Chapter 4

Two months later, Bart informed Blair that her mother would be coming for a visit. She had a deal to close with the Thorpe Corporation, which could be very beneficial to Waldorf's Designs. The Thorpes , originally from Boston, moved to New York a few years ago, and climbed their way up the business ladder during their stay. They were a force to be reckoned with, according to Eleanor; who wouldn't dare pass up this opportunity to work with them. She needed a strategy, along with her best employees, to help her close this deal.

She requested Blair had lunch with her to discuss a certain 'Business Proposal', as she called it. The morning of Eleanor's arrival, Blair didn't have time for breakfast with the Basses; only grabbing a quick coffee from Starbucks on her way to greet her mother at the airport.

She arrived at the airport, and began looking around for her mother. As she made her way towards the gate, her phone buzzed in her purse. She pulled it out, and began reading the text Erik had sent her while walking around to find her mother. Apparently she was requested to join the family for a special brunch, as Bart had news to tell. Erik's text was to no surprise to her, as Bart already informed her the other day that he'd convinced Chuck to move back to Manhattan. She'd heard a lot about him, and was more than eager to finally meet the great Chuck Bass.

With that thought in mind, she smirked, only to collide with the person in front of her; spilling her coffee all over him, and the floor.

"I'm so sorry," she blurted, surprised by the damage she'd just done to his suit, "I'm so so sorry" she repeated apologetically. "I wasn't looking…" she tried to explain herself, but fumbled with her words even more. She lifted her eyes, expecting a scowl, but found herself looking into warm hazel eyes. He had short dark hair, and an exquisite jaw line… to her he was flawless, and was easily one of the most handsome men she'd ever come across. And she just ruined his 3'500 dollar Armani suit.

"Yeah, I kind of noticed," he responded sarcastically, with a low, husky, bitter voice that sent shivers running throughout her body, head to toe. "Next time, try to look where you're going," he scolded, momentarily studying the damage she'd done to his attire, "you ruined my suit".

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was just-" she was fumbling again, but he cut her off. He wasn't exactly in the mood to listen to her continuous apologies. He was struggling with the headache he had had since taking off on his flight from London, and she just managed to ruin 7'600 dollars worth of clothes. Not that he couldn't afford another, but it was a matter of principle really.

"Like I said," the words were finalizing, "next time, be smart enough to watch where you're going ". His hand brushed his hair back in an annoyed gestured. He was exhausted, the flight was too long, and he wanted nothing more than to go home. It was his first day back to New York since he'd left four years ago, and he'd been greeted by a clumsy nobody, who managed to ruin his clothes, just because she wouldn't look up from her phone.

"I'll pay to get those dry cleaned" She offered. She was in no mood to take his arrogance, and he was really growing to be one sexy-as-hell pain-in-the-ass.

"Do I look like someone who can't afford his own dry cleaning?" He hissed, facing her again.

"I was just offering!" she defended, "Why can't you just accept my apology, you don't have to be so rude and act like a spoiled brat!"

"Excuse me? You're the one insulting me," his anger began to rise, his headache not really helping him keep it in check either, "yet you have the audacity to say that I'M the one being rude!"

"You heard me! And I may have been distracted, but you could have easily moved out of the way if you looked where you were going as I assume you're smart enough to do!" she challenged, mocking his earlier statement.

"You're such a-" he held his tongue, "just move before I call security to drag you out of my sight". He had to keep himself in check, he shouldn't be losing it in front of his sleeping daughter.

"What?" Blair was appalled, "I should be the ones calling them to drag YOU out of MY sight!"

'Who is he kidding? I'm Bart Bass's goddaughter for Christ sake. Who does he think he is treating me like that!'.

"If anything, you should be thankful I spilt my coffee all over your hideous and tasteless purple shirt! Who wears purple these days anyways?"

He was just about to respond when they were both interrupted by a stewardess, who was asked by her boss to control the situation. Everyone had recognized the two as they argued, and she'd been witness to the squabble so far, but still feared the Basses' wrath.

"Excuse me" her voice came out timid, terrified of what might happen to her by disrupting them.

"WHAT?" the two turned to her and yelled in unison

"Uhh…" the stewardess was beyond horrified at that second, as two pairs of enraged eyes stared her down. "I was, ummm, well, is there something, I could do to…." She was mumbling, barely able to form any sentences.

"Do to what?" Blair hissed, impatiently waiting for her to finish her sentence.

