Hey everyone! I got a bunch of notifications telling me that people were adding "Till Kingdom Come" to their story alerts, but I only got a couple a reviews. Please review! I really enjoy getting your feedback!

Thanks again to my wonderful beta!

And thanks to Jet for their song, "Bring It On Back," which served as my soundtrack while writing this chapter.

Till Kingdom Come

"Bring It On Back" - Chapter 2

There she sat on a bed by herself on her seventeenth birthday. She should have been celebrating, but instead she had tears in her eyes. Yet again, Nathaniel had disappointed her.

He was a fool. He was a fool to ever sleep with Serena behind her back. He was a fool to take her for granted. And he was a fool not to want her.

"I'm not in the mood, Chuck." She said coldly as I walked into the room, her birthday gift hidden behind my back.

"This is pretty much the worst birthday ever." She sat up, smoothing out her black dress with her perfectly manicured fingers.

"Maybe it can be salvaged," I replied, as I revealed the black gift box I'd been concealing and sat down beside her on the bed.

"What is that, our sex tape?" She frowned, her ruby lips forming the perfect pout.

I smirked, opening the box to reveal the diamond necklace she'd placed on reserve.

"It's the Erickson Beamon necklace." She declared, her shock clearly visible on her face. I removed the necklace from the gift box and moved to place it around her neck.

"No, I couldn't," She protested.

"Yes, you can" I insisted, gently laying the necklace against her soft skin and fastening the clasp at the back.

"Something this beautiful deserves to be seen on someone worthy of its beauty. I really am sorry." I said as I adjusted the necklace. She grasped my hand in hers and our fingers intertwined.

I kissed her shoulder, and we sat there in silence for a few moments before I gently kissed her on the lips.

She eagerly kissed me back and slipped her hot little tongue into my mouth.

Blair, the little minx, pushed me down on the bed and straddled my hips.

"Chuck…" she purred in my ear.

"Chuck…" My eyes flashed open to see a giggling blonde propped on her elbow, staring at me intently.

"What time is it?" I snapped.

"It's nearly noon." She replied in her thick British accent and yawned.

"Are you kidding?" My head was throbbing from the amount of alcohol I'd consumed the night before.

"I'm not kidding, darling." She whispered in my ear.

"Out!" I ordered sitting up quickly.

"What? Chuck? I thought we could have tea?" She asked wide-eyed.

"Anna, I'm not really a tea and crumpets kind of guy. We had a fantastic night, but now show yourself out. I have business to attend to," I explained, jumping out of bed and opening the door for her. I was eager for her to leave, intent on getting a shower and getting dressed quickly before my flight.

"Hannah, my name's Hannah." She glared at me with a pair of emerald green eyes.

"Hannah, whatever your name is, out!" I shouted.

"But Chuck…" She pouted.

"Out! Now!" I ordered, the concept of a one-night stand seemed to be entirely lost on her.

"Asshole!" She yelled back, quickly throwing her clothes on before heading out the door.

Once she was gone I was finally free to take that shower and prepare for the trip home.

Home, that was funny; it'd been ten years since I'd actually called New York City home.

I'd left half way through my junior year to live in Monaco at one of the resorts my father owned. I left my father a note, but I never really said goodbye to anyone, not even Nathaniel.

Nate was my best friend, he had been since pre-school, but he was the one that had ruined it all. He stole her away from me. Okay, so technically she was never officially mine. Technically, she had been Nate's girl long before she surrendered her "virtue," as she had once called it, to me in the back of my limo.

After that night we had been meeting in secret, to carry on a secret affair. Blair was the only girl I had ever respected, I ever viewed as an equal, I had ever…. no, I couldn't bring myself to finish that. I was Chuck Bass, and Chuck Bass loved women. But he had never loved any one particular woman.

There she was. Her usual flowing chestnut curls pulled back in an updo. She was wearing the diamond necklace I'd given her for her birthday, and she was walking intently towards me in her stunning silver cotillion gown. She looked pissed, but who could blame her? Nathaniel, her "perfect" cotillion escort, had been thrown out for getting into a fistfight with that bastard Carter Baizen. The whole situation was a result of my scheming; I just had to get Nate out of the way so I could have Blair all to myself.

"Have you seen Nate?" She asked.

"Nate was asked to leave, but here I am." I grinned, pulling her closer to me and we began to dance. She looked into my eyes, and I could practically see the gears of her mind turning.

"I know that look, it's the look you have when your plan falls into place. You're enjoying this. You knew Carter was going to my house. You tipped off Gossip Girl. You ruined my cotillion on purpose." I could see the anger start to course through her. Damn, that girl was just too good at reading me. Blair took a deep breath and pulled away from me.

"You did all of this for your own enjoyment and didn't care what it would do to me. Which is exactly why you and I can never work," She declared, a look of pure hatred and disgust marring her perfect features.

