Here's the next chapter! Thank you so much to everyone for all of your positive reviews! You all are awesome!
My Saving Grace: Chapter II
She woke up next to him, the warm sunlight from outside glistening through the cracks of Kati's white horizontal blinds. She blinked her eyes for a few moments as she stretched, her body feeling pleasantly sore from the previous night. She looked over at the man sleeping next to her, giggling at the satisfied smirk playing across his lips as he slept. The smell of his sweet musk combined with her sweat and perfume permeated her friend's guestroom. She got out of bed to find a shirt to throw over herself. Once she discovered one lying in a drawer, she came back and snuggled in next to him. She sat up a little and cushioned his head under her arm, his body molding into hers perfectly. She smiled, her fingers involuntarily playing with strands of his dark hair. He didn't move a muscle. Her eyes moved downward towards his bare chest, images from the previous night returning clearly to her memory. She moved her hand down from his hair to his milky white face. Her fingers danced lightly down his cheek and to his neck, not knowing what compelled her to touch him in such a mesmerized manner.
Her eyes bugged out as her fingertips felt something rough on his back. She moved her hand over to the right and felt it again. Startled, she craned her neck over and glanced down his back. She was shocked to find many long scratches. They were not bleeding but looked extremely red and irritated. Her stomach felt sick. Had she really hurt him? In their heat of passion he bit her hard and did other things that hurt her slightly, but it only fed the fire. She wondered if he would be in pain all day. She hoped with all of her being that he wouldn't be mad at her.
That was when his eyelids fluttered open. He moaned tiredly and immediately looked up at her. His eyes possessed an exhausted, glossy look to them, but he smiled dreamily at her as though he was fully awake. He sighed contently, leaning in closer against her. He felt nothing except her presence.
"You are so incredible," he whispered suavely. She felt relieved as her heart melted in her chest.
"So are you," she replied. She bent down to kiss him, and he eagerly welcomed her lips.
Blair woke up next to Chuck in bed again, but this time it was the middle of the night and she was nothing but a spirit. She only awoke from her sleep one time, a rare occasion. She probably wouldn't have woken up at all if Chuck hadn't suddenly jumped up in bed. He was lost in a dream, and Blair guessed by his mannerisms that it had been a frightening one. Chuck sat up on the mattress, wiping beads of sweat off of his face with the back of his hand and breathing deeply. Blair instantly sat up in bed, leaned over, and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Chuck, are you okay?" she asked worriedly. Chuck didn't reply, but he seemed to calm down. He lied back down and flipped his pillow over to a cool side. Blair looked at him, confused and annoyed. "I don't get it," she stated out loud. "How come I can touch you but you still can't hear me?" Chuck answered with a snore. Blair lied back down and sighed. She wanted to know why she couldn't speak to Chuck, and why she could suddenly touch him, and why he didn't seem to feel her touch him. So many of her questions went on unanswered, and it disturbed her greatly. Blair Waldorf was never one to be denied information.
She watched Chuck sweetly drift off to sleep once again. She rubbed his arm a little, even though she knew he couldn't feel it. She wondered if she actually saw him smile or if she was dreaming too.
When Blair woke up in the morning, Chuck was out of bed. Blair rose and looked at the alarm clock. There were still twenty minutes left before school started. She ran to the door and her hand reached for the doorknob.
Her hand went through the knob.
"What the?!" Blair yelled out loud, trying to restrain herself from swearing. She attempted to grab the doorknob again, but still her hand did not grasp it. Blair's fists clenched and she suppressed a scream. She ran through the door. "I hate being a ghost!" she yelled aloud.
"Chuck, pass the milk." Blair turned to see the Bass-Van Der Woodsens sitting at the breakfast table, the teenagers all in their school uniforms. Lily sipped some coffee (with added alcohol) while reading a magazine. Bart poked his head out from behind his newspaper to make sure that his son passed his soon-to-be stepsister the milk.
"Here sis," Chuck said, sliding the carton over to Serena. Serena sighed and looked over at him.
"How many times have I asked you not to call me that?"
"Probably a million, but I have selective hearing," Chuck said as he raised a glass of orange juice to his lips. Blair watched him, smiling and shaking her head at the same time.
"Charles," Bart said strictly out of nowhere. Chuck picked up a fork and stabbed it through his scrambled eggs, not looking into his father's cold eyes. Serena ogled Bart remorsefully.
"It's alright, Mr. Bass. If anything I owe Chuck an apology. He wasn't the one who sent me those things, after all," Serena said. Chuck was still looking down at his plate, but Blair saw him smile at the fact that Serena was actually coming to his defense. Blair was confused as to what she was talking about.
