Disclaimer: I do not know anything Gossip Girl. Oh, and as a side note, there is a small tribute to Taylor's band The Pretty Reckless (I am not affiliated with them either) because their music is amazing.
Jenny pinched the bridge of her nose. After that debacle at the lawyer's office, she had headed back to her own office and had tried to settle back into the fluid motion that usually came when she sketched, but it wasn't coming.
She was tired. How many times did she have to go through the humiliation of her husband not wanting to divorce her? Time and time again Chuck failed to sign the papers and he would just continue to put her through this torturous marriage. She had hoped that it would last longer than three years, but despite the face that they put on for everyone, including Gossip Girl, there were more problems behind the scenes than they had ever let on, and it had finally become too much for Jenny. She wanted out, and he wasn't letting her.
Chuck nodded at the man who handed the dozen pink roses over. It was late but thankfully this flower shop was still open. He paid him and headed out and back down the block. Slipping inside of the building he nodded towards the front desk manager who nodded back and buzzed him through the big doors to get to the elevators.
Stepping inside, Chuck pressed a button and watched the numbers slowly climb. She was angry with him, and he knew that she had every right to be. He had once more bailed on her. Chuck could never deny that he loved Jenny, but being married to the blonde wasn't easy. He used to think that Blair had been a handful, but Jenny had managed to prove him wrong. But he loved that about her. And it was one of the many reasons he was not signing the divorce papers. Not to mention, signing them would be like admitting that their marriage had been a mistake, and Chuck Bass did not make mistakes.
The ding of the elevator startled him from his thoughts and he stepped out onto the floor and walked the long hallway to her door. He stopped for a moment and read the name on the door: Jenny Bass designer of Pretty Reckless.
With a small sigh he knocked on the door and heard a muffled 'come in' on the other side. Opening the door he watched the blonde look up and he saw the annoyance register in her eyes.
"What do you want Chuck," she said instantly, attempting to engross herself back into her work.
Without a word, Chuck merely walked over to her desk and laid the bouquet down before stepping back. Jenny's eyes flickered towards them for a moment before she let out an audible sigh and reached out to the grab the flowers; "what are these for Chuck?"
"Happy anniversary," he said quietly, his eyes following her every facial movement as she realized that she had indeed forgotten what today was.
Guiltily, Jenny set the roses back down on the desk and ran a hand through her long locks, "thank you Chuck…they are very beautiful," she said quietly; Jenny knew that she didn't have to say anything about her not giving him a gift because she knew that he knew she had forgotten.
An awkward silence fell over the pair; Jenny was staring at the flowers and Chuck was staring at her.
Finally, she let her blue eyes find him again, "is there something else," she asked, her voice once more falling into the aggravation it usually held when she spoke to him.
"I wanted to apologize for earlier," he said, causing his wife's eyebrows to rise.
"Are you actually apologize," Jenny asked with a hint of amusement in her tone.
Chuck merely smirked, "no, that was it."
She rolled her eyes at her husband, a hint of a grin on her lips, "I guess you really can't teach an old dog new tricks."
"Old? I'm only twenty-five Jenny," Chuck said, taking a few steps towards her desk.
Another sigh fell from her lips, "I know; how could I forget your twenty-fifth birthday?"
Chuck's eyes closed for a moment. So, she definitely wasn't putting that behind them. "Jenny, I thought we had gotten passed that."
"No," she said sharply, "we'll have gotten passed that as soon as you sign the damn papers."
Now it was Chuck's turn to sigh. He placed his hands firmly on the edge of her desk and bent slightly so that he was nearly level with her. "Why are you in such a hurry to be divorced at twenty-three," he hissed.
Her once bright blue eyes now held anger in them, "you think I'm happy about it? You think I wanted to prove my family right? I don't want to get divorced just as much as you, but I don't know how to live with someone that makes me feel nauseous when I look at him."
"Then we separate for a bit Jenny. I stay here and you head off to Paris for a few months. You don't file for divorce," he shot back.
Standing Jenny continued to glare at him, "and what happens when I come back and I still can't stand the sight of you Chuck?"
"You don't seem to have a problem looking at me now princess," Chuck spat and he noticed her hand clench instantly and he realized that he had just dodged a slap there.
Jenny remained silent for a few moments, her hands clenching and unclenching before she spoke again, "kindly get out of my office Chuck."
"Don't forget who bought this office for you princess."
"Stop calling me that!"
A small smirk curled onto her husband's lips and he straightened up, "why? You always adored when I called you princess."
"Does it matter Chuck? You just need to stop. Stop coming to my work. Stop calling me princess. And stop having you PI follow me everywhere!"
Chuck stared at her for a moment, the expression on his face questioning how she knew that he had his PI on her.
"I've been married to you for three years Chuck," Jenny said in a bored voice as if she had read his mind, "I know you."
He looked down, silence filling the gap between them. The anger that they had both held for the day was gone now, and all that was left were the questions they both wanted answered.
"Why are you so ready to walk away from this," he suddenly asked looking back up at her.
Jenny was about to throw a sharp remark back at him, but her eyes caught his and she suddenly felt guilty for being angry, because she hadn't seen that look in his eyes for a long time.
"You know the truth Jenny," he continued, "you know what really happened with Agnes. So I want to know why?"
