Okay so i'm on the biggest Dare binge ever, like i am completely obsessed with them lol, and i know this fic might seem like a bit of a stretch and happen a bit quickly but god dammit i want to see them together already haha enjoy leave feedback it helps and motivates my lazy butt :-)
You Found Me
"You never lose by loving. You always loose by holding back."
-Anon
Lexi and Dan. Dan and Lexi. Another girl with Dan, UGH it's all Serena can think about.
It's really not her problem anymore; she tries to remind herself as she fixates on the image of her ex-boyfriend and her potential new boyfriend's best friend flirting and laughing but if that's true then WHY won't the image just go away?!?
This cannot happen, she mutters to herself as she paces her room and practically gives herself a panic attack just thinking about it. Serena's never felt this way before; she's never had a guy she had feelings for that wasn't begging for her to call him.
Dan can go with someone to the winter formal, that's fine, whatever, her and Dan's relationship is over, they both made that clear but Serena doesn't want to be anywhere near this said date.
She wants to be in some boho loft miles away listening to indie music and making out with a hot artist named Aarron Rose.
Nowhere near Dan and his little-flirty-thinks-she's-so-hot-and-has-probably-watched-Juno-five-million-times just to prove how cool she is date!
"ARGGH!" She screams flopping backwards onto her bed with a huff.
"Serena?" Blair knocks on the bedroom door cautiously before slowly opening the door.
"Hey B," Serena says not even bothering to look at her.
"Everything alright?" Blair asks politely but already knows the answer from Serena depressed demeanor.
"It's just-" Serena starts sitting up and facing the brunette, "Dan," Blair finishes Serena's sentence with an eye roll.
"Well yeah," Serena crosses her arms over her chest and pouts, "I think he might like someone else, already. We only stopped seeing each other a few months ago! How could he like someone else so quickly?!"
"Ummm," Blair replies making her way towards the bed, "Not to be a bitch here, but didn't you want to date someone else in the first place? I thought you really liked Aaron... Not that Aaron seems like the shiniest diamond in Tiffany's glass window…"
"That…" Serena huffs and throws her arms in the air, "Is totally not the point!"
"Okay!" Blair laughs at Serena's two year old mentality, "But you can't have your cake and eat it too S. If you want to date Aaron or anyone else," Blair said stressing the 'anyone else' for good measure, "then you're going to have to learn to tolerate Dan dating, it's only fair."
Serena stares at Blair for a moment thinking of something to counter with but eventually hunches her shoulders over in defeat, "Okay. You're totally right. I am being a big baby about this aren't? And when did become so mature anyway!"
Blair rolled her eyes, "Trust me. I am not mature. It's just a hell of a lot easier making other people face the truth than trying to face it yourself."
"Chuck still playing mind games?" Serena asks with a sad look on her face.
Blair smiles bitterly, "Who was I kidding; Chuck Bass will never really love anyone but himself, actually I'm not even sure he really even loves himself..."
Serena nods knowingly, after growing up with Chuck and then living with him for the past few months, she knew he was fucked up, probably way more fucked up than anyone ever guessed, she knows he has a lot of issues to address before he could even consider being serious with any girl, let alone Blair.
"He called me this morning he wants to find a date for the formal for me, can you believe that?" Blair rolls her eyes again, "Why is everything so complicated with him, can't he just get the courage to ask me himself?!"
"Because B," Serena sighs and pats Blair's knee reassuringly, "He doesn't like being vulnerable, you know what he's like. Hey, maybe you should ask him?" Serena brightens but Blair looks pessimistic, "It's the 21st century after all! Why can't a girl ask a boy to a dance?"
"They can," Blair replies, "It's just this girl that can't ask that boy anymore. I've already put myself on the line to many times, you know?"
Serena nods once again, "Yeah I know."
Blair picks up Serena's pillow and hugs it to her chest; both of the girls sit on the bed in silence lost in their own thoughts.
"I'VE GOT IT!" Serena erupts jumping excitedly from the bed after what feels like an hour and scares the bejesus out of Blair.
"I don't know what you've got but you've definitely lost your marbles," Blair mutters but Serena ignores her and grabs her hands pulling her up with her, "You," Serena says pointing at Blair, "are going to ask Dan to the formal!"
