Title: Five Reasons Why Vanessa Knows She Shouldn't Answer the Phone When Chuck Calls her [2/5]

Rating: hard pg-13/ light R

Pairing: Vanessa/Chuck

Word Count: 2539

Spoilers: None this chapter.

Notes: I'm sorry this took so long to get up! I don't have internet at my house yet so I don't know when I'm going to be able to post the next update either. The next chapter is half-written and as soon as I have it done, I'll try to go somewhere with internet access. :)

Summary: When Lily Bass has something in mind, it's impossible to say no to her.

X.O.X.O.

Reason Number 4: He Makes Fun of the Way She Dresses.

She'd done it again. She told herself that sleeping with Chuck had been a one time occurrence and that it wasn't going to happen again, and yet here she was lying in bed with him after the fact, making no move to put her clothes back on, and that wasn't even what bothered her. What bothered her was that she'd begun to lose count of how many times she'd slept with him now. A yawn escaped from her lips as she instinctively rested her head on his chest.

His fingers toyed with her hair for a moment, twisting the straightened strands into curls. He didn't say anything for a long while, just lay there playing with her hair. There were no comments that she should leave, and he wasn't moving this time to cover up the chest he hated showing off. No. Instead they just lay there in companionable silence.

"Lily wants you to come to this family brunch she's insisting on having."

That really was one of the last things that she'd expected to hear from Chuck. Why on earth would Lily want her to come to a family brunch? It made no sense at all to her; it wasn't like she was exceptionally close to the woman. She pulled away from him slightly, and leaned on an elbow, studying him curiously. Before she could voice her question, Chuck answered her question for her.

"She may or may not have caught you sneaking out of here couple of times."

Vanessa stared at him with a horrified expression on her face, but he just shrugged at her.

"Lily has managed to sleep with more people than I have. She doesn't care that you've been sleeping over."

For some reason the fact that Chuck knew that bothered her, and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Trust me. I didn't want to know that she'd slept with Slash either, but she left a list out." He paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Actually, I think Serena found the list first and left it for me to find…"

"Gross, Chuck. I didn't need to know that Lily slept with Slash." She whined before laying her head back down onto his chest, and grinning lightly when his fingers began toying with her hair again.

There was silence for awhile as they both lay there. Vanessa yawned again and was about to fall asleep when Chuck started talking again.

"So you'll come so Lily will stop asking me questions about you?"

She shook her head. "Nope." And with that she rolled away from him.

There was an amused sounding sigh before she felt his arm slide across her stomach.

Vanessa couldn't figure out when they'd started snuggling.

X.O.X.O.

He didn't call her for three days after that, but Vanessa wasn't very surprised. That was just the way they worked. They had a lot of sex, and then they didn't talk for awhile. But this time it was slightly different as well. With Lily suddenly interfering in their… Well, she didn't know what to call it, but with Lily interfering it made things different. So, Vanessa wasn't calling Chuck until he called her first. After all, she sure as hell wasn't a booty call, but she wasn't his girlfriend either.

When he called her the first time, she'd been at work. Along with the second and third times. It was out of character for him and she began thinking about the last time he did this to her. She was not about to babysit Georgina. Again. But still, she was about to call him back when he called again.

"Don't tell me that you actually missed me." She teased him in an attempt to hide that she was dying to know why he'd been calling her so frequently.

He didn't even laugh. "I'm hiding from Lily."

Vanessa really didn't know what to make of that for a moment. "I'm sorry. You're what?" Suddenly she had the image of Chuck hiding in a closet, which really didn't make much sense to her at all.

"Lily and the brunch?" He reminded her. "It's tomorrow, and she's still insistent that I bring you. Even after I told her that you had prior engagements."

She raised an eyebrow at that even though she knew that he couldn't see her. "Why didn't you just tell her that I didn't want to come?" She asked him curiously.

"Have you ever had a conversation with Lily? She's a very hard woman to say no to!" He tried to explain to her. "Besides, she didn't believe me."

This was absolutely ridiculous. "Chuck! Why didn't she believe you?" She really didn't trust what he was telling her.

"You tell me, she's the one who caught you sneaking out of the penthouse in one of my jackets."

