OLD HABITS DIE HARD Part 4

Todd stayed hidden in that closet for what seemed like forever. He hated confined spaces. He remembered how crazy he got when he got put in solitary confinement at Statesville. However, the floral scent of Blair enveloped him as he was surrounded by her coats and he felt more relaxed. He couldn’t count the number of times when just the smell of Blair’s hair put him at peace. She had that effect on him.

He could barely hear the muffled voices in his position so he pressed his ear firmly against the door to get a better listen.

John was bad-mouthing him. No surprise there. The gall of this guy to think he knew anything about his relationship with Blair. John didn’t know him. John didn’t even know Blair. He just couldn’t keep his big nose out of their business.

Shit! John just told Blair about his part in the baby swap. He could practically heart Blair’s heart breaking. He knew exactly what she was thinking. Mexico. He had thought a lot about it too. It broke his heart to think that Blair was thinking he hadn’t changed. He had! These situations were entirely different. He wanted to barge through the door right now and beg Blair to listen to him. He dealt with so much disappointment in his life. From Viki. From Sam. From Tea. But nothing was more heartbreaking to him more than Blair’s disappointment. She knew him. She knew him better than anybody.

He had to get through to her.

As soon as he heard the door close, he peeked his head out of the closet to make sure John was gone.

Blair was staring into space with her eyes red.

“Let me explain,” she said as he moved toward her.

Blair turned her eyes to him. “You got what you wanted, Todd. Now, just go.”

Blair was about to walk to the living room when Todd stopped her. He grabbed both her arms and pulled her to him.

“I’m not going anywhere. Not until you listen to me.”

“Fine. Explain.” Blair figured the quicker he “explained” himself, the quicker he would leave. Let’s just get this over with.

“I know what you’re thinking. I know…” It was hard for him to even say. “I know you’re thinking about what I did in Mexico, Blair.”

Blair really didn’t want to talk about this. She just wanted Todd to leave her alone. She tried to pull herself out of Todd’s grasp but he remained firm.

“Listen to me.” He looked her in the eyes. “I am not that person anymore. Blair, I swear… I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Isn’t it always that way, Todd? It’s never really your fault, is it?” She’s rather be anywhere but here. She didn’t want to listen to another one of his excuses.

“You really think I would have willingly done this again?” Todd pleaded with her.

Blair wavered at that. “So what? Heather put a gun to your head?”

“No…” Todd felt backed into a corner. “I just… Blair, I was lost. This whole past year… I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just…”

Blair hated herself for it but she felt for Todd. Again. She reached out and touched his face.

Todd grabbed her hand and held it to his face. He closed his eyes and just took in her touched. She was so soft. So gentle with him. No one was ever as gentle with him as she was. Why would anyone be? He was a monster. He hurt Blair more than he hurt anyone in his life but here she was trying to calm him down. Only she could calm him down…

Todd moved her hand to his lips and softly kissed her fingers.

“Todd…” Blair tingled all over. Those lips…

“I love you.” It just came out. Blair had the ability to make him spit out his feelings even when it wasn’t his strongest quality. He looked her deeply in her eyes and refused to let go of her hand. “Oh God, Blair… I love you so much.”

Blair just looked at him wide-eyed. She loved him too. Deep down, she knew she did but she wasn’t going to say. She wouldn’t dare.

This was his chance. He touched her cheek and pulled her in to kiss her. She didn’t pull back. As soon as he felt her relax against him, he opened his mouth wider and pulled her body tighter against him. He could hear her moaning in his mouth. That was a good sign.

Blair knew she should’ve pushed him away. She was planning to but… he just felt so good. She never could resist a taste. Even last summer when she was engaged to another man. Todd just dove in and she was a goner. Now, here they were, making out in the foyer of Dorian’s. Instinctively, her arms went around his head as their kisses intensified. They never had a problem when it came to this stuff. This was the easy part. It was everything else that was hard.

Speaking of hard…

Blair just felt him start to grow through his pants against her hip. She had to stop this. She pulled back and caught her breath. “This is not happening,” she murmured as she wiped her mouth.

Todd followed Blair into the living room. There was no way he was going to let her run from this.

“Blair…” What was he going to say? Blair was a tactile creature. He had to play it right. One wrong word and he’d be on his ass outside of Dorian’s again. One right word and he’d be back in her arms again. He just said what he was feeling, something he rarely did.

“Run away with me.”

Blair whipped around to him. Of all the things she was expecting him to say, that was not it. “What?”

“Run away with me,” Todd’s confidence infinitely grew with Blair’s reaction. She wasn’t yelling at him. She wasn’t pounding on his chest. She wasn’t throwing him out. She just stood there, waiting for him to explain. “I need to go. Blair, I… I need to go now.”

Blair furrowed her brow and tried to take everything in from the last 2 minutes.

Todd stepped forward and lowered his voice. “I need you. I need you with me.”

“I…” Blair was stunned. “Todd… where?”

Todd couldn’t contain his smile from that. She wanted to go with him!

“Doesn’t matter.” It really didn’t. Todd learned years ago that home was wherever Blair was.

When Blair started to shake her head, Todd grabbed her face with both hands. “I just… I need to figure things out. I need to fix this. I need you to be there with me.”

Blair realized her mouth was dry. “What about the kids?”

“Addie can watch them. Look, it’s not forever. It’s just for enough time for us to figure something out.”

“Us?” Blair said in the slightest hope.

Todd smirked. “It’s always been you and me Blair. You know that.” He said that to her the last time they were together. Really together. And he meant it as much then as he did now. There’s been no one else in his heart. “I can’t do this without you.”

Blair’s heart always betrayed her. Even after John’s warning and months of her own head’s assertions to never let Todd back into her heart, all she wanted to do in this moment was jump into his arms and go. Maybe she was weak. She was weak for him.

“I don’t want to be hurt again.” Her eyes were begging him to say what she wanted to hear even though she wasn’t sure she would believe him.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Blair. Never. I just want you.” Todd walked over to the other side of the living room and opened the patio doors. “I have a car. I have money. I have a jet. We could go 

anywhere, Blair. Just you and me.”

Todd lifted his hand and extended it to Blair. “What do you say?”

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