A/N. I own nothing other than a major case of the hots for Chuck Bass.

Hi. This is the first story I've ever published. So, please be gentle. It just came to me last night as I was washing my hair & I had to write it. I envision it as a three parter with flash backs to fill in any blanks (or rewrite history) as I see fit.

Without further ado...

It is an irony of life that one does not appreciate all one has until it has been stripped away. Or in this case, stolen by one's bastard uncle.

Chuck Bass reclined in the back of his limo, parked outside his father's building, attempting to make sense of how he had come to this point in his life.

Two months ago he was as close to happy as he had ever been.

The Van der Bass household had settled into blissful domesticity, or at least what passed for it on New York's Upper East Side. He was just starting to enjoy both his extended family and newly found peace with Blair when tragedy struck.

It happened the night of the Snowflake Ball. One moment he was pressed close to Blair, staring into her warm chocolate eyes, acknowledging and accepting that the butterflies wouldn't let him walk away this time. The next, he had learned he was alone in the world. An orphan.

Life is a ball of string of such defining moments. Unfortunately, he owned more than his fair share of which to be ashamed. The term crash and burn took on new meaning after Bart's death, with Chuck's form of grieving encompassing a month of non-stop alcohol, drugs, and women.

If he hadn't been dragged back from Thailand, he probably still would be there, chasing the dragon.

But dragged he had been. Back to New York. Back to his father's legacy. Back to Blair.

If Jack had made one miscalculation in his strategy to take over Bass Industries, it was her. He initially underestimated the ability of the petite brunette to save Chuck from drowning in a sea of misery. Blair had hauled him up for air and for a while, things seemed better. He seemed better.

But no one knows a Bass quite like another Bass. Jack said all the right words, pushed all the right buttons. And like a fool, Chuck willingly followed in him down the primrose path to self-destruction. His only excuse was that it had felt good for those few precious moments to be accepted and embraced by the new father figure in his life.

And now he would be nothing. Although it had come too soon, Chuck always knew his destiny was to follow in Bart's footsteps as CEO. The company, the only thing his father ever truly loved, was always meant to be entrusted to Chuck.

Too bad he lost it in a matter of weeks.

A disappointment as always, huh, Dad? Bitterness started to well up in his throat and something that felt suspiciously like tears burned behind his eyes.

This isn't the way things are supposed to be.

Jack had carefully plotted his endgame. The board was on his side. As Chuck's legal guardian, he controlled the majority shares of the company. Only Lily stood against him. Chuck was appreciative of her support, but it wouldn't stop the inevitable.

"Sir? We've arrived," the uniformed chauffer lowered the window and interrupted Chuck's reverie.

Always one to state the obvious, Chuck thought to himself. "I know Arthur," he replied. "I'm just savoring my final moments as CEO of my father's company."

Arthur's only reply was to close the window, leaving Chuck to the privacy of his own thoughts.

His mind wondered over the past three weeks, trying to settle on the exact moment that he had faltered. It was a snowball of events, really. The board walking in on him "entertaining" had simply been the final straw.

It had been the final straw for Blair as well.

He was riding a serious buzz when he decided to take the evening's entertainment to his father's office. The party continued well into the morning as he and his two lovely companions popped pills and drank the old man's scotch. Exorcising the ghost of CEOs past had never felt so good.

It was all fun and games until he saw the utter devastation on Blair's face. Yet another moment for Chuck to be ashamed of.

He tried to shake it off. After all, she was the one acting like his girlfriend. It's not like they were together.

She hadn't said a word. She stared at him for a couple moments, as if burning the image of him defiling his father's office into her memory. Then she turned on her heel and walked out.

He wanted to follow her, but stayed to deal with the fallout instead.

Fifteen minutes later, Chuck finally comprehended how costly his mistake was when the Board informed of their decision to put a vote of no-confidence to the shareholders and remove him as CEO. Jack would take his place.

That day, Chuck Bass came to a hard realization. Gone were the days that he could skate through life and not suffer the consequences of his misdeeds.

Sure there was money and power, but now there was also great responsibility.

Too bad he had fucked it up.

It didn't matter that he had tried to make things right. The board was adamant. Jack was only in it for himself. And Blair…

He closed his eyes refusing to relive that horrible night or the accusations they had hurled at each other like knives. He tried not to imagine her touching Jack like she once touched him.

Glancing at his watch, Chuck realized he had five minutes until the meeting started. The time had come to pay the piper.

He gathered up his tattered pride, determined to maintain his composure during the coming ordeal. He exited the limo and briskly walked to the entrance of Bass Industries.

His last, fleeting thought before he entered the building was that Bart Bass had finally done from the grave what he failed to do in life. He had forced his son to become a man.