"I have to say you have surpassed my expectations, Humphrey."
Dan, with his penchant for self-deprecation, wondered if Shapiro was more drunk than usual.
"James Wolfe told me that you sent him the final draft on the first chapter of 'Claire Carlyle; Confessions of an Upper East Side Princess' and that it would be published next week. Nice title by the way." Shapiro continued, entirely oblivious to Dan's discomfort.
"It wasn't my idea." Dan replied stoically. He had committed to the Claire Carlyle story and was going to see it through, but he didn't understand what Shapiro's involvement in the story was anymore. Dan hadn't even sent him the latest chapters, they went straight to James Wolfe now. "Look, I appreciate how much you've helped me out with the Claire Carlyle story and how much it's benefitted my career already, but I want to get back to writing fiction again."
"Humphrey, how many chapters did you agree to write again? It was twelve, right? With the possibility of more?" Shapiro took off his glasses as he spoke and coolly leant back in his chair as he breathed on them and wiped the lenses.
"That's right." Dan coldly confirmed.
"And you think that now would be a good time to start on a new project?" Shapiro asked almost mockingly.
"The way I see it, the Claire Carlyle story has a very clear beginning, middle and end, it's done. I've finished it, I want to move on." Dan said, much more forcefully than he would usually talk to his mentor. "I can't write about Blair anymore, I tried it, it worked, but now it's over. I can't just keep…exploiting her life. Listen, I have an idea for a new story, it's this alternative history of-"
"I'm sorry, it's over?" Shapiro interrupted him and sat back up in his chair again. "You are finally getting published, you've started making contacts in the industry and just like that, you've decided that it's over?"
"I just meant that particular story-"
"Humphrey, you've been commissioned for twelve chapters, it doesn't mean that you stop there. It is very likely that once the first few chapters are published, you will be commissioned for more." Shapiro stated condescendingly.
Dan had probably never hated Shapiro more than he did in that moment, when he was completely unwilling to hear Dan's opinions and was talking to him like he was an idiot.
"Then, I guess I'd have to say no." Dan replied confidently. He had never intended to get to this point, and was already guessing how soon he'd start to regret this, but he'd hit his breaking point and there was no going back.
"You'd just say no to getting published?"
"Yeah. You see, I'm not going to just keep writing a story just because it's what some big-time editor wants, not if I don't believe in it. I guess you could call it authorial integrity." Definitely no going back now.
"See, I thought the word for that was unemployment."
Dan didn't respond, he simply didn't need to. Shapiro didn't get it, he'd never get it. Blair didn't mean anything to him, and Dan was sure that even he was nothing more than a toy to Shapiro. Well, he wasn't going to be played anymore. Without a word, he stood up and left, sure that he would never go back again.
He took no more than three steps outside when someone called his name and he turned to see a tall guy in a suit and trench coat, who had obviously been waiting there for him.
"I'd like to talk to you about Nate Archibald." The man continued, displaying his FBI badge while Dan was froze in place.
Of all the things to happen on Thanksgiving. Dan genuinely liked Nate and considered him a good friend, but this was way out of his league. So, he flipped open his phone and called a number that he wasn't sure why he had deleted yet.
"Hey," Dan greeted awkwardly, "I know that you hate me and…well the feeling is mutual, but…I need your help. Nate needs your help."
Of course Chuck wouldn't just grab a cab and meet Dan at the gallery. No, he had to take that limo everywhere, no matter how much Dan had tried to get him to understand how important it was that they try to remain inconspicuous. Dan unlocked the gallery and relayed to Chuck what he had been told.
"You were right, you do need my help." Chuck murmured as he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a flask.
Dan thought about just how perfect his day was already. It started off with Shapiro, and now he had another condescending asshole to patronize him, not to mention his run in with the FBI.
"It's a good thing I called Blair and Serena, they should be here soon." Chuck added as he shifted in his chair to pull one leg up so that his foot rested on his opposing knee, making himself perfectly comfortable.
"What? Chuck I told you how important it was that you keep this secret. We're talking about the FBI here." Dan chastised from the counter, no one was listening to him today.
