Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, so your attempts to sue me would be fruitless.

Happy Endings

Chapter 1

The bells on the door chimed as he pushed it open, and he found that the restaurant was totally empty. Smirking for the first time during the entire day, Darien Shields approached the familiar figure sitting at the bar. "Seems like your restaurant is going south soon, huh?" The figure turned around and smiled at his visitor.

"Yet you keep coming back," Andrew said, reaching around the bar to grab another clean class and the bottle of scotch. "You're my best customer."

"I don't think I count as a customer if I don't pay for anything," Darien said, taking the bottle from his friend and pouring some into the glass. He ignored the fact that it was too early to be drinking; sometimes exceptions had to be made. "By the way, maybe you should let me pay for the drinks you give me. The money would probably help spice up the place a little."

"Hey, I take free booze from the bar. Why should my best friend have to pay?" Andrew laughed, taking another sip. So Darien, in the end, was just teasing. The restaurant was plenty successful, but there was always a time during the late afternoon when the place was absolutely deserted. "Rough day, huh?"

Darien sighed before lifting his drink to his lips and taking a sip, grimacing a bit—he wasn't much of a drinker. In fact, it was Andrew who had to drag him along to house parties and clubs back when they were in college. It was a miracle they had even met; Andrew was in the culinary program and his building was all the way across campus. Because he had to work with food all the time, Andrew took a few classes about health and diseases—which resulted in the two of them in the same class on Monday mornings.

They'd been best friends ever since, although it was a wonder to anybody who knew them. Andrew was a social butterfly, who flourished no matter what setting he was in. He had a girlfriend, named Rita, of four years, and many friends who often came to visit him at the restaurant. Darien, however, was a lone wolf. He preferred to be locked up in his plain, bare-walled apartment as he read through journal articles about the latest breakthroughs in medicine. Andrew was his only friend and, although Darien had had girlfriends, the relationships never extended longer than a few months at the most.

"So what happened, Dr. Shields?" Andrew teased, leaning against the bar and taking a quick glance outside to see if anyone would come in.

"Just the usual," Darien answered, not knowing why he let it bother him so much. He wondered whether things would truly be different if he had just graduated a little later, just like everyone else. However, because of his hard work, excellent grades, and formidable dedication to his work while he was a resident at the hospital, he finished classes quicker than most and earned enough credits in the end to graduate four years earlier than everyone else in his class. It wasn't much, but enough to leave his colleagues spiteful and jealous of his success.

"Oh Darien, you know they're just petty and jealous. You shouldn't let it get to you. Besides, you're a doctor now. There's no room for bullying at a hospital," Andrew said, finishing off the rest of his scotch.

"I know. People can be such jerks though," the dark-haired man explained. "Hey Andrew… do you really think I'm stoic?" Darien asked carefully, recalling how his coworkers had described him to other patients at the hospital. They said he was stoic, cold, and unfeeling—that he didn't care about his patients and therefore didn't deserve to be a doctor.

Of course, they were wrong. Darien cared a great deal for the people he treated, especially when it came to sick children. However, he had promised himself to maintain a professional distance from them all—if he got too attached to every single patient he had, the job would prove to be very difficult for him and his colleagues. Darien thought he was doing the right thing, that he was being a good doctor… but his coworkers seemed to think otherwise. They thought he was stuck up and conceited, that he thought he was better than the rest of them.

Darien only wanted to be the best doctor he could be.

"Stoic? Not at all." Andrew said, somewhat surprised at the question. "You're one of the most caring people I know, Dare!" When his friend didn't say anything back, Andrew took the glass out of his hands and slammed it onto the counter. "C'mon, I know exactly what will cheer you up!"

"What?" Andrew took off his apron and threw it behind the bar, then proceeded to drag Darien towards the door. "What about the restaurant?"

"It's closed for the rest of the day! Now come on! We're going to Crystal Confectionaries." Andrew announced triumphantly, turning his head to flash a big wide grin to his friend, who stopped his in tracks.

