The loud music blasted from the stereo of the penthouse suite of some run of the mill upper east side teenager and the bass from the speakers left the apartment in a constant sea of vibrations. Chuck Bass observed the scene surrounding him. It was one they had become accustomed to in the past year and a half. Since the start of high school, he and his friends had been a topic of major discussion amongst everyone in their schools, Constance Billard and St. Jude's.
Blair Waldorf had basically taken over everyone in their grade and all of the freshmen; she even had some of the lesser juniors and seniors in the palm of her hand. Nate Archibald was making his way through school easily. Born from a regal French blood line; being a part of the van der Bilt dynasty, despite the differences in last name (his mother was a van der Bilt), definitely had its perks. He was also incredible at lacrosse and soccer, so aside from his stunning, intense blue eyes that often left girls in awe of him he had that whole sports guy thing going for him…it drove the girls wild. Chuck, himself, was, well he was Chuck Bass, and on the Upper East Side, that meant a few things, those things being money, power, drugs, and girls, in whichever order or quantity that he desired.
Last in their entourage of four, was Serena van der Woodsen. She was tall with never ending legs, long, wavy blonde hair, and ocean blue eyes. Despite the fact that Chuck had known Serena most of his life, he had never attempted to hook up with her. Sure, in jest the suggestion had come up, and he truly doubted he would be able to resist if she threw herself at him, but he knew that though Lily van der Woodsen liked to keep her family's appearance pristine and perfect, they were anything but. Many had told him he was just upset because Serena refused to give him the time of day for anything more than friendship, so he tried to act like he didn't want her first and avoid the blow to his ego and reputation, but he knew that in all honesty, it wasn't just him that was unwanted romantically.
He didn't want Serena because he saw past the long legs and blue eyes and blonde hair, not deep enough to know what the root of all her issues were, but easily far enough to know he could describe the blonde's personality in three words: completely fucked up. Yeah, Serena van der Woodsen had problems, but her mother had taught her well, and she knew just which way to smile, which pitch to make her voice, and which laugh to use to change the subject and succeed in covering up any flaws that may have marred her impeccable image. After all, Serena had been wearing make-up long before any of the other girls in their grade and had always used it with much less effort.
Chuck was brought out of his marijuana induced haze by some girl trying to sit on his lap. He wasn't in the mood for a girl tonight though; he just wanted to smoke…a lot. He pushed the bad-dye fake blond out of his lap and realized he really needed to find a room to crash in, so as not to be disturbed by any more people. He maneuvered his way through the suite's hallways until he finally came to a door on the right side of the passageway. Perfect, he thought, with the door's location just the perfect distance from the party but close enough to not seem like a snooper if he was found hanging out in there. When he swung the door open, he was faced with a sight he had never thought he would witness; a sight he had never wanted to witness or to ever see again.
It was Serena, laying curled into the fetal position in the center of a bed. The comforter under her was a mess, and as she tightened her grip on herself she let out sporadic, laborious breaths. Chuck tip toed over to her, not sure exactly what he should do or what had happened. He didn't want to confirm his suspicions about the latter, though, and so with every step he took forward he was tempted to turn and run to the door, never looking back at the distraught figure of a gorgeous girl who he was not used to seeing like this, but he knew he couldn't. He knew that if something that terrible had happened, then he would have to be there for her as a friend, screw his social life or her mother's charity meetings, this was something that would require his complete attention and he was silently berating himself for smoking so much hash earlier in the night.
"Serena…" Chuck spoke hesitantly, unsure what to actually say to her. "Are, are you okay?" he forced the question out of himself for he knew he would get nowhere without the knowledge of what had truly happened that night.
"Chuck, get the hell out!" she yelled back at him strained, with tears in her voice, pulling her arms even closer to her chest and bringing her legs further up. Normally, a smarmy comment would have been on the tip of Chuck's tongue, along the lines of him joining her even though it was obvious that was the last thing she would actually want. Besides, there were more important things to speak about and he wouldn't let himself be distracted. It was only when he heard Serena whimper again that he looked down at her, about to try and move her arms from her face, when he noticed the marks on her arms that were in the process of turning dark shades of purple and green that he decided against it.
Observing the disheveled bed and the disheveled blond, Chuck put two and two together and his face turned to stone. "Serena, what happened in here?" his phrasing was a question, but it sounded more like a demand. She cried a little louder and attempted to roll away from him, but he held her where she was. That was a mistake. Serena tore away from him and darted to the other side of the bed, putting ample spacing between them. "Don't touch me, Chuck! God, just please, please don't touch me," she rambled on about it, her words getting more and more unintelligible with each moments passing. Chuck wasn't sure exactly what he should do, his suspicions had pretty much been confirmed, but he still needed for her to tell him before he could take any action.
"Serena" he said softly, moving slowly towards the side of the bed she was on, "just tell me what happened and I swear I'll hurt whoever hurt you", he wouldn't tell her he would make everything better; he knew he couldn't, but he would get revenge for her, even if in the end it may be more for his peace of mind than hers. "Chuck you can't tell anyone. God, I mean he didn't mean to, and it was my fault, I wanted it at first, but then I thought about, about you and Blair and Eric and Nate and I couldn't just do that. But you can't tell a guy to stop then, it's not even fair right? And I'm fine, like I'm really, really ok – "Chuck cut her off. He had inched closer and closer and at this point he couldn't listen to her blame herself for this, he wouldn't allow it. "It is not your fault, ever. Nothing is your fault, Serena, okay?" he asked, with a plea in his voice and cupping her face in his hands. She moved out of his grasp then, and towards the door, but as she reached for the knob she turned to look at him "Let's be honest Chuck, isn't everything?" her tone was empty and her smile was wan before she turned around and left the room. Chuck was going to kill whoever this guy was, if it was the last thing he did, because no one should be able to darken Serena van der Woodsen.