Her phone vibrated at 10:00AM on the dot, as it had routinely for the last two weeks, and she rolled over to glare at it, as she had routinely for the last two weeks. You have one new message from Serena. Her best friend was so predictable.

Hey B -
Did you want to grab breakfast with us today?
We'd love to see you!
- S and Nate

Blair rolled her eyes with dry amusement, wondering if Serena and Nate knew how quickly they had become a 'we', or if they were aware how disgustingly affectionate they were.
At the beginning she had found it strange how quickly she had adapted to her ex-boyfriend (the one she'd planned to marry) dating her best-friend (the one she'd always been jealous of) and how well she'd taken it. It was almost as if she'd seen in coming. Nate and Serena had always been inevitable. Magnetic.

That single word made her chest tighten and her eyes sting. She sat up and clenched herself in a ball, closing her eyes in acceptance, almost welcoming the familiar chill that ran though her body, from head to toe. It had been so long since she had felt this helpless, and she knew what was coming next. She stood up slowly, the rational voice in her head screaming at her to lie back down drowned out by the sound of her frenzied heart beat echoing in her ears. Adrenaline rushed through her as she emptied her stomach, feeling more alive then she had in a long time.

Only when she was lying on her bathroom floor, her cheek pressed to the cool tiles and unshed tears collecting in her eyes, was she calm enough to accept what she had known all along. Magnetic wasn't a word used to describe her and Chuck, no matter what he told her. It was an adjective for Serena and Nate.

She stood up shakily, tears blurring her vision, and made her way slowly back to her phone.
It wasn't until she was staring at the name Serena in her contact list that she realised she couldn't call her best-friend. She couldn't burden her while she was so happy with Nate. She couldn't ruin that. She scrolled upwards to find Chuck, tears now falling freely onto her phone, and stopped to wipe her eyes and the screen. When she saw which contact she had stopped directly on, she laughed almost hysterically out loud. Dan Humphrey.

Her heart sank as she realised that the only other person aside from Chuck and Nate ('So much for the non-judgemental breakfast club', she thought cynically) that knew about her problem was Serena's ex-boyfriend from Brooklyn, and she pressed the green call button on her phone quickly, letting out a sob at the first ring.

"Waldorf?" He picked up almost straight away, and she tried to pull herself together quickly, blushing as she realised how obvious it was that she was sobbing.

"Humphrey, can.." She started crying openly again, realising she didn't even know what she wanted from him. What could a boy from Brooklyn do to help?

"Blair?" He sounded worried now, "Blair, what's wrong?" She had to give him points for skipping the age-old cliché of asking if she was okay.

"What isn't?" She answered hysterically, "I don't even know why I called you, but you're the only one left that.. I'm so alone - I did it again. I didn't mean to. It just happened." She broke off, praying silently that he would catch on.

"You did what – Oh! Oh.. Are you at home right now?" She nodded, hiccuping, and he took her silence as a yes.

"Okay, Blair, you wait right where you are, okay?" She nodded again, her heart beat slowing as her panic eased. "You're going to be alright, okay?" He stayed on the line until he heard her murmur of agreement, before kissing Vanessa on the forehead, a sign she had learnt to recognise as 'Got to go – sorry'.

"You're kidding me," he looked up in confusion, in the process of hastily pulling on his jeans. "You're leaving because Blair Waldorf - ", Dan had to wince at the vindictiveness in his girlfriends' voice, " - called you?"

"You don't understand," he said, wrapping his scarf – a gift from Lily – around his neck, " - if she called me, it means she needs me. She wouldn't do it unless it was an emergency"

"But I need you," Vanessa pouted, and Dan laughed.

He pecked her quickly before jogging out her dorm-room door, forgetting to close it in his haste.

"Bye.. " She murmured, starting as her phone vibrated loudly on her wooden bedside table.

You have one new message from Scott.

With no sign of Dorota, Dan walking slowly up the marble steps, trying to catch his breath. No matter how much Blair needed him right now, he couldn't let her see that he had practically sprinted across town just to see her. She would never let him forget it or live it down.

After walking into a few empty bedrooms, he knocked on her door (the golden lettering – which Dan suspected were probably dipped in real gold – spelling out 'Blair' gave it away), and let himself in.

He swore quietly underneath his breath, as the girl (was that even Blair?) turned around to look at him. Dressed in nothing but a navy blue shirt – which Dan just knew had been Chuck's – she looked even more fragile and waif-like then usual. Her hair was uncombed and knotted, and her dark eyes looked lifeless. She looked like one of the murder victims from C.S.I that had given Dan nightmares when he was a kid.

"Hey Waldolf.." he offered, speaking to her as if he was speaking to a scared kitten (the metaphor wasn't too bad, he thought).

