Chapter 16-
Dan, Blair, and Paul are in the back of a town car on their way to see Chuck off at the airport.
"Why doesn't he live in New York anymore?" Paul asks his mom.
Blair smiles and pushes Paul's curls off of his forehead. "Because, he's working out of Chicago now."
"Is Chicago big?" Paul asks.
Dan smiles, "Some say it rivals New York. As far as Gotham Cities in America, Chicago and New York are the only real ones we have."
Blair scrunches her nose, "Yes, Chicago is big, but it's NOT New York. It's in the Midwest! You can't really compare it to New York."
Dan smirks, "Have you ever been to Chicago Blair?"
Blair slits her eyes, "No."
"Well I have, for a book signing. Seeing as to how I am the only one in this car who has been there trust me Paul, Chicago is just as grand as New York."
"I don't need to have been someplace to know that it's a second rate city Humphrey! You can't compare a city built on mafia money and jazz and prohibition in the early century to New York, New York has all the old money and history." Blair says condescendingly.
Paul looks between his mom and dad worried. Dan smiles down at him, "I'm going to have to let your mother win on this one, but I assure you kiddo, it's a great city."
"Maybe one day we can visit Uncle Chuck? See for ourselves how great it is?" Paul asks.
Blair snorts, "Trust me sweetie, there is nothing we need to see in the Midwest."
"But I want to go!" Paul insists.
Dan looks over at Blair as Paul takes his hand.
"Really Blair, could you really deny your son the chance to explore a great city like Chicago because you have some ridiculous prejudice against it?!" Dan asks starting to get irritated.
Blair looks down at her son, "Maybe, if I start feeling better, we can go visit your Uncle Chuck and you can see for yourself how greater New York is."
Paul smiles, knowing that he had won that round.
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Paul runs into Chucks arms on the runway. Chuck is standing in front of his corporate jet waiting to take off. Everyone is there and Blair and Dan are the last to arrive.
"Mom says we can visit you in Chicago when she feels better!"
Chuck hoists Paul in his arms and chuckles, "Really? Blair Waldorf in the Midwest? I can't wait to see it" Chuck says as he looks on at Blair.
Dan goes up to Chuck and shakes his hand, "Thanks Chuck, for your help and everything."
"Don't mention it Humphrey, I really couldn't let you go against Georgina by yourself. You needed my help, after all, I'm Chuck Bass." Chuck says ending with his famous statement.
Blair rolls her eyes.
Chuck puts Paul down and turns his attention to Blair.
Blair smiles and straightens his tie. "Do you really have to go? I feel like we barely got to see each other."
Chuck grabs her hands and holds it against his chest. "Business calls…"
"And Raina" Blair ends cocking her eyebrow.
"And Raina too" Chuck agrees.
Blair sighs, "I'm glad you're happy Chuck you deserve it, I wish you didn't have to go to Chicago to find your happiness, but I'm glad that you and Raina have found each other again. She's definitely meant for you, she's just as powerful and business savvy as you are.." Blair bites her lip, "You guys make a great team."
"We do" Chuck says. "You know you deserve happiness too, are you happy?" Chuck asks while cocking his head towards Dan Humphrey.
Blair looks over at Dan and Paul holding hands and watching them, she turns back to Chuck and nods her head.
Chuck takes her into his arms and hugs her. "I'm glad. I love you Blair. You'll call me after your Dr.'s appointment? Let me know how the scan goes"
"Of course" Blair replies.
He gives Dan a nod and then presses a kiss on Lily's cheeks as she struggles to keep her tears from spilling over.
"Call as soon as you land Charles." Lily says.
"Of course" Chuck says.
"Next time bring Raina, I want to talk to the girl who has bewitched my son and entices him to return to the Midwest." Lily teases.
"If she's not busy next time I will make sure she comes." Chuck says warmly.
He shakes Rufus's hand and gives Serena a big hug. He turns one last time to look at Blair before he boards his plane.
Paul, Blair and Dan head back to the car. Dan can see that Blair is trying to hold in tears.
