Hi lovelies! Here is the first chapter to the sequel to La Bohème. Title is Aznavour, again, and the image is by a photograph names Malcolm Kahn.
This fic is all about Dan and Blair being an adorable couple and facing everything that happens in the second half of the canon season 4 together. In a nutshell, lots of fluff and lots of drama -canon, and from my own imagination. Also, Dan is so not Gossip Girl in this story.
This is also a fic really about frienship, between Dan and Blair and with the other characters as well.
Lastly, it is M rated. Because I love me some smut and since they are together now... I hope it doesn't throw some people away, because La Bohème was safer.
Hope you like the first installment. Enjoy!
It's everything Blair remembers, but in a better dimension.
It's only a week, but it's enough. It's made of long walks around the garden in the afternoon, with Handsome running next to them; of fine dinners with Harold and Roman, of watching movies with the dim light of the fireplace. It's made of lingering goodnight kisses at her door, before he presses her hand in his and goes to the guest room. It's made of wine drinking, poetry reading, and smile exchanges. Blair doesn't think she has ever smiled that much during a vacation.
Her father never comments about her bringing a boy with her for her stay. He simply smiles when Blair tells him "You remember my friend, Dan" and welcomes them warmly, the only way he knows how. Blair ignores his smile when Dan kisses her very publicly on New Year, and when she lets him.
They never talk about New York, putting it in a box of things that don't need to be discussed, that shouldn't reach them for the time being. She can't think of him as her boyfriend, because it sounds too childish, and not nearly enough to describe what he is to her. They do things that couples do, and things that simple friends do; it's a merger that she has never experienced in a relationship.
She learns things about him, some insignificants, some that one would call useful. He is lactose intolerant, for instance. He doesn't like rain when it's not summer, and doesn't consider a meal to be a meal if it doesn't have onions in it. Blair doesn't mean to care about those things, but each time she learns one, she finds herself storing it in the back of her mind, just in case –of what, she doesn't know. She learns that Dan is a gentleman who will never allow himself to even sleep in her bed as long as they are in her father's house, no matter how much she tried to convince him. But it comes with realizing that he is stubborn and persistent, which is one of the things she already knew.
They let go of La Bohème, and find a new song to dance to, totally by fluke. They are eating dinner one night, and Harold is making them listen to old records. Blair tells him about how Dan's mother's favorite Aznavour song is the same as him, and Harold insists they listen to his second favorite.
He explains the song to Dan. For me, formidable is about a girl whom the singer finds pretty, and annoying all the same; a girl that he likes despite her mocking him constantly. Dan looks at Blair with a raised eyebrow.
"Sounds familiar to me" he whispers.
Blair shoves him and never admits that she sees the connection.
On their last night at the chateau, Blair requests his help to pack. They decided to leave Lyon early the next morning and spend the day in Paris before having to take a plane back to New York.
Dan should have known better, he thinks when Blair pushes him on her bed and straddles him. Dan should have known that Blair would never trust him with her clothing and that it was a trap. It takes a lot of will power to push her away.
"Roman and Harold are still in the living room" he whispers
"Which is downstairs, very far away. This is a chateau, Humphrey, they wouldn't hear us even if we were playing hard metal"
Blair bats his hands away when he tries to stop her from tugging his sweatshirt up.
"I really can't do this here, Blair" he tells her, the end of the sentence muffled by the fabric she is pushing off him.
Blair throws the clothing over her shoulder and leans down to kiss his neck.
"Here is perfect" she whispers "Come on, Humphrey, don't be such a prude. We've done this before"
"Not this" Dan twists his hips away when she tries to unbutton his pants "I just think we should wait"
"Why?" Blair moans, rolling off him and falling numbly on the mattress.
Dan sits up "Blair, it's not you" his fingertips traces the outline of her arm "We haven't even talked to…anyone about us"
"Anyone doesn't matter, Humphrey. Here, it's just you and me"
"It's not because we've been pretending they don't exist, that they actually don't."
Blair sighs. She gets off the bed to walk to her bathroom.
"Leave it to Dan Humphrey to make me experience woman blue balls" she says.
She closes the door to her bathroom. Dan goes to stand in front of it.
