This was mortifying, Blair thought to herself as she let Serena string necklace after necklace on her neck trying to pick which one matched Blair's dress the best. She felt as though she was 12 again, playing dress up with her best friend. Instead, she was a grown woman who was about to embark on a blind date on Valentine's Day. How pathetic. How very not Blair Waldorf-esque. "Serena, the first one looked fine," Blair said, turning around in her chair to see Serena had another five necklaces for her to try on. "I don't even need a necklace. God knows that the probability of me hating whoever you and Nate handpicked for this awful experience is high, so why are even trying with this charade?"

Serena laughed, "Oh, I don't know Blair. I think Nate and I know you quite well by now to pick out someone that you might dislike but won't hate." She handed Blair a necklace, "Wear that one. I was going to wear it but I have no one to impress. Nate already loves me."

Blair rolled her eyes, turning back to the mirror and fastening the jewelry around her neck. It did seem to match her dress quite well, she thought, and if she was going to have an awful time then she might as well look her best. "Who is this guy anyways, Serena?" she asked for the fiftieth time. Serena pretended to zip her lips and throw away the key as she sat on her and Nate's bed to put her shoes on. "Nate and I promised we wouldn't tell you. We don't want you to Google him and have some preconceived notion of who he is by how much he makes and what he does. We want you to go in blind. I really think you'll like him, B. Nate and I, both, think very highly of him and that should say enough."

Blair sighed, "S, if you don't tell me, then I won't go."

"Then we'll bring him to wherever you are," Serena teased before standing and checking her phone. She had been checking her phone every five minutes since Blair had arrived an hour before to see if Nate was ready with the mystery man. Judging from the look on her face, Blair guessed that he wasn't.

Blair bit her lip before looking at Serena again, "Tell me why exactly I need a blind date? I've spent the past few Valentine's Days all by myself and you've never stepped in before. I'm quite happy being alone. There's not one person that I like more than I like myself."

Serena laughed and a piece of her hair fell from her messy ponytail into her face. Brushing it off and behind her ear, she sat again on the bed. "I know there's not, B, but Nate and I both had an amazing idea about who we think you would be great with. We just want you to be happy and we think you would be slightly," Serena held up her hand and left a little room between the index finger and the thumb to show her point, "happier with someone. Just slightly."

"And when, exactly, did you have this brilliant idea?" Blair asked. "Like the exact date."

Serena shrugged, "Sometime around New Year's I think." She rolled her eyes up dramatically as she pretended to think hard about Blair's question. "Yes, around New Year's."

Blair squinted at her, "Funny timing."

Before Serena could respond, her phone vibrated and she leapt off the bed to read the incoming message.

"S, why around New Year's? Tell me that you didn't get crazy ideas about me and Humphrey. I explained to you that it was nothing. It was a pity invitation from having my signing at his bookstore, which by the way, you never even told me he owned. You know I go there all the time." Blair paused, "Well, I used to go there all the time."

She hadn't seen Dan since New Year's Eve and she wasn't going to do fate's job by showing up at Dan's place of business. Dan, for his side, hadn't seem to want to get in touch with her, which stung just slightly. She got no phone calls (he could have easily asked Nate or Serena for her number), no apology flowers (for making her look like an idiot puckering up and then kissing her forehead), or anything else of that matter that would suggest friendship. So whatever had been brewing between them, it was done. Done and finished. Blair nodded to herself before snapping back into the moment.

Serena was giving her a weird look when Blair looked up at her again. "Where did you go right then, B? It reminds me of New Year's where you literally stared out a window for twenty minutes. Something is funny with you." Blair responded by crossing her arms in front of her. "Anyways, no… it wasn't a crazy idea about you and Humphrey," she conceded. "It was just around the time we were making resolutions and one was to make our friends lives happier." Serena looked down at her phone, "Nate said he and the mystery guy are waiting at the restaurant." Blair stood by and walked by her, pausing to open the door to the bedroom and Serena took the moment to put her hands on Blair's shoulders and slightly shake her. "Be excited, B."


"I thought you said you didn't have any crazy ideas about me and Humphrey," Blair angrily whispered to Serena as she saw who was sitting next to Nate at the table they were walking to.

Serena smiled and turned to her, "Crazy was the key word, Blair. It's not a crazy idea. It's a great idea."

Dan and Nate stood as Blair and Serena approached the table and Blair bit her lip, trying to avoid Dan's eyes. She couldn't tell if he was equally surprised by her appearance but she thought Nate a better friend than Serena at times so he probably came prepared.

Nate leaned into give Blair a kiss on her cheek, brushing his lips against Blair's ears as he whispered, "Play nice, Blair." Blair could have punched him had they not been in one of her favorite dinner spots in the city.

Dan, who had finished greeting Serena, nodded in Blair's direction before pulling out her chair for her. Blair swatted his hands away, grabbing the chair herself. "I can do that myself, Humphrey," she said cooly.

Dan pulled his hands up and sat down. Serena sat as well, looking at Nate with a smug smile on her face. Not even two seconds later, her phone started buzzing. Serena looked at the message, showing Nate, and then they both stood.

"Where are you going?" Blair said, anger seeping into her voice.

"Emergency with Ava," Serena said, referencing her and Nate's daughter. "My mom just text me, said we're needed back."

Nate shrugged, not looking worried or apologetic at all. If looks could kill, Blair would have murdered them both with the glance she gave them. "Damn kids," Nate said, laughing slightly before Serena elbowed him. "Try to have a good time," he told them both. Serena squeezed Blair's shoulder as she was leaving and Nate winked at her. Blair should have known the moment they wanted to have a double date on Valentine's Day that something was up.

"They didn't even try to hide how rehearsed this whole thing was," Dan noted, taking a sip from his glass of water. "Look," Dan said, turning his body to face hers. "We can call this off. It was stupid."

"Why is it stupid?" Blair said. "Is being on a date with me lowering your credibility in Brooklyn?"

Dan rubbed his temples, "No, Blair. That's not it."

"Then why? Why is being on a date with me stupid?"

"It's not that part that's stupid. It's the fact that they clearly tricked you into being here."

"They didn't trick you?" she asked, leaning in to show interest. She was under the assumption that they both had been tricked into the blind date. It made it much more interesting if it was only hear.

Dan shook his head, "Uh, no. I knew. I actually asked Nate if he thought it was a good idea. I didn't realize that to get you to agree, Serena had to hold back my identity. Nate told me before you got here that it was a surprise for you, I'm not sure if it was a good one." Blair raised her shoulders up nonchalantly in response. "I just, I felt like an idiot after New Year's Eve. I was trying to act all Ricco Suave cool with that stupid move at midnight. I think I was shell shocked from seeing that proposal, even if it was fake… which, by the way, Serena confirmed that it was an actual tradition. Kind of a strange one, in my opinion, but I digress. It was a very ill thought out move that I deeply regret."

Blair nodded and before either of them could speak, their waiter appeared. "Champagne?"

Dan looked at Blair to respond, trying to gauge if she still wanted to be there.

Blair smiled at the waiter, glancing at Dan briefly who had started to wring the napkin in his hands, "Yes, that's exactly what we need. Thank you."

She turned to Dan, who smiled warmly at her, "I wouldn't want this reservation to go to waste."