Part 2
How could he have been so stupid? Blair thought to herself angrily. With one misplaced manuscript he had ruined everything; not only had he destroyed all of his relationships with his family and friends but with one fowl swoop he had also completely obliterated his own character. When had Dan Humphrey become the villain? Blair had been reluctant to read the first chapter of Inside, in fact it was Serena who had finally convinced her to even purchase the magazine, which was odd in itself since normally Blair was the one who made it her mission to know everything. So she had bought the magazine, if only to appease her blonde friend, but she hadn't yet opened it, choosing rather to keep it on her bedside table. And for the next few weeks it seemed to haunt her; it was there every night making sure that even when she could sleep it was fitful and not for long, and it was there every morning, as if to mock her tired eyes. It was a constant reminder that once again another man in her life had only served to disappoint her; she was beginning to think she was cursed. Yet she couldn't bring herself to throw it out, so instead she threw herself into her wedding plans because if there was one man in her life whom she could trust to always be perfect, it was Louis.
Louis, who from the moment he had met her had whisked her into this modern fairytale, although she was starting to realise why the stories never continued after "Happily ever after"; life as a princess was not exactly as she had pictured it to be. However, Louis had been good for her; he had brought her fully out of the darkness that was her relationship with Chuck Bass. Yet, she couldn't help but remind herself, that it had been the time she spent with Dan Humphrey that had meant that she was ready for a relationship with Louis when he had arrived in New York. Dan and her had begun a reluctant friendship that was born out of a mutual love for Serena. From there they had realized that they had more things in common than they ever could have expected. It was a relief that (finally!) she had someone with whom she could discuss her passion for the arts and feel properly challenged. When the two were together she couldn't begin to describe the amount of satisfaction she got from their verbal sparring; it was a rush equivalent to a successful scheme and yet she never had to work hard for it.
Everything between Dan and Blair had been completely natural; she never felt as if she had to please him nor did he ever act as if he had to restrain himself from saying anything that would hurt her feelings because they were never trying to be friends; it had just happened. It was one of the few relationships in her life where neither party had wanted to gain anything out of it other than the other person's company. Even Blair couldn't deny the fact that she had secretly relished in every moment she had spent with Dan Humphrey since Thanksgiving, no matter how frustrating he could be and even if he was from (ugh) Brooklyn. He was an intellectual snob, she would often remind herself should she get too giddy in anticipation of seeing him, but then this argument would always be countered (with a voice that sounded all too uncomfortably like Humphrey) that she was in fact a snob too – of all kinds. But it wasn't just literature and movies that they discussed; Chuck and Serena would sometimes make an appearance in their conversations. Together they had somehow managed to help each other move on; her to Louis and him to… well, he wasn't dating anyone (that she knew of) yet and she doubted that he could ever be over Serena; men always chose Serena. Which was perhaps why she had tried so hard to make her relationship work with Chuck and why she had thrown herself into the fairytale that was Louis; they had never shown any sign of wanting Serena over her. Not that it in any way bothered her that Dan Humphrey had.
When she had received her invitation to Dan's book launch she had been surprised. Then she had felt annoyed because not only did she have the first chapter mocking her from her bedside table but now she also had the invitation as a glaring reminder that the rest of it was still to come. Why hadn't he put a stop to it all when he had found out what Vanessa had done? Surely enough damage had already been done from just the first chapter. What more could he possibly hope to gain from having the whole thing published? Maybe it was this next feeling of curiosity that drove her to ditch Louis at some Embassy Dinner by faking a migraine. More likely though, it was probably the fact that when she asked Serena if the rest of her family would be attending and she had been answered with a bitter laugh and a firm no, she had felt sad for Humphrey. Because wasn't the Humphrey family the epitome of perfection not so long ago? Before the divorce, before the social ascension of Rufus, before the rise and fall of Little J, weren't they supposed to have been the wholesome ones? Blair's family too had been the picture perfect family once upon a time before her father had brought that all crashing down. And although, in the public eye, they were no longer flawless she could still count on their love and support. Was Dan's novel so unforgiveable that his family and friends were not able to look past it and support him in his dream come true? Yes, that was probably it. She had left the side of her prince to go to the book launch of a reluctant friend because she pitied him. (But possibly also because she missed him.)
When she arrived at the party she paid no attention to the fact that she was slightly overdressed but rather scanned the room for Humphrey, whom she was surprised to find alone, nursing a glass of champagne at the bar. For some reason this struck a chord with her because he looked like Chuck, and Dan wasn't Chuck Bass; he was better than that. So she made her way over to him and they had danced, and she had made him laugh, which had sent a thrill through her and then before she knew it, he was handing her his book and they were saying goodbye. It took every ounce of strength in her to not look back as she left the room and Dan Humphrey behind.
