A/N: Sorry guys. I know this has been long overdue! I hope you like this chapter. :)

Dan sits on the couch with his legs stretched out on the coffee table. His laptop rests on his lap as he passes time with videos of Christian the Lion. A plate of cheese sits beside him. Blair's still on the phone with Serena, and although he very much prefers to hear the conversation, he opts to give Blair her privacy. He remembers the conversation he had with Serena when his book came out. He remembers the hurt and disappointment in her voice. But he also remembers her resignation – her acceptance that their story really has ended. And not only in a book.

…

"I can't believe you wrote this about us, Dan. Did you really think of me that way all this time? Lost and undecided?" She tells him wearily over the phone. He looks out the window, trying to figure out what has become of his life. His dad has decided it's best if he's not seen at Lily's place for a while; as his book left a bad taste in almost everyone's mouth.

"Serena, I can't justify what I wrote but I'm really sorry." He doesn't know what else to do but apologize. Vanessa made a decision that should have been his and he expected consequences. He just didn't want to accept that the consequences include losing his friends.

"I can't say I'm surprised someone thinks that about me. I'm just shocked that it's you."

"Serena…" He tries to reason out to her – tell her that what they had was real and not just some story he wrote in a book – but she cut him off.

"I think it would be better if we don't talk… at least for a while." She tells him with a sigh. "And you should tell her how you feel." She hangs up.

…

Blair walks around in Dan's room, wearing only socks and his NYU sweatshirt, her phone tucked between her shoulder and her ear. She cringes her nose a little when she sees her designer clothes on the floor so she picks them up and rummages Dan's closet for a hanger. Serena's on the other line, blabbing about her job in L.A. and the cute guy who lost his job because of her. Blair lets out a loud sigh before she could stop herself.

"B, am I boring you now?" Serena chuckles a little, not at all offended by Blair's loss of interest. Admittedly, Blair does sometimes trail off when Serena's random beaus are the topic of conversations. They fall silent. "Blair, how are you holding up?"

"I'm fine! I'm holding up just fine." Blair makes her way to Dan's bedside table and finds his phone lying on it. She opens it and starts up Angry Birds. She realizes she's awfully distracted and locks the phone. "Really I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

"Yeah. I keep track of Gossip Girl, you know. And you're all over the news. So I just wanted to check in on you, how you're dealing with losing Louis and dealing with Dan's book, to check if you're doing OK." Her tone changes to a you're-not-telling-me-something-important-and-I-don't-want-to-ask-you-about-it tone. But Blair knows Serena well and clearly understands where the conversation is heading. She clearly knows about the breakup and the fact that she came home to Dan.

"You want to know why I left Louis." Blair tells Serena.

"I want to know why you left Louis." Serena repeats. "I thought you loved him. Oh, and Chuck's winning the Gossip Girl poll."

Chuck. Blair lies on Dan's bed and hugs a pillow, her phone still held close to her ear. She remembers their last goodbye and how he let her go. She wonders why he had to do it for her, why he had to give her up like she couldn't make the decision herself. She realizes it's because Chuck knows her. Despite of all the things he did to her, and all the things she did to him (albeit not as bad), he knows her. And he knows her well. He knows that if he doesn't let her go, she'll come running back to him. That's why he had to do it, too. Somehow she's thankful that he did let her go. Because if he didn't, she would probably still think they're the epic couple of the Upper East Side. The powerful twenty-year-olds. It's sad how they focused too much of their efforts on being a power couple, when one of them doesn't feel powerful and comfortable in her own skin while being in the relationship.

"Still there?" Serena breaks her train of thought, still waiting for an answer.

"I… told Louis about Chuck. He wasn't happy about it but he forgave me. He said he may have decided too soon that he could accept everything about me – the good and the bad... but he still wanted to give it a shot." Blair sighs. "So we did. But then… Wait. Are you sure you want to know about this?"

Bringing up Dan is probably not the best idea but she can't avoid it. Nobody said she can't try. She hears the door creak and sees Dan peeking from outside, making weird faces, clearly bored of waiting. She throws a pillow in his direction, giggling. He takes it as his cue to, once again, stay outside.

"Well, I'm sure it couldn't be any worse than what Dan did to us." And there it is. Blair chokes a little upon hearing what Serena said. "You ok?" Serena asks.

