MONTH 1

Serena doesn't understand why Chuck just doesn't leave her when he finds out that she's pregnant with his baby. She expected him to glance down at her with that cold, calculating look he wears whenever he deals with incompetent associates at Bass Industries and she fully expected him to dismiss her when she barged into his office that cool October day. She never expected him to wear something so close to a smile that the hastily built walls around her heart crumbled and she found herself smiling back at him, her blue eyes tentative but her smile a mile wide.

"How far along are you?" His voice is inquisitive, and there is a touch of concern that Serena manages to pick out but she doesn't pay too much heed to the tone of his voice. After all, Serena's never been one to be analytical-that was Blair's job. He's still standing behind that gigantic silver chrome desk of his (he threw out his father's old fashioned, hand carved mahogany oak one the moment he stepped into position), but his hands are balled into fists and tucked into his pockets (not that Serena noticed).

Blue eyes meet mocha ones and Chuck is momentarily stunned by the light he sees within those ocean orbs before they glow even brighter when her smile widens. "Three weeks," she responds, her voice is soft and a little shy (quite unusual for a van der Woodsen, but especially Serena) but there's an excited, ebullient quality that is centerfold, something so Serena that Chuck can't help but always give a little inward smile whenever he hears her talk. Not that he'll ever admit it.

He begins to walk out from behind that silver chrome shield of his and soon the two are standing face to face, Serena is a little wind swept from bargaining into his office and he sees that her untamed golden hair isn't in perfect curls, that her skin isn't an ivory mask, that she doesn't wear carefully applied red lipstick nor does she smell of orchids and rainwater. Striding closer, their eyes never breaking, he takes in the sun kissed skin, the wide, almost doll like ocean blue eyes and the soft pink of her natural lips hue before he detects the scent of cinnamon and warm apples dancing in the air. She smells like warmth and something so close to salvation that he doesn't ever want to let her leave.

"And you're sure it's mine?" He asks, only this time is voice is stony, so far away from his true train of thought but he can't have Serena manipulate him like Blair did. He fell too hard, too fast, too stupidly for the New York debutante queen and he'll be damned if he lets New York's own golden girl play him as well (even though he knows she won't). Maybe it's because the two had an actual friendship established before anything else, or maybe it's because she's the only one he can trust, or maybe it's simply because she's just so bright that he finds himself wanting to know all the plays in the deck before making his move. Whatever the reason, Chuck Bass isn't sure, he wants to make sure Serena van der Woodsen is his, and his alone. Turning down to face her, his eyes grow icy when she fails to produce a response. "Is it?" He now demands, voice condescending and cold. Cruel to the very last beat, just the way the old man raised him to be.

Immediately, he sees the fire in her grow and knows that he'll be burnt if he doesn't move out of the way but Chuck's so tired. He's so tired of being in the cold, being alone, being a human glacier that he just wants to be warm again-and so what if he selects the center of the universe herself to be his sunlight? He can handle it. He's Chuck Bass.

"Your Chuck Bass," Serena states, her voice light but there's an undercurrent of animosity, "girls fall at your feet. We fucked and now I'm pregnant. Of course it's yours."

A pause. Then…

"Your things will be moved into my penthouse immediately and we'll announce this in the papers by the end of this week."

The golden girl's eyes widen in surprise, anger, and an amusement that she doesn't want him to see (he still sees it). "What the hell are you talking about, Bass? Moving in and announcing…? What do you think your doing?" She spits out because she will not be controlled by a man again. Not after cabbage patch, not after Nate (sweet, sweet Nate). She's not going to have someone tell her what to do or how to do it (even if she'll screw everything up when she tries to take care of it herself and ends up crawling back to the same people who tried to help her). "Your not the boss of me, Chuck."

Mocha eyes flash before a smirk is on his lips as he turns around and walks back to his desk. "Announcing the baby will save you from being slandered by the columns and Gossip Girl once she gets her little claws into this," he responds, pivoting around once he was safe behind his fortress again. Leaning down, he pressed his hands on the desk as he bent over, eyes skimming through a few documents when in reality, he just wanted to eye her figure up and down because he's Chuck Bass and he can't help but be a little leery when there's a beautiful woman in the room. "And as for me not being your boss, I do believe that I fund you and all your activities including that rather atrocious tab your ran up while shopping with Blair." He knows that it's a low blow to mention that the van der Woodsen fortune is gone (Lily being scammed out of every penny by the Humphrey's) and that he's her sole source of income now (well, him and a few big modeling agencies that pay Serena a hefty paycheck each week).

Lifting her chin, Serena rolls her eyes at his words (even if they are true) and crosses her arms because she's a van der Woodsen. "Just because we're friends and I'm pregnant with your baby now doesn't make you my boyfriend, got it?" What she actually means is apparent to the both of them: she doesn't want to be 'fixed' to fit anyone's mold anymore. She doesn't want to play the reformed, proper student (Dan), or the innocent, carefree girl (Nate), or even the boozy, hard core partier (Carter). She's all those things she knows, but she's also more. She wants Chuck to know that.

He nods. He has no intentions of fixing her because he's Chuck Bass and he doesn't fix things (at least for now). And the idea of being her 'boyfriend' is utterly ridiculous (even the name itself is far too plebeian). Why would anyone want to take up that silly little position? No, Chuck Bass always aims for the highest positions possible-and he intends to become Serena's husband by the end of her pregnancy by the name of Bass.

Hello UES, and boy do I have news for you. It seems that while our sweet S was mourning the loss of her fortune (and the Mrs. S), her knight in shining armor finally came and decided to sweep her off her feet and knock her up while he was at it. You read it correctly dear readers, S is now pregnant with the spawn of C…how will the UES react to this? I know I'm as miffed as anyone else but when you have the Princess of Manhattan and the King of New York procreate, you'll know that NYC will always be as exciting as ever.

XOXO,

Gossip Girl