Hi lovelies! Sorry for the delay about this chapter.

I don't know if you remembered, but I told you in the first chapter that this fic was going to be something very different than my other fanfictions. Lots of drama and stuff. I just need something that really breaks any kind of canon.

Also, it's been a while, so if you have the time, you might want to read the first chapter again, to put your mind back into the story.

Hope you'll like this chapter, and that you'll be with me for the next one.

Humphrey doesn't show up at brunch. And fortunately, neither does Serena.

Blair figured she wouldn't be there, after the phone call she had with Nate that morning. Serena would have had a quite some nerve to show her face. So it's just Blair, with her husband, and Chuck. Nate is acting like everything is normal, like he's just an exemplary husband who didn't cheat on his wife, whom he's been married to for five years.

Blair tries her best to look normal, too. She smiles, compliments Rufus on the food, and shuts the memory of Nate's secret phone call down. But she doesn't even come close to convincing. She knows it, because Lily asked twice if she was okay, and Chuck keeps looking at her with a suspicious grin. When Rufus and Nate get busy talking about politics, Chuck comes to sit next to her.

"What's going on with you?" he asks.

"Nothing" Blair clears her throat "Everything is perfect"

"You never use that word, something is going on. Are you pregnant?"

"Is any of this your business?" Blair snaps at him in a whisper.

"It isn't. That's why I'm interested"

"It's just something at work, okay? I am not pregnant, and even if I were, you would be the last one to know"

Chuck puts his hands up defensively "No need to be so aggressive"

Blair gets up to go to the bathroom, trying not to think about how even Chuck noticed something was wrong, and Nate never did.

A week passes by, and Blair keeps trying. Trying to forget, trying to pretend, trying to forgive. She buries herself under unnecessary work and parties planning. She reminds herself of her mother, when her parents were still married.

This is happening all too soon, Blair thinks. They are too young, and she genuinely thought they were happy.

Nate comes home at night, kisses her on the lips, and asks what's for dinner. As usual, as he always did. He doesn't seem different now, and he never seemed different before. Blair doesn't know when he and Serena could have happened; she cannot pinpoint the moment where Nate acted different, a moment that could have seemed suspicious.

She sometimes comes to the point where she thinks that she was wrong, that she made a mistake, that she is paranoid. But then, Nate's voice from the other morning burns her memory. So then, she thinks it's her fault. Perhaps she put too much pressure on him, without even noticing. Perhaps she was being too distant, and that it is the reason he said trying for a baby would give them 'direction'.

Blair has trouble breathing when she thinks that she and Nate are going to become one of those married couples who have don't have anything more in common than their children.

She ignores all of Serena's calls and voicemails, now. And one night, at dinner, Nate confronts her about it.

"Why aren't you calling Serena back?" he asks

Blair stiffens, and points the salt casually. He passes it to her.

"How do you know I haven't called her back?" she asks, even though she knows whatever the answer is, it will hurt her.

"She told me" Nate answers, as if it was obvious.

And it is, obvious.

Blair shrugs "I've simply been too busy at work. Of course, she can't understand that because she doesn't have a job"

Nate frowns, chewing slowly on his chicken.

"Is there something I should know about?" he asks "Did you and Serena have…some sort of a fight?"

There is a still silence. Blair knows she is going to lie, and pretend, but she wants him to doubt for a second. She wants him to feel scared, and she wants him to have the guilt creep up in him. So she waits, for about five seconds, before shaking her head slightly with a smile.

"What are you talking about?" she laughs "Of course we didn't. Everything is perfect."

Nate stares some more, then nods and keeps on eating. He doesn't tell her about how she never uses that word.

One afternoon, after she leaves work, Blair stops by The Empire.

Chuck's secretary makes her wait in the hallway, giving her time to regret coming. But when she gets up to leave, the secretary comes back to tell her Chuck is ready to see her.

Blair goes into the office, and Chuck barely looks up from his papers.

"Blair, dear, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Nate cheated on me"

The words come out blunt, and certainly unexpected. But Blair wouldn't know how to introduce the subject anyway, and less explain why she is coming to him.

Chuck looks at her, then, and puts down his papers.

