A/N: Spoilers ahead!

Ever After

...

"Is it true?"

Dan looked up from his notebook, and saw, across his dim loft, the distinct figure of a small but feisty brunette, clad only in what he could gauge as white silk and taffeta, the weak light from his kitchen playing on the tiara atop her perfectly coiffed head. He tried standing up, but the remains of the vintage wine she had left in his apartment a couple of weeks ago had gotten to his head. Alcohol made him extra moody, and if he was going to write about perfect first kisses and unrequited love, then he needed the extra push.

Besides, today was supposed to be her wedding day, so he was partly drinking for that too. Mostly drinking for that, really.

"Is what true?" he replied tiredly, putting down his pen and notebook.

"Eric told me," Blair said, coming closer.

"Waldorf, can you please elaborate? Because I'm half convinced this is a hallucination brought on by this wine you left—"

"You lied to me!" she said angrily, pointing at him and charging at him. "You told me you felt nothing after that kiss."

"You wouldn't take my calls!" After weeks of dancing around the incident (as she referred, or not referred to it, since Blair Waldorf was not just soon-to-be queen but also the queen of denial and passive aggressive behavior) Dan had resigned himself to the fact that the kiss was nothing more than ill informed judgment on his part, brought on by Lily's arrest and too much scotch. "And you tell me you feel nothing, then you go back to Chuck, and then to this French prince who, by the way, you're supposed to be marrying right now!"

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked tearfully.

"Why are you here, Waldorf? Your happily ever after is on the other side of the bridge." Dan was tired of fighting. He'd (partly) accepted the fact that Blair was marrying that… Louis. All he wanted tonight was a couple of depressing verses before he passed out on his couch on expensive French wine, with The Philadelphia Story in the background.

"What was I supposed to do, Humphrey? Eric tells me you have feelings for me and that he saw it in your eyes and it was different from how you looked at Serena, even after I announced my engagement to Louis!" Blair wasn't even sure how she'd gotten here. It was only supposed to be Eric helping her pin her dress properly because Serena was busy keeping Chuck away, and somehow, the conversation wandered into Dan Humphrey (which started with "so… what's Humphrey been up to?") and now she was here, half hysterical and half… she wasn't sure.

"You, of all people, should be familiar with the phrase can't let go." Blair looked at him, surprised. Instead of taking a step back however, as surprised people were surely wont to do, she took a step closer.

"So it's true."

"Why are you here?" he questioned, calmer than his previous statements.

"Admit it's true." Blair insisted stubbornly.

"Why should you even care? You're marrying a prince and jetting off to Paris and Chuck is livid with jealousy. It's a dream come true for you, Waldorf." His conviction was shattering with every second he spent looking at her. Her mascara was running, her tiara was crooked from her animated movements, but he was unraveling faster than she was.

"I need to be sure," she paused, composing herself, "I need to be sure before I marry Louis." She looked at him pleadingly, and then added, in barely a whisper, "please Dan. Is it true?"

"You look beautiful, Blair," Dan said, his voice breaking, as he caressed her cheek with his hand. "And I would have you marry anyone if he made you half as happy as you've made me those past few weeks."

"That wasn't an answer to my question," Blair chuckled, as she barely contained her tears, "is it true?"

Dan leaned down and kissed her softly. Blair held on to his shirt, deepening the kiss, but he pulled back. "It's true," he whispered.

Blair nodded silently and collapsed onto his chest, as Dan held her. "Why are you here?"

It was a few seconds after she looked up and answered him. "Eric just told me you might have feelings for me, and so I ran out of the chapel and took a cab to Brooklyn," she said honestly.

"And that's Blair Waldorf for?"

"I missed you," she admitted, "a lot."

"And the kiss?"

"I went back to Chuck because I was afraid of what that kiss meant. I thought it would make things go back to the way they were. Then Louis came back and I thought I could be that girl in Paris. But… that kiss really did change me, Humphrey, I just, I needed to not be afraid of that."

Dan leaned down, capturing her lips with his, his hands playing with the strings at the small of her back as she kissed him more passionately. They pulled apart, breathless, but content. "What happens now?" Blair asked.

"Well," Dan smiled, leading her down to the couch, "we have some wine left, and I just updated my DVD collection with—" Blair cut him off with another kiss, perching on top of him, making him recline further into the sofa. Blair pulled away slightly, took the tiara from her head, and, when she reached down to set it on the floor, Dan stopped her. He looked at the tiara on her hand.

"Blair, are you sure?" Dan asked, suddenly aware of what he was taking her away from. "I can't give you tiaras, or whatever else Louis is promising."

Blair smiled softly, and gave him a quick peck on the lips. She tossed the tiara aside. "I don't need those things," she traced her finger on his cheek, "I just need you." Dan brushed a stray curl away. "You have made me feel more like a princess than any prince ever could. My happily ever after is here. Not France, not the Empire, but here, on a filthy worn out sofa, in an apartment that smells like moldy cheese and soap, in a neighborhood of hippies and semi-retired beatniks."

"I missed you too, Waldorf," Dan smiled, pulling her down into a kiss.