Flashback Chapter

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Dan and Serena had broken up mutually after the whole Rachel Carr incident, they had been doing really well at just being friends. Becoming each others, go to person. Serena would even call Dan for relationship advice. Some people believed that to be strange but Dan and Serena were best friends and they told each other everything. When they went their separate ways for college, they began to drift apart. A phone call everyday turned into every other day and eventually turned into once a week. Once a week turned into once every two weeks and before they knew it, they were lucky to get a text message from each other once in awhile. Serena always felt bad about it but to be honest she had nothing to say to him anymore. She had a boyfriend or two since and Dan always had something keeping him busy as well. After completing her first semester at Brown, Serena felt as though she may never talk to Dan again, until she got the phone call from principal Queller that she never expected. She was being called to get another chance at Yale. Queller let her know that even though she declined her acceptance, Yale was hoping that she may want to reconsider for her second year. Serena was stunned she had no idea they wanted her to attend there so badly. After all she did think that Blair was the better choice. She spoke with Yale and asked if she could have a few days to think about it. She called Blair on several occasions asking what she should do.

"DO IT!" Blair demanded. "Come here and be with me…I miss you soo much!"

Serena was tempted. When she had gotten her acceptance the year before she was thrilled, but Blair's happiness was more important to her. The only thing she had left to worry about was Dan. She wasn't exactly sure how she would be around him. Barely speaking for nearly six months didn't seem to constitute being best friends all over again. Yale was a large place, she thought maybe she wouldn't see him at all. Serena was sadly mistaken and over her first two months at Yale they would walk by each other awkwardly, nodding, or saying hey, however that seemed to be the extent of their interactions. It almost made her sick to her stomach when she saw him. Dan had new friends, a new crowd. She emailed him when she accepted Yale, his only response was "Oh, very nice…maybe I'll see you around." See you around? Serena thought to herself. We were in love…I loved him, he loved me, we were and should still be a part of each others lives. Blair convinced her that things had changed and she shouldn't get worked up about it. When Rufus and Lily didn't work out, Serena was relieved but she wasn't sure why. Dan had moved on, it wasn't like they were going to get back together anyway. Over time Serena had moved on and was sort of dating a nice enough guy named Sean. It was awkward when Sean and Serena would walk by Dan. They would advert their eyes from each other and walk by without saying a word. It always seemed like they were in slow motion. They could never walk by fast enough.

"Whoa, that guy just gave you a look." Grace looked over her book at Serena. Grace was Serena's new friend/ room mate. Serena found her fun and easy to relate to. Grace had lived on the Upper East Side all her life and had parents that could care less where she was or what she did. Except for going to Yale, that was something positive her parents could brag about.

"Seriously, do you know that guy, cause he totally just gave you the eye." she persisted.

"You have no idea!" Blair took over before Serena could answer.

"That's Dan." Serena looked away ashamed.

"THAT'S DAN!" Grace shouted.

Blair and Serena "SHHHH-ed" her

Grace rolled her eyes and spoke more quietly. "Jeez S, you didn't tell me he went to Yale! I pictured him being kinda dumb,…you also didn't tell me that he's a total cutie!"

Serena smiled awkwardly. "No he's brilliant and…" she took a deep breath

"A total cutie." she said painfully. It was true, he seemed to be getting better looking.

"Yeah but he's from Brooklyn." Blair scrunched her nose.

Grace's eyes bulged out of her head and she burst out laughing not believing that Blair could be so cruel and funny at the same time. Serena however didn't laugh, she watched Dan talk with a girl and felt an uncontrollable urge to drop kick her.

"Alright, I'm off…I'll be home around 8 tonight." Grace let Serena know.

"Me too." Blair said throwing her large bag over her shoulder. Serena said bye to the girls and continued reading over her notes.

Dan noticed Serena sitting alone and sat down beside her "How are ya?" Serena looked up to the familiar deep voice. She couldn't believe he was actually sitting with her.

"Good" she smiled widely. "How are you?"

"Wonderful." he smiled back at her.

Just then Sean walked up towards Serena not looking too happy that she was sitting with Dan.

"Hey beautiful" he kissed her on the cheek and looked directly at Dan. An attempt to show his property.

"Sean, this is Dan" she introduced the two. Dan held out his hand, but Sean wasn't feeling too friendly. Instead, he nodded giving him a cold stare. Dan knew how to take a hint but stayed to see what would happen. After Sean had given Dan the jealous glare too many times to count, he stood up. Amused that he had made Sean jealous he gave Serena a wink and walked off. Serena smiled at the wink to Sean's displease.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

It was Valentines day and Blair had been more excited than ever. She had planned a small party at her apartment and was hoping Serena would be over to help her plan it.

"Ok, so come over an hour early to help me set up." Blair sounded serious.

