A/N: So this started out as a one-shot but there was way too much plot. I'll warn you ahead of time, if you can't handle fluff turn back now, this thing is multi-chaptered.
Training Wheels
Blair quickly took a bite of Serena's doughnut after making sure she wasn't paying attention.
Dan had called five minutes ago and still counting. Absently her fingers ran over the carvings on Blair's bed frame as she stood with her back turned for the time being.
Blair took another bite and glanced at the half eaten doughnut before shrugging and finishing the rest.
Finally Serena hung up and flopped herself back down onto Blair's bed, "Sorry about that, he was trying to figure out...hey! You ate my doughnut!"
Blair grinned with a mouthful of doughnut and they both started laughing.
It had been several weeks since Gossip Girl had exposed Blair's trysts with Chuck, marking her topple of power in the Upper East Side.
Without Serena Blair knew that she would, no doubt, have been munching on croissants in France at this very moment. Everyone had shunned her, even little Jenny.
And no matter if she was Dan's sister, Blair was going to make sure she got what was coming to her. As well as everyone else.
What had happened to Blair was horrifying.
She played board games with Dorota on Friday nights, she tried learning how to knit, she even began to help cook; as long as it wasn't too complicated.
And Blair Waldorf didn't do domestic tasks.
Her influence of banishment was reaching a point where no one was even speaking to Serena, besides Dan of course, because she associated with Blair.
After the two finished breakfast they started watching Casablanca. No matter that she tried to be discreet, Blair saw Serena check her cell phone half-way through. "You can go meet Cabbage Patch if you have to. After all who else besides him and I can you hang out with nowadays? If you piss him off you're going to be stuck with me all the time."
Serena rolled her eyes, "Shut up, do you think I would be here so often if you were that horrible? I didn't know how late it already was when I told him a time or I would have made it for later."
Blair waved it off and gave her a hug before sitting back on the bed, "Yeah, yeah, just call me when you can."
Serena promised she would before dashing off.
In reality the only reason Blair was being lenient was because she had gotten her taste of abandonment and she didn't like it one bit.
When Serena had come back from boarding school no one was there for her, and then she met Dan. As seeing it was Blair's fault that Serena had been put into exile she figured she had better sit back and let Serena be, she had done her time.
Blair leaned back onto her pillow and tried to think of anybody on the face of the planet she could spend time with, that is, anybody she didn't pay.
She decided to finish the rest of the movie before going to hunt down Dorota and paint her nails a bizarre fuchsia color.
An hour and a half later Dorota blew at her nails carefully with eyebrows raised, "Why...thank you Miss Blair. What a nice color."
Blair snickered under her breath, "I'm glad you like it. Now Dorota, I know you're getting sick of me, can you think of something else to occupy my time? Knitting didn't work out too well."
Dorota frowned, "Well a good hobby is what you need. I have a cousin who paints."
Blair grimaced slightly and waved for her to continue, "Just keep listing until I hear something interesting."
Dorota nodded, "Sewing, checkers, bird watching, puzzles, biking, gardening."
A ring made her jump to her feet, "Oh Miss Blair, I have to go finish lunch before your mother returns, I'm sorry!"
Blair smiled, "Thank you Dorota." She stalled on her way back to her room going over the list in her head. What could she do for the next how many hours, by herself?
What a thrill to be a social pariah.
Serena threw the dirty dish rag at Dan laughing at his outraged expression. "You know when you said you'd put me to work I didn't think you meant manual labor."
Dan shook his head at her, "What? It's my turn to clean and you were perfectly willing."
She was about to jokingly protest when her phone rang.
Serena picked up and held it to her ear as she dusted a vase three shelves above her head. "Hey Mom, what's up?"
A slight pause occurred before Lily began, "Darling, Bart hasn't seen Chuck in a couple of days and he's getting a little worried. Would you go check up on him?"
She stopped dusting in surprise; obviously Bart Bass didn't care enough to go see Chuck himself. The hotel service more than likely had sent along a notice stating that Chuck had been lurking in his room for a solid forty eight hours and were wondering if he had died in there.
Serena sighed, "Sure Mom but you owe me, alright?"
It wasn't that large of a sacrifice for her. She had been wondering how Chuck was, he had lost everyone close to him as well and from Blair's demeanor when she had asked, they hadn't parted on good terms.
Serena snapped the phone shut, "I've got to do a favor for my mom, I'll talk to you later!"
Dan took the duster from her in surrender, "I knew from the moment I tossed that banana peel on the ground this place was going to force me to tidy up."
She smiled innocently and pecked him on the cheek before striding out of the room, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with Jenny in the process.
After a conniving chat with the hotel staff she was armed with a spare key.
