The Black Tie Affair

By: afallenblackrose

Summary: Darien Shields is a famous playboy. He sleeps with a different woman every night, but none can take the place in his heart that he has reserved for Serena Carter. Serena has always loved Darien, a love she thought to be unrequited. Now, she is about to be married to someone else and Darien has finally decided to make his feelings known. Will he be too late?

Author's Notes: I came up with this idea while watching Made of Honor. Let me know what you think!

Part One:

The Proposals

Serena Carter stared at herself in the mirror. To any passerby, they would see a girl who was getting ready for a date with her boyfriend of three years, Seiya. But what the passerby wouldn't see is how, even though she has dated Seiya for the last three years, she hasn't been able to stop thinking about a certain other man who had been in her life.

Darien Shields. The name alone made Serena hang her head in disgust. It had been four years since she last saw him and she had heard about all his little escapades with a different woman each night. It disgusted her to no end, but yet, she couldn't stop loving him.

Ever since that day….

***

Serena was walking through the streets of Tokyo on a warm spring day. The end of her senior year of high school was coming; she would be going to University in the fall. No more uniforms. She couldn't wait.

Serena was so deep into her thoughts that she wasn't watching where she was going and felt someone run into her.

"Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was -" The voice stopped in midsentence. Serena looked up into the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen. She felt a small smile creep onto her lips.

"I wasn't watching where I was going either," she smiled and took a step back from him. "Let's just call it even, hm?" She turned to walk away when his voice called out to her making her turn around.

"Wait!" He exclaimed. "What's your name?"

"Serena," she replied smiling and then turned back around.

"Serena," she heard him whisper. "I'm Darien!"

Serena just continued to walk, knowing that she would be seeing him again.

***

And she had seen him, every day for the rest of the summer and fall. They had run into each other at the local Arcade. The owner, Andrew, was Darien's best friend. Andrew was like the older brother Serena never had. They would exchange flirtatious banter, but nothing ever happened. Even though, Serena desperately wanted it to.

But then Darien disappeared, and she didn't see him again until a year later when him and his lady of the night, showed up on TV. Her heart had broken then and that was when she had decided to move on. But in actuality, she never really did.

The doorbell rang signaling Seiya's arrival. Serena took one last glance in the mirror and thought to herself, I'm in love with Seiya; I'm in love with Seiya. She laughed at her attempt to fool herself. It never worked.

She opened the door and saw Seiya's face hidden by a bouquet of red roses.

Serena laughed, "I'm hoping you're in there, Seiya."

"Madam Serena, these are for you," she heard Seiya say. She smiled and took the roses from him and put them in a vase of water.

"Thank you, Seiya, they're beautiful."

"Anything for you, love, are you ready to go?"

"Just let me grab my purse."

***

She had tried to move on. She had known how hopeless she appeared to be; loving someone who obviously felt nothing for you. But how was she supposed to move on when everyone she met didn't measure up to Darien?

Except Seiya. Yes, Seiya had his flaws, but if she couldn't have Darien, why shouldn't she settle for the second best?

"Serena?" Seiya asked her as he poured her a glass of champagne. "You okay over there?"

She gave him her best smile, "I'm fine."

Seiya smiled back at her and handed her the glass. Her smile quickly turned into a frown. Seiya knew she didn't drink so what was…She trailed off mid thought as she saw something at the bottom of her glass. Her mind then began to think. It had been three years; of course he would do this. It was the logical conclusion to take their relationship to the next level.

"Seiya…" A smile arose on his face.

"Serena," he got out of his chair, walked over to her, and kneeled on one knee. He took her hand in his, "We've been together three years now, and I can't imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?"

A part of her screamed no, Darien would come around eventually, and realize what he was missing. But another part of her screamed yes, it had been three years, if Darien hadn't come by now why would he come at all? It was time to let go of that fantasy and let someone who actually loves you take care of you.

"Did you hear about Darien Shields?" She heard a girl whisper nearby.

"What the playboy? Who did he do now?"

"He isn't a playboy anymore!"

"What?"

"He's getting married! To that girl Beth or whatever her name is."

