The Humphrey Loft, New York
2nd November 2007
Lily had stormed into the loft, well once the door was opened and immediately started yelling at Rufus, who after he admitted he was wrong, had done what he did best and what nobody else was able to do. Calm down Lily Rhodes. He knew her last name had changed, but she was still the same Lily who had stored away on a tour bus, the same Lily who had run away to join Carol in Miami when her parents kept trying to control her and she was still the same Lily he fell in love with. Perhaps a little crazier, as a result of trying to keep her kids intact, but then again aren't all parents.
"I'll pass on a glass of that non-premium liquor that you're drinking. But I will have something to eat. Thank you for offering." Rufus stared at her for a minute, and he was certain that Lily Rhodes, did in fact live under all that Lily Van Der Woodsen. "What? You still know how to cook, don't you?" Rufus smiled slightly despite himself and found that his brain was taking a quick trip down memory lane.
Visconti, New York
2nd November 2007
Serena and Dan were peering out trying to locate Eric, Jenny, Blair, anyone really. Dan was beginning to worry, not that he didn't trust Blair, he just didn't trust Blair with alcohol looking after anyone but herself.
"Do you see Jenny or your brother?" Dan asked hopefully.
"No." Suddenly a frantic blonde rushed in a attached herself to Serena's arm screaming at her, to find out if she was Claire. Dan really hoped that it was his dependence on Blair, that he saw a connection between the two names. That Claire was a wonderful friend, who may or may not be in a bit of trouble and that it has nothing to do with Blair's sleepovers or crafty mind games. Unfortunately for Dan it seemed like to much of a coincidence so he grabbed Serena and pulled her after the scary, vengeful woman.
Dan watched as she slapped a guy in his mid twenties, who looked like he had been having a few to many drinks and judging from the smirk that was on his face until he saw who pushed him, was not a very faithful boyfriend. "Where is she?"
"Hey! Whoa, whoa. Baby. What? Who? I'm here at the club with the guys." Dan noticeably flinched knowing that was the completely wrong direction to go in. Dan caught sight of Blair dancing happily with someone who looked remarkably like Jenny just five years older.
"Hey!" The guy was pissed and off to see the woman who caused him all his problems. "Excuse me. Hello. Where's my phone?" When Blair didn't answer he grabbed her arm causing Dan to stiffen and go into defensive mode.
"Hey! Hey, let go of her." Dan grabbed the guys arm causing him to turn his anger towards Dan instead.
"Who the hell are you?" Dan was about to respond, when Blair cut in afraid he might say something he shouldn't in the heat of the moment.
"Your phone is at our table. If you weren't so drunk and drooling over every girl in this place, you would've seen that." Blair flipped her hair effortlessly knowing that it was going to get much worse, before it got better.
"I'm gonna kill you." The psycho blonde threw herself at Blair and was only held back by the cheating scum.
"Oh, you must be Amanda, right?" Blair sweet voice contradicted the gleam Dan saw in Blair's eyes and knew this was personal, the man standing in front of her was what she envisioned Nate to be like in 10 years and Amanda needed to get out before it was too late. A little bit of pain now for much less in the future. Right? "Well, i would think twice before marrying him 'cause he's a pig." Amanda immediately swarmed and Dan knew not only could Blair hold her own against her, but he would get into so much hell if he harmed a woman. The boyfriend on the other hand that was fair game.
"Wait. Hey, hey. Back off of her, okay?" Serena stepped in pulling Amanda's arm back.
"I don't need you to defend me." Blair immediately snapped because she wanted to hit someone, since the Gossip Girl blast of Serena and Dan on their date, she had wanted to hurt someone, and that was one of the main reasons she had gotten Amanda here. Blair knew that if all it took was a little cat-fight to ease her pain and prevent Amanda from future pain she was doing a good thing. Hell the alcohol had probably only fueled her pain instead of numbing it.
"It wasn't even her who called you. It was me." Okay that was a flaw in the plan, now that Jenny spoke up, Dan was not going to let this go. Blair swayed a bit as the most recent round of Martini's began to kick in.
"Jenny?" Disbelief coloured Dan's tone and the look he shot Blair's way immediately pulled her out of her alcohol induced haze.
"So she's the one with the tongue?" Oh shit, Blair was really hoping they would skip that part, either way Dan was going to be pissed and either way it would be at Blair.
