Blair knew Chuck had been looking at her with a curious aspect in his eye for quite some time before he made his approach. She'd felt it travel down her spine at first, that inimitable sensation of being hotly watched. Then she'd sought his gaze in the crowds of students preparing to make their journeys home, and sure enough, there he was- his eyes piercing tiny holes in her skull from a distance.

She was seated at her usual table in their schools' shared courtyard. When he sat down opposite her, he didn't try to catch her attention right away. Instead, he etched a sad face into the frost on the concrete table, accompanied by an arrow that pointed over to her.

'Nate says you're acting a little weird today. He sent me to try and find out why.' Chuck informed her flatly. 'And I must admit, it's bizarre to see you willingly sat at a lunch table, when you could be enjoying the warmth of your mother's penthouse.' He remarked with a knowing glance.

'Well, isn't that sweet.' She said, her delivery saccharine as she ignored his latter comment.

'He told me not to make it too obvious.' She could hear the smile in his voice and scowled down at her book.

Blair sighed but looked up at him through her lashes. 'So you've failed your mission quite spectacularly already, then.'

He had a smirk for her in response. 'Not exactly.' Chuck countered. 'I never said I agreed to do it, did I? Besides, unlike some clueless chumps around here, I'm already privy to the gory details behind your sudden behavioural change.'

Blair reached inside her pocket to pull out one kidskin glove. She slid it onto her hand silently and scrubbed at his accusation on ice. Chuck just watched her do it, sporting a bemused smile as she scraped away the remnants of his childish drawing.

'So, you really just aren't going to talk about it at all?' Chuck's eyes were narrowed on his target. 'Ever?'

'Talk about what?' Blair shot back.

Unimpressed by her diversion tactics, he scoffed. 'Oh, I don't know, maybe the subject of your father being back in town this w-'

'That's enough!' Blair ordered, covering his open mouth with her gloved palm.

He brought his teeth together loudly in a pretend bite and she her hand away sharply. When she saw him grinning, victorious, Blair glared.

'It's a new year, Chuck. Even my mom has moved on so, frankly, I don't know why you're still bothered.'

'Are we forgetting that it was me who had to rescue you from almost freezing to death?' He narrowed his eyes at her. 'And call me a cynic, but I'm not entirely convinced that your mother's rapid weight loss and four, not so subtle by the way, consecutive visits to her cosmetic surgeon really count as moving on.' He retorted. 'But that's all beside the point. You should see him before he goes, Blair.'

'And why exactly would I want to do that? To give him the opportunity to lie again?' Her response was curt.

Chuck scoffed and Blair watched his hand tighten around the strap of his bag. 'You know, I can appreciate your flair for the dramatic at times, but we both know none of this stuff with Harold was ever about your relationship with him. Hell, it wasn't even about Eleanor, not really.'

The sympathy in his statement extended beyond just Blair or Eleanor, it had spread its wings wide and reached out to encompass Harold too. But she couldn't bear to admit he was right; it was so much easier to hate him than to miss him. So, Blair did the only thing she knew how to, she lashed out with protracted claws.

'You're not going to make me talk about it, Chuck. He betrayed me by leaving, he has no right to call himself a father anymore.'

'Don't be petulant.' He brushed off her words with an easy wave. 'I know you're upset that he's gone, but you're acting like a child about this.'

'I am not.' She insisted sharply. 'And you know, just because your father is two steps away from actually beingDr. Evil, doesn't mean you get to act like Lady Justice when it comes to mine, or anyone else's for that matter. You don't even know anything about parents.'

'Fine.' He said harshly, getting up from his seat opposite her. 'If you want to be stubborn, be my guest. But unlike me, as you so graciously pointed out, you do have a dad that cares about you. I thought you were smart, but you'd be an idiot to let that go. He can't change who he is just because it's inconvenient to your perfect family life, Blair.'

