Second Time Around
After such a long time I am writing again. The spark of inspiration came when I came across a story I wrote almost a year ago and I found myself fiddling with it and then decided to post it. Let me know what you think, especially in the area of the writing style.
Rating: PG
Synopsis: This is a post Season 6 AU on Dan and Blair’s relationship with a brief prologue highlighting their Season 4/5 relationship. “She could never love him that is what she tells herself every time…”
Author’s Notes: There are two styles of writing used here as I was experimenting. The prologue has a poem like structure while the rest of the fic is prose. Please let me know which you like best.
I haven’t seen Season 6 or most of Season 5 (except for a few photographs), so I may have taken some artistic license here and there e.g. Dan and Serena’s wedding venue, honeymoon; Blair’s involvement in Dan and Serena’s wedding, the identity of Gossip Girl was never revealed, she just faded into obscurity after they graduated from college, etc.
No betas all mistakes are mine. Constructive criticisms are lush/appreciated.
Disclaimer: Gossip Girl does not belong to me. I am writing this story for the fun of it and no money is being made.
Prologue
She could never love him.
That is what she tells herself every time they meet for coffee, when he visits, sleeps over or when they have brunch.
It scares her how in sync they are. She has never had that much synergy with anyone. She is surprised that it is happening with him.
This can not be her life!
It amazes how much he gets her but, yet how much he doesn't. It is tempting to remain in this cocoon. It’s safe, no dramas. It offers some sort of normalcy that she has never experienced.
But, then she reminds herself that he is everything she detests and despises; a bourgeois know it all and judgmental to boot.
He is beneath her, lower than a minion. She must have had been possessed to have ever gone there.
She could never love him that is what she tells herself but, then maybe she might love him just a little.
Chapter 1 - No Longer At Ease
Is it possible to love two men?
That's the unbidden moral dilemma that befuddles her as she gazes at the couple standing at the aisle.
Part of her wonders if things hadn't taken its course if that would have been her standing there right next to his slicked back gelled overgrown hair, dark silver suit wearing hobo with a five o' clock shadow.
Even though he looks a mixture of untamed and something else, something within her is shaken in a primal way; she has not felt this way in years.
Her eyes meets Chuck and she gives him a dashing smile, it puts her at ease momentarily but, the door to all she had suppressed is already open and it's too late to shut it now.
The wedding goes on without a hitch, Serena is all smiles and glowing, while Dan looks like his won the jackpot. Together they look ecstatic and she would not have wanted it any other way.
By eleven pm everyone in attendance bid the newlyweds goodbye as they hop into the limo that would take them to the airport where they will be boarding the Bass Jet to Mauritius; a wedding present courtesy of she and Chuck.
She hangs back till the end with Dorota in tow as she oversees the cleaning up and the catering staff out of the premises. Chuck had left earlier with Henry.
After all the cleaning is done and she convinces Dorota to go home to Vanya and the children, she collapses on one of the warm coloured chairs and gazes at the empty hall deep in thought.
The security guard calling out Mrs Bass draws her out of her reverie.
"Mrs Bass...Mrs Bass your car is here."
She gives him a beatific smile and tells him she'll be out shortly. After all these years of marriage it is still surreal being referred to as Mrs Bass.
After a final cursory glance at the hall, she rises from the chair gracefully and makes her way to her town car.
Chuck is waiting for her in the living room when she gets home. The glass of scotch in his hand makes a swishing sound as it hits the glass due to the gradual pendulum swing of his arm as he reclines on their Louise Philippe armchair.
He places the glass on the rosewood wine table residing beside the armchair purposefully then gets up and makes his way towards her; there is something predatory in his stride.
His breath ghosts around her neck and it makes her shiver and shudder simultaneously. He rains crushing kisses across her nape of her neck while his arms hold her tightly.
Not tonight she thinks, she is spent from all the wedding organizing and coordinating. All she wants is a nice bath and to sleep but, she doesn't want him to see this as a snub. Gently she places her right hand under his chin and turns his face towards hers. There are no words exchanged except a deep kiss and engulfing him in an extended hug. It does the trick; he gets her silent message and arm in arm they make their way to their bedroom together.
