"So, what you are saying is that you and Blair are back together?" Vanessa said, sipping from her bottle. "What an interesting turn of events."
"That is, in fact, not what I said. In fact, quite the opposite."
Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, Humphrey," she said, sarcasm ringing loudly through her words.
"Vanessa, we are two adults who are enjoying each other's company."
"Is that the company line?" Vanessa rolled her eyes again. "Enjoying each other's company? Give it up, Humphrey. I can see it in your stupid smile, you are in deep. Let me at least capture it on film this time."
The door opened and Jenny appeared, having left to use the bathroom. Dan flailed his hand across his neck, trying to signal to Vanessa to stop with that topic. "What are you guys talking about?" she asked, plopping herself on the end of Dan's bed.
Vanessa looked at Dan and ticked her head slightly to the left, "Oh," she said, exaggerating the word, "nothing. A whole lot of nothing."
"So, Dan and Blair?" Jenny said, taking a bottle from the box on the ground. Dan went to swat the bottle away from her. "I'm 18 and we're in England, Dan. I'm legal to drink."
"Vanessa," Dan's tone was sharp, trying to get them to stay off the topic of his love life, "was just telling me about her next film project."
Jenny audibly scoffed. "Come on, Dan. You have the key to Blair's room, I know something is up."
"I have the key," he countered, "so we aren't all piled into one room. It was nice of Blair to give us extra space since she's gone for the holiday. Because we are friends."
Vanessa laughed loudly. "Friends who fuck."
"Ew!" Jenny exclaimed, grabbing a pillow from the bed and chucking it at Vanessa, who was seated cross legged on the floor.
Dan's head fell, "Jesus, Vanessa."
"Okay, okay, that was too far," Vanessa giggled, leaning over and hitting Dan's knee. "My fault. But come on, Dan, from what you've told me- you guys go out for dinner, you pay, you come back here where you spend the night in Blair's room. And then, the next day, you do it all over again. That is dating."
Jenny smacked Dan on the arm, "You pay for your meals? She is a bajillion times richer than us, Dan. At least let her remind you of that by letting her pay for your dates."
"Thank you for your financial advice, Jenny, but I saved up money from working this summer and I am doing just fine."
"Taking out a girl who isn't your girlfriend," Vanessa retorted.
Jenny playfully hit her beer bottle against Dan's, "Cheers to that."
"Guys, seriously, I didn't invite you here so we could talk about me and Blair."
"Well, I didn't come here so we didn't talk about them. Where is she, again, this weekend?" Vanessa asked, her eyebrows raising.
Dan took a long sip of his drink, "France. Her dad and his husband live there. She is celebrating Thanksgiving there."
"And we weren't invited?" Jenny asked, her hands over her chest and feigning shock.
"I would say, technically, we were besides Vanessa."
"Did my invitation get lost in the mail?"
"More like ripped up then put through a shredder then Blair took the pieces and put them back together and then she lit them on fire," Dan said, smirking at his best friend.
Vanessa fell back on the floor, her hands up as though motioning to a higher power, "God, tell me what I did to this girl to make her hate me!"
Jenny elbowed Dan subtly and answered, "Perhaps it was the time you broadcasted her terrible relationship with Nate for your viewers to revel in? Or maybe it was when she found you sleeping in Dan's bed? Or, another option, it was the time you and Dan got really drunk and Dan called her name out in the street like a commoner?"
"All good points, little J," Vanessa snorted. Vanessa shot up, sitting with her back erect and Dan could see a lightbulb going off in her head. "What if we went to France anyways?"
"What? No." Dan said at the same time that Jenny say, "Yes!"
"No, absolutely not."
"Why not? We aren't going to be feasting on turkey tomorrow, Dan, so why can't we go see France?" Jenny said, her head turning to look at her brother and her lips forming into a pout. "Even if we don't see Blair, I want to see France. England is… no offense to you, boring so far."
Dan shook his head, "You have been here for a couple hours and have only seen my dorm room."
"Exactly!" Jenny said, clapping her hands together. "If we stay here, it will be a Dan version of a holiday. It will be your favorite spots and boring Dan things. If we go to France, we can all discover it together."
Vanessa turned her phone towards them so they could see the screen, "Look, the flights are cheap. Dan, come on. We can find a place to stay, Blair doesn't even need to know we are there if she doesn't want to. Why don't you call her, see how opposed she is to the idea- if it's like a little opposed, we'll book it. If she is sharpening her daggers, we'll stay here and do the weekend the Dan Humphrey way."
Dan closed his eyes and thought about it. "First off, I find it upsetting that my sister and my best friend think I would plan a boring weekend." They were right, of course, but he didn't want to admit that. He had, in fact, planned nothing for them in advance. "Second, my friend Amelie's sister was coming this weekend. I don't want to blow them off."
"They can come, too," Jenny said, as though Dan's objection was the dumbest thing she had ever heard.
"To France," Vanessa said, leaning into Dan and holding her phone at an angle. "Little J, get in this."
Jenny hugged Dan from behind, "To France!"
Dan grunted, "This is a bad idea."
Vanessa turned her phone back to examine the pictures, "It is not. You talked to Blair last night, she even said I could come to dinner."
