The Beginning of the Affair

Author's Note: I knew that the mid-season finale was going to be heartbreaking. And knowing that the royal wedding is still on is even more heartbreaking. But, here is not the place to rant. Instead, below is what I'd like to see happen.

I would like to say thank you to my dear friend MegamiTenchi for looking this over for me!

Enjoy and let me know what you think of my version =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl, or Ed Westwick – sigh.

XOXO

Blair knew something was wrong the second she felt herself coming to. Her body was sore all over as she thought back to the limo. Chuck could see what was about to happen so he threw himself on top of her, taking most of the impact while she was sheltered from it as much as she could be.

But that didn't explain why she felt so empty inside. Then it hit her, there's no way the baby could have survived. And Chuck, the last thing she remembered was that he was unconscious as they were loaded into the ambulance.

Whimpering as she tried to push herself up, she finally registered what was holding her in place. Serena had fallen asleep on Blair's arm and shot up with a start when she felt her friend move.

"B," the blonde exclaimed with tears running down her face, "You're back."

"What happened? Where's Chuck?" Blair asked, finally able to push herself back despite the pain she was in.

"There's something you need to know," Serena said softly as her hand tightened around Blair's again.

"Serena," Lily said quietly, making her presence known at last, "This isn't your place."

"Of course it is," Serena told her mother. "She deserves to find out sooner rather than later, and by someone who loves her."

"It's Chuck, isn't it?" Blair asked with tears in her eyes as she tried to sit up further but was blinded by a shooting pain in her abdomen. "The baby, how is the baby?"

"You lost a lot of blood, they did everything they could to save her," Serena told her. "I'm so sorry, Blair."

"Her, it was a girl?" Blair questioned as her sobs began and she started heaving. "We were having a daughter?"

Ignoring her mother protests, Serena carefully lay on the hospital bed next to her best friend and wrapped her arms around Blair. "You'll get through this, B," Serena said. "I'll be right here with you, I'm not going anywhere."

"Chuck, what happened to Chuck?" Blair cried. If her baby was gone, she didn't know what she would do if the man she loved were gone too.

"He's stable," Serena said, "But still unconscious. They'll know more later."

Serena and Lily locked eyes and the younger blonde stroked her best friend's hair and did her best to comfort her, knowing that it would get a lot worse before life got better again.

XOXO

Dorota brought Blair nightgowns and a bathrobe from home in an effort to give her some of her former comforts. While she changed out of the hideous hospital gown she was in, her face remained emotionless. Nothing Dorota said could make Blair react so after talking with Serena and Nate, Dorota left her mistress in the care of the blondes.

Neither of them knew what to say that would make Blair feel better, they both knew nothing could be said to make the situation any better for their friend. All Nate and Serena could do was be there with Blair, so that's what they did, for hours and in silence.

"Louis is calling me again," Serena said as she looked at her phone when it continued to buzz. "He's been looking for you."

"Ignore him," Nate told her.

"I don't want him here," Blair said, speaking for the first time all day. "I'm not ready to face him yet, not without Chuck."

"What happened, B?" Nate asked, reaching for her hand with both of his. "What changed for you this time?"

"Chuck had changed, I couldn't fight what we had anymore," Blair told them quietly. "Nothing else mattered." She stopped when she felt herself get choked up again. Her baby was gone, her child with another man that Chuck promised to love as his own.

"He'll wake up, he will," Serena said as she walked around the bed to lie next to her friend again.

"Yeah, nothing can keep him away this time," Nate added, sitting on the other side of the bed, "You'll see."

Even though Nate and Serena were doing their best to keep Blair calm and reassured, they knew it wasn't looking good for Chuck.

XOXO

Blair was finally allowed out of bed and the first place she went was to Chuck's room. Seeing him in such a state, hooked up to every imaginable monitor and so weak in his unconscious state, she was grateful she had Nate and Serena to literally hold her up. After convincing her friends to get something to eat, she made her way to the hospital chapel. The blondes wanted to stay with her but she insisted it was something she needed to do alone, and they acquiesced.

"Let him live," Blair begged as she kneeled in front of the tiny alter. "I need you to bring him back to me. We were going to make things right this time."

"What are you going to offer in return?" Dan asked quietly as he slipped in behind her.

"This isn't the time to bother me, Humphrey," she said without looking at him, her hands still clasped in front of her. "I'm busy and you're not welcome here."

"You're asking God for something, you need to promise something in return," he told her as he sat in the front pew, right behind where she was. "That's how this works."

"Leave me alone, Dan," she said without turning to face him.

But the Brooklynite's words hit a cord in her. How could she ask God for something so monumental without promising something in return?

"Bring Chuck back to me and I won't ask for anything ever again," she pleaded softly. "All I want is Chuck, bring him back to me and I'll never doubt our love again. I need him to come back to me."

She started silently sobbing again as she put her head down. That's when Dan knelt next to her and wrapped his arms around her, "He'll wake up, everything will work out, you'll see."

"Get off me," she cried while trying to shake him off. "I don't need your pity."

"I'm not pitying you, you're my friend," Dan told her. "Let me be here for you."