"Tongue? Tongue-What are you even doing here? You're supposed to be at a sleepover." Dan looked at both Jenny and Blair accusingly, but was immediately distracted by Amanda's next line.
"You made out with a girl from a sleepover?" Blair could see Dan's temper slowly loosing it's restraint. Amanda looked at her boyfriend as if she was going to be sick.
"You made out with him?" Dan's hands were balled up and he was trying to keep his anger in check.
"Wait, I made out with her." Mafia guy was really not helping anyone here.
"Ew." Blair rolled her eyes as if a simple word explained everything. "It was a dare." No one noticed that Blair was looking at Dan instead of Amanda.
"A dare? What are you, children?" Amanda demanded outraged that her relationship was about to be ruined over a dare.
"Yeah, pretty much. She's Fourteen!" Dan helpfully chimed in watching as both Amanda and her boyfriends face twisted with disgust, and they both cried out.
"Fourteen!"
"Jesus. No, I swear I had no idea, baby. I mean, look at her. I mean, she's jailbait." Really Blair wondered how a guy like him had managed to get Amanda in the first place, but was pulled out of her reverie by Dan's response.
"What? What's that?" Blair was getting ready to figure out how to place herself closer to Dan and attempt to calm him down when Jenny stepped in the way.
"Dan, stay out of it, okay? You're just causing more problems than you're solving." Her voice was an attempt at soothing yet demanding, a trick she had already learnt from Blair, but one that she was quickly learning only worked for Blair Waldorf.
"The only thing causing a problem is the cocktail napkin you're wearing." Dan pointed forcefully at Jenny's dress, and her arms quickly clung to the material, unwilling to give it back.
"That's what I'm talking about." Blair shot the guy a look as if to say seriously.
"You're not talking about anything." Dan pretty much changed that look into words and moved quickly toward him. A shoving match ensued immediately as both Serena and Jenny attempted to get Dan to stop.
"Dan! Hey!"
Dan was pushed into the arms of a bouncer, who was quickly diffusing the situation. "All right, all you out before I call the cops."
"All right, all right." Dan conceded knowing that there was no way he was going to be able to continue the fight, without landing up in jail, and despite the pain he was feeling over what had transpired, it was not enough for him to willingly do jail time.
"Hey, Serena. See? I told you everything was okay." Eric walked in completely oblivious to what had just occurred. However his fresh perspective allowed him to see that as Dan was released, without either of them consciously moving, Dan and Blair gravitated towards each other.
"Let's go, come on." As Serena tugged at Eric's arm he noticed that Blair and Dan only noticed their proximity when Blair unintentionally placed a comforting hand on Dan's arm and their eyes locked. Blair's were somewhat pleading and Eric observed how the tension left Dan's body as did the anger in his eyes. "Eric, come on." Serena pulled Eric away and he quickly grabbed Dan as well, somehow knowing that whatever he had seen was a private moment not meant to be seen by anyone. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew he had to stop their moment - if you could call it that - before Serena noticed. Eric knew Serena was a horrid person when filled with jealousy and the way she was talking about Dan recently, he knows that Blair would be in for the fight of her life. Blair was his sister by choice not by blood, and therefore the connection was so much stronger. He would do anything for Blair just as she would do for him, she had already proven such tonight by breaking him out whilst looking like a complete and utter druggie.
The Humphrey Loft, New York
2nd November 2007
Lily and Rufus were cooking as if they had been moving around each other for years. Well until Lily attempted and succeeded in putting more salt in the sauce.
"You haven't changed a bit. You always have to be in control."
"Well, I don't remember you complaining." Lily threw back, a little defensively.
"Well, I wasn't allowed to. It was one of your rules." Rufus laughed lightly at the memory and expected Lily to join in as he had only meant it jokingly.
"Yeah, well, i may hold the reins a little tight, but life is complicated, especially once you have kids. You know, when they're little, you're their whole world. And then one day,
the wall goes up, and you're on one side, and they're on the other." Lily ranted until she was out of breath and tears were threatening to spill.
"Well, they don't like to admit it, but they want us to break through."
"Words of wisdom from Rufus Humphrey, one should only be so lucky." Lily joked attempting to cheer herself up. "Yeah, well, maybe Serena, but Eric... I don't know what he wants." Lily sighed at the end as if talking about it was wearing her out.
