fic: All My Days (Chapter 6)
Title: All My Days
Couple: Dan/Blair
Fandom: Gossip Girl
Rating: T
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**Added Note: In this chapter, Dan puts his puppy in a cage before he leaves his apartment. A reader pointed out in a review that doing this is cruel, and she didn't think Dan would do that. I'd just like to say that I LOVE dogs (I have one!) and when my dog was a puppy, we put him in a cage every time we left the house. We did this until he was trained to not eat or ruin the furniture. I know a TON of people who do this...it's not just me. I would never do or write anything that would harm an animal. I'm sorry if you're offended by this decision, but I'm keeping that part in the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own GG or any of its characters.
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Chapter 6
In the following weeks after Allison's funeral, five noteworthy things happen to Blair: she breaks things off (finally) with Palmer, finds out she's going to be an "aunt" to Serena and Nate's (long-awaited) baby, gets a considerable (surprise) raise at work, and doesn't see Dan once.
She has to force herself not to worry.
He's understandably still grieving the unexpected loss of his mother. And not only that, but he has to come to terms with how long she'd been hiding her illness from him.
But even so, she'd barely heard a word from him. Through the grapevine (Dan to Nate to Serena to Blair), she'd been told that Addie had moved back to California, because her apartment's renovation was complete. Blair had found herself having mixed feelings about Adelaide's departure. She'd have been blind not to notice how deep their friendship was, and she knows Dan must be missing her terribly already. On top of his mother's death, she's almost positive he's feeling another hard blow of loss. But although Blair had found Addie to be incredibly sweet and fun to be around, she couldn't help but think she was in the way. She needs to get to a place with Dan where he can finally trust her again. He needs to let her tell him the truth.
He needs to hear her side of the story.
She knows it'll take a bit of time to get there, though, so she pushes it into the back of her mind for the time being. According to Nate, Dan had been holeing himself up in his apartment with Penny, never going out anywhere besides his office. And although it breaks her heart, she doesn't want to overstep their boundaries.
So she does nothing; they're not together, after all.
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"Blair?" comes Tabitha's voice, prompting Blair to drop her phone immediately. She quietly, but quickly, strides to her boss's office.
"Yes, Tabitha?" she asks from the doorway.
Her boss looks up, diverting her attention away from her notes. "I need you to find a guy for our 'Men with Style' issue. It's for the article that follows a man around the city. You know...document how he shops, what he buys, and so forth. You're writing it."
She holds in a gasp. Keeping cool, she says, "Okay. Who are you thinking? Channing? Ryan? Or more B-List, perhaps?" She opens her own notepad to write the assignment details down.
Leaning back in her chair, Tabitha crosses her arms and purses her lips in thought. "I was actually thinking about a...non-celebrity for this specific article. The rest of the issue will be filled with them, but I wanted to go a different route for this piece."
Surprised, Blair raises her eyebrows. "Really?" At Tabitha's nod, she continues, "Well, I think that's a fabulous idea. Totally unexpected, but very relatable. It fits perfectly with our brand essence of showing off fashionable "real" people."
"Exactly," Tabitha agrees, pushing back her chair to stand. Blair watches as she walks over to her expansive window, looking out at the busy city below. From their high vantage point, only muffled car horns sound through the walls, but even in the quiet office, the vibrancy of the city still shines through. "I want a man who is successful in his profession, has a great group of friends, and who has a keen sense of style."
"Single or married?" Blair asks, as she continues jotting the rest of the criteria down.
"Doesn't matter." Tabitha pauses. "Actually...single. I want a guy who is responsible for his own wardrobe."
"Okay," Blair says, reading over the list. "Anything else?"
"Yes. This is a fashion magazine after all," Tabitha says, a slow smile making its way across her face. "He needs to be gorgeous."
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Throwing her purse on Blair's kitchen island, Greer groans. "Fuck, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse and chase the jockey." It's just after ten at night, and they're just getting home from the office. Greer had made up some excuse about how her apartment was too far, so they'd decided on a sleepover.
At her friend's announcement, Blair rolls her eyes. "Honestly, Greer. Sometimes I think you speak that way on purpose, to make absolute sure I don't understand you."
"Sorry!" Greer says for manners sake, with no apology laced into her tone. "I'm just starving. What've you got in here?" She helps herself to Blair's fridge, not waiting permission.
"Not much. I haven't gone to the market yet this week. I was going to go later tonight, but it's obviously too late for that now." She reaches up to take out her earrings. "I think I have some clean berries in the fridge or some cashews in the cupboard. We can order something in a bit to be delivered."
