AN: This story is actually based off a situation I was and still currently am in. It might take a little while for it to get romantic, but just hang in there! Everything is true, except for "Darien's" thoughts, and I probably spiced up some of the situations a bit. Oh and, please review! Constructive comments! I'll try and upload the next chapter as soon as possible.

Disclaimer: Though I wouldn't mind owning Darien (hehe) I DON'T. I don't own him, or any of the other Sailor Moon characters. Plus, I don't have any money, so theres no point in sueing really.

The Beginning

Serena laid in bed, patiently awaiting her new found friends reply to the last text she sent. She couldn't describe it, but something inside her just felt right when she was talking to him. The charmed 14 year old giggled to herself, telling her brain how ridiculous it was to even think about liking a beautiful older boy like Darien. Darien was soon to be sixteen, and a grade ahead of Serena. He was totally and completely off limits. Besides, he was interested in another girl, not that Serena was bothered by it. It just gave her an excuse to talk to him when he was looking for advice, and she always happily received his groans of exasperation on the other end of the line.

Serena was interrupted from her thoughts by a slight vibration on her stomach. Casually, she grabbed the phone, pushing the necessary buttons to arrive at her message inbox. Her stomach did flips and dives as she read the words on the screen.

'Dude! How awesome would it be if we went together?!'

Darien, most beautiful boy she'd ever laid eyes on, just offered to go to the Homecoming dance with her? The tiny, shy, inexperienced…her? Serena quickly told herself he only wanted to go because Raye would be there, the object of his desire. She also noted the 'Dude!' part, applying a very friendly layer to the offer. Frowning a little, Serena replied with a happy 'That would be awesome! Thanks a lot! You're a great friend.' Though her previous feelings had put a damper on her mood, she couldn't help but blush a little. I mean, she was going to be escorted by a hilarious, charming, gorgeous guy. Couldn't she be a little happy for herself? As their conversation died, she laid in bed, tossing and turning, her imagination running wild. Slowly, she drifted into a deep sleep.

Darien smiled to himself. He felt a pull to this girl. He had only known her for a few weeks and she had already given him some of the best advice he had ever received in his whole life. She was also really cute, and that helped a bit. Darien chuckled, as his thoughts drifted to Raye. Suddenly his smirk disappeared. Why won't she date me?! We've talked about our feelings for each other so many times, but she says 'Oh I just don't want to be in relationship right now.' Darien tried to convince himself he could wait for her, no matter how long. He loved her. Or so he thought...' Darien rolled over onto his stomach, having the same battle with himself he did every night before he went to sleep.

A few weeks later, the girls giggled nervously as they played some music, dancing silly to try and loosen up. Serena watched as her gorgeous friend Mina danced into the bathroom, her golden curls bouncing on her tanned shoulders. Ami nervously sat in front of Mina's mirror, applying another layer of mascara. Serena slowly approached her tiny form, removing the mascara brush from her hands. "You look beautiful! Stop worrying." Serena comforted, easily reading the expression on her best friend of 4 years fair face. She kindly smiled, blushing as she let out a long sigh. "He's supposed to kiss me tonight, you know." Serena gasped sarcastically, covering her mouth. "I had no idea! Really?! Oh my gosh! I mean, we've only been waiting for this day for about 6 months or so." "Shut up," she quipped, sending her a playful glare. "I just don't know if I'm ready." Ami slowly said turning away to search for her shows under the mess of Mina's room. "You'll do fine! I promise." Serena said matter-of-factly, turning and leaving the bathroom.

Mina's mother came in the hallway, announcing that the three boys were here. Great. How incredibly awkward is this going to be?! I wish I was going with Andrew. That would be so much more comfortable. Serena laughed at herself, wondering how she could have ever seen Andrew as more than a best friend. Plus, there was no way he could even think about someone besides Mina. Serena and Mina giggled nervously together, sharing the hesitation of stepping outside the door. Ami sighed and pulled the girls outside, each of them splitting to their handsome dates. The young girl with the golden mane glided over to Darien. He inhaled quickly, noticing how beautiful she looked. He suddenly realized how nervous he was and saw her blush when he handed her the corsage. Pictures were taken and the teenagers piled into their parents cars, turning up the music to avoid any awkward moments.