"Hey Humphrey"

He went and sat next to her, at a loss as to how to comfort her. How do you comfort someone who hates you? He wrapped his arm around her awkwardly, relieved that she didn't shrug it off. He doubted that she could even feel it.

"Do you want something to eat?"

"No"

"What about to drink?"

"No"

He paused, unsure how to continue. "How about we get you cleaned up? I'm sure you'll feel better after a hot shower."
She scoffed, but without waiting for an answer, he stood up, somehow knowing that she would follow him, and walked her to the bathroom. With his arm around her as she walked he was able to really feel how skeletal her back and body was, and he winced at the feeling of her backbone against his arm.

He sat her on the bath before turning on the shower, adjusting it until it was the right temperature. "Okay, why don't you jump in the shower and I'll go get you something to drink?" He turned to leave, before starting as she grabbed his jacket.

"Don't go. Please" Maybe it was the poet inside him, but Dan thought he felt his heart break along with her voice.

"Okay, what about I'll be right outside. You can call me if you need me?"

She nodded in acceptance and Dan left her, a little nervous that something would happen to her, even though he would be in the next room. He sat with his back to the door, and knocked his head against it silently. He felt so helpless. He didn't even know why Blair had called him. It was like Jenny calling Blair for help. It just didn't happen. Jenny would never do that. He paused. No, Jenny would never do that.. unless she had no one left.

He looked around the large room with new eyes, the vast carpet suddenly making him feel strangely claustrophobic. Surely it wasn't healthy for one person to live alone (excluding Dorota) in an apartment this large. No wonder she was lonely.
He heard the shower stop, and looked at his watch. She'd only been in there for 10 minutes?

He knocked on the door. "Blair?" and was a little surprised at how relieved he was when she opened it. She was wearing a large white towel that swamped her small frame and Dan couldn't help but stare at her jutting collar bones and bony shoulders. He didn't even know shoulders could get that angular.

"Done," she smiled lifelessly and went to sat back down on the end of the bed. Dan watched her walk helplessly. What would he do if Jenny was acting like this? He looked around the room for something to do, and grabbed a comb from the nearby dresser in desperation. Jenny used to force him to brush her hair, right? He sat behind her and started at the tips, like Jenny had taught him to.
He was relieved when she didn't scream at him and instead slumped her shoulders. Did this mean she was relaxing? They sat like that for Dan-didn't-know-how-long, until her hair was back to its former Queen-Bee glory, and Dan looked around her room again, as if coming out of a daze.

"Ok, now let's get you changed into something comfortable!" He said, trying to muster some false-energy into his voice, wincing at how false he sounded.
Blair looked up at him with one eyebrow raised, looking much like her former self. "This should be interesting, Dan Humphrey dressing me." She smirked, some life returning to her cheeks as she did so.

"Well I'm curious to see the most casual thing Blair Waldorf has in her cupboard," Dan teased back
"A cocktail dress, I'm guessing?"

Blair opened her mouth in protest, before she saw that Dan's shoulders were shaking. "Chill Waldorf, I'm just kidding."

"Well, you're close," she muttered, a real smile itching her lips. Luckily Dan had already turned around into her closet by then. God, what if he thought he'd made her laugh. She'd never hear the end of it!

Dan rummaged through her walk-in closet, he fingers hastily pushing aside the thousand-dollar silks until he found a single pair of dark-blue jeans folded neatly at the back, with their price tag still attached. His eyes widened as he took in all the zeros, and stared at the pants in disbelief.

Even though his dad was now married to Lily Bass and they were exposed to new heights of luxury every day, he still wasn't used to seeing ordinary clothes with price tags like that on them. He ripped the tag off hastily and walked further into the closet until he found a drawer of tank-tops – tank-tops! - and a pile of cardigans. He grabbed a white top and the largest, thickest cardigan he could find – a woollen mustard coloured one – and walked back out to Blair.

"Here, change into these." Blair observed his selection dubiously.

"I own tank-tops? Are you sure?" He laughed

"Yeah, a whole drawer."

"Wow," she murmured under her breathe and walked into the bathroom to change. Dan took the opportunity to grabbed a rare pair of flat black shoes from her shoe-rack and looked around her bedroom again. It was typically Blair, but he was used to Blair typically acting like Queen-Bee, so he couldn't be sure if her room was just a facade too. He wondered if she ever got sick of her room being so perfect. Or if she ever got sick of being perfect.

He looked up as the door opened and grinned despite himself. He knew that he shouldn't be enjoying himself when she was in so much pain, but it was kind of awesome seeing Blair Waldorf dressed in jeans and a tank-top. He admitted that the whole outfit suited her quite well, but he doubted if there was anything she couldn't pull off.

"Feel better?"

"Apart from the fact that I'm wearing denim and cotton, yeah. Thanks."

"Here," he said throwing one shoe at a time at her, "Catch"

She did so, with surprising ease. "Why do I need shoes? Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," he said smiling.