Greer turns around with three Oreos in her hand and one stuffed in her mouth.
At the sight, Blair lets out a laugh. "Good god, Greer. I bought those for Dorota's kids, not you!"
"But they're divine," she drawls, taking a bite out of the second cookie. She passes one to Blair, who takes the cookie purely for the sake of not having to watch Greer devour it. She twists it open, eating the circle with no frosting first.
"Okay," she breathes out in resign. "These are really good. Especially after the day I've had." She eats the other half in two bites and washes her crumb-covered hands.
"Yeah, speaking of that. What's this new article Tabitha has you working on? Why's it giving you such trouble?" Greer asks, settling herself on one of the counter stools. "I can't believe you get to write an article finally!"
Blair smiles at her friend's support. "Thanks, I'm thrilled too!" Pouring two glasses of wine, she explains, "It's for the 'Men with Style' issue. She wants me to pick a guy and follow him around while he's shops...documenting everything he picks up, touches, tries on...everything." After taking a long sip of wine, she feels her shoulders relax and digs into her briefcase to hand Greer her notes. "I just have no idea who to pick! I've been wracking my brain all day and no one's come to mind."
The notes aren't in Greer's hands for ten seconds before Blair recognizes the look that comes across her face. Turning away to avoid it, she takes the opportunity to walk into her bedroom and change out of her work clothes.
"Blair." The voice comes from the doorway.
"Yes?" she answers, feigning innocence as she walks into her bathroom.
"You and I both know the perfect guy for this," Greer says, waving the notes in her hand. "You've been complaining for weeks about not having an excuse to call him. This is your excuse!"
Blair's jaw drops, protesting. "I have not!" she says, yanking off her sweater.
Greer raises an eyebrow. "Blair...he's the guy. He's stylish, successful, and in charge of his own wardrobe. Not to mention, a total hottie."
"Don't call him that," Blair frowns, exhaling a loud sigh. "Fine, I'll call him. But I'll have you know...a lot of his wardrobe is thanks to me."
At her surrender, Greer claps her hands excitedly. "Yay! Oh, you have no idea how long I've waited for this to happen!" Greer says, flopping down on Blair's bed.
"Oh, stop. How can anything happen?" Blair laughs, walking out of her closet in jeans and a knitted wrap sweater. "You're forgetting there's another person coming with us."
Sitting up, Greer's eyes squint in confusion. "What? Who?"
Shaking her head with an amused grin, Blair points to her friend. "You."
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She still can't believe he's agreed to do the article, and from the moment he says yes to the moment she leaves her apartment to meet him a few days later, she's a nervous wreck. They haven't been alone together since their lunch, and because it's been at least a few weeks since she'd last seen him, she knows it'll probably be a bit awkward.
But standing at his door now, she feels much better about the day ahead-excited, even.
After knocking, she hears his voice calling, coming! before opening the door. Once he appears, she realizes how much she's missed him. He still has the same effect on her.
Blair smiles widely. "Hey."
"Hey yourself."
She's relieved to see he's looking significantly more like himself than the way he looked at the funeral. He no longer has dark circles under his eyes or tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. The most striking difference, however, is his smile. It's there.
He looks behind him, "I need a few more minutes. Is that okay?"
She nods and looks at her watch. "Of course. I'm early anyway," she says, blushing slightly. "I brought you coffee. I know we're starting pretty early." She hands over the extra cup.
He smiles. "Nah, I was up early with Pen anyway. But thanks! Come on in." He steps aside to allow her room to pass, shutting the door swiftly behind him. At the sight of Blair, Penny bounces over to her, immediately losing her balance and sliding across the hardwood floors with her paws splayed about. Blair can't help but chuckle at the pup, whose tail is wagging so fast, she gets dizzy looking at it.
"Hi Pen," she says laughing, crouching down to pet the dog. Her fur is so soft, Blair-embarrassingly-aches to bury her nose in the puppy's neck. That is, until Penny starts to lick her hand. "Does she ever tire out?" Blair asks, standing to go wash her hands. She notices Dan is seated at his desk, working away at his computer.
"Doesn't seem like it," he answers absent-mindedly, finishing whatever he was typing with a firm tap. From her view in the kitchen, she watches as he closes a few browsers and shuts his computer down. "Sorry, I just needed to answer a couple work emails." Walking over to his kitchen table, he grabs his phone and slips it in his pocket. "Okay…where's Pen?"
The answer is at Blair's feet, sitting perfectly with her tail brushing back and forth on the floor, looking upward at the brunette.
"I think she likes you," Dan laughs. "She never sits still like that."