"And Amelie even said her sister would much rather come to Paris instead of Brighton," Jenny said, leaning her forehead against the plane window and looking out at the sky. "We're going to do Thanksgiving and then go to Paris- God, I'll actually have European vacation stories to tell my friends."
He groaned, "But did she sound like she actually wanted to see us?"
"Who cares," Vanessa laughed, "she said yes, there is no take backs. Also," she said, turning to Dan, "I am going to film some of this. Don't worry," she said, putting her finger up to stop Dan from talking, "it's not going to be like before. It's going to be for my vlog. It's going to be artsy shots, us drinking, having fun- I promise, it will be set to some royalty free music and totally Blair approved."
"Vanessa," Dan said, slinking into his chair. "Please."
"You won't even tell I'm filming. I need to start making a portfolio and vlogs are an easy way to show my camera work and editing skills."
Jenny turned from the window, "Have you watched them, Dan? They're really good. Can you come and film my life, V? Make me look like cool."
"Aw, J," Vanessa said, leaning over Dan to pat Jenny's leg, "you're cool to me."
Dan covered his eyes as he stepped out of the airport and started to look for a taxi stand. "I think it's this way," he said, pointing to where a bunch of travelers were headed. He was already dreading the price of the taxi, his savings were being depleted quickly from the dinners he was treating Blair to. He might have stretched the truth to his sister when he talked about how much he had saved from that summer of working.
"Um, Dan," Jenny said, tugging on his shirt sleeve.
"Jen, it's just over there. I'm sure you can drag your overpacked bag a little more."
Jenny tugged harder, "No, look."
Dan turned and followed her finger to a man dressed in all black with a hat. "Yes, I get it. Rich people get private drivers."
"Dan, read the sign."
Dan noticed Vanessa holding up her camera to the driver and then to the sign before he took in the words on the sign. His eyes widened, "She didn't."
Jenny squealed, "She did!"
Dan walked up to the driver and gulped, "Uh, hey, I think I'm the Brooklyn boy you are looking for." He scratched his head as he tried not to redden from saying 'Brooklyn boy' out loud.
"Mr. Humphrey?" the driver responded, his French accent thick. He turned and opened the car door where Blair sat with a glass of champagne and a smug look on her face.
"Humphrey," she said, her tone even, "you didn't think I would make you cab it all the way, did you?"
Jenny clapped her hands together and clamored into the car, helping herself to a glass and pouring it too quickly- the bubbles spilling over. "Oops," she said, wiping her hand against her leggings. "Hi, Blair!"
Dan tried to help with the bags but the driver waved him off and Dan climbed into the car, not exactly a limo but set up with two bench seats facing each other. Jenny had taken the side across from Blair and so he slid next to Blair. "Hey," he said, his voice catching. "Uh, thanks for this."
Vanessa's camera popped into the car before she did, pointing it at Blair. "Blair," she said, sounding chippier than Dan had ever heard Vanessa sound when talking to Blair. "This is so kind."
Blair shrugged half heartedly as she slowly brought her glass to her lips. "Champagne, Vanessa?"
"Yes, please," Vanessa said, taking one last shot with her camera before setting it down between her and Jenny. "And you came all the way to pick us up, that's so nice. You must really like Dan." Dan hit his foot against hers. "Ow, Dan."
Blair tsked, "Ah well, it was the least I could do."
The car stayed still and Dan looked around, finally noticing another empty glass. "We're not the only people you are waiting for?"
"Mmm," Blair said, her lips pressed together. "About that."
The door swung open and Nate's smiling face looked in at them. "Ah, well," he said, shrugging his bag off. "I'll sit in the front, no problem!"
"Hi Nate," Jenny said, her excitement palpable. "Dan didn't tell us you would be here!"
"Dan didn't know," Dan responded under his breath.
Blair knocked her shoulder against his, "My dad reached out to the Captain to see if Nate had any holiday plans. He didn't and so now he does. My dad's thoughtfulness astounds me daily."
"Well," Nate said, casually leaning on the door, "I was going to go to Copenhagen to see Serena but then she got spotted in the streets of Copenhagen. So now she is booked this weekend to do a modeling job. So I called up Mr. Waldorf and asked if there was still room for me at the table and he said-"
"Let me guess," Dan interrupted, trying to sound cheerful, "he said, 'there's always room for you at my table, Nathanial.'"
"Wow, Dan, did you bug my phone? That's word for word what he said. So now I am here and ready to have an American Thanksgiving in France. Blair, how many pies did you make?"
Blair held up four fingers. "Pumpkin, pecan, apple, and strawberry rhubarb," she counted them off.
Nate rubbed his stomach, "I can't wait. Her pies," he said, turning to Vanessa and Jenny (who was staring at him), "are legendary." Someone honked their horn behind them. "Ah well, Blair- can you pour me a glass and then I'll hop in the front and see you guys after the hour drive."
As the car started to pull off, Dan turned to Blair and blinked.
"You heard the story, Humphrey," Blair said, tapping her finger against her champagne flute. "I had nothing to do with it."
"This," Vanessa said, her hand placed firmly on her camera, "is going to be fun."
