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 12

The whole week was a blur to Blair. The only thing she knew for sure was that she had ordered room service and a whole lot of it. At least that was the way it looked based on the various trays scattered about her room. And alcohol. There was a lot of that too. Vodka, whiskey, vermouth, scotch, Blair didn't discriminate. They all did the same thing in the end, they allowed her to escape.

Serena, being the concerned best friend that she was called Blair constantly trying to coerce her to get some coffee or at the very least come to her penthouse. Blair refused claiming she was sick. Serena knew better than to argue with Blair when she was this depressed. There were times when Blair just shouldn't be pushed.

It was Friday morning when someone was pounding incessantly at Blair's door. She had half a mind to open the door and slap whoever it was that was disturbing her but it seemed like it would take too much effort.

45 minutes later Blair decided that slapping the intruder would be easier than listening to the knocking. Grudgingly, Blair opened the door, expecting to find Serena or Dan. No one else would care about her enough to wait that long for her.

Shocked did not even begin to describe how Blair was feeling when she saw that no one other than her ex-fiancée was waiting for her with a smile across his beautiful face.

"I don't even…what are you…how did you…" Blair tried to say something; anything but she couldn't quite get her point across.

"I'll explain everything. Do you mind if I come in?" Pierre LeFreu, ex-fiancée number three asked.

"Okay." Blair mumbled, unsure of how to react.

Mr. Pierre LeFreu was attractive by anyone's standards. He was tall, about 6'2, muscular but subtly so, well-tanned, with wavy, dark brown hair that was slicked back, and piercing blue eyes. A modern day Adonis worth billions. The perfect catch.

Blair was in a daze as Pierre led her to the couch. He sat across from her, gazing deeply into her eyes until she met his stare. He smiled at her with his perfect, sparkling teeth and she couldn't help but to smile back.

"How are you?" He asked softly.

"I've been better." Blair sighed. "How about you?"

"I've been better as well." Pierre said with a meaningful look. "I've missed you."

Blair chuckled. "I've gotten that impression from the numerous calls." She said harshly.

"Why are you here?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"Well you stopped taking my numerous calls. I needed to talk to you, to explain." Pierre said sincerely.

Blair had every intention of laughing in his face, demanding that he go and never call her again, and completely cutting him out of her life for good. But his words had hit a nerve. He needed to explain. Just like she had needed to explain to Chuck and Nate.

She knew what it felt like to desperately need to talk to someone who you cared about and have them throw it in your face. As much as she wanted to lash out at Pierre for everything he had done to her, she couldn't put him through that pain again. She wouldn't be a hypocrite.

Not to mention that for the first time since she knew him, Pierre sounded utterly sincere and looked like he really was broken up about their break up. There was no harm in hearing him out and she had loved him on some level. She owed it to him to let him get this off his chest.


Mr. and Mrs. Humphrey lounged in their apartment while they waited for their lunch to be sent up by room service. Ryan was with Lily at his dress rehearsal for his preschool play. Apparently, Park Avenue Presbyterian took their extra curricular activities seriously, even though the play was for five year olds.

Serena was trying to focus on what her husband was saying but she was zoning out as thoughts about Blair raced through her mind.

It was obvious that Blair's conversation with Chuck had not gone well. Blair had left dinner Monday night practically in tears, while Chuck looked miserable for the duration of the evening. Then Blair had barricaded herself in her hotel suite and refused to open the door whenever she came to visit.

Dan had reported that Chuck and Nate also seemed upset, though he couldn't figure out why. Serena had withheld the information Blair had told her from Dan; there were some things that Dan didn't need to know.

And Serena had no clue about what had happened with Nate, or if Blair had even managed to speak to Nate. Serena highly doubted that she had. Blair didn't seem like she was capable of getting out of bed, much less having an emotional, heartfelt conversation with her former love.

"Earth to Serena!" Dan shouted. He had been trying to get his wife's attention for the past three minutes and was failing miserably.

"Sorry. What?" Serena asked, turning around to face Dan.