The group took their seats next to their dates of course, and fell into conversation. It became quite comfortable and Serena and Darien finally opened up to each other socially. As she browsed the menu, she felt his eyes on her. Blushing mildly, Serena turned her head and began to talk to Greg, Ami's boyfriend, hoping to distract herself. Darien smiled to himself. Desperate for her attention, he leaned over to Serena and whispered something about their waiter's oddly high pitched voice. She laughed, noticing the shivers running down her spine just from his mouth being so close. She shrugged it off and continued with the meal.

The boys escorted the girls into the school gym about a half hour past the start of the dance. The DJ was remarkable, and Serena and Darien both decided to themselves to just have fun and not worry about things getting uncomfortable. As soon as the first slow song came on, they both gave each other an expressive glance and glided farther onto the dance floor. Serena slipped her arms around Darien's neck, as he tensely placed his arms around her slender waist. "Erm, I've never really…um…danced with a girl before?" Darien muttered, half-hoping she didn't hear him. 'She really needs to stop twirling her finger in my hair. She is so oblivious to what she is doing to me. How does she know exactly what to do to give me chills? Though, I can't say I don't like it.' Serena, surprised that this guy that girls pined over, had never slow-danced before. She hoped he hadn't seen right through her thought process. She casually laughed, making him feel comfortable and told him to follow her lead.

By the end of the night, Darien had caught the hang of dancing, and things were comfortable. At around 11, the kids loaded into the car and rode to their friend Rebecca's house. Serena and Darien sat on the tennis court in the backyard with a group of people, but their focus was only on each other. Darien was sitting cross-legged and Serena casually slipped her cold feet under his leg. "I'm cold!" she said, laughing. He just smiled at her and proclaimed how tired he was. Serena couldn't help herself and began to run her fingers through his dark hair. He never told her to stop and she began a rhythm of scratching his head. She didn't realize it but all eyes were on them, noticing their chemistry.

Darien looked up, gazing into the blue orbs that smiled back at him. "This would probably be great time to tell you that I'm transferring to Juuban on Monday." Darien said. Serena squealed and unwittingly jumped on him, knocking him backwards. "No way! That's going to be so awesome, Darien! I'm so excited!!!" She shrieked. All of the sudden, she realized she was on top of his laying form, and quickly got herself up and brushed herself off. Darien frowned, missing her warmth. "I was hoping you would feel that way," he said quietly, giving her a weak smile. "Of course I do! Maybe we'll have some classes together." She replied, beaming. I sure hope so, he thought. Realizing they were alone, Darien stood up, offering a hand to Serena. She gladly took it and he pulled her up. The two made eye contact and stood there for about a second, but to them it felt like hours. 'So now I know what Mina meant when she said that the-world-seems-to-disappear feeling.' Darien cleared his throat and let go of Serena's hand and put his arm around her, casually leading her into the house where the rest of the after-party was. Serena absentmindedly walked with him, thoughts running through her mind. She began to regain consciousness and walked to the couch and sat down. Darien stood behind her, hands on her shoulders. Out of the blue, he leaned down and said he had to go. It was about 1 AM at this time, so she was tired and had drifted into a mild sleep, cuddling up on Mina's shoulder. Darien tried to gain Mina's attention, hoping she could wake her up, but Mina was deep in a conversation with Rebecca about how their red pom-poms clashed with their red cheerleading uniform. Sighing, Darien stepped around the couch and leaned in front of her sleeping form. He gently nudged her and told her his sister was here to pick him up. She yawned, a delicate hand covering her mouth, and gave him a quick hug good bye. "See you on Monday!" she cheerily announced, giving him a wink. He agreed and left the girl who was, unbeknownst to her, falling for him.

