This is because I'm kind of stuck on The OATPC right now, and because all fictional pairings deserve a 'stranded on a deserted island' fic, whether I ship them or not. It's my personal fiction law, so I'm obliged to write this. I don't know of any others featuring Dan and Blair but if you do, can you tell me? I really like desert island stories. I've had a thing for them ever since I read The Coral Island as a kid.
I know how implausible this story is. I doubt there's any island in the Caribbean that you could become stranded for too long on, (are there any Caribbean readers out there? I'm just an isolated Aussie chick who doesn't know better and Wikipedia will only tell me so much), but I hope you can suspend your disbelief for the promise of romance.
Nate's 25th was to be spent cruising with his nearest and dearest, on his birthday present to himself, a personally customised 160 foot yacht. He'd been acquainting himself with its glories for a few weeks, sailing from island to island in the warm waters of the Caribbean, before conveying all his guests to meet him at the island of Mustique. Some flew from Paris and others from LA. Dan himself came from London, feeling apprehensive about seeing his old friends together. It was odd that no one was coming from the city of their youth, New York, but Nate was the only one of them who could really call himself a full time resident anymore. The rest of his school friends were far too transient to be able to call any city home.
Dan had been late in embarking the vessel, feeling disoriented after the long series of flights and airport lounges he had endured. He found himself standing awkwardly on the deck, clutching a warming cocktail in his hand, observing the rabble of guests. Serena was already there with her new husband, sliding her hand over his knee as she squinted in the sun, laughing inanely at his jokes, her pregnancy showing as plain as the bow of the yacht. Seeing her didn't bother Dan as much as he had prepared himself for. Her sunshine smile when they had greeted had given him a flash of pleasure, untinged by regret.
They had tried that one last time and for a while they had worked hard to make it perfect, thinking they'd finally arrived at the same place at the same time. But the problems and petty jealousies they had thought they have overcome bubbled back to the surface, and soon they both gave up trying to understand each other. The naively prophetic words that they had spoken came to fruition. They had their one last chance, gave it everything they had, and neither wanted to go back anymore.
Blair sat by the bar, holding court, reeking of business. Her hair was shorter, he didn't miss her long locks, the shorter length lending piquancy to her delicate features. The expression she wore was all too familiar and he hadn't missed that either, the smug brightness that always seemed more forced the more you came to know her. They had met each other earlier like distant acquaintances, perfunctory and disinterested, just like the game of old. Chuck was conspicuous in his absence, though Dan held no doubt he lurked somewhere in her shadows. The absence of the ring on her finger made him wonder. He had followed Chuck and Blair's relationship, in tabloid gossip and the business pages of the paper, like a gross habit he couldn't cure himself of, and though he had never heard that they had got married, it surprised him that she wasn't flaunting that enormous rock on her ring finger.
Nate was skippering the yacht but he spent little time at the helm, leaving the crew to manage the boat while he entertained his guests. He made his way through the party of guests, ever the congenial host, but his eyes flashed a welcome to Dan, raising his drink in silent camaraderie. They at least had never ceased to be friends, in fact they had only become closer in the years since Dan had left New York. Nate had become his first port of call in his home city, before even Rufus or Georgina.
The welcoming cocktails had been followed by lunch on the deck as the island of Mustique disappeared over the horizon, and from there the guests had dispersed. Some lounging on the deck and others disappearing below to escape the tropical heat. Dan was tempted to do the same, the unfamiliar setting had already set off an avalanche of words in his mind and he was keen to put them to page before he lost the thread. Nate's appearance at his elbow made him cast the thought aside. His friend was beaming, his pleasure in the cruise infectiously radiating from him. He clapped his hand on Dan's shoulder. "Let's join Serena and Blair in the tub. We're only missing Chuck to make it a real reunion, I don't think the old gang has been all together since you left New York."
Dan looked over to the hot tub. Serena was lowering herself into the water, a look of bliss crossing her face, while Blair stood beside her, clearly making sure her pregnant friend was comfortable before taking a seat herself. She was slimmer than he had seen her, the once rounded curve of her hip standing out in a sharp angle, jutting from her black swimsuit. He looked back to Nate. "You know, I think I can actually count the number of times 'the gang', as you so call it, hung out willingly, on one hand."
Nate quirked his lips. "That depends on your recollection, Dan."
The smile that spread across Dan's face at Nate's words wouldn't be repressed. His friend's optimism had always been indefatigable. "Fine, I'll play it your way, but if a drink ends up in your tub, don't say I didn't warn you."
"Aren't we all grown ups now? Come on, play nice."
Dan laughed. "I always play nice. I just can't guarantee that others are capable of doing the same."
Nate didn't answer, merely raising both his brows in patent disbelief before taking both their drinks and proceeding up the deck. Dan followed behind him, shucking off his shirt so he stood only in his swimming trunks. "So where's Chuck anyway?"
"Beats me, he said something urgent came up that couldn't wait." Nate stepped into the tub. "Blair, what's the deal? I can't believe that Chuck couldn't come to my birthday. Surely he could spare a few days?"