She watched him stand there, hotly shaking and seeming to glare through her entire being. He, whose father had never shown him even an ounce of the love that Harold had shown her; whose father had never spared even a fraction of the tender thought most other fathers did for their children. The guilt smacked her hard across the face.

'Chuck,' Blair murmured, wishing she could pull all the words back. 'I didn't mean to be so-'

'Just forget it.' He snarled, nostrils flaring. But his expression gradually softened, and then pointed towards the school gates. 'Come on, will you walk with me?'

Blair sighed deeply. 'Look, I'm sorry for what I said, I am. But you aren't going to force me to see my father, no one is.'

Chuck shook his head. 'You have my word; I won't try to dupe you. I just want to talk more privately. There are too many eavesdroppers here.'

'Fine, let's go.' She agreed. Blair watched, discomfited, as several pairs of curious, onlooking eyes quickly found other sources of interest to pretend they'd been staring at. 'But I'd really rather not talk about it at all.' She grumbled, hurrying to catch up with him as he headed towards the exit.

It wasn't long until he broke his word, though she could hardly hold it against him- he was Chuck Bass after all.

'Do you remember when we were kids?' Chuck asked. 'Maybe nine or ten, I can't quite put my finger on it. Anyway, you had the lead role in our dumb little end of year performance, but your dad was stuck in- where was it again?'

'I know what you're trying to do.' She told him sternly. 'Walking me down nostalgia valley isn't going to work, Bass.'

'Just humour me?' He requested, guiding her down the street by the crook of her elbow.

'I don't really remember.' Blair returned nonchalantly.

'Liar.' He goaded her.

'Fine.' She scoffed. 'We were eleven, it was Snow White, and I'd finally been given the lead role because-'

'Because Snow White has dark hair and Lily didn't want Serena wearing a wig in case any of the parents in the audience were model scouts.'

They both snorted at the memory. It was one of her most cherished in truth, having at last been allowed to enjoy the spotlight herself, even if it had only been for a night or two.

'She was right too; don't you remember Serena's brief stint as a Gucci kid?' Blair reminded him with a tight smile. That particular phase in Serena's life had set the ball rolling on her mother's own narrative of comparison between the pair, Eleanor never failing to find the statuesque blonde child more favourable than her own.

'Sure. But we're not talking about her right now.' Chuck told her- having no doubt watched her face twist as her mind went down its dark path. 'Do you remember where your dad was?'

'He was in Boston.' She answered reluctantly.

'What was he doing there?' Chuck pushed her again.

'Are you going to let this go?' Blair asked, rolling her eyes.

'No chance.' He winked at her.

'Fine.' She grumbled. 'His firm were in the process of promoting one of their top lawyers to partner. It was between daddy and another guy; they were there both trying to win a case to prove they were the better choice of the two.'

'The other guy got it, didn't he?'

'He did.' Blair lamented. 'It took daddy another three years to make partner after that.'

'Why? Was he not the best at his firm?'

Blair looked at him with a frown. 'Chuck, stop this.'

He shook his head, unwilling to let go of the question. 'Why did he lose the case, Blair?'

'He was the best at his firm. But he lost it because I called him and begged him to come and see me in the play.' She said meekly.

Chuck nodded. 'Was that when he bought you that bracelet with the little apple charm?'

Blair's throat felt like it was constricting with every second that passed thinking about her father and what he'd sacrificed in order to see her act in an elementary school play. 'He said it was because I was the apple of his eye, and that he'd never let any witch poison me.' She recalled the sweet memory and felt her heart ache.

'I thought you were going to go insane when Nate accidentally snapped that charm.' Chuck snickered.

'I cried for hours.' She laughed, then turned to look at him more seriously. 'How do you even remember all this?'

'It's easier to recall the details when you're always watching the happy moments from the outside.' The casual gloom of his reply made her stop in the middle of the busy street.

Looking up at him, Blair's mouth fell slack. 'That's the saddest thing I've ever heard anybody say.' She almost feared that if she looked down, she might find a gaping wound in his side and the bloodied knife that had caused it in her hands.

