chapter FOURTEEN.

After that whole thing with Georgie in the fitness center and after walking in on Bart and Lily van der Woodsen tongue-wrestling in his father's apartment, Chuck had decided to simply wander the city aimlessly until he cooled down and things somehow drifted back to normalcy.

So far he'd already purchased a bagel with extra cream cheese from the Three Guys' Cafe and swallowed it whole, finished off a steaming cup of coffee from Starbucks, loitered around on the steps of the Met for a while, checked and re-checked Gossip Girl's webpage, visited the almost-extinct peregrine falcons in Central Park, wandered pointlessly around The Strand, and had purchased a few slices of pizza from Rosario's for dinner.

Now he was left just as bored as he was when he'd started off, the only difference being that it was almost midnight now. And he still didn't feel much like returning home. . . Which is why he spontaneously decided to board the Metro city bus, which would take him clear across the city and over to Brooklyn. True, there weren't nearly as much sights to see there and he didn't exactly know anyone, but maybe that's just what he needed - to avoid the people he did know.

His bare hands were stuffed into his jacket pockets protectively as the cold January breeze blew his hair and clothes all around, causing his signature scarf to flail wildly behind him as he walked. Then suddenly he bumped into some woman as she was making her way out the doors of an apartment building and onto the sidewalk, causing her to shriek jumpily.

When he looked up, he realized it was Lily, his father's new wife and Serena's mother. What on earth was she doing in Brooklyn? And hadn't he left her alone with his father just three or four hours ago? "Sorry, mother," Chuck told the blonde a bit bitterly, flashing her an all-too fake smile. Her hair was a tad askew and she seemed rather nervous, as if she wasn't supposed to be here.

"Very funny, Charles," Lily replied, mirroring his faux smile perfectly, with her own one. "Um, I'll see you later, dear. Probably at your father's."

Chuck eyed her suspiciously. "M-hm," was all he said, watching her as she hastily turned on her heel and continued down the cement walk, in the opposite direction of Chuck. . . Hmm. Interesting indeed. The boy craned his neck upward in order to steal a glance at the building she'd spilled out of, but it was just a regular old Brooklyn apartment complex.

Then, however, something far more intriguing caught his eye, making him turn his full attention to it. A bright yellow light flicked on inside the building, which could plainly be seen through one of the bedroom windows. When Chuck saw who was walking around inside the room, he nearly dropped his fourth cup of coffee of the day. Rufus Humphrey? Dan's father?

What the f*$&?!

Now he was ten times more suspicious of Lily than he had been in the beginning of she and Bart's marriage. So suspicious, in fact, that he decided to quickly snap a photo of Lily walking away with his Motorola. Then he trained the camera's lens upward to get a shot of Rufus as well, just as the man was shutting his curtains. And finally came the last touch: sending it to Gossip Girl.

Lttle sspcous if u ask me, no? S's mom and D's dad? Tlk abt incestuous.

Then he clicked 'Send' and that slow smile crept over his face. That involuntary smile that always appeared whenever his devious plans were set into motion.


Well, well, well. What have we here? R and L, Hot and Heavy? Then I suppose it's true, what they say: the forbidden fruit is always the sweetest!

you know you love me.
xoxo; gossip girl