"I know what I'm doing, Humphrey." Chuck was unfazed. "When we confront Nate, he'll be more likely to do the right thing if he knows that there are people who care about him."
"So, you're thinking an intervention?"
"Something like that." Chuck responded, before he took another sip out of the flask.
"Yeah, I'm sure this is all for Nate's benefit and not you just exploiting the situation to see Blair." Dan muttered as he moved around the counter to greet the girls as he heard them arriving.
Chuck didn't have time to respond before they arrived. Dan glanced at his face for a moment and almost thought he saw suspicion.
"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Serena asked breathlessly as she rushed in with Blair at her side.
"Chuck can fill you in, I need to call my dad." Dan explained as he by-passed them so that he can have some privacy, but Serena interrupted him before he could get away.
"Your dad? He's at my place with my mom." She said.
"He is?" Dan's face instantly screwed up mostly shocked and partly concerned.
"Yeah, something to do with Jenny." Serena explained.
"Of course this is happening today." Dan muttered under his breath as he turned his back to Serena and pulled out his mobile phone.
Rufus briefly filled him in on Jenny's attempts to emancipate herself, Dan asked if there was anything he could do to help, which there wasn't, and then decided not to burden his dad with the drama he was dealing with that day. He hung up, but immediately his phone started to ring, it was Vanessa.
"Vanessa, hey, I can't talk right now." He said quickly.
"What? Why not?" She responded.
"I can't really explain, it's about Nate."
"Well, are you at the loft? I was just calling to see if you wanted me to pick up anything on my way over."
Dan clamped his eyes shut and brought his free hand to his face and pinched the top of his nose. He'd forgotten that he had invited Vanessa over for Thanksgiving dinner and now he was going to have to abandon her.
"No, I'm not." He replied slowly. "Look, I'm at the gallery with Serena and…Blair and Chuck."
"You're ditching me on Thanksgiving to spend the day with Serena, Blair and Chuck?" Vanessa's voice sounded venomous down the phone, but Dan knew that she was hurt. He'd been ditching her a lot lately.
"It's not like that, but please, let me explain. Later. Tonight! Please, come over tonight and I will explain everything. I promise." He desperately urged her.
"Fine." She responded curtly.
"So, I'll see you later?"
"Sure." She said in the same bitter tone.
"Okay." Dan confirmed awkwardly before he hung up the phone and finally returned to the others.
"Dan, you need to call that FBI guy here." Serena rushed up to him as soon as he entered the room.
"Are you sure?" Dan asked as he looked from her to Chuck and Blair who both wore determined yet expectant expressions.
"Yes, and then you need to call Nate here." Blair added assertively.
"Why me?" Dan asked nervously.
"Because if any of us called him to meet here, he'd get suspicious and might not show." Serena explained quickly, clearly worried about her friend.
Dan agreed, the phone calls were made and the plan set in motion. Dan started making coffees, the impending arrival of one, possibly more, FBI agents awakened his desire to please authority figures. Chuck had gone downstairs to tell his driver to keep the limo out of sight and when Serena got a phone call with Aaron and flitted off to the hallway, Dan was left with Blair.
He walked over to the table where she had taken a seat and placed a cup of coffee in front of her, but she didn't acknowledge him. Undeterred by this, he sate opposite her and began to drink the coffee he had brought her himself, making sure to sigh as he took a sip.
"I'm sorry that this is how you're spending your Thanksgiving. Serena told me that it's your favourite holiday." Dan finally spoke as he watched Blair intently and waited for a reaction.
"Don't worry about it, Humphrey. My Thanksgiving was ruined before I was forced to come to Brooklyn." She snapped, before her eyes fell back onto her hands as she pretended to study her cuticles.
"What happened?" Dan asked, not sure how if he was being presumptuous, but actually believing that she might just tell him.
"My…my mother," she said pointedly, glancing up at Dan before she continued, "is engaged to Cyrus Rose."
Dan remained quiet. He knew that she probably had more to say and that even if she didn't, any advice that he could give would be unwelcome at this point.
"And she didn't tell me." Blair continued. "She's going to announce it to his whole family later, just lumping me in with everyone else. I guess I'm not important enough to tell separately."
