" mother!" Blair yelled worriedly as she entered her penthouse, the silver box slowly closing behind her. Men in smart blue suits were running around her, taking and grabbing at everything she had ever owned.

She had just returned from her day before last day of school until summer started. It was hard to walk into school on the day she normally ruled but now had nothing. Her so-called friends have ignored her for the last few months, Serena always runs away with an ashamed look, Nate just stared and Chuck looks disgusted. Instead of fighting for her old place, Blair decided that the bottom may be more comfortable than the top. It was only one more year until she graduated then she was done with that school and the annoying bitches in it.

"not the Tiffany vase!" Eleanor shamefully scrambled to the beautiful vase but one of the men in blue suits got it before she could get her shaking hands on it.

"mother! What's going on?" Blair tried again but the women infront of her was a mess. This wasn't Eleanor Waldorf, this was a crumbling wreck that was breaking down slowly.

"Oh Blair darling," Eleanor sobbed. Grabbing her daughter's pale hands gently, raising them to her heaving chest. "they are taking everything. The penthouse, all our furniture, all of our clothes and jewelleries. Everything."

" I get it mother but why?" Blair asked, her eyes wandering to the men messing up her home. The place she had always lived, the place all her memories involved. Sleepovers with Serena, her first kiss with Nate, Chuck kissing her on her bed. The way they always had movie night at her house because she was the one with the good movie options that didn't involve sex or violence. Blair had a weak stomach, she couldn't handle anything over a PG13.

" It's so awful, my engagement ring is gone. That ruby ring that Nate gave you is gone, the Erickson Beamon you wore the other night to dinner. It was so beautiful. The piano your grandfather bought your grandmother when she gave birth to me. The only thing they left is a few outfits to last us until we meet with our lawyer. They'll tell us more then." Eleanor rambled, her voice hoarse with the amount of sobs that escaped her aging mouth.

" they wouldn't just take everything for no reason, what happened?" She asked again, the final time. If Blair didn't get her answers from her mother now then she would just go straight to the family lawyer and get her answers.

" Howard Archibald was controlling all my money in Waldorf designs, he drained everything and didn't pay any of our taxes. When he ran, they decided to take anything that had a big value which is pretty much everything in our home." Her mother finally explained and to say it broke Blair's healing heart was a big understatement.

" Nate's going to be heartbroken." Blair mumbled under her breath. He may have hurt her, they may not be together anymore but she loved him. Maybe not in love but she loved him and Nate probably hurt.

" he's coming over in twenty minutes," Eleanor let out melancholically, her voice not allowing emotion through.

" what do you mean?"

" there were other people involved with his diabolical actions. Anne and Nate Archibald were obviously one of those families." Eleanor looked away, unable to look at her daughter with the shame she was feeling.

" who else mother?" Blair inquired quickly, her heart knowing who they were but her head not allowing it to be true.

" Blair,"

" who else mother?!" Blair screamed, tears beginning to pour down her red with anger cheeks.

" the Van Der Woodsens. Lily invested in Waldorf Designs, Howard took everything from them. The Basses, Howard controlled Bass industries finances. There are others but I only care about these because you care about them. They are all coming in twenty minutes." Eleanor stared out the window, her brown eyes shining in the fading sunlight.

" I haven't talked to them since the incident. Nate and Chuck hate me and I argued with Serena. They all hate me and I hate them." Blair fumed, getting up from the chaise so the men could take that from her home.

" I have a feeling ,Blair, that we will be spending a lot of time with these families. You should get used to it." Then all went quiet, the bustling of the men was the only thing that could be heard. When they left, it was only Blair and Eleanor. No furniture, no lights, no beauty. Just a mother and daughter in the dark.

The living room was in complete silence. A sobbing Lily, sniffling Serena and wide-eyed Eric were standing in the door frame to the living room, tears down both of the females faces. Eric looked lost, the look he had for the majority of his early teenage years. Nate and Anne were sitting on the window sill, Nate looked ashamed more than sad. His father, the man he idolised, stole everything from him and his friends. Former friends.

