Darien walked resolutely to the crown arcade, dragging his feet with frustration.
He hated being weak. Throughout his entire twenty years of life, there was nothing he hated more than weakness. In others he could allow it, weakness was merely an attribute that was allowed to take over, a personality trait that could not be stopped. That was for others, not for himself.
He guessed that it was because he lost his parents at the age of six. Everyone expected him to be weak because of that loss. He would never allow it.
He never encountered an obstacle, event, or person that he could not shoulder with his strength.
Until very recently.
Serena lay sleeping in her bed, completely oblivious to the world around her.
She was dreaming of Darien, only she would never admit it. It was a simple dream, where they were on a date together, and he wasn't teasing her.
Her crush on him started immediately, and it was plain to anyone why. He was tall, mysterious and incredibly handsome. Older and smart, he was a dream. Until he opened his mouth and called her 'Meatball Head'. The crush should have stopped there, but it didn't. As much as she denies it to herself, it continued, and grew into more. She never felt this way in all her fourteen years. She had told herself, time and time again, that he was too old for her, or she too immature. Nothing seemed to stop her growing love for him. Not his teasing words, or his aloof manner. So she happily dreamed about him in her sleep.
Her very deep sleep. So deep that she never heard the alarm go off, her mother's loud warnings fell on deaf ears. Luna had also tried, and failed to rouse the sleeping blonde.
Lune was sick and tired of it. Drastic times call for drastic measures.
She places her tiny cat's paw on Serena's bottom, and not so gently scratched her.
"OUCH! Luna! What was that for?"
Serena jumped straight out of bed and rubbed her aching bottom.
"You've slept through your alarm again, Serena." The small black cat exclaimed mildly.
"I don't think that calls for you clawing me with your…your claws!"
"Eloquent, as always," stated Luna, "but I think it was necessary this time. Have you looked at the time?"
Serena's eyes fell upon the digital clock above her bed, and she screamed.
"School starts in less than five minutes! There is no way I am getting out of detention today!"
With that statement she immediately started to frantically get ready. Her school clothes lay rumpled on the floor, and she put them on as she brushed her teeth. She found her socks, pulled them on and went to her vanity mirror.
"Serena, surely you don't think you have enough time to do your hair?" asked Luna.
Serena looked at the clock, then back to her reflection. Her hair was down, and was filled with tiny little bows that she placed in the night before so her hair would not be a tangled mess in the morning. She quickly took out all the bows and ran a brush over her hair a few times.
"That will have to do today." She muttered to herself, and darted out of her room.
"Bye, Luna!"
School was out, Darien knew it was.
So where was she?
He had come to the arcade over an hour ago, on the pretense of visiting his friend Andrew. It was only half true. He did want to see Andrew, but he wanted to see someone else even more.
His one weakness.
How she had made him fall in love with her, he had no idea. She didn't even know. From the first moment that her test paper had hit him on the head, he was a goner.
Her blue eyes, her energetic smile, and her love for all her friends where things he loved about her. How he longed for her to look at him, with that same love she has for her friends.
She made him weak. He would have never spent half his time in a teenager filled arcade for anyone before he met her. He would never had rearranged his whole schedule to hopefully run into her on her way to school, which he had missed this morning, making him grumpy. No one had ever made him burn with jealously just by talking to Andrew. Once when she had hugged Andrew, he broke a glass that he had been holding.
Since she made him feel weak, the one thing he absolutely hated, he lashed out at her. Made fun of her grades, her klutz attacks, and her hair style. He hated himself so much, but it was the only reaction he knew how to give. He was hoping to bring her down with his remarks, so some sign of weakness around him, but to no avail. It seemed his remark only made her determined to prove him wrong. Her grades improved, and she watched where she was going more closely. The only thing that hadn't changed was her hair. And he could always rely on that.
He heard the door to the arcade open, but did not look up.
"Thanks for waiting for me, you two are the best! I thought that I would never get out of detention."
Darien tensed, recognizing her voice instantly. He dared not looked up, worried that he would seem to interested in her.
"No problem, Serena!" said Lita.
Lita was Serena's newest, and Darien could tell, already incredibly loyal friend.
"You are welcome, Serena," said Amy, "Just try to get up on time, your studies will suffer otherwise."
"Oh Amy! Why do you think I slept in! I had to study for the math test this morning. I think I did pretty well, just to let you know."
He could hear her the eagerness in her voice. She wanted to impress her friend Amy, who was a certified genius.
"I am positive you did well, but maybe we should schedule a study time, so you won't have to, what's the word? Cram?"
"Amy, lighten up," said Lita, and Darien heard a thump and a gasp, and he assumed that Lita and smacked Amy on the back, "On a side note, Serena your hair looks great that way! You should try wearing it that way more often."
"Really?"
"Totally!" exclaimed Lita, "It makes you look so much older!"
At this Darien could help himself not longer, and looked up to see Serena. What he saw made him lose his breath.
