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Rubbing salt into the wounds

It seems that things really aren't going poor B's way anymore. Not only did she catch her best friend and boyfriend getting steamy in the shower, she was she forced to witness a very loved up N escorting S to school... How very gentlemanly of him. Shame he's not so gentlemanly when it comes to juggling a pair of beautiful girls we all know...

Finals stress

Yes, it's nearly that time again- finals are upon us. Yes, they're important but try not to stress out too much- it's not good for the complexion. Besides, if you're struggling why not get take a leaf out of D's book and get a sexy study buddy to help you out?

Sightings

J following B round at lunch... Why so curious, J? S and N getting out of a taxi, their clothes somewhat askew, and stumbling up the steps of N's townhouse. Naughty! B practising her graduation speech in Barney's dressing rooms. D buying expensive cologne at the Perfume Shop... Trying to impress anyone? V snapping pictures of a dead pigeon with a disposable camera; feeling angst-y, are we?

Your email

Q: Dear Gossip Girl,

My girlfriend's been kind of distant lately. I think she might be pining for her ex. Any ideas on how to woo her back?

-HippyHarvard

A: Dear Hippy,

If your girlfriend is who I think she is, then perhaps it's foolish to stand in the way of true love. However, if you're not the kind of guy who gives up easily, I'm pretty sure a new camera will do the trick...

-Gossip Girl

Q: Gossip Girl,

I luv ur site. What will u do when every1 gradu8s?

-n00b

A: Dear n00b,

That's for me to know and you to find out. Would you like a dictionary as a graduation present?

-Gossip Girl

Remember, my darlings, that after graduation lies a hot and sultry summer for all to enjoy. So don't feel sad, because as one door closes, another one opens. And this particular door is going to lead you to the hottest summer ever, so hang in there. Remember, you've always got that emergency bottle of Ketel One stashed under your bed.

You know you love me,

Gossip Girl

The rules of infidelity

"Thank you so much for this Blair," said Dan. His speech was fantastic. If anyone had nominated him as some sort of joke, they'd be sorry for it. It was earnest, funny, moving... everything that you'd want in a speech to sum up your high school experience.

"It was nothing," said Blair, waving a perfectly manicured hand.

"Seriously, though, I want to do something to say thank you... Is there anything you'd like?" Dan wanted to offer to take her out to dinner, but he was worried that was too forward.

"Nothing I can think of," Blair toyed with the strap of her white D&G watch. What she really wanted was for Dan to ask her out but... He wouldn't. He was in love with Vanessa.

"Of course; you're the girl who has everything," Dan teased.

"Oh shut up- don't play the tortured lonely poet card," Blair shot back, unable to keep the flirtatiousness out of her voice or her smile.

"Believe it or not, some girls actually think it's cute," Dan grinned.

"Who says this girl doesn't?"

Dan was suddenly aware that Blair was standing very close to him. He could see every tiny freckle on her nose, every eyelash and every curve of her mouth. His heart was beating very hard.

"How about," he murmured, "to say thank you, I cook you dinner?"

Blair felt like her heart was melting. He was offering to cook for her! No guy had ever done that for her before. Nate just wanted to order Chinese and smoke pot, then she'd have to sit there and listen to the incoherent crap he babbled about being mellow and the beauty of life. She felt a sudden pang of sympathy for Serena.

"How about yes?"

"How about I-"

"Hey guys!" Vanessa yelled. Blair instantly took a step back from Dan. Had they just had a... moment? Her whole body felt tingly. If only Vanessa had waited a few more minutes before she came crashing through the door? Blair felt a sudden annoyance towards her roommate.

"Vanessa! What's up?" Dan greeted her as she entered.

"Aaron brought me a new camera!" Vanessa beamed, setting down a shiny Nikon on the desk. "Oh, I see you finished your speech. That's great."

Now you two don't have to hang out anymore, she thought bitterly to herself. Vanessa didn't think that Dan would go for a girl like Blair- she was way too conformist for him- but she couldn't be sure. Blair was hot, and keeping her away from Dan wasn't exactly a bad idea.

"Do you think you'll be okay with the delivery and stuff?" Vanessa asked. "I know how nervous you get about speaking in front of crowds," she added sympathetically, craftily reminding Blair that she was the one who knew Dan best. Dan was hers, not Blair's.

Isn't she forgetting something?

"Yeah, I'm actually kind of excited to deliver it," Dan grinned. "It's a really amazing speech." He felt that he should tell her he was cooking Blair dinner to thank her, but something told him to hold his tongue.

"Oh." Vanessa looked less than pleased. "Well, I really need to test out this camera properly so... I'll see you." She grabbed her camera and left, despite the fact that she'd only just got home.

"We didn't do anything wrong, did we?" Blair asked nervously. She was wearing a loose silk shirt and amazing Stella McCartney jeans and she suddenly felt over dressed.

