One night at Shields

Genre: Romance

Rated Pg

Chapter 1

I do not own these characters and certain storylines from the show.

Author's note: It's been about 8 or 9 years since I touched this story. I feel like I owe it to myself and fans of this story to not only finish it but to revise it to give it more depth. I was very young when I wrote for . I believe that now, I have had enough experiences to really write a good story. Contrary to before, the ages of the Serena and the girls are 18 and Darien and Andrew are 20.

'It's such a beautiful day.' Serena thought to herself as she walked down the sunny path leading to the park. School was out for the weekend and nothing seemed more appealing than some quiet alone time to think. As she took a seat on a bench overlooking the football fields, the petite blonde sighed; she couldn't remember the last time she had the opportunity to sit down and just relax. Between scout duties, chores, and school, there was barely ever time to have a self-indulgent thought of her own. Smiling, she stretched her arms out and slumped down.

'I could do this the rest of the day. Of course, I'd have to find something a little better then a park bench...' suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice,

"Serena!"

She looked up to see the sandy blonde she had harbored a crush on for years. Seeing Andrew always gave her an instant energy boost,

"Hey Andrew! What's going on?" Serena said in her perkiest voice, just then, she heard a chorus of grunts. Glancing behind Andrew, she saw Darien being tackled to the ground. She studied him for a moment, he looked different. He was wearing a faded blue football jersey with the reminisce of the number 21 on the front, the dull khaki coloring of his pants was just barely peeking out from under all the mud and grass stains. Serena inwardly smiled, though Darien Shield's was an absolute nightmare to her, something about him was absolutely irresistible. True, she usually treated this passing thought as foreign but, something about today dared her to divulge deeper.

Maybe it was his midnight blue eyes, or his chiseled and toned physique. Serena felt an electrified spark briefly stir within her as she dazed in and out of the haze Darien had effortlessly placed upon her. In the very back of her head, she could also hear someone speaking, but, she couldn't quite bring herself back to reality - not yet at least. Serena smiled and nodded while continuing to ponder why women hung off of Darien Shields. She couldn't quite put her finger on it,

'His hair, I've never in my life seen hair that color.' She thought.

Any man would look at Darien Shields and see black hair but, to any woman in Tokyo, there was so much more. When the sun graced Darien with its presence, the most beautiful blue hue danced about the crown of his head. Though it was subtle, it drove women crazy.

"...you should totally come!" The words completely snapped Serena out of her daze as quickly as she had fallen into it. She slowly focused her attention on Andrew's emerald eyes and gave a somewhat glazed over smile.

"I'm sorry, what?" Serena laughed sheepishly, now that she had a moment to refocus herself, she felt that surge of energy come back. It wasn't the same energy you had from drinking too much coffee or getting that extra hour of sleep, it was that certain something in the air that made one feel like anything was possible, to grab life by the moment and dream big. Serena felt oddly independent, she didn't want to spend her Friday night at the temple, she didn't want to go to the arcade and play video games, she wanted to do something different, something exciting, enthralling, invigorating! The only question was what; the thought of holding onto this feeling left her feeling quite alive.

'What has come over me in the course of ten minutes?' she thought.

Andrew laughed,

"I was saying that you should come over tonight and hang out with me and a couple of buddies of mine from school." Andrew continued cheerily as he shot Serena one of his dazzling smiles that were kept in short supply to those that he truly cared for. At that moment, Serena could have kissed him; this was exactly what she needed,

'The company wouldn't be too bad either...' she giggled inwardly. Maybe this was the chance she had been waiting for to show Andrew she wasn't some little schoolgirl, she was all grown up.

"Do you really want to spend Friday night babysitting?" Came Darien's voice from behind. Serena leaned over to look behind Andrew and scowled, all good thoughts of Darien were mentally thrown out the window.

"Oh, who asked you?" She screamed as she felt her blood boil. Here she was with a golden opportunity and Darien just had to rain on her parade, how could she ever find this man appealing at all? It didn't matter what he had to say, the minute he opened up that mouth of his, she wanted to slap him. He laughed, put his hand on Serena's shoulder and looked her straight her in the eyes, a gesture most women would die for.

"Aren't you a little young?" He asked

"Young, for what: hanging out with a friend of mine?" She asked matter of factly

"That's real cute Meatball Head," he turned his attention to Andrew,

"Hey Andrew I think she thinks this is some sort of date!" he laughed. The pair of blondes instantly turned a bright shade of red. It took her a minute to collect herself but, as the embarrassment passed, all Serena could feel was anger. As she quickly whipped back around to spit out whatever insult came to mind, Andrew spoke up,

"Come on man; leave her alone, she'll be fine." He shot a smile at Serena,

"You know where I live, right Serena? The apartments above the arcade. Come over whenever you like! I'll be expected people around 8:00 or 9:00 pm but, right now, I have to go." He smiled and began to walk away, Serena stared after him

'Oh if I get called out for some stupid negasleeze attack, I'll just die!' Serena thought as she continued to stare after Andrew, whose figure had become nothing more than a spec. Unbeknownst to her, Darien glanced at over at Serena's blonde head of hair and inhaled deeply. The surrounding air that she had filled with her sweet scent of amber and vanilla caused him to take a step back as his eyes lost a bit of focus and his thoughts wandered, why was she so...intoxicating? Her eyes sparkled like fireworks each time he insulted her and he simply couldn't get enough of it. Darien looked over at where Andrew had been standing but a moment ago. Andrew may have been able to get Serena to flutter her eyelashes at him but, only Darien could light that spark in her eyes that made him want to take her into his arms and...