"I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow?"
Blair doesn't answer, but he hears her shower running. When she gets out, she finds his collection of Victor Hugo's poems open on the page of his favorite on her bed. Since he can't see her, she allows herself to smile at it.
The next morning, it's dawn, and it's cold when they tell goodbye to Harold and Roman at the train station. Handsome keeps trying to follow Blair, and Roman has to pick it up to keep it still. Unable to move, he just barks, until Blair and Dan get into the train.
Once they are at their seats, Blair goes to the window, and presses her leather-gloved hands against the Plexiglas. Dan gets tendered when he sees her tearing up at the sight of her father becoming a small point on the horizon as the train rolls on its way to Paris.
X
There is a better feeling than setting foot in Paris for the first time, Dan finds. It's setting foot in Paris and feeling familiar with it. The summer light is gone, and the air is white cold, but it's all the same. Same buildings, same sounds, same smell, still Paris. He and Blair go back to the Musée d'Orsay. She takes his hand in hers when they stand in front of Le déjeuner sur l'herbe. She puts her head on his shoulder while they gaze together over the Poppy Field. He presses a discreet kiss on her cheek in front of Botticelli's Venus.
It's everything Blair remembers with him, but in a better dimension.
They eat at a restaurant in St-Michel, and sing up for a two o'clock tour at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. Dan whispers anecdotes about Victor Hugo that she doesn't know, while the tour guide explains things that don't really interest her.
At the Jardin des Plantes, they eat pastries that they bought along the way. Nénette has been moved, and it feels bittersweet when they pass in front of her empty spot.
Blair becomes quiet on the way to the plane, because she starts thinking more than she should. Something she probably got with spending too much time with Dan. She thinks of New York, of internships, of Serena and of how perfect she feels when she is away from all of that.
She and Dan lean by the window as the plane takes off, and as they catch a last glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, Blair knows that she is not ready to leave, not ready to go back. It's okay, though, she thinks. As long as she goes back with him.
X
When they arrive in New York, it's raining and it suits both of their moods. Blair's car drops Dan off in Brooklyn. He kisses her, slow and long, before getting out and waving goodbye. The loft is dark, empty and cold.
He calls his father who doesn't even scold him for leaving to Europe without much notice –again. They exchange New Year wishes, chat about things. Near the end of the conversation, Rufus asks if he went alone. Dan hesitates for a few seconds.
"I was with Blair" he says then.
Rufus doesn't say anything else.
The following day, Blair invites him for breakfast. She is waiting in her foyer, already dressed for the day when he steps in. They stare at each other for a few minutes. Then Blair walks to him, and leans up. Dan smiles, leans down and kisses her.
"Good morning" he says.
Blair nuzzles his nose, biting her lip.
"Good morning"
Dorota breaks a glass in the background. Blair scolds her with a look, and takes Dan by the hand, leading him to the breakfast table.
"This week is going to be busy" Blair says as they sit "I have to find an internship, and supervise Dorota taking down the tree since apparently common sense didn't order her to do so"
Dan nods, still trying to process how natural it feels to be there with her, even in New York.
"What are your plans?" she asks
"Same. Minus traumatizing Dorota"
Blair's eyes narrow at him. She starts pouring coffee into a cup.
"Have you heard from…anyone?" she asks.
"My dad" Dan nods "We're supposed to have family brunch later"
Blair frowns "Then why did you come for breakfast?"
"I wanted to see you" he shrugs.
Blair smiles, before letting the worries in again.
"I haven't checked Gossip Girl since we left" she says "I'm afraid of what I would find"
"Me too" Dan admits in a sigh.
They both tense when they hear the elevator chime, and see the doorman come in with several luggage. Serena is following, wrapped up in a heavy coat and looking exhausted. She sighs when she sees them.
Blair stands up rigidly, and Dan simply cannot move. Serena walks toward them and glances down at the table.
"Coffee" she mutters.
She takes Blair's cup to drink from it before wrapping her arms around Blair.
"I'm so happy to see you" she says "The road trip was a bust, I couldn't find a judge, couldn't get access to the files of the case and I have to see my mom to family brunch in two hours"
It takes Blair a while to answer the embrace. She does it mechanically, while interrogating Dan with a glare over Serena's shoulder. Dan answers with a clueless shrug. Serena lets go of Blair and turns to him.
