Fic: Tango in D Minor (Serena/Blair, Gossip Girl 13-14/?)

[fembuck]

Title: 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 1-3
Tango in D Minor - Parts 4-5
Tango in D Minor - Part 6
Tango in D Minor - Part 7
Tango in D Minor - Parts 8 & 9
Tango in D Minor - Part 10
Tango in D Minor - Part 11
Tango in D Minor - Part 12

Part Thirteen

Constance Billard School for Girls … the next day

Blair tilted her head up as she strode through the iron gates leading to Constance Billard School for Girls. She could feel eyes on her as she walked, but she was used to people looking at her and pretended that the looks she was getting at that moment were like the ones she received every other day.

She would not crack under the pressure. She would not fail. She would not doubt herself. She was Blair Waldorf. She was the Queen. And if anyone wanted to try and take her crown from her they were going to have to fight her for it, and she fought dirty.

“Look at my feet,” Blair demanded imperiously as soon as she reached Isabel and Kati.

A few other girls were standing around her friends and at her sharp tone they immediately looked down at her feet as well.

“Oh my god,” Isabel gasped her hand moving to cover her mouth as she gaped in awe.

“Can I …” Kati started to ask her hand immediately moving from her side and out towards Blair’s body.

“No, of course not,” Blair responded kicking her foot a little bit for emphasis. “Are you insane? Stay away,” she continued eyes narrowed and glaring at Kati until she retracted her hand.

“I told they would look good with a skirt,” Blair went on a second later to no one in particular knowing that she didn’t need to direct her comments at anyone because everyone was listening. “Givenchy was playing around with the runway ankle boot, but it was really more a clunky monstrosity of a shoe than a real boot,” Blair continued turning and posing, showing off the Prada ankle boots from more than one angle. “With Prada, it’s now streamlined and fabulous.”

“Oh my god!” Havilland exclaimed coming up to Blair, grabbing her by the shoulder as she stared down at her feet. Having just arrived at school she was experiencing the ankle boots for the first time.

“I know,” Blair responded smiling a bit as she extended her foot to show off the boots to Havilland. “Serena bought them for me,” she added importantly a moment later, her voice steady and casual as could be though she had the sneaking suspicion that her palms were sweating and she could feel her heart pounding beneath her breast.

“Spontaneous gift boots are the best boots,” Isabel sighed not blinking an eye at the mention of Serena or the romantic nature of the gift. “Lucky,” she sighed turning her head to the side to get a different view of the boots.

Blair was quiet for a second having truly expected her friends to have some sort of reaction to her bringing up her relationship with Serena no matter how subtly she did it. But as she looked at the familiar faces surrounding her there was nothing but adoring and slightly covetous looks on their faces. And directing her gaze past them into the courtyard she could see that while she was still being stared at more than usual and more openly than usual the gazes trained on her were slightly curious but not hostile or combative.

“I know,” Blair said a few seconds later a smug smile settling across her lips as she began to relax for the first time that morning.

Her throne was still secure.

“It’s about time you got here,” Blair declared a few seconds later as she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder. She didn’t’ need to turn around to know who it was which allowed her to start her rant before even making eye contact. “You have a driver. How are you always late?” Blair continued turning finally, a warm smile spreading across her face as she looked at Serena for the first time that morning.

Serena shrugged unconcerned. It was just her way.

“They look good,” the blonde said a second later looking down at Blair’s feet before lifting her eyes to regard the brunette again.

“Go on, release your inner-Lily,” Blair sighed though her lips were still curved in amusement.

“And they should considering how much I paid for them,” Serena replied her tone lowering and becoming icy in a perfect imitation of her mother as she placed her hand on her hip and pointedly arched an eyebrow, her lips pouting fiercely before she dissolved into a smile.

“Have you kicked anyone with them yet?” Serena asked looking down at the sharp pointed toes of the boots before her gaze drifted over the Isabel, Kati and Havilland to see of any of them were standing funny.

