Prompt: Dan is the father of Blair's baby at the end of season 4
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, calming her ragged nerves. It would do no good to come unglued at this point; nothing would change. A panic attack would only delay the inevitable. Drinking her french roast did something for her state of mind so she focused on the singular task of sipping and swallowing, sipping and swallowing.
As he walked through the door of their favorite local haunt, she was struck by how cavalier he seemed. Of course, he had no reason not to be as he had no idea what she was about to unload on him. But it irked her all the same. He should just know, shouldn't he, given the gravity of the situation? Surely her voice had betrayed her true intention for asking him to meet her. He'd gotten so good at reading her lately.
But no, he obviously hadn't picked up on her news else he wouldn't have winked as he sat down across from her. He would have reached for her hand and asked how she was feeling rather than immediately absorbing himself in the menu. Perhaps he also might've told her that he was willing to do whatever he had to to make this easier on her. She found she quite liked that idea.
"I think I'll have what she's having." He flirted as he gestured toward Blair and handed his menu to the poor, charmed waitress. Blair raised a singular eyebrow in a show of disapproval.
"What? Yours looks good."
Sometimes he could be so daft. A sigh and an eye roll followed his remark.
"Look, I've hardly been seated for two minutes and you're already giving me grief, Waldorf. What gives?"
"Nothing."
He looked at her, trying to decipher the one word response, then gave up and looked away. The waitress returned with his coffee in record time and flashed him a toothy grin, lingering far too long for Blair's liking.
"Thank you," she leaned closer to inspect the plain girl's name tag, "Melanie. That'll be all." Melanie reluctantly obliged but not before shooting Blair a fake smile.
"You don't have to be rude. She was just doing her job."
"I'm sorry. Is it her job to ogle her customers?"
He smirked. "Why? You jealous?"
"God, no. I just prefer efficient service to drooling."
Something about the way he smiled into his coffee as he sipped told her that he didn't believe her. No matter, she didn't have time for all of that. She had other business to attend to.
"Do you think you could set your giant ego aside for five minutes so that we can discuss something?"
She heard the clink of his mug as it went straight to the table and watched as his eyes darted to her face. After a thorough inspection, his brow furrowed, all worry and concern. It seemed that he hadn't lost his ability to read her.
"What's going on? Is everything okay?"
"Yes, Dan, calm down. No one's hurt and everything's fine. Well, sort of. I'm not sure if everything is fine, but..."
She couldn't finish her sentence because she was assaulted with a tightening in her throat. The tears started to form before she could get a handle on them. If she spoke, it would come out as a croak and that would make this moment infinitely worse.
"Blair. What's wrong?" He laid his hand over hers in an effort to soothe but it only agitated things further. She shuddered at his touch and released the sob that had been building.
"I have some-something to-to tell you." He was kneeling before her now and had both if her hands clasped tightly in his.
"Blair, you're starting to scare me. Tell me what's happening."
She took several calming breaths before finally meeting his eyes and whispering, "I'm pregnant."
The words hung in the air, not penetrating for some time. It was as if they carried meaning but only in some far off fictional tale, not in the real story of his actual life. He relaxed his grip and looked at her imploringly, wanting to understand but not quite ready to deal with the implications.
"I'm pregnant, Dan. And...and it's yours."
The sledgehammer fell, knocking him from his trance. It's yours. It sounded foreign to his ears. It's yours.
"Say something, Dan. I'm freaking out here!"
"I don't know what to...I'm just...shocked."
"Tell me about it."
This elicited a slight chuckle from both of them bringing some much needed relief into the charged atmosphere. Her hands were still in his and he opened up his palms to examine them. Small and dainty, and shaking a bit, he noted that they fit nicely inside of his.
"So, you're saying that you're pregnant." Nod. "And it's mine." Nod. "But we only, I mean, that is to say, it was just that one time, so how could this have happened?"
"Do you need me to spell it out for you? Surely you took a health course in high school."
"No, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that it's surprising. That's all." He stood and ran a hand through his hair then looked at her. "Wow. This is unbelievable. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I mean, no, but I will be. I'm still processing. I just wanted you to know. And Dan, I don't expect anything from you. I know what happened between us was a one time thing, a foolish drunken mistake."
He stopped at her words, slightly affronted.
"I don't know that I'd go that far. We both seemed to enjoy it. I know I did. So don't call it a mistake. And furthermore, I want to be involved. I want to help. You're my," He paused to gauge her reaction thus far, not sure if he should continue. Her expression must have given him some amount of assurance so her continued. "You're my best friend. I'd never abandon you, especially at a time like this."
They were exactly the words she had been waiting to hear. She leapt from her chair and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms securely around his neck in a distinctly unfriendly manner.
