Brooklyn

Dan wrote.

He barely ate.

He barely slept.

He didn't attend any social events.

The phone would ring. Dan would let it ring

He just wrote.

Once, Vanessa Abrams came over to his loft in Brooklyn. Dan told her that she was an egotistical slut. Then Dan slammed the door on Vanessa's face, and continued to write.

He wrote.

He wrote.

And he wrote.

Several months later, Dan was finished. It was perfect.

Serena's Place July 7, 2011 3:00 p.m

All of the Upper-East Side of Manhattan was excited.

It was the day of Serena van der Woodsen's birthday party.

Blair and Serena were getting ready for Serena's birthday party in Serena's room.

Serena got a text message. She started giggling.

Blair rolled her eyes.

Serena got another text message. She started giggling again.

"Who are you texting?" Blair asked, annoyed.

"Dan."

"Humphrey? I haven't seen him in forever. I was hoping he had died."

"Well, Dan has been writing a lot in the past few months. In fact, he is getting a novel published-" Serena began.

Blair wasn't listening to Serena. She cut Serena off. "I never understood how you could like Dan Humphrey, S. Liking him is social-suicide."

"I never understood how you could dislike Dan Humphrey, Blair. I mean, Everybody thinks that he is a really good guy."

"I wouldn't touch Dan Humphrey with a thirty-three foot pole." Blair sniffed.

"Blair, didn't you kiss Dan once?"

"We all make mistakes." Blair said.

"Well, Dan is coming to my birthday party tonight!" Serena said.

"Humphrey shouldn't come to your birthday party; he'll ruin it with his germs."

"Please be nice to him tonight, Blair." Serena scolded, "Dan is going to be my date."

"Your date? Why didn't you tell me you were dating Dan Humphrey again?"

"I'm not dating him. I just wanted to see him on my birthday, so I asked him to be my date."

"Humphrey is better suited for being your chauffeur, not your date."

"Why do you always make fun of Dan?" Serena said, "What has he ever done to you?"

"Why do you always defend Dan Humphrey?"

"Because you always judge him unfairly." Serena declared.

"I do not!" Blair protested.

"Yes, you do. Admit it."

"Never," Blair said. There was a moment of silence before Blair pointed accusingly at Serena. "Oh my God, you like Dan Humphrey again!"

Serena blushed.

"Promise me you won't date him again, S."

"Why do you care?"

"I don't care! It's just social-suicide to date Dan Humphrey!" Blair answered.

"You waste way too much energy talking about how it's "social-suicide to date Dan Humphrey". It's weird, B."

"But Dan is from Brooklyn!"

"So?"

"His late name is Humphrey!"

"So?"

"He had a cabbage patch doll named Cedric!"

"So?"

Blair wildly searched around for another insult. "He is a prude!"

Serena grinned wickedly. "Trust me, when Dan and I used to have sex, he was anything but a prude."

"I do not want to hear about your old sex life with Dan Humphrey!"

Serena's eyes glazed over dreamily. "Dan was the best guy I have ever dated. He was smart, funny, and amazing in bed."

Blair threw her tube of lipstick at Serena. "STOP TALKING ABOUT DAN HUMPHREY AND YOUR SEX LIFE!" She cried.

Serena narrowed her eyes at Blair. "Do you like Dan Humphrey or something, B?" Serena asked, "Because you focus way too much energy on disliking him."

"I DO NOT LIKE DAN HUMPHREY!" Blair shouted. Serena could only stare at Blair for a moment- Blair rarely lost her temper.

"Okay, I believe you- you don't like Dan Humphrey." Serena said soothingly, "So, you don't mind if I start dating Dan again?"

"No! I just think you can do better than Dan Humphrey," Blair paused, "Anybody can do better than Dan Humphrey."

"Most girls think Dan is really hot." Serena objected.

"No, they don't." Blair said quickly, "Does Dan like you again or something?

"I don't know," Serena mused, "But he hasn't been with anybody since I dated him this winter."

"That's because nobody other than you thinks Dan is hot" Blair spit out.

Serena's Birthday Party July, 7 2011, 8:00 p.m.

Serena's party was flawless, just like Serena looked in her red Valentino dress.

Every man in the room was envious of Dan Humphrey, the man Serena's attention was focused on. Serena hung onto Dan's arm, she laughed with him, she whispered into his ears. Indeed, Serena flirted easier than most girls breathed.

Dan certainly looked like he was enjoying Serena's attention.

Blair, however, sulked in the corner, watching Dan and Serena flirt with each other. Had Dan forgotten her… like she had forgotten him? Blair wondered.

Blair watched Serena stroke Dan's biceps. Dan smiled at Serena. Yep, looks like Humphrey had forgotten her. Thank Goodness. Now Blair could relax.

Blair went to go sit on a bar stool. Taking a drink of her martini, she stared at Serena and Dan talking to each other. How could Serena possibly like Dan? Didn't Serena know the social-suicide it was causing her to like Dan Humphrey?

"Blair," A sexy voice whispered in her ear. It was Chuck Bass.

"Hey Chuck," Blair said wearily.

"Do you want to dance with me?" Chuck asked.

Blair was about to say no, but then she glanced back up at Dan. For just for a second, Dan and Blair's eyes met from across the room. Then Dan's eyes flickered to Chuck, standing next to her. The expression in Dan's eyes was unreadable. What was he thinking? Then Dan turned to Serena, who was trying to feed him a piece of cake again. Blair watched as Dan licked the frosting off of Serena's finger.

Serena giggled. Blair groaned with disgust.

"I just asked you if you wanted to dance." Chuck said in her ear.

"Oh," Blair said absently. She had forgotten Chuck was there.

"Well?" Chuck said impatiently.

"What?" Blair said.

"Do you want to dance with me?" Chuck asked again.

Blair looked at Serena and Dan. Dan was not looking at her anymore. Instead, Dan was talking animatedly, his eyebrows rising up and down as he talked. Serena was laughing at whatever Dan was saying.

Blair grabbed Chuck's hand, and jerked him to the dance floor. "Let's dance."

Chuck chuckled. "You sure are feisty today, Blair. I like it."

Blair placed her hands around Chuck. They began to sway slowly, seductively in the middle of the dance floor.

Chuck was murmuring words in her ears.

Blair glanced to see if Dan was watching her dancing with Chuck.

He wasn't.

Instead, Dan was talking to Serena, Nate Archibald, and Eric Van der Woodsen at the same time. Looks like Nate Archibald, Serena, and Eric Van der Woodsen didn't think Dan was social suicide.

In fact, they seemed to think that Dan was a cool guy.

Now that she thought about it, people liked Dan a lot more than they liked her.

Probably because Dan was a good person.

Had Blair made a mistake by turning down Dan?

And more importantly, was it too late for Bair to get Dan back?

AUTHORS NOTE: SORRY THAT THIS CHAPTER DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF DAN/BLAIR ACTION... I had to set it up for the end of this story.

ONLY A FEW MORE CHAPTERS LEFT!

The end of the story is going to be hot!

All comments/advice/reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading!