AN: Thanks to everyone who enjoyed this story and reviewed, it's all very well and good to read a story, but the truly beneficial part of writing on this site is when you are critiqued by readers and fellow writers; it's how I get better at my passion.

Thanks to the people who said the last chapter was their favorite. It was mine too, although this chapter came close, as it's a much more casual write for me. This epilogue will be more of a wrap-up to the storyline, but could easily have been considered a one-shot if I'd posted it on it's own.

With hindsight, I'm gona give my fans what they want, and keep this chapter light, fun and Dair-centric!

P.S - I'll be revealing the synopsis of the sequel at the end of the chapter. The title will be in the authors note. In the spirit of the sequel, there will be no Gossip Girl intro to the epilogue. Enjoy!

"Look, this is pointless, I'm never going to get it! As much as I appreciate you offering your services, I resent wasting our time on this, Humphrey." Blair whined, throwing up her hands in protest.

It had been almost a month since Dan and Blair had danced on the rooftop of the loft, and in that time, Blair's insecure and overprotective nature had only increased, now they were out in the open for everyone to judge. It was only a day after they had made up when Gossip Girl had announced them to the world in her own uniquely negative way, which had led Blair to start a war of attrition against her; first sending a text straight to her, thanking her for years of airing her dirty laundry, and telling her that Dan and Blair were indeed a solid couple, but refusing her any new information. This had started a week-long effort to only sneak around the city in the evening, in an effort not to be seen, and therefore starve Gossip Girl of news-worthy events. It took only a few days after that for the blogger to declare a truce between her and the new couple, proclaiming that she would not bother them too much over the summer. There was enough scandal going around, anyway, with Chuck fleeing to parts unknown and Lily being aquitted of all charges, after a lengthy litigation and hefty settlement between her and the Donovan household.

With the traumatic events of the past six months firmly behind them, Dan and Blair went back to what they knew best. They went about seperating their time between going to the movies and spending time together both at the loft, and now they were public, Blair's family apartment. Eleanor wasn't around much, owing to her new summer collection being picked up by Bendel's all across the world, which meant she had to travel between Paris and New York regularly. Cyrus, however, was around more than ever, and loved seeing Blair with Dan. He called them a pair of star-crossed lovers, and made no attempt to hide his delight at seeing his step-daughter embracing a more open-minded outlook on life.

They would spend evenings eating with Rufus and Lily back at the Van Der Humphrey penthouse, talking about what their plans were for the rest of the summer, and afterwards, Rufus would give Dan one of his guitars so he could try to teach Blair some songs. Dan loved introducing his girlfriend to new things, and Blair found the passion Dan had for music extremely sexy. So much so, that they didn't manage to get through many of his lessons, because Blair would eventually jump him, and the rest of the night was lost in intense and passionate love-making. Blair had to give Dan credit, he was already getting the hang of knowing which buttons to press with her to get her begging to rip his clothes off. She found this new element in their relationship to be the last piece of the jigsaw, and couldn't help but become even more happy and content with her lot in life as a result.

At weekends, they would spend time with Nate, who was now living with Dan at the loft, and managing the gallery full-time for Rufus. Dan and Nate had gotten even closer in the few weeks that had passed, and Blair could sense their bond as friends becoming something resembling what Nate used to have with Chuck, but it was different somehow. It somteimes felt more like a bromance than a regular kinship, and and Blair sometimes felt herself frozen out of the conversation. She didn't get too concerned about it though, it was nice to see the two of them talk and play video games while she just watched and listened silently.

Blair's friendship with Serena, however, was still very much in tatters. The only way she could receive news of her former best friend was to hear it from Nate; as Serena was spending more and more time between New York and Los Angeles. Serena had managed to create a group of friends in LA and had invited Nate down to meet them a couple of times, which caused Blair to start feeling like she was being moved on from. This immediately scared her, as she had never been without Serena as a friend and confidante, and it hurt to know that their parting was mostly her fault. She had made the necessary sacrifice though, in order to be with Dan. This didn't stop her from trying to call Serena every so often to apologise, and rescue their dying relationship.

