Fic: Family First
Rated: PG13 (underage drinking)
Pairing: Chloe Sullivan/Chuck Bass (Gen)
Verse: Smallville(senior year)/Gossip Girl(S02E13)
Summary: Chloe goes to NY to comfort her cousin, Chuck.
A/N: Chuck is BY FAR my favorite character on GG. Love him. This will be a series of Chuck and Chloe comforting each other. I'm trying really hard not to cross any lines but I'm just now realizing how hard it is for me to write a fic with Chloe in it and it not be romantic. Especially with a womanizer like Chuck. Also, don't expect regular updates to this. I'm kind of just meandering along at my own pace. Think of each as a oneshot.
Those Three Words
"Honey?"
Chloe looked up from the monitor where her eyes were near to crossing. She had this last practice essay to write for mid-terms before she could really breathe. Her dad was a welcome change of scenery though and she gently shut her laptop after saving her document.
"What's up?"
"I have some news."
Chloe searched her dad's face with narrowed eyes before biting her lower lip. "It's bad?"
Gabe reached out and ran a hand over his daughter's fly away hair, "It's your uncle Bart."
Chloe's eyes filled with tears as her dad told her about her deceased mother's oldest brother, Bart Bass.
"What about Chuck? Is he okay?"
Gabe shook his head sadly and sat down next to his daughter on her bed. "I don't think so."
Chloe leaned against her father and closed her eyes, wondering what she would do without him. Chuck and Bart hadn't exactly had the closest father/son relationship. Not like the one she had with her dad. "I want to go to New York."
Gabe nodded, his face pressed against the top of his daughter's head as he held her close. He couldn't imagine life without her and knew she was the closest Chuck probably had to blood relatives left. He knew they kept in touch via email and the occasional text and although Bart had remarried just a few short months before he knew Chuck probably hadn't bonded with his step siblings quite yet. At least not the way he and Chloe had bonded.
"Pack a bag. I'll send you out on the red eye."
Early the next morning Chloe stepped off the plane at JFK and took a cab to The New York Palace Hotel. The door man remembered her from the year before and let her up. Chloe made it to the elevator and punched in the penthouse code from the text Chuck had sent her when they first moved, should she ever need a place to stay if she wanted to get the hell away from Smallville. She navigated the halls in the dark but remembered Chuck telling her in explicit detail that he had chosen his bedroom downstairs and at the end of the hall; the room with the best view, naturally.
Chloe knocked softly on the door and heard a grumble from inside. She worried her bottom lip for a moment and then gave herself a mental pep talk. She pulled a bobby pin from the hair behind her right ear and picked the lock with it. She pushed open the door, half afraid of what she might find.
Chuck lay with pillows stacked behind his head, a decanter on his bedside table and a full tumbler in his right hand. His eyes were rimmed in red and his hair was in disarray. Chloe, used to the polished Chuck Bass, groaned softly and shut and locked the door behind her.
"Chuck," she moved forward and put her bags down beside the wardrobe.
Chuck squinted in the darkness, the clock on his nightstand informing him it was the morning of the funeral. The very early morning. And the blonde in front of him was probably a drunken mirage. Wishful thinking on his part. But he said her name anyways, "Chloe."
Chloe climbed onto the overstuffed bed and sat beside him, gently removing the glass of amber liquid from his hand. "Hey there."
Chuck stared at her hard and turned his head to the side, blinking slowly. "Are you really here?"
Chloe leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek. "I'm here. Exhausted, but here." Then she laid down next to him, her head beside his, staring at one another. Her hand found his on top of the comforter and she twined her fingers with his, holding on to him tightly. "I've got you."
Chuck's eyes traveled across her features before his brow creased and he squeezed her hand back. This time when he said her name the last syllable cracked on a sob and he leaned his forehead to hers and cried.
They stayed up for the rest of the night. Chloe laid her head against his chest and listened to him tell her about the one and only Rangers game they had made it to. How Lily, his step mother, had ruined his father's life. How his father never truly forgave him for killing his mom.
Chloe cried and held him and when breakfast arrived hours later she sat up in bed with him and nibbled on fruits and told him that if he needed to get away, her single bed back home in Smallville might be able to fit two.
