A/N: I would like to thank all of those who have taken their time to review. It really means a lot to me. Also a special thank you to Princess Persephone for giving me harsh but fair tips and criticism. They really helped me write this chapter and helped improve my writing. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Blair placed her phone beside her. Dan can't come. But I am completely alright with it. Just fine, she mentally tried to tell herself. But she just couldn't seem to be alright with it. This was an important party for her, and she was going to have to go by herself. She couldn't even go with her mother, who was busy in Paris working on her fashion shows there. She was alone. She heard Dorota's footsteps come back to the living room. Blair looked over at her plump maid. Her face filled with anxiousness.
"So?" she asked, awaiting the news.
"Dan can't come. He's working," Blair said, trying to smile but finding it next to impossible.
Dorota's smile disappeared. She knew how much Blair had been looking forward to going with her boyfriend. The smile on her face a few minutes ago had said everything. But now sat a twenty two year old woman, excited for a party but alone as ever. Suddenly an idea hit the maid.
"Why don't you go with Mr. Chuck?" Dorota asked.
"No. Me and Chuck are just friends. I wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea," Blair told her.
"But you seemed so excited to have dinner with him last night. And you used to be so happy back in high school whenever you were with him," Dorota reminded her.
"High school is over. We all got our diplomas and left. Life's changed since then," Blair said.
"Yes, but some friendships last a lifetime,"
Blair stared at her maid. Was Dorota actually telling her that she should as Chuck to go with her? Dorota knows about Dan. Blair smiled at Dorota. Dorota gave her shoulder a small comforting squeeze before sauntering towards the kitchen. Blair was alone again
She played with her small phone. Turning it over and over on her palm. She wasn't upset. She couldn't be upset. Dan had other obligations. He couldn't just drop everything for her. But it would be nice if he did. For as long as she could remember their relationship, Dan had always made her happy. He would tell her about stupid authors that he though deserved no respect or how he couldn't write a story. Sure they had taken their English class together, but she wasn't as good as a writer as Dan was. She loved writing stories about the girl finding her prince charming, while Dan's stories were far more real.
Blair sighed. She stopped turning her phone on her palm and got off of the couch. Her feet trudged up the stairs. As she made it to her bedroom, she realized how bored she was. Dan was at a meeting, which would probably last a few hours. She had no best friend to hang out with. Blair lay down on her bed, her phone laying beside her. She couldn't help think if coming back to the city had been a good idea. Yale had been different, unpredictable. She closed her eyes, remembering the first day at Yale.
Blair checked her outfit for the hundredth and one time. She had to look absolutely perfect. Look perfect, think perfect. She saw her satisfactory smile looking back at her through her reflection. She turned around and grabbed her book bag. Stocked with her pencils, pens, post it notes and her beloved laptop. She took one last look in the mirror before heading out of her bedroom.
Her roommate, Samantha, sat in the living quarters of the tiny dorm room. Blair tried to stop herself from glaring at her, but it was too late. She couldn't stand her. For the twenty three hours and forty minutes she had known her, she didn't like her. She burps, she doesn't even care about cleaning. She didn't even put any consideration into her outfits. Blair didn't even glance in her direction as she walked out of the front door. She couldn't wait until her own apartment was ready.
The walk to class had been anything but peaceful. People scrambling everywhere, trying to make it to class on time. She smiled because she wasn't one of them. She had highlighted all of her classes onto a map of Yale that she had printed out. She walked into the right building and towards her classroom. Her smile disappeared as she stood in the door way. No one had told her it was going to be this big. She felt her mind spinning. She didn't feel good at all. She needed to leave. She turned on her heel and walked the other way.
She felt tears form in her eyes, but she quickly shook them away. Blair Waldorf does not let people see her when she's upset. She walked quickly, trying to get out of the building as fast as she could. She didn't even look where she was going. Her small frame ran into another person and she felt herself falling back. But instead of hitting the floor as anticipated, two strong hands kept her from falling. She looked up only to lock eyes with Dan Humphrey. She was speechless, and judging from his facial expression, he was too.
