A/N: This story popped up in my head when I woke up. Forgive me if the characters are OOC. I was thinking about the feeling of awkwardness that they will feel when they meet again. And it is 5 years after all… :)
A/N: There is no baby here at all. No baby Bass, no baby whoever.
Blind Date
A blind date. That's all there is to it. Serena coerced her into going to this one. She sighed. It couldn't hurt, right? Besides, this is Serena. She wouldn't dare give her someone even as trivial as a date that's not within her standards.
That doesn't mean she has to prep herself up for this guy. But there was a little part of her that kept on nagging her to make herself look good. She ignored that part of her and looked at the mirror. She was wearing a black halter top and skinny jeans; her curls flowing freely at her back. She almost laughed at herself. Who would've thought that Blair Waldorf would be wearing jeans? In a date, no less?
She sighed again as she grabbed her coat and went out of the door.
It was almost half an hour and her date still hasn't arrived. Blair was beyond furious. No one makes Blair Waldorf wait. She was already tempted to walk out of this restaurant when her date was late for 5 minutes. Thinking of Serena, she kept her cool down and waited a bit more. But 30 minutes? That's just an ethical!
She turned her head to call a waiter for her bill. And as she did so, she heard someone sit on the opposite side of her. She looked up and was about to scold whoever this person was about his manners when she abruptly stopped. To say that she was shocked would be an understatement; it was like a cold bucket of water had been poured unto her.
He was smiling at her. No, smirking. And she desperately wanted to remove that smirk off his face.
"Dan Humphrey," she smiled back stiffly.
"Blair Waldorf," he returned, his smirk never wavering.
"I will kill Serena when I get home," Blair muttered through gritted teeth.
Apparently, Dan heard this and he laughed.
"This is not funny," Blair huffed and crossed her arms.
"It is. Considering 5 years have gone and you're still the same," Dan tried to stifle his laughter.
"Oh, you think nothing's changed?" Blair retorted. "You leave New York for 5 years and you think nothing will change? Everything has changed, Humphrey. Everything."
Dan became silent and no one uttered a word; a moment of awkward silence passed between them. Luckily, a waiter approached their table and got their orders.
Blair was the first one to break their silence once the waiter has left. "Sorry," she said softly. "It's just that S has been pestering me all this time to go to this blind date and then…"
"It's just me?" Dan supplied, eyebrows raised.
"Well, yes," Blair tried to explain further but was cut off.
"Was it bad?" Dan questioned again. "Me being your blind date, I mean."
"No, of course not," Blair said as she shook her head violently. She looked down on her lap and then back at Dan. "Wait, do you know I'm your date?"
"No, of course not," Dan mimicked her answer. He smiled at Blair and she smiled back at him. A few minutes later, their food arrived and they started to eat.
The moment Blair asked Dan, "Why did you move?" was also the moment he asked her, "What happened to your wedding?"
Both of them laughed despite the fact that they didn't expect the question thrown at them.
"You go first," Dan said, gesturing his hand towards Blair.
Blair cleared her throat and sipped on her glass of wine. "Why did you move?" she repeated.
Dan leaned back in his chair, forgetting about his food. He swirled the glass of wine he was holding as he thought for a moment. "Basically, I was in the Hamptons with Eric when it happened," he started. "My mom called me asking if I know where Vanessa was and I said 'no' which caused her to reprimand me over the phone for an hour.
"Then she told me that Gabriela, Vanessa's mother, called her up and was frantically asking for her help. Apparently, Vanessa was in dire need of someone at that moment but Gabriela couldn't travel to Barcelona because of some important event. My mom couldn't leave her gallery behind unattended so she made me go, saying that we were best friends since childhood and how we're supposed to be there for one another. I didn't have a choice since it was summer and she didn't know that Vanessa and I had a rift."
"Just that? You flew all the way to Barcelona to comfort her?" Blair asked, placing her fork back to her plate.
"Well, yeah. We kind of rekindled our friendship; got into a relationship again; and for the last time, broke it off." Dan laughed lightly. "But just so you know, we're still friends."
Blair nodded. "So what happened with Vanessa?"
"Oh, let's just leave it at that," Dan shrugged.
Blair stared at him with raised eyebrows, mocking him as if to say, 'All secrets come out sooner or later. You better tell it now.'
Dan sighed. "Fine. But let's save it for another time, okay?" Blair paused as she tried to understand what that meant. Did he mean to say that there will be another date? No, of course not. That was just a random statement; he didn't mean anything at all.
Blair was pulled out of her thoughts when Dan cleared his throat. "So, how about you? What happened to your wedding?"
"As you can see, I'm here in New York and not in Monaco. You can figure it out. You're a smart man, Humphrey," Blair joked, wanting to avoid the subject.
"Blair," Dan said, leaning forward.
Blair took a deep breath before answering. "While I was busy preparing for my wedding with Louis, his sister – I don't know where she got the information – told him that Chuck and I had sex before I came back to the Constance-St. Jude's Alumni Gala. Naturally, he confronted me and I couldn't very well deny it to him after all that he's done for me.
"The wedding was cancelled; I came back here in New York only to find that Chuck has already moved on with another woman. And then, I heard you had gone to Barcelona for reasons I don't know," Blair finished, shrugging.
