"I don't want to see you ever again, do you understand me? You are not who I thought you were." – She is hissing, while Dan stands in front of her, holding his bag ready to leave, after she saw the video on the cotillion.
"Just…"
"Do not try to explain to me. I don't care. You are and you have always been Humphrey who I hated. Who I hate! All those gestures of love and…now it's clear to me. It was all to hurt Serena, wasn't it? Don't answer!"- She cuts him, putting her palm between them. – "I swear I will forever regret those hideous, pathetic weeks I spent with you, I'm so glad that this happened" – He looks at her incredulously and doesn't even try to say anything. – "You will never be good enough Brooklyn, and I'm quite amused how you never got that thing by now?" – He is swallowing his words and looks down when she cuts him deep with her last sentence. – "For a tiny moment I thought…that…that you are different…Thank you for opening my eyes. He might be everything, but he is not the scumbag who fucked my best friend." – She points with her hand to the elevator and he starts walking.
"I never…not for one moment…I said…" – She pushes his shoulder even harder when he tries to explain to her.
"I said I don't give a damn. As far as I'm concerned you can die today, I don't care!" – He walks into the elevator and she doesn't even stay there to give him at least one last look.
In his young life, Dan Humphrey felt many heartbreaks. First when his mother didn't come back to Brooklyn. Then Serena dumping him and coming back to him and dating other guys in front of him…But this was far worse than any of them. Much worse when in the beginning of the summer Blair left without words, much worse when he was hopelessly stuck in the friend zone. Her words are making him feel so heavy and he swears he can feel his heart in his throat. The door closes and he isn't sure how long he stands there before he lifts his heavy arm and presses a button. Her words are even louder now in his head and it all seems like a dream. How to explain to Blair Waldorf that what he did was a product of his anger and jealousy and alcohol and poor decision and thinking with his lower head. As the elevator goes down, he sinks lower and lower and if in that moment somebody actually shoots him he will be completely all right with that.
He gets out of the building, walking slowly, not realizing what is happening around him. The streets are crowded, nervous drivers are honking, cars are driving fast and sirens are so loud, but Dan simply walks slowly holding his bag in one hand, passing through people like e ghost. He doesn't remember when he stopped at the bus stop, but when an older lady shakes his arm he comes back to himself.
"Are you all right son?" – She asks with motherly voice. – "You are very pale. Son?" – He looks at her, listens to her, but doesn't really get what she says. Finally he nods and and walks away from the bus stop, listening to some man mumbling something that he is probably just another junkie.
…..
"Boo hoo, Blair finally dumped you! Who cares, I want that article to be done asap!" – Georgina is yelling from Milo's bedroom, while he sits on the sofa staring in nothing. – "Are you listening to me?" – She yells again. He can hear her murmuring something to the child, forcing him to fall asleep. In other situation he'd go and help her with the kid, but now he…he is dead.
When Georgina lightly punches his shoulder he looks at her.
"Oh damn, are you actually crying? Seriously Humphrey?" – He didn't even notice the tears, but when he wipes his face with his hand it really is wet. – "I always knew you were a pussy, but this is beyond me." – She puts a glass and a bottle of Whiskey in front of him. – "Here! Finish this, mourn the bitch, throw up and from tomorrow I want you to finish what we started this summer!" – She gets out of the living room and he remains alone. The last thing he needs is alcohol, but maybe Georgina Sparks is right for the first time in her life.
…..
She is completely aware that she over reacted and that everything she said to him was just a pure result of her anger and jealousy. Yes, Chuck is all she wants at the moment and she'd sell her soul to be with him again, yet…She knows perfectly well that Dan wasn't a mistake. And he was good enough. Maybe better than anyone…The only problem was, he wasn't Chuck. She decides that she won't let herself think about the incident, and when Chuck calls her, she feels saved from her own thoughts. He tells her that he'd come over in about an hour. Nervously she walks back and forth in the penthouse, not knowing what to wear, even though she is already wearing a nice dress and shoes. She decides to order dinner, and within twenty minutes a caterer is serving it in the dining room and she is lighting candles. Finally, Chuck shows up. His face says more than his mouth can ever will.
"I hope this isn't too much" – Blair says coyly, hoping that he'll like what she did.
"Actually, it is" – He mumbles and his eyebrows narrow a bit. – "I'm not here to eat, I just wanted to tell you..." – He breaths in. – "Why on earth are you even ordering dinner and these candles…I didn't say I'll come over to stay…"
"Well, I thought…" – She stutters.
"Maybe you should stop thinking and accept the situation. We can not be together right now Blair!" – He cuts her.
"And when we'll be?" – She asks angrily.
"I told you already!" – He says with irritated voice. – "Stop being a child Blair, what I'm doing now requires my full attention. Being with you or anyone else would just distract me, and…"
"Anyone…" – She mumbles for herself – "And how long does this mission of yours will last Chuck?" – He looks at her as if she is mentally ill.
"I don't know. A month or two. A year…Or maybe as long as my father is alive" – He says calmly.
