Disclaimer: I own nothing except a great love for CB and the many inhabitants of the UES
A/N: Tomorrow, tomorrow and tomorrow creeps at this petty pace…can't believe that thing is still in my head but it's all true. The ep is tomorrow and I can't wait. Can't believe it's really almost here. I'm just excited. So I have no words to introduce this one and I can't be held accountable for imperfect grammar. I'm giving it another look but my head is somewhere else, bbss. Thanks always for your words on the last chapter and hope you like this one. Love you all. Kisses to Wifey and my girls. SQUEE. :D…haven't seen it yet or heard any of the caps but God, I'm excited. *grouphug*.
Chapter 25
He'd known the man wouldn't say no. Joseph was just that way. A man of his word. Still hearing the words out loud momentarily relieved Chuck of the heavy burden weighing down on him. "I'm faxing the file to you now…and ugh thanks for this."
"No problem, man. You did me a good turn and nothing to do but return the favor." He said, "Besides, the way I see it…you and your lady got a raw fucking deal last time. If I can help, it's all good."
"Thanks, all the same. And trust me. You'll be amply compensated for the trouble." Chuck cut through Joseph's noises of protest.
"Never doubted it." the former Army Ranger cleared his throat, "When do you need me?"
"The sooner, the better. Details will be covered in the fax, but we can have a sit down after I get back in town."
"Cool." the buzz and whir could be heard in the background, and shuffling papers.
Chuck could almost picture the behemoth of a fax machine in Joseph's office. He couldn't believe the man hadn't gotten rid of the monstrosity. It wasn't as if he was hurting for money these days, the older man had gained a certain reputation and pretty much named his price. The former was why Chuck was calling him now. That and he was damn good at his job.
"So…how do you want it done?" He asked, "Under the radar or public spectacle."
"Definitely, the first. She can't see you and I don't want your presence presenting some irresistible challenge to this guy." Chuck admitted, "Just take care of her. She's going to be pretty much surrounded by people for the night and I already talked to Nate. You remember him, right."
"Your friend the cop."
"Yes," Chuck said, "He's promised to check in on her for me. I should be back stateside no later than early evening."
"Hmm,"
"What?"
"Didn't figure on you hightailing it out of town so damn fast. Trouble in paradise already? This about the mother?"
"No." Chuck finally tossed back the untouched scotch, gulping down liquid fire at once. His breath hissing out as he forsook the moment to savor. "Not even a little bit. Just some unfinished business with an old…acquaintance. Trust me, if it could've been avoided I most definitely wouldn't be flying out today."
"No doubt. So tell me, Bass. How's my former employer? She still hate your guts."
Mouth curled into a mirthless grin, "As much as ever I suppose, but we're both playing nice for B's sake. I'll send her your regards."
"You do that."
Chuck hung up with Blair's former bodyguard. One who'd been hired to "protect" her from Chuck. The last before Eleanor had tried to take Blair out of the city and ended up fighting both Chuck and Harold. The man, previously an Army Ranger, had gone on from working for Eleanor to having Chuck seed his private security firm.
She was going to be fine, Chuck told himself. He reminded himself of his own reassurances to Joseph. She wasn't alone. Not tonight and he'd made provisions for tomorrow. Sure, someone had gotten to her before but she'd been all but defenseless before, unconscious and lost to the word.
Blair wouldn't make an easy target for anyone this time around. That very thought, belief relieved many of his worries but he knew that he wouldn't… couldn't completely relax until he was back home again. Home with Blair and the twins.
~ஐ~
It was Cyrus' fault really, Eleanor decided as she plodded those final steps toward Blair's hospital room. By now she'd managed to find her balance, holding the sleeping bag under one arm and her burdens hanging from the other. She'd had left off with the sleeping bag and the thing was purely for appearance's sake, since she had no intention of sleeping in the thing. Her lovely, well-meaning and interfering husband had insisted that she go the extra mile after all but inviting herself to Blair's little get together.
Earlier on the telephone, her daughter had been chattering away, excited about her upcoming release from St. Vincent's. Eleanor was beyond thrilled, because it meant that this was truly real and that her little girl was back with a clean bill of health. So when Blair had started in about her plans for the evening with Serena, the twins, and Lily; the words had just popped out of her mouth.
"Room for one more?" She'd asked, silence on the other end making her fear that their connection had dropped. "Blair, darling. Are you still there?"
"I'm here." Blair had finally piped up, clearing her throat. "I didn't think you'd want to come. I'm sure that you have other things you'd rather be doing tonight."
"Are you saying that you don't want me to come?"