“Not yet, I was waiting for you,” Blair said sweetly. “Considering the role you played in my acquisition of these beautifully constructed instruments of destruction I thought that you should get the see the fruits of your credit card in action,” she continued smiling over at Serena. “Have you seen Little J around anywhere?” she asked a second later, her tone as innocent as could be.

“Nope, I guess her driver was late picking her up as well,” Serena responded shrugging her shoulders and sighing sadly.

She had not only seen Jenny but had talked with her for over ten minutes, but there was no way she was going to tell Blair that. She knew her girlfriend well enough to know that Blair actually would kick Jenny for the fun of it. Not hard, and she’d make it seem like an accident, but she would do it.

Blair made a sound in her throat. “And by driver you mean the disgruntled civil servant that drives the E 72?”

“Yes,” Serena responded nodding her head for emphasis.

Blair rolled her eyes. “Let’s go inside, I’m freezing,” she announced a moment later.

Their friends shifted and gathered their jackets around them obediently preparing to move indoors while Serena allowed Blair to loop her arm through her own.

As they headed for the building Serena was struck by the thought that she had been successfully housebroken. When Blair said she was cold her first thought was that she should buy Blair an Alexander McQueen wool skull scarf to keep her warm and looking fabulous.

The thought made her smile.

“What?” Blair asked softly seeing the look in Serena’s eyes and the smile on her face.

“Nothing,” Serena said in an equally quiet tone. Everyone might have known about them but there were some things that were going to stay between the two of them. “I was just thinking about you and it made me smile.”

Blair grinned widely in response. “Really?” she asked leaning into Serena’s body a bit more.

Serena nodded as she looked over at Blair, incredibly tempted to kiss the brunette even though they were still in the middle of the courtyard. She couldn’t be blamed for the impulse. Blair was incredibly kissable. All of the time she wanted to kiss her.

“You’re my …”

“Favorite?” Blair interjected still smiling.

“Actually, I was going to say ‘best ho’ but favorite works too,” Serena replied laughing as Blair reached around with her free hand to swat her in the stomach. “Blair,” Serena whispered. “This is no time to indulge your fetishes. We’re at school.”

“Shut up,” Blair declared in a regular tone of voice, scowling and smiling at the same time.

Serena was tempted to respond with a ‘yes, dear’ but she was fairly certain that everyone already thought that Blair had her wrapped around her little finger and didn’t want to add anymore fuel to the fire. She did have her dignity.

So instead, she simply laughed and shifted to the side quickly wrapping Blair in a bear hug, her laughter only increasing when Blair started to struggle and curse at her.

“A plague on your house van der Woodsen!” Blair complained finally freeing herself from Serena’s warm and tyrannical hold. “I hate you so much,” she continued glaring at the blonde as she straightened out her clothes.

Serena took a step towards her.

Blair kicked her foot in Serena’s direction warningly. “If Little J’s not around another blonde will do,” Blair said holding Serena’s gaze.

“You wouldn’t,” Serena said eyeing the boot wearily. She suspected that Blair would.

Blair simply smiled.

‘Yeah, she definitely would’ the blonde thought.

Serena smiled.

“Have it your way,” Serena responded moving towards Blair looping her arm through the brunette’s again.

“I always do,” Blair responded as they began to walk again. “Except for when I don’t,” she murmured softly just for Serena’s ears a few seconds later, her voice a suggestive purr.

“My way after school today?” Serena asked in an equally quiet tone, a shiver of excitement running through her body.

With Eleanor home again their opportunities to spend ‘special time’ alone together had decreased dramatically and Serena was going into withdrawal. It had been almost a week since her head had been between Blair’s legs and that was entirely too long for a growing girl to go without nourishment.

“Where?” Blair asked a touch of anxiousness in her voice. She was usually better at controlling her urges than Serena, but it had been entirely too long for her liking as well. They were young, rich, and good-looking. According to the media finding places to have illicit, teenage sex was not supposed to be a problem for them.

“Lily will be out until like eight or something like that, and I’ll pay Eric to leave the house if I have to,” Serena said. “I want you … in my real bed.”

