So I'm really sorry if you don't like Dan/Blair or Nate/Serena, because there is some of that in this story. But my main focus is still waldsen! Please review!
"Hey, B. You awake? It's 12."
Blair opens her eyes when she hears Serena's voice drift towards her from the other side of the bed. Blair had been awake the whole time, eyes shut tightly and mind quietly contemplating what she should do about the problem of Serena. Half an hour ago Blair had opened her eyes, peeked at Serena to see hers still closed, turned on her side so her back was to the blonde, and had thought and thought about this problem until she heard Serena's voice ring through the silence.
"Yeah," Blair answers, rolling onto her back so her body is no longer a barrier between her and Serena. There was already an emotional barrier forming; Blair doesn't need another one. "I'm up."
"What are you thinking about doing today?" Serena asks, bringing a hand to Blair's arm and lazily trailing her finger up and down the soft skin. Blair's arm begins to feel warm where Serena touches it, and she closes her eyes again.
"I dunno. Probably just lounge around. I wish summer was over and school would just start." Blair always did better when she was able to be around her minions 24/7, when she always had a group to boss around and be in charge of.
Serena snorts softly, and Blair feels a weight being lifted off the bed. She opens her eyes and glances at Serena using her peripheral vision, watching as Serena goes to grab a hairbrush and stand in front of Blair's full-length mirror. "Wow, B, really? Who wishes for summer to end? Live a little."
Blair bites back the urge to snap something snarky in return. "What are you going to do today?"
"I might hang out with Nate or something," Serena replies lightly, running Blair's brush through her hair as she glances at Blair in the mirror. "We might see a movie. You could come with."
Blair does not want to come with, and she won't.
"No, thanks. I could probably call Dan or something. You know, just find something to do."
She watches as Serena yanks the brush through her hair and then drops it on Blair's dresser with a clatter.
Blair flinches. "Jesus, Serena. Go ahead and wake up the whole damn house."
Serena doesn't mumble an apology, like she normally would, and Blair doesn't raise an eyebrow for one, like she normally would.
Serena stares at her, waiting until Blair's eyes meet hers and stay there. "I said you could come out with me and Nate," she says slowly. "It'll be fun. Just like old times."
Blair feels herself inadvertently raise an eyebrow. Never has Serena told her what to do. Blair does what she wants.
"Maybe we can meet up with you later," she says after a moment. She knows Serena will see them meeting up as double date and that's part of the reason she says it.
Serena knows that she's lost this round, and she rolls her eyes. "Fine." She walks to the bed and leans over Blair, reaching for her phone that's resting on the nightstand. Her breast lightly grazes Blair's arm and Blair clenches a fist. Serena's always known how to be a tease, but never has she used her ability on Blair. "Later," Serena says, and she shoots Blair a half smile and walks out of her bedroom door without the usual hug and kiss she gives.
Blair sighs and sits up, crossing her legs and reaching for her cell phone as well. She types in Dan's number and hesitates before she presses the call button. She shouldn't feel guilty about this. Serena is going out with Nate, and Serena and Dan are broken up, and Blair is only going out with Dan because she likes him as a friend, and she's in no way trying to do this out of jealously, but only because she actually likes Humphrey's company. Blair's motives for calling Dan are normal and appropriate and she shouldn't feel guilty about it because Serena can just go out and break Blair's heart every day and not feel a damn thing in return.
Blair deserves this. Right?
"Hello?"
"Hey, Dan. It's Blair." She hears Dan's easygoing laugh in her ear and suddenly she feels butterflies in the depths of her stomach. He's just so… nice.
"Yeah, I know. Caller ID," he explains. "What's up?"
"You want to hang out or something?" she blurts before she can stop herself. "We can go to the movies…again. Whatever you want."
Dan's quiet for a minute. "Where's Serena?" he asks carefully.
Blair inhales; she doesn't want him to think she's using him. In reality, she's beginning to think she'd rather be hanging out with Dan when she's with Serena, anyway. At least Dan's good for her. The way she's in love with Serena has been tearing her down inside more and more every day.
"I don't know. With Nate or something."
"How about we go get some tea or lemonade or something? You wanna go to Starbucks?"
Blair hasn't frequented Starbucks in a while, and she knows Dan never has. But she agrees anyway. "Yeah, okay. That sounds good."
"You want me to come get you? Or-"
"I can come pick you up," Blair replies. She's never really preferred to ride in anything other than a limo. It's not so much this fact that causes her to make the offer though; she likes the thought of her and Dan being able to whisper privately in the back while they get to be driven around wherever they'd like to go. She admits she'd rather have Dan's attention on her than on driving.
Purely friendship attention, though.
"Okay," Dan answers. "See ya."
She hangs up first and then goes to get dressed. Blair doesn't plan on dressing fancy for this occasion, or even putting on her usual amount of makeup. She's not sure if she'll see someone out that she knows, but even if she does they'd be seeing her with Dan Humphrey, which would most likely shoot her reputation to hell, or at least not far from it.
It doesn't matter. Blair's not into impressing people much lately.
"So what have you been up to today?" Blair asks Dan when she brings her mouth away from the straw of her Carmel Frappuccino.
"Nothing much. Jenny was getting on my nerves. I was about to just leave the house and walk until I ended up somewhere. I love her, but she's been acting so rude ever since she…" He stops and clears his throat. Blair and Jenny where not on best terms, and Blair knows she's most likely the reason for Jenny's new bitchy attitude. In the beginning, she had tried to educate Little J on the basics of being a true queen. Apparently, Jenny still retained some of the rudeness she had seen displayed by Blair.
