This is a sequel to my story 'Perfect'. It might help to read that first!
Better Than Perfect
The next time she sees him she's the one sliding up to him to keep him company. He looks remarkably handsome- yet awkward- in the sharp, black Armani suit, as he hovers behind the buffet table, his plate half-full and untouched.
"Humphrey."
"Blair." He looks pleased to see her.
She smiles softly. "Where's Rufus?"
"Probably doing what I wanted to and actually hiding under the table instead of behind it."
She frowns, "That's terrible. As the co-host of this adorable brunch I expect much better etiquette." Her voice is sharp and she knows she sounds just like she did at Constance, when she used to pick apart his clothes, his sister, his home, with utter disdain.
He frowns slightly, but when she dips down and whispers loudly and playfully to the buffet table, "So you should be ashamed of yourself Mr Humphrey", he cannot help but let out a loud, surprised laugh.
"Honestly Daniel. I studied for four years at NYU with you and you still think that I'm the same girl from high school?" She stands up straight again, arching her eyebrow, challenging him.
He looks mock serious for a moment, "Well I suppose seeing you with an NYU sweatshirt on and drinking out of a keg should have changed my perspective a little."
She blushes at that particular memory and he chuckles again. The deep, soothing sound reverberates up her spine and her cheeks pink even more.
"Oh, well at least you didn't catch me half naked making out with Georgina Sparks, Satan's little helper herself!" she shoots back, half-teasing, plucking at anything from her memory to stop him before he notices the way her hairs are standing on end at suddenly being so close to him.
Dan grimaces, but then retorts, "You dated Chuck Bass for almost a year. That's much worse."
Blair's face falls slightly at the mention of her ex-ex-boyfriend and Dan wishes he could turn back time and punch himself in the face before he ever said that to her- jokingly or not.
He opens his mouth to apologise but Blair has already recovered- Chuck broke her heart, Nate mended it, and now it's all hers again after all.
She purses her lips up at him, "Touché` Daniel. I always forget that you're almost as sharp as me."
He wisely doesn't respond to that, other than to nudge her arm playfully and beam down at her when she laughs softly.
Neither of them notices the pairs of blue and green eyes on them as they continue to banter and bicker teasingly.
*
She's packing for France again – Daddy is desperate to have her back - when her phone rings.
She glances over the screen and answers immediately.
"Humphrey. I presume you heard the news?"
She already knows he's calling about the latest Gossip Girl update- the clear and bright picture of Serena and Nate embracing like long-lost lovers in Central Park.
"Actually," his voice falters at this point and she rolls her eyes, but doesn't find it in the slightest bit annoying, "I was calling to see if you wanted to go out. For coffee, or a movie, or maybe just to the park," there's a nervous hitch in his breath here and he say's quickly, "No, not the park. Just out somewhere, I mean, maybe even,"
Blair cuts him off here, before his rambling becomes too panicked, "Daniel, stop babbling."
There's a silent pause, his acquiescence.
"I have approximately two hours and half free before I have to leave. I'll be at The Palace in twenty minutes."
"Great, I'll see you then."
She hears the smile in his voice, and before she says something too humiliating sweet in response she hangs up.
*
She's ten minutes late, but for once she's not berating herself for the lack of etiquette, it's the reason behind her bad punctuality that she is irritated about.
He's waiting for her in the foyer, looking scruffy and nervous, and Blair feels the too-familiar pull in her stomach. She smoothes down the front of the skirt- annoyed even more now by the fact she was not only late to meet him because she was worrying about what to wear, but also because now she was here- and she knew she looked fabulous- she was still worried that he wouldn't think so.
She wants to slap herself.
She settles for waving at him apologetically.
*
She doesn't go to France that week, or the next.
She settles for reading Madame Bovary, and watching Amelie with French wine and Dan.
He actually enjoys the film- even though he admits he found the subtitles quite hard to keep up with. He likes reading with her too, though he prefers the American classics like Hemingway.
They were debating about it, the pros of American literature over European, one day- over black coffee and a Skinny Caramel Latte – when the news came.
Their phones buzzed simultaneously and they locked eyes briefly before Blair picked up her phone and flipped it open.
The picture was hazy, but there was no mistaking Nate's face, or the blonde hair which his fingers were laced into.
She doesn't say anything, put she pushes her phone over the table to him, suddenly wishing that she was back in France, sitting on the terrace and looking out at the Vineyard, listening to Debussy whilst her father and Roman cook in the kitchen behind her.
Dan's eyes leave her face for a second and then they are back up on her again. He says nothing, but he picks up her phone, stands up, takes her hand and leads her outside.
They don't stop walking until they reach her penthouse.
*
She doesn't go to France that week either.
Serena comes to visit her on the Wednesday, her beautiful face fraught with apologies and concern.
Blair says nothing when Serena crawls onto her bed.
"Blair," the blonde begins, staring beseechingly at her own hands and picking her thumbnail.
"Serena," Blair stops her, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around her best friend. "You deserve this. You both do."
*
It is a week or so later when Serena suggests that she and Dan go out for drinks with her and Nate.
Blair agrees and drags Dan out to Bergdorf's with her only an hour later.
She never shows him what she tries on or buys, and as they are walking home, her arm linked through his as he gallantly carries her bag and regales her with another ridiculously funny story about Rufus, she wonders at what point she had started to fall in love with him.
*
After Dan has gotten her into her penthouse, waiting for her to stop waving cheerily as Serena and Nate's taxi speeds off, Blair demands he stays and watches Breakfast at Tiffany's with her, be it 3am or not.
He climbs into bed with her, and wraps her up in her satin and cashmere throws, smiling at all the right parts and reassuring her she is definitely Audrey.
She leans him into as Holly is arrested and he laces his fingers through hers when Paul leaves her in the taxi at the end.
"Dan," she breathes, her breath catching in her throat as he turns his head down to hers. "Am I Holly?"
His brown eyes crinkle slightly, "Of course."
She leans up and into him, "And you're Paul?"
Blair bites her lower lip, her heart hammering against her ribcage wildly, and she feels her fingers trembling to the bone.
He tightens his grip on her hand and touches his other to her cheek, leaning down again and pressing his lips lightly on hers, "I'm your Paul."
Blair's eyelids flutter shut and she presses herself further into his lips, his chest, his arms…
*
It is another week or so later and Blair is finally back in France.
Everything was just how she imagined it- she was lounging on the terrace; Roman was cooking behind her as Daddy uncorked the wine and lit the candles as the sun set.
It was perfect.
Dan suddenly stirs in his lounger next to her, putting down his Salinger and leaning over to kiss her softly, his fingers tracing light, teasing circles on her nape.
No, Blair realises, this was better than perfect.
please review, thanks