A/N: So, I told you I’d be updating soon….but you didn’t think it was going to be the very seguinte day, did you?! HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!! Nope. Lol. XD But it is, and you’d BETTER review…because these chapters are getting longer por the segundo and I need reviews to sustain myself….and you know, for motivation too. Lol. ;p
DISCLAIMER: Yeah, yeah, yeah….so I don’t own Gossip Girl! Stop reminding me! *huffs*
*Thanks to my BFF, Kira, for coming up with the genius chapter title! YAY! *HUGS!!*
………………
Ch.13-Muddied Waters
Awkward was an understatement.
Here they all sat. Dan and Nate on one side. Chuck and Blair on the other. Dorota hovering over the mesa, tabela filled with delicious snacks. Far too much for anyone to eat in one sitting.
Nate shifted in his assento occasionally.
Dan opening his mouth to say something every so often, but getting shot down por Chuck and Blair’s death glares from across the small coffee table.
The two had been abruptly forced to come down for a ‘snack emergency’, and if Blair had known Nate was behind it, there was no way she would’ve budged from the room. Especially since the particular activity she was participating in…wasn’t exactly….finished. The only thing officially pulling them out of their private domain was Dorota’s threat to come in on them with her own personal key.
Safe to say, Chuck baixo had never gotten dressed so fast in his entire life. Result? Wrinkled shirt. Messy pants. One meia gone. Hair going the wrong direction.
Dorota didn’t comment.
And even though the now peppy maid would have liked to stay there during the whole “talk”, she was ushered away with a wave of Blair’s hand and a wink from the proud, yet now unsure Archibald.
Blair’s eye twitched once Dorota was gone, not allowing Nate to get around to any conversing until he had sufficiently seen her death glare. It said everything and nothing all in the o espaço of a single moment. What the heck?! What did you do? How did you do it? And the most obvious one… If you break her heart, I will kill you.
He looked at the floor, refusing to allow the cross-armed, huffing, hormonal teenagers to knock him down anymore with their accusing stares.
Dan cleared his throat, and the two changed their targets. Not taking their piercing view from the unwanted Brooklyn boy as they simulatneously grabbed a biscoito, bolacha and some grapes from the table, plopping them in their own mouths, and chewing quietly.
Dan was definitely freaked, and did not even attempt to open his mouth again.
“We’re here about Vanessa,” Nate began, forcing his softened gaze to speak some truth to them.
Both Blair and Chuck held their death glare for another moment or so more, until they realized the golden boy was not backing down. Blair sighed, leaning back in her chair and laying her own intertwined fingers in the midst of her lap. “So, you’ve said,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Something is going on with her,” he continued. “I mean, you know and I know that I wouldn’t come to see you, Blair, if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”
She nodded absentmindedly.
“Boy, do I know how that feels…” Chuck muttered under his breath.
Blair said nothing, but she turned her face away and towards the window.
Chuck finally looked back up at Nate. “So, why exactly are you here then.”
Nate looked in shock at the young Bass. Was he actually going to listen to them? Take them seriously? He looked and Dan who only shrugged, unwilling to speak up again. He turned back to Chuck. “We don’t know where she is.”
Chuck’s expression changed from straining attention to deep concern. His lips parted slightly.
“She woke up in Dan’s cama this morning, because he found her past out on the rua just a few blocks away…”
“Brooklyn,” Blair muttered, scoffing.
“….and then she just left, in a hurry, rambling off about crazy things that didn’t even make sense,” Nate continued. “She seemed threatened por seeing me…and…and Jenny—”
Dan cut him off, finally opening his mouth again. “But that was obviously because she thought you were still mad at her and that you were interested in Jenny.”
“Which I’m not.”
“I know….I’m just saying….”
“Can we just continue on please?!” Blair exasperated, waving a frustrated hand in their face.
Chuck looked to her momentarily, before looking back at the two desperate boys. “Yeah…so far all you have is a crazy person who doesn’t want to be in Brooklyn.”
Dan rolled his eyes, and then leaned forward. “You don’t get it. It’s not only that she wanted to leave because of Nate and Jenny,” he gestured back to Nate, who leaned back in his chair, sighing. “And it’s not just because she was trying to get out of Brooklyn, which I don’t even think is the case, since she lives there…”
“Sometimes people want change,” Chuck countered, leaning forward, his eyes intense, and Blair looked to him suspiciously, finally starting to pay attention.
“That wasn’t the case,” Dan continued on, regardless of Chuck’s Frozen - Uma Aventura Congelante features. “She left, nobody has seen her all day, and this morning when I asked her how she had gotten to her unconscious state on a Brooklyn sidewalk…she had no answer. She couldn’t remember ANYTHING. And she was paranoid about a cell phone, which I’m starting to think wasn’t even hers.”
Chuck scoffed, leaning back again. “And what makes you think that?” he crossed his arms against his chest.
“She was having a nightmare when I walked in to check on her this morning…”
Chuck’s eyebrows rose. “And?” he drawled.
“It was about you and Blair,” Dan finished.
“What?” Nate asked incredulously, turning to his knowledgable friend. Dan only nodded in response.
“Well, I guess that gives us a good reason as to why you ended up here,” Blair huffed.
Dan only nodded.
There was silence for a few moments, and Nate could tell that Chuck was thinking hard. He turned to Blair a few times, who seemed just itching to end the conversation and not in a very caring mood at all. She only sighed a few times, for dramatic purposes.
After awhile, Nate leaned progressivo, para a frente and interrupted his ex-best friend’s thoughts. “Chuck.”
Instantly his deep brown eyes flashed to him.
“Tell us what you know.”
Chuck looked at Nate and then at Dan and back at Nate again. They looked desperate and a hundred leagues passed worried. And he knew that por the sudden eagerness written on their faces, so did he.
“Vanessa was nice to me,” Chuck began, “she believed in me.”
Blair’s eyes widened at this sudden confession. She turned her head to glare at him, but he had sunken into some sort of dream-state, once he began his tale. She could almost hear Chuck’s light-hearted laughter from only a few nights before as he shared a drink with that idiot Brooklyn girl. The way she had melted his coração after the outburst from his father. The way he had suddenly talked about her being WORTH playing with. Since when was someone from Brooklyn EVER worth it? Well, Nate and Serena had decided otherwise obviously, but she thought her and Chuck were different. She thought they were…
“…she helped me get through yet another quarrel with my father. She didn’t have to, but she did. And then I yelled at her,” he sighed, regretting it all. He raked a hand through his hair, and Blair tried to keep the tears from falling. “I shouldn’t have yelled at her.”
Blair’s mouth hung low at this revelation.
He had yelled at her? Over what? Whatever it had been, even if it WAS about her…he regretted it.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Chuck asked, softening up completely.
Nate and Dan only looked on. Complete worry still filling their pale faces. “Why don’t you tell us exactly what happened. That way we can take clues from this and try and figure out exactly what’s going on,” the blonde boy answered.
Chuck let a smirk slide into his face. “No one researches like Chuck Bass,” he smiled smugly. “You’re going to need my help when you do this.”
Both of the boys in front of him visibly relaxed. But Blair scoffed.
She needed some form of anger if she was going to get past the tears.
“Well, I hope you have fun tracking down your lover, boys!” she spat out, gathering her saia up in her hands and heading for the door.
Chuck’s concerned face dropped as soon as the presence beside him had vanished. He watched her as she grabbed her coat, and panicked when she headed for the elevator. He was so confused as to why she was angry, but he knew it was directed at him. She hadn’t had a segundo thought to Nate and Dan’s care for the missing girl.
“Blair, wait!” he called out, standing up. “Where are you going?” he asked, moving past the guests and into the foyer which she had gravitated to.
