A/N: Hello! So a few days ago, a lovely reader of mine sent me a message telling me she had this fic idea...and was wondering if I could write it. I was hesitant at first, but the plot was way too amazing to pass up! SO...this story idea comes from my new friend A :) Thank you girl! She deserves credit for it. I've actually mapped out the entire thing (a first for me!) and I can't wait to write it all. Song title comes from the wonderful Alexi Murdoch song.

Disclaimer: I do not own GG or any of its characters.

Prologue

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2015, Santa Monica

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I'm really gonna miss this place, Dan thinks as he walks down the wood-planked pier. The air smells sweet and tangy—a tasty mixture of sea salt and cotton candy.

When he'd first arrived here, he was overwhelmed with the sounds. Yes, he was used to the loud, boisterous, never-ending music that New York City sang. But on this coast...it was different. The crashing of waves, the happy screams of children, the squeaky seagull calls. He'd grown to love it in time, though. The tumbling of waves soon traipsed into a calming sound, the children's giggling shrieks made his heart warm, and the seagulls reminded him that he was near the ocean, far from home.

The latter being the most important part.

Leaning against the wood railing, he looks down at the beach below. A teenage couple is making out on a surfboard, sprawled across its flowery design. Ah, to be young again, Dan smirks, looking away from the teens. His eyes catch a baby toddling along the sand in a floppy, sun-shielding hat. With each step she takes he thinks she's going to fall down—as does the mother, who's trailing close behind—but she makes it safely to her father. As Dan starts to walk further down the pier he hears the applause and praises from the proud parents. He missed that milestone with Milo.

Even with the large crowds at the amusement park and restaurants, the pier has become one of his favorite places to come too. He tries to convince himself that it's because of the delicious fair treats and impossible-to-win (but addicting) carnival games, but deep down he knows the real answer: it reminds him of being lost in the throngs of people at home. Ironically, he still finds comfort in being Lonely Boy again.

He lives a few blocks from here; he'd somehow scored an apartment just steps from the Santa Monica Promenade. Between his trust fund and the money he'd made from his two novels, he wasn't scrounging for pennies in the slightest. But he'd prided himself on living a simple, non-extravagant life in California, and his little apartment was perfect for him. Besides, if he hadn't moved to that building he would have never met Adelaide, and he can't even begin to think about the "what ifs" on that topic.

Adelaide. He smiles just thinking about her.

His phone makes a sound, alerting him of an email, and snaps him out of his thoughts. He reaches in his pocket to read it and sees it's from his new boss. He still can't quite believe he took the job. He'd thought he'd be here forever.

He's been here three years—three long years. Three of the hardest years of his life. After "the incident," he'd immediately taken up Alessandra's offer of a book tour for Monarch in Manhattan. He'd needed to get away—and fast—and traveling the country seemed like the perfect plan. Santa Monica had been the very last stop on the tour. He didn't know what it was about the place: the warm weather, the friendly people, the slow way of life.

The fact that no one here knew what had happened.

Whatever it was, it reeled him in. Three hours before his flight back to New York, he'd transferred to UCLA for his senior year, and he's been out west ever since.

Now he's headed home—tomorrow. A job opportunity had presented itself out of the blue, and no matter how many cons he'd written on his pro/con list, it was simply too good to pass up. It's career changing...he has to do it.

Right?

He hasn't been home in three years. Hasn't been home for the holidays. (His family flew here.) Hasn't been home for Nate and Serena's wedding. (They eloped.)

But most of all: hasn't been home to face the one person who broke him. The one person who both possessed his heart and shattered it into a million pieces.

Blair.

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tbc.

A/N: Interested? :)