A/N: I owe everyone an apology again as I haven't managed individual replies to reviews. Please don't think I don't appreciate them. It's amazing to me that people are still taking the time to comment after so long and I promise I will manage replies this week. I've been away and since I've been back I've had so much to cram into every day that I've just had no free time. It was touch and go if I would even get the chapter up. I know I said that this would be the final chapter but it hasn't worked out that way. I realised I needed a bridging chapter or it just wouldn't flow the way it shoud, so here it is. As a result it's a little shorter than usual but it really felt necessary. Next week will definitely be the final proper chapter, to be followed by the epilogue the following Sunday.
When Blair awoke Dan's arms were around her. She took a few minutes to appreciate his presence. After all, for the rest of the trip they'd be sharing the room with Emily. She was fairly confident there would be no repeat of last night's activities till they were back in London.
She knew without a doubt that she had never felt closer to anyone than she now felt to Dan. That wasn't really anything to do with last night. Last night had just been the sugar on top of everything else. She'd been worried that when they finally reached that point in their relationship it wouldn't live up to expectations. There had been no need for her concern. Dan had read her like a book pretty much since they had met again in London and last night had been no different. She just hoped the experience had been as great for him. She grinned as she thought about it. He'd certainly seemed to be enjoying himself at the time.
However their closeness was based on much more than the physical and that was what made it so perfect. She could picture herself spending the rest of her life with Dan Humphrey. In fact she couldn't picture herself spending the rest of her life with anyone else. There was something slightly terrifying about that. After Chuck she had sworn she would never give herself to someone else so completely again. She knew from bitter experience that led to unbearable hurt, but Dan had her whole heart. It had happened without her even realising it. She had never consciously surrendered it to him but he had worked his way in so subtly that she had been in love with him before she had even realised it herself.
Looking back now she couldn't even pinpoint when he had moved from being her friend to being so much more. Maybe that was why she had allowed it to happen. She had trusted him long before she had realised she was in love with him, so that first barrier had already been broken.
She changed position slightly and Dan's arms tightened around her a little as he murmured quietly in his sleep. She took a few more minutes to commit the warm, safe feeling to memory, but when she glanced across at the time she realised that they really should be making a move. It wouldn't be long before Chuck would arrive at their door with Emily.
She nudged Dan lightly and that was enough for him to sleepily open his eyes. He looked so adorable with his tangled hair and sleepy eyes that she couldn't resist kissing him very softly.
"Mmm, good morning," he mumbled against her lips.
"Good morning," she replied. She pulled away reluctantly and started to get up.
She squealed as Dan grabbed her and flipped her over, so she landed back down on the bed.
"Just a few more minutes," he said as he hovered over her.
He tangled his fingers lightly in her hair and lowered his mouth onto hers. He playfully nibbled her lip very gently before deepening the kiss. She found herself responding without even thinking about it. Before long they were a tangle of limbs once more. As Dan started to place gentle kisses along her collar bone she desperately pulled her mind back into the here and now, sliding away from him once more.
"Dan, stop," she said, "Chuck will be here in less than half an hour with Emily."
Dan smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling her back towards him once more.
"Then by my count that gives us 25 minutes before we need to get up, so come back to bed," Dan said.
"No, that gives me 25 minutes to get showered and dressed," she replied.
She kissed him one more time before she moved away completely, feeling unbelievably frustrated. Maybe she should make that a cold shower.
"So when am I supposed to shower?" Dan asked. "In fact, how big was that shower exactly?"
He made to follow her and Blair immediately realised his intentions.
"Oh no, Humphrey," she said quickly, pushing him away from her. "That would definitely not be a 25 minute shower if we went with your plan. Another time though, OK?"
He looked so disappointed that she almost relented but the thought of being caught in the shower with Dan by her ex-boyfriend and Dan's daughter was fantastic motivation. She wasn't sure that she would ever recover from the embarrassment if that little scenario became reality.
"I'll be quick," she said. "There will still be time for you."
True to her word she very quickly shampooed and conditioned her hair and washed herself. In less than 10 minutes she was back out into the bedroom and Dan took her place. She quickly threw on jeans and a sweater before drying her hair as well as she could in the time. It was still a little damp and she decided she would need to tie it back.
When Dan arrived back in the room, this time fully dressed, she had a cunning thought.
"Dan could you do my hair?" she asked.