“Nowhere YOU need to concern yourself with,” she huffed.
He grabbed her hand before she entered the elevator. “What are you talking about?! YOU are the most important thing to me. WHEREVER you go is THE place I need to concern myself with,” he pleaded.
And she looked at him. Crestfallen, and tears about to fall. She would’ve melted. She would’ve believed every word and forced the two idiots still in her sitting room to hear live the moans that would’ve escaped their lips.
But she couldn’t escape her own thoughts.
She couldn’t get Chuck’s confession about Vanessa out of her head.
It bled through her. And all she wanted was to get out.
To escape.
“I wish that were true,” she stomached, holding back the tears. She had left him speechless, and he let her walk away. Into that elevator. Out into whatever madness she decided to run to. Why he had let her get away was beyond him, but her words confused him. And he didn’t even know WHAT he would have said…if he had indeed followed her.
“Chuck?” Nate called, stepping out into the foyer. He looked at him concerned, like he cared what was happening between the two of them. “Is everything all right?”
Chuck looked so broken then. He had lost Blair too many times to count, but he had always known why. It just didn’t register now.
“Will you just finish telling us?” Dan begged, coming up behind Nate.
Chuck’s eyebrows narrowed. What right did they have for his attention? For his answers? For his help?
“There’s no one else we can really go to…that would actually know what’s been up with her,” Dan rambled on.
Chuck closed his eyes in frustration. “Okay, first of all, shut up.”
Dan’s mouth snapped shut.
“Second,” he pointed to Nate, “You have NO right to ask me what’s going on in my life, especially with Blair.”
Nate looked taken aback.
“You lost that right when you traded me for Humphrey Dumpty over there,” he moved smoothly past them and sat back in his chair, a frustrated hand lying across his face por the time the two of them had rejoined him in their own seats.
Dan cleared his throat a moment later, and there was Chuck’s death glare back on his face.
“Chuck, please,” Nate pleaded.
Chuck turned to him and scoffed. “Please?” he mocked.
Nate nodded slowly. “This is about Vanessa. If you care about her AT ALL, you will help us. You will tell us everything.”
Chuck’s wheels began to turn again, as he considered the option golden boy had laid before him.
“I mean, you and Blair are always going to be fighting,” Dan began, and Nate’s eyes closed in the ‘wrong time, wrong place’ comment Dan had just spoken. Dan chuckled, and that just added to the fire. “I mean, you’re pretty much doomed to fail.”
And there was Nate’s exasperated sigh.
Followed por Chuck’s death glare, and twitching jaw.
“You’re just a bunch of hormones! Don’t think we didn’t hear you upstairs in her bedroom.”
“Dan….” Nate warned.
“What?” he asked, looking innocently at Nate who gestured to Chuck’s clenching finger nails against the chair.
“Oh,” he laughed nervously, “Not to offend though…”
Chuck’s hooded eyes grew deadly intense. “I’m sure.”
Nate waved off Dan. “Don’t listen to him, man.” And though the elder Humphrey looked offended, he kept his mouth shut at Nate’s warning glance. “You and Blair are none of our business.”
Chuck scoffed but said nothing.
“But Vanessa is,” Nate continued, “and you know something.”
Chuck sighed, leaning back in his chair.
“…and when you know something about someone you care about who is in trouble…”
Chuck nodded, cutting Nate dry from his persuasion speech.
“On one condition,” Chuck leaned progressivo, para a frente again.
“Anything,” Nate complied.
“Brooklyn’s trap stays sealed?”
Dan gulped at the suggestion.
Nate nodded hesitantly. “He won’t say anything else.”
Dan was about to open his mouth to speak, when Nate’s hand in front of his face stopped him. “He promises.”
…………………………………….
It was not easy watching her normally confident, spunky friend drive herself crazy por not being able to remember a single cause as to how she could have ended up unconscious on Dan’s cama again. She had refilled up her glass of water time and time again, but it didn’t seem to be doing her any good. She just became mais enraged with herself as the energy was restored and the memories were not.
“It’s not your fault,” Jenny soothed, “Something bad must’ve happened.” And with that Vanessa’s eyes shot up in horror. Probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say. “I mean…” she attempted again, “something to lose your memory like this. Maybe you hit your head on something?”
Vanessa nodded with a shrug. “Not that I can remember.”
Jenny sighed and slumped seguinte to her on the bed. “Well, what’s the last thing you CAN remember?”
The dark haired girl exhaled a few worries. “Going home, closing the door…remembering,” suddenly a light went on and she turned to Jenny in excitement.
“What? What is it? Have you remembered something?” she asked, turning towards her as well.
“Chuck’s phone.”
“Huh?” Jenny looked at her confused. “What does Chuck have to do with any of this?”
Vanessa contemplated the situation and wondered if it was really worth it to get the naïve little blonde involved. “Uh…”
“Was he the last person you saw?” she asked, scrunching her nose. “Wouldn’t have been MY personal choice…” she slumped back against the wall.
Vanessa let out a quiet giggle. “No, no, no…but interesting,” she gestured to Jenny who only rolled her eyes.
“Well then what?” Jenny asked. They seemed so close to getting somewhere and yet her friend seemed VERY reluctant to speak any mais on the matter of the notorious womanizer.
Silence.
“Okay,” Jenny rolled her eyes, “We don’t have to talk about Chuck,” again she scrunched her nose up at the very mention of him. Vanessa had forgotten that he had almost date-raped her at her first school party. A part of her softened for the girl, remembering the thoughts she USED to have for the high society boy she recently discovered had a heart…even if it was a amargo, amarga one.
“Who did you see last? Before you woke up here?” Jenny’s words brought Vanessa back and out of her own thoughts. She KNEW the answer to THIS question.
Kevin.
But was it worth bringing up? Bringing into this madness that had become her daily life? How can a couple messed up days screw around so much with a girl’s mind? And this 14 ano old boy she had met had seemed so shy and yet carefree and innocent? She would never have guessed that he wished harm on her.
Not that fainting a couple times was really wishing harm….but still. She would have never seen it coming. If anything he had developed a crush on her. That was all. But even that was far-reaching. It seemed Vanessa Abrams was not too lucky in the boys department.
She sighed.
“Vanessa?” Jenny asked, “Are you okay?” She put a hand to the older girl’s forehead.
Vanessa nodded, snapping out of it, and pulling the warm hand away. “Are you my mother?” she mocked, and the girls giggled.
“Well?” Jenny asked, after they had both receded from laughing.
Vanessa pursed her lips. It was now or never.
“Do you remember even that?” the blonde was so worried for her. And it was probably best if she let her know everything. They were very close after all.
“Yeah,” she nodded, “I do.”
Jenny’s eyes lit up.
“His name is Kevin. He was…this guy, I met…at this new o jantar, lanchonete right after I left this morning.”
The young girl’s eyes went from lit up to confused and concerned. “Do you think he’d want to harm you?”
“No, never. He’s completely harmless,” Vanessa said, immediately and with great conviction.
“Had you met him before?” she asked, trying to find another piece to this puzzle.
Vanessa shook her head, numbly.
Jenny sighed, getting a grasp on her own thoughts before continuing the enticinly mais twisted conversation. “Tell me about him,” she said suddenly.
Vanessa looked at her, confused. “What?”
“Tell me about Kevin.”
Vanessa gaped.
“And don’t leave anything out.”
She looked away, unsure.
“Look, V, if you want to find out what happened to you…your best is to tell someone like me, a good friend, what’s been going on with you. Maybe I’ll be able to see something you can’t.”
Vanessa turned back to look at her, and hesitantly, she nodded.
…………………………………….
