Title: I Bid You A Sweet Adieu

Author: BookCaseGirl (Abby)

Date: August 6, 2009 (Beginning) August 9, 2009 (most recent update)

Rating: T, though M could also be fair game in any chapters that follow.

Classification: There really isn't much of one; a mixture of everything.

Summary: Sequel to Bittersweet Welcome! Six months later, Chuck and Blair are finding that some things will stand in their way of being happy and staying together successfully. As with any stab at their relationship, there are many hurdles to leap over.

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, everybody. The reviews were alright last chapter, and thank you to everyone that took the time to leave one (: Oh yeah, this seriously should have been up yesterday, but the site would not let me log in and was being extremely stubborn and annoying. So really, it wasn't my fault...I'm just hoping this turned out alright :P

Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl or any other product names that are mentioned.

Thanks to Amber for looking over and beta-ing this chapter. You rock (:


Victor walked the halls of St. Jude's confidently – though really, when didn't he walk with that self-assured swagger? He stopped at his locker and opened the door, trading his calculus book in for the art history text required for the class he had next. When he closed the door, he was surprised to see Lilly Fillmore leaning against the locker right next to his own.

"And to what do I owe this lovely surprise?" he asked, leaning in to peck her on the cheek. She smiled and rolled her eyes with boredom.

"You're lucky I let you get away with that, Victor," Lilly said playfully, tossing her golden locks of hair behind her shoulder. She looked back at him expectantly, inviting him to walk with her.

"I request your womanizing services," she added when he had gotten into step alongside her.

"I'll bite..."

"I'm throwing a party on Saturday and there's a girl coming that's gotten on my last nerve lately. I mean, you know me...I can hold out through any kind of torture and obvious foul play, but this is just...animalistic."

Vic recognized the signs of the lovely girl's rant and held up his hand to stop her. She glanced over at him and pursed her lips, continuing.

"I need you to get under her skin...if you catch my drift."

"The only person whose skin I want to get under is -"

"That's not happening anytime soon, Vic, so stop trying," Lilly stated simply. "Are you coming or not?" She asked, adjusting her bag on her shoulder in slight discomfort as she let out a huff of air. They had reached Mr. Bagot's classroom – where her next class, French, was – and the hourglass was quickly losing sand.

"I'll look over my calendar and get back to you," Victor murmured, patting her shoulder before walking in the opposite direction to his next class.

They both knew he would end up going to that party. And they both knew it wouldn't be because of some measly girl that was pushing Lilly's buttons. Victor was just the only one that would admit it.

*********

When Chuck opened his eyes the next morning – he was late; it was already 8:45 – he tried to rise from his laying position in bed, but to no avail. It was like some kind of lead was weighing him down and preventing him from going to the hellhole that was the office of Bass Industries. He sat up and looked out the window, rubbing his eyes and letting out a heavy sigh.

He felt the other side of the bed sink as Blair sat back down. Looking over at her, he noticed that her hair had been combed, but she was still in the same ruffly purple teddy from the night before. He glanced over at the bathroom, where the light was still on, meaning she was planning to shower soon. Meaning...if he wanted to still maintain some sort of manliness for that day, he should get his ass up and start getting ready.

"I called the office and told them you would be late today," she said quietly, reaching out to put her hand on his shoulder. Chuck subconsciously leaned into the soft warmth of her hand and closed his eyes before scooting to the edge of the bed and striding over to the mahogany dresser that they'd bought when he'd moved in four months ago.
Last night had been a roller coaster, a whirlwind of emotion and words that weren't as clear and literate in the morning as they had been the evening before. He felt things falling apart even more so than any other time that they'd lost a deal. This time the company wasn't losing just one deal, they were losing several. Chuck hated being in and amidst the swirling whirlpool of failure that was his company now.

What hurt most was that his father never would have let this happen – though most of it was the economy of the time, Chuck refused to believe that. Bart Bass would have had a backup plan; he would have known exactly what to do. Chuck Bass was falling flat on his face, on the hardest concrete ever poured on the earth. He was failing his father, and he could hear that bastard laughing and taunting even from beyond the grave.

That was what cut the deepest, it was the wound that bled the most and caused the most tears in the darkest hours of night. He couldn't be as good as his father had been, and he never would be – no matter how hard and how vigorously he tried to. Everything Chuck ventured into resulted in a devastating failure, and his father had predicted that many moons ago.
Why hadn't he listened? Sure, his father had left him the company, but that had to have been long before Chuck was even born. Bart never knew of the devilish capabilities that Chuck Bass would possess. He didn't doubt the unborn because even Bartholomew Bass was human during his best days. But after Chuck had been born, he was smart enough to hate him. Chuck had killed the love of his father's life, and that must have hurt.