He helped her to her feet. Silence filled the air. Blair straightened out her ensemble. Her put his hands in his pockets. He still looked like the same boy from Brooklyn, but something about his eyes made him seem more mature.
"Well I better go," Blair said, her feet ready to leave at any moment. "Thank you."
"You're not staying?" he asked.
"No. I think I'll change my major. Maybe I'll go into business or something," Blair responded. She just wanted to leave. Not be questioned by Dan Humphrey.
"Hmmmm,"
"What?" she asked him.
"Nothing," he said, as he started to walk towards the classroom.
"Where are you going?" Blair demanded.
"To class," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Oh yeah, class," Blair said, her eyes becoming more worrisome as she thought of the giant room.
"Are you alright? You look as if you've just seen a ghost," Dan said, as he started to walk towards her.
"Just go to class," Blair told him.
"Are you supposed to be in that class?" he asked her.
"What are you talking about?" Blair asked him, not wanting him to know the truth. She didn't need Humphrey of all people, to know she was scared.
"Are you supposed to be in the English class? Because if you are, then you should come inside within the next ten minutes. But if your not, then you shouldn't be here," he said, a small smile appeared on his face.
She looked at him. This clearly wasn't the same Dan she had known as Serena's boyfriend. No, this Dan was much more different. But she couldn't put her finger on it.
"I don't want to go to class," Blair said confidently,
"I never thought I'd see the day when Blair Waldorf announced she was ditching class," Dan said, a slight smirk planted on his face.
"I just don't think having an English major will do any good for me, so I'll be on my way," Blair said, getting ready to leave again.
"Fine. Don't let me stop you," Dan said, as he grabbed his book bag and adjusted it on his shoulder.
"I wasn't going to," Blair snapped at him.
"Bye then," Dan said as he walked away from her.
Instead of leaving, Blair stood there. She didn't know what to do. She could leave, but she wanted to write. She wanted the girl to find her happily ever after. She took a deep breath. When fear came around, a Waldorf looked it in the eye and laughs. Blair found her feet moving towards the classroom. She walked inside and found her horror come back to her, but she stayed standing tall. She surveyed the vast classroom.
She saw Dan sitting towards the back. He seemed to be alone. She sighed. She didn't want to sit alone and no one seemed to be talking to him. She clutched her book bag with both hands and strode to where he was sitting. She placed her stuff beside him and sat down. He looked at her with confusion.
"I thought you were going to leave," he said.
"Well you thought wrong," she said she grabbed her laptop out of her book bag.
Blair turned her laptop on and got ready to ignore Dan through class. The first day hadn't been bad. Nothing too serious, yet. Once class was over, Blair packed her things. Dan waited for her, but she had no idea he would. She looked up, a bit surprised. He smiled.
"Do you want to get something to drink? Maybe a coffee," he suggested.
"My charity cases are done, Humphrey," she said as she stalked off.
"Fine, have fun all alone," Dan called from behind her.
She stopped in her tracks. Alone? She wanted to tell him he was wrong. That she had a lot of friends. That her friends were waiting for her. But that wasn't true. Not one bit. She closed her eyes and turned to face him. His hands were in his pockets.
"What is wrong with you? Do you always just have to say something when you don't need to? Or maybe it's your need to be a douche bag in hopes of trying to get respect," Blair said in an icy tone.
"Forget I asked," he said as he stormed off.
Blair didn't follow him with her eyes. She made a mental note to ignore him, but that didn't last long. The first couple weeks of school had been fine. Blair barely spoke or made eye contact with him. But as the weeks went by, Blair started to spend more time at a small café on campus to get away from her roommate. Dan occasionally came, but never sat with her or near her. It wasn't until December seventeenth that they finally spoke again.
"Blair!" she heard him call.
