AN: I own nothing except the story line and the characters not seen in the show!
Thanks for all of the reviews, they really meant a lot to me!!
Chapter 3
She was surprised at how right this felt, event though she knew it was wrong. He was engaged. She wasn't going to be the other woman, she knew how that felt. She didn't want to ruin his relationship, but clearly there wasn't much of one to ruin if he was here.
If she thought about it, he was always there for her. Just like earlier, when he had forced her to get out of bed. Just like an hour ago, when he had rescued her from that guy. Just like now, when he sat next to her, holding her hand, making sure she didn't feel alone.
She smiled at him, a sweet smile. One she saved for special occasions. A smile that she once gave his best friend, but now she would only bestow it upon him. He was the one. He was her prince. They were meant to be. It was all becoming clear now.
He smiled back at her. It was genuine. Not one of his trademark smirks that were sexy as hell, but a real, I'm-so-happy-I-don't-care-how-dumb-I-look smile.
"How are you feeling?" he asked gently, still holding her hand.
"Better now that you're hear." She said back. She knew it sounded cheesy and cliché but it was the truth.
He chuckled. God, she loved his laugh.
"Come here." She said suddenly.
He obliged. He got up and took his shoes off and sat next to her on the bed. She frowned at him, to which he smiled at. He pulled her head towards his and kissed her as passionately as he had all those years ago.
Suddenly, she felt her bed moving up and down, as if someone were jumping on it. She was angry, this was destroying their moment. And then, he was gone.
"Who the fuck is that?" Blair demanded angrily as she was forcefully roused from her dream.
"Aunt Blair, you said a bad word." Ryan's voice jolted Blair's eyes open.
"Ryan, what are you doing here?" Blair asked, trying to sit up but finding the feat quite challenging at the moment considering she had the worst hangover imaginable.
"Uncle Chuck brought me." Ryan said proudly. He loved his uncle dearly.
"Did he now?" Blair asked finally able to sit up to better view the room.
Chuck walked over to her bed with a tray of coffee, water and a bottle of aspirin.
"I thought you might need some encouragement to get out of bed. Especially after last night." Chuck said and placed the tray over her legs.
Blair took several aspirin and then picked up the coffee, not caring that she didn't have milk or sugar. She needed something to help her think.
"Last night?" She finally gasped after the coffee burned the back of her throat.
"Yes, you caused quite the scene at my bar." Chuck said airily, although it was clear that he was concerned.
"Oh." She said almost disappointedly.
For a fleeting moment, she thought that her dream wasn't a dream at all, but something real. She quickly pushed the thought from her mind. She would have to dissect her dream later, possibly with Serena.
"How are you feeling?" He asked bringing her back to the present.
"What? Oh, fine." She said. "Why? What…what happened?"
"Ryan, can you earmuff it for me?" Chuck said.
Blair looked at him in confusion and then turned to Ryan. He had put his hands over his ears so he couldn't hear what the adults were saying. She smirked. Of course Chuck would train his nephew to do such a thing.
"You don't remember what you told Serena yesterday?" Chuck said cautiously.
"No, what are you talking about." She paused and her face froze in realization. "Oh my God, I didn't."
"No." Chuck assured her. "But it appeared that you were going to. Nate and I heard you tell some guy to get his hands off of you and I had security take care of him." Chuck said trying to sound like it wasn't a big deal to him. However, last night he had wanted to wring that guy's neck for even laying a hand on Blair.
Blair covered her face with her hands and shook her head.
"Ugh, I'm so embarrassed." She finally said. "Thank you."
"Don't worry about it." Chuck said. "Ryan!" He said loudly and the boy removed his hands.
"Aunt Blair, do you want to come to the park with us?" Ryan asked.
"When?" She asked.
"We were thinking of going now." Chuck informed.
"Um, okay. Give me like ten minutes to get ready." She said.
"Sure. We'll meet you in the lobby." Chuck said and he and Ryan walked out.
Fifteen minutes later, the elevator opened to reveal a perfectly dressed Blair Waldorf. She was wearing a tight-fitting pair of Earl Jeans and a simple, olive green sleeveless blouse. Her hair was elegantly side swept into a low ponytail, and her boots were black, Gucci, and most definitely going to be painful. Her bag, well that was heaven on earth; an olive green Hermes Birkin bag.
"Well thanks for gracing us with your presence." Chuck called out sarcastically as Blair exited the elevator.
"What can I say; I can be generous when I want to be." She said with just as much sarcasm as she walked over to Chuck and Ryan.
"I seem to remember several such occasions." Chuck said evocatively with a smirk, to which Blair rolled her eyes.
"It's nice to see that while everyone else has chosen to grow up, you remain as stubborn as ever." She said, and grabbed Ryan's hand as he watched the two adults in a mixture of confusion and excitement.
"Shall we go?" Blair then asked. Ryan shook his head violently.
Chuck's limo was waiting for them when they walked out of the Palace, and Blair suddenly felt her cheeks burn as she remembered certain goings-on in the back of one his limos in particular. Chuck immediately realized why Blair had blushed and stared at her in the same suggestive way as before, making her turn even more red.
"What's wrong Aunt Blair?" Ryan asked after they had been sitting in ten minutes of awkward silence.
"Nothing sweetie." Blair said quickly, trying not to look at Chuck.
"Aunt Blair is just going down memory lane." Chuck said and laughed.
Blair looked at him sharply.
"I don't think that this is an appropriate conversation to have with a five year old, Chuck. And I think your fiancée will agree with me." She said meaningfully.
Chuck's smile instantly dropped from his face at the mention of Joanna. He didn't want to think of her, he wanted to relax with his nephew and his friend Blair. But being in one of his limos with her was actually sending him down memory lane.