Darien sighed as he got in the car and only thought of Serena. She was like no other girl he had ever met. She was always happy and didn't take his teasing seriously, but actually teased him right back. No girl had ever been confident enough to do that to him. He smiled and leaned back in the chair, eager to be in his bed.

Monday came much to slow for the both of them. As soon as Serena arrived at school, she kept a steady eye out for Darien, something she would grow accustomed to. As soon as she saw him, she pranced up to him and suddenly realized she had planned nothing to say. She laughed and gave a casual "Hey." Darien replied with a chuckle and held out his hand for a high-five, something he would grow accustomed to. She returned the gesture and decided to start the conversation. "So, do you have your schedule?" Serena asked.

"Actually, I was just on my way to get it. Come with me." Darien ordered with a friendly smile. Another thing he would grow accustomed to saying.

"What? Are you scawed?" Serena replied, in a baby voice, taunting him.

"Real funny. Let's go." He said, standing up a little bit straighter.

The two made their way into the office and got his schedule. Serena immediately grabbed the paper, forming her mouth into a pout. "We don't have any classes together!" She wailed. "UGH! You have Spanish with Mina! No fair!" She continued. Darien laughed, "We can hang out at lunch, Meatball Head." Serena punched him in the stomach and haughtily replied, "Well MORON, since this is my Study Hall, I have to walk MINA to Spanish. Good BYE." Serena stomped out of the office, every bone in her body hoping he would follow, which he did.

"Hey! It was just a joke! C'mon! I don't know where anything is. Show me? Where's room C12?" Darien asked.

Not being able to stay mad at him, Serena quickly gave in. "Come with me," she groaned.

As they began to walk down the locker hall, Serena felt two strong hands on her shoulders. "Andrew! Hey!" Serena squealed, excited he was here. She turned around and gave him a big hug, and all the sudden Darien felt a sting of jealousy. Andrew turned to him and kindly patted him on the shoulder. "Sup dude, how's your first day?" Andrew asked. Serena beamed at him, loving every moment she was with him. Andrew was one of her very best friends, and she admired him more than almost anyone. Darien, entranced at how Serena was looking at Andrew, snapped out of it when he heard himself speak. "Ha-ha, it's going okay, I guess. This Meatball Head over here got a little feisty. But I convinced her to walk me to Spanish." Andrew nodded and gave him a knowing glance, telling Darien he understood. Serena caught what was going and smacked Andrew on the shoulder.

"Hey!"

"What?! I didn't do anything."

"Whatever." She retorted, smiling.

Andrew only laughed and put his arm around her. She softened up a bit.

"So Andrew, to celebrate Darien's transfer, do you think we should do that thing we've been talking about doing?"

"Hiding under the table in the Spanish room?" He guessed.

"DUH! How funny would it be if Senor Plater found us? We have to see if he's in a good mood today, though."

"Guys! Wait for me! You're not trying to replace me with him, are you?" We heard a voice we all knew, cry out behind us.

"Of course not Mina" Serena comforted, turning around and leaving Darien's side.

Mina was Serena's best friend, besides Ami. They had recently discovered that they basically had the same brain, and could have conversations by just throwing glances at each other. They also had every class together except three, out of nine. These two combined often got them in trouble, not with teachers per say, but their grades seemed to drastically drop after it was discovered.

The group arrived at the classroom, only to find the teacher wasn't there yet. Andrew asked Serena if they were really going to go through with it, but Serena was hesitant. Being a freshman, she didn't want to make any bad impressions during only the second month of school. The rest of the class seemed to somehow convince her seconds before Senor walked in, Serena scurried under the table.

Mina casually gazed at Darien, taking in all of his handsome features. Darien not noticing her staring looked up and smiled at her. She smiled back and started the conversation.

"So, you do realize you went to Homecoming with that?" She said, laughing, and pointing under the table.

"I wouldn't have had it any other way," He replied, grinning.

Meanwhile, under the table, Andrew and Serena were talking about Homecoming also. Except…in notes.

