The Crazy Thing

Fall 2009

Eric wondered at how easy it all seemed. The penthouse had become eerily quiet now that the two noisiest inhabitants had left for college. Serena and Chuck had both elected to go to Brown for college, and to please Lily they had agreed to share an apartment in Providence. It was her hope that they would keep each other out of trouble.

But Lily hadn't shed a tear nor did she seem to be affected at all that her daughter and stepson were leaving. Bart was even less moved. He barely acknowledged Chuck as they all rode the elevator down to see off their car. He sort of smiled at Serena, then he shook Chuck's hand as if he had only just met him. Eric was noticably more affected as he hugged his sister and smiled awkwardly at his stepbrother, because they both knew Serena would make fun of them if they hugged and their parents would be surprised and maybe even a little uncomfortable if they showed any sort of affection toward the other. But Eric stood on the sidewalk with his mother and stepfather, watching their car drive away, and he felt the tension rising again.

The tension lessened as the days went by and eventually Bart left the country on business and Eric started his junior year of high school. He didn't see much of his mother. He suspected she was in Brooklyn, but he never asked and she certainly didn't volunteer any information. Things had been tense since the Snowflake Ball, but no one had mentioned anything to Eric and Serena didn't know anything and Chuck was seemingly oblivious to the situation. Now, ten months later, things still weren't any better.

Bart and Lily Bass made their public appearances together and donated their money but inside the Bass household, there was nothing but icy glares, awkward silences, and other things Eric wished he never had to witness. And it all came so naturally to both of them. Smiling. Acting in love. Glaring. Yelling. Accusing. It was all a lie and Eric wondered how long it would be before the shit would finally hit the fan and he and his mother would be on the move again to god knows where.

The crazy thing about it was that this time, he didn't know if he wanted to go with his mother. He liked Bart and even at their most awkward, Bart was always looking out for Eric. No one had ever been completely available to him like Bart was. Chuck had been in the beginning but once he and Blair started dating, everything became about her. But most times after a bad shouting match and after his mother left the penthouse, Bart would come and talk to Eric, and basicially act as if nothing had happened downstairs.

If Eric were more cynical, he would think that Bart was only trying to manipulate him, but Eric knew better. He had been through enough therapy to know that, even though they weren't that close, Bart missed his son, and was woried that if this tension and fighting continued, he might lose another.

Eric, on the other hand, worried that, for the first time, he would lose a father he actually cared about, who cares about him. Or a mother who may or may not really care.