"I'm fine. I'm fine. It's just that…" She pauses, she's not entirely sure that this is the best idea, especially during a phone conversation. She lets out a small breath. "Louis and I and were having… an intimate moment… then I called him…"

"You can say sex, B. I'm not allergic to it." Clearly not, Blair thinks to herself and mentally kicks herself for even having that thought. "Then you called him Chuck?"

"Actually… I called him Dan." She tells Serena before changing her mind. She is met with a long awkward silence that she doesn't attempt to break. Aside from not knowing what else to say, she doesn't really want to say anything else. Serena breaks their silence with a small laugh.

"Wow. I thought it was just him all along."

"What are you talking about?" Blair is suddenly confused. She sits up and fiddles with the cover of the remaining pillow. She makes a mental note to tell Dan to get more pillows, two is not, and will never be, many.

"The way he wrote you in the book. Sure there were harsh words here and there but it was clear there was something else. Just didn't think you'd see him that way, too." Blair tries to catch any hint of anger or hurt but she couldn't find any. Just the same resignation Dan described to her when they talked about what happened.

"Wait. You're not mad?"

"I want to be. But what's the point? I knew one day he'd really move on. Also knew that one day, he'll write something big and be famous. Just didn't think it would happen this way…" She trails off, falling silent for a second. "I guess I just wanted to keep hating him for the book because I didn't come out as the leading lady. If you ask me the truth, I actually liked the book."

"He's really taking it hard you know. But he understands the consequences."

"Has he told you how he feels yet?" Serena inquires, suddenly curious.

"Yes…" She doesn't know where this conversation is getting at.

"Have you told him how you feel?" Her best friend prods, suddenly sounding like she's actually interested in what's happening between her and Dan.

"Not exactly." Now she understands where the conversation is heading.

"Gossip Girl says you've never left Brooklyn until you came back. Don't think we don't know that. If you even remotely feel the same way about him as he does about you, you should tell him. You did come all the way from Monaco."

Dan opens the door to the bedroom, looking at her with his please-let-me-in look. She rolls her eyes and pats the space beside her, motioning for him to join her. He sighs in relief as he joins her in bed, pulling her gently to lean on him.

"I love you." Dan whispers to her as he wraps his arms around her. Blair couldn't keep herself from giggling into the phone, completely forgetting that Serena is still on the line. Serena shakes her head and blurts out into the phone. "Before you two make out or anything, please remember I'm still on the phone."

Blair sits up suddenly and tries to not get distracted by Dan's presence. "S, you mind if I get off the phone first?"

"Are you finally going to tell him? I mean, don't get me wrong, I probably wouldn't be your biggest fan. I just want you to be happy." She hears Serena say in an almost pained voice.

"I am happy, S. And I will… do that thing… you're telling me to do." She laughs softly. She misses her best friend and even though she knows this thing she has with Dan can affect Serena, she can't seem to pull herself away. Suddenly she feels guilty for not thinking about how Serena would feel about her coming home to Dan. She feels the need to apologize and so she does. "I'm sorry it came to this, S…"

"Blair… Dan's not that hard to love, that much I know." Serena answers sheepishly. "Well… I guess I got to go…" She hangs up before Blair could even say goodbye.

…

"So what's that about?" Dan asks Blair as she snuggles against his chest, their legs intertwined. His hand grazes lightly on her back, moving slowly above her bra line. Blair's hand disappears into his shirt, rubbing softly against his stomach. "She's just being Serena… she knows I'm here."

She finds herself straddling him, unbuttoning his shirt and kissing up his chest as she does. Dan, on the other hand, successfully unclasps her bra and pulls her (his) shirt up. "She knows you're on top of me?" She stops as she realizes what Dan just said. She doesn't want this to be how she tells him about her feelings. Not at the height of passion… not yet at least, she thinks to herself. She rolls over to his side and helps him sit down. He looks at her, confused. "Everything ok?"

"I love you." She blurts out, her eyes wide as she confesses. Dan stares at her and rubs her arms, his eyes lighting up. "I love you too." He says in response, because what else is there to say? As if reading his mind and pushes him down the bed, snuggling close to him right after. "I think I might have been in love with you longer than I would admit." She says as she takes his hand in hers.

He chuckles against her hair, smiling sheepishly with this latest revelation. He rubs her back as they fall quietly into the night.

So I didn't want a bitchy Serena but I know she wouldn't exactly be happy with Dair soooo... Reviews?