AN-This is the last chapter of this story, though I will have a short epilogue posted soon. The ending pretty much follows the scene from Emma itself, so I hope the Austen fans will finally forgive me for diverging away from her book so much.
As always none of this would have been possible without the help of bsloths. Thank you!
Her first move is to Chuck's.
"How could you do this to me?"
Still in his satin robes, he looks up with interest in his eyes, "To what do I owe the pleasure, Blair?"
"You rejected Charlotte!"
"I wasn't aware that I was supposed to be interested in your newest minion," his voice is characteristically soft and husky and she just about hates the coolness of it all. Can't he see she is distressed? "You were supposed to seduce her, which I thought you were good at but no! Instead you choose her of all people to show your new found gentleman side to."
Chuck gets up from his position on the couch and the entire luxury of his slow pace as he refills his glass of scotch only drives her madder. Can he not see she is in 'mode anxious' at the moment? It had been not more than seventy two hours since Blair had come to the biggest revelation of her life and each second of those many hours had bought her closer to banging her head to the wall…Any wall and take in a voluntary admission into a mental institution as well.
Not only is she in love with Dan Humphrey, which doesn't scare her as much as it should, but she had realized it the day she came to know that he had probably fallen in love with a watered down version of Serena and herself, she had created herself. It is moments like this where she can truly find herself relating to Frankenstein.
And Chuck Bass was partially responsible for all of it, "Well, don't you have anything to say for yourself?"
"I'm still trying to gather what it is that is bothering you Blair."
She takes off her gloves and sits down on his couch, "You were supposed to date Charlotte Wilkins for a while. Not play nice to her and unleash her on Daniel Humphrey instead."
"Ah!" Chuck meets her eyes over the rim of his glass, "so that is your problem. Although I would admit that Brooklyn and that pity thing you picked up at NYU probably look good together. One must always stick to their kind, you know."
Blair only sighs in exasperation and that makes Chuck look at her with a slightly softer tone, "I'm sorry that my tastes do not fall that low Blair."
She scoffs, "You don't have a taste Chuck. You would sleep with the entire continent of America and beyond if you could."
He chuckles slightly but sobers up instantly, "Strange but I would never have said the same thing for you… Until now."
She turns to look at him sharply, "What are you talking about?"
"Humdrum Humphrey, Blair? That is what your problem is. This isn't about Charlotte and me. This is about your feelings for Humphrey."
Blair stills in her seat. Somehow hearing the admission come from someone else lent finality to the entire thing. She's no stranger to unrequited love and its pain. Being friends with Serena had made her fully equipped with having boys she likes like Serena instead. Nate Archibald was perhaps the biggest example of it all. But she had handled that well, ultimately when it had come down to it she had handled it well. Had reconciled with Serena for sleeping with her boyfriend and had even parted with Nate as friends. In fact, she was also the biggest fan of them getting together.
But this felt different. Her feelings for Humphrey seem more …Mature. True, she had only come to realize them when she knew that she had probably lost him for good which to many would see as a sign of an over blown tantrum more than anything else, but she knew that nobody made her feel the way Humphrey did. It was a feeling which hadn't come to her all of a sudden either. It had been slowly been building for some time now. –Serena being the only thing stopping her from responding to the look she sometimes caught in his eyes. But Serena was engaged now…
But none of it mattered now. If she hadn't lost it to Serena then she had lost it to Charlotte Wilkins. She cringed at the idea; at least Serena was a worthy opponent.
She looks up at Chuck, who is still waiting for her response. With tears suddenly springing to her eyes, she gets up and walks out, "It's too late."
It has been three days since he has heard from her or about her. She hasn't been to any of her classes, his calls were clearly being screened. Dorota was not allowed to let him come to the penthouse and even Charlotte hadn't heard from her.
They had fought before, but such isolation had never been a problem earlier. And he misses her, God he misses her so damn much. He had made conciliation with the fact that chances of them ever being anything more than friends were slim to say the least. Not, until she realized that she did not need to run other people's lives to find her own footing. That for once, it would do her good to focus on her own love life instead of trying to evolve others. She needed to see that she could not make replicas of herself or Serena for that matter, that there was just one Blair Waldorf and that really was enough. And he would patiently wait for her to get to that point. For as long as it would take.
Meanwhile though Dan just misses his friend.
Serena looks at him sympathetically and beside him he can feel Nate awkwardly look anywhere but at him.
"What?" he asks irritably, "what did I do now?"
Serena sighs, "Dan, you look a little ill."
"I'm perfectly alright though."
"What she means bro is that you look like shit, I'm actually having trouble looking at you without laughing," Nate admits. "Did you know that your shirt is on backwards?"
Dan looks down. Nate was right, "Have the two of you come to NYU just to tell me that I have no fashion sense? I'd like to remind you that I already have Blair monitoring that bit."
Nate sips his coffee bemusedly, "That is another reason why we're here," he looks at Serena before continuing, "Blair has been avoiding us."
"You too?" Dan is unable to stop himself from asking, "Phones screened? Dorota in her Terminator avatar as soon as you try crossing the elevator?"
The two nod at him and somewhat satisfied that he's not the only one being given the cold treatment, Dan visibly relaxes, "But what can I do about it?"
Serena speaks first tells him that she needed to speak to Blair to plan her engagement party and that Nate needed to speak with her so that she could revoke the exile she had placed on Jenny, "Long distance is cramping my
style."
Dan ignores Nate at that comment-He really doesn't want to know what style he is talking about- as Serena continues to explain, "We believe Blair's acting strange has something to do with you."
