I'll Be Seeing You
Rated: T
Title taken from "I'll Be Seeing You" by Billie Holiday
Chapter title taken from "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Judy Garland
Disclaimer: I don't own Gossip Girl, etc. You know the drill
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"Well?" Blair asks expectantly, staring directly at Chuck.
Serena stands up and lets Chuck take her seat beside Blair. The blond takes Dan by the hand and whispers tiredly, "I need some air," before leading her sometimes-boyfriend out of the room.
Chuck shoots a glance at Nate, raising an eyebrow. "What's that look for?" Nate asks, feigning cluelessness.
"Don't play dumb, Nathaniel. If you want me to enlighten Blair then you're going to have to leave," Chuck says smugly. Checkmate.
Contrary to popular belief, Chuck does not hate Nate Archibald; in fact, Nate is his best (and perhaps only) friend. However, when it comes to the woman that Chuck Bass loves, every man is his enemy. After all, thinks Chuck, all's fair in love and war. Nate glances over at Blair, who is quietly observing the exchanges between the two men, and upon leaving the room, he says to Chuck sharply, "Try not to play master manipulator this time."
Chuck rolls his eyes and looks Blair, feeling butterflies in his stomach when she sets her pretty brown eyes on his muscular form. He wants to pour out his feelings like he did the first night Blair was in the hospital, but he decides her condition changes the game a bit. "Okay, let's do it this way," he says casually, even though his heart is nearly pounding out of his chest, "Ask me what you want to know and I will answer you the best that I can."
Blair nods her head slowly. "Well you can start by telling me how you know me... Chad, is it?"
It hurts Chuck to hear Blair's question because it reminds him that everything that happened between them in the past simply never occurred in her mind. On the other hand, Chuck is relieved that he now has a blank slate upon which he can try to create the relationship he has always longed for with Blair. Pulling his chair next to Blair's so that he is sitting side by side with her, he begins to speak. "The name's Chuck Bass, actually." He smirks at the mention of his name and then continues, "You and I have a long history. There's a lot I can talk about in regards to... us."
"What do you mean 'us'? Did we date or something?" Blair is intrigued by this Bass character, she decides. There's something about Chuck that is makes it difficult for her to look away. Is it the neatly slicked-back hair? No, not quite... His quirky attire? His style is questionable, but still, no... She can't quite put her finger on it. Not yet, at least.
Chuck raises his eyebrow, amused. "Let's just say that you showed me more than you've shown anyone else. Way more." He pauses, smiling slyly. "But that's a discussion for another day, princess."
Blair blushes and crosses her arms, trying to appear mad. "It really is low of you to hit on an amnesiac, Mr. Bass. It sounds to me like you have a case of wishful thinking. Tell me, do you take pleasure in harassing injured persons?" She pauses briefly to sniff the air and makes a disgusted face. "And why do you reek of booze?"
Shit. Chuck had forgotten to spritz cologne before he left. "While I don't pretend to hide my delight in watching other people squirm, I really am serious about this. About you, I mean. We had something good together, Blair," Chuck says earnestly. Take it slow, Bass, he reminds himself, attempting to change the subject. "And as for my questionable odor... I like scotch. A lot. Do you want to hear about your home-life or would you prefer I find another amnesiac to seduce?" Sure, he's being snide, but Blair is as feisty as ever and so Chuck has to fight fire with fire if he wants to keep her attention.
Blair chews on her bottom lip nervously before caving in. "Okay, okay... Go on."
"Alright Blair, so your mother is Eleanor Waldorf. She's a fashion designer whose attitude is comparable to, say, the Wicked Witch of the West. You two don't have the best mother-daughter relationship. Your father Harold, he's a lawyer. Your parents divorced a while back and now he lives in France with his partner Roman." Chuck is hesitant in telling Blair about the strained relationship between her parents because of the time Eleanor told her daughter that Harold wasn't coming back for Thanksgiving. That was the night Blair relapsed into her bulimia (She will never find out she had that disease, Chuck silently vows).
"Partner?" Blair asks incredulously. "You mean he left my mom for a guy? That's actually kind of funny," Blair seems uncharacteristically nonchalant; she has no emotional attachment to neither her family nor her friends so this revelation is not particularly Earth-shattering.
Chuck shrugs, smiling. "He was always your favorite parent."
