Chapter 10 of This is Life
"Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life."— Leo Buscaglia
Author: Lily
Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl or any characters. Gossip Girl belongs to Cecily Ziegesar, Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage and the CW.
Summary: Post 1.10 — Takes place after Chuck sees Nate and Blair kissing. What would have happened, if Blair hadn't slept with Nate and Chuck would have apologized to her?
Rating: T / PG-15
Pairing: Chuck/Blair
A/N — A special thanks to Anki for her BETA. *hugs*
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"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other."
Audrey Hepburn
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Jenny sat on the park bench, waiting for the bus home, when she heard someone approaching her from behind. Turning around swiftly she saw Penelope, followed by Isabel and Katy looking down at her.
"Penelope, Katy, Iz… what are you all doing here?" Jenny asked confused.
"I never thought I would say this," Penelope answered irritated, approaching her, "but… we need your help."
Jenny cocked her eyebrow.
"Blair has been acting… strange lately and we were thinking about maybe…" Penelope paused for a second, throwing a look at Katy and Isabel, before continuing, "doing some detective work on her."
"And what does this have anything to do with me?" Jenny replied.
"Well… if you help us and manage to reveal some dirt on Blair… she won't be queen for long anymore."
"- you want to dethrone Blair Waldorf? Seriously?" Jenny looked at them doubtingly. Blair wasn't one to mess with, everyone knew that. She was Queen Bee for reason.
"Nate Archibald seems to be trying to win her back, after they have finally broken up. And as a queen it's easier to get what you want. You'll soon learn, little J."
"And you think I'd help you, why?"
Not, that she wouldn't want to be in favor with Penelope, but she wasn't stupid. Blair's minions had never been exactly friendly to her and she knew that the only reason she was still in their circle was, that Blair hadn't excluded her. Yet. Even if Blair had been… well, as Penelope had so eloquently worded it… strange lately.
"You get your ticket to the top," she replied immediately. "And once we've graduated… I'm sure we'll be able to do something about choosing the next Queen."
"- so what do you say?" Isabel chimed in eagerly.
"I'll think about it," Jenny replied, getting up, but then she reconsidered, "keep tracking Gossip Girl." She threw them a smile over her shoulder, before getting into the bus.
Penelope's eyes followed her, the corners of her mouth curling up to a satisfied smirk.
"Good work, girls. She knows something."
--
Good morning, dear readers. Gossip Girl here, with a small mystery in my hands.
Jenny Humphrey is spotted in the hallways of the St. Jude's, waiting for Nate Archibald. I'm sure there's something cooking. I'll keep an eye on this girl and keep you posted.
Until next time - You Know You Love Me.
--
Jenny sighed. Not really, what she had wanted to be her first Gossip Girl post. She was so going down, if Blair ever found out, that she had told Nate about her and Chuck.
"Jenny, what are you doing here?"
She turned around to see Nate approaching her, looking a little stunned.
"Hey, Nate. Actually I was waiting for you," she said, a little uncomfortable.
"Oh… um, is something wrong?"
--
Chuck was standing outside the school, leaning against his limo and waiting for Eric, Serena and Blair, when someone suddenly shoved him on his back and trapped him against the limo.
When he saw, who it was, he gulped.
Nate.
He immediately knew that his best friend had somehow gotten wind of him and Blair. Nate's face was distorted in hurt and anger and the confusion underneath it was clearly visible for Chuck.
"Did you sleep with her?" he yelled.
When Chuck didn't reply, he slammed him against the limo again.
"Look, I'd rather talk about this without your hands around my neck-" Chuck said placating, trying to calm him.
"Answer my question!" Nate demanded, but let up on him.
"I did," Chuck answered slowly, "but you two were broken up-"
"I don't care!" Nate shouted, cutting him off. "I don't care, if we were broken up or dating or anything, she was my girlfriend-"
"You didn't want her! You chose her best friend over her!" Chuck's voice was now matching his.
He had known that it was going to happen, if he told Nate about him and Blair. It had been the reason he had wanted to wait before telling his best friend about them in the first place, waiting for things to cool down between Nate and Blair. But he wasn't going to take Nate's reproaches lying down, it wasn't his fault that Nate couldn't figure out, what he wanted.
"- and I told you to go fuck her?" Nate yelled back.
"It wasn't like that, she was hurt, she needed someone - and I was there!"
The whole school had gathered in front of the school and was now watching them. People were taking out their cells hurriedly, taking photos and sending texts.
"Yeah, thanks for taking care of her," Nate scoffed, "You're the best."
