A/N: Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever finish this story, but this is the last chapter I started. I love these guys so much, I just can't commit to writing them anymore. For everyone who followed this story, I love you. I wish I could give you an ending. This is so short but I love writing flashbacks for this story! Thanks for following this journey, maybe someday I'll finish it!

xoxo Gia

'It doesn't mean anything,' Blair tells herself, an unhealthy number of times.

She stands at the rack of dresses, fingers flipping through the selection carefully. Her mind is buzzing. Dan and Serena are at dinner together, and it doesn't mean anything. They had invited her, after all. For a split second Blair had considered quitting her job just so that she could supervise the meal.

All the while, she can picture it in her head. Serena's beaming white smile, shining against her glowing tan skin. She could just see Dan ducking his head with that bashful grin he used to wear in high school. God, he was a dork. She scoffs at the thought and pulls a red gown from the sea of hangers.

"Blair," a voice interrupts her inner workings, "Hurry up. You're needed in hair and make-up."

She throws the gown over the corner of the mirror and makes her way to the studio. Every flash of blonde hair makes her cringe, and she catches a glimpse of a man-bun that reminds her of Dan's unruly mop she's been begging him to cut. Idiot.

By the time she gets home it's nearly midnight. The lights in the foyer are the only lights on in the house. Her stomach churns. She can't stop herself from peering into Serena's room to find the bed still made, suitcases disregarded on the floor. Her ears ring in the silence as she moves to her own bedroom. She follows her nightly routine in the dead quiet and climbs under her covers, resisting the urge to cry the way her body is aching to.

It's almost two when she hears the elevator, an echo of giggles from downstairs. She pulls her blankets more tightly around herself and shuts her eyes. She's been here before. In high school, Serena and Nate used to come home from nights of indecency with Chuck and pass out on Blair's couch when their parents were gone. Blair had always ignored the way Nate would drape his arm over Serena's frame. She hears Serena's door shut quietly, followed by a trail of footsteps to her own door.

Dan slips his shoes off and slides under the covers without a word, pressing his body against hers gently. Blair fakes sleep, but wants more than anything to turn and wrap her arms around him. Wants to remind him that he's hers. She curses herself for thinking him a possession. Maybe she and Chuck weren't so different after all.

He buries his face in the crook of her neck and exhales.

"Missed you tonight, Waldorf," he whispers, softly enough not to wake her, but loud enough for her to hear.

Blair bites down on her bottom lip and sighs, "I'm sure you survived."

She can feel his grin against her ear and has to press her lips together to hide her own smile.

"Not really," he mumbles, nipping at her ear, her neck.

Blair feels the familiar ache in her stomach, a tiny moan escaping her. Dan's hands slip under her nightgown, fingers trailing up and down her thigh. She swallows whatever biting comment she was going to make about the ungodly hour he decided to stumble home and turns to face him, hands curled against his chest.

This doesn't happen. Blair is not the first choice.

"You're getting a haircut tomorrow," she says softly, and Dan laughs.

It's rich and warm and Blair swallows it in a kiss.