"Of course not. I mean—of course I'd like you to be there. It's just that in the past…"
"I was a fool and I want to make up for that now." She'd interrupted Blair's fumbling words. "So what time do you want me there? What can I bring?"
"Just yourself. S and Lily are taking care of the rest."
"Of course."
And so Eleanor had found herself spending the past few hours with Cyrus, looking for his old, "new" sleeping bag that he'd bought for a trip with his son that past summer but it'd gone unused when their plans fell through. He really need not have bothered with dragging the thing out. She wasn't really spending the night. Eleanor planned on sticking around until after the twins finally fell asleep.
She really should've spent the past few hours unpacking boxes and organizing her office/studio back at the apartment. As it was, Eleanor was going to have to slip away to check in with Laurel. She'd left her trusted employee in charge of her London fashion house but even with the Atlantic between them, Eleanor had every intention of being as hands on as possible.
There she stood now, like a fifty-something year old kid, instead of a woman grown. Feeling entirely too foolish as she stood there with that bulky, too slippery bundle under one arm and her bags clutched in the other. She'd brought along a few surprises for the twins, along with the pair of expensive silk pajamas that Cyrus had suggested she bring along.
Initially, Eleanor had offered resistance, arguing that she likely be back in their bed by midnight, if not earlier. She'd caved, though. Caved like a wet napkin after her dear husband, "innocently" mentioned the likelihood that Lily would probably be going all out, to make it seem more like a sleepover for the twins and Blair…then well, a sleepover in a hospital.
Eleanor still wasn't sure how her daughter had managed that one. Likely, young Charles had pulled a few strings. She'd say one thing for the boy, he was proving to be very dedicated when it came to Blair and the twins.
She'd been sure, five years ago that he'd grow bored with his ideas of "playing house" and run off to parts unknown as he was wont to do. That he'd leave Lily with the responsibility of raising Kat and Evie. He'd disappointed those expectations. And Blair? Coma for five years. No one would've faulted him for moving on, but, as far as she could discern through Cyrus and the social connections that hadn't been severed by her exile, Charles never did find anyone else.
Eleanor peeked through the panel of glass and was instantly glad that she'd decided to come. Despite herself, she felt resentment spurt to life. Her eyes honed in immediately on Lily, a twin flanked on either side of her and blonde hair pulled away from the delicate lines of her features.
There was no taking comfort in the fact that the woman looked absolutely silly, her manicured nails painted in shades of greens and yellows, while her hair was pulled back into lopsided pigtails. In pigtails for godsakes. Blonde hairs sticking out every which way, as if she'd done her hair without the benefit of a mirror or light. Or as if a certain pair of five-year-olds had been given free rein.
Her fingers literally itched with the need to smooth her own freshly trimmed cap of dark hair. She suddenly found herself wishing that hadn't treated herself with that visit to Bliss after flying in earlier in the day. Jetlag was going to hit soon enough and she wanted to be in her own bed back at the apartment when that happened.
Get on with it, she admonished herself and struggled with the bags in her hands and the door knob.
It was Serena who noticed her first, rescuing her from her fumbling attempts with the door. She abandoned her mother to the not so tender mercies of their granddaughters. The girls seemed to be holding their own, sizing up the playing cards they held clutched in their small hands and Lily's dwindling pile of pretzel sticks.
Lily flashed a quick smile in Eleanor's direction before she shoved the rest of her of her pretzels towards the center of the table, "All in. I'm feeling lucky. How about you, Evelyn? Katherine?"
The girls' eyes met, narrowed before turning back at once to watch Lily, their eyes falling cards in her hands, as if they looked hard enough, they could actually divine the unseen. Suddenly, Evie cocked her head and smiled at her twin, silently counting out the same number of pretzel sticks as Lily had, leaving Kat to do the same.
"Are you girls certain that you don't want to change your mind?" Lily's attention went back and forth between them, her own smile never faltering, tone unwavering.
"Nope." Evie shook her head.
"Uh-uh." Kat wiggled in her seat.
Eleanor dragged her eyes away from the spectacle that the threesome made, registering Kat's whoop in delight and Lily's long-suffering sigh. She caught sight of her own daughter, her rapt attention taking in the interaction between Serena's mother and the twins. There was something fleeting and familiar in Blair's expression before a smile obliterated any traces of the envy so obvious. Yet Eleanor picked up on it in those short moments, because she could feel the same burn seeping into her.
"Let me help you with those." Serena said, drawing Blair's attention to the new arrival.
"That's quite all right, Serena." Eleanor said, but the young blonde was already on her feet, grabbing the sleeping bag that Cyrus had tucked under her arm after securing the other bags in her hands. "Well, if you insist."