"Nate-"
"Just stay the hell away from me, Chuck!" he spat. "The show is over!" he shouted at the students, before turning around and going back into the school.
Chuck watched him leaving with a queasy feeling.
--
Looks like we've found out, why B doesn't want N anymore. Losing your virginity to C must have been unforgettable indeed, but still. Eleanor must not have taught you very well, B.
And speaking of C, he almost sounded as if he has fallen for our Queen. I mean 'she needed someone and I was there'? Not really a typical Chuck Bass line. And losing your best friend over a girl? On which side of whose bed did you get up on, C?
I'm dying to find out, what will happen next...
XOXO, Gossip Girl
--
Blair's cell buzzed and she froze, when she saw the latest Gossip Girl post splayed all over the web.
Losing your best friend over a girl?
She couldn't believe, Gossip Girl had found out about her and Chuck. That bitch. She had to find Chuck.
Her heart broke, when she saw that Gossip Girl had also posted a video attachment under the post, and seeing Nate yelling at Chuck and pushing him away, when he ran after him, made it hundred times worse.
They were brothers. They had never had a single argument in their whole relationship.
She had such a clear picture of the two of them, rolling their eyes, while she and Serena had been having a fight over the new Versace dress. When Serena and she had made up, Blair had explained to them, that best friends did fight, that this was normal in such a long friendship.
Both Chuck and Nate had shaken their heads, scoffing.
"We would never fight," Chuck had told her and Nate had nodded.
Hurrying over the schoolyard, she saw Chuck lounging next to his limo, with the most disturbing look she had ever seen.
She didn't care if people were watching her; she rushed into his arms and hugged him tightly with no intention of letting go.
He hugged her right back, and she let out a relieved breath.
--
Who knew, that Thursdays could be so eventful?
Blair and Chuck hugging in front of the school, for the whole world to see. Aw I do have to admit, that they do look cute, standing there, holding onto each other…
--
The ride home was very quiet.
Blair's head was leaning his on his shoulder, her eyes closed, and her fingers intertwined with Chuck's, who was absently playing with her curls, but had yet to say something.
She decided to let him alone with questions for now, and just be there for him, because there wasn't really something she could do right now.
Finally the limo stopped in front of the Palace. He looked at her questioningly.
"I told Serena to ask Bart to excuse you; I thought you might need some time alone now." she explained.
He nodded gratefully.
"I'm just going get some of our stuff from the van der Bass home, okay?"
"Thank you." he whispered, leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her forehead before opening the door.
She watched him exiting the limo sadly.
--
"Blair? Here's someone to see you." Blair heard Lily's voice from downstairs.
"Who?" Blair asked, throwing a gown into her bag.
The door opened and in came… Nate.
Damn Lily! She maybe even thought, she had done her a favor by letting him in.
"What are you doing here?" Blair asked him coldly.
"We need to talk." He answered and closed the door behind him.
"There is no 'we', Nate. And if you think about it clearly, it's only your own fault." Not Chuck's.
"Look, Blair. I've apologized in every way I could think of, I'm sorry for being so silly to not see, how truly amazing you are. I don't know how to ever make this okay again," he said ruefully.
"That's, because there is no way," she looked at him pityingly. He was so lost. A lost boy in a storm. He still didn't know what he wanted. Maybe he did want her today, but what about tomorrow, next week, or next month?
"You should go talk with Chuck, Nate, and try to put things straight. He's is your best friend. You two need each other. I have to go now."
"So we just end things like that?" He answered, ignoring her statement about Chuck.
"I didn't end things between us, Nate, you did!" she exclaimed indignantly.
"Then let's start over, for real this time." Nate insisted.
"You still don't get it, do you?" Blair shook her head. "I'm leaving." she turned away, walking out of the room.
How dare he to just come in like that and expecting her to take him back, after what he had done to her? She wasn't just an accessory to put on, when it suited his needs and throw to the side, when he got bored of it.
She snorted in disgust as the limo pulled off to the Palace.
--
To be continued
A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter and a special thank you goes to Kate for commenting all of my chapters in one go, it was such a joy to read through them all, hun! *kiss* A thank you also goes to Chelle, Andrea, Sheri and Helena for being lovely and cheering me up. Your PMs encouraged me so much. *hugs*
A huge thank you also goes to my friend Kris, who provided her amazing art skills and made me a gorgeous banner for this story (which you can admire at my profile page, the link is posted there :) in order to cheer me up. You are such a dear, sweetie! :)
It would be lovely if you could take a little of your time and leave a review, it encourages me a lot. Thanks for reading :)