Gossip Girl: It Had To Be You

Ugly hearts have feelings too

Tiffany was Nate's idea. They'd watched that Audrey Hepburn movie a thousand times a few weekends ago, and Blair seemed to like it so much. He just wanted her to be happy.

The centuries-old jewelry emporium Tiffany & Co. had resided on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street since 1940. Constructed of gray limestone, with high, square, curtained windows, it looked more like a bank than a jewelry store. A doorman wearing a knee-length navy blue uniform coat with gold buttons, a black patent leather–brimmed cap, and spotless white gloves swung open the glass entrance to the store. "Morning!" he called out cheerfully, tipping his cap.

"Oh, look," Blair cooed, heading straight for the heirloom diamond display. "I love a plain diamond," she added.

As if there were such a thing.

Nate was thinking more along the lines of a Tiffany blue pen, or a little red Swarovski crystal cupid paperweight. The pen would be totally useful, and the cupid would make a really good paperweight for all of Blair's . . . papers.

An overeager salesman with a tiny black mustache had already produced a pair of diamond earrings for Blair to try on. They were platinum chandelier earrings, dripping with princess cut diamonds, and cost about as much as Nate's dad's Aston Martin.

"Oh!" Blair gasped, loving the way the diamonds sparkled in the sunlight blasting through the store's oversize windows.

"They look wonderful with your beautiful blue eyes," the salesman cooed, working it.

Nate shot the guy an annoyed glance. He was fifteen years old and yeah, maybe he wore nice clothes and had a nice life and a beautiful girlfriend, but did he really look like someone who could buy those earrings with his dad's credit card and get away with it? They were the kind of earrings movie stars borrow to wear to the Oscars. Not buy. Borrow.

This whole ordeal was kind of killing Nate's mood. He'd never been into shopping. All he really wanted was to smoke a big fatty and then maybe grab a big greasy burger at Jackson Hole, even though he knew Blair hated it there because it made her hair smell like onion rings.

"Those are pretty," was all he said. He leaned against the display case, his back to the salesman, arms folded across his chest.

Blair giggled, admiring herself in the gold mirror the salesman was holding up. She knew Nate's patience was already waning and that she had to find the perfect item to put in one of those pretty little blue Tiffany boxes before he got a craving for pizza or had to pee or whatever and demanded they leave. "I know we're not buying them, I just thought it would be fun to try them on." She plucked the earrings out of her ears and tossed them on top of the glass display case like they were made of plastic. "Come on."

She slipped her arm through Nate's and he dutifully led her across the room to a display of Elsa Peretti signature gold jewelry, Tiffany classics. Blair wrinkled her nose. Boring.

"There." Nate pointed to a small, plain gold heart pendant hanging from a black silk cord. It was simple and elegant and the black cord was actually kind of sexy. He could imagine it dangling from Blair's neck when they did it. It would look cool—a nice contrast—with the white cotton bra she was wearing. "That's it." He signaled the saleslady behind the display case. "That's what I'm getting for you."

Blair tried not to pout. The heart pendant was kind of ugly. Who wanted to wear a black string around their neck? Who would pay for a piece of black string to wear around their neck? And the heart itself was lopsided and deformed-looking. But maybe if she strung the heart on a gold chain from some other necklace it might look more normal. She'd accumulated a lot of jewelry in her fifteen years—surely there was something in her jewelry box. And it was sweet that Nate wanted to buy her a present at all. It wasn't her birthday. It wasn't even Valentine's Day anymore.

That's the spirit. Never say no to a gift. Plus, there's always regifting. . . .

"Would you like to try it on?" the saleslady asked. She adjusted her thick glasses on her nose and crouched down to unlock the case with shaking hands. She was about a hundred and ten, and her skin and hair looked like they'd been powdered with baby powder. Even her hands were a chalky white. She removed the pendant from the case and held it out to Nate, swinging it in front of his face like a hypnotist. "Would the young gentleman like to do the honors?"

Blair unbuttoned her peacoat and Nate wound the black silk cord around her neck. The small gold heart lay against her chest, pointing straight down into her cleavage. Nate couldn't stop looking at it, a constant reminder of Blair's breasts. It was awesome.

The grandmotherly saleslady shoved a mirror at them, but Blair didn't even glance at it. She could tell by the intense look in Nate's glittering green eyes that he liked it, and even though she would have preferred diamonds, she kind of loved the way he was staring at her chest like he wanted to attack it.

"I'll wear it out," she told the saleslady.

Nate wound his arm around Blair's waist and gave her an adorable squeeze. "Yeah, but can we get one of those little blue boxes and a ribbon anyway?" he asked. "She really likes those boxes."

Blair closed her eyes as her heart caved in just a little. She'd never been into public displays of affection—who wanted to watch other people rub against each other like animals?—but Nate was completely irresistible. She could not keep her hands off him. She threw her arms around his neck, kissing him and licking his face like a puppy. "I love you, I love you, I love you!" she murmured wetly into his ear.

"You know I love you," he murmured back as he paid the woman for the necklace. He felt like some sort of Good Samaritan, rescuing Blair from her crazy family, buying her the heart, making her happy. Not that he wasn't happy too. He was having a ball. But he might have been a fraction happier if he'd smoked that roach in the guest bathroom before they'd left.

"Next stop, the zoo," he announced as the white-gloved doorman pushed open the door for them and they spilled out onto Fifth Avenue. Blair could pet the goats in the petting zoo while he snuck off to "the john" and smoked a doobie on an ice bank next to the polar bear.

Cool.

"Wait!" Blair cried, flinging her arms around Nate's neck one more time. She just had to kiss him in the exact spot where Audrey Hepburn ate a Danish out of a brown paper bag on the sidewalk outside of Tiffany in the opening scene in Breakfast at Tiffany's. This is way better than any cheese Danish, she thought greedily as she ran her tongue over Nate's perfect teeth. Today a gold heart, in a few years a diamond engagement ring! Suddenly Nate pulled away and took a step back.

"Hey," he called over Blair's shoulder. He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his blue wool toggle coat, looking slightly sheepish.

Blair whipped around. There was Serena, looking cold and sort of bedraggled and completely gorgeous, like the princess in The Princess and the Pea before she stumbles into the castle out of the storm and meets the prince who winds up marrying her.

Not that there were any princes available to marry her in this particular scenario.

Serena darted away from them, about to cross Fifth Avenue, when Nate called out to her again

"Hey, wait up!"

She stopped and turned, her stunning navy blue eyes wide and startled looking, as if she'd only just noticed them standing there. "Oh, hey," she faltered. "I didn't see you guys."

Likely story.