A/N: This is shorter but since it's a fairly quick update, I think that makes up with it. Hope you enjoy. Btw, I started a new poll on my profile about whether you are Team Jack or Team Chuck; be sure to vote.

My Reviewers: BrittyKay247, xoxocullengurl09, blair4eva, CarolinaGirl21, odyjha, lily94, maximumfan, bluestriker666, .x0x0, ForgetMeNevermore, MiaTonili, RavenKeeble, and chelle2911 you guys are all totally amazing. I love you so much!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gossip Girl or the Characters, only the plot.

Rated: T once more :)

"There you are; I've been looking for you all day." Chuck said, sitting down next to Blair in the courtyard.

Blair looked up briefly. "Hey." Before looking back down at the papers in front of her. She was mad at Chuck, so mad that she wasn't sure she could even look at him right now without blowing up. She just wanted to get through the board meeting tomorrow and then they needed to have a serious conversation. She knew that she wasn't completely innocent in this mess. She had held the shares to Bass Industries for months without so much as a word but she would have given them up in an instant if she thought he would be better off. She would never have dreamed of giving him up instead.

Chuck wasn't sure what was up with Blair; she seemed distracted and more than a little pissed off. "What are you reading?" He asked sliding a hand in hers under the table and placing a kiss on her neck as he looked over her shoulder.

She immediately slid her hand out from his, placing her elbow on the table and placing her chin on it. "Stuff about the board meeting tomorrow."

"Why?" Chuck asked abruptly. What was Blair doing reading about the meeting when he no longer held shares in the company? Immediately he felt guilty, these thoughts only led him to once more wonder what he was going to do about Jack's deal.

Blair barely glanced at Chuck. She could tell him right then that she was now the CEO of Bass or she could let him find out on his own like he deserved. She was so angry that she didn't mind the second option. "I'm just worried about the merger tomorrow."

Chuck nodded. Of course, Blair would be worried about that. She wanted to take care of him. "There's nothing we can do about it." He said rubbing her shoulder.

The massage she allowed to continue; she was so stressed and it felt so good. Suddenly she turned her head to face him. "What would you have done if you were still CEO? Would you have voted for the merger?"

"Of course." Chuck said leaning back. "It would bring so much property and clientele to Bass that we would double in revenue."

Blair was afraid that was Chuck's rationale for the situation and secretly she was glad that he didn't currently hold shares. At least this way she wouldn't be embarrassing him with a head to head in front of the board because she knew the in and outs of this deal and Chuck didn't; she would have had to destroy him to protect his company like she had promised that she would. She simply shrugged, it wasn't important anymore. "I've got to go." She said standing and walking away; leaving Chuck sitting there alone and confused.

Blair left school that day, anger still affecting her emotions. She didn't want to see Chuck for fear of what she would say to him, so she went home, did her homework, watched Roman Holiday, and went to bed, tomorrow was a big day.

Jack rubbed his temples. He didn't know what he was doing anymore. He was more than obsessed with Blair Waldorf. He was completely and hopelessly in love with her and it scared him so badly that he didn't know how to handle it. All he wanted anymore was to be near her; to have the chance to make her happy; but he was being stupid.

Today he had given her half of the company that he had worked so hard to get. All of his planning over the past few years had been thrown away over a girl; a stupid girl that was all he could think about. How had this happened? Jack Bass did not fall in love; yet here he was sitting in his town car outside of Blair's building. He could see the light on in her window, her shadow as she climbed into her bed. He wanted nothing more than to be there with her.

Everything he had wanted was falling through his fingers because all he wanted now was Blair. He had worked for so long to move up within Bass Industries. Everything he had done to his brother trying to secure the company was about to be for nothing because he didn't want the company anymore. Bart had been right all along when he had said that if Jack were to ever get what he wanted, he wouldn't want it anymore.

November, 2008

"Shouldn't you be on a plane back to Australia?" Bart asked, looking up from his desk with his ever present scowl before looking back to the briefs in front of him.

Jack smirked. "Couldn't I just be here to say hello to my older brother before I leave to go back across the world?"

Bart didn't even look up. "No."

Jack just grinned, his brother knew him too well. After all he and Evelyn practically raised him. But one way or the other, he had worked too hard for too long to let Bart decide to give the company to Chuck instead. Bart had assured him on several occasions that there was no possibility of that happening. Then three days ago, when Jack had come up for the meeting of the heads of the divisions of Bass, Bart had informed him of everything Chuck had done over the past year and his intentions of making Chuck his heir. Jack had spent his time since doing his best to dissuade him from this. "Fine, I'll cut all the bullshit if you will."

