Chapter 1: Event

Alright everyone,

Here are the updated chapters. A lot more dialogue has been added and grammar and sentence structure have been updated. Chapter 9 is still being edited and should be up soon.
ENJOY!
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Her eyes held so much sorrow. She stared out across the lake with a sinking heart.

It wasn't fair. How could this have happened...

"How could he...?" She whispered, closing her eyes against the breeze, pain washing through her body like razorblades, tearing through her heart.

Her mind was in chaos, repeating the scene that had greeted her when she had returned to Darien's apartment and found him in bed with another woman.

Not just ANY woman. She'd found him in bed with Rei, her supposed "best friend"

Seeing them together like that, bed sheets on the floor, Rei riding Darien hard, Darien's eyes closed in absolute ecstasy, Serena had dropped the box of his favorite sweets, startling the two lovers.

(Flashback)

"Serena? My god!" she'd heard him whisper, she watched him with tear filled eyes, as he'd shoved Rei off of his lap and frantically reached around for his boxers.

Serena had already turned and fled out of the bedroom and straight out the front door, down the three stories of stairs. When she hit the landing, she tripped and fell hard onto the unyielding pavement. She sat there for what seemed like an eternity, her mind numb, her heart shattering with each breath. The pain in her heart at that very moment had been so overwhelming, she thought she was going to die.

"Serena! Please, wait!" Darien yelled, breaking through the haze of emotions clouding her mind. His voice, only three stories up, had spurred her into action and she lifted herself up onto her feet and ran towards her SUV. Yanking open the driver's side door to her Lincoln Navigator, she pulled herself into the driver's seat and slammed the door, depressing the lock button just as Darien had reached the passenger side door.

He'd slammed his fist on the window, startling her. "Serena!" he'd yelled "Open the door, we need to talk about this!"

Serena glanced at him, his hair disheveled, and the images had returned with a vengeance. Shaking her head, she shoved the key into the ignition and fired up the engine, barely giving Darien time to jump back as she floored the gas petal, spinning her tires and burning rubber, glancing behind her for only a moment seeing the bewilderment on Darien's face as he stood there in only his boxers. She sped off, leaving Darien staring after her in a cloud of smoke.

(End Flashback)

That was nearly six hours ago. Now she stood on the small bridge that overlooked the lake, her heart breaking with each passing moment. She'd loved him her entire life. They'd grown up together, shared so many memories together. Everything in her life revolved around Darien. Her mind just wouldn't stop. She couldn't grasp how Darien could ever do this to her. She'd given him everything that she had to give and when he asked for more and she wouldn't deliver, he'd gone and gotten it from someone else.

And Rei…Her best friend, part of her close social circle, and someone she called family, had broken her heart.

"I would have given my life for both of them…taken bullets for both of them…" she whispered into the wind. "I just don't understand. How could I have been so blind..."

She felt her phone suddenly vibrate in her pocket. Pulling it out, she stared at the screen as Darien's name flashed across it. Hitting the ignore button, she quickly turned the phone off and launched it across the lake. It disappeared with a splash some distance away.

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It just kept ringing. Four, five, six. Then suddenly the call cut off and went to voicemail, with Serena's familiar voice playing into his ear.

Hey, you've reached Serena! Leave me some love and I promise I'll get back to you.

Beeep.

"Serena. It's me." Darien said, pausing for a moment. "I'm so sorry. God…Just please call me back." hanging up the phone and, in a fit of anger, throwing it across the room. It struck the wall with a loud crack, splintering on contact. Darien sat down on the edge of the bed, practically collapsing, and hunched over, placing his head on his palms and trying to quiet the riot of thoughts in his mind and the chaos of emotion volleying for control.

He sat there for what seemed like hours. He was completely lost in his thoughts.

Serena was everything innocent and pure. She was passionate and intelligent, she had high expectations for herself and pursued whatever her heart desired with such dedication, that it was inspiring. She was always cheerful and optimistic, and always saw the bright side to everything. Her laughter was contagious, her smile could light up an entire room. She had an elegant way about herself that people couldn't help but stare at her.

And Rei. She was a force unto herself. She was spontaneous and edgy, a spitfire. She absolutely brought out a burning need within Darien, and was incredible in bed. He knew he cared deeply about her. Their affair had started out casual, but had morphed into an almost daily need for one another. Rei made him burn, so much so, that he felt as though he needed the comfort of her fiery spirit. He'd been addicted to her almost from the beginning.

