Ivy Week started without a hitch for Lita. In fact, it seemed like every stress that she had been worried about the week before had magically drifted away. It was the result of the three words that Chuck had told her Friday night- I Love You. They'd spent the rest of their weekend in his suite, just the two of them, watching their favorite movies, talking, taking naps, kissing, and just enjoying each other's company. It seemed like they were finally getting back on track.

"Wake up sleepy head." Lita tried to nudge Chuck awake. He was currently laying in the fetal position with an arm tightly around her waist.

"No." He grumbled and burrowed himself deeper into the plush covers. "I'm not going to school. Let's just stay in bed."

"Yeah right, Chuck." Lita laughed and shook him again. "Bart would personally kick your ass if you missed a single day of school this week. You need to really impress the Princeton rep."

"But I'm, Chuck Bass."

Lita laughed loudly. "That line doesn't really work on me." She climbed out of his bed and went to the room phone and ordered breakfast for them both. "I'm going to take a shower and when I come out, I expect you to be out of that bed, mister."

Chuck mumbled something indecipherable and cuddled up against her pillow, breathing in her scent. He couldn't think of a better way to start his week.

"You seem way too chipper this morning." Serena told Lita when she sat down next to her and Blair on the steps of the Met.

"Especially since it's Ivy Week." Blair added. Lita was happy to see that her two friends were getting along again, even if things were slightly awkward between them.

"I had a really good weekend." Lita shrugged and took a sip of her tea.

"Oh yeah?" Serena and Blair shared a look. "Considering you were nowhere to be found this weekend and I didn't hear anything on Gossip Girl about Chuck club hopping, I'm going to assume you and Bass were together?"

Lita grinned. "We spent the entire weekend in his suite. It was perfect and I think that's what we really needed, some time away from everything, just the two of us."

"So did you do the deed?" Blair asked curiously. She wanted to know if she was the last of their trio to remain a virgin.

Lita blushed instantly. "No! We've gotten close but we haven't gone all the way."

"How come?" Serena asked. "You love him don't you?"

"I do." Lita agreed. "And he told me that he feels the same way. Well, actually he said it first but I think we both were just trying to enjoy the weekend without any pressure."

"At this rate, it'll be time for the ball before you're ready to give it up." Blair joked.

"I don't know about all that." Lita wanted to change the subject to something less embarrassing. "So, S, what's up with you and Dan?"

The blonde couldn't contain her smile and instantly the talk of Chuck and Lita's sex life was forgotten. "He's so great!" Serena gushed. "He's nothing like any of the other boys, I've liked in the past."

"Of course not." Blair made a face. "He's from Brooklyn."

"Oh come on Blair, you talk about Brooklyn as though it's another planet and not a simple subway ride away."

"Subway?"Blair arched an eyebrow. "That's disgusting, Lita."

"Go on Serena, tell us more about Dan." Lita told her friend, ignoring Blair's ridiculous comment.

Serena eagerly complied. "We've just been hanging out mostly, we haven't gone on a proper date or anything. I'm kind of nervous though, he's pretty down to earth and doesn't really seem like he wants to be a part of all of this." Serena gestured to her Balenciaga bag and Prada shoes.

"Well, then the boy has no taste and you should forget about him." Blair said simply.

Lita on the other hand took a different approach. "Well, there's a lot more to life than designer clothes and fancy parties. I think we've all gotten bored with it at different points." At the sight of Blair's face, Lita amended her statement. "Well, okay, I think some of us have gotten bored with it. You just need to show Dan that there's more to you than what he might think."

"You're right," Serena agreed. "And I think I'm going to start by getting serious about Ivy Week. Dan cares a lot about his education and if I even want to be considered for Brown's wait list, I need to really impress the representative on Wednesday."

"Look at Kelli Anderson." Nate sighed as the redheaded sophomore walked past them in a skirt that had to have been violating at least a handful of the dress code rules. "She's been looking good lately."

Chuck sat next to Nate in the courtyard watching the girls of Constance and for the first time he felt genuinely disinterested in whose skirt was the shortest. "Aren't you back together with Blair?"

"Where'd you hear that?" Nate asked quickly. "It's not official or anything, we just had dinner this weekend."

Chuck nodded his head. "Sure Nathaniel, but have you told Blair it's not official?" He knew what a wild imagination the girl had and she was sure to be getting her hopes up over the least bit of attention that Nate showed her.

"I think we have an understanding." Nate shrugged.

"I wouldn't give Blair too much credit." Chuck warned his friend one more time. "Anyway, have you told the Captain that you don't want to go to Dartmouth?"

"Have you told Bart that you're not 100 committed to Princeton?" Nate shot back.

"Fair enough." Chuck laughed. "But seriously, don't you think you should talk to your father about this sudden existential crisis that has come over you."

"I tried to this weekend but he didn't hear a word that I said to him. If I'm lucky, I'll blow my interview today and won't have to be the escort for the Dartmouth guy."

"I don't think it's possible for guys like us to blow interviews. I have every intention of going into the headmaster's office and acting entitled like the privileged ass that my parents raised me to be."

Nate laughed but he knew it was true, his father had probably already arranged for him to be an escort. Short of doing a line of coke on the headmaster's desk, there wasn't much that he could do to avoid the situation.

Lita met Chuck by his locker after his last class. She had to get over to the Ostroff Center but she didn't want to leave without saying something to him.