The van der Woodsen’s had just moved back into their Manhattan home and Serena had been dying to be alone with Blair in her room. For some reason the idea of making love to Blair in the room of her childhood innocence was extremely hot to her.

“In your room, with your Orlando Bloom poster staring at us at the whole time?” Blair asked smirking a little bit.

“I took that down,” Serena muttered. She hadn’t, but she totally would before Blair came over. She’d only been back in her house a couple of days and unpacking had taken up most of her time.

“No you didn’t!” Blair exclaimed reading Serena like a book. “Oh my god, he has the worst facial hair ever. How were you ever attracted to him?”

“I was thirteen,” Serena muttered looking away embarrassed to be reminded of the poster and her horrible preteen taste in boys. Lucky, her taste in women was much, much better.

“You’re seventeen now and you still haven’t taken it down. What’s your excuse for that?” Blair asked smirking.

“I forgot,” Serena mumbled under her breath pointedly not looking at Blair.

Blair laughed as they reached the doors to Constance Billard and Serena pouted.

Blair supposed she would just have to make it up to Serena after school.

---

Part Fourteen

Waldorf Brownstone … later that night

Blair blinked and pushed her face further into her pillow as the light to her bedroom was turned on, an inarticulate sound of complaint coming out of her mouth as she did. She was entirely too tired for it to be morning, and the only people with enough gall to wake her up in the middle of the night were her mother and Serena. And since the overhead light had been turned on and she wasn’t being smothered with kisses she knew that it wasn’t Serena.

“What?” Blair grumbled keeping her arm flung over her eyes as she rolled onto her back.

“Serena?” Eleanor asked her eyebrow arched impossibly high on her forehead though Blair couldn’t see it.

“What?” Blair asked again, although this time she was struggling towards wakefulness instead of trying to fight it.

“Are you …” Eleanor began pacing in front of the doorway. “You and Serena … are you … have you … oh, I don’t even know why I’m bothering to ask you, you never tell me anything,” Eleanor continued turning to face Blair, looking at her sharply as she went from questioning to ranting.

Blair struggled into a sitting position, her back resting against the headboard of her bed as she stared forward coolly at her mother’s agitated form.

“Was there an actual question you were trying to ask or did you wake me up just to ramble incoherently?” Blair finally asked, her tone bored as Eleanor continued to simply stare at her.

“Are you …sleeping with Serena?” Eleanor asked her eyes flashing, the word ‘sleeping’ coming out barely louder than a whisper.

“I’m not sleeping at all thanks to you,” Blair huffed brushing some luxurious strands of brown hair behind her ear.

“You’re a snot nosed little brat,” Eleanor muttered staring at Blair. Although the child was irritating her, Blair reminded her a lot of herself at that moment and in a way she had to respect that.

“Yes, I am,” Blair responded staring back at her mother evenly.

“You’re not going to deny it?” Eleanor asked curiously.

“Why should I? You already know it’s true. Everyone knows it’s true. They caught us kissing in streaming video,” Blair responded calmly though her heart was beating wildly beneath her breast. “You should be pleased though, I was wearing the satin bomber jacket from your collection. You’re getting tons of free advertising.”

Eleanor stared at Blair for a few seconds and then shook her head and began to pace again.

“How could you do this to me?” she asked glancing over at her daughter before looking away again. “I was told at a cocktail party! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?” Eleanor continued shaking her head again. “As if I hadn’t suffered enough humiliation with everything that went on with your father…” she went on trailing off for a few seconds before muttering “…and in public,” shaking her head before she stopped speaking completely and turned to look at Blair.

Blair blinked and looked away from her mother for a moment, her eyes drifting around her room before she forced herself to look at the older woman.

“You’ve always been embarrassed by me. Nothing I’ve ever done has been good enough for you. I’ve never been good enough for you. So really, what’s one more disappointment?” Blair said finally smiling weakly before dropping her gaze.