"What?" Blair asks looking at Serena as if she had grown two heads.
"It's perfect!" Serena says as it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"How is Dan Humphrey taking me, Blair Eleanor Waldorf, to a school dance in any universe perfect?" Blair replies and her nose is wrinkled in complete and utter disgust.
Serena rolls her eyes at her best friends intense aversion for her ex, "One, it means he won't be going with Lexi, and second, who does Chuck Bass detest more than anyone right now?"
"Zac Effron?" Blair says sarcastically.
"No! Silly," Serena giggles, "Dan! Do you know how jealous Chuck would get seeing Dan taking you to the dance! It would totally make him fess up his feelings!"
This suddenly gets Blair's attention and her eyebrows rise slightly, as if she's now seriously considering the idea.
"I don't know..." Blair stares at Serena skeptically but the corners of her mouth are slightly upturned.
"See it's a win win, I get to go to with Aaron and not have to worry about some Vanessa clone having her hands all over Dan and you get to annoy Chuck," Serena smiles widely sensing that Blair's slowly warming to the idea, "C'mon B. It would help me out so much…. And I am your best friend in the whole entire universe..." Serena says sweetly batting her eyelashes, Blair scoffs knowing this face has caused young boys to do much more than what Serena's asking of her right now.
"You really think it would work?" Blair asks doubtfully.
"B, you've got nothing to lose," Serena shrugs, "Honestly, if this doesn't get Chuck's attention then nothing will, and you'll know once and for all whether there's any hope for the two of you."
Blair nods to herself but Serena catches her doing it and lets out a big squeal, "Oh thanks B!!!"
"Wait," Blair puts her hand up and Serena immediately stops bouncing up and down, "Isn't Dan already going with Lexi though, morally superior Dan Humphrey is not the kind of guy to ditch a date," Blair points out poking a hole in Serena's plan.
"No way, he'd totally ditch her for you," Serena replies easily, "He still feels really guilty about what he did to make you and Chuck fight."
That throws her for a second because it doesn't make sense. After all the snippy bitchy and obnoxious stuff Blair's said to him she's never had a second thought about his feelings… because he never really acted like it mattered. Great! Now she's feeling a little guilty herself.
"He does?" Blair can't hide the surprise from her voice, she's everything he hates about Serena's life, at least that's how he makes it seem.
"So I'll just tell him this is a way to make it up to you!"
"Well, alright," Blair replies a little uneasily, still not completely sold on the plan.
"It's going to be so FUN!" Serena squeals in Blair's ear as she's smothering her in a bear hug.
"Oh I'm going to call Dan right now! I'll tell him Chuck's being a meanie to you and you desperately need a date, he'll totally go for it. Dan's so knight in armor about that kind of stuff."
Yes, Blair thinks as she watches Serena dial the Brooklyn area code, so much effing fun.
--
Dan doesn't know how it happens but an hour after talking to Serena about how lonely Blair was and how desperately she wanted a date for the winter dance and about how much he hurt her feelings a few weeks ago he's suddenly taking orders from Blair Waldorf as she's barking them down the phone.
"No cerulean, no magenta," He repeats scribbling them down on a Chinese receipt he found in his kitchen draw.
"Blair!" He yells cutting her off, "why I wear a tangerine tie? I didn't even know tangerine was a color it sounds like a fruit, like nectarine or-... Sorry, okay, got it no tangerine, no …" he trails off when his father gives him an amused look.
"What?" He mouths annoyed.
Rufus just shakes his head at his only son and takes his coffee into the lounge room.
"Yes I'm paying attention; no don't tell Dorota that," Dan scoffs and then yells into the phone, "Put her on the phone! Just do it, Dorota I don't have the attention span of a goldfish!"
He tightens his jaw in annoyance when he hears Blair's girly giggle coming through the receiver. He's not sure he can survive another minute of this, let alone a whole night.
When he hangs up the phone he has a throbbing headache and a list of every possible color you could think of. As he's running his eyes down the list he realizes the only one not on there is black.
Oh, what. the. fuck!
Why didn't she just say 'wear black'! She's going to drive him fucking insane before he even gets her to the dance.
--
"Dan!"
He hears his name being called out and almost turns around until he hears a shrill voice scream, "Move out of my way freshman!"