It was nearing midnight, and Kevin was sure he had lost track of the right rua to turn down on. It wasn’t like he’d be learning to drive anytime soon, but he sure would’ve loved to get off work earlier. It was unfair to him. 14. First…no that’s a lie, Fifth job. But the others were off his record now. His brother had made sure of it.
He sighed. His brother had given him everything that he could. A job. A roof over his head. A decent education. But it had all been for a price. And he had paid it. Every time. This case was no different, except now the price he was paying was an individual. He was paying for Vanessa Abrams.
He didn’t know how he let it happen. He NEVER let other people get involved. He was a shy boy and he wasn’t going to change, not if it led to hurting people. He had never crushed on a girl,never been in an area long enough to do so. They were always moving, and it wasn’t like he had much of a choice since his older brother was his only family.
Now they lived with this new partner of his. A man Kevin personally despised. But at least he prevented a few of those bruises to remain untouched on his arms. On his back. His lower legs. He was getting tired of using women’s cheap makeup to cover it up. Kevin had only taken on one of Jason’s cases. After that he was done. He wouldn’t get sucked into this sick job of prying into people’s privacy. But when he didn’t…he was beaten.
There had always been far too much alchohol in their lodgings, but it increased whenever new partners moved in. He was a strong kid, Kevin was. But after four years of this, he didn’t know how much mais he could take.
BZZZ. BZZ.
His cell phone vibrated. He took it out and realized it was a message from his brother, telling him to meet him somewhere. Luckily it was in a small abandoned building just a couple streets over. His brother had a thing for abandoned buildings. It was the way he worked. Where no one would see.
“You came!” he announced, cheap grin on his face, once Kevin came through the almost unhinged door of the broken in building. A small fading light was lit in the middle of the room, on topo, início of a rusty old wooden desk.
The boy’s eyes were hooded and weak as he stumbled over to the familiar figure. “I found something,” he began, digging into his pocket for the phone he had found, “in the lost and found at work.”
“Did you now?” Jason smirked. “And how was the first day, Kev? Anything inspiring happen? I mean, besides the little fluke with you and princess Brooklyn?”
Kevin rolled his eyes inwardly and pulled out the device. Playing with it in his own hands before reaching out his hand to his older brother.
“Ah…Chuck Bass’s phone, so you found it,” Jason drawled, eyes twinkling towards his younger brother.
Kevin recoiled, frowning a bit. “What do you mean, ‘found it’?” he asked, holding the phone tight to his chest.
Jason chuckled lightly.
“D-Did you put it there?” he asked, incredulously, taking a step back.
“Well, not me personally, but…a friend of mine. You might know him actually, his name is…”
“Bob Wyler?!” he growled.
Jason only settled into the classic smirk Kevin had grown all too weary of.
“I can’t believe you! You set me up!” he nearly shouted, backing away from him in the direction of the door.
“Calm down, kid. And for the amor of god, keep down your voice. This place may be abandoned, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have neighbors,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, and ended with another chuckle, pleased with his good humor.
Kevin slid the phone back in his pokcet, glad he had not successfully handed over the device to his maddened brother. “I’m…I’m giving this phone to Vanessa. It’ll be MUCH safer in her hands. She won’t play any tricks like you. She’s better than that.”
Jason scoffed. “Oh, because you know her SO well.”
Kevin stopped, and his eyebrows narrowed. “I know her well enough. And I know that she’s been freaking out over this phone.”
“Oh, has she?” Jason stepped towards his younger brother, intrigued.
“I’m not saying anymore.”
“No one asked you to,” Jason continued. Then, when he was within a foot of the boy who could not mover anymore because of his own piercing gaze, he leaned in and whispered, “you offered.”
Kevin gulped. His composure gone.
“You see, I know you Kev,” Jason began, walking slowly in a círculo around him. “I know you want to do the right thing, want to be the good guy.” He stopped.
Kevin was shaking.
Jason whispered from behind so that his brother’s neck hairs were standing on end. “But I also know that you’re like me,” he laughed briefly.
Kevin’s eyes shut, as he struggled to hold the tears inside him again.
Jason continued to walk around him. “You like the challenge of finding out the impossible. You’re ADDICTED, to the chase.” He smiled smugly when he was in front of him again. “You just needed a little pushing,” he pushed lightly on his brother’s chest, and Kevin was just lucky his tears were still hidden welled up in his closed lids.
He was close to him now. Too close. He leaned past his brother’s ear and whispered, “So, you want to give me that phone…or should I just take it?”
Rage filled Kevin in that moment. His eyes flew open and he pushed Jason off of him with all his might, but unfortunately only sent him skidding a few feet.
Jason only laughed.
“I’m through with your crap,” Kevin snarled, patting his pocket to make sure Chuck’s phone was still safely hidden there. He was almost out the door, when Jason spoke again.
“So, Vanessa, huh?”
Kevin froze.
“You really want her to be out of this investigation? For good?”
The younger boy turned slowly around and glared at his older brother. “You KNOW the answer to that question.”
“Hmm,” Jason contemplated, walking towards him.
Kevin shifted slightly, desperately just wanting to flee.
“I have a proposition for you then,” his brother said, pulling another small wallet sized picture from the deep recesses of his faded trenchcoat.
Kevin looked down at the picture, but could not see it clearly at the distance where it lay pierced between his brother’s fingers.
“Go ahead. Take it,” Jason urged.
And Kevin took it. Shifty eyed the whole time. She was a beautiful girl. Couldn’t have been much older than Vanessa, or Chuck for that matter. Brunette locks. Deep brown eyes. Pristine Vanilla skin. Ruby lips. And before he could utter a word in the identity of the gorgeous face, his brother spoke.
“Blair Waldorf.”
Kevin nodded. He knew. He knew all too well.
“Love of Chuck Bass’s life.”
Kevin looked up, confused. Vanessa had never mentioned THAT.
“I mean, Wyler differs from me a little bit on what exactly she means to him, but…” he shrugged, “I know what I saw.”
Kevin sighed, and raked a hand through his hair.
“Now, before you go off asking me a bunch of your stupid pre-teen questions, I want you to listen…and listen good.”
Kevin’s wide eyes were glued to his brother’s…and his mouth sealed shut.
“Information on this Blair Waldorf will be FAR mais precious than anything coming from your adolescent crush. It will be FAR mais vital coming from her, herself,” he spoke slowly, making sure the younger of him understood every word. He took one step closer. “If you kidnap Blair Waldorf…I will forget I ever heard the name of Vanessa Abrams.”
…………………………………………………
“Hey kids, I’m home! Dan? Jenny? Nate?” Rufus opened the door to his home, finding no one there, but hearing giggles coming from one of the back rooms. “Okay…?” he spoke suspiciously. “Ah, one message,” he said, listening to the quick, rushed voice of Nate Archibald, and then finding the note that also appeared rushed, just beneath the answering maching. “Two messages….no Nate, no Dan….and…and…”
The giggles erupted again.
“Giggling.”
“Dad!” Jenny exclaimed, when she opened the door, Vanessa following behind her and was surprised por her dad coming home.
“Jenny,” he spoke suspiciously, his eyebrows narrowed. “Vanessa,” he nodded to the figure behind his fifteen ano old daughter.
“Hi, Mr. Humphrey,” she spoke quieter than usual. She wasn’t bursting with energy. The giggles from before must have been very misleading.
“What are you doing início so late, dad?” Jenny looked to the watch on her hand quickly. “It’s almost midnight.”
He nodded, still suspicious of the two girls in front of him.
“And…you’re not in bed. And Vanessa’s here…and Dan and Nate are NOT here….and you two were giggling.”
Both the girls pursed their lips in an attempt not to explode in laughter again. “Mmhmm,” they both managed.
“What’s going on, exactly?” he asked, crossing his arms.
