A/N: Previoulsy a oneshot. Now has Chuck's POV. Oh, I don't own anything. If I did I wouldn't be working a Wal-Mart.
Part 2
Chuck
Twelve year old Charles Bass sat in his father's limo, watching the cars pass. He was on his way to a new school, one with all kinds of snobby rich kids. His father had told him that St. Jude's was one of the best schools in the city, but Chuck wasn't impressed with any of the brochures he'd been forced to look at. He didn't really have a choice in the matter: what his father says goes.
Finally, the car stopped and he looked at his father who nodded at him while still talking on his phone. Grabbing his bag, he exited the car and made his way up the steps to the courtyard. He knew there would be an assembly right before homeroom, where they would all get their schedules. He was seriously thinking about skipping it.
Then he saw her. He didn't know her name, but she had the most beautiful smile and an aura of complete control. Chuck wanted that. He craved control of his life, but his father controlled every aspect. How he hated his father. She walked right past him not even glancing at him for a second. She met a blonde girl and hugged her, then walked into the auditorium with her and some other girls. Chuck quickly decided he would go to the assembly.
Chuck was proud of himself as he walked to fourth period. He had made it to all his classes but he hadn't realized that the girls didn't have classes with the boys. That was disappointing but he had already made a new friend. Nathaniel. He was nice enough, but Chuck knew that Nathaniel was much better looking than himself. Blond hair and blue eyes are hard to beat. But he had invited Chuck to eat lunch with him and his girlfriend and Chuck knew he wouldn't get a better offer since most of the boys at the school seemed to know each other already.
Luckily for Chuck, he hadn't mentioned the girl he had seen that morning. Lucky because she turned out to be his girlfriend. So, thinking that maybe Nathaniel and Blair wouldn't be together long, Chuck decided he would make sure that he became friends with both of them. Then, he could possibly win Blair over.
That, of course, didn't happen. Chuck didn't know that they had been dating since kindergarten. That was well and good though. Blair had pretty friends and they were all too willing to have a piece of Chuck. Meanwhile, he continued to cultivate his friendships with Nate and Blair.
Nate, Blair and Serena had all been friends for years. Chuck felt like an outsider for months but he eventually began to feel as if he belonged. His father kept a close eye on him even though he was reluctant to meet any of Chuck's new friends' parents. Bart Bass simply didn't have the time for that nonsense. Eventually Chuck's nanny convinced him to go to the Thanksgiving dinner at the Waldorfs' and then the Christmas party at the van der Woodsens'. Those were the only times his friends had ever seen his father. They knew his au pair well enough; their parents loved her as well. But Bart Bass was never around much. Nate saw him the most as he and Chuck often spent weekends at each others' houses. Nate was always weirded out when Bart was home.
"He's not too friendly, is he?" Chuck shook his head and returned to his book, attempting to finish before lunch. Nate sat on the bed looking at a dirty magazine that Chuck had stolen out of his father's office. "Does he ever talk to you, or just at you?"
"I really don't want to talk about it. Can I read, please?" Chuck was increasingly bored with this conversation. Nate always tried to get him to talk about his family. He certainly wouldn't shut up about his own.
"Sorry, I was just wondering. You know that if you ever want to talk about this-"
"Yeah, I know. Thanks." Agitation was setting in. Nate sensed the change in Chuck's tone and took the hint to drop the subject.
She was no Blair Waldorf but Serena van der Woodsen was certainly entertaining. Chuck also knew that Serena and Nathaniel liked to steal kisses when Blair wasn't around. It only bothered Chuck because it occurred to him that he could theoretically do the same with Blair if she would let him. But she was too good to do that to Nate.
Serena and Chuck had fooled around several times but they finally did the deed during Blair's fourteenth birthday party. Unfortunately, his father thought he hadn't been taking school seriously enough and sent him to school in Germany the next week where he stayed until the end of ninth grade. Chuck kept in touch with Nathaniel and Serena but he never wrote to Blair or called her. He had hoped that she would call or write but she never did. He had supposed she forgot about him until he finally saw her again and he noticed her potentially fatal tell: she swooned at the sight of him.
Chuck immediately fell back in with Nathaniel and Blair. Serena had been running around with Georgina Sparks. Chuck hated her. She was a psycho bitch when he lost it to her in sixth grade. Not that he had ever told any of them that. It wasn't exactly his proudest moment. But when Chuck did finally see Serena, it was like he never left and for that week that she was still there, they were always seen together. Even with psycho Georgina just to make Serena happy.
Then there was the Shepherd wedding and everything changed. Chuck witnessed Nate and Serena getting drunk and having sex in an empty reception hall, then watched as Serena ran off to do god knows what else. Chuck didn't see Serena again for another year.
Instead he continued to cultivate his friendships with Blair and Nathaniel. They would all go out together and have a fun time and sometimes he would even manage to steal Nathaniel away for a boys' night. Nate always felt guilty leaving Blair alone, especially after her father left, but he and Chuck always had fun together. Chuck wouldn't trade his friendship with Nate for anything. Not even Blair.
After the incident in the courtyard with Blair, he wrote her a note more fully describing why he couldn't continue with her. The kiss had felt so right, but Nate was all he had, and he really didn't want to risk losing him. Besides, if Serena ever came back... Well, it wasn't love, but the sex was always great.
He left the note in her locker, he assumed she read it. She didn't bother him about what happened. They never told Nate. Thankfully Gossip Girl wasn't notified or hell definitely would have broken loose. Blair and Chuck were never even alone together until just before Blair's seventeenth birthday. Right after she and Nate broke up.
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A/N: review please!!