Serena was worried she would have to walk in with her eyes covered for what Chuck might be preoccupied with, but it was still. She poked her head around the corner and saw the back of Chuck's head on his couch as he watched a movie.
Creeping forward she made an effort to remain hidden for the moment. His eyes were transfixed in morbid fascination to the screen, a glass of scotch resting at his lips.
The tomb scene from Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet was playing and Chuck was entranced.
Serena found it odd that he was watching Romeo and Juliet when before the Debutante Ball Blair had mentioned something about wanting someone like Romeo to risk it all for her.
The heartbreaking sequence played through and once it ended Chuck rewound it and watched it again, he had been watching it for hours.
Finally Serena stepped forward and gently laid her hand on his shoulder.
Chuck whirled around nearly dropping his glass, "Dammit Serena!"
She stepped back guiltily, "Sorry, I forgot you didn't know I was here."
He paused the movie and turned his eyes to her, "And why are you here?"
Serena didn't want to be blunt so she shrugged and took a seat on the opposite arm of the couch. "How've you been?"
Chuck lifted an eyebrow, "Fine. How's Blair been? And don't you dare tell her I asked."
She frowned at him, clearly Chuck wasn't holding up much better than Blair was in this solitary confinement, whether it was voluntary or not. "She's ok, I guess. I'm the only one she ever spends time with besides her mom occasionally and Dorota."
Chuck nodded and took a sip from his glass, "Has Nate asked for her back yet?"
He had never thought much of grand gestures but Blair did something to him that he couldn't explain. Although the words he threw at her were the most spiteful he had ever spoken, he did it for her.
If she hated him then she still had a chance to get back together with Nate and if that made her happy then he'd make sure she could get whatever she wanted.
It wasn't an entirely coherent tangent. It was twisted. The whole ordeal was such a Chuck-like account he was surprised Blair hadn't flat out called him on his bluff.
But he was secretly pleased with himself; it proved that he loved Blair more; he was willing to sacrifice for her.
Serena stared at the forlorn boy in front of her, where was his confident smirk? His perverted, but somehow still, clever jibes? Just as a test she offered, "What if I said I came up to see if you had bathed yet?"
Chuck's eyes widened in surprise, "Well, I would have figured."
They both stared at each other before breaking into a bout of laughter. Chuck sighed as he rubbed at his face, "Hey give me a break, I'm a little rusty."
Serena giggled, "Obviously. I never thought I would say this but I miss your horrible comments. You're Chuck Bass! Are you letting Gossip Girl of all things get to you? At the very least you need to get out more, because right now, even I can come up with better dirty comebacks than you can."
He hurled a pillow at her head, "Thanks for the advice Dear Abbey."
She smiled as she headed back to the door, "And you didn't even need to go online." As she closed the door behind her Chuck couldn't stop the snort of laughter.
Blair was hunched over the glass table in her entryway when Serena walked in.
As she got closer she saw the massive teddy bear puzzle that was nearly completed.
Blair looked up in relief, "Oh thank God!" She got to her feet and pulled Serena away from the table, "Its five thousand pieces, I've been working on it all day. Well, after trying my hand at bird watching. I've never realized that the only birds around here are pigeons."
Serena couldn't keep a straight face, "You were trying out hobbies?"
Blair pursed her lips, "Hey, not all of us have many other options at the time being. So what are you doing tomorrow?"
The smile turned into a frown on Serena's face. "My mom organized this get together for me and my grandmother so we can 'reconcile' before the wedding. She doesn't want us snipping at each other."
Blair rolled her eyes, "Well, whatever. I have plenty of other things to do."
Serena motioned to the puzzle, "What? Is there a matching rubber duck puzzle with ten thousand pieces?"
Blair crossed her arms in defiance trying to think of one of the hobbies Dorota had listed, "No! I'm going to buy a bike tomorrow." She almost winced at that choice.
Her eyes bright with amusement Serena cocked her head, "Really? I wish I could see that since you don't know how to ride a bike."
Blair shrugged, "No time like the present to learn."
She headed up the stairs and jumped onto her bed, Serena following behind her. Ever since she had found out that Blair had slept with Chuck Serena couldn't help but wonder why. She saw the changes in them both.
Blair had been happy, relaxed and more care-free. Chuck withheld his perverse charisma for his natural allure and she saw that he was happy too.
Serena picked at a strand of her hair before asking timidly, "B, I know this may not be the best time but why Chuck?"
Blair turned her eyes abruptly to Serena. She didn't look confrontational, just curious.
It was painful to think about him because out of everyone Chuck had always wanted her, except now.
She supposed she deserved it.
You can only antagonize someone for so long before they snap. And she had antagonized him far beyond when he should have snapped, she just never thought it would have hurt so much.
