This story is a special Christmas Gift to my good friend, Princess Selina. Thank you for being such an inspiration and great friend for all this time! xoxo -Natasha

The Twelve Days Of Christmas

When Serena pulled Darien's name from the Santa hat, she felt like Doom's Day was at her door. The man was insufferable, mean, and IMPOSSIBLE to shop for. How would she ever be able to find the perfect gift for her worst nightmare? With 12 days left until Christmas, at least she'll get plenty of chances to try!

Chapter 1

White snow flurried down the cement sidewalks outside the Crown Fruit Parlor and Arcade windows. The frost covered shoulders and hats on the citizens of Tokyo, Japan was a classic sign that Christmas would be arriving soon enough. Inside the arcade, a group of teenage girls huddled together, wearing warm sweaters, mittens, and matching winter hats. The group of course consisted of four girls, all of whom were completely different from one another.

For starters, the blue haired beauty wearing her oversized glasses dug her nose deep into her calculus textbook, proving she couldn't have been more different from the rest of the girls. Being obsessed with extra credit assignments and college exams, the meek girl would normally blend into the arcade booth and go unnoticed.

Sitting next to Amy, Lita, who overshadowed her in height, talked passionately about how to mix your own chamomile teas with fresh flowers and herbs to get a distinct flavor. Specifically lavender. The domestic goddess dreamed of finding her Prince Charming, getting married, and opening up her very own flower shop.

Raye, who was listening to her friend in great earnest, considered which blend would ensure the most relaxation for a peaceful meditation. Meditating was the best time for her to forget about all her chores as a shrine priestess and unwind.

Finally, filled with nothing but thoughts about candy canes, twinkling lights, and carolling, sat the bubbly blonde, Serena. Christmas was all she could think about, and her eyes darted from the tinsel hanging about the windows, to the wreaths on the walls, until they landed on the Christmas tree next to the bar decorated in paper angels.

The built up excitement burst out of the young teen within seconds, "How do we want to do Christmas this year you guys?!"

The girls paused, surprised by Serena's blatant and rude interruption of their conversation. Finally, Raye answered for the group, "Christmas is twelve days away, Serena!"

"Exactly!" Serena said, pointing her finger in the air. "We only have twelve days until we exchange the perfect gifts for the wonderful people in our lives. It's quite a dilemma!"

Lita slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh geez."

"You are silly, Serena." Amy shook her head, chuckling to herself. She turned to the next page of her textbook, immersing herself in another equation formula.

Serena knew they wouldn't be as enthusiastic as she was. As the girls stared at her, Serena jumped out of her spot, twirling in a circle around the room. She stretched her arms out as she spun, taking in all the holiday cheer she felt from the decorations alone. Singing 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' quietly to herself, she didn't hear as a certain male she strongly disliked approached.

"What's gotten into Meatball Head?" Darien asked Raye, tilting his head towards the go lucky girl. "Did she inhale spiked eggnog or something?"

Raye smirked. Serena whipped her head towards the college student who walked up beside her, looking at her as if she were from the Looney Toons.

"It's Christmas time, Jerk! I'm just appreciating Andrew's beautiful decorations!"

Darien raised his brow at her quizzically. "By dancing around as if in a drunken stupor?"

Serena froze, then stomped up to the man. She shoved her finger at his chest yelling, "That's how you enjoy the holidays, which you would know if you actually had this thing called a heart!"

"If having a heart means looking like a complete moron, then I don't think I want one."

"Ugh! Darien, you're improbable"

Darien grinned at her. "You mean impossible, I am very likely."

"Shut up!" Serena was exasperated by the man in front of her. She glared at him, ignoring how his eyes sparkled as he smiled down at her.

Darien loved these fights. He loved to see Serena's nose flare up and her eyes grow bigger than they usually were. Her expressions were priceless, and all because of him.

But then his best friend, the son of the Arcade owner strolled up beside him. Darien tried to hide his disappointment when Serena's attention was diverted by Andrew, who she all but threw herself at.

"Hey, Andrew!" Serena squealed happily. She hugged the tall, lanky, young man. Then she turned to face everybody. "So, what if we did Secret Santa this year? To be honest, my allowance is a little too lean this year to shop for everybody."

Lita nodded her head, agreeing. "The utilities are pretty high this month."

