An Inevitable Past

Chapter 9: The Artifice

October 15, 1800

"Blair! You can't do that! You're ruining it!" She continues to giggle as she rubs the brush all over the messy canvas.

Chuck had an annoyed expression on his face, but seeing her so happy and free beside him made his heart happy, too.

"Oh, come on, Chuck! You can't be that boring." She teases, and holds the brush to his face, attempting to rub it in his cheek. Luckily, he ducks just as she leans her hand in.

"Boring? That's not in my dictionary, Waldorf." He smirks, and finally takes his brush in his hand, dips it in the palette of paint in the table and draws a straight line in her forehead.

"Chuck Bass!" Blair's jaw drops, but eventually she giggles and attacks him with her set of brushes too. The canvases in front of them have now been ignored, enjoying the new canvases which was each other's faces. Definitely not how a gentleman and a decent lady should act but they didn't care.

"Get back here! Do you have any idea how much damage you caused on my dress?!" Blair yelled when he started running away from her. She had a massive brush, red paint dripping from it's strands. Chuck wasn't letting her bathe him in red paint.

"Drop the brush, Blair, and I'll let you catch me." He chuckled, still running.

His heart stopped when Blair trips to the ground. "Blair!" He runs to her and helps her up, only to see her face full of paint. He stifles a laugh and gets the hair out of her face.

"Are you okay?" He didn't feel like laughing anymore, but her face looked funny. A part of him was worried, though.

Chuck kneels down on one knee, grabs a fistful of her dress and raises it up until he could see her knees.

Blair gasped at his action, suddenly feeling hot. Her heart was pounding inside her loudly.

"B-Bass. I'm fine." She says, holding her breath, trying so hard not to flinch or anything. Chuck searched for any signs of scratches. His mouth opened a little when he saw one below her kneecap.

"You're bleeding a bit. Let's go clean that up." He says, and stands back up. Blair meets his eyes, feeling a rush of electricity in her body.

"Can you walk?" The brunette tried to get herself together, looking down at her scratched knee and taking a step or two to see if it didn't hurt.

She winced when she felt pain right in the injured spot. Chuck sighed and shook his head. Without thinking, he carries her bridal style, much to her dislike. She was still recovering from what he did a while ago, she did not need any more surprises.

"Put me down, Chuck!" She smacked his chest, eyes wide. He looks straight ahead, focuses on getting her to the house so he could clean her wound.

His heart was going wild, too. Being this close to Blair. . . made him crazy. It had only been ten days ever since he got here. In this decade, in this life.

Chuck had tried to visit art museums here and there to find the mysterious painting. He had no luck, so far. It was as if the painting was non-existent.

Slowly losing hope, he'd been spending most of his time with Blair, either reading, or painting, going to baseball games and picking out headbands or just simply exploring.

One time, in a much needed exploration with Chuck after Blair had been in a huge fight with her mother about wedding preparations, the two had both lost track of time, making them get soaked in the pouring rain. That day was full of giggles and fun. Blair was thankful for his company, easily distracting her from her little problem with Eleanor.

"Chuck. . . " He slowly put her down on the couch when they arrived. He requested for a first aid kit, while Blair was silently observing his every move.

"I'm sorry for making you chase me. You shouldn't have ran." He breathed out a sigh. She smiled at him as he gently traced the wound around with some betadine.

"Thank you. For carrying me, and making sure I'm okay." She kept her gaze at him, but he was so focused on her knee.

Once he was done with that, he placed a band-aid on top and glides her finger on it. Sitting next to Blair, Chuck smiles at her.

"Are you-" His sentence was interrupted when she attacked his lips with hers. The moment their lips touched, his heart cracked. Again.

The kiss was soft, maybe because her lips were soft, too. She felt him kissing her back, making her place her hand on the nape of his neck to pull him closer.

"Blair." He said her name differently when both pulled away to breathe.

"Chuck." She couldn't help but grin. That was her first kiss. And it had been so perfect.

They took a moment to stare at each other's eyes. Interrupted by a cough, Chuck and Blair turn their heads to the door, seeing Serena standing with a smirk on her face.

"Well, I hope I'm not interrupting anything. Dear brother, Mrs. Waldorf called, asking for Blair." The blonde says. Blair stands up and straightens her dress. Chuck follows, worried she was going to fall back because of the scratch.

"Probably about wedding preparations again. I'll get going. Goodbye, Chuck, Serena." She flashes them both a sweet smile. Chuck doesn't let her go without him, though. She knows she won't be able to stop him, so they both go into the chariot together.

"Thank you for today, Chuck. Painting on your face was fun." She giggles.

"No problem, Waldorf. 'Til next time." He says, and holds her hand as she exits the chariot. She gives him a kiss on the cheek before running off to her house.

Chuck smiles, touches the spot where she kissed him and takes a deep breath to calm his heart.

"Let's go, Arthur." He says when she's out of his sight.

This feeling. . . was he in love with Blair Waldorf?
——————————————————-