First Sailor Moon fanfic! Please be kind(:

Disclaimer - I unfortunately don't own Sailor Moon or it's characters :'(

Chapter 1

Serena stared idly into space, twirling a blonde ringlet around her small finger. There was a sound of doors sliding open in the arcade and she glanced up from her triple thick vanilla milkshake. Her big, blue eyes widened and her breath caught suddenly. Darien Shields, Serena's on-again, off-again almost-boyfriend, had just walked through the door. She quickly looked back down at her milkshake to avoid any sort of eye contact with him. They were currently off-again. Mina, one of Serena's four best friends, glanced at Darien and then at Serena.

"Are you okay?" she whispered quietly to her meatball haired friend. Serena nodded silently in response and stared at the ceiling. She felt Darien's piercing midnight blue eyes watching her, assessing her facial expressions and trying to figure out her emotions. She braced herself and slowly locked eyes with him. Her heart raced and she felt a tingling in the pit of her stomach. God, he was gorgeous. She bit her lip and smiled when he winked at her. He slowly sauntered over to the booth she was sitting at and greeted all the girls.

"Serena," his playfully deep voice said. "Can I speak to you privately for a second?"

Serena looked at all of her friends and suppressed a smile as she got up and followed Darien into a corner. He took her hands gently in his and smiled down at her. Her eyes cast downward as she tired to fight off a blush. He lifted her chin gently so he could look in her eyes. She felt like he could see into her soul.

"I'm sorry about what happened a few weeks ago," Serena whispered quietly. She had slapped Darien across the face when they had been alone in his apartment. It wasn't her fault, though. He was still going on and on about having sex and she didn't want that yet. Not until he stopped being such a baby and asked her out for real. He wasn't even her boyfriend yet.

Darien squeezed the tiny little hands he was holding and kissed the top of Serena's head. She sighed in content and he smiled widely at her.

"It's fine," he said. "I'm sorry for being a jerk." He kissed both her hands and Serena blushed a bright pink.

"I forgive you," she said as she rested her head on his shoulder. She felt Darien's strong arms wrap around her waist. He nestled his head into her hair and she giggled as he inhaled the scent of her coconut shampoo.

"So," Serena murmured quietly.

"Yes?"

"Are you finally ready to ask me to be your girlfriend?"

Darien's body stiffened. His arms dropped to his side and he stared down at Serena's tiny frame. He heard her heavy sigh and felt horrible. He knew this was hurting her but he couldn't be in a relationship with someone so young. She was only sixteen years old. He cringed inwardly as he felt her warmth leaving him. He hated this more than she even knew.

"You know," Serena whispered, almost inaudibly, "if you don't like me, that's okay. Please just tell me." She tried desperately to blink away the tears in her eyes, willing them not to fall. She would not let Darien see her this upset. She couldn't.

"Serena," he started softly but she stopped him.

"No. It's fine." Serena walked back to her friends slowly and Darien watched with a pained expression on his face. He hated the fights that ended like this – mainly because Serena got so stubborn and refused to let him help her when she was fighting against the Negamoon. Darien sighed heavily and hoped this would blow over before he had to watch Sailor Moon almost get herself killed. Again.

Darien made his way over to the counter to talk with his best friend, Andrew, when he felt four pairs of angry eyes glaring at him. He looked over and glared back for a moment until he noticed tears falling off the tip of Serena's chin. His heart broke as he watched her cry, knowing he'd done that.

"Bunny," he whispered to himself. As if she had heard him, her head perked up. She quickly wiped her tears, forced a smile on her face, and waved happily. He bit his lip and desperately wanted to fix everything. He sighed again and walked over to her booth.

"What do you want, Shields?" Rei, one of Serena's friends, growled dangerously.

He was about to respond when another one of her friends, Lita, cut him off. "Yeah, Darien. Can't you see you've done enough damage here? Why don't you go home and pick on someone your own size?" He ignored them and looked down at the trembling little form that was his Serena.

