Morning, his place.
Burnt toast, Sunday.
You keep his shirt,
He keeps his word.
And for once you let go
Of your fears and your ghosts.
One step, not much, but it said enough.
i. He asks her to move in with him a week after Gossip Girl shuts down. After all, what were they waiting for?
"Are you sure about this?"
"I just want to be where you are. Both feet, Van der Woodsen."
He helps her pack some boxes.
ii. She stumbles in late one night while he sleeps. An evening with Blair and one too many glasses of champagne leave her giggly and in need of cuddling.
"Baby, I'm home," she whispers in the darkness. He cracks an eye open and half smiles, sensing that she's toasted. He lifts the covers for her and she slides in without changing her clothes.
iii. He watches her in the bathroom mirror from bed. Her meticulous grooming. The scrubbing of her teeth and how she parts her hair, looks herself over and shrugs.
And he's so goddamn lucky.
iv. She surprises him in the shower one Monday morning. He has a meeting about a potential writing job, but the pay is laughable and his would-be boss, a friend of a friend, is a huge dick.
He never does make that meeting.
v. Chuck and Blair's son is born in November. After congratulating the new parents, they head down to the viewing window in the nursery to see the baby.
"I want one," she says.
"Me too."
vi. She takes up knitting. She wanted something to do with her hands while they watch TV at night. After some practice, she's actually a master. She knits him a brown hat. It's kind of big, but he wears it all winter.
A girl starts talking to him in line at Starbucks. She's cute, but she's trying too hard to be cute, so he just sort of smiles and nods along as the line moves.
She compliments his hat. He grins. "Thank you. My girlfriend made it."
vii. They make waffles for dinner and sometimes slow dance in the kitchen. He always wears socks and she never does. He hums something old. She leaves lipstick marks on his neck.
They string Christmas lights around the entire apartment. Make a blanket fort with a makeshift skylight and admire their work.
Their clothes get lost in the blankets.
He puts on an episode of The Office and she giggles into his chest. He contemplates asking her to marry him right then and there.
viii. He. loves. Game of Thrones.
He makes her watch it, begrudgingly at first, but then she's right there with him.
"But why Hodor!? she moans. She fumes about the writing - how the second she loves one of the characters, they're killed.
He stares at her while she rants with her hands.
"God, I love you."
ix. They have sex three times on his birthday in January.
The first time, she wakes him up by taking off his pants.
The second time, it's in the bathroom at his mother's house. They sneak off while his parents are arguing, and come back to a knowing look from Jenny.
The third time, it's on the living room floor of their apartment. She had kept his hand on her upper thigh the whole cab ride home, and they left a trail of their clothes from the door. She just straight tackled him before they made it to bed.
Best birthday ever.
x. They go see a live band one night at a bar in SoHo. He drinks too much and says something insensitive, and they fight all the way home. She leans against a wall in the elevator and stares at the lit buttons, arms crossed and jaw clenched. His drunken vision sways as the elevator comes to a stop.
She slams the bedroom door in his face, but he comes in anyway to change while she's in the bathroom.
He texts her a heart emoji from his bed on the couch.
Her phone buzzes a second time.
I'm the worst.
And a third.
I hear a noise and need you to protect me.
She wraps herself in a blanket and shuffles to the living room.
They fall asleep on the couch.
xi. On a warm night in the middle of July, just after her 25th birthday, he gets down on one knee. "I love you," he says. And he asks.
You two are dancing in a snow globe round and round,
And he keeps a picture of you in his office downtown.
And you understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars,
And why I've spent my whole life trying to put it into words.