A/N: So this is just a little fic that I was inspired by the song "Time is Running Out" by Muse. Unfortunately, I don't own anything. This is just for fun. R/R at your leisure and hopefully I'll be able to update this (:

I think I'm drowning, asphyxiated.

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Daniel Humphrey had never been the type of person to get into trouble before. He had never broken a law before and neither was he the type of person to go and get into fights. He was usually quite mild mannered and he never acted out of turn. He never said anything that would cause anybody any grief and neither did he create conflict of any sort. His parents were what they called him a good boy. But like any other human being, Dan had his own flaws. Although he hated to admit it, he was quick to judge and was perceived extremely judgemental by all. He was extremely opinionated and tried to express it whenever he could, never thought good of anyone who didn't look twice at him and at times, acted like a jackass. But the biggest flaw that Dan had, and the one that seemed to land him in the most trouble, was when he stood in to defend his friends.

He could still count the number of times he had given someone his right hook on one hand, but almost every single time it had landed him in trouble. The first time he ever hit someone was Chuck Bass at the Kiss On The Lips party. Forcing himself on his little sister, Jenny, was something he wasn't cool with. Punch one. The almost-second blow was delivered to none other than Chuck again at brunch the following day. Shoving him into a waiter that fell over and dropped everything on their tray was the result of a very hard shove at the upper east-sider. The third was delivered to a stranger who was harassing Chuck and strangely enough, Dan was the one to stop the whole argument. The fourth and fifth times were during his years at Yale University.

But three years after his graduation and one globally successful book, Dan Humphrey didn't feel the accolades as much as he used to. His writing had become drivel that only birds would use to build their nests. Of course, his wife thought otherwise. But that was a part of her job. She was meant to say that his writing was still good since the day she met him. He wished that she meant it, but he knew that she was just saying it to make him happy. But the one thing he knew was that he wasn't going anywhere with his writing. He wasn't getting where he wanted to be. Yes, he had successfully written and published his first novel and it had received praises from all around the world. But as the days went by, it didn't feel like he had done it all. He didn't feel worthy of all the compliments and words of encouragement. Hell, he didn't even think that he could even write a second book. But his publishers had been harassing him about writing another novel. But all Dan thought of them were greedy money grabbers. After all, they didn't want a writer that could only write one great novel. They wanted a writer that could continually write hit after hit, not just a one hit wonder. Sadly, that was what Dan had turned into.

So Dan found himself scouring the streets of New York every night, trying to find some form of inspiration. Serena used to be his muse. She had boundless energy and seemed to turn every negative situation into a positive one. But after a while, her optimism had started to dull. There was no doubt in Dan's mind that he had loved her with his whole heart, which was the reason that he married her in the first place. But she was no longer giving him the inspiration he sorely needed. Her once bubbly personality that made his muse bubble and foam over the top now meant nothing to him. It had turned into what he had to deal with daily. The smile that reassured him that he could find something to write about only made him want to pour vinegar in his eyes. He couldn't bear to see disappointment in his wife's eyes. She had been his pillar of strength for the past year and a half, and she had heard him bitch and moan about the publishers. She knew everything about him and everything that he loved about his passion.

But this was something that she didn't know.

Hunched over, Dan Humphrey could feel the cold draft as he sat in the jail cell, shoe-less. Head in hands, his last hope of getting out of jail was on his way. Once again, Dan had gone out to try and find some inspiration and whenever that didn't work, he seemed to find his way to a bar. He had found many bars, and he had managed to get into one too many bar fights. The number of times that Daniel Humphrey had been involved in bar fights was something he couldn't count on his fingers alone. He was almost running out of space on his own toes. It was something he wasn't proud of, but spending endless nights wandering the streets of New York City made him grow tired and restless. He found himself at a bar to try and drown his sorrows away, but only to drink one too many. Usually the brawls started when another patron wanted to buy another drink when they would walk into him, accidentally of course. In his inebriated state, Dan would mistake it for something else and then after throwing the first punch, the rest was usually a blur – a blur of blue and red.

So how had Dan been hiding his midnight brawls from his wife? He had been calling a person that he never thought he'd never see again after high school. They ran in two different social circles and he could never understand what was really wrong with the girl, but nevertheless, she was the only person that he could count on. Strangely enough, the two of them had formed a better relationship with each other through Serena. Not to mention, they were the one that designed her wedding dress and helped Dan pick out the best fitting tuxedo. Their relationship only seemed to strengthen when he realised how insightful she was and that was how their friendship grew. The first time he called her for their help, she threatened to tell Serena. Of course, he had formed a deal with each other that whenever he got into trouble and didn't want Serena to know, he'd do something for her. And every time Dan was tossed into a jail cell, he called her and without fail, she would show up and bail him out. He could only hope that she would actually turn up this time.

Shaking his right leg up and down, Dan waited patiently for the girl that would save him. The girl that always saved him in these situations. Hearing footsteps and sequentially, the guard unlocking the bar door, Dan looked up to nod his head at him. Standing up, he gathered his jacket before following the guard out of the cell, down the corridor and into the foyer of the station. Hearing him say something about trying to avoid coming back in again, Dan waved off his advice before scanning the room. Looking for the familiar face that always bailed him out wasn't there. Frowning, he pushed his left hand into the pocket of his slacks while he flung his jacket over his right shoulder. Slowly making his way out of the foyer and out of the building, Dan was about to head out to find a cab when he was caught off guard.

"What did you do this time?" Her voice sent chills down his spine, causing him to turn on his heels to face the voice.

"Another fi-"

"Another one Humphrey? I'm getting sick of this. I don't really enjoy meeting you in the middle of the night at the local lock up and then lie to Serena about it," Stepping out of the shadows and dressed in a trench coat, Blair Waldorf had that look on her face that said she was going to release the hounds on him.

"It's been hard. Finding inspiration," He was grasping at straws. He had been calling Blair to bail him out for the past few months. Dan's search for inspiration had been fruitless, and both of them knew that. He was screwed.

"You better find some soon, otherwise one day I won't be coming to bail you out and you'll have to call Serena," It didn't seem very threatening, but Dan never wanted Serena to find out what he got up to at night. It was something he wasn't proud of, not to mention, it just wasn't like him at all to start a fight.

Mouth agape, he was left speechless at the brunette's threat before she started to turn around and walk away.

"Come on Cabbage Patch. I'll take you home,"

Following her lead, Dan didn't think twice about not taking her offer to drive him home. And just as he was following behind the brunette, he finally found some inspiration.