Chapter X

Blaire slowly opened her eyes to see an arm wrapped around her body from behind. She smiled at the tight hold the arm had on her and slowly turned within the person's embrace to look at Chuck, who was peacefully asleep. A thin sheet was draped over them as Blair gazed at his quiet face before tracing his features with her fingers. He twitched slightly from her touch and opened his eyes to see her smiling at him.

"Good morning," she whispered as his smile widened.

"Hi," he replied, slightly leaning back. "What time is it?"

"After eight," Blair replied, glancing at the clock on the night stand before laying her head back down on the pillow. "Did last night really happen?"

Eyeing the bed sheet over their naked bodies, he gave her a cocky grin. "Oh yeah."

She playfully hit his arm as he laughed heartily.

"Don't be smug," she said.

"I'm me," he reminded her as she smiled. "And I happily removed a certain chastity belt last night. You got to let me gloat a little."

Gasping at his words, Blair raised one of her eyebrows and came to get up.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"You can gloat all you want," she said, before adding, "After I leave."

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back on top of him.

She went willingly and placed her hands on his chest.

"I'm sorry baby," he replied. "I'm done gloating."

Blair giggled at his words before smiling.

"You're way too easy," she said as he realized she was playing with him.

"What can I say?" he began. "I'm in a good mood. But don't let it go to your head. I rather enjoy being moody and unlikable."

"But you're very likable," she said, kissing his forehead. "And sweet…and caring…"

As she listed each compliment, she kissed another part of his face.

"And sexy…," she said, kissing his lips.

"Well, that's a given," he said, his arrogance never leaving him.

"You know, you're also too smug for your own good," she said as he laughed. "But you're kind…and funny…and very good to look at."

"Now you're making me uncomfortable," he said and tried to wriggle free, but she had him pinned down.

"And you kiss so good," she continued, loving the fact that she was getting to him.

"The kissing and the sexy part you can mention any time you please," he said with a grin. "But I'm going to have to ask you to leave out the sweet and caring stuff in the future."

"Why?" she asked with a smile.

"Blair…I'm an ass," he began, making her laugh. "I pride myself in being an arrogant prick."

"You're not," she whispered before leaning down and pressing her lips onto his. "You're perfect."

"Why would you say that?" he asked, leaning back slightly.

"Because I think it's true," she said simply. "So many people pretend to be someone else but you're real. Everything you say and do is true to who you are and who you are is an incredibly sweet and loving boyfriend."

"Boyfriend, huh?" he asked. "We never did get a chance to talk about any of that last night."

"Yeah I know," she said quietly. "Is that okay?"

"Well, there are certain things I can do with you as a boyfriend that I wouldn't be able to do as anyone else," he said with another grin.

"Be serious," she said, swatting his arm again.

"Oh, I am," he said with a laugh.

"Chuck!" she exclaimed as he nodded.

"Alright," he gave in. "Blair Waldorf…will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes," she said with a smile. "See…I told you, you were sweet."

"Let's not go there again," he said, kissing her quickly before sitting up.

He wore his clothes as Blair watched him with a small smile.

"Why do you always do that?" she asked softly.

"Do what?" he said in return.

"Every time a serious topic comes up, you tend to act different or you crack a joke," she stated.

"Would you rather have me chase you around like a puppy dog?" he asked with a grin.

"No," she said with a laugh. "I love your arrogance."

"Then what's the problem?" he asked, looking around for his shirt.

Noticing the shirt on her side of the bed, she quickly wore it and buttoned it up. He finally faced her and smiled when he saw his shirt on her.

"You should wear my clothes more often," he commented.

"You like?" she asked sweetly as he nodded. "Tell me why you act like that and I'll give it to you."

"You do know that I can easily remove the shirt without ever breathing a word," he said with a grin.

"I'd like to see you try," she replied.

Taking the dare, he moved towards her and slid his hands down her back seductively. She gasped lightly at the small move before he slid his hands onto her waist, underneath the shirt and kissed her. As she buried her hands in his hair to prolong the kiss, he quietly began unbuttoning the shirt and then suddenly removed it from her body, leaving her in her under garment.

"You're evil," she said with a sneer as he smiled at her.

"Never claimed otherwise," he replied as she rose to her feet and wore his robe which was sitting on the chair next to the night stand.