Chuck laughed through watery eyes and nudged her with his elbow, "That would be rich."
Chloe just grinned and wiped at his tear stained cheeks with her thumbs before leaning in to him and hugging him tight. "I just want you to know that you have family." She pulled away and looked at him seriously. "You're my family, Chuck."
He nodded and smiled gratefully. "I know. And I appreciate that."
She was picking out his suit while he shaved when a knock sounded at the door. A girl's breathy voice said, "Chuck, you can't stay in there forever. The limo's waiting."
Chloe moved over to the door and opened it a crack. An attractive blonde widened her eyes in surprise.
"Hi. I'm sorry. I didn't realize Chuck had company."
Chloe smiled broadly, hiding behind the door in one of Chuck's silk robes. "No problem. I got in pretty late last night. You must be Serena?"
Serena nodded dumbly, "Uh, yeah. Is Chuck in there somewhere?"
Chloe laughed as he came out of the bathroom in a nearly identical robe. "He's here. I don't think we'll be riding in the limo though." She glanced over at Chuck standing in the bathroom doorway out of Serena's line of vision. At his small head shake she turned back to the blonde, "If you could have another limo brought around that would probably be best."
Serena studied the young woman carefully before nodding. "I'll do that. I'll make sure his regular driver is available as well."
Chloe thanked her and shut the door, turning to Chuck. "She didn't seem so bad."
Chuck rolled his eyes and took off his robe, revealing his undershirt and boxers.
"Serena's not so bad."
"And Eric?"
Chuck narrowed his eyes at his cousin as she buttoned up his dress shirt with precise movements. "Eric's a good kid."
Chloe stepped closer and put her hand on his arm to still his movements. "And Lily?"
Chuck studied her silently and then shook his head, "Don't push me, Chloe."
Chloe went on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. "Later then." And she winked and grabbed her dress and makeup bag and headed into the bathroom.
Blair and Nate as well as his step family stood waiting for him on the steps of the church.
Chloe, pressed against his side in the back of the limo, held his hand and with her other she reached up and brushed his hair away from his eyes. "Strength in numbers?" Chuck sighed and raised his hand with hers, pressing the back of her hand to his cheek and nodding. As he reached to knock on the window to signal the driver Chloe reminded him, "and behave. This is not the time or place for a scene."
Chuck rolled his eyes, "You always did have too many rules." The driver opened his door and he got out, holding a hand out for Chloe to join him.
Once out of the car she tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and let him lead her up the steps and past the group of people gathered there. She briefly heard the brunette say, "Did he really bring a date to his father's funeral?" And she just smiled at Chuck's amused arch of his brows and tilt of a grin on his lips.
Chloe sat in the front of the church beside Chuck. She held his hand in her lap and never strayed more than a few feet from him, especially when he stepped up to the casket. Chloe stood to his side and when he reached his hand out, she readily grabbed it with her own. She was never even aware of the brunette glaring daggers at her or the Van Der Woodsen's that watched her cautiously.
When Chuck decided it was time to leave before the service was over Chloe didn't try to stop him. She did excuse herself once to give her regards to Lily and her children. When she returned to his side she glanced in his line of sight to see who he was staring at. A pretty brunette shifted her eyes to Chloe and seemed to sit a little straighter.
"Is that Blair?"
Chuck passed a warning look at Chloe earning him a grin in response. Chuck rolled his eyes and led her out of the church to the waiting limo.
"Why don't we stop for a bite before we head to the reception?"
"I'm not hungry." He poured himself a drink from the stocked bar and then sat back in his seat. Before the first sip Chloe grabbed the glass from him and put it on the rubberized coaster on the bar.
"We eat first and I might let you have a glass of wine. No hard liquor."
Chuck stared her down until anyone else would have given in. Anyone except Chloe who just met his determined gaze with her own until he said to the driver, "Find us a quiet restaurant."
A short while later they sat across from each other, talking in low tones as they ate classic Italian food and drank merlot. Chloe awarded him one glass and then they were off to the penthouse.
Chuck looked decidedly more and more calm the closer they got to home.