"Don't expect me to be happy about this," she told him, grateful she wasn't alone but refusing to admit it.

Once her sobs subsided, she stood up and was able to shake Dan off. "Nate and Serena are in the cafeteria," she told him. "I'm hungry and don't want anything they have to serve here. Have them go to the penthouse and bring me back something from Dorota."

He agreed and once Blair was alone again, she made her way back to her room. Sitting in a chair in the corner was Louis.

"Thank God you're alright," he exclaimed as he shot up and went to embrace his fiancée.

"Don't," she said as she tensed and backed away.

"It's true then," he said quietly. "You have chosen him."

She didn't say a word, she just turned around and started walking to Chuck's room, the sight of him so broken and hooked up to the various monitors making her heart break all over again. Blair could hear Louis following her and didn't look at him until they were on opposite sides of Chuck's hospital bed.

"We were going to do this together," Blair said with tears in her eyes as she sat next to Chuck and took his hand in hers. "And we're still going to."

"Is the baby okay?" Louis asked. "I need to know how our child is before you tell me about the man who broke up our family."

"She didn't make it," she told him, feeling her throat get tight.

"You lost our child because you were with him," the prince breathed as he sunk into the chair. "Did you think of that before you ran off with Chuck? Did you, Blair?"

"I will have to live with losing our child every day for the rest of my life," she cried as the tears ran down her face. "You don't need to remind me of it."

"And now our wedding is off, because of him," Louis stated as he stared at Chuck in his unconscious state. "He's hurt you so many times, how can you do this to me with our wedding date so close?"

"Chuck may have hurt me but a part of me always knew he was capable of doing that," she said. "Despite that, I love him with all my heart. And you've hurt me as well, something I never thought you would do."

"I only did what I did because I was afraid of losing you," he exclaimed. "He did it because he could. How can you not see how different I am from Chuck?"

The prince thought that would strengthen his argument, but it only reinforced hers. "There's no comparing you two," Blair said. "Yes, you're the one I should be with. You're the perfect prince charming who can give me the fairytale life. But that's not what I want, Chuck is who I want to spend the rest of my life with, I'm not fighting it anymore."

"You really love him?" he asked, studying her face.

"I never stopped," Blair told him. "Where's the sweet man I met in Paris?" she asked as she looked at him with tears in her eyes. "You've gotten cruel, I'm sorry I hurt you but I love Chuck. Nothing you say or do will change that."

The prince stared at his fiancée, her stark words hitting him with sudden realization. Blair didn't want him, their child was lost, and she had a chance for love with another man.

"He's really who you want?" he asked, devastated but knowing it was a losing battle at this point.

"I can't marry you, Louis," she told him as she pulled the engagement ring off her finger and handed it to him. "I'm sorry, but it was always him."

XOXO

Everything was happening so rapidly. Blair went from being engaged to a prince and pregnant with his child to owning her feelings for Chuck, all while processing losing the baby and praying for Chuck to wake up.

Just when she thought life couldn't get any more complicated, she was back in bed with her parents and Sophie arguing over what brought them to the hospital in the first place.

"My daughter has been to hell and back. The last thing she needs is your unwanted opinion," Eleanor told the royal.

"And she is engaged to a prince of Monaco," Sophie bit back haughtily. "My opinion is warranted and extremely pertinent."

"Blair was with another man," Eleanor stated. "If that doesn't tell you the wedding is off, I don't know what will."

"And that man is now in a coma he may never wake up from," Sophie said. "Not to mention he's a man with a notorious past and a penchant for hurting your daughter."

"Something that Blair was well aware of when she made her choice," Eleanor told her.

"Her choice is no longer her own," Sophie said, eying Blair with disdain.

"Mother, enough," Louis said as he pulled the engagement ring out of his pocket to show her. "Blair has made her choice. As painful as this is for me, I just want Blair to be happy."

"Don't you speak to me like that," Sophie told her son with fury in her eyes. "This is no longer your decision to make. And that ring is to go back on her finger."

"It isn't your choice either, it's Blair's," he said. "Eleanor said it best, she's been through enough. I want you to leave her alone, go home."

"I am going nowhere without you, and your bride," Sophie said.

"Why are you insisting on this marriage?" Blair asked weakly. "You never liked me to begin with, just leave me alone."

"Easier said than done, my dear," Sophie told her. "Do you have any idea the mess you've already caused us? I will not allow more damage to be done to the Grimaldi name."

"I'm not marrying Louis," Blair said, mustering all of her strength not to cry like she wanted to. "I lost the baby so that's one scandal you've been able to avoid."

"A bastard child is the least of our worries now," Sophie said coldly.

"How dare you?" Louis interjected as he stepped in front of Blair. "To say something so callous at a time like this. Did it ever cross your mind to take into account what I may be feeling?"

"I'll deal with you later," Sophie told him.

"No, you'll deal with him now," Eleanor said with finality as her arms wrapped around the royals to usher them out of the room. "My daughter needs her rest and your family needs to leave."

"This is far from over, Eleanor," Sophie said as Harold closed the door in her face.

"What happened, Blair bear?" Harold asked kindly as he sat next to his daughter, only him and Eleanor remaining in the room as Cyrus and Roman thought it best to give them their privacy.