Blair did not hesitate in opening the book and beginning to read as soon as she got home. When Louis arrived back at the Waldorf's, he was slightly surprised to find his fiancée still dressed in her evening gown and immersed in a book on the living room settee; he had thought that her 'migraine' might have sent her to bed. Distractedly she kissed him briefly on the lips and sent him up to her bedroom, claiming that she would follow him to bed in a little while. But she never made good on that promise and could be found the next morning looking a little worse for wear but having made a rather large dent in the novel. Darota tried to offer her some breakfast but was quickly dismissed and Louis just looked on in confusion, wondering whether he would ever understand the inner workings of the beautiful brunette. They had made plans to spend their last day in New York picnicking in Central Park before they had their farewell cocktail party that night; their private jet would be departing for Monaco just before midnight. However, when Louis mentioned this to Blair she made some feeble excuse that she would have to spend the day organising the cocktail party because something had gone wrong with the caterers. The fact that Blair was so blatantly lying to him worried the prince slightly, however, he couldn't bring himself to get too upset; after all, it was only a book she would be spending her day with, not Chuck Bass. And so he left her to it and decided to give Cyrus a call; perhaps his generous future father-in-law would have time to entertain him.
Just as Louis suspected, Blair did not spend her last day in New York organising their farewell cocktail party but rather spent it reading. Darota looked on with concern but knew better than to disturb the brunette, who seemed to be completely immersed. By four pm, Blair, looking much worse for wear, had finished. If Darota had expected some kind of emotional reaction to the completion of the book, she was sorely disappointed; rather it seemed that Blair was in a daze, although this could be attributed to her complete lack of sleep. With some concern, the maid ushered her quarry to bed for a few hours sleep before she had to start getting ready for her guests. Blair slept soundly. By the time the first guests arrived, one wouldn't have known that Blair was sleep deprived; she was all things sparkly, wearing a gown that Louis had bought her. Whether it was from her Upper East Side upbringing or her recent training to be a future princess, Blair acted the perfect hostess and if Darota noticed that she seemed slightly dazed, she did not mention it. In fact to the untrained eye, Blair Waldorf, looked perfectly happy, it wasn't until she was caught in a conversation with Louis, Serena, her mother and Cyrus, that this façade started to show cracks.
Blair hadn't really been paying much attention to the conversation until her mother saw fit to ask where Dan Humphrey was that evening. Almost immediately Serena's expression turned ice-cold but Eleanor Waldorf seemed oblivious to the sudden tension surrounding her, as she asked, "Weren't you two friends, Blair? He was always such a nice boy, aside from his inability to grasp any sort of concept of fashion."
For once, Blair seemed to be lost for words, her mouth gaping slightly as a soft flush emerged on her face. She needn't have worried though because Serena took it upon herself to explain the situation, her words laced with the anger she was still unable to let go of, "Dan isn't one of us anymore," she said, "he wrote a book" (and here Louis looked at Blair, who had decided to look anywhere but him) "and let's just say that it wasn't exactly flattering for any of us."
"If you'll excuse me," Blair interrupted before the conversation could go any further, "I must go talk to the caterers; I told them that I wanted the Peking duck after the Salmon rillettes! You just can't find good staff these days!" And not waiting for a reply, she hastened to the kitchen. Finding herself away from all her guests, she took some deep breaths; I will not think about that book tonight, she thought to herself. She hadn't decided when she would think about the book, (perhaps never?) but tonight definitely was not the time; she just had to get through tonight then she would be back in Monaco and away from all this mess.
"Blair?" asked a voice tentatively.
Spinning around, Blair sighed with relief, "Cyrus," she breathed, "You scared me!"
She had expected him to perhaps chuckle in response but instead, Cyrus' usually jovial face was sporting an expression of concern, "is everything alright?" he asked.
"Of course it is!" Blair retorted, automatically going into defence mode, "Why wouldn't it bit? I'm going to be a princess!"
"Blair", Cyrus admonished, "if there is anything bothering you at all, now would be the time to talk about it; Louis just mentioned that you would be leaving soon." Instantly, Blair's eyes started to well with tears and hiccupping softly she threw herself at her stepfather, wrapping her arms around him as she sobbed on his shoulder. To his credit, the shocked man wordlessly returned the hug, sensing that if Blair was going to tell him what was going on, he needed to keep quiet. After a few minutes, Blair pulled back from her stepfather but before she could explain exactly what had just come over her, she was interrupted by her fiancée, "Blair", called Louis softly as he walked into the kitchen, "it's time my darling." The girl immediately wiped at her tears, and giving Cyrus one last hug she quickly walked back into the party to farewell her guests. No one seemed to be surprised by Blair's tears, putting it down to sad goodbyes.
