Chapter Two of the rewrite, only slight changes have been made to the storyline
Chapter Two: The Wild Brunch
She pulled up the roller door separating the two bedrooms. She hadn't expected Jeremy to be awake, but there he was sitting hunched over his desk by the door scribbling something down. He looked up briefly when the door came to a stop but quickly looked back down at his page.
"Oh, you're up" she said.
He smiled to himself but didn't look up. He exchanged his blue pencil for one of a darker shade.
"And you're checking up on me" he said "I'm okay just like I was okay when you asked me at the party, in the cab, when we got home, before and after I brushed my teeth" he dropped his pencil looking up at her "I just feel really…..stupid"
He stood up and moved to sit on the end of his bed.
"How could I think that Chuck Bass actually just wanted to talk to me?"
"Because you trust people, which is normally a good thing" she told him.
He wasn't stupid, just naïve especially compared to their peers. Even though she was supposedly the brains of the family Jeremy himself was rather smart, just in a different kind of way.
"Yeah, except when it involves Chuck" he said with a sigh.
"Pretty much" she said moving to pull down the roller door.
"But the real question is, how are you?" Jeremy asked. She paused, hands gripping the top of the door.
"Me?" she asked "why wouldn't I be okay?"
"You know at the end of the night with the…." He trailed off, raising a hand to mimic her awkward wave from the previous night.
"Was it really that bad?" she asked.
They'd shared an awkward goodbye in the cab and when Sebastian climbed out Jeremy urged her to walk with him to his door but by the time she reached the door it slammed in her face, sending her flailing backwards. The cab started moving again and Jeremy started telling him to stop, he did, hitting the brakes too hard and sending them back hard into their seats and attracting Sebastian's attention.
They were arguing about the possibility of her having brain damage ("god I think I have brain damage now", "you wouldn't even know if you were brain damaged Danni!") when Sebastian appeared in the window.
She raised a hand and waved. He looked confused, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"Let's just go" Jeremy said, listing off their address for the cab driver. They sped off, leaving Sebastian standing on the street alone.
…
"She waved?" Erica asked when he told her the story, she looked down at her own hand "I didn't take her for a waver"
"I think she was just trying to be funny" he told her, crossing the length of the room in quick movements.
"Maybe she's shy?" Erica suggested.
"Or she hated me" Sebastian replied.
Erica rolled her eyes, leaning back in the arm chair she was sitting in.
"No girl in the history of the world has ever hated you"
….
"He probably thinks I hate him now" Danni said with a groan, pacing the length of her bedroom floor "I've waited my entire adolescent life for a date with this guy, its Sebastian Van Der Woodsen you know and I decided to close the evening with a wave"
"It was a nice wave" Jeremy replied.
He was lying on his own bed, pushed up on his elbows watching her.
"At the end of the date?" she asked pausing, hands on her hips and meeting his gaze "no such thing"
She stepped into his room, falling down into his armchair, tucking her legs up beneath her.
"You only get one shot with a guy like Sebastian, I got mine and I blew it" she said
"Only means you've got nothing to lose" Jeremy reasoned, sitting up a little more.
"Nothing but my last shred of dignity"
"Oh no, I think that's gone" he told her with a smirk.
"You're right" she said after a moment of silence "you know what, I'm just going to go talk to him, I'm going to apologize for the wave and ask for a second shot, no I'm going to get a second shot"
"Yeah, you are" Jeremy said, smiling at her.
"Yeah" she said with a nod heading for their front door.
"Wait" Jeremy called stopping her in her tracks "I love the plan, but you need a better outfit and maybe a shower"
She looked down at the old t-shirt and sweatpants she'd pulled on. Yeah he was probably right.
…
"It was probably for the best" Sebastian admitted crossing his arms over his chest "the last thing I need right now is another girl"
He sat down on the edge of Erica's bed, uncrossing his arms.
"She was just so smart though and funny" he admitted.
"It sounds like you like her" Erica pointed out.
He'd really liked her. He'd thought their date had went well, apart from the bit at the end involving Chuck Bass.
