Chapter 7:

I woke up the next morning with an odd sensation. Like everything was perfect. That wasn't true, of course. Nothing was perfect. I reached my hands out and stretched, trying to wake up. I rubbed my eyes and stood up. On my bed was a pink, silk robe. I smiled thinking of how good it was to be home. I threw the robe on and went downstairs.

On the bottom floor I found Serena holding Charlie and bouncing him up and down. He giggled. "Say good morning, Mommy." Serena cooed. She looked radiant.

"Good morning, Sweetie Pie." I said and kissed him on the top of the head. I went over to the fridge and grabbed an orange juice. "You know, Serena? You're good with him. Maybe you should have one of your own."

She laughed. "Maybe one day. For now I'm good with being Auntie Serena."

"Auntie Serena?"

"Yes." Serena put Charlie back in Eric's old crib and joined me at the table. "You look awful, Blair. To thin and not enough sleep."

"Thanks?" I shook my head. "I've not had the best year." we just sat in silence. "So, how'd you find me?"

"It wasn't that hard. I had been looking everywhere that's usual for you. Paris, the Hampton's. Nothing. But a few months ago a old friend of mine was talking about seeing you in the Bronx. I didn't believe that you- Blair Waldorf would ever set foot in the Bronx so I got an investigator to find out everything. And I do mean everything." she eyed me carefully.

I panicked internally. But just for a minute. Then I carefully reminded myself that Serena couldn't know about that. Nobody did. I took a sip of my juice and said calmly, "And what exactly did you find out?"

"Well, I found out about Charlie. And your financial troubles. And your marriage to Jack Bass." I stared at her, shocked. How did she find out? No one knew besides the two of them and the judge that married them. "What I didn't find out was why you married him." the question brought me back to that day nearly eight months ago.

8 Months Ago

"Jack Bass. What do you think you're doing in my house?" I stared at the man who had mysteriously appeared in my home. I didn't know him well. Just that he caused Chuck pain. That was enough for me to hate him.

He looked around. "You call this a house? It's more like a shack." I didn't respond to his obvious insult to me. "I have a proposition that will benefit both of us."

I laughed. "I can't wait to hear this."

"You're a mother and in some serious financial trouble. I just happen to have a very large, unlimited supply of money."

"Make your point, Jack."

"Let's get married." My jaw dropped to the floor. This guy was insane to think that i would ever be with him. "Your bastard child will need a father and you need money. It seems like fate to me."

"I don't need money that badly. And even if i did, i wouldn't marry you for it."

He smirked. It was the signature Bass smirk. "You have a kid to support. Mommy and Daddy have disowned you. And the love of your life has abandoned you. What do you have left?"

"Whats in it for you?" I asked cautiously.

"I love making Chuck's life miserable. Even if he has no idea were together, I'll know that I got something he's always wanted- you."

"I can't, Jack."

"Sure you can. Just say yes."

"Alright. Let's do it."

As I said "I do" in that tiny courtroom and kissed Jack Bass I thought, momentarily, as his hand ran from my face to my butt, I had just made the most monumental mistake of my life.

"I needed the money." I said to Serena.

"You could have asked me." She said.

I shook my head. "New York wasn't my home anymore. I didn't belong here. I couldn't just come crawling back asking for money."

"Of course you could! You're my best friend Blair! I'd rather you come back completely changed than marry Jack Bass for a few thousand dollars."

"I know. But it was the only way I could keep Charlie."

"So you would have rather been in a living hell than given up Charlie?" I nodded slowly. "Then your the best mother I know." Serena didn't know how right she was. Being with Jack Bass was a living hell.

7 Months Ago

I lay with my head in the bowl, puking up everything I had for breakfast. I wiped my mouth and got up from the cold bathroom floor. Charlie cried from inside his nursery. I rushed down the hall trying to make sure he was alright. As I approached the door Jack emerged.