Jenny panicked. If she didn’t tell him now, he was going to find out eventually. She had learned that much. “Uh….I don’t know what going on with Dan and Nate, Dad, but…”
“Rufus,” Vanessa stepped around and in front of Jenny, confronting the father figure she had known so well. “Jenny is up because of me.”
He looked at her oddly, like it seemed to be the most ridiculous statement she had ever made. “Uh-huh…I’m listening.”
Vanessa sighed, closing her eyes tight for a moment and then looking up at him. He was suddenly worried. “I…I can’t remember. I woke up here this morning…and again this evening, and I….I can’t remember.”
Rufus looked on at her. lost for words. Speechless. He opened his mouth but nothing would come out.
“I…I don’t expect you to know what to do,” she felt Jenny’s hand come around and grip her shoulder comfortingly. Vanessa’s own hand came around and grabbed onto the blonde’s comfort. “I just wanted you to know you shouldn’t be mad at Jenny. She was only trying to help.”
Rufus nodded knowingly. “Well…” he sighed, “Have you guys eaten anything?”
The two looked at each other, slightly confused. “No, not really,” they both said, in unison, bursting into a brief fit of giggles.
Mr. Humphrey only smiled. “Well, how about I make us a midnight dinner, and then we’ll see if we can figure this whole thing out, okay?” he said, cupping Vanessa’s face briefly in a tender assurance of his love. She nodded and he moved around the counter into the cozinha to start preparing the late night meal.
Vanessa turned around and just looked at Jenny who was smiling comfortingly towards her. She collapsed in her arms.
“Thank-you,” she whispered.
Jenny’s eyebrows only furrowed once again in serious concern as she pulled the older girl tighter. “Anytime, V,” She spoke, hoping her voice did not sound too weak. It would not be helpful for Vanessa, if she knew both of them were scared out of their minds.
……………………………………….
The designer apartment had dimmed except for a few brightly lit lamps in the sitting room. Dorota had long atrás finished her chores, and Blair hadn’t returned, which genuinely worried Chuck, but every attempt he had made to get out of there early had been thwarted por the pathetic begging and ‘don’t you care’ threats of Daniel Humphrey and Nathaniel Archibald.
So, he had sat there, explaining his side of the story…and the little Blair had shared with him before they had gotten together. He would’ve smiled at the memory, if the best part of that memory had still been sitting beside him.
God, how he missed her. Even from that few hora absence.
He would’ve loved to feel her smirks, her eyes rolling and her unbelievably clever witty remarks. Even if they had been entirely too harsh and inappropriate. They were classy, and only one of the many things he loved about her.
And she wasn’t there.
And he didn’t know why.
But he could guess.
Jealousy. He sighed just thinking about it.
She was so hurt at even the mention of the curly haired Brooklynite’s name. And he had thought HE had gotten jealous when she had run back into Nate’s arms again following the Cotillion. I guess they really were the same after all. He had told her they were the same…that they were inevitable, and he had believe it too, to a degree. But this jealousy thing really made things official, and he was getting impatient staying amongst the two idiots for MUCH longer than he had intended.
“Is there anything else?” Nate questioned.
It hadn’t been the first time.
“No,” Chuck drawled, annoyed. “I yelled at her. I shouldn’t have, but I did. I was just upset at myself for everything that had just happened with Blair, and I took out on her.”
Nate leaned back in his seat, taking this all in. He hadn’t planned on hearing about the adventures of Chuck and Vanessa TWICE, but Dan had insisted. After secretly whispering the request to his blonde buddy. Perhaps so that they would remember everything clearly when they mapped out what to do next, where to go to figure out the end result to this chaotic plague that had so suddenly landed upon them, and their innocent counterpart, Vanessa.
“The only time I heard about her after that was when I went to see Blair, who apparently had been texting your lovely friend, who was trying to pass off as me,” he scoffed, “to get between Blair and I…for some cleverly concocted stunt the queen Bee had played.”
Dan nodded along.
“Obviously, Vanessa had taken advantage of my leaving in the phone in the elevator. I’m guessing she still has it.”
Nate pursed his lips, to contain his laughter.
“Perhaps you could
Then, there were a few brief moments of silence, and that was all Chuck needed to reassure himself he was free to go.
“Now, gentlemen, unless you need this repeated to you a third time,” he turned his gaze to glare at a blushing Dan, “which I infact will NOT oblige in, I have some business to attend to,” he said, getting up from his assento and straightening out his shirt.
“Yes, well…thank-you for this information,” Nate said, barely lifting his eyes to Chuck as he turned to leave, grabbing his casaco on the way out.
Dan looked up to Nate, who gave him a nod allowing his freedom to talk.
“It’s probably best if you go find Blair now,” Dan called out to a Chuck almost to the elevator. He froze, and turned slowly to look at Dan. Death glare officially back in place, and Nate literally looked like he wanted to slap the daylight off of Dan Humphrey’s face. He shook his head instead.
“I was planning on it,” he said, and then stepped inside the elevator.
Nate sighed once he was gone and crossed the room to grab his own jacket. “That was not smart on your part,” he mumbled.
“What? I just…” he stopped himself.
Nate looked toward him, quite aware of his halted speech. He nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
…………………………………………..
Blair grumbled. Pitch black. Middle of the night. Streetlights on. All her favorito stores closed. And walking so far that she had come dangerously close to Brooklyn.
What had she been thinking?
She could’ve called Serena. She could’ve gone crawling to her about her insecurities about Vanessa. Not that she would’ve really bought into them. Found them necessary either.
Then again, she had experienced something similar when Vanessa first came into the picture with her and Dan.
What exactly WAS up with her and Dan?
Were they attempting to be friends?
Were they sneaking around?
Blair almost laughed at that one. The thought of either of them sneaking around was just beyond her. Only a certain beautiful boy and perfect brunette could master that skill.
She sighed.
What was wrong with her? Why was she so jealous? Didn’t she have a right to be? Chuck talked about Vanessa like he was in amor with her.
Okay, so maybe being in amor was an exaggeration…
But he talked…DIFFERENT about her.
Chuck had never had a friend without it leading to something else.
What was she supposed to think?!
She HAD set them up originally for her original manipulations to keep rumors unspoken.
Had something sparked?
The way he had talked…it had seemed like something did.
She sighed.
She had no idea where she was anymore.
Definitely on the edge of Brooklyn.
Ugh. Disgusting. Humphrey territory.
Her feet hurt like hell.
She had clearly been walking too long.
Why had she been walking?
She could’ve taken a cab.
Or a limo.
She wimpered.
Limos.
“Ugh,” she stomped her foot.
Not that anyone could hear. It was practically dead around her.
A few cars passed, and she watched as the remaining open stores finally shut off their lights.
She wanted Chuck.
That’s all she wanted.
Why hadn’t he come after her yet?
Was Vanessa REALLY that important?
That he couldn’t come after her first?
Didn’t she matter enough?
She brought her hand up to wipe away the tears she had tried to imagine were not really there.
She kept trudging.
Not really knowing where she was going.
Not really caring.
Not really knowing or caring to begin with.
The final lights were switched off.
The streets were desolate.
And she was alone.
Another sigh threatened to escape her, when it was covered por a quiet gasp. She was pulled back into the darkness. Strange hand over her mouth. Freezing arm tightening across her torso. And she felt tears. Real, genuine, painful tears drenching her neck from behind.
“Shh,” the voice said, almost stuttering. “Don’t say anything.”