Blair Waldorf. He's managed to avoid her until lunch but now she's got him cornered.
There's no classroom to hide in, no locker to duck behind.
"Dan, earth to Dan!" Blair says waving her delicate hand in front of his face. Wasn't she across the quad just two seconds ago? Jesus for a short girl she could march over to you at the speed of light.
"Hello Blair," He tries to leave the majority of his annoyance out of his voice but some must seep through because she smiles at him in her evil little I-know-I'm-annoying-you-right-now-but-I don't-give-a-crap face.
"Do you have my present?" Blair asks looking around expectedly.
Dan curses himself when he realizes he left the yellow box with the white gold bracelet that Jenny helped him pick out last night on his kitchen bench this morning.
It was custom for boys to purchase a gift for the girl they asked, even though he wasn't the one to ask, Blair insisted he kept with the tradition. And she also insisted on seeing the present before hand, in case it was completely hideous, so that she'd have enough time to get something from Tiffany's for him to give her instead.
The bracelet wasn't expensive, just something small, he didn't even know how real the white gold even was or how many carats but it was the most reasonably priced bit of jewelry he could afford on his budget and when it saw it, somehow it just kind of suited her. It had a small chain with a single charm on it, Dan assumed you could add more charms to it as you went along but for now he brought the only one that seemed to fit.
Gardenias always reminded him of Blair, he thinks that maybe she might be her favorite flower or something; maybe that's why he's immediately drawn to the little white gardenia charm in the corner of the glass cabinet.
"Do not tell me you didn't bring it!" Blair bites out and he visible flinches at the tone.
"Sorry!" He rolls his eyes kicking himself for ever feeling guilty about anything to do with this little hard ass general. Blair seriously missed her calling; she could make any grown man cry out of sheer humiliation, the army would have been perfect place to harness her talent.
"Well isn't that just great, thanks a lot cabbage patch! I had a hair appointment at 3.30pm, now I'll have to push that back to 4.30pm," Blair mumbles more to herself than to Dan and whips out a shiny silver palm pilot, she starts rearranging things like crazy.
"What…what are you doing?" Dan leans over to look at what her gadget but she pulls it back to her chest quickly and gives him a withering glare, "I'm making sure I have enough time to get to Brooklyn," the word seems to physical cause her pain to say, "and back before I have my hair colored and cut by Jean Claude."
After a minute of Dan staring at her blankly Blair gets annoyed and rolls her eyes at him.
"Jean Claude is the best stylist in New York he's like famous, he did Charlize Theron's hair for the Oscars," She huffs when he shows no recognition of knowing either of those people and smiles at him in a way that reminds him of what a lion looks like before it devours an entire antelope, "have you ever been to a hairdresser Dan?"
She looks at his hair doubtfully and he brushes his hand through it subconsciously, "Yes and mine doesn't cost the entire budget of a small nation," he mimics her sarcastic tone defensively.
"Obviously," She gives one more dismissive look at his hair before focusing on her palm pilot once more.
If Dan didn't want to kill himself before, thanks to Blair's delightful manner, he certainly does now.
--
Dan stares at the clock on the wall obsessively, every minute he cocks his head to the side to check, 4.25pm, still no Blair. She's late, really late. He starts to get worried because that's not like her at all. Blair believes, fiercely, in punctuality. He remembers last year going on a double date to see some girlie movie with Serena, Blair and Nate (which was all kinds of awkward for the record).
Nate showed up five minutes late and Blair practically ripped his balls off and handed them to him on a platter for lunch.
Dan knew she should have taken the bus with him, but she refused, saying she needed to change at home and 'freshen' up before going 'down there'.
She insisted on meeting him at his house at 4, but so far, she hasn't shown. He's already tried to call her phone but she's not picking up.
4.26pm.
Dan's phone suddenly starts vibrating on the counter and he jumps forward to answer it, "Blair?!" he blurts out not even looking at the caller ID.
"No," Serena laughs, "I was actually calling you to see if you knew where she was."
"Oh" Dan sinks back in his chair, a little disappointed and even more worried, "I have no idea. She was supposed to be an hour ago, she hasn't turned up. I've tried-"
"Calling her cell?" Serena finished, "Yeah me too. It keeps ringing out."
"Yeah same here," Dan replied.
