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fembuckTitle: Tango in D Minor
Author: Janine
Fandom: Gossip Girl
Pairing: Serena/Blair
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own them.
Summary: Blair and Serena’s relationship continues to grow. Sequel to Audrey Can Wait and Here We Go
Tango in D Minor - Parts 4-5
Tango in D Minor - Part 6
Tango in D Minor - Part 7
Part Eight
“Where’s Blair?” Isabel asked looking around the small curtained alcove they had secured in the club. The brunette had said that she was going to get a drink but that had been ages ago. Even if she was mixing it herself she should have been back a long time ago.
“Yeah, and Serena,” Kati said looking around as if to confirm that the blonde really wasn’t sitting with them.
“Isn’t it pretty much the same question?” Chuck drawled slowly eyeing the girls. “They’re never apart. It’s been like that for months now, they’re just this Blairena entity,” Chuck went on taking a sip of his drink.
“What’s with that?” Isabel asked sounding confused. They had been close before Serena disappeared, but back then they both seemed to realize that other people occupied the planet with them. For the past couple of months though, it was like impossible to find them apart from each other.
“They’re just making up for lost time,” Kati replied, though she suspected that spending that much time with Isabel, no matter how much she missed her, would drive her insane.
“Making up or making out?” Chuck asked looking at all of them challengingly as he smiled. “You know you’ve noticed it too. How they can’t keep their hands off of each other,” he went on. “I mean, I don’t see you to giving each other backrubs … as much as I’d like to,” he smarmed looking at Isabel and Kati.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Isabel said glaring at Chuck and making a face. She had noticed how tactile they had become though. “They’ve always been touchy feely.”
“Sexual tension,” Chuck declared smugly.
“Shut it man,” Nate groused from the other side of Kati. He really wasn’t it the mood for Chuck’s shit.
“Be a little bitch if you want, Nathaniel. It doesn’t change the fact that your dream girl is banging your ex,” Chuck replied looking over at Nate contemptuously. He knew that Nate had noticed the change in Blair and in Serena too. It was why he had become almost unbearable to be around in the past month. Wallowing in self-pity and seething with jealously was not a good fit on him.
“They’re not sleeping together,” Nate hissed his lip curling as he stared at Chuck.
“Then who are they sleeping with?” Chuck asked arrogantly. “Serena dumped that charity case months ago and Blair got rid of you around the same time, if I remember correctly. And since then not even a nibble. Even Gossip Girl doesn’t have any romantic dirt on them. It’s just Blairena all the time … all over each other.”
Nate glared at Chuck and turned away picking up his beer without another word.
Chuck smiled victoriously and reached for his spare scotch. It always helped to order two or three extra, just in case.
“Do you really think they’re …” Isabel began a few minutes later looking over at Chuck.
“I’m gonna get some air,” Nate muttered getting up and moving away from the table before Chuck could respond.
“Oh, I’m absolutely convinced,” Chuck responded smiling.
“Was that Nate?” Blair asked drawing the attention of the three remaining people at the table over to her.
“He’s getting some fresh air,” Chuck replied smirking as Blair and Serena slipped back into the seats they had vacated almost a half hour before. “Is everything alright ladies? We were about to send out a search and rescue team.”
Serena’s hand was on the small of Blair’s back, and they looked flushed and seemed slightly out of breath.
Chuck made sure to catch Isabel and Kati’s eyes and wink.
Serena rolled her eyes at him and Blair’s lips curled.
“More likely you were thinking of a ‘you peeping under stalls in the women’s bathroom’ solo mission,” Blair responded.
“How hurtful,” Chuck responded grinning. “Let’s not fight,” he continued lifting his glass. “To friendship?” he proposed before glancing over at Serena. “I’ve got an extra,” he offered nodding at the glass of Scotch to his left.
“Don’t be an asshole, Chuck,” Blair responded. They all knew that she and Serena weren’t drinking.
“You cannot tell the sun not to shine,” Chuck replied philosophically. “Fine, suit yourself,” he added a second later. “To beautiful friendships,” he toasted smiling, clinking his glass against Isabel’s and Kati’s happily as Serena slumped against the back of her chair frowning and Blair glared at him.
Well, he thought the night was going well at least.
---
Part Nine
The Palace
Serena quickly swept the Yale brochures she had been looking at under the couch as she heard the door to the penthouse open. Eric was out with Jenny and she knew that he wouldn’t have been back that early which meant that it had to be her mother, and she wasn’t exactly ready to broach the subject of Yale with Lily yet.