It irritates him a bit. He can't help but be frustrated by the hold that Chuck has and continues to have over Blair. But he doesn't say anything about it.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
After they had left the airport Paul suggested Gelato to help bring up Blair's mood.
They had gelato and Paul eventually got his mother to laugh.
Dan joined in on laughing, feeling like they are an actual family. He loves this feeling.
They both decide to take Paul to the Met where they tell Paul stories about themselves on the Met steps.
"Did you really throw yogurt in people's hair?!" Paul asks his mom.
"There was this one time when I had dropped my belongings and your mother came up behind me and kicked my things, just to be a butt." Dan adds.
Blair throws him a warning glance, "Yes Paul I did all those things, but did you know your dad once had an affair with his teacher?"
"What's an affair dad?" Paul asks.
"Nothing, just a working friendship." Dan answers, he pulls Blair aside as Paul starts to play on the stairs of the Met. "Really? You're going to bring that up to our 5 year old son?"
"Only seems fair, seeing as to how you want to remind him of how awful his mother was." Blair bites back.
"Did you really rule these steps mom?" Paul interrupts.
"Well, I wouldn't go that far-" Blair starts.
"She did, she was an evil dictator of taste I tell you. But she had her great moments. She was fiercely loyal to the people she loved. I had dated your aunt Serena before your mom and when we ended and I started seeing other girls. Your mom seeing how hurt Serena was, made sure me and the girl were sorry for it. She put something in the girl's hair." Dan says smiling at the memory.
Paul stops and looks at his dad very serious, "You and Aunt Serena dated?"
"Yeah, but it was a long time ago." Dan explains.
"Did you love her?" Paul asks
"Yes…. Yes I did." Dan answers a bit uncomfortable.
"Did you love her more than you loved my mom?" Paul presses.
Dan finds himself stammering, "Well…. No, I mean, no, I did at one time, but that was years ago-"
"You should have seen him, lovesick for Serena, always there to rescue her. Though I have to say, as gentlemanly as your dad was, he wasn't a very good knight in shining armor and so had to call upon me a lot to help him. It's how your dad and I became friends, because we both loved your Aunt Serena so much." Blair interrupts, trying to help Dan out.
Paul looks at his dad uneasy.
"The truth is, we didn't like each other very much when we were younger. In fact, we hated each other, but we grew to like each other, then trust each other, then, well, we fell in love, and then I hurt your Aunt Jenny, and things became hard…" Blair says.
"Is that why you guys hate each other now?" Paul asks.
"Oh Paul, we don't hate each other" Blair answers quickly.
Paul looks at Dan. "But you hated her, you hated her for a long time. I remember hearing you talking to Lily about it the first time I stayed at your loft, I remember you yelling at her the night she went into the hospital."
"Oh Paul-" Blair starts.
"It's okay Blair" Dan says as he looks into his son's eyes. "I was angry at your mom for a long time, but I never hated her, I couldn't, it's impossible to hate your mom. Even with all the awful things she had done before, she's still such a great person that you could never hate her." Dan answers truthfully.
Paul nods satisfied. Then he wrinkles his nose, "Did you and Aunt Serena kiss?"
Dan and Blair laugh at this and Paul continues to run up and down the Met steps around his parents.
Dan puts his arm around Blair and Blair gives him a small smile. She looks out on the steps remembering when she did rule this place. Her own little kingdom, but Blair was an usurper, the power was never given to her, she took it by any means necessary, though there was this one time when she was crowned on these steps by a kind pauper with a cubic zirconia tiara.
Blair leans into Dan as she relives the memory in her head.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Dan is doing the dishes as Blair puts Paul to bed.
Dan had sent Dorota home early in the afternoon. He cleaned up a little around the house and made lasagna for Blair and Paul for dinner.
Blair grudgingly admitted it was good. Paul loved it and told Dan he should cook more often.
Dan looks up as Blair comes down the stairs and walks up to the kitchen counter. She leans against it and looks weary.
"You look like you had a hard day." Dan starts to tease.
Blair smiles sadly, "It's never easy saying goodbye to Chuck."
Dan starts to feel annoyed. He looks over at her and asks softly, "You'll always love Chuck, huh?"