"You're awfully concerning about a 14-Year-Old boy breaking curfew." Lily realised that Rufus couldn't help if she was not honest with him, taking a deep breath she steadied herself on the counter.
"Well, it's not my curfew he's breaking. He's been staying at the Ostroff Center." Lily let Rufus think and waited patiently for his genius response.
"Ostroff Center?" Yep, true genius there.
"Mm-Hmm. Yeah." Rufus regarded Lily in a different light and really regretted his earlier actions and hoped that all the kids would return home safely.
"Is it drugs? Drinking?" Rufus was trying to figure out what advice he could give, how he could help Lily. But he couldn't do that without knowing what he did to end up there.
"Um, no, he's not a bad kid. He's just- just, um, a lonely one." Lily finished quietly focusing on the cooking.
"It's depression?" Rufus was shocked when he had seen Eric at the Ivy party the other week he had seemed completely happy, but then again Rufus should no better than anyone that appearances are deceiving especially on the Upper East Side. "Is it bad?"
"Bad enough to try to kill himself." Rufus stopped cutting and turned to face Lily who was adamantly trying to continue cooking so as to not lose her control in front of Rufus, in his kitchen of all places.
"I'm sorry." Rufus honestly was, sorry he had been so mean to her before, sorry they had lost all contact over the years so he wasn't able to help her when she needed it. Sorry for all she had been through alone.
"You know, I don't know why. I don't know what I did or I didn't do, but... I just don't know what to do to - to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"All you can do is be there for them." Rufus shook his head lightly trying to figure out how to comfort her when she inevitably let him through that wall of her own. He was cut off however by the phone ringing and quickly walked over to it.
"Oh, I hope that's Dan or Serena." Rufus just prayed it wasn't Alison, but she hadn't called him for 3 months, he was always the one to instigate the call, so why would she call now.
"Hello? Hey, great. Uh, yeah. Actually, I can tell her. His mother's here with me. It's a long story. Sounds good. Take care." Lily despite the circumstances laughed lightly when he said it was a long story and watched as Rufus raked his hand through his chocolate hair, in a very similar fashion to how Dan did.
"So he's with Dan and Serena, and everyone's fine." Rufus sighed relieved and he smiled as he saw Lily completely relaxed and happy for the first time tonight. It had been a long time since he had seen her smile with such honest happiness and he was grateful that he got to witness it.
"All right, I should go meet them." Lily headed towards the door, but Rufus' voice stopped her the way it always did.
"I'll wrap this up." Rufus was kind of sad Lily had to leave, but accepted that she should at least have some food to take, after all she did mention it being ages since she had a home cooked meal.
"No. You know what? This isn't gonna travel well. Why don't i just stay here and i can eat it quickly?" Rufus concealed his smile and continued to agree with Lily.
"It would be a shame to let it go to waste." He watched as Lily slowly try to make her face neutral but the smile slipped through and she got back to chopping.
Visconti, New York
2nd November 2007
Once they got outside Serena left Eric to yell at Blair.
"What were you thinking?" Serena attempted to give Blair a look a mother would give to a rebellious daughter, but it would only have worked if Blair didn't know that Serena was probably doing something just as bad earlier.
"He was bored. He wanted to get out and have some fun." Blair couldn't believe Serena was reprimanding her, Eric wasn't anywhere near the fight anyway and he was actually smiling. Not a fake grin to please his mother or Serena, an actually smile because he was having some carefree fun with friends. His family was treating him like he was porcelain for fear out of him attempting to kill himself again, and Blair was the only one who understood that dwelling on the past would not help. That the only way to help him was to return to some semblance of a normal life and make sure that if he was alone, that he does not feel alone again. By Blair taking him out and showing him he had friends who care about him, she was certain he was closer to recovery than before.
"So you took him to a bar?" Serena stared at Blair as if she had three-heads.
"He didn't do anything wrong. I thought you'd be happy." Blair was getting incredibly tired of Serena's newfound superiority complex when it came to being the responsible or mature one in their relationship.
"Well, I'm not, okay? I-I can't believe that you did this." Eric had had enough, he was not going to continue to listen to Blair being yelled at when he had the most fun he'd had in ages tonight and the night of the Ivy mixer, and in both circumstances Blair was the reason for that.