“That sounds heavy,” Serena said as she started to turn around hearing something being lugged into the room. “What the …” Serena exclaimed, trailing off a moment later, her mouth open in shock.
Her mother was standing in the doorway, but Blair was there as well and to Serena’s complete dismay the brunette was performing an act of manual labour helping a bellboy drag a large painting into the penthouse.
“Serena,” Lily chided frowning slightly.
Serena automatically closed her mouth though she continued to stare in fascination and confusion as Blair’s head turned around to look at her, the brunette’s hands still wrapped around the wooden frame heaving as the bellboy ho’d.
“A little help S,” Blair called out, her tone rising as if it was a question when really it was a command.
Giving her head a little shake Serena moved towards the door to help Blair, only to sigh and shake her head again a few seconds later as the brunette abandoned her post the moment she showed up and moved into the living room to supervise with Lily.
Apparently Blair’s work there was done.
Serena sighed and heaved. If Blair weren’t so cute she probably would have been annoyed.
“What’s going on here?” Serena asked a few minutes later once she and the bellboy managed to get the picture squared away in a corner of the penthouse that was rarely occupied.
Although having the picture resting there was kind of an eye sore, Serena was glad for it since it meant that they day they got to move back into their real home was getting closer and closer. Lily would not have tolerated the picture being left there unless it was going to be on a very short term basis.
“I ran into Blair at the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show,” Lily said moving into the kitchen to fix a drink as Blair moved over towards Serena, pushing up onto her toes to kiss the blonde’s cheek once Lily was out of sight.
“What were you doing there?” Serena asked quietly pulling Blair into her body as they heard Lily in the kitchen.
“I was passing by after coffee with Kati and I thought that I’d pop in and buy something ridiculously expensive that we didn’t need as a welcome home gift for Eleanor,” Blair responded relaxing into Serena’s embrace.
Serena dipped her head down, her lips brushing against Blair’s cheek before she rested her chin on the brunette’s shoulder.
It had been a tradition of Blair’s to punish Eleanor for leaving her all of the time by buying something expensive and frivolous that she knew neither of them would need or want just before her mother would return home.
The first few times she had done it Serena had tried to stop her thinking that she would get in trouble for it. Lord knew that if she had spent $10,000 on a diamond-encrusted gold brooch of C-3PO that, well, Serena didn’t even want to contemplate what Lily would have done to her if she had done that.
Eleanor however seemed to take it as a natural consequence of her absences and never punished Blair for the extravagances.
Some kids would have been thrilled to be able to get away with antics like that, but Serena had seen Blair after she had gotten away with it and there was no joy there.
Serena was certain that Blair wanted Eleanor to punish her. She wanted her mother to take an interest, wanted her to care enough about her to be pissed at her and to want to try and teach her better.
But, as had become the norm in Blair’s life, Eleanor continued to disappoint her.
“She was an invaluable eye,” Lily called out to the girls from within the kitchen, the silence in the other room not lost on her as she pulled a glass down. “I think I’ll have to steal her the next time I go art shopping.”
Blair tilted her head back so that she could see Serena’s face, her expression happy and smug.
“Blair has excellent taste,” Serena said responding to her mother before leaning forward and nipping at the tip of Blair’s nose playfully.
Lily could hear the smile and pride in Serena’s voice and her lips curved up slightly even as she shook her head.
“Serena, ask Blair if she’s thirsty,” Lily called out when neither girl added anything after Serena’s singing praise of the brunette.
Serena rolled her eyes before looking down at Blair. “Are you thirsty?” she asked smiling.
Blair shook her head. “Actually, I’m drowning … in your eyes,” Blair replied batting her eyelashes at Serena as she gazed at her with a dreamy expression.
They held each other’s eyes for a few seconds after that and then Blair broke out into a wide grin and they both started to laugh.
Lily emerged from the kitchen to find the two girls huddled together and slightly bent over, laughing so hard that when they looked up at her a moment later both of their faces were red, and Serena had tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Pellegrino?” Lily asked holding up a bottle in Blair’s direction.
“I might be thirsty too you know,” Serena wheezed though she was finally starting to get her breath under control again.
Lily ignored her, her attention remaining focused on Blair.
“Thank you,” Blair said smirking over at Serena before turning her eyes back to Lily, “but I can’t stay. My mother’s back from
Lily nodded and moved back into the kitchen to put the drink away, more to give the girl’s time to say goodbye then because she was notoriously concerned with keeping the beverage chilled.