"I assume my mom sent you to make sure I was coming. Don't worry, you don't have to do the chaperon."
"Uh…" is the only sound that comes from Dan's mouth.
Serena holds up a hand.
"Let's not talk about that" she says, sitting at the table "You two, distract me from my problems. How was the city over the break, what did you do?"
Blair sits down slowly, trying not to look at Dan "Why?"
"What did you hear?" Dan asks
Serena glances from one to the other, frowning "Nothing…that's why I am asking"
"Well, uh, we went to see a movie…" Blair says, unsure of what to tell next.
"Really?" Serena has a smug smile "Does it mean I am exempted of things with subtitles for the rest of my life?"
Dan has a nervous laugh. He is almost sweating.
"I knew you there could be advantages as to the two of you being friends" Serena says, standing up "I am going to lie down for a moment, feel free to leave Dan."
She kisses Blair on the cheek, before making her way up the stairs.
Dan and Blair stare at each other.
"Well" Blair clears a throat "That's something."
X
It turns out that the only person who knows Dan and Blair were together in Europe is Rufus. Blair's mother never asked, Blair's father never told.
It scares Dan more than anything. Because it would mean that they are either fortunate that Gossip Girl was never sent any tip, or that she knows, and waits the right moment for striking. It also means that whether Gossip Girl knows or not, they have to tell Serena themselves now. If Dan were honest, he would admit that he almost hoped a picture of him and Blair getting out of the Jet had ended up on the internet, so the dirty work would have already been out of the question. He knows Blair probably feels the same.
He keeps making plans in his head about telling Serena. He wonders if she would rather hear it from him, from Blair or from both of them.
In the end, Dan knows that none of the options are ideal. It will always lead up to a feud between Serena and Blair; any mature and immediate acceptance is out of the question. It makes him a little sick to know that he is going to be the cause of it. If anyone had told him, when he was seventeen, Dan would have never believed it.
What makes the situation harder, is that neither he or Blair can seem to bring themselves to talk about it. Which is a first, because talking is their main activity. Perhaps their conversations involve more bickering than talking, but it's still quite unbelievable that no one ever brings the subject. It just emphasizes the giant Serena cloud over their heads.
When they can finally talk about it, they decide that they should wait, because now is hardly the time for Serena, with her quest to the forged affidavit and everything that involves Lily and makes Dan and Eric avoid their parents' penthouse as much as they can.
Dan decides to focus on his internship search, and agrees to help Nate with his. So one afternoon, while Blair, who is still undecided on the matter, is shamelessly maxing out her credit card somewhere, Dan ends up sitting in his living room and staring at Nate and Vanessa's PDA.
"I don't think Vanessa Abrams offers an internship, dude"
Nate and Vanessa break it off, and turn to him with a smile.
"Sorry" Nate says "So we were saying that my options are…?"
Dan sighs "Call your grandfather"
"Next"
"I'm sorry, but your grades aren't just good enough for an investment firm" Dan glances at Nate's report card "The only subject you're acing are Sociology and surprisingly Art History. So you can either apply for the Met, or for the Museum of Ethnology."
Nate thinks for a while "Are the employees hot at The Met?"
When Vanessa hits him, outraged, he laughs and dives in for another kiss. Dan rolls his eyes.
"What are you applying for, Vanessa?" he asks, hoping to separate them.
Vanessa pushes Nate away.
"A local news channel" she says "And there is something I need to ask you"
Vanessa is smiling a bit too sweetly, and biting her lower lip and Dan braces himself. He cannot play the sexually confused artist in one of her short films again. He can barely bring himself to think about that experience.
"I just cannot live in the NYU dorms anymore" she says "It's loud, I can't hear myself think, and the lightning is really bad for my creativity. So I was wondering if I could crash here, until I find someplace else"
Dan sighs, relieved "Yeah, sure no problem"
He sees Nate and Vanessa looking at each other warily. He doesn't like to be out of whatever psychic conversation they are having.
"What is it?" he asks, dry.
"Well, you know where I would be sleeping right?" Vanessa asks, in a soft voice.