"Hey, I wasn't kidnapped, Serena. I left of my own free will. Blair was trying to do me a favor." Eric stood next to Blair almost protectively as if he was backing up a sister, instead of turning on his own sister and it threw Serena through a loop.
"Told you." Blair's smug voice was not helping the matter at all.
"Well, it's no favor, Eric. You're in a lot of trouble." Serena's voice sounded dejected even to herself, as she realised that Eric, her own brother, had chosen Blair over her.
Blair knew exactly what Serena was thinking and couldn't help but smile at the fact that after all these years, after everyone Serena had taken from her and all the people Blair had thought would hurt the most is she succeeded in getting them from Serena, she had never considered Eric. But by treating him like a human being and not a fragile, suicidal mess she had gotten him on her side and she felt loved. She finally understood why older siblings would always attack people who bullied their younger siblings and then say 'only I get to pick on my sister/brother'. It gave you a sense of security as you know your sibling would never do anything to really hurt you. As she looked over at Dan and saw him yelling at Jenny, she understood it was only out of concern, that if someone had hurt her or taken advantage over her Dan would never forgive himself. She understood that Dan was not questioning Blair's ability to take care of either of them, it was simple sibling concern. A concern that would still be present even with a complete bodyguard circle formed.
"Yeah, I know, And you know what? It was worth it... to be out after dark and to talk to someone who isn't just you or mum, Even if it is Blair. No offense." Eric smiled at the easy camaraderie he seemed to have with Blair and felt like he was teasing her in a loving way.
"None taken." Blair's distracted tone was not missed by Eric and when he quickly glanced at her, he realised she wasn't even looking at Serena anymore, but off somewhere else.
He kept talking and surreptitiously check in that direction, not at all surprised to see Dan and Jenny as the focus of her attention. Eric had watched Blair with Jenny, more closely than the other attendee's had. He had seen the changes in Jenny's drinks, he had noticed that as the night went on and the other girls got drunker, Jenny only acted as drunk as them and when he had taken a sip, he had discovered it was only flavoring. He had caught Blair's eyes and she had motioned for him to stay silent about it, which he had and decided to pay even more attention. When Jenny had begun to do anything that would get her into trouble, Blair had steered her clear of it, although she had allowed Kati and Is to each get into their fair share of confrontations. The way she took care of Jenny was the way she used to take care of him, the way she would treat a sibling, and he could see she was trying to get Jenny to see the light about the Upper East Side, and while he was selfish enough to say he wished she would stay in the dark as he liked having her as a friend, he understood Blair cared about Jenny a lot more than she was letting on, and Eric had a feeling that Dan might be one of the reasons why. Eric was brought out of his thoughts as Serena continued talking.
"Well, I'm sorry this was the only way. We'll work on mum, okay?"
"Thanks." Eric was grateful Serena was at least making an effort.
"And since she knows you're okay, I guess there's no real reason to rush. How about we walk?"
"Ugh. Call me." Blair shot a quick glance Eric's way to make sure he was alright and when he nodded she headed off.
"Yeah, I will." Serena's voice echoed on the wind carrying over the bustling traffic.
"I was talking to Eric." Serena laughed thinking Blair was joking, but Eric simply nodded again and smiled his gratitude at Blair.
Dan was pacing trying to figure out what to say to Jenny. "What is wrong with you? This is not who you are." He understood that Jenny would eventually act like this but he had figured she had another two years worth of growing up, two years worth of family game nights and most importantly he figured Blair would have scared some sense into her.
"And who are you right now? Dad?" Jenny snapped at him, annoyed that he was ruining her otherwise perfect night. Although she was scared with Amanda, she did not need Dan to go all white night, or fuss over her like he had after Kiss on the Lips.
"Uh, we are not doing this right now. We can do this at home. Let's go." Dan gave up and sighed hoping she would get the point.
"Except I'm not going home. I'm going with my friends." Evidently she was as thick skulled as Blair. Dan knew Blair's plan was to send her back to Brooklyn or teach her how to survive the Upper East Side, but he was hoping it wouldn't have to come to that.
"Coming, Jenny?" Blair looked pointedly at Dan and he knew she had one last trick up her sleeve and if that didn't work at least they had given it all they had.