"Ummm.. stop your arguing…. you're scaring people" she finally explained. Blair rolled her eyes as the man scoffed.

"No need, I'm done" the young Bass replied, eyeing Blair with such contempt.

With that, he walked away, cursing under his breath, while a number of people followed him towards the exit. Blair felt like she'd just been slapped. What was wrong with him? More importantly, what was wrong with her? She wasn't one to let such small things get under her skin… 'ok maybe I am, but he was being such an asshole!'. Mostly, it was the idea of seeing her mother for the first time in a long time that got her on edge today. She was nervous, unprepared to confront Eleanor. She didn't know what kind of nasty comments to expect, and put this whole argument aside to finally face her mother. 'God help me!'

After his little argument at the airport, he stepped outside to be greeted by a waiting limo, and his former driver, Arthur, who was holding the door open for him.

"Welcome home Mr. Bass. I hope you had a good flight. Mrs. Benson," he smiled, and nodded at them.

"Not the best…" he admitted. "Get me home as fast as you can, coffee is seeping through my shirt and it's starting to stick. And my daughter needs to sleep in a real bed," he explained, walking towards the open door, with Mrs. Benson pushing along the stroller where his daughter slept. "Arthur, I hope for your sake you didn't forget Amy's car seat." He growled as he peaked in and didn't see the acclaimed item.

"Of course not Mr. Bass" Arthur pulled it out of the trunk, just as they began to load it with luggage, and placed it inside.

"Thanks". He turned around and asked Mrs. Benson to slide in as he held his daughter. He loosed the seatbelt and held her in a tight hug before delicately placing her in the secured car seat. He leaned over and kissed her forehead, and watched her sleep happily, a smile crossing his face at the sight.

Mrs. Benson is a 62-year-old English woman. She's a former History teacher, and had so far been lovely with Amy, treating her as she would her own granddaughter. She was his widowed neighbor, and he'd hired her to take care of Amy, knowing she was cultured, and competent enough to handle caring for his daughter. She'd been working for him for two years now, coming over three times a week to look after Amy when she wasn't in preschool. He could never agree to a nanny, not comforted by the idea of his daughter being raised by a stranger. He'd arranged to work at home on most days, along with his personal assistant and secretary, only ever going to the office for important board meetings, or the couple of times a week to assert his position. He'd declined business trips so far, and Sunday was strictly for her. He'd refer to them as his 'Amy days', despite all his days being dedicated to his child. On those days, he would switch off his phone, and do whatever Amy wanted to do.

When he had first told Mrs. Benson that he would be moving back to New York, she immediately offered to join and help him settle down, claiming it would be easier for Amy to have a constant during all this change.

The ride home had been silent. Chuck leaned his head on the leather seat, having grown accustomed to the coffee smell emanating from his shirt, and shut his eyes as he thought about how his father managed to convince him to come back. How he told him about his plans of retiring in a couple of years, and how he expected Chuck to take over Bass industries when he does.

At first it wasn't a concern. He merely asked if he could supervise the company from its office located in London. Bart only responded with advise he didn't want to hear; "It's about time you faced your demons Chuck". Now, here he was, in his old limo, on his way to his old home, with so many old memories clouding his thoughts of a future he had to plan to grow old in…

Erik arrived at his parents' penthouse and was greeted by Dorota, a polish maid who'd worked there for nearly 15 years.

"Good morning Mister Erik. Mr. and Mrs. Bass are waiting in living room for brunch" she explained with her broken English, accepting his coat to hang.

He went to the living and found Lily and Serena as they sipped tea, and ate croissants. He went over and kissed them both before taking his regular seat. He pour himself a cup of coffee, and served himself a waffle to eat.

"Where's Blair?" He asked as he noticed she wasn't there yet. She was a regular to their table, and easily a member of their family whose presence is expected.

"She left early this morning to pick up Eleanor from the airport," Lily told him, eyeing him suspiciously. "Why didn't you bring Andrew, did you two have another fight?"

He sighed, holding his head in his hands, "I don't know what to do… It seems like all we ever do now is argue"

"Give him some time, and maybe you should take a break too… I'm sure it'll work out in the end" Serena inputted to comfort her brother, smiling in hopes of cheering him up.

"So mom, what is it that Bart wanted to talk to us about?" Erik quickly changed topics, as he ate blueberries, no longer wanting to think about his boyfriend.