"Mom, you made it."
"Of course, darling. I said I would, did I not?" Eleanor looked away, busying herself with the bags she carried. All the while she true to forget all the times she'd broken her word, skipping one event or another that was important to Blair because of the company or some other engagement that had weighed in as more important.
Eyes brimming to overflow with curiosity, Blair stared pointedly at the garment bag Eleanor carried over one arm. "Um, did you change your mind about spending the night because If so, you know it's just tonight not a month.
"Just some fabrics and things that I brought back with me. For the girls." She explained.
The change in Blair's expression was slight and she would've missed it earlier if she hadn't been paying attention. The smile that no longer reached her eyes, something guarded as she studied Eleanor.
Unbidden, her conversation with Charles from weeks before came to mind. His words, accusations of criticizing Blair size and dress in the past and in the same breath, offering a deadly warning not to try doing the same with his children. Obviously, her daughter shared Charles worries in this respect.
Some of her earlier elation fled as she realized just how Blair must have seen her over the years. Sad. Forget everything else it left her slightly depressed to realize what Blair must think of her as a mother.
Blair looked away from her mother, as Serena's little boy clamored for the younger woman's attention. He was settled back, his blonde head resting against Blair's chest, "You go now," he ordered, motioned to the matching cardboard pieces spread across the hospital bed.
"You win, Alex." Blair pressed a kiss to his head, the twosome having obviously made inroads since last Eleanor had seen her daughter trying to cajole the recalcitrant child from behind his mother's legs. "Flip them over, baby."
"Play again?" He murmured both in question and in demand.
"Okay. Flip them over."
Serena shook her head, "He's going to have you doing that all night."
"Well, we're having fun, aren't we Alex?" Blair smirked.
The boy nodded absently, his brow furrowed in deep concentration as he set about flipping the dozen or so pieces from his favored matching game.
Eleanor wandered closer and cleared her throat as she searched for a way to put Blair at ease. "I, uh, brought things from my studio. Nothing finished or meant for production. I seem to recall Dorota mentioning how much they enjoy playing dress-up. Raiding Charles closet…going through some of your old things."
"They do. It drives Chuck insane." Serena confirmed, "Not them going into your stuff, I mean. He's all for that."
"I'll bet." Blair rolled her eyes, but no fire behind her words.
"Girls, lets take a break so we can see what your Grandma Eleanor brought." Lily suggested.
"Mom, you really didn't have to bring anything."
"I wanted to. Besides, Cyrus got caught up in the romance of it all and I couldn't resist letting him go crazy helping me get ready." She settled into the empty chair at Blair's bedside, finally relieving herself of the bags in her hands.
"Did you bring your PJs?" Kat came to stand at her side.
"Actually, I did." Thank you, Cyrus.
Evie reached for her hand, fully prepared to tug with all of her might, until Eleanor was on her feet again. "You have to change and then Mommy says we can watch a movie and have popcorn."
"That reminds me." Eleanor smiled, some of her earlier happiness returning as she thought of a way to distract her daughter from worries and bad memories. She reached inside for box of freshly baked goodies, that she'd stopped for along the way.
"Oh, what's that?" Evie asked.
"Just some treats that I thought we could enjoy after the movie starts." Eleanor said, handing the box off to Blair. "I brought some of your old favorites and…" She reached inside the bag again for the two movies that she and Cyrus had watched after a quick phone call to Dorota to find a movie the twins might like.
She pulled out Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Princess Bride. She vaguely recalled watching bits of the former with Blair a very, very long time ago. She'd been distracted and in no mood to watch a grown man cavorting and singing nonsense. Watching both movies, back at the apartment with Cyrus in preparation for tonight, she'd found herself laughing out loud to scenes that had previously garnered her disgust. Now she was realizing yet another missed opportunity.
Eleanor felt like cheering inside when she caught sight of her daughter's expression. The younger woman rubbing her hands in anticipation as she took the movies from her mother's hands. "Oh, we're definitely watching these."
She allowed herself a silent "yippee," and even the sight of the twins crowding around Lily again could do little to dim her mood. Besides the girls were helping to clear away the remains of their card games. Lily made room for their snacks, dumping a bag of organic popcorn into a bowl and moaning in delight when she caught sight of the desserts, pulling out a bag of organic popcorn and dumping it into a large bowl and moaning in delight as she caught sight of the desserts inside the white bakery box.
"Oh, that's going to cost a few hours or twelve on the treadmill." She lifted out one especially decadent tart. There were tarts, chocolate covered strawberries, miniature cakes, and shotglass desserts.
