Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews so far! This story was inspired by Dave Barnes' song "Meet Me At The Mistletoe" (If you don't have his Christmas CD you need to get it pronto!). I had fun writing this one and I hope you like it!
Summary: Serena and Darien are up to their usual antics at a Christmas party, but what happens when they meet at the mistletoe.
"Jerk!"
"Meatball Head!"
"Minus 0 personality!"
"Lazy klutz!"
Serena groaned. "Do you really spend all of your free time coming up with ways to annoy me?"
"Not as much as you spend at the arcade eating ice cream and milkshakes," Darien replied.
"Enough is enough!" Andrew yelled. "It's Christmas Eve for goodness sake! Can't you two just get along?"
"He/She started it," they said at the same time.
Andrew sighed. "The party is only a few more hours. As my friends, can you just try to get along for one afternoon? I'm begging you."
"As long as Meatball Head doesn't steal another Christmas cookie from me," Darien said.
"You drank my hot chocolate! It's called payback."
"Guys," Andrew said warningly. "If you can't get along, then just stay away from each other."
"That's a good idea," Darien said before pulling one of Serena's pigtails.
Serena rolled her eyes at him before turning back to Andrew. "I'm sorry if I've ruined your fun," she said apologetically. She made her way towards her best friends, but as she passed Darien she stepped on his foot. "Sorry, Darien," she said with mock sweetness before walking away and sticking her tongue out at him.
Darien winced in pain as he took a seat. "That girl is gonna drive me crazy," he said.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*
The party was going well and Serena and Darien had kept their distance for most of the afternoon. Serena was talking to her friends and happened to look up across the room where Darien was standing with Andrew and a few other friends. He happened to look up at the same time and had made eye contact with her. She winked at him and he gave her a smile back before they went back to their conversations. No one except the two of them noticed that they had been doing little gestures like that since the party began. After a while Serena went to the kitchen to get something to drink. She was about to get back to her friends in the den until Darien brushed past her and dropped a piece of paper near her feet. "I believe that's yours, Meatball Head," he said before continuing towards the kitchen.
Serena bent down and picked up the folded piece of paper. She opened it and found a note inside that had a short message: Meet me at the mistletoe. She smiled to herself and put the note in her pocket before making her way to the doorway that connected the den to the kitchen. Darien was just about to come through doorway from the kitchen when she got to the doorway from the den.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Mina said loudly getting everyone's attention. "Look up you two," she said excitedly.
Serena and Darien looked up and saw mistletoe hanging from the doorway. "Oh no," Darien said.
"Do I have to?" Serena whined. "I can hardly stand to breathe the same air as him!"
"It's tradition," Andrew said in a sing song voice. "Now hurry up and kiss!"
Serena and Darien faced each other with a look of disdain on each of their faces. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get to more enjoyable things," Darien said.
Serena sighed. "Let's get this over with." She stood on her tip toes and rested her hands on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her and started to bend down. They closed their eyes and let their faces inch closer and closer together before their lips met for a short and sweet kiss. There was applause and wolf whistles heard all around them, but they were too immersed in their kiss to notice. Darien broke the kiss first and Serena had to do all she could not to pout. He was looking at her with a twinkle in his eyes and she gave him a small smile before rolling her eyes at him. "You can let me go now, Jerk Face," she said.
"As long as you get your hands off my chest, Meatball Head," he replied.
Serena pushed him away from her and stomped towards the dessert table, but she was smiling to herself all the way there. Little did she know that Darien was smiling to himself as he went back into the kitchen.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*
It was 5pm and the party was just about over. The only people who were left were Andrew, Mina, Amy, Rae, Lita, Serena, and Darien. "Thanks for staying to help clean up," Andrew said as he tied a giant trash bag.
"No problem," Amy said as she dumped crumbs in the trash.
"Your real friends are the ones who stay behind to help clean," Rae said.
"I was here first, Jerk Face!" Serena yelled from the kitchen.
"All I need to do is dump these leftover drinks, Meatball Head!" Darien yelled back.
Andrew and the rest of the girls sighed. "They're hopeless," Lita said.
"They're in love," Mina said.
"Seriously, Mina?" Rae asked. "They fight like cats and dogs."
"And it's been getting worse lately," Andrew commented.
"But did you see them under the mistletoe?" Mina asked. "They love each other!"
"I think you're too caught up in the holiday spirit," Amy said.
Mina pouted as she finished sweeping. Darien came out of the kitchen and grabbed his coat. "That girl is so annoying!" he said exasperatedly.
"Watch it," Lita said. "That's my best friend you're talking about."
Darien sighed. "Do you need anymore help, Drew?"
"I think we're about done. Thanks for coming."
"Merry Christmas everyone," Darien said as he went out the door.
Serena came out of the kitchen drying her hands. "Is he gone?" she asked.
"He just left," Amy said.
"How rude!" Serena said. "He didn't even say goodbye to me." She grabbed her coat and put it on. "Thanks for inviting me to the party, Andy. I had a lot of fun!"
"Even when you kissed Darien?" Mina asked.
Serena scrunched her face. "If I could I would have thrown up in his mouth!"
"Ewwww!" They all said.
"Anyway, Merry Christmas," Serena said as she gave everyone a hug.
"See you later, Sere," Andrew said.
"Bye girl!" Mina said.
"Don't eat too much pie," Rae said.
Serena stuck her tongue at her and went out the door. She was walking home and she wished it wasn't so cold outside. She crossed her arms and rubbed her arms up and down until she passed a corner and bumped into someone. She yelped before the person wrapped their arms around her and held her intimately. She smiled as she breathed in his familiar cologne. "You scared me," she said to him.
"I thought you'd never get here," he said.
She let go of him and let her wrap his arm around her shoulders as she interlocked hands with him. "I was washing dishes after the party, but someone slowed me down."
He looked down at her and smiled as they started walking along the sidewalk together. "He must have been a real jerk, especially if you can hardly stand to breathe the same air as him."
"Hey now, that's my boyfriend you're talking about!"
"Don't worry, I only let my girlfriend say those kinds of things in front of our friends."
Serena giggled. "Darien, you're so silly."
"Not as silly as you," he said cheekily. "Did you really have to step on my foot at the party?"
"It hurt when you pulled my hair… I had to do something about it."
"Well you hurt my foot," he playfully pouted.
"I was hoping that kiss under the mistletoe made up for it… nice touch with the note by the way."
"I thought it was clever." They stopped in front of his apartment and he just stared at her.
"What are you looking at?" Serena asked.
Darien smiled at her. "You're just so beautiful. Look what I put up."
Serena looked up and smiled when she saw mistletoe hanging from his doorway. "How sweet," she said.
"You owe me something," he said.
Serena smiled and got on her tip toes as he wrapped his arms around her. She placed her hands on his chest and leaned in close to give him a proper kiss. As soon as they broke apart for air they rested their foreheads against each other. "How long are we gonna keep this a secret?"
"As long as you want," he said. "But let's not worry about that now. I have a Christmas Eve dinner to make for my girlfriend." Serena giggled as he opened the door for them.