GOSSIP GIRL: Chasing Butterflies [2/12]
Title: Chasing Butterflies
Chapter: 2/12
Author: ladyknight_fic
Fandom: Gossip Girl
Characters: Mia Waldorf-Bass, Chuck Bass, Blair Waldorf
Pairing: OC/OC, Chuck/Blair
Genre: Drama/Romance
Rating: T
Summary: After 19 years of marriage, Chuck and Blair are bitter and angry. So for their 20th anniversary, their daughter Mia sets out to get them the perfect gift: each other.
Spoilers: through Seasons 1 to 2x13
Warning(s): none
Word Count (per chapter): 2997
Disclaimer: I do not own anything affiliated with the Gossip Girl books or TV series. I only own Mia Waldorf-Bass, Jack Humphrey, Ella Humphrey and Katie Archibald. The rest of the characters are the property of the CW Network and I am not profiting from their use in any way.
A/N: From here on out you'll occasionally find links embedded in the chapters. These links will take you to visual extras, generally of the clothes/shoes/jewelery/etc mentioned. I encourage you to look at them, as they really add that extra touch to the story but I recommend opening the links in another tab so you don't lose your place while reading.
- - -
Chapter Two: The Plan
Everything was silent when Mia stepped out of the lift and into the Waldorf-Bass apartment. Usually, she would have taken that to mean that her parents weren’t home yet, but from the way the maid kept glancing at the ceiling to the bedrooms above and was trying to shut cupboard doors without making any noise, Mia knew the truth.
Her father must have arrived home from his business trip a day early, only to find her mother, who had taken a half day, at home.
Mia sighed, and handed her blazer to the maid who hung it in the cupboard by the door. Then, she climbed the stairs, her patent leather Manolo Blahnik’s tapping with every step on the marble. Once she got to the upper level, it became clear that her father, who might have returned home, had certainly not stayed there.
She sighed again, and tried not to let the disappointment bother her. There were very few people who could claim that Chuck Bass truly loved them. One of those lucky few was Mia. When he was at home, he asked about her schoolwork, and took her out to dinner and the theatre. When he was away on business trips, he made a point of calling her, and usually brought her back small, but no less extravagent, gifts of jewelery, perfume, clothes. Whatever caught his fancy. He used to bring gifts back for her mother as well, but hadn’t done that in years.
She stopped in front of her bedroom door, and grabbed on to the door knob to let herself in, when voices reached her ears. Civilised voices. Her stomach jumped in excitement. How long had it been since she’d heard her parents speaking in lowered voices?
Mia turned to the large, double doors at the end of the hallway, which opened into her parents bedroom. Upon seeing one of the doors standing slightly ajar, Mia bit her lip. It would be rude to eavesdrop, she knew…but it would be so nice to hear them speaking.
Without another thought, Mia lowered her bag to the floor beside her door and slipped out of her shoes. In stocking feet, she crept down the hall until she was by the open door. It wasn’t until she got there though, that she heard the voices properly. When she did, her stomach sank.
“B, are you sure you aren’t overreacting?”
It was Serena’s voice, calm but weary and maybe even slightly desperate.
“Overreacting? Overreacting?” The sounds of pacing filtered out into the hall with Blair’s voice. “If Dan came home and as good as admitted to you that he’d spent virtually his entire business trip locked in a hotel room with some cheap hooker, would you ‘overreact’, S? Hmmm?”
Serena was silent for a long moment, and then said warily, “But, B, didn’t you already know about…”
“About Chuck and his harem? Of course, how could I not, when his shirt collars are painted with lipstick and he always comes home smelling of cheap perfume?”
Out in the hall, Mia’s throat burned. She felt sick and leant her head against the wall beside the door. She didn’t want to hear these things, even though she’d always thought them to be true. Her parents went to great lengths to protect her from her father’s indiscretions and her mother’s bad habits. But that didn’t mean she didn’t that they existed.
