Hello!
First off, thanks for all the reviews, subscriptions, favourites etc. It really is quite incredible to me and I am genuinely quite amazed that people (in huge numbers) are reading this story. So thank you, thank you, thank you. So I have been thinking a lot about your comments RE "Chuck's redeeming features" and since I was/am(?) a massive Chair fan I do feel your pain and I'm trying not to make this one-sided. This will be a much more Chuck-centric chapter up pretty soon as he finally starts to put his point across. I agree that Chair had/has(?) the potential to be amazing. Honestly, I haven't even decided the endgame of this story yet, it's just getting underway. All I know is that there will be no Chuck/Dan, so sorry about that.
Similarily, to those who are a bit annoyed that this is basically just one long conversation, thats kind of what I'm aiming for. A lot of people (myself included) think Chuck has gotten off a bit lightly this season for what he did and I wanted someone - conveniently Dan - to tell him a few home truths.
Obviously, they will get out of the elevator eventually and find Blair but not for a little while. Few more angst-and-anger hours left folks (face it, April is a long way away - we need to kill the time), so if you don't like it, come back later :)
Love xxxx
Chapter Four:
Chuck had never been the most patient person, but he was a game-player if nothing else. And when it came to Blair, he had no time for flippant answers. He knew that he'd acted reprehensibly, but it stung that someone as low as Humphrey considered himself to be close enough to Blair to call him on his actions.
He'd expected Serena to be a lot more protective of her best friend, but then it must be difficult for her to be caught between two of her friends. For the most part, she'd stayed aloof. Probably just taking the easy option and warning Blair away from him full-stop. Still. Humphrey's involvement was interesting, and not very worrying. But he was irksome, and his self-righteousness was beginning to grate. If what they had said was true, neither of them had even really talked to one another since Christmas. That was three months. How could he stand there and claim better knowledge of Blair on such short friendship? How could someone like Daniel Humphrey even believe that he could stand shoulder to shoulder with Chuck Bass.
"Frankly, it's insulting that you think we can run in the same race." Chuck's eyes were narrowed. "There's no competition, Humphrey, because whatever happens in the coming days or even weeks, Blair and I are inevitable. We complete one another. it's a different level to what you and she could even hope to achieve. Something so trivial, so downright superficial as taste in movies doesn't even figure into a relationship like ours. We are not special because of what we do together, we are phenomenal because of who we are together. It's something profound. Sometimes not sensible or even logical. But perfection.
Humphrey, you fail to understand the complexities of a real relationship. You adored Serena from afar for years, and I think were it not for Rufus and Lily throwing the Incest Spanner into the works, you'd still be mooning after her, uninterrupted. In some way, you'll probably be obsessed by her until you die. You retreated into the familiarity of Vanessa Abrams' arms as soon as things got remotely intense with Serena. If Blair and I are fire, you are vanilla. Blair is a different species to you, you ignorant prole. You might even see it as settling for Serena's best friend, which in itself goes beyond insult."
"I am not settling for Blair."
"You have known her, and I mean spoken with her for more than five minutes at a time, for less than three months. Blair and I go back to infancy. We are the same, and you cannot help but be an outsider."
"You don't want her Chuck. At least, you only want her when you can't have her. Don't you know how selfish it is to expect her to wait while you're with other women?"
"We did not expect one another to wait, chaste, until the time came. We simply parted in the knowledge that we would find our way back to one another."
"Well she chose to wait."
"For years, Humphrey, you have insisted on involving yourself in our lives. Your whole family has caused nothing but trouble for us all. Thank god you've held of Blair and I for this long, or else I would have had you killed a long time ago." Chuck grimaced and patted his pocket as though remembering something. "This should kill the time." He smiled, but not to Dan, more to himself, and withdrew a leather flask from his pocket.
"Chuck, are you kidding? They'll have us out soon." Dan let the insults slide, seeing as they shared a step-mother, and this stepmother was all Chuck really had of a family, he felt magnanimous.
"Who's they? Nobody is here, Daniel. We're going to be here awhile."
"All the more reason to preserve our resources."
"We'll get out of here eventually, but until then I'd like to forget as much as possible. You have no idea how depressing for me it is to be trapped in a lift with Dan Humphrey. Of all the people in this city." He grimaced again and took a long gulp from the flask. "What a waste."
"I've never liked you either, Chuck." Dan said, matter of factly.
"I've always disliked you." Chuck took another gulp. "You represent everything I despise. Pseudo-intellectual posturing, all this looking down on money as if you genuinely believe that there are more important things. At least Jenny was honest, all she wanted was to be like Blair and Serena. And Rufus has married into this circle. It's just you. I wonder that Blair didn't see though you for the fake you are. Does she realise that you hate everything she stands for, everything that she is?"
"Blair isn't like you, Chuck. She isn't defined by her wealth, her background."
Chuck smiled joylessly. "And I am? And you aren't? Grow up, Humphrey. You don't have any idea, do you?"
Dan felt uneasily like the balance of power had changed somehow in the elevator. How was it that they were being left in here so long? Where were the maintenance people, the building staff? It made no sense.