Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I know you guys have to suffer a lot since I'm not able to update frequently.
A GREAT THANK to my amazing beta Holly. Without you, this story would still stuck on Chapter eight or so!
Please review and let me know if you liked it or not.
Little warning before: Most of you know I'm a really good writer for angsty and dramatic stuff but this is right down cheesy and fluff!
Serena, Nate and Eric made their way down the street. It was like a scene from a movie. Dirty, sandy streets, kids on bikes without rubber on the wheels and Serena's absolutely favorite adventure of the daystroking a donkey!
"The donkey was so cute!" Serena said happily, as they finally arrived at the market. There were lots of little stands with a lot of different stuff. Fish, meat, vegetable, fruits, and so on.
"Uh oh, do any of you know how to cook?" Nate asked skeptically as he eyed the raw potatoes and cauliflower.
"We'll learn to." Eric nodded promising and since no one of them spoke Spanish they just pointed at the things they wanted and gestured with their fingers how much they want.
An hour later they were on their way back. Each of them carrying two heavy bags.
"See, now a…." Serena started.
"We are not getting a donkey, Serena!" Eric hissed.
"Why not?" Serena whined.
"It's the same thing as it was with cat. Three weeks before grandma took it with her. Then there was the pony. You got bored after what? Eight weeks?" Eric told her.
"I was a kid then, Eric!" Serena tried to defend herself.
"Serena you're not responsible enough to have one. It'll end like it always does. I'll have to do all work with the thing." Eric mentioned.
"It's not a thing, it's an animal, Eric. Don't call it a thing!" Serena snapped.
"That's enough, Serena. We can't buy a donkey. Where's it supposed to live if we're moving?" Nate tried to rationalize.
That shut Serena up but she still pouted.
"Don't give me that look Serena. Come on, let me take those bags." Nate said as he took her heavy bags.
"Wow, that's a true gentlemen over there." Eric mocked.
"Yes, he is!" Serena spat defensively.
Chuck and Blair laid side-by-side on the bed, gasping for air.
"Oh my God. That was amazing." Blair managed to say.
"Actually I prefer Chuck." Chuck mocked, still heavy breating.
Blair slapped him softly on his chest. "Don't funny. You ruined my perfect manicure."
"How is it my fault that you broke your nails by scratching MY back, dear?"
"Lesson one: don't talk about it. Lesson two: It's always your fault."
"We're not even married yet and you've already started to talk like the wife, love."
Blair watched him with wide eyes and he smirked.
"Did you just say you want me to be your wife?" Blair asked confused.
"If you thought I'd ever let you go again, Waldorf, you don't know me at all."
"But…"
"BLAIR! CHUCK! We're home!" Serena yelled from somewhere in the hallway. And Chuck took it as signal to jump up immediately and avoid this conversation.
"Great, Eric, blond and blonder have returned." Chuck sighed as he put on his pants.
"Chuck, this isn't over." Blair said as she got up and dressed herself in a pastel green summer dress.
"I know." Chuck said with a smirk as he opened the door and made his way downstairs.
xoxo
"Which part of "don't spend too much money" didn't you get?" Chuck asked as he watched them unpack the buying.
"Chuck, we just bought what we'll need to eat." Serena defended them.
"Yeah? And where's the maid you bought along who knew how to cook?" Chuck asked with raising anger as he picked up a raw potato.
"Chuck, the cat is out of the bag." Eric smiled wide.
"What cat?" Blair asked as she appeared.
Chuck clenched his jaw as he eyed Nate. Nate pretended not see it.
"Chuck, what's that supposed to mean?" Blair asked clueless.
"Well, when I was thirteen, Bart caught me with some illegal substances in my suite. As punishment, he made me intern at the Palace kitchen. He said he had to work for his life from the beginning. So he thought, making me do labor work would change me. He expected a miracle." Chuck's sadness about it became obvious, not just to Blair but also to Nate. Bart had tried alot of things to bring Chuck into line. It never worked. The harder Bart pushed, the harder Chuck fought against it.