Bringing her head up, Mia leaned towards the gap in the doors, hoping to see one of the women on the other side. She peeked in and then jumped back quickly when her mother stormed past the door, leaving Chanel No. 5 wafting on the breeze in her wake.
Serena said, “If you already know all this, why does it bother you so much? I mean, yeah, I’d be devastated if Dan did this to me, but it isn’t Dan, it’s Chuck.”
When Blair didn’t immediately reply in a huff, Mia thought she was going to dismiss Serena’s comment as ridiculous and not worth her time, but Blair proved her wrong. When Blair spoke next, her voice was tired and filled with something Mia had never heard in it before. Defeat.
“It bothers me because I created this problem and wasn’t strong enough to fix it. And now it’s too late. It’s over, S. The great love affair that rocked the Upper East Side is coming to its dramatic close. Nineteen years of marriage, only ten of them happy, and I’m ending it. Finally.”
Mia’s hand closed around her throat as she fought back a cry. Her parents, splitting? That couldn’t be. They were Chuck and Blair, Blair and Chuck. They were a team, a unit. Even when they hated each other, and fought over the smallest thing, they had been known to unite for something they cared enough about. They couldn’t survive on their own.
Pushing herself away from the door, Mia dragged her feet back towards her bedroom, one hand trailing along the wall beside her. Outside her bedroom, she picked up her bag and shoes, and entered the room, making sure to close the door firmly behind her.
She sat in front of her vanity and stared at her reflection in the mirror, trying to see past the down turned mouth. Her eyes prickled with the onset of tears, and Mia watched her face become pink in an effort to hold them back.
But a lone tear snuck past her defences and Mia tore her gaze away from the mirror as she swiped at it angrily. She would not cry. She was stronger than that. She would make it.
Her gaze landed on a small, gift-wrapped box by her jewelery case and a small smile crept to her face.
She reached for it eagerly and snatched it up. Mia pulled out the ribbon and folded it carefully on the table, before picking at the tape on the wrapping paper. Eventually, she uncovered the nondescript brown box and pulled open the lid.
A folded slip of paper sat on top of something that looked fluffy and grey, so Mia looked at that first.
Hi baby,
Sorry, but this was the closest I could come.
Love, Daddy.
She set the note on the table beside the ribbon and reached further into the box. Her fingers met the fluffy, grey object and Mia pulled out a small, stuffed koala bear.
Her smile widened into a grin and her tears were quickly forgotten. When he told her that his next business trip would take him to Australia, Mia had begged him, only half in jest, to bring her back a koala. He hadn’t forgotten. He never did.
Mia caressed the soft fur and turned her eyes to the framed photo on the table. It had been taken years ago, as evidenced by Mia’s young, round face, and the smiles adorning her parents’ faces. It had been so long since they were happy…and Blair thought it was all her fault? It hadn’t been, not really. At the time, Mia had been too young to understand exactly what had happened, but with age she’d come to know that Blair couldn’t have prevented what happened if she’d tried. It just wasn’t meant to be…but her parents were. That Mia had always known.
She leapt off the chair, the box tumbling to her feet, and ran the three steps to her bed. She pulled her purse towards her and rummaged through the pockets until she pulled out her cell phone. A quick call to Katie confirmed the destination and Mia sent out a group text.
Emergency call to arms. Meet Archibald house. 30mins. -M
- - -
When Mia stepped over the threshold of the Archibald house, it was strangely silent. When all five Archibald’s were home-those being Nate, Jenny, Katie and her two younger brothers, Luke and Andrew-you’d be hard pressed to hear a bomb go off. Even with Nate still at work and Jenny on business in Paris, Luke and Andrew usually kept the noise level in the higher decibel range.
Quiet giggles led her to the kitchen, where Luke and Andrew had their backs to her. They knelt on stools at the counter and were surrounded by a ridiculous amount of ingredients, all of which were being poured into a mixing bowl.
