Thank you so much for the reviews, follows and favorites - they never fail to make me happy. So anyway, I decided it was about time to wrap this beast up. Took a while to get back into my intense denial bubble, but I got there in the end.

Hope you enjoy.

Inside Out - Chapter Ten

Soon (but not right now) Blair will come to realize some things about kissing Dan.

Soon (but not right now) she will realize that kissing him is the best and only way to get him to shut up. This will lead her to finally appreciate his reaction after the first experiment, in her foyer. For her, the intensity of that kiss had genuinely seemed to freeze time, and she could swear it was weeks later when he had opened his eyes and stepped back from her, speechless. At the time she had read his lack of words, combined with the bewildered look on his face, as disappointment. Humiliated (not to mention slightly out of her mind from the textbook-perfect first kiss she had just experienced, thank you very much), she had stormed away before he could even try to express himself. But soon she will understand that this reaction is something she can do to him, any time she wants, and she will love it. Sometimes she will even play with the idea of tormenting him, of detaching her lips from his just as they have settled into each other, purely so that she can see that look consume his face; but she won't be able to, because she really doesn't want to stop. Especially right now, as his fingers deftly undo the ivory buttons of her pyjama shirt, and onto each new inch of exposed skin he presses a deep kiss.

And that's another thing. Soon (but not right now) she will realize the answer to a question she'd posed to Serena long ago, a question that had distracted her way before she was ready to acknowledge it. The answer to that question will be: he is not aggressive, but assertive - just like she had long hoped he would be (long before she had any business going around hoping things about Dan Humphrey). She will conclude that while he may be an expert in the field of concealing his desires, once they have been revealed and reciprocated, all bets are off. Exhibit A: they way he's gripping her ass as his body presses hers into the couch - the same couch where in the not-so-distant past he had let her fall asleep on his shoulder, while being painstakingly careful not to invade her personal space. But right now? Right now he's thoroughly invading her personal space, and all she knows is that he'd better not stop.

Oh there's that too. Soon (but not right now) she will realize that there's almost nothing that will stop them once they've started. Not buzzing telephones; not knocks on doors; not shrieking alarm clocks; not breakfast being ready (or lunch, or dinner); not surprise visitors; not surly ex-lovers; not pint-sized pubescent girls with prying cell phones; not missing the start of the movie; not knowing he's going to miss a plane (funny story); not one of those New York blizzards that emerges out of nowhere. In fact, it'll take physical injury at the least.

She will realize all these things in the minutes and days and months ahead. But not right now. Because right now she is incapable of any kind of realization because she is all feeling - in her heart, in her stomach, in her oh god don't stop.

That's why, right now, she's ignoring the sound of ceramic crashing against wood, ignoring the fact that the room just got noticeably darker, ignoring the momentary tensing of his body; he's still kissing her just as perfectly, so what else matters? Until she happens to open her eyes, and sees that his are squeezed shut in a way implying not bliss but searing pain. She reluctantly moves her head away from his and in response he peeks back at her. Turning, she sees the broken lamp in pieces on the floor.

"Ouch", she whispers tenderly, touching her hand to his forehead.

"I'm okay", he lies. "I'm okay." The look on his face says he thinks that the world might end if they stop now. He leans forward again, kissing her neck, her shoulder, her breasts. She submits for a moment before grabbing his arms.

"Dan", she says firmly. "Don't be ridiculous."

"But - "

"Come on," she insists, hauling them both up. He follows her as she crosses the room, marvelling at how her efficient movements contrast with her dishevelled appearance - hair rumpled, shirt half-undone and threatening to slip off her shoulders. Once she's swiftly located some ice cubes, she takes his hand and leads him to the bathroom. She sits him on the edge of the bath as she fashions a compress out of a towel and, leaning over him, presses it to his forehead.

"Now keep it there. It'll reduce the swelling," she instructs him, not taking her hand away, and adding a kiss for good measure.

"Nurse Blair, huh?" he grins, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, don't look so surprised," she huffs. "I'm a good person, I'm compassionate. I watch Grey's Anatomy for more than just the love triangles."

He laughs softly. "That's not what I meant. It was just... I didn't think you could get any more sexy. And then you just did."

"Oh," she smirks, leaning further over him. "So this turns you on, huh?"