"You know that's not true." Dan said. "Maybe…maybe she's just afraid of how you're going to react, and that's why she hasn't told you. So, she thinks that if she tells you when everyone else is there, you'll just have to accept it."
"Is that supposed to be any better?" Blair retorted.
"Probably not. Maybe there's another explanation completely, I don't know. You know what I do know?" He asked, a slight smile forming.
"Very little." Blair snapped.
"I know that no matter how your mother is acting," Dan continued, ignoring Blair's insult, "it's not because you've done anything wrong. It's not about you. You remember telling Emma that, right?"
"I do." Blair responded slowly.
"Then you remember saying how when you told your mom how you really felt that it got better?" Dan pushed gently.
"I do." Blair repeated. "But I'm surprised that you remember it."
"You're worth remembering." It had sounded cheesy even to him, but Dan was sure he had no control over his mouth at that time. It was just a reflex, Dan was a nice guy. He says cheesy things like that all the time. It didn't mean anything.
Still, as he spoke the words with a tranquil assurance, his eyes focused on Blair to ensure that she knew he meant what he was saying. She looked stunned and he smiled at her, that action only prolonging her seeming immobilization. He held the moment, he didn't want to say a word or move a muscle in case it somehow broke the timeless isolation from the rest of the world that they were sharing. But she moved. He watched as she blinked her eyes becoming more relaxed and even warm as she opened again, and her lips began to curve in a shy smile.
The moment was broken. Not by Dan or Blair, but Serena's re-entrance into the room.
"Chuck just text me, the FBI guy's here." Serena declared as she unknowingly shattered the mood in the room.
Dan and Blair looked at her in shock, still recovering from what had happened and unable to respond. Serena looked at them expectantly and Dan thought that she couldn't possibly be suspicious about what had just happened. Not that anything had happened.
"I'm going to meet them downstairs." Serena added as she narrowed her eyes slightly at Dan before she was gone again.
Dan shifted awkwardly as he was left alone with Blair again, he wanted to somehow pull what had happened, just a few moments past, back into the present, but it was long-gone now. So he casually asked what he was desperate to know.
"So, is it awkward for you being around Chuck?" He tried his best to sound like a curious friend.
"It's a bit strange. But this is for Nate, so…"
"Sure." Dan said unconvincingly. "But you realize, you and Serena, you're not exactly needed. Serena's Serena, she cares about Nate and even if she can't really do anything to help, she wants to be here. But I'm sure that you have better things to do today than sitting in an empty gallery, plotting out a scheme that is pretty basic and was already planned out before Chuck even called you, so…"
"I'd rather be anywhere but at home today, Humphrey." Blair said dismissively.
"And so you came here." Dan said, not sure if it was a question or not, or even where he was going on this subject. "Are you sure that this isn't all just an excuse to see Chuck?"
"Maybe…" Blair said slowly, and Dan wanted to hit himself. Why did he even ask when he knew he would hate the answer. "Maybe he's not the one I needed an excuse to see."
Blair had said it quietly with her head down, but Dan was sure of what he heard. And as much as he liked to second-guess things like this and look for hidden meanings where there were none, he knew that this was unmistakable. Before he could react, Serena and Chuck came back talking animatedly to the FBI agent that Dan had met earlier in the day. Blair instantly walked over to greet him, a big, insincere smile on her face as she shook the man's hand and introduced herself.
Dan stayed in his chair. He watched the tiny brunette's form as she nodded politely as the FBI agent spoke and then invited him to take a seat. She didn't look at him again. But he watched her, taking in the luminosity of her skin, the suppleness of her lips, the spark and vulnerability in her eyes and praying internally that this wasn't happening. That it wasn't true. But despite how quietly and delicately this realization had announced itself, it was now firmly set on his conscious and, for the foreseeable future, unshakeable. To put it simply, Daniel Humphrey was infatuated with Blair Waldorf.
