A/N: Thanks for your support so far! I've been trying to post daily, but can't promise that I can keep it up. Will try my best though! Lots of thanks to those who have followed and left reviews - feedback is greatly appreciated since I'm totally new at this! Lots of fluff coming up for Seth and Blair so stay tuned!
"Maybe what I need is some sort of coming out party – like a debutant ball – but just for me!" Blair suddenly exclaimed, while Seth and Blair were taking a yogurt break from their exhausting shopping trip.
"You mean like, the Cotillion?" Seth asked skeptically. Seth hated parties. Especially fancy ones where tuxedos were involved.
"Yes, like the Cotillion," replied a bright-eyed Blair, "but of course one that's much more sophisticated and tasteful…one that spells Blair Waldorf. It would be the perfect chance for everyone in Harbor to get to know me!"
"You really want to invite all these kids you don't know to a party?" Seth asked with a frown.
"Trust me, no one throws a party like Blair Waldorf, and by the end of the week, all of Harbor will be dying to know me," Blair stuck a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth, looking satisfied.
"Is there a reason why you always refer to yourself in third person?" Seth asked under his breath. Blair narrowed her eyes at him and feigned a smile, while Seth mirrored her expression. "Well, have fun at your party. Parties aren't really my thing, and you know, me being there won't exactly help your reputation or anything," Seth said matter-of-factly.
"Well, don't come on my account," Blair replied curtly. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but it was true – Seth Cohen showing up as a guest of honor would not help her social status any, and she needed to try to break free and make it on her own. It was best that Emo Boy wouldn't hang around her all night when she was scouting the pool of candidates for new minions. Seth looked slightly disappointed, but nodded silently to himself, mouth pressed into a line. Blair suddenly felt a pang of her least favorite emotion – guilt. She knew that Seth had gone out of his way to be nice to her, and that she should probably return the favor. Who knows, maybe she can even help him be somebody in the school by association.
"Alright," Blair declared with authority, "you can come. Just not in that shirt…and after you get a haircut." She snickered to herself as she remembered that she had said almost the exact same thing to Dan Humphrey when he first started dating Serena. Which reminded her…Serena! Her BBF was always the life of the party. True, Blair often resented her for her party girl ways and her wild reputation, but she had to admit that Serena knew how to have a good time – something that Blair needed to learn to do. Without Serena at her side, Blair felt more awkward and self-conscious than ever.
That night, she called Serena and asked her to fly over to Newport for the weekend for her first party in Orange County.
"I'd love to! I've been meaning to visit anyway," Serena squealed. "How's it going there, by the way? You hardly reply my texts! I miss you like crazy!"
"How's Nate?" Blair asked, changing the subject. She didn't want to tell Serena how hard it's been for her to make new friends away from home. Of course, Serena would have made a dozen new friends by now, with her naturally warm demeanor and general ease with strangers.
"Nate…seems to have patched things up with Chuck. Maybe you can think about coming back, B. I mean, people move on to new gossip pretty quickly on the Upper East Side. I'll bet no one even remembers what happened between you guys by now," Serena offers, half pleadingly. But Blair had already made her decision, and no one could change Blair Waldorf's mind once it was set on something. Blair was committed to throwing the most epic party of the year – a mint color-themed party bringing the cold to the O.C. All she needed was her best friend with her to get the party started. She would have Dorota on the invitations pronto, and her house would be party-ready by the weekend.
The week seemed to fly by, and soon enough, Blair was at her place, waiting nervously for Serena to arrive. She had gotten her favorite caterers from New York to fly in just for the occasion, and a florist to arrange light blue hydrangeas that were just light enough to pull off the mint theme. She took a step back and admired her work – looks like Newport hasn't affected Blair's razor-sharp intuition when it came to putting together a kick-ass party. The room was covered with frosted ornaments which dangled from the high ceiling; mint-tinted desserts ranging from Pierre Hermé macarons to custom-ordered Magnolia cupcakes lined the oak tables that had been set up especially for the occasion. Even Dorota had a matching light mint apron for the event. Blair herself was dressed in an elegant, vintage A-line dress that showed enough of her back to make her seem relevant in this century, after taking a few lessons from Seth. She arranged the line of pearls around her neck and ran her fingers through her hair, which was left headband-free tonight – also courtesy of Seth Cohen. She was slightly annoyed at how much his opinions had been affecting her lately, but she blamed it on her lack of available references. That would all change tonight, she told herself encouragingly. Just then, Serena van der Woodsen slipped gracefully through the front door, arms held open.
"B!" Serena exclaimed with a smile that lit up the room. "Come here, you!" With that, she ran to her petite best friend and swept her off her feet.
