When Dan emerged from his bedroom the next morning, he was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He saw his father, reading a newspaper and Blair picking at a donut. "Good morning," he said, his voice groggy. "Coffee?"

"Good morning, Daniel," his father said, not looking up from his newspaper. "Blair was just telling me how there is this darling donut shop on the Upper East Side that she loves so much that she brought us some this morning. Isn't that sweet? She went all the way back home this morning and came back to Brooklyn, all to bring us donuts."

Blair blushed and looked at Dan, silently communicate that it was his parent so he could answer.

"Well, we were watching the movie for awhile-"

"Daniel, don't," Rufus said, now looking up at his son. "Next time," he said, turning to Blair, "the corner bodega makes the best breakfast sandwiches. I take a Bacon Egg and Cheese, light on the bacon but heavy on the cheese."

Dan scrunched up his forehead in confusion, "Dad?"

"The doctor told me I should watch what I eat and mentioned my love of bacon. He didn't say a single word about cheese." Dan let out a frustrated sound and Rufus laughed in reply. "I wasn't born yesterday. I know that you guys are off at school doing whatever and sleeping wherever, but I am trying to set a good example for your sister. However, she has not appeared back from wherever she went last night so I think we can have a frank discussion before breakfast. I want to make it clear that I am not encouraging you to have your girlfriend in your room when I explicitly forbid it but I understand that the two of you are close to adulthood and my power as a parent is quickly diminishing." He pointed at Blair and slowly dragged his finger through the air to point at Dan, "But you will not speak a word of this to Jenny." Rufus stopped talking and took a sip of the coffee in front of him.

"I am really sorry, Mr. Humphrey," Blair said, biting her bottom lip and looking admonished. Dan couldn't be sure but he was under the impression that Blair's parents had different parenting philosophies than Rufus.

"It's Rufus, dear. You don't need to be sorry, you are not my child. Daniel will need to do the dishes for the rest of the time during winter break."

"Dad, you refuse to cook with less than 5 pots."

Rufus chuckled, "They all serve a purpose, Dan. And currently that purpose is to teach you a valuable lesson."

Dan groaned as the door slid open and Jenny slipped in, holding up a bag that smelt suspiciously of bacon. "Jen?"

"I brought breakfast," Jenny said, trying to shrink herself into the door as she slid it close. "Dad, extra bacon and extra cheese."

It was now Rufus's turn to groan, "My order has changed, Jen. If you had called, you would know that I am trying to lose the holiday pounds. I am now light on bacon but since it's already in the loft, I will force myself to eat it. Then, you and I are going to need to have a talk regarding where you were last night."

Jenny looked like she wanted to die as she eyed Blair. "But-"

"No buts," Rufus said, reaching out for the bag and holding up the aluminum foiled breakfast sandwich that was labeled with his order. To Dan, he held out another of the breakfast sandwiches and Dan saw that Jenny had ordered him his favorite - egg and cheese on an everything bagel. "Nothing for you, Blair. Dan, you'll have to split yours."

"She can have mine," Jenny said, hastily, as she slipped off her coat. "I'm not that hungry. I'm also kind of tired, so I think I'm going to-"

"Go to your room and wait until I finish this delicious sandwich before we talk about where you were last night?"

"Exactly," Jenny said, slinking away.

Rufus cleared his throat, "Jenny." She turned on her heel slowly. Rufus extended his hand, "Your phone."

Jenny looked deflated as she handed over her phone and sulked off to her bedroom.

Rufus took a bite from his sandwich, almost melting into his char. "And that's how you parent," he said to no one in particular.

"Your dad is…" Blair said trailing off, her hand in his as they walked around Brooklyn.

"Intense?" Dan said, filling in an adjective for her.

Blair shook her head, "No. He's great. My parents are more hands off. They gave general rules like don't get pregnant, but if you do the father has to come from a well to do family or don't embarrass the family at functions, but if you drink too much politely excuse yourself and take a cab home. Your dad has clear expectations and was level headed while doling out punishments for going against the expectations."