…………………………………
A/N: Oh my goodness…I really MUST stop with these long chapters, and I guarantee the seguinte one will be not so long…or at least, hopefully. Lol. XD OH goodness, you’d better review this! It took sooooo painstakingly long and is THREE PAGES mais than the last one. Whew! *wipes forehead*
So, I hope you loved it…I hope the suspense is officially getting to you….probably won’t be able to update until later this week, but show your appreciation and review. ;p I amor you all for reading! =D
DISCLAIMER: Yeah, yeah, yeah….so I don’t own Gossip Girl! Stop reminding me! *huffs*
*Thanks to my BFF, Kira, for coming up with the genius chapter title! YAY! *HUGS!!*
………………
Ch.13-Muddied Waters
Awkward was an understatement.
Here they all sat. Dan and Nate on one side. Chuck and Blair on the other. Dorota hovering over the mesa, tabela filled with delicious snacks. Far too much for anyone to eat in one sitting.
Nate shifted in his assento occasionally.
Dan opening his mouth to say something every so often, but getting shot down por Chuck and Blair’s death glares from across the small coffee table.
The two had been abruptly forced to come down for a ‘snack emergency’, and if Blair had known Nate was behind it, there was no way she would’ve budged from the room. Especially since the particular activity she was participating in…wasn’t exactly….finished. The only thing officially pulling them out of their private domain was Dorota’s threat to come in on them with her own personal key.
Safe to say, Chuck baixo had never gotten dressed so fast in his entire life. Result? Wrinkled shirt. Messy pants. One meia gone. Hair going the wrong direction.
Dorota didn’t comment.
And even though the now peppy maid would have liked to stay there during the whole “talk”, she was ushered away with a wave of Blair’s hand and a wink from the proud, yet now unsure Archibald.
Blair’s eye twitched once Dorota was gone, not allowing Nate to get around to any conversing until he had sufficiently seen her death glare. It said everything and nothing all in the o espaço of a single moment. What the heck?! What did you do? How did you do it? And the most obvious one… If you break her heart, I will kill you.
He looked at the floor, refusing to allow the cross-armed, huffing, hormonal teenagers to knock him down anymore with their accusing stares.
Dan cleared his throat, and the two changed their targets. Not taking their piercing view from the unwanted Brooklyn boy as they simulatneously grabbed a biscoito, bolacha and some grapes from the table, plopping them in their own mouths, and chewing quietly.
Dan was definitely freaked, and did not even attempt to open his mouth again.
“We’re here about Vanessa,” Nate began, forcing his softened gaze to speak some truth to them.
Both Blair and Chuck held their death glare for another moment or so more, until they realized the golden boy was not backing down. Blair sighed, leaning back in her chair and laying her own intertwined fingers in the midst of her lap. “So, you’ve said,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“Something is going on with her,” he continued. “I mean, you know and I know that I wouldn’t come to see you, Blair, if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”
She nodded absentmindedly.
“Boy, do I know how that feels…” Chuck muttered under his breath.
Blair said nothing, but she turned her face away and towards the window.
Chuck finally looked back up at Nate. “So, why exactly are you here then.”
Nate looked in shock at the young Bass. Was he actually going to listen to them? Take them seriously? He looked and Dan who only shrugged, unwilling to speak up again. He turned back to Chuck. “We don’t know where she is.”
Chuck’s expression changed from straining attention to deep concern. His lips parted slightly.
“She woke up in Dan’s cama this morning, because he found her past out on the rua just a few blocks away…”
“Brooklyn,” Blair muttered, scoffing.
“….and then she just left, in a hurry, rambling off about crazy things that didn’t even make sense,” Nate continued. “She seemed threatened por seeing me…and…and Jenny—”
Dan cut him off, finally opening his mouth again. “But that was obviously because she thought you were still mad at her and that you were interested in Jenny.”
“Which I’m not.”
“I know….I’m just saying….”
“Can we just continue on please?!” Blair exasperated, waving a frustrated hand in their face.
Chuck looked to her momentarily, before looking back at the two desperate boys. “Yeah…so far all you have is a crazy person who doesn’t want to be in Brooklyn.”
Dan rolled his eyes, and then leaned forward. “You don’t get it. It’s not only that she wanted to leave because of Nate and Jenny,” he gestured back to Nate, who leaned back in his chair, sighing. “And it’s not just because she was trying to get out of Brooklyn, which I don’t even think is the case, since she lives there…”
“Sometimes people want change,” Chuck countered, leaning forward, his eyes intense, and Blair looked to him suspiciously, finally starting to pay attention.
“That wasn’t the case,” Dan continued on, regardless of Chuck’s Frozen - Uma Aventura Congelante features. “She left, nobody has seen her all day, and this morning when I asked her how she had gotten to her unconscious state on a Brooklyn sidewalk…she had no answer. She couldn’t remember ANYTHING. And she was paranoid about a cell phone, which I’m starting to think wasn’t even hers.”
Chuck scoffed, leaning back again. “And what makes you think that?” he crossed his arms against his chest.
“She was having a nightmare when I walked in to check on her this morning…”
Chuck’s eyebrows rose. “And?” he drawled.
“It was about you and Blair,” Dan finished.
“What?” Nate asked incredulously, turning to his knowledgable friend. Dan only nodded in response.
“Well, I guess that gives us a good reason as to why you ended up here,” Blair huffed.
Dan only nodded.
There was silence for a few moments, and Nate could tell that Chuck was thinking hard. He turned to Blair a few times, who seemed just itching to end the conversation and not in a very caring mood at all. She only sighed a few times, for dramatic purposes.
After awhile, Nate leaned progressivo, para a frente and interrupted his ex-best friend’s thoughts. “Chuck.”
Instantly his deep brown eyes flashed to him.
“Tell us what you know.”
Chuck looked at Nate and then at Dan and back at Nate again. They looked desperate and a hundred leagues passed worried. And he knew that por the sudden eagerness written on their faces, so did he.
“Vanessa was nice to me,” Chuck began, “she believed in me.”
Blair’s eyes widened at this sudden confession. She turned her head to glare at him, but he had sunken into some sort of dream-state, once he began his tale. She could almost hear Chuck’s light-hearted laughter from only a few nights before as he shared a drink with that idiot Brooklyn girl. The way she had melted his coração after the outburst from his father. The way he had suddenly talked about her being WORTH playing with. Since when was someone from Brooklyn EVER worth it? Well, Nate and Serena had decided otherwise obviously, but she thought her and Chuck were different. She thought they were…
“…she helped me get through yet another quarrel with my father. She didn’t have to, but she did. And then I yelled at her,” he sighed, regretting it all. He raked a hand through his hair, and Blair tried to keep the tears from falling. “I shouldn’t have yelled at her.”
Blair’s mouth hung low at this revelation.
He had yelled at her? Over what? Whatever it had been, even if it WAS about her…he regretted it.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Chuck asked, softening up completely.
Nate and Dan only looked on. Complete worry still filling their pale faces. “Why don’t you tell us exactly what happened. That way we can take clues from this and try and figure out exactly what’s going on,” the blonde boy answered.
Chuck let a smirk slide into his face. “No one researches like Chuck Bass,” he smiled smugly. “You’re going to need my help when you do this.”
Both of the boys in front of him visibly relaxed. But Blair scoffed.
She needed some form of anger if she was going to get past the tears.
“Well, I hope you have fun tracking down your lover, boys!” she spat out, gathering her saia up in her hands and heading for the door.
Chuck’s concerned face dropped as soon as the presence beside him had vanished. He watched her as she grabbed her coat, and panicked when she headed for the elevator. He was so confused as to why she was angry, but he knew it was directed at him. She hadn’t had a segundo thought to Nate and Dan’s care for the missing girl.
“Blair, wait!” he called out, standing up. “Where are you going?” he asked, moving past the guests and into the foyer which she had gravitated to.
“Nowhere YOU need to concern yourself with,” she huffed.
He grabbed her hand before she entered the elevator. “What are you talking about?! YOU are the most important thing to me. WHEREVER you go is THE place I need to concern myself with,” he pleaded.