"Oooh," Blair squealed nervously as she took in the embrace, cautiously making sure that her outfit would not get wrinkled in the process. "You're here!" Serena looked effortless in an almost sheer white top paired with a sequined mint miniskirt and gold pumps. She would fit right in here, Blair thought to herself, suddenly feeling a pit at the bottom of her stomach and a nagging suspicion that maybe asking Serena to come may not have been the best idea. She quickly led her friend into the room and showed her around. "Well," she said, holding her breath expectantly, "what do you think?"
"It looks great, B. They're going to love you," Serena told her sincerely. "It's really so good to see you." Serena hugged Blair again, and for a moment, Blair thought she would, just maybe, make it through the night. Just then, the doorbell rang, and Dorota scooted over to answer the door. It was Seth and Ryan, followed by Marissa, then Summer, who was peeking behind them cautiously. Blair opened her mouth to explain that they were a little early, but before she could say a word, a bunch of guys from the water polo team pushed through the door with a 6-pack in their hands.
"Sweeeet!" some tanned Joshua Jackson lookalike called out while letting out a low whistle, and he and his friends pushed through the carefully-arranged flowers and desserts, grabbing handfuls at a time. Blair wanted to protest, but before she knew it, the entire house was packed with teenagers – all of them in all colors of the rainbow – all except mint.
"Yeah, color-themed parties…not really a Newport thing," explained Seth, who was sandwiched between a bootylicious redhead and a boy who was obviously stoned. Just when Blair was about to hide away in her room out of humiliation, Serena decided to take charge of the situation and marched her friend on top of the stairs, holding up her arm.
"Hey, listen up everyone! This is my girl, Blair Waldorf, your hostess for tonight. Let's give her a hand for the party of the year!" Serena led the crowd in a loud cheer, and everyone clapped along and laughed, raising their beer bottles and whatever they could find. "Now let's get this party started!" With that, Serena took out her iPod, plugged it into the Blair's computer, and blasted the speakers to the max. Sure enough, the teens looked as if they were having the time of their life, dancing and drinking the night away. Within minutes, boys from all corners of the room began to inch closer to Serena, hoping to strike up a conversation with her, or just to score her number. Serena flirted back effortlessly, always managing to steer the chat back to Blair and how excited she was to be in Newport. Blair knew that Serena was just trying to help, but she couldn't help but feel frustrated at how she had managed to once again steal the spotlight away from her, even though they were in Newport, which was supposed to be her turf. When Serena was pulled aside by yet another Abercrombie model lookalike, Blair finally snuck away to find a peaceful corner so she could spend some quiet time to reflect on what a total disaster the night was turning out to be.
Just as she was about to cry into her mint-tinted martini, Seth Cohen walked up to her, peering curiously at her expression.
"What's up, Waldorf? Aren't you having a good time? I know this isn't exactly the best music, but at least it seems that you've caught on to what gets these Newport zombies going," Seth joked, hoping to get a smile out of Blair, but to no avail. He softened up his tone when he realized that Blair was genuinely upset. "You wanna get some air? Go find a quieter spot and just talk?"
"Save it, Cohen. I am not playing seven minutes in heaven with you," Blair retorted, a bit more harshly than she had intended. Perhaps the alcohol and her frustration at how the party had turned out were getting to her a bit more than she'd like to admit. Seth put up both his arms as a gesture of protest, and Blair sighed and led Seth up the stairs to her bedroom. She could probably use a break from all of this, anyway, and it wasn't like anyone was going to notice that she was missing from her own party at this rate.
Blair grabbed him by his collar and led the way, stomping up the stairs, while Seth trudged silently behind her. She closed the door behind them and slumped immediately onto her bed, dejected. Seth glanced at her, unsure of what to do next, and stuffed his hands into his pockets, scanning over her room. He caught sight of her Cabbage Patch Kid and started towards it, which made Blair shoot up defensively, grabbing it from her bookshelf, and stuffing it under her blankets.
"Captain Oats would probably like her," Seth remarked, amused at Blair's reaction.
"Who on earth is Captain Oats?" Blair asked, immensely annoyed. Why was this loser in her bedroom, anyway? Must be the alcohol.
"My prized stallion. He's a charmer, that one. I'll introduce you to him when I get the chance," Seth replied, taking a seat cautiously on Blair's bed. Blair shrugged and didn't seem to have any reaction to Seth making himself at home, so he lied down next to where she had plopped on her soft bed, watching her. "So, are you ready to tell me what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," Blair replied bitterly. "Can't you notice? The party's great! Everyone's having a blast. Everyone except me." Blair sighed heavily, turning her head slightly away from Seth so he wouldn't see the tear that was collecting at the corner of her eye and ready to trickle down any moment now.
