A/N: I've been working on this plunny for so long and I can't even remember how it started. I remember finding something on Twitter and a light bulb just went off and I couldn't walk away from it. So here we are.

This scene picks up after Serena finds out the truth and ends just as Georgina comes to find them for the final scenes. Spoiler Alert ahead if you haven't seen Gossip Girl.

#Derena for life!

Beta love to xxDustNight88. She's awesome and I'm so excited for our Christmas project that we will be working on here in the near future. Be sure to go check her out and send her some love!

I'm all over social media if you're interested in keeping up with my updates outside of this lovely site. Just search up the penname and I'm sure something will come up.

Let me know what you think!

Love always,
~starr

"It began as a mistake," he said, turning to look out the window. He noticed her reflection shifting awkwardly out of the corner of his eye. Smiling to himself, Dan took a deep breath before turning around to face her.

As her eyes met his, she tilted her head to the side before nibbling softly on her lip. Crossing her arms over her chest, Serena looked him up and down momentarily. Physically he still looked like the man she had fallen in love with, but there was something different about him. She couldn't put her finger on it in that exact moment, but she knew by the time this conversation was over she'd know.

"Honestly, I was just trying to fit in with my surroundings. I knew that my invite to that party was a mistake, especially when everyone I spoke to had no idea who I was," he said, chuckling softly to himself as he thought about the variety of names he had been called in the past. None of which were his own. He shook his head to push the thoughts aside and noticed just how intently she was currently staring at him.

He knew that she was still struggling to wrap her mind around all of this. Sadly, he knew that feeling well because for the first few months of running the site, he felt the exact same way. He wanted to give her time to understand it all, but at the same time he just wanted to start over with her. He wouldn't have revealed the truth if he didn't want to start over.

"I couldn't believe how many people were willing to send information to someone that they didn't know. It was a complete shock when the emails started flooding in, but once they did, the site started to run itself.

"It allowed me to continue to be awkward and watch from the outside as your world continued to run on rumors. It was weird for a while, but then I found a way in." Carding a hand through his hair, he lowered his eyes to floor. He was putting all of the cards on the table, but there was no guarantee that she felt the same way.

Her feelings had been rather clear when the original article came out, but she was here now. Deep down in his heart, he hoped that meant she could see both sides. Or at least, maybe she was willing to try and understand.

She took a deep breath and tilted her head backwards, closing her eyes momentarily. This entire thing was crazy. She had been so close to the best kept secret on the Upper East Side for so long. Finding out the truth now just didn't seem real.

"I still can't believe that all along that she was you," Serena muttered, shaking her head slowly as she trailed her eyes over him.

"There's still a part of me that can't believe it either, but like I said before, it started out as a mistake or at least it began with a case of a mistaken identity," he shrugged. "It was both a blessing and a curse. I mean no one suspected it could have been me."

She laughed, re-crossing her arms over her chest. "No, no we didn't. It makes me feel like I barely knew you at all."

"Don't think like that," Dan said, quickly closing the space between them and placing a gentle hand on her arm. "You knew me better than anyone."

She looked down at his hand and followed it up until she met his eyes. She spotted something there that she hadn't seen before. There was a light. A light that shone for the hope of a future better than the present.

"Did I really though? It certainly doesn't feel like it," she replied, shaking her head. "All this time I thought the person behind the site hated me and now…"

"Now you realize that the person behind it has always been standing right in front of you, giving you his heart only to have it stomped on a few times," he said, smiling softly as he squeezed her arm.

She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again quickly and thought about everything that had happened since the two of them met. There had been good times and bad, lots of bad if she was being honest with herself. However, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that she wouldn't have changed any of it. Obviously, it was leading them somewhere and that location was here.

"It's just crazy to think about. I mean, there were times when I thought that you were possibly involved with the whole thing, but then there'd be a post about you going up and my mind had to change again. I guess I just didn't want to believe that it was someone who had managed to infiltrate our inner circle," she explained, running a hand through her hair as she leaned forward and rested her forehead against his.

"I think that's why I continued to post after suspicions of who was running the site had started to surface," he admitted, closing his eyes momentarily as he took a deep breath. As his eyes fluttered open, he noticed her looking at him from beneath her brows. Gently, he wrapped an arm around her waist and allowed his hand to find purchase against the small of her back.

In response to the hand on her back, Serena pulled her head back and furrowed her brow slightly as she met his eyes once more. "What do you mean?"

"After the posts started going live and people continued to send tips in, I was finally welcomed into the circle of friends that I had been watching from the outside for most of my early years of high school. I finally had the friends that I had been looking for."

"But I thought you said you weren't interested in the life associated with the Upper East Side," she laughed, pulling her lower lip between her teeth as a smile pulled at her lips.

"I was interested in a life with you," he admitted, carding his free hand through his hair as he dropped his eyes to his feet. It wasn't until he felt her soft finger looping beneath his chin and tilting his face up that he looked her in the eyes once more.

Slowly, Serena leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to his. She was tentative a first, but after a brief moment, she leaned more into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. Dan's arms fell into place as they wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling her body close to his. They stayed like that for a few moments until they heard the door to the apartment open in the distance.