x x x
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
--Evanescence My Immortal
x x x
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Blair Waldorf as I live and breathe," he announced, walking into Saks.
"I thought I smelled something sinister in the room," Blair replied, turning around to face her visitor. "What are 당신 doing here Chuck? Last I heard 당신 married some Californian whore and 당신 two had twins a 년 또는 so ago."
Chuck smirked at Blair while walking over to her. "Well, my dear," he started, "I'm here on what 당신 would call business. An opportunity came up and I flew across the country right away leaving Katherine and the boys at home."
"What kind of opportunity?" Blair asked her face full of skepticism.
"That is a secret. Would 당신 be interested in joining me for a drink 또는 two?" he asked, extending an arm to her.
Blair paused. She knew that she and Chuck were technically friends. They hadn't been together in a long time, their 초 년 of college in fact. She had been at Yale while he attended Stanford and the distance combined with their skill to be terrible to each other had caused them to decide it was best if they broke up. Well it was 더 많이 along the lines of Blair screaming at him in Barney's when they were 집 for 크리스마스 Break that he was an inconsiderate 나귀, 엉덩이 whom she never wanted to see again, but that was just minor details.
"Come on Blair. We both know that it's nothing, merely two old 프렌즈 having a few drinks and catching up."
"I wouldn't go so far as to call us 프렌즈 Chuck, but alright let's go," Blair agreed, following Chuck through the store's door and into his car which was parked outside. As soon as she climbed into the car beside him, she couldn't fight the sense of impending disaster building inside of her.
x x x
The 다음 morning Blair woke up to an empty bed. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly time for her to be up anyway. She slipped out of the 침대 and into her lavender 목욕 가운 that Nate had given her last 년 for Christmas.
She could hear Nate in the master bath going about his morning routine so she padded gently down the hall to the spare bathroom. She opened the cupboard for a towel and turned the water on hot, hoping a 샤워 would relax her.
She was unnerved that she had managed to sleep the entire night last night. In fact she felt it could only mean bad things were happing. She knew that if she voiced this to Nate 또는 Serena, 또는 even Dan that they would shake their heads and tell her she was being paranoid. But Blair knew differently. Something wasn't right, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
x x x
"So tell me, how does someone as terrified of commitment as 당신 end up married with twins before twenty-five?" Blair asked Chuck twenty-five 분 later when they were comfortably seated at Manhattan's latest, hottest bar with drinks in hand.
Chuck smiled and thought about how to answer the beautiful brunette seated across from him. "Katherine and I met and were 프렌즈 before we started dating and from there I knew she was it, so I proposed, we had a big white wedding, and then the twins were sort of a result of too much champagne on said white wedding," Chuck explained.
Blair smiled at him, ignoring the sting she felt whenever she remembered that he had found someone else while she was still single and lonely.
"What about 당신 Waldorf? Anyone special in your life?"
"Not really. Nate and I see each other on and off but I think it's 더 많이 habit then anything," she explained, downing the rest of her drink and signaling to the waitress that she wanted another. She had a feeling that if she was going to make it through this night still standing that she would need a lot of drinks to do so.
x x x
"Morning Blair." Nate smiled as she walked into their dining room thirty 분 later.
"Hi Mommy!" Sophia smiled, her face covered in 단풍, 메이플 syrup from the 와플 their cook had prepared for that morning's breakfast.
Blair walked over to Nate and kissed him lightly on the cheek before bending over and 키싱 the 상단, 맨 위로 of Sophia's head.
"Good morning. Did 당신 have a good sleep Soph?" Blair asked, taking her 좌석 at their table.
"Mmmhmm. And then I woke up and remembered it was Saturday so that meant that 만화 are on and 당신 promised we'd go to the park later today with Daddy."
Blair looked across the 표, 테이블 to Nate. "I'm sorry I meant to ask 당신 if it’s okay. If 당신 have to work, we'll go ourselves, it can but just us girls right Soph?"
"No, I actually took the 일 off. I've been working too much lately and I haven't been able to see much of Sophia."
"Yay!" Sophia smiled, looking at her mom and dad.
"Nate, that was really sweet. How about this Soph? Mommy has to go into work for an 시간 또는 two. Then when I'm done, we'll go get lunch and go play in the snow in the park. Sound like a good plan?" Blair asked her daughter.
"Mmhmm," Sophia replied, totally focused on cutting her waffle into pieces that would fit into her tiny little perfect mouth. "Tell Auntie Serena I say hi."
x x x
"I think I'm drunk," Chuck announced to Blair a few hours later.
Blair rolled her eyes. "Oh my, what would your precious Katherine think?" she asked the sarcasm heavy in her voice.
"Well she wouldn't be happy. But she's not here right now either. So I think that I will have another few drinks so I am utterly wasted."
