Chapter 3 - He believed in you

"Chuck! It's just me, please open up." Blair had already tried just knocking but so far, he still hadn't opened the door to his suite.

Chuck took another swig of the scotch he had just poured himself and welcomed the burn. He knew she had a key and that it wouldn't take her long to use it so didn't see the point in getting up to answer the door.

"Chuck, I know you're just trying to avoid me." She knew today would be a trying day for all involved but it wasn't off to a good start when he wouldn't even open the door for her. Blair knew she could have just used the key in her pocket but what did it mean for them if he didn't willingly let her in? Was he always going to shut her out and not face what he was feeling? Blair didn't want to push him into something he didn't want to do himself. She knew the harder she pushed it just increased the likelihood that he would run. She wasn't sure she was ready to lose him not after she finally knew that he was capable of telling her he loved her.

He knew she wasn't wrong. Right now, being honest with her hadn't helped. Okay, he had managed to confess how he felt about her but where did it really get him? He was in New York and suffering. If she had just let him leave, he would have been in such a haze he wouldn't be able to feel anything. He stood to pour himself another scotch when he heard the door to his suite click.

"Not opening the door just because you know I have a key is rude Chuck." Blair enjoyed the sound of her stilettoes hitting the floor as they helped convey her frustration at him. She placed her coat and bag on the sofa and stood in front of him.

"I didn't hear you knocking." Chuck didn't want to look at her. He knew she knew what he was doing. She always did, they both did.

"Don't lie to me Chuck. Are you ready to go?" Blair asked.

"To what?" Chuck smirked. It was a pointless question. They both knew where they were going today but that didn't mean that he was ready for it.

"If you really don't want me to be here or to go with you, I'll just leave." Blair reminded herself that she promised she wasn't going to force Chuck. If the funeral had taught her anything it was the more she tried to show him she cared the more he felt suffocated. He had asked her to come so she did but if he was going to continue to push her away, she wasn't going to stay. Just standing here threatening him that she was going to leave wasn't enough. She decided she had to show him she was serious so turned away from him to head towards her coat.

"I." He reached out a hand to stop her from leaving. Chuck didn't know what to say to her but he knew he wouldn't be able to get through today without her. He could see he was hurting her by trying to push her away but the only thing he was sure of was that he was overwhelmed.

"I'm serious Chuck, I can just leave. I'm sure Jack has more of an invested interested to be there with you today anyway."

"I don't want to go without you." He lifted his head so his eyes could find hers.

"Then let's go, Arthur is waiting for us downstairs."

"What are you doing here?" Chuck angrily asked Lily.

"I'm required to be here Chuck and I thought you could use the support." Lily thought about not coming today but she knew if she didn't Chuck would just try to convince himself that she didn't care about him and that was the last thing she wanted. Even though he was trying to push her away she wanted him to realise that she would still be there for him. She had come along to the reading of Bart's Will to see if there was anything she could do to help Chuck even if it was legally.

"From you? You're not family that's what Jack is here for." Chuck had tried to bury the anger her felt towards Lily but he couldn't hide it. Not today. Not when he was already overwhelmed with so many other emotions.

"Chuck!" Blair chastised him from behind.

"No Blair, she shouldn't be here."

"Charles your father would want me to be here for you."

"When will people understand? My father did not care about me. He wouldn't care what happened to me if something happened to him. I just want to get this over and done with without everyone pretending to care about me. If it's money you both want then I'm sure he left it to you but stop the pretence that you care about me."

"Charles you are under eighteen someone will have to be your legal guardian."

Chuck turned to look at Jack for the first time since they arrived. "Curfew?" he asked.

"No." Jack didn't even hesitated.

"Girls sleeping over?"

"Yes. Please." Chuck ignored the smarmy way Jack raked in the sight of Blair's body.

Chuck turned back to Lily. "Problem solved. Can we go in now?"

"Chuck, I don't think that is such a good idea." Blair was suddenly by his side.

"Are you questioning my decision?" he didn't hide his annoyance from her. He had asked her to join him today but she was acting like his girlfriend and how many more times were they going to have this conversation before she understood? He wasn't the guy that was capable of having a girlfriend. Right now, he wasn't even the guy that was capable of getting through this Will reading.

Blair was taken aback by his tone at her. "I'll wait out here with Nate."

"I think that's a good idea." He didn't even look at her as he walked into the meeting room followed by Lily and Jack.

Blair held her breath to stop herself from responding. She promised herself that anything he said to her today was due to his grief and not to take it personally but it was hard when he was doing it so publicly.

"He's just hurting. If he didn't want you here you wouldn't be." Nate felt uncomfortable with the situation but he had caught a glimpse of a different Blair with Chuck at the funeral.

