All Roads Lead To Yale - Chapter 14
Rufus opened the front door after repeated knocks to find Blair Waldorf on their doorstep.
“Hey, hi Blair!”
“Hi, Mr. Humphrey. Is Dan in?”
“Yeah, he’s in his room listening to depressing music. Go in and say hi, maybe it will make him stop playing that awful stuff,” said Rufus, smiling at her in encouragement.
Blair walked past Rufus into the loft, making her way to Dan’s bedroom door.
As she put her hand on the door knob, Rufus said, “Blair, tell Dan I’m spending the night at Lily’s. Good luck in there.”
Blair nodded. Rufus then grabbed his coat and left.
Blair stared around the room nervously, remembering the night she’d come here to make the deal with Dan. She momentarily steeled herself to have the same courage she’d had that night and then pushed down on the door handle and entered Dan’s bedroom.
“Dad, I told you, I’m not in the mood for another pep talk,” said Dan, turning down the music but still facing his computer.
“Is that how you greet guests, Humphrey?”
“Blair?”
“No, I’m a figment of your teenage fantasies.”
She sat down on the bed, facing him, laid her purse gently beside her and crossed one leg behind the other delicately.
“So, I read your article…Very insightful.”
Dan looked around the room uncomfortably, unsure of how to respond.
“Why do you like me, Dan? What is it about me, that makes you like me? What inspired that article?”
Dan turned to look at Blair and replied, “Very subtle Waldorf. Why does one like someone?”
“I’m asking the questions here, Humphrey. So…tell me, why do you like me?”
“Well, I like you because you are beautiful…” started Dan.
“Very shallow, and I can get that off any greeting card. I need more than that.”
He smiled at her comment and tried again. “I don’t know…this is new to me…it’s not something that I have fully quantified or identified. But, what I do know is that I enjoy being around you, even when you are being a pain in the, you-know-what. And somehow, all that pain is worth it, just to be around you.
“You can…you can be extremely sweet, in private especially. When you’re excited, you act like a little girl and it’s so infectious that everyone around you becomes excited too. You’re not afraid to express your feelings or call me on my shit. You make me want to be a better person;
you inspire me to be a better person.When you’re not around, I miss you a lot, to the point of pining. I think I finally began to clue in - or maybe I realized that I was sick in the head - when I started finding your plotting and vendettas sexy.”
“God, ramble much?” Despite her joking tone, Blair was obviously impressed.
“Please, I’m totally adorable,” replied Dan jokingly and more confidently.
Dan got up from the chair and walked towards the bed. He bent down in front of Blair and clasped her hands in his.
“So…how do you feel about me?”
“Very subtle Humphrey. Why does one like someone?” she parroted back at him.
Dan laughed, “I guess I deserved that, but I just gave you an excruciating ramble describing my feelings. Take pity on me.”
“I like you too, Humphrey.”
“And why do you like me?”
Blair laughed and added, “Because I’d rather be here than anywhere else.”
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