Title: One Kiss
Author: djchika
Disclaimer: Not mine!
World: TV Show Pairing: Dan/Blair
Summary: Blair Waldorf was not a wallower. She was proactive and a woman of action! And yet here she was wallowing because of stupid Dan Humphrey and his stupid idea.
Notes: Post 4x17 although there are mentions of some events in the episodes after that. And yes, I know the title sucks so if anyone can suggest a better one, it would be much appreciated. :D
Blair Waldorf was not a wallower. She was proactive and a woman of action! And yet here she was wallowing because of stupid Dan Humphrey and his stupid idea.
One kiss. That was all it was supposed to be. One kiss that would prove once and for all that she and Dan were nothing more than friends. But the kiss didn't do what it was supposed to do and now here she was hiding behind her eye mask and thinking of him as 'Dan'.
What did he think was going to happen? That they could be together and they would live happily ever after? There was Serena to think about. And Chuck. And everyone else. He wasn't some frog who could turn into a prince when she kissed him. No, he was Dan Humphrey and she was Blair Waldorf and the two of them were just not meant to be.
And that was how she had come to the conclusion that it would be easier for everyone if things just went back to normal. Her with Chuck and him with Serena.
Burrowing deeper into the covers, Blair was glad when she heard Dorota come in. She needed someone to share in her misery.
"Dorota," she pouted, "call the doctor. I think I have consumption."
"You do know that it isn't even possible for you to get that disease anymore in the States, right?"
Blair whipped off her eye mask at the sound of his voice. He was grinning at her, definitely amused at her surprised reaction. "Humphrey! What are you doing here?"
"Dorota tipped me off that you haven't left your bed in a week." Dan replied taking off his coat and placing it on the chair next to her bed. "Said it was because Lowly boy was having an emotional affair with you? I'm assuming Lowly Boy is me and so I'm here on a mission: which is to feed you and possibly get you into the shower."
Dan sniffed the air around her. "When was the last time you took a bath?"
"Yesterday", Blair replied indignantly. "I'm in hiding not aspiring to be a hobo."
"Well, I still think a shower would do you good," He said matter-of-factly, moving towards the door. "I'll be downstairs making waffles. If I come back up here and you're still in bed. I'm carrying you into the shower."
Dan walked out of the room and Blair huffed stubbornly. She was not used to taking orders from anyone, especially not from Dan Humphrey. He couldn't just barge in to her room and make her do what he wanted. It was his fault she was feeling this way in the first place.
Blair was snuggling back into the warmth of her bed when Dan walked back in. He stood next to her bed with his eyes closed.
Blair sat up, confused. "What are you -"
Before Blair could finish her sentence Dan grabbed her blanket and pulled it off her bed. "I'm taking this as insurance. Now, get up and take a shower," He said, making sure not to look in her direction as he walked out her covers in tow.
Furious, Blair scrambled off her bed and was about to follow him when she realized why Dan had his eyes closed. She was wearing a nighty and not her silk pajamas. Shrugging on her nightgown, Blair contemplated sneaking into Serena's room and locking herself in there instead.
Her stomach made a decidedly unladylike growl at the smell of waffles cooking. Dan's waffles were pretty good. And it wasn't like she wasn't planning to take a shower anyway.
Giving in, Blair went into the bathroom and decided as retaliation she was going to take the longest shower she could possibly take. She knew from experience that Dan would wait for her before eating. A good thirty minutes later, she was showered and her hair and make-up with perfect although not too overdone.
She found Dan on her bed, reading her W magazine. He had a tray next to him with waffles, a bowl of fruits and syrup.
Dan tossed the magazine back to the pile and sat up. "Took you long enough. The waffles are cold now by the way."
"You're the one who wanted me to take a shower." Blair replied, sitting next to him on the bed. He smelled of soap and with a hint of aftershave. She had to admit that she had missed Dan during the week they hadn't seen each other. She had gotten too used to him being around all the time.
"If I had known you were going to take that long, I would have asked you to eat first." He put a waffle on a plate and spooned some berries over it. Syrup was left on the tray since he knew that she wasn't always open to the added calories. He offered her the plate and Blair wrinkled her nose thinking of the carbs. She reached for the bowl of fruits instead but Dan took the bowl and placed it away from her.
