A/N: A long update this time, and by that I mean long!
I just want to say that while this is mainly a Chuck/Ivy story, I'm going to spend a good amount of time with the other characters. The other plots all tie in with what's going on with ChIvy, so bear with me. And don't worry, there's still a nice long interaction at the end of this chapter. Hope you like it!
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The next morning saw the beginning of the end of the New York winter. The sun was clear in the sky, the air clear and fresh and smelling only slightly of fumes. Despite everything that had been going on in Serena's life- the whole situation with the man she loved and her best friend, for starters- she couldn't help but be cheered up a bit. When the weather was this nice, it was impossible to remain gloomy.
She was on her way to class when she decided to stop in at Chuck's and say hi to the boys. The staff at the Empire knew her well by now and didn't look twice when she walked across the lobby and into the elevator. It was a short ride up to the top, past floor after floor of travellers and business types. The Empire had become well-known in the New York hospitality scene, and was never without guests. Just being here made Serena proud of her brother and all he'd accomplished. Even considering what it had taken to get him here.
"Chuck?" Serena called as she emerged into his suite. "Nate?"
She looked around, peering into Chuck's bedroom to find it empty, then into Nate's bedroom to find him and Lola fast asleep. Backing away quietly, she walked back-first into the very brother she'd just been looking for. Serena whirled around so fast she nearly fell over, prompting Chuck to grab her arm and steady her.
"Where were you hiding?" she asked, keeping her voice down.
"Just in the kitchen. Didn't want to wake up the lovebirds." Chuck walked over and shut the door of Nate's bedroom before returning to Serena. "What can I do for you, sis?"
"Oh, I just thought I'd stop by and say hi. See how you were doing with the whole Blair thing since… well, I know if I'm not feeling great about it, you must be feeling even worse."
"Actually," Chuck said, "I think I'm going to be okay."
"Well, of course you are! I always knew you would. I just didn't expect you to realize it so quickly. I don't know if anyone's told you this, Chuck, but you tend to mope."
I've heard that before, Chuck thought with a small smile. "Really, I'm fine. I appreciate your concern, though. Now I'm going to offer some of my own. As repellant as I may find Humphrey, I know you had feelings for him. Much like my feelings for Blair. So now, I'm asking you. How are you doing?"
Serena, a bit puzzled by this side of Chuck, was pleased. "Like you said, I'm going to be okay. Aren't we doing well for ourselves! I don't mean to jump the gun, but this may be something mature people do."
"Don't even say it," Chuck said. "You'll jinx it."
"Right. Of course not. Better turn the conversation around. So, what did you get up to last night? If you're this happy, you must have done something."
"Actually, I went to go see Lily."
Serena furrowed her brow. "My mother? I was home with her all night. And I'm pretty sure I would have noticed you there. The loft's not that big."
"Until last night, I wasn't aware she was staying at the loft. I went to the building. The one that's been repossessed by a certain faux cousin of yours."
"Oh, my God. Ivy. She's actually staying there? I thought she took it just to bother us. It's really annoying, too. I was going to move out of Blair's place and go to my old room till I found somewhere else, but now I have nowhere else to stay."
"Stay here."
"In the suite? There's no room."
"I'll get you a room in the hotel. But feel free to come up here as you wish. Not that that needs saying. You know you always have a standing invitation."
"I really appreciate it, Chuck. I mean, living with Blair was great for a while, but..." Serena trailed off for a moment, not sure how to finish the sentence.
Chuck did it for her. "You need your space."
"Precisely."
"Have all the space you want. We've got plenty."
"When should I move in?"
"Whenever you want. I'll tell the staff to expect you."
Serena grinned. "Every time I'm worried about something, I come here and you just fix it all up. You know what, Chuck? I think you might be a miracle worker."
"Serena, you are a miracle."
She hugged him, or he hugged her, and for a moment it just felt nice to be loved. Even If the love was about as platonic as you could get, even if it couldn't compare to the heart-stopping, blood-rushing loves they had lost, it was real.
"So, did you talk to her?" Serena asked, her chin on Chuck's shoulder, not wanting to let go.
"Who?"
"Ivy."
"Yeah. She offered me a drink."
