Uh, not too happy with the outcome of this one, you're free to criticize my ass :P However, next chap should be awesome! Once again, thank you so much for your lovely reviews, you have no idea how happy I am to receive email alerts of a review, it really means alot to me :) R&R awesome readers and reviewers! Enjoy!
One Week Of Danger
A marching band took residence in Blair's mind, but the room was still silent. She stared at her phone and the very picture of her kissing Nate. Coming to think about it, they looked happy, like a real couple. At least it was well acted. Dan's eyes burned behind her, and she could feel his disappointment and anger.
"Now would be the perfect time for the 'I can explain' line", Dan broke the silence all of a sudden, his voice bitter.
Blair turned her head and looked at him. She opened her mouth in order to say something, defend herself, defend her best friend, but nothing came out.
He looked at her in frustration and began to pace slowly towards the kitchen, throwing his hands into the air.
"Wait", was all Blair could elicit when he was about to disappear from her sight.
"What for? My sauce is burning", he said, not looking back, and kept pacing until he finally entered the kitchen, leaving her alone in the living room.
Why was she struggling to tell him the truth? Maybe she wasn't sure if he'll be mad. But he has all the rights to be mad, she's kissing his best friend in her spare time for a not-so-good cause. But she and Dan were so new at this; they got to know each other for real only three months ago, what if he won't get it? What if he gets mad and jealous and he'll break things with her? Blair's head was still full of questions about Dan, but Nate was still there, in the back of her mind, waiting for her to remember him, to worry about him as well. She shook her head in frustration and pinched the bridge of her nose.
Few minutes later, Dan got out of the kitchen with two plates, hot pasta on them, and shoved one plate into her hands angrily before sitting beside her.
She shoved a forkful of pasta into her mouth, trying to make the ability of talking to an impossible mission for the next twenty minutes. She almost choked when she figured out why was it so hard to tell Dan the truth. Telling Dan that Nate isn't really her boyfriend would make it real, and she wasn't ready to make it real just yet. Being around Nate reminded her of the good times they used to share. Getting to kiss him was just a bonus.
"Nye iz ma boyfrend", Blair declared when she felt brave enough, still chewing on her pasta.
Dan couldn't refrain from laughing at her failed attempt to say something, which of course, he didn't understand. She blushed, swallowed and glared at him.
"What? You're the queen of manners. You're adapting the Brooklyn style?" he chuckled, and then stared at his food again, remembering he's supposed to be angry.
"I said Nate is my boyfriend", Blair repeated herself, feeling less brave by the minute. When Dan started to frown she added quickly "My fake boyfriend". His frown just went worse, and he stopped chewing on his food, and just stared at her. Blair sent him an apologetic look.
"Do I even want to know?" he asked a moment later, shaking his head.
"Long story. It's fake, that's all you need to know", she responded and placed her hand over his.
"Doesn't look fake to me", he coughed and played with his fork.
"That's the point", she smiled to herself.
"So what, you have to kiss him like that for how long?" he tapped his leg on the floor impatiently.
"Are you jealous?" she chuckled and smacked his chest playfully.
"No… I mean, yes, but I have no reason to, right?" he mumbled.
She shook her head no and gave him an encouraging smile before she leaned in to kiss him. "That pasta was really good by the way", she pointed at her now empty plate.
"I guess it's a good thing that I burned the sauce", he chuckled and kissed her back. Blair felt the sparks, they were definitely there. But Nate, Nate felt like fireworks earlier today. There was no explanation for it. She has feeling for Dan; she couldn't possibly have feelings for Nate as well, especially when she thought they were done at the senior year prom. Maybe it was just a nostalgia feeling, or anything fleeting. She thought they were done for good. And that's why she avoided him for couple of days. Those 48 hours fixed her mind pretty quickly. Being with Dan, having Serena's approval, everything was perfect for 48 hours, even her lack of sleep didn't bother her, because she fell asleep by Dan's side after they were watching a movie, and it was more than soothing.