Not before long Chuck is out like a light, she extricates herself from his arms and goes into the walk in closet to undress.
After a long soak in their Archeo Copper bathtub she changes into her negligee.
She checks on Henry. He has kicked of his coverlet and his head is now at the foot of the bed. She moves him to a better position gently in order not to wake him and tucks him in. With a gentle kiss on his brow, she exits Henry’s room and joins Chuck in their bed. She leans down to give him a peck on the cheek and snuggles into the bed next to him.
And as she drifts into sleep, she sees obscure images that remind her of bed and broomsticks, shaggy curls and Brooklyn alley ways.
Serena and Dan live in LA now which means that she rarely sees Dan and Serena. Serena is a producer on NBC while Dan is a freelance writer for a few of the big publications on the east and west coast plus a novelist and budding screen writer.
Two years after their society wedding, Serena calls to tell her that she and Dan are getting a divorce. Serena says that it is an amicable split. She and Dan came to the realization that they are different people and decided to break things off before they began to hate each other. Blair can't seem to get her head around this bit of news; she thought Dan was it for Serena.
Dan moves back to New York a few months later after their divorce is settled. Blair heard through the grapevine that Dan moved back to Brooklyn and is staying with his Dad temporarily until he can sort himself out. She reminds herself to invite him for one of her garden parties to help him settle back into the New York state of mind.
She bumps into Dan at one of the New York fashion week parties a few months later, his press - she didn't think this was his kind of thing. He says his doing it as a favour for a friend whose appointed journalist took ill with meningitis unexpectedly. When she is not networking she hangs back and makes idle chitchat with him for old times sake as she knows this is not his type of gig. Silently she commends herself on doing a charitable deed after witnessing the atrocious collections on display. Like Anne Wintour she pursed her lips throughout most of the show.
After that she bumps into him again at one of Anne Wintour's dos and again they pickup like old friends.
She finds herself making plans for them to meet up for coffee; it is more of her demanding his presence. She doesn't want him to be lonely.
People say familiarity breeds contempt but, in her case she finds it endearing. The regular meet ups reintroduces her to his quirks like how he throws back his head when he laughs or the ways he chews at his pen when he thinking about something or how he is able to keep up with her cultural, literary and art references which most people around her don't get. She hasn't felt this alive in years.
If Chuck is her sexual awakening then Dan is her emotional awakening. Is she really a terrible person for wanting them both?
Dan takes the decision out of her hands on a gorgeous sunny winter day in Central Park. The weather was cold and brisk, her cheeks and nose were rosy from the blast of cold air hitting her face as she twirled round on the ice with glee and with no care in the world. Dan is by her side, their hands are clasped as she introduces him to her childhood past time. Dan is not a very good skater.
When they pause momentarily on the sides for Dan to catch his breath momentarily before they went on the ice again; a sudden boldness comes upon her and she puts her lips against his.
She doesn't know why she did it. Maybe it is the laughter that escaped from their lips as they skated or the joie de vivre in the air, she really can’t put a finger on it but, she likens it to an invisible force or maybe a little red Blair on her shoulder causing her to forget her vows to Chuck and do something incredibly stupid, something that she wouldn't have dared if gossip girl was still around.
He wrenched himself away from her as soon as it happened looking aghast. With an almost waddle and many near trips he runs away from her.
She gets a text from him later telling her it would be best if they did not hang out again. As far as she concerned this was a nightmare that never happened.
It would have been easier to continue with her charade if he was still a nobody from Brooklyn but, as an accomplished author, freelance writer with one Hollywood blockbuster under his belt he is often invited to parties she and Chuck are invited to and much to her irritation people like him.
She started to share a few anecdotes about his years as a nobody from Brooklyn. It deterred a few people but, most still like him and his rags to riches story is a major selling point and makes him a poster boy of the American Dream.
Things come to a head when she is reading Page 6 and finds out that he is shacking up with Mila Kunis. It is one thing for the Dan Humphreys of the world to date Serena Van Der Woodsen due to the proximity of St Judes and Constance. Everyone knows that Serena is an equal opportunities person. Humphrey is dating Mila Kunis? It is clear she is in some alternative universe.
