Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girls.
Author's Note: Due to the change in style, I made this a separate chapter. Thank you for reading.
When it happens three weeks later, when Serena stumbles, Blair can't follow through with nothing, she can't stand back and watch her fall.
She thinks maybe that makes her weak, but when Serena calls-- confused, disoriented, asking her where Poppy was and how did you get out of here, Blair slides into her role without a backwards glance.
She finds Serena at a club, pays one of the security guards to bring her out to Blair, and then herds her best friend into a taxi.
Serena is frazzled, upset, and Blair soothes; tells her it's going to be okay, there's nothing to worry about, that they're going home.
Serena believes her, drops her head onto Blair's shoulder and closes her eyes, trusts the safety net to catch her.
In the Bass apartment, Blair carefully maneuvers Serena up to her room. The routine is so familiar, so easy, she can do it with her eyes closed.
And when Serena is in the shower after puking up god knows what into the toilet, Blair does close her eyes. She closes them and leans back against the wall next to the door and she cries.
When the shower stops, she goes back in and helps Serena into her nightgown, guides her friend to her bed, tucks her in.
All the while, Serena is babbling—apologizing, explaining, wondering, apologizing again and finally declaring that she loves Blair, she really does.
Blair nods, agrees, smoothes back Serena's hair, tells her to get some rest, that things will be better in the morning.
Chuck's waiting by the doorway when she leaves the room. She hasn't spoken more than a few words at a time to him this school year, hasn't been completely alone with him since last year.
He takes a step towards her, his face impassive as it usually is. "You came through for her, Waldorf." He murmurs it and she catches a touch of surprise in his voice.
She doesn't wonder how he knows that Serena needed help, how he knows that Serena reached out to her; she doesn't wonder how he knows about the new game, how he knows that she failed at it.
"You always will won't you." He states and his hand comes up to touch her face.
She doesn't move, doesn't speak, doesn't bother trying to stop her tears.
"Even when you don't want to," he continues and gently wipes a tear away with his thumb. He leans into her space and whispers, "Why?"
She pulls back, resolutely not missing the heat of his fingers on her face. He's waiting for her answer, watching her, seeing her the way no one ever does.
"I don't know." She confesses and the words rip their way out of her throat, sounding jagged and broken.
He says nothing, just continues to watch her, and Blair wonders if he's waiting to see her shatter.
When he takes her hand, she lets him. When he pulls her to him, she doesn't fight him. When he leads her to his own bedroom, to his own bed, she follows.
TBC.