Moving towards him, she leaned up to his lips but never touched him.

"Give me an answer or I'll show you what real torture is," she began. "Remember, you're not the only one who can play hot and cold…and I feel awfully cold right now."

Realizing what she was doing, he stopped her from walking away and kissed her rather passionately. She was surprised by the intensity in his kiss but quickly recovered and matched it.

"We can talk over breakfast," he said with a soft smile as she nodded.

Kissing lightly, she embraced him. "Where do you want to go?"

"Baby, I have a lot of talents you don't know about," he said, the smugness returning once more.

"Really?" she asked in a flirtatious tone. "What might they be?"

"I know how to get what I want when I want," he began. "I know how to manipulate people…I know how to please women in bed."

She came to slap him playfully, but he caught her arm and kissed her.

"Don't pretend it's not true," he said as she laughed aloud.

"You have got one really big head," she exclaimed as he nodded.

"At least I have the talent to back it up," he replied, taking her hands in his. "And to your ultimate benefit, I know how to cook."

"Really?" she asked, surprised by the revelation.

"Yeah, I took gourmet cooking classes when I was fourteen," he replied and cleared his throat. "Just so we're clear, this little bit of information will remain locked away with the 'sweet and caring' crap, got it?"

"We'll see," she said with a laugh before leading him towards the kitchen.

Once they were there, she released his hand and faced him.

"So cook," she ordered. "I want a mushroom omelet soufflé, orange juice freshly squeezed and French toast."

"Yes your majesty. Have a seat," he said, pulling a stool out for her from the counter in his open kitchen before rolling his sleeves up and washing his hands.

As she sat down and watched him move around the kitchen, she smiled at his messy hair that he had failed to comb. She simply watched him with a happy smile for over ten minutes as he cooked her breakfast. Once he was finally done, he placed the dish in front of her alongside her juice. Taking her fork, Blair separated a bit of the food and placed it in her mouth, chewing it politely. Her eyes suddenly widened and she smiled up at him.

"Chuck, this is amazing," she expressed, taking another bite as he smiled at her.

"Of course it is," he said with a grin.

"You should honestly think about this as a future profession," she said as he laughed.

"The son of multi-millionaire, hotel owner Bart Bass a chef?" he asked with a brow raised. "I can just imagine the arguments."

"Your dad's not that bad," Blair said, taking a sip of the juice. "Is he?"

"Let's just say that the last time my father and I ever saw eye to eye on something or even better…the last time my father and I actually spoke about something was back when we lived in Albany for two years," he replied.

"I remember those years," she stated. "The four of us…Nate, Serena, you and I were friends from infancy and then you moved away for two years. That's when your mom passed away, right?"

"Yeah," he replied sadly, sitting down in front of her.

"So why don't you and your dad see eye to eye or speak anymore?" she asked, wanting to get to know him as much as she could.

"It all goes back to my mom," he said absently.

"What do you mean?" she asked, putting her fork down to fully concentrate on him.

He looked up into her eyes for a long moment and she realized the sudden change in his mood from happy and smug to sad.

"Hey," she said, touching the side of his face. "Whatever it is…you can tell me."

He took her hand and kissed it lightly as she smiled.

"My mom never died in a car accident," he said as she frowned.

"But I thought…," she began.

"I know. That's what my father wanted everyone to believe," he cut in.

As they sat in the kitchen, he began recounting the true story to what had happened years ago in Albany. Blair couldn't believe his words as tears began forming in her eyes.

"When we came home, I was so happy," he said sadly, unable to hold in his sadness. "I wanted to show my mom that I was better and that I could walk again. I just couldn't wait to get home because I thought my news would make my mom happy again."

Shaking his head, Chuck ran a hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes.

"We called her name a bunch of times when we arrived home, but no one answered so the two of us walked upstairs to their bedroom," he continued. "At first, I thought that she was sleeping so I jumped on the bed and began calling her name like an idiot."

"You weren't an idiot," Blair cut in. "You were an eight year old little boy."

Shrugging slightly, he sighed. "That's when my father noticed the empty pill bottle in her hand. He immediately ran to her and checked her pulse, but she wasn't breathing. I remember my dad just fell to his knees on the floor and started shaking. I didn't understand what was going on but my father was scaring me. I asked him what was wrong with mom and why she wasn't waking up, but he couldn't answer me."

