3 words. 8 letters. Say it, and I'm yours

9

This is rushed. So sorry!
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As he welcomes the cold, winter air into his body, he is once again reminded of her warmth that had always stayed in his memory ever since the night at Victrola, and all the other nights too.

It wasn't always like this. Usually, Chuck Bass would keep himself busy to forget about it. To erase the memory of the sleeping, purring brunette that night. But tonight was different. He wanted to reminisce about her, to remember the way she smiled and giggled.

He sighs and puts his frozen, shivering hands into his pockets. As he walks his way into the limo, he stops in his tracks as he processes the presence of his stepmother, Lily Bass.

"Leave me alone." He shrugs, clarifying to Lily that he could handle his little problem on his own. Although some believed it was not so very little. Quite the opposite, actually.

Gossip Girl had described it as the biggest scandal of the year. Being as stubborn as ever, Chuck refused to believe so.

"Charles, I'm worried about you." Lily steps closer slowly and softly. "Bart is, too." She gives him a look that was almost convincing. But not enough.

He scoffs. His breath was so visible because of the weather. "You don't have to sugarcoat it, Lily. I can handle. In fact, I have tolerated his undeniable hatred towards me my whole life." His jaw clenched.

"I'm sorry, Charles." She sincerely apologizes.

"I don't need your sorry. What I need is for you and for everyone else to leave me alone." He grits his teeth as he says some of the most hurtful words to his very own second mother.

The middle-aged woman understood. He was going through something and his feelings were completely reasonable. It was just the way he always had to cut people out of his life that hurt her.

He slams the limo door shut, leaning into the car seat as he tries to calm his insides from combusting any second now. As much as he wanted to transport into where ever she was right now, for at least a hug, or a few words of comfort, maybe even just look at her from afar to see her smile, he couldn't.

She had made it very clear at Louis' party last year that she did not want him anymore. That it was damn time he let her go because finally, in her 19 years of existence, she was getting her dream fairytale. And she wasn't going to let a devil like him ruin that for her, causing him to go back to his miserable, monstrous, lonely self again.

It had been a year ever since that happened but the wound in his heart was as fresh as ever.

As the limo moves swiftly, he takes a moment to judge the Upper East Side. The glimmering lights of the lined up shopping stores were turning off as the clock strikes 12. People wore layers and layers of coats to bury their body and avoid the cold.

"Mr. Bass, we're here." Arthur, his loyal driver says via intercom. He opens the door himself and steps out, his Empire welcoming him. "Call me if you need me, Sir." Arthur says before going back into the limo to park it properly. Chuck nods at him and walks towards the entrance door.

"Is everything prepared for tomorrow?" He asks his secretary as he walks down the halls designed by gold and silver. It still holds its ambiance that always seem to mesmerize customers and tourists. Of course, he has that dominating aura as well to match the venue.

"Yes, Mr. Bass. There is one thing you haven't clarified though." Pearl, his secretary, said which caught his attention.

Chuck gives her a dark look that makes her gasp a little. She immediately shows him the envelope in her hand. It was the invitation for his party tomorrow.