Chapter 2 : Chuck Bass

When I read my slip, all I could think was that it'd be a silent day. And I was right, Jenny hadn't spoken to me at all since we left the classroom. To be honest I wouldn't talk to me if I were her either. But the least she could do is give me a sign if she was okay with this. I decided to speak, in the hopes that she would answer. "Do you want some coffee?" but despite of my hope she didn't respond, not so much as a twitch at the corner of her lip not so much as a sparkle in her eyes by the mentioning of the beverage. I couldn't help myself but make a snarky comment. "Alright then, let's give him the silent treatment, worked all the time, at least on Nate" Maybe I shouldn't have said that because it wasn't fair, I didn't know half of what had happened between her and Nate. But I just wasn't able to sow my lips together and be silent and let her have her way. What I didn't expect was for her to make a noise, a loud one at that: "You don't have the right!"

"For what?" I asked, even though I knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I thought I made myself clear when I said I didn't want anything to do with you?" and I was perfectly aware of that, but that never stopped me: Chuck Bass. 'After what you did at the kiss on the lips party' was all I could think about now, how she made her words sting so badly, it cut through my veins, even though it wasn't supposed to. Because I had changed over the course of the year. But somehow it did hurt because I was always subconsciously still that guy; only now I was man enough to regret it afterwards. "Yes, you made yourself very clear, but I'm Chuck Bass and now thanks to headmistress Queller you're stuck with me all day"

"And this will, by that, be the darkest day in history of Jenny Humphrey"

"That wit, it's hard to miss"

"Yet, you did"

I smirked, but not in my regular way, I smirked but not because I had bad intentions. I smirked because I actually found her amusing, 'Jenny Humphrey: the witty one' it kind of had a nice ring to it. All of a sudden she spoke, again: "Look, I'll make you a deal"

She triggered my interest that's for sure: "Okay"

"I'll pretend for one day you are just some guy I briefly run into at school and don't know anything about except that his father died", she paused for a slow breath, "and in return you don't talk about Nate, my fashion and me being a total loser in school"

"It's a deal, but just so you know you're not a loser, you're fashion was very good and I don't think you are over Nate just yet, and neither is he," she shot me a dirty looks, "last word, I promise…"

She pointed her finger at me: "It better be!"

We had answered the first and second question without bringing up either Nate, her fashion or her supposedly being a loser. Question three; "What would you tell your partner if he/she told you that he/she had a crush on you", I wasted some useless breaths on the question, "Your place or mine?"

She giggled, and to my utter surprise I liked her giggle; "I've never seen you smile before"

"Well I haven't had a lot to laugh with in the last year"

"Yeah, like what?"

"Nate, for most of it"

"What happened?"

"We kind of left things off in a weird position, you know?" I frowned, looking totally confused apparently because she made a comment: "Of course, I forgot who I was talking to"

I was offended, but instead of saying something bad and having to regret it afterwards I decided to reason with her: "I might not know anything about being loved or to love someone, but I do know something about Nate and I'm always a fan of a secret or two, so talk to me"

"I'll try…"

"It's a step in the right direction" I smiled

"Nate and I kissed when he and Vanessa were broken up, and well he wrote me a letter explaining his true feelings toward me, and well Vanessa stole the letter and she didn't tell either one of us about the other when we asked about the other person"

"So she was basically lying to both of you?"

"Pretty much"

"Why?" I knew Vanessa, and she wouldn't do such thing unless it was really necessary.

"Because she loved him, loves him"

"And you, … uhm you love him too?"

She sighed and hesitated a bit but caved anyway: "Yes"

"Then get him back!" I shouted, which was surprising me in more ways than one

"And how would I do that, genius?"

"I know Nate, he may be a manwhore but he's still a man sometimes"

"What?"

"Don't try to play the 'I love you'-card right away, keep it casual, just be sexy, wear him down"

"I don't want a messed up game-playing relationship like you and Blair"

"Because not everybody can… And I'm not saying you should, just make him want you, more than anything"

Her lips were trembling: "Look, let's just finish these questions and then grab some Starbucks" She walked away down 42nd street, almost at Grand Central Station she came to a stop. "Hey I don't walk! Keep that in mind Je—" I saw who she was looking at now, I saw tears dwelling up in the corner of her eyes. It made my heart break, oh wait no: my stomach just growled. "Let's just go"

"Okay"

We answered a bunch of other questions and got to our last one, the hardest one as well. 'Tell each other a secret'. I was Chuck Bass, I had many secrets and all of them would go down into the grave along with me. But then my father always had the same thoughts on this topic and look where it got him. I never really found out how he felt about me; did he love me? Was I just a screw up for him? Who knows? I certainly never will now.

"You're not going to tell me one right?"

"I was thinking about it, but I guess I have to right? It's obligatory?"

"No it's not really, you could always tell me you saw a donkey show in TJ but then again, I told about Nate so…"

"You said that in person"

"Exactly, I won't tell anyone"

"I'm not worthy"

"What?"

"My secret is, that I'm scared I'm not worthy of anyone"

"But you're Chuck Bass, you shouldn't fear those things"

"Yeah I know, I feel like such a Brooklynite now" She laughed, but yet I could see sorrow and regret in her icy blue eyes. It made my heart melt; she had such a grip on me.

"Well my secret is that, is that I still love Nate"

"Yeah I knew that"

"Right, I told you that" I nodded, believing her, she was an honest Brooklyn girl; how much could she be hiding? "Uhm" she spoke almost as if she could read my mind: "I do have one more secret though" In the last 15 minutes this girl peeked my interest twice, something that even Blair had never been able to do. "I forgive you…" she whispered. I felt a justification run through my body, it bored its way through my bones… I felt at peace, for once…

"Thank you" was all I could say, almost as if my tongue was twisted and forgot to swallow for 47 seconds.

"I was mad at you for so long that I forgot what I was really mad for, and then I realized why I should forgive you; you've changed Chuck, you're decent, nice, strong, loving and caring guy Chuck Bass"

"You're all those things too Jennifer Humphrey, except a guy, unless you have a really good plastic surgeon"