"Do you have a problem?" Chuck calls him out, and Dan is tempted to say yes, I do have a problem. My girlfriend is in love with another guy, and she might not even know it. So yes Chuck f_сking Bass, I do have a problem. But instead he just shakes his head and chomps into a dry roll. Blair gives him a funny look (not quite pity, but close) and then sips her white wine. Nate starts talking about his sail boat, and Dan has to stifle a groan. Serena's eyes light up at the mention, and she leans over and whispers something in Nate's ear. Nate laughs, and for a second her head rests on Nate's shoulder. It's only a second, but it's enough to make Dan's heart sink. When he looks across the table at Vanessa her face has fallen too, and he thinks maybe she's not as blind as she pretends to be.
Serena suggests they all go to the boat after dinner, buy some cheap wine, listen to good music – fun times. Dan prays Blair will say no because she's in a bad mood. But she and Chuck have made up between the appetizers and the main meal and she happily agrees with the plan. Chuck still glares at him, but it's a slow burn instead of the intense heat it was before. Vanessa whispers something to Nate, but he just shrugs and tells Serena it's a great idea. Every idea Serena has, is great to Nate. Serena turns to Dan as an after thought and asks if he's in. He nods, and starts to say something, but she's already turned back to Nate. She's touching his arm again. It's a rainy Wednesday when he finds her sitting on a bench outside of the Palace. He's been calling her all afternoon but her voicemail is full, and she's not calling him back. He sits beside her even though the bench is wet, and his pants are now damp and uncomfortable. It's still drizzling out, and if she wasn't so beautiful she'd look like a drowned rat. He takes her hand, and she lets him hold it. He asks her what's wrong, but she just turns to him with this lost look in her eyes. He thinks he sees tears, but they mingle with the rain drops and he can't be sure. She's broken. He can see that clearly now, and it scares him, because he's not the one who broke her.
"What happened?" He manages to get out even though he doesn't really
want to know. He's scared she'll decide to tell him the truth, and then
all the dreams he has for the future will come crashing down around him.
She is his future. That's what he's always believed, but is he her
future? He's not sure, and what's even worse is that he doesn't think
she is either. "I'm fine." The way she says it is so emotionless,
so cold that he's shocked into silence. She pulls her hand out of his,
and folds it with her other in her lap. She stares down at her fingers
like they're foreign objects. He doesn't know what to do or say, all he
knows is he wants to make it better. He knows he can't though.
下班喽~~剩下的等明天了 ======================================== He
stands up and brushes at the back of his pants. He feels useless and used, and
it's more horrible than he ever thought it could be. She looks up at him again,
some silent pleading in her eyes, but he doesn't know what she wants him to do. "Tell
me…" he says without really knowing what he's asking. "I
can't," she murmurs as the wind picks up and the rain begins whipping
again. Her phone buzzes in her pocket, and he doesn't have to look to know
who's calling her. She exhales a loud breath, and it sounds a lot like relief.
Did they fight? Did she think he wouldn't call her? He can't imagine the
insecurities that she's acquired over the years where Nate is involved.
"You
should answer it," he tells her. She pulls it out of her pocket, and
does
just that. He tells himself she wouldn't have if he hadn't told her to,
but
it's a lie. He listens to her whisper softly into the phone. She greets
him,
she apologizes, and she assures him he wasn't in the wrong. She tells
him she
understands his point of view, and that she never meant to upset him.
Dan wants
to puke right there on the Palace steps. They talk for a few more
minutes, and
she starts to smile. Her eyes even turn a brighter shade of blue. The
storm is
passing, but then it returns suddenly. He's not sure what Nate says, but
her
face goes a shade greyer, and her eyes become downcast again. She
murmurs a
quick goodbye and then hangs up. "Is
everything okay?" He can't stop himself from asking. She shakes her
head,
but offers no more explanation. Anger rises up taking him by surprise,
and
making him sound sharper than he wishes. "I don't want to play games,
Serena." "No
games," she agrees, but still says nothing more.
"Tell
me." This time it's a demand. She remains silence and he thinks she'll
leave him hanging. But then she reaches out to him and pulls him back down
beside her. He once again ignores the wet bench, and instead focuses on the
feel of her soft hand on his damp skin. He wants to savor this touch, because
he's afraid it will be their last. "I'm
sorry," she says, and it's ripped from somewhere deep inside her. The dam
has broken and she begins crying again. She leans into Dan's chest, and he
holds her. It's not lost on him that she's crying over another guy, but he
can't bear to turn her away. "Tell
me," he whispers again.
He wants to shake her until she finally spits it out, but he doesn't
move. He keeps holding her, and rubbing her back. He's soothing the girl
who is about to rip him to shreds, but what else is he supposed to do.
He's the good guy, not the villain. He can't throw her away like Chuck
Bass would if he were Dan. He can't ignore her like Nate has for all
these years. So he'll take his lumps, and hope he finds his way to the
other side. "I need to know." His voice cracks when he says
this, and she looks up to meet his eyes. He see's guilt, and pain, and
doubt. He wonders what she's afraid of. He wonders if she ever really
loved him. He hopes she did, because he knows he's never loved anyone
the way he loves her. "It's stupid really," she pulls back
from him, and wipes at her eyes. She pastes on a perfectly fake smile,
and begins to brush it all away. Dan is so tempted to just let her.
"Nate and I had a little fight… it was nothing… I'm acting like a
freak."