"Please, slow down there, Waldorf." I pulled her back to me, wanting to crush my lips against hers and breathe her in.

"You make me sick." She pulled away from me again.

"This thing between us is over for good!" She spat angrily as she began to walk away.

"Blair, wait, I didn't mean…" I started.

"Don't talk to me!" She snapped, making a swift exit from the room with the sound of her stilettos clicking across the floor.

"Blair!" I shouted, causing a few of the couples on the dance floor to stare and snicker.

I thought it would be best to give her a couple of minutes to calm down. I grabbed a drink, but my hands were too shaky to hold the glass. I had to find her. I had to explain.

I went looking for her. Going out to the hallway, I bumped into a girl on the staircase I recognized from school.

"Hey, have you seen Blair Waldorf?" I asked.

"She went up there," The girl answered before heading down the stairs. I quickly climbed the stairs desperate to find my favorite doe-eyed brunette. When I reached the top, I literally stopped in my tracks. It felt like someone had knocked the breath out of me.

There she was… kissing Nathaniel.

"It was so hot how you punched Carter out. I've never seen you do anything like that before." She started kissing his neck and moving him towards an empty room.

He just happened to look up and see me, sending a wink my way.

I don't even know what came over me, but I left the cotillion immediately. I had gone back to my suite at the Palace and packed my bags for Monaco. Seeing the two of them together made me sick to my stomach in a way I'd never felt before.

Nate and Blair called and texted me hundreds of times over the next couple of months, but I never read a single text and I never checked a single voicemail. I deleted them all without reading or listening to them. Nate and Blair were inevitable, and I'd been so stupid to believe that I'd actually mattered to her.

I did eventually speak to Nate again. We talked briefly a few times after our senior year in high school. He updated me on what everyone was doing, but I was already well aware of all his news. Serena and Eric had kept me well informed of all the Upper East Side happenings.

He and Blair had completed their senior year and were headed for Yale. I'm still convinced his grandparents bought his way in, or that Blair did his application essays, because as much as I loved Nate, he had never really been an intellectual. I found it hard to talk to Nate… I just didn't want to. I couldn't be close to him… because he was with her. He could cheat on her and break her heart, and she still chose him over me. Nathaniel Archibald was the white knight of the Upper East Side and I… well, I was Chuck Bass.

Nate and Blair both excelled at Yale and were married nearly immediately after graduation. They'd sent a wedding invitation, but of course I didn't go. I sent them a lavish gift with a note of congratulations to keep up appearances. Almost exactly 9 months after their honeymoon they welcomed a bouncing baby girl. Blair had finally gotten all of her dreams to come true. Visions of the perfect little Archibald family came to mind, but a knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Come in," I announced.

"Mr. Bass, I just wanted to let you know that we've found your cell phone. You must have left it at the bar last night. The concierge just brought it up. Also, the driver is ready to take you to the airport whenever you're ready," My assistant, Gregory, informed me.

"Thank you, Gregory, I should be down soon," I told him. He nodded quickly, making his exit to allow me to finish packing up my belongings.

I still couldn't believe my father was dead. Our relationship was never easy, but we'd grown closer over the years. Lily had a lot to do with his change in behavior towards me.

Unlike all of Lily's previous marriages, this one was for keeps. In a weird, dysfunctional way, our two families joined together to create a pretty happy blended family.

But, our unusual family would be changed forever with the death of my father. I had honestly been shocked when Lily had called in hysterics to tell me my father had suffered a massive heart attack, and that the doctors were unable to revive him. I downed a bottle of his favorite scotch in his honor, and ended up spending my night with the blonde I had just kicked out.

The death of my father meant that I was in charge of Bass Industries… and that meant I would have to be in New York. After all this time I would be going back to the world I'd run away from. Even though I'd been back to New York a handful of times for business in the last decade, I had done so quietly, not making my presence known to anyone but my family or my closest business associates.

I flipped open my cell phone to find that I had missed calls and texts from Serena, Eric, Lily and… Nathaniel. He'd left a voicemail, and I hesitated for a moment before listening to his message.

"Chuck, it's Nate. Serena just called to tell Blair and me about your Dad. I know it's been a long time since we've talked. Hell, I haven't seen you since Serena's wedding and even then I only saw you for a couple of minutes. But I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I'm sure you're probably getting ready to head home so have a safe trip and hopefully we can really catch up while you're in New York. I've really missed you, man."

I snapped my phone shut and sighed.

After all these years of avoiding Nate, of avoiding New York as much as possible, of avoiding… her. I was going to have to be back there again.

I grimaced at the thought of the awkward reunions that were soon to be a reality. God, I hope my father had kept the liquor cabinet stocked, because it was going to take a hell of a lot of scotch to help me through this.

I'm getting ready to go out of town for the weekend. I won't have any internet access where I'm staying, but I promise I'll be writing! Hopefully I'll be able to update early next week. Next chapter, everyone will be back on the Upper East Side.