Jonathan Edwards College

February 25, 2012

1:09 p.m.

Both phones on the desk buzzed with incoming messages. Blair looked up from her pasta carbonara to glance at the screen, curious as to who would be texting her. She caught the name of the wedding planner that her mother and Lily had hired for her and rolled her eyes. The last thing that Blair wanted to go over as she prepared for an upcoming exam (and stressed about the results of her GRE) were the details of her upcoming nuptials.

She and Dan had finally decided on a date- May 18, 2013- and Blair intended to do most of the wedding planning in the spring once she was sure of where she would be attending graduate school.

She placed the phone back down and glanced at Tarah. The two of them were holed up in Tarah's dorm room, eating really good pasta from a restaurant in New Haven they'd gotten to deliver to campus solely on account of their last names and bank accounts, and studying for an upcoming exam.

Tarah was skimming her textbook and ignoring her phone completely.

"You're not even going to check who messaged you?" Blair queried as Tarah's phone buzzed once again.

Tarah shook her head. "No. I mean, I'm tempted but that feels like an invitation to utter distraction and the entire point of us studying during our lunch break is that we won't have to do it during the weekend."

Blair smirked. "Is it Chuck? I know he mentioned to Dan and Nate that you'd caught his attention."

Tarah scoffed. "Definitely not Chuck," she answered, meeting Blair's gaze. "He's handsome and charming but I'm not interested in him. And, yes, he's aware."

Blair shrugged her shoulders. "It's disappointing for Chuck, I'm sure. He'll get over it, though." Blair glanced at the iPhone on the desk again.

Tarah raised an eyebrow. "I know you're very interested in whomever is texting me right now. Because you know that it's obviously someone who is acquainted with my class schedule."

"Are you dating somebody without me knowing?" Blair questioned. She set her plate down on the bed. "How did you keep this from me? We've basically been a unit since the semester started."

"We're not exactly attached at the hip, Blair," Tarah pointed out. "Also, how have you not noticed me tagging along every time you go to New York for the last month?"

"He's in New York?"

Tarah bit her lip and then sighed. "Not he, Blair."

Blair raised her eyebrows and said, "She, then. This is the first girl you've dated since Francesca in sophomore year."

"It is," Tarah confirmed. She, too, set down her lunch. "Do you remember me talking about high school?"

"You mean your repressive, conservative Catholic school? I do. I remember you talked about how you realized you were bisexual because some poor girl was outed in your senior year."

"Gianna," Tarah supplied the name of her former classmate. "Beautiful, brilliant, sweet. I had the biggest crush on her and I didn't even know it until it was basically impossible for us to date." She licked her lips nervously. "Well, it's a lot easier for us to work on our mutual attraction now that we're adults and out of that oppressive environment."

Blair laughed. "Really? You're actually seeing your high school crush? That's...that's tooth-rotting sweet. I-How did you even run into each other again?"

"Your fiancé-"

"Dan knows?!"

Tarah shook her head. "I don't think he knows any details. But he is apparently, through some mysterious intervention by the universe, friends with Gigi and has been for years. They met at a bakery called Goldwyn's."

Blair rolled her eyes. "He's there all the time. Your girlfriend is his favorite employee there. He's brought home several of the desserts she's baked," she said. "She's very talented."

"Like Dan, Gigi was a scholarship student," Tarah clarified. "It was another reason why her outing was particularly brutal; the administration and board actually voted on whether to rescind her scholarship and effectively kick her out."

Blair reached out and took Tarah's hand, squeezing it for comfort. "I'm excited to finally meet her considering she's already on the guest list for my wedding."

Tarah grinned and reached for her phone. She opened the messages as she reached for her bottle of sparkling water. She promptly choked on said water and Blair leaned over to see why.

On the screen of Tarah's phone was a picture of a pretty brunette, hair pulled into a ponytail, looking at the camera wearing an unbuttoned white shirt that was pulled open enough to reveal a lacy, black brassiere.

Blair's eyes caught the accompanying message, I miss you. She sat back. That message had certainly not been meant for her eyes.

Tate Britain

March 13, 2012

11:47 am

Blair hummed as she curled further into the embrace of her fiancé. The two stood in front of Sir John Everett Millais' Ophelia, Dan's arms around Blair, as they took in the painting.