"This. That." He shrugs. "Everything". And he tugs her down onto his lap, his mouth smiling against hers as he finally undoes the last of the buttons and discards her pesky shirt. She tries and fails to hold onto the compress, letting it fall into the bath, freeing her hand to wind itself around his neck. In this small, awkward space, everything feels even hotter and more intimate than before and she keeps forgetting to breathe. She shivers as he runs his fingers down her bare spine, muttering into her neck:

"And by the way, I'm fully aware you're a good person. I'm totally into you, remember?"

"How much?", as she kisses his earlobe. "I forgot already."

He responds by lifting her up, much to her delight, and carrying her into the bedroom.

"Wow, you've got it bad," she concludes.

It's dawn now and the rain has stopped. They spill onto the bed, glowing in the gentle light from the window edges. He pauses for a moment to shift closer to her, and she hooks her leg over his as they smile at one another in that new, unambiguous way. No words are spoken. Eyes flare. Lips meet. Hands roam. Clothes fall. Limbs mesh.

Their spirits have put up with an agonizingly slow delay to become synchronized; their bodies make up for it, tuning in to each other with immediate certainty. As they surge against each other it feels like plunging into a warm ocean: first soft and luxurious, then frantic and so exhilarating that it makes them giggle. When they surface, light-headed, they cling to each other like survivors.

"That was incredible," he says finally, his face immersed in her hair.

"No", she replies, in a serious voice. "It was entirely credible."

When he wakes up it's past noon and the sun is streaming in and oh hey that's Blair in his bed. And she's wide awake, sitting up, eyes sparkling.

"I know who it was," she announces.

"Huh?" He props himself up, confused.

"I know who sent it to me." She is beaming, full of pride.

"Sent what?"

"Oh come on, you didn't hit your head that hard. The book, Dan. I figured it out."

The book. Thinking about the book still reminds him of the old, bad feelings. Of feeling lonely and drained and so jam-packed with self-loathing that he didn't even allow his fictional self a happy ending. He wonders if he will eventually be able to erase those feelings, to replace them entirely with the miracle that is her real-life response to what he wrote.

"Well, don't you want to know who it was?", she persists.

"Georgina? In the drawing room, with the candlestick?", he deadpans.

Her face turns sour. "Why would you say that? You are never, ever to say that name in a... bedroom scenario." She shakes her head. "Or anywhere. Just no."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry", he laughs, kissing her gently. "Tell me who it was. Please."

She pauses dramatically and then declares: "Eric. It had to be."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure." Not wanting her to feel disappointed by his scepticism, he strokes her shoulder as an act of peace. "I did think of that but... he's really not the scheming type."

"But no-one else even knew it existed, right? And he cares about you."

He nods.

"So, I'm saying: case closed". She smiles with satisfaction.

"Maybe". He shrugs, happy that they're done talking about this. "Oh and by the way, good morning." And as he leans over to kiss her, they hear footsteps passing outside the room. He pauses, hovering over her, alarm in his eyes.

Blair sighs. "She'll have to get used to me."

He likes that. But he recognizes that it's more than a little optimistic. "I don't think you two are ready for each other yet," he says firmly, climbing out of the bed.

"Where are you going?", she hisses.

"I can't just hide in here forever," he says, quickly throwing on yesterday's clothes.

"Why not?"

He kisses the top of her head. "I'll only be a second."

Shutting the door, he emerges to find Jenny eating a bowl of cereal.

"Hey", he says nonchalantly.

"Hey", she replies, eyes narrowing. "How's it going?"

He stretches his arms above his head, just a casual guy, just performing the most casual gesture in the world. "Yeah good. Just chilling out. Y'know."

"Uh huh," she says. And then, yelling past him at the door: "Hi Blair!"

He almost jumps. "How did you...?"

"Because I'm not an idiot." She rolls her eyes. "There's the fancy pyjamas on the bathroom floor." Her nose wrinkles. "Plus there's that." She points at the remains of the lamp. "Which... really don't want to know. Plus there's your face."

"What's wrong with my face?"

"Your eyes are all big. It's just obvious."

He accepts defeat and sits down next to her. "I know this is weird - ", he begins.

She interrupts him: "I'm just glad it all worked out."

There's something knowing in her voice and with disbelief he asks, "Wait, did you do something?"

"What do you mean?" Now it's her turn to act casual.

"Did you send something to Blair?"