The final family, Bart and Chuck, were seperated. Bart was pacing the floor, his index finger and thumb squeezing his nose. Chuck was sitting on the floor, leaning his head against the white wall with gold trimmings. Blair sat in the middle of the wooden floor, her small arms around her mother's sobbing form.

" what are we going to do? We have nothing left, Blair. There is nothing, darling. " Eleanor sobbed, her brown eyes glazed over with water. Blair had her mother's eyes, everyone always said that but when they were crying was when you could see the resemblance fully.

" it's okay mother, we'll work it out. We always do. I will figure this out for us, I'll make it work." Blair whispered into her mother's ears. The whole room heard her. Serena couldn't help but feel guilt when she heard her former best friends voice. She had abandoned her best friend when she needed her most and never went back to her. Nate didn't hate her voice anymore, he felt happiness hearing it. It had been so long since he had heard it and it sent those shivers through his body that he always seemed to have when he heard her voice. It wasn't love, it just felt like home. Chuck hated that voice, he hated her and everything she ever did to him. Hearing her voice sent hate through his entire body, a heat burning his veins.

"Can someone just tell me what we are going to do? Avoiding the elephant in the room is doing nothing." Anne piped up, her golden blonde hair perfectly pinned in a tight bun that stretched her thin eyebrows back.

" Anne's right, my family need to go someplace tonight. My children have their final day of school tomorrow." Lily rubbed her eyebrows, one hand still on her son's shoulder.

" Constane/St Judes isn't an option anymore, we haven't got the tuition." Bart dropped his phone into his grey suit pocket, his face still stern and scary.

" that's ridiculous, we paid their tuition at the start of the school year. They should have enough money there to school them until next year." Eleanor scowled at the man that was starting to get on her nerves. She had a short temper, as did her daughter, and she didn't like to be kept waiting.

" they've taken everything, we have nothing. Anything you think we might have, we don't." Bart slouched next to his son on the floor, his hand rubbing at his balding head. The father and son sometimes looked so alike. Even with Bart's blue eyes and grey hair and Chuck's brown hair and eyes, they had the same actions. Their whole body language was the same.

" what do we do then?" Serena questioned, her blue eyes beginning to well up again. The eyes that used to hold so much light, now held nothing but darkness.

" all of our houses are gone, where are we staying?" Nate added. Even his eyes were beginning to well, it was all too much for the teenagers. The only one who wasn't crying was Chuck but he didn't cry. He never cried.

" the only property they allowed us to keep is mine. It's the only place that has enough bedrooms to withhold all of us." Bart raised his head from his hands, glancing around to the worrying faces in the room.

" where is it?" Eric let go of his mother's grasp, furthering his presence into the room. Standing just before his sister.

" it's a farm in Houston, Texas. It's where Evelyn grew up, we bought it after her mother died." Bart explained to the group, all their eyes growing in shock at the mention of Chuck's mother. " we'll go there, get jobs and work out this mess."

" jobs!" All the elder women said in union. Eleanor had a job but then she also had many assistants to help her through her daily life. Anne and Lily had never worked a day in their life, jobs were a foreign concept to them. Anne is a Vanderbilt, she was well taken care of. Lily was a socialite, her job was to smile and wave.

" yes jobs. The kids as well. I'm sure there are little cafes or books shops that would need their help. Their schooling can be finished at home after the summer break is over." Bart said the final details, all the minds in the room reeling with the new information.

" I can't do this Nate, I'm going to go to your grandfather. See if he can help us." Anne stood up abruptly. " you stay with your friends and when he helps us, I'll come get you."

" mom, grandfather hates dad. He won't help in a problem that that man created." Nate pleaded with her, his voice quiet and pain filled.

" I have to try," and with that Anne was gone, leaving the room in silence again.

" when do we go father?" Chuck finally spoke, his father turned his head slowly to him.

" tonight, pack your stuff. We leave in an hour. We have a whole day of travelling, the kids and I can take turns driving. Be ready."