"Well I can't. It's too cold."

"Don't you own any scarves?" He asked incredulously

"Yeah.." she said slowly, "But they're made out of silk. And more for summer."

Dan laughed out loud. Trust Blair Waldorf to own everything under the sun but a scarf.

"Here," he walked towards her, unraveling his own thick black scarf and wrapping it around her neck securely before she could complain. "You can borrow mine." He stuffed his beanie on her head too, laughing again as she let out a squeak of protest.

"Who would have thought. Blair Waldorf is adorable." He ruffled her now wool-covered head and smiled down at her, surprised at how much she was making him laugh.

"Won't you be cold?" He voice was muffled by his scarf.

"Ahhh, I'll be okay."

"Follow me," she said quietly and he did so obediently at they walked through her apartment until Dan lost track of were they were. He'd always known that Blair's home was largest then most apartments in New York, but this was ridiculous.

"You can borrow one of Daddy's," she thrust a brown scarf, thicker then his own at him and he blinked.

"Don't you want to wear it?"

"It's okay. It doesn't go with my outfit," she said playfully, her eyes glinting with amusement as Dan laughed again.

"Okay then, let's go."

They were down in the lobby of Blair's building when Dan felt her freeze. He quickly looked around for any signs of Chuck, but finding none quickly asked her: "What's wrong?"

She sighed quietly, "I haven't really been outside since.. "

"Oh. Well, I'm right with you, and you'll be fine." He smiled down at her until she nodded once, like a child trying to be brave and he pulled up her scarf so that everything but her eyes were covered.

"No one but me would recognise you now anyway."

Her eyes welled up with tears that surprised herself, and she blinked them away before he could see. She wasn't used to people being this nice to her, and she breathed in through her nose to calm herself, pleasantly surprised with how nice it smelt. Chuck's shirt had smelt like his cologne, but Dan's scarf just smelt like Dan. It was strangely intimate. No cologne masking up his real smell. 'No lies,' she thought briefly, as they walked into a small cafe.

She let Dan order for her, allowing herself to again be pleasantly surprised by him (he kept doing that to her) when he ordered her a Chai Latte, something she had always ordered before she became obsessed with calories and her weight. She had forgotten how good it tasted.

"Good?" he asked worriedly, and she nodded at him, smiling.

"So where are we going?"

"My place,"

"Brooklyn?" he nodded, waiting for inevitable insults.

"Okay,"

Dan stared at her drinking silently in amazement. Was this even Blair Waldorf? What had Chuck done to her?

"We're catching a cab though," she reminded him, and he laughed loudly, relieved that there was still some of the old-Blair left.

"Cute place, Humphrey," was the first thing Blair said as she walked into the loft, a little startled at how honestly she had meant that. It was... cozy, she decided. The exposed brick walls were something that would never work in Manhattan, but with all the natural light flooding through the large windows, it seemed it worked nicely in Brooklyn.

"Thanks," he smiled. "Do you want something else to drink?"

"English Breakfast?"

"Coming right up. What about anything else to eat?" She laughed loudly and he looked up, a little alarmed at the new sound.

"Don't worry Humphrey, I'm not going to fade away to nothing."

He blushed. "Hey, it was a perfectly innocent question,"

She smiled as she pulled off his hat and scarf, her neck feeling exposed all of a sudden.

"Fine. Whatever you're having would be great?"

"Did you want to give me a hand then?"

She started. "Um, I don't really know how to cook?"

"That's okay, I can teach you."

They sat down at the kitchen bar eating their ramen noodles in silence.

"Hey, these are really good!"

"And you made them," he offered teasingly

"Yes I did!" She said proudly until he realised that he was making fun of her. "Hey, adding the perfect amount of hot water is an art."

"Yes it is, and you've mastered it,"

"Oh shut up, Humphrey"

They were sitting on the couch watching one of his documentaries on Audrey Hepburn drinking their fourth cup of tea and Blair was growing more and more sleepy.

"Humphrey, this was really fun, thanks."

"No problem."

"But I should go,"

He looked up down at her sitting on the carpet, staring determinedly at the screen God, he couldn't send her back to that massive apartment. It wasn't somewhere for a person as fragile as Blair to sleep.

"Nah," he said, "You can stay here,"

She looked at him: "What?"

"You had fun today, right?"

"Don't make me say I did Humphrey,"

They laughed. "I think you should stay here. Until you're better."

"What?" now she sounded scared. "I barely know you!"

"And all I know about you is that you're not yourself. You know that I'm not going to hurt you. You know you need to get away from the Upper East Side."

"I don't have any of my clothes here,"

"I don't think you'll be wearing any cocktail dresses in Brooklyn."

"Shut up!" They laughed again, before resting in a comfortable silence.

"Where am I sleeping?"