She turned around to see him running towards her with a piece of paper in his hand. He stopped in front of her as he caught his breath. He handed her the piece of paper. She looked at it and realized that it was a letter from her mother.
"Thought you would want that. You left it where you were sitting," he told her.
"Thank you," Blair muttered before walking away.
"Did you now want it?" he asked as he caught up to her.
"I better get back to my dorm," she said.
"You do know if you want to talk, I'm here," he told her.
"Thank you, but I must get going. I have some reading to catch up on," she said as she walked away.
The walk back to the dorm was pleasant. Snow covered the campus and she loved it. It reminded her of winter wonderland. She remembered the letter her mother had sent her. It wasn't anything she really wanted. It basically said that she would be to busy with her line to spend Christmas with her and how sorry she was. She still had her father though, but it would have been nice to spend some time with her mother.
She reached her dorm room. Samantha had left a scribbled note on the coffee table, saying that she was at a party and probably wouldn't come to the dorm that night. Blair crumpled the note and threw it into the recycling box. She then grabbed her letter and ripped it in half. The less she had the less she thought she would hurt. She threw it in the recycling box. Her eyes became watery, so she grabbed a tissue and gently wiped them.
"You do know if you want to talk, I'm here,"
His words echoed in her mind. She whipped out her phone and looked to see if he was still in her contacts. Luckily he was. She debated if she should call him. Maybe he wouldn't want to listen? Maybe he didn't even care? But for some reason, those thoughts didn't scare her. She took a deep breath and pressed his name and then put her phone up to her ear. All she heard was a dial tone. She was about to hang up, when she heard his voice.
"Blair?" he asked.
"Y-Yes. I was wondering if we could talk?" she asked nervously
"Sure. What do you want to talk about?" he asked her on the other end.
"Where do I begin," she said.
The whole night, they spent talking with each other over the phone. Just able to listen to one another and offer advice. Of course when morning arrived, they both had to get ready for their classes. After that night, they hung out together for a few months until he finally asked her out.
"Miss Blair. Miss Jenny here for you," Dorota called from downstairs.
Blair smiled. She and Jenny had gotten along in the past few years. Spending some of her summers with the Humphrey's had been amazing. Sure they didn't live a luxorious lifestyle, but they were happy. Sincerely happy. And no amount of money could buy that.
Blair got up from her bed and exited her bedroom. She quickly walked down the stairs and saw Jenny sitting in the living room. She got up when she saw Blair and ran towards her, enveloping her in a hug. Blair laughed and hugged her back. They separated and sat down as Dorota went the fetch them some cookies.
"It is so great to see you," Blair said, her smile never wavering.
"It's great to see you too. Being stuck in meetings in L.A. were a nightmare," Jenny said.
"How is your fashion line doing, by the way?" Blair asked as Dorota walked back into the living room and set the plate of cookies and two glasses of milk on the coffee table.
After she had finished high school, Jenny had decided to go into the fashion business full time. Rufus supported her, even offered to help with fashion shows and such. It had been a rocky beginning but it had turned out for the best. The New York Times had named her one of the designers to look out for.
"It's doing well. Kitson wants to showcase a few of the items,"
"That's fantastic, J!" Blair said ecstatically.
"But what about you and Dan? He told me you two were moving in together. How amazing is that!" Jenny responded.
"Yes we are. Any day now.," Blair said with a smile on her face.
"I am happy for you two. Oh by the way, did you get the invite for Lily's charity gala?" Jenny asked.
"Yes. Are you going as well?"
"Yup. So I guess you and Dan are going together then, right?"
Blair's smile dropped. She hadn't wanted to think about Dan and her not going to the gala together. Jenny noticed.
"No, we're not going together. He has to work that day," Blair said in a small tone.
"He would totally go with you in a heartbeat. You know that, right? I'm sure at the next party you two will be the it couple," Jenny said quickly, trying to show Blair how much her brother loved her.