Eleanor had asked for a bit of everything, having forgotten to ask Dorota which treats the children favored. She'd decided to chance it. Couldn't go very wrong when it came to children and sweets. They'd love it either way.
"Eleanor, hurry and change. I'll put the movie in." Lily said, reaching not for the two that Eleanor had brought but one that had been sitting on the bedside table. "We'd already voted on this one before you arrived. The twins are currently stuck on it and insist on watching it first."
Blair's mother frown, her mind flickering with memory as she remembered the girls mentioning some movie or another that they'd just watched again and again on Christmas Eve. The one with the boy and a toy-gun. She wasn't all that sure that it was appropriate for the twins or little Alex. "The Christmas movie…with that little boy."
Lily stared blankly, "Actually…"
"The Christmas Story…with the boy."
Understanding dawned, Lily shook her head, "Oh, no. A Christmas Story. No, they get their fill of that once a year. This one's a fairly new development. Right, girls." She held up the DVD case so that Eleanor could see the cover with Rick Moranis facing off with a rather large…plant with teeth? "Evie promises not to sing…loudly, isn't that right, darling?"
"Yes, cause then our sleepover would have to end." Evie nodded, immediately.
Blair smiled her approval, "And we do not want that to happen. We're going to have a great time. It's going to be absolutely perfect. As soon as, your grandmother changes."
Laughing, Eleanor grabbed for the bag with her pajamas, "I'm going. I'm going. God, so bossy. Makes me wonder where you came up with that delightful trait."
"Aw, Mother. Check out the mirror while you're in there and mystery solved."
"You'd better be nice to your mother, Blair." Lily teased. "You've got a double dose of anything you put out…sitting right there." She glanced back from the DVD player, waving a hand in Kat and Evie's direction.
Distracted, Alex was trying to climb down from the bed to see what in the white box had captured his cousins' attention, while Serena plucked out a strawberry for herself.
Happy. Earlier, she'd been worried about forcing her way into this little gathering and now Eleanor was beyond happy that she had. She recalled her daughter's prediction from moments before. She'd said that the night was going to be perfect. For Eleanor, it already was.
~ஐ~
Dan and Nate arrived back in New York, the sky dark with coming night and street crowded with people who wanted to celebrate and began the festivities one night earlier. The train station was packed with people, both coming and going, trying to reach their final destination for New Year's Eve.
The two men went there separate ways only once they'd reached the cool, quiet hallways of St. Vincent's. Barely a word spoken between them. It seemed that they'd both had their fill of one another for one day. During the cab ride over, Nate had rest his head against cool glass, his eyes closed. He hadn't been tired really. More so weary of what Dan's idea of making small talk would be, given his recent stint as Dr. Phil-wannabe.
The blonde need not have worried, Dan seemed just as happy pretending that he was along in the backseat of the cab, tapping message after message.
Through squinted lids, Nate had watched, the glow from the LCD reflecting on glass, the phone cradled in Dan's palms. More than once, he heard Humphrey groan his frustration.
Nate walked away from the dark-haired reporter with a mumbled goodbye. The party in Blair's room was in full swing when Nate arrived, the twins' recent favorite flick on the screen, they sat between Eleanor and Lily, while Blair and Serena sat on the hospital bed with Alex the first casualty of the night.
He counted himself lucky and his promise to Chuck fulfilled when he was ejected from the "girls" night less than ten minutes later. He'd checked on Blair and the girls as promised. Nate figured that he should problem get back to the Palace and face the waiting phone message that he'd been avoiding for the better part of the day.
He hadn't exactly been lying when he'd told Dan that he'd left his cell back at the suite. It just wasn't all that accidental.
Nate had checked his messages that morning, the sound of Vanessa banging around in the kitchen and being home again making the events of weeks past seem surreal. The message from his attorney had hammered reality straight home, letting Nate know that he and his family had returned back to New York days ahead of schedule and that he was ready to get the paperwork started whenever Nate felt ready to give him the go ahead.
Divorce. He was actually getting a fucking divorce. It was unbelievable. One word that could sever so many ties. What the hell else was he supposed to do? The same voice, that had insisted he stick with status quo and leave before Vanessa woke up that morning, came back, incessant in it's overture to return his attorney's phone call. Get things started. Rip the band-aid away, as it was. Just as he had that morning, he'd ignored that voice, tossing the phone aside. Instead he'd gone into the next room, sitting down to breakfast as if all was right in their world.