"And nice, she was really nice" he added before changing the subject, he couldn't talk about her any longer it was doing his head in "god, Blaine was so…. mean last night, I don't even know why, I'm sure we can work it out, maybe I should just go over"
….
She pulled up the roller door again, now appropriately dressed for her mission.
"Better?" she asked her brother, holding out her arms to highlight her outfit, it was nothing particularly special, just a nice dress and a pair of flats. The best she could do on short notice.
"Definitely second shot material" he said with a nod.
"Good, I'm going to go now" she told him, pausing as she crossed into his room "oh, um, if you want to talk to someone about last night, someone who's not you sister, just let me know"
He nodded his understanding. She was almost at the door when he called after her.
"Hey, wait there actually is someone I want to talk to!"
Their father caught them a few minutes later as they headed out the door. He was bringing in a bag of groceries that he'd bought.
"Hey, where are you two going?" he'd asked "I was going to make waffles"
"Sorry dad" she told him.
"Can't" Jeremy added.
"But I wanted to hear about your date" he said nodding towards Danni
"Later" she told him.
"And your party" Rufus said jerking his head towards Jeremy.
"When I get home" he said.
"You missed a really good show" he called after him "and I make really good waffles"
…..
He was in the midst of frustrating search for a pair of shoes in his mess of a room when his mother walked in, knocking on the wall to grab his attention. He looked up and she waved the pair of shoes in her hand before tossing them to him. He caught them and nodded gratefully, sitting on the end of his bed.
"I can't find anything in here" he told her.
"It might help if you unpacked" she said, running a hand over the cardboard flap of a nearby box "you're home now, this is your life start living it"
"This isn't home" he told her pulling on the shoes "this is a hotel, which we're living in because you decided that you didn't like the colour of our walls in our real home"
He stood up, slipping his cell phone into his pocket and heading out of his room.
"I've got to go, I'm going to see Blaine" he told his mother.
After last night's event at the Kiss on the Lips party, he really needed to see how things were with Blaine. He wanted his friend back. Although he was popular at school Blaine's was probably his only actual friend at the moment
"Don't be late for brunch!" his mother called after him.
"I won't"
….
He'd tried to call Blaine on his way to the Waldorf's, to give him some warning, but the other boy wasn't answering. He told himself that he was probably just asleep but something felt wrong.
"I'm on my way over" he said, finishing his last voicemail and jumping into a cab outside the Palace Hotel.
…..
Danni missed Sebastian by mere seconds, not that either of them even realised. His cab begun to drive away as she walked towards the Palace Hotel.
The same man as before was at the desk when she walked into the hotel. She really wasn't looking forward to dealing with his frosty demeanour. She took in a deep breath and waved, she really had to stop waving, it was becoming a bad habit.
"Hey!" she greeted "I was in yesterday with um…Sebastian"
"How could I forget" the man shot back obviously not pleased to see her.
"I was just wondering if he was here?" she asked
"You just missed him actually, but you're welcome to wait" he said pointing out the row of nearby chairs.
"Ok, I'll do that" she nodded moving to sit down.
She really shouldn't have been surprised to see Nat Archibald and Mrs Van Der Woodsen in the lobby minutes later apparently Mrs Van Der Woodsen wasn't surprised to see her. She wondered maybe if she'd somehow done something to offend the woman or was it just that she didn't think she was good enough to be seen with her son?
"Ah, I had a feeling I'd see you again" she said "Danielle is it?"
"Yes" she nodded rising from the chair "it's nice to see you again Mrs Van Der Woodsen, I hope you had nice twenty one hours since I last saw you"
"Yes it has been very pleasant" she shot back "until now"
Yep, Sebastian's mother really didn't like her. She wondered if she would be around long enough to have a chance to change that. Mrs Van Der Woodsen soon left leaving Nat and Danielle alone, staring at each both uncomfortably silent.
"Hey" Nat said after a while
"Hey" Danielle replied.
Natalie didn't seem to be in the talking mood as she simply moved to sit on the chair next to the one that Danielle had previously been occupying. Danielle followed suit and sat back down.