"Yeah. One second." Jenny's voice had risen a few pitches as she attempted to appear at least a bit intoxicated. As she turned back to Dan, she noticed he was looking at Blair weirdly but figured he just really, really hated her. "Look, all right, I'm sorry that things got out of hand tonight." Dan's head snapped back in her direction and he grumbled.
"To say the least."
"I know who Blair and those girls are, but I know who I am, and I'm not gonna forget that just 'cause I hang out with them." Dan hoped Jenny was right, and he knew he only wanted her to be happy.
"Come on! We're leaving!" Blair was beginning to worry about how long Dan was talking, what he was talking about and whether he would ever forgive her, but as he met her eyes again she could only see love and a plea. She knew he wished that Jenny would forget about wanting to be a part of this world, but she knew Jenny was never going to stop, she was ambitious and she wanted in.
"I'm coming!" Jenny turned her head to the side and attempted the puppy dog look. "Just let me go. Please? I mean, look, I'll be tucked in bed in a half-hour. I promise." Dan waited an appropriate amount of time, so that he seemed to be considering and then nodded.
"Uh, all right, all right. Yeah, go ahead."
"Thank you." He saw Serena and Eric coming up behind Jenny and then watched as Jenny ran towards Blair, he caught Blair's eyes and gave her a nod. She arched an eyebrow back and turned towards Jenny.
"Hey." Dan turned his attention to Serena and noticed Eric was watching him closely.
"Hey. I, uh, I gotta take him back to the center." Serena placed her hand on Eric's shoulder almost as if she were afraid he would run loose again. "So we should probably just call it a night."
"What? No, no, no, no, no. I'll go with you." Dan knew if he went home, he would think about Jenny and what Blair has planned and that would never end well, besides he gets bonus points if he gets her home before 12:45.
"No, it's okay. You don't have to." Serena seemed determined, but Dan needed to keep his mind occupied.
"I want to." Dan looked Serena in the eyes, smiled and she quickly agreed. "Come on. Let's go."
Eric smiled happily glad to have Dan around, because despite what may or may not transpire between him and Serena, Eric could tell Dan had a positive effect on Blair and that was simply a result of a few minutes worth of observation. Besides Blair deserved happiness after all he was not blinded to everything Serena had taken, intentionally or not, from Blair and he saw the way her eyes lit up when she saw Dan. Serena had new boys every week, Blair took love seriously and gave it away scarcely, the more Eric talked to Dan, the more he liked him and either way if it meant Dan got to stay around Eric was fine with that.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
Standing outside of Waldorf designs Jenny began to feel a little hesitant about this final dare. "You want me to steal the jacket from the mannequin?" Jenny asked again.
"That's right." Blair was smiling now, it appeared that Jenny might have to back out on her own.
"Blair, it's your mom's store. I mean, you could have anything you want." Blair rolled her eyes and looked at Jenny not understanding how she didn't understand that this was non-negotiable.
"So can you... unless you don't want to, which is totally understandable, and I wouldn't judge you for that." Jenny didn't understand why Blair was being nice and 'understanding' but it was creeping her out.
"I don't get it." Jenny's face must of mimicked her confusion because Blair chuckled deviously.
"Then you don't have to do it. It's just a shame, 'cause you've come so far." Blair smiled and dangled the keys in front of Jenny's face.
"The jacket?" Jenny was determined to not appear weak.
"Just the jacket." Blair tilted her head condescendingly and Jenny grabbed the keys from her. "Oh, god." Blair watched as Jenny let the door shut behind her. "Five, four, three, two, one." Taking one last look at who she was leaving behind Blair turned to her minions. "Okay, come on, run." Just as they made it past the exterior of the building the alarms went wild. Blair knew Jenny would either successfully talk her way out of it, proof she could handle the UES, or the police would call Eleanor which she decided to have diverted to her phone, and get Jenny out without leaving a black mark.
"Guys! Come back! Let me out!" Jenny screamed but she knew it was too late, they were gone. She kept banging her fists against the door in vain while she attempted to come up with a plan to get out or at least out of trouble.
The Humphrey Loft, New York
2nd November 2007
"Wh-why did you give up photography anyway? You loved it so much."
"Well, I guess I figured, um, social climbing would be more fulfilling." Rufus chuckled at Lily's statement as they continued cleaning up. Lily watched as Rufus washed the dishes, the muscles in his back as defined as they had been in the photo they were discussing. The phone started ringing and Rufus looked down at his soap covered hands and sighed.