Mia cleared her throat and the boys spun around quickly. The guilty looks on their faces told her that, whatever they were doing, Nate and Jenny sure as hell better not find out.
Luke, the older at fourteen, sighed in relief. “Oh, Mia, it’s just you. We thought...”
“Yes, I know what you thought. Aren’t you a little old to be doing this kind of thing?”
Luke glanced at his younger brother and opened his mouth to reply. Before he could get a word out, Mia brushed it away and said, “Never mind. Where’s Katie?”
“Upstairs, with Ella.”
Mia smiled. “Great, thank you.”
As she turned away, Luke called out, “Wait! Mia…uh…”
“Don’t worry,” she said over her shoulder, “I won’t tell. I have more important things to worry about.”
Mia didn’t hear a call of gratitude, nor did it matter to her if she got one. She was already hurrying back into the foyer and towards the stairs, when the front door opened and Jack stepped through.
She stopped, one foot propped on the bottom stair. His hair was completely dishevelled, and his collar was open and smeared with red. It was no secret what he’d been doing when he got her message. For a moment, Mia didn’t see Jack’s face; instead, she saw her fathers and her stomach twisted in pain.
“Hey, what’s the big emergency?”
Jack’s voice made her blink and her gaze snapped up to meet his. She couldn’t get her father’s face or the despair in her mother’s voice out of her head, so she turned away and started up the stairs.
“I’ll tell you when we’re up there.”
Jack followed her up the stairs and towards Katie’s bedroom in silence, not even speaking to greet the other two girls when they stepped through the door.
Ella was seated in Katie’s desk chair, with her elbow leaning on the desk and her chin propped on her fist. Katie sat cross-legged on the bed.
When they entered, Jack flung himself backwards onto Katie’s pink comforter, and almost sent Katie tumbling off the edge.
She smacked him upside the head. “Watch it!”
Ella turned to Mia who stood awkwardly at the foot of Katie’s bed. “So what’s up?”
“Yeah, you got us all out here. The least you can do is let us in on the secret,” Jack said, and sat up and grabbed her arm, “and sit down.”
He yanked her towards the bed in one harsh tug. Mia overbalanced on her heels and went flying into Jack’s chest in a tangle of arms. Her headband slipped forward over her eyes and Mia gasped in surprise as it collided with the bridge of her nose.
Jack laughed and pushed the dark blue band back into place, and then placed his hands under her arms and pulled her up into a more comfortable sitting position.
As he moved her, Mia caught a whiff of the perfume-cheap perfume-lingering on his clothes and pulled away from him with a huff.
“I’m not a child!”
Jack’s brow crinkled slightly and then he inclined his head towards her. “Whatever you say, princess.” And he leaned back on to Katie’s pillows, folding his arms under his head as he went.
“Enough flirting you two,” said Ella. “Tell us what’s going on.”
It crossed Mia’s mind briefly to deny the flirting accusation, but then she remembered her parents, who could very well be arguing or dividing the furniture as she sat there, and decided to just let it go.
“I know what to get my parents for their anniversary, but I need you guys to help me.”
Ella visibly perked up and Katie leant forward in ill-concealed excitement. Jack just studied her.
“Really?” said Katie. “What? And how do we fit in?”
Mia took a breath. “I’m going to give them their happiness back.”
Katie, who she had been facing at the time, frowned. “What?”
“Their happiness. They’ve been unhappy for so long. What better gift for their twentieth wedding anniversary, than the happiness and love they felt as newly weds?”
Ella joined them on the foot of the bed. “Mia, that’s perfect!”
Mia grinned. “I know, isn’t it?”
Katie was still frowning, but now she was also shaking her head. “I don’t get it. You can’t give someone an emotion as a gift.”
