A/N: I want to thank all those who have reviewed. I really appreciate it. Now I hope all of you enjoy this chapter!
Chuck watched as Blair walked down the stairs. She looked absolutely perfect. Her hair was put into a bun, with a few of her brunette curls pulled out. Her dress showed off her figure and the colour was gorgeous on her. Her lips were painted ruby red and her eye shadow brought out her brown doe eyes. He couldn't help but smile at her. She looked like and angel.
He walked to the bottom of the stairs. Blair stopped when she reached the end. He took her hand and gave it a small kiss.
"You look beautiful," he said.
"Thank you," Blair said.
He helped her put on her coat and then they were off. They didn't talk much in the elevator. He led her outside where she was welcomed with the Bass limo. He opened the door himself for her. She slid into the limo. The seats were so smooth and comfortable. And everything was clean. Chuck slid in after her. She looked around the limo. This couldn't be the one, could it? She turned to look at Chuck. He smiled at her.
"I see you caught up on your beauty sleep after I left," Chuck commented as they rode in the limo.
"Yes. It was very relaxing," she replied.
"I have a confession to make," he said suddenly.
Blair froze. Confessions were usually made after something horrible had happened. She felt her eyes grow with worry. Did she do something wrong? Was he going to make a fool out of her tonight? She glanced at his direction and waited for him to talk.
"Last night, I could have gone to anyone to talk. Actually I could have just waited to talk to you, but I just missed you so much. We haven't even spoken in the past four years. I'm just glad to have a friend back in my life," he said.
Blair's eyes shined. She hadn't been expecting that, but that was something she liked about Chuck. He was completely unpredictable. Her ruby red lips formed a smile on her face.
"It was nice talking. I liked it," Blair told him.
She saw him briefly smile to himself, but only to have it covered up with his usual Chuck smirk. They looked out their windows for the rest of the ride until they reached the restaurant. He got out first and then reached his hand out to her. She grabbed it and he escorted them to the restaurant. After they were shown their table, they were left alone.
Blair looked at the view. It was magnificent. The city always did look amazing at night. Chuck watched her. Just they way her mouth gasped at all the familiar sights of New York and the way her eyes glistened in the night was enough to make him smile.
"May I take your drink orders?" the waiter asked.
"Diet root beer," they said in unison.
The waiter stalked away. Blair looked at Chuck. Their eyes connected. A smile appeared on her face. She saw one form on his as well. They were the same in so many ways.
"You've got good taste in drinks, Miss Waldorf," Chuck said with a smirk.
"Seems I've started a trend," Blair replied.
The waiter came back with their drinks. He also took their food orders. Once he was gone again, Chuck turned to Blair. She took a sip of her diet root beer. He did the same with his. Once the glass left his lips, he started to speak.
"How is like being back in the city?" he asked her.
"It's great. Yale was amazing, but nothing compares to New York," she said.
"Agreed. The one city for me,"
"And me," she added.
He smiled at her. The waiter came by and gave them their food. Blair got her napkin and placed it over her lap. Chuck did the same. She grabbed her fork and dug into her salad. Chuck chomped down on his veal.
"I don't want to pry, but why did you say no to Dan?" Chuck asked her.
She swallowed her salad. She didn't make eye contact with him. She grabbed her glass and took a sip of the diet root beer. Chuck watched her actions. She was trying to act as if she hadn't heard him. Act as if he didn't exist. He sighed.
"You don't have to talk about it," he told her.
She looked up at him, a bit surprised. He had changed a lot from when they last had dinner together, which had been years ago.
"Thank you," she said with a small smile.
She went back to eating her food. Chuck watched her. She was still the same Blair, yet different at the same time. Was that even possible? He sighed and sipped his drink. They ate in silence for a bit, but it was bothering both of them. He looked up again.
"Are you happy to be back in the city?" he asked her.
"Of course I am," Blair said.
"You can tell the truth,"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means exactly what is says. You can tell the truth," Chuck explained, a smirk forming on his lips.
"Are you implying that I'm lying?"
"No, just not telling the whole truth,"
Blair looked at him. They were back to their old games already. She set her fork down and rested her hands under her chin. She stared at him.
"The whole truth?"
"Yes,"
"And what would that be?"
"Whatever you're not telling me,"
"And who says I have to tell you anything?"
"So you admit it. You are hiding something,"
"I am not hiding anything,"
"Then why are you being like this?" he asked her.
Blair tried to find words to respond, but she came up short. He had won the little battle. She glared at him. He was right though. She wasn't telling him everything. But why should she? He wasn't her boyfriend. She had Dan. She loved Dan. Chuck knew that.