In the last week of June, after both their college semesters were finished, the couple began to pack. They had made plans to go to see Blair's father at his chateau in France. Blair was excited to introduce Harold and Roman to her new boyfriend, but Dan was equally wary of the whole thing. It was the biggest step yet in their relationship, and would be a big test of their staying power as a couple.

Once they arrived in the french countryside, though, Dan took to their sorroundings like a fish to water. He enjoyed being out of the boring greyness of the city and loved the rustic feel of the chateau. The only thing that had hindred them at first was that Harold and Roman were away for the weekend when they had arrived, so the grounds were completely empty, bar Blair's pet cat, named Cat, which slinked around the many rooms, only appearing properly in the evening when the warmth of the fireplace enveloped the room the pair had taken up residence in.

Now it was daytime, and only a few hours before Harold and Roman would return from their trip to Paris, and Blair was getting increasingly frustrated and annoyed with her plight. Dan had insisted on trying to teach her how to drive, and the constantly winding nature of French roads was starting to grate on her, despite Dan's patient tutelage.

"Look, you'll never get it unless you relax, and try not to think so much. Eventually you have to do this without my help with the gears, you know." Dan said, shifting into first gear again, after another stall from Blair. The car was a classic french peugeot convertable, that was at least thirty years old, and the gears were rather rusty and hard to work with.

"I don't know why you persist with this stupidness, Dan, I've never had to drive an inch in my life so far, and I don't ever see myself having to in the future." Blair said, sighing noticeable, with her eyes fixed on the road in front of them. Dan just laughed slightly at her firm concentration. She had complained none-stop since they had started learning, but Blair would never give up, and Dan found it reluctantly amusing that she was so bad at it. He couldn't help it.

"What happens if we eventually move out of the city? You going to move your driver in with us?" Dan said, smiling.

"No, I assumed Darota would take me everywhere, and if she wasn't around...you could drive me." Blair said, offering an innocent smile. Dan just shrugged it off.

"Oh, no. You arn't getting off that easy, Blair. Also, don't you think Darota has enough on her shoulders, with Vanya and Anastasia?" Dan asked, shifting the gear again for her, as they sped up slightly. Blair gripped even mote tightly to the wheel, and shuffled her feet around on the peddles.

"Fine, fine. But I still don't see why we must do this now. My father and Roman will be arriving soon. Don't you want to make a good impression for me?" Blair said, hoping for this particular lesson to be over.

Dan sighed this time. "Okay, just drive us back to the chateau. But I have a challenge for you. We can only finish if you manage to drive us back completely on your own. I'll help you by talking to you, but you have to use the gears, too." Dan replied, letting go of the shift, and letting Blair take a nervous hold of it. A few second went by as Blair struggled to turn the car around in a U-turn, and tried to speed the car up to a good pace, until they were steadily chugging along the country lane.

"Alright, when we're starting to gain speed, you want to slowly but firmly move the clutch down and and then...reach for the shift. Nice and easy. Slowly...slowly...Nice and easy..."

Blair glared at him for a second.

"Okay, I'll just be sitting here silently now." He said, shuffling in the passenger seat a little.

Blair started to nervously move the clutch down, as Dan watched her intently.

"Okay, here goes." Blair said to him, but most likely more to herself.

She pulled the shift into the higher gear and released the clutch. Dan breathed a sigh of relief. Blair smiled widely, and then smirked at Dan.

"See, I told you I could do it. Waldorf's are built from very expensive material, Humphrey. We learn fast. How long did it take you to learn that? A month?" She said, poking him in the side with her right hand, while holding onto the wheel with her left.

"Just remember who taught you all this stuff, Waldorf. I charge by the hour, you know." Dan said, smiling at her. He was proud of her accomplishment.