“I’m not going to physically give them happiness, like a bowl of chicken soup or something. I, and when I say, I actually mean we, need to remind them of how much they loved each and how much they still love each other, so that by the time their anniversary comes around, they’ll be living in bliss again, complete with gooey eyes. We won’t even have to set them up really; there are so many events between now and the big two-oh.” Mia held her closed fists up in front of her. “There’s the annual Victrola opening party, Mother’s birthday, Thanksgiving, the Archibald-Bass-Waldorf-Humphrey dinner, Christmas, my birthday and New Year.” With each event, she raised a finger, so that by the end she had seven fingers in the air. “As well as all that, I can lay some ground work at home. It’ll be great!”
Ella’s eyes sparkled with excitement and she clapped her hands. “I like it, Mia. It’s gonna work, I know it!”
“But are you sure your Dad’s going to be home for all this? It would be pointless to try and set something up if he’s not going to be around for it anyway.”
Mia sighed. As much as she loved her friend, Katie’s ruthless practicality could be a real downer.
“He’ll be here. Daddy always stays home through the beginning of November until the middle of January. That’s just the way it is.”
Katie looked slightly mollified. “So you’ve got the events, how are you going to recreate happiness that you weren’t even around to witness?”
“I might not have witnessed it, but our parents did. We’ll all just have to do a little digging, find out what happened on significant dates, what wine they drank when he proposed, what song they danced to at their wedding. It’s simple really.”
“So simple it’s bound to fail,” said Jack.
Mia turned to him with a glare. “I can’t believe that’s the only thing you’ve brought to this conversation. But in any case, this will work, and you’re going to pull your weight, understand? Now, you guys talk it over, while I go visit the ladies room.”
She slid off the bed, shut the door on Ella and Katie’s excited murmurings and made her way to the bathroom, where she splashed cold water on her face, fixed her make-up and fixed her hair. All the while, she repeated her words to Jack in her head.
This will work. This will work.
When Mia stepped back out into the corridor, Jack was leaning against the wall opposite waiting for her.
“Miss me?” she asked.
Jack pushed himself off the wall and walked towards her. He was almost standing on her toes, but she refused to take a step back.
He lowered his voice. “What else is there?”
“What do you mean?”
Jack sighed impatiently. “I know there’s something you didn’t tell the girls and me. Something important. What is it?”
“Apart from none of your business you mean?”
His eyes narrowed in anger but Jack remained silent, and that was what made Mia crumble in the end.
She glanced down the hall, and then lowered her gaze to her shoes. They were black, with rounded toes, shiny silver buckles and crimson red bows.
Jack fingers forced her chin up and Mia looked into his dark eyes. She swallowed. “Mother wants to get a divorce.”
Mia was shocked at how small and vulnerable her voice sounded. Even after her comment to Jack in Katie’s bedroom, she still sounded like a child.
He stared, not saying anything for a long moment, and then took a step back, giving her back her breathing space.
“Is that why you’re doing this?”
She looked at him in confusion. “What?”
He didn’t answer her question, just went on, “Mia, you’re not God. You can’t change how your parents feel about each other.”
“I wouldn’t be changing it! I’d just be showing them how they really feel, underneath all that anger and sadness. They’ve been sad and blaming themselves for too long, Jack.”
“I know, but they’re Chuck and Blair. Sure, they put up a good fight and it’s been fun to watch, but I think everyone’s been waiting for this-”
“Which is why I won’t let it happen. They don’t want this!”
“How do you know?” Suddenly his voice was soft, as if he wanted to comfort her. “It’s like that saying. No one knows what’s going on in a relationship except the two people in it. Maybe this is for the best. How do you know they wouldn’t be happier apart?”
Mia felt that prickling behind her eyes again, but this time, she reined it in. She wasn’t about to cry in front of Jack Humphrey.
“I know my parents, Jack. If they separated, they’d die. Slowly, yes, but as surely as the sun rises every day, they’d wither away. They do love each other. I know they do. Now, will you help me, or not?”
Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and watched her. As she stood there, under his gaze, she got the feeling he could see right through her, into her very soul, and she shuddered.
Finally, he sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll help you.