“Lily?”
Lily turned around at the question a few minutes later to find Blair standing in the doorway. Like most of the other parents on the
“Yes, Blair,” Lily replied smiling at the girl. Lily knew that there was a lioness inside of Blair but at the moment she more resembled a kitten.
“Thanks,” Blair said her gaze shifting around the kitchen as she spoke, uncomfortable but forcing herself to speak anyway. “I always have the best time spending other people’s money,” she continued smiling as she returned her eyes to Lily.
“In that case, we’ll have to do it again some time,” Lily responded smiling as well.
And then Blair was out of the doorway, out of the kitchen and out of the penthouse.
Serena watched the door for a second after Blair left, already missing the brunette before she made her way back over to the couch, deciding to get rid of the incriminating evidence she had hastily hidden before her mother could stumble upon it.
“What’s that you’re trying to hide?”
Serena froze at the sound of her mother’s voice.
“Nothing,” Serena replied plopping down on the couch, lying on top of the pamphlets she had been looking at before smiling over at her mother winsomely.
Lily moved into the living silently until she was standing in front of the young blonde.
“Stand up,” Lily said her voice quiet yet firm.
Serena sighed. Discipline wasn’t really her mother’s strong suit, but if there was one thing Serena could say about Lily it was that her mother could be one of the most single-minded, determined people she had ever met when she wanted to be. And looking up at Lily, Serena could tell that this was one of the times her mother had her mind set on something and that there would be no evading the situation.
“It’s nothing, really,” Serena said still not moving, a tiny bit of hope still present within her. “It’s just some university stuff.”
Lily stared at her for a moment and then her eyes narrowed. “Stand up.”
Serena sighed and stood up revealing a pamphlet with ‘YALE’ written in large letters where her ass had been moments ago.
“Yale?” Lily asked arching an eyebrow at Serena. Serena wasn’t quite certain how she managed it, but the name came out sounding like a curse word.
“It’s a good school,” Serena said turning away from Lily’s arctic gaze to gather up the papers lying on the couch, clutching them to her once she had scooped them all up. “It has a lot to offer,” Serena continued finally looking over at her mother again realizing that she couldn’t avoid Lily’s gaze forever. “A renowned art gallery and …”
“Blair?” Lily offered a brittle smile touching her lips as Serena blinked at her. “You’re taking this a bit far, don’t you think?” Lily asked sighing a few seconds later, gracefully lowering herself onto the couch and staring at Serena until her daughter did the same.
“Taking what a bit far?” Serena asked still clutching the papers to her, her tone a bit peevish. “Most parents would be happy their child wanted to go to Yale. You’re acting like I just told you I wanted to change my name to Cherry Delicious and go to work at Madam Chasity’s.”
“You don’t want to go to Yale, you want to go to Brown,” Lily responded ignoring most of Serena’s snippy little rant. “You’ve always wanted to go to Brown,” she continued. “I know that Blair is your best friend, but you can’t plan your entire life around her.”
“I’m not,” Serena responded immediately even though that’s exactly what she was doing. “There’s nothing wrong with Yale.”
Lily considered her daughter for a moment and then shook her head slightly before sighing. “You need to get perspective on this,” she softly.
“Get perspective on what?” Serena asked not liking Lily’s tone or the knowing way she was looking at her.
“Whatever this thing is you’ve got with Blair,” Lily said seeing Serena’s surprised look but going on anyway. “You’re young and she’s very lovely,” Lily continued. “I’m not stupid Serena. I know what you two have been up to,” she continued seeing Serena’s lips part as if she were about to protest and shaking her head to discourage her daughter from doing so.
“You probably think that you’re in love with her or some similarly ridiculous romantic notion, but …” Lily sighed. “The intensity of this thing will fade eventually and when it does you need to have something else in your life, something that’s yours. Hormones are not a fair trade for hopes and dreams.”
Serena watched Lily for a few seconds in stupefied silence. She couldn’t believe that she knew and hadn’t said anything, hadn’t done anything.
“How long have you known?” Serena sputtered at a loss for what else to say.
“I have eyes,” Lily responded. “Also I found a pair of her underwear under my couch,” she continued shaking her head a little. She was never as careless as an adolescent. Then again she had a far less understanding mother.
“I love her,” Serena said softly her voice rough with intensity as she held Lily’s gaze.
