[for Dan]

[turnthebadinme]

At first, it had been pretty easy to keep convincing herself that staying away from Dan was the best course of action. True, when it came to any kind of relationship, Chuck wasn't exactly the best person to take advice from, but Serena had to admit, he'd had some good points. Besides, Dan had been totally out of line. Maybe she'd been wrong to take

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[l0nely_boy]

Dan was home, in fact. He was home and he was writing. Notebooks purloined from the stationery in the cupboard, he'd spent a lot of the week holed up doing just that. If it was good or not, he didn't know. stories of betrayal, of friendships gone wrong; for a writer of fiction he'd always had problems separating himself from his work.

The rocks clattering on wood had brought him out of his reverie. Seeing Serena when he looked out the door just made him start.

"Serena? Hey," the last person he'd expected to see seeking him out, he grabbed the ladder, "you aren't here to kick my ass or something like that?"

[turnthebadinme]

"Not today," Serena said, letting out a little sigh of relief when he finally emerged. Now that she'd made up her mind to set things right, she wouldn't have been content to budge until she'd done exactly that. Maybe at home it would have been simpler just to let him go, though she didn't think it was something she could ever do. Here, there was only so long she could avoid him and she didn't want to try anymore. "Actually, I'm here to do the opposite. Can we - do you think we could just talk? A little, down here on the ground? Please?

[l0nely_boy]

"Sure you don't want to come up? I promise you it's safe," he lowered the ladder, crouching at the edge of his door. that she'd come looking for him and that she didn't seem angry, it was a huge relief, already. "C'mon. I can give you the grand tour. It'll be a tour of three seconds, but it's a tour."

[turnthebadinme]

She hesitated for about as long as the length of that tour, then stepped in closer to pull herself up the ladder. "Okay," she said warily as she approached the top. "But how do you know I'm not just coming up to push you out?" Granted, probably the fact that she was saying that was pretty good proof of that. Besides, it wasn't her style. It was better any discussion be guaranteed private anyway. Just because she was looking to end a fight didn't mean she wouldn't end up provoking one instead.