Blair was thankful that she'd found someone who was as invested in art as she was; she was unsure that a relationship would've worked out between them otherwise. Likewise, she was as invested in literature as Dan. They were both very creative people, though their academic performance in high school might've denoted otherwise, and it was beautiful to Blair to know that her creativity, that spark that lived within her, would only ever be inflamed by Dan, would only ever grow with his support.

"I think I'm looking forward to attending many more museums with you," he muttered, lips against her ear.

Blair nodded against his chest. "So am I."

"I'm going to have to build up my tea drinking habit," he quipped good naturedly. "I won't have Gigi around to make me my mid-morning coffee."

Blair rolled her eyes. "I hope you haven't told your friend that you're going to miss her skills as a barista more than her actual person."

He laughed. "Not at all. I'll joke about it with her, anyway. It's not like nobody is going to visit; everybody will want to visit us. We'll have your dad, Roman, Pierre and Philippe first. Eleanor is definitely coming out here second. My dad might hold out until your second semester."

"Jenny already told me that if we don't fly out for the holidays, she will come to us," Blair supplied. "It's sweet of her. Tarah's taking two weeks this summer to help us set up house."

Dan raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't she have an apartment of her own to set up?"

Blair tilted her head lightly. "Well, she's been doing that little by little during her weekend trips to New York. When she's not seeing Gianna, of course."

"I still can't believe that my friend knew yours since childhood and we had no idea," he said.

"And they're dating each other," Blair added. "I still can't believe that you knew before I did."

"I thought for sure that Tarah would've told you," Dan stated.

Blair let out a deep breath. "I think that Tarah was just being protective of her relationship. She really cares for Gianna. She wanted to have something solid before exposing it to the world."

Dan pressed his lips against the top of Blair's head. "What do you want to do once we get the keys to the apartment?"

"Besides christen all flat surfaces with you?" she posed coquettishly. "I think if we can I would like to spend a night in our home with you before going back to New York. You?"

Dan hummed in agreement. "Buy a book together," he said. "I want to start furnishing our library."

Blair smiled. "A man after my own heart."

Miya's

April 6, 2012

7:37 pm

Dan looked over at his dinner companion and smiled. Gianna Ferrera was seated across from him, dressed in jeans and a purple NYU sweatshirt. Her dark hair (she was the only person that Dan had befriended whose hair remained as jet black as his own; Vanessa had lightened hers) was loose around her shoulders and a pair of tortoiseshell framed glasses hung precariously from the neckline of her sweater.

"Blair might espouse the virtues of punctuality but she's typically at least five minutes late to any event that she is not personally hosting," Dan said amusedly.

Gianna smiled. "Tarah once made me wait half an hour for her to show up at Descanso Gardens when we were doing a project together in high school," she revealed. "It was so frustrating that I made her look for me on the grounds for twenty minutes before telling her where I was."

Dan laughed. Gianna joined in. He tugged at the sleeve of his blue Columbia sweater and glanced at his watch.

"You know, it honestly didn't even cross my mind that you and Tarah might've gone to the same school despite your similar backstories," he confided. "I knew that both of you were from La Cañada Flintridge and that you'd both attended a small, conservative Catholic school in the hills."

Gianna shrugged. "There are a surprising number of private schools in Southern California. I don't think that Tarah ever mentioned to you the girl who was outed and almost thrown out of school her senior year, and I know that I didn't tell you the name of the girl who I was crushing on senior year."

"It's kind of wild, though, that Blair and I couple and that we've individually been friends with you and Tarah for nearly four years."

"It's kind of wild that you unknowingly sent her my way," Gianna pointed out. "Of all of the bakeries you could recommend you gave her Goldwyn's name. And I just happened to be at the counter instead of the kitchen that day."

"That is pretty crazy," he agreed.

He glanced at the door just as Blair and Tarah stepped into the restaurant and stood as the two women reached the table. Dan kissed Blair and, out of the corner of his eye, caught Tarah and Gianna kissing, too. Dan and Gianna pulled out their respective partner's chair and then all four of them were sitting and ready to order.

"Hello, Gianna," Blair said. "It's nice to see you again. Especially in the new context of my best friend's girlfriend."

