AN: What can I say, I'm a disaster! I am so sorry if any of you have been waiting for an update. The other day I found half of what became 'Always' (my one-shot) and that inspired me to keep going at this. I've been thinking about how awful the rude ending and brings were, and that made it difficult for me to continue, because I realise now just how awfully constructed it was for Derena and Chair to end up together instead of Dair, but obviously those two relationships are also important to this story so that provided some difficulty in being inspired! Not that I can call this chapter inspired, but hey! I tried! Anyway, without further ado, enjoy!
Disclaimer: Any familiar characters are not mine.
"Daniel where in God's name are you?" Blair demanded down the phone.
He grinned, "I'm doing well Blair, and you?"
"Seriously Dan! Bella and I have been here decorating for the past hour!"
"Shit I'm sorry Blair, I was gonna help, we just got caught up at Dad's and you said you'd be over at four and it's only quarter past! We'll be there in five minu-"
"Okay slight exaggeration, we just arrived but you need to hurry up so we can get in and get organised. I do not like last minute planning as you well know."
"And yet, your wedding took all but two hours to plan!" he joked.
"Just because I don't like working under time pressure doesn't mean I don't excel under it! See you in ten Humphrey!"
Dan chuckled as he put his phone back in his pocket. In some ways, Blair was the exact same person as she was in high school, whereas in others she couldn't have been more different.
Seeing his daughter attempt to manoeuvre her way out the door of the subway with the large guitar case he moved forward to help her.
"Are you sure I can't carry it for you sweetie?"
"Dad, I said I'm fine!" Brooke insisted.
Darcy turned to Dan and rolled her eyes dramatically, "Musicians!"
Dan burst out laughing and ruffled his younger daughter's hair as they waited for Brook to make it through the ticket stall. Darcy always knew how to make him laugh.
"Wow. Blair, this place looks amazing!" Dan praised, an hour later. "Throwback to when you tried to humiliate Jenny on her fifteenth birthday!"
Blair shot him a dirty look. "I was young and foolish, convinced my role as Queen of Constance was the most important thing in the world."
"I'm just kidding with you. Besides, you just suggested it, it was my father who attempted to instigate the plan."
"B and Bella, it's amazing, thanks for all your help," Brooke said gratefully.
"Our pleasure sweetie!" Bella winked. "Now, show me what you're wearing so I can choose my colours. You too Darc!"
Darcy caught her father's eye and rolled her eyes to the ceiling before following the two upstairs, causing Dan to smirk.
"Something funny, Dan?" Blair asked, raising her eyebrow questioningly but smirking, having caught the exchange. "I worry your nonchalance when it comes to fashion could corrupt poor Darcy's style. She's been blessed with Serena's intuition so far, but only because Brooke encourages her. I better keep an eye on her or she could bring back plaid!" Blair teased.
"So this evening, once the girls come back from bowling there'll be pizza from her favourite restaurant here, and then we'll have cake. Nate, Jen, Dad, Lily and everyone will be here by then. After that, I'm trusting you to take over seeing as I have no idea what girls do at slumber parties."
"Dan, we've got this. Now smile, you're going to start looking old if you keep worrying and frowning. Besides, they won't want me in there! They'll be fine, I got Bella to pick up some movies at the rental store, got extra nail vanish remover and cotton wool for if they do their nails, and they'll probably spend most of the time gossiping and chatting anyway. I'll be here just in case anyway."
"You know you're a life saver, right?" Dan said gratefully.
"Obviously! Now you should probably go say goodbye to the girls, they're leaving in 5."
"Brooke! Darcy! Get don here please, or you're gonna be late! You have to leave!" Dan called up the stairs.
"You look beautiful," he smiled when he saw Brooke descend the staircase, relieved he didn't have to send her to change into anything more appropriate. He was surprised to see her ahead of her sister for once.
"Thank you Daddy," she grinned.
"So do you Darcy," he praised as she joined her sister. Both girls were dressed casually enough (at least by Upper East Side standards), they were after all going to a bowling alley.
The plan was for Brooke to meet some of her friends at the bowling alley, before returning to the Humphrey residence via limo (courtesy of Lily) to have a sleepover with the girls of the group, which thankfully Blair had volunteered to be on hand to supervise.
"What are you reading?" Dan asked, once he had see the girls out. Blair was in the kitchen at the breakfast bar flipping through Vanity Fair.
"Nothing of substance," she sighed. "Pour me a glass of wine, would you?"
"Sure thing. Listen Blair I feel bad having you stuck here all evening… You don't need to stay here for too long, not at all if you'd prefer…"
"Dan. Stop. You know I love the girls, and, lets face it, you're not the worst person to spend time with. Henry is with Lauren-" she rolled her eyes, "And Bella is with your girls so really I'd be home alone for the evening… Though I guess i'll have to get used to it considering they'll both be in college next year… Do you ever get lonely? When the girls are gone away with Lily or I?" she asked tentatively.
"I… I do," he said simply. "I mean I fill my time with writing or I call Nate or go visit my Dad but I sometimes wish that there was somebody for me to do nothing with, you know? Like just sitting by the fire and reading a book or watching a movie. I guess I miss that a lot." Blair nodded.
