Chapter 2 - I'm Chuck Bass
"Why didn't you wake me?" Blair couldn't hide her surprise to find Chuck awake in her bed. She had a feeling he might try and flee as soon as he woke.
"I should leave." Chuck started to move to get out of bed but Blair stopped him by reaching for his hand.
"Why?" She asked innocently. She didn't want him to leave. Sure, she had been angry when she first found him in her bedroom but that anger had disappeared when she realised he needed her. Blair wanted to be there for him. She could no longer hide from the fact that she loved him and now she knew he felt the same way about her she couldn't just let him leave.
"I'm not sure your mother would be happy to find me in your bed, Blair." Chuck knew it wasn't the real reason he didn't feel like he could stay. The likelihood of Eleanor ever walking into Blair's room in the morning was highly unlikely.
"You think my mother comes into my room? You would have a bigger problem with Dorota finding you." Blair chuckled at the thought of Dorota walking in to find a naked Mr Chuck in her bed. Now that she had stopped him from leaving her bed Blair snuggled in closer to him.
"Blair, I don't know if I can do this." The feel of her head buried into his chest reminded him of the internal battle he was having with himself. The overwhelming emotions hadn't stopped just because she had managed to convince him to stay. He still wasn't sure if he could stay, if he could be the person his father and Blair wanted him to be. Was there even a way of those two people to co-exist? It didn't leave much room for him to figure out who he wanted to be. He had acted out for years as he had learnt getting himself in trouble was the only way to get his father's attention. When it came to Blair, he knew His confession that he loved her would only mean a relationship to her. Was he ready for that? He had tried once before and it had led to him leaving her alone in Tuscany. His fear of her seeing the darkest parts of his soul if they spent a summer together had led him to hurt her. Not only did he hurt her but he hurt himself. Watching return with someone else in the Hamptons he knew that he had made a mistake. He just wasn't ready to let her hear what she wanted to.
"All I'm asking you to do right now is stay." She could see in his eyes that he was already overthinking the situation. Sure, there was nothing more she wanted then to parade around in a relationship with Chuck Bass but she knew that wasn't what he needed right now. Right now, he just needed a reason to stay. A reason that didn't scare him. A reason that didn't make him face emotions he spent years being taught by his father not to feel.
"And what if I can't stay?" Chuck didn't know how she had the ability to make him confess what he was thinking to her. Why was he confessing? This wasn't him, or was it? Was this who he could be? Someone that was capable of loving someone else instead of using them. He felt a headache coming on.
"Do you not at least what to know what your father left you?" Blair tried a different angle. She knew he couldn't just leave when there was the issue of Bart's legacy and who it was left to.
"An off shore account?" Chuck already knew the only thing his father would ever leave him was money. It was the only thing that was important to him. He would have never even thought about Chuck being left alone. He had spent his whole life alone or in the hands of an Italian au pair.
"I'm serious Chuck." Blair couldn't hide her frustration at him.
"And so am I. It will just be another opportunity for him to tell me how much of a disappointment I was and that I wasn't enough to carry on his legacy." Chuck was aware that his father would not waste his last dying breathe to tell Chuck anything more than what he already knew. That Chuck wasn't the son that Bart wanted.
"You don't know that." Blair could see the pain behind Chuck's eyes. She understood his father did nothing to make him believe he was anything more than a disappointment but he had no idea how Bart would really feel when it came to his will. His will would show Chuck more than he was ever able to say to him.
"And neither do you." Chuck understood she was only trying to hope that his father had seen more in him than he had ever voiced but the truth was she didn't know Bart.
"When is the reading of the will?" Blair wasn't ready to give up just yet. If she could just get him to focus on staying in New York even if it was just until he learnt what his inheritance would be it would give her some time to formulate another plan.
"In a couple of days." Chuck felt uneasy talking about this. Truth was he wasn't really sure when it would be he was only guessing so she wouldn't keep asking questions about it.
"Then you'll have to be in attendance to see which one of us is right." Blair tried not to smirk. She knew he would never be able to back down from a bet and this provided her with the perfect opportunity.
"I know what you're doing Blair." He almost smiled. He admired her ability to turn anything into a game.
"What?" She asked innocently.
"Don't suddenly try and act innocent." He shook his head at her playfully.
There was a slight tap on Blair's bedroom door. "Miss Blair?" Dorota called from the other side.
"I'll meet you downstairs in just a minute Dorota." Blair let out a frustrated sigh. Her attempt to keep Chuck in her bed was up. She waited to see if Dorota was going to make this even more difficult or if she was going to leave her in peace to get Chuck out of the apartment without her mother seeing him. Once she knew that Dorota was gone she turned to look at Chuck.