"I have some breaking news," Bart interrupted, walking over from behind Erik, and made his way to sit at the head of the table. "Good news," he added smiling. They knew it had to be great, especially if he was smiling, which only ever happened during the few rare occasions involving a little girl he adored holding onto, with her tiny arms around his neck.

Serena instantly knew what it was. Chuck was coming, and her lovely niece. She grew just as excited, jumping at the question. "He's coming, isn't he?" Bart's smile grew wider, but hadn't answered yet.

"Who are you talking about Serena?" He asked innocently, amused by her excitement as any. She always did act like a little girl.

She continued staring at him, and noted the sparkle in his eyes and the grin plastered on his face, stretching from ear to ear. "OH MY GOD!" she screamed, "he's coming back? When? For how long?"

"He's coming back permanently… today." Everyone gasped, shocked with joy.

"I can't believe it, how? How'd you get him to come back?" Erik mused out loud as everyone beamed with excitement at the news.

"You can ask him yourself. He should be sitting in that chair next to you in about twenty minutes, with my precious granddaughter!"

Blair finally found her mother, and after a chaste greeting, they stepped outside to a waiting car. Eleanor instructed the driver to take them to La Dame de Bordeaux, a rather quaint restaurant that many upper east siders navigate towards, and to take her luggage to the Empire Hotel, and have it sent up to her reserved room.

"Oh Blair darling, tell me… How is it like living in Manhattan?" Eleanor asked, sipping the wine they were just served.

"Fine, mother. I kind of like it here, and I even made some friends-" Her mother didn't allow her to end her sentence, before speaking again

"Great! That's perfect! And how about you? I see you've made a lot of progress from when I last saw you" She emphasized the last part, eyeing her daughter head to toe to make sure.

"Yes, well, I'm trying to-"

"And you should! I mean, this little breakdown of yours has lasted long enough… It's time for you to face the facts, and come back to work" she took a moment to let her words sink in before continuing. "I'm just delighted you finally came back to your senses"

"A 'breakdown'? Mother, do you really think it, all of it, was nothing more than that?" She asked incredulously.

"Of course it was!" Eleanor answered certainly. "But, how would I know?" she waved her off, "I wouldn't let such a thing bring me down, and would have never reacted the same way you did…" Eleanor's voice was laced with a tinge of disgust, reflecting the disappointment she now considered her daughter for being.

Blair felt the tears pricking at her eyes, but she remained silent. She allowed her mother's words to beat her down, bring her down as they have many times before, destroying her best efforts of improvements.

"But, Dear, I don't blame you …I blame your father really, you wouldn't have gotten such characteristics from me…" she spoke nonchalantly of her ex-husband "I knew, from when you were a little girl that you'd turn out more like him than me. Whining, and crying and over-reacting. I had hoped you would grow into a fine women as myself, but… well seeing as you've done nothing in the past couple of years but mope around, crying hysterically, and even wore flannel! What kind of elegant, distinguished woman does that?"

"What kind of elegant, distinguished woman does that?" Blair repeated in anger. Her blood now boiling by the mere presence of her mother. "Maybe the kind of woman who'd lost her husband and child" she hissed with fury she didn't know she could possess. She had to contain herself from screaming in the restaurant, but no really caring what those around her now thought of her.

"Oh please sweetheart" Eleanor brushed off the tone Blair was now using, "I could understand if you were upset for a few weeks, maybe a month, but two years Blair? You realize this is the first time in two years I see you dressed well enough to be seen with, although the added weight is not at all flattering and you really should work on that soon. At least your hair and make-up is done, and you're not crying your eyes out like-"

"Like WHAT MOTHER?" the room fell silent at her words. Eleanor hadn't reacted, shamed by her daughter was dramatizing their conversation, and was once again giving a show. Blair however, didn't hold back, despite the disapproving glare her mother gave her, despite the crowd that now looked at her, she went on. "You're right, I'm not like you, and I sure as hell don't want to be either! You may think I'm weak, but you're the one who couldn't handle me. You're the one who needed my godfather to care for me. You're the one who had to send me away, because you couldn't help me. You're the one living a lie, pretending everything is fine, and it will effortlessly turn out ok, but you're too weak to even face the truth; that you, Eleanor Waldorf, are the worst mother a child could ever have!"

With those last words, she grabbed her coat and purse and walked out of the restaurant, not sparing another glance to her audience, or her speechless mother. 'I will not cry' she chanted in her head. 'I will not cry in front of her' she repeated more firmly as she exited through the door. 'I am not weak' she finally decided, and repeated the words, fighting the urge to force her fingers down her throat, and release the tension that wound in her stomach. She wouldn't relapse, not for her. She reached for her phone, and called the one person she knew who could help her: Dr. Sloane.