"Oh God…," Blair whispered as a single tear streamed down her cheek.

"Eventually my father got up and called 911. He could hardly talk into the phone," Chuck said quietly. "When the medics came, they began moving my mom onto the stretcher and I started shouting at them to leave my mom alone because I thought they were hurting her. I thought they were hurting her the same way I had seen that guy hurting her."

Blair reached out to touch him, but thought better of it and gave him his space.

"My father pulled me away from them as they moved her into the ambulance. We all got in the back as we rode to the hospital. They didn't even have the sirens on because she was already dead," he explained. "God, I remember it all as if it were yesterday."

He took a sip from his glass of water and exhaled.

"We held the funeral a week later. He had paid the right people and they kept the true cause of death a secret. They said that it was a car accident or something," Chuck expressed. "The funeral was pretty tough. Everyone kept telling me how sorry they were for my loss, but I was an eight year old kid. I didn't fully understand that my mom was dead and that she was never coming back. But after the funeral was over, we held the reception at our home…and that's when I first saw you, Nate and Serena again. You had all come for the burial with your families."

"I remember that day," Blair agreed.

"You were wearing a black dress and you had your hair pulled back in a pony tail," he remembered. "You were wearing a necklace with a star pendant that your dad had given you for your birthday three years ago."

"I can't believe you remember all of that," Blair said, touched by his words.

He smiled at her sadly before taking a deep breath.

"I ran out of our home and began running towards the cemetery and Nate followed me," he said sadly, thinking of his best friend. "When I got to the cemetery, I found my mom's grave and I remember sitting there on top of it crying. He sat down next to me and placed his arm around my shoulders. That was more comfort I had received from my father that whole week."

Blair realized how he grew sadder at the thought of Nate.

"When we moved back here, I tried to talk to my father about it but he refused every time," he continued. "I once spoke to Nate a few years ago about everything and he overheard. We got into a really bad argument where he forbid me from ever mentioning her name again. Things between us generally stayed that way and only got worse over the years. I guess that's what zero communication does in a relationship. It leads to anger and resentment…on top of the fact that I know he blames me for her death."

"No he doesn't," Blair tried to ease his pain. "Chuck, he was just speaking out of hurt if he ever said that to you."

"It was my tenth birthday and my father had spent the entire night locked away in his study," Chuck explained. "Serena's mom had approached him and asked him why he was hiding and had reminded him that it was my birthday. You know what he said to her?"

She shook her head and he smiled sadly.

"He said 'I feel disgusted every time I look at Charlie. He reminds me of Evelyn and of the way she died over her guilt for him'," Chuck replied. "You don't forget words like that."

"I'm so sorry," Blair said, finally taking his hand in hers in comfort. "I can't believe he said that."

"That's because you don't know what a son of a bitch he is," Chuck replied. "After so many arguments, I kind of gave up on trying to have a relationship with my father. We have our pleasantries when we see one another or when I show some interest in his business. But other than that, we resemble mere acquaintances more than anything else."

"Chuck…I don't know where to start," she said, holding the sides of his face. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. Why didn't you ever say anything to the rest of us? We would have listened."

"I got used to dealing with things by myself," he replied. "I depended on myself and no one else…sometimes Nate. But I swore that I would look after myself and have my own back."

"I never realized the depth of your friendship with Nate," Blair added.

"He's like a brother to me," Chuck said sadly before getting to his feet and walking to the other side of the counter. "Blair, I don't like to talk about my feelings or thoughts. I mean, when I wanted to, I was told to stop so now after so many years, I've kind of closed myself off."

"I understand," she said firmly.

"I just want you to know that…you can't expect that much from me, alright?" he said nervously. "I mean, sex is easy for me because it doesn't involve anything emotional. It's purely physical."

She smiled at his attempt to explain himself to her.

"I'm trying, okay?" he finally said, looking down at the ground with his hands at his waist.

Smiling softly, Blair rose to her feet and walked over to him.

"I understand," she repeated before pulling him into an embrace.

He stood frozen at first, but then wrapped his arms around her body and buried his face into the side of her neck as she rubbed his back in comfort.