"That does not give him the right to act like a sarcastic imbecile," Bart snapped, eyeing his son bitterly. Chuck still didn't meet his gaze. Blair crossed her arms, curiously watching the exchange of looks between the Bass father and son. Eric stood up, deciding to break the growing tension in the room.
"Um, breakfast was awesome. I think I'm ready to go to school now," Eric stated.
"Yeah, me too," Serena chirped. Bart stared at Chuck for another minute or so before glancing back at the paper.
"I'll have the limo ready for all three of you," Bart said.
"That's alright, I'm going to walk," Chuck said. The moment that followed was as silent as if Chuck announced that he had cancer.
"You're going to walk to school?" Eric asked in disbelief.
"Charles, you never walk," Bart said. Even he was dumbstruck. Chuck's eyes darted to the windows, then back to the sausage on his fork.
"It's a beautiful day," he said as he popped the sausage into his mouth. Everyone in the room looked at each other, stunned. Chuck coolly wiped his mouth and laid his napkin down on his plate. He stood up and began to push his chair in. Serena walked over to him slowly as though her feet were fragile.
"Do you need someone to go with you?" Serena whispered. Blair couldn't help but smile. Her best friend always seemed to sense when something was wrong.
"Thanks, but I'll be alright," Chuck replied. He walked off to the bathroom, his family watching his every move. When he heard the bathroom door close, Bart sighed and flipped a page of his newspaper.
"That boy. I don't know what I'm ever going to do with him."
"He's just upset about yesterday," Lily said. "I'll admit that I still am as well." The only sound that followed for minutes was the clock ticking loudly from the dining room. Chuck came out of the bathroom and flung his scarlet and gold scarf around his neck.
"I'm heading out. Try not to die without me." He was out of the room in a matter of seconds. Blair looked at the closed door before running over to Serena.
"S, it's Blair. Can you hear me?" Serena looked over at Eric. "Can you hear me now?"
"We better get going," Serena said. Eric nodded, and the two siblings headed for the door.
"Not good," Blair said sassily. She caught sight of Chuck's empty orange juice glass on the table. Blair walked over to it and tried to pick it up. Just as she suspected, her hand went through. She shook her head and sat down in one of the chairs. She rested her chin on her hand and stared at the empty glass, listening to the hotel room door behind her close once again.
"I literally am at my wit's end," Bart suddenly said. For a moment Blair thought he was talking to her, for he seemed to be looking directly at her. Bart had a way of zeroing in with his harsh eyes that made Blair feel intimidated and inferior.
"Try to calm yourself," Lily demanded good-naturedly. That was when Blair realized that Serena's mother stood behind her. "I think that Blair's death was very hard on him."
"It has been hard on all of us. Plus, he acted like this before Blair's death," Bart said. He dropped his paper and rubbed his forehead, his long fingers moving in a circular motion. "I just don't know what else I can say or do to make him behave respectfully." Lily walked over and put her hands on Bart's shoulders comfortingly.
"I know that Charles is a good person. He'll change with time, you'll see." Blair smiled. Bart eyed Lily icily.
"He's been this way for years. If anything time will make it worse."
"Maybe you should talk to him," Lily suggested.
"He won't talk," Bart said. "He'll have nothing to say." Blair gaped at Bart, revolted at his ignorance.
"You are so clueless!" Blair exclaimed out loud.
"Are you sure about that?" Lily asked Bart. Bart was quiet for a few minutes before he picked up his newspaper and stood up from his seat.
"I don't have time to think about it now." He leaned over and kissed his fiancée on the cheek. "I'll be home tonight." Lily nodded, and Bart began to walk away.
"You never have time for anything involving your son," Blair thought, thinking back to a time when Chuck told her about his father's constant absence from his life. Frustrated, Blair got up, ran over by the door, and stood in Bart's way. She closed her eyes as Bart walked straight through her. He stopped walking and turned around, looking back at Lily.
"Do we have the air on in here?" Bart asked. Lily raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"It's fifty-five degrees outside," she said. Bart gawked at her, baffled beyond belief. Blair put her hands on her hips and laughed one hearty laugh, extremely proud of herself.
"Well, it felt a little cold in here."
"It's not on," Lily assured. Bart shrugged and walked toward the door once again. As soon as he left, Blair glanced over at Lily, who sat down and went back to reading her magazine. Blair closed her eyes and imagined walking alongside Chuck outside. In a matter of milliseconds, Blair was standing on a street close to the Palace. She looked up to see Chuck right in front of her, walking slowly past.
"Chuck!" Blair exclaimed. He kept walking. Blair hopped next to him and felt like acting playfully. "You still can't hear me, hunh Bass?" Of course, Chuck didn't answer. Blair decided to stop trying, and continued walking next to him for many more blocks. Her mind often became lost in her questions, but she felt happy that she was with him, even if he had no clue.