Then it hits Dan. He turns around to look at the closed door, the one he never opens anymore. He tries to look relaxed when he turns back to Nate and Vanessa.
"Sure" he shrugs, looking down at some paper "I'll just have to move around a few things, put them down in the storage"
"Or…you could sell it" Nate says
Dan looks up at them. They are staring at him as if he is ill of something incurable.
"I'm feeling ambushed"
Vanessa shakes her head "No, not at all. It's just that we were talking about possible places for me to stay and…we realized it, that's all"
Dan shifts uncomfortably on the floor. He doesn't know why, he is not ready yet. The stupid pacifier is still in his school bag.
Vanessa stands up "Screw the internships. You're right, you don't have to do anything right away" she walks toward the room "But we are still moving it to the storage, because I am not sleeping in a crib"
"We'll go get a beer after" Nate stands up to, and offers a hand to Dan.
Dan takes it, reluctantly. Vanessa stands in front of the room until he opens it. It's the middle of the day, but it looks darker than the rest of the loft. It feels strange to come in it, and not hear a gargle or a cry.
Vanessa doesn't do much, just watches the boys struggle with the crib. She deigns open them the front door, and then the storage door in the basement. Then she puts the remaining stuffed animals next to Jenny's old ones. When it's all over, Dan manages to voice out that he dreads seeing the room empty again, so the rest of the afternoon is them moving Vanessa in.
Blair meets them at the NYU dorms, hands full of shopping bags. Once they explain to her the situation, she doesn't dare look at Dan. One of the things she learned in France, is that he tells everything with his eyes and she also learned how to read it. She wouldn't know how to handle seeing sadness in it.
So she takes out her cellphone, works her mother's connections to hire movers.
It's around nine in the evening when everything is done. They order pizzas and play scrabble until Nate calls the night. Vanessa walks him downstairs while Dan goes to his room silently. Blair assumes he is going to come back, but when he doesn't, she joins him.
Dan is sitting on his bed, looking down at the pacifier. He doesn't move when he hears Blair come in. She sits next to him, and rests her cheek against his shoulder. They stay this way until Dan moves to put the pacifier on the nightstand with a sigh, and brings her to sit onto his lap. Blair instantly wraps her arms around him, hoping to take away a piece of his sorrow.
She looks up and taps on his shoulder.
"He looks good up there" she whispers.
Dan looks up with her, to see that Vanessa put Cedric back into his place, between Salinger and Oscar Wilde. It makes him smile.
"He does" he nods, before kissing her on the cheek.
X
The day Dan has an interview with the publishers he is trying to score for his internship, he feels tensed, worked up. Probably because of all the coffee he ingurgitates.
He and Blair are kidding themselves, there will never be a right time to tell Serena, and Dan decides that the sooner the better. He calls her to say he has something to tell her, and Serena asks him to meet her at the penthouse.
When Dan arrives, he finds Blair in her living room, with a board and minions. She stretches her eyes when she sees him.
"What are you doing here, I thought you had an interview?" she asks, voice low and pressuring.
"We need to tell Serena about the holidays" Dan says.
Blair sees from the corner of her eyes Penelope eavesdropping.
"You mean how we went together to one movie, on one lonely holiday break?"
Dan glances quickly at Penelope.
"Sure, whatever. Bottom line is, I'm here to see Serena"
Blair presses her lips, annoyed. She wants to tell him that it's not the right time for her, but she knows he won't listen. She can see how worked up he is.
"She's not here to see you. She's off scheming with Chuck, disguises are involved"
Dan sighs "Well, I'll wait for her. She knows I have an interview to get to" his eyes fall on the board behind Blair.
He can't help laughing when he sees that Blair finally decided on the Forbes number six most powerful woman.
"You do know that powerful woman isn't actually a career, right?"
"Neither is Serena Van der Woodsen" Blair takes him by the arm, and brings him with her to the kitchen "Look, I know you're worried, but we all have bigger things on our plate right now. We both need to think about how academic future, before facing Serena's wrath. I'll bet you ten bucks that you'll miss your interview waiting for her"
"Blair, it's final, I'm telling Serena today" Dan says firmly "And ten buck that whatever hair-brained scheme you're cooking up blows up in your face, as per usual"
Blair crosses her arms. Why is she even bothering?