Blair barely looked at Dan as he slid into the bubbling water beside Nate, her voice low as she replied. "He's been in Dubai for the past few weeks, some make or break hotel deal that wouldn't wait."
Her fingers clutched at the pendant on her necklace. Dan realised with a start that it still held the diamond ring that Dorota had shown him all those years before. Their eyes met as she glanced up and the flash of vulnerability there gave him a prick of concern. The connection was short lived though. When she realised he was looking at her bare finger, she narrowed her eyes, her hand closing around the ring before she stood up and stepped out of the water. "Well, this just got a whole lot less exclusive."
Serena slapped Nate on the arm when Blair was out of ear shot. "Nice one, idiot. You had to bring up Chuck just when I get her to forget about him for all of five minutes."
Nate gave a snort of outrage. "How was I meant to know. Those guys are always breaking or making up. Besides, it was Dan's fault, he bought him up."
"Don't bring me into this, Archibald." Dan leaned his head back against a cushion, his fatigue combined with the strength of the cocktails leaving him disinclined to engage in further conversation. It saddened him that Blair hadn't found the happiness she had so desperately searched for. That she still tied all her self worth to Chuck and, in return, Chuck didn't seem able to appreciate what should be the best thing in his life.
Dan lazed in the tub for most of the afternoon, guests coming and going as he chatted to Nate, feeling more mellow than he had for weeks. He was about to get out, realising his fingers had turned to prunes, when the mate approached them. "Captain Archibald, can I speak with you?"
It gave Dan a jolt to hear the crewman address Nate as captain and he smiled, thinking of the ample opportunities it would give him to tease his friend that he was turning into his father.
Nate looked annoyed by the interruption. "What now, Smith? Surely you can handle anything? And call me Nate, don't make me say it again."
"Yes, Captain...Nate, I think you need to see this. Can you come to the helm?"
Nate rolled his eyes "Ok...ok. Dan, watch my drink. I'll be back in a minute." He was only gone a moment, but his face had become serious by the time he returned. "I don't know how it is, it wasn't forecast. But there's a storm warning and we're heading to the nearest port."
Dan looked over the horizon. The sun was hanging low in the west, a glorious golden orb. But as he turned his eyes eastward he could see how the drifts of clouds had begun to accumulate, massing on the horizon in the darkening sky.
Serena's husband rose for where he sat beside her, giving his glass to a steward. "Surely it won't be that bad?"
Nate shook his head. "I don't think it will be anything much, it's too early in the year for a hurricane, but we're obliged to go back to port. It should blow over by tomorrow and we can head back out."
The weather began to turn quickly once they were watching for it and the calm blue ocean became rough and dark, rocking the boat so it was hard to keep balance without holding to the railing.
Being below deck was even more uncomfortable. Dan tried to read on his bed but the movement began to make his stomach roil so he abandoned his book altogether and went to join the rest of the party. Most of the were guests gathered together in the main stateroom, braced against the rolling of the yacht, but as Dan looked around the group he realised that Blair was not amongst them. "Serena, where's Blair?"
She shook her head at him, looking pale and concerned, and more than a little nauseous. I don't know, I haven't seen her since she left the deck."
"She's probably in her room, I'll go check on her." Dan wasn't sure which room was hers but there were only eight cabins so he checked each one, including his own, as he lurched down the short corridor. His knocking found no answer and, although he couldn't think she would be reckless enough to go outside in such wild conditions and was likely lying on her bed ignoring him, he felt compelled to check the deck.
It appeared empty but when he took a few steps out to look further he saw her standing alone toward the stern of the vessel. Gripping the rail as the spray of the waves and the rain dampened her hair so it sat in sodden ripples over her cheeks, her shirt tight against her body in the gusty wind. Dan made his way cautiously, gently taking her wrist to gain her attention. "Blair, what are you doing out here? There's a storm warning. Come below now."
She kept her face to the ocean. "And why are you the one here, Humphrey?"
Dan ignored her question, trying to pry her hand from the railing to lead her below deck. "Blair, this is serious, look at those waves. Let's go."
She turned to him and he could see how the water masked the tears that welled in her eyes. "Do you really want to know why Chuck didn't come?"
Dan didn't know and he really didn't care to hear it, but he gripped the rail beside her and tried to resist the temptation to pick her up bodily and carry her inside. He knew the action would likely sweep them both overboard. "I don't think this is the time, Blair. Come on, you can tell me about it below deck. Please."
"I wanted to tell you that you were right. I know you'll take pleasure in that fact." He shook his head but she continued before he could respond. "There is never going to be time that Chuck will prioritise me over his precious Bass Industries. Bart is dead, for real, he's not coming back, and still he has to keep on trying to prove himself again and again." She looked out over the waves again, knuckles gripped white. "I gave him an ultimatum. If he didn't pick a date, I would leave." Her voice wavered so Dan had to lean his head toward her to pick up her words. "He couldn't or wouldn't, and I was so angry I went to Paris, thinking that he would follow me, but next I hear he's back in Dubai. And I won't call him, I won't. Why am I telling you this?" She reached to her chest and withdrew the chain that hung there. "This has lain here for four years." He voice cracked. "Four years, Dan." She gave the necklace a sharp tug. "I'm beginning to think it's cursed." It lay in her hand, the broken chain dangling limply and she regarded it briefly before drawing her hand back and tossing it overboard. The ring dropped and was gone, swallowed by the violent water. She gave a bitter laugh. "There, I'd like to see it try and come back from that."
