AN: Following through on multi-chapter fics is not my strong suit. I apologize for the hiatus and I hope all of you have been well and safe. Thank you for stopping in. I can't promise another update soon unfortunately due to not having the next one written but I did want to post something to let you know I hadn't forgotten. Thank you to ASadAir for being such an incredible editor.
Rain speckles Dan's oxford shirt as he steps out of class with Blair. Errant rays of sunlight stream through the purple-clouded sky, illuminating the afternoon in a hazy glow. Blair promptly retrieves an umbrella from her bag with an unsurprising preparedness. Opening it, she holds it between their heads, shielding them both. Under the shade of the lilac umbrella, Dan studies her as they cross the campus.
"You know, some might say today's the perfect weather to check another item off your college bucket list." He anxiously waits for her response.
"I could be persuaded." Blair seems pensive. "What did you have in mind?"
"Skipping class?" Dan suggests tentatively. "I think you mentioned Latin was just going to be a study session today and we both know you do plenty of that on your own time."
"Epperly won't be happy with me though." She points out.
"Doesn't she skip on the regular to find Waldo?" Dan can't help but smirk.
Shaking her head, Blair laughs. "Now you're just calling him that on purpose."
"Maybe." Dan admits.
"What would be enticing enough to cause me to skip class?" Blair quirks a brow at him, challengingly.
"Wait Until Dark is showing at Cine 4."
Blair motions for him to lead the way, her approval evident in her expression. Dan feels a wave of victory. Momentarily he doubts his motivation; he's supposed to be making attending Yale on scholarship easier for her. Even if his noble idea is to get her to loosen up and enjoy college before it passes her by, he can't help but wonder if his subconscious is simply creating more ways to spend time together.
Once they've slid into the seats of his car, Dan blasts the heat. Blair puts her hands up to the vents and sighs. "Does skipping on a rainy day count for bonus points? Or does it just make us a cliché?"
"Both, perhaps?" Dan suggests.
"I'm okay with that." Blair leans back in her seat and a soft smile crosses her face. "Thank you - for making sure I don't lose my whole college experience buried in books."
"Anytime." Dan glances over at her. "I have a feeling by Junior Year you would have found your way into some measure of trouble."
"Like?" Blair seems interested.
"Well, if Georgina had stuck around whatever shenanigans you got up to would be targeted at her. Maybe an elaborate revenge plot involving a vicious rumor regarding a professor?"
Blair nods. "I don't think I would have lasted another year rooming with her but I would still probably feel a need for retribution years on."
As they drive, Dan thinks of a timeline in which he does not go to Yale but attends the small liberal arts college that Lily turned her nose up at. Right now, he would be fastidiously typing up some pretentious, hollow attempt at a novel that would never get published. He might have a different friend group consisting of guys rather than the girls that have woven together to form his Yale social circle. But he loves the way Epperly treats him like an older brother - or maybe younger with how often she's bossing him around, and how Raina often gives him insight into the publishing world due to her father's connections.
His dynamic with Blair is harder to fit into a neat box, but he knows it's more real and authentic than any other relationship in his life. For once, he's grateful he followed Lily's wishes.
The theater is empty and Blair chooses four different sets of seats and shuffles between each every few seconds. Front middle, back middle, center middle, then center-left, before they finally work their way back to the back middle. "I've always felt a little nefarious sitting back here. Like fellow patrons expect me to get up to no good." Blair confesses.
"There are no fellow patrons." Dan observes and she reluctantly nods.
As the movie plays, he learns that Blair likes to talk during movies and it irks him ever so slightly. He wonders if she's this chatty when there are other patrons. As much as he wants to quiet her when she once again shares a piece of trivia, he also finds it somewhat endearing when she recites the lines she knows by heart.
When the credits roll, she leans over to him to whisper, although there is no one to hear them, "That was the most I have ever enjoyed a movie day."
"I hope I didn't make this a habit of yours." Dan teases as they exit the theater into the empty lobby.
"If I skipped class regularly it wouldn't be near as special, so no." Blair agrees. "But this day was perfect, thank you."
They glance outside and see that it's properly raining now. Blair retrieves her umbrella and pulls Dan underneath with her so he's shielded. As they press together, Blair leans her head on his shoulder. The sound of her teeth chattering fills his ears. "Remind me again why we parked three blocks away."
"Because you said a rainy day walk sounded and I quote, 'Lovely.'" Dan says wryly.
"I regret that now." Blair shivers again. "My hands have frostbite, I'm certain of it."
"Here," Dan wraps his hand around hers as they now both hold onto the grip of the umbrella. "Better?"
"Yes." She stops suddenly just as the car is within sight. She pivots so she's facing him and before he can process it, she's leaning in toward him.
His hand comes around to circle her waist as their lips tangle. As he pulls her in closer, the sound of rain drowns out the rest of the world.
When she pulls away, it's with the smallest of laughs. "I just remembered how cold I am."
He guides her to the car with an arm still around her, holding the umbrella over the passenger door. As he tucks the collapsed umbrella in the backseat, he spots the coat Blair left in the car and brings it up to the passenger seat to drape it over her. "Your habit of leaving various outerwear and accessories in my car is finally paying off."
"I knew it would. My foresight can be uncanny." The way she smiles at him now is different. A shared secret sparks a glint in her eye.
"So the headband back there will save the day soon?" Dan quips.
"Oh, definitely." She nods fiercely. "Just imagine, it's a dreary Monday and I haven't put the effort into my hair I should have. We are off-campus when we receive an invitation to the Manuscript Society and we have minutes to get there. That headband... It could prevent a catastrophe."
"So I have to keep this in my car for the next three and a half years?" He glances at her incredulously.
"No headbands will be out of style by then." Blair amends.
"Well, I wouldn't mind." Dan offers.
"Duly noted." Her grin hits him with a wave of hopefulness, right in his solar plexus.
When they get back to the dorms, he pauses by her door. He makes himself ask the question he has wanted to ask all semester long. "So tomorrow night… Would you want to go to Barcelona for dinner?"
"I would."
A date, he thinks, obtained more easily than he thought, yet his nerves still feel alight with anxious excitement.
Dan reaches for her hand, savoring this moment as he clasps her palm briefly. "See you then."