- - -
< CH. 1 | CH. 3 >
----------------
Now playing: Marianas Trench - Beside You
via FoxyTunes
Chapter: 2/12
Author: ladyknight_fic
Fandom: Gossip Girl
Characters: Mia Waldorf-Bass, Chuck Bass, Blair Waldorf
Pairing: OC/OC, Chuck/Blair
Genre: Drama/Romance
Rating: T
Summary: After 19 years of marriage, Chuck and Blair are bitter and angry. So for their 20th anniversary, their daughter Mia sets out to get them the perfect gift: each other.
Spoilers: through Seasons 1 to 2x13
Warning(s): none
Word Count (per chapter): 2997
Disclaimer: I do not own anything affiliated with the Gossip Girl books or TV series. I only own Mia Waldorf-Bass, Jack Humphrey, Ella Humphrey and Katie Archibald. The rest of the characters are the property of the CW Network and I am not profiting from their use in any way.
A/N: From here on out you'll occasionally find links embedded in the chapters. These links will take you to visual extras, generally of the clothes/shoes/jewelery/etc mentioned. I encourage you to look at them, as they really add that extra touch to the story but I recommend opening the links in another tab so you don't lose your place while reading.
- - -
Chapter Two: The Plan
Everything was silent when Mia stepped out of the lift and into the Waldorf-Bass apartment. Usually, she would have taken that to mean that her parents weren’t home yet, but from the way the maid kept glancing at the ceiling to the bedrooms above and was trying to shut cupboard doors without making any noise, Mia knew the truth.
Her father must have arrived home from his business trip a day early, only to find her mother, who had taken a half day, at home.
Mia sighed, and handed her blazer to the maid who hung it in the cupboard by the door. Then, she climbed the stairs, her patent leather Manolo Blahnik’s tapping with every step on the marble. Once she got to the upper level, it became clear that her father, who might have returned home, had certainly not stayed there.
She sighed again, and tried not to let the disappointment bother her. There were very few people who could claim that Chuck Bass truly loved them. One of those lucky few was Mia. When he was at home, he asked about her schoolwork, and took her out to dinner and the theatre. When he was away on business trips, he made a point of calling her, and usually brought her back small, but no less extravagent, gifts of jewelery, perfume, clothes. Whatever caught his fancy. He used to bring gifts back for her mother as well, but hadn’t done that in years.
She stopped in front of her bedroom door, and grabbed on to the door knob to let herself in, when voices reached her ears. Civilised voices. Her stomach jumped in excitement. How long had it been since she’d heard her parents speaking in lowered voices?
Mia turned to the large, double doors at the end of the hallway, which opened into her parents bedroom. Upon seeing one of the doors standing slightly ajar, Mia bit her lip. It would be rude to eavesdrop, she knew…but it would be so nice to hear them speaking.
Without another thought, Mia lowered her bag to the floor beside her door and slipped out of her shoes. In stocking feet, she crept down the hall until she was by the open door. It wasn’t until she got there though, that she heard the voices properly. When she did, her stomach sank.
“B, are you sure you aren’t overreacting?”
It was Serena’s voice, calm but weary and maybe even slightly desperate.
“Overreacting? Overreacting?” The sounds of pacing filtered out into the hall with Blair’s voice. “If Dan came home and as good as admitted to you that he’d spent virtually his entire business trip locked in a hotel room with some cheap hooker, would you ‘overreact’, S? Hmmm?”
Serena was silent for a long moment, and then said warily, “But, B, didn’t you already know about…”
“About Chuck and his harem? Of course, how could I not, when his shirt collars are painted with lipstick and he always comes home smelling of cheap perfume?”
Out in the hall, Mia’s throat burned. She felt sick and leant her head against the wall beside the door. She didn’t want to hear these things, even though she’d always thought them to be true. Her parents went to great lengths to protect her from her father’s indiscretions and her mother’s bad habits. But that didn’t mean she didn’t that they existed.