Finally, it was just Blair and Louis. They were standing outside the building she had grown up in and his driver stood patiently waiting for them to get into the town car. Louis, always the gentleman, indicated that she enter the vehicle first but Blair found herself rooted to the spot. Tears ran quickly down her cheeks as she turned to the prince, who audibly sighed as he realised what she was about to do. "I can't," she whispered.
Louis nodded and gave her a watery smiled, "To be honest, I'm not all that surprised."
"Louis – " Blair tried but he held his hand up as a silent signal that she should stop.
"I hope this Dan Humphrey realizes just how special you are, Blair," he said softly and with a broken heart he stepped into the car. Blair watched silently as the car pulled away from the kerb and headed off into the night, he does, she thought to herself and with the firm resolve of a Waldorf on a mission she wiped away her tears and flung out her arm in an attempt to hail a cab. If only it could be that easy, apparently a Saturday night in New York City was not the best time to find a free cab. Never being one for patience, the once-princess-to-be looked around in agitation until she spotted a sign a block down the road, desperate times, she thought with some resignation. Trust Humphrey to cause her to take such drastic measures.
Meanwhile, back in Brooklyn…
Dan sighed as he looked around the loft now empty of all of his belongings; it was almost as if he had never been there. He had dropped most of his stuff off at his new apartment earlier that day but decided that for sentimental reasons he would spend one last night at the loft drinking beer and watching a horror flick. For what must have been the thousandth time that night he grabbed his phone out of his pocket and checked the time; it was nearly 12.30am and he felt more awake now than ever. Blair Waldorf had left New York. He walked over to the large window in their living area and admired the lights of the city; it seemed odd to him that nothing looked different even after the departure of someone who was so important. How could New York still be New York without Blair Waldorf? Dan laughed quietly to himself as he realised that once again he had broken a promise to himself: that "irritating crush" he had been so sure he would be rid of by now was as strong as ever – actually, if he was honest with himself (and what better time than the present to start being honest?) it had become much more than just a crush quite a while ago. He took another swig of his beer and grimaced slightly; it was starting to get warm. He glanced around and noticed his laptop sitting on the kitchen bench. He considered it for a while and thought about his options. He could stay here, finish off the six pack he had waiting for him in the fridge and watch Psycho just as he had planned or he could do exactly what he had wanted to do as soon as the clock had struck midnight. No regrets, he thought to himself as he rushed over to the laptop and set about booking the next flight to Monaco.
Just as he had begun entering his credit card details into the flight booking, Dan heard a soft knock at the door. Immediately he glanced up at the time displayed on the monitor: 12.47am. He was about to put the sound down to the four beers he had consumed earlier when he heard the knocking again, louder this time. Slowly he stepped away from the kitchen bench and went to open the door, briefly wondering what his life had come to that he almost expected to find a pregnant Georgina standing on the other side. He couldn't have been more surprised to find that it was actually Blair Waldorf. He didn't need to pinch himself in order to confirm that this wasn't a dream because the sudden onslaught of her tiny fists pummelling his chest felt much too painful than anything his imagination could have conjured up. Dan stepped quickly back into the loft attempting to get out of the way of what he was now mentally calling her 'fists of fury' but she chased him in, starting to shout at him now and using each blow to his chest as a means of emphasis. "Humphrey!" she cried, "You are the most infuriating," punch, "irritating," smack, "impossible," but before she could get another hit in, Dan managed to grab her wrists and hold them to her side. "Ugh!" she ground out as she struggled from his grip on her, "Let go of me!" She shouted petulantly, "I'm not done yet!"
"Blair," Dan breathed as he took in her appearance; her hair, which was normally the picture of not-one-strand-out-of-place perfection, was wild and even starting to frizz at the ends, her long and sparkly silver dress was wet at the bottom and had a rather large streak of dirt across it, and her shoes… well, Dan thought, no wonder she was so angry. To put it mildly: Blair Waldorf looked frazzled. "Aren't you supposed to be in Monaco?" asked Dan, his voice filled with confusion not daring to let his thoughts get ahead of him.
"Of course I'm supposed to be in Monaco!" retorted Blair, trying really hard not to roll her eyes, "Just like I was supposed to never see Nenette with you, or how I was supposed to never kiss you –"
"Twice." Dan interrupted, a soft smirk starting to grace itself on his features.
But Blair either didn't hear him or (more likely) chose to ignore him as she continued, "Like I was supposed to hate you, or at the very least be repulsed by you; I mean look at what you're wearing!" Dan raised his eyebrows but decided not to point out the current state of her own clothes for his own personal safety, "Just like I was supposed to never," and here she visibly shuddered, "ever take the subway; the subway to get to Brooklyn for that matter!"
"You took the subway?" Dan interrupted again, completely astounded by this bit of information.
