A/n: I'm so sorry for the long break! I could use excuses such as "my life has been crazy..." (which is not absolutely a lie) but you just deserve my deepest apology.

Hope you enjoy the chapter and thank you all for the reviews (they make my days) and for keeping on reading.

-patricia

The days that followed were filled with the usual banalities of life. Blair would go to work, talk to Chuck over the phone, spend some time with her child and now and then meet with Serena to discuss party arrangements and possible venues. However something had changed, and what had been banal had now a touch of unusual, as a new thought populated Blair's mind. During the day she would find herself thinking about Dan. She hadn't thought about him in a very long time, and if she had she would not admit it. There had been a time, short after her return to New York, that seeing Dan would bring her pain and even regret but, after his declaration of eternal love to Serena all she felt was anger and hatred towards the man that she once called her best friend. Nevertheless she would find herself thinking about him. Thinking about the great moments of their friendship, when he had been the only one by her side no matter the circumstances; when they would just talk about arts and she would find in him an adequate intellectual match; or even when he would display the most wonderful signs of adoration, like he did when he wrote Louis' vows. And then that bloody sex tape would crash all the good memories; his poisoned words about all of the people that she hold dear, about herself; he jumping to Serena after he had her, as if she was the trigger for him to remember how great Serena was. And then again, with her chest heavy and a cold sensation on her stomach, she would drift her thought to the revelation that he cared for her son and she would feel something in the pit of her stomach, and a crush sensation to her heart that she could not really describe.

For days she dwelled with the doubt of where her feelings for Dan lied…did she hate him? Or was she able to tolerate him? She wouldn't push much further from these two options. The course of life had been harsh on the two of them, making some damage that in her opinion was irreparable. In fairness she had her own quote of responsibility in the downfall of their relationship. Hell she has pretty much the responsible for their break-up; but the actions that followed , all the evilness and will to inflict some sort of revenge (on Dan's side) were entirely up to him, and in her opinion it only reveled the truth of his character. She had never taken the time to connect his actions to an incredible, overwhelming grief of losing her; how could she when he clearly loved Serena? If she had done something, it was to get out of their way and leading both of them to the happiness they have always wanted!

Blair's mind would repeat this process at least once or twice a day, and in the end she would always be left with the dilemma of is he a good or a bad guy?

Her, now usual, inner debate was interrupted by the ringing sound coming from her mobile. The screen displayed her best friend's name, so she decided against her will of not picking up the phone.

"B!" – Serena shouted enthusiastically from the other end of the line.

"Good afternoon S!" – Blair spoke not hiding a certain degree of poise in her voice. "How can I be of assistance?"

"Oh no! I am the one that is assisting you…" said Serena with a fake finesse in her tone, "…well, actually Dan, but still…are you ready?"

Blair could sense the excitement that her friend was feeling, "Please go ahead."

"We found it B!" the pause that followed gave Serena the indication that her best friend was not quite sure of what she was talking about. "The venue B! Dan found the perfect place for Henry's party."

"Oh! How wonderful S!"

"I know right?! Now we must make a move fast otherwise we might lose the spot." Serena stated.

"Certainly…but I would like to check it for myself first!"

"When will you have some free time B?"

"How does in a couple of hours sounds to you?"

"Just perfect!"

Blair finished up her affairs and headed to Serena's penthouse. She could not help but to feel excited about this, after all it would be sort of a blind road trip with her best friend…just like old times.

The limo ride (yes, she had developed a taste for driving around in a limousine! After all she was Blair Waldorf Bass) took longer than she had expected. Some annoying traffic jam. She reached her friend's house and let herself up without a word to the doorman. She was expected anyways besides; her presence had been a recurrent given, so they were already used to have her walking around.

The lift door opened with a "ding" granting her access to the flat.

"Hello…?!" Blair made herself announced "Serena?!"

After a few minutes of silence, Dan's head picked from a door frame.

"Blair?! I had hopes that you were cancelling." Dan stated with no emotion in his voice as he walked over to her.

"Sorry to disappoint Humphrey, I just got stuck in traffic for a little longer than expected. I texted Serena thou…she is fully aware of my delay." Blair spat not being able to hide the anger that had crept over her after the way he had talked to her.

"Oh don't worry Bass!" She hated the way he pronounced her last name so full of distaste. "I'm not the only one who is going to be disappointed."

"What can you possibly mean with that?"

"Serena got a call from a photographer…emergency photo-shoot, can you believe that? So yes Bass, sorry to disappoint but you are stuck with me."

"I rather be stuck in traffic!" She stated raising an eyebrow in superiority. She could not be more annoyed now.

"Trust me I rather have you stuck in traffic as well, however my wonderful wife can be very persuasive so she made me agree to this. I was under the impression that she had given you the heads-up?!" He looked genuinely surprised that she didn't got the memo.

"If I had, do you think I would be standing here?"

"Good point…well, we can always cancel…but you will have to be the one to tell Serena, I did all that I could!"

"Like that is going to happen Humphrey! I will never hear the end of it if we don't get the place because I refused to be escorted by you."

