Blair stands in front of her locker, gathering her books for her first class, when Serena strolls over to her. Blair rolls her eyes and gives Serena an annoyed look. "Where were you this morning? I was waiting for you and you never showed up."

"Oh, I was just running late," Serena responds, "I got into another argument with my mom. You know, just the usual thing."

There are many people at school who just do not understand the friendship of Blair and Serena. Serena has the all-American girl look that boys cannot seem to get enough of. She is popular, well connected, and her family has a lot of money. Blair, however, seems to be the complete opposite of her. Blair is beautiful, but in a more subtle way. She is hardworking, but things don't seem to work out as easily for her as they do for Serena. Plus, with Blair being from Brooklyn, she is often left feeling like an outsider. When word got out that Blair was only able to attend Constance because she received a full scholarship, her classmates scorned her even more than before. Considering all of their differences and very few similarities, most of their peers wondered how they were able to become such good friends.

Little do the people at Constance know, Blair and Serena have more in common than one would first think. When Blair walked in on Serena crying in an empty hallway their freshmen year, she was shocked at what she saw. Serena, the girl who always seemed to have it all together, was having a breakdown right in front of her eyes. When Serena looked up at her with red-rimmed eyes and mascara running down her face, Blair knew that she just needed someone to talk to. So, although they had never talked before, and Blair had heard all of the rumors about Serena being a complete bitch, she slid down onto the floor next to Serena. Blair looked through her purse and pulled out a wad of tissues and handed them to Serena. Serena laughed and took them, dabbing at her eyes. Serena told her about how she and her mom fought all the time and that they could never see eye to eye on anything. That morning they had a particularly bad argument and Serena could not seem to get over it. That was the moment that everything changed for Blair. For the first time in her life, Blair told someone else about the problems that she faced at home. A quiet loft, a mother who had no interest in her life, and the pressure and isolation that Blair faced every day at school. Blair told Serena everything, and she actually listened to every word that Blair told her. That day, Blair and Serena realized they had more in common than either would have thought, and that they could be the friend that each other had been looking for.

After that day, Blair and Serena became inseparable. They were best friends. When Serena was thrown out of her family's penthouse by her mom, Blair offered her loft for as long as she needed. Serena became an almost permanent fixture at the Waldorf's loft. Although Blair was embarrassed at first to have Serena over to her small Brooklyn loft, she was surprised to find that Serena loved it. Serena was enamored by how simply beautiful it was. And when Blair was harassed by their peers, Serena always stood up for her.

Their friendship first came as a shock, but now that they are both seniors, their classmates had gotten used to it.

So when Serena tells Blair that her and her mother were fighting, Blair gives her a sympathetic look and says, "I'm sorry, Serena. You'll get through it though, you both always do. You should just talk to her after school and try to work things out."

Serena nods distractedly, and then turns to her and spots the large coffee stain that is found on the front of Blair's shirt. Serena's eyes widen and she exclaims, "Blair! What happened to your shirt? Why didn't you say anything before?"

Blair rolls her eyes. "Dan Humphrey happened," she responds in a scornful tone.

"Dan Humphrey? Why would he spill coffee on you?" Serena replies while scrunching up her nose. "I have an extra shirt with me that you can use so you don't have to walk around with that stain all day."

"That would actually be perfect. And he didn't mean to, he just…" Blair begins to respond, but is cut short when Dan runs up to them.

"Blair! I am still so sorry about what happened earlier. But I got out of my meeting early, so I found my sister and asked her if she had an extra shirt. Turns out she did, so here you go," Dan says, and he pulls a shirt from his bag and hands it to her.

Blair looks at it and opens her mouth to respond when Serena interrupts and says, "Hold on a minute, I'm still lost as to what happened." She turns to Dan. "How did you manage to spill a whole cup of coffee all over her?"

"I was just sitting on the steps reading when Dan tripped…" Blair says at the same time that Dan begins to say, "I wasn't looking where I was going and fell over her..." They both continue telling the story from their different perspectives, and Serena just looks back and forth between the two of them, amused at the situation in front of her. She finally interrupts both of them and says, laughingly, "Alright, enough, I think I understand."

Dan tries to hand his shirt to Blair again, when she shakes her head and says, "Thanks so much for the thought, but I was actually planning on borrowing one of Serena's extra shirts."

He returns his gaze to Serena before saying, "Okay, well I need to head to class, but I'll talk to you both sometime soon." He turns to Blair and apologizes again.

"Really, Dan, it's fine now. I have to go change before class starts so we should go. Bye," Blair responds as she pulls Serena away and they walk down to Serena's locker.

Once they grabbed the shirt and Blair was able to change in the bathroom, they rush to their first hour class, which they conveniently have together. Serena slouches into her seat while Blair sits down and takes out her notebooks and a pen from her bag. Serena then turns to her with a big grin on her face and moves to whisper in Blair's ear. "Don't you think Dan is really cute?" Serena says quietly, but with a smile.

Blair looks at Serena with exasperation. "I thought you liked that guy from your English class!" Blair says. She never seems to get used to how quickly Serena moves on from guys. Even after the past four years, Blair is still surprised at how fickle Serena is with boys.

Serena gives her a look that makes Blair feel as if she missed something. "Blair, John and I are done, remember? Turns out we don't have anything in common. But Dan is like the complete opposite of him. He is such a nice guy, and it doesn't hurt that he is not lacking in the looks department!" Serena responds with a wink.

Blair just laughs and says, "I don't know, I guess he's just not my type."


After his morning meeting with his teacher, Dan trudged through his morning classes, waiting with anticipation until he can talk with Nate during their lunch hour. On his walk to find Nate, Dan starts to plan what he is going to tell his dad about his meeting. Rufus will be happy when he finds out the teacher didn't really argue with him about his grade. She was more than willing to help him out, even without the threat of his father. Sometimes Dan wishes that his teachers would argue with him instead of just giving him everything he, or more likely, his father, demanded. Sometimes he wishes that his last name didn't provide him with everything, and that he had to work harder instead of things just falling into his lap. But that's another mater that Dan had no control over. He enters into the cafeteria and looks for Nate. When Dan spots him, he notices Nate approaching him with a grin across his face. "Man, I heard about you spilling coffee all over that girl!" he says laughingly. "Nice going!"

Dan shakes his head and responds, "It was a complete accident. But there was something else I wanted to talk with you with about." Nate turns to him as they walk to their table to sit down. "What do you know about Serena van der Woodsen?" Dan asks with a smile.

Nate bursts out laughing and shakes his head. "More than you know! We grew up together, so she is basically my extended family. But now that we're older, I don't see her as much as I used to. Occasionally, our families will have dinner together, but that's basically it. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, man. I think I might gather up the courage and finally ask her out. I have wanted to for a while, and I feel like now is the right time to do it," Dan responds.

"I think you should go for it," Nate says. "The only problem is that there are always rumors going around about how she moves quickly from guy to guy, so make sure you are careful about that."

Dan looks at him and says, "Yeah, but they could be just that, rumors. I want to know more about her. Plus, the other guys she has been with over the years have probably been jerks who did not know how to treat her right."

"Alright, I get it. So you should show her that you are different than the other guys that she may have been with. How are you going to manage that?" Nate asks.

Dan looks away and ponders his question quietly for a few moments. Then, he returns his gaze to Nate and says with a smile, "I need to befriend Blair Waldorf."

A/N: So here is the second chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! :) I know there isn't much Dair happening yet, but it will happen soon! I felt the need to provide some background for the characters first. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you all are the best!