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Christmas 2008

The driver parked in front of the hotel and interupted Lily's dreams of the past. She blushed when she looked into the grinning faces of her children. Serena was almost an adult, but she was glad she hadn't 'confessed' the details of her 'sins' to Eric.

"Go on, Mom! It's getting interesting!"

Eric was very vivacious for his age and now that the relationship with his mother had improved dramaticly, he had become a happy young man. His suicidal tendencies which had worried Lily so much were a thing of the past.

"Eric van der Woodsen! I think I have told you enough already. And don't do what I did!"
Serena smirked at her mother; she didn't have to worry. Thanks to Dan, she was not a virgin anymore. And if his dad had half the qualities he had, she could understand her mom's enthusiasm.

Lily just wanted this evening to be over quickly and told her kids to get out of the car.

"You know what you have to do, Mom?"

"This reminds me of something..."

Embarrased, Serena held her head down, but Lily hugged her and showed her that she wasn't holding it against her. Serena hadn't known how much Rufus meant to her mother and Lily had failed to tell her that Rufus was more than a little fling. Lily didn't say anything for the sake of her children, also fear had kept her from fighting for her love, like Serena had fought for Dan.

Bart Bass greeted the family in the hotel's dining room, which was reserved exclusively for them.
"How decadent!" Lily whispered to her daughter, whose smile froze as a dark haired young man approached her, a diabolic smile on his face. While Bart kissed Lily's cheek tenderly and didn't notice how uncomfortable she felt, Serena managed to escape Chuck's embrace.

"Sis! Merry Christmas and...hey, nice knockers!"

"Thanks! Hate you too, asshole!"

Serena got sick just looking at this little meanie, who was staring at her little brother in disgust. Not surprising, he couldn't hit on him.

After this lovely greeting, Bart asked his new family (at least he expected them to be his family soon) to take a seat. While Serena was wondering if the food would be equally distasteful as Chuck, Lily searched for the right words.How could she tell Bart in a nice way that she didn't want to spend the rest of her life with him? She didn't want to hurt him and although he had his flaws, (not a rare thing in the Bass family) she was convinced that he really loved her.

Lily also had to think of Rufus and how much she had hurt him in the months before her engagement. Even if she had misbehaved – it had all been for her own sake. She had protected herself from her feelings, but now she knew that it had been a terrible mistake. You couldn't cheat yourself, the feelings would always come back to haunt you.

"Bart, I need to talk to you, I..."

"Darling, I am happy you brought the toppic up. Charles and I have agreed on spending the honeymoon in Mauritius as a family!"

His son Charles, better known as Chuck, raised his right eyebrow. What was the old man talking about? Chuck didn't plan to spend his holiday watching the two old love birds.
Serena was an attractive diversion, but too much of a prude for his taste. He prefered charismatic Blair Waldorf, unfortunately, she still treated him like he wasn't there. What was so great about Nate? She seemed to like losers.Too bad for her that Nate had not forgiven her after finding out about the little 'slip' with him.
They hadn't been a couple at that time. Chuck did not know whom he hated more: Nate, a coward and hypocrite in his eyes (there wasno way their friendship cold be safed, Chuck tried to forget him) or Blair who had just dumped him.
Speaking of being dumped...Chuck knew the van der Woodsen family better than his father did and he saw that something was wrong with Lily. Even Serena and Eric seemed happy, and they had no reason for it.

"Is it possible, dearest step mom-to-be that you are trying to tell my dad that you prefer to shag another man?"

You could grasp the silence which followed with your hands. Everybody was staring at Chuck with a mixture of horror, disgust, anger and even admiration (Serena did, just because he was so quick to notice)
Bart Bass was the first to speak and started to chide his son:

"Charles! I expect you to apologise to Lily immediately. I know I haven't been a good father all the time, but I think I taught you some manners."

Chuck dismissed his father. What was there that his father could teach him? How to sleep with a different, much younger woman every week? Chuck had learned that from his old man, even if he had been faithful to Lily.

It was Lily who protected Chuck from getting a dressing down from his father. It was time to set the record straight. She couldn't do this to her children anymore.

"Bart, it's ok. I'm not saying your son is right, I've been faithful to you. But in my heart I love another man."

Chuck wanted to say something, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Lily and her lot would not get away easily, no Bass would let himself be humiliated and then just leave it at that.

"What does that mean, you love another man?" The love had vanished from Bart's eyes. He could not understand what his beloved fiancée was trying to tell him. Was she drunk already? No, that was not Lily's style. Why did she do this to him? Was this some special sort of Christmas present?

"My mother is in love with Rufus Humphrey, it's that simple!" Eric said, trying to help his mother. He just wanted to leave this place.
Serena shook her head, telling him that he had said the wrong thing. He could also tell from Bart's reaction.
At this moment, dinner was served – and Chuck seemed to be the only one who enjoyed it. He loved scandals...

"You're not talking about THIS Himphrey, the scumbag who owns this nasty gallery? Is this supposed to be an early April fools joke?"

"Can you stop making a fool out of yourself, dad? She wants to scr...love the father of retarded Dan –forgive me, dear not-my-sister. Is it so hard to understand?"

"Charles!"

"Chuck!"

"Just call me Lucifer! And can we start dinner now? I'm hungry and I don't want you to spoil my Christmas. Little Chuckie wants to open his pressies!"

While Eric grinned and Serena feared Chuck's bad influence on him, Bart got up and roughly pulled Lily's arm

"Bart, what are you doing? Stop hurting me!" Lily didn't recognise the man from her youth. She suddenly realised that she should have made this decision a long time ago. She could never love a Bass, that was certain. And even if she felt kind of sorry for Chuck, she did not want her children to suffer because of this cheeky brat.

Lily got scared when she saw the expression of hate in Bart's eyes. Why had she gotten involved with this guy. He was showing her his true face now – and it was not pretty.

"Dearest Lily! I am willing to forgive you for this little lapse. No, let me finish! I will not tolerate to be dumped like that. You can do that to an idiot like Humphrey, not to me. Don't look at me like that, your mother has told me all about your past. If you leave me, you will not be the only one to suffer. Neither your children, nor this damn Humphrey will ever be happy again. I hope, I've made myself clear!"

Lily fainted, and she remembered her mother using almost the same words. Would she never be allowed to be happy? She collapsed and didn't notice her children taking care of her.

She woke up later in bed next to Bart and surrendered. She could not allow her children and Rufus to be hurt, so she gave in to Bart. In her heart, she thought only of Rufus...

Meanwhile, Serena knocked on Chuck's door. He was interested in what she had to say.

"Serena, darling, if you want to get into bed with, I have to check my schedule first. I think Isabel is first, but I could postpone..."

"As if she needed that! Let's make a deal: you help me to get your father away from my mom, I got something for you."

"Now we're talking! Which body part do you want to show me?"

"My fist, if you don't stop."

Chuck grinned, he loved making Serena mad. But her proposal really wasn't that bad. Serena would have never suggested it, but she knew that Blair missed the scumbag and had been crying on the phone to her about it.

Serena could not see what Blair liked about him, but it worked for her. Chuck didn't know how much Blair missed him. And Serena would have never guessed how much love Chuck felt for Blair. It was a weird kind of love. The more they hurt each other the more they missed each other.

And so the devil made a pact with the blond angel: Chuck would talk Bart into splitting up with Lily and Serena would convince Blair to go to Mauritius with Chuck. He did not feel bad about taking his dad's honeymoon trip – alone with Blair.

Lily had no idea of the kid's plans and fell asleep after the nasty sex with Bart. She dreamed of the past again...