"My company alone should be payment enough, surely."

"Oh, I don't know, I'm sort of starting to get sick of you." Dan joked, winking at her.

"Sick of me? You better be kidding, because I'm close enough to just eject you from the car at high speed, you know." Blair said, as Dan held out his hand, and she held it.

"I think I'm safe. You'd be bored without me, anyway."

"The door handle is only feet away. I'll do it. It won't be pretty." Blair said, laughing slightly, and eyeing him. Dan grabbed his shades from the dashboard and put them on, as the sunlight hit them going around a corner.

"It's true. You'd be completely jaded out here without me as your boyfriend."

"I guess you're right, I mean, lets face it, I'd have nobody to mock and/or jibe. Which would only serve to pent up my excess annoyance at the world in general."

"So what you're saying is I'm like a mobile stress ball. If I weren't around you'd lose control and attack people in public for bad fashion decisions." Dan answered, relaxing in his seat slightly.

"Exactly. I'm glad we understand eachother, darling." Blair finished, as Dan feigned hurt. She just stuck out her tongue at him.

"But you know, you do have some other redeeming qualities."

"Oh, how kind of you to mention." Dan repiled, quickly.

"Well, you're a good cook, and there's no maid service here, for starters." She continued to joke.

"How nice. Well, thanks." Dan said, pretending to frown. He watched as Blair slowly noticed his reaction, and her face softened.

"Hey, cheer up, Dan. I am glad you're here, with me." She said, taking her eyes off the road, looking at him.

He gently squeezed her hand, and they both leaned in to kiss, but Blair jolted back around and tried to focus on the road. A corner had quickly rushed into view, and Blair had no time to react. Dan grabbed hold of the wheel as the car edged off the road and skidded sideways into rickety old fence, which hit the bumper with a jarring crash. Dan managed to right the drift of the tires though, before anymore damage was done, and they slowly came to a stop a few feet into a corn field. Dan surveyed the area, and then checked Blair. She was curled up into the best fetal position she could muster while still worriedly grasping the bottom of the steering wheel. Dan wanted to laugh. She looked hilarious. Her hair was now messed up, but other than that, neither of them were hurt.

"Are you actually insane, Humphrey?" Dan shouted, uncurling, and looking angry.

"What? How can this possibly be my fault?"

Blair checked the car for a few seconds, thinking. "I don't know... But it is."

Dan let out a purposefully loud laugh.

"Oh come on, Blair. You took your eyes off the road, not me."

"Well, I blame you entirely. You shouldn't be so pathetically cute." She said, getting out of the car and looking at the damage.

"Pathetically cute. Thats a new one. I'll take it, though." He answered, following her.

"You should."

Dan saw the dent on the bumper, and inspected it more closely with his hand. As he touched it, the dent gave way, and half the bumper dropped away from the other half.

"Oh you're good. Who taught you that one, Dan?" Blair said, sighing.

"We'll have to walk. It's not safe to drive an old car like this. Who knows what other damage is done?" Dan said, heading towards the fence, and the road.

"Dan."

He carried on walking up to the entrance to the field, looking at the damage to the gate.

"Dan?"

"What?"

"I can't walk." Blair said. Dan looked back at her.

"Of course you can. We're both fine."

"It's not that I can't use my legs, stupid. Here take a look." She directed, and hopped over to his side of the car, and into view. Dan moved closer. She held up her shoe. The heel was hanging by a thread. "Must have happened when we hit the fence."

"Oh yeah, look at that. What a shame." Dan said, turning around again and starting to walk. "Well, come on then." He added, with no sympathy in his voice.

"Hey, there's more." Blair said, hopping up to him, and showing him the bottom of her foot. There was a large bruise starting to form. Dan eyed it, quizzically. Blair shoved him a little, and gave him the familiar eyes that he had now gotten used to.