She could still remember the night when she had taught him how to braid Emily's hair and how amazing it had felt to have him running his fingers through her own later as he practiced. Back then she hadn't had the slightest inkling that this was where they would find themselves, and as a result she didn't think she had appreciated it as much as she should have done. However she was honest enough to admit that the attraction had been there even then. The thought of a repeat performance was unbelievably appealing.
"You're sure?" Dan asked. "I'm still not that great at it, just ask Emily."
"I've seen your attempts," she said. "The practice has been paying off. I trust you. Besides I don't think my standards are as exacting as Emily's"
Dan grinned, "So what you're saying is you'll put up with a mediocre job."
"Pretty much," she replied. "So get yourself over here.
She moved her chair beside the bed so that he would be able to perch comfortably behind her and handed him her hairbrush. He started to gently run it through her hair, carefully untangling it as he went, and she had to restrain herself from humming contentedly. It felt even better than she remembered. Before Dan nobody had brushed her hair for her for years and she'd forgotten how incredibly relaxing it could be. As he started the French braid from the top of her head she relished the feeling of his fingers on her scalp. He moved a lot more assuredly than he had the first time they had tried this. Was it odd to be turned on by a man who could braid hair? She was pretty sure that it was but she didn't care.
He was about half way down when there was a knock at the door. Not wanting to ruin Dan's efforts she called out for them to come in.
Emily was first through the door, dragging Chuck behind her by the hand. Blair almost laughed out loud at the sight of Chuck Bass at the beck and call of an eight year old girl.
He raised his eyebrows at the sight before him.
"Really Humphrey? I didn't have you down as the hairdresser type."
"Hey!" Dan objected. "I'll have you know that only real men can braid."
Blair almost fell off her seat when Chuck actually laughed. It was a real, genuine laugh. She couldn't remember the last time she had heard anything other than a slightly sarcastic chuckle come out of the other man's mouth. She was astounded. He looked so much happier than he had the other day and she desperately hoped that it could last.
Dan finished her hair and tied the braid off at the bottom.
"Will you do mine too please Daddy?" Emily asked. "Then we can match."
Blair stood up and Emily quickly positioned herself on the vacant chair. Chuck started to make his way towards the door.
"Listen I really need to do some work today, I should be getting going. Emily, it was a pleasure."
Emily was on her feet again in an instant flinging herself at the man she hadn't even known a few days previously.
"Thank-you Uncle Chuck," she cried. "I had so much fun."
Blair watched as Chucks expression softened into something she had never seen before. He picked Emily up and hugged her tightly.
"You're welcome. I had fun too," he said. "We'll do it again sometime. That's if it's OK with your Dad?" he asked, glancing towards Dan.
Too Blair's relief Dan smiled warmly. "I think we can arrange that," he said. Listen Chuck, thank-you again for last night. It meant a lot to us."
"Anytime," Chuck replied, "and I really mean that. Don't hesitate to call while you're still here."
Suddenly overcome with something that felt suspiciously like pride in the man standing in from of her, Blair stepped forward and pulled Chuck into a warm hug. She felt him tense up to begin with. Clearly she had taken him unawares. They hadn't ever exactly been big huggers, not even when they had been together. After just a few seconds she felt him relax against her however and hug her back.
"I am happy for you, you know," he whispered into her ear before pulling away.
"I know," she whispered back, "and thank-you for that."
He pulled away, "Later Dan," he said, nodding at him as he moved towards the door once more and this time actually made his way through it.
"I missed you Daddy," Emily said, hugging him round his legs. "You too Blair," she added and Blair was the recipient of a very similar welcome.
"We missed you too," Blair said. "Now why don't you let your Daddy do your hair and we can make plans for the day."
Dan started work on Emily's hair as he spoke.
"What would you like to do today sweetheart?" he asked. "I'll need to do a bit of Christmas shopping later but the rest of the day's all yours."
"Then I know exactly what I want to do," Emily said, bouncing a little in her seat while Dan desperately tried to keep track of what he was doing.
Blair sniggered a little at the look of intense concentration on his face and he frowned at her.
"Hey, I haven't been doing this that long, OK!" he said indignantly.
"I'd like to go skating please," Emily said. She obviously still had her mind on the previous question.
Blair smiled at the thought of it. It had been something she had loved to do when she was younger and it had been several years since she had skated. The thought of sharing it with Emily and Dan was a wonderful one.