"Nah," said Dan. "I'm not even with Vanessa, remember?"

"Yeah but-"

"Relax," Dan told her, despite the fact that he was constantly jittery from the amount of coffee he consumed. "She's with Aaron, anyway."

"I guess you can't cheat on someone who you're not with," Blair agreed, chewing her lip. "It's like, the rules of infidelity."

"Oh yes," said Dan, a mischievous gleam in his sexy brown eyes. "Infidelity was built on rules."

Laughter is the best medicine

"You sure you'll be okay son?" said Rufus gruffly.

"Yes, yes," Dan told him impatiently, practically shoving him out the door.

"'Bye Dan," Jenny giggled. "Have fun on your date."

"It's not a-" Dan sighed in exasperation. "Goodbye, Jenny."

Dan was sending his sister and father out for dinner tonight. Somehow, he thought that Blair might be put off by his father's interesting dress sense and his sister's tendency to babble incoherently whenever she spoke to one of the "cool girls".

He sighed and turned his attention towards the stove. He was cooking spaghetti Bolognese, which was one of the few things he actually knew how to make. He glanced around the tiny kitchen. He'd tidied up a bit earlier, but the place was still a complete mess. He hoped that Blair wouldn't mind.

It was so weird that he was standing their cooking dinner for one of New York's most talked about girls. It was even weirder that it was her he'd been thinking about all day instead of Vanessa. Earlier on, he'd seen her and Aaron making out in front of the subway entrance and he only felt the faintest twang of jealousy. It was like the world had been turned completely upside down.

"Knock knock?" Blair chimed, breezing into the kitchen. "Sorry, I rang the bell but there was no answer."

"Oh, that hasn't worked in years," said Dan. "As you can probably tell, we don't get many visitors."

Blair surveyed the messy kitchen and refrained from wrinkling her nose. Who could live in this mess?

"I can certainly tell you don't have a maid," she said. Usually, that kind of thing would come out sounding bitchy but being around Dan seemed to lighten her tone.

Dan laughed. "I actually tidied up today."

Blair blanched in mock-horror. "I dread to think what it was like before."

"Pretty much the same, but with cockroaches."

"Ew!" Blair squealed.

"Kidding!" Dan laughed and poked her with the clean end of the wooden spoon he was using to stir the Bolognese.

"Hey, can I try some of that?" Blair enquired.

"Sure," Dan shrugged. He scooped a little of the sauce onto the spoon and held it up to her mouth.

"Mmm," Blair murmured in appreciation. "It's so good! I've always wanted to try spaghetti Bolognese."

Dan goggled at her. "You're telling me that you've never had spaghetti Bolognese before?"

Blair shook her head. "Rosa always refused to make it."

"Rosa?"

"The cook." Blair rolled her eyes. "She had this real vendetta against the Italians, and it's not like my mom can cook."

"My dad can't either. Last night he made curried cauliflower." Dan flinched at the memory. He was so glad his dad wasn't here right now. Blair would take one look at him and run screaming.

"Gross! Did your mom teach you to cook?"

"She left when I was twelve," said Dan, somewhat awkwardly. "Dad's cooking was totally inedible and after surviving on takeout for a few months, Jenny and I kind of figured out how to cook."

"I'm sorry," Blair murmured. "I know how it feels. My dad left my mom three years ago- for a man." It was kind of funny, but she and Dan had a lot more in common than she would have thought. He was a person who she could really talk to about things. Things that no-one else understood, like the complications of on-off relationships and AWOL parents.

"Oh."

"It's not that bad actually," said Blair, perking up a bit. "I get double the Christmas presents!"

"Lucky. All I get is a pair of age twelve lederhosen."

Blair started to laugh, and pretty soon Dan joined in. Before long they were clutching their stomachs, tears rolling down their cheeks. It felt so good to laugh and not care about anything else. Standing there in Dan's cluttered kitchen, they were both much happier than they had been in a very long time.

D is the one meal B can keep down

"So I decided it would be a good idea to drive to Nate's rehab and check myself in," Blair finished. She'd just recounted the events that had lead to her checking into rehab in a desperate attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend in February, during a brief spell of what Blair liked to think was temporary insanity. "Don't ask me what I was thinking."

"I wasn't going to. I'm too afraid of the answer," Dan grinned impishly as Blair whacked him with her buttery brown leather Coach bag. They were sat on the floor of Dan's living room, empty spaghetti Bolognese plates in their laps.

"You little-" Dan grabbed Blair's thin wrist. She tried to twist out of it but he was too strong for her, so she tried to slap him with her other hand, but he grabbed hold of that too. Then she began kicking him with her pedicured feet and managed to push him backwards somehow, so she was lying on top of him. He rolled over and pinned her arms above her head. Their faces were mere inches away from each other. They were both breathing very heavily.

