Gentle Persuasion

(Or Five Times Dan and Blair Happen Upon Each Other Before Her Wedding)

Author's Note: I just want to say words cannot express how absolutely thankful I am to all who reviewed! When your story gets 1000 hits and 24 reviews, those 24 really count! But regardless, it brings me real Christmas joy to know so many are enjoying my writing. Hope you enjoy this new piece too! There will be four or five pieces and they will all show both Dan and Blair exposing themselves a little more to each other. So in a sense "happen upon" each other won't always necessarily mean bumping into each other unexpectedly, but it will mean their feelings will be revealed to each other in bits and pieces. Each one will have a different feel, this first one being incredibly angsty because I'm just finishing off my teen years and still have a bit of angst left to show for it.

PS. This title totally comes from Tears For Fears. Like, duh.

Disclaimer: I do not OWN. If I did, I would have killed Louis off in a creative manner months ago.

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Happening One

In hindsight, he realized that she was wrong all those months ago. She was not the one imploding. He was. He had been scorching under her gaze and crumbling into fragments so finite, he had not even noticed until it was far too late. He had accepted his fate then, when his heart still thudded with every passing thought, hers so far away in Monaco that it seemed nonsensical to even think of her. Loving her was simple then; a daunting task he hid with ease, a flickering pain he could nobly face in her absence.

Feeling this way in her presence was entirely different. Stripped of the solitude he had so been accustomed, he felt fully exposed by a mere glance in his direction. It frustrated him to no end that despite this bareness that engulfed him completely, what Blair Waldorf felt when she looked at Dan Humphrey was a simple nothingness. An unbearable indifference. It was this above all that broke his heart the most.

In part, it was this that had kept him away from her hospital bedside for the four long days that it had. Not only had he been plagued with the knowledge that he was partially responsible for her being in the accident in the first place, but he also been preparing himself to be away from her for a long time. He had hoped that once Chuck and Blair had found each other, they would be too immersed in each others light to have a need for much else, giving Dan time to heal through his prose. He was not prepared to see her as the complete opposite; bandaged in a hospital bed and detached from all that had kept her afloat. He had seen her broken too many times in the past few months; he was not sure if he could stand to see it again.

He was even more distressed by the fact that, despite her being surrounded by love and support in every direction, he knew none of the people around her would really understand her.

He cringed at the thought of the night the accident occurred, as he sat motionless in a corner of the waiting room, Blair's fate hanging in the balance. He remembered how they all had swarmed around him, calculated pity tainting their faces, poor Dan, they think, it must be so rough on him. He eventually escaped to the hospital cafeteria for a moment alone because, Christ, these people just don't get it. His heart and soul nearly died that night and they thought he was distraught because she almost did it with Chuck Bass by her side.

It takes four whole days for Dan Humphrey to accept all this, (his love for her the unnoticed elephant in the room, her pain unbearable, their reality much too real) and see her anyway.

He paced outside of her room for minutes; unsure of what was supposed to happen next. He could offer her solace, but he was not sure how much she would be willing to take. Would she question his motives that night? Would she blame him? He shuddered at the thought.

He took four measured deep breaths, knocked twice, and entered the room.

"Dan," she stated plainly, placing her copy of The Tigers Wife and turning to face him. Her hair was mussed and her face covered in cuts and bruises and still, Dan's heart skips a dreaded beat. That affect would unfortunately never fade away.

"Hi. Blair, I'm so sorry I haven't visited you. I just…"

"Its okay, Humphrey." He drops down into a chair placed right beside her bed, guilt overwhelming him.

"Its not, I should have been here-"

"You have. You have been here for me more than anyone," she says earnestly, and places a warm hand on his arm. He ignores the tingles that charge their way up and down his spine.

He smiled, bitter. "Look at you, comforting me. You're the one in the hospital, and I haven't even asked you how you are."

Her sad smile dropped slightly. "All I can say is that I'm trying. With Chuck still unconscious and the baby…" She took a moment and restarted. "It's been difficult."

He winced as he noticed a single tear travel down her face. He will never understand the connection that binds them, that causes her pain to become his undoing.

"I will never be able to apologize enough for my hand in everything that night, Blair."

Suddenly, her tears stopped, and she's squinting at him accusingly.

"How can you even say that!"

He looked up at her, dumbfounded.

"I lead you to him…"

"Exactly. And it was exactly what I needed. As terrible as this sounds, I needed to go through this with Chuck. It was the only way I could ever understand how destructive we are together."

"So, you aren't-"

"Upset? Never, Dan. I needed you to help me see what I saw that night. I can't continue down the path I was on."

He swallows the glimmer of hope that leaped to life at her words. The answer was still no.

"Still, I'm just so sorry…for everything. When are you allowed to leave?"

"Truthfully, two days ago."

He takes a few seconds to process what she said before he responded.

"Then…why haven't you left?"

"I just…needed a place to think. Away from home where everyone would be floating over me. Just peace."

"Come back with me, then."

"What?"

"Come back with me. No one will expect you to go back to Brooklyn, and you can take all the time for yourself that you need."

She shuts her eyes for a moment, her thoughts a cloud of mystery.

"What is it with you and saving me, Dan?"

He gulped; worried his cover had been blown. While the fact that she was still oblivious to his feelings had stung for months, the thought of being exposed at a moment like this one seemed excruciating.

"You are just…important to me. That is all."

"Well, one of these days I'm going to save you."

And that day came sooner than they both realized it would.

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ANGST, I know! However PLEASE review! I promise the next few chapters will all be much more upbeat, but still tell one linear dair-filled storyline. Next chapter up very very soon! THANKS FOR READING!