"I know he's not one of your favorite people and you don't have to admit it out loud but he's charming. He always has been. It's this dangerous kind of charm, nothing like Nate's. Nate is like...the Statue of Liberty."
Serena tried to contain her snicker but couldn't. "I have to make a note that spending too much time away from society is not good for wit."
Blair couldn't particularly blame her, the comparison was horrible but she still acted as if the comment was uncalled for. "Nate is like the Statue of Liberty because he's completely unwavering, this symbol of hope for the future to come, for the most part."
She sent a pointed glance to Serena who cringed. "But Chuck, he's completely unpredictable and even if you don't want to care, he's got this pull that draws you in. I don't know I can't really explain it. It's just that every time Nate messed up again Chuck was there for me."
Serena nodded before yawning embarrassingly.
Blair laughed at her, "I know my life is boring. Nothing ever exciting ever seems to happen to me, so you should be running along. It is nine o'clock after all, bed time."
Serena swatted at her, "Yeah, my life is boring too. And I'm sorry that for some reason I can't stay awake, maybe it has something to do with the early morning breakfast call."
Blair rolled her eyes, "Please don't try to pawn off your late night activities with Brooklyn onto me."
Serena grinned, "Night then. Wish me luck for tomorrow; I'll call if I survive."
Blair waved in response, "Good luck and I'll need some too. Don't forget I'm going biking!"
With one last head shake Serena exited the room. Blair slipped into her bed with a small smile on her face, she was going to go out tomorrow and she was going to hold her head up high.
She was a Waldorf and she wouldn't back down.
As she strode down the street the next morning, her full length coat flapping in the wind she felt confident. Who was some online gossip monger to ruin her life?
She felt good for a whole three minutes before she caught sigh of Kati and Isabel giggling and walking together. Blair averted her eyes but knew they saw her and could just feel them scrabbling for their phones.
Losing any sense of assurance she had Blair dove into the nearest doorway silently praying it wasn't an Ann Taylor Loft or Carter's.
Luckily it was only the Palace. She sighed in relief, she could just pretend that she had forgotten Serena already had plans, and maybe the front desk could help her find a bicycle shop.
She stepped up to the desk and politely asked if they could locate a bicycle shop, preferably no where near the vicinity.
As she waited Blair took a seat in one of the expensive chairs placed within the lobby. She fiddled with her coat fastenings when a blonde figure stepped into her view. "Blair! How lovely to see you. I hope you're not looking for Serena, she's not in right now."
Blair smiled at Mrs. Van Der Woodsen soon to be Bass. "Oh, right! I must have forgotten. Thanks for reminding me. I'm just checking something at the desk before I go then."
The man held out a pad of paper to her and she grabbed the address, "Thank you."
Lily peered at the name, "You're buying a bike? How are you getting to that part of town?"
Blair shrugged, "I had been planning on taking a cab."
She was stared at dubiously, "That would be such a waste! Why don't you ride with us? Bart and I are going to lunch; we could drop you off on the way."
Blair was about to accept before she caught sight of Bart Bass rounding the corner, with his son in tow.
Chuck had his hands in his pockets but he hadn't looked in her direction yet. "Oh, really, I couldn't. I'll just leave now; I wouldn't want to delay you."
She froze in place as Mrs. Van Der Woodsen took her hand, "Now Blair, really. It's no problem and company will do Chuck some good. He's been brooding a lot lately."
Blair tried not to cry in frustration so instead she took the few seconds to compose her face for the encounter.
Mr. Bass gazed at her interestingly before Lily explained, "Blair was going to buy a bike downtown but she was going to take a cab!"
Chuck's head shot up at her name but she didn't notice, she was too busy pointedly focusing on the address between her fingers.
Mr. Bass put a hand on her shoulder, "Nonsense, we'll drop you off along the way."
He took his fiancé's hand and led her out the doors leaving Chuck and Blair by themselves. She glanced at him quickly and he kept his eyes trained forward, if he was going to do this he couldn't cave on the first sign of resistance.
They trailed out to the limo when Chuck caught the glint of a raised cell phone. It was poised and waiting for a picture.
He shifted his body to block Blair from view as he helped her into the limo. She masked her surprise at the sudden show of niceties before glancing through the tinted windows and seeing Kati and Is hovering nearby and armed.
Blair rolled her eyes; she wasn't quite sure if he was protecting her or if he was protecting himself.
The ride through town was excruciating.
Chuck forced himself not to look at her even though he wanted to. He wanted to so badly.
Blair tried to pretend she wasn't ready to jump out of a moving vehicle at any moment.
They finally reached the street she needed and Blair nearly fell out of the door in her haste, "Thank you so much for the ride. I appreciate it."
Bart nodded to her and they began driving again. Once alone on the sidewalk she let a breath out in relief.