"Uh, can you grab that, Lil? And if it's my son be nice to him." Lily looked astonished at the thought she would be anything but and resisted the childish urge to poke her tongue out.
"Hello, Humphrey residence." Lily answered as politely as ever, but Rufus noticed her posture change almost immediately at what must have been said on the other line. "Hi, Alison." Rufus turned away from the sink and walked towards the phone. "Yeah, it's, um, Lily. Yeah. H-hold on. Just..." Lily handed the phone to Rufus ignoring the sparks that ran up her side as her hand brushed his.
"Alison?" The minute he said her name, the line went dead. Rufus looked at the phone as if it had just killed his son, and placed it back on the wall. Lily looked sympathetically at Rufus. Despite how much she despised Alison, Lily would never wish for Rufus, Dan and Jenny to have to go through what her family did when William left them. "Looks like you're gonna have some explaining to do." Lily's voice conveyed her unspoken apology.
"Trust me, I don't owe Alison any explanation right now." Lily almost cringed from the amount of rage and betrayal in his words.
"You know what? I've overstayed my welcome." Lily knew she needed to get home before Serena to limit the amount of questions, but if one thing had come from this visit, Rufus had helped Lily see that the Ostroff Centre was no longer the right fit for Eric and she would make sure he was in his own bed tonight.
"Okay." Rufus sounded upset, but he understood that things between him and Alison could be worked out, but only if the whole Lily thing appeared innocent, and her staying any longer would change that. "I hope everything turns out all right."
"Yeah, me, too. Thanks for babysitting me, and thank you for being such a good friend." Lily placed a hand reassuringly on his shoulder, finding it harder to say goodbye that she wanted to admit.
"Yeah. It was almost fun." They smiled at each other for a minute, their eyes saying what they weren't allowed to verbalize, until Rufus reached around her and opened the door. Lily walked out head held high and Rufus listened to the sound of her heels as they clacked away. He almost missed her call out "Good night, Rufus." and with that all traces of Lily Rhodes - Van Der Woodsen - whatever you want to call her were gone. Much like the last 20 years, all that was left were memories.
Manhattan, New York
3rd November 2007
"I'm gonna need you to show me some form of identification, Miss." the police officer asked gruffly as he took in her appearance, she looked no older than his own daughter who was fourteen and luckily at home asleep.
"I'm only fourteen. I don't have any." He looked at Jenny disbelievingly, glancing at his watch noticing that it was just past midnight.
"What are you doing out at this hour?" He knew he would be furious if his daughter was still up at this time and by the looks of it trying to break into a clothing store.
"I, um..." Jenny needed to think faster, she could see this cop was relating to her too much and that could be used to her advantage if only she could get her brain to work.
"What's your name?" He asked more forcefully then before and Jenny immediately pulled herself together and thought how Blair would act in this situation.
"My name is Blair Waldorf. This is my mother's shop. Her name is Eleanor. I left my jacket here earlier, I mean- which irritates my mother to no end. And I completely forgot about the alarm." Jenny was the embodiment of calm, as opposed to her earlier state of near emotional breakdown.
"All right, what's your home phone number so we can call her?" The police officer wasn't going to let her go without giving her mother a stern piece of advice about where her daughter should and shouldn't be at this hour.
"Oh, she's not home. I mean, she's in Paris until Thursday. It's six hours ahead if you want to call. She's gonna be so angry." Jenny finished off looking up to the sky, trying to 'hold back tears'.
"Well, look, we can't just let you go without confirming your story." Jenny pressed her fingers tighter to her palm and felt the cool silver of the keys Blair had given her and inspiration struck.
"I have my own set of keys. You can watch me lock up." She showed the officer her keys and began to walk back towards the store. The two police officers had bigger things to deal with than a fourteen year old girl and a misunderstanding so they followed her.
xoxoxoxoxoxox
Dan and Serena were walking away from the Ostroff Centre after dropping Eric off, and Serena pointed out that it was okay for Jenny to want to be friends with the kids she goes to school with and gave up trying to get Dan to understand what she wanted. Instead she took the direct route.
