It was impossible. Simply impossible. He had no idea how she was this fast; or rather, why he was so slow. His sweat was visibly obstructing his vision. His legs were cramped from his thighs to his ankles. In short, he was in pain. A lot of pain. But she didn't seem to have any trouble whatsoever. He stopped and wiped his eyes with his hand.

A half hour later and after much futile attempts of trying to get her to turn back they had finally reached the top of the hill. Dan emerged from the trail several minutes after her. Heavy breathed, hunched over, he pushed his bike as if it were a bolder until he finally could see over the horizon. And it was magnificent.

"Wow…" He managed to say despite the shortness in his breath.

"Exactly." Cece said as she took off her helmet. "I told you it would be worth it."

Dan left his bike fall to the ground as he collapse under the weight of his own exhaustion. Cece took the picnic basket off of the back of her bike and from it he she took out a water bottle and handed it to Dan. Dan chugged it down.

"Would you like a sandwich Daniel?" Cece asked as she sat herself down beside him.

"Yes, please." Dan said as the water had just cleared his throat.

Dan took the sandwich that had been handed to him and devoured it a wolf like demeanor.

"I'm surprised we haven't been up here before. I ride this trail all the time." Cece said as she stair out towards the vastness of the landscape.

"Well… this is a special hill and I was saving it." Dan said as he ate. "Besides, it's twice as long as any of the other trails we've been on."

"I remember the first summer we spent at the Hamptons. You looked quite silly on a bicycle." Cece remarked.

"I bet I still do." Dan responded.

"Well even this hill, I must admit is not for the usual afternoon bike rides." Cece said. "So what made you say yes this time around?"

"Well, I've been thinking… a lot… recently… you know." Dan stumbled on his words.

"Oh just come out with it Daniel, every time you have something important to say it just comes out as jibberish." Cece said as he gently slapped Dan across the back of the head. "It's a wonder that you manage to stand up in front of an auditorium full of people and read your work."

"That's a bit different, most of the time , I'm usually just looking down at my page." Dan said as he finished his sandwich.

"Yes, I've noticed…" Cece replied absently as she wiped the sweat from Dan's head off on her handkerchief. "You should definitely work on that. You looked like an idiot in front of the New York Poet Society last month."

"Everyone said I was great." Dan said in a mock defensive tone.

"Everyone is not Serena's grandmother." Cece said with a smug smile. "I'll I'm saying Daniel, is that you should memorize what you wrote when you ask her tomorrow."

"Wait… you knew…" Dan said as he slid the box back into his pocket discretely.

"Daniel, we are up on this hill, the one trail that you would never ride with me. You can't seem to find your words, and you're sweating like a mad man." Cece said in a condescending tone.

"To be fair, I think that's because of the ride up the hill." Dan joked.

"And there it is." Cece said with a knowing look. "At least let me see the ring that you've picked out."

Dan, stunned and without a single word, pulled the little black box from his pocket and handed it to Cece.

"It's like she can read my mind." Dan whispered as he released his hand from the box.

"No, you are just that obvious." Cece said as he opened the box.

Dan watched for a reaction, he needed her approval, he cared what she thought. And he has been trying to figure out exactly when his opinion changed and he could never pinpoint an exact time but it seems now it was more important than ever that he knew that she approved of him.

There was a long pause. Her face carried no discernible reaction. She read that ring as if she read an article. She studied it, she analyzed it. But more than that, it felt like she was analyzing him. Which was a strange feeling; he didn't know if he liked being dismissed by her or analyzed by her. She was, after all, the most formidable woman he had ever met.

"Daniel…" She said in one breath as if to separate his name from the rest of her thought. "What do you want me to say?"

Dan said nothing.

"Of course you have my blessing to marry Serena." Cece finally said. "You didn't need to ask me. You are the only one for her."

"Phew." Dan said as he collapsed backwards onto his elbows. "You had me scared."

"Don't I always?"Cece laughed.

Author's Note: If you guys haven't already noticed, this isn't going to be chronological in any way. I'm jumping back and forth, writing what I feel like. There is a definite timeline though and it fits into a story called Sink or Swim which I recently completed. In the future I'll be filling in a lot of the in between moments in that story with these chapters. But Sink or Swim isn't required reading for this story at all.