"Well, this is a nice surprise." Chuck gave her a kiss without bothering to look around the halls for teachers.

Lita blushed. "How was your day?"

"Boring." Chuck answered simply. He grabbed a couple of books from his locker and slipped them into his bag. "Are you coming over tonight?"

"I can't." Lita sighed. "I didn't go home once this weekend and my parents are probably starting to suspect that I wasn't at Blair's or Serena's. Plus, I'll probably be volunteering until late tonight and then I have to work on my project for Art."

Chuck pulled his girlfriend closer by the lapels of her uniform blazer and nuzzled her neck, pressing kisses there. "Are you sure that you can't sneak away?"

Lita yelped in surprise and clutched onto Chuck to maintain her balance. "Chuck…"

"You can sneak out when everyone's in bed, take my car- leave a note saying that you left early for school…" Chuck nipped her ear playfully. "I promise to make it worth your trouble."

Lita moaned softly then remembered where they were and pulled away from him, not surprised to find a couple of onlookers. "You, sir, are very naughty."

"It's part of my charm." He kissed her cheek sweetly and took her hand as they started towards the exit. "Which apparently is wasted on you."

"I can't help it that I'm just about the only kid on the Upper East Side that has parents who enforce rules." Lita laughed. "And I use the word, rules, very loosely."

"Okay, okay." Chuck relented. "What about tomorrow night, do you think we can have dinner at least?"

"Dinner sounds great." Lita paused for a second. "Actually, aren't you supposed to have dinner with your mother tomorrow?"

Chuck rolled his eyes. "I forgot about that."

"Well, you can't flake on dinner with your Mother." Lita reprimanded him. "Maybe, I can sneak away after dinner for a little bit tomorrow."

"Why don't you come to dinner with us?" Chuck suggested. "You can get to know my mother."

Lita looked up at him in surprise. He'd been so secretive about his mother since she'd come back to New York that Lita wasn't expecting to see the woman again. "Are you sure?"

"Aren't girls supposed to want to meet their boyfriends' mothers?" Chuck joked.

"Yes, but…"

"Well, if you don't mind the added stress during Ivy Week then I think it would be nice if you came to dinner." Chuck told her honestly. He wasn't sure why but it was important to him that his mother see how wonderful Lita was.

"Okay, sounds good." They had reached the entrance of the school and Lita stopped to hail a passing cab. "I'll call you later." Chuck kissed her quickly and helped her into the cab.

"Love you."

Lita had just finished her work for the evening and was looking forward to going home and relaxing. As she gathered up her bag and jacket, Lita was surprised to hear two familiar voices in the hallway.

"I'll try to talk to Mom about getting you out, at least for a day or so."

"Good luck, she'd rather everyone think I'm Florida the entire year than risk having anyone find out the truth."

The second voice confirmed her suspicion. Ever since she'd run into Serena at the center weeks ago, Lita had been trying to figure out what her friend was doing there and now it was all starting to make sense. Erik being in Florida for the semester was a lie to cover-up his time at the Ostroff Clinic. Lita didn't want to alert her friends to the fact that she could hear them or that she knew they were there in the first place so she stayed in the break room until their voices faded down the hallway. When the coast seemed clear, she slipped out of the room-only to bump right into Erik.

"Lita!" He stumbled backwards trying to regain his balance and Lita groaned.

"Hey Erik…"

"What are you doing here?" Erik asked her quickly. He tried to put his arms casually behind his back so that she wouldn't see his bandage but it was too late.

"I, uh, volunteer here."Lita told him quietly. "Look, I won't tell anyone that I saw you here or anything. I signed a contract promising that I wouldn't and besides, I'd never want to do something like that to hurt you, you know? Privacy is really important and I-"

"It's okay." Erik interrupted his sister's babbling friend. "I know you won't tell anyone."

Lita shifted awkwardly. "Are you okay?"

Erik gave her a small but genuine smile. "I will be."

"If you ever need anything, I work here three times a week." Lita offered. "You know, if you just want to talk or you need something new to read, you can just tell me and I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, it has been pretty lonely here." Erik admitted. The blonde gestured to the sterile wing where he was living. "And it's not exactly the most stimulating place to be either."

"I can imagine." Lita thought for a moment. "How long have you been here, Erik?"

"Not long after Serena left for Connecticut." He shrugged. "I'm losing count of the actual days though."

Erik showed Lita where his room was so that she could come back and visit him but before she could leave, he found himself pouring out the whole story of how he'd come to be in the Ostroff Center. It felt good to talk to someone outside of the doctors and nurses and his mother and sister about his problems. Lita comforted him and tried to give him hope about getting out soon although she wasn't sure when Lily would come to her senses.

Lita said good-bye to Erik with a big hug and a kiss on the cheek before once again gathering her things to leave. It wasn't until she was out on the street and waiting for a cab that she allowed the tears to come. It made her incredibly sad to know that Erik had felt so helpless that he had attempted to take his own life. It was even worse when she thought about his mother shutting him away from the outside world and all of the people that cared about him the most. Lita wanted to help Erik but she knew whatever she did, it couldn't involve other people. She wouldn't compromise Erik's privacy or her position at the clinic.

Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews! I already have 3 pages of the next chapter done so expect an update pretty soon- I want to get a lot more done before the new season starts! xoxo