"Charles is really who you want?" Eleanor asked before she could answer.

"Yes," Blair said softly. "Please, mother, I don't want to fight about this."

"We won't," Eleanor told her with a small smile as she sat in the chair next to her daughter. "But you and Charles have the worst timing I have ever seen."

Harold and Blair laughed in spite of themselves, that comment lightening the mood slightly as they discussed what would happen next.

XOXO

Blair was released from the hospital within 48 hours but after returning to the penthouse to change into real clothes and packing a bag of necessities, she was back at the hospital and at Chuck's side.

Harold, Eleanor, and Cyrus were able to get Sophie to back off with the help of Louis. Now on their way back to Monaco, Blair was left to be with Chuck, hoping and praying he would finally wake up and be the Chuck she remembered.

Serena, Nate, Lily, and Dan took turns sitting with her, trying to start conversations that never became anything other than a monologue, Blair too distraught to think, let alone carry on an exchange. With doctors and nurses constantly in and out, Blair could only focus on them.

"How is he?" Blair asked when she saw Lily enter with one of Chuck's doctors.

"His brain waves are more responsive than they have been," he told her.

"That's a good thing," Blair said with an anxious smile. "He should be waking up soon."

"There's more, Blair," Lily said as she saw Blair's breath hitch and Serena wrap her arm around her shoulders.

"Mr. Bass should wake up within the next few days, yes," the doctor stated. "With all the tests we've run, his brain and upper body are responsive, but his lower half isn't."

"What are you saying?" Blair demanded. "That he won't be able to walk again?"

Looking at Lily before continuing, the doctor said, "There is a possibility he'll regain mobility in his lower half, but he needs to wake up first for us to run more tests."

The room started spinning and if it weren't for Serena holding her up, Blair would have surely passed out from that news. She was happy, Chuck would wake up, but would he be the Chuck she knew, how would he take his diagnosis?

XOXO

The hours and days that followed were excruciating. Knowing that Chuck was coming back to her but still unsure of the state terrified her. Blair was alone with him when she felt his fingers twitch against hers.

Chuck gasped as his eyes opened and he took in everything around him. His body didn't feel like his own but his thoughts shifted to the warmth he felt beside him.

"Hi," she said with tears streaming down her face as he turned to look at her.

"Blair," he rasped, "What happened to us? How's the baby?"

"You came back to me," she cried. "I was so afraid I lost you for good this time."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, having more to say but cut off by the flurry of hospital staff that entered his room.

Blair stayed out of the way as the doctors asked him routine questions and ran some preliminary tests. Lily, Serena, and Nate were also there to see how Chuck was, all talking at once. The whole time this was all happening, Chuck's eyes never left Blair's. He knew something happened with the baby because of the emptiness he saw in her.

"Oh, Charles, I'm so happy to have you back," Lily exclaimed with happy tears running down her face as she hugged her stepson again after the doctors left. "We've been so worried about you."

"Yeah, man, you had us anxious there," Nate grinned, touching his best friend's shoulder.

"Hey, let's give them some privacy," Serena said when Lily and Nate went to sit on Chuck's bed. "I'm sure Blair's the one he really wants to talk with."

"Right, of course," Lily said. "We'll be outside. And don't worry, none of us are going anywhere."

"Thank you, Lily, Nathaniel," Chuck said as he caught their gaze and nodded at Serena. Once they were gone and the door was closed behind them, his eyes went back to Blair who was at his side once more.

"You're really okay?" she asked as she stood next to him and gently brushed the hair off his forehead.

"Tell me about the baby," he asked her again. Chuck knew something happened with how Blair was acting. "I need to know."

"She didn't make it," Blair told him, sitting next to him.

Chuck felt all the air leave his lungs, he was so looking forward to having a family with Blair. "I'm sorry," he said, feeling entirely inadequate with his words but not knowing what else to say.

She nodded and shook her head at the same time, "I don't want to talk about it now, I'm not ready."

"Did you mean what you told me in the limo?" Chuck asked. "Do you really want to be with me?"

"I do," she told him. "Louis is back in Monte Carlo, daddy and Eleanor dealt with Sophie for me. Are you ready to be with me again?"

"More than you know," he said ardently, reaching for her hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss. "Once I get out of here, I'll get the ring back from Harry Winston. We'll finally do this right."

"Shh," she said as she leaned over to kiss his lips again with a smile. "Focus on getting better, and then get me a new ring, for our new beginning."

"I can do that," Chuck laughed before wincing in pain as his broken ribs were still weeks away from healing.

"You're in bad shape, Bass," she said seriously, her eyes noting how pale he had gotten from his hospital stay and what pain he must be in from his injuries.

"I've had worse," he said. "But enough about me, how are you?"

"Healing," Blair told him. She wanted to be closer to him so she carefully maneuvered to lie next to him, smiling as his arm wrapped around her shoulders and she nestled into him with a contented sigh.

Please review to let me know what you thought and if you'd like to read a follow-up chapter focusing on Chuck's recovery as well as how he and Blair continue to heal with the loss of the baby.