"That's a brilliant idea. You ladies might need to help me out though. I'm not exactly an expert," said Dan.
Blair grinned, "I think we can manage that."
It didn't take long for them to get ready and make their way to the outdoor rink. Blair had forgotten how beautiful it was at Christmas and she watched with delight as people whizzed around the ice in brightly coloured winter outfits. Some less confident skaters carefully made their way around the outside.
They rented some skates and Blair laced hers up expertly in no time at all. She helped Emily with hers as Dan carefully laced up his own. Questioning on the way here had allowed her to find out that Emily had actually only been skating once on a school outing and she had promised to show the little girl what to do.
She took Emily by the hand, helping her to the side of the ice rink as Dan carefully followed behind them. She helped Emily onto the ice and then watched as Dan stepped out also, grabbing onto the handrail at the edge as soon as possible.
"Will you be OK?" she asked him.
"I think I can manage," he said. "Help Emily for a bit will you? I want her to enjoy it. Then you can come back and check that I'm still in one piece."
She chuckled and went over to Emily, showing her how best to move her feet in order to make her way smoothly over the ice. The little girl remembered very quickly what to do and, after only a few circuits using the handrail, Blair took her hand and pulled her a bit further into the centre of the rink. She still partially held her up but she was doing well and, going by the smile on her face, she seemed to be having an absolute ball.
After multiple circuits however Blair glanced across at Dan. He was still making his way carefully around the edge.
"Do you think maybe I should help your Daddy for a while?" she asked Emily and the little girl nodded.
"He doesn't look like he's having fun at all. I can hold onto the side while you help him."
Blair made her way over to him and Emily grabbed hold of the rail.
"It looks like the ice is fighting back," Blair said. "Can I give you a hand?"
"I think that would be wise" Dan said.
She took his hand and gave him the same instructions as Emily while he desperately grabbed onto her. They carefully made half a circuit before Dan spoke again.
"I think I've got it now," he said.
He grabbed her hand and suddenly she found herself being towed around the ice at top speed. She squealed but quickly recovered herself enough to keep up.
"You liar!" she said. "You said you couldn't skate."
Dan grinned.
"Sorry I couldn't resist. Besides I wanted to see you in teacher mode. I thought it would be sexy and I was right."
At that she blushed a little before she replied.
"You've actually skated a fair bit I'm guessing. No-one gets that confident after one visit."
"Katie loved to skate," Dan said. "It was something I'd never really been interested in but she taught me and I realised I l actually loved it too."
"Then why can't Emily skate?"
Dan was silent for a moment and a shadow passed over his face as he replied.
"I don't think she even remembers us being at the rink. She was pretty tiny when we used to go regularly. When Katie got sick we had to stop going altogether. It wasn't something I wanted to do on my own. After Katie died there was no way I could face it. After Emily went on that school trip she really wanted to go back but I just kept making excuses."
He paused and Blair spoke once more, "It was too hard?"
"You have no idea. I could see her so clearly in my mind, laughing as she flew around the ice. She loved the speed, always skated as fast as possible. Now I can think about that memory and smile, but then it made me feel so awful that I just couldn't face it. It was so selfish though. Katie would have wanted Emily to skate."
Blair squeezed his hand a little tighter.
"Katie would have understood," she said. "I've told you before; it wasn't selfish to be sad. It was just human. What would be selfish would be if you let your guilt about the past ruin today for Emily. So can you please just forgive yourself?"
Dan drew to a halt and kissed her once on the lips.
"You're right and I love you. I will never be able to repay you for everything you've done for me."
Blair kissed him back before she replied.
"You already have," she said. "Now let's go."
The two of them skated back towards Emily and grabbed a hand each, pulling her into the centre of the ice before beginning a circuit.
Emily screamed with delight and they went round the ice several more times before Blair cried off and left Dan and Emily to go round one more time. She watched Dan helping Emily with her technique from the side of the ice as she got her breath back. She couldn't keep the smile off her face. Emily looked incredibly cute as she tried so hard to mimic her father's actions.
She suddenly heard a woman speaking beside her.
"You have a beautiful family," the woman said, "you're very lucky."
"Yes I am," Blair replied.
The other woman skated off and Blair realised that she hadn't even thought to explain that they weren't her family. In her heart she felt like they were and she really didn't see that changing.