"I don't need to tell you anything," she said as she picked up her fork.
"Why not? Only think you can talk to Humphrey? This is the twenty first century, Waldorf. You're allowed to talk to friends too," he said.
"Well I can't talk to all my "friends", now can I," she snapped.
"What do you mean?" he asked her.
"Nothing," she murmured.
"You said something,"
Blair sighed and looked back at him. Why did he have to know her to so well? Maybe she could talk to him. It wasn't like she had anyone else at the moment. She set her fork back down.
"It's Serena," she said in a small voice.
"What did she do this time?" he asked with a small laugh, remembering all the arguments and cat fights they had back in high school.
"She's a bitch," Blair said, her eyes getting cold.
"Well we all knew about Queen Serena, but even you must know that times have changed," he told her.
"No, she's a bitch. You can't even visit her without her going off on you,"
"I don't visit her,"
"I don't care," Blair sneered.
"So did you say Serena's a bitch?" Chuck said, changing the topic,
"Yes,"
"Well what did you do?"
"Nothing!"
"Hmmm,"
"Ugh, can we not talk about it?" she asked.
"But if it's bothering you, the best thing is to talk about it,"
Blair sighed. She knew he was right. If she didn't talk about it, she was going to explode.
"We used to be such good friends. And then I come home and she hates me. No reason at all. Just that she hates me and knows about me and Dan," Blair said.
"Well that makes more sense," Chuck said.
"What?" Blair asked him.
"You and Dan. You didn't think that would piss her off?"
"Well I knew it would be a bit awkward, but I didn't think it would drive her to insane,"
"Do you even know what happened to her?" Chuck asked.
"Something happened to her?" Blair asked, her eyes getting wider.
"Her boyfriend cheated on her about a year ago. It was on all of the magazines. They were reportedly engaged. I can't believe you didn't know anything about this," Chuck told her.
"We didn't keep much contact after high school. Her career was taking off and school was taking up most of my time," Blair told him, still in shock.
"I'm just surprised you didn't hear anything about it,"
"Well, school did take up a lot of my time," Blair reminded him.
"And Humphrey," Chuck muttered.
"Pardon?"
"Just stay clear of Serena," Chuck said, thinking quick.
"I plan to," Blair said.
The rest of the dinner went by rather smoothly. They finished their meal and Chuck got out his wallet. Blair looked at him.
"What about dessert?" she asked.
"I didn't forget,"
"Then why are you paying now?" she asked.
"You love to ruin surprises don't you?" he said with a smirk.
Blair felt her cheeks redden, but she looked away. After they paid, he helped her put her coat on, then escorted her to the limo. They got in and the limo started up. Blair felt her phone vibrate in her purse. She took it out. Dan. He had texted her. She turned to Chuck.
"Do you mind?" she asked.
"Not at all," he said.
Blair turned to the message.
Need 2 talk. Can I come over?
Blair sighed and texted him back.
Not now. Busy. Tomorrow?
In a matter of seconds, she got another text back.
Fine. Love you.
Love you too
She closed her phone and put it back in her purse. She felt the limo stop. She turned to Chuck. He smiled at her before getting out of the limo. She followed him and gasped when she saw where they were. Chuck smiled and placed his hand on the small of her back and gently pulled her towards him.
"So I see you're happy," he whispered in her ear.
"We're at Victrola," she managed to say.
"Well are you coming inside?" he asked her.
Yes. That was what she would have said. But she had Dan. She shouldn't go in. She wouldn't go in. She kept her feet firmly on the ground. Chuck looked at her. Was something wrong?
"What is it?" he asked her.
"I-I can't," she said.
"What can't you do?"
"I need to get back home," she told him.
"But what about dessert?"
"Look, I'm sorry. I'm just very tired," she told him.
Chuck looked at her. She almost looked frightened. Had he done something wrong? He sighed and turned them around., back towards the limo. Blair sat down in the limo first, afraid to look at Chuck. She heard him sit down on the leather seat and shut the door. She looked down at her shoes. She heard him sigh.
The ride back to the penthouse was quiet. Blair wanted to say something, but she couldn't. She felt so bad, but she knew she had done the right thing. Being at Victrola, just the though of being back inside, scared her. They arrived at the penthouse in twenty minutes flat. Since Chuck was sitting closest to the door, he got out first. He extended his hand to Blair, which took Blair by surprise, but she grabbed it anyway.
He closed the door behind them and walked her inside the building. He pressed the elevator button. They waited for the elevator to come down.
"I'm sorry," Blair said.
"Don't worry about it," he said.
"Are you sure? You went through all that trouble, though," Blair said, looking at him.
