𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒; 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥
(𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘪, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦)
𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐋𝐎𝐀𝐍𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃 to meet at Central Park's Bow Bridge and as the Waldorf boy leaned on the railing glancing at the frozen lake he wondered why didn't the two of them agree on some warm coffee shop instead. Nicholas wasn't a winter person — unless, he was skiing or snowboarding in Aspen —, so, of course, being outside freezing his ass wasn't his favorite thing to do. He was hoping, however, that the cold would help him break up with his fianceé faster, but turns out Sloane Irvine hated cold weather even more and made their conversation much quicker than Nick expected.
You see, a few days back, when Nick called Sloane and told her he needed to talk with her and she replied saying she would be in NYC in a couple of days and had something urgent to talk to him, the Waldorf boy did not anticipate he would be hearing the words 'We need to break up' from her. Although shocking, that did make his situation much easier.
"I met Eleonor before coming here." the chestnut-skinned woman continued before Nick could say anything and he froze. Couldn't his mother have given him a heads-up about her meeting with Sloane? "She told me an interesting story about a deal she made with her son."
"I can expl—"
She scoffed. "You don't need to explain something I already understood, Nick." it was frightening to him how calm Sloan was, Nicholas thought she would scream at him and want to skin him alive because of the scheme. "Eleonor wasn't sure whether you had developed feelings for me or not, but I don't need to be a genius to know that you don't love me." she leaned on her side against the bridge railing, and her gaze was focused on the snow down on the lake, but she didn't look sad. No, she looked almost relieved. "I think I've known that for a while now."
"I'm so sorry, Sloan." Nicholas hushed into apologizing. "It was a stupid idea to agree with my mother and start to charm you as if it was game."
Her gaze then met his desperate one. Nick truly regretted everything, after all, in the end, he didn't get anything from the scheme besides remorse and headache. "I don't love you either, Nick." the model admitted, inevitably kicking Nicholas' big ego away. She let out a quiet laugh seeing the Waldorf's stunned expression, it was a rare sight to see Nicholas Waldorf at a loss of words, but there he was. "Sure I was infatuated by you at some point, but I don't think I ever truly loved you."
Nick took a hand out of the warmth of this coat's pocket in order to run it through his messy curls, and then he nodded. "That's fair."
"I was already planning on breaking up before talking with Eleonor, that's the urgent thing I had to tell you." Sloane revealed. "I assume you were planning on doing the same when you called."
The Waldorf boy nodded again, but her calmness was still making him uneasy. "Why aren't you screaming at me? Aren't you angry? Why are you not angry? You have all right to be furious."
She shrugged. "I'm not really surprised by all this. At some point I was using you too, I guess. Being engaged to Eleonor Waldorf's son can open many doors in my line of work." a half-smile graced her lips, but it vanished just as quickly as it appeared. Sloane's coffee-colored eyes moved to glance at her left, most specifically, at the diamond ring on its fourth finger. She was already used to seeing it there, but what was its purpose when the engagement was nothing but a lie?
As much confidence as the model was feeling, there was still a bitter feeling lurking to take over. Alright, their relationship was doomed from the beginning, but that didn't mean they didn't have good moments during their almost two years of being together. Sloane wondered if those moments were fake like their relationship. The romantic parts? Probably. But the way Nick stood by her side during her grandma's funeral the previous year? Or how he managed to cheer her up that one time a big-shot designer said she wasn't pretty enough to walk their runaway? There were also moments when they just hung out like they had been friends their entire lives. That wasn't fake. Sloane knew she had a connection with Nicholas, but he wasn't her person and she wasn't his.
"Oh, God! Please don't cry." Nick begged as he watched a couple of tears slide from Sloan's cheeks. The girl didn't even realize she was crying, and it wasn't even tears of sadness. She was simply an emotional person who didn't like endings. Even though she wanted that end to happen, there was still a tiny part of her that would miss Nick. "I will never be capable of demonstrating how sorry I am, Sloane. You deserve someone who will be one hundred percent there for you, I wish I could be this person, but I'm just not." he took a step towards her and held one of her hands. "Thank you for not trying to skin me alive after what I've done to you."
Sloane chuckled and wiped her tears with the back of her right hand. Soon looking back to the ring on her left hand, it was time to say goodbye. She took the engagement ring out of her finger and gave it a long last look before offering it back to Nicholas. "I don't think I'll be needing it anymore." the Waldorf boy complied and took the ring. "Goodbye, Nick."
With that, Sloane Irvine turned her back and left. Sure, there were a few tears still escaping her eyes, but she felt lighter as if her soul had just been washed clean. Nicholas watched her with a similar feeling, a weight had left his shoulders. He was lighter now. He was free now. He could be with Gwen now.
