A/N: CB bashers rioting the immortality of Dair really pisses me off. It also breaks my heart. That's where this oneshot stems from. Still haven't watched the recent episodes – putting that off as long as possible, so I don't have to drown in angst hell for a month before the episodes come back on – so, that may come into play throughout the midst of this. I guess I'm basing it loosely over what I've heard from 4x17 (and before) & what I saw in the 4x18 promo. Heavy DB implied. Enjoy.

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

…

It made sense, she thought, the feelings she had for Dan. It was a mystery how they'd gotten to this place since they'd hated each other from the start, for various reasons, but it made sense now, and that kiss they'd shared had sealed the deal. She was sure of it. Or, almost sure rather. Dan had been there for her when Chuck had not. Instead of ignoring her and moving on, he'd tried to make it work with Serena and when that failed had gone to her, the girl he'd hated all these years just like she'd hated him. She wasn't alone now, and it wasn't like how it'd been with Nate either. It was different. She felt safe. She wasn't running away from anything or anyone. They'd all run away from her. What she was doing with Dan wasn't reckless, it was normal, natural. It was pure and simple. It was the stuff of movies, even if he wasn't Prince Charming.

Still, she couldn't ignore the nagging rapid pounding of her heart when she heard that Chuck had nearly pummeled Dan to the floor of his own home when he'd discovered they'd kissed. Her heart soared then and she wondered if whatever she thought she felt for Dan was all imagined. Chuck had crushed and trampled all over her too many times to count, and even though Dan seemed to be her rescuer this last time around, she knew it wasn't possible for her to get over Chuck in just two or three weeks. She hadn't been able to do it for two whole summers, and that was a considerable amount of time when she had the whole world at her feet to seduce. Seduction just didn't seem as appealing when it wasn't directed at Chuck. And now Chuck was fighting for her again, showing he cared, that he wanted her, that he wasn't giving up and that he wanted them to be ready to be together immediately she hoped. That kiss had changed everything. It had knocked the wind out of Chuck, made her visible in his line of vision again. Her heart swelled at the knowledge and she knew whatever blossoming romance was on the table for her and Dan was gone in a heartbeat.

After she and Dan had kissed that fateful night, Chuck had come to her. She told herself she was going to be cruel, especially since he'd abandoned her for so long and Dan was hiding just behind the staircase in the kitchen. But her heart had crumbled when she seen his crestfallen desperate face. Serena a step behind him helped put her even more on edge with Dan not too far away. It was as if everything the two of them wanted during all these long weeks was finally happening a second too late.

"Blair," he'd pleaded, out of breath just from the elevator. "I need to talk to you."

And she'd complied. Because, what else could she do? He was her Chuck, and she would be there for him even if both of them were convinced they were in love with someone else.

She wasn't in love with Dan. Something may have been about to begin with him, but it was a lost cause now. The only reason she would have kept up the charade would've been to piss Vanessa off, which was all to easy to do, but she even abandoned that shortly after. Because she knew too that Serena and Dan still loved each other. Dan didn't love her, and she didn't love him. She loved Chuck, whether she wanted to or not, and deep down she always did.

"What do you want me to say, Chuck?" she asked now, trying very hard to sound bitter. "That I'm sorry I kissed him? I'm not."

He said nothing.

"I needed to know."

"And…what do you know?" he asked cautiously, strangely not going for aggressive. She wondered if Dan was bruised badly in his loft in Brooklyn now or if Serena was there mending his wounds, if she even knew.

"That you find Raina sacred," she said promptly, finally stopping her fidgeting on the plants in the foyer and walking towards him where he stood stock still in front of the elevator. Her words had the desired effect. His face fell, and she stomped firmly on the concern that welled up in her for him, because he deserved what he was feeling now. She had felt it for so long.

"I…" He couldn't make it out.

"I thought we were going to wait," she said quietly. "I know it wasn't an official promise and I told you I didn't expect you to wait, but I thought you would." Her voice was soft and still like a desert wind. "I really did," she said under her breath, gasping a little when she lost too much air.

He walked to her and took her hand. "I'm not myself when I'm not with you," he said just as softly, firmly gripping her fingers. Her tearful eyes looked up at him. "And…" he sighed, releasing her hands and walking away a little, running a hand through his hair, making it tousled and messy. "Everything was such a mess with Bass Industries. And my father…" he ground out, his voice getting gravelly. Blair closed her eyes in the knowing anguish that they both felt.

"I know," she said.

He sighed and turned back to her, his eyes searching hers. "Do you love him?" he asked, his voice too quiet and dangerously close to squeaking at the end. She thought she could see the fear of him losing her seeping through the damp moisture now forming on his face.

"Do you love her?"

"No," he said instantly, nearly cutting her off. Her gaze did not leave his and she punished by refusing to say a word for a very long time. Finally, he turned fully back to her, walked straight up to where she stood and took her hands tightly in his own again. "Blair, please," he begged. She hated when he begged. It was like weddings, always getting the best of her. "Tell me."

She looked down at their hands now intertwining and the cold chill flooding through him and knew she couldn't leave him hanging. It would hurt her even if some part of her wanted it to hurt him – the logical, rational, 'this is fair, this is right' part. "No," she said, her voice barely audible. "I don't love him." She closed her eyes again when she felt his grip relax, much of the tension out of the air.

"I love you," he said softly, taking one hand away to wrap one of her curls behind her ear. She looked up at him and felt her heart breaking. She turned away, her entire being bursting into flames. She couldn't – wouldn't – let him do this. He had no right to jump right back in to where they'd been when they'd made their unspoken promise when he'd hurt her so badly for the last few months, even if it had been completely unintentional.

"Blair?" he asked, teetering on the edge of oblivion, barely moving. She sighed shakily, trying to hold in her tears.

"No." She shook her head. "You don't know what love is." She kept herself turned away, looking too fiercely at the blank wall in front of her. "You don't do what you've done to people that you love."

In a flash, he was in front of her again and she knew she should've known better than to argue with him when he was set on fighting for her again.

"Don't do that," he said. "I didn't love her. And if I liked her, it was only my need to have someone because I couldn't have you. I'm sorry for all the misunderstandings—"

"Misunderstandings?" she asked dubiously, in disbelief that he could make light of the situation they were in. For a moment he looked confused, but he quickly recovered, taking her hands again. She wondered briefly if he knew of any other grand gesture. Besides kissing her of course. The thought of his lips on hers suddenly made her desperately want it right that second, more than breathing.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, his gorgeous hazel eyes pleading with her to let him make amends.

"Dan and I are friends," she said, needing him to know.

"I could care less about Raina."

Her brows furrowed and he leaned in, kissing her slowly. She'd had all the time in the world to back away, but she hadn't, and it wasn't just because she'd missed his kisses, though she definitely had. It was because she was so ridiculously forgiving and he was it for her. She sighed into him and let him kiss her, reveling in the fact that he'd made up for lost time and punched out Dan Humphrey all in her regard.

….

A/N: I don't know if that's open-ended or not, but…(lol) that's what I have. Please review. ;p