"Why cant you hire someone for that." Serena joked.

"…" Blair didn't appreciate Serena joking about her party.

"Ok, be there in 45." she hung up the phone just as the doorbell rang.

She opened the door to her dorm room.

"Flowers for Miss, Serena Vanderwoodsen" the young man smiled as he handed a huge bouquet of over 65 sunflowers and tiger lilies.

"Well thank you." she took the large arrangement from the delivery man and set them on the table in front of her. They were gorgeous, Serena was thrilled that Sean was so romantic.

She called him quickly to thank him. "I just got a little valentines day present from what seems to be my secret admirer." she played coy with him while looking at the huge petals.

"You did, did you?." He laughed.

"Very gorgeous."

"Well, you should check the card because I don't think your admirer is so secret." he joked

Serena quickly spun the flowers around looking for a card, but nothing was attached.

"Must have fallen off, but thank you very much, they're beautiful." She said genuinely

After getting off the phone for less than a minute the doorbell rang.

More surprised than ever, she saw another delivery man standing with a bouquet of 10 white roses, not as beautiful as her first bouquet but pretty none the less. she opened the card.

Dear Serena,

Happy Valentines day

Your not so secret admirer, Sean.

She was very confused now but she had a strange feeling to go outside and look for the card that may have fallen off her Sunflowers. Without any luck she was off to Blair's party. It was the usual Blair Waldorf party, only in a smaller apartment. Serena decided to leave once Chuck got there.

"Where's my Valentine?" he asked as he walked into Blair's apartment holding a huge bouquet of red roses. Blair ran up to him and kissed him. "Thank you!" she set the flowers on a nearby table. She turned back to Chuck who was now holding a medium sized flat box. She grabbed it from him unable to wait. "Oh my god!, it's beautiful. Put it on me." Chuck put the shiny diamond necklace on Blair's bare neck. She didn't wear anything on her neck that night, somehow knowing Chuck would change that. Serena didn't need to stick around for this. She took her coat and dashed. Once she got home she quickly changed her outfit hoping that it wasn't to late to call Sean.

"Fine, don't say hi" Grace laid on the couch eating a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream. Serena popped her head in the living room to see her.

"I didn't even know you were here." Serena said

"Yeah, I'm single on Valentines Day…What else do I have to do?" She dug her spoon into the tub.

"Aww Grace." Serena hugged her.

"I'm just going to go out for a couple hours, and then I will spend the rest of the night with you."

"Are you going to see Sean?" She asked being nosey.

"Yeah" Serena slipped on her shoes.

"Oh I almost forgot. there's a letter for you on the table, some delivery guy said it fell off you're flowers, he found it in his van" she handed the small pink card with Serena written on the envelope, she opened it without hesitation. The hand writing alone made Serena hold her breath.

Dear Serena,

I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day

I picked these flowers because I know they're your favourite and I wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you.

Love always, Dan xo

Serena felt butterflies in her stomach, She hadn't felt those for as long as she could remember. Just his name at the bottom of the letter made her feel tingly. She wasn't sure what she was about to do. She looked up from the letter.

"Um, Grace,… I might not be coming home tonight, don't wait up." she grabbed her bag and ran out the door.

"Great" Grace muttered to herself sarcastically.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

When she got to his apartment she felt like turning back. What was she doing there in the first place. He said that he was thinking of her, not that he wanted her back. She read the letter over and over trying to figure out what he meant. She knocked at the door completely unaware of what he would say or what she would do.

"Serena?" he looked like he saw a ghost. She looked beautiful standing before him in her long red dress.

"I'm still in love with you." she said immediately, her eyes pierced his.

Dan was shocked "Serena…" he had his jacket half way on.

"I tried to ignore it for so long, but I cant, and I shouldn't…we belong together and I don't want to be so forward, but I don't know what else to do. Last week I thought I moved on, but today when I got your flowers, it reminded me of what we used to have and how much I miss that." she felt her heart beating quickly.

"Well…" Dan began but Serena cut him off. "I'll go now, just think about it." she turned away, a few tears she was holding back escaped. She was surprised when Dan turned her around and caught them. "if you had given me a chance to say something you would know that I'm in love with you to, and I was on my way to see you" he kissed her lightly. Serena smiled.

"Tell me that if we go down this road, that we will never let this happen again, tell me that we were young and stupid and this will never happen ever again." Dan looked into Serena's teary eyes.

"never again." he whispered and pulled her into him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

They were back!

"Fancy seeing you here." Serena joked as she walked up to Dan who was loading cans of paint out of a truck. He walked up, kissed her quickly and went back to his paint cans. When college was over Dan bought himself a small loft in Brooklyn. It wasn't much but it was something he had wanted to do for quite sometime and after living away from his dad throughout college and moving back he realized he was too old to be living at home, even if Rufus didn't mind him staying. The weather was so humid and Dan really wished he had picked another day to paint the apartment. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I have three more walls, and then I'll put on some decent clothes and take you to some fancy place for dinner okay?" he tugged on his white wife beater.

