Chapter Two:
"So?" he asked.
"So what?" Darien replied, having a hard time keeping a wide smile off of his face.
"So did she say yes or what?" Andrew asked impatiently as they ate lunch.
The grin finally broke free of its restraint to spread across his face. "She said yes!" he exclaimed in jubilation, then looked around and visibly forced himself to calm down. "Now maybe I'll finally figure out how to stop those dreams."
"They're still bothering you, man?" Andrew asked with some concern.
"Yeah, nothing seems to work," Darien sighed.
There wasn't any more time to talk, since lunch was over and they had separate classes. As they parted, the smile returned to Darien's face. He had a date with Serena. Maybe finally the dreams would stop. Then he frowned. I won't do with her what I did with all the other girls...with Sere I should take it slower. No sex on the first date, Darien! Control yourself!
"Hey, Darien!" came a shout from behind him, shaking him out of his thoughts. Turning around, he saw the object of his dreams jogging towards him.
"What's up, Serena?" he asked as casually as he could when she caught up, trying not to let his eyes wander.
"I was just wondering what time we'd be going tonight, and whether dress is casual or formal," she said a little breathily, trying to catch her breath. "You walk too fast, you know that?"
He smiled.
"Uh oh, where's Andrew?" she asked, looking around. "Who are you going to get your notes from for this class?" She grinned wickedly.
"Well," he drawled, "I was sort of hoping a certain blonde girl with blue eyes would give me the notes, since she's in my class and all." He glanced sideways at her to gauge her response. Her cheeks were still tinged pink from earlier, but he thought he caught a flash of pleasure at his request.
"I'll give them to you," she said, "but I'm not promising they'll be helpful. I'm not really very good at taking notes...it's easier to just remember things." They had entered their building and were now at the door of their classroom.
"I'm sure whatever you write down will be fine," he replied. "By the way, I'll pick you up at six, and let's go with semiformal attire for the evening," he said as they sat down next to each other.
By then the professor had come in–a strict woman who tolerated no interruptions in her class and expected absolute adherence to the rules–and they had to stop talking. That didn't stop him from glancing at Serena every few seconds, though–he couldn't help it. She was concentrating on the professor, chewing on the inside corner of her lip. At least she didn't stick her tongue out while she tried to figure something out, or have her mouth hanging open. Though he would have been attracted to her even if she did do those things.
She stretched when the professor finally dismissed them. This class was always so interminably long–and no wonder, it lasted for 2 hours three times a week. Then she smiled. She was done for the day!
"Hey, Serena! Wait up!"
Snapping out of her daze, she realized she had left the building entirely and was walking quickly off the small campus and towards the little arcade a few blocks away. She stopped and waited for Darien to catch up. "Sorry," she said when he did.
"Damn, and you complain that I walk too fast! I just wanted to know where to pick you up tonight, I have no idea where you live," he said quickly.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Well...are you finished for the day?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Good, come with me to the arcade and I'll write it down for you," she said with a small smile. To think, when the day started she had wondered if he liked her. Now she had a date with him and his phone number, and he was walking with her to one of her favorite places simply to get her address. Most guys wouldn't go to so much trouble for a date, but he was different.
They walked closely side by side, occasionally brushing against each other as they talked about various things, from college classes and professors to likes and dislikes. All too soon they reached the arcade where she set her bag down on a vacant table and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen, scrawling her address on it.
When he saw what she had written, he laughed. "You live in the Heights too, huh? I live in the first building. I can't believe the door buzzers are broken."
"No way!" she exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. "I can't believe this, all this time we've lived in neighboring buildings! How have we never seen each other there?"
He shrugged. "Beats me. But hey, I've got to get going, I forgot that I told Andrew to drop by my place at four so I could get his notes...it's 3:45 now..."
"Ok, I'll see you around six, then," she replied, smiling.
After he had left, she ordered a chocolate/strawberry malt. While she sipped at it, she realized that she hadn't gotten his apartment number. Oh well, she thought. Plenty of time for that later! Her eyes wandered to the clock, and she realized that it was nearly five o'clock. Panicking, she threw a five dollar bill on the table and dashed out of the arcade, leaving her malt only half-consumed. She had to get ready for her date!
Darien went to his closet after Andrew left. 4:15. In about an hour and fifteen minutes he'd meander his way over to Serena's place to pick her up. He thought perhaps that he'd take her to the nice little Italian restaurant downtown, and since it had been a warm, sunny day–and the evening looking promising, as well–he thought they could walk. He shrugged. That decision would be best left to her.
Now, to find something to wear...he HAD said semiformal...
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Half an hour passed and he had finally decided on a dark blue button-up shirt and plain black slacks. Running a hand through his hair, he decided that it would be best if he showered and shaved–his face was a little rough. He didn't want the good night kiss to scratch her delicate skin. Looking at the clock, he realized he had to hurry.
She reached her apartment building in a record time of 5 minutes flat, and ran up the steps to the third floor, then rummaged around her bag trying to find her keys as she hurriedly walked to her door.
"Oh, dear god no...I can't have forgotten my keys again, not today!" she said frantically.
Further search proved that she had, indeed, forgotten her keys again–today of all days. That meant that she would have to go up the unstable fire escape and crawl in the window...she hated having to do that! The fire escape was ancient and rusty. Realizing that she couldn't dawdle, however, she ran back down the stairs and out the front door to the side of the building. She looked at the rusted metal stairs with some trepidation for a moment, and began climbing, praying that it would hold up one last time and thanking whatever gods existed that she left that window unlocked at all times.
When she reached her window, she very carefully pushed it open, but before she could get more than her head and shoulders inside, the already wobbly fire escape shook one last time and collapsed, leaving her dangling out her window from her ribs down.
Oh dear, what will happen next? Will Serena fall to her death? More importantly, will she get inside her apartment and get ready before Darien comes to pick her up? Find out, in the next chapter of "To Feel Your Lips"!
Alright, chapter two finished...I couldn't believe it when I got 8 reviews last night. Thank you very much to all of you, and if you like you should go read my first SM fic, "Confession."