"Uh, you can have Jen's room, or my dads? I'm the only one who really lives here full time, so.."

"Don't you get lonely?"

"Don't you?" he shot back at her

"I'll take Jenny's," she changed the subject abruptly, relieved when Dan didn't push it. That was one of the things she liked about him – he knew when to drop it.

Later on, after she had brushed her teeth with a spare tooth brush, only slightly nauseous that it wasn't electric, and dressed in a pair of Dan's flannel pyjamas (because Jenny's were too short), she lay in bed, strangely comfortable on a single mattress.

"Okay, g'night," She looked up at Dan from her pillow and smiled at him softly.

"Night,"

She watched as he closed the garage door between their two rooms, darkness slowly covering her face, until the only light illuminating the room was from the street below. Her breathing increased as her feeling of loneliness increased. "Dan's right on the other side, Dan's right on the other side," she whispered to herself. God, she couldn't make herself throw up two times in a day. That was practically a relapse. Along with the feeling of loneliness came thoughts of Chuck, and she wrapped the pillow around her head childishly, as if to protect herself from them. After what seemed like hours of self-torture, Blair sat up, just as she had this morning, the same voice telling her to sit down. She could feel the bile rising in her throat and she let out a cry, leaping out of bed and pacing her room. No, she shouldn't. No, she couldn't.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Dan opening the garage door, looking around worriedly.
"Sorry, Blair, I thought I heard something?"

She had never been so relieved to see Dan Humphrey in her life. She practically threw herself at him from where she was standing, and he stumbled back, thrown that Blair Waldorf was hugging him so tightly.

"Stop me," she sobbed into his shirt.

"Stop you doing what?"

"Stop me from doing it again."

They hadn't talked about anything serious yet, and her bulimia definitely hadn't come up. Dan hadn't really been expecting that come out of her mouth, but he managed to carry/lead her to his bed, where he sat her down, and wrapped his arm around her again. The contrast between this morning, when she hadn't noticed his arm, and now, where she was clinging to his chest as if he was a lifeline was astounding, and he felt his own eyes stinging.

"I won't let you," he said fiercely and she buried her head closer to his chest.

"It started when I was 14," she begun softly, "My mum and dad were fighting, but not really. They never fought. Mum would try and fight at him, but he would just ignore her, or ignore whatever she was yelling about. I was at the age where all girls worry about their weight, so I was already not eating much. And I was sitting in my bedroom, listening to them fight, and I didn't even notice that I was eating a huge block of chocolate, and then the next thing I remember I had thrown up into my toilet, and it had felt so good. But the chocolate had tasted so good. And then I realised I could have both, and it made me feel so powerful – so in control. My parents found out a year later, but it was already too late. They took me to a psychiatrist, a therapist, everything. And I got better. Sort of. I stopped throwing up. And then Serena left, and so did my dad, and my world just fell apart. I started doing it again. Mum found out and took me back, and then I really did stop. I was so much better. And even when Serena came back, and I found out about her and Nate, and I thought I was going to die, I didn't. It wasn't until later on, Nate was talking to me about it, and my heart started beating so fast, and I felt so horrible, and I just wanted to feel better, so I did it once more. After I do it, I feel so... alive. You feel so beautiful. And that was the first time I did it without thinking. It was scary how much of a reflex it had been. I didn't want to accept that I didn't have control over it anymore, so I pretended it had never happened. And then Nate and I broke up, for good, and I knew it was going to happened again, so I went out with Chuck. I slept with Chuck. It was like the same as making myself throw up. I figured it was a healthier substitute. And then everything happened, and I didn't make myself throw up once. I knew I could deal with worse. And then, when Chuck lost his hotel, I knew I had to do something. He had helped me so much without even realising it. I would have done whatever he asked me to, but instead of talking to me about it.. he swapped me. Me for the hotel. Jack got me, and he got the hotel. And that's when I realised I didn't control Chuck. I couldn't control anything, but myself. And then it happened again this morning, when I realised Chuck didn't love me – never had, never would – and my heart just started beating so fast. And I had to." She broke off crying, breathing heavily.

Dan sat helpless. Chuck had done what? What type of person even does that? He knew that it happened in movies, but.. his head pounded with anger for the person who had turned Blair into.. this and kissed her head reassuringly.

"Blair, you're so strong. You're the bravest, most loving person I know. That's why I know that you're going to get through this."

"I can't. I'm not" She sobbed

"You're Blair Waldorf. You can get through anything. And I'm Dan Humphrey. And I'll help you get through anything, until you tell me to leave."

They sat in silence until Blair's sobs turned into sniffles and she cried herself to sleep. Dan lay her down and stared down at her. He would have never imagined that morning that Blair Waldorf would be sleeping in his bed, let alone crying in front of him. He covered her with his duvet and kissed her forehead once more.

"Sleep dreams, Waldorf,"