"Tell me you're here for revenge sex"

"Chuck!" Blair groans, and sits on one of his leather couches "I'm serious, right now"

"Who said I wasn't?"

Blair shakes her head. Chuck goes to his little tray, to pour her a glass of scotch, and brings it to her.

"Who's the bitch?" he asks, watching her drink.

Blair can barely let it come out "Serena" she mumbles.

Chuck laughs, and Blair can't blame him. It she wasn't the one this whole thing was happening to, she would be rolling on the floor. Figuratively, of course.

"Oh Natie" Chuck shakes his head "Could never learn from his mistakes, could he? When did this happen?"

"I don't know. I just heard him talk on the phone with her, one morning"

"Do you want me to get my P.I. look into it?"

"I don't want to know when it happened" Blair says "It won't make anything better"

"Then what do you want?" Chuck asks "If you didn't come here for scheming, or revenge sex, what do you want?"

Blair looks down to her now empty glass. She feels shameful to admit it.

"I guess I was looking for a friend. Seems like I was wrong to seek it in you"

She gets up, and goes to the door. Chuck remains sitting on the couch.

"I'm your friend, Blair" he says before she leaves "Just not that kind. When you're ready to take care of this situation, you know where to find me"

Blair doesn't call him back. She ignores how bad she wants to. It would be too easy for it to happen, because it has happened before. Nate slept with Serena, she went to Chuck. Sleeping and scheming with him would be the almost logical next step. What Blair needs is something to break the pattern. She actually prays for it, at night, when she can't sleep, and Nate is snoring next to her.

She goes back to focusing on her work. One day, she is supervising the installation of a fresco, when someone taps on her shoulder. She turns around, and rolls her eyes.

"Oh God" she says "You"

Humphrey laughs "Good to see you too, Blair"

Blair goes back to looking at the workers fixing the fresco, then turns back to Dan.

"Wait, how did you get in here? The Museum is closed, today"

"Being a best-selling author holds its advantages" Dan shrugs "I like to come when there's no one. I'm selfish like that"

Blair eyes him suspiciously, before looking back at the painting.

"Did you borrow this from the Musée d'Orsay?" Dan asks.

"Yes"

"How did you do it?" Dan asks "The eighteenth century manager is a real pain in the ass, when it comes to lending to other museums"

"I know, that's why I would really like it if you didn't disturb me while his precious painting is being settled"

Dan laughs, probably at how nervous she is, and he doesn't say another word while the fresco is being hung. But he stays there, and Blair finds it highly annoying.

When it's done, he smiles at her.

"Wanna go have lunch?" he asks.

Blair purses her lips, and accepts, only because she is really hungry. She chooses the restaurant, and Dan follows, telling her about his favorite paintings, and making suggestions for the Met. Blair answers sharply that he's not going to tell her how to do her job.

"Okay, okay" he laughs "Sorry. How's everything?"

"What everything?" Blair asks.

"I don't know. You husband for instance"

"He's fine, why does everybody keep asking?"

Dan blinks, surprised by her tone "Sorry" he says "I didn't mean to be courteous with you"

"I'm still holding it against you"

They sit at a table. Blair orders a salad, looking around, and Dan settles for a steak. It's the restaurant Nate usually has lunch at, with his colleagues, and Blair doesn't want it to seem like she might be spying on him. But she might be. The opportunity was just too tempting when Humphrey asked her to lunch. She couldn't go anywhere with Chuck without it being suspicious. But then again, going anywhere with Humphrey might be even more.

"How do you know Gaspard?" she asks, hoping that there was a long story about how he met the eighteenth century art manager of the finest French Museum.

Dan shrugs, sipping on his water "We dated briefly when he lived in London"

There's a beat. Blair is not sure she heard right.

"What?"

Dan laughs, doesn't say anything, but nods. Blair tries to regain composure.

"I don't know if I should be shocked because he's a man, or because he chose to date you" she says "But enlighten me here, Humphrey. Last time I saw you, you were sleeping with your agent, who is as I recall, a woman. Or perhaps a very good transvestite?"

Dan laughs out loud "Alessandra is a real woman" he says then.