'I would have asked you any day, Sere. But I felt bad. I knew Mina liked me last year and I felt I should ask her. I love you both equally.'

'Oh, I get it. I had a lot of fun anyways!'

'Me too.'

'Okay. You're hiding something. Spill. No wait! I can guess. You like Mina again. Don't you?'

Serena passed the notebook behind her. Andrew and she were sitting back to back to prevent any laughing at each others faces. Plus, there was a bar in the middle, helping for back support. Andrew turned around at her, giving her a sly look and shaking his head. Serena stuck her tongue out at him as he turned around and began to write.

'You think you're so good, don't you?'

'Well I am right, right?'

'…Yes.'

'AHA! I'm SO good. Wow.'

'Any advice?'

'Well, I happen to know a few things that might help…'

'Besides the fact that Mina's basically in love with you.'

Mina, Ami and Serena sat at lunch, making small talk, mostly about Homecoming. Serena blushed and thought back to the weekend's events. Snapping out of her reverie, she felt a light tap on her left shoulder. Whirling around to face the person who wanted her attention, she only faced the gym. Squinting her eyes, she turned back to face Ami. As she began to say something, Darien leaned in to her right ear. Little did she know, he had taken a seat next to her "Hey," he whispered. How can he make one word so…sultry?' Serena laughed at her use of vocabulary and continued back in the real world. Slowly, she turned her head to face Darien, sending him a cold, hard glare.

"You think you're so funny, don't you?"

"I'd like to think so."

Not knowing how vicious this could get, Serena shrugged the conversation off. 'I'm so mature.' She acknowledged, mentally patting herself on the back.

"So, how's your first day going?"

Darien mumbled, sighed, and then looked away. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Serena was determined to make this guy talk to her. It's not like he hadn't shared some of his deepest secrets in the recent nights with her.

"C'mon. Talk to me."

"It's going alright, but I hope I can change my schedule. I don't feel comfortable in some of my classes."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Well, if you need any help in Spanish, let me know!" Serena offered graciously with a wink. She knew he would spill the real reason he was down later that night on the phone. She rolled her eyes discreetly, sensing it had to do with Raye.

Darien felt his insides churn. 'If only she knew what she does to me. If only I knew... What is it about this girl?' Darien chuckled. "I'll be sure to, Meatball Head." Serena's grin switched to glower in a matter of seconds. She decided she had to leave before punching the daylights out of the remarkable guy next to her. Irony seemed to follow her every where.

"I'm going to get some cereal from the caf. Ami, Meens, want anything?"

"Uh! Aren't you going to offer to get ME anything?" Darien whimpered, a look of anger crossing his face.

"No thanks, Serena." They both said in unison.

Serena stood up and worked her way out of the picnic table mutely, ignoring the sitting form beside her. Before walking away, she smiled knowingly at Darien, making eye contact with his midnight pools. 'This is getting out of hand. Pools? What the hell am I talking about?' Serena made her way to the cafeteria, briefly chatting with Becca. Darien watched her move, laugh and tease her friend. 'Every move is so angelic...' Serena brushed Rebecca's arm, explaining where she was headed, Darien assumed as she pointed to the building ahead of her. He continued to watch her as she passed some boys in her grade, all of which turned to watch her as she walked past. Darien thought it was absolutely adorable how she was so oblivious to her admirers. As soon as she entered the doors to the cafeteria, he resumed his gaze across the table. At Mina. Mina flashed him a knowing look.

Darien, looking confused, said "What?"

Mina rolled her eyes, "You know what."

"No, I really don't know what you're talking about."

"You're so full of it! You like Serena! Duh!"

"No I don't. We're just good friends. That's all."

"Darien. Don't play games with me."

He sighed. "I don't know if I like her or not. I do know that I cherish our friendship, though. But I can definitely see things happening in the future…"

"Don't worry. I won't tell her."

Mina groaned to herself, trying to seem annoyed. Inside, she was bubbly. 'Ha! Yeah right I won't tell Serena.'