Blair was freed a slot, and at arrival took her seat and began to talk. She practically talked the entire time, and explained how she wouldn't cry for someone whom she could never please. Someone who would never be proud of her no matter how hard she tried. The doctor expressed her thoughts regarding the progress they've made during this meeting, and hoped to see Blair again soon.

As soon as Blair left the office she went to buy bread, as a habit, to go feed the ducks at Central Park.

She was standing by the lake, bread in hand, and began relaxing in the silence. A girl appeared moments later, running up to admire the ducks up close. Blair eyed her attentively as the little girl looked up at her. She was one of the most beautiful little girls she'd ever seen. She had long dark hair that was neatly brushed, and held back with a pink head band, and looked up at her with hazel doe eyes, against perfect porcelain skin… she was perfect. A perfect little china doll. She wore a pink Dior summer dress that matched her headband, a white cardigan on top, Louboutin flats, and to top it all off, a tiny Louis Vuitton purse. 'Her mother knew exactly how to dress her daughter', Blair thought. 'If I had a daughter, she'd look exactly like this little princess'. She smiled lightly, dazzled by her beauty and realized that instant that she wasn't a mother, nor will she ever have the chance to be again. She will never experience another pregnancy, or go shopping for her baby, or celebrate with a baby shower, and the sad reality hit her like a storm. Tears began to run down her cheeks, and she sniffled.

"Don't cry!" the little girl pleaded, searching her purse for a napkin, or Kleenex to hand the older girl. "There" She pulled it out with a triumphant smile on her face, and gave it to Blair happy to instruct her with her daddy's words of wisdom "My daddy always says that beautiful girl shouldn't cry… it hides how pretty they are… and you're really pretty". Blair smiled at her comment and wished that she saw the world through eyes as innocent as hers. The little girl was beautiful, smart, and comforting.

"Thank you sweetheart," she accepted the tissue happily and sniffled once more. "Your daddy's right, I need to stop crying…" she dabbed at her eyes before returning to the little girl with her best smile. "You're really pretty too… I'm sure all the boys will be fighting over you very soon, that is if they haven't already" a light laugh escaped her as the little girl smiled shyly at the thought.

"Thank you madam" her cheeks blushing a soft shade of red in embarrassment.

"Do you like ducks?"

"Yes! I love them. I saw them once, at the zoo, but we weren't allowed to feed them."

"I have some bread. Would you like to feed them with me?"

"Yeah!" she exclaimed and jumped with excitement.

"What's your name angel?" Blair asked, kneeling in front of the girl and began stroking her soft hair.

"Amy"

"Amy? That's a really nice name." The little girl beamed at this. "So Amy, where are your parents? You're not here alone are you?" Blair asked, hoping the little girl was not lost, or worse.

"No silly!" Amy giggled at how this woman thought she was there on her own. "I'm with Mrs. Benson, my nanny… but she's so old!" Amy complained, "I started to run, but she couldn't keep up… I'm too fast for her" she giggle once again, seemingly proud of herself. "It's funny to see her try and run after me though"

Amy turned back, and looked over for her nanny at the same time Blair did. Blair tried to find someone who looked like they could be the child's care taker, this Mrs. Benson, but no one came.

"See, I told you, she's too slow." Amy smiled, having now proved her point to this stranger, "What's your name?" she finally enquired.

Blair was a little outraged, how could this Mrs. Benson 1)Lose this little girl in the park, 2) allow her to talk to complete strangers, and 3) go anywhere near a lake, she could have drowned! Blair was set on giving that nanny a piece of her mind! This was no way to look after someone's child!

"Blair," she finally answered Amy's question, "I'm Blair". She handed Amy a piece of bread to feed the ducks with. Amy gladly threw it and laughed as she watched the ducks begin to march towards it, and fight for it.

"Look! They're fighting!" She broke another piece of bread and threw it where the ducks gathered.

"Yeah," Blair was a little uncomfortable, she wasn't really used to children. She was an only child, with no siblings to play with. So she attempted the most casual childish conversation she could think of, "do you have any pets?"

Amy shook her head no, and continued feeding the ducks, "I'd like to have a monkey though…"

"A monkey?" Blair questioned surprised and chuckled at the idea. 'Who would want a monkey?'

