Dan's head was swimming in thought. It was Vanessa plaguing his mind again. Running a hand through his hair, he tried to collect himself. He was evidently thinking too much on the matter and he was making it worse by going through the what-ifs.
Walking home to the Van der Bass/ Humphrey apartment with a coffee in hand, the thought of the fatal threesome flitted into the foreground of his mind. It had started off as seemingly innocent. Olivia, Vanessa and himself. But then Olivia had insisted on pulling that stunt during Blair's little Snow White rendition that pinultimately ended up with him having to kiss Vanessa. A trick to see if Dan had more than just friendly feelings towards her than Olivia.
Dan was so deep in thought that he didn't realize that he was walking straight into someone. With a bump he knocked some of his coffee over the unsuspecting girl.
"Oh pissing hell, sorry!" laughed the girl as he looked in horror at his mistake. "I didn't see you there. I can get you another one if you like?"
"No, no! I wasn't paying attention," Dan replied putting his now half empty coffee in a nearby trash can. He quickly realized that he was near his home. "Look, I live just over there so how about I get you a clean shirt to wear? It's the least I can do for drenching you."
The petite girl smiled. Dan immediately liked the look of her. She had light brown hair with what looked like black underneath at the bottom that tumbled easily over her shoulders in light waves. She wore a simple white vest (now coffee-stained), indigo jeans and pink and white DCs. It was looking at her now that Dan realized she was holding a worn out skateboard. She was a breath of fresh air compared to the high heel toting women in the Upper East Side.
"That sounds mint." She offered her hand, "Kenzie Sherrington. Pleasure to bump into you."
Dan chuckled at this and shook her hand. "Dan Humphrey. You're not from around here are you, you know, because of the accent?"
Kenzie ducked her head to hide her blush and tucked a loose strand of hair behind an ear. She still wasn't used to people pointing that out. "I'm from Portsmouth. Umm, England," she replied as they started to walk. "I moved to Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd check the Upper East Side out. You don't happen to be a tour guide do you?"
"No, but I'm pretty sure I could give it a go," Dan smiled.
XOXO
Stepping into the Van der Bass/ Humphrey living room, Chuck scowled. Dan was sitting on one of the settees humming. Humming. Normally he would have let this slide but Dan had been quite miserable the past few months, much to Chuck's delight. He couldn't help but think that this humming Humphrey was in a good mood because he'd managed to 'get some'. A smirk creeped onto his clean-shaven face.
"So who's the girl?" Chuck drawled as Dan turned to face him. Dan looked embarrassed for a moment and Chuck knew he'd struck home. Sitting down himself on the other settee he asked, "Anyone I know?"
Dan shook his head and frowned at him. He knew better than to enter into one one of Chuck's lewd conversations. Hearing footsteps behind him though he knew he'd have to say something before Chuck could say anything to frighten Kenzie off. Dan knew he may have just met her but they seemed to get on really well already. "Be nice," Dan snapped.
Chuck just looked amused by this. "But Humphrey, I'm always nice."
Before he could answer he saw Chuck's gaze shift to behind him. Turning face Kenzie as she came in and sat next to him he flashed an apologetic smile before Chuck got up and walked over to the duo.
"Chuck Bass," he said, the smirk never faltering. He held out his hand. "You must be-"
"Out of your league?" Kenzie finished for him, quickly matching his smirk. She turned away from him to face Dan, fixing him with a genuine smile. "Thanks for the loaner," she indicated the t-shirt she was now wearing. It was a red one that Dan hadn't worn in ages.
Dan quickly looked at Chuck triumphantly and then back at Kenzie. "It's no problem. I haven't worn it for a while so you can keep it."
"Maybe I should make a habit of bumping into people if it gets me free stuff," Kenzie laughed. She looked up at Chuck, who was still hovering. "I'm sorry, did you want something?"
Chuck sat on the other side of Kenzie and leaned back, looking her over. She certainly was pretty. "What don't I want?" He leaned towards her and went to play with a strand of her hair before she slapped his hand away.
"Only my boyfriend touches my hair," Kenzie said glaring at him.
Dan snorted and Kenzie and Chuck looked at him sceptically. "What's so amusing Humphrey?" Chuck asked, not liking this introduction in the slightest.
"Nothing. It's just that Blair said the same thing to me last year." Dan was enjoying this immensely. Kenzie had already mentioned in the elevator ride up that she was single, but what she had just said made him want to laugh. Especially as it seemed to have had the desired effect on the infamous Chuck Bass.
Chuck's eyes narrowed. "And what, pray tell, were you doing touching my girlfriend's hair?"
Kenzie stepped in to intervene. "And what, pray tell, were you doing touching someone other than your girlfriend's hair just now?" She tilted her head and smiled innocently at Chuck, who looked quite taken aback. "I thought so," she said before he could open his mouth to answer, her eyes glittering mischievously.