"Fine. If that's how you want to play it, loitering lounge is upstairs"
"Already there, sister"
He moves to get out of the kitchen. Blair curses herself silently, and stops him, taking his hand.
"Wait" she says "I know that you're doing this so we can be together, for real and…just, thank you"
Dan nods, and presses her hand back.
"Whatever happens, movie tonight?" he asks with a smile.
"I'll choose this time"
Dan leans down to press a quick kiss on her lips.
"You choose all the time"
He leaves and Blair takes a moment to collect herself before going back to the living room. She forgets about Serena as soon as she sees her mother walk in.
Dan waits, and waits, and even starts reading Big Girls Don't Cry, but Serena never arrives. He waits until Blair comes into the room, coat in hand.
"You're leaving. Now" she tells him.
"Have you heard from her?"
"No, and frankly, I don't care" Blair snaps her fingers urgently until he stands up "I refuse you jeopardizing your future for this. Serena clearly doesn't think your time is as valuable as hers. Go"
She pushes him all the way to the exit, says something about how she doesn't want Brooklyn germs in her house when they pass in front of her minions. It makes Dan smile in spite of him. When he is in the elevator, Blair even pushes the button for him.
"You're having a lot of fun with this secret relationship aren't you?" he teases
"Try to get the job. I won't be seen with someone working at a low price library in Queens"
X
The interview goes as well as Dan would have hoped, although he does arrive five minutes late. When he leaves the publishing house, he turns on his phone to see he has several missed calls, and all from Serena.
"Shit"
In his head, it can only mean one thing. She bumped into Blair, who told her. He fidgets on the streets, earning suspicious glares from walkers before he decides to call back. Every time he hears the tone, his chest gets heavier.
"Dan, I'm sorry I wasn't there today, but I need you to help me with something" Serena blurts out.
She doesn't seem mad. Dan clears his throat.
"What is it?"
"It's something with my mom. I can't explain everything, but can you meet me at this party I'm going to? I'll text you the address"
"Okay" Dan says "But we'll talk after that"
"Yes, I promise"
Serena hangs up before he can say anything else. Dan hails for a cab and hops into it, giving the address. He's just arrived when he spots Lily talking with Eric. He tries to walk as far as he can from them, but Lily sees him.
"What are you doing here, Dan?" she asks.
"Uh…I was…"
Dan knows he is probably not supposed to tell her he is there to see Serena, but Lily reads it on his confusion.
"When you find Serena" she tells him "Please tell her to stop whatever she is planning on doing before she destroys our family"
When Lily leaves, Dan turns to Eric for explanations.
"My mom is the reason why Serena couldn't find the judge during the holidays" Eric says.
Dan nods, and sighs deeply. He really hates the Upper East Side, sometimes. When he finally finds Serena, she is with Chuck. Dan's stomach drops again. He wonders if Chuck is telling her what he knows about him and Blair. But when he gets closer, he can hear that the subject is still the forged affidavit. He decides to cut in.
"Serena, we need to talk"
Chuck turns to him. They have a little stare contest. Then Chuck says he has somewhere else he needs to be, and leaves.
Dan tries to convince Serena that despise Lily's actions being less than charitable, going to the press won't solve anything. Serena won't have any of it, persuaded to be the defender of justice with her plan, and Dan gets more annoyed than he would have thought. He takes the affidavit and gives her a final ultimatum. Either she walks out with him, either she stays, talks to the journalist and lives with the consequences. He really expects Serena to choose the latter, because they both know facing consequences are not her strongest asset.
But Serena reaches to take back the affidavit, and Dan makes sure he hands her the wrong manila envelope. She might think she is ready to take the risk, but she clearly doesn't realize that she is dragging the whole family with him.
Dan plans to leave as fast as he can, but on top of everything else, they can't find his coat.
X
All Blair wants is to go home, take a bath and choose the most girly movie she can think of to torture Dan. She heads to the coat room, and is surprised to find him sitting there, a worried frown on his face.
"Did you talk to Serena?" she asks, sitting next to him.