Looking down at the adorable puppy dog eyes, Blair feels her love grow even further for the animal. This damn dog is going to be the death of her.
With a wry smile, Blair agrees, "Apparently."
"Well, she's gotta go in her cage. Come on Pen! Here girl!" Holding out a treat, Dan beckons her over, giving her some loving pats before locking her in a small, wired cage. Penny protests at once, letting out pathetic wimpers that make a pained expression come across Dan's face. "Ugh, she knows what her crying does to me. She hates that thing." When he takes a step towards the cage, Blair rolls her eyes.
"Seriously? The dog's supposed to be the one on a tight leash, not you," she teases. "Before you decide to leave this apartment with her free to roam about, think about how much you like your furniture."
Blair hears him sigh, but smiles when he leaves the dog and walks over to the front door. "After you," he says after opening it, gesturing for her to lead.
When they're on the sidewalk, he brings a hand through his hair nervously and asks, "So what am I supposed to do again? Shop?"
"Shop, try things on, point out your favorite stores. I suppose you don't have to buy anything…but we just want to follow a successful, career man as he navigates his way through one of the largest fashion capitals of the world." She tucks a loose curl behind her ear and looks up at him, challenging. "Do you think you can do that?"
"I can try," he says, giving a smirk that weakens her knees.
"Fabulous. Just tell me where the first stop is, so I can text Greer where to meet us."
"Oh, Greer's tagging along?"
"Yeah," she answers, detecting disappointment in his tone, and takes out her cell. "We need to photograph it all."
"Oh, right. Well…let's start at the predictable places," he says, raising his hand to flag a cab.
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She isn't happy with his first store choice, but bites her tongue and rolls with it.
From the moment he walks into the store, he takes his time-something Blair remembers very clearly about him. When they were together, she'd beg and plead that he'd go shopping with her every time Serena couldn't. He would tease and poke fun, saying she just wanted someone to hold her bags and purse for her. Although that had been a plus, she simply had just enjoyed his company. But on the rare days that they would go shopping just for him, Dan would meander his way through the each store, spending much more time than necessary; he would literally look at every item on the racks and shelves, from the floor all the way up to the ceiling.
So when they begin the day at Urban Outfitters, Blair isn't the least bit surprised to see his shopping habits haven't changed. The problem with this particular store, however, is that not only does it have clothes, but it also has shoes, books, techie gifts, and home décor. The music is blaring at an obnoxiously loud level through the speakers, squealing tweens are flitting from one rack to the other, and the amount of plaid and flannel in the space is borderline claustrophobic. But seeing Dan in his own world-just having the chance to observe him from afar-outweighs all the downsides. Just being in his presence again is enough.
Greer, who had somehow beaten them there, begins snapping away at once. Following the pair around the store, Blair finds that Dan is not the only one who captures her attention. Seeing Greer work outside of a studio setting-one that requires poses and lighting changes-is just as fascinating. She starts out predictably, taking normal, full-length shots of Dan: photos of him leafing through hung shirts, thumbing through book pages, and trying on shoes. But the pictures she snaps low from the ground, or the ones with her camera turned in unexpected angles, are the ones Blair yearns to see the most.
Dan doesn't buy anything from Urban, but he does buy a new pair of shoes from Bloomingdales, their second stop. They continue travelling from store to store in their little trio, with Dan fully embracing his role as "shopper." He explains as he browses, making comments on why he would buy something, and why he wouldn't. Wanting to remember every detail of his shopping behavior, Blair jots down everything: from the styles his gravitates towards the most, to the pieces and fabrics that make him cringe. She rolls her eyes when he drags them to a hat shop where, as much as she'd hate to admit it, he tries on a fedora that makes him look more attractive than ever before.
The conversation throughout the day is still a touch safer than normal, but almost like the old days. Their quick banter practically gives Greer whiplash, and she can see why Blair and Dan would work so perfectly together. Even if they won't both admit it, Greer notices the flirtatious air that seems to float over every conversation they have, and she eats up the opportunity to photograph it. Unconsciously, Dan seems just as smitten with Blair as she is with him.
When they go into the sunglass section of a store, in which Dan calls the "best kept secret of New York," Blair has to take off her sweater, her face flushed.
"I actually thought it was quite cold in here," Greer taunts, giving a knowing look that tells Blair: down girl. Blair resists the urge to give her the finger.