It was Friday, and Dan was having classes in the morning, so he promised to meet her for lunch in his loft, and once again, to cook for her. She agreed happily and spent the entire morning in bed watching 'Charade'. The looks of Carey Grant always reminded her of Nate's, even though they weren't really alike. She managed to avoid him for 48 hours, and she completely forgot about his date with Epperly, which is why she was surprised to see his text message, asking her what to wear for the date. She texted him back, telling him to wear whatever he wants to, just not plaid. They went over the plan just once, and she was hoping he'll manage and won't screw everything up. Luckily, the plan wasn't even that sophisticated. He had to act like a lovely boyfriend to Epperly and nothing else. Blair figured that the seduction part will be better after the date. By then, she thought, Epperly might trust Nate a little bit more, which might reduce the chances for her to reject him when he'll try. It was nearly lunch time when Blair was already in the cab in her way to the loft. She told Nate she'll be having lunch with Dan, and if he'll need something important, he should text her, but only if it's important. She didn't want her quality time with Dan to be interrupted, especially after the gossip girl blast fiasco two days before. The whole campus at school was still buzzing about that, and Chuck and Serena called to find out what's happening and why, as a part of the non-judging breakfast club, they weren't told. Blair sighed and answered each phone call, explaining the scheme plan carefully and making sure that none of them will slip anything out until the moment will come and she could finally blackmail away her week off work. When she opened the door to the loft, she saw a tiny table in the middle of the living room, two candles on it and a bouquet of flowers lying above one of the plates. Unfortunately, they were Lilies, and she couldn't hate the damn flower more. She had a bee accident because of a Lillie in 4th grade, which turned out to be a mess, and she ended up in the hospital, her face swollen. She could smell the stew scent coming out of the kitchen. It was pretty surprising, but Humphrey was a skilled chef whenever he cooked. She took the bouquet and put it on the hall table. She forgot how new Dan was in her life. He didn't know about the bee accident, he didn't know what her favorite flowers were, he didn't know a lot, unlike Nate, Who was texting her right now for the first time.
I brought Epperly some Hydrangeas, is that ok? – N.
A flashback of Nate bringing her a dozen of Hydrangeas on their first date, when they were 12, hit her. He's the reason those are her favorite flowers, and now he was sharing this intimate detail with another girl. Even though it was all planned out and it was just Epperly, Blair's heart pinched a little. It has been a while since someone brought her a beautiful bouquet of Hydrangeas (Chuck messed up with favorite flowers as well. He never knew what kind she liked).
Few minutes later, Dan hopped out of the kitchen, a pot of hot stew in his hands, and gave her a quick peck on the lips before sitting down across of her. They had a few minutes of small talk until her phone buzzed again, indicating a text message.
"I'm sorry… Just a second", she apologized to Dan and checked the message, which was again a useless statement about the hell that was Nate's date, and that Epperly's mother needed a shower. She returned him a text, reminding him of the Do-not-disturb-with-texts-in-my-date policy, and got back to her conversation with Dan. Ten minutes was all it took for Nate to text again. By then, it felt like he was doing that on purpose. Blair wanted to turn the phone off, but someone from work might call, and she couldn't resist reading the text messages either due the same reason. An hour, four glasses of wine and 4 more text messages from Nate (which she didn't answer) later, she and Dan were kissing fervently and pulled each others clothes off. They never done this before, and it was the first time for them, but Blair could see he was planning it out with the candles and meal and the failed attempt with the flowers. Her phone was still vibrating somewhere around the living room, and she tried to ignore it. Nate was not going to sabotage her first time with Dan. It already felt like he did try to sabotage something with Serena, but Nate isn't smart enough to do that, it was probably a shitty coincidence. She started to unbutton Dan's shirt the minute they reached his bedroom, but all of a sudden he growled in pain.
"I'm sorry, did I do something wrong?" she asked, trying to figure out what just happened.
"I don't know. Something scratched my chest and it really hurts", he pulled away from her to check on his chest. There was a little wound in the middle of it, few drops of blood covering it up. He smiled lightly at her and took her hand in his. "Here's the problem", he gestured to the ring in her left hand, her ruby ring.