…
"Hey, Blaine" Sebastian called out as he stepped off the elevator into the Waldorf's penthouse. It was almost like old times, he almost expected to see Harold Waldorf walk into the room to greet him as he often did.
"What are you doing here?" Blaine asked appearing at the top of the staircase and beginning to descend it "I didn't invite you over"
"It's Sunday" Sebastian pointed out waking towards the foot of the stairs "I always come over on Sunday morning, it's a tradition"
"Not anymore" he said, voice decidedly cold, sitting on the nearby lounge "I think you should leave"
"What's going on?" Sebastian asked him "I thought everything was good between us?"
"It was, until I found out you had sex with my girlfriend" he said, he looked him dead in the eye as if daring him to deny it.
"How did you find out?" Sebastian asked, dropping his voice. He'd known it was all going to come out sooner or later but honestly he'd really thought it was going to be later, after he'd had a chance to prove that he wasn't the same Sebastian Van Der Woodsen as the one that had left New York a year before.
"Nat told me" he said as he stood up "she thought I deserved to know the truth, from now stay away – stay away from me, stay away from my friend and stay the hell away from Nat"
….
After the concierge shot her what felt like the hundredth glare Danni gave up on waiting inside for Sebastian and headed outside, hoping to catch Sebastian coming home. She wouldn't wait too much longer she decided, it was verging on pathetic. Even Danni herself knew that was a lie, she'd probably wait all day if she had to, she'd waited years already.
Danni was fond of those little white lies she told herself, she supposed it was something she'd picked up from her father who'd spent months after his wife took off to Hudson telling everyone it was only for her art and definitely not because of their failing marriage.
Nat was standing on the outside of the open gates of the hotel, rocking back and forth on her heels.
"What do you need to talk to Sebastian about?" Danni asked her.
According to the infamous Gossip Girl – which okay yeah she did actually read – Sebastian and Nat had had a 'thing', the anonymous blogger hadn't gone into much detail at all, preferring to drop subtle hints. Gossip Girl was fond of hinting, sometimes Danni liked to imagine the blogger sitting in their lair in front of a laptop cackling to themselves as they posted another piece of gossip.
"Nothing" Nat was quick to reply turning to face her rather than the street "just in the neighbourhood, you?"
"I was – uh- not in the neighbourhood, but I am trying to come up with a better excuse" she replied, sure she was good at lying to herself not so much to other people.
"So, are you two – uh – you know…"
"Oh I-I-I don't know" she admitted after she'd caught onto what Nat was talking about.
"Yeah" Nat said with a small laugh and a shake of her head "that's Sebastian, with him you'll never know"
It was like she was warning her, 'get out while you still can'. Danni didn't want to believe her, surely Nat must just be jealous, but she'd seen all the Gossip Girl blasts about Sebastian and she was left with a niggling worry in the pit of her stomach.
"Nathalia!" Charlotte Bass called from behind them, causing them both to turn to look at the source of the voice. Danni turned her head back quickly, hoping Charlotte hadn't seen her the last thing she needed today was a confrontation with the girl, although she couldn't help but feel a slight sense of satisfaction upon noticing the sunglasses the girl was wearing to cover her assumed black eye.
"There you are" she said "what are you doing?"
"Nothing" Nat told her walking towards her friend "just waiting for you"
Danni looked over her shoulder at the pair accidently catching Charlotte's eye.
"Her" she said, she dropped the warm tone she'd used to greet her friend swapping it for a rather dark, angry voice. She pulled off her sunglasses revealing the black eye.
"What are you doing here?" Charlotte asked.
"Why, what is this your hotel?" Danni sarcastically replied.
"Actually it is" Nat replied and of course it was. She stepped in front of Charlotte as though she was afraid a fight would break out and honestly Danni wasn't all that surprised she wasn't really a violent person but there was something about Charlotte 'Chuck' Bass that made Danni really want to punch her.
"So I'm going to have to ask you to stand on the curb with the rest of the trash" Charlotte hissed from behind Nat and the desire to punch her intensified.
