Chapter 3

He had the feeling she had been avoiding him since the night they watched the movie. It was like she had realised she had removed her armour in front of him and now was afraid to face him. Dan knew, however, she would have no choice tonight. He, along with anyone who was anybody on the Upper East Side, was heading to the party Lily was throwing. He normally tried to get out of these things as much as he could but this time was different. He desperately wanted to see her again, even if just to make sure she was ok. Wow wasn`t that weird, caring about Blair Waldorf of all people.

He headed in the party and straight away was scanning the crowd looking amongst all of the people there only for her. There she was, dressed in the most radiant purple dress that seemed to stand out amongst the, Dan was sure, equally expensive and luxurious dresses around her. Just as he was about to go talk to her, Rufus cornered him, wanting to talk to the son he hadn`t seen for weeks. Dan tried to end the conversation as quickly as possible but by the time he freed himself Blair had disappeared from his sight.

Try as he might, Dan failed to catch sight of again throughout the evening. He had been there for a couple of hours and now, bored by other people`s attempts at making small talk, he decided to escape to the balcony so he could have some peace and quiet.

As he got out there, he realised he wasn't alone. Standing with her back to him was Blair, staring out at the Manhattan skyline. He went up to her and without saying a word just stood there by her side. She looked at him as if to say "What the hell are you doing here?" before returning to her motionless state.

"What`s wrong Blair?"

She stayed quiet for a few moments and just as Dan was about to give up on receiving a response she spoke up "I can't stand it in there right now. Usually I thrive in this sort of situation but today I just feel like screaming at all these people who keep asking annoying questions like "Who`s your date?" I don't have one ok!" She almost shouted these last few lines

"Well if it makes you feel any better I don't have one either," Dan chuckled to himself "and I'm just as bored as you are. Serena always drags me around to say hi to these people and then to those but she, of course, is still not talking to me."

"You can hardly blame her for not talking to you," Blair interjected "you did break up with her remember?"

Dan continued like she hadn't spoken "So do you want to get out of here for a bit?"

"And where do you suppose we go Humphrey?"

"You ever walked through Central Park at night?" he said grinning as he did so.

They had ended up giving up on their walk fairly shortly after they began, neither of them really dressed for walking and Blair's heels in particular making it difficult for her although her stubborn pride refused to let her admit so. Dan had sensed her pain however and take it upon himself to lead to her to a bench.

They were standing in front of it now, Blair looking down on it with something akin to disdain etched across her face.

"I really hope you don't expect me to sit on that Humphrey, this dress probably cost more than your loft!" she exclaimed.

Dan laughed but instead of saying anything just lay down his jacket on the bench and motioned for her to sit. Not used to that sort of kindness, Blair was shocked for a while so instead of coming up with another witty remark she sat down wordlessly.

They sat and talked for ages, finding out they had a lot more in common than they could possibly could have imagined. Neither of them, in Chuck and Serena respectively, had ever had someone who actually laughed at their obscure references from even more obscure movies. It just felt right and so time flew by, both of them forgetting about the harshness of the weather, warmed by their lively conversation.

Their bubble was burst by Dan`s phone going off, Rufus was ringing wondering just where he had disappeared to. Dan managed to avoid giving him an answer on that, simply saying he'll be there in a minute. He got up and turned to offer his hand to Blair. She took hold of it and pulled herself up without thinking about what she was doing.

Dan was just as surprised at her actions as she was but he decided not to comment instead just saying "We better head back then before more people realise we've left."

"Lead the way then Humphrey"