Chapter XI
Blair had been mortified the other night after hearing the most devastating words out of Chuck's mouth. He had admitted to sleeping with the Dean's wife in Monaco, much to everyone's surprise and dismay. How could she have been so blind to think she was special to him? That he actually cared about her rather than seeing her as another of his conquests? She had slapped him hard on his cheek in front of everyone before calling him a few names and storming out. While crying in the backseat of a cab, she had received a message from gossip girl which read: 'Queen B shattered at finding out her new beau is just as unfaithful as the last.' The words had made her cry even harder.
She had spent the rest of the night receiving comfort from Serena who tried her best to calm her down. But the tears wouldn't stop falling and once they finally ended, Blair discovered a new emotion: fury. She was beyond angry for letting Chuck Bass use her and treat her with such disrespect. Serena had tried to calm her down by mentioning that maybe she should hear him out. She tried reminding her of the Chuck who had rescued her that night at the club; the same boy who had been incredibly kind to her the past couple weeks. But Blair shook the memories away and was hell-bent on exacting her revenge. She would destroy Chuck Bass if it were the last thing she did.
Why did she feel this way when all she did after Nate betrayed her was give up and move on? Why did what Chuck did hurt her more than Nate's indiscretion? Pushing such thoughts out of her mind, Blair stepped out of her car and stared at the steps leading up to their school's main doors. She would have to face the world at some point but God, did she hate Monday mornings. With a deep breath, she walked up the stairs and came face to face with Serena. Although all eyes were on her, she held her head up high and smiled at her best friend.
"Hey Blair," Serena greeted her, looking somewhat somber.
"Hi," she replied. "Have I mentioned how much I hate gossip girl?"
"Quite a few times," Serena said with a small laugh.
"Is he here?" she asked quietly.
"No," Serena replied after a moment. "I haven't seen him yet."
Laughing quietly to herself, Blair crossed her arms at her chest.
"He's going down, S," she expressed with a fixed gaze.
"Blair…," Serena began to protest. "Maybe you should just let it go."
"Let it go?" Blair asked incredulously. "He cheated on me and embarrassed me in front of everyone. Or did you forget?"
"I was there, Blair," Serena stated with a sigh. "I didn't forget."
"Then why are you defending him?" she exclaimed, her voice sounding sharper than she had intended.
"I'm not Blair, honest," Serena replied. "It's just that…maybe you should just hear him out."
"Hear him out about what? Why he's such a cheating jerk?" Blair snapped at her friend.
"But were you guys even together?" Serena began. "I mean, you said you guys flirted a bit and he took care of you and was incredible these past couple weeks. But did you even kiss? I mean, if you weren't even together, then what right do you have to claim he cheated on you?"
Blair couldn't believe she was hearing this and was confused more than anything else. She and Serena had spent the other night swearing Chuck off for the jerk that he was and coming up with ways to destroy him. What had changed? Why was Serena on his side all of a sudden?
"Whose side are you on, S?" Blair demanded, frowning slightly. "Tell me now so I know who my friends are."
"Yours, B," Serena said, touching her friend's arm in assurance. "I'm on your side. I just think that maybe you should hear his side of the story."
Taking her words to heart, Blair sighed and looked around just as Dan walked up to them, causing Serena to smile happily.
"Hi Blair," he said tentatively.
She wanted to give him a snarky reply, but knowing how her friend felt for him, she managed to smile back.
"Hey Humphrey," she stated. "What brings you to our school?"
"He just transferred in," Serena answered for him, her happiness showing on her face as Dan turned to her with a genuine smile.
Watching the two of them banter playfully made Blair feel sick to her stomach. Switching her gaze away from them, she turned just in time to see a car pull to the side of the street. Stepping out of the car, Chuck sighed and glanced around himself. Blair stood frozen in her spot, unable to move, and the sudden change caught Serena's attention. Following her gaze, the others all noticed Chuck close his car door and begin climbing the stairs towards the main doors. Midway up the stairs, his eyes caught hold of Blair and he stopped cold. While the rest of the students around them whispered in each other's ears and watched them, their gaze was steady as both were unable to look away. Before he was able to approach her, though, three male students walked towards him, whistling and patting his back.