Chuck got up abruptly and left the living room muttering under his breath, leaving a now laughing Dan and a still smiling Kenzie. Who on earth was this girl that had just humiliated him in front of Humphrey, of all people? The little British bitch obviously had no idea who he was. He was Chuck Bass. And Humphrey saying that he'd touched Blair's hair. What was that about? He would ask her about that later. Chuck hardly noticed that he'd brushed past Lily and Jenny in the hallway.
XOXO
"Are you okay B?" Serena asked her BFF Blair. "You've hardly talked to me."
It was true. Blair had been a lot less like herself. Since Serena's accident and Chuck's near breakdown at Christmas she'd been trying to help out where she could but Chuck seemed to be pushing her away. She sighed and pushed the thought away. "I'm fine, sorry. The Ball?"
The girls were shopping for a Benefit Ball the coming Friday. An event hosted by some Lydia Sherrington, an old friend of Serena's mom's that had only recently got back in touch with her. Apparently this woman was only going to be around for a week before flying off again on another business trip so Lily had arranged to help with her Benefit Ball whilst she was here.
Serena brushed a long strand of her blonde hair out of her face and beamed at Blair. She was adamant to find out what was wrong, but pushing the issue obviously wasn't going to help. "I was thinking yellow, sparkling and definitely glamorous." As she said so she pulled out a dress from the rack they were next to and put it against her twirling. Blair couldn't help but laugh.
"It's definitely you S! Oh," Blair sauntered over to another rail and pulled out a deep red strapless dress with a black lace hem at the bottom. She held it against her and walked over to a nearby mirror with Serena. "I think we're going to be the best dressed there."
Serena screwed up her nose. "I heard that this Lydia Sherrington has a daughter. Do you think she'll be nice?" She turned to look at Blair's face in the mirror which had taken on a thoughtful look.
"She's from England, right?" Blair inquired. Serena nodded her head and she continued. "Well, we'll just have to find out a bit about the girl and give her a proper Upper East Side welcome. Lydia is supposed to be a wealthy woman, so her daughter must have been bought up in comfort. She should fit in with us."
With this said, Blair turned heel and went to purchase her chosen dress with Serena following quickly behind.
XOXO
Jenny had just been talking to Lily about a design she'd been working on for that Friday. She'd already talked animatedly about the colors, the cut and what she'd changed from the original drawings she'd done. Hearing all of this, Lily was exceedingly happy. Jenny had been acting out recently and it was music to her ears to listen to this side of Jenny.
"Well that sounds delightful, Jenny." The older women smiled. "I'll give you all the money you need for new materials."
"Oh no, thanks Lily. I have enough already to use," replied Jenny graciously.
Lily waved this off. She knew exactly what Jenny had and it wasn't nearly good enough for the design she had been describing. It was the most excited that she had seen the teenager recently and she was willing to encourage this. "Don't be silly, Jenny. This is obviously important to you and I want you to have the best for it."
Before Jenny could even think to reply, the sound of talking and laughter could be heard from the living room, followed by Chuck exiting from that direction looking more than irritated. The two blondes exchanged confused looks and made their way towards the sound.
"I have to hand it to you Kenzie, I've not seen many people give Chuck that kind of first impression," Dan managed to stop laughing. "It's quite a feat."
Kenzie laughed quietly, "Ironic."
At this, Jenny and Lily entered the room. Both of their eyes settled on the newcomer sitting next to Dan. The newcomer wearing one of Dan's shirts sitting next to Dan. Jenny wasn't sure what to think upon seeing this and said nothing. Lily liked the look of this petite, smiling girl. She thought she must be nice if she'd gotten Dan out of the doldrums.
Dan and Kenzie shot up from where they sat and Dan introduced his new friend to Lily and Jenny. Kenzie smiled awkwardly. "Umm, hi. It's nice to meet you."
"Same here," said Jenny. "Dan's been pretty boring since Olivia left."
Dan pretended to look offended. "Hey! I'd rather be boring than scheming."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jenny huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.
Kenzie bit back a giggle and Lily smiled all the more at this brother-sister interaction. "Sherrington? Wait, your mother wouldn't happen to be Lydia Sherrington?" Lily asked Kenzie.
Kenzie suddenly paled. She hadn't expected this. "Yeah," she replied solemnly as Lily searched her face for an answer to this reaction. "How do you know her?"
"We were friends a long time ago. We lost contact but I had heard that she had a daughter."
"Isn't Lydia Sherrington the one hosting the Benefit Ball this Friday?" Jenny piped up. Dan didn't say anything but he could swear that something was wrong from Kenzie's reaction to her mom being mentioned. Maybe they don't get along, Dan thought.
Lily turned to Jenny. "Yes, she is. She also expects the family to be there. That includes you and Serena, Daniel," she said, looking to Dan as he groaned. "Are you bringing anyone? Vanessa?"
As he went to speak Kenzie interrupted. "I'm sorry but I have to go somewhere. It was nice meeting you," she said hurriedly, grabbing her skateboard and departing as quickly as she could.
"Kenzie?" Lily called after the disappearing girl. Dan and Jenny were just as confused. Jenny looked at Dan inquiringly and he shook his head. Kenzie seemed alright before this.
"I'll see if she's okay," he mumbled, going after her.