And she looked at him. Crestfallen, and tears about to fall. She would’ve melted. She would’ve believed every word and forced the two idiots still in her sitting room to hear live the moans that would’ve escaped their lips.
But she couldn’t escape her own thoughts.
She couldn’t get Chuck’s confession about Vanessa out of her head.
It bled through her. And all she wanted was to get out.
To escape.
“I wish that were true,” she stomached, holding back the tears. She had left him speechless, and he let her walk away. Into that elevator. Out into whatever madness she decided to run to. Why he had let her get away was beyond him, but her words confused him. And he didn’t even know WHAT he would have said…if he had indeed followed her.
“Chuck?” Nate called, stepping out into the foyer. He looked at him concerned, like he cared what was happening between the two of them. “Is everything all right?”
Chuck looked so broken then. He had lost Blair too many times to count, but he had always known why. It just didn’t register now.
“Will you just finish telling us?” Dan begged, coming up behind Nate.
Chuck’s eyebrows narrowed. What right did they have for his attention? For his answers? For his help?
“There’s no one else we can really go to…that would actually know what’s been up with her,” Dan rambled on.
Chuck closed his eyes in frustration. “Okay, first of all, shut up.”
Dan’s mouth snapped shut.
“Second,” he pointed to Nate, “You have NO right to ask me what’s going on in my life, especially with Blair.”
Nate looked taken aback.
“You lost that right when you traded me for Humphrey Dumpty over there,” he moved smoothly past them and sat back in his chair, a frustrated hand lying across his face por the time the two of them had rejoined him in their own seats.
Dan cleared his throat a moment later, and there was Chuck’s death glare back on his face.
“Chuck, please,” Nate pleaded.
Chuck turned to him and scoffed. “Please?” he mocked.
Nate nodded slowly. “This is about Vanessa. If you care about her AT ALL, you will help us. You will tell us everything.”
Chuck’s wheels began to turn again, as he considered the option golden boy had laid before him.
“I mean, you and Blair are always going to be fighting,” Dan began, and Nate’s eyes closed in the ‘wrong time, wrong place’ comment Dan had just spoken. Dan chuckled, and that just added to the fire. “I mean, you’re pretty much doomed to fail.”
And there was Nate’s exasperated sigh.
Followed por Chuck’s death glare, and twitching jaw.
“You’re just a bunch of hormones! Don’t think we didn’t hear you upstairs in her bedroom.”
“Dan….” Nate warned.
“What?” he asked, looking innocently at Nate who gestured to Chuck’s clenching finger nails against the chair.
“Oh,” he laughed nervously, “Not to offend though…”
Chuck’s hooded eyes grew deadly intense. “I’m sure.”
Nate waved off Dan. “Don’t listen to him, man.” And though the elder Humphrey looked offended, he kept his mouth shut at Nate’s warning glance. “You and Blair are none of our business.”
Chuck scoffed but said nothing.
“But Vanessa is,” Nate continued, “and you know something.”
Chuck sighed, leaning back in his chair.
“…and when you know something about someone you care about who is in trouble…”
Chuck nodded, cutting Nate dry from his persuasion speech.
“On one condition,” Chuck leaned progressivo, para a frente again.
“Anything,” Nate complied.
“Brooklyn’s trap stays sealed?”
Dan gulped at the suggestion.
Nate nodded hesitantly. “He won’t say anything else.”
Dan was about to open his mouth to speak, when Nate’s hand in front of his face stopped him. “He promises.”
…………………………………….
It was not easy watching her normally confident, spunky friend drive herself crazy por not being able to remember a single cause as to how she could have ended up unconscious on Dan’s cama again. She had refilled up her glass of water time and time again, but it didn’t seem to be doing her any good. She just became mais enraged with herself as the energy was restored and the memories were not.
“It’s not your fault,” Jenny soothed, “Something bad must’ve happened.” And with that Vanessa’s eyes shot up in horror. Probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say. “I mean…” she attempted again, “something to lose your memory like this. Maybe you hit your head on something?”
Vanessa nodded with a shrug. “Not that I can remember.”
Jenny sighed and slumped seguinte to her on the bed. “Well, what’s the last thing you CAN remember?”
The dark haired girl exhaled a few worries. “Going home, closing the door…remembering,” suddenly a light went on and she turned to Jenny in excitement.
“What? What is it? Have you remembered something?” she asked, turning towards her as well.
“Chuck’s phone.”
“Huh?” Jenny looked at her confused. “What does Chuck have to do with any of this?”
Vanessa contemplated the situation and wondered if it was really worth it to get the naïve little blonde involved. “Uh…”
“Was he the last person you saw?” she asked, scrunching her nose. “Wouldn’t have been MY personal choice…” she slumped back against the wall.
Vanessa let out a quiet giggle. “No, no, no…but interesting,” she gestured to Jenny who only rolled her eyes.
“Well then what?” Jenny asked. They seemed so close to getting somewhere and yet her friend seemed VERY reluctant to speak any mais on the matter of the notorious womanizer.
Silence.
“Okay,” Jenny rolled her eyes, “We don’t have to talk about Chuck,” again she scrunched her nose up at the very mention of him. Vanessa had forgotten that he had almost date-raped her at her first school party. A part of her softened for the girl, remembering the thoughts she USED to have for the high society boy she recently discovered had a heart…even if it was a amargo, amarga one.
“Who did you see last? Before you woke up here?” Jenny’s words brought Vanessa back and out of her own thoughts. She KNEW the answer to THIS question.
Kevin.
But was it worth bringing up? Bringing into this madness that had become her daily life? How can a couple messed up days screw around so much with a girl’s mind? And this 14 ano old boy she had met had seemed so shy and yet carefree and innocent? She would never have guessed that he wished harm on her.
Not that fainting a couple times was really wishing harm….but still. She would have never seen it coming. If anything he had developed a crush on her. That was all. But even that was far-reaching. It seemed Vanessa Abrams was not too lucky in the boys department.
She sighed.
“Vanessa?” Jenny asked, “Are you okay?” She put a hand to the older girl’s forehead.
Vanessa nodded, snapping out of it, and pulling the warm hand away. “Are you my mother?” she mocked, and the girls giggled.
“Well?” Jenny asked, after they had both receded from laughing.
Vanessa pursed her lips. It was now or never.
“Do you remember even that?” the blonde was so worried for her. And it was probably best if she let her know everything. They were very close after all.
“Yeah,” she nodded, “I do.”
Jenny’s eyes lit up.
“His name is Kevin. He was…this guy, I met…at this new o jantar, lanchonete right after I left this morning.”
The young girl’s eyes went from lit up to confused and concerned. “Do you think he’d want to harm you?”
“No, never. He’s completely harmless,” Vanessa said, immediately and with great conviction.
“Had you met him before?” she asked, trying to find another piece to this puzzle.
Vanessa shook her head, numbly.
Jenny sighed, getting a grasp on her own thoughts before continuing the enticinly mais twisted conversation. “Tell me about him,” she said suddenly.
Vanessa looked at her, confused. “What?”
“Tell me about Kevin.”
Vanessa gaped.
“And don’t leave anything out.”
She looked away, unsure.
“Look, V, if you want to find out what happened to you…your best is to tell someone like me, a good friend, what’s been going on with you. Maybe I’ll be able to see something you can’t.”
Vanessa turned back to look at her, and hesitantly, she nodded.
…………………………………….
It was nearing midnight, and Kevin was sure he had lost track of the right rua to turn down on. It wasn’t like he’d be learning to drive anytime soon, but he sure would’ve loved to get off work earlier. It was unfair to him. 14. First…no that’s a lie, Fifth job. But the others were off his record now. His brother had made sure of it.