There was Serena standing in between her two friends. Only her hair wasn't up in its usually meatball style. It was down, and flowing straight to the floor. It was shimmering in the afternoon sun, as if it was filled with stars. It looked like spun sunshine, and flowed like water. And it did make Serena look older. The tips just barely brushed the floor as she laughed and talked with her friends. Her blues eyes shined with happiness and her full lips smiled. His mouth ran dry, and his hands started to sweat.
There goes his one last defense. He would never make fun of her hair after seeing it like this.
The three friends walked over to the counter, where Darien was seated, and Serena met his gaze.
Serena paused when she meant Darien's gaze, waiting for the inevitable, 'Meatball Head'. Then she remembered her hair was down, and not at all resembling meat balls.
So she smiled brightly and said, "Hello, Darien."
His response was a weak wave. She shrugged, and turned to Andrew who was taking her friends orders. As she placed her order, and went to sit at a booth, she was aware that Darien never took his eyes off her.
Once seated Lita immediately breached the subject, "Darien can't take his eyes off you!"
Serena blushed, but shook her head, not daring to hope.
"Oh, come off it, you noticed too! Amy back me up here!"
The small bluenette smiled, "I concur with Lita."
"You two are imagining things," said Serena, "Why would an older guy like Darien, be looking at me?"
"Your gorgeous!" stated Lita.
"You are happy." Added Amy.
Lita nodded vigorously making her ponytail of brown hair swirl, "Yes, and you are the best friend ever! Who wouldn't want to be friends with you?"
"Darien," said Serena, "He is always making fun of me."
Amy nodded knowingly, "Do you remember childhood? And how young boys would often tease or hurt the girls they liked?"
Lita smiled as is a light bulb when off in her head, "Of course! That makes so much sense! He likes you!"
Serena snorted, "He has a funny way of showing it."
At this she stole a glance in his direction, and blushed to see he was still watching her.
Lita suddenly dropped her milkshake on the grounds and said an very unconvincing, "Oops!"
"Serena, could you go get me a new shake?" Lita bated her eyes and pouted her lips.
"Oh, all right."
Serena got up and headed for the counter. She saw right through Lita's tricks. Lita had done that so Serena would have to go to the counter, next to Darien.
She tried to ignore the butterflies flying in her stomach, and she tried to suppress the blush that constantly was coming over her face.
Darien's eyes followed her the whole way.
Andrew was not behind the counter when she got there, he had gone to get a mop to clean Lita's spilled shake. She stood at the counter looking straight ahead.
Again she tried to talk to Darien, "Hi."
"Your hair."
She looked over at him confused, to find him standing right next to her. She jumped back a little in surprise.
"Your hair style was all I had left."
"What?"
"I don't like being weak, Serena."
He moved in closer to her, but did not dare touch her.
"Darien, you are not making any sense!"
She was starting to feel hot with his close proximity and looked to her friends for help, but found none.
Lita had Andrew in a headlock, making sure not to bother them, and Amy was blushing furiously behind a text book.
"I have to come clean, I can't stand it."
"What are you saying, I am so confused!"
He smiled at her, and reached out to her. She froze not knowing what to expect. His fingers brushed her cheek, as they reached her hair. He ran his fingers threw it, and withdrew a moment later.
"You make me weak."
She didn't respond, still flustered from the feel of his fingers brushing her face.
"You want to know why I make fun of you all the time I bet, I know I would. I made fun of you because I didn't want to feel weak for you. I am a full grown man!"
Serena was starting to understand where he was headed, but remained silent.
"Yet, you, a small young woman, have brought me to my knees. You are beautiful, smart, kind, loyal, caring, and so much."
Serena blushed, and Darien placed his hands on her shoulders.
"I ask you for forgiveness, hoping that you will be much more than my friend. Serena I said those things, I treated you awfully, because you made me feel like I never had before. You are my weakness. I am worried about you, jealous of all men that talk to you, and I can't be without you for even a day. I love you."
With that said he leaned down and kissed her tenderly on the lips. She fell into his arms instantly, going onto her toes to lean into the kiss with all she had. She had just dreamt of this very moment last night, and couldn't believe it was happening. He wrapped his arms around her. His lips were soft and gentle, and she could tell he felt he was undeserving of her kiss. His mouth opened slightly and she felt his hot breath on her lips and she felt his tongue slide over her bottom lip. She was to shocked to respond.
He pulled away shortly after that and smiled hopefully down at her.
"Darien," she whispered, "I love you too."
His smile grew to fit his whole face as he picked her up in a sweeping hug. When he landed her back on her feet she glanced over at her friends.
Andrews mouth was practically on the floor, no caring at all that he was still in a tight headlock. Lita was smiling, and winking, with and "I told you so look' written plainly on her face. Amy was shyly looking over her text book and gave a slight nod.
Serena once again look back up at Darien.
"All this because of my hair being down?"
"Your hair style, was my last feeble excuse. It was bound to happen really."
He then kissed her, and again she felt his smooth tongue on her bottom lip. She knew instantly what to do this time, and opened her mouth to let him in.
As they pulled away, Serena smiled and said, "I am so happy I over slept!"