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When Dan was younger, he used to pretend that Vanessa was his soulmate. He imagined those fateful words (“It’s Dave, right?”) in place of their actual first interaction (“Hey, would you pass the glue?”).
He knows that it won’t change anything. She’s not his soulmate, and for most of their lives so far she hasn’t been interested in being it. Vanessa doesn’t care much for the idea of a soulmate, finds it too restricting, but Dan can’t help finding it romantic. He and Jenny used to whisper about their soul-marks, his across his hip and hers wrapped around her ankle, and the type of person their soulmate might be.
The first thought he had after realizing that Serena was his soulmate was that she fit Jenny’s fantasy more than his. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t expected her, though, because he fell pretty hard for her pretty quick.
“It’s Dave, right?” She’d said, and Dan expected all the pieces to fall into place, like an ending, but instead he found it was more of a beginning. “It’s Dan Humphrey, actually.” He’d said, practiced words falling out his mouth with ease. He’d smiled at her, then and almost brought up the mark on his hip. It was hard to tell, with Serena, whether the sparkle in her eyes was from recognition of the words or just her typical shine.
They didn’t talk about it, but Serena got quiet and sullen whenever Vanessa brought up her opinions on soulmates, so Dan figured she had some kind of soulmate baggage that probably came from her parents.
He understood that, at least.
~
Many people would consider Nate lucky. Wrapped around his upper right arm in black script was his soulmates full name. Most people had such a generic mark, a “Hi” or “What can I get you?” that they spent their time second guessing their found soulmate or believing them to be absolutely anyone who uttered the words to them.
If Nate had wanted to, at age 13, he could have sought out his soulmate. But he couldn’t.
He knew he couldn’t tell his parents about it, not with his mom’s habit of telling his dad everything and his dad’s habit of hating gay people. So instead, he kept the name Dan Humphrey locked away like a secret, and always kept his shirt on when around other people. He’d seen Blair’s mark once, on accident, and showed her his to stop her from freaking out. They’d huddled together on her bed and agreed to pretend to date at least until they graduated.
It didn’t matter, anyway. Nate didn’t know anyone named Dan Humphrey.
~
So, it turned out that Serena wasn’t his soulmate. She was Blair’s, actually, and they both knew it, but weren’t doing anything about it. Serena got that sad, faraway look in her eyes and said that Blair wasn’t ready yet.
Dan broke up with her, gently but painfully. She’d thought that they were just having fun. Dan though, he’d seen how unhappy his parents were in their relationship, away from their actual soulmates.
And besides, he’s sort of a romantic.
~
Nate doesn’t know much about Serena’s new ex-boyfriend-turned-best-friend, Dave. He knows that Blair hates him, but he also knows that that’s just on principle. She’s never actually spoken to him before. He realizes that they have a few classes together, then immediately feels guilty for not having payed attention before.
Dave looks out of place at the party. Clearly, Serena had brought him and then been promptly swept away to socialize. Nate takes pity on the guy, and besides, he’s pretty bored at this party himself. Blair is having Chuck drama which he knows she doesn’t want him involved in. So, he makes his way over to him.
“It’s Dave, right?” He says. The guy freezes, which Nate figures is because of being suddenly approached at a party, until he says, “It’s Dan Humphrey, actually.”
Nate’s first instinct is to run away. His second instinct is to do something totally embarrassing, like hug the guy or start crying in the middle of the party. He’s saved from having to make a decision when Serena glides up, Blair in tow, to tell them they’re ditching the party and going to go get waffles.
Blair’s eyes are red as though she’d been crying, so Nate wraps his arm around her. He isn’t sure whether or not he imagines Dan’s eyes following the movement.
~
“How many people are going to think my name is Dave?” Dan asks as he and Jenny walk to school.
“At least three.” She says. “If it’s already happened twice and neither of them are your soulmate.”
The thing about it is, though, Dan kind of wishes Nate was his soulmate. They’ve been hanging out a lot lately, and the other boy is funny and nice and sometimes he says really weird things that make Dan feel like he’s going crazy, like when he’d offhandedly said that Dan was hot.
He’s entertained the thought that Nate or even Serena is his soulmate, and he’s just not theirs. That’s happened before. According to the rumor mill, Blair Waldorf was Chuck Bass’s soulmate but he wasn’t hers.
Sometimes, Dan watches Blair and Nate together and tries to figure them out. His current theory is that Blair has three soulmates, Chuck, Serena, and Nate, and is lying to Nate that he’s hers as well.