The swell was growing ever larger, the boat teetering on the crest of each wave before descending down the trough so it would block out half the sky. The yacht, once seeming so grand and large, pitching about like a leaf in the wind. Dan held his arm out to her. "Will you come in now, please? I won't let you follow that ring, you know."
She nodded at him, the combination of the wind and waves too loud for him to make out the words on her lips, and let go of the railing to take his offered hand. The touch was only fleeting, for at the same moment the boat bucked violently downward and his grip on her fingers slid away. Dan could see the terror spark in her eyes as the wave washed over the deck, swamping them so they both staggered. Dan struggled to keep his hold on the rail, but before he could reassert his grip on Blair's arm, she slipped. One moment she was before him, and the next she was just gone, the deck empty of everything but himself.
In a panic he leaned over the rail trying to see where she was, hoping she had taken hold of the deck. "Blair! Someone help me, man overboard! Blair!" He could hardly hear the words even though he could feel his throat rasp at the effort of his shout. He caught sight of her surfacing a few metres away, the current already carrying her body from the yacht. "Blair! Try and swim back!" The life preserver lay in easy reach by the side of the railing and Dan grabbed at it, looking desperately again for Blair's dark head. He found her even further away, the shock and fear twisting her features as she struggled in the strong current. It swept her unrelentingly away from the boat; Dan knew he had little chance of throwing the life buoy to her.
Swinging the ring over his arm, Dan stepped unthinkingly onto the rail and plunged into the water. It enveloped his head but the life preserver drew him quickly to the surface and he tried to direct himself toward where he had seen Blair. Shouting her name in a desperate hope that she might be able to make her way toward him. He could see little over the water that rushed unrelentingly over him.
The current swept him over the crest of a wave and it was with relief that he saw her below him, still fighting to stay afloat. Her head snapped up and as their eyes met, his arms swung into desperate action, floundering towards her. She was going under again when he managed to find a grip on her wrist, her nails scoring a cruel path over his skin as he thrust his hands under her arms. Pulling her to his chest so the preserver could support the both of them.
"I've got you, Blair, I've got you." Dan couldn't hear himself speak but her struggles slowed at his words. "I've got you." He stopped talking when she relaxed further against him, though her grip in no way lessened. It was all he could do to try and time his breaths with each passing wave, so he didn't take another lungful of sea water or lose his grip on her in the violent swell.
There was no sign of the yacht. At the crest of every wave, his hopes of rescue faded a little more. No one had seen them go over, it was possible that no one had even guessed they were missing yet. He closed his eyes to try to control his panic as the horrifying reality of their situation dawned on him.
Dan didn't know how far they had drifted but the rain had at least let up and the wind had dropped. A weary hopelessness had replaced his fear. His arms were growing numb from the effort of supporting Blair; she had fallen asleep, or into a coma, he couldn't tell, though he could feel the constant movement of her chest beneath his arms, so he knew she still breathed.
Once the waves began to calm, Dan slowly pried her arms from where they still clung to his neck and manoeuvred her inside the life preserver, resting her limp arms over the edges of the ring. The change of posture was pure relief, his shoulder muscles cramping painfully from the long pose. He still kept his arms firmly around her but he could cradle her slight frame above his to support her. The water wasn't cold, but the heat of her back against his chest was comforting, as was the steady beat of her heart against his, lulling him into a weary stupor.
Water washing violently over his head woke him from his half-doze, and Dan braced himself in shock. But as he moved his hands to Blair's head, to keep her mouth clear of the wash, he felt something graze painfully against his leg. The wave propelled them forward grating his back over a rough surface, feeling his shirt catch and tear. Another wave washed over them and he kicked his legs to follow it, letting it lift them clear of the reef. Dan tried to shake the thickness from his sodden brain. It was still too dark to get any sense of what lay around them, though he could see the stars begin to dim above him in the brightening sky above. As they rode the next wave he twisted his head to see behind him to a golden outline of palm trees against the swiftly approaching dawn in the east.
He shook Blair to try and wake her. "Blair, land. Blair! Wake up. Land." His voice was so hoarse he could barely make a sound so he reserved his energy for kicking toward the shore, trying to paddle with his arms to propel them faster, all concern for the danger of the reef gone.
The feeling of the sand below his feet was the most poignant moment of his life thus far. Dan pushed the life preserver over their heads and turned to face the shore. It was closer than he had thought. He staggered back, losing his footing in the surf, holding Blair before him as his head plunged below the water once more. The white wash rolled them into the shallows. It was all Dan could do to drag Blair's body from the water to the sand above the tide mark and check her breathing once more, too delirious to do anything but collapse in an exhausted heap beside her.