“I suppose it doesn’t make any difference to you that I’m happy,” Blair continued her eyes on her covered lap. “Or that she actually loves me. Not who I have the potential to become, or who I could be if I did this or that, but me, as I am, imperfections and all,” she continued still not looking up.

“Blair,” Eleanor said sharply, though her eyes were somewhat unfocused as she looked at her daughter.

“What?” Blair muttered. “What?!? She asked louder a second later finally looking up at her mother. “What do you want from me? I can’t do anything about it, okay? We didn’t know anyone was around. I’m sorry if I’ve ruined your entire life, and that I’m a complete waste of space and that giving birth to me ruined your bikini line forever. I suck okay, I get it. Now you can just hate me openly and get it over with. You should be relieved. Now you won’t have to pretend like you care.”

Eleanor blinked, shocked into silence by the words that were coming out of her daughters mouth. She knew that they didn’t have the best relationship, and that she was away too much, and that she was too critical and Blair too sensitive, and that the strongest tie they had to each other was their address. But despite her failings as a parent, and their sometimes strained interaction, Blair was her daughter and she loved her … and she thought that Blair understood that.

“Pretend,” Eleanor breathed out finally, moving towards Blair’s bed as she spoke. “Do you honestly think that?” Eleanor asked sitting on the edge of Blair’s mattress. “I mean, my god, Blair. I’m your mother!”

“You were away for two weeks,” Blair said looking over at her. “The first thing you did when you got into New York was go to get your nails done. Two weeks, and I didn’t see you until six hours after your flight got in. How much could you care?”

“Gabriella said you were out with Serena,” Eleanor said slowly, her voice low. “You were having fun with your friends, I didn’t want to bother you,” she continued. “You’ve always preferred the company of your friends to spending time with me.”

“Only because you’ve always been far more enamored with you notchers and appliqué scissors than you’ve ever been with me,” Blair responded glaring at her mother, her eyes flashing with anger and hurt.

“I … I’m sorry you feel that way,” Eleanor said turning her head away from Blair to stare out into her daughters room.

“Not sorry enough to change,” Blair accused looking back down at her blanket. “I should have gone to live with Dad. You wouldn’t even have missed me and even though he’s always too busy for me as well at least he doesn’t actively make me feel like shit,” Blair continued muttering softly.

Eleanor breathed in sharply at Blair’s muttered words, blinking rapidly.

“I would have missed you,” Eleanor said softly, taking a deep breath, forcing herself to turn around and face Blair once more. “Clearly …” she went on before pausing to gather her thoughts. “Clearly I haven’t been a very good mother, but I do love you Blair. I …”

Eleanor paused and looked down by her feet. She had come straight up to Blair’s room after the party and she still had her purse with her. She had set it down when she sat down on Blair’s bed, but she reached for it then, rummaging around in it for a moment before pulling out her Blackberry.

Blair remained unconvinced and silent, but watched her mother keenly as she pulled the phone out of her bag; an unkind thought that Eleanor would make a business call in the middle of a heart-to-heart coming to her.

“I miss you,” Eleanor said handing the Blackberry to Blair, waiting until the younger brunette pushed a button before continuing. “I took that before I left the last time.”

Blair watched the screen for a few seconds before looking up and over at her mother. It was a video of her sleeping.

“Why?” Blair asked.

She wasn’t sure how to respond to the video. She thought that she might be touched by it but she was also confused. It was such a sweet, maternal thing to do that her mind couldn’t wrap around the fact that Eleanor was responsible for it.

“I’ve always looked in on you at night,” Eleanor said shaking her head a little. “Your father used to say that nobody would be able to kidnap you without you waking up the entire neighborhood, but that wasn’t why I looked in. I just like to see you so peaceful,” she went on looking over at Blair.

“Even as a child you worried so much,” Eleanor continued a small smile tugging at her lips. “To this day I’ve never heard of another six year old who came up with an itinerary for play-dates. Serena always looked so bewildered whenever you would sit her down and explain the schedule for the day. A ball of yarn would have kept that girl entertained,” she continued smiling, the last part actually causing a little smile to crack on Blair’s face as well.