Serena couldn't believe her ears. Why hadn't he told her that he was getting married? But why would he? A part of her asked herself. You obviously don't mean anything to him. You were just a toy he flirted with before he left. Nothing more, nothing less. Serena's heart panged as she realized it was true.

And Seiya was still waiting for an answer.

"Yes," her voice choked out. "I'll marry you." Seiya let out a yelp of joy and hugged her. The people in the restaurant applauded. From what they saw, Serena was crying tears of joy.

But they didn't know that they were tears of heartbreak.

***

Darien was pacing, he didn't know what else to do. He was seething with anger and the person he was angry at wasn't here yet.

Knock-knock.

"Darien!" He cringed as he heard his name come from the vilest woman that he had ever met.

"It's open!" He called back. The door quickly opened and closed and a tall, skinny woman with auburn hair soon came into his vision. Once she saw him, a smile creped onto her face.

A sickening smile.

"You called for me, Dare?"

"I did," he replied. "But not for the reasons you think."

Her smile faltered, "Then why did you call me?"

He nodded over to the table, where a stack of tabloids laid. Her eyes flickered over to them, but her face did not change.

"Imagine my surprise," he said. "When I saw those in the checkout line at the grocery store this morning."

She didn't say anything as she flipped through the tabloids.

"Care to explain what this is about, Beryl?"

"You know how the tabloids are, Dare," she shrugged. "Are you surprised that they think we're engaged? I mean, you've kept me around longer than your other conquests."

Darien scowled at her, "I do know how the tabloids can be, Beryl, but it isn't just trashy gossip when they have you quoted."

Beryl's eyes grew wide in innocence.

"Don't give me that look, Beryl. Why would you tell the tabloids we're engaged?!" Darien roared. She frowned at him.

"You want to know why?" She asked and stalked over to the cabinet, pulling out a box. A box, Darien wasn't really surprised she knew about, but was sickened that she thought it was for her. "Because of this, you fool! Why else would you have this, Darien? Most guys don't keep an engagement ring in the back of their cabinet!" Beryl exclaimed drawing him out of his thoughts.

"It's not an engagement ring and even if it was," Darien said calmly. "It would never be for you."

"Excuse me?" Beryl hissed. "I don't think I heard you."

"I said, Beryl that even if it was an engagement ring it would never be for you. You're a vile, twisted woman and I honestly don't know why I stayed with you so long."

"Screw you, Darien. Just screw you. I pity the girl who does end up with you for you're a cold hearted bastard." She turned on her heal and walked out of his apartment. Darien sighed and picked up the box that Beryl had thrown in her frustration. He opened the box and stared at the pink diamond angel. It brought back memories of the angel he had gotten this for.

***

He had searched for days. Andrew had mentioned Serena's surprise birthday party a few days ago and he was still searching for the perfect present for her

Running into her that one day earlier in the spring had changed his life. He literally thought that an angel had fallen into his arms. But of course, she ran into him. Her golden hair resembled that of a halo, the pure white of her skin looked almost angelic and the shy blue eyes that peered deep into his soul would make any man lust after her with want. But he wasn't lusting. He knew he was head over heels in love. That was why her birthday present had to be perfect.

"One day sale," a woman called and handed him a flyer. He looked down at it and an angel pendent caught his eye. He had been searching for this long. What was one more store?

He walked into the store and found an elderly woman behind the counter.

"How can I help you, sir?" She asked giving him a smile.

"I was wondering if I could take a look at this pendent," he replied showing her the picture on the flyer.

"You're in luck, we have one more in stock," she replied as she opened a part of the curio cabinet. She took out the box that contained the pendent and placed it on top of the counter. He took a look at it and smiled.

***

That's when he found the perfect present for her. But he was never able to give it to her. The night before the party he had gotten the call. His father was dead and Darien had been left in charge of Shields Corporation. By the morning, he was on a plane to Los Angeles.

It had been three years since and he missed her terribly. He hadn't known then how much she had warmed his heart until she wasn't in his life anymore. He had gotten a few calls from Andrew and the last he heard was that Serena was seeing someone.

But that had been a year ago. He should probably call Andrew to see what was going on.

Maybe Serena wasn't seeing anyone now.