"Me too. It's the small things I miss most of all. Although-" she laughs slightly, "Chuck was never one content to sit and do nothing for too long. He was always doing something, be it business strategising, playing with the kids or being with me…"
"Now now Waldorf, don't go disgusting me with images of you and Chuck!" Blair laughs and takes a sip of the wine he put in front of her.
"So," Dan asked with a smile, "Would you like to join me doing nothing? I'm reading 'Pride and Prejudice' on Darcy's recommendation, or there's a remake of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' recorded by Brooke?"
"I'd love to," Blair smiled sweetly. "Let's go see how bad that bitch playing Holly is in comparison to Audrey Hepburn!" Dan laughed and followed her into the sitting room.
"I mean God, she's not even saying the right lines! Varjak would have to be a total idiot to fall for her!" Blair protested, criticising the movie for the umpteenth time. Dan laughed, enjoying her criticisms, remembering how obsessed teenage Blair was with Audrey Hepburn. The pair were curled up on the couch, she at the end with her legs up beside her, and he with his on the ottoman and his arms stretched over the back.
"God this takes me back," he said nostalgically.
"What do you mean?" Blair asked, raising her brow.
"Remember when we were in college and you used to come to Brooklyn to escape all your romantic entanglements ad we'd just sit and talk about literature, or watch a movie together?" he asked, his eyes crinkling with a smile as he reminisced.
"Mmm, I enjoyed those evenings- more than I ever let on… Of course when you became one of the said romantic entanglements they had to end…" she said wistfully.
"They didn't have to, you chose to!" he shrugged, causing her to snort.
"Daniel, somehow I don't think Serena or Chuck would've been too happy with the two of us together, alone in Brooklyn curled up on your couch!"
"True… And you did hate me for quite some time after we broke up…"
"I didn't hate you!" Blair protested. He smirked.
"Liar!"
"Honestly, I could never have hated you. After all, I'm the one that broke up with you… Even if you and Serena did sleep together mere minutes after I chose Chuck!"
"I-" he interrupted.
"Save it," she laughed, "It was Serena and you. And I've always understood that I hurt you so that was your way of retaliating, and thankfully it ended up in you marrying the love of your life. Anyway, as I was saying, I didn't hate you. I guess I acted the way I did because I still had feelings for you. I mean I never for one moment regretted choosing Chuck, but we had something, and feelings don't die just like that. I guess I was worried that I'd do something stupid while I waited for Chuck, and I knew you were still hurting. If I'd lingered it would've only hurt you more when Chuck and I did reunite, and it would've taken you longer to reconcile with Serena." She shrugged. It had always seemed obvious.
"Wow… I… Thanks, I guess… It's nice to know my best friend never actually hated me!" he joked causing her to let out a sigh of relief. She worried it had been too heavy a conversation but then she remembered that Dan was the one person she could talk to anything about. She smiled and settled back on the couch, both of them about to resume with the movie when the door opened and the hallway filled with the sound of teenage girls.
"Brace yourself," Dan grimaced, eliciting a smirk from Blair who held out her hand for Dan to pull her from the couch.
"I am a kickass friend."
"I know."
After the pizza was eaten and the cake cut, the girls put on a movie, with Darcy and Bella staying to chat to the adults and relatives and Brooke drifting between the two rooms with popcorn and drinks for her friends, while chatting to her family present too. The kitchen was filled with a pleasant buzz of conversation. Lily was there ("Claude is in Paris at the moment visiting his brother"), Rufus and Lisa, Vanessa and Scott with their sons Harry and Ben, Nate and Jenny with their daughter Claire and their sons Phillip and Derek, and Eric and Jonathan with their daughter Beth. Henry had also stopped by. Alison was in lord with her new husband Frank but had called Brooke earlier to wish her happy birthday. The cousins whose ages were between five and twelve, were in groups throughout the room playing with and entertaining one another. Lily was talking to Jonathan and Jenny, Blair and Vanessa were engaged in polite conversation with Lisa, Rufus was teasing and joking with his two sons and Eric. Darcy, Ben, and Phillip, who were both twelve, were drifting from conversation to conversation, rolling their eyes at one another at the boringness of the ongoing conversations and questions about school. Dan paused and looked around. As he looked around he realised how lucky he was to have all these people who truly cared about he and the girls. As his eyes wandered around the room he caught Vanessa's eye. She smiled at him and excused herself from Blair and Lisa, walking towards him.
"Well," she began, "How does it feel to be celebrating your little girl's 15th birthday old man? I mean, I assume that's what the pensive look was about?" she teased. Dan laughed.
"It's crazy. I mean, I doesn't seem that long ago that we were their age, you know? And I was actually thinking about how lucky I was to have so many people I really care about in my life."
"It's crazy how we ended up here isn't it?" she asked, gesturing around her at the people and the house. "I mean can you imagine if we told our fifteen year old selves about the way our lies would turn out how they'd react? You married your golden girl and became best friends with her best friend who you despised, and golden boy. I dated said golden boy and ended up with the half brother of yours and Serena that you didn't even know existed! And all our kids are related in some way." She laughed and he had to join in.