"W-Wait, what? Crystal—wait. Wait. What?" Darien sputtered, not really knowing what to say. How did Andrew know that the cutesy little bakery just a few blocks away would cheer him right up? If anyone else knew about this, it'd be the end of him—especially if this little piece of information were to get out to his coworkers. Dr. Darien Shields heading to a cupcake shop because he was having a bad day. Yeah. That'd make him an easy target.

"Geez, you think I wouldn't know that you have the biggest crush on the girl who works there?" Andrew huffed, watching with amusement as Darien's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"How did you—How did you—How—?"

"Wow Doctor, you're so eloquent!" Andrew said with fake enthusiasm. "Now hurry up! The bakery will close in an hour!"

Ten minutes later, they arrived in front of the small little bakery with a big reputation—Crystal Confectionaries was famous for their delicious treats and had often been featured on news programs and several cooking shows. However, it wasn't the sweets that Darien was attracted to. There was a girl who worked there, a girl with a peculiar hairstyle but stunningly bright blue eyes. She had been at the hospital one day, delivering cookies and cupcakes to the patients. She saw him walking by and getting ready to clock out, took a cupcake out of the box, and handed one to him with a smile. "One for the road, Doctor?"

He hadn't been able to forget that smile.

Ever since, he would occasionally drop by the bakery to buy a dozen cupcakes from the angel whose smile could heal any kind of pain. She hadn't indicated that she recognized him, but she would always give him that same smile. He would always say that he was buying the cupcakes for the children at the hospital, but he never saw any sign of recognition in her eyes.

"Andrew, I'm gonna kill you if you say anything." Darien said threateningly to his best friend.

"What am I, twelve? I needed to stop by anyway." Now that was unexpected. Why on earth would Andrew need to stop by the bakery? "Hi Lita!" Darien noticed the tall brunette he always saw here and she smiled at the visitors.

"Hey Andrew," she said in a particularly loud voice, sending a knowing glance to an empty spot behind her. She smirked when she heard a crash in the kitchen, giggling to herself before turning her attention back towards the blonde. "Sorry, Mina's just pulling a Serena—she's extra clumsy today!"

Andrew let out a laugh before remembering that he brought his best friend along with him. Turning back to the door, he saw that Darien was standing awkwardly in the middle of the doorway, looking around and pretending like he wasn't looking forward to talking to the pretty little pigtailed woman standing behind the counter. "Ah Lita, this is my friend Darien."

Darien smiled a small smile, lifted his hand to wave before crossing his arms over his chest again and resuming his position. "Oh, I know you!" Lita said, her ponytail swished as she turned to look at him. "You come here all the time!"

Mortified was not a strong enough word to describe what Darien was feeling at the moment.

"Anyway, Andrew, I have some new menu items for you to try." Lita said, gesturing to the kitchen. "Would your friend like to come with us?" She asked, noticing that Darien was still being awkward as hell.

"No," Andrew smiled. "He'd probably enjoy himself more out here. Let's go." They disappeared into the kitchen and Darien wondered why he hadn't noticed it before. Under the dessert section of the restaurant's menu, there was always a small sign that said "Courtesy of Crystal Confectionaries". This bakery was the one that would supply Andrew with cookies, cupcakes, pies, and ice cream—material for his bestselling chocolate milkshakes.

When he came back to his senses, he noticed that she was looking right at him. As they made eye contact, she smiled at him and beckoned him to come over and order something. Of course, he couldn't resist.

"Hi," Darien said sheepishly, wondering how long she had noticed him standing there like an idiot. For the first time, he saw she was wearing a nametag.

Serena.

How perfect.

However, Darien's image of the perfect angel whose name was Serena was about to be shattered forever. He had failed to remember what Lita had said about a girl named Mina "pulling a Serena". He had failed to notice that she was covered in flour and had chocolate smeared on her left cheek, or the fact that there was a pile of burnt cookies sitting on a tray behind her.

He failed to notice that Serena was not as perfect as he thought she was.

CHAPTER ONE -FIN-

Author's Notes: Okay, so Crystal Confectionaries isn't exactly the most creative name in the world. I couldn't really think of anything for the name though, so I guess it would have to do. I wanted to put something that would reference Crystal Tokyo, but my lack of imagination put me in a slump. Anyway, please review if you like it so far! I'll be back with a new chapter soon.

~Seung-hye