Suddenly there's a loud knock at the door which turns into loud banging after a few seconds.
"What's that noise? Are you taking up the drums or something?" Serena asks amused.
"Hey, can I call you back?" Dan replies distractedly and closes the phone.
When he swings the door open he doesn't know whether to laugh or run for his life.
Blair Waldorf is standing on his front door step and, he never thought he'd say this but, she looks like a homeless person.
She's got her heels in her left hand; her feet are dirty and bare. Her hair, her hair is all over the place and her head band is crooked. Her face is flushed red and sweaty and her jeans are rolled up to her knees.
"Let me the fuck inside," She snarls and Dan has never been so petrified in his whole life, he quickly jumps out of the way and she storms past him straight into the loft and makes a beeline for the bathroom.
"What happened?" He asks through the bathroom door completely aghast.
"Oh nothing," Blair sing songs sweetly, "I just got MUGGED is all."
"I fucking hate Brooklyn." He hears her curse under her breathe.
Dan can't even help it, a bubble of laughter escapes his throat, but it dies immediately when Blair rips open the door and gives him the a stare Medusa would be proud of.
She looks a little less disheveled though, her shoes are back on and her hair smoothed down.
"You think this is so fucking funny don't you Humphrey!" Blair's voice was getting louder and her eyes were getting watery, "I could have been beaten up or worse… killed! And all you can do is laugh, little rich bitch Blair finally got what she deserves, right?!" Blair's near hysterics now, tears are streaming down her face and she's hiccupping and Dan immediately feels horrible.
"No, it's not… I'm so sorry, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Dan says and the genuine concern in his voice stuns them both. He reaches forward and puts his hand on her, he rubs circles on her back reassuringly and guides her towards the lounge room couch and he's sort of surprised she lets him touch her.
"I'm okay, really," She says calming down, her voice is still shaky but the tears have stopped, "my mother leant her boyfriend my chauffeur because she's so pathetically in love with the little weasel. So I had to take a taxi and the idiot taxi driver dropped me off at the wrong address, like six blocks in the wrong effing direction and I when I finally realized I went to hail another one and then some lowlife grabbed my bag of my shoulder and took off with it!"
Of all the people in Manhattan, Dan thinks to himself, why did it have to be Blair Waldorf who had to get mugged while in Brooklyn? She's never going to let him forget this, he just knows it.
"That's why you didn't answer your phone..." Dan finishes and Blair nods.
"It's in my bag! And I couldn't call you on a pay phone because I don't have loose change, I only carry credit cards, I can't wait till the scumbag finds out that!" Blair says gleefully with a vengeful smirk on her face.
"Although my bag alone is worth $4,000 so he kind of hit the jackpot there…" Blair trails off, "Four thousand-" Dan shouts in an abhorred tone but quickly changes tack when he sees Blair's tear stained face, "The important thing is that you're okay."
"You're okay, right?" He says giving her a little smile and continues rubbing her back.
Blair looks at him for a moment, studying him almost, but he must pass the test because she smiles back.
"I'll survive," She nods and closes her eyes at the feeling of his hand making circles on her back.
"Honey I'm home!"
The sound of Rufus's voice snaps them both out of there trances, Dan yanks his hand away from Blair and Blair jumps up to stand across from where she was sitting.
Rufus gives the two of them a funny look, "I'm not interpreting anything am I?"
"No!" They both shout at the same time which only makes Rufus's look become more suspicious.
"Well I went down to the grocery store and got some of that ravioli you like Daniel," Rufus puts the shopping bags on the bench and looks back at the two of them.
"Blair, I didn't know we were going to be having you over tonight…" Rufus says smiling politely at her but sending Dan a questioning look.
"Oh sorry Mr. Humphrey I didn't mean to invite myself over," Dan raises his eyebrows at her because that's exactly what she did, " I just wanted to make sure Dan had the present all worked out for tomorrow night. You know boys and gifts... they just don't mix!"
Rufus laughs little, but sobers up after a second, "Oh so does that mean... are you two," He looks between Dan and Blair suggestively, "going to the dance... together?"
Dan wants to punch himself in the face right now; his dad could not be more of a dork if he tried.
"Yes as friends Dad," Dan bites out giving him a hard look.
He looks over at Blair and finds an amused smirk on her face. Of course she would find this funny.
