Thank for all the replies once again. I love reading them and it does encourage me to write faster. Major props to my beta who was also a co-writer for this chapter. And in case I haven't mentioned it, go read her stories. She's kaela097 and she writes awesome B/C fic.
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"Hello?"
"It's me."
"Hey! Uh, hang-hang on, okay," Serena said before she put the phone at her side and looked at her mom. "I'll be right back. It's a girl from my English class. She needs to know what the reading assignment is for the weekend."
Lily nodded, "Strange timing but alright. Don't take too long. Dinner will be ready soon."
"I'll be fast, I promise," Serena said as she hurried down the hall to her room. She closed the door behind her and then went into her bathroom, again closing the door behind her. "Hey. Sorry about that, I was with my mom."
"It's okay. I didn't even think about the time. I should've waited until later on tonight."
"No, I'm glad you called. I wasn't sure I'd hear from you today," Serena admitted.
"I wouldn't not call today," Blair said.
"So, what are you doing today?"
"I'm helping the tea house down the street serve food to people who don't have anywhere else to go."
"B, that's really sweet."
"And it keeps me from being by myself today."
"I know of something else that would keep you from being by yourself today," Serena hinted.
"Nice attempt at a guilt trip, S," Blair said. "Really it was one of your better ones."
"I try," Serena said. "In all seriousness, I wish you were here. It'd be nice to make up for last Thanksgiving."
"Last Thanksgiving wasn't that bad," Blair said.
"I blew Nate off to help Tripp cheat on his wife."
"You wouldn't believe how drunk he and Chuck got," Blair giggled. "I had to have security pick them both up off the floor of the lobby."
Serena giggled at the imagery Blair's words created.
"Any sign of Little J?"
"No sign or word from my evil step-sister," Serena reported.
"And your step-brother?"
"The last time I saw Dan he was trying to convince Vanessa that it was a good idea to come over for dinner tonight. He wasn't having much luck from what I could tell."
"Serena," Blair said warningly.
"Oh you mean Chuck?"
"Yes, I mean Chuck."
"Haven't seen him yet," Serena admitted. "If he doesn't show, Nate and I are going over to his apartment and force feed him turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie. We figure it'll help soak up anything and everything he's currently drinking at the moment."
"I really wish you wouldn't put images like that in my head."
"Images like what?"
"Chuck drinking alone and pathetic in the penthouse of the hotel," Blair said. "It makes me feel bad."
"Sorry. I actually didn't mean to do that this time," Serena said. "But, if you had any thoughts of maybe calling him and letting him know that you're alive and well and not lying dead in a ditch somewhere, today would be a really good day to do it."
"Why?"
"Thanksgiving is your favorite holiday. Of course Chuck is going to miss you more today than he usually does."
"Right," Blair said quietly. "Look, I need to get going. Um, happy Thanksgiving Serena."
"Happy Thanksgiving, Blair," Serena said before they hung up.
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Chuck stared at the ceiling of his bedroom. He'd dreaded this day since the beginning of November and no matter how much Lily called with one guilt trip after another he was not showing at dinner that day to break bread with Rufus, Eric, and Dan. He looked off to the side at the bottle of scotch on the bedside table. Getting drunk at the moment didn't even to appeal to him.
Yes, but that's why I love you.
He groaned as Blair's words ran through his head. Maybe he should get drunk. It seemed to make Blair's voice disappear and leave him in peace for a few moments.
Sitting up he snatched the bottle and glass. Just as he poured himself a drink he heard Nate call out.
"Chuck, where are you?"
"God help me," Chuck mumbled. "Just please don't let him have brought-"
"Chuck," Serena's feminine voice echoed in the apartment.
"Serena," he finished with a groan
A moment later a blonde head peeked into his room and smiled, "Hey, you're here. Didn't you hear us calling?"
"I was hoping you'd go away if I didn't answer."
"No such luck," Serena smiled as she came into the room. Chuck noticed she was carrying bags.
"Do some shopping on your way over?"
"No. We brought leftovers," Serena said. "Nate's looking for whipped cream."
"I don't think we have any," Chuck said looking grumpily at her. "How was dinner?"
"Fine. Rufus was distant and aloof. Dan wouldn't stop staring at the door. Eric barely ate anything. Our mother tried to keep the conversation going without success for most of the meal. Oh, and did I mention? The only people who actually ate anything were me and Nate. So it was a banner holiday for our extended family."
