This Could Last Forever
the prequel to Seven Years

Summary: Before he wrote the book, which led to the movie; Dan Humphrey was just another teenage boy in love with Serena van der Woodsen. No one expected for her to love him back. Especially not him.

Disclaimer: Gossip Girl isn't mine. Don't sue.

A/N: Some of this story is AU, some of it isn't…it's the best way to describe it. As of posting this Seven Years isn't officially finished, as the epilogue is still coming – but I want that to be as perfect as possible for everyone.

G~G

October 8, 2005 that's when this story truly began.

Fifteen year old Dan Humphrey stood nervously in the elevator of the Palace Hotel, shifting his weight from leg to leg as he slowly ascended up to the penthouse suite of the hotel, stopping occasionally to let guests out.

He was regretting coming, he was almost positively certain that the invitation that had appeared in his locker two days earlier hadn't been for him; he should have stayed home and eaten the Chinese take out that his father and sister Jenny had been ordering when he left.

He wasn't apart of the crowd that was throwing this party. Chuck Bass and Nathaniel Archibald. The two entitled, rich boys who had free reign of the hotel that was owned by Bass senior. He was sure that the second he arrived, he'd be kicked out.

They'd never noticed him at school, but he was sure they'd zone in on him the second the elevator doors opened.

Jenny had told him all about the legendary parties that the small and elite group of friends, who all lived in the exclusive neighbourhood of the Upper East Side, threw; one after another they would all show up on the infamous Gossip Girl website.

His thirteen year old sister didn't know half of what happened within these parties; there were just some…things…that were never talked of again after the party had ended. From the second Dan had stepped into the darkened suite, the music blasting out of the sound system; he had blended in to the darkness and the crowd. A bottle of vodka was passed to him by an anonymous hand and that was all it took…he had made it in.

It had taken him barely two minutes from entering the party to find the reason as to why he had even agreed to his sister's insistence that he come after she had discovered the discarded invitation in the bottom of his backpack.

He had admired her from afar from years, longer than he was ready to admit. She had been the one girl that every other girl had wanted to be – even when they were still in nursery school.

Her long, sleek blonde hair, her flawless skin, her sparkling eyes and infectious smile; she was Serena van der Woodsen. Since they had both started grade school, she at Constance Billard and he at Saint Jude's, he had only ever caught sight of her when she was dressed in the conservative white blouse and blue skirt and blazer outfit that had been designed when the school had opened in the early twentieth century.

Her non-school outfits were always more fashionable, as her closet rotated on a seasonally basis, always holding the newest creations from the world's most recognizable names that he would never be able to name.

All he knew was that his blonde goddess was dressed in an uber short yellow mini dress that barely covered the top of her thigh, her long highlighted hair free around her shoulders, and she was in the middle of the makeshift dance floor, her arms high abover her head as she danced freely to the music.

In one manicured and painted hand, she held tightly on to a bottle of liquor. Even though Dan couldn't make out the label in the dark and at a distance he was ready to bet that it was similar to the Russian brand of Vodka he was currently clutching.

She smiled contently, bringing her arms down to take a drink from the half-empty bottle and then looked around; her sapphire eyes registering for the first time that someone was missing.

"Hey," She sauntered off the dance floor, and looked straight at Dan. He looked around, wondering whose way he was accidently blocking, but there was no one else paying the shipping heiress any attention.

"Do you know where Blair went?" She asked, talking like they had a conversation every day of their lives. Dan dumbly pointed in the direction where her shorter, brunette best friend had stalked off to several minutes earlier; looking pissed about something.

With another smile, and no more words, Serena moved in that direction; attracting the glances of all the males in her immediate vicinity as she pushed through the crowds trying to find her disappearing friend.

He waited in that spot, leaning against a free spot at the bar that had been set up for the party, keeping out the way as people jostled to grab a vodka, whiskey or another type of alcohol that would make them forget the entire night even happened…

He waited for her to come back; he waited for someone else to start a conversation with him. But it never happened. Once he had finished the bottle of vodka, he conceded again that he had made a mistake coming and quickly fought his way out the door.

It was his first, and hopefully his last Upper East Side party.

But one thing was for sure. I fell in love with Serena van der Woodsen that night.

"That Brooklyn boy is staring at you again." Sixteen year old junior, Blair Waldorf scoffed as she and her closest friend, Serena van der Woodsen sat out enjoying the sun in the courtyard during their lunch break, left alone by the rest of the student body who were too intimidated by the two teenaged girls.

The blonde Serena looked up from her half-eaten frozen yoghurt that was quickly melting from abandonment under the August sun to catch the boy in question quickly look away.

"You haven't even been back a week, and already you have a stalker. Congratulations S." Blair teased.

Serena smiled, she was always smiling. "He's harmless." Both Chuck Bass and Nate Archibald, the two men that were regularly involved in the girls' lives had stated that he was a loser from Brooklyn, who was completely harmless albeit an annoying presence.

"I'd still watch out." Blair was inspecting her recent manicure, closely checking for any imperfections. "It's the quiet ones you need to watch."

Serena shrugged, and looked up again; and this time her sapphire blue eyes connected with the staring eyes of 'Brooklyn Boy'. She offered him a small smile before he turned in humiliation at being caught and she laughed again; sometimes she loved playing with the effect she had on guys.

As Dan swiftly made his way out of the crowded communal courtyard, his eyes not meeting with anyone else's, he was horrified that Blair Waldorf had caught him staring, that Serena herself had caught him staring at her.

She didn't remember who he was, and why should she? That party had been before the beginning of their sophomore year; and she had been M.I.A that year; disappearing suddenly only a couple of days after that party and before the school year started.

The word was that she had been sent to a boarding school in Connecticut, no one knew why but they were quick to guess and gossip; to only be kicked out a year later for more unknown reasons.

Whatever it was, she had been secured a place back at Constance Billard for her junior and senior years; the school board wouldn't dare lose the endowments of the affluent Lily Rhodes van der Woodsen by denying her daughter re-enrolment, and she had been accepted back into the social elite that was headed by her best friend Blair Waldorf.

Dan had needed to actually see her with his own eyes, to make sure that she was back and that his younger sister Jenny wasn't playing a cruel prank on him.

Even after a year's absence, Serena van der Woodsen was as gorgeous as ever.

It's short…yes; but I was debating whether or not to actually begin this story in high school or after graduation. High school won out, at least for the first five or so chapters =D

So…Don't forget to review and leave any thoughts about the story.

Casey xXx