--
"So Lexi was bummed that your friend Dan cancelled on her..." Aaron said turning to Serena as they walked into the movie theatre. It was a small building in SoHo, Serena never even knew it existed but Aaron had been gushing about it for the last week and she was so excited when he asked her to go.
"Oh really?" Serena replied trying to hide her relief, "He forgot he had already promised to take our friend Blair."
"Yeah Lexi said something about that," Aaron said grabbing her hand and the girl who had been checking him out since they got there looked away in annoyance. Serena couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face.
The movie they are watching is some art house film one of Aaron's friends directed but Serena can hardly concentrate. She looks down at her phone for the fifth time of the night and she can sense Aaron's patience is wearing by the way he keeps glaring at her from the corner of his eye. But she hasn't heard anything from Dan or Blair since Blair sent a message off Dan's phone saying she got to his house alive and not to worry and well now she's kind of worried for another reason entirely.
She couldn't pin point why exactly… she expected to have gotten two annoyed phone calls and ten angry texts from either Blair or Dan complaining about the other.
Normally Dan and Blair couldn't be in a room together without world war three breaking out; of course she was always there to diffuse the situation, so realizing that maybe they could get along if she wasn't around… it made her feel strangely... jealous. And it was weird, because Serena had never, ever, felt jealous of Blair Waldorf.
All their lives it had been the other way around.
Dan and Blair did spend an awful lot of time talking about each other and declaring how much they despised each other, they seem to be the only people that can get through to each other when they're upset... maybe it was just a matter of time until Blair and Dan finally understood how alike they actually are.
Serena shakes her head and laughs to herself because she's seriously sounding paranoid right now.
This whole thing was her idea in the first place after all; Dan and Blair are only hanging out because she wanted them too… right?
--
Dan refuses to let Blair stand out the front to wait for her chauffeur by herself when she decides it's time to head home. After getting picked on by Blair and Rufus all evening Dan would have thought he'd been ready to hang himself from the garage door in the middle of his room… but hanging out with Blair Waldorf... it turned out to be … kind of… fun.
He wraps his black coat a little tighter around himself, the wind has a chill to it and he doesn't know why he does it but he turns to Blair and offers her his coat while they wait.
"Thanks", she says as she slips her small arms into his coat, which is three sizes too big for her.
"So I have your approval for the bracelet I chose?" Dan asks, genuinely interested to see whether she liked it, even though he had gotten Jenny to double check it was alright he would never admit it took him twenty minutes to finally make his mind up, because he actually thought about all the things Blair liked, and tried his best to pick something she'd might want to keep.
Blair face lights up, "You certainly surprised me Humphrey. It was very nice, it was perfect. Not too pretentious, nice and modest, I hate when boys think that the bigger and shiner is better. Nate always did that… It's the thought that counts the most."
Dan smiles triumphantly and Blair thinks it's kind of adorable. She's starting to understand why Serena became so obsessed with this loser from Brooklyn; Dan isn't like anyone they've ever met before, it's refreshing, in a keep your distance unless you want to catch something kind of way of course...
"So before what you said to your dad, are we really friends now?" Blair asks in a shy tone Dan's never really heard before.
Dan smiles at her and looks away embarrassed, "I promise not to tell anyone if you don't."
She pretends to consider this for a minute, "Deal! Just don't try to speak to me in public, please."
Blair warns him sternly, normally Dan would feel offended but she must be wearing him down because instead he just finds it funny.
Dan spots the clean sleek black BMW pulling up in front of his apartment and doesn't need to ask if it's hers, it's the nicest car that's driving down his street in, well, ever.
"Oh," Blair turns back before she opens the door, "I almost forgot," she shrugs out of his jacket and hands it back to him. When he puts it back on Blair's gardenia scent encloses the space around him.
"And I hired a limo; it's going to pick us up at 7pm tomorrow," Blair narrows her eyes at him, "sharp."
"Alright," he laughs and puts his hands up in mock surrender.
He shuts her door once she's inside and gives her a wave as her car turns out of the street,
"See you tomorrow night, Waldorf."
--
Dan doesn't know why but his hands are slightly shaking when he's trying to do his tie. Standing in the mirror he's never felt more subconscious in his whole life, he can already imagine Blair Waldorf going over him with a fine tooth comb, pointing out all the things that are wrong with his fashion sense.
