Summary: Ten years after DS broke up they are forced to work together editing Dan's latest novel. The only problem is that this novel is about Serena. Future Fic AU

Pairings: Dan and Serena.

Warning: Mature. This fic includes mature themes

Author's Note: So, I came up with this wacky concept with the help of my friend Diane. Please be patient. In this story Dan never slept with Ms. Carr. DS brokeup in ep 16 and slowly drifted apart. Flashbacks and text messages will be in italics.

Only You

Serena stood in front of her full-length mirror and examined her appearance. She pulled down her skirt and fiddled with her blouse. Today was an important day and she was determined to look her best. Her hair fell just behind her ears and was shaped into an elegant bob. She examined the streaks of red and reminded herself that she should make anappointment with her stylist. Today she would find out if she got the job as an editor. She had been an assistant editor focusing on mystery novels for 5 years. When the position opened up in modern fiction for a new editor, she applied immediately. Serena was determined to make something of herself. It had been 6 years since she had graduated from Brown. So, much in life had changed. Serena knew that this was the first big step in her career. She was good at what she did, but she felt like she was wasting away as an editorial assistant. A few years ago, she would never have even applied for this job. She'd have accepted whatever life through at her. But, she had vowed long ago that she'd stop letting things just happen to her. She put on her wire-rimmed glasses and grabbed her briefcase before leaving her apartment. She made her way down the steps of the brownstone and walked briskly to the local café and grabbed a latte to go, before heading down to the subway. If anyone she'd grown up with had seen her would be aghast at the idea of a upper eastsider taking the subway. But, this was now part of her regular routine. Serena rarely took a taxi. She'd had her mother freeze her assets after she had graduated. She was determined to make it on her own without the aide of her name or her money. In fact, she had ditched the name Van Der Woodsen years before.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Casey asked.

"I'm sick of having to live up to my last name. Might as well make it official."

"But, this is so random. Your picking a new last name from the phonebook."

"Well, I have to get it from somewhere," Serena said half-heartedly.

"I don't see whats wrong with being who you are? It can't be half bad to have the world at your fingertips."

"Its not all that its cracked up to be," she said woefully.

Casey eyed her friend oddly. There was something strange about her, but he dismissed it and opened up the phone book to a random page just as she had asked him to do.

"Okay now close your eyes and let your fingers do the walking,"he said more than amused at himself with for his witty joke.

"Always the joker," Serena replied before doing as he asked.

Serena made her way into the large office building in midtown the held the offices of Stanley and Stanley Publishing. She sucked in a breath flashed her past as she walked by the security desk and took the elevator up to the tenth floor. She turned to her right and noticed a man in a tailored suit eyeing her. She struck an impressive figure with her long legs and slim figure. She rolled her eyes and got off the elevator and made her way down the corridor. The click of her heels against the tile put her at ease for some odd reason.

Serena smiled broadly as the receptionist greeted her. She put her briefcase and lent against the other woman's desk. "Hi, how's it going Lorraine."

"I'm good. You're looking sharp today. Don't worry, you're a shoe-in Serena."

"Thanks. So, how are things going with that guy? You have to give me all the details at lunch. I guess I should get going,"Serena said before going over to her cubicle. She got out the lates manuscript she was supposed to read through as she waited to be buzzed up for her interview. Her nerves were on edge and all she could think about was this interview. It was her big chance. This opportunity that would put her on the fast track to success. Serena no longer relied on her families wealth or name to get her places. She had promised herself that she'd make her own name and now she was so close to achieving this goal.

Dan stood in barefoot and shirtless in the middle of his loft looking out at the Manhattan Skyline. He'd bought the place two years earlier after he'd received the first check from the publisher. He was now a published author. His first book had been rousing success, but now he had the daunting task of writing a follow-up. He took a sip of his coffee and ran a hand through his curly brown locks, which had been growing unruly as of late. He could feel the beginning of a 12 O'clock shadow and contemplated whether he should bother to shave or not. Dan took one last sip of his coffee and went into the bathroom to shave. If there was one thing the ladies hated it was razor burn. He looked back at his reflection and wondered when exactly he'd become this guy; the kind of guy who lived for work and anything to fill the silence. It had been 10 years since he'd last seen her, yet she was on his mind every morning. He could still picture the locks of blonde hair and the feel of her wrapped in his arms that last time.

Serena laid her head on his chest and looked up at Dan sadly. They both knew this was the end yet neither of them wanted to be the one to speak first. She got up and slipped on her robe and sat beside him.

"So, this is it."

"I guess. I mean soon we'll be off to different colleges. Serena I really think we could make it work, we just have to want to."

"Dan, whats the point. Are parents are together. We're going to be stepsiblings. Its just all a little much. Maybe, maybe this was just the way it was meant to be,"she said sadly.

Dan moved closer to her and said, "No, I can't believe that this is how its supposed to be. We were supposed to be more than this."

"Maybe we weren't," she said as tears trickled down her face. Serena felt like a piece of her heart was breaking, but she really didn't see how they could work.

Dan sighed and quickly put his clothes on. He stood before her in his white button-down shirt and black slack with his jacket in his hand. All he wanted to do was to grab her and shake her and force her to understand that they could do this, but there was no convincing her. So, he bent down kissed her on the cheek and walked out of the penthouse.