By the end of the day, Blair's actually proud of herself that through their entire shopping expedition, she hadn't once looked at anything for herself. Fully recognizing that this article could be the break she's been waiting for, she's taken every moment seriously. Aside from the thirty-minute lunch they took, she hadn't stopped writing all day. But after thumbing through her notebook, and noticing Dan browsing at styles she's already made note of, she decides there isn't any more info that could be packed into the article. Besides...her hand hurts, she's starving, and the designer dress she's been lusting after for weeks is hanging at the front of the store.
"I have to call into a conference for a few minutes," Greer says, walking up to the bench where Blair is seated. "Text me if he does anything worth…" She finishes the sentence by miming a camera taking a picture and makes a clicking noise with her tongue.
Blair waves her off. "I think we're pretty much done for the day. You can just head home," she says, standing to hug her friend goodbye. "Thanks for tagging along! I think it's going to turn out really great."
"Cool. I'll see ya tomorrow?"
"Yup," Blair says, tucking her notebook in her purse. "Have a good night!"
Once Greer is out of the store, Blair wastes no time grabbing the long-desired dress. She sighs happily when she finds her size, and admires the exquisite detailing as she walks into the dressing room. Pulling back the privacy curtain to the first room, she gasps when she runs into a warm body.
A bare warm body.
Stepping away, she's both thankful and horrified to be standing in front of a shirtless Dan Humphrey. Her momentary feeling of relief that it's not a stranger she's walked in on is quickly over when her eyes travel south-he's wearing only briefs.
Instead of backing up against the curtain opening she'd come through, she's somehow up against the wall-trapped between the mirror and a practically-naked Dan. He's so close, she can feel the heat radiate off his sculpted, utterly tempting body.
Whatever reaction she'd expected him to have is not what she's getting.
Instead of looking angry or confused, he looks…needy. His eyes rake over her form, starting from her legs to her face, pausing only when his gaze lands on her mouth. Unconsciously, she licks her lips, not surprised to find them suddenly dry. His eyes darken at the sight of her tongue, and she doesn't miss the way he swallows at the image.
She knows this moment between them is just going to complicate things further, but she finds herself not caring anymore. All she knows is that he's closer now, close enough for his breath to caress her face, and if he leans forward just a bit more-
"My. Humphrey? I have the shoe sizes you requested for out in shoe department," comes the sales woman's voice, throwing a bucket of ice water on whatever fire was spreading between them.
He's standing against the opposite wall now, pulling on his shirt and jeans, and leaving as fast as he can.
Blair barely registers when he's gone, her mind only snapping back to reality when a rush of cold air fills the small room. Her body thrums with unsatisfied needs, her chest heaves with want, and she reaches up to find her forehead slightly damp. She tries the dress on in a daze, taking her time to delay whatever conversation is going to happen on the other side of the curtain.
When she finally does venture back into the main rack area, her heart drops.
Sitting on the shoe sofa, having what looks to be a wonderfully pleasant conversation, is Dan and Tabitha.
"Tabitha?" Blair says in confusion, wondering what her boss is going in the store...talking to Dan.
"Oh Blair! There you are!" her superior says, standing to peck her on the cheek. Blair backs up...she's never seen Tabitha like this. Her face is blushed, her eyes are dazzled, and she looks totally taken by Dan.
"I thought I'd come by and see how the day went! Greer texted me where you were."
Blair makes a mental note to kill her Aussie friend. "Oh, it went great! We were actually just getting ready to leave. We're all done. Dan?" She looks at him expectantly, hoping he gets her memo of follow me.
"Oh that's a shame. We were just getting to know each other," Tabitha says, practically batting her eyelashes at Dan.
"Yeah, um, actually..." He looks at Blair, his gaze locking on her eyes for a moment, before looking back at her boss. Blair holds her breath when he speaks. "I actually don't need to go right now. Tabitha, would you like to get a drink with me? Or would that be weird, Blair?"
Through unfocused eyes, she sees them both look at her, waiting for her answer. Tabitha's expression reads somewhere between remember who I am and help a girl out!
"Of course it's not weird!" Blair says, hoping they can't detect the straining in her voice. "Have a great time! I'll see you tomorrow, Tabitha. Bye Dan."
She gives one final wave and walks at a normal pace to the door, where she half-hazardly throws the stunning dress on a random rack.
Walking out on the sidewalk, she ignores the way her throat tightens and her eyes burn.
She wanted him to be happy, right?
Well if this is what makes him happy, she'll stay out of his way.
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tbc
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A/N: I feel like a broken record, because I say the same thing every time. I'm sorry it's taken so long to update this fic. My absence is due to a number of reasons, ones that I won't bore you with, but I'm still so appreciative of everyone who's still reading. Hopefully I haven't lost too many of you!
I always love reviews, so if you have time...please tell me what you thought of this chapter!