"I brought those to eat *with* the waffles," Dan said, giving her a look. "Dorota told me you haven't been eating either. Be thankful, I didn't put two on your plate. Now eat."
Blair huffed but took the plate. Since when had Dan Humphrey become so demanding?
They ate in silence. Blair chewed each bite slowly, not sure what to say. Humphrey was busy eating his own stack of waffles. She smiled to herself as he seemed to devour his food. Dan was a breakfast guy and he was probably already starving when he got to her apartment.
When they were both finished, Dan carefully placed the tray on the floor.
Blair gave him a small smile but Dan didn't smile back. He had the same look he had when he showed up that night. Like he was contemplating the mysteries of the world and it was making Blair edgy. It was him thinking that got them into this mess in the first place.
She broke the silence first. "Thank you for breakfast, Humphrey. Now if you'll excuse me -"
Blair stood up but Dan grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her back next to him. She was acutely aware that he didn't let go of her right away.
"Seriously, Blair was kissing me really that bad that you've decided to shun the world because of it?"
Blair wasn't ready to talk about her realizations. And she definitely wasn't ready to talk to Dan Humphrey about it.
Plausible deniability was the way to go.
"It was just a kiss, Humphrey," Blair said nonchalantly, "We wanted to know if there was anything between us and there wasn't."
Blair knew she was bending the truth a little bit. Shouldn't was the word. Or could never be.
She was surprised at how sad that last thought made her feel. Blair watched Dan as he stared at nothing in particular, the same pensive look on his face.
He didn't look at her when he said, "Because you're in love with Chuck."
She didn't expect him to say it so bluntly. She stared at him evenly, not denying or agreeing to his statement. "And you're in love with Serena." He opened his mouth to reply but Blair raised her hand to cut him off. "And neither of us wants to hurt either of them."
Dan chuckled humorlessly. "Well, just Serena for me."
Blair rolled her eyes at him, annoyed that he didn't seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation. "The point is Humphrey. Our worlds would explode if anyone ever found out about us and with everything else going on; this is the last thing anyone needs." She said gesturing between the two of them
He was quiet again and it was unnerving her. "But you think there's an us and a this?" Dan asked slowly, mimicking her gesture.
She crossed her arms not quite looking at him. "I won't deny that you have certain... attributes I find appealing."
Dan gave her an honest, open look. "Why can't you just say that you like me? Because I do you know, like you, I mean."
Blair was startled at his sudden confession. Dan looked almost hopeful. Blair wondered if he realized what kind of mind field he was leading them into.
"Well, that still doesn't mean we should be together," she said trying to bring him back into reality. "Chuck is my soul mate. He and I have fireworks. You and I have... sparks. "
Someone had to say it, Blair rationalized. That was their reality. A place where Dan and Blair could never be together because Dan was meant to be with Serena and Blair was meant to be with Chuck
Silence descended on them once again and they sat motionless on the bed, not looking at each other. He spoke quietly, "You know, fireworks can only last for so long before they become fire hazards and raze everything to the ground."
God, Humphrey was stubborn.
Blair was on the verge of just walking out but he had his hand on hers again, lightly brushing his fingertip over her fingers.
"What are you saying?" Blair asked instead.
"I'm saying aren't you tired of putting them first?" He asked. "Of comparing everything to what you had with Chuck?"
It was Blair's turn to be quiet. She knew what he meant because she had basically told him the same thing about Serena. She turned to him, annoyed that he was pushing this. Why couldn't he understand that there was no hope for them?
"What do you propose? That we come out to Gossip Girl? Tell everyone when we don't even know what this is." Blair asked, frustration creeping into her voice.
He swallowed, self conscious for a moment but forced himself to continue. "Then let's find out. Nobody needs to know... yet."
A thrill went up Blair's spine. She was used to secret relationships, sneaking around wasn't anything new to her. But she was surprised that the suggestion would come from Dan. "You're willing to lie to everyone we know, to Serena, so we can see what's going on between us?" Blair gave him a wary look. "That doesn't seem like you."
"You're plotting and scheming seems to have rubbed off on me," Dan chuckled, a small grin on his face. "And you do smell nice."
Blair had to smile at that. She considered the possibilities. "So no one finds out."
