fitz4aking

She is surprised to see him there, even if probably not as much as he is to actually be there, willingly even when she opens her mouth just to insult him. But the best defense is a good offense and she does defend herself; because no one ever do it for her, because she doesn’t know what else to do, because she is broken. He stays. It’s stupid, and crazy and she thinks he should know better but he stays and she is not alone anymore. It is a matter of fact.He stays and he slides down to sit on the floor, with his jeans and his pain and his regrets. He serves her his own heart on a silver plate, she could pierce it with a fork for all he knows, still he’s doing it. She doesn’t feel like piercing his heart. The words he says mean something, the silence he makes mean something too. She just feels like staying there on the floor. He is for her nothing more than a waste of air, yet he did not desert her, and with him there it seems okay to be broken. Yes, it’s okay. For a few minutes they can be broken together.

His own steps echo in the hallway and while he walks to her he can’t help but ask himself where it went his sense of self preservation, because he’s willingly entering the lion’s cage and he can’t find in himself the strength to turn his back and leave her there. It’s not like she wants his company, anyway. Standing in front of her he can see how small she is. How lonely. And her poisoned heart shaped little mouth can’t drive him away. Strangely enough, he doesn’t mind, because in this very moment he can see past it, and he thinks he knows her by heart. It’s her peculiar way to be strong, to convince herself she’s all right. To tell him she’s not. He sits on the floor and looks in front of him at some point in the wall; and he speaks. He bares the open wound he spent four months carefully hiding from any living soul in front of the only person who would find amusing to stretch it with a five inches heel. Her big eyes are fixed on his and he can feel an entire universe of dreams and beauty and hunger for tenderness behind them. He can feel her. And he wonders if she can feel him too.

She has a talent for scheming, and Dan would probably have some sort of performance anxiety right now if the mere concept wasn’t so painfully ridiculous (and it’s not like he wants to make an impression on her, that would be a distinct sign of his moral downfall). He can feel her arm brushing against him while he takes on his role and it’s like they are an Emergency Response Team of the Secret Service. It’s all very weird, most of all the fact that his unlikely, unholy alliance actually works. She’s excited, genuinely so, like a kid or someone as innocent as a kid which he doubts she ever was, and he’s bewildered by all this energy and will that he sees and that it's all bottled up into her petite body. He suspects he has many good reasons to not be happy about it.

Blair thinks she can be proud of herself. She’s helping the masses, after all – Mother Theresa couldn’t do better. Dan had the humility and the grace to recognize her superior mind and experience in the scheming field so she can be generous with him even if he comes without a pedigree. She usually doesn’t have scheming companions, only minions with little minds and limited visions. Humphrey has some brain – she must admit to herself – so she will entitle him at being part of the team, which she will lead of course. It’s not that bad, because she never had so much fun taking down someone like in this case and maybe it’s not entirely because it’s about Georgina. Maybe, partially, just a little bit, she could swear nothing at all, this has something to do with Humphrey.

Life can be so cruel, she realizes. All that fine faculties of his wasted into a plebian, remorseful mental attitude, when obviously the dirtier the better. He’s from Brooklyn, so he should make a poster out of it, still he’s stubborn enough to hold on his principles and his utopist vision of the world, like they will give him any charm at all. It worked only on King Arthur, and he had an incestuous love to make him stimulating, so it doesn’t really counts. Choreographing his sister’s boyfriend shame would have made him darker, and somewhere in the back of her mind there’s this idea of him, bad just as she is. Of him with no valid arguments to point out her devious ways. Of him, closer. Oh, well, but why would she want him to be, after all?

Contrary to the blond, light breeze of Serena leaving him, Blair is a dark hurricane investing him with a frontal impact he can’t avoid. He has no intention to admit to himself he’s actually quite fascinated with how the wheels turn in that brilliant, sharp, seductively deviant brain of hers. Listening to her is a thrilling experience, when it doesn’t result into some sick play, which it happens more than half the time, really; this is basically why he knows he needs to stay away from her. He doesn’t intend to be stripped of his conscience if ever her reasoning starts to make sense, or to look any alluring, because aside from her objectionable inclinations he can remember what he saw behind her eyes in a lonely hallway during an afternoon in September. And that girl is his equal Possibly, his friend.

