"Blair?" Dan said, his brows raised as he opened the door. "This is a surprise."

"Yes," she agreed, "a surprise to us both. I was out getting wine, for myself, and I thought that I needed a new book. Blair held up the novel she was holding in her other hand, "And then I decided that maybe you would like some wine… or some company?" Blair stood on her tip toes to look into his apartment to see if he already had some, company not wine. "If you're free?"

Dan opened his door to show her his empty apartment but didn't stand out of her way to let her in. "What are you doing here, Blair? I haven't heard from you in a couple of weeks."

Blair licked her lips and nodded, "Yes, about that… I got busy?" she said, unconvincingly. "I don't know. I just… I went into self preservation mode, I think."

"What do you mean?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. "Preservation from what?"

"Humphrey," she said, slightly whining. "Can't we have this heart to heart after a few glasses?"

"No."

"Then I will see myself out," Blair said, turning around before feeling his fingers take hers and pull her back. Her back was against the door frame and Dan was pressed against her. "I thought I couldn't come in until I spilt my heart out."

"You aren't in yet," Dan said, playfully kicking her foot so it was still in the hallway. "What are you doing here, Blair? What do you want?"

His ears were pressed against her ear and Blair bit her lip as they brushed her skin. "I don't know, Humphrey. Just let me in."

"No," he responded, running his hands down her side and letting them settle on her hips. Blair covered his hands with hers. "What do you want, Blair?"

Blair's body was tense both from the confrontation and from his fingers digging gently into her skin under her shirt. "Why do you get to play detective when I didn't give you an inquisition after New Year's?"

Dan slowly pulled away from her, placing his index finger under Blair's chin and lifting her face slightly. "It's not an inquisition, Blair. I just want to know what you're doing here after giving me the silent treatment after our pretty decent date, in my opinion, and then our pretty decent phone conversation. Am I going to feel like a cheap bastard if I let you in and then you play Houdini again and disappear?"

"I personally prefer David Copperfield," Blair countered. "I won't disappear again, Humphrey." She held up a peace sign, "Scouts honor."

Dan started laughing, "What is that?"

"Scouts honor? Like the boy scouts?"

"That is a peace sign."

"Can't it be both?" she protested.

"It can be, but it's not. This is Scouts Honor," he said, holding up three fingers.

"Were you a boy scout, Humphrey?"

Dan shook his head, stepping away from her, "You are so stubborn, Blair."

"I know, people say it's my greatest asset."

"I don't think I'm one of those people," he said, shrugging as he leaned against the opposite side of the door frame. "What do you want from me, Blair? Just let me know so I can either continue thinking that we are on the path to a relationship or cease my efforts."

Blair shrugged, "Is there no middle man of friendship?"

"No, it's a fork in the road. Two options. I can't be friends with you," he admitted, "It's too complicated. At least not right now, not when this has already crossed the barrier from friendship to whatever we're toying with."

Blair averted her eyes and looked down at her feet, "This is tough on me, Humphrey."

"I can see that," he agreed. "I want to date you, Blair. I don't know if I can make it any more obvious at this point. I would like to see what this is. I am putting myself out there and saying that I, Dan Humphrey, would like to date you, Blair Waldorf. So what do you want?"

Blair shrugged, "That."

"What's that?"

He wasn't letting her take the easy way out and Blair could reach across the small space between them and shake him. "I, Blair Waldorf, would agree to date you, Dan Humphrey."

"You make it sound like a business transaction," he said sighing before entering his apartment. "But, I'll take it."

Blair smiled, swinging the bottle next to her as she walked in. "Isn't it a business transaction? Trading hearts instead of money?"

Dan shook his head, "That is the least sexy thing I've ever heard." He sat on the couch, Blair noted, instead of his comfort spot of the arm chair. Blair took a seat next to him and put the wine bottle on the coffee table. "It's more like religion. People fight and die for it and suffer for it."

"See, I don't want that part. I don't want the fighting and the dying and the suffering. I want to look at someone and say, here's my heart and I'll take your heart. We'll wipe our hands clean of the messiness and be happy with our new acquisitions."

"That doesn't sound like the Blair Waldorf I knew."

"Yeah, well, I just am too old to be throwing myself into the fray of being hurt," she countered, tapping his knee with her hand. "Let's change the subject… love is too dark of a topic. I learned that you aren't supposed to talk about three things in polite conversation… politics, religion and love."

Dan shrugged, "Do you want me to open that bottle for you?" He stood taking it into the kitchen without her responded and came back with two glasses full of the red liquid.

"I don't recall saying you could have some," she laughed and took the glass from him. "That was my own personal bottle."

Dan balanced his glass, as he sat back down next to her and let his arm settle across Blair's shoulders, "Yeah, well… you brought it into my apartment and therefore it is mine. It is nice of me to even give you a glass."

"Why, thank you. How kind of a gesture," Blair laughed, sipping on her wine. "I didn't mean it before. I didn't really mean that I want love to be like a business transaction."

Dan shushed her, "I thought we don't talk about that subject in polite company." His fingers danced along her shoulders and she pushed herself into him, resting her head against his chest. Dan leaned over to put his glass on the table and then took Blair's from her hand and placed it on the table.

Blair sat up, "Hey, I was drinking that."

He shrugged, placing his hands on the side of her face and leaning in so their noses were touching. Blair could feel her heart against her chest. "It will still be there in a minute," he told her before kissing her.

Blair moved herself closer to him, leaning into his body and placing her hands on his chest, grabbing at the fabric of his white t-shirt.

Maybe, she thought to herself, she could let herself be happy this one time. Maybe she could put off the self destruction and let herself appreciate the good things.

Maybe.