At eight am on the dot Chuck heard his alarm going off. Instead of groaning about it though he was glad he had set it so early this time.
"Morning Sunshines," he announced as he burst into Nate's room with a tray of espresso for them both a little while later after having gotten ready for the day. Normally he wouldn't care to bother Nate while he was in his room with a girl, yet he knew he needed to pop in before something he couldn't fix happened between Nate and little Jenny Humphrey.
"Hey uh, Jenny's just on her way out actually... she just uh, crashed here... for the night..." Nate quickly spoke, trying his best to assure his roommate that nothing happened.
"Save it, - I know nothing untoward happened," Chuck reassured him, although truth was he was a bit relieved.
"Okay... I'm gonna go get dressed," Jenny declared as she quickly scrambled towards the bathroom, away from Chuck.
"Be careful, Nathaniel – you and Serena are on thin ice. All it takes is for someone to tap their foot for it to crack," Chuck warned once Jenny was out of earshot.
"And what exactly do you know about relationships?" Nate couldn't help wondering. Chuck was probably the last person he'd ever take relationship advice from.
"A lot actually as I'm trying to save my own," Chuck confessed as he pulled out his phone to check the time. "I suggest you do the same!" he hollered out to the foyer where Nate had disappeared to. Looking at the clock, he noted he still had time, assuming he could beat Jenny to Brooklyn.
"Serena?" Chuck called out into the Humphrey loft, having remembered they kept a spare key in the hallway. "Serena?" he called again as he made his way in further, nervous as to just what he was about to walk into. "Sis! Wake up!" he bellowed as he stepped into Dan's room, the door having been left ajar for anyone to just walk in and see Humphrey and Serena asleep in his bed.
"What time is it?" Serena groggily wondered as she tried not to wake up.
"Late enough," Chuck declared as he rolled his eyes before noticing her jeans lying on the floor next to the bed. "Get up," he demanded as he threw the pants at her on the bed.
"Oh shit! Serena, get up – it's morning!" Dan exclaimed as he quickly jumped out of the bed.
"Oh my god!" Serena declared as she too quickly sat up, scrambling for clothes. "Chuck, what are you doing here?! And don't look!" she ordered as she reached to put her pants on.
"Are you seriously forgetting we lived under the same roof for awhile? And I'm stopping you from ruining what you have with Nate," he responded with an edge to his voice as he turned his back to them both, watching the front the door. He knew Jenny would be by soon. "Come on, we need to get you out of here before anyone sees and it ends up on Gossip Girl," he added as he waited impatiently for her to hurry up.
"Alright, alright... I'm coming," she assured him as she looked around for her boots. "Last night..."
"Was a mistake. A big mistake," Dan spoke up, trying his best to get it through to Chuck.
"Nothing happened last night," Serena added as she peeled off Dan's shirt that she had fallen asleep in.
"Yeah... nothing at all – we simply fell asleep... after a bottle of wine and lots of talking," Dan felt the need to include.
"Spare me the details and excuses – the less I know the better," Chuck informed them. "Come on!" he stressed to Serena, glancing behind him to see just what was taking her so long.
"Alright, I'm ready!" Serena snapped, annoyed at Chuck's antics. "How... how did you even know where I was?" she couldn't help wondering as he quickly began ushering her towards the front door.
"It's a long story..." he grumbled as he reached to open the door, only for it to swing open, putting them face to face with Jenny.
"Uh... hi again, Chuck," Jenny remarked, a bit surprised to see him again already and at her home no less. "Serena?"
"Hi, Jenny! Bye, Jenny!" Serena called over her shoulder as Chuck continued to lead them away, not paying any mind to Little J on their way towards the steps. He could only hope Dan could come up with some convincing reason as to why they were both there.
"Georgina Sparks," Chuck spoke as he saw her now standing in the foyer. He had been expecting her visit, curious as to just what it was exactly she needed help with since he had blown her off previously.
"Da," she responded in Russian. "Nice hotel by the way... for the Upper West Side that is..."
"Look, just so we're clear – Operation Ditch the Bitch in Belarus was all Blair's idea," he was quick to point out.
"I don't want revenge – I need help," Georgina spoke, getting to her point already. "I'm scared."
"And what makes you think that I would care? That I would even bother helping you?" he inquired. One would have to admit, it did seem odd, given their history and him usually siding with Blair, Serena and Nate when it came to matters in dealing with Georgie that she would come to him.
"This isn't like the other times, Chuck," she began to plead. "The Russians don't mess around – it's really cold there... and there's like barely any designer jeans... and the average citizen drinks about 38 pints of pure alcohol a year!"
"What is it exactly you want help with, Georgina?" he cut to the chase.
With a sigh, she quickly began unfastening her coat. When she turned and opened it, his jaw nearly dropped as he looked on with a raised eyebrow.
"What the..." he uttered, lost for words.
"I'm pregnant," she announced with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"And how exactly do you expect me to help you with that?" he couldn't help wondering. "And don't you dare even try to claim that I'm the father because we both know that's not possible!"
"Don't worry, Bass – it's not your spawn," she stated with a slight grin, pleased that she could still easily make him squirm. "Although I do know who the father is..."
"Then shouldn't you be asking him for help?" Chuck stated the obvious.
"I would but I don't know how to tell him yet – he doesn't know and well... the Russians are after me and right now I'm more concerned for my safety and the safety of my baby than tracking down my baby daddy," she remarked, growing impatient. "So do you think you can help?"
"I... can set you up in a private suite for now, under an alias of course, if that would suffice?" he offered up. He genuinely had no clue just what more he could do for her. He was in no position to try and go up against the Russian Mafia right now and the only he knew that had ties capable of doing so was supposed to be going into labor later today.