Dan has half a smile when he sees her "No. You were right, she is not ready to hear anything I have to say to her. I don't think she'll ever be"
Blair nods, relieved that they can put the drama on standby for a little while. Dan looks at her with intent.
"So it doesn't take a genius to understand that your scheme did fail" he says.
Blair doesn't answer, and Dan nudges her to tease her.
"You know you owe me ten"
"Serena disappointed you twice today, so you owe me twenty" Blair holds up her ticket "Coat checker!" she almost yells.
Dan shifts closer to her "What's wrong? It's not the coat"
Blair prepares to tell him that there is nothing wrong, because she doesn't want to admit yet he was right. But he is looking at her, encouraging and caring, and she hears herself telling him about her insecurities before she realizes it. Blair expects him to tell her she's crazy, and he does. Dan's hand strokes her bare back gently. People can see, but Blair doesn't care.
"Blair, you care about fashion more than anyone about anything. Remember when you took me shopping for the Royal Ball, when we were in Paris?" he whispers "Well, when I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn't believe what you had done with me. I remember thinking that you were some kind of dictator of taste. Why deny that, just because it's what your mother does?"
The coat checker comes and hands Dan his coat and bag. Dan takes Blair's ticket and hands it to her.
"Here, can you take care of my girlfriend's coat please?" he asks.
When he turns back to Blair, she is frowning and smiling at the same time. He laughs.
"Don't worry, it felt really weird to say it too"
X
Dan doesn't let her choose the movie. He takes her home so she can change and refuses to tell her what he has planned for them.
He is waiting for her downstairs when Serena comes in. He is surprised to see her smile.
"You've become quite the evil genius since you started hanging out with Blair"
Dan really doesn't know what to answer to that. Fortunately, Serena keeps talking.
"I would say I'm sorry, but it just sounds inadequate" she says "I just…I can barely sleep, thinking that someone has spent almost five years in prison because of me"
"I understand" Dan says "I really do"
Serena nods "What are doing here?"
Dan has no time to answer, because Blair is coming down the stairs, rambling about how she is not in the mood for anything German. She stops when she sees Serena.
"Oh God, another movie?" Serena asks "I would come with you, but I am not in the mood for not having actual fun. Goodnight"
She goes up to her room after whispering a last "thank you" to Dan.
Where Dan takes Blair, is Time Square. She is horrified, because it is crowded with tourists eating hot dogs and sports fans stinking like beer.
"Are you trying to kill me?" Blair murders Dan with her eyes.
He laughs "I felt nostalgic about Paris"
"So you took me to the most American place in New York?"
Dan stops her, and takes her in his arms.
"Look at all the lights" he says "Look up"
Blair does, after a few seconds. It is quite amazing. She hardly ever goes to Time Square, it's not really her territory. But with Dan's arms around her, it does feel nice.
"This is New York" he whispers "This is where we met, and this is where we are. I like France with you, it feels like a dream. But being here, with you and this way, it feels better. Because I know it's real"
Blair looks up to him, biting her lip.
"You are awfully cute"
Dan laughs. She doesn't like it when he releases her to hail a cab.
He takes her to the Walter Reed Theatre next, because Mr. Hulot's Holiday is showing. Blair thinks about how she used that movie to trick him into scheming against Chuck and Eva, and how the second time they planned to watch it ended with their first kiss in New York.
It all feels so long ago.
After the movie, they order sushi that they eat on the steps of the Met. Blair smiles the whole time, just like she used to when they were together in Lyon.
It is New York, she thinks, and it does feel amazing.
X
Blair is busy in her mother's office faxing her resumes to W Magazine when Serena comes in.
"Whatever it is, you better make this quick" she tells her.
"Okay" Serena says before taking a deep, long breath "Nate and Dan wanted to hang out, but they can't do it at The Empire because Dan doesn't want to see Chuck, and he also doesn't want to stay at the loft because apparently Vanessa is burning herbal candles that smell like, quote 'pig butt', so I invited them here, then Vanessa got vexed they would hang out without her just because, quote again she is actually trying to make the loft lady suitable, so she is coming too; also they all wanted to stop to pick up some pizzas on the way but none of them agreed on the place, so there are three twenty-year old on edge and hungry that will be here soon, and Dorota is gone and I can't cook and I can't imagine you wanting to"
Blair sighs. She hates them all.