"Chuck!"
Chuck stopped walking and looked to the street. Blair reached out and grabbed his hand. She felt its warmth. She shook her head once in bewilderment.
"Why the heck is this happening?" she thought. That was when Chuck's fingers suddenly bent back and folded into hers. Blair was too surprised to even gasp. "Does he feel me?!"
"Chuck!" the voice called again. Chuck's hand suddenly fell out of Blair's. Blair ordered her arm to fall back to her side, but it stayed frozen in the air as if Chuck was still holding her hand. Her big eyes looked up at Chuck with disheartenment and perplexity. Chuck wasn't looking at her, however, but at the man in the limousine that had been calling his name. Blair stood on her tip-toes to look over Chuck's shoulder. When she saw who was in the limo, her stomach dropped quicker than a flower in the wintertime.
"Oh no…"
"Hello Nathaniel," Chuck said. Nate's luminous white teeth answered back.
"Are you walking to school?" Nate asked cheerfully. "That's a first."
"I've just got a lot on my mind," Chuck replied. His tone of voice was normal and cordial, but Blair could tell in Chuck's eyes that he wanted to turn around and run all the way up to New Hampshire. Nate nodded in what Blair considered fake sympathy.
"Yeah, I understand." Nate motioned toward the limo seat. "Why don't you let me give you a ride? We can talk about it." Blair found herself biting her tongue in suspense, as if she was watching a soap opera. She knew what would be discussed if Chuck got in the limo.
"Get out of here, Nate!" Blair exclaimed. She never thought she'd hear herself say that. Chuck looked at Nate, smiling to cover up his non-enthusiasm.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll be okay."
"I insist," Nate said, acting ever the gentleman. "It may help both of us if we talked about some things." Chuck scowled. So did Blair.
"Nate Archibald, get over yourself and get the hell out of here!" Blair exclaimed. She felt her face flush and her hands clenched into fists the way they had earlier. She gasped, realizing the extent of her rage. She opened her hands and looked at them, awed and horrified by herself. Nate being content about her death troubled her more than she thought. Chuck, meanwhile, looked like he was on the edge of debate.
"Thanks Nathaniel, but I'm just going to walk," Chuck said. Nate threw open the limo door and folded his hands on his lap. He tried to express with his face that he would not be turned down, the way Chuck usually did. He butchered the look, making Blair laugh.
"Nate, stop…seriously!" Blair exclaimed. She wondered if Chuck was laughing in his head as much as she was. Chuck looked at his ex-best friend for a minute before walking over reluctantly to the limousine. He figured that he had to get it over with sooner or later. Blair followed him in, apprehensive yet eager to see what they would say to each other at the same time.
"Why don't we turn on some music?" Nate suggested as the limo began to move. He reached for a remote and turned on the stereo up front from the backseat.
"I'll never kiss…your lips again…they buried you today…" played a song by Mark Dinning. Nate looked at the radio awkwardly, while Chuck and Blair just looked down sadly as they heard the rest of the words. "Teen angel, can you hear me…teen angel, can you see me…are you somewhere up above…and am I still your own true love?"
"Let me try another station," Nate suggested. He pressed a different button.
"I never had a dream come true…till' the day that I found you…even though that I pretend that I've moved on…you'll always be my baby…" rang the voices of S Club 7. Blair looked at Chuck as she remembered the rest of the chorus. Nate switched the station again.
"We call and we call… 'How come?' we say…what could make a boy behave this way?" sang Rickie Lee Jones. The two guys and Blair sat quietly, listening to more words. "I think Chuck E's in love…" Nate reached for the remote and shut off the radio.
"I'm not really in the mood for music," Nate said. Chuck was looking off to the side, trying not to laugh at the last song. Blair giggled at his attempt. "So you took Blair's death pretty hard, hunh?" Nate asked. Chuck's face fell, and he glanced down at the floor. Blair looked at him compassionately and placed her hand on his thigh. Chuck finally nodded and turned his head to Nate slightly.
"Yeah. I did." He turned back around, gazing through Blair and out the window. Blair was captured in his chocolate eyes, which looked picturesquely distressed. "It was so unexpected." He did not even bother to ask Nate if he took it hard as well.
"It's a sad, sad thing," Nate said. Blair looked over at Nate's empathetic face and felt like vomiting. Nate turned and looked out his window once he comprehended that Chuck was lost in his own thoughts. He finally spoke, unable to handle the uneasy silence for much longer. "Did you think about what I said yesterday?"
"Not really," Chuck admitted. Nate crossed his one leg on top of the other and leaned over to look at Chuck.
"Not even a little?"