"So, what's the plan?" Blair asked, trying to shift the subject to a less awkward territory.
"Let's see." Chuck began. "A walk around the park, maybe a game of Frisbee, and then usually we go for ice cream. How does that sound?"
"Perfect!" Ryan exclaimed. Blair chuckled.
"I agree." She said and Chuck grinned at her.
"What?" She asked at his expression.
"Nothing. I was just thinking it'll be interesting to see you play Frisbee." He said and laughed.
"Oh, you are so going down, Bass." Blair responded in a serious voice.
"Don't let your mouth write checks your ass can't cash, Blair." Chuck said with his signature smirk.
"Uncle Chuck cursed." Ryan told Blair. Blair glared at Chuck.
"Yes he did." Blair agreed. "He's a very bad man." Blair continued and gave Chuck a playful grin.
"Don't forget that Aunt Blair cursed this morning." Chuck said to Ryan.
"That's real mature Chuck. Real mature." Blair said with an eye roll.
Chuck just snickered at Blair. The rest of the ride to the park went along in comfortable silence with the exception of Ryan whispering excitedly to Blair about what they were going to do. Everyone was in good spirits.
They arrived at Central Park five minutes later. It was a beautiful April day, what some might call crisp. The air was fresh and smells from the various food vendors filled Blair's nostrils. She smiled at the scene before her; she had truly missed New York.
Chuck, Ryan, and Blair walked around the park for about a half an hour talking about this and that. Mostly Ryan blubbered on about how much he loved his parents and Uncle Nate and of course Uncle Chuck and Aunt Blair.
"Aunt Blair." Ryan said when they had finally taken a break from their walk. "You're a lot prettier than Joanna. I think Uncle Chuck should marry you." He said simply.
Blair laughed awkwardly and Chuck blushed for what might have been one of the first times in his life.
"That's not nice, Ryan." Blair admonished. "Besides, I thought we were going to get married." She said.
"Yeah but if you and Uncle Chuck got married, you would be my real aunt, right?" He asked hopefully.
Blair looked at Chuck, not sure what to say. He was also quite unsure. Things were uncomfortable enough as it was, without Ryan asking such probing questions. Chuck decided to change the subject.
"Who's up for some Frisbee?" He asked. Blair looked at him gratefully.
"Me! Me!" Ryan shouted and Chuck pulled a Frisbee from his coat pocket.
They played for a while, nothing too intense, until Ryan seemed like he could use a break. They found a bench and sat down to chat. Ryan snuggled close to Blair, his eyelids closing as he drifted into sleep.
Blair was appreciative as this gave her time to question Chuck further about last night's incident.
"So tell me what happened, exactly." She whispered so as not to wake Ryan.
"Nate and I were at the bar and we heard you tell this guy to get his hands off of you, like I said before. We walked over and…dealt with him, before getting security to take him out." Chuck explained.
"Wait! You got into a fight?" Blair said, a little too loudly.
"Actually, it was your ex-boyfriend who punched him. I'm just the equally handsome sidekick, after all." Chuck said with a smirk.
As Chuck spoke, Ryan popped his head up, listening eagerly to the conversation.
"Who's your ex-boyfriend?" Ryan asked Blair curiously which she responded to with a horrified look. This was not the type of thing she deemed acceptable to talk to her God son about.
"Uncle Nate." Chuck replied, almost bitterly.
"Thank you." Blair said with sarcasm.
"You're welcome." Chuck said smugly. Blair rolled her eyes.
"Were you and Uncle Nate in love like Mommy and Daddy?" Ryan asked innocently. Blair looked uncomfortable; Ryan was hitting all the sore topics between Chuck and her.
"Umm, maybe, but it was a long time ago." She said carefully.
"Why aren't you and Uncle Nate boyfriend and girlfriend anymore?" Ryan questioned.
Blair looked at Chuck angrily at what he had started. He just shrugged.
"Uh, Uncle Chuck, do you want to take this one?" She said with a smirk.
Chuck was at a loss of what to say for a moment, but finally composed himself.
"Sure, how does ice cream sound?" He asked.
"Good!" Ryan exclaimed, completely forgetting their previous conversation.
"Smooth." Blair muttered as they all got up.
"I thought so." Chuck muttered back.
They all walked up to the counter of a small ice cream shop, Blair first in line.
"What can I get for you?" The guy behind the counter asked.
"You know what, I'm not sure. Ryan, why don't you order first, sweetie." Blair said and moved out of the way to let Ryan move forward. Chuck walked to the counter instead.
"That's not necessary. We'll have three scoops of every flavor that you have." Chuck said, pulling out his wallet.
"Chuck!" Blair said disbelievingly.
"Okay, okay. We'll get sprinkles, no need to yell at me." He said with a grin.
"You're ridiculous." Blair sighed but couldn't help but smile.
"Excuse me, sir, but we have over twenty different flavors." The worker said nervously.
"Well then I suggest you get a move on." Chuck said, handing the worker a large wad of hundreds.
"Yes, sir." The man said quickly.
About twenty minutes later, with the help of the entire staff of the shop, Chuck, Blair, and Ryan carried their ice cream to a nearby bench.
"You have to admit, I can be pretty charming when I want to be." Chuck drawled as Blair dug at her cookie dough ice cream.
"I guess if you're into big gestures and that sort of thing." Blair said coyly. Chuck just chuckled.
Suddenly, Blair felt her purse moving. She opened it and found her cell.
"Hello?" She asked and grinned when she heard the caller's voice.
Some quotes in the story above were borrowed from other works, so I've cited them here for anyone who's interested.
"Ryan, can you earmuff it for me?" – Old School (Movie) (In the original quote, 'Ryan' is replaced with 'Max')
"Don't let your mouth write checks your ass can't cash." Two and a Half Men (TV Show)