"I should get going." Chuck started to get out of bed and put the suit back on that he was wearing yesterday.
"Where are you going?" She couldn't hide the concern in her voice. Blair didn't feel like she had done enough to convince him to stay.
"You want me to stay here and get caught by Dorota? I'll be at the Palace."
Blair knocked on the 1812 door in front of her. She knew it wasn't going to be easy but she didn't understand why he was refusing to answer her calls. "Chuck please open up. It's just me." She sighed, it had taken her longer than she wanted to get away from Dorota's keen eye and she knew in that the hours she spent away from him was enough time for him to get himself in a drunken haze again.
"Chuck please." She gave him one more opportunity to open the door before she pulled out the card, she had managed to convince the front desk to give her to grant herself entry into his suite. Blair knew she could persuade them and she always had to have a plan b.
She heard the lock click and opened the door. As she entered, she could see that the state of it hadn't improved since Nate and her had carried Chuck to his father's funeral. He obviously still hadn't let housekeeping in. It should have repulsed her but it just showed her how broken he was. "Chuck?" She continued to call his name as she looked around. It was obvious he wasn't here. She left, if he wasn't here there was only one other place he could be. On her way out she would talk to the front desk about housekeeping sorting his suite. There was no way she was letting him return to this. Actually no, she knew she wouldn't be able to trust the Palace staff to fulfil the task the way she needed it to be done. She pulled her phone out from her pocket and called the number of the only person she knew she could trust. "Dorota, meet me at the Palace right away."
Blair strutted into Victrola seeing the night in full swing. She knew that he would be here but that didn't mean she wasn't slightly afraid of what she would find. She hated to admit that this place was symbolic to her and her relationship with Chuck and she hoped he knew that enough to not ruin the memory for her. Seeing the girls dance on stage again pulled her back.
"You know, I got moves."
"Really? Then why don't you get up there?"
"I'm just saying, I got moves... You really don't think I'll go up there."
"I know you won't."
"Guard my drink."
She looked around and realised he wasn't in his usual seat, their place where it had all begun. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She was relieved that he hadn't found comfort in another in their place. There was one place she needed to check before she left. Blair headed for the roof knowing that if he was here and he was overwhelmed he probably made his way to the roof before just leaving. Especially if he wasn't at the Palace or at hers. He wouldn't have gone to Lily's so there was only one place left for her to check.
She couldn't hide her shook at seeing him on the edge looking down at the skyline. She would have never left him alone if she knew he was hurting this much. She didn't know the conflict he was feeling would end up with him standing on the edge of a building. Did he not realise if anything happened to him, she wouldn't be able to process it? She would rather him hurt her and be around then him never be in her life again. Blair didn't want to surprise him it was a stupid plan when someone was dangling with their life on the edge of a ledge. She got closer to him, close enough so she could whisper his name without frightening him.
"Chuck?"
He turned slowly to see her. "What are you doing here?"
Blair didn't want to overwhelm him anymore than she could already see he was. She could see he wasn't too steady on his feet which meant he was currently in a drug and alcohol fuelled haze again. He would require her help to get down safely before he fell off. "I came to have a drink and was hoping I might find you here. Come down and you might be able to tempt me to get up on stage again."
She saw the glimmer of a smirk. "I'm not sure you really want to do that."
"Chuck come on, your father wouldn't have wanted this." She instantly regretted mentioning his father when it was obvious that he was the reason he currently didn't feel like his life meant anything but she needed him to see that even Bart wouldn't have wanted this. For Chuck's life to end this way. He was many things but there was no way Bart would have wanted actual harm to come to his son.
"Dear old dad? Unfortunately, all I know is what he didn't want which is me." He turned around to look out onto the skyline and shouted out "I'm Chuck Bass! No one cares!"
"I do. Don't you understand? I'll always be here. I don't want you going anywhere. I couldn't bare it. So, whatever you want to do to yourself, please don't do that to me." She reached out her hand towards him for Chuck to take. She knew he was still hurting; she had never seen him look so vulnerable. Blair could see the hesitation from him but eventually he reached out for her hand too. As she finally felt the weight of his hand in hers, she helped him down off the ledge.
Chuck buried his head into her neck "I'm sorry."
She embraced him into a hug. "I know. Let's get out of here."
A/N: sorry for the delay in updating this story. I originally was unsure if I wanted it to just be a one shot but then I had an idea I just needed some time to explore it.