The Obscurity of Dan Humphrey
IsabelleB.
Summary: Dan Humphrey continues to seek Blair Waldorf out. She starts to notice the eccentric reasons why. Dan/ Blair
AN: This story is set at the beginning of Season 3. However, Blair enters NYU without Chuck Bass (in my mind he never shows up at the end of Season 2) and Dan never meets Olivia Burke.
Uncertain
The first time Dan Humphrey seeks her out, she has no idea why.
"Come to a party with me," he says, but she doesn't know if he actually means it. Especially, since this is after the fiasco of Georgina's party; and because she uses him as a social climbing tool; and because she could care less about the things she's done to him back in high school. At the end of her analysis, she figures that it has to be a ploy. He has no reason to trust her again (he had no reason to trust her in the first place, but she has enough to think about without tackling that thought too). So in the end, she convinces herself that she shouldn't go.
It's for the best.
But then, as the night rolls on, she gets restless. And she thinks about all the reasons she should go: that she has no friends on campus; that her minions will never fully understand her; that she doesn't fit in here; that Dan Humphrey, oddly enough, is only person who makes her feel like she still holds a destiny.
She goes (with no suggestive headband).
And she's by herself when she arrives. And she doesn't dance while everyone parties. And she doesn't drink when everyone plays their drinking games. And she doesn't make any new friends by the time she leaves.
However, she does smile a little.
And she'll admit, there was a laugh or two.
Because Dan Humphrey makes fun of the music. And because Dan Humphrey shows her just how awful he is at dancing. And because she watches with perplexity as Dan Humphrey inconspicuously avoids dialogue with others. And because most importantly, Dan Humphrey forgets that high school ever happened. And for a whole two hours, she gets to forget that NYU ever happened too.
"You surprised me," he declares on their way back to Blair's room. "I thought you had at least one scheme up your sleeve."
"You invited me," she scoffs at him. She hates that he's discerning things that he shouldn't, but it's in no way his fault. Still, she holds fast to her belief that she should keep to avoiding the Humphreys like a plague. "If I haven't made myself clear, I hope I never see you again, Humphrey."
He scoffs too. Of course, she's not sure what that means.
"Waldorf, I'll see you in class," he tells her, but he waits until she opens her door before moving. He could be acting chivalrous or he could be doing it just to annoy her. It breaks her sense of surety that she can't definitively decide which one. So used to mixed signals and dealing with misunderstandings, she doesn't know what plain meaning is. Except she thinks Dan is being genuine. And maybe – at that party, she was acting genuine too. Because instead of spending her night scheming, possibly social climbing, maybe she could have done some online shopping, she thinks quickly - instead, she spent it remembering the things that were hard to remember.
She could be fun.
And she still was Blair Waldorf, after all.
Before Constance, Serena, and Yale, Chuck, headbands, and Nate, there had been fairytales, fun, and cake, love, movies, and fate.
She still doesn't know why Dan invited her to that party.
Next Chapter: Drunk
The second time Dan Humphrey seeks her out, it's because he's drunk.