"No." She sighs. "Not really." She looks away and then back at him. "Alright, I knew about the book."

And the whole convoluted story pours out. Of Jenny overhearing him and Eric discussing Blair's reaction to reading the first chapter ("What? Overhearing is not eavesdropping.") Of Jenny harassing Eric to tell her everything, until he finally caved and admitted he had a copy (he'd sneakily e-mailed it to himself in the moments before Dan deleted it - because he was sure Dan would eventually want it back, and because "Friends don't let friends obliterate their own works of literature"). Of her pilfering Eric's 'phone and sending herself the file ("Look, there was some manipulating to be done and he wasn't going to do it").

Dan is starting to feel exhausted by what sounds like the plot of one of those glossy teen soaps that Jenny adores (and he pretends he's not drawn to), the ones that think they're being Shakespearean when actually all they're doing is smashing one drama into another until it's all just a great big pile-up of nothing. He's also wondering how many people have read the damn book.

She deciphers his worries immediately. "Oh I didn't read it. Do not want to know all the gory details", she says hurriedly.

"Well, thanks for that."

"And by the way, it's really cool that you wrote a book." She punches his shoulder. "Even one about that."

"Again, thanks." But this time he says it more like a question.

"But yeah, I didn't send it to her. I wasn't quite ready to enable this - this thing - myself. But I do want you to be happy."

"So it wasn't you?"

And that's when Blair appears behind them in his shirt and sweatpants and - not one to be ashamed of eavesdropping - says, in a voice implying that this is all so obvious that she might keel over from boredom: "You didn't send it, but you put it in the hands of someone who you knew couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it."

Dan thinks he gets it; and when he sees the blush spreading across Jenny's face, he's certain.

He makes the call.

"Hello?", says the voice on the other end.

"Hi Nate," Dan says. And then, "Thank you."

"Oh so it worked, huh? Well, you're welcome," he says with a laugh.

"I'm sorry you had to get involved in this whole weird thing."

"No problem, man. I was getting impatient anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, a person would have to be pretty dumb to not see that you're totally perfect for each other."

Hearing someone else say it - someone who, it turns out, is definitely not dumb - makes Dan feel so happy that all he can do is smile.

"Be good to each other," says Nate in a serious tone.

"Deal."

"And by the way, I didn't read it. Do not want to know all the gory details", he says.

Dan makes a mental note that he has a favor to return. (Not long from now, he will enlist Blair to help him, and her delight in executing their first scheme as a couple will prevail over her misgivings about the scheme itself; and Operation Jenny/Nate will be a resounding success.)

They don't see each other every day. They don't have to. Their lives loop gracefully around each other and nothing is taken for granted.

Blair goes back to school with a vengeance and falls in love with her architecture class. She's not the top student; but instead of quitting the class or terrorizing the teacher, she accepts second place without seeing it as a failure. She also gets an internship at a design magazine. Sometimes she isn't even the last one to leave the office, and it feels okay. More than okay.

She tries to convince Dan to send Inside to a publisher, to forget all the bad associations and let the world know what he has to say. But he tells her no. Because honestly, it isn't what he wants to say any more.

Instead, he keeps working on the new story, the one that's not about her. It's very different than his previous work - there's something more open, almost innocent, in his writing. He doesn't assume the worst about the characters, doesn't compel them to destroy each other and themselves. And then one day, he realizes that he had everything upside down, inside out. Because this story is absolutely about her. It's about her, about them, about what is and what could be. About what he wants and hopes for and deserves. Not the lies of the past, not who screwed over who, not why this or that betrayal went down, not how life's been so unfair to poor little Dan. Everything that came before simply doesn't matter. It has no bearing on who they are or who they're going to be. This story is about the real them. No deception or fear. Pure and simple.

The day he finishes it, he asks her to read it.

"I don't want to," she says.

"Okay," he replies, trying not to sound rattled.

She lays her head on his shoulder. "I want you to read it to me," she instructs him.

So he does.

.

THE END

Oh my lord it's over! Well I never. All I want to do now is watch a show where Nate is a match-maker. Anyways, thank you thank you thank you for reading, and please let me know what you thought of it.

Update: (SPOILER WARNING)

Am a bit in shock that in S6 Dan has written a book called 'Inside Out'. If this means my mind in some way works like those of the demon GG writers, I am scared.