-ˋˏ ༻ 🎾 ༺ ˎˊ-
𝖲𝖯𝖮𝖳𝖳𝖤𝖣: 𝖩𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝖿𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖽𝖾𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖺 𝖼𝗋𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 (𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗅𝗅) 𝗁𝗈𝗍 𝗌𝗎𝗉𝖾𝗋 𝗆𝗈𝖽𝖾𝗅, 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖸𝖺𝗅𝖾 𝗉𝗋𝗂𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝖾𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖵𝖺𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗍'𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌. 𝖣𝗈𝖾𝗌 𝗂𝗍 𝗆𝖾𝖺𝗇 𝗁𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗌𝗅𝖺𝗒𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝗋𝖺𝗀𝗈𝗇 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗉𝗋𝗂𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗌𝗌? 𝖮𝗋 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝗋𝗂𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗌𝗌' 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗅𝖺𝗒𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗇𝗈𝗐 𝗂𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝗒 𝗍𝗈 𝗈𝖿𝖿𝖾𝗋 𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌? 𝖨𝗍'𝗌 𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝖼𝗁 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗎𝗋 (𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗌𝗈) 𝖦𝗈𝗅𝖽𝖾𝗇 𝖦𝗂𝗋𝗅 𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒.
𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐁𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋 if he wasted more time to finally tell Gwen how he felt for her ever since their first argument, so he got in a taxi and headed towards the Vanderbilt's penthouse. It took about fifteen minutes for him to arrive there, but it felt like an eternity. So many things could go wrong. He was about to go to the girl he had real feelings for and tell her that, the grand romantic gesture from every romantic movie — perhaps he should get a boombox and play it in front of her building. What if Gwen didn't feel the same way? Shit, Karma is such a bitch that could actually happen. The day was cloudy and cold yet Nick's hands were now sweating as he stared at the tall building where Gwendolyn lived.
"C'mon, you coward!" he muttered to himself. "You can do this."
Nicholas was welcomed by warmth once he entered the building, his cheeks and nose were still red from the time he spent out in the park exposed to the freezing temperature. The Waldorf boy took a deep breath and walked towards the doorman, he had to let all his insecurities out there in the cold and only show the false confidence he was so good at.
"May I help you?" the old man asked unenthusiastically without averting his tired eyes from the small TV on the counter.
"Yeah, I'm here to see Gwen Vanderbilt."
"Hm." the doorman then looked Nick up and down unimpressed, he was about to say something but something behind Nick caught his attention. "There she is." he motioned with his head and went back to pay attention to whatever was airing on his TV.
Gwen was arriving home after tennis practice, her instructor really pushed her to the point she lay on the court and didn't get up for like ten minutes straight without moving. She was super tired and super not in the mood to face Nicholas Freakin' Waldorf!
"What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you." he walked closer to her without even realizing, almost like she was metal and he a magnet.
"I can't right now." the Vanderbilt girl replied dryly and walked away towards the elevator. She knew Nick would follow, but she hoped he would take a hint this time.
"It's really important, Gwennie." Nicholas insisted on going after her as she predicted.
Gwendolyn's turquoise eyes were shooting daggers at Nick and he wasn't sure what he had done to piss her off this time. He was certain, however, that this was a terrible way to start a love declaration.
"I broke up with Sloane." he blurted out under her harsh glare.
"Good for her." Gwen scoffed and pressed the button to call the elevator.
Nick furrowed his brows. "Why are you angry at me this time?" the girl in question simply let out a bitter laugh keeping her gaze focused on the elevator's door, her arms crossed around her chest and her right foot hitting the floor impatiently. "You're gonna ignore me? How mature, Gwendolyn."
The Vanderbilt girl turned to him faster than he expected, and if thought outside was cold it was because he hadn't seen how the usually warm turquoise iris had turned into an icy shade of blue. "Who do you think you are to call me immature? As far as I know, I'm not the one using people just to please Mother Dearest and get a Ferrari."
Time went still — not in a good way. Nicholas was an idiot to hoped Gwen would never find out about the scheme. He wanted to be her knight in shining armor, but his armor was rusty, and instead of a sword he only carried sins. If anything, Nick was the one in need of saving.
"Blair told you?" of all the things he could say, that definitely wasn't the best choice.
Gwen rolled her eyes fixing the training bag on her left shoulder. "No, and it doesn't matter how I found out." she passed by Eleonor's studio before her tennis practice to take the dress she would be wearing for the Christmas dinner and unintentionally heard the fashion designer's talk with Sloane. "What matters is how you were never going to tell me and would just go on as if it never happened. As if playing with Sloane's feelings doesn't matter. I bet you just dumped her and now is here to try and win me." she shook her in disappointment. "Guess what, Nick? I already have to deal with shallow people on a daily basis, if you think I will date one you're way out of your mind." the elevator's door suddenly opened making Gwen look at it briefly before glancing back at the Yale student. "I will be really clear so your egocentric head can understand: I do not want you, Nick."
At that exact moment, Nicholas Waldorf understood what people said about words hurting more than a punch — or whatever physical aggression in question. Gwen didn't even falter when saying it. Her eyes were locked with his the entire time. The air suddenly seemed dense and Nick found it hard to breathe, his stomach hurt out of nowhere and he didn't know why. There were so many feelings going through him that he barely could associate reality.
He didn't see how Gwen's eyes watered when she finally realized the weight of her words or how she opened her mouth to take it all back but gave up and entered the elevator pressing her floor. The door seemed to close in slow motion as Gwendolyn watched Nick. He was frozen. Hell, he seemed almost broken. She didn't mean for it to happen. Gwen wished she could hug him and apologize, but the thing with words is that you can swallow them back once you spit them out without thinking.