Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Gossip Girl. I do not. I do not.
Rating: T
Author's Note:
So I've been meaning to publish this since ages but I never came around doing it, and it has probably been done before but I don't care, I'm doing it too. This starts from season one and will go till the current season. I'll write more depending upon the feedback. Enjoy and if there are any mistakes, I'd be grateful if you point them out to me. ~
(Also, for anyone who's been reading my other fics that I have apparently abandoned…I don't know. I have the next chapters in drafts; I might just update them, but I have no idea when.)
Chapter 1: Season 1 Pt. 1 / The exception [that] proves the rule.
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He caught her disparaging eye at the party as he was leaving, without meaning to, and it occurred to him after a couple of moments that she was the same girl who had been with Serena at Thanksgiving last year, and her glare still made him want to bat his eyes away, like he was doing something unmentioned or unforgivable in her book of rules, and he didn't know why that should make him a wee bit uncomfortable. He quickly ignored it and returned his gaze back to Serena.
{I get it. I mean, since you don't have to actually worry about getting into college, why not make the entire evening about screwing over Blair?}
He had gone back and was exchanging final words with the Dartsmouth rep when somebody shoved his shoulder. When he looked back, Blair Waldorf spared him a short unapologetic look.
"I'm sorry….?" He began, already fighting himself because it had begun to click to him that she clearly wasn't the polite, friendly girl who had introduced herself at that brunch, judging from whatever that had just happened at the Ostroff Center.
Blair raised both her eyebrows mockingly before turning away antipathetically, making him feel like an idiot.
He could have sworn he spotted a tear or two in her eyes.
{She's best friends with this girl, Blair Waldorf. Who is basically everything I hate about the Upper East Side distilled into one 95-pound, doe-eyed, bon mot tossing, label-whoring package of girly evil.}
He thought about it.
Blair Waldorf hadn't spared him the daggers - that did, in fact, momentarily turn him into stone: but for reasons that surprised him - as she had stormed past him outside the stairs. His first helpless reaction was to be piqued at Serena, mostly because he didn't like being dragged around.
He didn't mean to confront her. He didn't mean for his steps to find where she was.
But he thought about it, and mostly his brain was painting a confused picture of her: condescending, but when she had introduced herself he didn't want to hide (and she was polite and he was now pretty sure that wasn't just for his benefit), insulting - since he smelled like pork...and cheese, bitchy, scheming and apparently...unguarded.
"Normally I wouldn't be this close to your without a tetanus shot."
He was disappointed, a tiny bit, at the prejudice. She really did not like him. He had a feeling that won't change for a long time.
Mutually, if she carried on the tradition of insulting him whenever they started talking.
He sat down against the wall, across from her and for the first time he shared something with Blair Waldorf. Something that had never occurred to him to share with anyone.
When he finished, she wasn't looking at him. He didn't know how to excuse himself and he didn't know if he expected a response. It was the aftermath: the revelling in the glory of shared moments.
{I thought you wanted to be here for your friend, Blair.}
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It felt freer, she could have told him, as she mock-granted Dan and Serena her permission to date. It did feel liberating to let someone know how they feel.
When he caught her eyes, she realised she was smiling.
They didn't interact much. Their conversations henceforth only consisted of a mutual solo exchange. They mechanically presumed a shaky ground of respect, that was really only dependent on what the situation called.
{Hey. Let go of her.}
She spotted him at the masquerade ball first.
"Stay away from Serena," she wheezed past. "It probably wouldn't be hard for her to recognise you in that tragic excuse of a mask anyway."
"Blair. Whatever is up with Jenny, and I know you're responsible, just...stop it right now," was all he could manage in the hallway that day, after he saw them talking and strangely Blair had an earring in her fingers.
She didn't know why he was even bothering: he should have realised it was hopeless before he even got two words in.
Nevertheless, she snorted, in an unladylike fashion. "I'm not doing anything to her. She's doing what she's doing by her own free will. You can't blame that sleepover on me, Humphrey. Or what she chooses to do in school. And she is the one who should learn how to keep boundaries. Maybe you should ask her what really happened, before giving out verdicts. Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than waste words with a military cut cabbage patch."
She nonchalantly left him alone again, as it was now embedded in the customary conversations that they chanced upon having.
On her birthday, he did wish a Happy Birthday and he did bring her a present.
"Oh," was her comment, surprised. She turned the small wrapped gift around for a second. "Personalised post-its, Humphrey?"
He beamed weakly, uncertainly. "Uh…no, no…no."
She looked at him blankly. "Coasters?"
"No."
Not a paperweight either, he denied. But it sure as hell wouldn't compete with what she would receive from other people he was sure of it.
He quietly slipped into the party.
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(To be Continued)
Short, I know. Please review and tell me if I should write more! Season one would have the least moments, which is obvious, really. Thanks for reading. x