"So that means…that…"
"I'm gonna go now! I wanted to see how you were after the incident with that video of Serena and Humphrey, but I can see it doesn't affect you, since you aren't able to think of anything else but sabotage me!" – He walks to the elevator and leaves the penthouse without further talk. She stays alone and awfully aware that Dan was right about everything he said to her. But this time she isn't going to let Chuck go without saying some word to him. She can't wait for the elevator so she takes the stairs, practically running down. When she finally gets to the ground floor, Chuck is getting out of the door.
"You are doing it again" – She yells.
"What now?" – He asks.
"Is it scary to be with me if there are no obstacles?" – She asks naively.
"I love you Blair, you know that, but I think we had this conversation a lot of times"
"You know…I'm fiercely strong and…" – She clears her throat trying not to cry. – " …Independent and no man…" – She wipes her tears.
"Did I ever say you weren't?" – He says.
"Actually you didn't!" – She replies. – "Dan said that to me, and…"
"We'll discuss this some other time. Make yourself sure you get rid of the pathetic melodrama you got from those few months spent with Humphrey. It's irritating and it's not helping you" – He smiles. She looks at him like he is a total stranger to her and just before he enters his town car a dark figure comes closer to them.
"Mister and Misses Bass" – He shouts as he walks insecure steps towards them. It's clear that he is drunk. His face is pale, the circles under his eyes are darker and his eyes seem frozen…Maybe it's the booze, or maybe tears, Blair can't tell, but she knows she is the reason and she already thinks of what she'll say to him for an apology. – "Do you know that I am the scumbag" – He finally comes closer to them and wraps an arm around Chuck's neck. Even though he reeks on alcohol, and even though Chuck wouldn't tolerate that behaviour from anyone, he doesn't push him away.
"Humphrey you can't hold your drinks. Let me call you a cab" – He says.
"No. Where would I go?" – He looks at Blair and gives her a drunken smile."
"Home!" – Chuck says.
"I'm homeless, Chucky! Thanks to your girlfriend, I don't have where to spend the night. My dad is…" – He hick ups and blinks heavily. – "…Ivy's there. Georgina is staring at me like this" – He leans into Chuck's face and impersonates Georgina's way of staring at him while he sleeps.
"Blair call a cab" – He says, while he tries to take Dan's arm off of his neck.
"She said I was the scumbag. It's you Chuck…you are a scumbag…how many times I tried to point that shit out to her…" – He isn't leaning on Chuck's neck anymore and tries to stay on his own feet. – "You sold her for a hotel man…You tried to rape my sister…Yet you got something that she loves and I could die tonight and she won't care…" – Chuck isn't tolerant anymore. He turns to Blair that stands few steps away and Dan is still managing to stay firmly on his feet.
"Did you tell him about the hotel incident?" – He asks and his face becomes dark.
"Everybody knows that" – Dan comes closer to both of them. – "Every. Body." – He says slowly into his face. Maybe because she told him, maybe because Chuck can't deal with the truth, he pushes Dan strong away and he falls on the street.
"Don't talk to me ever again!" – He hisses to Blair and walks to his car.
"Chuck wait" – She runs after him.
"You are sickening me. I thought he was just a phase but you babbled everything to him?" – His voice is frightening her. – "I don't want to see you for some time."
While they're talking Dan gets up from the street and tries to get to them. This time Chuck punches him in his face and he falls down again. Before Blair can even react, Chuck is gone. She looks at Dan with disgust and leaves him lying on the street with bleeding lips. He manages to get up again and tries to get her.
"Don't follow me! I've said what I had to you!" – She says.
"Blair, I'm sorry" – He can barely see where he is going, his jaw is pulsing from pain and a thread of blood is rolling down his chin. But he doesn't care.
"Go away you creature!" – She screams and in order to avoid him, she crosses the street, but Dan goes after her. She runs across it, successfully escaping running cars.
"Blair wait…" – She can hear his voice among the sound of the cars and the sirens. She doesn't stop of course. The next time she hears him calling her name and a louder "sorry" something makes her stop. The last thing she sees is him standing in the middle of the street looking miserable, with pleading eyes. Then a harsh sound of breaks rips the air and Dan is no longer on the spot. In a blink of the eye, the traffic stops, drivers are getting out of their cars, people are running to the spot where the accident happened just to see the view, some of them to help. It takes her a while to realize what happened. Her legs are weak and she can't tell how she managed to push people in order to get to the place where Dan lies on the street with a little pool of blood around his head.
"Don't touch him!" – She screams to the girl that tries to check his pulls. – "Go away!" – She screams and kneels beside his body. The girl tells her that she is a doctor and gets her phone to call an ambulance.
"Dan? Dan? Can you hear me?" – She weeps. – "Come on, open your eyes!" – No response. She can hear people mumbling that he is probably dead. – "Come on, Dan, open your eyes, can you hear me?" – She realizes she is clenching his lapels and cries over him, when someone is literally lifting her away from Dan. – "No, where are you taking him" – And that's it. The ambulance is going away with disturbing siren and another doctor is wrapping a sweater around her shoulders, trying to calm her down.
"Is he dead?" – She asks. That's when she can feel how cold the night is.
tbc