She doesn’t realize when she lets out an unconscious noise from her throat which ends up sounding like a guttural scream.
Chapter 2
Rating: PG
Synopsis: This is a post Season 6 AU on Dan and Blair’s relationship with a brief prologue highlighting their Season 4/5 relationship. “She could never love him that is what she tells herself every time…”
Author’s Notes: There are two styles of writing used here as I was experimenting. The prologue has a poem like structure while the rest of the fic is prose. Please let me know which you like best.
I haven’t seen Season 6 or most of Season 5 (except for a few photographs), so I may have taken some artistic license here and there e.g. Dan and Serena’s wedding venue, honeymoon; Blair’s involvement in Dan and Serena’s wedding, the identity of Gossip Girl was never revealed, she just faded into obscurity after they graduated from college, etc.
No betas all mistakes are mine. Constructive criticisms are lush/appreciated.
Disclaimer: Gossip Girl does not belong to me. I am writing this story for the fun of it and no money is being made.
Prologue
She could never love him.
That is what she tells herself every time they meet for coffee, when he visits, sleeps over or when they have brunch.
It scares her how in sync they are. She has never had that much synergy with anyone. She is surprised that it is happening with him.
This can not be her life!
It amazes how much he gets her but, yet how much he doesn't. It is tempting to remain in this cocoon. It’s safe, no dramas. It offers some sort of normalcy that she has never experienced.
But, then she reminds herself that he is everything she detests and despises; a bourgeois know it all and judgmental to boot.
He is beneath her, lower than a minion. She must have had been possessed to have ever gone there.
She could never love him that is what she tells herself but, then maybe she might love him just a little.
Chapter 1 - No Longer At Ease
Is it possible to love two men?
That's the unbidden moral dilemma that befuddles her as she gazes at the couple standing at the aisle.
Part of her wonders if things hadn't taken its course if that would have been her standing there right next to his slicked back gelled overgrown hair, dark silver suit wearing hobo with a five o' clock shadow.
Even though he looks a mixture of untamed and something else, something within her is shaken in a primal way; she has not felt this way in years.
Her eyes meets Chuck and she gives him a dashing smile, it puts her at ease momentarily but, the door to all she had suppressed is already open and it's too late to shut it now.
The wedding goes on without a hitch, Serena is all smiles and glowing, while Dan looks like his won the jackpot. Together they look ecstatic and she would not have wanted it any other way.
By eleven pm everyone in attendance bid the newlyweds goodbye as they hop into the limo that would take them to the airport where they will be boarding the Bass Jet to Mauritius; a wedding present courtesy of she and Chuck.
She hangs back till the end with Dorota in tow as she oversees the cleaning up and the catering staff out of the premises. Chuck had left earlier with Henry.
After all the cleaning is done and she convinces Dorota to go home to Vanya and the children, she collapses on one of the warm coloured chairs and gazes at the empty hall deep in thought.
The security guard calling out Mrs Bass draws her out of her reverie.
"Mrs Bass...Mrs Bass your car is here."
She gives him a beatific smile and tells him she'll be out shortly. After all these years of marriage it is still surreal being referred to as Mrs Bass.
After a final cursory glance at the hall, she rises from the chair gracefully and makes her way to her town car.
Chuck is waiting for her in the living room when she gets home. The glass of scotch in his hand makes a swishing sound as it hits the glass due to the gradual pendulum swing of his arm as he reclines on their Louise Philippe armchair.
He places the glass on the rosewood wine table residing beside the armchair purposefully then gets up and makes his way towards her; there is something predatory in his stride.
His breath ghosts around her neck and it makes her shiver and shudder simultaneously. He rains crushing kisses across her nape of her neck while his arms hold her tightly.
Not tonight she thinks, she is spent from all the wedding organizing and coordinating. All she wants is a nice bath and to sleep but, she doesn't want him to see this as a snub. Gently she places her right hand under his chin and turns his face towards hers. There are no words exchanged except a deep kiss and engulfing him in an extended hug. It does the trick; he gets her silent message and arm in arm they make their way to their bedroom together.
Not before long Chuck is out like a light, she extricates herself from his arms and goes into the walk in closet to undress.