It was hard for Dan to concentrate after that. He was recovering from the revelation that he had feelings for Blair, whilst simultaneously chastising himself for not seeing this coming. Even Nate had figured it out before Dan did. He should have known that night that he went to her room and told her how beautiful, intelligent and amazing he thought she was. He replayed many of his recent memories of Blair over and over in his head, completely unaware of what was being talked about around him.
He regained his focus briefly when Nate showed up, especially when he had initially seemed pissed at Dan for lying to him to get him there. But the situation was explained and Nate quickly understood that this wasn't Dan's fault. Not one of them could miss the inner-conflict that Nate was going through and none of them wanted to do anything but support him through this. Not until Dan saw Nate's resolute courageous nature as he reasoned with the FBI agent and agreed to get his father to turn himself in did he see how mature Nate was. How he could stand up and take responsibility for protecting his family because his father was unable to. Dan sympathized for him in a way he never had before.
As Nate prepared to go, Dan immediately went to his side and offered to go with him for moral support.
"I don't need it, I'll be fine." Nate said casually as he pulled on his coat, determination evident on his flawless features.
"I know you'll be fine." Dan said purposefully. "But you shouldn't have to be alone."
"We'll all go." Dan heard Serena's voice from over his shoulder.
"We'll take the limo." Chuck added. Not a hint of suggestion in his voice, the matter was settled and Nate accepted that there would be no arguing with the four others, they were going with him.
The ride was quiet. The subject at the forefront of everyone's minds was Nate's predicament and that was far too awkward a subject to just bring up casually as the crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. The only other thing Dan could think about was his crush on Blair and he really didn't think that would be a good subject for small talk. But Dan liked the quiet, it seemed almost like it would be disrespectful to chatter mindlessly while Nate was preparing to send his father to prison. So they were quiet in the limo, then when Nate went inside alone and the others waited with the cops and FBI, they were quiet, when Nate's dad was brought out in handcuffs and put in the back of a police car, they didn't say a word. Not until Nate come out, his arms around his distraught mother, did they go to him. Seeing that Nate was okay, and unable to ignore Lily's calls anymore, Serena had to go and Chuck along with her.
Blair, however, refused to go home. She still wanted her mother to suffer a bit more. Throughout the afternoon, Dan had noticed her look at her phone several times when Eleanor was calling and Blair would only press the ignore button. He was ninety-nine per cent sure that she genuinely couldn't stand the idea of going home, but a part of him hoped that maybe she just wanted to spend a bit more time with him. He knew he was being delusional, but he couldn't push those pathetic hopes away any more than he could push his feelings for her away.
They went with Nate and his mom to his old house and waited outside as they went inside to talk with lawyers about things that Dan was pretty indifferent to. All he knew was that Nate's life was coming back together, Dan was happy for him, but couldn't deny that he was going to miss living with him a little bit.
He stood with Blair outside, the sun beginning to set and the sky turning an Autumnal orange. He was sitting on the steps trying not to look too much at Blair as she impatiently paced back and forth in front of him. He allowed himself to look up when he phone began to ring again and saw as she looked at the screen in revulsion before she pressed ignore again.
"Blair, go home." He told her. "You know that you'll have to eventually."
"That wasn't my mom, it was Chuck." Blair explained as she stopped pacing and stood adjacent to Dan. He nudged over so that she could sit beside him, but was only met with a look of distaste. There was no way she was going to sit on those steps with him.
"So…where exactly are things between you and Chuck now?" Dan shrugged casually, as if he really didn't care.
"Like that's any of your business." Blair sneered.
A part of him wanted to be bold and tell her that it is his business, because he plans on sweeping her off her feet soon and making her fall madly in love with him. But, even in his imagination, that didn't go down well.
"I just thought you might want to talk to a friend about it." Dan replied.
"A friend?"
"Yeah." Dan nodded.
"And you, Dan Humphrey, consider yourself my friend?" She seemed entertained by the notion. That was better than disgust, Dan thought to himself.
"I could list all the reasons why the two of us could be considered friends, but I wouldn't want to embarrass you." Dan began to get a bit cocky.
"Oh, please tell me why you think we're friends?"
"The fact that you spent most of today in Brooklyn comes to mind."