"The family man himself, ladies and gentlemen."
"You're one to talk little miss perfect image, can't ever do anything wrong. You're just as drunk if not 더 많이 so than I am."
Blair giggled. "I think 당신 may be right Mr. Bass. But then again, who's really watching us anyway?"
"I like the way 당신 think Waldorf."
"I'm brilliant like that."
"So 당신 are my dear, so 당신 are."
x x x
Blair walked the Upper East Side Streets to hers and Serena's office. Nate had again insisted that she call a car to take her into the office, it was cold and slippery out after all, but Blair, being as stubborn as she was, insisted she make the ten block walk on foot.
She pushed open the doors to the impressive lobby and smiled at their receptionist Victoria, before making her way onto the elevators and into her office.
Serena was already there looking a tad bit annoyed at her tardiness, but Blair simply smiled at the gorgeous blond before taking off her stunning red Dior jacked and matching gloves.
She took a 좌석 at her 책상, 데스크 and tried to start on some of the paperwork for their latest client before Serena's constant gaze became too much for her and she looked up at her best friend.
"What?" Blair asked.
Serena rolled her eyes. "You waltz in thirty 분 late, the 일 after Sophia was born, which 의해 the way we both know was the happiest and hardest 일 of your life and all 당신 have to say to me is 'what'?"
"That is generally the 질문 people ask when another person is staring at them."
"Blair don't start with the whole 'everything is fine, nothing is ever wrong' routine. 당신 forget how long I've known you, and I know when you're 연기 and when you're actually being truthful."
Blair sighed and set her pen down. "What do 당신 want me to say Serena? That once a 년 every year, I feel an inhumane amount of joy and at the same time I feel like I'm dying on the inside? Maybe I'm just tired of talking about it, about him. Maybe for the first time in four years I didn't wake up in the middle of the night thinking about him and it’s thrown me through a fucking loop because I don't know what to make of it."
"You didn't wake up last night?"
"Nope. And I don't know what it means and it’s been driving me up a 벽 all morning."
"Maybe it means you're finally moving on."
Blair wasn't so sure she liked that idea.
x x x
Blair groaned as Chuck slammed her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist and threw her head back as his lips attached themselves to her neck leaving a mark she'd have to cover for weeks.
His hand started wandering down her breast. "Bedroom," she managed to gasp as his hand found its destination.
They stumbled into the walls, remaining lip-locked the entire time, to her bedroom. They stumbled into the bedroom and neither of them registered the sound of a vase crashing onto the floor, sending glass, 담홍색, 핑크 roses, and water everywhere.
He tossed her onto the 침대 and made quick work of his pants and shirt, leaving himself in just his boxers. She followed suit and he climbed on 상단, 맨 위로 of her, sliding them both under the covers.
x x x
Blair smiled when she noticed Nate and Sophia playing in the snow in Central Park. Sophia was running around, her 초콜릿 brown locks streaming out underneath her 담홍색, 핑크 and blue hat.
"Bet 당신 can't catch me daddy!" she yelled, darting in Blair's general direction.
Blair loved watching Nate and Sophia interact when they didn't know she was watching. They were just so adorable, that it always brought a smile to her face, no matter how bad her 일 had been.
"Mommy!" Sophia exclaimed, noticing Blair and making a beeline straight for her legs.
"Hello my princess." Blair smiled as her daughter crashed into her legs. She bent down to pick up Sophia and hugged her close to her body, 키싱 the 상단, 맨 위로 of her head. "Were 당신 good for Daddy?" She continued walking over to Nate.
"Mmhmm, I was an angel. We played coloring, and then we gotted some lunch from the hot dog man, and then we came here to wait for you."
Blair had ended up having to stay at the office longer than she had expected, so she had called Nate and told him to meet her at the park later and they'd go out for 공식 만찬, 저녁 식사 instead of lunch.
"Soph, the hotdogs were supposed to be our little secret remember? Hello sweetheart," he continued leaning over and 키싱 Blair lightly on the cheek.
"Oops sorry Daddy I forgot."
"Nate, why do 당신 let her eat those things? They're disgusting."
"She likes them and I like them, win win."
"Whatever. How do 당신 feel about going to see the penguins today Soph?" Blair asked, focusing all her attention her daughter.
"Okay! That sounds great!" Sophia replied, wriggling out of Blair's arms and making a mad dash towards the penguins.
"Soph slow down!" Nate called.
"I'll get her," Blair replied, running after Sophia.
She was so focused on catching up with her daughter that she didn't notice the man in front of her until she crashed into him and slipped onto the ground.
"I'm so sorry," she stammered, beginning to get up.
"It’s alright, here let me help you," he replied, turning to face her.
"Mommy! Are 당신 okay?" Sophia asked, dashing over to her mother's side.
"Blair?"