He'd have been better off making the call because instead, he'd sat there just thinking about it. Barely taking in a word Vanessa said. Nate vaguely recalled her telling him about work and asking about the basketball game with the girls. Though he had perked up, focusing on her completely when she mentioned unearthing some old home movie with Kat and Chuck.
Something had loosened in his chest, when she'd told him about her visit to see Blair. He'd felt himself softening in his resolve in the face of her envy, that wistful tone in her voice as she spoke of Kat and Evie. Their mother newly returned to them.
It would be impossible for him not to see that she was thinking of the miscarriages and what they'd lost. His first instinct was had been to comfort his wife but she'd bitterly refused him the last few times he'd tried to offer comfort and commiserate on their shared loss.
Only then had he listened to that voice at the back of his mind that insisted he get the hell out of Dodge. He'd made his excuses and gotten the hell out of there. Remembering to grab his cell phone and coat at the last minute, actually opening the door, the chilly morning air prickling his skin in reminder of what he'd forgotten.
She didn't follow him from the kitchen or even say goodbye. Hadn't enough been said between them already? At least that was the same thought that had come to mind on the cab ride back to the Palace that morning, his cell phone, weighing like cement or cider bricks in his pocket. Then Serena had come along, delaying the inevitable with her "breakfast" with Dan and her sudden need for a Nate intervention. Then her partner-in-crime, Dr. Phil Jr. had decided they needed to take a "road trip" to visit the Franklin woman in Baltimore.
Now. Nate was back in New York and exactly where he'd began that morning. To call or not to call. He'd resolved that his marriage was over but did he really want it to be.
Decision time, Archibald, that stupid voice came away. Outside the hospital, Nate found himself in another cab, the driver waiting not so patiently for his destination.
"The Palace." He said, finally. "There's something I need pick up. Something I should've done earlier."
Nate sighed, decision made. Resolve firm. So why in the hell didn't he feel any better?
~ஐ~
It could've been hours or even minutes, Chuck felt as though he'd just stretched the bed only seconds before. His body heavy with fatigue, sending him reeling straightaway into sleep. Chuck groaned, eyes still shut and body froze, waiting for the sound to come again.
The phone. Was it the pilot calling back t o tell him that they'd be landing soon. Chuck threw his arm over his eyes at that prospect, could they really be landing that soon. He didn't move, one arm covering his face and the other clutching a pillow against his right side, as if he'd automatically reached out. His body missing what wasn't there. Who wasn't there.
Fuck he was tired. More exhausted than he'd realized and damned if he wasn't going to get hit with a double jolt of jetlag, a quick round trip just to reassure himself that Georgina was in the crazy house where she belonged.
The buzzing sound that had pulled him from sleep came again and vibrations that had nothing to do with the plane roused him further into wakefulness not the cockpit phone line. Chuck levered his body just to the side enough to grab the cell phone pressing into his side.
"Bass." He answered and was greeted with silence. "Hello? Who is this?" Chuck's eyes snapped open, his body suddenly on full alert.
He was on the verge of yanking the cell phone away from his ear so that he could indentify his mystery caller, but she spoke before he could glimpse her name on the Caller ID.
"It's me."
Two simple words, slipping through him, her voice striking him at his core. He laid back against the bed, his cell phone in one hand and arm still full of Egyptian cotton and downfeather. He forgot everything except her, his mind full. Her scent in his nostrils and the feel of her soft curves. He couldn't help smiling as he remembered waking her up that morning with ice cream and flowers, his name on her lips even as she slept. Dreaming of him.
He knew of her anxieties of being in the dark. After the coma and literally being blanketed in darkness for years, Chuck could appreciate her fears. Now and again, though, he'd wondered what she'd dreamed of during all that time.
"Missing me already, I see," he murmured, "Second thoughts on kicking me out of your bed."
Her retort came quickly, as if mere reflex than thought. "Sorry, Bass. Not even one."
"You, okay?" Chuck frowned, pressing the phone closer against his ear. "You sound distracted. Girls tire you out?"
"No." She said, her voice quiet and manner far more restrained than he would've expected after she'd finally gotten her way. "Kat and Evie were actually very well behaved. Even Alex was a sweetie. I think everyone had a really good time. Even with your henchmen popping up and intruding on our fun."
Chuck smiled, keeping his voice mile as he went into full denial mode, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Of course, you do."
"Sorry." He said as if he had no idea how or why his best friend would've ended up right in the middle of her girls' night. Not in the mood to be lectured about how he was being paranoid and all the reasons that she didn't need a babysitter, Chuck changed the subject. "What time is it there, anyway? Everybody still up?"
"Almost one. The girls conked out during their second viewing of Willy Wonka. Alex didn't make it through even half of Princess Bride."