The limo reached a stoplight before Mr. Bass gave his son an intrusive look, "I'm not sure about this."
Chuck sighed heavily, "About what?"
Bart watched Blair's retreating figure, "Leaving Miss Waldorf alone in this part of town. Charles perhaps you should stay with her."
Chuck would have preferred that the limo drove off a bridge but he clenched his jaw, "Of course father."
He slammed the door behind him and caught up with Blair easily.
He didn't say a word, he didn't know what to say and they walked like that for a block. Finally Blair noticed that a strange color was being reflected somewhere behind her no matter where she walked and she turned around.
Upon seeing Chuck, it was his scarf she had seen, she became rooted to the spot.
They stared at each other for a while before she choked out, "This is a whole new level of stalking, even for you."
Chuck tried not to smile, "My father thought the area was unsafe and that I should stay with you."
Blair nodded curtly, "Well I don't see why you should care. You'd be proven wrong if I was dragged into an alley, somebody would want me then."
He didn't respond but as Blair gazed at him she saw in his eyes what he had been struggling to hide at the bar.
The confusion, the guilt, the doubt, the regret, the hope and maybe even the love?
Her face softened as he quickly averted his eyes. Chuck saw that she was going to start talking to him again but she couldn't. Then everything he had done so far would be for nothing.
Using the one piece of information he knew would guarantee her hatred he shot out, "I'm the one that told Gossip Girl."
Blair felt an encompassing numbness spread through her body and turned on her heel to leave him where he stood. Chuck was the reason that everything had fallen apart, it made sense.
As she stomped away she convinced herself it made sense but she slipped up.
She glanced in the glass behind her and saw his face. Blair blamed it on the fact that she had been away from society for such a stretch that she broke the cardinal rule. It was the rule she had practically invented, never look back.
She tried to talk herself into walking away but it didn't make sense.
Why would he tell her now of all times. Blair turned herself around and walked right up to him. "Why?" She demanded.
He gazed at her in bewilderment as to why she came back. It didn't help his resolve that she kept showing signs of wanting his attention, "I was angry that you-"
Blair cut him off. "Not why you told Gossip Girl, why you just told me now. I thought Jenny snitched, even if she would have denied it I would have thought she was lying, why did you tell me?"
Chuck rolled his eyes angrily, "Of course, at the Debutante Ball you tell me what my motives were and got them completely wrong but now you care. Now when you need to walk away that's when you come back."
Blair balled her hands into fists in frustration, "Since I'm not getting it, why don't you explain it then Chuck!"
He stepped towards her menacingly, "You don't want to hear it!"
She stood her ground now matter how much she felt like stumbling back and hissed out, "Try me."
"I didn't ruin your cotillion for 'my own amusement'. I didn't mean to ruin it at all but I did because I wanted you. I didn't want Nate to call for you and have you go running into his arms without one look behind, which you did anyway! And then you come to me and tell me I'm the last resort. Your last option possible. Ranked even lower than Nathaniel fucking Archibald, who screwed your best friend while you were dating and doesn't seem to realize the parallel situations.
Can you imagine if I said, 'Oh Blair just come here, I'll make it all better' what would have happened. You would have found out eventually that I told Gossip Girl and you would have been furious and you're waiting for Nate. I know you are. I can't just take back what I said by apologizing. If you hate me you can have your future. So why can't you, just once, listen to me? I'm trying to help you!"
Blair couldn't speak. "You...You tried to push me away so I could be happy?"
Chuck sighed; he had royally screwed this up already, why not? "Yes Blair. Even when I deliberately try to ruin your life I'm still looking out for you. How messed up is that?"
She threw her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder, "You're such an asshole!"
He frowned and tried to signal that Blair was actually alright to the people in the street who were gazing at her with concern. "Thanks Blair, I missed you too."
She shook her head at him smiling through her tears, "Whether you know it or not you already apologized. Self-sacrifice does have its perks. "
Chuck stared at her, "You don't have to lie to make me feel better, as long as we're talking again I'm good."
Blair smiled into his coat, "Really, I'm not lying. It's kind of ridiculous really; Nate broke up with both of us so why not stick together. And I'm not waiting for him to come back. You're right, if he's so completely blind to not see the parallels that I forgave for, than he's more idiotic than I thought. "
Chuck shrugged, "I don't think that's feasible."
Blair wiped away the remains of her tears, "So are you going to learn how to ride a bike with me or what?"
A/N: Hopefully that wasn't too out of character. The ending of 1.13 tore my heart and I knew that the way to mend it was an over- abundance of fluff. And if you're just itching to find out how I can possibly make this any fluffier wait until I get to explaining the title. Reviews are an excellent motivation now that I'm doing multiple chapters, eh?