He and Nate don’t ever talk about their soulmates, which Dan can’t figure out. If Dan was soulmates with a girl like Blair he would tell everyone. But Nate stays quiet on the subject, so Dan does too.
~
Nate had never really thought about what it would be like to know his soulmate. In short, it’s both awesome and terrible.
He’s kind of in love with Dan already. It’s stupid, but true. It could be the soulmate thing or it could just be Dan.
Beautiful, thoughtful, hilarious Dan who he kind of wants to spend all of his time with now. He comes clean about it all to Blair, who gets really sad about it so he promptly shuts up. The only other person in the whole world who knows he isn’t soulmates with Blair is Serena, so he decides to talk to her instead.
“You and Dan?” She asks, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. “I wouldn’t have called that, but I can see it.”
He tells her how he feels about Dan, about his stories and his stupid, pretty curly hair that kind of makes him want to die, and she listens to it all with a smile.
“You really like him, huh?”
“He’s my soulmate.”
Nate really, really wishes that was enough.
~
Nate and Blair break up on Sunday. Serena texts Dan about it, but he already knows because Jenny has been pretty invested in rumors and drama these days. Neither of them show up to first period. Dan didn’t realize how much of this class he’d spent staring at Nate until there was no Nate to stare at.
One rumor says that they didn’t break up, but eloped and moved to France. Another says that they couldn’t live without each other, so they did some suicide pact thing.
The current rumor is that Chuck beat Nate’s face in, which Dan would believe if Serena didn’t tell him otherwise.
Life imitates art, though, or at least as much as a gossip blog can be called art. Nate and Blair show up midway through lunch, and Chuck punches Nate right in the nose. Dan hears more than he sees Blair (and Serena’s) outrage.
He hears, “My honor? Come on, Bass, you’re not my boyfriend!” as he ushers Nate into the bathroom.
“I think it looks worse than it is.” Dan says after a few seconds of inspection. Blood has started to drip from Nate’s nose in earnest now. Dan turns to the group of freshmen huddled in the bathroom, blatantly staring. “Get lost, alright? Nothing to see here.”
They scramble to obey.
When he looks back, Nate is smiling. “You look pretty chipper for a guy who just got hit in the face.”
“I think those guys were scared of you.” Nate says, still smiling.
“Scared of me?” Dan scoffs. “No, no way. Why would they be?”
“I don’t know, your bossy voice is kind of intimidating. And pretty hot.”
Dan rolls his eyes, his typical reaction to Nate calling him hot. It’s the only thing that keeps him from actually combusting.
Nate settles back against the counter and moves the paper towel away from his nose at Dan’s gesturing. Gently, Dan reaches up to feel Nate’s nose. His other hand comes to rest on the side of his neck. He can feel the movement of Nate swallowing against his hand.
“It’s not broken, I don’t think. Maybe you should go to the nurse’s office.”
“I’ll stick with Nurse Humphrey, thanks.”
Dan smiles. Abruptly, he realizes how close they are. He’s about to move back when Nate catches his shoulder to stop him. They stay like that, only inches apart, until Dan breaks the silence. “So, you and Blair?”
Nate drags his gaze from Dan’s lips up to his eyes. “We’re over, not that we were really dating. She has her soulmate now.”
“Oh.” Dan says, and he can’t stop his smile from forming. “Good for her and Serena.”
Nate pulls back another inch. “You knew?”
“Serena told me. I thought she was my soulmate then.”
Nate frowns. “Now who do you think it is?”
Dan smiles. “I have a pretty good idea.”
“I do too.” Nate shrugs out of his blazer, then goes to unbutton his shirt.
“Whoa there, Archibald.”
“Don’t go getting any ideas.” He pulls his shirt down off of his shoulder enough to reveal his mark. Dan’s breath hitches.
“Can I?” He asks, and at Nate’s nod he reaches up to trace his own name, written there on Nate’s skin. “I was starting to think you were my soulmate but I wasn’t yours.”
Nate shakes his head, which makes Dan all the more aware of how close they are when he feels the other’s hair brush against his cheek. “You are mine.” He says, and it’s so cheesy and romantic, Dan can’t help but blush and smile and tip his head onto Nate’s shoulder all at once.
“If someone walked in right now, this would look really bad.” He says into the bare skin of Nate’s shoulder. His hand still hasn’t left his name.
Nate freezes against him, so Dan steps back to let him button up his shirt.
“Later.” Nate says, like an apology.
“Later.” Dan agrees, like a promise.