"Do you want to come help me, It will take 30 minutes at most." Serena smiled widely.

"Of course!" she replied excitedly. Dan was dressed in a way Serena had never seen him before. His light washed jeans were baggy and old they even had paint splattered all over them, the wife beater, clearly had seen better days. The large hole in the back exposed his deep tan and Serena was somewhat turned on by his unruly appearance.

"I like this side of you." she giggled lightly smacking his butt with a paint can, while following behind him up stairs. His apartment wasn't much, but it was a good size. Serena looked around at all the paint cans and unfinished walls. Dan opened all the windows, the heavy breeze was the only air conditioning he had at this point. He was going to get one installed next week.

"You lied!" she finally got up all the stairs. "You have more than 3 walls to finish." Dan smiled being goofy.

"I just knew you would say no if it was going to take more than an hour." He laughed.

"If you don't want to help me then, I will pick you up at 9 and take you for dinner…" Serena frowned.

"No, no, I need to be here to make sure you do this right." She tapped on a wall. "I'm probably going to spend a lot of my time here, I should make sure it's done properly." she said justifying her reasons to stay. Dan bent down at Serena's feet and began to open all the paint cans.

"You look adorable." she smiled turning his baseball hat backwards. He looked up at her lovingly.

"You look beautiful" he ran his hands up her smooth legs.

"Love you." he said sweetly while putting a little green paint on her leg. "Hey!" She bent down to kiss him on his forehead. Dan found Serena an old Yale t-shirt and threw it on her, it covered over her shorts and made her look like she was wearing nothing else. They turned up the radio and got to business. After over 3 hours of painting, they collapsed on the couch. Dan was covered in paint, and Serena had a few drips and a smear on her cheek.

"You want to go to butters now?" Dan laughed rubbing the smear off her face with his thumb.

"I want takeout" Serena said yawning. After eating a huge meal of Chinese food and watching jeopardy the hot burning sun was finally setting.

Bedtime?" Dan asked Serena. She smiled sleepily and got a sudden burst of energy. She took the back of his neck and brought him close to her until he was laying over her. He held on to her arm and kissed her lightly and then more quickly. She was so happy she stayed to help him, but the couch was so uncomfortable.

"Take me to your room." Serena told him. Without hesitation Dan scooped Serena up into his arms and walked over to the bedroom door, he attempted to kick it open.

"I'm going to carry you over the threshold" he laughed.

"Oh wait no…" Serena struggled out of his grasp. "Only brides get carried over thresholds." she pressed her nose against his while informing him.

Dan set Serena down on her feet carefully without saying a word, before she even knew what was happening she glanced down. Dan was on one knee in front of her, pulling a tiny black box out of his back pocket. Her mouth opened but no words came out. She stood standing over him wanting nothing more than to get down to his level.

"Serena…" He said so deeply it warmed her heart.

"Celia…" she covered her eyes.

"Vanderwoodsen…" he smiled laughing a little at her expressions.

"I…I love you…more than anything in this world, you're my best friend and we have been through so much together, I cant imagine spending my life with anyone else." He looked at the box and then back up to her shiny eyes that were sparkling with tears.

"Will you…" he got a little choked up and paused. Serena turned away concealing the tear that streamed down her face. He took a deep breath and looked straight up at her , fascinated with her beauty.

"Will you marry me?" he finally got out. Serena bent down and held his hands.

"Of course." she whispered shocked and amazed that this was actually happening.

"Really.?" he smiled relieved and ecstatic at the same time.

"Mhmm!" she nodded enthusiastically and it reminded him of when he asked her if she wanted to leave the white on white party in the Hamptons

He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful princess cut Bvlgari diamond ring she had ever seen. She gasped in such a way, he knew she loved it. She held out her hand as he slipped it on to her slender finger. It fit perfectly and Dan was thankful for asking for Lily's blessing, she right away told him what ring size she was.

"Oh, it's gorgeous." she couldn't take her eyes off it. The ring sparkled and Serena couldn't help but wonder how on earth he could afford it.

How did you…" She asked. Dan smiled as he viewed the sparkle on her finger.

"Well I was going to tell you later but I guess now is a good time as any." she was confused but excited to hear what he was about to tell her.

"You know my story?…It's getting published" he raised his eyebrows at her.

"SHUT UP!" she said instantly wrapping her arms around him.

"That's so great, Congratulations!" she placed kisses all over him. They stood hugging each other not saying a word.

"Dan…?" Serena said

"Mhmm" he looked at her face

"Carry me over the threshold."