Blair looks at him surprised, "Of course I'll always love him. That doesn't mean I'm in love with him."
"What is it about him? I mean, I don't understand it. I can see the good in Chuck, but he could be so awful to you."
Blair nods her head, "He could be awful to me, but he was also amazing to me as well. I know everyone wonders how I could have stuck by him all those times, but no one knows, no one knows what it was like when we were together, just us, the tender moments, but it's more than that…"
"More?" Dan asks.
Blair sighs and she looks at the sink full of dishes, "You know about my insecurities, how I always felt I was in competition with Serena… Unlike you and Nate, I didn't have to share Serena with Chuck. Chuck had never been with Serena… I know it's ridiculous, but I hated knowing that I was second to Serena with you. With Chuck, he was mine, Serena never had him, I didn't have to worry about it, he was the only thing I had up to Guillaume that Serena didn't have first." Blair says truthfully.
Dan looks at her, "I didn't realize…"
"No one did. Nate didn't, you didn't, I think Chuck understood that and used that as assurance that I would be with him. I don't think he did it consciously… I dunno." Blair ends.
Dan finishes up the dishes. He puts his hands on the counter and looks Blair in the eyes.
"You don't have to you know." He says gravely.
"Don't have to what?" Blair asks confused.
"Feel as if you're in competition with Serena. You never had to. You are Blair Waldorf, there isn't anyone out there who can hold a stick to you, at least not for me" Dan says as he wipes his hands and starts to head upstairs.
Blair looks after him stunned. She finally decides to go to bed, but before she does she checks in on her sleeping son one last time and kisses his forehead.
"Thank you Dan Humphrey, thank you for our son." She whispers as she walks to her room.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Serena stays another three weeks before she flies out to LA for the wrap party of Eric's film. Her last week she stays at the Brownstone, sleeping in Blair's bed with her. Dan smiles thinking how they act like such sisters.
Serena goes with Blair to her doctor's appointment. She waits out in the hallway as Blair gets the reading for her scan.
Her doctor puts her scans up and looks them over. Blair holds her breath. She's not sure why he hasn't said anything.
Finally he clears his throat. "I don't know what to tell you Ms. Waldorf."
Blair feels a part of her heart crumble. She steels herself. She won't breakdown in front of him.
"So, it's not working anymore? Thank you for your help and all you've done" Blair answers mechanically and starts to gather her things.
He looks at her confused.
"No Ms. Waldorf, I'm saying that I can't find the Glioma in these scans."
Blair stops and sinks back down into her chair.
"What does this mean?" she whispers. Hope starting to flutter in her chest.
He turns back to the scan and studies it longer.
He turns back to her, "It means, I can't find any evidence of your Glioma. I've never seen this before, but I think it's safe to say, we've got a complete remission."
Blair starts to breath. "I thought that wasn't possible with this type of cancer."
"I've heard of it happening in some of the medical literature but I've personally never seen it. I'm just as stunned as you are."
"Oh my god." Blair whispers as the gravity of what he's said to her starts to crash in on her.
Complete remission? Blair never dared to even hope for that, now she's presented with the reality that she may not have cancer anymore.
The Doctor stops smiling and looks at her gravely, "I have to tell you, I've heard of complete remission but in all of the cases I've read it always returns. It's an aggressive cancer. There is no definitive time line it follows, sometimes it returns in months, sometimes in years. Because of how dangerous this cancer is I'm going to recommend you to come in quarterly for scans. To check if it's returned and if it is, I want to start treatment up immediately. You've responded the best out of any patient I've ever had and I'm confident if it did return and we caught it in time we could get you back to this point, if not this point, we could buy you a lot more time."
Blair looks past him at the scans he's put up. Her vision blurs and she realizes that she has tears in her eyes.
She grabs her doctor's hands and he looks at her surprised.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! Oh my god! I can't even express how grateful I am!"
The Dr. pulls his hands out of her hands and scratches his head embarrassed.
"You don't know how happy this makes me Ms. Waldorf, but I think you need to also give yourself credit. You were on a very aggressive chemo regimen and you never once gave up." He says openly admiring her.