"Shame. He missed my favorite part, then."
She laughed at that strand of tension in her voice falling away for the moment. "Your favorite part, huh? I couldn't get you to watch this when we were younger."
"Not true. You managed to slip that one by me. A few times." Chuck said, "Besides, I've matured. I can appreciate…"
"Buttercup's assets, I believe you mentioned…once or twice."
"How could I not after Wesley's speech on the shortage of perfect breasts." He shot back, only partly serious. "So did you have a good time? Eleanor show up?"
"Actually, she did." And there was that voice again. Sad. She sounded entirely too sad and he hated himself for being half a world away.
"What's wrong?" He asked, wondering just what in the hell had her mother done now? Blair'd seemed happy enough just a minute ago but then he'd brought up Eleanor and she sounded—defeated? Son-of-a-bitch. If that woman fell back into nasty old habits and criticized Blair for even so much as a hangnail, he was going to make the last five years seem like a cakewalk.
"Nothing's wrong."
"Don't lie to me."
She laughed softly at that, bitterly. The sound coming out as if he scratched up her throat. "Horrible feeling being lied to, isn't it?"
"Dammit, Blair."
"She doesn't know them."
He went still, afraid to breathe. Worried about what she'd say next. What he'd need to say. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. She doesn't know them. I just sat in that room for the past few hours. Watching her with them. Them with Lily. She was trying…trying so hard, but it isn't real." Blair's words were so low that he had to strain to decipher them. She spoke almost to herself, sounding incredibly sad.
Dammit. He growled his frustration, wondering what new sin Eleanor had committed. "What happened?"
"You tell me."
~ஐ~
"Mr. Archibald, we're shutting done for the evening." The bartender wandered over as she wiped down the bar.
It wasn't actually evening anymore. Patrons and other hotel guests had come and gone throughout the night. Old friends laughing. Anonymous and not so anonymous hookups going on all around him. Kindred spirits. He'd watched it all, nursing ordered one drink after another, waiting for his mild buzz to give way to full blown oblivion.
He'd been happy enough for the distraction and goings on, sure that he would've been desperate enough to go looking for Humphrey to keep his mind off of the call that he still hadn't made. He hadn't even bothered to go up to his suite, heading instead, straight for the Palace bar.
"Just leave the bottle."
She shared a look with her co-worker, before complying with a jerky nod. "Yes, sir."
He reached for the bottle and refilled his own glass, as the two women left him alone. Nate smiled into his glass, sometimes the perks of having a best friend who owned half the city were innumerable. It wasn't five minutes later when he heard the light tread behind him, a throat clearing.
Humphrey. Shit. Bartender must've called the other man down to drag Nate's ass upstairs. Well, too bad. He wasn't in the mood to sit in his hotel suite and despite his earlier thoughts, he'd had more than enough of Dan for one day.
"Go away, Dan." Nate order, not even bothering to turn around.
"He's going. He just walked me down."
"Um, Vanessa, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." Dan said, the shuffling of his feet an audible thing. "The morning might be better. You go home and I'll take him up."
Nate looked around to see the two best friends sharing a meaningful glance.
"No, it's okay." Vanessa reassured the other man, "You should go."
Dan glanced between the estranged couple and for once seemed to be at a lost for words. He nodded jerkily.
Nate turned back and refilled his glass. He didn't speak until Dan's retreating footsteps faded away in the distance. "What are you doing here, Vanessa?"
Her voice came from over his right shoulder when she finally spoke, the phone that she held eye level was all too familiar. How in the hell had she gotten his phone? "You left it this morning."
"No, I didn't." Nate frowned, his mind spinning back to that morning. Had she broken into his goddamn room and taken it. But then again, why would she? Fuck. Had she heard the message from his lawyer? Was that why she'd come? To beg for another chance. Hadn't he already made his decision on that one, by coming here instead of going to her tonight. So what if he hadn't actually gone upstairs to return his attorney's phone call, but he'd decided already. Hadn't he?
"You took my phone." Vanessa sank down on the barstool at his side.
Identical phones. They'd actually mixed them up once or twice in the past. Him having to return home amidst early morning traffic after having made it to the station. "Good, thanks. You returned it. You can go."
"No, I can't."
"Vanessa, not tonight. I can't deal with you…with this disaster of a marriage tonight."
"I need to talk to you."
"There's nothing that you could say that I really want to hear right now."
She nodded, "You're right. You probably won't want to hear it. I've been trying to figure out how to say this to you for days. I know you'll probably hate me."
"I don't hate you. Now please just leave." Nate gulped down amber liquid, fire trailing down his throat, a distraction and comfort.