"We can just do exactly what we've been doing. Exit strategies. Plausible Deniability." He said, clearly wanting her to say yes, but giving her time to come to the decision on her own.
Blair closed her eyes for a second. Scared of what they were contemplating. "Even if we do this, Humphrey, how long do you think it'll take before someone finds out? You said it yourself; all my schemes blow up in my face."
His voice was soft and serious and the look he gave Blair gave her goose bumps. "Because don't you want to try? Wouldn't it be better to know now, than wonder what could have been?"
They sat there staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. He was waiting for her to make the next move. Not because of some game, not because he wanted to win, but simply because he wanted her. Wanted her to agree to take a risk. With him.
Finally, Blair agreed. "Deal. No one finds out."
The smile that Dan gave her made her warm all over. Blair couldn't help but smile back. They sat there smiling stupidly at each other for second.
Which of course, Humphrey just had to ruin. "Oh, except for Eric," He said sheepishly, "He kind of got it out of me."
Blair gaped at him. "You told Eric? He's Serena's sister and your sister's best friend I might add!" She stood up and started pacing the room.
Not even a minute in this thing and already Humphrey was giving her a heart attack!
"You told Dorota."
Blair whirled at him. "Dorota knows nothing. All she knows is that we've been hanging out."
"Well, she'll know soon enough, it's not like we can keep this a secret from her. Besides it s just Eric. You know he'll never tell anyone."
Blair glared at him, still annoyed. "Fine. But no one else."
"Oh, and I also kind of told Nate who may have told Raina."
Blair blanched and sat down on the bed resignedly. If Nate knows, he was sure to tell Chuck at some point. He was never good at secrets. Or at lying for that matter. She was too caught up in thinking about how to blackmail Nate into not telling Chuck that she almost didn't notice that Dan was holding back a laugh. Almost.
"Why you-"
Dan burst out laughing when she finally realized that he was messing with her. "I'm joking about Nate and Raina," he admitted between laughs, "I only told Eric and I promise not to tell anyone else."
She narrowed her eyes at him, a promise of a threat in them. Dan recognized it immediately and got off the bed, backing away cautiously.
"Blair-"
Blair stood up quietly and grabbed one of her pillows. She was quick on her feet and before he knew it, Dan was being pummeled with a pillow by Blair Waldorf.
"You -"
Smack!
"are-"
Smack!
"not-"
Smack!
"funny!"
Smack!
Dodging another blow, Dan swept Blair off her feet and deposited her on the bed, making sure to keep his hand behind her head when it hit the bed.
"Let go of me, Humphrey! I'm not done with you."
He placed his hand on her mouth, silencing her.
"I won't tell anyone else, I promise. Not until we define what this is and not until you're ready."
Blair was tempted to bite his hand but the air between them seemed to suddenly crackle with tension. He removed his hand and she felt more than saw his eyes move to her lips. Blair felt her heart pounding in her chest. Half of her wanted to push him off while the other half wanted to pull him in. Although the way he was holding her made in impossible to do either.
"Humphrey..."
He looked at her and she saw her fear and confusion mirrored in his eyes. It was amazing to her that he never seemed to be afraid to show exactly what he felt. Not like her. Not like Chuck or Serena or Nate who were all careful not to reveal too much of what they were feeling.
She had never known anyone who was so fearlessly open about what they felt and it scared her even more.
"Dan-"
She had meant to tell him that maybe they should wait. That they should give a little more though to what they were doing but the words died on her lips as his lips caught hers in a kiss.
Their first kiss was tentative, curious. Like most first kisses, it had been full of wonder and amazement but also careful, treading unfamiliar territory.
Their second was different. He was kissing her with a passion and longing and a tenderness that was all Dan Humphrey. Warning bells were flashing in Blair s head as the kiss deepened. She was kissing Dan Humphrey. Again! But God, he was a really, really good kisser.
Slowly, their lips moved apart. Blair kept her eyes closed even after he had pulled away, savoring the moment.
When she finally opened her eyes, it was to see Dan looking at her with a pained expression on his face.
"Would you just *say* something?" He asked, exasperated.
Blair laughed. He could be such a dork. But he was her dork. For now. Pushing away that last though, Blair rolled her eyes at him. "Stop talking and kiss me, Humphrey"
He chuckled and she pulled him in for another kiss. They didn't do much talking after that.