Dan saw her a few times at school and then again at graduation. He always wanted to go up to her and give her rousing speech about how they were two souls joined as one, but he knew it was pointless. That day she had broken a little something inside of him. As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, he started to transform into something, somebody he didn't recognize. So, he poured all of his passion and energy into his writing for in that world his love, his hope, and his dreams didn't die.

Dan finished shaving and opened his phone and texted back Gia. She was his latest girlfriend, the daughter of an Italian winemaker who was running the NY operations. Jenny teased him about his taste in women. She said for a guy who dressed like a slob, he certainly had expensive taste in women. Like the one before her, he knew Gia's time was up because she would never give him the one thing he sought—Love. In fact, there was only one woman who could do that and he hadn't seen her since he was a boy on the verge of manhood.

Gia, its time.

-Sorry D.

His sister and Vanessa teased him about his callous breakup methods, but by now the women in his life new the deal. He was a man of very few words unless it involved his work.

Serena walked out of the Vice President's office and nearly jumped for joy. She not only had a great interview, the VP had offered her the job on the spot. She would be moving into her new office by the end of the week, but for now she had to finish up the files she was currently work on. She picked up the phone and called her friend.

"Casey, I got it. It's time to celebrate. Get the gang together this calls for a party."

"A girl after my own heart. There's nothing I love more than an impromptu party," he said with a flourish.

"Go crazy Case. I have to go. I need to call B."

"Go, I have a party to plan. You don't want to keep la grande dame waiting after all."

"Be nice. She's my oldest friend.

"And foe,"he said with sarcasm.

"Casey,"she warned.

"Okay, I'll stop."

Serena hung up and called Blair, but all she got was her voice mail so she left her message. She stared at her surrounding and imagined what it would be like to have her own office instead of gruddy cubicle. She opened her drawer and rifled through a bunch of post-its and pens before she found it. Its edges were worn, but she didn't care. The picture was more than ten years old, but she still remembered the moment that he had come into that room and held her hand and led her to the dance floor. In that moment, they were the only two people that existed. Her grandmother, his fear, her world. None of that mattered. She still remembered the sensation of being dipped and the taste of lips on hers. It was like a rush of adrenaline. It was a moment that Serena had trouble of letting go of. They had shared many memories, but that was the moment she knew she had fallen in love. Serena had spent years trying to capture the feeling of that moment and all the others she had spent with Dan, but nothing every seemed to suffice. She knew she should probably speak to Vince, but he was off on a shoot somewhere exotic and she really was tired of questioning his fidelity. So, Serena got out her cell and sent him a text.

Vince,

No more chains for either of us.

Salut,

Serena

Later that evening Serena's apartment was packed with people. Her small gathering had somehow ballooned into a full-fledged house party, but she didn't mind. She wanted to celebrate and to enjoy the evening. She spotted Blair in the corner sipping on a glass of Chardonay.

"Hey there B."

"Some party you have going on. S, when are you going to give up this charade. House parties packed with people, a lowlevel job at a publishing house. You're so much better than all of this."

"Blair, I have to do this my way and I like house parties. You need to relax and have some fun."

"I just don't see what's wrong with a classy cocktail party."

"That's your life not mine, B."

"It used to be yours too," she replied glumly.

"And I was miserable in it. I'm happy B. Just be happy for me," Serena pleaded.

Blair smiled and handed her drink to her friend and said, "Come on let's dance."

A few weeks later, Dan was working away on his latest chapter when he got a call from his agent.

"We have a problem Humphrey."

"What's going on Stan?"

"Your editor the one who's working on your current book quit. The publishing house is finding a replacement as we speak, but its going to slow everything down."

"A new editor. You have to be fucking kidding me. I can't work with someone else halfway through my book. That's ridiculous."

"You don't have a choice."

"There must be something we can do. I've never heard of something like this happening. Its going to fuck up the flow," Dan said as he paced his apartment.

"Well find a new flow cause you have no choice. Anyways you have a meeting with your new editor in the morning it's a Ms. Jamieson."

Serena had a huge file dropped on her desk by her assistant.

"Whats this?"

"Its your new priority#1 according to the man upstairs."

"What?"

Serena opened up the file and found herself looking at ghost. She turned pale. This could not be happening. She looked through the basic information and found herself staring at an author's bio of her exboyfriend.

"This cannot be happening,"she muttered to herself.

Serena closed the file and too the envelope that probably included his latest chapters and whatever edits the previous editor had done and marched herself upstairs to her bosses office. She marched in univited and planted the file and the envelope on her desk.

"This is not happening Marge."

"What do you mean? You're an editor now. Your job is to edit books.

"I won't edit this book. No way no how."

"Why? He's a new author with one successful book under his built.

"Its personal okay. Fire me if you have to have, but I will not edit this book,"Serena insisted.

Margaret Wilder was normally mild mannered except for when her editors through hissy fits which happened every now and then. She was also a tall woman with a death scare that would strike fear into the heart of the Manhattan Garbage Union. She placed her hands on her desk and looked Serena straight in the eyes, "I really don't care what went on with you and this writer or how long you once fucked. You have a job to do and you will do it. Is that clear?"

Serena swallowed. There was something about this women that made her feel uncomfortable, so she simply nodded and turned around.

"You forgot something Ms. Van Der Woodsen."

Serena turned around with her mouth agape.

"I investigate all of my employees," she said with a nod of her head.