Author's notes: With the direction this season, I keep wondering what would have happened if they had actually let Dan be a contender in Season 4. This is the start of what will likely be a 3 or 4 part AU of the end of Season 4. I figured I finished one WIP and will finish another soon, so why not start a new one? This chapter is more of a preface than anything else-the other chapters will be meatier (aka longer).
"And so is your princess, if you're ready for her," Blair heard herself say as she spotted Serena beyond Dan's shoulder. She sighed internally, knowing for better or for worse Dan would inevitably head back to Serena. She was resigned to the fact that her prince probably wasn't out there, as Chuck would always be looming in the background. She knew it was the same for him with Serena, except Dan could reasonably believe that Serena was the princess in the tower, ready for her white knight to save her.
She turned walk away, the Waldorf-Humphrey experiment was officially over. She was startled when she felt him grab her arm.
"Blair...wait," he said, his face still serious.
"What? Haven't we said enough?" Blair sighed, out loud this time. She was ready to put an end to this strange day, and wished Dan would let whatever thoughts he was having wait for another day.
"You seem sad," Dan said simply.
"I got my confirmation that Chuck will never change. If you don't mind, I'd like to just go lick my wounds in peace," she told him, not sure where he was going with this.
"I think it's more than that," he said confidently. "You seemed sad when I said the kiss didn't mean anything."
"Why would that make me sad? It didn't mean anything," Blair pointed out, already frustrated with this conversation.
"Perhaps you decided it didn't mean anything after you spent a week avoiding the world, including my calls," Dan said, looking thoughtful. She was pretty sure she didn't like the direction this conversation was taking, though she felt a tiny flutter of excitement that she hoped wasn't evident.
"Your one voicemail," Blair grumbled. "Your lack of contact made it pretty clear where you stood."
His thoughtful look turned into a slight smirk. "So, you wanted me to pursue you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
"That is definitely not what I said," Blair said, feeling flustered. She felt the same nervous anticipation she felt the evening they kissed.
"What are you saying?" he asked, tilting his head.
"What are you asking?" she returned.
He sighed, looking less confident and a bit flustered himself. "I guess I was continuing our game of chicken," he admitted, then paused for a moment before continuing, "but I'm done with that now."
"Dan, what do you want from me? I really do just want to get out of here," she said, wanting to bolt for the exit, yet finding herself cemented into place.
"I don't want to stop hanging out with you," he said, regaining his earlier confidence. "I also wouldn't be adverse to kissing you again, albeit in a less high pressure environment."
"That was your idea," she reminded him. "You might have been better off just marching in and kissing me."
"Somehow I think that would have gotten me slapped," he said, tilting his head skeptically.
She couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face. "That would definitely have been a possibility," she admitted.
"So?" Dan asked, smiling.
"So, what?" Blair asked, not willing to give an inch. "I'm still not sure what you want. I would think today's fiasco with Chuck would have been enough to convince you to run for the hills, not to mention Serena and a million other reasons that we likely wouldn't work even as friends."
"I think we're letting ourselves over think things," Dan said. "Just tell me something: if I were just some guy you'd been hanging out from your art history class, would that kiss have merited a date?"
"But you're not," Blair protested, not sure why he was making things too simple. "Plus, you'd be much more suitable to date if you were some guy from my art history class because that would mean you went to Columbia."
Much to her frustration, Dan just chuckled in response.
"You find that funny? That you're not a suitable suitor?"
At that, Dan merely laughed again and shook his head.
"What's so funny?" she asked, both puzzled and irritated. She didn't like how he was beginning to interpret her insults as signs of affection, which they really weren't.
"Nothing," he said, still smiling. "You never answered my earlier question. If I were just some guy who didn't date Serena that you liked seeing movies and going to museums with, would you be interested in trying to date me based on that first kiss?"
"I did answer you. I told you that your question can't be answered," Blair said, rolling her eyes. "You're really asking me if I would be willing to date you, but you're masking it as a hypothetical."
"You saw through that, huh?" Dan said with a cheeky grin.
"It wasn't exactly subtle," Blair huffed.
"I guess it wasn't," he admitted. "Look, I'm not telling you I'm madly in love with you or that we should jump right into a relationship. Just come over tomorrow night and we'll watch a movie just like we've been doing."
"But this time I know you're hoping to make out with me," she pointed out, raising her eyebrows. She didn't like the heat that rushed to her cheeks at the thought.
"It's entirely possible that you'll annoy me so much that I won't even want to kiss you," Dan said casually. "But that's kind of the point of dating. To feel each other out."
"Fine," Blair sighed.
"What?" Dan asked, looking confused.
"I'm coming over tomorrow. I will bring the movie. And the food. And the wine," she said, smiling slightly.
"Who said anything about wine? Trying to get me drunk, Waldorf?" he asked, grinning at her in a way she'd never seen directed at her before.
She rolled her eyes rather than dignify that with a response. "I'll see you at seven. Feel free to dress casually, if you must," she told him, already trying to imagine what she would wear on a date with Dan Humphrey.
"We'll do black tie movie night next time," Dan teased.
"Don't go counting your chickens, Humphrey," Blair told him, feeling both excited and anxious that he so readily assumed there would be a next time.