Amy nodded. "Yes, a monkey! Don't you know what that is?"

"Yes, of course I do, but… why a monkey?"

"I love them, but daddy says he has to think about it… I'm sure he'll buy me one though. He always buys me what I want, I just have to be extra good. And when I get my monkey, I'll call him Sweetie and then all my friends will be jealous because I will be the only one with a monkey!" she exclaimed happily. "Brandon said he wanted a monkey, so if I have one he'll want to hang out with me more than Kayla… Maybe I can show him to you too" Blair couldn't help but laugh happily with the excited girl. She was so full of life, and strange, incredulous ideas.

'What kind of parent would buy their kid a monkey?' Blair smiled at the next thought that crossed her mind 'The kind who love their children and would do anything to please them!'

Blair felt the pang in her chest as she remember the argument she had with her mother earlier. She would have never gotten a monkey, or anything, no matter how much she begged. Her mother didn't really ever care.

"I'd love that sweetheart-" Blair was interrupted by an older women yelling, calling for Amy.

"Amy!" the woman repeated as she walked towards them. Amy was right, she was old. "I've been looking for you! What did I tell you about running off like that, it's dangerous, you could have been really hurt!" she scolded.

Amy looked down at her shoes, apologizing in a mumble for disobeying her nanny. Apparently not for the first time either.

"And you shouldn't talk to strangers!" the older woman turned to Blair, completely relieved that she wasn't some psycho, "I'm sorry if she bothered you…"

"She wasn't a bother." Blair replied coldly to the woman. She was determined on letting her know exactly how she failed as a nanny, even if she hadn't a clue about the situation, she continued. "The only thing that bothered me is the idea that an incapable nanny, such as yourself, let this little girl out of her sight. Don't you know what could have happened? Don't you watch the news? You're lucky I wasn't a psychopath!" Not exactly one when it comes to children at least, but incompetent nannies should most likely fear the wrath of Blair Waldorf. "You're lucky I don't know her parents, or I'd have reported your inability to handle their child. You're obviously too old to be caring for her and should best retire soon" Blair ended her lecturing, practically yelling at the older woman the entire time.

"How dare you speak to me like that? This is NONE of your business Miss!" She defended, and took Amy's hand to leave, ending the discussion as it is. Leaving no room for Blair to press on.

"Bye Blair!" Amy called back to her, waving her hand as they walked towards a waiting Limo. Mrs. Benson continued scolding her, but Amy merely smirked, pleased to have caused such anger from the older woman.

"Bye sweetheart!" Blair waved back, looking over to them until the car drove off. She sighed and went to sit down on a bench, staring blankly at the lake. Her mind began to wander, and soon enough she pulled out a notebook from her purse and began doodling mindlessly, ignoring the tears that were once again rolling down her cheeks. She blinked a few times, as her tear drops landed on her notebook, until she was aware that she had sketched the little girl in a gown made for a princess…

After arriving that morning, Chuck was greeted and hugged by his family, tight enough to leave him red and breathless, ignoring his coffee stained attire. With all this commotion, Amy woke up almost immediately to suffer a familiar fate, with attentive hugs and kisses. He excused himself shortly after to take a shower, having told his family all about his encounter with 'a half-witted, lunatic elitist snob'.

At his return they sat down and continued their meal, talking, joking and generally catching up. Lily insisted he moved in with them, seeing as his room, and Amy's nursery were both available to be used. At least until he found the perfect home to settle down in properly.

He gladly accepted, and excused himself again, but this time for a well deserved nap as his headache slowly threatened to kill him. Amy however, was begging him to take her to the zoo, as he'd promised when he told her all about the zoo in Central Park. She was already beginning to scheme her way to have him buy her a monkey. He had to wonder where she inherited such behavior as she began to pout and stare at him with puppy dog eyes that melted his heart.

Everyone in the room had been smiling over to him, literally gloating as they witnessed the only girl, who could ever get under Chuck's skin, make him do exactly what she wanted him to. He promised he would take her within the week, as he still needed time to recover from the jet lag, but seeing as everyone else was too busy with work, he had to compromise with her and let her go with Mrs. Benson for now. He'd call in for a 'private meeting' with a monkey the next time they go together, he even told her that she'd be able to touch it.

Her eyes lit up at the idea, because her father always kept his promises, and now she was going to get to see a monkey, and play with it too. Fortunately for him, Mrs. Benson had been to New York a few times, and was able to take Amy to Central Park on her own, so that he could finally get the sleep he needed.