"So…"he prolonged the word, pretending to be thick or maybe just trying to infuriate her into giving up their road trip.

"Let's go!"

"Tell me again why can't we take the limo?"

"For starters…I think it is incredibly ostentatious to be driving around in a limousine, second I like my car." Blair knew that would be the end of it. To be honest his new car was rather a fancy one, nothing like that old thing that he drove her in while looking for Juliette. As she entered the car she could not contain a brief smile, Dan had turned into an Upper East Side man more than he thought. He dressed with class, stripped from any sort of plaid. He looked rather elegant now. Blair put this thoughts aside, as she remembered how much he annoyed her.

"Care to share our destination?" She asked as she fastened her seat belt.

"Bergen County Equestrian Center" Dan stated matter of factly.

"And where is that supposed to be?" Blair asked without looking at him.

"30 minutes away…in New Jersey."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Blair was concerned now. What had he been thinking? That she would have her son's party in…New Jersey?! She turned to Dan with an incredulous expression, and to her surprise he turned his head in her direction, almost simultaneously.

"Yes Blair, it's in New Jersey, but it is a wonderful venue. Give it a chance and I'm sure you are going to like it." Something in his eyes transmitted her confidence and sooth her worries all at the same time. She would give it a try, it couldn't hurt.

"Alright then." Blair stated calmly, "But it better be an incredible place Humphrey."

"I wouldn't waste your time Waldorf."

Unexpectedly, Blair's heart skipped a beat. The familiarity of her maiden name, and the memories of a past when the man sitting next to her was more than a bother in her life, came flashing back. They had shared more than a friendship normally would. She remembered for the first time in years, how happy he had made her; she remembered of a time when he came first than anyone else. But soon enough all the heartache took over.

"Just start driving Humphrey!" she said with apparent bitterness.

And so he did. Dan started the car and they started their journey. This wasn´t the ideal situation for him either. Truth be said, he did not even understood why he had said yes to Serena when she asked for him to take Blair in her place. He wanted nothing to do with that woman.

"Do you want to turn on the radio?" he asked out of politeness.

"Sure" Blair said absent-mindedly, diverting her gaze from the cityscape that she had been admiring. She turned it on and an unmemorable song started to play. Neither would be able to name the hit on the radio since neither was really paying attention to it. Both were very aware of the presence of the other. Dan initially was very annoyed with the fact that he would have to spend the rest of his afternoon with Blair. He had learnt to tolerate her presence, since all this party planning started, after all they had spent most of the evenings of that week together. However never before had he been alone with her. If memory didn´t fail, the last time they had been alone was in a side-walk by some cross-road that he had crossed to get away from the sight of her. Back then the feelings that he had for her were very different thou, it had been the start of the phase in which the tremendous love that he had felt for her, started to fade and let the bitterness of their break-up and the resentment of a very freshly lost hope sink in. Now all that love was far gone, and the only positive thing that he could point about her was her cool kid.

On the other side of the car, Blair tried to understand why the fact that he had called her Waldorf has made her heart feel a weird and unpleasant pang. Could it be that she missed her friend? She couldn't let those thoughts take over; she had to expel them from her mind.

"So…how is Henry doing?" Dan could not imagine how thankful Blair was that he had broken the silence and with that her incoherent thoughts.

"Ehm…ha…He is doing quite well, thank you. He is a little bit down since Chuck won't be here for his day." Why did you say that?

"I know it is not my place but…er…do you want me to take him out one of these days? You know…have a boys' talk?"

She could not believe he had just asked her that. She could not wrap her mind around when had she lacked to notice the importance that Dan probably had in her son's life, and due to the offer, the importance that he had in Dan's.

"Dan, can I ask you something?"

Dan?! She called me Dan?! Since when does she call me Dan?! As the sound of his name escaped Blair's lips, Dan felt an odd cold on his stomach…a cold that he knew he had felt before; he could just not point when. "Sure!" he managed to mutter, still in shock.

"When did you become so close to Henry?" her voice was soft, filled with a mix of curiosity and tenderness.

"Well…" Dan felt his heart melt "…I wouldn't say that we are SO close!"

"You seem to know a lot about my son. I suppose that is a sign of a certain level of proximity."

"I guess you can say so…ha…well…er…I don't know exactly." Dan did that little mumbling that he used to do when he didn't really know what to answer. This little trait brought a soft smile to Blair's face. She found it amusing and endearing that he hadn't changed that about himself. "Serena would bring him over sometimes…most likely when you and Chuck had a public function, or when you would be celebrating some special occasion" he continued, spatting his last words, "And then there was this time when y-you, you know…er…hit a rough path with Chuck, and Serena would bring him home more regularly. I guess that then I managed to see past Chuck's DNA and bounded with Henry." A silenced pause fell upon then, just broken by the fading of a song that no one had paid attention to. "He is a good kid, you know?" Dan finished.

Blair had given her undivided attention to Dan's speech. She had been both mesmerized by the affection with which he spoke about her son, and also by how easy had then fallen into conversation after such a long break in their friendship.

"He really is!"

She had missed her friend.