Bringing her head up, Mia leaned towards the gap in the doors, hoping to see one of the women on the other side. She peeked in and then jumped back quickly when her mother stormed past the door, leaving Chanel No. 5 wafting on the breeze in her wake.
Serena said, “If you already know all this, why does it bother you so much? I mean, yeah, I’d be devastated if Dan did this to me, but it isn’t Dan, it’s Chuck.”
When Blair didn’t immediately reply in a huff, Mia thought she was going to dismiss Serena’s comment as ridiculous and not worth her time, but Blair proved her wrong. When Blair spoke next, her voice was tired and filled with something Mia had never heard in it before. Defeat.
“It bothers me because I created this problem and wasn’t strong enough to fix it. And now it’s too late. It’s over, S. The great love affair that rocked the Upper East Side is coming to its dramatic close. Nineteen years of marriage, only ten of them happy, and I’m ending it. Finally.”
Mia’s hand closed around her throat as she fought back a cry. Her parents, splitting? That couldn’t be. They were Chuck and Blair, Blair and Chuck. They were a team, a unit. Even when they hated each other, and fought over the smallest thing, they had been known to unite for something they cared enough about. They couldn’t survive on their own.
Pushing herself away from the door, Mia dragged her feet back towards her bedroom, one hand trailing along the wall beside her. Outside her bedroom, she picked up her bag and shoes, and entered the room, making sure to close the door firmly behind her.
She sat in front of her vanity and stared at her reflection in the mirror, trying to see past the down turned mouth. Her eyes prickled with the onset of tears, and Mia watched her face become pink in an effort to hold them back.
But a lone tear snuck past her defences and Mia tore her gaze away from the mirror as she swiped at it angrily. She would not cry. She was stronger than that. She would make it.
Her gaze landed on a small, gift-wrapped box by her jewelery case and a small smile crept to her face.
She reached for it eagerly and snatched it up. Mia pulled out the ribbon and folded it carefully on the table, before picking at the tape on the wrapping paper. Eventually, she uncovered the nondescript brown box and pulled open the lid.
A folded slip of paper sat on top of something that looked fluffy and grey, so Mia looked at that first.
Hi baby,
Sorry, but this was the closest I could come.
Love, Daddy.
She set the note on the table beside the ribbon and reached further into the box. Her fingers met the fluffy, grey object and Mia pulled out a small, stuffed koala bear.
Her smile widened into a grin and her tears were quickly forgotten. When he told her that his next business trip would take him to Australia, Mia had begged him, only half in jest, to bring her back a koala. He hadn’t forgotten. He never did.
Mia caressed the soft fur and turned her eyes to the framed photo on the table. It had been taken years ago, as evidenced by Mia’s young, round face, and the smiles adorning her parents’ faces. It had been so long since they were happy…and Blair thought it was all her fault? It hadn’t been, not really. At the time, Mia had been too young to understand exactly what had happened, but with age she’d come to know that Blair couldn’t have prevented what happened if she’d tried. It just wasn’t meant to be…but her parents were. That Mia had always known.
She leapt off the chair, the box tumbling to her feet, and ran the three steps to her bed. She pulled her purse towards her and rummaged through the pockets until she pulled out her cell phone. A quick call to Katie confirmed the destination and Mia sent out a group text.
Emergency call to arms. Meet Archibald house. 30mins. -M
- - -
When Mia stepped over the threshold of the Archibald house, it was strangely silent. When all five Archibald’s were home-those being Nate, Jenny, Katie and her two younger brothers, Luke and Andrew-you’d be hard pressed to hear a bomb go off. Even with Nate still at work and Jenny on business in Paris, Luke and Andrew usually kept the noise level in the higher decibel range.
Quiet giggles led her to the kitchen, where Luke and Andrew had their backs to her. They knelt on stools at the counter and were surrounded by a ridiculous amount of ingredients, all of which were being poured into a mixing bowl.