Lily’s expression softened at Serena’s words. Even though she was sure Serena would never believe her, she understood what her daughter was feeling. She had been completely swept away by love as a teenager, and had her heart broken and was convinced she would never love again, until she did and had her heart broken all over again.
It wasn’t love she had felt. It was attraction, strong attraction, longing, need, want, but it wasn’t love. And when she realized how fruitless her life was, how much of a waste following her heart had been it had been crushing. She had spent years after High School following her heart from one tour to the next, and then one morning she had woken up hung over and on the wrong side of a high in a city she couldn’t remember, surrounded by people she barely knew and realized she had no idea what she wanted or who she was.
She was lucky though. With will and single-minded determination she managed to pull herself together and pull herself up, very high up. But despite the fact that she had pulled through she wouldn’t see Serena learn the same lesson the hard way if she could do anything about it.
“I know you think you do,” Lily replied reaching out and placing her hand on Serena’s thigh, feeling the tensed muscle beneath her palm. “You’re seventeen. It always seems like love,” she continued rubbing Serena’s thigh lightly. “You’re hardly the first girl to have feelings for your best friend. You and Blair have always been … close, but it’s just ...”
“Don’t,” Serena said warningly, surprising Lily enough that she actually did stop talking. “Do not say that this is just a phase,” Serena continued shifting on the couch, Lily’s hand falling off of her thigh as she did. “It’s not a phase. I know how I feel.”
“So you’re a lesbian now, is that it?” Lily asked that damnable eyebrow lifting again.
“Probably not,” Serena responded honestly. It wasn’t that she was no longer attracted to men so much as she was attracted to Blair more than anyone else. “But I’m certainly not straight,” she continued not backing down. In addition to Blair, she thought that Emily Blunt and Eva Mendes were totally hot as well. “In any case it doesn’t matter what label you want to stick on me. Lesbian or not I love Blair. I want to be with her. We’re going to last.”
Lily was silent in the face of that. Teenagers were able to work such passion and indignation into their voices. It could be quite moving. She was sure that Serena believed everything she was saying, that at that moment she did love Blair more than anything else in the world. But that moment, that bliss wouldn’t last.
“If you love her so much how come you haven’t told any of your friends?” Lily asked softly crossing her legs and leaning back into the couch. “How come you didn’t tell me until I revealed I already knew?” she continued holding Serena’s gaze. “If you’re so proud and in love then why have you two been hiding?” she went on challengingly. “Could it be because you don’t want it branding you after its inevitable passing?”
Serena gaped at her mother for a second before closing her mouth.
“That’s not …” she began, although a part of her had to admit that Lily was right and she had Blair had been trying to hide the change in their relationship (even though apparently they weren’t doing a very good job of it).
It wasn’t shame though. Serena could never be ashamed of loving Blair. It was more of a preservation instinct. High School was like a shark infested topical sea, all sparkly and light on the surface but full of hidden predators underneath and they couldn’t risk letting their peers smell blood. She knew how merciless High School girls could be. Once they made it to college in a year however thing would have been different.
“Only maybe it is, a little,” Lily interjected cutting Serena off though she suspected her daughter didn’t really have anything to follow up her previous utterance with. “I,” Lily began before pausing. “I understand that you have strong feelings for her,” she continued kindly. She had seen the intense happiness lighting Serena up earlier when Blair was around. “But you’re almost an adult Serena and you can’t continue to go through life with your Id leading you around like you’re a prize Bison frise.
“I’m not paying for you to go to Yale. We had a plan, a plan that you were on board with up until a few months ago and we’re sticking with it. I know I can’t stop you from seeing Blair,” she continued standing up. “But I’m not going to let you sacrifice your future over this either. If you’re right, if it’s love, you’ll survive four years of seeing each other on weekends and statutory holidays. After all, Brown isn’t all that far away from Yale,” she concluded.
With that Lily cupped Serena’s chin in her hand and looked down at her for a moment before she bent down and kissed her forehead lightly.
“But …” Serena sputtered completely at a loss.
Her utterance swallowed up by the room as her mother disappeared into her bedroom leaving Serena alone of the couch clutching at pamphlets she would no longer need.
To be continued ...
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Date: 2007-11-17 09:51 pm (UTC)loved it. can't wait to see what happens next.
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Date: 2007-11-17 10:41 pm (UTC)Awww *blush and dazzling Blair Waldorf-esque smile*
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed the latest chapters :D
I'll try not to keep you in suspense for too long as to what happens next!