Author Note: I could use some constructive criticism and definitely some compliments! :)
Let me know if the writing style is to extreme.
It's a definite Dair and Serenate story!
I don't own Gossip Girl or any of these characters.
She stepped out of the cab, her eyes settled on the city around her and she smiled. Blair Waldorf hadn't been to New York City in over 5 years.
She watched the driver pull out her multiple bags and she gave him a gracious tip.
"Thank You." he spoke.
Blair looked up and smiled, her building still looked the same. The windows still as large and the brick still as magnificent.
She pressed for the elevator and her mind reeled. When she arrived at the penthouse she slowly exited, hoping the place was still as elegant as before.
She wished Dorota would come scurrying yelling: "Ms. Blair how was your day?"
She wished that she had a vase full of fresh white and blue hydrangeas on the center table.
She had hoped these simple pleasures would come true, but they didn't.
She looked around and saw that every light was off and the curtains were closed to prevent the build up of dust.
She turned on the foyer light and saw an array of junk mail piled on the table. No flowers in sight.
Blair's thoughts traveled to 6 years before:
They rushed inside holding each others hands soaking wet.
"So maybe not bringing an umbrella on our afternoon walk was not one of my finer moments." he spoke and Blair chuckled slightly.
"You think? These shoes are suede Humphrey. Forever ruined." she spoke defeated and he place his hands on her face and brushed away raindrops dripping from her long dark ringlets.
"Well who else besides Blair Waldorf wears expensive and uncomfortable shoes on long walks?" he spoke so bittersweet and she gawked at him.
"You don't appreciate fashion and I can really see that by the things you choose to wear. Plaid? What are you a bi curious female with wood chopping abilities and a cabin in the woods?"
"Wow, that was a new one. I appreciate that adorable quip." Dan spoke kissing her lips swiftly.
"I thought you might." she glared and walked up the magnificent staircase to her room and Dan followed behind with a devilish grin on his face.
"If your going to be drying off. I can always lend a hand." Dan said sneaking up and pressing his body into hers and her breathing steadily increased.
"I was thinking a warm bath." she said walking into her bathroom, turning the faucet on, and making her way back in her bedroom, taking in her handsome boyfriend's appearance. She may have looked like a wet dog out in the rain, but the torrential downpour suited his messy hair and his slight stubble. The stubble that she would never admit she had grown to love.
"Care to join?" Blair raised an eyebrow and kissing his forehead gently.
"Need you even ask?" he chuckled and Blair smiled at his boyish nature that showed during even the most intimate times.
He made his way over to her and took the dress off and kissed her collarbone softly, and gently pressing his fingers into her waist. She unbuttoned his plaid shirt and ran her hands over his sculpted arms and black wife beater.
"God your beautiful." he said as he took the rest of her clothing off and she obligingly took the rest of his off as well.
"Lets take that bath Humphrey."
He slowly got in the hot and steaming bath first and she followed. She pressed her back to his chest and his arms laced around her and a feeling of solace enveloped her.
"So what are we going to do tonight? The Benefit that Lily mentioned is tonight isn't it?" he asked rubbing her arms slowly, and she grunted.
"I was thinking dinner and a movie. The Film Forum is playing that new film on Khodorkovsky."
"That sounds perfect." he spoke kissing her hair and she had a small smile as he did so.
She kept her body pressed against his, feeling the beat of his heart on her bare back.
Blair stared at the bath tub and smiled pensively.
Everything in her bedroom was covered with sheets and layers of dust, but the bath tub looked the same as it always had.
Shining porcelain and loaded memories.
She set her purse on the floor and slowly reassembled her room.
She made the bed she watched Dorota make hundreds of times.
She dusted the bureau dresser and lugged the suitcases up the staircase herself.
After 5 years she hadn't had a maid cleaning up every single mess she had made, and she had silently appreciated the learning experience of taking care of herself.
She opened her closet and found empty hangers and cobwebs encircling her walk in sanctuary.
Blair slowly unpacked each bag and her closet soon filled with clothing from every sort of designer across Europe imaginable.
5 years had passed, but Blair Waldorf still had impeccable taste.
After extensive cleaning, she had finally settled into her room and pulled out her phone:
"Hello." a lyrical voice spoke after only two rings. Blair heard a small voice in the background repeating the question: Who is it mom? Who is that?
"Hey." Blair said smiling. She hadn't heard this wonderful voice in months and it was like an angelic sound.
"B! Oh my gosh." Serena yelled through the phone and immediately Blair felt a sense of happiness.
They had no communication the past five years and Blair had finally made the call she was patiently waiting to make.
"I wanted to call you as soon as I got to the city."
"Are you in town?" Serena squealed through her phone and the small voice in the background made a loud grunting sound and said: Mom are you okay?
"Yeah…since a few hours ago. I am here for a few weeks." Blair said walking down the stairs and her black Miu Miu heels clicking across the marble floors.
Next room to reassemble was the living room.
"That's exciting, but why?" Serena asked quizzically. She was inexplicably ecstatic her best friend was back, but what was the reason.
"I am here to take care of some business." Blair spoke. Her business was to finally give up the penthouse she had so fondly loved since her childhood, but she didn't want to spoil the conversation.