He slept most of the afternoon, and woke up just around dinner time. He descended the stairs, and noticed Mrs. Benson lecturing Amy in the hall. He went to ask what was wrong, but his father intercepted him on his way to his daughter and her nanny.

"Chuck! Did you sleep well?"

"I did, I was beyond exhausted…" He responded, running his hand through his messy hair.

"In that case, I need to speak to you for a moment… privately."

In that moment, Lily walked through the doors from the kitchen. "Dinner's Ready!" she announced, noting how business like the two Bass men stood, "so no more business talk. Charles only just returned, and I refuse to let you brain wash him with work before we got to spend enough time with him." Lily instructed Bart, smiling over to him sweetly.

Serena entered soon after, and scanned the room for her friend to introduce to Chuck. She finally gave up, reached for an appetizer, and asked "Where's Blair?"

"She hasn't been back all day. I assume things are going well with her mother…" Lily said.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Bart mused. It was getting late, and Blair was not the type to be spending the whole day out on her own.

"Blair? Who's she?" Chuck asked, pouring himself a glass of scotch from the liquor cabinet.

"My goddaughter," Bart answered immediately. "Harold Waldorf's daughter," he clarified for extra measure. "I told you about her a few times, but by the look on your face I'd say you weren't listening…" he sighed, smirking to Chuck who shrugged agreeing to that.

"Serena, can you call her please?" Bart finally asked of Serena, "and leave some food for the rest of us" he motioned towards the appetizers, before returning to his son. "Charles, since we have a few minutes, care to join me in the study…" He needn't ask as he made his way to the study, followed closely by Chuck.

Blair was caught up scribbling in her notebook. She hadn't realized how late it was, and the call from Serena, informing here that they're waiting for her to have dinner, snapped her back to reality. She reluctantly stood up and took the first cab home. She returned home with bloodshot eyes, and was far too tired to face the family or Serena's elate mood. As she stood in the elevator, on her way to the penthouse, she tried to dry her eyes, to stop the tears, to place a mask and pretend to be happy, but she couldn't. The tears have been pouring since that morning, and she didn't know how to make them stop.

She entered the foyer and was greeted by Serena, as predicted, who immediately wrapped her arms around her in a warm embrace.

"Blair?" Serena's voice was laced with concern, "Is everything all right?"

Blair wanted to snap at her, but held her tongue. 'Serena can be so oblivious… why can't she skip the stupid questions?' she ignored her question, in hopes of just pushing her away for now. "Is Bart here?" she asked, turning cold in her friends arms until she let her go to look her straight in the eyes "I need to talk to him…" she explained sternly.

"He's in the study-" Serena didn't even get a chance to finish before Blair began to march her way towards the room. "But he's busy…" Serena attempted, but her words came out as a whisper, and Blair was already far enough to not have heard her.

She was at the door, and grabbed for the handle to push it open, without bothering to knock; "Bart I reall-"

She stopped when she realized he was not alone. The two men sat on the couch in the middle of the room, facing away from her. They seemed to be in deep conversation, a possible business meeting perhaps. That thought made Blair instantly apologize; "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were busy… I'll come back later."

"Blair!" Bart stood up and greeted her warmly. Another second and his expression turned to a worried one as he took in her appearance. He knew her well enough to know she would need to talk about this in private, when no one else was in the room. "It's alright," he explained with a smile on his face, walking over to kiss her cheek before redirecting her to the other male in the room. "Let me introduce you to my son,"

Chuck put his glass down on the coffee table as he got up, before looking over to the girl. He froze the instant he locked eyes with her. The woman standing by his father's side, he instantly recognized her.

Blair was taken aback when the other man finally turned to face her. She gasped once she realized who he was 'Oh no! This cannot be happening to me'.

"Blair, this is my son: Charles Bass." He said smiling and turned to Chuck.

"Chuck, this in Blair Waldorf. My goddaughter."

Just as Bart ended his introductions the room fell silent. The tension between Chuck and Blair grew with nothing being said. They just kept staring at each other, as they engaged in their own gaze contest.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! And don't forget this little yellow button down there to tell me what did you think of it.

Next chapter may be updated a little longer than usual, but I'll try my best to post it soon enough.

A great thank you to my beta Kumiko212 and my omega Ellibells who helped me a lot to produce it. Thank you to all my reviewers, I hope you keep enjoying this journey!