They'd met three weeks prior at Goldwyn's. Dan had dragged Blair to the bakery early one morning for coffee and pastries. Gianna had been in the kitchen but a well worded request from Dan had managed to coax her out of her hiding place and into the front of the shop. She was very pretty and very genial, Blair had thought, and she was, at least momentarily, satisfied by this girl's persona, deeming her a good match for Blair's best friend.

Gianna smiled. "It's lovely to see you again, too, Blair. How have you been?"

"Very busy," Blair answered. "There's a lot to get ready before the summer."

"I still can't believe that you're leaving me," Tarah commented. "I mean, I'm happy for you. I think it's brilliant that you got into a very prestigious program in London, Blair. I do. I'm just going to miss having my best friend with me."

Blair nodded. "Likewise. I had considered that you might apply to the Courtauld, too. I hadn't given much thought to the fact that your parents purchased an apartment for you in Manhattan last year."

"If I could have a do-over," Dan said, "I would've re-introduced you two earlier and, hopefully, have gotten us all down to plan for grad school because I'm losing a friend and my favorite barista slash baker in the city. I've got nothing to look forward to in London on that front."

Gianna rolled her eyes. "You'll be just fine, drama queen."

"Although it would have been nice to have known that you were in New York sooner," Tarah told her girlfriend. "We could've made up sooner."

"You're a sap," Gianna replied with a wide grin. She leaned forward and kissed Tarah on the mouth.

Tarah playfully pushed her away. "I don't know why I even like you."

The waiter appeared and the foursome looked over their menus before placing their sushi orders.

"Dan showed me the listing for your flat in London, Blair," Gianna said. "It looks beautiful."

The Yalie smiled. "Thank you. I enlisted my step-father's help in finding a broker because I've been so busy with school. Cyrus really came through and so did his friend because Dan and I only had to go through a handful of apartments before we found the perfect one.

"Did you hear back from any of the law schools you applied to?" Blair questioned.

Gianna nodded. "NYU, Columbia, and Hastings all said yes. Georgetown said no," she answered, "which is perfectly okay because my plan was always to stay in New York if possible, and move out to the Bay Area if not."

Tarah reached out for Gianna's hand. "We're both going to Columbia," she announced. "I'm still working on convincing Gigi to move into my apartment instead of staying in Brooklyn."

Their waiter brought out plates of salmon onigiri, sashimi, sushi, and soft-shell crab and set them down on the table for everyone to share. They took a few moments to parcel out their dinner.

The conversation was lively and fun. Once dinner was finished and paid for (Dan and Gianna picked up the tab this time) they all filtered out into downtown New Haven. They'd decided to walk the short distance back to the hotel where Dan and Gianna were staying. Dan and Tarah took the lead; Blair and Gianna followed close behind.

"Have you considered living with Tarah?" Blair asked. "I know that you're even further away from Columbia than Dan; that commute alone is a deterrent."

Gianna shrugged. "I've thought about it. I'm not exactly excited about being so far away from campus. But I'm also thinking about the fact that Tarah and I haven't been dating that long and I'm not sure if… I think we need to talk about whether it's too soon to cohabitate, you know?"

"Maybe you should think of it as living with a roommate instead of living with a partner," Blair suggested.

"I've lived with a significant other before," Gianna revealed. "My current roommate is my ex-girlfriend. We were together for almost two years and we've lived together since sophomore year. So I get what you're saying but even if we were sleeping in separate rooms, Tarah and I would still be a couple who lives together, with all that cohabitation entails. That's a big step, Blair, considering that I'm not entirely sure how comfortable her family actually is with the realities of Tarah having a girlfriend."

Blair raised an eyebrow. "She's been out to them since freshman year."

"Have they met a girlfriend before? Because it's completely different knowing your child is queer in theory and witnessing their queerness in practice."

Gianna had a point, Blair acknowledged, She hummed in tacit agreement. They continued walking together and when they encountered a puddle on the street, Gianna stepped over it and turned to offer Blair her hand. Blair took it, and Gianna helped the small brunette over the water, keeping the soles of her Jimmy Choos dry.

Gianna Ferrera was a gentlewoman. Blair smiled. She grew less concerned for her best friend's wellbeing and happiness.