"Something I wouldn't have had to do if you hadn't ripped my actual jacket!"

She could practically hear him roll his eyes on the other line. "Please! I was doing the world a favor."

"Excuse me?" She really didn't care that she was yelling in the back of the gallery and that Rufus was staring at her.

"The eighties called. You're making their fashion staples worse than they already were." He drawled out lazily.

Immediately Vanessa decided that she was going to shred his jacket and give it back to him. "Remind Lily that I'm not coming tomorrow." And with that she hung up.

When it started ringing not a minute later, she knew exactly who it was. After all, the only person who ever actually called her back when she hung up on them was Chuck and that was because he was far too stubborn and annoying for his own good. "Chuck!" She shouted upon answering her phone. "I don't care if you have to hide from Lily for a month. I'm not going to that stupid brunch tomorrow!"

"Vanessa?" The woman on the other line sounded completely and utterly confused.

Realizing who it was, she instantly blushed even though she knew that she couldn't see her. "Lily…" She started out awkwardly once again ignoring the weird look she got from Rufus. "I'm sorry. I thought you were-"

"Charles." Lily completed the sentence for her. "It's completely understandable. I hope you don't mind that I'm calling. Serena gave me your number. Since you've been spending so much time with Charles lately I think it's only appropriate that we get to know each other a little better…"

Twenty minutes later Vanessa found herself agreeing to go to the stupid brunch.

X.O.X.O.

"Vanessa." Serena laughed as she stood in Vanessa's bedroom, staring into her closet. "Why are you making me pick something for you to wear tomorrow? It's just my family. Well… My grandmother's in town, but that just means that there will be champagne with breakfast, or brandy in coffee cups." She turned away from the closet and raised an eyebrow at her.

Immediately Vanessa sat down on her bed and suddenly found her comforter very interesting. "I just don't want to disappoint your mom." She lied. "I mean, she did take the time to call me…"

Suddenly a grin lit up Serena's face, and she gave an excited clap. "This is about Chuck!" She accused, sounding gleeful about it.

Horror spread across Vanessa's face and she looked up at Serena. "Did Dan tell you?" She asked sounding mortified. Dan was the only person that she'd had the guts to tell about her exploits with Chuck to. Unless Chuck had told Serena, which would make this whole thing that they had going on more serious than she'd admit to.

"Chuck told me." Serena confirmed, shrugging nonchalantly. "Actually that was like the first thing he told me when I got back from Spain." She shot Vanessa a wicked smile. "Besides, I found one of your dresses in his room. I highly doubt that Chuck is a size four. And," She turned and pulled Chuck's jacket out of the closet. "His clothes are in your closet."

With a light groan Vanessa jumped off her bed and attempted to wrestle the jacket away from Serena's clutches. "It really isn't what it looks like." She tried.

Serena raised an eyebrow.

"I get lonely at night?" She tried again.

That made Serena laugh. "Three in the afternoon is night time now?" She asked with a smirk. Off Vanessa's confused look, she added on, "Eric caught you guys having sex in the living room the other day."

Vanessa groaned and sunk down onto the floor, leaning against her bed. "Does everyone in your family know that I'm sleeping with Chuck?" She asked sounding very mortified about the entire situation.

Serena shrugged as she hung Chuck's jacket back up. "Well, I think that my mom told Rufus… And the maids have seen you both. I heard them talking about it." She cocked her head to the side as she thought about it. "I think the only person who doesn't know is my grandma, and I think that my mom might have told her that 'Charles's girlfriend' was coming…"

At that Vanessa grabbed a pillow off her bed and used it to hide her face with. "Just kill me now." She mumbled into the polyester.

"You're good for him, you know." Serena continued on nonchalantly as she began rummaging through the closet again. "He's actually been nice to my grandmother, and I caught him playing Wii with Jonathan the other day while my mom was talking to Eric about something. Blair hates it of course."

Suddenly Vanessa threw the pillow at Serena, hitting her in the back of the head. "BLAIR KNOWS?" She practically shrieked, remembering the last time that Blair had thought that Vanessa and Chuck had slept together. It had been annoying, and she didn't have the time to worry about Blair suddenly coming after her again.

