Negotiating the Nonnegotiable
Title: Negotiating the Nonnegotiable
Pairing: Implied Blair/Chuck, Implied Blair/Nate
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1230
Spoilers: up to 2x01 "Summer, Kind of Wonderful"
Summary: Serena tries to get Blair to admit how she feels about Chuck.
Negotiating the Nonnegotiable
Through the haze of tequila, a game of "Truth" had seemed like a good idea. The questions had been ranging from silly things like "If you had to survive off only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?" to things not so silly like "What is your biggest regret?". Neither one of them was surprised to see that neither one really wanted to answer that. Blair, was ready to stop playing once the question was rescinded, but Serena wasn't. There were still things she wanted to know, and she was a lot more sober than Blair. "If you were stuck in the desert with only Chuck and Nate..."
"That's just great! I'm stuck in the desert with my two ex-boyfriends..." Blair interrupted bitterly
"I wasn't finished," Serena snapped defensively. "Like I was saying, if the three of you were stuck in the desert and you had to repopulate..."
"Stop right there!" Blair insisted suddenly a lot more sober than she cared for. "There will be no repopulating between me and Nate," she said pausing for a moment before adding, "or me and Chuck."
"Funny." Serena scoffed.
"What?" Blair asked confused.
"You denied Nate first," Serena said coyly. Admittedly, she knew it had been a stupid question, but it had gotten her foot in the door for what she really wanted to know; just how close Blair was to forgiving Chuck.
Blair couldn't think of a single word to describe Serena right now other than crazy. She didn't know what Serena was thinking, bringing Chuck up this soon. It was her own fault really. She should have known better than to play a game of truth with Serena. "That's insane. The order in which I denied the two jerks who've spent the last year grinding my heart into pulp is completely irrelevant," she snapped coldly
Serena sighed. Obviously I didn't get Blair drunk enough she thought to herself. "Sure it does."
"Why?"
Serena groaned. "Because, it means you still care about Chuck."
"I'm not sure why you think that S, but I don't. Chuck could jump off the Brooklyn Bridge and I wouldn't bat an eyelash."
Serena rolled her eyes. "That's because you'd be too busy sobbing hysterically." Serena pointed out with a large smile on her face.
Blair shook her head and ignored the stupid grin on Serena's face. "You're being insane."
"And you're being irrational, B." Serena squeaked loudly
Blair shook her head once more in frustration. "No, I'm not Serena. Now can we please stop talking about this?"
Serena shook her head in a negative manner. "He cares about you. He's spent the entire summer moping..." she said truthfully. She wasn't the only one who'd noticed either. Nate was continually asking Chuck what was wrong with him. Chuck's replies of being bored with the same girls was growing old for both of them.
"Good," she said defiantly, "The jerk deserves it, he broke my heart."
Serena sighed and rested her head in her palm. "B..."
Blair shook her head again. "I don't want to hear it, S. He broke my heart, he gets no more chances."
"Come on Blair... Nate..."
"What about Nate?" Blair interrupted
"Nate broke your heart, and you gave him three chances. Why doesn't Chuck warrant a third?"
"Because." she stated stubbornly without elaborating any further.
"Blair," Serena tried to reason
"Well, why should he?" she snapped angrily.
"Becuase you love him." Serena stated plainly
Blair's jaw dropped open in shock. "I most certainly do not love Chuck Bass," she said defensively
Serena sighed in exasperation. "Of course you do, that's why you're so upset with him! If you didn't care so much, you wouldn't care so much."
"That made no sense at all."
Serena scoffed annoyed. "It makes perfect sense. What exactly is it that Chuck did to you."
"He cheated on me with that blonde interior designer, and then he stood me up for Tuscany. You know that."
"Nate slept with your best friend and lied to you about it for a year. Then he continued to pursue your best friend with no regard to your feelings whatsoever."
Blair flinched. "Was that necessary?" Any drop of tequila that had still been residing in her body was gone.
"Neither one of them was the perfect boyfriend, but Chuck would have never done what Nate did to you. Nate played with your feelings left and right, all Chuck did was get scared and screw up. The problem is, you care more about Chuck then you ever did Nate, and that's why it hurts so much." Serena said pointedly. "You loved Nate but you love Chuck more, you just need to admit it."
"Serena..."
"And, Chuck loves you."
Blair shook her head fervently. "Chuck Bass does not love me."
Serena looked at her in shock. "Are you kidding?" He chose Nate over you."
Blair rolled her eyes. "He did not."
"He knew what avidly pursuing you would do to his friendship with Nate, and he didn't care. He had a choice and he chose you."
"So because he made that choice instead of the alternative, I should just forgive and forget?"
Serena shook her head. "Absolutely not, but you can't hold it over him forever. Eventually you're going to to have to forgive him..."
"Why?" Blair exclaimed, "Why do I eventually have to forgive him? He crushed me, Serena. He humiliated me publicly, and then he makes one stupid speech about not giving up on true love and I melted. I let him back in and what did he do? The same exact thing all over again." Blair said sadly, tears forming in her eyes. "I let my guard down and once again I got kicked for it. I'm done. Nothing he can say will make it better this time."
Serena looked at her crying friend sadly before turning to look in the direction she'd heard footsteps coming from during Blair's tirade. She looked solemnly at Chuck, who was standing awkwardly by the wall, but was too nervous to move. He'd clearly heard what Blair had to say and he wasn't pleased with it. she could tell he wanted to interrupt and plead his case once more but Serena knew that would make it worse.
She shook her head discretely and sighed as Chuck got the hint and left quietly, Blair still none the wiser of his presence. Serena sighed once more before pulling her friend to her. "It's OK, Blair. I'm sorry I brought it up," she said soothingly before releasing her. "Just know that if you decided to take him back, there would be no judging here, or from Nate." She pulled the half empty tequila bottle back over to them. "Tonight, we'll just drink ourselves silly and try to forget Chuck Bass even exists."
Blair nodded happily and Serena took it as a good sign. Now if only it were really that easy she thought to herself before pouring Blair a shot.