"I can't guarantee that level headedness lasted for much longer once he pushed us out of the door. I think Jen might be in for it. He's always been big on the curfew or telling him beforehand that you were staying somewhere. He's been very clear that he does not want to be a grandfather while most of his hair is still brown."

"Feel free to tell him that I have an IUD," Blair said, knocking her shoulder against his.

"I would rather not have that conversation with my dad. He once asked me if I knew where the condoms were in the store and left it at that."

"My parents would have loved to be young, hip grandparents. I swear they used to secretly cheer when Nate and I would disappear at dinners. I wouldn't say that they pushed us together, but they certainly encouraged us to stay together."

Dan laughed loudly and Blair looked offended. "Sorry, I am just thinking about your dad and the way he exalts Nate."

"Exactly," Blair said. "They would love combing the fortunes of the family. You should have met my dad before he came out, he would have torn you apart once he found he he couldn't trace your lineage back to any of the founding fathers. If you think he's bad now, he was worse. I think being with Roman and being outside of the UES calmed him."

"And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You are UES through and through, Blair."

"And I'm dating someone from Brooklyn. It's humbled me," she said.

Dan let out a sigh, "One day, Blair, you'll come to find out that Brooklyn is all of the best parts of New York rolled into one."

Blair's phone buzzed and she looked down, confused, "It's Kati."

"Do you want to get it?" he asked.

Blair answered by silencing the ring and putting her phone back in her bag. "I think I'm good."

"I didn't want to say anything last night while we were there but Kati made an interesting comment about wanting to get some… of me? I don't know, I was confused. I instructed her to take the train to Brooklyn and she could find a clone of me somewhere on the streets."

"Oh come on, Dan," Blair squeezed his arm, "you can find any old hipster on the street, but there's only one Dan Humphrey."

"Thank God for that," Dan chuckled before looking down at his phone. "My dad said the coast is clear for us to return to the loft. Do you want to come back or are you heading home?"

Blair looked around, "I'm already in Brooklyn, might as well make a day of it."

When they returned to the loft, neither Jenny nor Rufus were anywhere to be seen. However. Jen's door was shut and Dan could hear some shuffling around through the closed door. "Jen? Are you okay?"

"Fine," she answered before flinging the door open as Dan's hand hovered in the air to give another knock. "You know what, I'm not fine. I'm packing my bags and I'm going to go stay with Mom. She might not treat me like a child like dad is." Her room was a mess behind her of clothes and a barely packed suitcase.

Dan scoffed, believing the packing to be an act of dramatics rather than a real threat, "You are going to go live in Hudson?"

"We're her kids too, Dan."

Dan felt Blair's hand on his arm and he looked over to her and shook her head. This was a Humphrey issue, Blair would be better far away from the fray.

"You can't just stay out all night and not have Dad get upset."

"But you can have Blair sleep over and Dad is out there having breakfast with you in the morning?" Jenny shot back.

Dan threw up his hands, "She went back to the Upper East Side."

"Not until this morning. I saw her location."

"So you are stalking my girlfriend?"

"No, Dan, I was on snapchat and her name was in Brooklyn."

"It's not comparable."

"A rule's a rule, why do you get to suddenly break them?"

Dan ran his hand through his hair, tugging at the strands in frustration. "You are still in high school, Jen. I'm in college. It's different. And you know that Dad just last year gave me a lecture when Vanessa ended up sleeping over. The rules will change for you too when you aren't underage."

"Stop trying to be a parent, Dan," Jenny said, her hand on the door. "Leave me alone, I need to pack."

Blair stepped forward, "Do you mind if I help, Jenny?"

Dan shook his head at the same time Jenny gave a large dramatic shrug.

Blair looked at Dan, "I'm an excellent packer."

He left them to it, the door closing behind Blair, and sat on the couch trying to find something to busy himself while he waited for either Jenny to storm off or his dad to get back from wherever he went after a tough parental conversation. Instead, Blair quietly slipped back into the living room and sat down next to him. "Did you have enough of her petulant behavior?"

"Come off of your high horse, Dan," Blair rolled her eyes before kissing his cheek. "She's a teenager having a teenage meltdown. You can't tell me it was all easy going when you were her age."