Serena shot her a look for the pillow, but then continued to search for something for Vanessa to wear. "If she knew that you guys were dating, you would know already." She commented idly before pulling out a purple sundress. "Try this one on." She took it off the hanger and tossed it at Vanessa. "He loves purple. I think it's is favorite color actually. He used to threaten Bart with attending University of Washington just because he liked their colors…"

"We're not dating." Vanessa insisted again as she got off the floor and changed into the dress that Serena picked out. "We're just sleeping together. A lot. You have to actually talk to someone to date them."

She rolled her eyes at Vanessa as she began rummaging through the bottom of the closet for a pair of shoes to match the dress. "I'm not the biggest fan of Chuck, but he's only an ass when he's trying not to show that he actually cares about something other than himself. After Georgina left town, he called me every day to make sure that I was okay. Contrary to what you read on Gossip Girl. He really does have a soul." She paused for a moment. "I think…"

As she listened to Serena, she had a flashback of watching Chuck try to defend himself to his father when he'd been trying to save that bar for her. Maybe there was a good guy lurking beneath the surface. Still, that didn't change anything, and it sure as hell didn't justify her sleeping with him. Sighing, she tugged on the dress before standing in front of her mirror. "You don't think I look like a bad 80s flashback or a hobo, do you?"

Serena groaned as she emerged with a pair of silver sandals. "Is that what he told you?" She asked with a shake of her head as she handed Vanessa the sandals, and then went to tie the sash for her. "Have you seen some of the outfits that he's worn? He's not really one to talk, V."

Suddenly Vanessa grinned as she slipped the sandals on. "You're right. He's just an asshole." She declared, suddenly feeling much better as she slipped the sandals on and then looked at her reflection in the mirror. "Okay. Don't make fun of me, but do you think he'll like this?"

X.O.X.O.

"Let's skip brunch." Chuck whispered huskily into her ear as he cornered her in the hallway, pressing her up against a piece of artwork that she knew cost more than she would make in a year. "I'm sure Lily won't miss us that much." His hands slid up the skirt of her dress, slowly inching up as he leaned in to kiss at her neck. "This would look so much better on my floor…"

Vanessa's eyes rolled into the back of her head as his hands slipped into her underwear. She was trying very hard to remember why this was a very bad idea, but it was hard to remember why when she was putty in his hands. "Ch-chuck." She rasped out, grasping his shoulders in an attempt to steady herself, unable to think about anything but Chuck at the moment.

"Shh… Can't let Lily hear you, can we?" He smirked out as he slipped a finger inside her, kissing her deeply the second she started to make another sound.

Once again she tried to remember why this was a very bad thing, but found it very difficult. She tried not to moan, but it was getting harder and harder. The smallest of moans escaped her lips as she pulled away from his mouth and bit down hard on his shoulder.

This time it was Chuck that moaned.

Vanessa felt her hands wandering to unbutton his pants when suddenly there was a cough behind them. She immediately froze and pulled far enough away from Chuck to see who it was.

Eric stood awkwardly in the hallway making a point to look down at his shoes and not at them. "So, Mom and Grandma are going to be coming down the stairs in a minute and," He spared a glance over his shoulder to make sure that they weren't coming yet before looking back down at his feet. "You can't be doing- this – when they get down here."

Immediately, Vanessa shoved Chuck away from her, ignoring the smirk on Chuck's face as she began readjusting her dress. She finished just as Lily and Cece came down the hallway.

"Mother, this is Charles's girlfriend, Vanessa." Lily introduced as she looped an arm around Vanessa and began leading her down to the dining room.

Cece studied her for a moment as they walked. "So, you're the girl from Brooklyn that Lily keeps telling me about." She commented dryly before adding on. "That's an interesting dress, dear."

Eric made a strange coughing sound behind them, which made Vanessa grin.

"I happen to adore it, grandmother." Chuck defended with a smirk as he slipped next to Vanessa and steered her away from Lily as they approached the table.

Serena was already there and shot Chuck a strange look. "Adore what?" She asked in complete and utter confusion.

Suddenly Vanessa couldn't help but to think that the whole dress search with Serena the day before had been completely worth it. She grinned brightly at Serena. "My dress."