He doesn’t know why Serena would think Blair will ever listen to him, of all people. She doesn’t look thrilled to be there, and this makes him more at ease (he has this feeling that he could actually be the one person that’s capable to read her the one that doesn’t even need to try to be able to do that - and it’s ridiculous and scary). Suddenly he looks at her – at her low gaze and long lashes and auburn air that make her look even more melancholic, like an autumnal day – and he knows. He knows her fears, her desires, what keeps her awake at night and why a part of her can’t help but hope against any better judgment. And he knows just why he has this urge he has to suppress to reach out to her and hold her hand and tell her she can’t possibly be just another girl, to anyone.

She knew better but still kicked and protested to not be there, facing Dan Humphrey with his torturing wardrobe and his insight on her heart. She hates that he is right. Above all she hates that whatever he says to her, it actually always gets to her. The universe is probably laughing at her expense right now – she’s being guided by a boy from Brooklyn that is never capable to find a way to a decent boutique. Do you love him? He asks, and Blair finds yet another reason to hate him. How can he understand if she nearly needed to make a diagram for all the others to get it? His voice is soothing and very warm and it makes her feel naked. And he doesn’t laugh, and he doesn’t judge (activity in which he is usually very good at) and he makes her braver.There are times, like now, when if she didn’t know better she could swear he’s the only one who can read her, the only one who doesn’t even need to try to understand her.

I look forward to seeing you. Every thought is… burnt up in a great flame - Truthfully he would rather eat his tongue then say something like that to her, ever again. He raises his hand and tries to look at her with longing (he’s not sure he can manage that – it’s Blair, no one can blame him) as to reach for her cheek and she turns what it was meant to be like a chaste kiss into some sort of all-in wrestling, climbing on him to bully him better and he has no other choice but to lose, because they are on stage and because he would never hit her, if his own life depended on it. She almost talks against him mouth, his arms are around her body holding her on top of him – he’s sure they are breaking some law of the physics, in the best case, because any touching between them must surely lead to catastrophe. He can feel her breath and her resentment. And then when she walks away he can distinguish something incredibly similar to disappointment in her voice. He never knew he had the power to do that to her.

Blair is tempted to believe him when he tells her he didn’t plot any revenge against her, just because he’s Humphrey. She knows better – she stopped long ago to trust people, she doesn’t even trust herself, really. But he says he didn’t do it and a small part of her believes that. That’s what makes her angrier at him. He ruined her life by outing information just to humiliate her; then he made a fool out of her for ever being lead to believe in him. He looks surprised and annoyed and true, and she's hurt. He shouldn't be that good at that. Even now he’s making her feel incredibly stupid, because even now a small part of her trusts that he’s telling her the truth.

He doesn’t mean to sound judgmental; but saying he’s genuinely surprised by her lack of outturn in getting laid – with Chuck **** Bass of all people – it’s an euphemism, because – aside from her toxic personality – Blair looks like she just awoke from her pose in the Antonio Canova’s sculpture “Psyche revived by Cupid’s kiss” (he would love to think otherwise but he’s got two eyes, both working perfectly, 20/20 vision, so no chance to miss out the truth). So, really, it’s hard to take seriously this big problem of hers because it is simply not conceivable. It’s not his fault if the whole situation sounds so comical. Besides, there’s something wrong in this conversation – aside from the obvious, of course – because he’s missing a point. There’s something she is not telling him. He’s not delighted that he can tell that of her.

She’s crude, and visibly annoyed; if she can’t send him away because Serena needs to use her as excuse to keep him tied to her ankle at least she can make him regret it. He even stammers when she tells him her problem, like it’s not embarrassing enough to be reduced to be seeking advices from Lonely Boy. He enquires her, and she lies. His eyes scrutinize her, like he’s searching for something. She’s so good at lying; she could be the worthy heir of the sublime Audrey – yet Humphrey looks her in the eyes and he knows. She hates that; unlike her (self-centered) friend, Humphrey knows the glaring contrast between looking and seeing – he observes people the same way he observes art, with all the passion of his senses and the vigor of his intellect - and so he makes her the centre of his world for forty seconds. The longest forty seconds of her life. She hates him. He’s lucky he makes himself useful sometimes.