He's more than surprised when he arrives at her house and she tells him he looks nice, in fact he's downright shocked when she smiles politely and lets him slip the bracelet he carefully picked out for her on her wrist with no snarky comment or withering glare.
There's something off with her tonight, she doesn't have to say anything, he just knows from the way she carries herself and they way her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes.
She does look amazing though, and when he tells her she livens up a little bit and twirls around in the dress her mother designed specifically for the night. It's a pearl halter style dress cut just above her knees and it kind of reminds Dan of the Great Gatsby in some weird way, it's sophisticated and elegant, something he could easily pictured Daisy Buchanan in.
Blair's hair is darker, like it was last year, the straight light brown and blonde is replaced by loose curls that are a deep chestnut color. She obviously found the time to make another hair appointment this morning he thinks to himself as he open the limousine door for her. Her porcelain skin is flawless, as always, and her eyes are smoky and black, making them seem even more alluring than usual.
Once they are both inside he decides to find out what happened to make Blair so upset.
"Hey," Dan says touching her arm to get her attention, "Are feeling alright?"
Blair's face drops for a second but she quickly recovers and plasters a smile across it, "Of course Cabbage Patch! It's winter formal! What could possibly be wrong?"
"You tell me," Dan questions searching her eyes for some kind of answer, "Chuck or Nate?"
He asks when he sees tears beginning to form in her chocolate orbs.
"How is it of all people you know me so well?" She asks with a laugh and brushes away the stray tear that has escaped.
Dan shrugs because he has no answer for her and he's often wondered the same thing himself.
"It's just Chuck being Chuck," Blair says and shrugs, "He's angry at me for not playing his little mind game."
When Dan looks confused Blair elaborates, "He wanted to pick a date for me to take to tonight to prove how well he knows me or something stupid like that and vice versa but I told him I was already going with someone else and I didn't have time to waste on his little project. As you could imagine he didn't like that very much, especially when he found out with from Nate that I was going with you."
Dan nodded; he knew exactly how cruel Chuck Bass could be when he didn't get his way.
"Seriously Waldorf don't waste your time on someone like Chuck, he doesn't even know how lucky he is," Blair looked away sadly but Dan grabbed her hand to get her attention again, "you loved him, I know you did, no matter what he did, you accepted him and you let him in but he couldn't do the same. He's an idiot. You deserve so much better."
She tilted her head towards him and rolled her eyes playfully, "Oh yeah? Someone like whom exactly?"
As the limo pulled to a stop Dan looked around confused, "This isn't the school."
"Oh crap," Blair cursed sending Dan an apologetic look, "I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you, Serena called just before and asked if we could all ride together…"
Before Dan could protest the limo door opened and Aaron was sliding in next to him.
"Terrific," Dan mouthed to Blair and she tried not to burst out laughing at the look on Dan's face when Aaron asked him to slide down.
When Dan slid down next to Blair to make more room he felt an electric current course through his body when the bare skin on their arms brushed against each other.
And a moment later when Serena slid into the car ,with her stunning gold dress and beautiful blond ponytail, the butterflies that normally took control of his digestive track whenever he laid eyes on her didn't seem to be reacting tonight.
When he saw Serena, perfect, pretty, amazing, Serena he felt… nothing.
Not bad not good.
Just nothing.
It was, bizarre, but kind of a welcome change. And it was then that he realized for the last two days he hadn't thought about anyone else but Blair Waldorf.
For the first time since she talked to him at that birthday party when they were just kids Serena hadn't entered his mind, not once. It was a strange feeling and he had no idea what to do with it, so he tried to push it to the back of his mind and focus on what Aaron had been talking about.
"It was just pure genius wasn't it?" Aaron blathered and Serena nodded excitedly.
"Definitely, the whole repeating your life over and over again and still making the same mistakes," Serena said in a whimsical tone, "it was such a good theme."
"And how in the end he understands that even if he can't fix the mistakes he can learn from them," Serena looks around at Dan at this point and the air suddenly becomes a little bit tense, "I really liked that."
"No matter how much you may want them something's just aren't meant to be," Aaron concluded with sigh that Blair thought was a little overly dramatic.