"Fine, fine. Get on. Don't get used to this, Waldorf." Dan said, offering his back to her. She jovially climbed on. They started to slowly make their way down the sunlit road, with dashes of trees on both sides.

"Oh, hey. I just thought of another use for you, Humphrey." Blair offered, smiling. She had both her arms wrapped around his shoulders and neck.

"Which is?"

"Human cab service. Walk a little faster, or we won't make it back for when my dad arrives."

"Oh wow. You're even a backseat driver when we're not driving. Go figure." Dan said, speeding up a bit.

It was now evening, and Dan was laying on the kingsize bed in Blair's room in the chateau, reading 'Game of Thrones'. Neither of them had thought to pack enough books for the trip, and Dan had finished the novel he had wanted to read by the second week of their visit, so he had made a quick trip into the local town and bookstore the day before, and picked up one of the only books that was translated into English. Blair's usual contempt for his choice of literature had only risen when she had seen him reading it, however. She didn't understand the appeal of a book about war and peace; but Dan was taken aback at how much he had enjoyed it thus far. He flicked a page and wriggled a little on the bed to get a better position for reading.

"I never suspected you were such a nerd, Dan. Although it's not a wholly unsurprising development." Blair said, as Dan lowered the book so his eyes could see the door to the room. Blair was leaning on the doorway, with a glass of red wine in her hand. She was already dressed in a black robe that she generally wore in the evenings. He rolled his eyes at her, and went back to reading.

Harold and Roman had already arrived by the time Dan had shuffled his way back to the grounds from where they had crashed still with Blair on his back. From then on, Blair had spent the rest of the evening following her dad around like his own personal shadow. She seemed to regress slightly everytime he entered the room, and became a little more giddy and immature. With Blair attached at the hip with Harold, Dan and Roman had got along amazingly. Roman had immediately highlighted that he shared Dan's love of film noire, which had sparked a lengthy discussion into the subject. It wasn't until the food was ready and served that the four of them sat down to a have a group discussion.

After that, they had all wandered down to the large pond in the grounds, and sat down in one of the veranda's to drink wine and relax. The conversation had flowed so well, the wine started to be consumed a greater pace, and Dan had sensed Blair getting slightly drunk. That was the time Dan signalled to Harold that it was time for them to go up to their room for a while.

"Dan. Stop being so silent. It's no fun when you don't at least attempt to verbally spar with me." Blair said, stepping through the doorway and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I'm reading, and you're drunk." Dan said, lifting the book back over his eyes.

"I am not. Anyway, how come you suddenly care if I drink? You weren't opposed to me living a little while at college."

"Yes, but I'm trying to make a good impression with your dad. Which means I'm trying to stay sober." He said, stoicly.

Blair moved over to the bedside, and jumped onto the bed next to him. "Well, if we're not going to drink with my dad and Roman, we could always do something else, together." Blair said, moving closer to him, and kissing his neck, slowly.

"Blair, as much as I would... love to, we can't. Not right now, anyway."

"Fine. Read to me, then. But I'm still finishing my wine." Blair muttered, laying back on the pillows and grabbing the book she was currently reading, and passing it to him. Dan looked at the spine; it read 'Lord of the Flies'.

"Are you kidding?" Dan said, amused.

"I'm re-reading it. It'll help with my work at W when we get back to New York." She replied, as Dan put down his book and opened hers at the page she had saved it at.

"Haven't you got any other books I could read?" Dan protested.

"Ugh...I'm going back down to talk to my dad. You're impossible, sometimes." Blair said, getting up and starting to walk out of the room. Dan sprung up and followed, not wanting to get her angry.

He put an arm around her, as they rounded the corner and headed back towards the grounds. Dan leaned over and whispered into her ear. "You love me..."

"No, I don't..." Blair said, looking back at him, smirking.

"You so do."

Blair let a smile escape her for a second. This was a game they played too often. "No, but you love me."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Waldorf." Dan said, as Blair halted and put both her hands on her hips.

