Hey guys,

Thank you to all the people that commented on the last chapter, this one is dedicated to all of you :)

I think this is tons better and is really setting a nice scene for the rest of the story, so please keep reading and please R&R

xoxo Lauren

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gossip Girl, it's a ashame I know. I do have a Gossip Girl poster however which is all minnneee :)


|C3|

Blair Waldorf's dress was too flowing.

She examined herself from top to bottom in the mirror and sighed. It was too flowing and it made her look frumpy and...

"B! I love that dress where did you get it?" Serena Van Der Woodsen ran up to her bestfriend with a grin on her face gushing at the red dress that clung to Blair. Blair almost rolled her eyes. She was sure her bestfriend was just trying to make up for all the weeks she had been away, and the smile on her face was almost a hundred percent fake.

"Thanks S, it was a present." She settled on, and gestured towards the door with her head, "We should go join the party. How's it going with daddy Van Der Woodsen?"

It was Serena's turn to roll her eyes but the smile on her face shone slightly brighter, "Perfect. He's perfect Blair. You're right that's get back out there."

Blair nodded, and the two girl headed out of the bathroom and back into the Humphrey/Van Der Woodsen house. Blair hadn't particularly wanted to come. It was Jenny Humphrey's 17th birthday party and she wasn't exactly friends with the young blonde.

But Serena had almost forced her into her red dress and out her dorm, claiming that she needed her bestfriend by her side after Jenny had tried to kiss Serena's boyfriend Nate. Blair didn't comment that she had needed her bestfriend by her side once she had broken up with Chuck. She didn't have the strength to.

"Blair."

Dan Humphrey turned the corner and grabbed Blair Waldorf's arm, spinning her around and gently pulling her into a corner to talk. Serena, not seeing the interaction continued to walk further into the party before joining Nate.

"Since when did you touch me Humphrey?" Blair yanked her arm back, harder then she needed to since he wasn't holding on tightly and made a face of disgust, "I didn't take my decontamination pills this morning."

He sighed and stared at her too seriously. She rolled her eyes trying to make light of the situation but failing massively as Dan's mouth became an unwavering hard line on his face.

"Are you just going to act as if last week didn't happen?"

"You didn't see anything." She snapped quickly, "And if you tell a soul you did then I will make your life a complete misery, do you understand?"

"Blair, I'm not going to tell anyone!" He cried, almost in frustration. His hands flew up in a huff and then collapsed back to his side, "I just... I want you to talk to someone."

"And as much as I appreciate your concern cabbage-patch, I'm not really interested in what you want me to do. Now if you don't mind, I have friends that I need to be joining."

"No wait=" He was cut off by her turning and walking away.

"What did Dan want?" Serena asked once Blair had joined them again, causing Blair to stiffen again. She didn't want Humphrey telling his blonde-bomb-shell of an ex-girlfriend that her bestfriend was back to her old habit of emptying her stomach into a porcelain bowl.

"Just to talk." Blair settled on, "Where's the birthday girl?"

"She went to the ladies." Nate told her and smiled lightly, "How are you?"

Blair forced herself to smile, "Fine, thank you. What's with the integrations guys? Archibald and Van Der Woodsen VS Waldorf all of a sudden." She was scared, scared that Dan had already blabbed. She was already planning Humphrey's demise before Nate laughed.

"Just taking an interest Blair, why what have you got to hide?"

"Unlike certain people, I don't have daddy's lurking in closets." Blair attempted to joke, "Speaking of doctor VDW, here he comes S."

Serena spun around to be greeted by a tall figure of a man, with a genuine-looking smile on his strong features, "Hunny, can I talk to you for a second?"

Blair noticed that Serena barely managed a nod before walking off with her pristine parent in obvious awe of him. "She's lucky." Blair muttered, more to herself then her golden-haired ex-boyfriend standing next to her, "To have someone back in her life that cares for her."

Nate smiled softly and extended a hand to rub the top of Blair's arm comfortingly, "I'm glad you're doing ok Waldorf."

