On a lazy summer's day, the best activity one could be preoccupied with was enjoying a cone of cool ice cream.
Dan Humphrey's eyebrows stitched up in disagreement the minute his sister mentioned the commonly known and believed verity. Of all the places to be, preferably the apartment—locked up and doing some quality writing to heal his heartbreak—Jenny had to choose the steps of the Met.
"What?" he raised his head sleepily from the pillow he had buried his face in all morning, speaking in a muffed voice to Jenny. "You want ice cream? But why'd we need to go all the way over there?" Dan rolled around in the sheets, pretending to be engrossed in a book he left lying on the bed.
Jenny rolled her eyes. "Come on," she snatched the book from her brother. "You've gotta get out there sometime. Since your break-up with Serena, I thought you were doing some hermit hibernation thing in this room." The younger Humphrey pushed away the curtains, opening the windows to let some light into the room, while Dan groaned in mixed frustration and self-pitiness.
"There are more things to do in the world than mope, Dan," Jenny helped him stand up from the bed, Dan scratching his eyes and yawning. "You know better."
He shook his head, as he pulled down the wall between his and her room to get dressed properly. "Dad's behind this, isn't he?"
But all he saw on her face was a sneaky grin.
"One butterscotch scoop and one chocolate chip scoop, please. Yes, both on cones. To go."
After queuing for a considerable amount of time at the legendary ice cream booth next to their school, once constantly peopled by the St. Jude's boys and Constance's girls on dates, Dan and Jenny walked out, ice cream cones in their hand.
Unlike Jenny's eager tasting of her cone, Dan left his untouched, as they both sat down on the step. "Dan?" she turned, asking worriedly, "What's wrong?"
He only nibbled on the chocolate chip ice cream. "If I'd known you were bringing me here, I wouldn't have even gotten up from bed," his sister leaning in to hear what he had to say.
"What, there's memories of you and Serena here too?"
Dan didn't answer. He looked distant, as if caught in a reverie.
"It was at this ice cream booth where…"
New York's MET proved to be a fascination for young Daniel Humphrey, who had, for the first time, came across the river to the center of the city. He was here on a field trip with his elementary school, and, after entire two hours of exploring the wonders the museum had to offer, the children were let out to the nearby steps for a break.
Suddenly aware of his empty stomach, Dan headed out to the nearest ice cream booth he could find. At ten, ice cream was Dan's favorite snack and, despite his father's warnings, practically food.
"One chocolate chip scoop on a cone to go, please," he ordered, tiptoeing to reach the edge of the booth table so he could properly observe the process of preparing his dessert. Dan watched the man scoop his preferred flavor into a perfect ball with delight, hand reaching out to wait for the finished product.
"Here you go," the seller handed Dan his ice cream. The boy walked away, so engrossed in devouring his order that he crashed, unaware, into a small girl, dressed in another school's uniform, obviously on a fieldtrip as well.
She was a petite brunette, her tone quite bossy and demanding. "Ouch! Watch your steps, would you! People're walking here!" she hissed, before walking away.
And that was how Dan Humphrey first met Blair Waldorf.
"So rude," he muttered to himself, licking his ice cream, as he studied the scene of New York City's rush hour at the steps of the Met in eager interest, "Didn't even let me say sorry."
Convinced he and his thoughts were left alone at last, Dan did not suspect to mingle with another student from that 'rude, snobbish,' school, yet suddenly a dulcet sound broke through his concentration.
"Blair! Wait!"
The owner of the voice was a thin blond girl, her face the liveliest and prettiest Dan had ever seen, her light blue eyes sparkling in excitement, as she rushed down the steps to catch up to her brunette friend, her hands holding a chocolate chip ice cream cone.
Dan caught his breath. Surely, chocolate chip was her favorite flavor, too?
"Oh!"
By some unfortunate turns of events or a thankful act of fate, the girl had tripped on the steps, but he, Dan, was there in time to catch her in his arms.
Like the princes he had read about in storybooks. Saving their dream princesses.
"Thank you," she whispered, smiling up at him.
"No problem," he replied, trying his best to impress his princess, his lips shaping into a somewhat shaky, shy smile.
That second, lost in his trance, Dan felt the world brought to a subtle slow-motion, sensing only her presence, seeing only her face. And her lovely, unforgettable smile.
As he helped her stand up, the girl's eyes darted to a horrible sight awaiting her: her fallen ice cream, plopped down on a step below them.
What happened next was almost instantaneous. The girl trembled, her cone falling from her shaking hands. She pouted her lips, at the same time as small salt drops fell from her reddened eyes.
"My ice cream," she cried. "I haven't—"
She continued sobbing, face buried in her hands, unable to finish her sentence.
Dan took one look at her, then at his ice cream cone, his heart already ahead of his mind.
He extended his arm, offering his ice cream to her. "Here," he said gently, "It's okay, now. You can have mine."
The sobbing sound ceased abruptly. The girl looked up, gazing at the chocolate chip cone, mouth agape.
