Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no profit from this story. Everything Gossip Girl belongs to Cecily von Ziegesar, the CW and the god is that Josh Schwartz.
Summary: It was a strange experience to realize that someone actually wanted him. A look into how Chuck felt during the last few scenes of You've Got Yale and afterward.
Timeline: Set during and post 2x16.
Characters: Chuck Bass, Lily van der Woodson, Jack Bass. Serena and Eric vdW mentioned.
Author's Note: Wow, two stories written in one night. I think this is a new record or something. And I normally don't write about what happened in the episode, so that's another record.
I was watching this episode when the idea just sort of smacked me in the head. At first it was just about him feeling wanted and then it sort of hit me that Chuck's never had a mother figure before.
Poor Chuck—it really is sad that his dad had to die for someone to reach out to him and make him feel loved.
Title: Family
Chuck Bass didn't know how to feel as he sat at the bar and listened to Lily reveal that she had been in the process of adopting him when his father had died. It was a strange feeling to realize that someone actually wanted him, and he could tell by her eyes that she did. One thing he had always pitied Lily was that she did not lie well—either her eyes would flicker nervously about the room or they would fix a little too firmly on your own as if trying to force you to believe what she was saying.
He didn't know how to handle this new knowledge. He had countless experience with rejection and being unwanted—first from his father, then from Nate and most recently from Jack, whose betrayal perhaps hurt the worst because he had pretended to care—but this was something he had only experienced a handful of times before, two or three times with his father and the rest with Blair. So he did the only thing that he could do—he demanded the pen.
"Just to be clear this doesn't make us family, just even," he lied, trying to protect himself. Even though he believed her to be sincere, it wasn't in his nature to trust people.
Even so, he signed the papers, officially making Lily his mother and guardian.
GGGG
Chuck thought that he had been angry before, but the rage he felt when they opened the bathroom door and he saw Jack with his hand over Lily's mouth, his hand clutching a balled up handful of her dress, her eyes wide with terror and tears streaming down her face was like nothing he had ever known. In that moment, he truly knew what it was to want to kill someone.
His first instinct was to get Jack away from Lily, and so he threw him to the couch. He stared at the man he had once regarded an equal, hell almost an idol with contempt and disbelief. And that was when he sneered, "You stupid kid," and Chuck lost it, punching him with every bit of rage that was coursing through his body.
That was when he was pulled away, and he watched with fury as Jack was led away and Rufus went to Lily, taking her in his arms and beginning to lead her from the bathroom.
"Get off me!" Chuck pulled away from the men who were still holding him and his eyes locked on Lily's as she slowly walked past him. He knew that the concern he felt was visible in his eyes but as he looked at her he couldn't bring himself to hide it. She stared at him with an expression that had never been directed at him before—sheer gratefulness. "Oh my god, thank you."
He was too afraid of what he might reveal if he opened his mouth right then, so he let her leave without saying a word in response. But he knew that she had understood, even if he did not.
GGGG
He went to see her the next day, and while not surprised to find Rufus with her it still hurt a little. But he left as soon as he saw who had come to visit Lily, and as he passed him he held out a hand and Chuck took it, shaking it as they shared a silent exchange of thanks.
His hands were tucked into his pockets, the only visible sign of his insecurity, as he moved to stand beside the couch, not really sure how to accomplish what he wanted to do. They discussed Jack's departure and he joined her on the couch, taking his hands from his pockets and clasping them in front of him as she told him that she was the interim head of Bass Industries.
"Is that why you called me here?" he asked, afraid that she would say it was.
"What you did for me last night…" she began.
"Lily, I…" he cut her off, shaking his head and looking down at the ground. He had never been one for showing his emotions, and it unnerved him just how easily Lily could show her own.
"It's okay, you don't have to feel the same way," she told him as he raised his head to stare straight ahead. "But I do have faith," she continued, causing him to turn and look at her, "that when you're ready you will do wonders with Bass Industries."
"What are you talking about?" he murmured, the corners of his mouth turning up into a small grin. The smile soon reached his eyes as she told him that she wanted him to have it when he turned eighteen. She explained that she didn't want any of the company or its' perk… All that she wanted was, "Just you."
Chuck's smile was bigger than ever as the emotions he had felt the night before came over him once again—the feeling of being wanted, being loved.
"As a part of my family," she continued, and he pressed his lips together and sniffed, looking away as he tried to regain his composure.
"Um," he said, still staring at his hands and shaking his head. He looked back over at Lily, smiling once more. "Look…" He took a deep breath. "I know what happened to my father was an accident."
Lily nodded, her eyes never leaving Chuck's. "It was a terrible accident," she softly agreed.
Chuck looked away and then looked back to her, fidgeting as he finally found the courage to ask what he had been wanting, no needing to ask since the previous night, "And um…" He leaned in a little closer. "If the offer still stands…" Lily waited, gazing at him with a carefully blank expression except for the hope he could see in her eyes. "I'd like to move back in," he finished.
"I would love that," she replied in her way of not making it seem like a huge deal and at the same time making it so important.
He smiled and she reached out, patting his shoulder. And in that moment, Chuck realized that he had finally lived up to someone's expectations of him.
GGGG
He was moved back into his room later on that same day. Serena and Eric were thrilled and they told him so while hugging him so tightly that he almost couldn't breathe. But it was when Lily embraced him that the tears came.
Chuck Bass had lived all of his life without knowing the love of a mother, but when Lily embraced him and welcomed him back home, he experienced it for the first time.
Spotted: Our very own C moving back in with his stepfamily—or should we say adoptive family? Word travels fast and word is that as of last night our very own Chuck was adopted into the van der Woodson family. Congratulations C.
And speaking of moving—what is this we hear about another Bass moving halfway around the world? This couldn't have anything to do with what Chuck had to put an end to at the opera last night could it?
You know what they say—every ending is also a beginning, and it looks like the ending of the family Chuck Bass has always known has led to the start of a new one. Cheers to the Bass-van der Woodsons—I wish you all the luck in the world.
You know you love me.
xoxo
Gossip Girl
~~FIN