Disclaimer: I do not own Gossip Girl or the Characters.
Chapter Two: Constructive Criticism
Blair didn't even bother looking up from her laptop.
"You're late."
Dan rushed in closing her bedroom door behind him.
"Sorry, my interview went longer than I thought it would."
"Whatever."
She looked up from her computer to see him standing there awkwardly. Dear God Humphrey is in my bedroom once again, she thought.
"Well Humphrey are you going to sit down or just stare at me."
He reacted quickly taking off his jacket and fumbling with his brief case before sitting on her bed in front of her laptop.
"So what is your topic?" He asked.
"Fashion of course." She beamed.
"Of course it is. Taking the "Dictator of Fashion" to a new level huh?"
"You could say that. Actually it was my mother's idea." She smiled
"Well it's a fantastic idea. Let's see it." He smiled trying to lean over to see her screen. She pulled the top down and shooed him away with her hand.
"Just hold on! It's not completely done yet!"
He laughed.
"We have to start somewhere now don't we? Blair you asked me for help and I can't do that if you don't show me what you're writing about."
Blair glared but slowly handed over the laptop to Dan. He smiled and moved farther onto the bed before reading. She watched him as he began to read and felt her nerves start. Ever since her mother had suggested that she be a Fashion Editorial, she had fallen in love with the idea and thought it fit her perfectly, but really now she wasn't sure. Sure she had written a little for the school paper at Constance but that was only her senior year and was totally anonymous. If anyone at the time though she was writing in the school paper she would have been considered a geek and therefore weak, which was below her. So in her best interest she had decided to go under the name Audrey Bennet. She was pulled out of her deep thoughts at the sound of Dan snickering.
"What are you laughing at?" She demanded. He looked up at her and smiled.
"It's just the part where you insult Danielle Estelle's fashion line. You are quite witty. I had no idea."
Blair smiled back and felt a rise of butterflies in her stomach which caught her off guard. She turned her smile into a smirk and tried to regain her professional composure.
"Well now you know Humphrey." She stated matter of factly.
With that he returned to her laptop. Butterflies? What the hell was that! Blair though. It's just because he liked my favorite part. She looked at him again. He was now biting the left side of his lip slightly and Blair felt the butterflies rise once again. Ah! What the hell! She got up off the bed quickly. Dan looked up at her confused.
"I'll be back. Just have to check with Dorota on dinner preparations. She never uses the proper china." She lied then quickly fled.
"Okay." Dan shrugged.
This is not is not happening! Damn butterflies! Pull yourself together Blair! She scolded herself. Taking deep breaths, she tried to reason with herself. She was not comfortable about having feelings for the person she had not even kind of liked until recently. And that was only after she discovered that he was insightful and useful at times, plus she found out that he enjoyed the same films and literature. She could talk to him as a friend and feel like her opinion mattered. Suddenly she stopped walking. Oh no! Am I starting to like Dan Humphrey? At that moment, Blair felt completely overwhelmed, and then nervous realizing that he was still in her room and she had to spend maybe another hour with him. No. He is just starting to become a friend. Nothing more. She nodded and turned around towards her room.
"Still reading? How long does it take?" Blair exasperated walking back into her room. Dan only nodded at her presence not even looking up. He was getting use to Blair's impatient bickering.
"I'm just rereading some parts."
"What? Why?" Blair demanded. She shifted herself closer to him to see what part he was at. She didn't realized until she was close to him that it might not have been a good idea. The smell of his cologne made the butterflies rise once more but she squashed them and tried to concentrate on the screen.
"Calm down woman." He laughed, "It's just that you are a little cold with some of your descriptions."
"What you call cold is what I call honesty. People need to hear it."
"No not the cold heartless honesty, I mean there are parts where I feel like I'm reading an ordinary fashion review."
Blair ignored the 'ordinary' and 'heartless' comments but still glared at him.
"Exactly what do you mean Humphrey? I think it sounds professional."
Dan shook his head.
"Blair, if you want to catch their eye you have to keep them reading. Yeah you have some really good points and funny comparisons with humorous comments here and there, but I kind of got bored at the end. It's almost like you started second guessing yourself."
Blair was slightly insulted, but more so shocked that he had noticed that she had second guessed herself. She was not about to admit that though.
"Give me that!" She smacked his arm again before taking her laptop back.
"Ow! Woman what is it about you hitting me! I'm just being honest." He laughed.
"Well you do not appreciate high fashion Humphrey, so how could you possibly know what you're talking about." She replied coldly.
Blair could tell she might have been a little too cold because he stopped laughing and started to shift off the bed.
"What are you doing?"
"Leaving Blair."
"You can't leave! We're not done yet!"
"Yes we are. You asked ME for help remember? I can't help you if you don't listen to what I have to say. And you can't take everything personally."
"Well it is personal!" Blair defended.
"What do you think it's going to be like when you have your own column Blair? You will have more than just me reading your work, maybe worse. If you can't take it now then I wouldn't pursue it."
With that last statement Blair has gone quite, and Dan knew he had hit a nerve. She relaxed and looked down at her computer in thought. Dan watched her for a moment not sure whether he should leave or stay. He and Blair had not been friends for long but he didn't want to ruin what they had built so far. He really did enjoy her company and their bickering back and forth. It was different from any other friendship he had and he wasn't sure why, but he could stand the thought of that coming to an end.
"You are right." She said almost in a whisper. Dan about fell over and wondered if he heard her right.
"What?" He asked dumbfounded.
"You are right! Geez! I'm not going to say it again Humphrey!" She yelled. Dan laughed to himself and sat back down on the bed. He sat a little too close then he had intended and his knee brushed hers. He thought he saw her swallow nervously before she readjusted herself a little farther away. Dan tried to distract from the awkwardness.
"Sorry umm… thank you Blair. It's just that I consider you a friend and I want to be honest with you. That's what friends do."
Blair knew this. She was more than honest with her other friends but with Dan he seemed to have more compassion when it came to his honesty. She suddenly felt guilty as memories flooded her head when she had been brutally honest, especially with Serena. Dan could tell Blair had gone into deep thought and worried that calling them 'friends' might have been too soon. Blair looked up at Dan and saw worry in his expression. She gently tapped his knee and smiled reassuringly.
"Thank you Humphrey. I do want you to be honest."
She saw Dan take a breath of relief and smiled to herself.
"Okay so let's try this again." Dan said. Blair nodded and handed her laptop back to him.
"Where was it when you started to get bored? Blair asked quietly. Dan suddenly felt bad then for using the word bored.
"Umm well about page four I guess, but maybe bored was the wrong word."
"Then what word would you use?"
"I guess I would say, not so Blairish."
"You just invented that!" Blair laughed.
"Well you have to admit that it's pretty catchy." He smirked, smiling down at her.
"No it's not!" She giggled. "It sounds plain which I am not."
"No you're not."
It was a simple statement, but the way he was looking at her when he said it made her heart swell. She looked away quickly coming back down to earth and readjusting herself on the bed.
"Okay so what is the difference between 'Blairish' and bored?"
"Well I would say that when I'm reading your first couple of pages, I'm really seeing you flow well. Your thoughts and beliefs come off very easy but then you start to go into what are like facts and polls- more like common knowledge. People are not going to read your work if you put ordinary facts and figures in. They read it because they like your style, point of view, and opinion."
What Dan was saying made sense, and Blair couldn't help but agree.
"So I should try to just stick with my originality?"
"Exactly. It's what makes you special." He grinned and she smacked his arm but not as hard this time.
Thank You for reading! Reviews welcomed! :)