"I said that lunch is here." Dan said with an eye roll.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie, I just have a lot on my mind." Serena apologized and followed Dan to the dining room.

"Let me guess, Blair?" Dan asked sarcastically.

"Yeah. She's in bad shape." Serena sighed.

"Why? What happened? She was fine when we had dinner Monday." Dan said, completely confused and slightly worried as to how Blair had suddenly spun into a deep depression.

"It's complicated." Serena said vaguely. She didn't want to have to lie to Dan but she couldn't very well tell him the truth.

"Care to elaborate?" Dan asked his curiosity piqued.

"I can't. Blair swore me to secrecy." Serena replied, realizing how lame it sounded.

"Okay, I see how it is." Dan teased.

"Good, I'm glad you do." Serena retorted.

"Just one question, Darling," Dan began, "how dumb do you think I am?"

"What?" Serena asked, perplexed.

"Blair's depressed, Nate refuses to answer anyone's call, it's obvious something was going on between them and they broke up." Dan said.

Serena let out a sigh of relief. Sometimes men could be so oblivious.

"Uh huh." Serena said, trying not to confirm or deny Dan's statement.

"See, I am the smartest man alive." Dan said and kissed Serena before he dug into his lunch.

"Sure you are." Serena said with a mischievous smirk.

"I don't think I like your tone." Dan responded.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Serena baited him.

"You'll see." Dan shot back with a wink.


"I love you." He said point blank. "I'm sorry to say it like that but I don't know how else to put it. I don't want to be coy about it. I love you and I'm a wreck without you."

"I…wh-what?" Blair asked as her mind reeled from Pierre's proclamation.

"I know that this isn't how I should be doing this but I just needed to get that out before I second guessed myself." Pierre said, expecting this sort of response from her. He had never been forthcoming with his affirmations of love and now he was putting it all out there.

"You look very thin, by the way. Have you been eating enough?" Pierre asked with a small smile.

"Are you trying to soften me up?" Blair asked with a small smile of her own.

"A little. Is it working?" Pierre questioned.

"A little." Blair said. Pierre's smile grew.

"Well, you always did know what the ladies like to hear." Blair said seriously.

"No, I know what you like to hear." Pierre said, just as seriously.

Blair blushed. Never had Pierre been so sweet and vulnerable with her. It reminded her of someone else who was only sweet and vulnerable with her. A certain dark-haired boy that now despised her. Blair shook her head to stop her continuous thoughts of Chuck.

"Someone is quite the charmer." Blair said, bringing herself back into the present time and the man before her.

"What can I say, I'm in love?" Pierre said with a grin and the most honest eyes Blair had ever seen.

"With who?" Blair asked. Not cruelly, just curiously.

"I guess I deserve that." Pierre agreed.

"Look, Blair. I know that I've made mistakes. A lot of mistakes. And I know that I don't deserve you, but I want you just the same. I need you just the same. I love you. I've always loved you; I just wasn't ready to admit it." Pierre said and grabbed Blair's hand from across the small coffee table between them.

"What about Chantal?" Blair said in disgust.

"We're over. We have been since the first time I called you. Once you were gone, I realized just how much you meant to me. Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe now I can finally see you and love you like I should have all along." Pierre said, his eyes peering deeply into Blair's. They read only the truth.

Blair shuddered. She couldn't help but wish that another man was here saying these things to her. That another man was begging her to be with him. But that other man wasn't and Pierre was.

And Pierre wanted her with such passion that she began to wonder if she could ever love him like he loved her. Maybe she could. She would always love Chuck more but maybe loving Pierre would be good enough, if she pretended hard enough.

"What are you saying?" Blair asked.

Pierre stood up, walked over to Blair and got on one knee. He pulled out a small black box and opened it. Blair saw that it wasn't her former engagement ring, but a larger yellow diamond. She couldn't help but to gasp at its beauty. The platinum band was adorned with small, white diamonds that got progressively larger as they neared the yellow, Princess cut diamond.