“Serena can’t be trusted with details,” Blair said looking over at her mother. “She’s entirely too whimsical to plan anything. It was my job to plan and her job to make me enjoy the plan,” she continued smiling a little bit. The way they interacted with each other hadn’t changed much in the years since they had play-dates.

“I noticed,” Eleanor said thoughtfully a few seconds after Blair had stopped talking.

“Noticed what?” Blair asked her brows crunching together.

“You said earlier that you were happy,” Eleanor clarified. “I noticed. For the past couple of months you’ve seemed … freer somehow. I should have asked or said something,” she continued realizing the truth of her words as they came out of her mouth, “but I was afraid it would break the spell somehow; that if I mentioned it I’d somehow manage to take it away from you.”

Blair stared at her mother for a moment, before a little smirk appeared on her lips and she shook her head. “That’s messed up.”

Eleanor smiled back and nodded slowly acknowledging the truth of Blair’s words. They were quite a pair.

“So are you going to disown me or something now that my lady love has come to light?” Blair asked a few moments later. The conversation was going entirely too well, and if another Jimmy Choo was going to drop, she would rather that it be sooner than later.

“I’m not a homophobe Blair,” Eleanor sniffed, shooting Blair a look before her expression softened, “I’m in fashion. I’m contractually obligated to love the gays.”

Blair laughed softly. “Really, that’s written in your contract with the Fashion America Guild?”

Eleanor considered Blair for a moment and then smiled. “FAG?” she asked lifting an eyebrow, “very clever dear.”

“If one has to be a brat, they should at least make the effort to be an entertaining one,” Blair responded, the slight curve of her lips taking away any sting her words may have had.

Eleanor considered her daughter for a moment and then reached out to cup Blair’s cheek, simply holding her face for a moment, before she shifted on the mattress moving closer to Blair so that she could hug her.

“I need you,” Eleanor said softly, still hugging Blair.

Blair breathed in deeply. To most people it would have seemed like a strange thing to say, but Blair understood that it was the greatest compliment her mother could have paid her. Eleanor was one of the most fiercely self-sufficient people Blair knew. Even when married, her mother had remained completely her own person, and for her to admit that she needed someone else in her life, that another person had that much power over her was a significant statement.

“Then make time for me,” Blair said softly as they pulled apart from each other. “And be nicer. Positive reinforcement isn’t a sign of weakness,” she continued her tone light though her eyes were serious and hurt.

Eleanor nodded and then stood up.

“Why don’t you invite Serena over for brunch on Saturday,” Eleanor suggested as she made her way to the door.

“Like that is such a meaningful gesture,” Blair replied rolling her eyes though she was smiling. “You love Serena. You’ve probably been looking for an excuse to invite her over.”

Eleanor smiled. Blair always had to push. It was a character trait she greatly admired.

“You’re right of course, dramatic gestures are always best,” Eleanor responded taking a deep breath. If she wanted to take a step towards repairing her relationship with Blair, she was going to have to make a meaningful gesture. She was going to have to give up something that meant something to her. She was going to have to put Blair’s desire ahead of her own … as any good mother would do.

“Invite Serena over for brunch,” Eleanor continued a few seconds later. “Dramatic gestures are always best with an audience,” she continued leaning against the doorframe. “Good night, Blair.”

“Good night El … mom,” Blair responded lying back on her mattress.

Eleanor smiled and turned off the light.

To be continued...

Comments

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

Yay Eleanor!

Whoever thought those words would be coming out of our mouths, lol.

I like how you've written her here -- more upset about the way she found out than what she found out.

As long as Blair is a fabulous, well-dressed lesbian who attends and throws the best parties, I'm sure Eleanor's elitist heart will be satisfied, lol.

The thought of 6-year-old Blair planning play dates is HILARIOUS.

The only thing cuter than teenage bossy!Blair is preschool bossy!Blair. Oh, Blair *hugs*