It was Christmas Eve when Blair made her way back to the shop, which predictably was closed. She noticed the light was on on the floor above and so she rang the bell. When it wasn't answered within a few seconds, she pressed her thumb down on the buzzer and kept it there until she heard the door unlock in front of her. She was startled to hear Humphrey's voice over the speaker, "Go in through the book store, to the back, and there's a staircase that will you lead me to your flat."

The bookstore was dark and Blair felt wrong being here after hours but she had presents to deliver, as though she was St. Nic herself. She stepped over a couple of misplaced books and found the staircase. Trying to grab hold of the railing while balancing the packages in her arms, it took her longer than she would have liked to climb the steep stairs to the apartment, where Dan was standing in the door way.

"What did you bring?" he asked, looking at her in disbelief as he held out his arms for the gifts that came tumbling from her arms to his. "And what a surprise to see you here, Blair. You know it is Christmas Eve right? The store is closed."

Blair tried to catch her breath before leaning against a wall. "Steep stairs," she commented, looking over to him.

"Yeah, it's an old building. The stairs would never be up to code now a days, but I'm grandfathered in."

Blair gave him a thumbs up, "Good to know that I'm probably going to die in your apartment." As Dan laughed, she collected herself and smoothed down her skirt. "I'm here to deliver your Christmas gifts."

"Gifts? I thought, if it was going to be anything, that it would be one gift. Singular. Now I feel completely unprepared."

"Did you get me something, Humphrey?" she asked, trying to conceal the excitement in her voice. She loved gifts, especially unexpected gifts.

Dan nodded a little sheepishly, "Just something small. Not really bought, but a gift all the same."

Blair smiled, and she met his eyes. "Well, let's get to it. I hope you have hot chocolate and alcohol. If not, I always come prepared," she said, lifting up her purse that was heaving with brown paper bags.

He held the door open to his apartment before shutting it behind them and placing the gifts next to the small tree that was in his apartment. "Do you not believe in Christmas, Dan?" she asked, circling around. "Where are the decorations? Where is the tinsel? And the lights?"

"And the mistletoe?" he joked playfully before sitting in the worn armchair in the corner. "I just haven't had time. Someone, probably Trish, told the papers that you shopped at our store and people have been rushing in and out of there like mad trying to catch you. I didn't realize you had celebrity status."

"It sells my books," she shrugged. "I gave up privacy for book sales. My agent tells me its a good thing that people want to know not only what happens in the book but what happens in my life. I didn't sign up to be an actor or famous or anything so it's kind of jarring getting stopped on the street."

"You must love all the clammy paws of teenaged girls just like you all over you."

"Yes, Dan, it's my favorite," she said, rolling her eyes. "Okay, let's get down to presents. I don't actually have anywhere to be because my mom and Cyrus went to France to celebrate with my dad, let's pause and think about how strange that is, and Nate and Serena are doing some kind of fundraising gala for their daughter's pre-preschool. So it's me and that bottle of champagne you got me and my cat. But I'm sure you have places to be."

Dan shook his head, "Actually, I don't. Lilly invited me over, as always, but since her and my dad didn't work out… it's kind of awkward to sit there with her and Chuck and pretend the three of us are some kind of family. And my dad went and met my sister in London, she's showing a collection there of her artwork currently."

"So we're both strays this Christmas Eve," Blair said slowly.

"Looks that way," he agreed. "Let me get the water running for some hot chocolate."

Blair looked like he had just personally attacked her. "Water? No, no, no. We're doing this the right way. Milk. Milk and chocolate. Lead me to your kitchen."

Once both of them had a warm mug of hot chocolate, they settled on the couches with Dan once again taking the armchair and Blair on the couch. Blair grabbed the top present from the pile and handed it to Dan. "This one is probably the worst of the three," she shrugged. "I stacked them so they got better, but I wanted you to be the first to have it."

Dan gently ripped at the paper, seeing a book underneath the paper. "What's this?" he asked, holding up a book that was written by Blair but wasn't part of her series.

"It's kind of the book about myself I wanted to write. Now that I have enough interest in my life, my publisher gave me the go ahead to write a compilation of stories. It kind of ranges from my parent's divorce to people I've loved… stupid stuff really. I had to avoid mostly everything that I put in my novels, to keep the air that those are entirely fiction, but I still had enough material for a whole book. You're in there, actually," she said, her cheeks starting to blush as Dan's fingers ran furiously though the pages. "I wrote it before we met in the book store awhile back, but it's still pretty positive. My lawyer didn't think I had to get you to sign off on it, so there's that."