This time Blair really did roll her eyes, "You're missing the point, Humphrey."
"The point?" he whispered, trying to quell the hope that was starting to rise in his chest.
"I read you're book," she announced.
"Oh…" he responded eloquently whilst his eyes searched her face for any indication of what she was thinking.
"You see me." She said simply. If Dan was lost for words before, he certainly was now. But Blair wasn't waiting for a response so she continued, "You see all of me, the good and the bad, but you don't hate me."
He wasn't sure if this was a question or a statement so he replied, "No. I don't hate you."
Blair nodded and looked around the loft, her eyes landing on his laptop, "What were you doing?" she asked.
Dan chuckled quietly, "I was actually about to book a flight to Monaco; I hear it's the place to be this time of year." And then realizing her eyes were welling up he continued quickly, "But I don't think I'll bother anymore; I'd much rather be here." Blair smiled softly up at him and deciding to throw caution to the wind (because if not now then when?) he lowered his head and kissed her, letting go of his hold on her wrists and placing his hands softly on her waist. She reacted almost immediately and threw her arms around his neck, bridging the gap between them. Dan marvelled at the way they seemed to fit perfectly together as he nipped at her bottom lip and she opened her mouth, granting him entrance. The kiss deepened as his tongue massaged hers, exploring her mouth the way he had dreamt of during the past few months. She moaned softly as he dragged his lips away from her mouth and started kissing down her neck, leaving a mark he was sure she would kill him for in the morning just above her collarbone. A thought occurred to him and he removed his lips from her causing her to whimper slightly (Did I just make Blair Waldorf whimper?) and he breathed hotly into her ear, "Did you really ride the subway for me?"
Blair put her hands on either side of his face and made eye contact with him, "If you and I are ever going to work, Humphrey," and here she tried not to laugh as she noticed his face light up, "then you are going to have to understand that seeing me on the subway, was a once in a lifetime event." Dan threw his head back and laughed at this, his hands still placed firmly on her hips radiating warmth throughout her body.
He leaned down and kissed her briefly on the lips, "I just meant, that I'm flattered Blair." He said with a playful grin, "Who knew that all one had to do to get Queen B on a subway was write a novel explaining, in every which way, how much you love her."
"Love?" she whispered.
Dan's eyes widened in shock as he realised the gravity of the words he had just spoken and the fact that he didn't want to take them back. He looked at her sincerely, "Yes." He answered, "Love."
Blair gazed up at him silently, searching for any signs on his face that he was being anything but sincere; she found none. When had all this happened? When had Dan Humphrey gone from villain to leading man? Here she was in the middle of (ugh) Brooklyn, in the arms of a man wearing plaid with the taste of beer on his lips and she couldn't be happier. She had left the passion and pain of the epic love that was ChuckandBlair in search of a simpler love. And she had found that simpler love in the shape and form of Louis, her real-life prince charming. But just as Chuck had predicted, she became bored easily. In fact her whole life had become boring because she hadn't had the regular appearances of Dan Humphrey in it, which she had become used to in the months that followed Thanksgiving. She had nearly returned to Chuck (she had cheated on Louis and even now still felt the hot shame of that fact) just to be with someone who knew about and accepted her darker side. She had told Chuck that people didn't write sonnets and stories about the simple kind of love that she had with Louis. Dan had managed to write a whole damned book about their love; with every page she had wondered at the fact that she was able to see right through her and yet she was still presented as the heroine. Dan loved her; he really loved her despite all the awful things she had done. And he made her happy, truly happy – something that neither Chuck nor Louis would ever be able to do. Without knowing it, Blair had unwittingly found everything she had been looking for in the arms of Lonely Boy. If her sixteen year old self could see her now… Over the past year, Dan had become her best friend; their regular movie nights whilst she had been in Monaco had kept her emotionally afloat and their constant bickering and teasing had made her feel more alive than she had felt in a long time. How had it taken her so long to realise? Typical really, that Blair Waldorf could be so caught up in her own denial that it would literally take a novel to make her see clearly.
"I love you too." She said softly but sincerely as a smile started to grow on her face. Dan grinned down at her as she rambled nervously (Dan Humphrey was making her ramble, if her riding the subway didn't confirm her feelings then this certainly did), "Sorry it took me so long to realise… how could I be so… I mean I – "
But whatever she was about to say was soon interrupted as Dan exaggeratedly rolled his eyes in mimicry of the girl standing before him and cried out, "Oh, for crying out loud, Waldorf!" and he pulled her full against him, his lips once again finding hers.
The End
A/N: Too cheesy? Haha I'm not really sure what came over me in this last part – maybe some kind of fluff monster took over my mind briefly there… Either way, please do review and let me know what you think! I'm not sure how happy I am about this story but I figured I just needed to get it out of my system.