"It's alright, Blair. I wouldn't want to tire you out more," he said.
Blair opened her mouth to say something but the ding of the elevator interrupted her. The doors opened.
"Good night, Blair," Chuck said as he walked away.
Blair walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the penthouse. She watched Chuck walk off as the doors closed, creating a physical barrier between them. Once she arrived on her floor, she stalked off to her bedroom and quickly got changed for bed. She wasn't tired one bit.
The next morning, Dan got ready and hailed himself a cab. He left Williamsburg for the Upper East Side in hopes that all would be good that day. He looked at his watch. It was ten past nine. Blair would probably be up right now. He arrived outside of the Waldorf building. He paid the driver before getting out. He looked up at the building.
"Just take a deep breath," he told himself.
After he took his deep breath, he proceeded to go inside. He got in the elevator and pressed the button for the penthouse.
When he arrived, he saw Blair sitting in the dining room. Dorota poured her some orange juice before going to the kitchen. Dan slowly walked in, not wanting to alarm her. He watched her eat. She was still the Upper East Side queen, even if she had spent the past four years in New Haven. He cleared his throat to make his presence aware. She looked at him and smiled. He smiled back. She got up from where she was sitting and bolted towards him.
Blair wrapped her arms around him. He did the same, caught a bit off guard. They separated, but Blair pulled him into a kiss. He hungrily kissed her back. A great way to start the day off. Blair grabbed his hand and led him towards the dining room. He sat down beside her.
"I'm so glad to see you this morning," Blair said giddily.
"Me too," he responded as he helped himself to a bit of Blair's pancake.
"I wish I could do that every morning," Blair said, a small smile appearing on her face.
"That's actually why I came over here," Dan informed her.
Blair took a sip of her orange juice. What was he talking about? Dan sighed and shrugged off his jacket before talking some more.
"Well ever since that night, I couldn't stop thinking about what you said. That it was too fast. And you were right," Dan said.
"So I was wondering, would you like to move in together?" Dan asked.
Blair looked at him. She set her glass down. A grin formed on her face.
"That would be great," she said.
A smile broke onto Dan's face as well.
"This is amazing," he said, trying to get through what had just happened through his head.
Blair leaned towards him and kissed him. He kissed back. He stayed for breakfast. They had decided that Dan should come and live with Blair since it was closer to his job. After one more kiss from Blair, he was out on the streets of Manhattan. Ring, Ring. He heard his phone go. He pulled it out and put it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Dan. Thank God I caught you. Hey, you want to do something?" he heard Nate ask.
"I can't. I have to go meet my boss in a bit," Dan said. "I actually have good news though."
"What?"
"Me and Blair are going to move in together," Dan said happily.
"That's great," Nate said on the other line.
"Yeah. Listen I have to go. I guess talk to you later," Dan said as he got himself a cab.
"Sure. Bye,"
"Bye," Dan said before hanging up.
He got in the cab and headed to his meeting. This day was turning out to be great.
Blair sat in her living room. She flipped through the latest issue of Vogue. She heard Dorota walk into the living room. She looked up and saw an ecstatic Dorota walking speedily towards her.
"Miss Blair, you have mail," Dorota said as she thrust the envelope into Blair's arms.
Blair looked at it. It was from Lily. She opened it.
You are cordially invited to Lillian van der Woodsen's charity gala for
Kids with Cancer.
Blair read the other information as well. She couldn't help but smile. She hadn't been to a New York event in what seemed like ages. She looked at the bottom of the invitation. Plus 1. She felt a smile form on her face.
"Dorota, could you bring me my phone?" she asked.
"Yes Miss Blair," Dorota said as she went off to get her phone.
Blair couldn't wipe her smile off her face. This was the chance that she and Dan could showcase their relationship. So everyone would know that they were in love. She heard Dorota come back.
"Thank you, Dorota," she said as her maid handed her the cell phone.
Blair instantly went to her speed dial and clicked number one. She put the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?" she heard his voice.
"Dan, it's me. Is it a bad time?" she asked.
"No, just packing my stuff," he said, causing her to smile.
"Good because I wanted to invite you to Lily's charity gala on Friday," Blair said.
"This Friday?"
"Yes. Can't you come?"
"Well, no. I have work and I just started. I can't ask for a night out already," he said.
"I understand," Blair said, trying to make sure he didn't hear the sadness in her voice.
"I'm sorry,"
"It's no big deal. It's just a party," Blair said.
"Alright then. Love you,"
"Love you too," Blair said as she hung up.
She closed her phone and sighed. It was no big deal. It was no big deal. As much as she tried to convince herself that, she knew it wasn't true.
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