Blair walked off the elevator into the penthouse foyer and dropped her bag on the table. She looked around at the empty room and thought sadly, how there was no one to greet her at the end of a long day. She still lived in her mother's penthouse, her mother and Cyrus having been in Paris for the past year. Dorota had cut back her hours significantly to spend time with her family, so Blair only saw her three mornings a week now. She briefly thought of calling Serena for dinner, but put her phone down when she thought of her appointment with Dan the next day. She wondered if Dan had anyone welcoming him home to his townhouse.
After a quick dinner of order-in sushi, she sat on her bed reviewing her email and checking her schedule for the next week. Her thoughts drifted back to Dan and their meeting earlier in the day. She had to admit, she was a bit surprised that he agreed so readily to her request. She knew that he liked being the white night, but she expected at least a little bit of snark over her need for help. His comment about owning his own house stuck with her too. Here she was, living in her mother's penthouse, still, while Dan Humphrey owned a whole house! Granted, it was in Brooklyn, but she was still a bit jealous. It made him seem grown up and responsible and made her feel needy and childish. She wondered what it looked like, and wondered again if he shared it with anyone.
Quickly shutting down her email, she opened up Facebook and typed in his name. Of course they were friends, but she had never actually looked at his profile. She briefly perused his main page and noted the "it's complicated" relationship status. She clicked on the pictures link and started to scroll. There were several pictures of his Dad, Lily, Serena and Eric. Occasionally she would come across a picture of Jenny, with her dark eyes and striking blonde hair. Blair hoped the pictures were dated for Jenny's sake (someone needed to tell that girl the raccoon look was out if they were recent). There were a couple of shots with him and Nate, smiling broadly at the camera, arms around eachothers shoulders. Blair wondered how often they saw each other, and if Serena was invited to these outings. She saw several pictures of Dan and a very pretty girl with short, dark hair and piercing blue eyes. Pictures of them cuddled together on couches, typical vacation shots at the beach and one appearing to be at the Eiffel Tower. She guessed this was the "it's complicated" from his profile, and felt a little better that maybe his life wasn't totally perfect. She clicked back to her profile and looked at her own pictures then. There were shots of her smiling happily with Serena, one of her at graduation and several "party shots" which people had e-mailed to her over the years. She smiled as she saw one from a few years back with her, Dan, Serena, Nate and Chuck all with smiles and arms around each other. She couldn't remember where it was, or why they all seemed to be getting along, but it felt nice to remember Dan was a part of her life once. She glanced briefly at Chuck, as she always would when seeing him, and sighed with a sad smile.
Blair had fully supported Chuck as he uncovered more secrets about his father's life when taking over Bass Industries and he leaned on her probably more than he needed to. He and Blair had fallen back into a brief relationship during that time, but as work became more time consuming for Chuck and Blair focused more on her studies, they realized that they just didn't have time for the games that they used to play. The hard work of keeping a relationship afloat during the busy days was not something either of them seemed invested in. They ended things with a sad talk and none of blistering passion they once had. They were still great friends, and would always be there for each other, but both Blair and Chuck knew it was time to grow up and go their separate ways romantically. He had moved on to a bevy of models and she had moved on to a career in fashion and publishing.
Blair closed her laptop and moved toward the bathroom to get ready for bed. She was honestly looking forward to seeing Dan again tomorrow and excited to get a glimpse into his life. As she slid under the covers, and set her alarm for the next morning she began to remember their friendship and fell asleep with a small smile on her face.
Dan finished washing up his dishes from dinner and sat down at the breakfast bar scrolling through the numbers on his phone. He easily found Jenny under the recent callers and dialed her. Dan greeted her warmly and asked about her day. They spoke often and missed each other now that she was in Boston. Jenny was interning with a local designer and seemed to be doing well for herself. The past few years had brought big changes to her. She had grown into an actual responsible adult and Dan no longer saw any of the scheming brat she had become during her last days in the city. Jenny sounded surprised to hear him ask about "the best places to spot fashion" in Brooklyn for a story he was working on. Dan was never one to write about fashion, but quickly explained it was a freelance piece he was helping a friend with. Jenny offered up the names of a couple of coffee houses, some clubs and one or two vintage stores, but told Dan the best place to find fashion was on the street or subway. He and Jenny chatted for a while longer about her work. She asked briefly about Amanda, but Dan quickly told her he didn't want to talk about it. They said their goodbyes and promised to touch base the next week.
As Dan hung up the phone, he looked around the townhouse. It really was incredible how much he'd accomplished in the past year. He sat at the breakfast bar, off the kitchen, which bumped up into the dining room. There was a small table for four under the modern light fixture. The windows behind the table showed his small garden, now dark with night. The living/family room was open to the kitchen and dining room. He had a comfortable, yet stylish sectional with a large ottoman facing the TV. The warm wood floors were covered in rich, dark rugs and he had exposed brick on the shared walls of the townhouse. Dan looked sadly at the bare walls, thinking of the space he had left for Amanda's artwork to adorn once she moved in. Now they seemed like blinding signs of his brain telling him "I told you so" and "what? did you really think she loved you?" He walked toward the front of the house, which held a small library and study. As he sat at his computer, he thought back to his meeting with Blair earlier in the day.
She had been the last person whom he expected to hear from when he picked up the phone, but he was pleasantly surprised that she needed his help. He also knew Elle paid good money to good writers, so he selfishly thought about the new tile he needed for the upstairs bathroom when he agreed to meet her. He was truly surprised by her request though. While he loved Brooklyn, he never would have thought of it for inspiration for a fashion spread, let alone one which Blair was creating. He had to admit that he was excited to show her around and more excited to show off his house, which had been his pride and joy over the past year. He pulled up Facebook and typed in her name. Her profile came up, looking exactly as it has the last several times he had searched her out. She obviously wasn't one to ramble on about her daily goings-on, as there were no status updates posted. Only a few fashion links and chat between her and Serena about making plans for dinner. He looked at the profile picture and found his heart beating a little faster at the smiling face he saw. There was always something that seemed unfinished to him about their relationship, and he was anxious to see how the next day played out and if their banter was as easy as it had been years ago. He closed the page and pulled up a story he had begun editing earlier that day. As he sat in the dark room he smiled fondly at the friendship they had started long ago and thought hopefully to the next day.