"Humphrey will do the cooking, since all of this started with him" she says "Now, don't disturb me until they arrive"
"Got it"
Serena gets out of the study, right as the home phone starts to ring.
"I'll get it!" Blair hears her shout.
"If it's for me, I'm busy!" Blair replies.
When all the faxing is over, she cracks her sore neck and goes to her bedroom. She is not in the mood for socializing, trying to be civil with Abrams and pretend in front of Serena that she and Dan are nothing more than good friends.
Her door opens, and she turns around, annoyed.
"Ever heard of knocking?" she snaps.
Serena is at the door. She has her lips pressed, and the house phone in her hand.
"Blair, that was your father" she says.
Blair's breath gets trapped in her lungs. She considers asking what he wanted, to brush off any suspicions, but she can see on Serena's face that it would be completely pointless.
"He said that Handsome took a shirt Dan forgot as his favorite toy" Serena says, probably to see Blair's reaction to that.
Blair doesn't say anything. She just waits. Serena isn't an idiot, and Blair just waits for her to explode.
"When?" Serena asks, crossing her arms.
Blair realizes the answer is much more complicated than she thought. There was the kiss, in Paris. There were the few weeks before her birthday. Then the days after Serena got committed to Ostroff.
"The night after Chuck's charity" she says, deciding to pinpoint the middle.
Serena's eyes widen in outrage "After he broke up with me? Blair, are you serious, right now?"
"It didn't really start there" Blair blurts out, trying to find the way of smoothing things "It's just that when we were in Paris, we realized that we could have a real connection"
"Oh, so you mean when he was with me"
"No, not back then" Blair shakes her head "Besides, you told me yourself when we got back in New York that you guys weren't really together"
"So it gave you the right to just take him?"
"More than you when you had sex with Nate"
Blair didn't intend to say that. It actually left her mouth without her consent. But this whole time, she knows this is exactly what she's been thinking, to wear off the guilt. That she isn't doing anything Serena hasn't done before, that she is actually doing less.
Serena shakes her head "You're telling me that you are willing to break his heart, to get back at me"
"That's not at all what I'm telling you. I am telling you that Dan and I are together, and that you would be a hypocrite to give me shit about it"
Everything she is saying is true, but when she sees Serena tearing up, Blair feels like there is a stone in her stomach. Serena shakes her head again, and goes to her room. Blair hesitates before following her, knowing too well what she is about to do.
Sure enough, she finds Serena throwing angrily clothes into her Louis Vuitton travelling bag.
"Where are you going?" Blair asks with a tired sigh "You fought with your mother, remember?"
"I'll check into a hotel, then" Serena says "But I don't want to be around you"
That last sentence stings, and puts Blair into a guilty trance. She snaps out of it at the sound of Serena zipping violently her bag shut.
"Serena, we need to talk about this" Blair tries to block her way to the door.
Serena goes through the bathroom, and leaves by Blair's room. Blair still follows her downstairs. She is horrified when she sees Dan, Nate and Vanessa coming in. Serena freezes at the bottom of the stairs at the sight of them.
Dan looks at them both, first surprised. Then he understands. Serena drops her bag and walks to shove him with both of her hands.
"Why did it have to be her?" she asks, and Dan can only step backwards again. "You had to take her too? You didn't take enough, is that it?"
"Serena, please calm down" Nate interposes, but Serena pushes him aside.
"Nate chose you over me" Serena points at Dan "My mom whishes you were her child, even Eric…Blair was the only one I had and you…"
She trails off with a sob. She turns to take her bag, and calls the elevator. What she said was the last thing Blair would have imagined hearing from Serena. But Blair knows the feeling, and decides to try again, one last time.
"Serena, please don't go"
"You lied to me" Serena sobs, getting into the opening elevator "And I hate you for that, you know. I really do"
The elevator closes, and Blair seems tetanized in front of it. Nate and Vanessa go discreetly to the kitchen. Dan puts a careful hand on Blair's back.
"She doesn't mean it. She is angry" he tells her.