"Actually, I can. I was a very easy teenager due to my lack of friends."

Blair laughed, hitting his knee gently. "We talked a bit, she seemed to calm down and is now unpacking the suitcase I carefully packed. I know it was my idea but I shouldn't have stayed last night."

"Blair, it's different."

"It is but Jenny sees you two as equals and so if you are allowed to do something, she thinks she should."

"Sure, when she's-"

Blair put her finger to his lips to shush him, "No, no more talking. You are her brother, not her father. We go back to school in a couple of weeks and we can have unsupervised sleepovers at my place the entire semester. For now, I think it's best if we keep to your dad's rules and in the meantime, you'll have to make your way to the real city to have some unsupervised day time visits." She leaned in, kissing his neck and playfully running her teeth down his jawline.

"Maybe we take a trip out there now?" Dan said, his voice hitching.

"Can't," Blair laughed, her hand resting on his thigh. "I promised Jenny that once she unpacked that we could go grab lunch."

"You are ditching me for my sister?"

Blair nodded, "You do want to know where in the Upper East Side she was staying, don't you?"

"Alright," Blair said, as she tried to climb out his window on to fire escape. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Yes, Blair," Dan responded. He held out his hand for her which she clutched as she got her two feet outside. "You've never been on a fire escape in New York?"

"Of course I have," she snapped, pressing her body as close to him as possible to ward off the chill of the New York winter air. "None have been this rickety."

"Sorry that I don't live in a luxury apartment."

"Shush," Blair said, burying her face into his chest. She took a deep breath and seemed calmer. "I don't love heights."

"Blair Waldorf has a weakness?"

"Not a weakness, a preference for the ground."

"Why did you want to come out here then?"

Blair looked around, making sure Dan's door was closed in the room. "I wanted to give you my intel. God, I feel like I'm a spy. I feel like I'm betraying Jen's confidence if I tell you but I'm betraying yours if I don't."

"You don't have to tell me," Dan lied, not very convincingly it seemed by the look Blair gave him. "Fine, I want to know and she's not lining up to ask me for boy advice."

Blair smiled up at him, closing her eyes and wiggling her nose. "I'm dating her brother, I don't think she was exactly looking on my advice either."

"I'm a catch."

She ignored that statement and continued on, "She's seeing someone with a name that I've never heard of. Alexander something but she does not seem interested in him. He is a year or two older but went to St. Jude's with Nate and overlapped."

"So there is a Nate connection."

Blair sighed, "I hate to say this but I think it's all about Nate. She didn't say it exactly, probably due to the fact that I also dated him but she seems smitten." Dan's hands instinctively went into balls of fists at his side. "Calm down, nothing's happened."

"But she's smitten?"

"It's just the way she talks about him. She's young and he's older and good looking and kind- I can see the appeal. I can talk to Nate and make sure he knows proper boundaries but I think she's setting herself up for heartbreak and," Blair said, looking at him sternly, "when the shoe falls and she realizes that Nate is not the guy she's going to run off into the sunset with, you have to be there and support her."

"I am supportive."

"Not like earlier," Blair warned. "Like a brother who wants his sister to be happy, not a brother who wants to tell his sister that he told her so."

Dan grumbled, "Fine, but I did-"

"Dan, when we broke up and I told my dad, he told me that he was sorry that I was dealing with heartbreak and you were an idiot for losing me. If my dad can manage to say that without muttering that he told me so, I think you can manage."

"What would I do without you?"

Blair looked pleased, "I'm no Vanessa but I think Jenny and I are starting to form a bond." She looked around and then grinned wickedly, "Have you ever had sex on the fire escape?"

"What? No. You just called it rickety."

"A little danger could be exciting." Blair said, leaning her head up so that he could kiss her.

"It's cold and my family is inside," he said, his hand running down her back over her jacket.

Blair laughed, "I'm not talking about right now. I'm adding it to the running list of things I want to do with you."

"What else is on the list?" he asked, his voice low.

"That's for me to know and you to find out."