"No." Blair noticed Chuck's thumbs fidgeting. He looked at Nate uncomfortably. "It's just going to be awkward, Nathaniel. With Blair being gone and everything that happened between all of us…"
"Can't we just let it go?"
"Let it go?! Nathaniel, I slept with your girlfriend. You told me to stay away from you. Now she's gone forever and you come to me all ready to let it go?!" Chuck exclaimed, fully facing Nate. Blair grinned as she witnessed the return of confident Chuck. Chuck lowered his voice, not meaning to shout. He folded his hands together in a poised manner. "It doesn't make sense, other than the explanation that you couldn't care less about her."
"That's not true!" Nate exclaimed, his voice suddenly escalating. Nate shouted his last word loudly, causing Blair to jump in her seat. She had never heard Nate yell before at anyone. Nate's teeth gritted, his face displaying his inner seething anger. Chuck looked at Nate accusingly, his eyebrows lowered. "I can't believe this!" Nate exclaimed. "Here I come and try to make peace with you, and you have the nerve to tell me that I don't care about Blair?!"
"Not as much as you should," Chuck said sharply. "You seemed a little too happy at that funeral yesterday." Nate's eyes turned as wide as saucers. If Blair wasn't so frightened by Nate's wrathful face and murderer-like breathing, she would have cheered. Chuck was putting into words what she had wanted to say since Nate ran to him at the grave. Blair felt for sure that Nate was planning to punch Chuck in the face. Instead he just stared him down furiously.
"Why am I even trying to make up with you anyway?!" Nate asked himself and Chuck aloud. "You're absolutely nothing to me!"
"Only your best friend for fifteen years," Chuck commented unperturbedly. Blair was so happy that she felt like kissing him.
"Some friend you were! You slept with my girlfriend, not to mention took her virginity!" Nate said.
"The girlfriend who broke up with you because you didn't love her," Chuck said, looking nonchalantly out the window. Blair let out a squeal of delight and threw her arms around Chuck. She broke her hug when Nate shoved Chuck. Chuck knocked back into Blair, who almost went through the side of the car at the force. Chuck looked at Nate unresponsively, his eyelids lowered slightly. He called to the limo driver. "Stop this limousine, please."
"No, you are not getting out! We're not done here!" Nate yelled.
"Yes we are," Chuck said authoritatively. The limo pulled to a stop. Nate stuttered frantically before finding his words.
"I hate you, Chuck Bass!"
"So do millions of others. Get in line." Chuck opened the door and got out of the car. Blair followed. Nate slid over on the seat. Blair knew that he wanted to have the last word before Chuck closed the door and walked away. She smirked, knowing that no matter what he said, he wouldn't.
"I'm glad that Blair's dead! I'd rather that she be dead than be with you!"
Or maybe he would.
Chuck Bass was not a man to show his emotions. That was why he locked the doors when he prayed and cried for the first time in years. He never let anyone get the best of him, and he especially never let it show if they did. This time, though, was different. Chuck slammed the door to the limousine and kicked the side of it. Nate could only watch before driving away, knowing in his heart that he had crossed the line. Chuck sat on the curb, staring intensely at the road in front of him.
Blair Waldorf was not a physically angry woman. That was why she was shocked when she felt like punching the man she thought she was in love with for years. If someone made her upset, she fought back with strategy and brains, never with fists. This time, though, was different. Blair could only think of hurting the man in that limousine for saying what he did. She reached for a rock to pick it up and throw it at the limo's back window. However, she could not take hold of it. She fell down on her knees and felt her body shake violently with sobs as she watched the limo drive away.
Blair felt crushed and devastated. She would want to shrivel up and die, if she wasn't dead already.
"Nate would rather have me dead then with Chuck?! Who could say such a thing?!" Blair rolled up into a ball on the ground, her tears dropping out of her eyes and falling through the sidewalk. She knew exactly what she needed at that moment. She needed Chuck to bend down and hug her and tell her that everything was okay, the way he always had. She wanted to tell him that she loved him more than anything, and that she wished that she was alive and with him.
Chuck kept sitting and staring at the multicolored cars going by as Blair bawled. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. Blair looked up, noticing how tortured he looked. If her heart was breaking at Nate's comments, then Chuck's must have been in pieces. Blair sat up, forgetting about how much emotional pain that she was in. She put her arm around Chuck and leaned against him.
"It's okay, Chuck. I'm still here." She was going to return the favor like she promised. After for what seemed like an eternity, Chuck stood up and began walking in the direction of the school. Blair followed him, wondering just how he was going to make it through the day. They were one block away when Chuck turned into an open bar. Blair's eyes widened as she realized that he wasn't going to even try to make it through the day.