The blonde looked down searching for answers, but her mouth was too dry to come up with them. She could feel his eyes on her, burning into her, waiting for her response. Biting her lip, Jenny looked back up at her husband, her blue eyes glassy with tears, "because if I don't walk away now Chuck," she managed, her voice breaking slightly, "you'll walk away later."
A Little Over Three Years Ago…
A nineteen year old Jenny sat in a slightly uncomfortable chair, flipping through the pages of the latest InStyle. As she skimmed through the glossy papers her eyes glimpsed all of the trends, memorized the patterns; she was completely engrossed in the magazine until a rather loud, aggravated, and familiar voice broke her concentration.
"You insolent little brats," Chuck said to the boys that couldn't have been older than six. They were laughing on the ground together with a set of Transformers toys in front of them, an obvious sign that they had been there for a while. Their toys shot off little plastic projectiles and it had seemed that they had shot them directly at Chuck Bass. Yet, the small toys had seemed to throw him off and he had spilled his coffee all over his lap.
For a moment, Jenny watched with amusement as he swore underneath his breath, but when he looked back up, livid and ready to attack the boys, she decided she better step in.
Quickly closing her magazine and leaving it on the seat she went over and crouched beside the boys and whispered something in their ear. The two of them immediately smiled and grinned at her before closing their eyes and holding out their hands. Opening her purse, Jenny pulled out her wallet and pulled out her last crinkled bills and set them in the kids' hands. When their eyes opened they smiled and gathered up their toys and went running back to their mom.
"Had I known it was that easy to get rid of them I would have given them each a hundred dollars," muttered Chuck as he continued to dab at his slowly staining pants.
"Well I just saved you one hundred and ninety dollars," she said, slowly standing, and pausing a moment to see if he would say anything else, but there was nothing. With a sigh she rolled her eyes, "and there's no need to thank me," she muttered as she turned to go back to her seat.
"Well excuse me if I'm a little busy trying to keep my new Armani from staining to thank you for saving me from the terrorizing children," Chuck said sharply.
Jenny rolled her eyes and went back to her seat and attempted to bury herself in her magazine again, but her eyes constantly flickered up to Chuck and his continuous cursing.
"This is what I get for being a Brooklyn girl," she muttered with a defeated sigh. Jenny tucked the magazine into her purse and got up once more and headed over to him.
"If you keep rubbing at it like that, you're only going to make it worse."
"What," he asked, looking up at her.
With another sigh Jenny grabbed his hand, "come on," she said pulling him up, beginning to drag him towards the bathroom.
"Where are you taking me," he asked impatiently.
Glaring over her shoulder she said, "to a janitor's closet to make out with you," she said sarcastically.
The two of them were silent until she pulled him into an empty bathroom and finally let go of him. "All right," she said turning towards him, "take off your pants."
"What," Chuck asked taken back by her words.
"I said take off your pants," she repeated, "I figured you know how to do that; I'm sure you've heard it enough times."
Chuck rolled his eyes, "cheap shot," he murmured before raising his voice, "why do you want me to take my pants off exactly?"
Putting her hands on her hips, Jenny shot him an annoyed look, "because I'm not doing this with your pants on," she said stubbornly.
"Well I'm not taking them off," Chuck said just as stubbornly.
With a groan Jenny looked at her watch and realized that they didn't have time to argue about this, "fine, we'll do it your way," she said causing him to smirk with triumph.
Jenny set her purse on the counter and opened it, digging through for a small container. Once she had found it, she opened it and pulled out one of the small damp cloths and walked over to Chuck. There was a smirk of content and amusement on his face, and Jenny groaned inwardly before she sank down to her knees. Gingerly, she began to dab at the stain of spilled coffee and tried not to think about the position she was in right now. Chuck could only smirk down at the top of her blonde head.
A few minutes of this and she had gotten some of it to disappear. "Would you stop tilting backwards," she snapped, "you're making this difficult."
"That's not my fault," he snapped back, "you're the one who's assaulting me."
Jenny stopped for a moment to glare up at him, "do you really want me to assault you Chuck," she threatened, earning a glare from him.
The two remained like that until she shook her head and went back to dabbing, only to find that the closer she got to the center, the harder she had to dab. With a sigh of aggravation, Jenny's free hand reached up to steady his body, unintentionally grabbing his ass rather firmly. This action caused a sudden twitch near Jenny's hand, "oh no," she said immediately jumping back up to her feet and stepping away from him.
Chuck tried to contain himself from bursting out laughing, "what do you expect Humphrey? Your hand is on my package, your other hand is grabbing my ass, and with you on your knees in front of me I could see down your shirt."
Jenny's hand immediately went to her top as if trying to shield it ineffectively now. "You are such a perv Chuck."
She shook her head and turned back to her purse to close it when she suddenly felt his presence behind her. His hand pressed against the edge of the sink counter on either side of her so that she couldn't go anywhere. Jenny looked up into the mirror at the reflection. The lustful look on Chuck's face made her shiver slightly.
"Don't flatter yourself," Chuck said huskily in her ear before he stepped away from her. He started to walk away and Jenny looked over her shoulder at him.
Never again was she going to help Chuck Bass.
[Author's Note: All right, not as long as I hoped, but I wanted to get another chapter posted tonight. I'll keep writing this one, I promise, but know that I'm also going to start walking on my next couple of Jenny/Chuck stories. Anyway, love to hear what you think: review please.]