"Life is full of crazy surprises isn't it?" he admitted.
"So," he said after a comfortable pause, "How's work going? Travelling anywhere interesting soon?" Vanessa had become a photographer for Time Magazine and before she had had the boys she had travelled all over the world, particularly to conflict zones. When Ben and Harry were born she had cut out the work abroad, preferring to have time at home with her boys. Now that they were getting older she had started to travel a bit more again, but still not nearly as frequently.
"Scott and I are taking the boys to Costa Rica over Thanksgiving so I'm hoping I'll get some decent wildlife shots while I'm there but it's not for work or anything."
"Wow, that'll be fantastic! When did you guys plan that?" Because they lived in New York, every Thanksgiving and ever other Christmas was spent in Boston with Scott's adoptive parents so Dan wasn't particularly surprised not to have heard of their plans.
"Well we've been talking about it for a while but we booked it a couple of months ago. We figured the boys were old enough." They continued to discuss the holiday until Jenny joined them and the conversation gradually drifted.
After everyone else had left, Blair and Dan cleared up the kitchen together.
"Ugh, I wish Dorota was here," Blair sighed.
"Sit down if you want, I can handle the rest", Dan laughed.
"What do you take me for?!" Blair asked with a withering look, followed by a grin.
"So how did business with Redmond go?" Dan asked after a pause.
"Who?"
"That guy, at the party? That was a buyer?" Dan pressed.
"Oh! Richard! It went well! His retail chain wants to take on the label's new line for a season, test the market, and then see from there," Blair said, eyes shining. Dan loved how passionate she was about her job, how engaged she became when talking about it. He had always admired her drive and ambition, which rivalled that of even his own.
"Blair, that's fantastic! I'm so proud of you!" he congratulated. His hands were covered in suds so he flicked some in her direction in lieu of a shoulder squeeze, causing her to shriek as it landed on her face. Dipping her hand in the water she splashed some at him, causing him to laugh. However, before it could escalate into a fully fledged battle Brooke came in, carrying some empty bowls.
"Hey Brookie, how's the party going?" Dan asked.
"Good, really good!" she smiled. "I just came to restock the refreshments."
"You guys ok for everything else?" Blair asked.
"Yeah, thanks Dad and Blair for everything."
"You're welcome sweetie," they said simultaneously causing them to share a smile.
When Brooke returned to the sitting room Blair began talking again.
"Richard also asked me to dinner," she said casually, surprising Dan who almost dropped the plate he was holding into the sink.
"He did?! What ddid you say?" he asked.
"That I don't mix business with pleasure… It did get me thinking though. My son is almost twenty-one and my daughter almost an adult… Maybe it's time I start dating again…" she trailed off. "Well?" she asked when he remained silent.
"Well I think it's a personal decision, one that I couldn't blame you for making. Our kids are at very different stages, even if Bella is only two years older than Chuck. As you've said, they'll both be in college this time next year. Maybe I'd be the same if the girls were older. And it does get lonely…"
"Mmm… I'm not even sure I'm ready but it can't hurt to try, can it? Or am I being incredibly selfish?" she asked worriedly.
"Blair!" he said, turning to face her for the first time sine the conversation and started. "The last thing I could accuse you of being is selfish. Ever since Henry was born you have always put their wants and needs above your own! And you've been here for me, even when I tried to push you and Chuck away at the start. Do you for a change. And there's no harm in testing the waters."
"Thanks Dan. I don't know what I'd do without you, you realise that don't you?" she said sincerely, placing a hand on his shoulder, her deep brown eyes staring into his.
"i do. And I feel the same way. The last few years would have been a mess without you." She smiled appreciatively and removed her hand to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear, before grabbing the last of the dishes and returning them to the appropriate cupboards.
At about midnight Blair went in and said goodnight to Bella, Brooke, Darcy and the other party guests, before getting her handbag and putting back on her shoes.
"Thank you for everything this evening B."
"You're welcome for the hundredth time!" she joked. "And I'm serious about you repaying me by handling Henry's twenty-first!"
"I promise I'll do my best to organise a bash that would make even a twenty-one year old Chuck Bass proud." At the stricken look on her face he laughed. "I'm kidding! God, I'm pretty sure anything that involved would be illegal. Although actually, he was definitely at his wildest between sixteen and eighteen during his Blair-fee periods," he reminisced.
"True. He grew up so much in just a few years… We all did. It sometimes feels like we skipped the normal antics of young teenagers so we behaved like college kids in high school and adults in college…"
"Mmmm, you have a point… Although some of our antics were certainly questionable during our college years too!" Dan laughed. "I just hope our kids will have more sense. I think we've made them more sensible though, don' you?"
"I certainly hope so! … Hey Dan? What you said earlier about 'doing me', putting my own happiness as a priority? That goes for you too you know. The girls love you. And if you did decide you wanted to put yourself out there I'm sure they'd understand. They want you to be happy, remember that, ok?" She hugged him. "Goodnight Dan."
"Goodnight Blair."
I'd love to hear what y'all think! :)