"The Dean's wife? Score!" one of the guys exclaimed.
"She's so hot!" another expressed as they laughed and walked off.
Chuck watched them leave for a moment before turning his gaze back to Blair. He saw her eyes darken and her body stiffen as her gaze turned into a glare. Removing her eyes from him, she pushed past Serena and walked inside the school as his eyes followed her.
"Why don't you go inside," Serena stated, facing Dan with a smile. "I'll be right behind you."
Nodding, he turned and followed Blair as Chuck approached her at the top of the stairs.
"Still pissed, huh?" he asked with a small laugh.
"Like I've never seen her before," Serena replied. "So how've you been?"
"Alive," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Look, she'll be looking at you to be there for her. Just do whatever she wants, okay? If she wants you to hate me, then hate me."
"Even though I know that all of this is a lie to protect your father?" she asked and he nodded.
"Not a word, Serena," he said firmly. "Don't forget."
"But you have to know that Blair will keep it a secret if you tell her," Serena exclaimed. "She'd never say anything…not even to hurt you."
"Let it go," he said.
"Yesterday you said that you loved her," Serena stated. "Just talk to her. She might surprise you."
Staring at her in silence for a moment, he finally walked past her towards the main doors. She watched him leave for a moment before following him inside. He made a stop at the bathroom while Serena walked into their first period English class. Staring at his reflection in the mirror, Chuck dabbed some water on his face and dried it off. Inhaling deeply, he opened the door and walked into the same room as Serena. The students inside the room all silenced when they saw him enter. Scanning the classroom, his eyes landed on his seat at the end of the class: directly behind Blair and next to Nate while Serena sat in front of Nate. Cursing his seating arrangement for the first time that year, he lowered his face and quietly sat down as Blair avoided his eyes.
"Well, now that our resident Casanova has finally decided to join us, please put your books away for the quiz after the announcements," Mr. Locke, their thirty-eight year old teacher, exclaimed.
Half of the class laughed at the remark while their corner of the room remained quiet. Nate's eyes secretly moved onto his best friend, glancing over his worn-out features silently. Glimpsing at Serena for a quick moment, Chuck sighed and cleared his throat. Gazing at the back of Blair's head and oblivious to Nate's eyes, Chuck slightly leaned forward towards her.
"Blair," he called her name.
She didn't respond but he noticed her body flinch at the sound of her name.
"Please," he began in a whisper. "Can we please just talk?"
His words surprised everyone around him. Chuck Bass had never begged for anything, but here he was asking a girl no less to spare him a moment of her time.
"Blair…," he tried again, not caring that the students around them were watching him closely.
Tired of hearing her name, Blair finally spun around so she was facing him.
"Explain what? Why you're such a pig? Or a man-whore?" she snapped at him, getting the attention of the students around her. "Explain why you're a compulsive liar? Or maybe about how you don't care for anything or anyone but yourself?"
Watching the exchange closely, everyone noticed Chuck's defeated attitude which was different from the smug Chuck Bass they all knew.
"And I actually defended you," Blair exclaimed and laughed to herself, rising the pitch of her in a way that got even the teacher's attention. "When people told me that you weren't good enough or how you were a heartless jerk who would break my heart, I defended you. My grave mistake."
"Ms. Waldorf," the teacher called out, getting to his feet but they both ignored him.
Sitting back in his seat, Chuck sighed softly.
"So you don't want to hear my side of the story?" he asked her.
"Do I want to hear the gory facts of your illicit affair with an older woman?" Blair shot back at him bitterly. "You can keep the perverted details to yourself."
"So that's it? You've already passed your judgment?" he asked, his own voice sounding angry.
"You disgust me," Blair exclaimed firmly. "That's all I need to know."
Everyone immediately looked at Chuck's reaction to her words and the expression on his face surprised them all. Her words had stung him deep down and the hurt he felt easily showed in his eyes. Nate quickly looked away, his own expression seeming pained.
"Then I guess that's, that," he said with a sad smile before rising to his feet.
"Mr. Bass, where do you think you're going?" Mr. Locke asked as Chuck moved towards the classroom door.
"Suddenly, I don't feel like being here anymore," he replied.
