Disclaimer: Don't own Gossip Girl

Warning: Season 4 spoilers and speculation ahead!


After Midnight


It's three in the morning. Rough drafts and photograph negatives and cardboard cups of coffee are scattered about the room, and two curly-haired brunettes find themselves nodding off amongst the mess.

One stifles a yawn as he jerks his head up, rubbing his tired eyes. The other aimlessly reaches for a half-empty coffee cup, only to watch it tip over as a result of her incautious actions. Despite her pristine exterior, Blair Waldorf utters a curse, her manicured fingertips grasping to save loose documents from the dark liquid snaking across the wood floor.

A plaid shirt is peeled off as Dan Humphrey finds a quick and dirty solution for the spill ("Efficiency," he explains with a tired grin).

Crinkling her nose in half-hearted disgust, Blair averts her eyes from the mess on the floor. Deep chocolate pools settle on something white and flimsy – an undershirt, to be exact. Blair blushes. She murmurs something about indecency before shaking her head and offering Dan a blanket. When the pink chenille is wrapped around his muscled form, Dan can't help but chuckle; he finds himself looking suspiciously like his favorite Coney Island carnival treat, which perhaps to some is more appalling than a peek of innocent flesh.

Unable to contain her amused giggle, Blair stands on slippered feet and pads towards the kitchen with promises of paper towels and cleaning products. Upon her return, however, the plaid shirt is gone and so is its owner. A perplexed look crosses Blair's features – no one is dismissed without a Waldorf's permission, least of all a Humphrey – but she crouches on steady knees and sprays furiously at the spill anyways, cursing the day she agreed to let Dorota leave at night.

A clearing of the throat is audible as Dan emerges from the guest room, toned body displayed like a work of art (the plaid shirt is presumably wrung out and hung to dry). He blinks, pleasantly surprised at Blair's behavior. Blair counters Dan's reaction with a barb about the help knowing his place, though the light tone of her voice lessens the effect of her words.

Dan shakes his head with a knowing grin, setting to the task of arranging the loose papers and photographs. Soon enough, the study is back in order and Dan trudges reluctantly, if not dutifully, towards the front door, offering to return for his shirt during more appropriate hours. Blair's hand instinctively flutters to Dan's bare arm, the look in her eyes firm and commanding. She blames her desire for him to stay on the lack of reputable cab services, but they both know it isn't true.

Stranger things have happened after midnight.


AN: Quick one-shot written in class. I've been far too busy to update my multi-chaps, but it'll get done in the next week or so. Hope you enjoyed.