"Blair Cornelia Waldorf, love of my life, keeper of my heart; will you do me the honor of being my wife?" Pierre asked as he stared directly into Blair's wide eyes.

Blair gaped at Pierre, her gaze traveling from his face to the ring in his hand in awe. She should have seen this coming but she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she was shocked by his sudden request.

Pierre recognized the surprise on Blair's face and chuckled heartily.

"Relax. You don't have to answer me now. I understand that this is sudden and I don't want you to feel pressured. If you say 'no,' I will leave you alone forever. But if you say 'yes,' you will make me the happiest man alive. I have everything I could ever want or dream of, but it all means nothing if I can't have you. I will leave you now so that you may think. I believe you still have my phone number." Pierre said, standing up and putting the ring in his pocket.

All Blair could do was nod her head yes.

"Good. I hope to hear from you soon." Pierre said, kissing her cheek and walking out the door.


As Blair's shaking hand pulled back her hair into an elegant bun, she decided to keep Pierre's proposal to herself. At least until she gave him an answer.

As much as she wanted to say 'yes' and run away with him back to France, a part of her knew that her heart wasn't really in it. But that same part knew that some things wouldn't work out.

And there it was the eternal question. Should she do what was easy and safe or should she follow her heart? She had been here before, had taken the safe road, and had always regretted it. But now, it seemed as though the decision had been made for her. Chuck didn't want her. How could she follow her heart if the thing her heart most desired didn't want anything to do with her?

Blair sighed as she pulled on her black patent Manolo pumps that matched her conservative little black dress and walked out of her room for the first time in four days.

Blair took a cab to the preschool she once called her own and met up with an anxious but still gorgeous Serena.

"B, thank God you're here!" Serena practically shouted running to Blair.

Serena pulled Blair into a hug and held on tight, afraid that if she let go, Blair would be gone. Finally, she released Blair from her death grip and led her to their seats, in the front row.

Everyone was already seated and Blair groaned inwardly as she realized that the only open seat was between Chuck and Nate. She wondered what terrible things she must have done in a past life to have pissed the universe off this much.

Blair quickly greeted Dan, Lily, and Bart as she scurried past them to her seat. The air around her was heavy and she felt like she was being crushed.

She looked towards Nate who was determined to look anywhere but at her face and then to Chuck, who was holding Joanna's hand and whispering something in her ear.

Yeah, she must have been some sort of mass murderer in her past life. That was the only possible reason that her life had spiraled so out of control.

Thankfully, the play started soon after Blair's arrival. It was a typical fairytale with a prince, a princess, a witch, and of course, fairies.

In Blair's opinion, Ryan was the most handsome, although she may have been slightly biased.

Dan had a huge grin on his face as he watched his son "fly" across the stage. Despite all his complaints about his son portraying a fairy, he was still proud of him.

Serena and Lily were frantically taking pictures and whispering excitedly to one another about how Ryan was the best performer on stage.

Bart tried to keep his eyes open.

Nate was watching Ryan, trying to hide a small smile. He really loved that kid.

Chuck's reaction was the best of all. He was silently mouthing the words that Ryan was saying on stage. Apparently, he had helped Ryan run lines.

Joanna looked bored and was trying to initiate a conversation with Chuck. Blair was tempted to kick her in the shin to get her to shut up but she was too far away. However, she was pleasantly surprised when Chuck shushed Joanna.

Blair smiled and wondered what Chuck would be like for his own children. And then she frowned, remembering that Chuck's children would be with Joanna, not with her.

Blair returned her focus to the play, trying to forget the thought that had just crossed her mind.

At the end of the performance, Ryan received the loudest cheers as the entire front row stood up and shouted his name.

He was quickly attacked by his mother, grandmother, and Blair and then passed around to the males of the group. Eventually, Lily dragged him home to her house, leaving the six remaining adults in her wake.

"Why don't you all meet us at the penthouse for drinks?" Serena suggested, not considering that this might create an awkward situation.

No one really responded and Serena took the silence as an agreement and led the way out of the building.

Blair sighed, knowing that tonight couldn't possibly go well.