Blair had never been so turned on in her life. Dan was on top of her. She loved the feel of his scrawny body on top of hers so much that she just wanted to rip his clothes off with her teeth.

Kiss me kiss me kiss me, she chanted inwardly. Dan's big brown eyes were exploring her face. He looked so intense and sexy that it took all Blair had to stop herself from writhing around underneath him in ecstasy. She held his gaze and didn't even have to try and look sexy. She didn't even care how she looked. For once in her life, she didn't care about turning her life into an Audrey Hepburn movie. All she wanted was for Dan to kiss her, and see what happened next.

Dan's face was coming closer. She could smell him- coffee and cigarettes and sex. Her whole body trembled with anticipation.

Bring bring! Blair's mobile began shriek. Dan jerked away from her as though he'd been burned. Blair grabbed her phone and was horrified to see that it was Vanessa calling. She felt a nauseating wave of guilt.

"It's Vanessa," she whispered hoarsely, biting her lip.

God, she was irresistible, Dan thought. "You'd better answer it," he told her gruffly.

"Hello?" Blair said, trying to sound as natural as possible.

"Hey, it's me," came Vanessa's voice from the other end. "Do you want to, like, order a Chinese and rent a movie tonight?"

"Um," Blair tried to come up with an excuse. She didn't want to leave. "I'm kind of, um, busy right now. I'm with, um, my peer group. Serena and I are taking them out for dinner."

"I thought you told her to leave you alone?"

Enough with the fucking questions! Blair wanted to scream. Instead she took a deep breath and replied calmly, "We've made up. We always do. I'm so over Nate," she added, with a swift glance at Dan. "He was just this massive stoner loser and to be honest, I think I need someone who thinks with his head, not his dick."

"I get you," Vanessa said. "It's like, all Aaron and I ever do is have sex. I asked him to go see a movie with me the other day and he suggested that we make our own. God, I miss Dan."

Guilt surged through Blair. "Maybe it just wasn't meant to be? Anyway, we're off to college soon. There'll be tons of guys there." Blair was suddenly acutely aware that Dan was listening.

"Yeah, I guess. But Dan and I are like, meant to be, you know? Aaron's cute and everything, but once we graduate..." Blair could practically hear Vanessa's shrug down the phone.

"I thought that about Nate and I, but if you keep trying and it doesn't work it's just... Anyway, I've got to go now. We're about to order. 'Bye!" Blair clicked off before her roommate could respond. She massaged her head with her knuckles. Vanessa had a true friend to her these past few weeks, and she was repaying her by flirting with the guy she'd been in love with since forever?

"I'm a terrible person," she said aloud.

"Maybe I'm into bad girls," said Dan suggestively.

"Dan... I've gotta go," said Blair, snatching up her bag.

"Blair wait-"

"She's my roommate! She's been so good to me and I'm repaying her by being here, with you, flirting with you and-" falling for you, she added silently.

"I'm not even with her anymore!" Dan shouted.

"She's in love with you!"

"What if I'm not in love with her?"

"It's best if I just go," said Blair quietly, and hurried out of the apartment as fast as her Manolo wedge heels would carry her.

Old habits die hard

"I'm here to collect an order under the name of Serena?" Serena van der Woodsen told the semi-cute Asian guy behind the till.

"One minute please," he told her, and gestured to a row of spindly blue chairs. Serena smiled at him and took a seat. She and Nate were ordering Chinese for the third time this week, but fed up of staying in, Serena had volunteered to come and get it herself. She loved cosying up with Nate and eating egg fried rice on his bed, but she felt like she'd hardly seen the sun at all lately. It was probably best that they both kept a low profile for a while, what with Blair still so furious, but it was hardly likely that Serena would run into Blair here.

"Serena?" said a familiar voice, as the welcome bell chimed. Serena looked up to see Vanessa Abrams entering the small waiting area.

"Oh, hey." Serena stood up and flung her arms around her shaven headed friend.

"What are you doing here?" Vanessa asked in confusion. "I thought you and Blair were taking your peer group out for a meal?"

"Um, no," Serena told her. "I have no idea what you're talking about... I'm just collecting a Chinese for me and Nate."

"Oh," Vanessa frowned. "She said something about it earlier." Why would Blair lie? What was she hiding?

If only you knew.

"So, um, I hear you and Aaron are dating," Serena said, trying to gloss over the awkwardness. She was forever landing Blair in trouble. Why hadn't she just pretended she'd forgotten or something? Blair was going to hate her even more now, if that was even possible.

"Yeah," Vanessa murmured vaguely, her mind still on Blair.

"Um, that's great. You guys make a really great couple."

"Order for Serena!" the cashier called.

"That's me!" she cried, relieved to have an excuse to end the awkward conversation. "I'll see you at school, Vanessa," she smiled.

Serena stepped out of the stuff waiting room and cringed. No matter what happened, she always seemed to ruin things for Blair.