He sighed. His brother had given him everything that he could. A job. A roof over his head. A decent education. But it had all been for a price. And he had paid it. Every time. This case was no different, except now the price he was paying was an individual. He was paying for Vanessa Abrams.
He didn’t know how he let it happen. He NEVER let other people get involved. He was a shy boy and he wasn’t going to change, not if it led to hurting people. He had never crushed on a girl,never been in an area long enough to do so. They were always moving, and it wasn’t like he had much of a choice since his older brother was his only family.
Now they lived with this new partner of his. A man Kevin personally despised. But at least he prevented a few of those bruises to remain untouched on his arms. On his back. His lower legs. He was getting tired of using women’s cheap makeup to cover it up. Kevin had only taken on one of Jason’s cases. After that he was done. He wouldn’t get sucked into this sick job of prying into people’s privacy. But when he didn’t…he was beaten.
There had always been far too much alchohol in their lodgings, but it increased whenever new partners moved in. He was a strong kid, Kevin was. But after four years of this, he didn’t know how much mais he could take.
BZZZ. BZZ.
His cell phone vibrated. He took it out and realized it was a message from his brother, telling him to meet him somewhere. Luckily it was in a small abandoned building just a couple streets over. His brother had a thing for abandoned buildings. It was the way he worked. Where no one would see.
“You came!” he announced, cheap grin on his face, once Kevin came through the almost unhinged door of the broken in building. A small fading light was lit in the middle of the room, on topo, início of a rusty old wooden desk.
The boy’s eyes were hooded and weak as he stumbled over to the familiar figure. “I found something,” he began, digging into his pocket for the phone he had found, “in the lost and found at work.”
“Did you now?” Jason smirked. “And how was the first day, Kev? Anything inspiring happen? I mean, besides the little fluke with you and princess Brooklyn?”
Kevin rolled his eyes inwardly and pulled out the device. Playing with it in his own hands before reaching out his hand to his older brother.
“Ah…Chuck Bass’s phone, so you found it,” Jason drawled, eyes twinkling towards his younger brother.
Kevin recoiled, frowning a bit. “What do you mean, ‘found it’?” he asked, holding the phone tight to his chest.
Jason chuckled lightly.
“D-Did you put it there?” he asked, incredulously, taking a step back.
“Well, not me personally, but…a friend of mine. You might know him actually, his name is…”
“Bob Wyler?!” he growled.
Jason only settled into the classic smirk Kevin had grown all too weary of.
“I can’t believe you! You set me up!” he nearly shouted, backing away from him in the direction of the door.
“Calm down, kid. And for the amor of god, keep down your voice. This place may be abandoned, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have neighbors,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, and ended with another chuckle, pleased with his good humor.
Kevin slid the phone back in his pokcet, glad he had not successfully handed over the device to his maddened brother. “I’m…I’m giving this phone to Vanessa. It’ll be MUCH safer in her hands. She won’t play any tricks like you. She’s better than that.”
Jason scoffed. “Oh, because you know her SO well.”
Kevin stopped, and his eyebrows narrowed. “I know her well enough. And I know that she’s been freaking out over this phone.”
“Oh, has she?” Jason stepped towards his younger brother, intrigued.
“I’m not saying anymore.”
“No one asked you to,” Jason continued. Then, when he was within a foot of the boy who could not mover anymore because of his own piercing gaze, he leaned in and whispered, “you offered.”
Kevin gulped. His composure gone.
“You see, I know you Kev,” Jason began, walking slowly in a círculo around him. “I know you want to do the right thing, want to be the good guy.” He stopped.
Kevin was shaking.
Jason whispered from behind so that his brother’s neck hairs were standing on end. “But I also know that you’re like me,” he laughed briefly.
Kevin’s eyes shut, as he struggled to hold the tears inside him again.
Jason continued to walk around him. “You like the challenge of finding out the impossible. You’re ADDICTED, to the chase.” He smiled smugly when he was in front of him again. “You just needed a little pushing,” he pushed lightly on his brother’s chest, and Kevin was just lucky his tears were still hidden welled up in his closed lids.
He was close to him now. Too close. He leaned past his brother’s ear and whispered, “So, you want to give me that phone…or should I just take it?”
Rage filled Kevin in that moment. His eyes flew open and he pushed Jason off of him with all his might, but unfortunately only sent him skidding a few feet.
Jason only laughed.
“I’m through with your crap,” Kevin snarled, patting his pocket to make sure Chuck’s phone was still safely hidden there. He was almost out the door, when Jason spoke again.
“So, Vanessa, huh?”
Kevin froze.
“You really want her to be out of this investigation? For good?”
The younger boy turned slowly around and glared at his older brother. “You KNOW the answer to that question.”
“Hmm,” Jason contemplated, walking towards him.
Kevin shifted slightly, desperately just wanting to flee.
“I have a proposition for you then,” his brother said, pulling another small wallet sized picture from the deep recesses of his faded trenchcoat.
Kevin looked down at the picture, but could not see it clearly at the distance where it lay pierced between his brother’s fingers.
“Go ahead. Take it,” Jason urged.
And Kevin took it. Shifty eyed the whole time. She was a beautiful girl. Couldn’t have been much older than Vanessa, or Chuck for that matter. Brunette locks. Deep brown eyes. Pristine Vanilla skin. Ruby lips. And before he could utter a word in the identity of the gorgeous face, his brother spoke.
“Blair Waldorf.”
Kevin nodded. He knew. He knew all too well.
“Love of Chuck Bass’s life.”
Kevin looked up, confused. Vanessa had never mentioned THAT.
“I mean, Wyler differs from me a little bit on what exactly she means to him, but…” he shrugged, “I know what I saw.”
Kevin sighed, and raked a hand through his hair.
“Now, before you go off asking me a bunch of your stupid pre-teen questions, I want you to listen…and listen good.”
Kevin’s wide eyes were glued to his brother’s…and his mouth sealed shut.
“Information on this Blair Waldorf will be FAR mais precious than anything coming from your adolescent crush. It will be FAR mais vital coming from her, herself,” he spoke slowly, making sure the younger of him understood every word. He took one step closer. “If you kidnap Blair Waldorf…I will forget I ever heard the name of Vanessa Abrams.”
…………………………………………………
“Hey kids, I’m home! Dan? Jenny? Nate?” Rufus opened the door to his home, finding no one there, but hearing giggles coming from one of the back rooms. “Okay…?” he spoke suspiciously. “Ah, one message,” he said, listening to the quick, rushed voice of Nate Archibald, and then finding the note that also appeared rushed, just beneath the answering maching. “Two messages….no Nate, no Dan….and…and…”
The giggles erupted again.
“Giggling.”
“Dad!” Jenny exclaimed, when she opened the door, Vanessa following behind her and was surprised por her dad coming home.
“Jenny,” he spoke suspiciously, his eyebrows narrowed. “Vanessa,” he nodded to the figure behind his fifteen ano old daughter.
“Hi, Mr. Humphrey,” she spoke quieter than usual. She wasn’t bursting with energy. The giggles from before must have been very misleading.
“What are you doing início so late, dad?” Jenny looked to the watch on her hand quickly. “It’s almost midnight.”
He nodded, still suspicious of the two girls in front of him.
“And…you’re not in bed. And Vanessa’s here…and Dan and Nate are NOT here….and you two were giggling.”
Both the girls pursed their lips in an attempt not to explode in laughter again. “Mmhmm,” they both managed.
“What’s going on, exactly?” he asked, crossing his arms.
Jenny panicked. If she didn’t tell him now, he was going to find out eventually. She had learned that much. “Uh….I don’t know what going on with Dan and Nate, Dad, but…”
“Rufus,” Vanessa stepped around and in front of Jenny, confronting the father figure she had known so well. “Jenny is up because of me.”
