"It's here! It's here it's here it's here!"

Irene looked up from her newspaper and watched as her child –correction: her 22 year old daughter – run through the house shrieking and waving a piece of paper. She quickly glanced over to her husband, who had the same quizzical look on his face. Before they could react, Serena burst into the room.

"I got in! I did it!" she exclaimed as she proudly held up her acceptance letter. Simultaneously, both parents leapt out of their seats and cheered, throwing their arms around their university-bound daughter.

"Oh Serena, we are so proud of you!" Irene exclaimed happily as she tightened her arms around her daughter. The excitement was infectious, and she soon began jumping up and down.

"I just can't believe it! Even with applying late they accepted me into the program," she cheerfully laughed as she reread the acceptance letter. She then passed it off to Ken, who read the letter before passing it on to Irene.

"I can't believe my daughter is going to get her master's in finance," he shook his head in a prideful disbelief. Ten years ago he never would have imagined his pigtailed, video-game loving, ice cream-aholic daughter would be financial savvy and ready to study further into it.

"I have to tell Darien! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it!" She squealed as she made her exit, but not before grabbing her phone and running up the stairs. Both parents looked at each other and exchanged another glowing smile.

#

"Darien, I did it! I got in to Syracuse!" Serena exclaimed over the phone.

"Serena, that's amazing!" Darien replied. Serena flopped back into her pillows and started kicking the air.

"I just can't believe that after months of us being apart we can be reunited. Fate really was on our side." Serena smiled broadly. Six months ago, Darien moved out to Syracuse after accepting an internship at one of the hospitals in the city. Unfortunately, the couple was separated by a long commute, Serena's final semester at Ohio State, and work hours in between. The phone was the only thing keeping them alive; that and Serena's pending acceptance to the University. She had applied to the program late after learning of Darien's move, and she couldn't stand being without him. Prior to him leaving the couple lived together for a year, making the time apart even harder for her to accept.

"So I can move in with you next month then, right?" she knowingly stated. She couldn't wait to snuggle in their bed again, seeing he needed it more than she did. She moved back into her parent's house for the time being, after all.

"Wait, what?" He sounded surprised.

"Well, yeah, isn't that the whole point of this?" she asked.

"Serena," he groaned. "Can we discuss this later?"

Perplexed, she sat up. "No, Darien, we can discuss this now. Why are you being weird about this?"

"Serena, it's just that my place is really small, and I'm never here, and…" he trailed off.

"Well, yea, I know that, but I'm in school so it's not like I need you around all the time. Dare, what does that have to do with anything?"

"It just came as a sudden shock, Sere, that's all," he signed over the phone.

"How do you figure?" she retaliated. "You knew I was applying. You knew there was a good chance I was coming up. So how is this a shock?"

"I don't know, Serena. I don't know." Serena exhaled a frustrated breath into her bangs. Clearly he was irritated, but with no reason.

"I've got to go," she promptly said. "Thanks for ruining this, Darien."

"Whatever, Serena. Bye."

Brows snapped together, she threw her phone into her bed and with satisfaction watched as it hastily skipped across the mattress. How dare he do this! Why wouldn't they be living together? A year ago they were, so why wouldn't they now? He took all of their stuff with him and furnished his new place with their belongings, stuff she helped pay for, and now he doesn't know if he wants her living there?! Scoffing, she violently threw herself back into her pillows, trying not to let the angering thoughts take over the joy of her accomplishment. She would talk to him again about it once they both calmed down.

#

For weeks it was nothing but fighting. Cruel, spiteful, under-your-skin fighting.

It was crystal clear: Darien did not want Serena to live with him, and she wasn't backing down. They had been together for three years and lived together for one. There was no reason why they should be moving backwards.

The past week, though, he began avoiding her calls. When he would answer, they were brief and excluded any emotion. However, time was closing in and she needed to finalize her plans to move. Serena stared at her phone and was anxious; she needed to talk to him without a fight. She needed to know what was going on with their future. Nerves rattled, she picked up her phone and dialed his number.

"Darien?" she quietly said when he answered. "We need to talk."

"I know," he sighed.

"I don't want to fight with you, but please, I need to know what's going on." Serena looked around her room at her belongings, hoping that they would be boxed up and ready to move by week's end. There was a long stretch of silence. "Darien?"

"Serena, I…" he let out a deep sigh. "Serena, don't think this is going to work out."

"Darien," she meekly replied. "I don't understand this. We lived together before, why wouldn't we now?"

"I don't mean living together, Serena. I mean us."

Her eyes widened as thousands of needles pricked her skin. "Wait, what?" Where did this come from?

"These last few weeks we've been fighting so much about us living together. It made me realize that I'm not ready for this," he explained.

"Darien if it's this big of a deal we don't have to, I'll get my own place, Darien please think about what you're saying!" Serena hastily said. She was losing him, and she was panicking.

"No, Serena. Please, when we were home in Columbus it was different. But coming out here alone made me change. I need to continue to grow out here, Serena, and not be tied down by my roots."

"But Darien –"

"Serena, I met someone."

Quickly, Serena disconnected the phone and threw it as if it was a disease-ridden creature. She didn't just hear that. No, there is no way this would happen. Darien wouldn't meet someone else, not when she was transferring up there to be with him. No. Darien couldn't, he wouldn't. Her stomach knotted as tears surfaced. Shaking her head, she swallowed back the sob etched in her throat and picked up her phone, calling him back. He answered.

"Serena…"

Words betrayed her. She sat there holding the phone up to her ear, waiting for him to say something, anything, that would take back the words he just said. But nothing came but bittersweet confirmation.

"I'm sorry, Serena."

"Darien, no…" She finally sobbed, her heart crumbling as he said goodbye to her. She keeled over and held onto the phone, clutching the silent device. She rolled over into her pillow as she bellowed sobs of anguish, having no idea where to go from here. She was ready to follow him across the world, and all he gave her was a phone call goodbye.

#

An obnoxious buzzing awoke Serena out of a deep sleep. After her mind finally registered it was her phone ringing, she frantically grabbed it and looked at the caller I.D., silently praying it was Darien. Instead, she was greeted by an unfamiliar number. Usually she let unknown numbers go right to voicemail, but she shrugged and accepted the call.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Good afternoon, is this Serena Tsukino?"

"Yes, this is. May I ask who is calling?"

"Of course, my name is Jacob Marceu and I work at DFW Jones in Toronto, Ontario. You had uploaded your resume to a job-search website that we happened to come across and review. Our management team is very interested in meeting with you," the gentlemen briefly synopsized.

"O-oh," she said, caught off-guard, "Of course."

"I see that you live in the states, in Ohio. Would a computer interview work out better for you? We can arrange to have that set-up as early as tomorrow morning," Mr. Marceu suggested.

"Yes, that would be great," she replied. As the two of them exchanged emails and conferencing I.D.'s, she couldn't help but be baffled by this random opportunity. Truth be told, she had forgotten she uploaded her resume for financial analyst positions; she had done so in case she was not accepted into the University program. But since she had been, she completely dismissed the idea of work.

She hung up the phone and stared at it. Hours ago the chapter of her love life slammed shut, and yet minutes ago a new one had the potential to begin.

#