"I told you, that was only because my mother-"
"You confided in me about your mom getting engaged." Dan started to count on his fingers.
"Yes, because I knew you'd wouldn't stop asking until I-"
"You listened to my advice when your mom first started dating Cyrus."
"Like I could stop you from giving advice-"
"You invited me to your birthday party."
"That was a pity invite!" She spat out viciously, but Dan only laughed.
"I helped you with Emma."
"It's not like I asked you to."
"I gave you advice about Chuck." Dan had moved on to his right hand now as he continued to count on his fingers.
"Serena forced you!"
"I gave you advice about Serena and helped you two patch things up."
"It's me and Serena, we would have made up eventually."
"Okay, how about this one? When Chuck called you for help today, you used it as excuse to see me." He said gleefully as he dropped his heads and sat back, his elbows resting on the step behind him. Blair froze again, this time she seemed to have no excuses, but after a beat, she thought one up.
"I only said that to get you to stop asking questions about me and Chuck." She said breathlessly.
"Perhaps. Doesn't meant it wasn't true." Dan suggested, titling his head to the side slightly.
"Well, it's not." Blair snapped.
"Just admit it, Waldorf, we're friends."
"I will not!"
"If you do then you can stop finding excuses to spend time with me." Dan shrugged arrogantly.
"Pah!" Blair scoffed and Dan thought that maybe he had taken things too far. He knew that he liked Blair, but he wasn't all that confident that she liked him back. In fact, he was pretty sure that she didn't.
"You know if we were friends…then it would be perfectly acceptable for us to go see Woman of the Year at the Angelika next Saturday." Dan said as he began to tap his feet on the ground.
"A friend would know that I have that move on DVD." Blair said dismissively, then, as if she was only talking to herself, she added; "Though, it's not the same as seeing it on the big screen."
Dan smiled up at her as she sighed dramatically as if she was in deep thought before she met his gaze.
"If we happen to run into each other, please don't sit next to me."
"I wouldn't think of it." Dan smiled at her and just as she was on the brink of smiling back, her phone rang again.
She snatched it out of her pocket and paused as she looked at the screen.
"Chuck again?" Dan couldn't help but ask.
"No, it's my mom." Blair responded blankly and Dan decided that he had had enough.
He stood up and snatched the phone of her hand and answered it before she could react.
"Hello, Mrs Waldorf?" He said as he turned his back to Blair, who was already trying to snatch the phone back from him.
"Who is this and what have you done to my daughter?" Eleanor's panicked voice shrilled in his ear.
"What? You're daughter's fine!" Dan replied quickly. "I'm Dan Humphrey, Blair's…friend."
"Humphrey, I'm going to kill you!" Blair muttered as she gave up trying to reach over his shoulder and grab the phone while he kept turning his back towards her, so she settled for pulling his hair instead.
"Yes, Blair's fine." Dan ignored her as he continued to talk to Blair's mother. "We're are Nate Archibald's house, you see, he had kind of a family emergency so…we've been taking care of him…..Yes, Blair will be home soon…I will escort her myself….see you shortly, bye."
Dan hung up and handed the phone back to Blair, which she immediately used to hit him.
"That was theft!" She pointed aggressively at him.
"I was on your phone for about thirty seconds and I gave it right back to you." Dan said defensively, just as Nate came outside and sauntered down the steps. Blair and Dan quickly forgot their little fight and turned their attentions to Nate.
"So, we got the house back! My mom's inside signing the papers now." Nate told them cheerfully.
"That's great man. Listen, I got to take Blair home now, but if you still want to come to the loft for Thanksgiving dinner later, you and your mom are completely welcome." Dan explained as he patted Nate on the shoulder.
"Thanks, but…I think me and my mom should stay home tonight, now that we have one again. But thank you for everything."
"No, problem." Dan replied, feeling kind of bittersweet.
"What about me?" Blair said, sounding like a child. "Aren't you going to thank me too?"
"What did you do?" Nate asked.
"Uh!" Blair acted offended, but then found herself unable to explain what she had done. "I…came up with the whole plan today."
"Really?" Nate asked. "Because from what I heard-"
"Nate," Dan interrupted, "give her this one. What's Thanksgiving all about?"
