!!!!! Thank you so much for this. I'm super excited that you finished it and it is wonderful. I loved all the little bits of canon-y stuff thrown in and I am forever intrigued by how Dan/Jenny/Serena/Eric would have been, growing up together, had Rufus and Lily married earlier.

"It wasn't right," Dan starts, falters. She turns towards him a little more. "Uh. For them to…say those things. About you. About anyone, but, uh – It just…wasn't right. You're not – um, you're – you're not what they…were saying." She's just a girl, like any other girl, except for all the ways she shines so brightly. Dan is such a sweet innocent baby child.

At some point Nate gets so drunk that he starts telling Dan about this horse he had when he was a kid, hand gripping Dan's jacket as though the information is urgent. This cracked me up.

I also love that last little bit a lot; excellent ending.

Thank you again for this! Brb, must reread.