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A loud knocking at the door to the penthouse awoke Chuck from his slumber. The warmth of Blair lying beside him brought a smile to his face. He rolled over and wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. A soft moan escaped her lips as she rolled onto her back, her eyes fluttering open.
"Good morning, beautiful," Chuck whispered, dropping down to kiss her lips. The knocking at the door had subsided for a moment, allowing him a few more moments in bed.
"Good morning," Blair whispered, reaching up to rub the sleep away from her eyes. "Who was at the door?"
"Probably some employee who got lost," Chuck replied, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned down to kiss her again. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to straddle him as he rolled onto his back.
Just as the blankets fell to her waist, the door to Chuck's bedroom flew open, bouncing against the wall with a thud.
"What the hell?" Chuck growled, propping himself up on his elbow to look past Blair. His eyes met his father's, and he collapsed against the pillow with a sigh, nudging Blair to roll off him and shove the blanket off himself and onto her. "What are you doing in here?"
"So this is why you couldn't be bothered to answer the door?" Bart huffed, rolling his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. Bart opened his mouth to say something else, but Chuck interjected before he could speak.
"What do you want?" Chuck said, standing from the bed and making his way toward his father.
"We need to talk," Bart replied, looking past him to Blair on the bed. "She needs to leave."
"Her name is Blair," Chuck growled, gritting his teeth as he narrowed his eyes at Bart. "Give me a minute, and I'll meet you in the foyer."
Bart shook his head, spinning on his heel and retreating out of the bedroom. He was mumbling something under his breath, but Chuck couldn't make out what he was saying. However, if Chuck was honest with himself, he really didn't care what his father had to say at that moment.
"What the hell was that about?" Blair asked, pulling a sweater dress over her head.
"I don't know," Chuck huffed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry he interrupted our morning."
He took a step toward her and cupped her cheek, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to her lips. A smile pulled at Blair's lips as he moved away from her, gently brushing his thumb against her cheek.
"You'll just have to make it up to me later," Blair laughed, moving past him to grab her shoes and slip them on her feet.
"Meet me at Victrola for a drink this afternoon," Chuck said, adjusting his shirt before following her out of his bedroom door.
Bart was pouring himself a drink at the bar when Chuck and Blair emerged from the bedroom. He let out a huff as the pair moved past him to the penthouse door. Chuck pressed a kiss to Blair's cheek before she left and waited for the door to click shut behind her to redirect his attention to his father.
"I see you wasted no time making yourself at home," Chuck said, rolling his eyes as he entered the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"I'll get straight to the point," Bart said, downing the amber liquid from his glass and placing the glass on the counter with a clink. "If you are serious about taking over the family business, you need to grow up. It's time to move past sleeping around and playing games."
"I'm not sleeping around," Chuck replied, narrowing his eyes at Bart and biting his tongue before he said something else he would regret.
"You have a choice to make, son," Bart stated, pulling his lips into a firm line as he moved to stand in front of Chuck. "You can either take your place in the family business and break up with your little side piece, or you can lose your place at Bass Industries."
"Don't you dare speak about Blair that way," Chuck growled, stepping forward and squaring up to his father. "She's not some side piece, and I love her."
It was the first time Chuck had ever uttered those words about his feelings for Blair, and it killed him the first time he said it was to his father in the middle of an argument. He cursed under his breath and scrubbed his hands over his face.
"You have a choice to make, Chuck," Bart told him, patting a hand on his shoulder as he moved past him and made his way out of the penthouse, leaving Chuck in his living room alone in his thoughts.
It's your move, Chuck Bass. Are you going to follow daddy's wishes or follow your heart? You know you love me. xoxo, Gossip Girl
Chuck was staring into an empty scotch glass when Blair surprised him at the bar that afternoon. She was wearing one of his favorite dresses, low cut and silky smooth. Every nerve in his body wanted to reach out and wrap her up in his arms, but he had already made his decision. His childhood dream was to take over Bass Industries. He had watched love come and go in his father's life, so he was confident that the same would happen to him. Blair was just a phase of his life, even though it would hurt like hell for him to let her go.
"You started without me," Blair chirped, taking a seat on the bar stool beside him and flagging down the bartender. "A glass of champagne, please."
"What are you doing?" Chuck asked, furrowing his brow at her. He turned to the bartender and shook his head. "She'll have a diet coke."
The bartender nodded his head and walked away, leaving Blair to stare at Chuck with a puzzled look on her face.
"What the hell?" Blair whined, smacking Chuck's arm. "You invited me for a drink, so what was wrong with what I ordered?"
"You can't order champagne in public," Chuck tsked, shaking his head as he finished off the last of the scotch in his glass and flagged down the bartender for another. "You aren't old enough to drink."
"We're the same age," Blair replied, cocking her head. "Chuck, what is going on?"