"Exactly," Serena nodded once more and sent a thoughtful look out the window that both Blair and Dan caught.
After a few moments of polite conversation, in most of which Dan had the sneaking suspicion Blair was secretly making fun of everything Aaron said, he noticed that she was wearing the earrings he had gotten her for her last birthday.
"Hey," he exclaimed reaching up to touch her earlobe where the white gold sphere shaped earrings were, "I'm surprised you didn't throw them straight in the trash."
Blair's face reddened a little, "Oh those? I forgot you gave them too me," Dan gave her an amused but skeptical smile, "they matched my bracelet," Blair shrugged defensively.
"Okay then," Dan's smile widened at Blair's tone.
Serena looked between Dan and Blair as they each wore matching grins and wondered if maybe she wasn't so paranoid after all.
--
Once the rest of the awkward limo ride was over Dan, Blair, Serena and Aaron made their way into the school dance, Serena immediately spotted Nate talking to some boys from his lacrosse team and dragged Aaron over excitedly to go and talk to him.
"Do you want some punch?" Dan asked.
"Oh yes please! And make sure it's the red kind, not the yellow, I hate pineapple," Blair said scrunching her nose up in disgust at even the thought of it.
"Yes ma'am," Dan laughed leaving her at their table while he went to fetch the refreshments.
--
Chuck Bass made his way to Blair's table with a snarl already plastered across his face.
To say he was pissed off would have been the biggest understatement of the century, the vein on his forehead practically had a heartbeat of its own, and Blair felt herself tense up automatically as if she was a seal that somehow sensed a great white was lurking nearby.
"You have got to be kidding me," Blair deadpanned when he made his way over with Hazel, who must have been his back up date for the night.
Blair wasn't upset, so much as annoyed, up until now she'd actually been feeling a hell of a lot better. Amazingly Dan had kept her entertained and cheered her up during the limo ride, she hadn't thought about Chuck ever since he sent her those rude, angry text messages earlier today.
"Hey Queen B," Hazel oozed sarcastically as she slid into the seat next to Blair, her slinky red dress clung to her figure in every way, she might as well be naked Blair thought to herself.
"Are you really here with Dan Humphrey?" Hazel said leaning in towards her. Hazel looked like a cat high on catnip, "Serena's ex?" Hazel made a point of saying 'Serena's' as if Blair was doing something unthinkable.
"Yes," Blair gritted out, not even embarrassed, just completely annoyed that the gossip about her and Dan must already be going around.
"I guess you're a fan of the Old Testament," Hazel said, smiling charmingly at Chuck.
"What?" Blair retorted looking around desperately for anyone to save her from these two monsters.
"An eye for an eye," Chuck smirked as Hazel continued getting bitchier as she went on, "Serena sleeps with your ex now you're trying to sleep with hers. Isn't that ironic justice for you, I suppose next of your hit list is me. Chuck asked me to the dance tonight, when can I expect the payback?"
Blair crossed her arms over her chest and looked Hazel up and down disapprovingly, "You and your hooker dress are not worth my time. Oh sweetie you should know that dress is so pretty women before the makeover and red makes you look whorish."
Hazel's jaw dropped and her face turned beetroot red, which ironically, matched the color of her scarlet gown.
Chuck's face transformed into an evil grin and Blair knew in some sick twisted way he was pleased with what she had just done. Because Blair was starting to realize that in Chuck's fucked up mind the less people Blair had in her life the more dependant she was upon him, and the more she needed him, the more pathetic she became, the better he felt.
But Chuck Bass had underestimated her if he thought that making her turn on her friends was going to cause her to breakdown and come running to him. It didn't work when he tried it with Serena and it sure as hell wasn't going to work now with Hazel.
She was strong and she did deserved better, it was Dan Humphrey of all people that made her see that.
"And you can wipe that look of your face Bass because so long as I live I want nothing more to do with you," Blair spat at him.
"You can't help yourself Blair, besides I'm all you've got…" Chuck said confidently but his face fell when he saw Dan walk up behind Blair.
"Everything okay?" Dan asked concern in his voice and his eyes trained solely on Blair.
"It would be better if you asked me to dance." Blair grabbed Dan's arm and he placed the drinks down in front of where a very humiliated Hazel was still sitting.
Dan put his arms around Blair's small frame when they reached the dance floor and began moving side to side barely in step with the song, "What was all that about?"