He shrugged. 'It's not all that bad.' Chuck offered smoothly, before hurrying to change the subject. 'Hey, do you remember that year when Bart and Lily were both out of town and your parents had Serena, Eric and I to stay for Christmas?'

'When you, Serena and I snuck into the pantry on Christmas Eve and drank all that champagne?' Blair bit back a giggle. 'I thought we were going to get in so much trouble in the morning.' She could hear the pop of the corks, her friends' jubilant giggles and hurried shushes as though they were back there again, sat on the tiles of her kitchen.

Chuck grinned. 'But it was Harold that found the three of us passed out in the early hours of the morning. He hid the bottles from Eleanor and Dorota and let us all sleep it off until midday. How did he get us off the hook?'

'He told my mom we'd had a little too much sugar.' Blair reminded him, a grin spreading across her cheeks.

'Ah yes, that old classic. You know, that's still my favourite ever Christmas.' Chuck informed her with a warm smile.

'You have always loved corrupting young girls.' She teased, nudging his arm with her elbow.

'If I remember correctly, the whole thing was Serena's idea.' Chuck protested.

'She more or less did the same thing every year.' Blair agreed, remembering her best friend's complicated relationship with the festive season.

A comfortable silence fell between them as they ambled around the perimeter of Central Park for a while longer. She didn't need him to tell her what he was thinking about, because she couldn't take her mind off all the wonderful things her father had done for her, for all of them, either.

After a while longer walking arm in arm, Chuck stopped in front of The Palace. 'Look, you're welcome to come up and hide out until he leaves. But my car is waiting just across the sidewalk. Will you go?'

Blair looked up into his eyes. They were brimming with hope, privately yearning to have the same chances and choices that she did. She looked away and thought of her father; thought about the soft crinkles that appeared around his eyes when he smiled, the gentle curl of his hair and the warmth of his arms when he held her close. Blair nodded wordlessly.

'Come on.' Chuck said, sighing with relief as he pulled her towards the waiting car. He opened the door for her and gave her one last look of encouragement before closing her in and tapping the roof of the vehicle.

When Blair made it up to her family home, she found her father seated with his head resting in his hands. The sound of the elevator doors opening had not disturbed him.

'Daddy?' She called out through the expanse of quiet space.

Harold lifted his head quickly and rose to his feet. 'Blair!' He called her name with an expression and tone that warred between delight and fear.

Blair thinned her lips, she thought again about her conversation with Chuck. 'I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. Am I too late, is your flight soon?'

'No, no. Darling, you're never too late.' Harold's shoulders slumped. 'I couldn't give up on seeing you, so I put off my flight until further notice.' He told her quickly. 'I'll only go back when I'm sure you can forgive me.'

Without another word, she went to her father, whose arms wound around his daughter hurriedly.

'I'm so sorry, Blair. For everything.' He mumbled into the hair at the top of her head.

'You have nothing to be sorry for, Daddy.' She admitted at last, both for his sake and hers. Her father's embrace felt just as she remembered, like a safe haven, and she relaxed into the familiar warmth.

Next year, she'd make sure that Chuck didn't spend his Christmas looking in from the outside.

AN: Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a nice little break from work/school and normal life, whether you celebrate Christmas, another holiday, or nothing at all :)

This chapter took me quite a while in the end because I initially wrote it with Nate being more involved in encouraging the reunion between H and B. But then I was like, no! We aren't here for Nate!

As always, just thank you so much for all the kind words of support. It really means the absolute world to me to know that people kinda like what I do! I'm also sorry that I dipped for rather a while! I wasn't expecting to be gone for so long, but I got really sick just before Christmas and then had a mega busy few weeks with friends and family.

I also just wanted to see if anybody had any ideas about things they'd like to see explored in this story? I have a list of missing moments that I'm working through, but I'm curious to know what my sweet readers are interested in reading about pre-pilot Chair too!