Dan nodded thoughtfully but kept quiet. He continued swirling his wine while staring pensively at the glass. This gave Blair the opportunity to look at him more closely. The 5 years that had gone made a big difference to his physical appearance. He actually wears decent clothing now; although Blair would never admit to Dan that he looks perfectly dashing with his white button-down shirt and slacks. His face looks rugged and masculine because of his stubble and his arms are toner and muscular. Well, if she will be honest about it, it's not like it wasn't toned before but she just never paid attention until now.
Dan looked up and Blair immediately averted her gaze. She saw that he was smirking again. Why was he always smirking? And when did this action became endearing to her? Blair shook her head; the wine must have gotten through to her.
"Are you okay?" asked Dan.
"Yes!" Blair answered much more quickly than necessary. She inwardly bit her lip. What is happening with her? She's losing her composure!
"Okay," Dan nodded, clearly accepting her answer. "So what do you do now?"
"I'm an editrix of a high fashion magazine," Blair said proudly, forgetting her moment of embarrassment.
"Wow," Dan said, amazed. "You are now officially a dictator of taste."
Blair smiled warmly. He hadn't forgotten about their little chat while they were still in college. She took a sip of her wine. "And you? What do you do for a living?"
"Right now, I'm trying to finish my book. But it had to be paused since Nate insisted I go to this blind date that he prepared," Dan said nonchalantly.
"That Archibald," Blair muttered. With Nate and Serena acting suspiciously in the last few days, she should've known. "You shouldn't have listened to him, you know," she told Dan.
"And leave you here all alone? Nah, one night without writing will be fine." Dan said with finality.
Once again, silence ensued between them. They tried to look anywhere but at their companion.
Blair was brimming with so many questions. Finally, when she couldn't take it anymore, she spoke again. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Dan turned back his gaze to her. "About what?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"Your first book, Inside."
"Oh, that," Dan laughed lightly. "It's not mine. I think an anonymous person wrote it. Am I right?"
Blair shook her head. "It's yours," she insisted. "Don't try to deny it, Humphrey."
Dan sighed. "Yes, it's mine. But I can't actually call it mine, can I?"
"Why not?" Blair questioned back.
"Blair, if I do, it would ruin you, Serena, Nate. Everyone in the Upper East Side. I couldn't do that to all of you," Dan explained.
"Why the sudden change in mind? In our years in High School, you were so keen in destroying us."
"Hey, Blair, if I remember correctly, I think it was you who was keen on destroying me and Jenny," Dan protested, pointing his hand to Blair and then to him.
"Exactly my point," Blair exclaimed, splaying her hands in front of her. "That's what I do. That's what wedo. So why not tell the whole world who we really are?"
"Because you're my friends," Dan answered without missing a beat. "Besides, I was also a part of the UES before I moved."
Blair ignored Dan's last comment. "Really? A friend? That's what we are to you?" she said sarcastically as she tried to control her emotions.
"Yes," Dan replied unsurely.
Blair couldn't contain her feelings any longer. "Then where were you when I needed you the most?" she blurted out. "After the wedding was cancelled… I needed a friend… Someone who will understand…" she trailed off. Blair closed her eyes, willing all of the pain to go away. She heard the scratching of metal to the floor and felt Dan embrace her.
"Listen, Blair," Dan whispered to her ear, patting her hair and back. "I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll never leave again. I promise."
Blair began to cry softly, all the while holding on to his shirt. Even after her sobs have subsided, they were still like that for a few minutes; Dan patting her back while repeating those words that she knew were sincere. It was a moment of peace and silence for the third time.
And for the third time in that night, Blair broke their silence.
"You still are," she whispered.
"What?" Dan asked, looking down at her. Blair could sense that he was confused by her sudden statement.
"You're still a part of the Upper East Side." Blair looked up at Dan and smiled.
"Am I now?" Dan teased her.
Becoming aware of their positions, Blair pushed away from Dan. "Well, I could easily banish you from Manhattan if you want," she huffed haughtily.
Dan laughed loudly. Blair realized that she had come to love the sound of his laugh. She can totally become accustomed to it. "We wouldn't want that now, do we?" Dan said as he wiggled his eyebrows.
It was now Blair's turn to laugh. "No, Humphrey. We wouldn't," she giggled.
Blair suddenly felt conscious after realizing that her crying had ruined her make up. "Oh, I look like a mess," she moaned.
"No, you're not. You still look beautiful," Dan argued, reaching his hand out to Blair's face.
Dan was only supposed to wipe at the smudged mascara on Blair's eyes but his touch lingered at her cheek longer than necessary. Electricity jolted through Blair and heart rate beat faster. Dan must've felt it too by the way he's staring at her. Blair also noticed that Dan was getting closer and closer and just when she was about to close her eyes, a waiter approached their table asking them if they want anything else.
Dan abruptly withdrew his hand on her face and turned to the waiter to ask for their bill. Blair tried to hide her disappointment and embarrassment by feigning a laugh. She excused herself to go to the bathroom in order to compose and refresh herself.
Once their bill was paid, Blair turned to Dan. "What do you say we find Nate and Serena to punish?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.
"I like how you think, Waldorf," said Dan. He stood up and helped Blair out of her chair. Hand in hand, they went out of the restaurant together.
As they set foot towards Serena's penthouse, Blair couldn't wait for the next journey she will be having with Dan Humphrey.
A/N: I hope this wasn't confusing to read. I don't think I'm good in writing one-shots. Send me a message if you want to clear something up. :)
I was thinking of writing this again with Dan as the main character but the dialogue will just be the same so it would be boring… Reviews are very much appreciated! :)