"I wouldn't have come to this party if I didn't know I was VIP."

Nate thought it was better for the both of them if he didn't respond so they sat there in silence until the door opened again.

"Charles, maybe you should read the letter." Lily was pleading with Chuck as they exited the room.

"You definitely do not get to tell me what to do." Chuck stopped walking as he reached Nate and Blair.

"What's in the letter?" Blair stood up and asked inquisitively.

"Dear old Bart left it to me." Chuck responded and his words were laced with sarcasm.

"Maybe you should see what it says?" Blair asked softly. She could see Chuck was trying to avoid knowing what his father had to say to him because he thought it would just be another opportunity to make him feel worthless.

"Aren't you a little curious to know what it says?" Nate tried to support Blair before Chuck could respond.

"I already know all he had to say about me. He has already had enough to say to me. 'You're a disappointment of a son.' 'I'd die of embarrassment of I wasn't already.' 'And why do you wear so much purple?'" Chuck tried to fake a smile.

"Charles, that's not what your father thought about you." Lily hated to see Chuck look so vulnerable and hurt.

"You really think you know him so well? Fine, Blair, read the letter."

Blair opened the envelope and began to read the letter inside.

Dear Son,

I know I've always been hard on you. But my goal was always to prepare you for this day, to help you go from being a boy to a man. Sadly, there is nothing like the passing of a father to aide in this rite of passage for his son. Ultimately, I do feel that I did my job and you're prepared for this next chapter of your life. Therefore, I am bequeathing to you the majority of Bass Industries.

"That can't be right." Chuck interrupted Blair from finishing the letter.

"He may not have been able to show it to you when he was here Charles but this proves he thought more about you than you thought he did." Lily couldn't deny she was a little surprised. She was pleased that Bart hadn't denied Chuck of knowing that he thought he was worthy of running the company. It didn't make up for years of making him feel like he was worthless but it was a start. A way they could now prove to him that even his father saw a glimmer of the man they all thought he was capable of being.

"No, he didn't." Chuck was angry again. Seventeen years and his father had never taken a moment to even try and make him feel like he wanted him as a son. That he did more than remind him of the woman he lost and now when he was gone, he finally tried. He was a coward.

"Yes, he did. He believed in you." Blair nodded at him in encouragement when Chuck looked at her.

"That son of a bitch." Jack started to pace. All this time he had been devoted to Bass Industries and his brother had chosen a minor to take over the company over him. How dare he? It was his right to run it now that he was gone. Not some kid.

"Jack!" Both Lily and Blair shouted at Jack at the same time.

"No, Jack is right. He never did anything to show I was worthy of even being his son. Bass Industries is his legacy and I don't want it. Why should I?" He turned to Jack. "If you want it, you can have it." Before anyone else could stop him, he walked away from them and headed outside of the building where he knew Arthur would be waiting for him. He could hear her heels chasing him.

"Chuck!" Blair called out after him.

He didn't allow her to catch up to him until they were outside. "What Blair?"

She waited until they were face to face. "You can't just leave like that."

"Why not?" Chuck inquired. He was curious to know what she had to say. How she was going to beg for him not to leave this time.

Blair wasn't even going to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging how insufferable he was being so she focused on something else. "He left the company to you."

"It's like he is setting me up to fail from the grave. Whenever I asked for an opportunity or proved to him that I understood the business he shot me down." Chuck felt vulnerable admitting this to Blair but it was true. The only way his father would ever leave anything to him was to prove to him that he wasn't good enough. He had spent his whole life trying to prove it to him so why would he stop now he was dead?

"You really think he would leave his company and legacy to you if he didn't think you could do it?" Blair wanted Chuck to see past the hurt. To reason with him that Bart wouldn't allow the company to fail just to achieve that.

"Why would he? It doesn't make sense. He never trusted me with anything." Chuck let out a frustrated sigh.

"Does it have to? He's trusting you now. He knew you could do this and so do I." Blair couldn't hide the pride in her face at him. She knew he could do it he had proven that when he won his father over and bought Victrola. He was capable of so much more than he thought he was. When he put his mind to something he was capable of anything.

"And where would I even begin?" Chuck asked her. He had no idea how to run a billion-dollar company as Bart had never taken the time to show him.

"Start by reading the rest of the letter." Blair handed him the envelope that she had safely put the letter back into.

He started to walk towards his limo when he realised, she wasn't following him. "Aren't you coming?"

Blair was surprised that he wanted her to come with him. She stepped towards him and when she was close enough, she placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "I think you should read it on your own. If you want to, come and find me when you are done."

A/N: As always thank you for the reviews. Honestly not sure how this story will end or how long I will keep it up but hope you enjoy this chapter.