"Hmmm... well what about school? Am I home-schooled or something?" Blair asks curiously.
"You? Home-schooled?" Chuck snickers, shaking his head. "You go to a very expensive high school called Constance Billard and honestly, I have never seen you get less than an A in your life." He ignores the "B" that the nuisance known as Ms. Carr scrawled on one of Blair's essays. Nothing wrong with a little embellishment of the truth, he thinks in true Chuck Bass fashion. "Anyways, Blair, you're the queen of the school. You hold total influence over all the girls at Constance. You, Waldorf, have power and you are an expert at using it."
Blair leans closer to Chuck, mesmerized by the details the young Bass is giving her about her life. "Tell me more," she implores in a whispered voice.
Chuck looks into her seductively dark eyes and swallows nervously. He has the desperate urge to grab Blair's soft, thick hair with both hands and to ravage her lips and neck with such viciously hot kisses that she won't be able to contain her sighs of pleasure. Chuck breaks eye contact with Blair and pretends to fumble with his cell. He's aroused but he knows he cannot try to be intimate with her just yet. Chuck intends to woo Blair slowly, to show her he can be there for her on more than just a sexual level. He wants to be different this time around.
All of a sudden, the door squeaks open and in come Dan, Serena, and Nate; the latter eyes Chuck with evident suspicion. "How did it go?" Serena asks Blair anxiously. "Do you feel any better?"
Blair steals a glance at a Burberry-clad Chuck before responding, "Yeah... I mean, as good as I can feel in this situation. It's hard to look around and realize that I once had really close relationships with all of you guys when I can't even recall your names now."
Dan raises his hand awkwardly and says, "I think the extent of our relationship was you calling me Cabbage Patch or Brooklyn while wrinkling your nose because of my inner-city stench."
Blair winces. "Ouch. I obviously don't remember doing that, but I apologize... um... What is your name?"
"Dan Humphrey. Ex-boyfriend, yet strangely close acquaintance, of Serena over here," he responds with a wink, "Pleased to meet you... again."
Blair turns to Nate. "And who are you? I'm so, so sorry I can't remember you guys after you have all sat here being so damn nice to me." Tears of frustration well up in her eyes and she hangs her head in her hands.
With Chuck looking on jealously, Nate puts his hand on Blair's back and makes small circles, trying to comfort the brunette. "I'm Nate, Blair, your boyfriend. Listen to me: this is not your fault! You can't help what happened to you. Besides, I'm here now to help you through this."
At this point, Chuck is seething. Reject him, baby, reject him, he says in his head, hoping that Blair will somehow read his thoughts.
Unfortunately for Chuck, telepathy only works in fiction, and so Blair lifts her head up to look at Nate with inquisitive eyes. "You're my boyfriend?" Nate nods. "And you still want to be with me even though I don't even remember us being together?" He nods again. Blair takes a few seconds to ponder her situation. "I'm scared you won't like who I am now. Or that who I am now means that I won't like you."
"All we can do is try, Blair," Nate replies gently.
Serena jumps in as well. "And honestly Blair, we have all been friends for so long that we aren't about to abandon you now. I know you don't see it yet, but you are like a sister to me and family sticks together."
"I'm sure Chad won't mind hanging around either," Chuck says with a smirk, trying to keep himself involved in the conversation.
"Geez, Chuck I take it you aren't one to let things go!" Blair laughs, a tiny smile gracing her features. "Well I appreciate everything, you guys, really. You are all such great... friends." She emphasizes the last word, demonstrating that she is beginning to feel comfortable around them, rather than simply seeing them as strangers.
Nate clears his throat. "So how about it, Blair. Are you still my girlfriend?" She looks over Nate's shoulder to see Chuck glaring from the corner, arms crossed rigidly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I ended it this way because I'm not sure how long I want the story to be. The ending will still probably be the same but there are so many routes that lead to my preferred resolution that I don't know which one to choose! Decisions, decisions... On another note, I have a busy weekend ahead of me so updating will be slow.
PradaPrincess: I love emotional Chuck too! I think that he still has to be portrayed true to character, though, in that he can be a callous S.O.B sometimes =)
ggloverxx19: I'm glad you found the ending of chapter 7 funny. I figured that so much drama has been going on and so much more is yet to come that there needs to be some humorous interjection, and who better to deliver than Chuck and Dan?
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UP NEXT: Blair makes her choice