"I know" Blair says, her voice a bit broken.
Dan is relieved she isn't shutting him out, and he goes on "And she seems to be dealing with much more than the shock of us being together"
"The problem isn't there, Dan. The problem is she had to tell me, so I would see it" Blair starts going up the stairs "Go home. I'll see you tomorrow"
X
Dan goes back to the loft with Nate and Vanessa who agreed on his pizza place, hoping it would cheer him up. It doesn't, but Dan is grateful anyway. When they both go to bed in Vanessa's room, Dan sits in front of his computer. He gets meaner upon Sabrina's character that he has ever been, hoping to perform some sort of catharsis. When his eyes get sore, he closes his computer without saving and goes to bed.
He is scared that Blair is going to back off, and break up with him, for the sake of her relationship with Serena. He is scared that everything Serena accused him of is true, and that he took things from her without even realizing, like they all witnessed her do with Blair all these years.
His phone rings a little after midnight, and he braces himself when he see Blair's number.
"Hello?"
"Why is the door locked?" Blair's annoyed voice asks.
He hears someone banging on the front door of the loft, and hangs up. He runs out of his room so she won't wake up Nate and Vanessa.
"Sorry" he whispers when he opens "Vanessa doesn't feel safe when it's not locked"
"Take back her key, and make her use the fire escape" Blair says a bit loudly toward Vanessa's room.
Dan puts a hand on her mouth, and brings her to his room. He closes the door while she takes off her coat. She is wearing her pajamas, and it makes Dan smile.
They lie together under his covers, their legs linked and his arms around her.
"I felt blue" Blair confesses "And I am sick of being alone when I feel like that"
"I already told you Brooklyn is your safe place"
She stays silent. Dan assumes she is trying to fall asleep, so he closes his eyes.
"I think she'll get around the idea" Blair whispers "Once she sees us together. Really together"
"Mmh"
"Or it'll only make things worse"
"It's going to be okay, Blair" Dan says softly.
Blair wants to believe it, but she finds it hard to. She pinches him.
"I'm not tired, don't fall asleep"
Dan opens his eyes to look at her. She is eying him defiantly. He rolls his eyes and leaves her body to turn on his other side, his back facing her. He feels her leg wrap around his hip and she starts tugging his ear.
"Don't sleep, Humphrey" she says "Let's do things"
Her hand slips under his shirt, and starts roaming on his chest.
"I'm too tired, and Nate and Vanessa can hear us" Dan protests, but doesn't stop her hand.
"We'll be quiet then"
"Nate told me once you can't be quiet"
"We need new friends" her hand stops moving.
After a few seconds, Dan turns again to take her back in his arms. She can see he is falling asleep. But she is not ready yet.
"Tell me something about you I don't know" Blair asks.
Dan groans "I hate when my girlfriend won't let me sleep"
Blair pinches him again, and he hisses.
"You know, I might start actually liking you doing that"
"I'm taking note" Blair tells him suggestively.
Dan laughs and opens his eyes "Once, when I was five, I broke my mom's favorite vase playing the explorer in African jungle, and told her it was Jenny"
"Despicable" Blair shakes her head.
"You tell me something, now"
Blair thinks for a moment "I had a cat, when I was little, but I gave it away because I found its hair didn't match the color of my room"
"Oh my God, Blair" Dan says, genuinely shocked.
They laugh together, before Dan asks if he is allowed to sleep and Blair grants him.
When she wakes up the following morning, Dan isn't in bed anymore and there is noise outside the room. She gets out, finding them all in the kitchen. Dan is making waffles, Vanessa is making a fruit salad and Nate failing to make coffee.
She sits at the bar, her eyelids still heavy from sleep. All of their voices sound loud in her tired head, but she forgets it when Dan comes to kiss her good morning.
He makes her sit on his lap at the table and they eat from the same plate, ignoring Nate calling them savages just to tease Blair until Vanessa puts whipped cream on his nose. As she puts a raisin in Dan's mouth, Blair decides that she is going to believe him.
Everything is going to be okay.
Do you still feel the same vibe as with La Bohème? I tried to make it a bit the same, but the general theme is different, Dan and Blair are together now.
Anyway, tell me what you think.
Love! xo