Title: The Elevator
Characters: Dan/Blair friendship, Chuck/Blair
Genre: Friendship, Romance, Hurt/Comfort
Summary: When Dan and Blair get trapped in an elevator together, will they kill each other? Or will old history be revised? Will they learn something more about each other, or just hate each other more?

"So, I've been wondering, how did Blair and Chuck get together so suddenly? Last thing I heard they were still doing the Cold War thing?"

Dan was strolling through the packed streets of New York with Serena, heading towards the Van der Woodsen apartment. It was still snowing, even though it was pretty dark outside. They'd spent the day together, shopping for last minute New Year's presents. Very last minute, seeing as it was New Year's Eve and they had to leave soon.

He asked the question in a casual tone, to act as if he had no clue about the whole situation. He was lying, and Serena knew that. She eyed him like she would be able to read the truth in his eyes.

"Don't try to Jedi mind trick me. Blair told me you two had a talk."

It had been a while since she'd cried over Chuck Bass, but remembering that horrible day, she couldn't help it. Chuck and her had had a huge fight and he'd left slamming the door. It had been a week since then and what Blair mostly had done was being quiet, frumpy and pessimistic. Very unlike the Blair Waldorf who always took the world by storm.

So she was walking somewhere in the city – she didn't even know exactly, and she certainly hadn't noticed the guy in front of her.

"Blair?"

She looked up and saw Dan Humphrey, who she put up with only because of Serena. But this time, she didn't even bother coming up with an insult.

"Oh, it's you." she commented faintly, with such a quiet voice that he noticed something was up.

"Are you – okay?" he stumbled, not being used to seeing her like this at all. It kind of scared him.

"No, not really." She paused for a moment and Dan understood she was waiting to say something. "Can I ask you something, Dan?"

Her use of his first name and her actually waiting for his response unsettled him even more. "Sure." He answered, because really, the way she looked and how she was just standing there – waiting for him to act, he couldn't just ignore it. He checked out their surroundings and discovered a wooden bench covered in snow.

"Let's sit." He suggested, then guiding her to it by putting his hand on her back. They both sat down and for a moment, neither of them said anything.

"Blair, you're scaring me with this passive behavior. Obviously, there's something wrong. You haven't insulted me once since you saw me. You can tell me, I'm not going to hurt you or anything…"

After he said that, she faced him with tears glistening in her brown dough eyes. "Why are you so nice to me? You don't like me, at all. I'm always horrible to you."

He had to think about that for a moment."I don't hate you. I believe you can be a very good friend to the people you care about."

"That doesn't really answer my question." She countered, still looking at him intently. He didn't know where she was going with this.

"Well, I guess because you're Serena's best friend and you're important to her, and she's important to me."

Blair smiled, nodded and then grew silent again. Dan decided to just come out and ask her. "It's Chuck, isn't it? He's done something again, right?" "Serena didn't tell you?" she wanted to know. That'd made this moment a lot easier. But unfortunately, he shook his head.

"But you can… if you want to." He encouraged her, noticing she was struggling with this as much as he was. But suddenly she started to talk and not stopping, her voice breaking a few times. "I waited so long until Chuck turned into a decent guy. When I was with Nate, I pictured myself in the future, getting married and having kids. But when we broke up..." She didn't finish her sentence, but Dan kept listening anyway.

"I still want that, and I want to be able to have that with Chuck, as weird as that may sound." she realized, a tiny grin forming on her lips, her eyes glancing at Dan, who had a grin on his face as well. Serena had always told him that Blair and Chuck would make a great couple, if they could both let go of their stubbornness.

"But I don't know if I can keep giving him another chance. I don't know if he's worth it, or if my heart could take it."

He was surprised by the honesty and the vulnerability in her voice. She was still staring right into his eyes, hoping to find his answer there. Much to his dislike, his cheeks glowed in response. He had to say something.

"How do you really feel about him, Blair?" He asked. She thought about it for a moment. "I love him. I can't help it. It's like you and Serena, we're so much alike but still so different."