She catches the grey of Dan’s suit next to her and points her eyes on him thinking that now she really did hit rock bottom. She tries to resort to her long experience as consumed liar to show her best expression of stoic indifference but he’s not even looking at her. He watches Chuck and then puts himself in front of her to cover her visual. Blair would never say that out loud but she’s grateful he’s saving her the sight she was self inflicting herself and putting himself as target to her every most intimate dissatisfaction. If nothing else Dan Humphrey is always been a great target. She feels reassured by her capability to still spit poison so easily and with such class. He laughs. She thinks that maybe it’s a quality even to be able to take an insult with such class. She ends up thanking him – luckily she has no energy to realize the scary number of times she said those words to him (in all the worst times, those times you are supposed to find your friends and yet she found him). Truth is: she’s horrible, depraved, soulless, but he still thinks she deserves to be with someone who makes her happy and he stands there patiently listening to her passing judgment on his private life, belittling his good disposition and condemning his wardrobe, so maybe it’s not so bad to be standing in front of Dan Humphrey and his in-need-of-a-new-haircut head. Not so bad, at all.

He thinks it’s pathetic. The whole situation is; but mostly it’s Chuck Bass who’s pathetic, flirting with the new, random bimbo, whom is going to become attractive like a venereal disease in the morning (Dan is pretty sure he has intimate knowledge of the latter, even more so than the one he clearly intends to have with the former). He never liked him, but tonight Chuck managed to become even more abominable in his eyes which, he must say, is a big achievement; the bastard is intentionally walking over Blair’s feelings right in front of her, and making him painfully aware of the fact that he doesn’t like it. Yes, he doesn’t like it. He has this hateful need to make her feel better so he doesn’t even mind that much when she unsheathe her cutting tongue on him, demonstrating him she’s still very much alive and kicking. He’s got vaccinated, by now. To think about it, the world would be less interesting without some verbal challenge. Their witty battles make him feel intellectually stimulated and brave. And it’s fun. In her way Blair Waldorf is fun. Maybe this is the reason why he asks her to dance. What he still doesn’t know, not can begin to understand, it’s the reason why she says yes.

There are various words for the same thing: Suicide, self-annihilation, self-destruction, dying at your own hand. To immolate your sanity and your self-esteem on the altar of Blair Waldorf just because she's sad. He always publicly declared that he doesn't like her - and he could swear with his right hand on the Bible and his left foot on the Koran, or he would if he didn't suspect that would be blasphemous - yet he can't go past her, can't leave her behind, can't help himself but try to tell her that she deserves more. That she should be happy. But her smile is lost, and what's replaced it is only a pale shadow of it. She needs to acknowledge that she is supposed to get it, all of it - her smile, her dreams, her happy ending - but doesn't know how to tell her. And she doesn't need to know he wants that for her.

It's eating her alive, the relationship she worked for. There's something inside of her screaming while she keeps her facade in place and yet wonders how can anyone not realize that is all pretend. Even if she screamed no one would hear her anyway, no one would understand. But Humphrey, whose timing is so excellent she wants to laugh. It bothers her that he notices, that he knows the difference between her annoyance and her pain, that he cares enough to ask her what's wrong, to offer a reassurance. It bothers her that when he looks at her he sees something she is scared to recognize herself. It bothers her that maybe, maybe because of his eyes, because of his voice, because of him it's not his ice that's melting, but hers.

He is nonchalant about it, or at least does his best to. She's Blair Waldorf, and her second job - right after being a poisonous beauty of impeccable taste for fashion and verbal elegance - is to party, so it's quite bewildering to look behind his shoulder and find out she's nervous. She thanks him (for being her kind of, someting like, well... date, this is the word that makes him feel not so much nonchalant about this) and it's hard for her to admit that she needs him: the Brooklyn resident, Lonely Boy, Dan-not-worthy-of-her-time-Humphrey. And he enjoys his position for once. Aside from shocking him into accepting, aside from his white knight complex, he really can't explain to himself why he's there with her. He gets a kick out of it somehow. He gets rid of her headband and touches her hair and he feels a bit like the kid who pulls at the hair of the girl he likes. Not that he likes her, of course.