"Trash?" she asked "I'm from Brooklyn not the Ozarks, no offence to the Ozarks, don't you think you're taking this class warfare thing a little too far?"
"I haven't even started!" Charlotte exclaimed and although she was attempting to appear threatening the effect was greatly diminished by the fact that Nat was still standing in between them.
"We're going now" Nat suddenly said turning to her friend, shoving her lightly in the direction of the hotel doors.
"This is not over!" Charlotte called as they left.
….
She had taken to follow the circular pattern of tiles outside of the hotel, placing one foot carefully in front of the other with her arms out for balance, to occupy herself while waiting for Sebastian. She was doing this when he finally returned and was so distracted focusing on her footing that she completely missed him walking up behind her.
He tapped her on the shoulder and she turned sharply, stumbling into him. He grabbed her forearms to stop her from falling and she tried to recover quickly, flicking her hair over her shoulder and smiling but was acutely aware of the fact she'd just made a complete and utter fool of herself.
"You okay?" he asked.
She nodded and looked down at her arms which he was still holding he followed her gaze and upon realising quickly pulled his hands away.
"Sorry" he muttered sheepishly.
"Its fine" she told him, it hadn't bothered her at all really she'd still been worried about him thinking her a fool.
"So, uh, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I was just in the neighbourhood-"turns out she really couldn't think of a better excuse "- give or take seventy blocks"
He laughed at her joke and she relaxed a little.
"I just wanted to come apologize to your face last night about the way our – uh – date ended, the, um, the wave? I was thinking about it all morning and I-I, are you hungry?" she asked.
"Yes actually" he replied "I could do with some food"
"Good" Sebastian's mother, Lily, cut in as she walked towards them "just in time for brunch"
"Mom" he told her "it's really not a good idea for me to go to this brunch"
"Oh Sebastian" she said as if she'd said it a thousand times before "you promised"
"Well that was…" he trailed off looking over at Danni "before I knew that Danni was hungry too, I can't let the poor girl starve"
"That would be inhumane" Danni said with a quick nod, playing along.
"She's not invited" his mother pointed out.
"And that is why I am going with her" he shot back.
"Because I can't go with him" Danni added.
"What is it going to take to get you dressed and through that door?" his mother asked exasperated.
…..
Turns out the thing that would get Sebastian to that brunch was Danni which meant found herself standing in the doorway of the Palace Hotel Ballroom by Sebastian Van Der Woodsen staring at the most extravagant looking brunch she could have ever imagined.
He gripped her hand and squeezed it before dropping it as they stepped into the room together.
….
"Well I can't say much about his child rearing skills but Bart Bass certainly knows how to throw a brunch" Danni was saying as she observed the array of extravagant foods on the table in front of her. Sebastian smiled until he noticed Nat standing behind them. She jerked her head towards the door in a 'come with me' gesture and only repeated this gesture when he shook his head no.
"I have to go to the men's room" he told Danielle, placing a hand on her upper arm "you'll be alright by yourself won't you?"
"Yeah um, me and some Beluga Caviar?" she told him "it'll be great"
"Ok" Sebastian nodded before darting away.
'I'll be fine' Danielle repeated in her head 'I'll be fine' she stopped her mantra when she spotted Charlotte Bass glaring at her. Yeah, it probably wasn't going to be fine.
…..
Nat watched him as he headed towards the door, following him seconds later.
"We need to talk" she started.
"No" he snapped "I need to talk to you, which means you listen, what the hell were you thinking Nat? You told Blaine, why would you do that?"
They'd had their rough patches throughout the years but Blaine had always been his best friend. They'd always made up after every betrayal and every fight, every damn time and maybe he was deluding himself in believing that he'd be able to somehow smooth this one over but Nat could've at least given him a chance, because now instead of being the apologetic, remorseful best friend he's the jackass who not only slept with his best friend's girlfriend but just kept lying and lying about it right to said best friends face.
She could've at least told him that she was going to tell him and not let him step into that particular minefield without any warning whatsoever.