Chuck took a deep breath, stroking his thumb through the condensation on his glass. "We need to stop seeing each other."
Blair's eyes went wide, taken back by the casualness of his voice with the statement he had made. As far as she was aware, their relationship was going great. She had spent the night with him last week, and if Bart hadn't shown up this morning, she would have also spent the morning there. Blair thought about it for a moment and reached out to rest a hand on Chuck's bicep.
"What did your father say this morning?" Blair asked, her voice calm as she made a concerted effort to take slow, steady breaths. She was trying to keep her emotions in check, so she didn't overreact - no matter how badly she wanted to smack him upside the head at that moment.
"Nothing you need to worry about," Chuck replied, keeping a watchful eye on the bartender. The bartender kept glancing their way, and it was almost as though he was waiting for a lull in their conversation to return with the drinks. "He just pointed a few things out."
"Like what? How much of an ass he is?" Blair asked, rolling her eyes. "Everything was fine when I left this morning."
Chuck tuned her out and let his mind be flooded with thoughts of their morning together. It was a glorious morning until they were interrupted. He would curse his father to the end of his days for taking away his peaceful morning with Blair. Then his mind trailed to all the moments he had spent with her over the last several months. The memories that flooded his mind brought a smile to his face, but the smile quickly faded as he was reminded of what he needed to do at that moment - no matter how badly he didn't want to do it.
At some point during Blair's speech and Chuck's journey through his memories, the bartender delivered another scotch for Chuck and a champagne flute full of diet coke for Blair. The irony of the situation caused Chuck to toss his head back with a laugh.
"What's so funny?" Blair asked, turning to look at the glasses on the bar. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the drink from the bar, lifting it to her lips and taking a sip. "Were you even listening to me?"
"No, I guess we're not as compatible as we once thought," Chuck replied, shrugging his shoulders. He turned away from her towards the bar and picked up his glass. As he lifted the glass to his lips, he felt Blair's hand collide with the side of his head, causing him to drop the glass onto the bar. The glass shattered, spilling the scotch all over the place.
"Not as compatible as we once thought?" Blair screamed, her cheeks flushing a bright red. "What the hell does that even mean?"
Chuck took a deep breath, pulled on his jacket to straighten it, and brushed off the scotch that had landed on his jacket. "It means," he paused, turning to look at her. "That I have outgrown you."
Blair's nostrils flared as she exhaled sharply. She opened her mouth to respond but closed it quickly and reached for her purse. Blair turned swiftly on her heel and stormed away from the bar, leaving Chuck in her wake. She mumbled to herself the entire way out of Vitrola, fighting the urge to let her tears fall as she brushed past myriad strangers, all of whom were staring at her as she walked by.
"Get out of my way," she growled, shoving past a group of women who were waiting for the man at the coat check to take their belongings. She slammed one hand down on the table and furiously hit the bell with the other.
Chuck moved slowly from the bar to the doorway leading to the club's exit, all the while keeping a watchful eye on Blair. He knew she would be angry, but he was doing what was best for the both of them - even if he had just lied straight to her face. Chuck crossed his arms over his chest and leaned up against the doorframe.
"My apologies, ladies, for the rudeness of my guest," he said, offering the group of women Blair had barged past a smile. He turned his attention to Blair, who was trying her damnedest not to look at him but couldn't help peaking at him out of the corner of her eye as she waited impatiently for the coat check.
"Where the hell is he?" she grumbled, shaking her head. She pressed the bell a few more times until a familiar hand covered hers on top of the bell. She slowly turned to look up and saw Chuck towering over her. The burn of tears welling up in the corners of her eyes forced her to close them tight for a few moments and take a deep breath. She slid her hand out from underneath his and tucked wiped it against the front of her dress. "What do you want?"
"Incessantly ringing the bell isn't going to make him get your belongings any faster," Chuck remarked, looking her once over. He could tell she was close to tears. No matter how much he hated what he was doing, it needed to be done, and it was to protect her in the long run.
"Why are you talking to me? I thought you had outgrown me," Blair hissed, rolling her eyes.
"I'm just here to make sure you don't destroy my club in your storm," Chuck replied, resting his hands on the coat check window. He smiled when he noticed the young man bringing Blair's coat toward them. "There you go."
Blair snatched her belongings from the coat check and quickly made her way out of the club. The tears that had been welling up in the corners of her eyes started to roll freely down her cheek, burning against her skin as she made her way out into the cold air.
This had to be a nightmare that she would eventually wake up from, right? Then she heard the ping from her phone, and she slipped it out of her pocket with a sigh.
"Damn it," Blair cried, covering her face with her hands as her phone fell to the ground.
Victorla is the hottest club in town with the best dancers and drinks on the Upper East Side, unless you're Blair Waldorf. All that Victrola holds is heartache and misery. xoxo, Gossip Girl