He looked at her oddly, like it seemed to be the most ridiculous statement she had ever made. “Uh-huh…I’m listening.”
Vanessa sighed, closing her eyes tight for a moment and then looking up at him. He was suddenly worried. “I…I can’t remember. I woke up here this morning…and again this evening, and I….I can’t remember.”
Rufus looked on at her. lost for words. Speechless. He opened his mouth but nothing would come out.
“I…I don’t expect you to know what to do,” she felt Jenny’s hand come around and grip her shoulder comfortingly. Vanessa’s own hand came around and grabbed onto the blonde’s comfort. “I just wanted you to know you shouldn’t be mad at Jenny. She was only trying to help.”
Rufus nodded knowingly. “Well…” he sighed, “Have you guys eaten anything?”
The two looked at each other, slightly confused. “No, not really,” they both said, in unison, bursting into a brief fit of giggles.
Mr. Humphrey only smiled. “Well, how about I make us a midnight dinner, and then we’ll see if we can figure this whole thing out, okay?” he said, cupping Vanessa’s face briefly in a tender assurance of his love. She nodded and he moved around the counter into the cozinha to start preparing the late night meal.
Vanessa turned around and just looked at Jenny who was smiling comfortingly towards her. She collapsed in her arms.
“Thank-you,” she whispered.
Jenny’s eyebrows only furrowed once again in serious concern as she pulled the older girl tighter. “Anytime, V,” She spoke, hoping her voice did not sound too weak. It would not be helpful for Vanessa, if she knew both of them were scared out of their minds.
……………………………………….
The designer apartment had dimmed except for a few brightly lit lamps in the sitting room. Dorota had long atrás finished her chores, and Blair hadn’t returned, which genuinely worried Chuck, but every attempt he had made to get out of there early had been thwarted por the pathetic begging and ‘don’t you care’ threats of Daniel Humphrey and Nathaniel Archibald.
So, he had sat there, explaining his side of the story…and the little Blair had shared with him before they had gotten together. He would’ve smiled at the memory, if the best part of that memory had still been sitting beside him.
God, how he missed her. Even from that few hora absence.
He would’ve loved to feel her smirks, her eyes rolling and her unbelievably clever witty remarks. Even if they had been entirely too harsh and inappropriate. They were classy, and only one of the many things he loved about her.
And she wasn’t there.
And he didn’t know why.
But he could guess.
Jealousy. He sighed just thinking about it.
She was so hurt at even the mention of the curly haired Brooklynite’s name. And he had thought HE had gotten jealous when she had run back into Nate’s arms again following the Cotillion. I guess they really were the same after all. He had told her they were the same…that they were inevitable, and he had believe it too, to a degree. But this jealousy thing really made things official, and he was getting impatient staying amongst the two idiots for MUCH longer than he had intended.
“Is there anything else?” Nate questioned.
It hadn’t been the first time.
“No,” Chuck drawled, annoyed. “I yelled at her. I shouldn’t have, but I did. I was just upset at myself for everything that had just happened with Blair, and I took out on her.”
Nate leaned back in his seat, taking this all in. He hadn’t planned on hearing about the adventures of Chuck and Vanessa TWICE, but Dan had insisted. After secretly whispering the request to his blonde buddy. Perhaps so that they would remember everything clearly when they mapped out what to do next, where to go to figure out the end result to this chaotic plague that had so suddenly landed upon them, and their innocent counterpart, Vanessa.
“The only time I heard about her after that was when I went to see Blair, who apparently had been texting your lovely friend, who was trying to pass off as me,” he scoffed, “to get between Blair and I…for some cleverly concocted stunt the queen Bee had played.”
Dan nodded along.
“Obviously, Vanessa had taken advantage of my leaving in the phone in the elevator. I’m guessing she still has it.”
Nate pursed his lips, to contain his laughter.
“Perhaps you could
Then, there were a few brief moments of silence, and that was all Chuck needed to reassure himself he was free to go.
“Now, gentlemen, unless you need this repeated to you a third time,” he turned his gaze to glare at a blushing Dan, “which I infact will NOT oblige in, I have some business to attend to,” he said, getting up from his assento and straightening out his shirt.
“Yes, well…thank-you for this information,” Nate said, barely lifting his eyes to Chuck as he turned to leave, grabbing his casaco on the way out.
Dan looked up to Nate, who gave him a nod allowing his freedom to talk.
“It’s probably best if you go find Blair now,” Dan called out to a Chuck almost to the elevator. He froze, and turned slowly to look at Dan. Death glare officially back in place, and Nate literally looked like he wanted to slap the daylight off of Dan Humphrey’s face. He shook his head instead.
“I was planning on it,” he said, and then stepped inside the elevator.
Nate sighed once he was gone and crossed the room to grab his own jacket. “That was not smart on your part,” he mumbled.
“What? I just…” he stopped himself.
Nate looked toward him, quite aware of his halted speech. He nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
…………………………………………..
Blair grumbled. Pitch black. Middle of the night. Streetlights on. All her favorito stores closed. And walking so far that she had come dangerously close to Brooklyn.
What had she been thinking?
She could’ve called Serena. She could’ve gone crawling to her about her insecurities about Vanessa. Not that she would’ve really bought into them. Found them necessary either.
Then again, she had experienced something similar when Vanessa first came into the picture with her and Dan.
What exactly WAS up with her and Dan?
Were they attempting to be friends?
Were they sneaking around?
Blair almost laughed at that one. The thought of either of them sneaking around was just beyond her. Only a certain beautiful boy and perfect brunette could master that skill.
She sighed.
What was wrong with her? Why was she so jealous? Didn’t she have a right to be? Chuck talked about Vanessa like he was in amor with her.
Okay, so maybe being in amor was an exaggeration…
But he talked…DIFFERENT about her.
Chuck had never had a friend without it leading to something else.
What was she supposed to think?!
She HAD set them up originally for her original manipulations to keep rumors unspoken.
Had something sparked?
The way he had talked…it had seemed like something did.
She sighed.
She had no idea where she was anymore.
Definitely on the edge of Brooklyn.
Ugh. Disgusting. Humphrey territory.
Her feet hurt like hell.
She had clearly been walking too long.
Why had she been walking?
She could’ve taken a cab.
Or a limo.
She wimpered.
Limos.
“Ugh,” she stomped her foot.
Not that anyone could hear. It was practically dead around her.
A few cars passed, and she watched as the remaining open stores finally shut off their lights.
She wanted Chuck.
That’s all she wanted.
Why hadn’t he come after her yet?
Was Vanessa REALLY that important?
That he couldn’t come after her first?
Didn’t she matter enough?
She brought her hand up to wipe away the tears she had tried to imagine were not really there.
She kept trudging.
Not really knowing where she was going.
Not really caring.
Not really knowing or caring to begin with.
The final lights were switched off.
The streets were desolate.
And she was alone.
Another sigh threatened to escape her, when it was covered por a quiet gasp. She was pulled back into the darkness. Strange hand over her mouth. Freezing arm tightening across her torso. And she felt tears. Real, genuine, painful tears drenching her neck from behind.
“Shh,” the voice said, almost stuttering. “Don’t say anything.”
…………………………………
A/N: Oh my goodness…I really MUST stop with these long chapters, and I guarantee the seguinte one will be not so long…or at least, hopefully. Lol. XD OH goodness, you’d better review this! It took sooooo painstakingly long and is THREE PAGES mais than the last one. Whew! *wipes forehead*
So, I hope you loved it…I hope the suspense is officially getting to you….probably won’t be able to update until later this week, but show your appreciation and review. ;p I amor you all for reading! =D