"I'm in here?" Dan asked, looking dumbfounded.

Blair nodded, looking away. "Nothing major, just a few mentions and maybe one super short story. But you can look at it later. I'd rather not be here," she said. "It embarrasses me to watch people read anything I wrote. It's crap, I can feel it, but if I'm here, people have to tell me it's good."

"Blair, I'm sure it's good," Dan started and then stopped. "I'll let you know my honest opinion when I read it, I promise."

She pursed her lips and nodded. "Anyways, open the next one."

Blair watched him eagerly as he opened the package and saw, again, a book. Walden by Thoreau. "Is this a first edition?" Blair nodded and Dan shook his head. "I can't take this."

"Then sell it," she said, crossing her arms. "And pay your mortgage and keep my favorite book store open. It's not as big of a present as you want to think, it's been in my family. So it's really a regift."

Dan's jaw was open and he could barely speak. "I don't know what could be better than this, Blair. This… this is amazing."

Blair blushed again, "It's nothing."

"It's something, Blair," he said, leaning forward and kissing her forehead. "It's something incredible. I don't think I can open the last gift because I might just owe you my entire life savings after that one."

Blair laughed and went to open it herself before he pushed her hands away and finally opened the paper to reveal a crate of different bottles of bourbon. No wonder the presents were so damn heavy. Dan started to laugh and looked and her in disbelief. "You know you are crazy, and an overachiever, right?"

"I've heard," she said, looking into the crate. "I had to get someone to pick those out for me, I know nothing about that kind of alcohol. I hope they're good… and I hope they last you."

Dan nodded, holding up one of the bottles. "Oh, I'm sure they will last me." He stood, placing the bottle on the table next to his tree before grabbing a shoddily wrapped pair of presents.

"I thought you said one present," Blair argued, taking the presents that he offered her.

Dan shrugged sheepishly. "One isn't really a present per se."

Blair started to rip greedily at the paper of the first gift and saw a key buried in all of the paper. She help it up and looked at Dan quizzically. "What is this?"

"A key to the bookstore. If you ever want to go after hours or use your discount for any of the books… all of the old man backers have one and I figured someone who actually enjoys the books and not just the space should also have one."

Blair couldn't hid the joy on her face as she squealed and leaned over to hug him from her spot on the couch which really looked like she was just laying on his lap due to the space between them. "This is the greatest gift ever."

"Then I'll just take back the second one," Dan said, jokingly reaching over to the second package that lay in her lap and quickly took his hand back as she slapped it away with the key.

"No need. Wouldn't want it to go to waste." Blair ripped up the paper again, finding a first edition of a book (a common theme) sitting in her lap. His book. "You know I already have a copy," she joked, lifting it up.

Dan smirked, "It's just bound with the same cover. It's more of my private thoughts and scribbles," he said as she opened and saw not only pages from the books but both Dan and his editor's thoughts on the page.

"This is really incredible, actually. It's like giving me your diary."

"Well, it kind of was my diary," he agreed. Dan stood up, putting his mug on the coffee table and pouring himself a glass of his new bourbon. "What does it say about us that we both gifted each other our own books?"

"That we're self absorbed?" she laughed, before standing and getting her purse that was hanging on the door.

Dan looked at her, suddenly panic stricken. "Are you leaving?" he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth so quickly that it sounded like one word.

Blair looked at him like he was crazy. "Not unless you want me to. I was getting my own alcohol since I do not drink whatever that is." She held up the bottle of champagne that she had been keeping for a special occasion and this was as special as would probably come.

"No," Dan said, sitting back down on his armchair. "I was thinking us two strays could hang out for the night. I'll cash in my rain check."

"Sounds good to me," Blair nodded, settling on the couch and pulling Dan's blanket that he had draped over the side of it over her legs. "If you don't mind, I'm going to settle in with my champagne and my new book."

Dan opened Blair's book and nodded, "I'll do the same."

After a few minutes, Blair looked at him and hit his foot with her hand. "Hey, Humphrey, do you have anything to eat?