At the nonplussed look on Dan's face she takes out her cell phone and replays a message left by Blair two days earlier-
"S-I'm going under hibernation for the rest of winter and summer if necessary. Will explain later. Tell Nate to take care and tell Dan…Tell Humphrey to go to hell."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"Wow!" Dan reels back into his chair, "she sure is pissed with me."
"What is it that you did, dude?"
"No clue," Dan shakes his head, "I have no freaking clue."
"You really have to make up to her though," Serena offers, "I cannot plan an engagement party without her…"
"And I cannot have…" Nate interrupts but shuts up when Dan throws him a pointed look.
"I don't know what to do guys. She won't even talk to me."
"Have you told her about how you feel?" Serena asks.
"Love broadcast isn't exactly the easiest thing to do when she won't even say Hello" Dan replies dryly.
"Perhaps, you should gift her something shiny." Nate offers, "It worked each time when she was ever pissed with me."
Both Dan and Serena decline his idea. And after a few more suggestions involving every Audrey Hepburn movie ever made, Nate pipes up another one, "I know, you need to make out with her!"
At the strange looks thrown at him, he shrugs, "It always works. There is this spot on her neck, nuzzle it right and she'll forget why she was angry."
Dan sighs, tired, "As much as it pleases me to know that the dysfunctional relation of our group can help us loan such intimate details to each other, the fact remains that Blair doesn't want to see me. And even though I don't know what and why, I need to make up for it. But for that I need to talk to her. Just talk" he looks at Serena, "before I dedicate a love sonnet to her or," he looks at Nate, "take you up on your sex tips."
"For once, I'll actually agree with you Daniel."
They all turn around to see Chuck Bass, looking absolutely out of place in his Navy Blue suit in a NYU café, "I do think that you need to talk to her."With a look of disgust he pulls out a chair for himself beside Nate and sits down, "She came to see me this morning." He explains and Dan feels himself stiffen-If all this has anything to with Chuck Bass…
"You're definitely bothering her Daniel and as much as I hate you, I love Blair more. So I suggest you make things right. Fast."
Dan passes a frustrated hand through his already rumpled hair, "If you haven't noticed Chuck. That's exactly what we're brainstorming here. She doesn't even want to see me, let alone talk."
Chuck looks at him, "I just had a source tell me that she left for the MET sans Dorota about fifteen minutes ago, if you make it fast, you just might be able to catch her."
Unsure of what to say, Dan just stammers, "Chuck, I...I"
"Get Lost Daniel before I change my mind."
Without another thought Dan rushes out if the coffee shop even as he hears Nate call behind him, "You might want t change that shirt though. People still remember Olivia's story on national television."
Serena's voice follows through, "And shave if you can."
He finds her sitting on the steps she often sits on, "Go, Humphrey. I'm not in the mood."
"How about you tell me why you have been avoiding me before you issue a restraining order."
She scowls at him, "Spare yourself the satisfaction. I have been avoiding everyone."
"Why?"
"Well, can't a girl get some privacy around here. I'm in hibernation. I'd like to remain that way."
"Nate and Serena are worried about you; they also have some things they want to discuss with you."
"And they paid you for your messenger skills?"
Dan takes a seat next to her, "Blair, talk to me.'
She sighs; she has nothing to say to him. She is not going to confess to anything only to have him tell her that he preferred Charlotte instead. She has more pride than that. Why did love have to suck so much, "I have nothing to say to you Humphrey. Now, are you leaving or should I go?"
When he doesn't make a move to leave, she gets up, "Good bye Humphrey."
"Blair!"
She doesn't stop.
"Blair! At least listen to what I have to say."
She stops. He was going to tell her. God, he was going to tell her that he was in love with Charlotte. He is possibly going to thank her for bringing her to his life. No, she doesn't think she has it in herself to hear any of it. Slowly she turns around, "Dan," she begins, "Please don't."
"Why Blair? Why will you not let me tell you how I feel?"
"Oh please don't speak it, don't say it," she cries eagerly. "Take a little time, consider, do not commit yourself."
"Thank you," says Dan, hurt, confused and deeply mortified and not another syllable follows.
Blair cannot bear to give him pain. He was wishing to confide in her-perhaps to consult her; cost her what it would she would listen, "No. I didn't mean it that way. I'm your friend and I shall listen. I will hear whatever you like. I will tell you exactly what I think."
"A friend," repeated Dan, "indeed." He stopped suddenly and took hesitant step towards her, "I do not want to be a friend to you Blair. I'm a little tired of being a friend to you."
"Dan?"
"No, listen to me. I have stood by you for two years now. I have seen you recover from Chuck to fall for Richard Clampton to decide that you were better of settling other people's lives than your own. I have stayed right there when you fancied Nate to be in love with you. I have stood by it all." He looked at her earnestly, "But I'm tired now Blair. I don't want to see you with anyone. I want you to see me." He pauses and in a swell of emotion blurts out, "I love you, Blair." He stops in his earnestness and the expression in his eyes overpowers her.
"You didn't say anything," she says quietly, finding her voice back.
His laugh is hollow, "Strangely for a writer, I cannot make speeches when it matters the most, perhaps if I had loved you any less, I would have been able to talk about it more."
While he speaks, Blair's mind is most busy to catch and comprehend the exact truth of the whole situation. To see that the Charlotte's hopes had been entirely groundless. Could this be true? Dan was in love with her, not Charlotte, not Serena …Her.
"Will you not say anything?" Dan asks after a moment.
Blair beams up at him, and slowly climbing the two steps that separate them, reaches him, "I don't think I have words."
And then she kisses him.
AN-Finally, something I began so long ago (May 2010!) is (almost) over. Epilogue coming up soon.
I hope you all liked it and thank you so much for sticking by it for so long. Please please review.