"Thanks Archibald." She nodded and stepped forward slightly to press her side into his arm for a light hug, "Thank you."

- xoxo -

Dan Humphrey was split. He was split between telling someone and being hurt by Blair Waldorf, and not telling anyone and letting Blair Waldorf hurt herself.

He could see the blonde that he once called his soul-mate standing across the room talking to the man that had placed an indefinite divide between his dad and step-mother. He could easily tell her, hope that she helps her brunette bestfriend onto the road of recovery and then move on with his life as if he hadn't seen her fragile figure being poured out into an open bowl.

But it wasn't as easy as that. God, he wished it was. But the sad truth was that it wasn't. He would betray Blair by telling Serena, and he didn't want to cause her anymore pain then she was already in.

He was wondering around the room, asking people if he had seen Blair when he noticed Chuck Bass standing across the room with a drink in one hand, the other stuffed into his pocket, and two more hands of a brunette girl clinging onto his shoulder.

She was obviously whispering sweet nothings into ear, but Chuck was too busy staring at someone else across the room. Dan followed his gaze until his own eyes landed on the red-dressed brunette and he quickly hurried to her before he would loose her in the crowd.

"Urgh!" Blair Waldorf cried in annoyance when she saw Dan join her again, "You again, are you stalking me or something?"

She forced herself to smile at him and he forced himself to smile back.

"Yes Waldorf, I got out my spy goggles and tracked you down." He rolled his eyes, "Listen Blair..."

"Dan, I don't want to talk about it." She finally said with a small sigh and shake of the head, "It's not something that I'm proud off."

"Then why?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

"No. But it might help."

"I'm not sick."

"I never said you were."

"Well I'm not, and I don't want you help."

"You might need it." He finally said and she stared at him softly. She didn't understand why he would want to help her. No one else cared. Serena was too busy with her dad, Nate had his own problems and her parents were off, half-way across the world. Why was Dan Humphrey of all people interested?

"Not now." She finally said and he nodded with another soft smile.

"Want to dance?" He finally said, "I didn't show you all my moves at Dorota's wedding."

Dan began to move his legs and arms to the beat causing Blair to laugh almost hysterically.

"Why am I standing next to you? Why must I do this to myself?" She cried, but didn't protest when he grabbed her arms and started making her dance too. Because he made her laugh.

Pure and Simple love. She shook her head to get rid of the thought that occurred to her.

- xoxo-

Blair Waldorf was reapplying her eyeliner.

The dance with Humphrey had made her go red and she was sure, with the dress she was wearing especially, that it wasn't the most appealing colour on her skin at that moment.

She was walking out of the bathroom after cooling off and making herself look presentable again when she collided with someone she hadn't spoken to in over a month.

"Waldorf." She hated how her name slid of his lips as if only he was meant to say them.

"Bass." She replied the greeting and tried to move past him, but he stepped to the side to block her way. She huffed with annoyance, crossing her arms to her chest and raising an eyebrow, "What do you want Bass?"

"Stop flirting with Humphrey." He finally said, causing her eyebrows to furrow together and her mouth open slightly.

"For you information, firstly, every time I talk to someone of the opposite sex I'm not trying to get under their pants, unlike you. And secondly, don't think that you can tell me what I can and can't do." She grounded her teeth, "Now if you don't mind, I'm bored, and I'd rather stare at a fly on a wall then continue this very interesting conversation with you."

"I never knew you would sink low enough as to like lonely boy." Chuck wouldn't let her past, "I didn't realise your standards could drop that fast. Or that you'd shamelessly publicise it to everyone."

"Really? I had no problem doing it with you, and well, you're much lower down then Humphrey, and that's saying something."

"Blair." He shook his head and she sighed, the silence that followed lingered for too long.

"I'm sorry Chuck but..." She shrugged, "You don't get to decide the things in my life for me, I mean, we're over, so if I want to be friends with Dan Humphrey or whoever then I will."