Her delicate, miniature hand reaching out to accept his cone, she uttered in wonderment, "You're kind. No one's been this nice to me before. What's your name?" The last sentence she added in curiousity.
Fascination and admiration evident in her face, she offered her hand to him in greeting. "I'm Serena."
Serena. Such a pretty name for a pretty girl.
Dan's hands gripped on hers nervously. "Dan. N—Nice to meet you," he mumbled, as his dad had taught him to say when meeting new people, his cheeks mildly burning.
Serena grinned at him, swaying their joined hands cheerfully.
"And that's it?"
Jenny's skeptical voice left Dan sighing.
He shrugged. "Of course that's not it," his voice emphasizing the words she had so untimely doubted.
"But that's all I'll say about it," Dan concluded, wringing his hands in the air. "And that's how I want to remember it. Though…" he left his sentence trailing in the air, raising Jenny's curiosity.
She tugged at his arms, staring at his resigned face. "What?" The world's coolest ice cream could not compete against his phlegmatism, for all she knew. "What else happened afterwards?"
"Well," he drawled, "The brunette girl, Blair," Jenny's face twisted at the mention of her name, "—came back, and told Serena to hurry up. Just before Serena was going to introduce me, Blair practically dragged her away, saying she and Serena had no time and business to mingle with boys like me."
"Aww," Jenny said, sounding her compassion to her brother, tapping his shoulders. "It's past now, just don't think—"
Funny, the second his sister mention the word 'think,' Dan saw—or thought he saw—a familiar, lithe blonde in the crowd. One blink of an eye, and she disappeared from his sight.
Probably a mirage, he thought to himself, out of my thirst for her.
But when? When can I completely forget her?
I can't, His mind firmly affirmed.
And there she was again, at the ice cream booth, waiting in line for her order.
Dan caught his breath, his eyes lingering, feasting on the reality and the amazing stroke of luck the day had granted him.
It's her.
It's really her.
Go to her! Come on, the mind's urgings sent his heart racing at the prospect of seeing her face once more.
Jenny pulled him close, the wheels in her mind gearing towards the same destination as his. "Isn't that Serena?" her question strangely encouraging.
Their eyes met.
"One chocolate chip scoop on a cone to go, please," Serena ordered, looking at her wristwatch impatiently. How long does it take to order an ice cream? she complained mentally. I'm going insane in this heat.
Hearing the exact same order overlapping hers, the Upper East Side Princess imperiously declared, "Excuse me, mister. I was here first, ordering before you," whirling around to see the smiling man standing behind her.
Dan.
Dan with his messy black, just-woke-up-in-the-morning hair, his idle artist smile, his affectionate, caring chocolate orbs…
"Hi," he greeted her shyly. A simple phrase that silenced her, ruining her articulation to bits.
"Hi," she repeated, emptied of what to respond to his words.
"Hey, miss, you two there," called the ice cream seller, stirring both of them awake, "Should I make this two cones? Or just one?"
"Just one," Dan replied, Serena's mouth gaping in surprise that he'd stolen her words, and, who knows, her ice cream, in front of her face, a sight not unlike the one Dan had etched in his mind eight years ago.
"Wanna share?" he offered his cone, acting oblivious to her frown.
"As friends, of course, if you're worrying."
"As friends," she recited his words, agreeing cautiously, her mind hesitating. "I've got no problem with that."
Serena licked the ice cream first, sighing in pleasure at the bittersweet, supremely combined taste of chocolate and vanilla. "Mhm, I missed this," she muttered, savoring the flavor in her mouth.
"No," Dan murmured as he leaned in, his tongue, a moment ago tasting the creaminess of the chocolate chip, entwining hers. "I missed this." Serena gave a surprised little gasp but did not pull away, letting their tongues duel in her mouth, intensifying into a kiss, which, despite the crazy heat of the day, filled her body with fervency.
As he held her close, Serena's arms wrapped around his neck, the ice cream was forgotten, lost in their blissful moment together, Dan's hand limply allowing the cone to hit the floor.
"Hey mister," Serena broke away gently, accusing him as she looked down at her fallen chocolate chip cone, "You dropped my ice cream."
Dan's tender hands tilted her face to his. "For good reason," he whispered, a finger tracing her lips.
She smiled.
"But aren't you a messy eater," he remarked, suddenly in mocked seriousness, "I see a stain here," his lips brushing hers, as if to stroke away the invisible cream stain, "here," moving to her cheeks, "here," lingering at her nose, "and here," outlining her forehead.
Serena shivered at his touches. "Oh, would you stop the teasing and just kiss me already!" she softly protested, pouting.
You just can't resist him, can you? asked her mind. Seems like you're not going to stay 'as friends' for long!
"Glad to oblige," Dan answered, grinning, as he responded to her request with perhaps a little more enthusiasm than before.
This time, he was the one who broke the kiss, scratching his head undecidedly, "Although, you know," he said, to Serena's bemused face.
"We could always buy another chocolate chip ice cream."
A/N: WOOT! I love chocolate chip!
Millions of thank you's and XOXO's to you all, my precious readers and reviewers,
Your ever humble fanfic writer :)