She holds her pochette and follows him up the stairs feeling like she's about to be thrown out any moment now, like someone caught at the Emmys without an invitation. She usually gets an invitation for Emmys, but this is not her natural habitat and the only thing that makes her feel better is Dan. Which is worse. He could refuse her in front of a bunch of people that would have laughed at her for the rest of her miserable existence as a college student but he didn't. She would have. But Dan is not like her, and even if she usually prides herself for being who she is, who he can't be, reality is that Dan Humphrey always makes her feel like all that schemes and lies are just pointless. Like life and self-fulfillment and happiness are something else entirely. Something she never knew and she's scared to. So much so that she almost takes his arm, because a crazy part of her thinks he'll shield her. He won't let her fall. He'll be what she needs the most, even if it's socially unacceptable. Even if she never deserved it.

fitz4aking

DB just shocked me. Their scenes were literally like a breath of fresh air in the midst of the rest of the Gossip Girl season. Their banter was smart, quick, and sexy. Their chemistry was fresh and raw and compelling. Their exchanges were the highlight of each week's episode. I didn't set out to ship them. They made me ship them. I was powerless to resist.
-TotalDenial


I love Dan and Blair because she can be herself around him, they both have a lot in common, and he knows that she turns to him when she needs help. I loved them since season one when he went to her, and he talked. All the signs point to them being the most amazing, new endgame since Dawson's Creek and this could be a totally new game changer for the show. That kiss even went the way it did because even the creators wanted the kiss to last forever. To us Dair fans it still lives on, we just want more.
-kfrancis08


At first glance, Dan and Blair might not seem compatible. She looks down on Brooklyn and he sees Blair as everything he doesn't like about the Upper East Side. But what makes them so intriguing is that their differences don't go much further than where they came from. Over their mutual love of movies and art shows, so begins an unlikely friendship. Not only do they have something in common, they've found their intellectual equal. It's the freedom to be themselves with the potential of discovering entirely new sides to one another. There's just something so natural about Dan and Blair; instead of getting lost in fantasy, they give each other what's real. And unlike some other Gossip Girl couples, their relationship has built slowly; it's been a real treat for fans that want to savor every moment.
-blazing star


It's funny, because I actually saw the first Dair scene much later than it was aired, but even without that scene I had always entertained the idea of the two of them together (I've since then remedied this!). There was something wonderfully appealing about this boy who hated everything about the UES and Blair Waldorf who WAS the UES. In a twist of fate, I completely stopped watching the show right before all their interaction in the latter half of S3. But, then, when I heard Dair was getting a lot of scenes in The Townie I decided to Youtube the scenes. And all the love I'd been harbouring for them just burst out. There's something so wonderful, and genuine, honest and beautiful about this pairing, it's hard to describe. They understand each other and they make each other better people. I love this ship with every inch of my being, I'm laughing and crying and squealing all at the same time. They're perfect. They're truly the fairytale ship of this show, and my God they have a precious thing on their hands with this pairing. It's completely stunning and yet, so, so real, honest and down-to-earth.
-PaperGirl

I love Dair because Blair can be her real self with Dan. Not the scheming sex bot that she made herself out to be for Chuck. She can be neurotic, insecure, and vulnerable, but at the end of the day she still has Dan. I guess that's important these days, to have someone you can count on when things go wrong, and especially for Blair since she is so used to having to pick up the pieces for other people. Their relationship is funny, cute and fresh. Dan is the kind of guy Blair needs, someone who accepts her for what she is no matter what. Of course, there is the adorable banter of Penn and Leighton, who bring these characters to life with their dynamism as duo. Take the risk writers, take Daire there!
-SkateGirl88


Dan and Blair are this incredibly complex duo. They have the most believable natural chemistry and amazingly witty banter. Everyone knows the old adage of 'opposites attract' but even in their opposite nature they have so many commonalities. Their dispositions are both flawed but they manage to keep each other grounded and in check without disrespecting their own character. I think they both have the ability and capacity to love one another in the ultimate sort of way. Past pretenses and labels and judgments. While they do have obvious obstacles they are intellectually, emotionally and physically equal, and it's a thrill and extremely entertaining to witness their dynamic on my television screen.
-Serene_Ray