Serena pulled back, suddenly indignant. "Did you take it? Wait, what am I asking? Chuck Bass, turn down a drink? Ugh, you took it!"
"It was some very nice scotch," Chuck said defensively. "I was being polite."
"Chuck, you cannot talk to her. She basically stole from our family!"
"The part of my heart owned by the van der Woodsens is appropriately upset. But the Chuck Bass part of my heart is somewhat admiring of her scheme. I haven't seen skill like that in a long time."
"I'm glad you're amused by our suffering," Serena said hotly.
"Says the girl with the million-dollar wardrobe about her mother, the business mogul who could feed most of Africa with her paycheque. Would you love me if I was any other way?"
"Oh, shut up," Serena said, and swatted him on the arm.
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The sound of voices crept into Nate's bedroom, causing his eyes to crack open. He glanced over at the clock on his bedside table. 8 o'clock?
"Shit," he mumbled, climbing out of bed. The movement caused Lola to wake up; she, who had been curled up tight in the blankets, stretched like a cat to get her blood going.
"Is this a one-night stand?" she asked. "Because you're running off pretty quick."
Nate, who'd been rifling through his closet for something to wear, laughed. "No. It's just later than I thought. I gotta get to work. I can drop you off at class on the way, if you want."
"It's not on the way," Lola pointed out.
"It is if you go the long way."
"You're sweet," Lola said. "But don't worry about me. I've got plenty of time to get there. Maybe I'll stay here, hang out with Chuck for a bit."
"I can see that happening. The free-spirit actress from Florida and the businessman from Manhattan? It's practically a sitcom already."
"Good idea! I call copyright."
Nate grinned and sat down next to her, giving her a kiss. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer, only to have him put his hands on her waist and gently push her away. Lola pouted at the rejection.
"Hey," she complained.
"I've got to get to work. You have no idea how badly I want an extra twenty minutes with you," he said. "Want to have lunch?"
She frowned. "Can't. I'm all booked. Some fancy restaurant with William van der Woodsen."
"William van der Woodsen? Your uncle-in-law? I thought you didn't want to get to know your family. And even if you did, starting with him is a bit weird."
"I thought so too. I don't know. He wanted to talk about something." Lola shrugged. "I figured, might as well. He actually seems sane."
"Well, have fun," Nate said as he disappeared into the bathroom.
"I will," Lola replied to the now-empty air.
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"Dorota!"
At the sound of the familiar cry from her mistress' room, Dorota- nearly eight months pregnant and far too tired for all this running- hurried up the stairs. She let herself into Blair's bedroom to find the girl lying under her blanket, pouting. Dorota sighed.
"Yes, Mees Blair?"
"I am friendless and alone," Blair whimpered.
"No, Mees Blair! You have Mister Dan, Mees Serena…"
"Mees Serena hates me right now. I guess if I were her, I'd hate me too. In fact, I kind of do hate me. Dorota, I'm about to tell you something that must never leave this room."
Wide-eyed, Dorota nodded, inching closer to her mistress on the bed.
As though the words were causing her physical pain to speak, Blair said, in one long stream of a word, "."
"Mees Blair!"
"Oh, come on, Dorota! I'm practically divorced. And it's not adultery if your husband is manipulative and evil. Now, can we focus on the matter at hand? We had sex and it was abysmal. Come on. Dispense some advice, s'il vous plait."
Dorota looked like she was about to pass out. Despite Blair's look of disgust, Dorota sat down on the edge of Blair's bed, cradling her swollen stomach with her hands.
"Mees Blair, I not the right person to ask about this," Dorota attempted.
"Well, who else am I supposed to ask? Serena? 'Hey, S, remember how I told you I had feelings for the guy you love and he likes me back? We fu- I mean," Blair interrupted herself, seeing the look on Dorota's face, "made love, and it was dreadful. Any tips?' I'm sure that would go over so well. I'm not going to talk to Humphrey about it, obviously. And he's probably talking to Nate right now. You know, Dorota, I don't actually have that many friends."
Dorota remained tactfully silent, prompting Blair to flop backwards onto the bed.
"I have never had this problem before," she declared. "Ever."
"Maybe you just… do it again. Until it feel right," Dorota suggested.