"I want to explain but we can't talk here" she said eyeing the nearby open door that they'd just walked out of, he slipped a hotel key card into his jacket pocket "I'll meet you up in Chuck's suite in ten minutes, just to talk"
And with that she turned back into the ballroom leaving Sebastian standing alone with the key card.
….
He shouldn't have come, he should've just stayed down at the brunch with Danni, but no he just had to come up to Chuck's suite didn't he. They hadn't done anything, they were only going to talk but yet he felt incredibly guilty.
"Nat?" he asked, standing up when he heard the door open.
Nat wasn't alone, Blaine was with him and if looks could kill he'd be dead a thousand times over.
"Sebastian"
…...
"What is he doing here?" Blaine snapped staring straight at Sebastian, advancing toward him but talking to Nat.
"I was meeting Nat" he told him. There was no use in lying, it would only make thing worse.
"Just to talk, I swear" Natalie tried to explain grabbing hold of Blaine arm.
"You said you'd never speak to him again!" he snapped
"You said that?" Sebastian asked her "why would you say that?"
He never thought that Nat would be so willing to cut off all contact with him.
"Because you can't be trusted" Blaine said turning his attention back on him
"It's not Sebastian's fault" Nat tried
"Do not defend him!" he snapped
"I asked him to come" she tried to explain.
"Oh, so you do want to talk to him again?" Blaine questioned.
"Yes!" Nat exclaimed "to explain…why I'm not talking to him"
"Maybe I'll leave you two to finish that fascinating conversation" Blaine snapped sarcastically already heading for the door.
"No" Sebastian cut in, angrily "I'll go, let you guys get back to your quickie"
"It wasn't a quickie!" Blaine exclaimed "sex is actually a big deal to some of us!"
"Oh yeah I can see that" he shot back sarcastically "Chuck's bed, very romantic, classy too"
"Oh like you?" he scoffed heading for the door "oh, I bet your new friend Danielle would love to hear about how classy you are"
"Danielle?" he asked. He wouldn't would he? The hateful look that Blaine shot him as he closed the door told him that he definitely would. Danielle would probably never speak to him again if she learnt about half the stuff he'd done.
"You really think he would tell her?" he asked turning to Nat
"It's Blaine" she pointed out; they both knew what he was capable of.
They both left the room together hoping to catch up with Blaine before he could find Danielle.
"I can't believe you told him!" he snapped as they ran, chasing after Blaine
"You just expected me to keep it a secret?" she asked angrily.
"Yes Nat!" he shot back "there's nothing wrong with keeping a secret if it stops people from getting hurt"
"That's a hell of a way to look at it"
"Oh I'm sorry" he snapped sarcastically "I didn't realise that all of a sudden you're the most honest person on the planet!"
…..
Danielle hadn't seen Sebastian in a while, too long for just a dash to the bathroom and honestly she had begun to grow worried. She headed outside hoping he'd be out there. He wasn't. But his mother was. She was having a conversation with Bart Bass, a conversation that seemed to be about the two of them having a relationship. Lilly caught her eye and broke away from Bart.
Danielle caught her eye and quickly turned around heading back inside hoping to get away from what she'd seen. But Lilly followed.
"Danielle wait" she said as she caught up to her "I really don't appreciate your lurking in the shadows eavesdropping on my private conversation"
She was tempted to tell her that if she wanted to have a private conversation she probably shouldn't have had it outside a busy hotel but held back, she was already on very thin ice with Sebastian's mother, there was no need to make it worse.
"No, I wasn't" she argued "I was looking for Sebastian"
"Well I don't see him" Lilly said "do you?"
"No" Danielle told her shaking her head "which is why I was looking"
"I don't know what you're doing here or what you think you heard…"
"Nothing, I heard nothing" Danielle lied; she'd heard everything but was willing to pretend she didn't.
"But Sebastian doesn't know" Lilly told her
"Well neither do I" she assured her "so if you'll excuse me I'm going to go back inside, not tell anyone a thing and mind my own business okay?"