"Oh, yeah. That sucks. I've just been being bored. Pretty much it. Have you seen that new movie-" Blair's phone begins to ring and she wrinkles her brow, reaching for her purse and pulling her phone out. The display reads "Serena" and Blair seriously considers turning her phone off and not answering.
"Hello."
"B, where are you?"
"I'm at Starbucks." Blair glances over at Dan, purses her lips apologetically. "Serena," she mouths.
He nods, turning his attention back to his iced tea.
"Oh, okay. Hey, mind if I come meet you? Nate was busy and I don't really have anything else to do." Before Blair can open her mouth Serena says, "Okay, cool. See you in a few!"
Blair stares blankly at nothing before she snaps out of it and ends the call. "Seems we're going to have an unexpected guest," she says to Dan.
He shrugs, trying to look unfazed, but Blair knows that he is a little. And it's rationale; the break up between him and Serena wasn't too terribly long ago. "Okay. Fine with me. But I have to go this poetry reading in about an hour. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, I wasn't planning on staying much longer anyway," answers Blair, setting down her finished Frappuccino.
They talk for about twenty minutes, and what they talk about is everything. Books, movies, sports, life, love. Blair's reminded how easy it is for her to talk to Dan, how the conversation just flows and there's always a new question she wants to ask him or something she wants to tell him about. She doesn't notice Serena has arrived until she hears the scrape of a chair being pulled back, and turns along with Dan to watch as the blonde sets her purse down and slips into the extra seat at their small table.
"Hey guys," Serena says, as if it's not a big deal she has just randomly plopped herself down right at their table without warning and has also interrupted their conversation in the same moment. She sounds slightly out of breath. "Sorry I took so long; I just decided to walk and enjoy the fresh air. What are we talking about?"
Dan opens his mouth to answer, but Blair opens hers quicker. "We were just saying how we have to get going. Sorry, Serena, that you came all the way here."
Serena hesitates for a moment before she plasters the same stupid cheerful smile on her face. "Oh, no that's fine! I'll just go home with you B."
Blair wants to tell Serena no, (don't, please), because she loves Serena but the knowledge that Serena doesn't quite love her the same way always seems to strangle Blair when they're together. But she finds herself nodding. "Okay."
Dan stands, and then Blair and Serena stand, and Dan walks towards Blair, placing a hand on her waist and walking her out. Blair can feel Serena's eyes burning into her back, tracing the area where Dan's hand is touching her waist with sharp eyes that cut like knives. They all climb into the limo, and the ride is awkward, just like Blair knew it would be. Her and Dan sit opposite Serena, and Blair's forced to watch their eyes carefully avoid each other, and Serena's eyes avoid hers as well. They drop Dan off, and he leaves with a kiss pressed to Blair's cheek and a curt nod at Serena. Blair watches out the window as he leaves, and when they've completely pulled out of sight she finally drags her eyes back to Serena, who's staring at her.
"I thought you were just friends," Serena says, her lips pursed. She rolls her eyes. "Smooth, B."
Blair inhales sharply as her eyes narrow. "I don't know who the fuck you think you are, Serena."
Serena doesn't flinch. She's used to battling Blair, and although she often loses she continues to foolishly participate.
"I think I'm your best friend, and Dan's ex-girlfriend. Didn't you ever hear that you're not supposed to mess with your friends' exes so soon after they break up?"
"You didn't seem to have a problem breaking that rule when you started seeing Nate again, did you?" Blair snaps.
"That's different," replies Serena. "You guys broke up ages ago. And you know Nate and I have always had a thing, just like you guys had one. You knew we loved each other, and you put up with it. You never took a damn interest in Dan until I dated him."
"So?" Blair asked Serena, rolling her eyes and digging her nails into her palm. "Don't get all territorial on me, Serena. I'm sure Dan's not the type to like clingy girls. Aren't you aware of how unattractive that is, baby?"
"Don't speak to me like that," Serena hisses lowly. "I'm not being territorial and I'm not being clingy. I was just stating that it didn't seem you and Dan were just interested in a "friendship relationship". I mean, if you're gonna be a whore and try to sleep with the guy, at least admit it."
"So what if we are interested in something more than friends?" Blair asks, her voice rising. "I don't think it's any of your goddamn business. I'm not trying to sleep with him. But if I was? Again, none of your goddamn business. Who do you think you are, just busting in on us hanging out like you were invited? Guess what? You weren't. You were supposed to be with Nate, so I went out with Dan. I'm not going to just sit around waiting for you, Serena. I mean, Jesus Christ. I love you, more than you know. But I'm nobody's second choice. If you're going to find someone else to spend your time with, then so am I. It's fair."
Serena crosses her arms, looking away. "I don't like it," she admits. The tension between them noticeably diminishes, but it's not completely gone, and it hasn't been for a while. "I don't know why, but I just don't like it." She glances over at Blair quickly and sees that the brunette is still watching her, then glances away again. "I don't think it's just because it's Dan."
"Yeah, well," replies Blair, "I don't like you going out with Nate." She unclenches her fist and stares out the window at the passing buildings. She knows the feelings her and Serena have are slowly starting to cause more and more problems, but she's not sure if Serena, in all of her naivety, knows this. "And it's not just because it's Nate, either."