They're going on a date – their first date after the hotel incident (which he doesn't really want to talk about but knows they're going to have to bring up at one point or another.)

He arrives at her penthouse to pick her up, five minutes before schedule because he knows she likes it when he's punctual, and he definitely wants to be on her good side today.

She doesn't say anything when she sees him. She just grabs her coat, gets in the elevator, and gestures for him to follow her.

There's a bout of awkward silence before she finally speaks. "So…"

"So… you look really beautiful."

"Thank you." She forces a smile and practically cringes when he moves to take her hand.

He withdraws, hoping he doesn't look as hurt as he feels. "I was thinking we could go for some Italian tonight. I know this great restaurant down-"

"Look, Dan, can we talk about the elephant in the room, please?" she interrupts, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I see no elephant."

She purses her lips. "Oh, no? You didn't think it was strange that you ran to the bathroom and threw up after we had sex for the first time? Or how about the fact that you decided to leave the hotel even though we had an overnight reservation because you suddenly remembered you had a paper to write for school?"

"Wow, you sure do like to use emphasis, Blair. Was I supposed to be putting mental air quotes over those words, or-"

The doors ding open to the first floor, revealing her elevator operator who is wearing a large smile.

"We're not ready yet, James!" she yelps, furiously mashing the close-door button before pressing the 15 so that they're taken to the highest story of the building. She rounds on him. "This isn't funny, Humphrey! I mean, I didn't expect candles and rose petals and cheesy music, but I kind of did expect fireworks. I don't understand how you can be the best kisser in the world but can't satisfy a girl in bed. It can't be lack of experience. We know that…"

She continues to ramble about his apparent inability to please her, and he gapes at her, highly offended. "You said wow!"

"That 'wow' really meant 'wow, that was terrible!'"

"Just because I want to make love to you in a bed instead of having kinky sex in the back of a limo doesn't mean it was terrible!"

She shoots him a glare… and if looks could kill, he'd be on the floor dead right now.

"I took it too far, didn't I?"

"That's not why it was bad, Humphrey." She crosses her arms. "You have no reason to be nervous around me. I'm your girlfriend now. We should be able to do these sort of things without having a problem or being embarrassed or-"

"We've been waiting weeks and there was a lot of pressure on me and… Ugh!" He nearly throws his hands up in the air in frustration. "I'm a bit rusty, alright?"

"Seriously, how long has it been since the last time you were with a woman? I was worried you didn't even know where to put it!"

She has touched a nerve.

"A year-and-a-half, Blair! Okay? The last time I did anything with anyone was with Vanessa. I'm sorry I can't speak French to you as we do it or… or whisper dirty things in your ear! I thought I would be good enough for you – just me, myself - but I guess I was wrong."

She stares at him with her mouth ajar, and he refuses to meet her gaze. "A year-and-a-half? But…"

"Yeah, I couldn't allow myself to be with anyone else because I stupidly fell in love with you." He rolls his eyes, and he knows he's being immature, but so is she.

"Dan…"

He ignores her. "Look how great that turned out."

"Dan!" She places a hand underneath his chin and forces him to look at her.

"What!" he yells, not sure what she wants with him anymore since it's certainly not sex.

She drops her hands to her sides. "What did you say?"

"I'm in love with you!"

She pushes him up against the wall of the elevator and kisses him, her hands running wildly over his chest as if she needs to study every inch of him.

"I'm in love with you too," she gasps between kisses, already working his jacket off. He helps her slide it off his shoulders before she all but rips his shirt open, some of the buttons breaking loose and bouncing on the elevator floor.

"No time…" he mumbles as she throws her own jacket off and begins to hitch the skirts of her dress up over her hips.

She places a finger over his lips, silencing him. "We have all the time in the world, love."

She presses the call button on the elevator. "James?" she asks ever-so-sweetly. "The elevator is out of service for the next 15 minutes. Tell anyone that wants to come up that they have to take the stairs." She turns back to him, and in a matter of seconds she has his pants and his boxers down around his ankles.

He gets slightly annoyed with her pesky, flesh-coloured tights that he accidently creates a run in when he hurriedly slips them off… and slightly less annoyed when he discovers she's not wearing anything underneath them.

He enters her and she sighs, hear head dropping to his shoulder where she plants a kiss.

"Can you hold me, Dan?" she asks breathily, making his heart beat even faster. It's a wonder he can even nod at this point, but he does, obliging and grabbing her butt, lifting her up so she can wrap her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

She stares at him unabashedly, and there is something in her eyes that he's never seen before. "You're in love with me." It's not a question.

"I am."

She wiggles her hips. He's not sure if it's because she's adjusting her position or because she's trying to wind him up. "For how long now?" she queries softly, one hand tugging gently at the curls on the nape of his neck.

"A year-and-half."

"Dan…" she moans, rocking her hips just a little bit more, and now he knows it's because she wants him to take her.

"I used to think about you," he whispers into her ear, leaning forward and plunging deeper into her, causing her to gasp. "And when I wasn't thinking I was dreaming. I would write about you – write about what I could never have because it was the only thing I could do."

"Oh, Dan…"

He flips them around so her back is pressed up against the elevator wall and he can maintain his grip on her without her slipping. "She is beautiful without having to try," he quotes his own prose about her – the hundreds of scraps of paper sitting in the backmost corner of his desk drawer – as he thrusts into her once. "She feels breakable in my arms, but she could break me more easily with just her words." Twice. "She stands 10 feet tall in heels. She stands 20 in bare feet." Thrice. "She is a Monet – lovely to admire from afar." A fourth time. "But the truly lucky people are the ones who get close enough to see every detail, every marking, every inch." A fifth.

He goes on until he can't speak any longer, until she's practically shouting his name, biting his shoulder to keep herself from screaming. And as they find a rhythm, they forget they're in an elevator, forget what story they're on, forget everything but each other and the way it feels to be filled with someone you're in love with.

The elevator drops along with their stomachs and they're both crying out each other's names and gripping warm flesh and being pushed over the edge in each other's arms.

He finally pulls out of her and gently sets her back on her feet, and she's still clinging to him and kissing every available portion of skin she can find. "I'm sorry," she murmurs, planting a kiss on his jaw right below his ear. "That was amazing. You are amazing."

He leans in to kiss her again, smiling against her lips. "So are you."

By the time the elevator reaches the first floor again, clothes and hair have been readjusted and several more 'I love you's have been exchanged. He and his girlfriend hold hands, casually strolling past James and out of the building with nothing to hint as to what just occurred except their smiles and slightly flushed faces.

On the second date after the hotel incident, (which they never mention again), she greets him in the lobby of her penthouse with a peck on the lips before handing him a large manila envelope that she had been hiding behind her back.

"What's this?"

"It's a gift. Open it." She smiles mischievously.

He rips open the envelope and finds a very official-looking, laminated sign that reads 'OUT OF MATAINENCE.'

He leans in to capture her lips with his.

This time they don't even make it to the elevator.

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