He also laughed but then sighed, "I said it before and I'll say it again we're inevitable Waldorf."

"And there Chuck you have the reason we don't work. You take us for granted."

She walked off then, not letting him talk and collapsed against a waiting wall. She heard him walk off after a minute and then forced herself back into the bathroom crying. She hadn't realised a new set of footsteps had walked into the scene and watched her crying with sad eyes.

She had emptied her sorrow out into the porcelain bowl. Emptied out the hatred she felt for Chuck because he took her love for granted. Hatred for herself because she couldn't forgive him even though her heart was screaming for her to. Emptied her feelings until she felt she had regained control.

When she fell back exhausted, and shaking and crying against the wall she had lost all of her energy. So when she realised Dan Humphrey stood hesitantly beside the door she didn't run away. She couldn't make herself run away from the fact she had a problem anymore.

"You really do like girls bathrooms don't you Humphrey" She croaked, and brushed a tear from her eye, "Be careful some old woman doesn't see you in here and beat you with her hand bag."

He took a deep breathe and walked in, "What are you doing Blair?"

"Serena always said you had a white knight tendency, don't think you can do that here."

"I've never played the white knight." Dan told her quietly, he knelt down and sat beside her. She remembered a scene from two years ago when he had followed her and comforted her and told her about his mum even though they were meant to despise each other. They had sat in the same way back then, time seemed to stand still around them.

"You know Blair, everyone has different ways of dealing with emotions."

"Oh here comes the heart felt cheesy story that's meant to make me see the error of my ways." She groaned and rolled her eyes, her head fell back against the wall, "Save it Humphrey. Dr Greene had the same story to tell 4 years ago."

"I write stories." He continued through her sarcastic comments, "Serena gets drunk, Nate shoots hoops and Chuck collects even more numbers for his little black book." He noticed her twitch at the last remark.

"And I shove two fingers down my throat." She laughed almost sadistically, "What's your point Humphrey?"

"My point is that you think this is normal Blair." He furrowed his eyebrows, "And that's not good because as soon as this becomes daily it becomes a real, true, life threatening problem."

She felt the tears ready to explode and scrunched her face up, "I've got nothing." She finally croaked, "I lost Chuck, and I hate NYU, my parents don't give a crap about me, Serena's too busy with her dad, Nate's got Columbia and I'm all alone. This is the only way I can handle my emotions."

She pushed her face into her hands, distraught to be letting her soul out to Daniel Humphrey in a girls toilet floor. She didn't expect for him to put his arm around her and push her head into his chest.

"You know Blair," He took a deep breathe in, "I can't believe you can't see what you have, you are so lucky. Your dad would do anything for you, Serena and Nate love you to bits, they're great bestfriends, and NYU is fix able, if you really don't like it there then turn your life around Blair. You're the only person that can determine your own happiness. And as for Chuck Bass..." Dan shrugged slightly, "I'm sorry that you lost someone that you loved so much, but you need to be able to move on Blair because it happens all the time in life. Look at me and Serena or you and Nate. Love comes and goes, you'll be able to find someone else. Hurting yourself isn't helping you, trust me, things will get better."

She looked up with a tear strained face at the speaking dark haired boy and he wiped her tears with the his hands and she laughed.

"Cheesy speech over yet Humphrey?" She joked, but he could tell she was grateful for it. He laughed too.

"I think I have a gift." He pointed his chin up as if to play all high and mighty, "I could get a job as the new Jeremy Kyle."

"The Daniel Humphrey Show." Blair laughed again, "You'd get thousands of hits a day of people laughing at you."

He rolled his eyes, "Great to have you back Blair, really, great."

She smiled at him again, "Thank you." She whispered and he nodded softly.

"Anytime Waldorf. Anytime."


Hope you guys like this chapter :)

I have loads of plans for loads more so keep on waiting for updates, as they will be coming :D

Thank you again to all the readers and reviewers, it makes it worth writing!

Lauren xo