"Thanks for the recap," Chuck responded sarcastically as he took a healthy drink from his glass.
"No problem," Serena said in a matching tone. "Mom really missed you."
"Don't Serena," Chuck warned.
"So, what number is that? Can't be too high since the bottle's still pretty full, unless this is bottle number two."
"It's my first one."
"Really? I'm surprised," Serena said as she took out some plates and containers. "I thought you'd be halfway to blitzed by now."
"Is that what the food is for? Neutralize the booze?"
"Yes," Nate said as he came in. "No whipped cream but I found some chocolate syrup."
"Chocolate syrup on apple pie," Serena raised an eyebrow. "That's kind of gross."
"Chocolate goes with everything," Nate stated defensively. "Went well on you."
"Too much detail," Chuck groaned.
"Oh you're one to talk," Serena said. "Do you know how many times we heard you and B- Never mind." She suddenly found the turkey on her plate fascinating.
Chuck stared at the liquid in his glass, "Last year at this time you and I were getting drunk, you remember?"
Nate smiled, "I remember Blair having security pick us up off the floor of the lobby."
"If you're being here is to cheer me up, could you please dispense with using the B word?"
"We're not here to cheer you up," Serena said.
"We're not," Nate looked at Serena in surprise.
"We're here to make sure you don't die of alcohol poisoning."
"How charitable of you," he mumbled.
"Tis the season," Nate chimed in.
"Besides, you shouldn't be alone on the holiday that the B word loves the most," Serena said. "You know that no matter how mad or how hurt she is, she wouldn't want that for you."
"I'd beg to differ," he replied, "She left me alone, remember?"
"I remember why she left you alone," Serena scowled in response. "I also remember that if I hadn't opened my mouth you'd be somewhere in Europe with some blonde."
"Serena, calm down," Nate said. "We're not here to fight."
"It's the holidays Nathaniel," Chuck said. "Fights are par for the course."
"No wonder she fled to Jersey," Serena mumbles under her breath.
"She fled where?" Chuck scowls at her as he easily translated her words.
"What," Serena looked up.
"You just said she fled somewhere," Chuck looked at her.
"I said I wanna be fed. Nate, feed me."
Nate looks at her in bewilderment as she opened her mouth to him. "You wanna what?"
"You two make me sick," Chuck growls.
"Suck it up. We're not leaving and I'm not going to stop being sappy," Serena said.
He quickly polishes off his first glass and pours himself another. He'd need massive amounts of alcohol to survive through this visit if it lasted much longer.
"Thanks," Serena snatched the glass from him involuntarily reminding him of the night she'd taken his glass from him the night after he'd tried to ruin Blair's relationship with Lord Marcus.
"Give that back," he ordered.
"Nope. Drinking is not going to solve your problems," Serena said as she took a sip and made a face. "Ugh. How can you drink scotch?" She passed the glass to Nate.
"Hand it over, Nate," Chuck put out his hand.
"Sorry man, I'm with her. Drinking is not going to solve anything."
"Then enlighten me as to how I'm supposed to solve this," he hissed, "Blair's run off with my child. I can't track her down despite my unlimited resources. What else is there to do but to get drunk past oblivion?"
"Do. Not. Give. Up," Serena demanded.
"Believe that she'll come back," Nate added. "She can't stay gone forever."
"She's gone. She's made it painfully clear that she wants nothing to do with me and can you blame her?"
"No, but you do," Serena said, tilting her head and looking at him. "You blame her for running away even though you did it first."
"That's bull," Chuck hissed.
"No it isn't," Serena shook her head. "She found out you slept with Jenny and she walked away. But you ran away from it all to Prague and managed to get yourself shot. I find you on accident and you're all ready to skip town with your latest conquest until I open my mouth and tell you that Blair's pregnant. Only then do you decide to be man enough to face your problems and come home. But it's too late. She's gone. Now all you can do is feel sorry for yourself."
"Is this your idea of a pep talk? If it is, stay away from the crisis hotlines because you suck at it," Chuck snarled.
"Chuck, you can't just stop living because you miss Blair," Nate said.
"It's more than missing her. It's worry. She's going to be giving birth in another couple of months. What if something goes wrong and we miss our chance to fix things?"
Serena fell silent as the guilt crept in. She'd swore to keep her best friend's secret, but she could see how the entire situation was eating Chuck alive.