Going to the Bass penthouse had become a regular occurrence over the years; he had even been there when Bart had bought the place. Over the years not much changed, the furniture was almost always the same, when Bart met Evelyn suddenly it seemed more like a home. She transformed it, and after she was gone it changed again. This time though it seemed more dark and sad. Much too sad for a home where a 7 year old lived. There weren't any toys lying around, no stains on any of the rugs, not a thing out of place.
The place was deathly quite, as it had been since the day Chuck was born. But as Will walked towards Bart's office he got closer to Chuck's bedroom and stopped in front of the door, listening to the commotion inside.
"When is my dad gonna come say goodnight to me? He never says goodnight," the little boy screamed at what Will assumed was his nanny.
"Bart is really busy, Chuck. He'll come say goodnight to you when he's done with his work," the lady tried to keep the boy calm.
"He's always busy! He just doesn't like me. He never even talks to me," the boy's screams quickly died down until he was holding back tears.
"Now that's not true. Just last night he watched that movie with you. And you two had a nice dinner together," she said attempting to soothe the boy.
"But he still doesn't like me. All because I killed mommy."
After those words Will couldn't take anymore. He turned towards Bart's office. Angry at his best friend for allowing his son to think like that. His anger increased during the short walk to open Bart's door. As soon as he did though he regretted it. He swiftly covered his eyes and began yelling out apologies. He stood there for a minute looking anywhere except for the couple by the desk, the entire room was filled with an awkward silence. As soon as the young woman was gone, after muttering a soft, "Sorry." William turned to Bart, who had somehow in that short time sat down in his chair and completely fixed his appearance. All signs of his previous activities gone.
"I'm sorry about that Will. But like I said the last time this happened, you really should learn to knock," Bart said with a humorous look on his face.
"What was that?" Will practically screamed while Bart looked back, now confused.
"I'm pretty sure we both know what that was. And I'm not really sure I should be the one to explain it to you," he slowly spoke, looking warily at his friend.
"I know what it was, Bart. I mean why the hell are you in here with some girl when your son is in the other room crying cause you aren't there." The moment the words came out Bart froze.
"The nanny is there with him. And anyway I spent some time with him yesterday. The boy's tough, he knows I can't always be there."
"That isn't enough Bart. You can't just see the boy every other day and expect everything to be ok. He at least has a right to know," Will shouted back, both men were now standing up.
"He's 7 years old, Will!"
"And she was his mother, Bart!" his voice dropped lower, taking on a caring tone, "I've known you since we were 10 and I know that you are better then this."
Bart turned around, softly whispering, "Well that was before it all happened."
William knew by his tone that it was the end of their discussion and he quietly walked out of the room and past the cries from Chuck's bedroom, never once looking back.
********
It had been two weeks since he'd set foot in the Bass home. Sure he had seen Bart at work but all their conversations were limited to business talk and as few words as they both could get out. But now he was back. There was a serious deal with the Japanese that needed them both to put in some extra work, and somehow that ended up with another trip to the Bass'. But when he walked past Chuck's room something stopped him. This time there wasn't any yelling, but instead as Will pressed his ear to the door he heard a small sniffling.
He slowly pushed open the door to see Chuck sitting with his back to the door on the edge of the bed, hunched over something, his shoulder moving with his sobs. As soon as Chuck heard Will's footsteps he turned around softly mentioning, "You should really knock."
As soon as Will came and sat next to Chuck, he could see a frame sitting on his lap. He slowly reached out and took it from Chuck's limp hands, he looked down to see Evelyn Bass smiling up at him. While he was looking at the picture Chuck said, "Bart came in and told me about her. He didn't tell me that much though, he left really quickly."
William handed the picture back as he looked down at Chuck and his tear marked face. He watched as he looked down at his mother and his eyes softened, glistening with tears yet to be shed.
He turned his head to meet Will's stare. "Why does he never talk about her?"
"Well, he really loved her. And it's hard for him to think that she's gone."
"He loved her…" Chuck said, so softly that Will wasn't sure that he even said anything. "I'm never going to fall in love, Will," he said matter-of-factly.
"What? Why not?" Will asked, shocked by the boy's words.
"Because if I never fall in love then I can never lose her and I'll be happy," the boy explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Well Chuck, sometimes you can't stop it. You can't control love."
"Yes I can. I'm Chuck Bass," the boy said as if that fixed everything as more tears began rolling down his cheeks. Will leaned his arm over till he was holding the boy, comforting him.
A little while later William walked into Bart's office. "Where have you been? We have a lot to work on," Bart said when he heard the door close. After Will didn't say anything he paused and looked up at him, questioning with his eyes.
"You did the right thing…. telling him," Bart's eyes looked down when he realized what he was talking about.
"Well you were right. She was his mother, he had a right to know. You're always right about that kind of stuff."
"He's a great kid. You should really spend more time with him."
Bart didn't answer, instead he just tapped the papers on his desk. "Let's get to work." And just like that all traces of their previous conversation was gone.