White Dresses and Goodbyes

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My take on the Serena/Dan wedding. First Gossip Girl fic.

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It was white. It was small. It was beautiful.

There was a large white tent that covered the dance floor and the intricately decorated tables that seated many well-dressed guests. At the bar, which was situated in the far left corner of the outdoor reception, sat the bride's best friend since primary school. She sipped an apple martini (with a twist, of course) and casually glanced onto the people dancing to the groom's father's band.

She gulped down the last of her highly alcoholic drink, and was about to order another one when the groom himself sat down next to her.

Blair had gone to oversee his choice of tuxedo during the preparations for the wedding as Serena's watch dog, making sure he didn't get a hideous pink tux or some other color that wouldn't work well with the elegant black and white décor of the wedding, specially chosen by Blair herself.

(Being a maid of honor had its perks.)

"I'm surprised to see you over here," Dan said to Blair, refusing the barman with a single shake of the head.

Blair frowned, and her hands wandered over to the black paper napkin on her right.

He shrugged. "I'm sure Serena wants you to be out there dancing with her." He moved his head to point over to the most beautiful woman at the wedding—the bride herself, dressed in an stylish, traditional white gown, dancing with Dan's aunt (maybe not?). "I don't think she can stand another one of my relatives dancing with her."

She laughed lightly, and pushed the empty martini glass away from her. Then she nodded, and said, "Alright," getting up from her bar stood, she casually said to Dan, "You know, congratulations." Blair looked onward at the dance floor. "She's so happy, you know?"

He nodded, watching her go.

Blair found Serena and pulled her aside from the aunt (still unsure of the relation) and smiled. "You look beautiful, Serena," she told her. "You and Dan are going to be very happy together."

Serena smiled, a beautiful smile that was genuine and perfect. This statement was a shock, though, because Blair had always teased Serena's taste in Dan's low-rent lifestyle. This was a change. "Thank you," she said kindly, "And a serious thank you for rescuing me from guests I hardly know—Dan's extended family that I didn't even know he had."

Blair stifled a laugh, thinking about what Dan had previously said. "You were getting down with his aunt, really," she said, "How excited are you for the honeymoon?"

"Trés excited," Serena said happily, "I can't wait to get on that French coast and do absolutely nothing for two whole weeks—"

"—I don't think you'll be doing nothing, S," Blair said, earning a playful slap on the arm and Serena blushing.

"Blair!" She squealed.

"Oh, come on. You guys have been—" As a song stopped and another began, it was a slow one, and Dan made his way over to his new wife. "Ah, here's the French monsieur now…"

"Mind if I steal her from you?" Dan's hands found Serena's and her arms wrapped around his neck.

Blair said, "Why not," but under her breath, and by the time she said it, there was no one to hear her, and the happy couple were already dancing.

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Serena leaned in to kiss her new husband, the boyfriend that she had since high school, and their lips met. It was a soft kiss, but perfect enough, and they broke apart.

She danced close to Dan, with her arms draped around his neck, and his hands low on her waist. The song was smooth and romantic, a kind of stereotypical song that they play at weddings, since Mr. Humphrey had retired the guitar for ten minutes.

"I've been waiting for this day—this moment—since junior year," she told him, close in his ear.

"Really?" Dan said, and smiled the smile that sent shivers down Serena's back. "What moment during junior year, exactly?"

"Hm," she said, "That would be the moment that you told me you loved me, for me, for who I am—"

"Not that time when you just said 'Okay'?" He said playfully.

She laughed, and snuggled into his embrace. When the song stopped, so did they, and they retired back to their table, sitting there, answering questions and accepting congratulations from many different bankers, lawyers, tycoons, fashion designers—friends.

They answered questions about their honeymoon—what part in France were they going, what resort were they staying at, if they were going to take excursions to Paris or Lille or Versailles, and how long they'd be there. They answered it all—Marseille, Hotel Vieux Port, no, they would be relaxing, and for sixteen days.

They cut the six-tiered cake, decorated exclusively by an English cake maker in Belgravia, in London. The cake was simple: white, with frosting designs of the same color, black sugar ribbon around the bottom of each tier, and vanilla cake with a thin layer of chocolate icing.

Dan and Serena both held the cake cutter, stood and had their picture snapped, and cut the cake. They laughed when they both were strong enough to break the white frosting exterior, and ended up chopping the cake sloppily. Like tradition, they shoved the cake in each other's mouths, not caring whether or not it got on their rather expensive marital outfits.

People around them snapped pictures that would be uploaded later to Gossip Girl, and laughed with Dan and Serena when the waitress had to take over and cut the cake.

Both retired to their seats once more, feasting on their cake, speaking about who looked lovely and who, well, didn't…

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Serena clutched her bouquet with two hands, the beautiful pink and white flowers arranged gorgeously in a colorful manner, and was sad she was going to have to part with it. The girls had all crowded around the stairs and were anxiously awaiting this moment.

She turned her back to see where Blair was, or even little Jenny (who wasn't so little anymore), and spotted Blair leaning to the side of the massive crowd, not participating in the shrieks of "Serena! Over here! God knows I need this!"

Nevertheless, Serena turned her back and gave the crowd a devilish smile, "Now, who wants it?"

Within seconds the beautiful bouquet was gone, and women in colorful dresses held their hands high. Serena watched as it went farther than the girls had thought it would, and conveniently landed in front of Blair's vintage Chanel shoes.

Women were silent for a second, their rushed toward the by stander, but Blair bent down and snatched it before anybody else could get to it. She gave Serena a confident smile, a thanking smile, and nodded briefly, smelling the flowers as a sign of 'Thank you.'

"Whoops...!" Serena shrugged to the other girls, and smiled back at Blair.

When the wedding was finally over, the months of preparing finally done, a genuine old fashion Rolls-Royce, in a stunning black (with white trim, only to match perfectly) pulled up in front of their Long Island wedding spot, complete with matching flowers (as the ones in the men's jackets) in the windshield.

Dan grasped Serena's hand happily, as they slowly ran down the steps (Serena felt like Cinderella in this moment), saying goodbye to everyone—her mother, his mother, his father, her friends, his friends, her brother, his sister, that boyfriend, that girlfriend, the aunts, the uncles, the grandparents, the lover—they were all there to see them off.

Everybody kept asking them where they were going to be living after the honeymoon, where would their children go to school, where could they reach the couple—

What a silly question.

The Upper East Side, of course.

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A/N: Please review!