"Chuck?"
x x x
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
--Evanescence My Immortal
x x x
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Blair Waldorf as I live and breathe," he announced, walking into Saks.
"I thought I smelled something sinister in the room," Blair replied, turning around to face her visitor. "What are 당신 doing here Chuck? Last I heard 당신 married some Californian whore and 당신 two had twins a 년 또는 so ago."
Chuck smirked at Blair while walking over to her. "Well, my dear," he started, "I'm here on what 당신 would call business. An opportunity came up and I flew across the country right away leaving Katherine and the boys at home."
"What kind of opportunity?" Blair asked her face full of skepticism.
"That is a secret. Would 당신 be interested in joining me for a drink 또는 two?" he asked, extending an arm to her.
Blair paused. She knew that she and Chuck were technically friends. They hadn't been together in a long time, their 초 년 of college in fact. She had been at Yale while he attended Stanford and the distance combined with their skill to be terrible to each other had caused them to decide it was best if they broke up. Well it was 더 많이 along the lines of Blair screaming at him in Barney's when they were 집 for 크리스마스 Break that he was an inconsiderate 나귀, 엉덩이 whom she never wanted to see again, but that was just minor details.
"Come on Blair. We both know that it's nothing, merely two old 프렌즈 having a few drinks and catching up."
"I wouldn't go so far as to call us 프렌즈 Chuck, but alright let's go," Blair agreed, following Chuck through the store's door and into his car which was parked outside. As soon as she climbed into the car beside him, she couldn't fight the sense of impending disaster building inside of her.
x x x
The 다음 morning Blair woke up to an empty bed. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly time for her to be up anyway. She slipped out of the 침대 and into her lavender 목욕 가운 that Nate had given her last 년 for Christmas.
She could hear Nate in the master bath going about his morning routine so she padded gently down the hall to the spare bathroom. She opened the cupboard for a towel and turned the water on hot, hoping a 샤워 would relax her.
She was unnerved that she had managed to sleep the entire night last night. In fact she felt it could only mean bad things were happing. She knew that if she voiced this to Nate 또는 Serena, 또는 even Dan that they would shake their heads and tell her she was being paranoid. But Blair knew differently. Something wasn't right, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
x x x
"So tell me, how does someone as terrified of commitment as 당신 end up married with twins before twenty-five?" Blair asked Chuck twenty-five 분 later when they were comfortably seated at Manhattan's latest, hottest bar with drinks in hand.
Chuck smiled and thought about how to answer the beautiful brunette seated across from him. "Katherine and I met and were 프렌즈 before we started dating and from there I knew she was it, so I proposed, we had a big white wedding, and then the twins were sort of a result of too much champagne on said white wedding," Chuck explained.
Blair smiled at him, ignoring the sting she felt whenever she remembered that he had found someone else while she was still single and lonely.
"What about 당신 Waldorf? Anyone special in your life?"
"Not really. Nate and I see each other on and off but I think it's 더 많이 habit then anything," she explained, downing the rest of her drink and signaling to the waitress that she wanted another. She had a feeling that if she was going to make it through this night still standing that she would need a lot of drinks to do so.
x x x
"Morning Blair." Nate smiled as she walked into their dining room thirty 분 later.
"Hi Mommy!" Sophia smiled, her face covered in 단풍, 메이플 syrup from the 와플 their cook had prepared for that morning's breakfast.
Blair walked over to Nate and kissed him lightly on the cheek before bending over and 키싱 the 상단, 맨 위로 of Sophia's head.
"Good morning. Did 당신 have a good sleep Soph?" Blair asked, taking her 좌석 at their table.
"Mmmhmm. And then I woke up and remembered it was Saturday so that meant that 만화 are on and 당신 promised we'd go to the park later today with Daddy."
Blair looked across the 표, 테이블 to Nate. "I'm sorry I meant to ask 당신 if it’s okay. If 당신 have to work, we'll go ourselves, it can but just us girls right Soph?"
"No, I actually took the 일 off. I've been working too much lately and I haven't been able to see much of Sophia."
"Yay!" Sophia smiled, looking at her mom and dad.
"Nate, that was really sweet. How about this Soph? Mommy has to go into work for an 시간 또는 two. Then when I'm done, we'll go get lunch and go play in the snow in the park. Sound like a good plan?" Blair asked her daughter.
"Mmhmm," Sophia replied, totally focused on cutting her waffle into pieces that would fit into her tiny little perfect mouth. "Tell Auntie Serena I say hi."
x x x
"I think I'm drunk," Chuck announced to Blair a few hours later.
Blair rolled her eyes. "Oh my, what would your precious Katherine think?" she asked the sarcasm heavy in her voice.
"Well she wouldn't be happy. But she's not here right now either. So I think that I will have another few drinks so I am utterly wasted."
"The family man himself, ladies and gentlemen."