After a long soak in their Archeo Copper bathtub she changes into her negligee.
She checks on Henry. He has kicked of his coverlet and his head is now at the foot of the bed. She moves him to a better position gently in order not to wake him and tucks him in. With a gentle kiss on his brow, she exits Henry’s room and joins Chuck in their bed. She leans down to give him a peck on the cheek and snuggles into the bed next to him.
And as she drifts into sleep, she sees obscure images that remind her of bed and broomsticks, shaggy curls and Brooklyn alley ways.
Serena and Dan live in LA now which means that she rarely sees Dan and Serena. Serena is a producer on NBC while Dan is a freelance writer for a few of the big publications on the east and west coast plus a novelist and budding screen writer.
Two years after their society wedding, Serena calls to tell her that she and Dan are getting a divorce. Serena says that it is an amicable split. She and Dan came to the realization that they are different people and decided to break things off before they began to hate each other. Blair can't seem to get her head around this bit of news; she thought Dan was it for Serena.
Dan moves back to New York a few months later after their divorce is settled. Blair heard through the grapevine that Dan moved back to Brooklyn and is staying with his Dad temporarily until he can sort himself out. She reminds herself to invite him for one of her garden parties to help him settle back into the New York state of mind.
She bumps into Dan at one of the New York fashion week parties a few months later, his press - she didn't think this was his kind of thing. He says his doing it as a favour for a friend whose appointed journalist took ill with meningitis unexpectedly. When she is not networking she hangs back and makes idle chitchat with him for old times sake as she knows this is not his type of gig. Silently she commends herself on doing a charitable deed after witnessing the atrocious collections on display. Like Anne Wintour she pursed her lips throughout most of the show.
After that she bumps into him again at one of Anne Wintour's dos and again they pickup like old friends.
She finds herself making plans for them to meet up for coffee; it is more of her demanding his presence. She doesn't want him to be lonely.
People say familiarity breeds contempt but, in her case she finds it endearing. The regular meet ups reintroduces her to his quirks like how he throws back his head when he laughs or the ways he chews at his pen when he thinking about something or how he is able to keep up with her cultural, literary and art references which most people around her don't get. She hasn't felt this alive in years.
If Chuck is her sexual awakening then Dan is her emotional awakening. Is she really a terrible person for wanting them both?
Dan takes the decision out of her hands on a gorgeous sunny winter day in Central Park. The weather was cold and brisk, her cheeks and nose were rosy from the blast of cold air hitting her face as she twirled round on the ice with glee and with no care in the world. Dan is by her side, their hands are clasped as she introduces him to her childhood past time. Dan is not a very good skater.
When they pause momentarily on the sides for Dan to catch his breath momentarily before they went on the ice again; a sudden boldness comes upon her and she puts her lips against his.
She doesn't know why she did it. Maybe it is the laughter that escaped from their lips as they skated or the joie de vivre in the air, she really can’t put a finger on it but, she likens it to an invisible force or maybe a little red Blair on her shoulder causing her to forget her vows to Chuck and do something incredibly stupid, something that she wouldn't have dared if gossip girl was still around.
He wrenched himself away from her as soon as it happened looking aghast. With an almost waddle and many near trips he runs away from her.
She gets a text from him later telling her it would be best if they did not hang out again. As far as she concerned this was a nightmare that never happened.
It would have been easier to continue with her charade if he was still a nobody from Brooklyn but, as an accomplished author, freelance writer with one Hollywood blockbuster under his belt he is often invited to parties she and Chuck are invited to and much to her irritation people like him.
She started to share a few anecdotes about his years as a nobody from Brooklyn. It deterred a few people but, most still like him and his rags to riches story is a major selling point and makes him a poster boy of the American Dream.
Things come to a head when she is reading Page 6 and finds out that he is shacking up with Mila Kunis. It is one thing for the Dan Humphreys of the world to date Serena Van Der Woodsen due to the proximity of St Judes and Constance. Everyone knows that Serena is an equal opportunities person. Humphrey is dating Mila Kunis? It is clear she is in some alternative universe.
She doesn’t realize when she lets out an unconscious noise from her throat which ends up sounding like a guttural scream.
Chapter 2