"But I thought that's what you wanted. You know, to throw this epic, awesome party that would be talked about all year. They're having a good time," Seth implored, half-knowing the answer to the question himself.
"What I wanted – " Blair started, but stopped herself, voice cracking a bit. "What I wanted was to have people notice me, to have them welcome me to this stupid place, to like me." Blair paused, feeling stupid that she had spoken such pathetic words, and to Seth Cohen, of all people.
"Well, how do you know they don't like you? You look nice today," Seth said, paying her a genuine comment. He paused a little, fully appreciating how beautiful she was for the first time, especially with her hair in loose curls, and in her feminine dress showing her delicate curves. Blair's face was as perfect as a porcelain doll, and she was not pretty in the same way that Summer was, but possessed a more complex beauty, a – sadder one, somehow.
"They barely even know I'm alive!" Blair finally let out, crying fully now. "It's all the same, no matter where I go. It's always Serena this, Serena that. Nate, my mother, the girls, and now the people here, in Newport. It's always about Serena! She takes everything away from me. I'm never going to make it out here on my own!" Blair turned around to muffle her own sobs with her pillow. She was disgusted and horrified by her own reaction and sudden outburst, but was too tired to try to hide how she felt.
"Who on earth is Serena?" Seth asked unequivocally, for he honestly had no idea who it was that Blair was talking about. Seth only saw two girls in the entire room that night, one being Blair, and the other of course, being Summer. Seth's candid reaction caught Blair off-guard and she laughed a little, throwing her pillow at him.
"The gorgeous blonde, you dumbass," she whined, crying and laughing at the same time. She felt a little bit better, knowing that at least there was some clueless band geek that wasn't into Serena. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and sniffled. "She's my best friend, from New York. People worship her there. Here. Everywhere." She plopped back on her back, sighing heavily.
"You sound like a Dr. Seuss book," Seth remarked, handing her a tissue from her bedside table. He picked up a framed picture of Blair with the blonde, and two other boys. "And are one of these boys Nate?" he asked, bringing over the picture.
"Yeah, my boyfriend – ex-boyfriend," she corrected herself as she took the picture from him, then put it face-down into her blankets. "But it's all history now. I'm here, and I just wanted to have a fresh start, you know. But I guess it's just me. No matter where I go, I just don't belong." She looked up at him. "You don't have to be here, you know. I don't need your pity. I'm used to playing second fiddle." Blair sat up suddenly, collecting herself and straightening out her dress. Seth sat up beside her and moved closer to her, looking into her sad, brown eyes.
"Look, you've only been here two weeks, and you think no one's noticed you – which, by the way, isn't true, because I just overheard a bunch of water polo guys talking about how hot you were today – and here I am, having lived here my entire dismal life, and still no one notices I'm alive." Blair shifts uncomfortably next to him, not wanting to make eye contact with him. "I know it may not be very comforting to you to be compared to the biggest loser in Newport, but before Ryan came, I thought I would be alone forever. I hated this place. And it may not seem like much to you, but you know, it's not so bad now. Heck, I still hate this place, but at least I have someone to complain to about it. And you will too, one day. You're a smart, pretty girl, with a sharp tongue and a good sense of humor. Who doesn't like that?" Seth paused, checking for her reaction. "I like you, if that means anything." Blair's eyes met his and for a second, she felt as if a slight electric current had run through her entire body, making her blood feel warm. She could feel her cheeks flushing from what she told herself was the alcohol that didn't seem to be going away, and forced herself to look away.
"That doesn't, but thanks anyway," Blair couldn't help but reply, rolling her eyes. She knew she was lying, but she couldn't be left looking so vulnerable and weak in front of him. "So…you don't think I need to do anything extra to get these people to like me?" she asked, changing the subject.
"What I think, is that the people who deserve to be your friends will like you and learn to accept you just the way you are. You can take my word for it," Seth said earnestly, bouncing off the bed and back on his feet. He held out his hand. "Now, are you ready to join me to for a dance at the most epic party of the year, Queen Bee?"
"Cohens are hardly escort material," Blair answered slyly. "But I'll make an exception, just this once," she said, as she takes his hand and steps off the bed. She looked him right in the eye. "Thanks, Seth. I mean it. I know I may be a total bitch sometimes, but I'm glad you're around. Now not another word or you'll ruin the moment."
With that, Seth mimed as if closing his mouth with a zipper, making Blair laugh. They walked down the stairs, arm in arm, while the crowd welcomed her back with drinks in the air. Looks like Blair didn't go unnoticed after all.