Disclaimer: Don't own Gossip Girl. Just in case some of you live under a rock and thought I did.

Just When You Thought It Was Over

"Eric. E. What are you talking about?" Chuck started to shake the boy on his lap, trying to get a reaction. It seemed to shock Eric out of whatever trance he was in. Eric pulled himself out of Chuck's arms and got off the couch.

"Nothing," Eric shook his head and smiled, as if that could erase his last words from Chuck's head. "I don't know what I was talking about."

Chuck got off the couch and walked over to his brother. "Eric, you just said you wanted to die."

"Yeah. Sorry about that," Eric fake laughed, turing away so Chuck could not see his face. "Total drama queen moment."

Chuck put his finger under Eric's chin and gently made him face him. "You weren't kidding Eric. I saw you."

Eric pulled away from his brother's touch. "You don't know what you saw."

"Yes I do," Chuck coaxed, "Eric, you need help."

"Do you really think anyone will believe you. Just look at the past few weeks. No one believes you," Eric threatened.

Chuck had had it with Eric's threats. He did not want to hurt his little brother, but the only alternative it seemed was letting Eric hurt himself. Eric was the one person he swore to never hurt, but Eric did not seem to realize that Chuck's threats were real. "Eric, do you really not remember who I am? I'm Chuck Bass. I control all of New York. If I want to get you to a doctor I can. Only to easily."

"You wouldn't mess with me," Eric scoffed, "You never have, and I'm sure you're not about to start."

Clearly, Eric underestimated him. "If I have to destroy you to keep you alive, I will. Don't challenge me."

"I'm not gonna die!" He yelled.

"You just said you wanted to. And we both know it's not an empty threat." Eric winced remembering his previous suicide attempt.

"I was being over dramatic!" he tried to defend.

Chuck lost it. "For god's sake! I know you weren't!"

"Yes I was!" Eric denied again.

"You're lying. Just like you were lying about cutting up your arm." Chuck grabbed Eric's arm and this time he did not pull away. Chuck slowly pulled back Eric's sleeve baring the cuts. Eric was looking anywhere but at his mutilated arm.

"Look at your arm, E," Chuck ordered. Eric looked pointedly in the other direction. Chuck's grip on Eric's arm tightened, digging his nails into his brother's arm. It would leave a mark, but the mark would be nothing compared to the damage already done to his fragile looking arm. "Look, Eric!"

Eric slowly looked at his arm. It looked worse in the bright lights than it did under his dim bathroom lights. He brought his eyes up to meet Chuck's. "Fine. I have a problem. I know that."

Chuck visibly relaxed. "I'm glad to hear you admit it. Don't worry, Eric. We'll get you help. I promise to stay with you the whole way. I'm going to call Lily and the three of us can sit down and talk about this."

"We're not telling my mom!" Eric was frantic again.

"Eric, she's your mother," Chuck tried to reason, "We need to get you help and your going to need her." Chuck did not understand why Eric was against telling Lily. Lily had always been there and been supportive for him and he was the bad one.

"You know how she is! She's going to try and send me back to Ostroff!"

Chuck hesitated, looking for the right words. "I hate to say it, E, but maybe that's where you need to be."

"What? No! Chuck, don't!" Eric begged, "Please! I'll do anything else. I'll see someone! I won't do it again! Please, don't tell!"

Chuck shook his head. "I love you. But I don't believe you!"

"You don't understand!" Eric pleaded, trying to make his brother understand. "She's going to send me back and this time she'll never let me out! I'll be trapped there for the rest of my life!"

"Eric, I'm doing this to help you, not have you locked away." Chuck wanted Eric to understand. Chuck knew there was not a good chance that Eric would understand, at least now. But he wished Eric would just go willingly, so he did not have to force Chuck knew he would do it if he had to without a second thought.

"I swear to God, Chuck. I will kill myself before I go back," Eric threatened, immediately regretting his word chose.

This time Chuck did not even display a reaction. "I'm calling your mother." Chuck gave up trying to reason with him. Eric was not going to go willingly, no matter what Chuck said, so Chuck would have to make him. Chuck reached into his pocket to pull out his phone and realized it was not there. He must have left it at home in his rush to get to Eric. He went over to the home phone instead.

"No! Wait!" Eric begged, "I was kidding! It was a figure of speech!"

Chuck just shook head and started to dial. "That was just the second time you threatened to kill yourself in the past fifteen minutes. I'm not going to let there be a third."

Eric gave up. "Okay, fine. Call my mom. Can I go to my room and take a nap while we wait for her? I'm tired."

Chuck eyed his brother. The younger boy looked both mentally and physically exhausted and he knew that for what was coming next his brother would need all of his strength. But he was loathe to leave Eric alone for long"Alright, E. I'm going to call your mom and I will be in to check on you in five minutes. I expect you to be asleep in your bed when I get there," Chuck warned

"Okay," Eric agreed a little too easily. Eric turned to go back to his room but Chuck put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"I know you're mad at me. And that's okay. I would be too. But remember, I'm just doing this because I love you and I'm worried about you. I don't want you to die. I don't want you to keep hurting yourself. It's going to be okay. I promise." Eric just nodded and left the room.

Instead of going to his room like he promised Chuck he waited in the hallway until he heard Chuck start to talk on the phone. Once he heard Chuck arguing with his mother, he knew he was in the clear. His mother would make the conversation take a while he was sure. Lily van der Woodsen was in denial when it came to the problems of her children. But just to be safe and buy himself some more time he pulled out Chuck's phone, which he had managed to slip out of Chuck's pocket unnoticed.

I should have known a nobody from Brooklyn would be easy to defeat. First your sister, then then you're little step-brother, now you. You three should have never challenged me. Be afraid.