Blair leaned back in Chuck's desk chair and spun idly, dragging her Ferragamo heels on the handmade rug. She'd left the suite early that morning and smiled slightly as she remembered the note she'd written for Chuck. She spun around one more time and leaned on his desk, examining the framed photographs.

Chuck's mother was beautiful—striking, she thought—in a way that so few women are. She reminded Blair of Sofia Loren and Maria Callas, and the familial resemblance between mother and son was strong. They shared the same strong cheekbones and straight noses, but there was still a sort of softness radiating through the photograph.

"Sven again?"

She pushed the chair away from the desk and rushed over to greet him, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Sven at 431 on the suite phone," she teased, and he smirked at her.

"And why this outfit, Waldorf?" he said, gesturing to the St. Jude's uniform he was wearing. "I do love to bush the boundaries, but I'm afraid the Board might not understand your sartorial choice."

"Oh, Bass," she flirted, "The uniform is just for my own amusement. And my own enjoyment," she said, pulling down on his tie and dragging her mouth across his. He responded instantly, and the synapses in skin were firing away before she steadied herself and leaned back. "Don't worry. I have a gift for you."

She opened the door to a hidden closet and pulled out a large garment bag. Chuck raised his eyebrows slightly and unzipped the bag.

The custom suit had been handmade by New York's most exclusive tailor. The navy fabric was the very finest wool, with a beautiful drape and a thin gray pinstripe pattern. The bag also contained a custom pale blue shirt, which Chuck slipped off the hanger while Blair held onto the jacket. He undressed quickly and slipped on the shirt and pants while she set the jacket back in the closet to help him button.

She loved dressing (and undressing) with Chuck. He would let her fasten all the buttons on his shirt, and now was no exception. She stood close to him, her body almost against his, and his hand rested lightly on her waist as she smoothed down the fabric before starting on the coordinating bow tie.

"The bow tie is a must," she whispered, and it was. "You know," she remarked, "Not many men can pull off a bow tie."

"You forget yourself, Waldorf," he rasped, running his lips around her ear, "That I'm not most men."

"No," she said, and then she repeated herself, more softly this time. "No, Chuck Bass, you most certainly are note."

She felt nervous in that moment and her hands shook as she reached into the closet again and removed the suit jacket. She held it open in front of her and he slid his arms into it. He froze, his back to her, and then he turned slowly while folding up the cuff of the left sleeve to reveal her heart-shaped pin.

"Blair," he said, and his eyes glazed over.

"It's yours," she said. "I'm yours."

He looked at her and then back at the pin. She'd had it engraved with C+B on one side of the heart and B+C on the other, and he ran his thumb over the lettering.

"You didn't engrave it for Nate," he said huskily.

She shook her head and he stepped closer to her. Blair put her hands on his chest and adjusted his bow tie. "I don't mean to scare you," she said.

"You don't." He kissed her sweetly. "It's perfect. I must admit," he drawled, "I was wishing that you could be in the meeting with me."

She felt a smile spread across her face as his breathe tickled her neck.

"Because Waldorf—" he said, and he slid his hands under her skirt and up her thighs. "Just think of what fun we could have on that conference table."

***************

"Miss Walforf."

She jolted upright on the sofa in Chuck's office and smoothed her dress. Sven stood at the door.

"Mr. Bass and the Board have requested your presence." His monotone voice was jarring in the silence.

"Just one moment," she said, and she cleared her throat. She paused in front of the mirror and rearranged her brunette curls and applied a fresh coat of lipstick.

She followed Sven down the hall to the conference room. He opened the double doors for her and she stepped inside, and Sven closed the doors smoothly behind her.

Twelve men, all versions of Bart Bass, sat around the polished mahogany conference table and she suppressed a smile at the memory of Chuck's comment from earlier. Chuck stood at the front of the room and she walked over to him in small, deliberate steps, noting with satisfaction the approving smiles from the Board. She looked perfect, of that she was sure, in her navy Dior jacket and skirt.

"Gentlemen," she addressed the room, and she took Chuck's hand. "Charles," she said with a slight smile.

"Please join me in welcoming Miss Blair Waldorf," Chuck said in a dulcet tone. "She is the architect behind the boutique hotel project I've described, and a woman with the finest taste."

"Thank you," she said, reading the room carefully. "May I provide clarification on the project?"

"Miss Waldorf," said a handsome member of the Board, "I'm Thaddeus Lamar, and let me speak for all of us when we say that we are impressed with the analysis of the boutique hotel market that Mr. Bass provided. He tells us that your research helped prompt the project. Can you please share the details of your thought process?"