"I need scotch, and lots of it," Chuck said to the bartender upon entering. Blair walked through the door and over to Chuck's side.
"Don't do it Chuck," Blair pleaded. "Go to school and show him that this isn't bothering you! You never let what people say bother you!" She watched as the bartender handed Chuck an entire scotch bottle and a glass. As he poured the liquid into the glass, Blair's chest began to heave. Chuck lost his vigor. He was a broken man, and it felt like there was nothing she could do about it.
"Chuck…I…" Blair sat at the stool next to him. "I'm so sorry!" She did not know what else to say. Chuck took one sip of his drink, then hung his head. Blair rested her hand on his shoulder. "If only you knew, Chuck. If only you knew that I'm right here next to you..." Blair stopped, abruptly choosing not to talk anymore. She sat with him for hours, watching him consume drink after drink. When Chuck laid his head down on the counter and his eyes looked drowsy, Blair stood up. She couldn't bear watching him suffer anymore. If only he could talk to someone and tell them about what Nate said and what he was feeling about her death, he might feel better. Unfortunately, Chuck would never go to anyone. Blair knew that she couldn't ask anybody herself to talk to him. She decided to go take a walk and think about what she could do. Blair leaned around Chuck's shoulder and placed her hand on his. "You'll be fine, Chuck. I've got to go somewhere, but I'm still here. I'll be back soon, I promise."
Blair bent down and kissed Chuck on his cheek. Then she imagined herself at the courtyard of Constance Billard.
She arrived in front of Constance just in time to see Jenny and her friends walking out to go to the steps of the art museum for lunch.
"So I see that school goes on," Hazel commented. "Despite the permanent fall of Queen B from her pedestal."
"And so does the ever-present Gossip Girl!" Isabel cried, holding up her cell phone as if a million dollars was in her hand. She opened it up and used the internet to get to Gossip Girl's home page. She decided to read it out loud. "Let's see…'Hey there, Upper East Siders! Spotted: S and lonelyboy seeing each other: before lunch. Lonelyboy skipping class? Must be pretty serious. N spotted coming into school angry and flushed, and C is nowhere to be seen. Hmm…maybe N is responsible for a different funeral? We'll have to wait and see. XOXO. Gossip Girl.'"
"Yeah, just where is Chuck anyway?" Hazel wondered. Jenny looked back and forth between them in silence.
"Visiting B's grave, maybe?" Isabel suggested. She suddenly turned dramatic and put a hand to her forehead. "Poor Chuck; the devil is missing his desired love."
"Guys, can we please not talk about Blair being dead anymore?" Jenny asked. The girls smirked.
"What's wrong, Little J? I thought you'd be happy that she's gone. With her not around and Serena preoccupied with her Brooklyn trash, you're the top dog," Isabel said. Blair winced at Isabel's words, especially the name she called Dan.
"I thought you'd be totally happy," Hazel said.
"I am, but…" Jenny lost her words.
"But what?" Isabel asked. Jenny shook her head.
"Nothing. Let's go get some salads." The girls walked away, gabbing and laughing while Jenny watched on guiltily. Blair stared at them, the anger she felt earlier at Nate returning. What made her the most upset was that she could do nothing about it. Remembering her original mission, Blair ran through the courtyard of Constance Billard and St. Jude's. She knew it was Serena's lunch period, so she searched for her in the crowd of teens. Finally, she spotted her and Dan hidden in a dark corner by a building. Blair ran over to them hysterically. She knew that Serena wouldn't hear her, but she didn't know what else to do.
"Serena, Chuck needs you! Nate said something really terrible and he's at the Palace getting drunk!" Blair exclaimed. Serena kept looking at Dan.
"I'm so sorry that this had to happen now," Dan said to her. "You're already stressed out about Blair and about the SATs, and now you have to worry about some bitch." Blair looked at them both, completely baffled.
"What are you two talking about?" Blair asked.
"She wants me to go back to her life...my old life. I can't do that Dan, I can't!" Serena exclaimed, her voice trembling. Dan immediately pulled her close to him. Blair heard Serena stifle some sobs. Dan's arm ran soothingly up and down her back.
"It's okay, Serena. I'm right here," Dan said. Blair heard her words echoed in Dan's voice and she felt like crying again, partly because she missed Chuck and partly because she felt that she was powerless to help him. "She's not going to do anything, Serena," Dan assured. "She won't change the person that you are now." Serena clutched onto him as though she would never let go.
"I love you Dan."
"I love you too."
Blair turned around, wiping the tears from her eyes. She didn't know what they were talking about, and she didn't care.
"I've got to get out of here!" Blair said to herself. She began to run away. She heard Serena's phone ring as her feet hit the ground fiercely. Serena pulled gently out of Dan's arms and pulled her cell phone out of her skirt pocket. Once she saw the name of the caller, her eyebrows rose.