Chloe watched the transformation closely until they were in front of the hotel. She shivered as he held the door for her. "Charles Bass, you are a truly terrifying man." The smile he flashed her was smug and Chloe prayed for the safety of the people upstairs.
They stepped off the elevator and Chuck helped her with her coat before handing over his own.
Blair intercepted them by holding her hand out to Chloe. "I'm Blair. And you must be Chloe." Chloe just smiled and shook her hand before Chuck put an arm around her and pulled her to his side. He steered her away from the woman he loved and they made quick work of the crowd. Then his hand was at her back and he was ushering her into his bedroom.
"So that was Blair?" Chloe sat down on the edge of the bed and removed her shoes, rubbing the arches of her aching feet.
"Yes, that was her."
She kept an eye on him as he went to a built in bar and poured a drink. Chloe just rolled her eyes and grabbed the drink from him on the way to the bathroom.
She didn't bother shutting the door all the way and talked to Chuck the whole time. "I think you should come back with me."
"Oh, right. Because the Bass' were made for Smallville living."
Chloe scrubbed her face clean of makeup and replied, "Don't be such a snob."
Chuck paused with his glass to his lips as she came out of the restroom having also slipped off her tights. "Metropolis, maybe." He conceded after some thought.
Chloe sipped her scotch and made a face. "This stuff is awful." She put the tumbler down and went to her bag, getting out a pair of jeans and a pull over. "I have some winter vacation left. And my dad would feel better with me closer to home." She didn't bother hiding away to change. She was sure she didn't have anything Chuck hadn't seen a hundred times before.
She was shimmying into her jeans when the knock of the door made her jump and fall onto the bed. Chuck grabbed her elbow to steady her and she finished pulling them up and fastening them. Then he pulled her dress off over her head and tossed her the sweatshirt as he called out, "Just a moment."
Nate, from the other side of the door, sighed. "Come on, Chuck. It's just me."
Chuck glanced back at Chloe to make sure she was covered and she shot him a smile. Chuck opened the door a crack and studied his friend on the other side. "Nate."
"Chuck." Nate rolled his eyes and pushed forward, backing Chuck up. He came to a halt as the pretty blonde zipped up the garment bag her dress hung in on the back of the closet door. "Chloe."
Chloe looked from Chuck to Nate and smoothed her hair back into place. "Hi."
Chuck took a hold of Nate's arm and led him to the door, "Goodbye, Archibald."
Nate sputtered as he found himself suddenly outside the bedroom. Blair and Serena stared at him expectantly. "Well?"
Nate cringed at their simultaneous questions and rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "She's pretty."
Blair rolled her eyes and hit him with the back of her hand. "She's basic looking. And what were they doing? Are they in bed? Did Chuck say anything?"
Nate looked to Serena for help but her expression matched her best friends. "She was changing. And Chuck didn't say anything."
"Changing into what?"
Nate walked away from the girls and they followed close behind. "Jeans."
"Designer?"
Nate raised his eyebrows at Blair's question. "How am I supposed to know?"
And the questions continued as they found a spot on the sofa and continued to grill him for information.
Hours later Chloe was curled up next to Chuck, her head resting in the curve of his armpit. "Remember when we snuck out and went up to the roof that one night?"
Chuck ran a hand down her arm and blinked back tears, the same tears that had been fighting with him all damn day. "Summer before high school. We dropped pennies over the side."
Chloe giggled, her insides warmed by liquor and memories. "Because I wouldn't let you drop anything bigger."
"You had a hard enough time letting me drop the pennies."
Chloe yawned and snuggled closer. "You were basically throwing away money."
Chuck smiled into the darkness of the room. "That's what the Bass's do best."
Chloe closed her eyes and listened to his breathing, the long night before catching up to her all of a sudden and the exhaustion dragged her down. "I love you, Chuck."
And then the tears finally broke free. Chuck kept his right arm wrapped around his best friend and with his other hand he pressed his fingers into his eyes as he wept silently, his body shuddering with the release. His mouth was pressed to her blonde hair when he was finally able to say the words back. "I love you, too."
He would pack for Metropolis in the morning. And maybe a day trip into Smallville wouldn't be so bad.
*End*