Disclaimers: I do not own Sailor Moon - we all know Naoko does anyway, so to say that I do would be pretty pointless...

Notes: Good grief! How happy was I that 'Conversation' was received so well! You guys have no idea what a huge encouragement that was! Thanks so much for everyone who reviewed - I hope you get a kick out of this one as well.

This one came to me while on my quest to do a decent romance fic. I've been on this mission type thing to do a 'decent' romantic story after watching another horrible romance flic (cough-PrinceandMe-cough) that made me mad after seeing it. For all of it's predictability, I fumed at my mom and she simply said, "If you're tired of looking for it, why not write it?"

So, after a trip to Chicago and a bit of plotting (and questioning from co-workers), I came up with this. Hope you enjoy (and, hopefully, more attempts will follow after this one is over with).

So Much For College Flings
By Sean Montgomery
December, 1995

He hated his alarm clock.

Well, maybe hate was too strong a word. It wasn't that bad of an alarm clock, actually. It looked nice and hardly ever needed a battery change, not to mention that it never failed to have a good song playing to greet him. Usually his alarm was a welcome sight, meaning the beginning of a new day and new possibilities, new people to meet and new things to do. Optimism usually followed him wherever he went, especially where a new day was concerned. But not today.

He didn't hate his alarm clock. He hated the day his alarm clock brought.

The funny thing was, it wasn't the alarm clock that made him hate the day already, even though a nice song was flowing through the speakers into his room. It was the invitation that sat next to it, destroying any optimism he could have had. His blue eyes, usually wide awake, stared at it with regret, the words jumping out at him like a stain in his immaculate apartment.

Maybe it wasn't the words on it, but the words that weren't.

This was a very bad day and it hadn't even begun yet.

Most of it went by in a blur, not that he would have noticed anyway. He was lucky he hadn't cut himself shaving, or that he hadn't done something drastic like staining his tux or getting in a car accident. When he handed the invitation over to be inspected, it felt like a fifty ton weight in his hand. He felt like his heart was being torn out every time he looked at the dumb thing.

He did hate the words that were, and weren't, there.

You are invited to join in the ceremony of the union of Serena Carray and Allen Carpenter...

He was surprised he even read the rest of the invitation. The first sentence was horrible enough.

We hope you are able to join in on this joyous occasion...

'Joyous' was the last word he would have used. 'Devistating' felt more at home to him. 'Catastrophic' would have worked, too.

As he stared at the invitation for the final time, he wondered how on earth he had been stupid enough to let her go. When had he believed his life would have worked perfectly without her in the picture? Every time he seriously thought about it he couldn't come up with a solution. Maybe there wasn't one after all.

Maybe he really was that stupid.

He never noticed the flower girls or the bridesmaids walking down the isle. It wasn't until the crowd stood in the small church that he realized he needed to stand and turn around to face her. As soon as he saw her he knew how to describe his day - it was his greatest dream and his worst nightmare all wrapped into one. She had her hair - golden, silky and never without its trademark buns on either side of her head - settled atop her head, ringlets dropping and curling around her jaw, making the added make-up around her eyes more magical. Her dress was a pattern and style he couldn't identify but it didn't matter to him. The veil could do nothing to cover the look of complete and utter trust and love. She was perfect.

What made it worse was that she never looked at him. It wasn't his day. Just hers and Allens.

He never knew when the groom stepped into the room. All he saw was the way he stared at her when she met him, his eyes filled with adoration, his hands holding onto hers gently. At one point in the ceremony, the joy finally being too much for her, he pulled out a hidden handkerchief and dabbed the tears from her eyes, making the crowd murmor with 'aw's and himself more miserable. Why didn't they take the dagger and stab him already?

The dagger went in when they were announced husband and wife. It twisted when they kissed. His heart was a bloody mass on the floor when they turned to the crowd with smiles on their faces. When the crowd applauded and showed their approval, he could hardly move. He was sure his face must have been pale.

It was over. It really was over. Unless…

He was surprised he made it to the reception in one piece. The semi that turned in front of him on the road was a tempting target to run into. Standing alone, waiting for the bride and groom to enter the room, he wondered inanely if it would have hurt. The answer, of course, would have been 'yes' but under the present circumstances, with his emotions as shot as they were, would it matter?

He must have been late getting to the reception. The couple arrived only moments later, followed by the energetic string of bridesmaids and laughing groomsmen. The room broke into applause once again. The smiles on their faces couldn't be contained.

Forget it being a really bad day. It sucked.

It was only when the dancing started, when the groom was asked by another, his sister presumably, that he made his way through the crowd to the bride. He placed a careful hand on her shoulder, suddenly wary of how she would react to seeing him. She turned at the contact, her smile, brought on by a joke Allen made, faded quickly when she saw him and her face got pale.

"Can we dance? I'd like to talk to you for a second." His voice sounded rough, low with lack of use. It had to be the first time he talked that day.

She was silent when he took her into his arms, careful not to invade her space or make her uncomfortable. It would only be harder to talk to her then.

"I didn't think you'd come." She said, her eyes lifeless and somewhat challenging.

"I got an invitation."

"I didn't think it would matter. I told Allen as much."

The words stung, but he refused to let her know that. "Are you happy?"

She raised an eyebrow. Had he forgotten he was at a wedding reception? "Am I happy?"

"With Allen. Does he really make you happy? Not the happy for a few months, or the happy because he got you some things – does he really make you happy, as in the kind that lasts forever?"

The words were out before she could stop them. "The happy that you never gave me?"

Her words stung again. She looked into his eyes and saw that she hit home. "Yeah, the happy I never gave you."

Her hands grew cold in his, but her face was determined as ever. Her single worded answer gave him all the confirmation he needed. When he looked into her eyes, he saw she meant it. "Yes."

He never knew when they had stopped dancing, or if they had even started at all. He felt the cool wedding band pressing against his palm and realized with agony that he wasn't wearing it's mate. It was really time to let her go. He pulled away but kept her hand in his, kissing it once and letting it go just as quickly. "Goodbye Serena."

He didn't dare turn around to see if she was watching him as he left. He only made his way out the doors and into the cold December air, watching his breath disappear when he deeply sighed. "Goodbye," he said again, looking at the car in front of him filled with flower petals and shaving cream, thinking of her getting in with that smile on her face as she waved at the crowd. There would be no smile when she saw him, though. She only would only frown, her expression-filled eyes as cold as the air around him. With a final deep breath, Darien Shields walked away from the building and out of Serena Carpenter's life forever.

Now, don't kill me yet. Just tell me what you think. More will come later. Happy Belated Halloween!