"Who is it?" Dan asked.
"Chuck." Blair immediately stopped walking and turned around in one swivel of her heel. She ran back over to the couple as Dan's smile faded at the C word. "Hello?" Serena asked as she answered the phone. "Chuck, I can barely make you out. Speak slower." Blair listened intently. "Okay, I'll tell him. Alright, bye." Serena flipped her phone down. Dan looked at her, concerned.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Chuck's been at a bar drinking all day."
"I wondered why my day had been pretty good, up until five minutes ago," Dan stated.
"That's not like him," Serena said. Dan eyed her as if he hadn't understood what she said.
"Serena, are you feeling okay? Because the last time I checked drinking all day is exactly like Chuck Bass," Dan said. "In fact, I think that's Chuck Bass as a whole." Blair tapped her foot slowly, waiting for Dan's comments to cease.
"Not during school it's not," Serena said. "His father would murder him if he found out he was cutting. It would embarrass him in front of the school board too much. Something's wrong."
"What did Chuck actually want from you?" Dan asked.
"He gave me an excuse to tell Bart if he finds out that Chuck wasn't in school today. Chuck told me to say that he got sick and was in the bathroom all day," Serena said. She stopped talking for a moment, then straightened her purse up onto her shoulder. "I have go. The bar he's at is only a block away; I better see what's going on." Blair shrieked and jumped up and down with glee. She felt like an idiot for a minute before she remembered that no one could see her.
"I'll come with you," Dan insisted.
"It's okay, you don't have to. I know how much you hate him," Serena said.
"I do, but he's going to be your brother. If you're worried about him, then so am I," Dan said. Serena smiled.
"You're the best," she said. She took his hand and they ran for the open courtyard gates. Blair grinned as she watched them leave, then wondered just how they could be so sugary-sweet with each other all the time.
"It's literally impossible to be that perfect!" Blair thought. "S and cabbage patch…who ever would have thought?" She sighed before thinking about the Palace Bar and traveling there.
When she arrived, she discovered that Chuck was not sitting at the bar anymore. Blair's heart started beating quickly in her chest. "Shit. Chuck, where are you?!" Blair scouted the entire area and didn't see him. She began to sweat, worrying as to where he was. She ran to the bathrooms and ran through the men's room wall. She heard the grotesque sound of vomit hitting the toilet.
Blair felt nauseous before she spotted Chuck's shoes. She ran through each of the stalls until she got to Chuck's. When she found him, he was leaning over the toilet, hurling up a mix of scotch, bourbon, and eggs. He clutched his stomach tightly with one hand as fluid emitted forth from his mouth.
"Oh my God, Chuck!" Blair exclaimed. She kneeled down next to him, patting his back gently. She breathed through her mouth, the disgusting scent overpowering her nostrils. He continued, and Blair shook her head slowly. "How can you do this to yourself, Bass?!" She was angry at him for getting himself so drunk and sick, yet she felt bad because of the reason why he did it.
A few minutes passed, and Chuck stopped throwing up. Blair pushed some of Chuck's hair back behind his ears and rubbed her hand tenderly from his head down his back. She heard the bathroom door open.
"Chuck Bass? Are you in here? It's Dan Humphrey."
Blair couldn't believe that she'd ever be glad to hear that name. Chuck didn't look like he felt the same way.
"Yeah," Chuck uttered weakly. "I'm here."
"Serena sent me to check on you. Are you alright?" Dan asked. Chuck breathed deeply.
"I've been better," Chuck admitted. "Is Van Der Woodsen out there?"
"Yeah," Dan replied. Chuck tried to stand up, and Blair did with him. Chuck's knees immediately began to shake and he put a hand to his head as he stood. He went down again, letting out a groan of pain. Blair remained by his side.
"You'll be fine Chuck; you'll be fine," Blair said. That was when Dan knocked on the stall door.
"Need any help?" Dan offered.
"I'm fine," Chuck said. Blair heard the door creak open again.
"Dan, is he okay?" came Serena's voice.
"Come on in. There's no other guys in here," Dan said.
"What if one comes in?" Serena asked.
"We'll be in and out," Dan assured. Blair heard Serena's heels clicking against the tiled floor. She knocked on the stall door.
"Chuck, we're taking you back to the Palace. I'm assuming your hangover is pretty bad," Serena said.
"I can't," Chuck said feebly. "Your mom will wonder what happened."
"She's seen me come home drunk before. As long as you have a good reason, she'll probably understand," Serena said. Blair looked at Chuck, hoping that he would tell her what was bothering him.