"Bunny," he said again. "Please talk to me. Please don't be upset." He watched more tears spill from her eyes and crouched down to brush them off her face. What he wouldn't give to be kissing them away, to be holding her tightly in his arms and proclaiming his love for her like he so badly wanted to do. He pushed the thought aside quickly.

Serena let out a strangled laugh and looked at him with another forced smile. "God, Darien, don't be so ridiculous. I'm fine. I just had something in my eye," she finished lamely. She felt a large hand wrap around her own and looked up just in time to see Darien pulling her out of her seat.

"Listen," he said. "It's not that I don't care about you. You know I do. But…you're so young, Serena. And until you're older I can't be with you like you want me to be. You know…in public."

"But you'll sleep with me?" she screeched loudly. Now she was causing a scene and the entire arcade was staring at them.

"NO! Serena, that's not what I…I mean I can't just…" he stuttered.

"Get the hell away from me, Darien!" She was yelling louder now. He had to act fast. He grabbed her shoulders suddenly and looked into her eyes.

"Tomorrow night. I'll take you to dinner, okay? Just you and me. We can go out and have a good time. Okay?" He was desperate. He needed her to forgive him quickly. He couldn't watch her be this hurt because of him.

Serena looked at her friends quickly, not sure what to do. Mina nodded encouragingly and smiled at her very best friend. Lita and Rei looked furious. Ami looked torn between supporting the two blonde girls or her two frightening friends. Serena looked up at Darien again. His eyes were glued to her, watching her every facial expression. She was still shaking slightly when she sighed and threw her hands up in the air in defeat.

"Fine," she said. "I'll go on a date with you." Her face was set in a small scowl but in her head she was practically screaming with joy. He wanted her! He really, truly wanted her!

Darien's face broke out into a huge, goofy grin. "Perfect. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 6." He leaned down, kissed her cheek, and walked away to sit at the end of the counter to talk to Andrew.

Andrew placed a cup of coffee in front of his friend and smiled. "Extra strong. I figured you'd need it."

"Thanks," Darien smiled. He downed his coffee quickly and smiled to himself as he listened to Serena giggling while her friends fought over what had just happened.

"Serena, you are so stubborn sometimes!" Rei yelled at her.

"Leave her alone, Rei. Just because Chad won't go out with you doesn't mean you should take it out on Serena," Mina joked. Rei glared dangerously at her two blonde friends and let out a frustrated sigh.

"I swear to God, Sere, if he hurts you…" Lita glared at the back of Darien's head.

"Oh, she'll be fine! He obviously loves her," Mina smiled and winked at Serena. The other blonde girl laughed in response and stole a glance at the back of Darien's head. She could practically see him shaking with laughter. She got up to go to the counter and sat next to him nonchalantly.

"You know, it's not nice to eavesdrop, Mr. Shields," she smiled at him.

"And how would you know that I was eavesdropping, Miss Tsukino?"

She responded by laughing her big, happy, adorable laugh. She leaned over and whispered sensually in Darien's ear, "I know a lot about you, Mr. Shields." One hand slid just under his shirt and the other went to his inner thigh. She winked at him.

Darien groaned softly and took Serena's hand away from his toned chest. He kissed it and put it back on her lap.

"Oh, now you're ready?" he asked half-jokingly.

"No," she smiled. She had such a beautiful smile. "I just wanted to torture you for hurting me." She went to kiss his cheek but he turned his face just in time to kiss her right on the lips. He heard Serena's tiny little gasp but she kissed back willingly. He cupped her face gently in his hands before finally pulling away and resting his forehead against hers.

"I should go," she breathed quietly.

"Please don't," he pouted a little, a small smile playing on his lips.

"I have homework," she said. He laughed at her quietly.

"Since when do you do homework, meatball head?"

Serena's face turned bright pink and she looked away from him and whispered, "I just wanted to be smart…for you."

Darien kissed her pink cheek lightly and hugged her close. "Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow night at 6," he smiled. She smiled back and ran off with her friends. He watched her go, the smile never leaving his face. Oh, Serenity. One day we'll be together again.