Previously in Chapter 8 – Dan and Blair have a Polonius moment behind the curtains and Blair discovers that Chuck's feelings for Reina are real. Dan holds her hand.
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Dan was still looking at her, his eyes still searching for signs of pain in her face, but Blair jerked her mouth into a tight smile.
"Dan. I have to go. I have to apologize to Serena."
"Blair." He wanted to say something more useful, but he knew that she couldn't really take anymore of being around him, or being around anyone. Dan understood. He wasn't the right person for the job. She so hated to be vulnerable in front of others and the many moments he had seen her brought low mostly involved the bastard Chuck. Maybe going to Serena would help. The hard set of her face sent him in to retreat. "Ok. Have a good night."
Blair walked into Serena's room holding a 10 dollar box of chocolates like the flimsy peace offering it was. Even though Serena had been distracted with the matters of Ben for weeks now, Blair recognized that her best friend was only trying to shield her from the pain of seeing the former love of her life with a new love. Chuck had traded her for a hotel and now it looks as if his heart was just as easily bartered for Reina's affections and the power of Thorpe Enterprise. She felt stabbed in the heart when she saw the exchange behind Dan's shoulders. It was odd though, because of his prescence, Blair didn't feel like completely falling apart. His solidness stood between Blair and the awful scene she was witnessing, and she felt marginally better that he was there as well.
Blair thought about the promises she had made to Serena in Paris, this year they were going to start over, no more one-upmanship and constant competition, but it looked like she had fallen the first battle axe. Blair swallowed hard as she looked at her friend, who was still in her evening dress and moodily tracing the pattern of her duvet.
Blair felt such love for Serena in this moment and a deep sense of regret washed over her. How could she hurt the one person in her life that protected her even as Serena herself was drowning in a vortex of problems? Serena had her inconsistencies, but her love for Blair never faltered, she never doubted Blair. Her throat clenched as she sat next to Serena and confessed all her sins. Serena smiled at her friend wryly, she was used to Blair's scheming ways, and even though this latest slap felt like Blair had again fallen into old patterns, the way that she came clean so quickly at least felt a little like progress. Serena's life's motto was 'water under the bridge,' so she took this latest offense in stride.
"Are you going to be ok being alone?" Serena cast a concerned glance at Blair's face, which had no traces of the brimming tears that she had almost shed in Reina's suite.
"Not yet." Blair was so relieved. "But I need to start learning to be. Go, have fun with your parolee." Blair wasn't entire up on this whole Mother Teresa act of Serena's in saving the former felon, Ben, but she recognized that the same tenacity that allowed Serena to save Ben was the also the same spirit that allowed Serena to forgive her over and over again. Her lovely friend always thought the best about people, and maybe Blair was starting to understand what the payoff of those rose colored glasses were.
Serena was waving her goodbyes when Blair's phone suddenly beeped with a new email. It was Dan.
"Maybe it's a secret valentine." Serena's words startled Blair. Her friend smiled at her surprised expression and lightly stepped out into the night. It was the last few hours of Valentine's day and Serena van der Woodsen had one waiting. Life was still good.
Blair didn't quite know what to make of Serena's comments since her friend certainly didn't know that the message was coming from her ex. An ex that was quickly becoming as dependable as the New York Times for Blair. She looked at the message, "New rewrites on the way" and decided to put an end to Dan's publishing limbo.
"'ello." Dan's voice rumbled pleasantly across the phone line.
"Why the hell would you do that?" She quickly jumped in. Dan and she had a way of being in the middle of a conversation as soon as they started talking. No introductions or segues needed.
"This way I can start a whole new round of pestering you to submit it." Blair didn't like to admit how she like the silky rumble in Dan's voice, especially on the phone because sometimes it sounded like he was talking directly into her ear.
"But I already did. Yesterday. I gave your article to a junior editor at Vanity Fair," She picked up the lighter from her desk and walked to her favorite candle near the fireplace. "Not Details. I'm assuming that won't be a problem?"
"Wait, so you submitted it without reading?"
"Of course I read it. I have a reputation to uphold."
"And you still put me through the wringer." He sounded amused to her ears, but over in Brooklyn, Dan was in such a state of surprise that he dropped unconsciously into his computer chair.
"It was good." Blair sighed. She wasn't ready to talk about how close the article had hit home. But in context of just his writing, she could be honest. With her heart, that was another matter
"Mmm, I'm sorry." His tone had gotten almost impossibly soft. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me. It was sharp and well observed. When it comes to experiencing an ex with a new love, you have some insight." Even as he realized that she was still smarting over the events of the evening, Dan still couldn't keep the grin off his face. Blair Waldorf actually like it, and paid him a compliment. In his wildest dreams, he didn't think it she would be so forthcoming with her compliments since she always made everyone work for hers.
"Hmm. How, how are you doing with all that?" Dan leaned on one elbow. He was pretty unsure of himself in this territory, but felt that if he didn't ask, it would be an omission of the exchange they had earlier. Even when she pulled away, Dan still knew that she was wounded and hurting. The many times he had been left dangling by Serena, the soft inquiry of someone who knew would have made a world of difference. That's who Dan was trying to be to Blair, that someone.
"Ugh. Well, I'm seeking refuge with the perfect anti-valentine's day movie." Blair padded over to her bed and ensconced herself beneath the covers. Her laptop was already open and waiting. "Rosemary's baby."
He perked up at her sense of humor, picking the classic satan-worshipping movie was the perfect antiseptic to the platitudes of today's stupid holiday. He grabbed his copy from the shelf immediately.
"What part are you at? I'll watch with you. Forgive me if I've memorized some of Ruth Gordon's dialogue." He paused, not at all embarrassed. "Alright, all of it."
She chuckled at the image of Dan as Ruth Gordon. "It just started."
Dan thought there were many advantages to watching a movie with Blair—but over the phone, they could snark back and forth without the threat of popcorn avalanche from other unhappy movie watchers. Though, over the phone, he couldn't look at her almost incandescently beautiful face being lit by the shimmering light of the projector. He did relish that view. Back to the moment at present, he could just listen to her acid wit cutting Mia Farrow's character to bits.
"My point is that paranoia can save your life," Blair was saying.
"Oh, so she was suppose to know that her husband was going to sell their first born to a coven?"
"The woman couldn't be more naïve!" He could hear the exasperation in her voice. "Who eats unsolicited desserts?"
"Mm. Point taken." He switched his phone to the other hand. "The mousse was creepy. You know how many gloves I've lost on the subway?"
"You do often seem cursed."
"I do, don't I?" But Dan didn't feel cursed. At least not while he had Blair on the other end.
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This was short, but needed to be resolved. So one more episode until the kiss. I actually can't wait to write While You Were Sleeping because it was such an good homage to screwball comedy. Please review? More reviews mean a story gets more traffic and if you like what you read, don't you want others to read it too? Let the great Dair ship sail in this world, even if the writers of GG won't.