Serena and Eric didn't know about these things. So they laughed about it. Obviously misled through Chucks facial impress, they thought he was just disgusted by the thought of it. But the truth was, that it was the pain the memory caused him. So they laughed about it.
"The great Chuck Bass, doing labor work. I bet Bart regretted that very soon." Serena mocked. Chuck clenched his jaw again, turned around and walked out in the garden.
Blair shook her head and looked upset at Serena. "How could you?" She said before running after Chuck.
"Blair, give him a moment!" Nate called after her, but it was too late. Nate walked in the hallway and watched them from the doorframe.
Serena looked confused at Eric and he made a face at her. "You know, Serena. Now I really get why you liked that donkey so much."
Chuck stopped at the end of the garden in front of a rose bush with orange roses.
"Chuck." Blair said, more pleading than anything else.
He didn't response, just crossed his arms over his chest, still with his back to her.
Blair got closer slowly. When she stood only inches away from him, she put her hands on each side of his waist, and pulled herself closer until her head rested against his back. They didn't speak for a time that felt like hours.
"I love you." Blair whispered. Chuck turned around and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Before pulling her in a close embrace.
"I love you, too." Chuck assured her. "Do you like these flowers?"
Blair looked at them confused and nodded. "Yeah, I like them."
"My mother planted them here. I told the workers not to change any of the flowers."
"And they are perfect. Chuck, you're mother had an amazing taste."
"Thanks, I guess. I'm sometimes glad she didn't have to bear to see me growing up. A living disappointment:"
Blair pulled back and took him by his upper arms to shake him.
"Don't you dare to say anything like that ever again, Charles Bass! You're not a disappointment and I'm positive she loved you and still does!" Blair spat furious. It was beyond her how he could think so low of himself .
"Blair, I have to admit something. I know why Serena is acting like that towards me. The night she came home, I made a move on her. An inappropriate one."
"Chuck, I know about it. She told me. You know what? I don't care what made you do it then and there but I know you changed a lot. You're not the same guy. You took so much responsibility since we left the city. You saved us. And we're grateful for that, so is Serena."
"That doesn't make it okay. Why weren't you afraid of me when you came to Victrola that night alone? I mean, you were Nate's girl but Serena was that, too, somehow."
"Because I knew you'd never do something that would hurt me. Mental, perhaps since I did that, too. But physical? Never. Not on purpose. I was never scared of you Chuck. At least, not really, so far."
"I love you, Blair. And I meant what I said earlier. One day, you're going to be my wife. I know it." He said and his smile came back. When Blair felt him relax she smirked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so? What makes you think, I'm going to say yes?" Blair asked seductively
"I dreamed of the wedding. And you know what? I saw my mother crying tears of happiness there. I know it sounds cheesy but you know as well that we're inevitable and you're the next Mrs. Bass." he smirked.
"Well, I guess, there's nothing I can change about it then." She answered as she kissed him on the lips. "Except that I have to look for a new maid of honor," she whispered when she spotted Nate, Eric and Serena standing in the door frame of the house.
"I'm going to sort this out with Serena right now. You go inside with the boys and tell them about our dance project tonight." Chuck commanded. Blair let it slid this time. She knew he didn't mean to say it that harsh.
Blair walked straight to the door, took Eric and Nate by the arms and pushed them in. Without looking at Serena. But she understood though. She walked over to Chuck.
He looked at her with an unreadable face.
"I'm sorry Chuck." Serena said merely.
"So am I." Chuck returned. Serena frowned.
"Look, Serena, I know why you act the way you do. I really do regret my actions of the night you came back to NY." Chuck said in a low voice. "Do you forgive me?"
"Chuck, it's forgiven. Can you forgive me as well?" Serena said as her eyes water up.
"I do. But you have to stop this fighting, okay? I changed. I love Blair and I respect your relationship with Nate. I just ask you do to the same think for me and B."
"Deal. Bass." Serena said as she pulled him in for a hug.
"It looks like that went well." Eric commented the scene in garden. Nate nodded and Blair hissed.