"I don't," Chuck said. He tried to stand up again, using the toilet to stabilize himself. He reached his arm back and twisted the knob of the stall door. The door swung open, and Dan and Serena entered. Blair jumped to her feet and backed up out of their way. Serena went on Chuck's left and Dan on his right. They put his arms around their necks and escorted him out of the bathroom. Blair followed behind them. Chuck suddenly laughed drunkenly and looked at Serena. "It's funny, Van Der Woodsen. It used to be Blair and me carrying you out of bars."
"God Chuck, you reek. How many drinks did you actually have?" Dan asked.
"Blair was so gorgeous…and so young…" Chuck murmured. Blair loved his compliment, yet a hole of regret formed in her stomach. She felt like never would forgive herself for choosing the wrong man at the right time. Dan and Serena walked Chuck out of the bar and into the noise of New York. Dan helped Serena remove Chuck's vomit-spotted navy uniform coat off of his shoulders.
"Chuck, what's wrong? Why did you go to the bar this morning?" Serena asked. Chuck stepped forward, turned around and looked at them both.
"Because I'm fucking Chuck Bass! That's all I do, isn't it?!" He kept stepping backwards, closer to the curb. He looked at them, his lips parted slightly. "I'm just that rich bastard who drinks and steals the virginity of his best friend's girlfriend before she dies." Blair gazed upon him glumly. Guilt was the one thing that Chuck was never supposed to feel, but it was apparent that he did. Dan and Serena noticed it too.
"You can't beat yourself up over the past," Dan said, trying to be appeasing.
"She died hating me. I don't blame her," Chuck said. Blair inhaled sharply, those words hurting more then Nate's and Jenny's clique combined.
"I didn't hate you, Chuck! I never did!" Blair cried.
"I know you're upset that Blair's dead," Serena said calmly. "But she knew how much you cared about her, even if she didn't want to admit it. And if she didn't know, she knows now." Blair nodded happily, then looked at Chuck with the hope that he would understand. "I miss her too," Serena added. "Today was the first lunch that I've ever had without eating with my best friend or telling her goodbye before I go see Dan." Blair looked at Serena and noticed that her eyes were starting to well up with tears. "She was like my sister," Serena said. Dan walked over to her to hug his girlfriend, but she walked over to Chuck and hugged him. Chuck looked a little surprised, but accepted and hugged her back. Dan looked absolutely flabbergasted, and for a split moment he thought that the armageddon was upon the Upper East Side. Blair watched on, overjoyed and melancholy at the same time. Chuck's words from before were still replaying in her mind. Chuck pulled away gently and looked down at Serena with large, sad eyes.
"I miss her so much," he whispered.
"I know." Serena hugged him once more. "I know." Blair was surprised to see Dan now smiling at his girlfriend and her soon-to-be-stepbrother. Serena turned and faced her boyfriend. "Let's get a cab." Dan nodded, and Serena turned toward the street. "Taxi!" She put her arm in the air. Chuck put her arm down, looked at her smugly, then whistled. "Show off," Serena said.
"Hey guys, watch out!" Dan called out. Chuck and Serena turned and looked to see a biker heading toward them at full speed.
"Excuse me!" the biker yelled loudly. Serena backed up out of the way in time. Chuck stepped forward on instinct, but he did it so quickly that he tripped on the curb and fell onto the street. Blair's heart stopped.
"Chuck, get up!" Serena shouted from the sidewalk. Chuck looked up to see a supply truck seven inches away from his face.
Dan and Serena screamed. People walking by stared. The driver reached for the brakes. Blair ran and shoved Chuck out of the way.
Blair felt herself roll in between the truck's two wheels and heard it screech and come to a stop. Blair crawled out from under the truck and saw Chuck lying in the middle of the street, positively shaken. She sighed out of relief as she stood up, her blood pulsing through her veins. Seeing him lying in front of that truck was a living nightmare.
"Thank God he's okay," Blair thought, wiping cold sweat from her face. "Thank God." She wondered if Chuck would be with her if he was dead or if she would never see him again. Either way, she didn't want Chuck to be dead. She hated not being able to connect with him, but she would rather have him live a good long life then be young and dead.
Dan and Serena ran over to Chuck while other people in cars and on the sidewalk looked on. The trucker got out of his vehicle to make sure everyone was okay before climbing back in.
"Chuck, how did you roll away so fast?! That thing was right in front of you!" Dan exclaimed. Chuck looked confused as the couple helped him stand up.
"What? I thought one of you shoved me out of the way," Chuck said. He walked back over to the sidewalk with them. "I know I didn't move by myself. I was a little too busy shitting my pants and having flashbacks of my entire life."
"Chuck, Dan and I couldn't get there in time. We ran but it was way too late. You did it yourself," Serena said. Blair smirked. Chuck stared at them as though he had just woken up from a visual dream and thought that it was real.