"Ugh," Blair said. "Forget it. There must be something in the Ladies' Home Journal." And with that, Blair leapt out of bed and left the room. Dorota, still seated, could do nothing more than boggle at how things had taken a turn.
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It had been a long day for Serena. After meeting with Chuck she'd gone to class, listened to a long and horrendously boring lecture on the Bronte sisters (three sisters, all writers? Jeez, couldn't one of them break the mold? Serena thought), and then had spent the rest of the day trying and failing to write a half-decent essay on the role of the modern woman in American culture. After giving up on that, she'd come to the loft to see her mother. Serena had been doing a lot of that lately. Anywhere was better than Blair's penthouse. The loft was small, but it was usually devoid of a certain Humphrey, who spent most of his time out. Serena didn't want to think about where.
The loft wasn't exactly agreeing with Lily- the word shoebox was used at least once, and angrily- but when Serena had walked in the door Lily's face had absolutely lit up. They'd ordered in, and now the two women sat on the couch while Serena listened patiently to her mother's gripes.
"I can't believe she kicked you out of your own home," Serena said.
Lily sighed. "What could I do? CeCe left her the apartment. According to my mother, I no longer have any right to live there."
"But that's not fair!" Serena cried. "It's totally ridiculous! Can't you fight it? Get a lawyer or something?"
"It's not that easy, I'm afraid. But enough about me," Lily said. "Tell me about you, darling. Whatever happened with you and Daniel? He's never around anymore. He's either with Nathaniel or Alessandra. Are he and Alessandra dating?"
"Well, that would be something, since he's currently dating my best friend. This after I told him I still loved him at her wedding. Did I mention that he ran away from me after that?"
Despite Lily's years of experience as a polite society woman, trained to keep her emotions well-cloaked, she couldn't keep her jaw from dropping at this news.
"Yeah, I know," Serena said.
"Oh, Serena. That is simply awful. I am so sorry."
"What are you sorry for? I told him how I felt, he didn't feel the same. It's that easy."
"Yes, but at the very least he could have the decency to not immediately go after your best friend! Who is, I may add, a married woman. How incredibly insensitive."
"Well, apparently they feel really strongly about each other, so who am I to get in the way of that?"
"I applaud you for being the bigger person, Serena. It's very mature of you. And completely opposite of what I would have done, by the way."
"Yeah?" Serena said, a smile curving around her lips for the first time since their conversation had begun. "What would you have done?"
"Oh, I would have destroyed them," Lily said, very matter-of-factly. Serena laughed.
"As great as that would probably make me feel, I just can't bring myself to try anything. Blair seems so fragile right now, I wouldn't want to do anything to upset her. Even though she's upsetting me. I guess it's unintentional. I mean, so much has happened to her. The accident, losing the baby…"
"It must have been horrible," Lily said, sadness creeping into her voice. "And you were there for her all the way through. When did my little girl get so grown up?"
"Oh, didn't we go through enough of that when I turned eighteen?"
"Apparently there was some left over."
They smiled at each other, and then, in unison, both of the van der Woodsen women took a sip of their drinks. The conversation turned from those heavy topics to something simpler- what movie were they going to watch? Having decided on Sixteen Candles, they were about to press 'Play' when the door burst open and Blair Waldorf herself stomped into the loft in a trenchcoat and a pair of frighteningly high heels.
"Humphrey!" Blair demanded. "Humphrey, where are you?"
She swiveled around, and upon seeing Serena and Lily on the couch, gasped. She grabbed at the collar of her trenchcoat, keeping it shut tight. Serena looked away, suddenly realizing what her best friend was doing. She knew exactly what was- or rather, wasn't- underneath that coat.
"Lily," Blair said. "Serena. What are you two doing here?"
"My husband owns this loft," Lily said, icy.
Blair seemed surprised by the usually genial woman's coldness. "Oh. Of course. I didn't mean to barge in on you so rudely. I was just looking for Dan."
"Well, he's not here," Lily replied. "Have a good night, Blair."
"Certainly. Sorry, again." Blair caught a glimpse of the television. "Are you two watching Sixteen Candles? I love that movie."
"Yes, we are," Serena said, and it became so frigid in the loft that she thought she might soon be able to see her breath. Blair hesitated for a moment, sparking irritation in the two blondes on the sofa. Serena was thinking, does she really think I'm going to invite her to stay here when she didn't even come here to see me? And Lily was wondering something along the same lines, only with more profanity.