'What is the matter with you!' he mentally smacked himself. Sure, Serena was attractive but, she was an absolute child, immature and...Unburdened...the girl hadn't a care in the world other than where to have lunch. Darien partly cursed her and partly envied her, for he had been damned with a turbulent life full of uncertainties. But, maybe that was what was so alluring about her - she led the life he always wanted and she made it seem so attainable. Of course, a girl so optimistic and full of life could make anything seem within arm's reach.

Serena suddenly caught herself and swung back towards Darien,

"You're a real asshole sometimes." She said frankly. Darien laughed, while most men would cringe at someone like Serena calling him out like that, he loved it.

"Oh poor meatball head's feelings were hurt..."

"Don't call me that!" she interrupted. He took a step closer to her, they were inches apart.

"Or what?" he challenged with a smile. Serena paused for a moment and then huffed and broke the gaze. Walking away, her ears perked up as they heard,

"So are you coming tonight or what?"

Serena smiled and turned around, "Wouldn't miss it." She sang. Walking towards home, she wondered - what was it she was smiling about? Did she actually enjoy the fact that Darien seemed interested if she would be in attendance to the evening's festivities? She quickly brushed off the thought and began fantasizing about what the upcoming evening would hold.

Serena paced outside the entrance to Andrews building, was she really about to embark on this all by herself? True, she had hastily lied to the girls, telling them that she wasn't feeling very well and would not be joining them for a movie but, maybe she was making a mistake, maybe she should invite them? She sighed then thought about what the scouts would bring to the night, they would be nothing but a constant burden and hindrance on her fun. There was no doubt in Serena's mind that the scouts were the best friends anyone could ever have but, for now, she just needed one night to do what she wanted. She didn't want to think about scout business, home, school, all she wanted was to relish in a completely carefree night. She nodded to herself and looked down at her attire; she was wearing a simple black fitted tunic with charcoal leggings and suede black boots. Unsure of what to expect with college girls involved, Serena wanted to make sure she was as neutral and as adapting as possible. She sighed deeply and took a step inside the building.

Darien sat on Andrew's couch cradling a rum and coke; he hesitantly looked down at it. Sure he liked a drink every once in awhile to unwind but, he felt himself on the threshold of inebriation.

'What if the scouts need me later?' He wondered. Annoyed at himself for letting the Sailor Scouts enter his mind when there was no need, he pushed the thought out of his head and took a long swig of his drink. Standing up to find Andrew, Darien instantly felt the effects of the rum rush to his head. He looked over at a few girls from his Anthropology class. There was Katie, Sarah and Bridgette, all equally good looking girls. The trio regularly sat behind Darien in the lecture hall, gigging about the latest gossip on campus. Katie was the first to notice his stare. Smiling, she immediately perked up and smoothed over her red top as she waved Darien over, he hastily followed.

"Hey there Darien! Finally made it off the couch?" she said excitedly.

"So are you sticking around here all night?" she inquired. Darien thoughtfully pondered the question. The alcohol was definitely making his thoughts lot harder to put together, he felt a bit unhinged yet, at the same time, a bit free.

"Most likely, what about you ladies?" he asked suavely. The girls all blushed and giggled,

"We promised another friend we'd stop by so, I think we will end our night over there." Bridgette said hoarsely,

"Yeah! You should totally come!" Sarah interrupted with a hiccup. Katie and Bridgette instantly turned red and giggled, apparently, Darien wasn't the only one feeling the effects of his drink. He thought for a second and looked at his watch, it was about 10:30 and Serena was supposed to come, wasn't she? Maybe he had simply pushed her too far this time, he could have hit himself! If Serena was going to be a no show then what was he going to do, Andrew was preoccupied with videogames with a few other friends and by the looks of it, the majority of people were getting ready to either hit the bar scene or move on to a party on campus.

Truthfully, a part of Darien acknowledged the fact that on some level, he savored the little time he spent with Serena. Though she undoubtedly treated their daily run-ins as a fleeting moment soon to be forgotten amongst her busy life full of friends and family, Darien saw them as the closest thing he had to a genuine and consistent relationship. Actually, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that other than Andrew, Serena was the only person in his life that didn't treat him like some unattainable "catch", only to be admired from a far or with flattery and nonsense - she told him exactly what she thought of him from day one and though, it was not the most positive of opinions, it was honest and raw and something no one had ever given him. Mentally, Darien smacked himself - the drinking must have definitely gotten to him.

"You know what, I think I..." He was interrupted by the door swinging open, it was Serena, she was alone, and she looked absolutely gorgeous.