Blair steps out of the room, promising to schedule a scan in 4 months. After she's made her schedule she runs into Serena's arms in the lobby.
Serena holds her, "Is it good Blair?"
Blair gulps down air and looks at Serena and nods her head.
Serena's eyes shine with tears and she pulls Blair into a tight embrace. They walk out together and get into the back of the towncar that's waiting for them. Serena continues to cling to Blair's hand while Blair starts to make phone calls. The first person she calls is Dan Humphrey.
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Dan looks down at his caller ID. It's Blair.
"Hello Waldorf" he answers.
"Dan? I've just come from the Dr.'s office."
Dan takes a seat, "Okay…. So how did it go?"
"Really good Dan…. He can't find any evidence of cancer on my brainstem, Dan… I'm in remission!" Blair exclaims.
Dan can't talk. He just sits there with his hand over his mouth, a million thoughts going through his head.
"Dan are you there?"
Dan clears his throat, "I'm here" he answers with a shaky voice.
"Do you know what this means?" Blair asks.
"I think I do…. I just, I have no words. God Blair, that's so amazing…"
"Dan Humphrey at a loss for words? I told you you were an awful writer!" Blair teases.
Dan chuckles.
"I need to let you go, I need to call a few more people and let them know."
"Of course. Don't make any plans for tonight. In fact, invite everyone over to the Brownstone, we're going to celebrate, Humphrey style, I'll have Rufus make chili and I'll make some cornbread, Jenny will be on cappuccino duty." He says, he can imagine Blair rolling her eyes.
But she surprises him, "Sounds wonderful Dan, I will let everyone know."
She calls everyone and the last person she talks to is Chuck.
She thanks him for everything, for finding the doctor, for making sure she got the best care.
Chuck tells her that he would do all that and more for her if ever she needed him.
After they end the phone call Chuck turns to Raina.
Raina looks at him concerned, "Is it good?"
"Beyond good. There's no sign of cancer…" Chuck's voice hitches as he feels every emotion he's pushed back since the night he saw her hooked up to machines in the hospital months before crash down on him.
Raina looks at him with tears streaming down her face. She walks up to him and hugs him. "I'm glad" she whispers.
Chuck clings to her that night, he lays in bed with her and they do nothing but cling to each other. Happy for Blair Waldorf and enjoying the first night since finding each other again where they just slept. No power games, no sex, just slept.
Chuck can't ever remember sleeping so well.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Everyone shows up at the Brownstone and they celebrate Blair's prognosis. The whole night they talk, all of them on the verge of tears. When everyone goes home Serena helps Dan clean up as Blair puts Paul to bed.
"It's so like Blair isn't it? To leave us with the dirty work while she gets to put Paul to bed" Serena teases as she helps Dan put dishes away.
Dan chuckles and watches as Blair comes down the stairs and towards them.
She surprises them as she joins them and starts to help them clean up.
They all joke around while cleaning and when its over Dan looks over at them yawning and excuses himself to bed. He knows that Blair and Serena want to be alone. Serena is leaving tomorrow morning to go back to California for the wrap party of Eric and Darren's movie.
Serena and Blair stay up all night talking. Serena promises Blair that she will be back in New York with Darren to help Blair celebrate her birthday in November.
"But S! That's 2 months away! What will I do without you in New York?" Blair exclaims.
"You'll be fine. You've got Paul and Dan. It's fall, the holidays will be coming upon us shortly, you'll be busy, the time will fly by!" Serena explains.
They spend the rest of the early hours of the morning making plans for the holidays. Blair is adamant that it be held at the Brownstone or Penthouse, which ever place, as long as she is hosting it. Serena promises that she and everyone else will be here for Thanksgiving.
Dan comes downstairs around 7 am. Serena has just finished packing. He brings her suitcases downstairs and takes them out to the town car to load it up.
Blair is holding Paul in her arms and she looks up to Serena, "Are you sure we can't see you off at the airport?"
Serena shakes her head, "No, I'm afraid I might lose my nerve and never board the plane. It's best to get our goodbyes here."
Blair nods and hugs Serena tightly.