"I know what you mean." He agreed. "Some days – most days, I can't miss her, but other days I wonder how we ever got together." He suddenly found it quite easy to talk to her. Finding someone who can relate. Now he understood why Serena always stood up for her.

He shifted a bit and managed to find some advice when he thought about his blonde girl.

"Look, I love Serena. We may have had bad times but the point is: if you love someone enough, you can forgive them anything. My dad always says 'If you don't take the risk for love, then what do you take it for?' and this time, he's right. I hope this doesn't sound to cheesy, but if you give your heart, you might get something amazing in return."

Blair eyed him in surprise and saw things clearly for once. He was right. She wanted to risk everything for Chuck, the guy she was so stupidly in love with that she'd didn't know what to do without him. It was hard for her to admit that Dan Humphrey of all people had made her see the 'light', but she would never look at him the way she did before.

Out of the blue, she hugged him and he was a bit taken aback by that. "Thank you, Dan." She whispered as he pat her back and let her go. He just smiled and got up. "Who says you need Cupid? A guy from Brooklyn is way better." He joked as he gave her an encouraging nod and walked away through the snow…

Serena stopped mid-step, taking his hand. "That was really sweet of you, Dan. It meant a lot to her. Because of you, she's happy now. With Chuck, oddly to say, but nevertheless…"

They soon reached the right building and walked through the door and up the stairs. "It was nothing, I would've said that to anybody. Who asked and looked like Bambi." He added to make the tension a little lighter.

Serena looked at him in a dismissive way and again, saw through his act. "But the fact you gave advice to Blair Waldorf still amazes me. You hate her."

"I don't hate her, I just like a lot of people better." Dan protested.

"Whoa, that's a lot of stairs… You never use the elevator?" He commented when they reached the right floor. He was a little out of breath, but Serena looked like she was walking on a cloud. She chuckled and pulled him along, her heels clacking on the concrete floor. "I like to stay in shape, Daniel. You are as fit as my grandmother, or maybe even less. And she has a driver for everything. Oh BTW, the elevator acts up sometimes too and Eric's claustrophobic, so we hardly ever use it.

He shot her a look as she opened the door with her key. Jenny and Eric were sitting in the living room/hallway watching a movie. All the lights were out, only the streetlights fell through the window. Serena put them all on at once, earning annoyed grunts from their respective siblings.

"Thanks, kids, Jeneric have to get ready anyway." Rufus joked, giving Jenny and Eric a ship name as he descended the stairs, struggling to put a bow tie on. "As should you two. Found everything you needed?"

"Yeah, I got my dress and shoes. Dan however…" Serena trailed off, moving next to Jenny on the couch, who was smirking at her brother.

"Why are you so picky? Classic Dan." She added, to which Serena nodded. Dan waved it away. "I have something hanging in my closet back at the loft. I'll go get it later and I'll just meet you guys there. Problem solved. And at least I don't have 20 dresses I've never worn hanging in my closet." He countered, glaring at Serena and Jenny.

"And I think we're all grateful for that, Dan." His soon-to-be stepsister remarked.

"Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure. Maybe there's some hidden quality we don't about yet. I think Eleanor's looking for some male models with a nice set of legs." Chuck replied, being sarcastic but sounding oh so serious. Everyone chuckled except for Dan.

"Oh, thanks Chuck. I always knew you saw something in me. But to compliment my legs, wow. I'm speechless." He replied, returning some of that sarcasm. His 'brother' actually smiled and gave him an admirable look. Lily came downstairs soon and everyone got up to get ready. Dan left the loft and convinced Serena to meet him at the entrance around 10:30.

At the top of the stairs in the corridor, he decided to take the elevator anyway despite what Serena had said. Once he got to it, he immediately regretted it…

AN – this was a huge first chapter, much larger than I planned. I hope you like the idea of my story and I'll post the following chapter as soon as possible. Review please if you like it, it only makes me upload another one faster!