"Certainly, Mr. Lamar," she said. "Charles was the inspiration for the idea. I'm sure you all know about the success of his first project with Bass Industries, the burlesque club Victrola. The unprecedented success of this club made it clear that people don't just want a night out, they want an experience. Anyone can deliver a signature cocktail or the latest hors d'oeuvre, but Charles knows how to create a mood, a feeling of being transported to another world. We've taken that seed and used it to produce the boutique hotel project—hotels that are a vacation in and of themselves, places to escape and be found."

The room was quiet for a moment and she kept her gaze on the Board members.

Mr. Lamar smiled broadly and stood to slap Chuck on the back. "She's a gem, Charles," he said, and reached over to shake Blair's hand. "We'll move forward on your recommendation, Miss Waldorf."

She caught Chuck's gaze and he raised his hand to her. The heart pin glinted in the sun.

***************

Five years later…

"I think it's time to redecorate," Blair said as she idly played with the trim on the office sofa. "Maybe we could bring in some burgundies or deep crimson."

"While you do look excellent in reds, Waldorf," Chuck replied, "I prefer you in nude."

She swatted at his arm and leaned back against him. "I am so glad that meeting is over," she said.

"You were wonderful, as always," he murmured. "They love it when you come in."

She smiled. After Yale, she'd joined the most prestigious consulting firm in New York and Bass Industries was one of her prominent clients. Chuck had graduated from Columbia that spring, and they'd spent the last year happy to be in the city together. The time apart had been torturous.

"Blair," he said softly and she turned to him.

He swallowed. "Are you happy with me?"

She furrowed her brow. "Are you kidding?"

He bit his lip and she pressed her lips together.

"Chuck, nothing makes me happier. I love you," she said, and she pressed herself against him. She heard a crumbling noise and leaned back. "What is that?"

He looked down and removed a sheath of folded papers from his inside jacket pocket and handed them to her.

She scanned them quickly, flipping through the documents. "Chuck," she said in disbelief. "This is the deed to the 15th and 16th floors at 778 Park Avenue. That's—"

"The Astor apartment," he finished. "Blair, I bought it for us."

She felt tears come to her eyes and he moved in front of her, balancing on one knee. The world disappeared around him and it was him and her, Blair and Chuck, as he took her hand.

"I spoke with Harold, Eleanor, and Cyrus this morning," he said, "And now I need to ask you." He squeezed his hand and kissed her fingertips.

"My father wanted to give me everything in the world," he said, "But nothing really had any meaning until that night with you at the Victrola." She smiled and a tear fell from her eye, and he gently wiped it away.

"I think for the first time, we both really saw each other, the way no one else had before," Chuck continued. "You gave me something that my father couldn't," he paused and swallowed. "I know now, that he loved me, in his own way."

She touched his face with her free hand and gave him a small nod.

"But the way I love you, Blair Waldorf, it's something else all together." She heard that passionate rumble in his voice and her heart picked up speed. "You are in my thoughts always. I wear this pin every day and you are always beside me. Every plan I make, I see you in my future. I see us, together, forever." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box and she was barely breathing now, lost in his dark eyes.

"I am yours, Blair," he whispered. He opened the ring box and she gasped at the sight of the diamond. "Make me the luckiest bastard in the world and be my wife." He took the ring out of the box. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes." She said in one breath and he smiled broadly, sliding the ring on her finger. "Yes, yes, yes."

He kissed her then, and she felt the tears on his face blend with hers and she thought that this was better than any fairytale she'd ever read.

***************

That night, she and Chuck went to visit 778 Park Avenue. They walked through the empty apartment, admiring the classic architecture and she could see them here together, with friends and family and children of their own.

Maybe, she thought, as Chuck wrapped his arms around her waist in the dark room, she'd been missing the point of all those fairy tales after all.

Cinderella doesn't wind up happily ever after during the ball. She loses a shoe and returns home broken-hearted, and the prince manages to see her true self in her ragged clothes.

Snow White flees the castle and to be joyful and free for the first time, content to live with dwarves in the forest, and the prince falls in love with that happy girl.

Holly Golightly escapes a loveless and proper marriage to find love and passion.

Maybe it takes a fall, she thought as she turned to face Chuck, and he kissed her ring finger. She wove her hands in his hair and he leaned down to kiss her. And then after the fall, you find the place you belong.

fin

***************

Author's note: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. I wanted to give B&C a happy ending before tonight's episode.