Serena whispers to Blair, "I love you B. I'm so happy about your doctor's appointment yesterday. I can't wait to make more plans with you. Birthdays and holidays, I'm just so excited."
Blair pulls back and nods.
Serena turns her attention to Paul, "Will you think of me everyday? I'm going to think of you" she says as she playfully tickles Paul.
Paul shrugs sleepy, but shines a bright smile for Serena, "I'm going to miss you Aunt Serena."
"Not as much as I'm going to miss you." She says as she kisses him on the cheek. He blushes instantly.
Dan hugs Serena, "Bye Serena, we will miss you. Thanks for being here for Blair and for everything."
Serena looks up to him and flashes her radiant smile at him, "I'll be back, don't you worry."
She looks back at the Brownstone and gives Blair's hand a tight squeeze before she retreats into her town car. As the town car pulls away from the curb she lowers the window and flashes them her most radiant smile and blows kisses at them.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
The rest of the day, Blair is somber. Dan understands. It's hard to be cheerful after saying goodbye to Serena.
Paul goes to school and comes back and reports back to his mom on his day. They eat leftovers that night and they all don't talk much, exhausted by the past couple of weeks.
Dan puts Paul to bed and Blair goes to her room early.
After Paul falls asleep, Dan goes up to his room. He can't fall asleep. Thinking about the possibilities of Blair's remissions and what it could mean.
He looks over at his bedside clock and sees that it's 2 am. He groans. He needs to fall asleep; he has a big day ahead of him. He's going to be heading to Columbia to do a lecture on his last book and New York's speakeasies.
He's surprised when his door opens and Blair walks in. She comes in silently and pulls back the covers to his bed.
She wordlessly lies down next to him.
Dan lies there not sure what's going on. He can smell her and he starts to ache for her.
Ten minutes later Dan hears her breathing deeply. She's fallen asleep.
His eyes get heavy and he drifts off 5 minutes later.
When he gets up at 6 am, she's no longer there. He heads downstairs and opens her bedroom door. She's sleeping in her bed.
If his pillow didn't smell like Blair he would have thought he had dreamed the whole episode.
He heads downstairs and starts on coffee. There is no way he's going to be able to fall asleep again.
He sits alone in the quiet, dark house and thinks about Blair and sleeping next to her. He realizes that as soon as Blair laid down next to him, they both fell asleep quickly. For whatever reason, Dan finds himself hoping she will visit him again the next night.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Okay, moment of truth, I'm not too hot on the ending of this chapter, but I needed to end it somewhere. I realize that in most of my chapters I always end it either of them falling asleep. I suppose it's my go-to ending.
This story is not over, but it's on its way. Like I said I've got the ending all written out and a few plot points written that need to be addressed on the way to the ending. I honestly can't say how many chapters I have left, but I really hope it's not too many.
Someone had reviewed and had commented on missing family moments between Paul, Blair, and Dan. It made me really happy to read that because I am so wary about how I portray Paul. Me and Kids are like Pluto and Mercury, we don't have the same orbit and so I really do struggle with Paul. However I do like the challenge and I'm glad that he's being received well.
I know I know, I once again devoted a lot of time to Chair. In my defense I was once a Chair shipper (Season 1 and Season 2). Also after that mockery of an episode that finalized last season I kept trying to reason out in my head why Blair would leave Dan Humphrey for Chuck Bass. (I know, I can't wait till this show ends so I don't have to waste my time trying to make sense of the writers' logic). So I thought this would be a reason as to the hold that Chuck has over Blair. Serena is Blair's greatest love but she's also her greatest rival at the same time and I thought it was kind of poignant to note that Serena had never had Chuck (or from what I can remember). I hope you all don't mind.
I hope you guys like this chapter. I struggled with it. It's a lot easier to write angst then it is to write "good times" personally and honestly, I enjoy reading angst over any other genre. So I hope you will bear with me in this story. This will start to look up. But I promise that I am true about the genre, this is a Romance/Angst story. I'm getting there
Thanks again for all the reviews and for continuing to read this story. I really appreciate it. There are a handful of you all that have been reading and reviewing this story from the beginning and I'm in awe that I've been able to keep you guys interested. Again, thank you so much!