Mia cleared her throat and the boys spun around quickly. The guilty looks on their faces told her that, whatever they were doing, Nate and Jenny sure as hell better not find out.
Luke, the older at fourteen, sighed in relief. “Oh, Mia, it’s just you. We thought...”
“Yes, I know what you thought. Aren’t you a little old to be doing this kind of thing?”
Luke glanced at his younger brother and opened his mouth to reply. Before he could get a word out, Mia brushed it away and said, “Never mind. Where’s Katie?”
“Upstairs, with Ella.”
Mia smiled. “Great, thank you.”
As she turned away, Luke called out, “Wait! Mia…uh…”
“Don’t worry,” she said over her shoulder, “I won’t tell. I have more important things to worry about.”
Mia didn’t hear a call of gratitude, nor did it matter to her if she got one. She was already hurrying back into the foyer and towards the stairs, when the front door opened and Jack stepped through.
She stopped, one foot propped on the bottom stair. His hair was completely dishevelled, and his collar was open and smeared with red. It was no secret what he’d been doing when he got her message. For a moment, Mia didn’t see Jack’s face; instead, she saw her fathers and her stomach twisted in pain.
“Hey, what’s the big emergency?”
Jack’s voice made her blink and her gaze snapped up to meet his. She couldn’t get her father’s face or the despair in her mother’s voice out of her head, so she turned away and started up the stairs.
“I’ll tell you when we’re up there.”
Jack followed her up the stairs and towards Katie’s bedroom in silence, not even speaking to greet the other two girls when they stepped through the door.
Ella was seated in Katie’s desk chair, with her elbow leaning on the desk and her chin propped on her fist. Katie sat cross-legged on the bed.
When they entered, Jack flung himself backwards onto Katie’s pink comforter, and almost sent Katie tumbling off the edge.
She smacked him upside the head. “Watch it!”
Ella turned to Mia who stood awkwardly at the foot of Katie’s bed. “So what’s up?”
“Yeah, you got us all out here. The least you can do is let us in on the secret,” Jack said, and sat up and grabbed her arm, “and sit down.”
He yanked her towards the bed in one harsh tug. Mia overbalanced on her heels and went flying into Jack’s chest in a tangle of arms. Her headband slipped forward over her eyes and Mia gasped in surprise as it collided with the bridge of her nose.
Jack laughed and pushed the dark blue band back into place, and then placed his hands under her arms and pulled her up into a more comfortable sitting position.
As he moved her, Mia caught a whiff of the perfume-cheap perfume-lingering on his clothes and pulled away from him with a huff.
“I’m not a child!”
Jack’s brow crinkled slightly and then he inclined his head towards her. “Whatever you say, princess.” And he leaned back on to Katie’s pillows, folding his arms under his head as he went.
“Enough flirting you two,” said Ella. “Tell us what’s going on.”
It crossed Mia’s mind briefly to deny the flirting accusation, but then she remembered her parents, who could very well be arguing or dividing the furniture as she sat there, and decided to just let it go.
“I know what to get my parents for their anniversary, but I need you guys to help me.”
Ella visibly perked up and Katie leant forward in ill-concealed excitement. Jack just studied her.
“Really?” said Katie. “What? And how do we fit in?”
Mia took a breath. “I’m going to give them their happiness back.”
Katie, who she had been facing at the time, frowned. “What?”
“Their happiness. They’ve been unhappy for so long. What better gift for their twentieth wedding anniversary, than the happiness and love they felt as newly weds?”
Ella joined them on the foot of the bed. “Mia, that’s perfect!”
Mia grinned. “I know, isn’t it?”
Katie was still frowning, but now she was also shaking her head. “I don’t get it. You can’t give someone an emotion as a gift.”