"Nothing really," Blair shrugged, "I just finally got the courage to tell him to leave me alone, for good."
She smiled up at Dan, she was beautiful, so beautiful, he wanted to remember her like this forever and even if the principal suddenly screamed fire and chaos erupted in the hall, he still wouldn't want to take his eyes of her.
--
Dan stood outside the girl's restroom waiting patiently for Blair to come out. They'd been dances for what felt like seconds but in reality had been nearly an hour.
"Serena?" Dan called out when he noticed a blond tangled up in some tall brunette haired guy.
"Nate?" He called out in confusion when they both turned around.
"Uhhh," Serena said and she and Nate were looking at Dan with the same guilt-ridden and ashamed face.
To both of their surprises Dan started laughing.
--
After Dan and Blair let the mortified Nate and Serena take the limo back to Serena's, they decided to walk the three blocks to Blair's house.
Actually Blair insisted on walking because she refused to take a taxi after what happened to her last time.
"It really kind of makes perfect sense when you think about it," Blair sighed once they were coming into view of her street.
Walking next to each other Blair and Dan had fallen into a natural rhythm.
"I know right?" Dan laughed a little more, "It's so bizarre."
"Serena and Nate… soul mates?" Blair pondered, "Who would have thunk'd it?"
Dan turned to her with a serious look on his face, "Are you going to be alright?"
"Of course," Blair said, smiling a little wistfully, "I think I always suspected it."
Dan nodded, knowing the feeling.
"I mean, I just feel bad for Aaron," Blair said mockingly, "that poor boy."
"At least now he can go back to his five other girlfriends," Dan offered with a teasing smile and Blair couldn't help but burst out in laughter.
"He was such a great catch," Blair giggled.
Dan's playful smile made her wish that the street was never ending, and that they'd never have to say goodbye tonight.
"He really was wasn't he?"
--
Once they reached Blair's house they both stood awkwardly staring at each other, neither one really knowing what to say or do.
Blair turned towards her front steps but before she could reach them Dan reached to grasped her hand in his own.
Dan Humphrey was in love again, in love with Blair Waldorf, maybe these feelings had always been inside him and he'd just never let himself feel them until now. But he could hardly believe it himself, though the symptoms were unmistakable.
Sweaty palms, a constant need to fill the silence with rambling, his stomach doing summersaults and his heart, his heart was beating so damn fast.
As if the whole world had come to a halt just to watch Blair's eyes fluttered shut as Dan leaned in towards her, it felt like it was all happening in slow motion. Her heart leaped in her chest as she felt his lips touch her own, the exact feeling it created inside her chest was indescribable. Seriously, she'd never felt anything even close to this before. Not with Nate and certainly not with Chuck.
And she couldn't believe she'd lived eighteen years without ever experiencing this mind blowing feeling, whatever it was.
"I-I…" Dan stuttered once he'd pulled back and waited for some kind of reaction, waited for Blair to slap him and yell at him and tell him to just go back to Brooklyn and never speak to her again.
Staring up at him, breathless, Blair shook her head to silence him.
"Shut up Cabbage Patch." Now she was the one reaching out for him, pulling him impossibly close to her petite body.
Then they were kissing, really kissing this time. The hand-in-the-hair-limps-linked-breathes-coming-out-in-harsh-pants kissing that Blair would often disapprove of when displayed in public. But right now she wasn't thinking about anything but Dan Humphrey's warm hands caressing her cheek and getting tangled up in her hair, which took two hours to create and was now a mess.
And the way her whole body was reacting to him, her heart sped up and she felt positively giddy, it was so totally unexpected.
"That was…" Dan whispered once they had finally pulled away from each other.
"Amazing?" She muttered light headed and still waiting for her head to catch up with her heart.
After a beat Dan replied smugly "Thanks, I know I'm good but amazing? Really? I'll have to add that to my resume."
Blair rolled her eyes and pushed him backwards, "If you ever repeat that word came out of my mouth I will be forced to kill you Humphrey."
"You're full of idle threats Waldorf," Dan said pulling her into him again.
The kiss this time was a little softer, slower, but still absolutely smoldering.
--
The end! What did you all think? Did i manage to sway more people over to the Dair side mwhaha :-D