Chapter 2

As Blair felt herself loosen in his steadfast embrace, she thought back to the words she spoke to Dorota late one night after a Brooklyn jealousy scheme. The whole night seemed so long ago. In truth, she and Chuck were both guilty of playing on each other's weaknesses that night in hopes of drawing the other back in, out of jealousy and longing for what used to be. However, it wasn't until later that she realized it was time to accept the fact that they were over. He had broken her heart after all, and she would move on without scheming, jealousy, or pride because that was what was best for her. Blair didn't realize it, but she had honestly started loving herself and growing as a person far before Paris. "Chuck is a part of me. He always will be," she admitted to Dorota upon her return from the art show in Brooklyn that night, so long ago.

Why was she thinking back to one of the many Chuck moments she SO tried to forget this summer? Well...Blair thought, "Just because I can't make myself loathe him any longer, doesn't by any means signify that I have fallen in love with him again in the course of two seconds in Paris! Who cares if it's the city of love?" In that moment seeing Chuck after all this time, she knew she had honestly forgiven him for the whole Jenny Humphrey thing. It had been months, and she had realized that holding onto all that anger was almost more tiresome than the initial anger in the first place. "Even though her name alone makes me cringe, I can't blame him for that depressing...and I might I add..disgusting rebound. After all, I was the one that didn't show at the Empire, and he had assumed my love for him had diminished completely. Who's to say I wouldn't have reacted in the same way? Just not with a Humphrey for crying out loud!" Blair's nose turned up in disgust at this thought. "Chuck is a part of me. He always will be," she replayed that statement once again. "Maybe he can still be a small part of me. Don't get me wrong. It will take time...lots of it, but we always were close friends even on some demented level before our doomed relationship began. Who's to say we can't start over? Even Chuck and Blair deserve a clean slate. We'll be friends. "Chuck and Blair, Blair and Chuck"...just friends? Could it work?" Her eyebrows furrowed, and a crease of concern etched her forehead.

"Gah, she is beautiful," Chuck admitted to himself. How had he forgotten how perfect Blair Waldorf truly was to him? After all this time, she still had a way of making him melt on the inside like no woman ever had. Before Jack and Jenny, a piece of alliteration he wished he could forget, he knew every emotion she felt, every facial expression she owned (there were many), and every ounce of her being. Had this much time really gone by? He watched her hesitantly as he finally let her escape his arms. Although she smiled with all that was in her, he couldn't shake the fact that her eyes didn't match up with it. "Will she ever be able to forgive me? Pssh, who am I kidding?" He sadly concluded. He knew the answer to this. Even he couldn't blame her for ridding herself of him once and for all. His own stomach seemed to fall into a deep, dark pit as this realization finally overcame him.

Serena watched two of the most important people in her life unintentionally show what seemed like a lifetime of hurt across their faces: her best friend, her soulmate, her sister and her step brother, her protector, and her...irritant... most times back home anyway. She had to intervene somehow. "B, say something back to him," she silently pleaded with her best friend. After a few more moments of what seemed to her like complete awkwardness, she spoke up. "Chuck, oh my gosh! What a surprise! We didn't know you were in Paris...did we, Blair?" Blair's eyes snapped back into reality. "Uh, well, no...we definitely weren't aware." Blair stuttered nervously. Chuck laughed kindly at Blair's lack of composure. Was this the same Blair Waldorf he knew?

Scared of yet another awkward pause or ten, Serena kept the conversation rolling. "Soooo, do share, do share! What are you doing here! Why didn't you text me!" Chuck looked down and checked his watch anxiously. "It's mostly work-related, sis. Look, I'm supposed to meet a client in ten minutes on the other side of the square. I hate to bail though. What are you two getting into tonight? Would you want to meet up after my meeting?" He asked glancing at Blair. Hoping for a response from her, Chuck couldn't help but frown as Serena once again had to be the voice of the two best friends, "Sure! We were actually meeting up with some friends anyway. Text me and I'll send you the address." He nodded with a smile and gazed at Blair one last time. Besides the obvious lack of snide remarks being replaced by quiet nervousness, it seemed there were many more differences in her...deep below the surface. For some reason, he couldn't shake...he felt like he didn't even know her at all anymore.

Then, as if she could read his mind in an instant, the old Blair came back with a classic Waldorf line. "Well, we do know how long your "business" meetings tend to last, Bass. Perhaps, we should bank on a late night out then?" she said with an angelic smirk. Serena winced, waiting for Chuck's response thinking that this could be the beginning to a very quick end. She just knew Chuck would lash out in classic Bass-man fashion, and then, there'd be pieces of Blair splattered all over Dior. She didn't want to be there to pick up those pieces. She was just about to change the subject when Chuck shook his head playfully and gently bit his lip, a smile breaking out across his face. His temper never even flared. The three of them shared a laugh...a real honest to goodness laugh... that they all realized they'd been missing over the past couple of months. With another quick glance at his watch, Chuck tried to say his goodbyes, "Look, I'll see you both tonight." It looked like he were going to turn and leave. "Oh, and Waldorf...I won't keep you waiting." He turned but then stopped, wheeling back around to face her. "Oh yeah, and I almost forgot...you can 'bank on that.'" he mocked her in his signature tone. He threw her a smile that even touched his dark brown eyes.

Before he could turn once more to walk away, ending the surprising but not completely unwelcoming meeting of three old "friends?" all three of their phones sounded. "Bzzz! Bzzz" Gossip Girl hadn't posted much over the summer months, and quite frankly, it was a breath of fresh European air to both Serena and Blair. Their escape to tourism bliss shouldn't be interrupted by Gossip Girl blasts. Other than one hit on Dan Humphrey having an awkward conversation with a girl who looked sort of like Georgina Sparks on a street in Brooklyn, Blair and Serena had decided that Gossip Girl had finally lost her touch.

Of course, you know what they say. Sometimes, the worst things in life...come when you least expect them. As it turns out, Gossip Girl hadn't lost her touch at all. No, it just seemed that she too liked to travel... "Baguette, anyone?"

Ever wonder how the term "french" kiss came to be? We bet Chuck Bass already knows. Look who's been spotted romantically linked to one of Paris's own sweethearts, Eva Boulanger. Wonder if B's retail therapy can soothe her now?

You know you love,

~XOXO Gossip Girl~