"Oh, well can I expect to see you while your in town doing some mysterious business that you neglect to tell your best friend of whom you haven't called, texted, or wrote in the past five years?" Serena spoke in a way that Blair felt a wave of regret sweep over her entire body.
Serena said it with a slight sting in her demeanor, but Serena was hardly one to hold a grudge.
"I- I am sorry Serena." Blair sat on the dusty couch and put her head into her hands. Blair remembered when Serena had left Blair during their 10th grade year and how alone she had felt those months.
Blair and Serena finally saw both ends of the spectrum.
"Its okay B."
"No. Its not. I need to make up for lost time." Blair said making her way to the foyer and looking at her masterpiece.
She had managed to make her living room look as it did the days her and Serena would gossip about Nate, Chuck, and Dan.
The days they would watch Breakfast at Tiffany's and eat croissants, trying to imitate Audrey's mellifluous accent.
"Can we meet at the park? I have someone I want you to meet." Serena finally spoke and Blair immediately ran up the stairs to grab her purse and overcoat.
"I will be there in 15 minutes."
Blair hung the phone up swiftly and grabbed her red pea coat out of her closet.
She descended the stairs as she had done a million times before. Like she was a beautiful princess and the entire world below were her servants.
She had missed the feeling of power.
A smile graced her lips as she pressed the elevator button.
She was suddenly back in high school.
She was meeting her best friend in the park and it was so nostalgic Blair almost fainted.
Blair Waldorf was finally starting to reassemble herself.
He opened the creaking door and basked in the smell of dust and Chinese food and listened to the sound of car sirens in the street.
Brooklyn.
He had missed his old home and the familiarity of it.
He hadn't used the key to the loft in 5 years and the day he had left he swore he wouldn't be back.
Here he was.
He walked through with a duffle bag on one shoulder and a laptop case on the other.
His intention now that he was back in the city and on sabbatical was to write a great piece of literature.
He hadn't written anything with substance in almost 5 years.
He walked into his room and set his two bags down beside his bed.
Dan Humphrey was a washed up writer and he neglected to notice this truth until now.
He pulled out his cell phone and made a phone call:
"Hello" a woman answered swiftly.
"Hey babe. I wanted to call and let you know I finally made it." Dan spoke to his fiancée of one year.
He had met her at Starbucks two years before.
They had a steady and anything but rocky relationship.
She was the daughter of a doctor and a teacher.
She was conventionally beautiful.
He always correlated her beauty with that of Grace Kelly.
She was blonde and blue eyed.
Lauren was everything he had always wanted in a woman.
"Okay." she spoke gently and he could hear a few of her colleagues in the background asking her what she had wanted to do for lunch.
"I am going to unpack and try to get some writing done."
"Take your time. It will come to you when it comes baby." she said eloquently and he nodded.
"Right. Well I better let you go." he said walking through the loft and cutting some of the lights on.
The loft wasn't half as dusty as he had expected.
"Okay. Well call me tonight. I love you." she said blowing a kiss through the phone.
"I love you." he blew a kiss and pressed the end button.
She was going to be coming to New York on the weekends, but the trip from Chicago was going to be quite a commute.
She was supportive of his decision to spend time in New York and visit his family.
She was supportive of everything he did.
He was slightly unsettled by that.
He was used to Serena who he spent most of his time chasing and most of the was spent miserably trying to figure out her carefree and whimsical nature.
He was used to Vanessa who spent most of her time judging his decisions and being oblivious to him for their entire friendship.
He was used to Georgina who was a whole other element of crazy. He wasn't quite sure where his right mind was in that relationship.
He was used to Blair. He was used to a challenge. He was used to writing multiple novels on her. He was used to her biting remarks that actually left marks on him. He was used to feeling in love and for once it felt almost true.
It felt right.
He shook his head and immediately pulled out his laptop and put it on his desk.
He pulled up Microsoft Word and typed away.
He glanced around the loft and memories came flooding in and he couldn't block them out.
He attempted to forget her face, to forget her.
He tried to, but all he could think of was how they ate breakfast at the bar stools every morning, or the long tired nights on the floor discussing literature or art, or the many times the had made love in his bed.
He tried to block out the memories of Blair.
He couldn't.
He needed a walk.
He left his loft anxiously and glanced outside.
It was Autumn in New York City and the leaves were changing from green to orange.
It was his favorite season.
He appreciated the two unappreciated seasons.
Fall and Spring.
They reminded him of death and rebirth.
He walked until his feet began to hurt and the sky turned an pinkish amber.
He felt his phone ding and it was someone he had never expected.
He was sure he had changed his number since she had last texted him.
It was from Gossip Girl. He was almost in his 30's and she was still following him like a ghost who had been dormant for years.
The message said spotted in the city and a picture of Blair was posted underneath.
She looked as beautiful as ever.
He quickly deleted the post and hailed a cab back to his loft.
He wasn't here for her and he sure as hell wasn't going to forget what happened to their relationship merely 5 years before.
He couldn't undo almost 5 years of reexamination.
He entered the loft and shut the door behind him, locking it tightly.
Locking the ghosts of his past outside of the door.
Dan made his bed with the tucked away sheets in the linen closet and laid in his bed until he forgot the picture of her.
He fell asleep listlessly and dreamed of history and bad decisions.