I never really thought the Gossip Girl writers would ever give Dair a fair shot. The pressure of a certain fanbase seemed too much for them to handle. But they Daired. Which still surprises me. It's so hard to write about it (Dan could do it much better) but when I watch their scenes I feel something pure and warm and fluffy growing inside of me. I'm a multi-shipper and Dan and Serena still holds a place in my heart. But with Dair I feel that connection that only these two can have; not only their mutual interests in books, art and culture (which, by the way, I admire... they really made me want to broaden my horizons and made me interested in art and documentaries with subtitles), but also they have that instinctive understanding of each others' personalities under that facade of hate and dislike towards one another. The build up that has been there from the start and quality of writing is way beyond the writers' usual 'hook up circle' tradition, The quality of writing dialogues, humor, wit and sarcasm is their signature, and that makes people tune in for Dair and enjoy them unlike any other characters on this show. That contrast in writing for these two vs. other storylines, the care and promotion they are given from The CW and the screenwriters, gives me hope for further development of the Dair storyline, be it a friendship or romance or whatever. I need to mention Penn and Leighton especially. These two bring the closeness that they have offset to Dair's relationship. All of it is reflected in every behind-the-scenes picture of them. They've known each other for a long time and have this easy chemistry that makes some non-fans stress that Dan and Blair have friendship chemistry and not a romantic one, but to me it's the thing that helps this couple to be so different from all other relationships on Gossip Girl. They are friends, they are lovers, they are enemies, they are scheming partners, they are these two opposittes that reflect the initial theme of the show: UES vs. Brooklyn. And they are in fact the kind of opposites that DO attract. They have been waiting to attract for four years and in the meantime they were also able to attract viewers, media and ship-jumpers. I'm really proud of this Dairevolution because it's very easy to create a revolution in the fandom in season one but they achieved that in season four, which is a hard task to do but they delivered in such a big way that makes my heart jump with joy.
-P&B4ever


Three years ago, I was introduced to the awesomeness that is Dair through a fanvid on YouTube. It was the first Gossip Girl fanvid I had ever seen. It was set to one of my favorite songs: Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved." I hadn't even seen Gossip Girl at that point and I was already hooked by the DB pairing. I started watching the show shortly after and enjoyed their journey from being connected through a mutual friend, to be connecting through their own friendship. Now this once AU pairing has graduated to a canon one. The song "She Will Be Loved" will quickly become "She IS Loved" for Ms. Waldorf. The pure, simple love Blair has always wanted is finally at her door. Hello, Mr. Humphrey. I couldn't be prouder to call Dair my OTP.
-purplestuff48


I love Dan & Blair because they can just be Dan & Blair with each other. They're both incredibly intellectual, their banter is always fun (and sometimes hard to follow), and they bring out the best in each other. I truly think that Dan makes Blair feel like it's okay to be Blair, and that she does, in fact, deserve to be happy. And when Dan is around Blair, I feel like he finds a sense of peace (albeit one that comments on his fashion) but he wouldn't have her any other way. They're simple around each other. They're not "The UES Princess" & "Lonely Boy" when they're around each other. They're Dan & Blair, two people who enjoy old Hollywood Noir films, art galleries, books, and challenging each other in healthy ways. And I'm all for that. These two have been taken for granted by the ones they loved. I think, together, they can find that love doesn't have to be complicated and full of drama to be true. DB Forever!
-**bittersweet**

Dest1ny

Thanks for the new thread. Love the title. Can you please add me to the shippers list.

ElenaBelle

TFTNT.

Perfect title

Touldengal

the perfect title is gonna make me cry!
tftnt!

Trustno1

TFTNT

Hey girls I thought I'd shamelessly pimp my vid!!

Tomorrow's skies

Thanks for the new thread!

Touldengal

i love it.
it kind of depressed me because it just shows how perfect they are and im so damn scared they will get ruined. 99% of the time im superrrr optimistic, but then i get these moments where im like.....COME ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN... and now im all sad cuz i want them to happen already!!!

smoothcriminal

Edit: no spoilers plz

CheEsecAKe&BRUCAS

Just read through the entire OP!!! It is absolute perfection!

TFTNT!!!!

Lennie1984

TFTNT

Yep the OP is perfect, credit to all the guys who made it

pinkcrust

hi i'm new here, i'm glad to see so much Dair love lately.
Dan and Blair are the only reason i watch, Gossip Girl has gained new life with them. But this episode was so bad, i feel second-hand embarrassment for the writers.

CheEsecAKe&BRUCAS

everyone does. Although I do feel like it had some of the best acting all season.

ride the lightning

Title is amazing

Ave

Tftnt!