she had to be with the guy. In fact, it was probably best that he put a stop to this before they both got in over their heads.
"What were you two talking about?" Blair asked sweetly. She was focused on pouring herself a drink now. Her eyes flickered, briefly, to Evelyn and then she wished she hadn't looked at all. There was a definite glint in the woman's eyes. Chuck had spotted it too.
Evelyn's smile was langourous. "I was just telling Carter about Chuck's new penthouse." She turned on Blair as her lips curved. "And how nice it would be if his friends were living with him."
Why did the way she said friends fill Chuck with quite so much revulsion?
"And I was just saying that you probably can't wait to move back into your own home." Carter addressed his sister pointedly. "Waldorfs back together."
Blair managed a smile. "Right."
"Speaking of," Carter added, "We need to pack." He had no intention of leaving Chuck and Blair alone in a room together and letting Chuck carry on with whatever he'd been about to do. "And you look freezing." She was wearing practically next to nothing, for Christ's sake. "Don't you think you should put some clothes on?"
His sister rolled her eyes. "Thank you, Carter. What would I do without your advice?" She turned and walked out of the room. Carter followed so that Chuck couldn't watch her go. He needed to hit this on the head, he resolved. Fast.
Evelyn spared Chuck an idle glance. But there was still that gleam in her eye, dark in the dim light of the kitchen. "Is this sorted now?"
He glared at her coldly. He knew damn well what she meant. "No," he snapped.
"No? What exactly were you doing in Ibiza, then?"
"I'm working on it," he snarled back.
His mother's face was an icy mask. "Well, work harder." She'd swept out before he could even retort. He was tempted to throw the glass Blair had just been drinking from at her head.
Chuck had prepared himself for a car ride back to the city alone. So he came to a stop, next morning, when he discovered someone sitting on the bonnet of his limo. Someone in a deep orange pencil skirt and tight cream top, brown hair pulled into a ponytail and bare legs crossed over the sleek black metal.
She smirked as she saw him.
His eyes moved, slowly, over her figure; and he couldn't stop his own smirk from forming. "Well. This is a surprise."
"James had to leave suddenly," she purred. He held out his hand; she slid hers into it and jumped down. "So we don't have a driver any more. I thought we could share yours." She looked up at him from between her lashes, and she was close enough that he could smell her shampoo and the urge to pull her little body to him was overwhelming.
But he registered the 'we'.
"As in you and..."
"Morning, Bass." Carter had already moved between them and was ushering his sister into the limo, eyebrow arched as he glanced at his friend. Chuck gave a flat little smile and managed to keep his face expressionless.
"Great."
Carter had actually spent his last night in the Hamptons with Tish. It was a mistake he'd told himself he wouldn't do again, but since she was jetting back to England the next morning...
The problem was that he'd been up all night and was now fairly exhausted. For someone who looked so lazy all the time, Tish had a hell of a lot of stamina. He personally thought she just saved all her energy for sex. He wasn't complaining. Well, he was when his head was killing him like it was now. He tugged down his sunlasses and leaned back against the leather seats. At least he had a couple of hours before they got back to the city.
Blair quirked a perfect brow over at Chuck as Carter's head moved back. Chuck felt his mouth dry a little. But he glanced at Carter again - how did they know he was actually alseep?
Chuck watched as she rose from the seat she was sharing with Carter to adjust the air conditioning. He could see the full curve of that tiny waist now, and he'd never wanted to wrap his arms around it more. Something about the flick of her ponytail was doing that thing to his stomach again.
Her gaze snuck briefly to Carter. Then with a little wicked grin, brown eyes alight, she dropped onto Chuck's lap.
"Oops," she murmured into his ear. "I seem to have slipped." Her fingers brushed his shoulders and he had her across his legs now, one hand sliding up her back to tangle in her ponytail.
Then Carter muttered something in his sleep and they both paused, his hand stilling in its path. Carter didn't wake up. They were both watching him as Chuck reached down again, slowly, and slid up her skirt. Her legs were deliciously smooth as he crept higher, brushing her panties. She inched a little closer to him, and her head was against his shoulder. Her eyes had closed with pleasure; he kept one on Carter. Getting caught with his hand up her skirt would definitely earn him a punch. At the very least. But as his fingers pushed aside the fabric and he felt her wetness, thoughts of Carter vanished. Her soft ponytail brushed his cheek as her breath caught, and he could see the curl of her eyelashes as she shifted pleasurably in his lap.
She had to stifle her moans in his shirt when she came.
He kissed her hot neck at the nape where her hair was gathered; she breathed his name and something in his stomach - or his chest - jumped. Who the fuck was he kidding with no strings attached? This was Blair.
She smiled at him as she climbed off his lap. And by the time Carter woke up, she was seating neatly at his side with her legs pressed together and her ponytail perfect.