"You do! You wuv me. Wuv, wuv." Blair joked, nudging him slightly, and poking him in the belly.

"Nope. Just admit it, Blair, you got the hearts for the Humphrey. You got the love for the lonely boy." Dan teased, putting both his arms around her and pulling her into his chest. She struggled a little, but to no avail. She gave up, and Dan leaned down to kiss her. She was slightly smaller than him without her heels on.

The kiss was deep and passionate, and Blair started to get a little flushed. She freed one of her arms, and started to reach towards him and downwards. Dan reluctantly stepped back a little. "Hey...later." He murmured. She relented and let go of him.

She shugged her shoulders as they began to walk again. "Fine, I do. You win." Blair conceded.

Dan laughed. "I knew it. The Humphrey appeal is too strong."

"Oh, shutup, Brooklyn." She finished, as the two of them sat back down to chat with Harold and Roman.

"Hey, Dan...how goes the trip?" Nate asked.

"Hey, bro. Good, so far." Dan answered, now laying on the bed again, with Blair listening in on the call.

"How's Blair?" Nate said, assuming she was there.

"I'm fantastic, Nate. Amazing. Loving every moment." Blair said, dramatically. She was now even more tipsy than before. Even Dan could feel the alcohol weighing on him. It was now late in the evening though, and both the couples had retired to bed.

"Good, good. So everything worked out fine in the end then, after all that drama?"

"End? Dude, I think this might just be the beginning, somehow." Dan pitched in.

"Oh? How do you figure?" Nate asked.

Blair leaned over and talked. "Nate, we both know you're still in trouble at school. There's no need to pretend everything is fine."

"Look, guys..."

"Nate, I think I speak for both of us when I tell you there's no way we are allowing you to leave college." Dan said, nodding at Blair, "If we have to beg, borrow or steal, we'll get you the money you need. We arn't willing to give up on you just yet."

A few seconds of silence crept over the three of them.

"I appreciate your help, really. But I'm working at the gallery all summer, and I think I may just make the cut." Nate said.

"Well, you know we're here if you need us, bro."

"Thanks. Anyway, lets talk about this summer. What are you two doing when you get back?"

"I think my dad wants us to visit the hamptons house for a few days with him and Lily, but after that, we're open to suggestions." Dan said, pulling Blair close to him, so she could lay her head on his shoulder.

"Well, I'm free for a while. I could come visit?"

"That sounds great. I'll call you when we land in New York, Nate." Blair said, pulling the covers over them both.

Nate sensed the hint, and smiled slightly. "Okay, well, enjoy the last few days there."

The both said their goodbyes, and Dan hung up the cell. "That is a good point he raised. What are we going to do this summer?" Blair asked, yawning.

"Oh, okay, I'm getting a say in this? Wow. Well, now you can drive, why don't we take a roadtrip?"

Blair narrowed her eyebrows and looked at him like he had said something ludicrous.

"What? You've never taken a roadtrip before?"

She shook her head. "No, Dan. I live in New York. Why would I want to go galivanting off across the country?"

"Oh, we're definately going now. You haven't lived until you've taken a Humphrey roadtrip." Dan said, getting momentarily excited. Blair just gawped at him, looking bewildered.

"Oh joy. This should be a barrel of laughs. Stuck in a car for at least a week, with just you and Nate. Mind if I go kill myself now, rather than later?" Blair said, turning over in the bed, and closing her eyes.

Dan had already grabbed his notebook from his travelbag, to start planning.

AN: Okay, so thats this particular story finished completely. I understand this chapter wasn't really akin to the rest of the story, but I just wanted to have fun with it, and setup the storyline for the sequel. The title will be 'Footprints in the Sand'. It will be on a similar line to how this chapter went; much lighter in tone, and more comedic. It'll keep to the theme I've built throughout this story though, which is growing up.

Thanks for reading the story. Hope you'll continue to follow my work. I'll be starting to the sequel soon.

- Ryan