"Now, Blair. What did I tell you about going to that kid every time he cries?" he asked, chastising me.

"You said he should learn to be on his own." I said looking at the ground. "But Jack! He's just a baby! What if he seriously needs me?"

"Blair, I need you. You don't want to disappoint me do you?" he put his hands on my shoulders.

"No Jack."

"Good girl." he said with a smile on his face. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into the bedroom. He threw me on the bed and began undressing me. His hand grazed up my leg and to my stomach. "Still haven't lost that baby weight yet? You're a cow!"

A single tear escaped my closed eyes. I wouldn't let him see me cry. That was exactly what he wanted. He wanted power over me. To have control. And there was nothing I could do about it. I needed him to support me and Charlie. I closed my eyes and pretend I was somewhere- anywhere other than here.

"I had to Serena. I didn't have another choice. I needed to give Charlie a good life. I-I-" My voice broke.

"Look, it ok sweetie. I understand exactly why you did it. You don't have to justify anything. I get it."

"No you don't S. Nobody gets it. The things he made me do." I locked eyes with her. "They were awful."

"Im so sorry."

I pulled my shirt up and turned around to show Serena my back. She gasped. "This is the wrath of Jack Bass. This is what I went through."

Her hand ran the length of the bright pink scar from my left hip, across my back, and to my right shoulder. "How?" the word came out in a single breath.

5 Months Ago

He kissed me roughly as I fell to the floor. His breath tasted like a variety of alcohols. "You think I don't know all about your plan?"

"What plan Jack?"

"Don't play dumb. I know all about how you were planning to run away. Get a divorce is that it?" How did he know. Nobody knew. "I saw you on the surveillance camera packing."

"Jack! I would never leave you! You're my husband and you've been so g-good to us." I stood up and tried to calm him before he did anything to harm me.

"Let's see how good I am now." He ran up the stairs. I knew exactly where he was heading. To Charlie.

I got there just after he did. I found him holding Charlie by his small onesie. "Jack, listen to me. Put down Charlie. He is just a baby. He hasn't done anything to you."

"You're right." he put Charlie back in his crib. I ran over to Charlie and picked him up. He cried loudly. "His mother is the one I want." Jack ran at me screaming a variety of obscenities. His face looked was pure evil. I sprinted down the hall and into my bedroom as fast as my legs would allow. I locked the door. About a second later I heard banging on the door. It sounded like the whole house would collapse.

Thinking quickly, I found a hiding spot for Charlie inside my coat closet. I knew Jack would find me but I wouldn't let him find Charlie. "Listen sweetie, you have to be quiet." I put a finger over his tiny mouth and he quieted. I hoped that by some miracle he would stay that way. I heard the door collapse and quickly stepped away from the closet.

Jack barged in and grabbed me by the hair. He drug me into the hall and encircled my throat in his hands. I felt the air escaping without any way of renewing it. I fought back as hard as I could. His grasp didn't slip. From the corner of my eye I saw a knife in his belt. I reached for it and jabbed it in his side. His hands relaxed their grip on my throat and I fell to the floor, coughing.

He looked from the knife to me and back to the knife. Jack removed the knife from his body. He grabbed me by my arm, seeming unfazed by the wound. He pulled me to the stairs. "You are mine. You always will be mine." the knife sliced through the thin nightgown fabric, cutting my back deeply before pushing me down the staircase. I tried to grab him but he moved before I could. I landed on the bottom floor and laid there. I watched as he looked around the mansion once, checked my pulse and limped out the door.

I finished my story and sat back down. "Oh my God. Did you tell the police?"

"I tried. But Jack has plenty of friends in that field."

"Did anyone find you?" Serena asked.

"I eventually got to a phone and called an ambulance. I told them where I had hidden Charlie and they took us both to the hospital. I blacked out after that. When I woke up I was in the hospital with stitches in my back and a cop sitting beside me."

"Aren't you afraid he'll find you again?" Serena asked.

"Daily."