"Fine. Thank you, Blair, I really appreciate having you in my life again." Nate said, slightly sarcastically, but Dan was sure that he meant it deep down.
"That's more like it, Archibald." Blair said warningly.
"So, I need to get Blair home or her mom will probably have me arrested for kidnapping…."
"Sure, if you got to go, then go." Nate said, taking a step closer as he spoke. "But before you do…Blair why don't you go try and get a cab. Down there."
Nate put his head on Dan's back and led him a few steps away as Blair looked at them distrustfully.
"Are you two going to have some kind of soppy goodbye?" Blair asked.
"Something like that." Nate answered. "You probably want to be out of earshot."
Nate led Dan a few feet further, before stopping and turning towards him.
"What's up?" Dan asked, slightly nervous that something else was going to go wrong just when things seemed to be working out.
"Listen, I really owe you and…I know that this isn't going to pay you back in any way for what you've done for me, but…I wanted to tell you something."
"Okay….what is it?"
"Not that long ago…I had these feelings for a girl." Nate paused as he swallowed nervously. "But…it was really complicated, so I just…I gave up. I didn't really try and…now I wish that I had. Because, even if I hadn't got the girl, she would know how I felt. And I wouldn't be left wondering about what could have been."
Dan paused, he got Nate's point, but he felt there was more than one buried in his short speech. At first, Dan thought that Nate had been talking about Vanessa, but as Nate had continued to talk, Dan had seen a familiar, bittersweet gleam in his eye. A look that Nate would often have when he looked at one specific girl.
"Are you talking about Serena?" Dan asked seriously. Not because he was jealous, but because he wanted Nate to be honest with him.
"You know, I actually thought there was a chance that you might not get that." Nate sighed. "But, what I'm saying is…Blair. You and Blair. I know that you said that you're not going to do anything about you're feeling for Blair, that it will just cause too much drama and I get what you mean, I do. But take it from a guy who knows, even if you can find a way to get those feelings go away…the regret doesn't."
Dan nodded in understanding as Nate finished and patted his shoulder again.
"Are we good?" Nate asked him.
"Yeah, of course." Dan replied reverently.
"So, do you think you'll tell Blair how you feel?"
Dan paused, then looked behind him as Blair remained outside Nate's house. She had her arms around herself and was looking pensive. Instinct told Dan that she was terrified about going home and he wanted nothing more than to protect her from any pain that could be on her way.
"I don't know." Dan admitted. "I think that she still might have feelings for Chuck and…I really don't think I even have a shot. And if you tell me that at least she'd know how I feel right now, we're not friends anymore."
"No, it's up to you." Nate put up his hands in mock surrender and smiled.
The two friends wished each other a happy Thanksgiving and then walked back to Blair together. Blair kissed Nate on the cheek, then she and Dan began to walk. Blair had suggested that they walk, but Dan knew it was only her attempt to buy time. It started to get dark quickly and Dan thought about how supremely long and exhausting the day had been.
He and Blair walked along in comfortable silence, she thinking about how she was going to react to her mother as he thought about his feelings for her. Or more specifically, how he couldn't possibly consider continuing to write this story now that he had feelings for her. He didn't know what the New York Magazine offices would be open again, but he made the decision that starting tomorrow morning, he was going to call everyday so that he could tell James Wolfe about his change of heart as soon as possible.
The journey seemed to go quickly, and Dan felt Blair grow more tense the closer they got. When the elevators doors opened in front of them, Blair didn't move and Dan had to put his hands on her shoulders to direct her inside. Eleanor rushed over and pulled Blair into a hug, which Blair begrudgingly returned while Dan stood back. He watched as they let each other go, and Blair's attentions turned to one of the men stood in the background.
"Daddy!" She exclaimed like a little girl as she rushed into his arms.
Dan watched her glow as she greeted her father, trying and failing to recall a time when he saw her that happy. As Blair was surrounded by her new family, Dan silently stepped back and left. He stepped in the elevator and just as the doors were about to close, Blair's petite, but powerful hand stopped them.