Bart grunted a little and looked up. "You have my attention."

Jack immediately said what he wanted to say. "Are you going to give the company to Chuck?"

Bart didn't even break eye-contact. "Yes."

Automatically, Jack's pulse began to race. Of course, He had been second best his whole life. He never came in first for anyone; why would this be any different. "Why?"

"He's my son." Bart said resolutely. "And he's been working hard lately."

Jack wanted to punch his brother more than he had ever wanted to punch someone in his life. He imagined slamming his fist into Bart's face until he got what he wanted but knew that security would be on him so quickly that he would probably only get one good punch not to mention the fact that more than likely Bart would fire him. Instead, Jack tried to hold back his unconcealed rage. "Why did you bother telling me? So you're going to change your will, why didn't you just do it instead of dealing with a confrontation with me."

For a moment Bart softened. This was his brother. He had said earlier that Chuck was his son but Jack was almost a son as well. He had never wanted either but he wasn't blind. He knew that Jack had worked his whole life to please him and somewhere inside he wanted to protect him. "Jack, you don't really want the company."

He couldn't believe the audacity of his brother; saying that he didn't want the company. Of course he wanted the company; it was what he had been working towards his whole life. Chuck was nothing more than a dysfunctional teenager. He didn't deserve the company. By the time Bart was his age he was interning at Bass every day. "How would you begin to know what I want Bart? You shipped me away to boarding school as soon as I was old enough and once I was out of college you gave me my own division of Bass all the way across the globe, all so you didn't have to be near to me. You don't know my wants."

Jack would never know how much Bart cared about him. He just couldn't handle being around him. He wanted what was best for both him and Chuck. He had always believed that Jack was the one who would one day take over the company; he was like his brother, he had a business mind. In that he also believed that Chuck's future pursuits lay elsewhere. But lately things had shifted. Jack seemed lonely and unhappy every time Bart saw him which led him to believe that maybe it was Jack's future that lay elsewhere; especially since Chuck had begun to show true promise and devotion to the business world. "I told you that I was changing my will because I want you to pursue your other options Jack. You deserve a chance at happiness. After so many years, I've finally found that and I don't want you or Chuck to make the mistakes I made."

Jack was dumbstruck. He had never heard Bart speak like that before and it was disquieting. He opened his mouth to speak but found that he couldn't and shut it.

Noticing his brother's speechlessness Bart kept talking. "You will never be happy running the company. I can see it in your eyes. You're tired and you're too young to be so worn out. At this rate you'll be burnt out by the time you're forty. Find something that you enjoy Jack, not just something that you're good at. Chuck enjoys the business; I think it surprised him just how much he loved it, but once he's been properly trained he could run this company and be happy doing it."

Jack was starting to believe that Bart was really doing this for his own good until he heard Chuck's name and then he couldn't take it anymore. Bart didn't care about him; he never had and he never would. All he cared about was the company and leaving it to Chuck apparently. His eyes flashed as he spoke. "If you do this Bart, you aren't my brother anymore. I will continue to run Bass Australia as your associate but we are no longer family."

"Jack . . ." Bart began, thinking that Jack was acting like a kid who had just had his favorite toy taken away.

Jack interrupted immediately shouting. "NO! I don't want to hear it Bart. If you haven't changed your mind, then don't say anything." When Bart just sat back in his chair, Jack hissed through his teeth. "You're going to regret that decision Bart; I swear you will. You won't get away with this." He said before storming out.

Bart wanted to stop him but he knew that there was nothing that he could do or say to make the situation better. Jack had to figure out this one for himself. But he felt strangely ominous about the entire situation as though there was a threatening storm along the way and for the first time in as long as he could remember he felt fear. The intensity of the fear was so that he picked up his phone, "Mr. Donavon, I need to see you as soon as possible. It's about my will."

Jack slammed his hand on the steering wheel. Damn it why hadn't he listened then. He wouldn't be where he was now, in this situation. He wouldn't have been in love. Everything could have been different. But did he really want everything to be different? Would he rather have not known Blair at all? In truth it wasn't even a question; he couldn't imagine his life without Blair in it anymore. Maybe he didn't have to do what he did. Maybe things could have been different and he would have met Blair anyway. Maybe they would have been happy. Maybe Bart would be alive. Maybe he wouldn't have been the reason his brother was dead.

A/N: Here's the next chapter eek! I hope you all enjoyed. I know it's a shorter chapter. Don't forget to vote in the poll. So far, I've been really surprised with the outcome.

Reviews are always appreciated.

xoxo
kate