"Sure." Raye said, turning to Amy. "What do you think, Ames?"

Amy merely gave a thumbs up, refusing to lift her eyes from her book. If she finished this book by the end of the day, she'd be a whole semester ahead, if not more!

Darien and Andrew glanced at each other. With silent agreement between them, Andrew took the red santa hat off his head. He was no better than Serena when it came to Christmas. "Sure, let's write our names, and get started!"

Within a few minutes, everyone had pulled a name from Andrew's hat. Serena furrowed her eyebrows as she read the name on the white stock paper.

Darien Shields.

'Crap!' She thought to herself. 'What am I supposed to do for him?'

Maybe she could trade. She raised her eyes, looking at the others. Obviously she couldn't trade with Darien, that would be incredibly mean. No matter how much of a jerk he was to her, she wouldn't do something like that to him. Serena glanced at the girls, but they were all excited and talking about possible stores to shop at for their secret giftees. That left Andrew.

"Hey, Serena! Wanna go shopping with us for our giftees?" Raye asked, waving a hand at Serena. She pulled the purple sleeves of her winter jacket over her red sweater. "We were gonna go to the mall."

Serena frowned. "Thanks, but I'll catch up with you later."

"See you later, Serena!" Amy wished Serena farewell as she and the girls left through the doors, letting the christmas bells hung from the top jingle behind them.

"So, who's your secret giftee, Meatball Head?" Darien asked, his curiosity getting the best of him. 'Probably Andrew,' he thought to himself. The idea made his heart sink.

Serena sat next to him at the bar, silently letting her annoyance towards him go. "Someone worth giving a gift to."

"So, probably not me then?"

"Definitely not."

"Well, if it's not me, then you can tell me who it is, right?"

Andrew interrupted, "That's completely against the rules, Darien!"

Darien rolled his eyes. Andrew was always such a stickler for the rules. He looked down at his piece of stock paper, his lips curving into a small smile as he read Serena's name. Already, he had the perfect gift idea in mind.

"Anyways, I gotta go. Gotta get out there before the stores get clogged up."

Andrew waved goodbye. "Have fun, Darien!"

"Yeah, have fun, Jerkwad!"

Darien turned, grinning wickedly at Serena. "I will, Meatball Head."

Andrew shook his head at the two of them. They were so obviously courting each other with insults. If only they realized it and just got together.

The cold snow fluttered into the arcade through the doors as Darien walked out. The bells jingled after him, and Serena turned to Andrew, slamming Darien's name on the counter.

"Trade me!"

Andrew looked at the girl sitting in front of him like she was crazy. "Why?"

Serena moaned into her hands. "I couldn't possibly find the perfect gift for Darien! He's the spawn of all evil!"

Andrew laughed. "Darien isn't that bad!"

"Just trade me so then I can shop for a human being!" Serena protested, annoyed by Andrew's lack of haste.

"Serena, I can't! I got Lita!" Andrew exclaimed, showing her his card. Lita's name was scrawled across the page in perfect cursive with hand drawn flowers surrounding it. "This is my chance to show her how thoughtful I am."

"Y-you like Lita?" Serena asked, her face falling. All the months she had spent crushing on Andrew was wasted.

"Well, you can't tell anyone, but yeah." Andrew placed a reassuring hand on Serena's shoulder. "Look, I know Darien's a little rough around the edges, but I know that you can find the perfect gift for him. There's only one thing he wants."

"Yeah? What's that?" Serena didn't even give Andrew a chance to answer. "He probably needs a heater so he can warm up his icy heart."

Andrew winced for Darien's benefit. "Come on, don't be like that. If you got to know Darien, you'd know he's a pretty great guy."

"I'll just rely on your judgement without going near him."

"Serena, it's Christmas time." He gave Serena a knowing look. "As true lovers of Christmas, we can never half ass our gifts, right?"

"But Annnnnnndreeeeeeew!" Serena whined, intentionally hitting her forehead on the bar table.

"No buts, Sere. You know the rules, meaningful gifts only!"

Serena glared at the waiter, purposely tapping her fingers out of rhythm on the counter to annoy him. When Andrew didn't sway, she groaned. "Fine."

There were twelve days until Christmas. Surely she could find something meaningful to give to the man who tormented her everyday, right?

Please review! =) -Natasha