"Humphrey, you're leaving?" She asked as the doors opened to reveal the rest of her body.
"Yeah, I fulfilled my promise. I got you home safely and now I need to get myself home."
"Oh, right." Blair replied, sounding a bit disappointed. "Listen, Humphrey…"
"Yes?" He pushed once it seemed like she wasn't going to continue.
"Thanks…for today…and, you know, in general." She stuttered, then rolled her eyes as if she was being forced to say what she was saying out of politeness.
"You're welcome, Waldorf." He smiled, annoying endeared by how difficult she found it to simply be nice, then quickly pushed the button again. His speed mostly so that he'd have a chance to get away before she'd noticed that he was blushing. He couldn't inhibit the grin that spread across his face and hurt his cheekbones, as he chuckled to himself about how insane this all was.
He got home to find that Rufus, Vanessa and most surprisingly, Jenny, were already onto dessert. But they sat with him while he picked at the leftovers, and Jenny updated him on how she was now officially living with them again and they all laughed as Rufus told them the trouble he had had cooking by himself. In the end, it had been a good day.
But it still wasn't over. Dan helped clean up the dishes, then as Rufus and Jenny sat collapsed in front of the TV, Vanessa cornered him when he went to his room to find his phone charger.
"So, I think I've been pretty patient." She stated with her arms crossed.
"You have." Dan agreed, as he dejectedly sat on his bed. Honestly, he had wanted to avoid this for as long as possible, but he had promised Vanessa. "Come sit down, it's not a short story."
"I didn't expect a quick and simple explanation." Vanessa replied as she sat by him. "But before you go into details, can you please sum up why you've been spending so much time with…your Upper East Side friends lately? I think you spent less time with them when you were dating Serena."
"I know, I'm not oblivious to that fact. But trust me, it's for a reason." Dan urged.
"And the reason is? In a nutshell?"
"I've been writing a story." Dan gave her the shortest explanation that he could.
"You're always writing a story."
"Yeah, but this one…Noah Shapiro asked me to write this story. About Blair. So, I've been having to…find ways to get in her world. To get material for the story and…and it's been working. New York Magazine is going to publish it."
"They are?" Vanessa asked, trying to sound impressed, but Dan knew she had reservations. "Dan that's amazing."
"You sound about as happy for me as I do for myself." Dan said smiling sadly.
"I'm sorry, it's just…I don't know why New York Magazine would be interested in a story about Blair, and if she found out then….wait, why aren't you happy about this?" Vanessa clicked suddenly and her forehead creased as she looked intently at her best friend.
"Well….lots of reasons. I don't really think that I've done the right thing, in fact looking back, I wish I never even agreed to do it." Dan solemnly shook his head, acknowledging for the first time that he hated what he had done.
"Dan, every great writer takes inspiration from real people." Vanessa tried to assure him as her hand falling on his shoulder blade.
"I know, but…I've…she's confided in me and…she trusts me and I'm betraying her. So, I'm going to try and stop the story from getting published." Dan stated firmly.
"What? You can't do that! Dan, I understand you feeling guilty, but this is Blair. If the situations were reversed, you know that she wouldn't hesitate for a second!"
"No, I don't know that." Dan turned to Vanessa. "Vanessa, I know that you're not going to believe me, but…Blair is not who I thought she was. She's….she doesn't deserve this. More importantly, I can't stand the thought of doing this to her."
"Dan…are…are you…?" Vanessa stumbled, looking at Dan in disbelief.
"I don't know how it happened." Dan responded, answering without answering the question that Vanessa had asked without asking. "I know that you're shocked, but imagine how I felt when I realized."
"Hang on, I don't think I'm understanding you here." Vanessa waved her hands at Dan, signalling for him to stop and start at the beginning again. "What are you saying?"
"I'm…" Dan sighed, trying the best way to put into words what he was feeling. But there was no new, eloquent way to put this, it was really very basic. "I like her. A lot."
"Okay." Vanessa replied slowly after taking a deep breath.
"Okay?" Dan asked, he had expected a much larger reaction.
"Okay." Vanessa repeated. "I'm going to need to know everything that happened right from the beginning."