"So…what's the story? Classic bi-curious college phase?"

"What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic"

Blair snorts "What does it have to do with anything?"

"I don't see the gender, I see the person" Dan replies.

Blair rolls her eyes, as their food is being served.

"You are such a writer" she says.

"Blair?"

Blair looks up to see Nate standing, holding his briefcase and one of his co-workers by his side.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, his eyes going from her to Humphrey.

"Dan came to visit the museum, and suggested we went to lunch"

"And this one is the one you decided on?"

"He's the one who chose" Blair shrugs, hoping that Dan would follow her lead.

But he doesn't say anything. Just looks back and forth from her to Nate. Nate's hand tightens around his briefcase handle. Blair has trouble swallowing. It was a mistake coming there. Now Nate probably knows she is onto him. This isn't how her marriage should be.

"Well, I would join you, but Wilson and I have work things to discuss" Nate says, still staring at Blair "I'll see you tonight"

Blair watches him go, and dreads looking back at Dan. When she does, she sees that he put seventy dollars on the table.

"Do you wanna go someplace else?" he asks.

Blair cannot help smiling at him, nodding.

They settle for another restaurant, and Blair looks at him carefully. He seems to be completely relaxed, almost unaware of what just happened. They order the same thing as in the other restaurant.

"Aren't you going to ask me what happened over there?" she asks.

Dan holds out his hand.

"Give me your phone" he says.

Blair obliges, wary. She watches as Dan types a number and registers it.

"I'm not going to ask you anything" he says, giving her back her phone. "But if you want to talk about it, you have my number."

Blair puts back her phone in her purse numbly. She thinks of Chuck, and of how she doesn't even have his number registered. She never calls him.

During lunch, Dan tells her about his ex-wife, whom he stayed married to for only eight months before she accused him of being too gloomy. Blair laughs, because the Humphrey sitting before her is a thousand times less gloomy than the one she knew in high school. After his divorce, Dan came back to New York to work on his new novel.

They separate in front of the restaurant, and Blair feels a bit lighter than at the beginning of the day. She knows she just made a friend, and she laughs by herself when she realizes that this friend is Dan Humphrey. Before going home, she stops by a library to buy his first novel.

She is reading it when Nate comes home, late, that night. As soon as he finds her in the living room, he drops his briefcase.

"What the hell was that, today?" he asks, opening his arms wide.

Blair purses her lips "I just went to lunch with a friend"

"Since when are you friends with Dan Humphrey?"

"It's recent. Why? Are you jealous?"

"I'm not jealous" Nate says, before going to pour himself a drink "But you've barely spoken to me for the past two weeks, and I find you laughing your ass off with Humphrey at lunch"

Blair puts the book away. She stands up to face him.

"He just found me on a good day. I told you I have been swamped at work" she shrugs "I'm sorry for not…telling you about it"

Nate seems unhinged by her apology; Blair knows very well it's suspicious that she gives up the fight so easily. But she wants him to be suspicious.

"Have you heard from Serena, lately?" she asks, dusting off his jacket.

Nate frowns, and catches her wrist between his fingers, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"What is going on?" he asks "Why are you talking about Serena, right now?"

Blair yanks her wrist away "We were talking about friends. Serena is our friend, right? Perhaps a little more than a friend, to you"

She starts walking to their bedroom, knowing she just blew it.

"Blair, come back here"

She keeps walking and Nate follows her. They're inside their bedroom when he talks again.

"I can't believe you want to have this fight again!" he says, of the verge of yelling "When are you going to get inside your head that I'm not interested in Serena? You're the one I married, for crying out loud, not Serena"

"Because she was away" Blair turns to him.

"Because you are the one, Blair" Nate walks to her, and takes her face between his hands "You've always been the one, ever since we were little."

Blair wraps a hand around his wrist, looking him in the eyes. He seems so sincere.

"Blair, I don't want to fight with you. Serena and I dated when we were freshmen in college, and it stops there. You're the one I love today, and you're the one I want to be with."