"Maybe you would have kissed me already." Dan knew he couldn't delay this any longer. He closed his eyes and allowed Serena to close the distance between them. For the longest time of his adolescence he had dreamed about kissing Serena, yet here he was and all he could do was struggle to imagine it was a feisty Blair in his arms instead. Dan pulled away after an appropriate amount of time and began to walk, but Serena wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him in closer, kissing him again.
Waldorf Penthouse, New York
3rd November 2007
Blair was startled from her worrying by the elevator, she had not slept as she kept waiting for the phone call from the police. She knew Dan would be livid when he found out what she did, she knew it was pointless keeping it from him, the guilt would eat her up and odds are Jenny would tell him.
She looked towards the elevator as the doors opened and light spilled into the foyer. Jenny's heels clicked on the marble floor and Blair let out an audible breath of relief.
"Catch" Jenny's voice mimicked that of Blair's when she was playing Queen B. She was hoping that Jenny would learn that it wasn't worth it, but if not this was a great second prize.
"Jenny? Well, well, looks like you came to play after all. You know which trundle bed is yours." Blair patted the mattress next to her own, a sign of power amoung the minions. "Sleep tight. You've earned it." Blair honestly believed Jenny did and she could confidently tell Dan, Jenny was going to be okay.
"Actually, i'm going home, but, uh, thanks for inviting me. It was a blast." If it was possible Blair was even prouder of Jenny. But Blair had a reputation to uphold.
"What do you mean you're going home? Nobody ever leaves a sleepover." Blair watched as Jenny executed a perfect Blair Waldorf manipulative smile.
"Well, I guess there's firsts for everything. Oh, and i'm keeping the jacket, if that's okay with you." It would have been a perfect Blair Waldorf impersonation had it not been for the question at the end. After everything Jenny still sought Blair's approval, a smile from Blair told her she was on the right track though. "Monday? Lunch on the steps?"
"Done and done." Jenny smiled at Blair and was about to turn and leave when she saw Blair look around quickly to check on the other girls and curiosity got the best of her, as she knew Blair wasn't finished what she had to say. "Little J, you get home safe. Okay?"
Jenny was taken aback at first but then she remembered how Blair treats Eric and how she had been with Jenny when she wasn't around the other minions. Jenny understood this was Blair Waldorf not the Queen B. speaking and she nodded. Turning on her heel and steeped into the escalator but not before hearing Blair call out to her. "Oh, and Jenny call if you need to!"
Blair felt her phone vibrate beside her as the elevator dinged shut and from the echoing of minions phones throughout the penthouse, Blair knew it was a blast from Gossip Girl.
Word is Jenny Humphrey killed at Blair Waldorf's sleepover. It was a debut the likes of which haven't been seen since Blair herself.
If Blair's gotta watch her back, Serena's needs to keep an eye on her heart. We hear it may have been stolen by Lonely Boy. Putting out an A.P.B
XOXO Gossip Girl
Blair would have been annoyed at the picture of Dan and Serena, but no one else saw it quite like she did. Dan had his hands on her shoulder, whereas when he gets really into a kiss they end up in Blair's hair. She can tell by the positioning of Serena's hands that they are what are keeping Dan in place, and unlike the passionate kisses Dan showers Blair with, these seem more like the kisses you receive after playing spin the bottle and landing on the same person three times, obliged and not fiery.
Blair smiled as she remembered what seemed like an eternity ago but in reality was only this morning. She imagined Dan's arms wrapped around her, she could feel each contour of his body even though it was only in her mind. She could feel him placing tender kisses along her jawline and automatically any bad feelings she felt about the photo were dispelled, after all she had kissed someone else too and is she saw this kiss as a dare it was pretty much an-eye-for-an-eye.
Little J's on her way home, still as determined as ever despite what I threw her way.
I'll tell you about it another time. Wash your mouth out at least 20 times before you come near mine again. I love you.
- H
Almost immediately Blair got a response.
Love you too. Wish I could be with you now, my bed just isn't as comfy without you next to me.
I'll buy the strongest mouthwash they have in the store tomorrow and if that's not enough, I'll go to the dentist and get it professionally cleaned ; p.
BTW you looked ravishing tonight. Sleep tight xx
- CP
Blair closed her phone and placed it back on the nightstand next to her. Holding her brush in one hand, she stroked her thumb over the engravings until she fell asleep, counting down the minutes till she would be in Dan's arms again.