"No."
"Vanessa, get the hell out of here."
"Not until I…would you please look at me." She snatched the glass from his hands.
"What? Vanessa, what?" Nate did as she asked, glaring at her and already reaching for the tumbler gripped between her hands.
Vanessa drank the rest and slammed the empty glass on the bar top. "I slept with him."
"Great. Thanks for the update. You and your boyfriend went at it again." Nate laughed, his sardonic, covering up as he bled inside. "Why don't we toast the occasion? Think I'll have a clean glass if you don't mind, though."
"That's not…" She dragged in a deep breath, watching as he slipped from the barstool at her side and wandered behind the bar, unsteady on his feet. "I didn't mean tonight. I meant before. The night of the fire and after."
Nate didn't say anything, he felt numb, his feet wooden and movements stiff as he filled a glass for them both. "Are you done?"
"I need you to know that I broke things off with him, though. I'm not in love with him…things just happened."
"Yes, multiple times as you pointed out a few seconds ago." Nate said, his conversation with Serena and Dan coming back to him suddenly. "What the hell is this? Am I supposed to say that I forgive you now?"
"No."
"Good, because I don't. Now get the hell out of here."
"I'm not done," he shrugged, "Well, I'm sorry if I'm not entertained by the details of your affair. Do me a favor, though, tell your good friend Dan that I listened like a good little boy. Maybe then he and Serena will stop harping on me about it."
"It was Carter."
Nate stared at her, uncomprehending. Three words spoken and their meaning lost on him. Carter. It was Carter. Serena's Carter? What in the hell was she bringing that jackass into their conversation for?
"I didn't mean for it to happen. Not with him."
There. She'd said it. Said it plan enough that he couldn't ignore the implications. Carter. She'd cheated on him with Carter fucking Baizen. Drink in hand, he toasted the final nail in the coffin of their marriage, "Cheers"
"That's all you have to say?"
Nate tipped his head thoughtfully, "Hmm, yea. I think so."
"Nate."
"Get out of here, Vanessa."
"No!!"
Hands fisted, he leaned in against the bar directly across from her. "I don't forgive you. Okay?"
"Nate…"
"I didn't think I could, but right now I fucking hate your guts. I really do and honestly, I'm scared out of my mind what I'll do if I have to look at you for another second…so please go."
His quiet words seethed with every bit of his anger and loathing. Barely restrained, his knuckles bloodless and hands quaking.
Vanessa couldn't help flinching and looking away from him. So different from her Nate. The man she'd loved and married. She held on to the sweet, adoring husband who she'd twisted up into the angry stranger who looked at her with such hate. She steeled herself and met his eyes. "No. Talk to me." Tears slid down her cheeks.
He bowed his head, expelling a harsh breath.
She reached out covering his fisted hand with her own.
Nate reacted immediately, head jerking backward as if she'd hit him. He gripping her offending hand.
"Let go. You're hurting me." Vanessa cried out, which only seemed to make him squeeze harder.
"Glad to return the favor." Despite his words, Nate loosened his biting grip but didn't let go. Instead he pulled until she was leaning across the bar. Nate leaned in, the faces bare inches apart. "Don't put your hands on me again? Don't come looking for me? Our marriage is over."
"I understand."
"No. I don't think you do, but you will." Nate promised before shoving her away from him. Either he pushed with more force than intended or she was just distracted and off-balance enough that she fell backward, falling off of the stool and to the floor.
"I'm sorry. If nothing else please trust…"
Nate laughed, a new drink in hand. "Wait. Trust you? Is that what you were going to say?"
"It's not what you need to hear right now. I know that, but I have to say and maybe one day…"
Scotch and ice went airborne, glass shattering as he swept the bar clear of bottle and tumblers. "Do I need to call hotel security? I'm a guest and in case you've forgotten, my best friend owns the place." Yet another perk, he smiled darkly. Booting the soon-to-be ex out on her cheating ass. "Better yet. Why don't I get my attorney on the line? How long do you think it'd take him to drum up a restraining order? Maybe Grandfather could call in a few favors."
"I'll go, but please. Don't stay down here like this. Let me call Dan…"
He shook his head, "Better not. You really don't want your best friend anywhere near me, right now. Poor guy doesn't need another trip to the ER this soon, wouldn't you say?" Nate reached for the cell phone that she'd left on the bar, "What's it going to be? Am I waking up my grandfather…or are you going to get the hell away from me."
"I'm leaving." She picked herself up. "But you've had enough tonight. Just go upstairs and get some rest or something. Please, Nate."