Eventually Blair left. The van der Woodsen women listened as her high heels click-clacked out of the loft and down the hall. Without a word, Serena lifted the remote and pressed 'Play'.
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While Lily and Serena were cozied up in the loft, Ivy was sitting alone on the white couch she hated and pretending that she wasn't listening for the elevator. She was lonely, not desperate. And she didn't want to admit, even to herself, that she wanted Chuck's company. Because what if last night had just been a fluke? Maybe he just wanted something to drink. She offered, he accepted. It was silly of her to expect anything else from him.
But, she thought, that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to hope…
And then she got angry at herself for hoping, because hoping was stupid and unrealistic. Chuck was practically a van der Woodsen himself. He probably disliked her just as much as the others did. But then, why had he been so friendly last night?
Now, thinking about the van der Woodsens, Ivy felt that familiar tingle of guilt. She was beginning to think that taking their home away from them was not the best way to win back their affections.
When the elevator doors whirred open around nine o'clock, it took all her willpower to keep from spinning like a top to see who it was. Instead, she let the footsteps- his expensive shoes made a nice solid noise on the floor- move into the room before she turned ever so slowly.
It was Chuck. In a suit even nicer than yesterday's. Carrying a bottle of scotch.
"I thought I'd get you a housewarming present," he said. And she smiled.
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He'd poured them both a glass, and was now sitting beside her on the couch. Chuck was thinking about how much had happened in this penthouse. All the drama, all the scandals, and now he was sitting beside one of the biggest of them all.
He had to wonder how she'd gotten to this place. He knew the van der Woodsens were mad at her, but girls who looked the way Ivy did simply didn't go through life alone. They made friends just walking down the street. Was being alone a choice of hers? Conscious or unconscious? Either way, the girl was troubled. He knew the feeling.
Chuck found himself to be actually curious about the situation, and, deciding to check out his theory, he asked, "How is it that a girl like you has only a semi-depressed drunk to hang out with on a Friday night?"
"You're drunk? Already? You hide it well," she replied.
"You're good at dodging questions. Is that how you managed to convince a whole family you were one of them?"
"I guess so."
"Come on. There's really no one you'd rather be with?"
"Everyone I know in this city hates me."
"That's not true. Aren't you friends with Georgina?"
"I don't think Georgina's capable of having friends. Besides, she's out of town."
Chuck considered this for a moment. "Well, I don't mind you. In fact, I'm quite impressed by you. Deception is an undervalued art form, and you are a regular Picasso."
"I never liked Picasso," Ivy mused, taking a drink.
"Michelangelo, then."
She smiled and turned around on the couch so she could face him. "You know, I could turn that question around on you, Mr. Bass. How many billions have you got in your bank account?"
"A few," he admitted, swirling his scotch around in the glass.
"A few. And you're hanging out with some ex-white trash? What would Gossip Girl say?"
"I think Gossip Girl has said everything there is to say about me. You wouldn't believe the bombs she's dropped in her time, how many lies she's uncovered. Sometimes I wonder how different my life would be if she didn't exist."
"People would still do bad things. It would just take a bit longer to hear about them." An idea jumping into her head, Ivy went on, "Gossip Girl's on hiatus. Who knows when she'll be back?"
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"
"I think I am. I mean, come on, Chuck. What are we doing here?"
He looked at her quizzically. "Is that a philosophical question or a literal one?"
She rolled her eyes. "Literal. Look at us! We're young. We're wealthy. We're absolutely beautiful. What the hell are we doing sitting inside when the city that never sleeps is sitting right outside waiting for us?"
Chuck didn't respond immediately. The silence stretched out, five seconds, ten, until Ivy could hardly bear it. You could just say no, she thought.
"Unless you don't want to be seen with me," Ivy added, trying not to sound as embarrassed as she felt.
"That's not it," he replied. "Not at all. I'm just thinking about where I could take you."
"Where you could take me? I thought this was a mutual exploration."
"It could be. Or I could take you to Victrola."
Ivy grinned. Victrola. The palace of hedonism and debauchery. How could she say no?
"Let's go," she said.
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