"Blair, are you angry with them for agreeing to a truce?" Eric asked in disbelief. Blair shook her head and ran upstairs.
Meanwhile Chuck and Serena came back in the house. Chuck caught a glance of Blair running upstairs.
"What happened?" he demanded to know.
"I don't know why she's upset, man. She watched you two in the garden and after the hug she ran upstairs." Nate told him. Chuck nodded and turned around to walk after her.
Serena looked even more confused as the two of them.
"Well, let's learn how to cook." Eric said to stop the confusion and do something expedient.
Chuck opened the door of the bedroom. Blair was lying on the bed, face in the pillows, without any reaction. Chuck sat next to her and put a hand on her back.
"What is it, Blair. Don't you want us all to be friends?" Chuck asked a bit confused. Normally he could construe every of her mood swings and reactions. But this time it was a mystery to him.
"I don't know what's wrong with me, Chuck. I don't know why I feel so confused."
"Yes you do. Tell me." Chuck said softly.
"Okay. It's always like that, you know. Serena does something stupid and everybody forgives her easily. How do you think this would be if I had said something mean about the Capitan this morning? Do you honestly think Nate would have forgiven me that easily? I don't even know why I'm mad."
"Because you miss New York, your parents and everything. Please don't deny it. That's the reason for your constant fighting with everyone these past days." Chuck said as he finally recognized why she acted so weird.
Blair still hadn't looked up to him. Now she was crying heavily. Her tiny body was shaking caused by the heavy sobbing.
"Hey, Blair. Look at me." Chuck turned her around gentle and laid beside her, so that he could hug her and look her in the eyes. "For what it's worth, I love you and I swear I'll never leave you."
Blair pulled him closer. "Chuck that means everything to me. It really does."
"Well, that doesn't look so bad." Serena said twenty minutes later in the kitchen.
"Yeah, if you leave out the part that it was intended to be mashed potatoes it became a very fine potato soup." Nate agreed.
"Well done, guys." Eric mocked.
"I smell food." Chuck said as he walked in the kitchen, hand in hand with Blair.
"Yeah, I cooked an excellent potato soup." Serena smiled proud.
"You won't get a donkey as reward, so stop self-honoring, Serena." Eric said.
"Donkey?" Blair laughed.
There they were. The NJBC plus one, laughing at the dinning table. Telling stories and just being happy to be together. When they finished, Blair remembered something.
"Oh, and you guys. We want to go out tonight. Dancing. Anyone else in?" she asked.
"Yeah, cool." Nate said and Eric and Serena nodded.
"The dress is still too short, Waldorf!" Chuck snapped as the five made their way downtown.
"No it's not. It's even longer than Serena's!" Blair snapped back.
Blair had her hair pulled up in a pony tail and wore a beautiful red Salsa dress with a circular skirt that was knee-long and a sweetheart neckline.
Serena wore a strapless black, tight dress that ended mid thigh.
"Well, Serena isn't my girlfriend, Blair. That's Nate's problem."
"No, it's a problem that you don't trust me." Blair spat out angrily.
"I DO TRUST YOU!" Chuck yelled back. "It's the other men I don't trust."
"It's so cute. He's jealous, Blair." Serena summarized and Chuck made a face.
(Song: Represent Cuba from the Dirty Dancing II soundtrack)
Some time later they entered a bar. It wasn't too full. There were a lot of locals but also tourists. Soon, they found a small table at a corner next to the bar. Chuck order everybody's favorite drink before he picked up Blair and pulled her to the dance floor.
Chuck was an incredible good dancer and Blair spun around him as though she did this every day. The dance floor got more and more empty and Blair and Chuck got a lot of attention.
"Nate, let's go dance , too." Serena said.
"Eric, would that be okay for you?" Nate asked the little brother and he nodded.
"Sure, why not?" Eric was used to watch them while he played the guard of purses and drinks. And he enjoyed that. In that time, he didn't had to listen to their talking at least.
(Song: DD II Soundtrack – Guajira, I love you too much)
The NJBC spun around on the floor and enjoyed themselves. The night was theirs right now and nobody was able to change that.
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