"Okay"
…
When she got back inside she still couldn't see Sebastian anywhere and was actually starting to wonder if she'd been ditched. Blaine Waldorf walked into the room looking flustered and looking around for someone, apparently her because when she caught sight of her he straightened up and walked over.
"Danielle?" he asked holding out his hand for her to shake "I'm Blaine, Blaine Waldorf, Sebastian's friend"
"Oh hey" she greeted shaking his hand "do you know where he is?"
"As a matter of fact I.."
He was cut off by Sebastian who finally arrived followed by Natalie.
"Blaine" he said.
"Sebastian, there you are where were you?" she asked.
"He was waiting in a hotel room for my girlfriend" Blaine cut in.
"To talk" Sebastian explained.
"About why we weren't talking" Natalie added.
"That doesn't sound any smarted the second time" Blaine said.
"Why weren't you talking?" Danielle asked thoroughly confused when she was met with only an awkward silence she added, looking at Natalie "does this have anything to do with why you were waiting for Sebastian this morning?"
"What?" Blaine snapped sounding appalled by this new information.
"I thought you were waiting for me" Charlotte said joining the group.
"Oh exactly what this situation needs: Chuck" Danielle said sarcastically. She was still very angry with the other girl about the previous night and really didn't want to deal with her but apparently she was just not going away.
"What's going on?" Danielle asked.
"We were just getting to that" Blaine spoke up a smirk on his face.
"Blaine" Sebastian tried "please, don't do this"
"Sorry" he said, obviously not sorry "did you want to tell her?" he jerked his head towards Danielle.
"I'll tell" Charlotte cut in.
"You know?" both Nat and Blaine asked, Sebastian already knew he knew and Danielle still had no idea what was going on.
"I know everything" she said.
"And apparently I know nothing" Danielle added.
"Look, Danielle" Sebastian started "it was a long time ago and I regret it…"
"Sebastian" Chuck cut in "stop trying to pretend you're a good guy, so you slept with your best friend's girlfriend, I kind of admire you for it"
Sebastian didn't have anything to say in reply, but his guilty face said it all.
"Is that true?" Danielle asked him
"Yes" Blaine cut in when Sebastian didn't say anything "and then he ran away and lied about it, I just thought you should know, before you fall head over heels for you perfect guy in his perfect world and then get left alone with nobody but your cabbage patch kid"
He was looking at her like one would look at a small pathetic animal, like a tiny bunny that you just can't help but feel sorry for because they just look so vulnerable and instantly she felt sick.
"Cabbage patch?" Nat asked.
"Have you talked to my brother?" she asked him. How else would he know about her cabbage patch kid?
"Ah yes" Chuck smirked "little Jeremy, I do believe he and I have some unfinished business"
She moved past Blaine so that she was standing in front of the other girl.
"You stay away from him" she warned
"I might just pay little Humphrey a visit" Charlotte replied with a smirk and the urge to punch her was back "pick up where we left off"
"Stay away" she repeated through gritted teeth.
She turned, she had to get out of there before she did something really stupid, and smashed right into a waiter with a tray of drinks knocking the both of them over sending glass and orange juice spraying across the ballroom floor.
So much for getting out of there before she did something stupid.
The room feel quiet and if she could find it in her to lift her head she was almost certain that she'd see that everyone was looking in her direction. She slowly picked herself up off the floor, careful to avoid the glass shards.
"I'm sorry" she said to the room before rushing for the door.
….
"Danni, wait!" Sebastian called after her as she hurried towards the hotel gates "Danni, stop, I'm sorry"
"There's no need to be" she told him as she came to a stop, turning around to face him, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear and trying to hide how upset she had become although she was pretty sure someone without eyes could probably notice.
"But I am, I'm really sorry about Blaine and Chuck okay?" he reached out to hold her arm but she stepped backwards to avoid his touch.
"It's not about them, well it is, it's not just about them" she said, taking another step away from him "I'm sorry, I really have to be going now, I shouldn't have even come in the first place, this was all a mistake"
She turned to leave leaving him wondering what exactly had she meant. Did she mean that today was a mistake or that they were a mistake?