Secret Moments:
A/N: One shot C/V fic set during The Magnificent Archibalds. Moments we didn't get to see ;) Review please :)
Chuck Bass entered the Bedford Avenue Gallery and looked around. He couldn't believe he was in Brooklyn again, but Vanessa had called for his assistance with Nate and he wanted to help as much as he could. The place was closed, seats were stacked on their tables, and the Brooklyn girl was nowhere to be seen. "Vanessa?" he called. He heard a rummaging from the back. "I'm back here!" she called. Chuck followed her voice and found her in a closet in the back, storing napkins and cups away. Chuck smirked. "How nice of you to keep up the charade that you actually get business in here, but please, stop. It's insulting to my intelligence." Vanessa rolled her eyes, got up from her crouching position and glared at a smirking Chuck. She said nothing, pushed him out of the closet, and continued walking towards the back. Chuck felt his smirk fade a tiny bit. "It was a joke." Abruptly, Vanessa stopped walking and turned around with a hint of anger in her eyes. "Look, if there was anyone else that I could have called, I would have, especially after that little game you and Blair played with me. But there was no one. This is about Nate, so let's keep it that way. Now the FBI agent is in the back office waiting. He'll fill us in on what's going on before Nate gets here. I called him just before you got here so we don't have much time." Chuck studied her, a bit surprised, as she spoke and he saw the hurt in her eyes just before she turned and continued towards the back office. Chuck stared. He had to admit, a couple of weeks ago, this girl from Brooklyn was the last person he cared about. But since Blair had sent him on that mission to destroy her, he found himself appreciating her more and more. She was unlike others he knew. She seemed sincere. He remembered how she tried to console him after overhearing his father's insulting remarks towards him. She told him he deserved better. No one had ever said such a thing to him, and in that moment, Chuck Bass felt like someone truly cared for him. Not his money, his name, not the games, just him. Suddenly, looking at Vanessa, the guilt Chuck had managed to bury deep inside him since that whole incident instantly came to the surface. He wanted to say something. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Instead, he said nothing and followed her into the office where they spent the next 10 minutes with the FBI agent, conversing about Nate and his situation and what Nate had to do. Vanessa's cellphone started to beep at one point. She checked her incoming text and said "Nate says he's almost here." She asked the FBI agent to wait there, so as not to scare Nate off and tapped Chuck on the shoulder. "Come on. We'll wait in front." Chuck followed her to the front, where she sat down at the counter and played with her hands. "Vanessa, …." he started but was interrupted by her. Without looking up at him, she replied "This is about Nate." Chuck swallowed hard and didn't go any further. Instead he brought down a chair from the table, took a seat, and he and Vanessa waited silently for Nate to arrive.
___________
3 Hours Later:
They were alone again, waiting outside of Nate's apartment as he turned his father into the Feds. It was chilly out and neither of them had spoken since the talk with Nate. Out of the corner of his eye, Chuck could see Vanessa shiver slightly. "Are you cold?" She eyed him suspiciously. "Don't act like you care. You're Chuck Bass." He smirked. Silence again. "So you want me to tell you that I'm sorry and beg for your forgiveness, is that it?" asked Chuck suddenly. Vanessa stopped shivering and looked at him, astonished and speechless. Chuck let out a breath, and continued. "I'm Chuck Bass. I don't apologize and I certainly don't beg. " Vanessa started to speak but was interrupted by Chuck. "If I DID apologize, which I don't, but IF I did….I would tell you that I'm sorry for what happened, and that I didn't mean to hurt you. IF I did apologize, I'd let you know that I didn't think you or the bar would end up being two of the few things I care about when I made the deal, but I was wrong….but I'd only say that IF apologizing was something I do…which it isn't." Vanessa looked at Chuck and smiled at him. Chuck returned it with one of his signature Bass smirks, when they noticed the FBI coming out of Nate's apartment. When he and Vanessa walked over, Nate informed them that his dad would do time and that he got his house back. Chuck then gave Nate and Vanessa a minute alone, completely eavesdropping the whole time. As Vanessa said her goodbye, she passed Chuck and gave him a warm, tight squeeze on his arm. He looked down and smiled and headed over to Nate, Vanessa's touch giving him all the warmth he would need in the cold night air.