As Darien sat there, he found himself comparing the two women. Rei being dark and dangerous, Serena innocent and pure. Rei gave it to him whenever he wanted it. But Serena wouldn't give it up until she was married. Darien was never a patient man, but had it really come down to sex? Was that truly why he had done this to Serena, or had he just wanted his cake, and be able to eat it to?

"God" He whispered "Could I be more of an idiot?"
Am I even capable of thinking about the feelings of another person? Or is it all just about me, my wants and my needs? God, am I truly so heartless?

Somewhere along the line things had gotten mixed up. Strings had become crossed and Darien had changed. He wasn't all together sure he even liked it. He'd been so angry with Serena this morning that on his first break from work, he'd come to his apartment and immediately called Rei. He knew Serena would be in classes for another 4 hours, and Rei had come right away.

"Like a dog." he spat out loud as he rose from the bed and headed towards the kitchen.

He found Rei curled up in a long bed sheet, sitting on the couch in the living room. Her waist length black hair was pulled into a ponytail. She stared at him with wide brown eyes as he opened the fridge and pulled out a jug of orange juice. He moved over to one of the cabinets and grabbing a small glass, poured himself some juice and drank it in one gulp. He slammed the glass down onto the counter and pinned Rei with a burning look.

Rei jumped at the unexpected display of anger. "Darien... It's going to be OK. Serena will recover, it's better that she found out you know." she said softly, her voice a little shaky.

"How?" He snapped. "How do you know? She took off Rei. She just fucking took off without even looking back. I tried calling her. Her phone rang a few times and then suddenly cut off and went to voicemail. She ignored my call! Fucking IGNORED it, Rei. IGNORED ME!" he yelled.

"Darien. Can you blame her?" she said, her brown eyes pleading with him to calm down.

Darien swore vulgarly. "She needs to know. Everything. She needs to know that it was just an affair. I need to talk to her about why this happened, and how to move on from here."

For a moment Rei sat there, completely shocked, before she recovered and a rush of anger flooded her system. She stood quickly and walked right up to Darien, pinning him with such a murderous glare that he was momentarily reminded of one of the reasons he was so attracted to her. Her eyes were practically spitting fire at him.

"Just an affair?" she wailed "So what exactly DID happen, Darien? Hmm? Because I was under the impression that what we had was much more than ' just an affair '. You told me that no one had EVER made you feel the way that I make you feel, that you've never been this happy. That you've never felt so alive!" She threw into his face, the color rising up her neck to stain her alabaster cheeks.

"I love her Rei!" he yelled back at her "I don't know how to feel about us. I care about you, but Serena is practically my life." he admitted.

" I know! I'm not stupid. Serena and I have been best friends for nearly 7 years, and from as far back as I can remember you've always been in the picture. Growing up together, being sweethearts and all. But if you loved her, truly loved her, you wouldn't have fucked me." she began

"Were" he corrected.

"What?" she was confused.

"You two WERE best friends. I'd say that's pretty much over right now"

"And you are a bastard." she shot back at him "I don't care, because she will never satisfy you like I can. Christ, she won't even fuck you until you put a damn ring on her finger. IF you ever do. Like she's in some kind of a fucking fairy-tale." Rei practically poked fun.

"So that makes her any less of a person because she won't give it up to me as quickly as you did?" he thundered, taking a step back and covering his eyes with his hand. God, he'd never been so angry before.

"Darien..." Rei whispered "That was uncalled for "

He glared at her. "No, it wasn't. You don't get to poke fun at her morals, or the kind of person she is, without first taking a good hard look at your own Rei. So, don't try that bullshit again."

"Darien..." she started to say, averting her gaze with a look of defeat.

"No." he said, holding up a hand, interrupting her. "I don't want to hear it." He looked down at her "Get dressed. Like it or not you have to face the music too. we've both lied to Serena, and she deserves an explanation. From both of us." and turned to head back into the bedroom.

"No." came her reply, and he turned sharply and looked at her

"Excuse me?" he said, arching an eyebrow. "Don't you think you've played the coward enough with sneaking around in this affair?"

Rei choked back a small sob, looking at him regretfully. "I can't share you. I'm in love with you, and I refuse to share you with her." she admitted "I've been dreaming about her finding out, so that I could finally be the only woman in your life. I hate that she's had this much of your life all to herself. I want it. I want a life with you, to be yours. And I just can't share you. I won't." she spoke low, looking at the floor and crying softly.

"Regardless. She deserves this. Get dressed Rei." he said coldly, and left her standing there alone.