AN- This is really random. I wrote it on a whim and not much has gone into it. But I still kind if like it. Hope you like it as well.
I didn't want to bother my beta with something so short and random so all mistakes are my own.
Title taken from the song by Roxette.
Disclaimer- Disclaimed.
To anyone else looking at them, it would have seemed planned, or even repetitive. A tradition perhaps? Something, the two of them were comfortable doing; a sort of comfort which could only be achieved by being in similar situations, several times before.
They exhibited a sense of familiarity, for except for the dry, "of all the bars in all the places in all the world, she walks into mine…," there isn't anything to let it slip that the two were surprised to see each other.
But the thing is that no one is paying attention to them and there isn't much to be read in the way her eyes light up and his breath catches.
Blair lets a disinterested smile grace her lips as she sits down next to him, "Had I known Humphrey that I would be running into you I would have chosen to remain at home."
He asks the bar tender to repeat his order and catching a look at Blair, orders the same for her, "Why? Waldorf, I would have assumed that now that you are royalty in the real sense of the word, you would keep away from Brooklyn's damaging air, let alone one of its bar…"
"First of all, it's Waldorf Grimaldi now and I came here for some quiet."
"To a noisy Brooklyn pub? Really? That's your excuse for admitting that you just like the whiskey here?"
Blair ignores him and hoping that he takes the hint, sips her drink quietly.
He could never take hints though, "Are your husband's bodyguard there outside waiting for you?"
"Louis doesn't have bodyguards, Humphrey."
"No? Evil step mother then?"
"Nope."
"Ah…" he grins at her profile (because really she isn't even looking at him), "Paparazzi then? The entire press club of New York must be on red alert to know what the Princess of Monaco was doing back at her home turf."
"Brooklyn's hardly my home turf."
His smile falters a bit as an uneasy thought enters his head, "Chuck?"
She turns her head slowly to look at him, "No."
He breathes.
"Oh! I know, you miss me then. And you just wanted to walk the streets I tread every day."
She raises her eyebrows at him sharply and noting by the look on his face that he is joking, laughs out a little, "Get a grip on yourself Humphrey, before you burst a vein or something."
He laughs but sobers up suddenly, "Really, Waldorf. What's wrong? I didn't even know you were back in States and here you are… In Brooklyn, having a drink I ordered and not complaining about it."
"I…," Blair begins but stops and then drowning her drink in a gulp says, "You were right this really is awful stuff"
"Blair?"
"You won't understand" she snaps at him, "I hardly understand it myself."
"Then I probably wouldn't. But how about giving it a shot?"
"I hate it!" she blurts out, "it's been eight months and I hate every moment of it."
Dan looks at her confused, "Has Louis…"
"No." she corrects him, "No. Louis is perfect. If it hadn't been for him I would have walked out of it long time ago, it's everything else. I thought I wanted the Fairytale Humphrey, but now that I have it," she pauses and looks at him, willing him to understand…
"And now that you have it, you realize it isn't enough?" he supplies. For some reason, for some crazy reason he can relate to it.
She nods her head emphatically, "I wanted to be a powerful woman Humphrey. A powerful woman in my own right! But being married to a prince means I'm his wife first and Blair Waldorf second. It's driving me insane."
"And thus the cheap Brooklyn alcohol."
"And thus the cheap Brooklyn alcohol," she agrees, "I needed a time out. Out of Monaco, out of the UES. Brooklyn seemed right to just think; I didn't think I would run into anyone I knew."
"Sorry to have ruined your plans," he says dryly.
A few quiet moments pass while Dan orders a refill and Blair occasionally stairs off into space.
He clears his throat, "For what it's worth though. I think you're already a great woman."
"You think so?"
"I know so." He clarifies, "Or haven't you read my book."
Blair smiles a bit at that, "About that…Firstly, what were you thinking? Secondly, thank you. I don't think anyone has ever written about me before and you did make me shine a bit in it."
Without thinking he replies, "You are worth it."
Blair is taken aback slightly; it isn't an admission or anything like that. In fact his book had been more eloquent about what he may feel for her, but there is a certain quality to his voice at the moment, "You really liked me, did't you?"
And perhaps it's the alcohol talking, "I adored you." He admits, "For all I know, it must have been love…" He pauses, "Sometimes I think it still is."
"But , I…"
"But…" he cuts her off, "but that's my problem. Not yours. You don't have to worry your head about it."
"Dan?"
"Oh! C'mon, Blair. Doesn't a guy have the right to feel whatever he wants to about whoever he wants to? I'm not asking anything in return here"
She looks at him and for what is perhaps the first time ever, Dan squirms a bit under her stare, "I'm glad you told me this," she says after a while.
With his heart slightly in his throat, he mumbles, "Why?"
"Because even if it doesn't change a thing, at least I know now. I have heard that that is what really matters."
Immediately recognizing his own words, spoken so long ago in that hollowed hallway, he cracks a grin, "Must have been someone really wise to have told you that."
Blair snorts but sobers up immediately, "Thank you Humphrey. For," she waves her hand between them, including them, the drinks, the shared space and the distance between them, "for everything."
He looks at her, "If Louis is all what you say he is, he'll understand your potential. Talk to him Blair and I'm sure he'll stand by whatever you choose to do."
"Marital advice from someone who dated Vanessa Abrams? Really?"
Dan laughs and Blair joins him till the laughter dies and all there are left with are soft shared smiles.
"I'm going to go now. Louis must be worried."
Dan nods, "And I'm going to get very drunk here."
She picks up her coat and places a tentative hand on his shoulder, "Goodbye Humphrey."
"Goodbye Blair. Maybe I'll run into you somewhere again."
She smiles, "Maybe you will."
And with that she turns around and disappears into the descending mist outside.
AN-Please review. I would love to know what you think.