He had failed his father. Chuck had failed his father to the greatest and most unimaginable degree. And not only did that hurt him, but it hurt everyone around him. Because as the company went under, so did he. Chuck went further and further under what was considered normal human behavior and thoughts.
As he fussed around in the second drawer of his dresser – deciding between argyle and stripes was a difficult task, for sure – he picked out a pair of socks and went to the closet, pulling out a black pinstriped suit and a peach shirt that had a gray tie dangling from its hanger. He picked out a different tie and trudged into the bathroom, turning on the water in the shower and stepping in.

Fifteen minutes later, when he had cleaned up and was dressed, he walked back into the bedroom and saw a peacefully sleeping Blair. He resisted the urge to take off his just-put-on clothing and crawl back in with her and sleep the rest of the day away because he had work to do. Walking over to where she lay sprawled out, he bent down and touched his lips to hers. A small smile spread across his lips as he brushed the back of his hand against her forehead and walked out quietly.

**********

Blair woke up a few hours later to bright rays of sun streaming in through the windows. Chuck had left for work already – she wasn't the least bit surprised – and there was shopping to be done. Okay, so she didn't exactly need to shop, but it would help her relax. And after Chuck's meltdown last night, she really needed to calm down and just zone out for a bit.
What better way to do that than retail therapy? Lots of women she knew said that was the best kind.

After Blair had picked out her clothes – a plum colored Michael Kors skirt and a silky, floral Calvin Klein shirt – she slipped on her robe and turned the knob of the shower all the way to the left. When she stepped in, everything slipped away as the hot beads of water hit her skin and warmed her soul.

Half an hour later, with freshly blow-dried hair and three spritzes of Chanel No. 5, Blair was ready to go out into the adventure of a shopping day. She always got very excited – who didn't, really? - about the prospect of new items that spiced up her home (some imbeciles argued that it cluttered).

A few hours later, she found that nothing was really striking her as spectacularly unique. Letting out a soft sigh as she ran her hands over another flouncy skirt, Blair walked out of Saks and back onto the streets of the Upper East Side. Suddenly, she felt her blue Rumor vibrating in the side pocket of her Coach bag and she withdrew her cellphone. The screen flashed with 'Chuck' and she pressed the green answer button immediately.

"Hey," she said as brightly as she could.

"Wanna go get some lunch?" Chuck asked, his normal tone of playfulness back and sounding possibly even better than before. She could tell that he was smirking and gazing out his window as he thought about her and what she was wearing – as well as what was underneath, of course (he was still Chuck Bass, only aged a few years).

"I'd love to," Blair replied kindly. She couldn't stop the huge smile from forming on her face and didn't want it to go away – ever. Especially now that Chuck was the one to make it appear so spontaneously. Just the sound of his voice – his happy voice – made her warm and fuzzy, and that was a great way to live life. It was how she liked to live life.

"I'll meet you at home in fifteen minutes."

"Wait, Chuck. I thought you said we're getting lunch!" She said, confused beyond belief.

"I did, and we are. Haven't you ever heard of a surprise, Waldorf?"

Blair smiled and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I'll see you soon," she murmured, resisting the urge to kiss the mouthpiece of the phone (Chuck would probably murder her).

**********

Adrianna doodled in her floppy yellow spelling book as her teacher, Ms. Applebaum, kept spelling words over and over on the blackboard at the front of the room. She knew all of this already, and it annoyed her that it was still being uselessly pounded into her head (so much so that she had broken the tips of three pencils already today).

"Psst! Adri!" Gloria – her friend of the week – poked Adri's back with the eraser of her bright green pencil to get her attention. "Albert wanted me to pass this to you." Adrianna shook her head and tried to roll her eyes dramatically, but she wasn't very good at the latter yet. Without even looking at it, she crumpled up the piece of jagged notebook paper and tossed it into the trashcan that was only six inches from her desk.

"Hey!" She heard the boy's slightly scorned voice and smirked – darn, she still hadn't perfected that one, either; obviously, she was in need of some more mommy shadowing – to herself as she continued to draw pictures of little people in extravagant weddings. The names Mr. Bass and Mommy were doodled in every little space that was not consumed by women in fluffy dresses or men in bulky suits.

End Note: This was longer to make up for lost time. I really am sorry haha. I also hope that the little snippet into Adri's POV and life was alright. There were some pretty basic things I was trying to convey in that little bit, and they will come out to play in future chapters as well.