"I don't believe that," Chuck said. Dan and Serena looked at each other, then back at him.
"Well, whether you want to believe it or not, we didn't rescue you and neither did anyone else," Dan said. "Unless Superman exists, of course." Serena leaned over and hugged Chuck.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" she exclaimed. Chuck stifled a little laugh.
"If I didn't know better, Van Der Woodsen, I'd say you cared," Chuck said. Serena rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Always sarcastic, even after having a brush with death," she said.
"You forget who you're talking to," Chuck said. He acted like he was back to his old self, but his eyes still looked dazed and perplexed. Blair sighed. She was extremely glad that she saved Chuck, but he would never know that it was her.
"Oh, this is so going on the front page." Blair turned and saw Jenny and her friends standing outside of Constance, only a few sidewalk squares away. All of the girls except for Jenny had their cell phones out and were taking photos of the scene.
"Do you think he's hurt?" Jenny wondered. She wanted to run over to her brother and ask what happened, but she thought he looked too preoccupied.
"Who cares?" Hazel asked.
"As long as everyone hears that S and C are on hugging terms and that lonelyboy actually screamed when the truck was coming, it's all good!" Isabel exclaimed. The group snickered. Blair felt her blood beginning to boil. Before her mind could even tell her body to stop, Blair was briskly walking over to the group of them. She didn't know what she was going to do; she was too enraged to think. As she neared, she saw that Hazel was holding a chilled mocha latte which was almost filled to the brim. "Let's go. Class is going to start in a few minutes," Isabel said. They all began to turn around.
"Oh no you're not!" Blair said. She wanted vengeance. She was tired of listening to their gossip and their slandering. She looked at them once again and thought about what she could possibly do when her hand went through everything. In a desperate moment of infuriation and uncaring that it would do nothing, Blair brought her hand up from under the latte to shove the contents up into Hazel's face. It wasn't until the brown foamy fluid flew into Hazel's fake blonde locks that Blair realized what had happened. She looked at the half-empty latte, astonished.
"Ahhhh!! My hair! It took me three hours to get this perm!" Hazel exclaimed hysterically. She looked at her group of friends. "Which one of you knocked into me?!" All of the girls denied it frenziedly--except for Jenny, who merely replied that she hadn't. "One of you did it! Stop lying!" Hazel yelled, nearly in tears. Blair was finally coming out of her astounded state and beginning to appreciate the situation. She looked at Hazel's hair and started laughing.
"It was probably some passerby who was in a hurry," Isabel suggested. Hazel looked like she wanted to believe them, but she still didn't.
"You better not be pranking me, I swear to God!" she yelled.
"Honest Haze, we didn't," Jenny said. She turned slightly to the side. "Let's forget about it and go, okay?" The girls slowly turned and followed her into the courtyard, dying to get out of the situation. Hazel hesitated before following. Blair doubled over into gales of laughter. She heard a bell ring, and she tried to scalm down.
"See yah Nate."
Blair immediately looked up and saw Nate walking with another guy across the courtyard. It was his lunch period. Blair smiled fiendishly, amazed at how perfect his timing was.
"See you at seventh," Nate said to his buddy. He began to walk towards Blair. Blair smirked and stepped to the side. Nate came close to her, and Blair causally stuck out her foot. Nate's shin got caught on it and he tripped and fell. He looked behind him, shocked. Blair smiled widely at his bemused expression. Nate laughed a little and began to stand up. "I can't believe I just tripped over nothing," he said to himself. As soon as he was on his feet, Blair swung her leg up and forcefully brought her foot up into his behind. Nate jumped forward at the impact and looked behind him once more. Seeing no one once again, he now looked terrified instead of confused. He began to run across the street to a café, leaving Blair to laugh hysterically to herself once again.
Once her laughing jag ceased, Blair walked back to the site of where she saved Chuck. She was surprised to still see Chuck, Dan, and Serena on that sidewalk. They had found a bench and were sipping coffee on it. She saw Chuck talking to both of them, even Dan, trying anything to get over what almost happened to him. They chatted a little while longer before Dan and Serena pulled over a cab and got Chuck inside.
Blair's shoulders rose as she sighed. She looked up at the bright blue sky above her and felt the springtime air enter her lungs. She looked at Chuck's cab once more, knowing that he would be okay--until he got to the Palace, at least. Blair began to walk down the street and, after waving her hand in front of the faces of a kissing Dan and Serena, started skipping her way along. She didn't know why she could suddenly pick things up that she couldn't before. She still didn't know why she could touch Chuck before anything else, and she still didn't know why she remained on earth.
All she knew was that she was beginning to enjoy it.
End of Chapter II