Blair doesn't move when he leans down to kiss her. She lets him press their bodies together, and gives in into his embrace. She decides it doesn't matter, that he cheated with Serena, as long as he wants to be with her. They are going to try for a baby, and pretending that she doesn't know is the only way Blair is going to be able to be happy with him.

But she cries a little, when he makes love to her, that night. Because Nate told her she is the one he loves today, but what if that changes tomorrow?

If anything happens like it has before, Nate falling out of love with her is the next obvious step. The only thing that is different right now, is this number that Blair has registered on her phone.

As soon as Nate falls asleep, Blair slips out of the bed, and take her cellphone with her. She sees on her kitchen clock that it's two in the morning, but she dials anyway.

"Hello?" Dan answers after the first ring.

"You're not sleeping?"

There's a beat, then Dan laughs into the phone.

"I didn't see what time it was. I was writing. What's up?"

Blair looks at the hallway leading to her bedroom.

"Can I come over?"

"Sure" Dan answers calmly.

He reminds her of his address and Blair is surprised he still lives at the loft. She gets dressed quietly, and Nate doesn't wake up.

She arrives in Brooklyn, and when Dan opens the door, he seems completely awake. He smiles at her, and lets her in. She goes to sit on his couch, and he brings her a cup of tea.

"My Nana used to make me chamomile tea when I had nightmares" he explains.

Blair laughs bitterly "My whole life is a nightmare"

"What's going on?"

Blair shrugs "It's like everything is a circle that I can't seem to break. I know Nate cheated on me with Serena. And I'm once again willing to overlook it, because it's the only way to stay happy."

Dan doesn't flinch at the revelation. He just looks at her, waiting for her to say more.

"I told Chuck" she says "And it was probably a mistake, because now, he has something to hold over my head. And Nate's"

"It's going to be okay, Blair" Dan sighs "You and Nate are going to be fine, if you're willing to give him another chance, and if he respects it."

"He doesn't even know that I know. He thinks I'm just being my normal insecure self when it comes to Serena."

"Then stop. Show him that he doesn't have any reasons to want another woman than you. Because I'm pretty sure that you're quite the badass, as a wife. Every Upper East Side man probably wishes they were married to you, starting with Chuck."

It makes Blair laugh. She allows herself to get flattered by his words, and his smile.

"You're too young to worry about that kind of things. Just live, Blair."

Just live. She likes the sound of this motto. Dan pushes on strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Feeling better?" he asks.

Blair nods. She settles herself more comfortably on the couch.

"Tell me a story" she says.

Dan laughs "What kind of story?"

"Tell me about your life, in London"

Dan sighs "Uh. Okay. I went first because I wanted to take a year abroad. Then I stayed because…I was scared that coming back to New York would mean going back into a circle, and being stuck in it, just like you said."

"I should have left New York too" Blair says.

Dan shakes his head.

"New York is where we belong. We all came back, eventually."

He is right. All those who left ended up coming back. She doesn't regret not leaving, and marrying Nate. She is just scared of the idea that she perhaps missed an opportunity.

"Tell me about how you turned bisexual?" she asks, biting back her smile.

Dan laughed "I told you, it's much more complicated. My relationship with Gaspard was unique. He was French, and smart, and sharp."

"He is a pretentious douchebag" Blair counters.

"Have you met me?"

She laughs at his auto-derision. She really likes this Humphrey.

"So you decided to just live, I guess"

Dan nods "Except, perhaps I shouldn't have. Gaspard turned out to be destructive, for my mental stability. It wasn't a very healthy relationship. It's like he kept holding against me that I had only been with girls, before him."

Blair studies his face. He is not laughing anymore. He seems completely lost in his dreadful thoughts. So she changes the subject, and asks him about his writing.

When the sky becomes clear blue, and Blair's eyes start to feel heavy, she decides it's time to go home.

Dan pulls her into a hug, at the door, and whispers to text him and let him know that she got home safe. In the cab, Blair closes her eyes, and she has a light smile on her face. She is going to just live, and her life will be nothing like it used to. Now, she has something she didn't, before, and she feels it will keep her from going back to square one.

She is glad she found Humphrey.

Next chapter is coming sooner than this one came, I promise. I was just super busy with my other fics and life.

Love, xo.