"I understand Jenny. Things come up all the time. It's not his fault," Blair explained. "Now, how about we go do something. I'm tired of being cooped up in the apartment,"
"Sure. What did you have in mind?"
"How about some shoe shopping? Saks has a pair of royal blue Pedro Garcia pumps that I've had my eyes on for a while," Blair said.
"I'm in, but I need to go somewhere first," Jenny told her.
"Okay. I'll come with you, and then we can go shopping," Blair said.
They both grabbed their coats and made their way to the elevator. Once in the taxi, Jenny quickly gave the driver the address. Blair couldn't stop smiling. It was so great to be out of the house and have a real girls day out. It had been a while. She had some good girl friends back at Yale, but days out with them were limited inside New Haven. Sure they would do fun things, but it just isn't the same as shopping in the city.
"Don't worry, I just need to measure S for the gown she's going to be wearing to her mother's gala," Jenny informed Blair.
S? S as in Serena? The same Serena that isn't getting along with Blair? Blair grabbed Jenny's arm. Jenny turned and looked at her. The happy Blair she had seen a few seconds ago was gone and was now replaced with the complete opposite.
"B, what is it?"
"We're going to Serena's?"
"Yes. Why? I thought she knew that you were back in the city," Jenny said.
"Oh, she knows. Maybe I shouldn't come with you. We haven't been getting along lately," Blair said.
"Nonsense. You're coming with me. And if Serena tries to pick a fight, you have me. Besides, we're probably going to be there for ten minutes, at least," Jenny tried to persuade Blair.
"Believe me, it's best for me and her that we are not in the same room,"
"Okay, then. Where should I meet you?" Jenny asked.
"I don't know. How about the Met steps? There shouldn't be that many tourists there," Blair suggested.
"Fine, but I don't want to spend four hours looking for you," Jenny said.
The cab stopped in front of Serena's building. Jenny got out and shut the door behind her.
"Where to miss?" the driver asked Blair.
"The Met," she said.
The cab started up again. Blair sighed. She knew she had done the right thing. Who knew what would have happened if she had gone with Jenny. But this gave her more time to be prepared for the gala. By then, she wouldn't be as worried. Blair looked out her window. She loved the sights of New York and seeing them pass by her made her happy as ever.
"Miss, we're at the Met," the driver told her.
She got out a few bills from her purse and passing them to the driver before getting out of the cab. The Met stood in front of her. She smiled. It brought back so many memories. Ranging from when she was little innocent girl to a bitchy Upper East Side queen. She sat down on the steps, looking at all the people coming and going. She lay her purse on her lap and watched happily. \
"Well, well, well. Look who it is. I swear, Waldorf, I think it's more than a coincidence that we keep running into each other," she heard from behind her.
She looked behind her and saw Chuck looking down at her in his gray pin stripe suit. She got up right away. Even when she was standing, she was not as tall as he was.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me, Bass," Blair said.
"Stalking isn't really my thing. That's what a P.I. is for," he replied.
"Oh yes, how is Mike?" she asked, a smirk appeared on her face.
Chuck smirked as well. He had missed her. He truly had. Life had been odd without her. But he wouldn't let her know. She was with that Humphrey guy. Before either of them could say a thing, they were joined by a third party.
"Chuckie, do you know if I left my new Jimmy Choo's at your place?" she asked him, completely ignoring Blair.
"Blair, I'd like you to meet my date, Jade," he said.
Blair felt her heart break, and she didn't even know why. But being with Jade and Chuck, made her feel more alone than ever. Jade was very pretty, almost towering Chuck in her high heels. Her make up was flawless and her dress was to die for. Her hair was done to perfection. She was literally perfect. But the look in her eyes screamed Bitch get away. Blair smiled at her and extended her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Jade," she said.
Jade simply plastered a smile, but the look in her eyes never faltered. Her grip was strong and crushed Blair's tiny hand. Blair didn't let it show, though. Never let it show. Both of them knew that. But Chuck could see through their façade. Oh shit, he thought.