"You're one to talk little miss perfect image, can't ever do anything wrong. You're just as drunk if not 더 많이 so than I am."
Blair giggled. "I think 당신 may be right Mr. Bass. But then again, who's really watching us anyway?"
"I like the way 당신 think Waldorf."
"I'm brilliant like that."
"So 당신 are my dear, so 당신 are."
x x x
Blair walked the Upper East Side Streets to hers and Serena's office. Nate had again insisted that she call a car to take her into the office, it was cold and slippery out after all, but Blair, being as stubborn as she was, insisted she make the ten block walk on foot.
She pushed open the doors to the impressive lobby and smiled at their receptionist Victoria, before making her way onto the elevators and into her office.
Serena was already there looking a tad bit annoyed at her tardiness, but Blair simply smiled at the gorgeous blond before taking off her stunning red Dior jacked and matching gloves.
She took a 좌석 at her 책상, 데스크 and tried to start on some of the paperwork for their latest client before Serena's constant gaze became too much for her and she looked up at her best friend.
"What?" Blair asked.
Serena rolled her eyes. "You waltz in thirty 분 late, the 일 after Sophia was born, which 의해 the way we both know was the happiest and hardest 일 of your life and all 당신 have to say to me is 'what'?"
"That is generally the 질문 people ask when another person is staring at them."
"Blair don't start with the whole 'everything is fine, nothing is ever wrong' routine. 당신 forget how long I've known you, and I know when you're 연기 and when you're actually being truthful."
Blair sighed and set her pen down. "What do 당신 want me to say Serena? That once a 년 every year, I feel an inhumane amount of joy and at the same time I feel like I'm dying on the inside? Maybe I'm just tired of talking about it, about him. Maybe for the first time in four years I didn't wake up in the middle of the night thinking about him and it’s thrown me through a fucking loop because I don't know what to make of it."
"You didn't wake up last night?"
"Nope. And I don't know what it means and it’s been driving me up a 벽 all morning."
"Maybe it means you're finally moving on."
Blair wasn't so sure she liked that idea.
x x x
Blair groaned as Chuck slammed her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist and threw her head back as his lips attached themselves to her neck leaving a mark she'd have to cover for weeks.
His hand started wandering down her breast. "Bedroom," she managed to gasp as his hand found its destination.
They stumbled into the walls, remaining lip-locked the entire time, to her bedroom. They stumbled into the bedroom and neither of them registered the sound of a vase crashing onto the floor, sending glass, 담홍색, 핑크 roses, and water everywhere.
He tossed her onto the 침대 and made quick work of his pants and shirt, leaving himself in just his boxers. She followed suit and he climbed on 상단, 맨 위로 of her, sliding them both under the covers.
x x x
Blair smiled when she noticed Nate and Sophia playing in the snow in Central Park. Sophia was running around, her 초콜릿 brown locks streaming out underneath her 담홍색, 핑크 and blue hat.
"Bet 당신 can't catch me daddy!" she yelled, darting in Blair's general direction.
Blair loved watching Nate and Sophia interact when they didn't know she was watching. They were just so adorable, that it always brought a smile to her face, no matter how bad her 일 had been.
"Mommy!" Sophia exclaimed, noticing Blair and making a beeline straight for her legs.
"Hello my princess." Blair smiled as her daughter crashed into her legs. She bent down to pick up Sophia and hugged her close to her body, 키싱 the 상단, 맨 위로 of her head. "Were 당신 good for Daddy?" She continued walking over to Nate.
"Mmhmm, I was an angel. We played coloring, and then we gotted some lunch from the hot dog man, and then we came here to wait for you."
Blair had ended up having to stay at the office longer than she had expected, so she had called Nate and told him to meet her at the park later and they'd go out for 공식 만찬, 저녁 식사 instead of lunch.
"Soph, the hotdogs were supposed to be our little secret remember? Hello sweetheart," he continued leaning over and 키싱 Blair lightly on the cheek.
"Oops sorry Daddy I forgot."
"Nate, why do 당신 let her eat those things? They're disgusting."
"She likes them and I like them, win win."
"Whatever. How do 당신 feel about going to see the penguins today Soph?" Blair asked, focusing all her attention her daughter.
"Okay! That sounds great!" Sophia replied, wriggling out of Blair's arms and making a mad dash towards the penguins.
"Soph slow down!" Nate called.
"I'll get her," Blair replied, running after Sophia.
She was so focused on catching up with her daughter that she didn't notice the man in front of her until she crashed into him and slipped onto the ground.
"I'm so sorry," she stammered, beginning to get up.
"It’s alright, here let me help you," he replied, turning to face her.
"Mommy! Are 당신 okay?" Sophia asked, dashing over to her mother's side.
"Blair?"
"Chuck?"
x x x