"If you walk out of that door, you will find yourself in detention young man," Mr. Locke expressed, forcing him face the classroom.
"What's the point?" he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "He's going to expel me anyway."
His words silenced everyone. Blair's eyes immediately shot up to meet his, but she quickly looked away. Before the teacher could comment, the P.A switched on.
"Charlie Bass, please report to the Dean's office," the secretary announced.
Smiling wryly, Chuck looked up at his teacher. "Speak of the devil."
With a final sigh, his hand gripped the doorknob and he swung the door open as everyone watched him go. Nate sank down in his seat and stared at the ground while Serena turned to Blair. She was about to say something, but noticed Blair wiping a tear from her eye and thought better of it. Walking down the empty hallway, Chuck ran his fingers along the cold steel of the lockers before finding his way to the secretary's desk. She offered him a consoling smile as he walked past her and knocked on the large oak door.
Stepping out of the school doors with a fazed expression on his face, Chuck slowly made his way down the steps towards the street where his father was waiting for him.
"What happened?" Bart asked as Chuck slowly glanced up at him.
"What?" he asked, still fazed out.
"Damn it, Charlie, what happened with the Dean?" Bart snapped, his voice sounding harsher than he had wanted.
But his rough tone pulled Chuck out of his daze and his eyes shot up to meet his father's gaze.
"What the hell do you think happened?" he snapped back. "The son of a bitch expelled me."
"I cannot believe this," Bart said, not sure who he was angry at.
"Yeah, well, neither can I," Chuck stated. "I can't believe any of this."
"Listen kid, I never asked you to do what you did," Bart began, defending himself. "I'm sure everything would have cleared up sooner or later. You didn't have to trash your entire future over it."
"No, if I hadn't said what I did, you'd be in prison right now," Chuck snapped angrily. "God, I just got kicked out of school for you…because of you and you can't even thank me? You can't even realize that I did this for you? So you'd be okay?"
Their small group had a spare during their second period and wanting to get away from the knowing glances off all the other students Blair, Serna, Nate and Dan walked outside the main doors. It was then that they saw the exchange between Chuck and his father at the bottom of the stairs.
"Everything I do is because of you and you can't even say thank you?" Chuck shouted, not caring if anyone was watching them but oblivious to the fact that his own group were amongst the crowd.
"You see, Chuck, that's where you and I are different," Bart stated firmly. "You act first before thinking and you go and do something so crass that gets you into even more trouble."
"Do you honestly hear yourself?" Chuck said with a bitter laugh. "I'm crass? Who are you to say anything to me? If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even be in this mess!"
"Watch your mouth," Bart began, but Chuck was on a roll and wasn't about to let his father stop him.
"You're an ungrateful son of a bitch, do you know that?" he spat out, his words causing Bart to push Chuck hard into the car behind him.
Both father and son were shocked by the sudden act, as was everyone else who saw the scene.
"I…," Bart began and tried to approach his son, but Chuck pulled away from him. "I'm sorry."
"Don't touch me," he said angrily. "Did you know that I wake up every day and pray to God it was you who had died instead of mom?"
Bart stared at his son for a long moment, taking his words into consideration.
"Then why did you do what you did?" he finally asked, his voice sounding sad and quiet.
Chuck stared at his father for a long moment, trying to figure out the real reason as to why he had taken the blame for him. Finally, after a few torturously silent minutes, he spoke up.
"Because you're all I have left of her," he said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
The words made Bart freeze in his spot and stare at his son speechlessly. With that, he pulled his sad eyes away from his father and began walking down the sidewalk as everyone watched him go. Nate ran a hand through his hair and walked back into the school while Blair immediately turned to Serena with a confused expression on her face. Wanting to tell her best friend everything, but also not wanting to betray Chuck trust, Serena simply shrugged her shoulders. When Blair faced the sidewalk again, though, he had disappeared down the street. Although she wanted to let what she had just witnessed roll off her back and forget that Chuck Bass had ever existed, Blair knew that she couldn't just let it go. As much as she wanted to write him out of her life for eternity, her heart spoke louder than her mind. Giving Serena a knowing glance, she jogged down the stairs and walked off in the same direction that he had moments ago disappeared in.