"I guess that'll work... for now," she decided after thinking it over for a moment.
"I'll make the call and have them send up a keycard right away – you're welcome to wait here," he told her, prompting her to make her way over towards one of the couches.
"Thank you, Chuck," she gratefully told him.
Two people helped, two more to go, he thought to himself, deciding he would continue his streak into Brooklyn and help Dorota get to the hospital when her water broke before meeting Blair at The Empire State Building.
It was going on five o'clock when he made his way to Brooklyn, just a tad bit early but he knew it was better to be there when it happened than show up late.
So far the day had been going great. He had successfully gotten Serena out of the Humphrey loft before any suspicions were raised and Jenny wasn't able to snap a picture to send to Gossip Girl and therefore his best friend was none the wiser regarding where his girlfriend had spent last night and with whom. And he even helped the likes of Georgina – that was completely selfless of him as he never would go out of his way to help her. All that was left now was to get Dorota to the hospital and for him to meet Blair at The Empire State Building. It had to work, he just knew it.
However as six o'clock came and went and the sun began to set Chuck started to get a little worried.
Where are they? They should have arrived by now... something wasn't right, he thought to himself as he began to grow anxious.
"Arthur, to The Empire State Building," he ordered his driver as seven o'clock was fast approaching. Whatever happened with Dorota, he knew he needed to be there for Blair when she showed up. He would not be the reason for her tears anymore, he decided.
Yet seven o'clock came and went and still no sign of Blair. Knowing that she was most likely running late because of Dorota, he decided to wait a little bit longer. He was sure she would show up. She had came yesterday and all the previous days on her own accord without his interference or persuasion. There was no reason she wouldn't be there, he rationalized.
"Sir," the guard near the stairs spoke to him, pulling him back to reality. "I'm sorry but we're shutting down for the night – I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the man regretfully informed him.
Looking at his watch, Chuck noted it was going on eight. In all the previous days Blair was never this late. It was painfully becoming clear to him that she wasn't coming. Something had obviously happened.
Resigning himself with a sigh, Chuck tossed the bouquet of pink peonies in the trash nearby. At least this way if she does show up, she'll know you tried, he told himself as he approached the lift.
While he had tried to remain hopeful the entire ride home, he had to admit he wasn't too surprised to be stepping into an empty penthouse. No Blair... not even Jenny was there.
Frustrated as he thought he had done everything right, he helped himself to a drink, bringing the decanter of scotch with him as he made his way over to the couch.
He had dozed off at some point, glass still in hand, when he was woken up by the sound of Serena giggling.
"Oh hey, man!" Nate greeted him as they stopped in the entryway. "I take it things didn't go well?" he wondered as he stood there with his arm around Serena's waist. They both had clearly been drinking.
"You could say that..." Chuck mumbled as he sat up and poured himself another glass. "Where have you two been?"
"The hospital," Serena spoke up, a hint of excitement in her voice. "Dorota had the baby!" she practically squealed.
"Congrats to her and Vanya," Chuck grumbled with an obvious lack of enthusiasm. "Was Blair there?" he couldn't help asking. He needed to know. At least to make sure she was alright and nothing major had happened to her like an accident or something.
"Yeah," Serena replied with a nod. "Her, and Dan... and Camer-" she was quickly interrupted by Nate though, reminding her not to mention that last little bit around Chuck. "And the rest of her family!" Serena quickly tried to cover.
"I'm sorry, man," Nate took over, knowing it was too late and that Chuck had already heard Serena slip up.
"It's whatever..." he sighed with a hint of sadness. He couldn't understand what he had done wrong – he went out of his way to help everyone and yet she still didn't show and instead she was still with that Columbia Rugby player. "Why are you two so chummy this evening?" he couldn't help wondering. "She cheated on you with Dan and yet you two are acting like everything's fine again... I can't believe you'd be that forgiving that fast," he remarked absentmindedly as he downed the last of his drink.
"What?!" Nate exclaimed, this having been news to him. "You cheated on me?" he questioned Serena.
"Damnit, Chuck! What the hell?! Just because you're pissed off and moping over the fact that Blair didn't choose you doesn't mean you have to ruin other people's relationships!" Serena snapped at him.
"I think you did a pretty good job ruining your relationship on your own, sis," he sneered as he poured himself another glass. "He was bound to find out anyway... what with being on Gossip Girl and everything..." his voice trailed as he retrieved his phone to show them.
"What are you talking about? I didn't seen anything about Serena and Dan on Gossip Girl today," Nate pointed out to him.
"Here, let me pull it up... I don't know how you missed it," he stated as he began to search for the blast but to no avail. "What the hell...?" he wondered, confused as it seemed the post didn't exist. "I could have sworn it was there... Jenny sent it in..." his voice trailed only for him to suddenly remember. Jenny never sent it in. Because he had intervened, getting Serena away from Dan before Jenny arrived and had the chance. Nate really was clueless as to what happened between Serena and Dan. And he had just screwed it all up. And because there was no Gossip Girl blast, Blair never had a reason to go to Brooklyn to lay into Jenny. Her conversation with Dan regarding signs never happened and she somehow successfully managed to avoid The Empire State Building.
No wonder she didn't show today. The chain of events that made her realize what she wanted never happened. And it was all his fault.
"Damnit! Chuck yelled as he threw his glass across the room, causing it to shatter and making Serena jump. Without even attempting to clean it up, he retreated to his room for the night. He knew tomorrow was going to be yet another day to try again whether he wanted to or not.
AN: Happy belated Easter to those of you who celebrate!
So, Chuck tried to do good for others... and it completely backfired. How do you think that will affect him?
As always, thank you so much for the reviews/comments and favorites/follows! I do appreciate them all and I LOVE hearing your thoughts!
Until next time!