“I’m not going to physically give them happiness, like a bowl of chicken soup or something. I, and when I say, I actually mean we, need to remind them of how much they loved each and how much they still love each other, so that by the time their anniversary comes around, they’ll be living in bliss again, complete with gooey eyes. We won’t even have to set them up really; there are so many events between now and the big two-oh.” Mia held her closed fists up in front of her. “There’s the annual Victrola opening party, Mother’s birthday, Thanksgiving, the Archibald-Bass-Waldorf-Humphrey dinner, Christmas, my birthday and New Year.” With each event, she raised a finger, so that by the end she had seven fingers in the air. “As well as all that, I can lay some ground work at home. It’ll be great!”
Ella’s eyes sparkled with excitement and she clapped her hands. “I like it, Mia. It’s gonna work, I know it!”
“But are you sure your Dad’s going to be home for all this? It would be pointless to try and set something up if he’s not going to be around for it anyway.”
Mia sighed. As much as she loved her friend, Katie’s ruthless practicality could be a real downer.
“He’ll be here. Daddy always stays home through the beginning of November until the middle of January. That’s just the way it is.”
Katie looked slightly mollified. “So you’ve got the events, how are you going to recreate happiness that you weren’t even around to witness?”
“I might not have witnessed it, but our parents did. We’ll all just have to do a little digging, find out what happened on significant dates, what wine they drank when he proposed, what song they danced to at their wedding. It’s simple really.”
“So simple it’s bound to fail,” said Jack.
Mia turned to him with a glare. “I can’t believe that’s the only thing you’ve brought to this conversation. But in any case, this will work, and you’re going to pull your weight, understand? Now, you guys talk it over, while I go visit the ladies room.”
She slid off the bed, shut the door on Ella and Katie’s excited murmurings and made her way to the bathroom, where she splashed cold water on her face, fixed her make-up and fixed her hair. All the while, she repeated her words to Jack in her head.
This will work. This will work.
When Mia stepped back out into the corridor, Jack was leaning against the wall opposite waiting for her.
“Miss me?” she asked.
Jack pushed himself off the wall and walked towards her. He was almost standing on her toes, but she refused to take a step back.
He lowered his voice. “What else is there?”
“What do you mean?”
Jack sighed impatiently. “I know there’s something you didn’t tell the girls and me. Something important. What is it?”
“Apart from none of your business you mean?”
His eyes narrowed in anger but Jack remained silent, and that was what made Mia crumble in the end.
She glanced down the hall, and then lowered her gaze to her shoes. They were black, with rounded toes, shiny silver buckles and crimson red bows.
Jack fingers forced her chin up and Mia looked into his dark eyes. She swallowed. “Mother wants to get a divorce.”
Mia was shocked at how small and vulnerable her voice sounded. Even after her comment to Jack in Katie’s bedroom, she still sounded like a child.
He stared, not saying anything for a long moment, and then took a step back, giving her back her breathing space.
“Is that why you’re doing this?”
She looked at him in confusion. “What?”
He didn’t answer her question, just went on, “Mia, you’re not God. You can’t change how your parents feel about each other.”
“I wouldn’t be changing it! I’d just be showing them how they really feel, underneath all that anger and sadness. They’ve been sad and blaming themselves for too long, Jack.”
“I know, but they’re Chuck and Blair. Sure, they put up a good fight and it’s been fun to watch, but I think everyone’s been waiting for this-”
“Which is why I won’t let it happen. They don’t want this!”
“How do you know?” Suddenly his voice was soft, as if he wanted to comfort her. “It’s like that saying. No one knows what’s going on in a relationship except the two people in it. Maybe this is for the best. How do you know they wouldn’t be happier apart?”
Mia felt that prickling behind her eyes again, but this time, she reined it in. She wasn’t about to cry in front of Jack Humphrey.
“I know my parents, Jack. If they separated, they’d die. Slowly, yes, but as surely as the sun rises every day, they’d wither away. They do love each other. I know they do. Now, will you help me, or not?”
Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and watched her. As she stood there, under his gaze, she got the feeling he could see right through her, into her very soul, and she shuddered.
Finally, he sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll help you.
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< CH. 1 | CH. 3 >
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