Instead he turned his back on her, surveying the bottles lining the walls. Nate grabbed a new tumbler and filled it with ice. Ignoring her as if she no longer existed for him, Nate poured himself another drink.
~ஐ~
Blair waited, body curled beneath her as she sat on the closed lid of the toilet. She'd locked herself away, though she wasn't sure why. Serena was dead to the world, sleeping beside her son on Chuck's unused cot, while the twins were fast asleep in Blair's hospital bed. Her mother and Lily had gone home to their own beds already. There was simply no one to listen in on Blair's whispered conversation with her children's father.
"Chuck, please. Tell me what happened. Help me make sense of what I saw tonight…what's been going on since I woke up." She asked. After hours of watching her mother twins and her slips, mentioning calling Dorota, the bits and pieces had started to come together.
The fact that she'd been ignorant of Kat's allergy to macadamia nuts when she brought those cookies with the white chocolate. It'd been Dorota who'd averted disaster that day, as well. Blair hadn't been paying attention, too busy logging that piece of information away for her own personal, future knowledge. She'd made nothing of her mother's shared look with Dorota that day. Now tonight, her mother brought two of the girls' favorite movies, Princess Bride and Willy Wonka. The latter, an older and Johnny Depp-free version that the girls had actually never seen before but enjoyed nonetheless.
It'd all been little things that alone meant nothing but made the truth all too obvious when she realized just what she was seeing. And how obvious had her mother been, shooting those envious glances whenever Lily shared a close moment with the twins or even Alex.
Blair knew that look well, she understood it quite personally. She felt it when it came to seeing her children enjoying a close relationship that she herself was just becoming secure in.
"Bass, are you still there?" She asked without fire or accusation. Blair was tired. Yet another truth coming to slap her in the face.
"I'm here, Waldorf."
"Talk to me. Tell me I'm wrong…that the girls are as close to my mother as they are with Lily…with Roman and my father."
"I'm sorry, baby." Chuck finally said, "I can't do that. Not unless you want me to lie again and say that the past five years without you was straight out of a fucking Norman Rockwell painting."
The wind deflated right out of her. Blair didn't have a clue how much she'd been hoping he'd counter her words until he confirmed them instead. "How? I don't understand. I mean I know that she didn't want me to keep them before but Chuck…it's been so long."
"I know."
A sudden thought came to mind, some way to explain…defend her mother's absence. "You didn't do this, did you? You didn't keep her away."
"No. Of course not." Chuck said, "This is what she chose, but I—I did have a hand in her leaving New York."
Blair remembered something else. "Your investment in Jenny's designs. They could barely stand being in the same room with one another."
He didn't say anything, only let her work through it.
"You destroyed my mother's career."
"Yes," he hissed, waiting for the immediate backlash but it didn't come.
"How? Why?" She demanded, quietly. "What was this game that you've all been playing at since I woke up of big, happy family? You said that you wouldn't keep me in the dark anymore."
"It wasn't a game, Blair. Your mother wanted nothing to do with them, but then a few weeks ago she got in touch with me. Eleanor and I haven't been on the best of terms for reasons you now know well, but I guess Dorota's been keeping her in the loop. Sending her pictures through Cyrus until she was ready. She told me that she wanted to meet the girls."
"Weeks. A few weeks." Blair was beyond tears and tirades. Another reminder that even Dorota had known and gone along with keeping the truth from her. "I see."
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"No."
"I hate this." Chuck cursed, "This trip was a bad idea. Bad timing. I shouldn't have left you alone…"
"You think that's the big problem." She swiped at hot tears that finally slipped free, "Not even close. I want the rest."
"What?"
"You heard me. I told you before that I wanted to know everything. I wasn't joking, Chuck. Don't think you're protecting me here either." Her laughter was without humor, "Because that's just going to drive me crazy and you don't want me pissed off at you right now, Bass."
"Well, when you put it like that."
"I'm not joking."
"I know." Chuck acknowledged, soberly. "You sure. It's not pretty. No fairytale happy endings."
"I don't care. Just tell me."
ஐTBCஐ
A/N:
And there is it and hopefully I can get home early tomorrow to post the next, which is just about ready to go…but it might happen after the episode. :D Okay so the rundown. Certain truths were revealed. Blair is beginning to understand what the past five years have really been like between Chuck and her mother. Her lack of a relationship with the twins. Nate knows about Carter. And B has her own personal bodyguard. The next chapter will be coming to you, just need to do some tweeking. Hope you enjoyed this one. As always let me know what you're thinking. And *snoopydance* the finale is TOMORROW *woot*. Here we go :DCourtneyஐ