Title: You Never Know
Author: aquaxeyes
Rating: T for language, may change in later chapters
Full Description: Serena Laraway gave her career up in hot pursuit of love. Three years later, the ex-supermodel returns to L.A. alone and heartbroken, with only a screenplay-in-the-making to her name. She's swearing off love this time, but what she doesn't know is that love's been waiting to snag her back at home all along..and it comes in the form of Darien Scott!


Author's Announcements: I don't know why, but this chapter took forever to finish. This one's dedicated to aprileagle, a very talented and captivating author. Her stories "World in Fragments" and "Home" were one of the first two fanfics I read and were consequently one of the first two fanfics that got me addicted to reading and writing them. I owe her thanks for the inspiration I got from her fics.

As always, thanks to those who reviewed. Sunny38, x Such Great Heights x-3, nancy n-2, serenity11287-3, kireisnowtenshi, ChieriAn9eL-2, fireangel621, raye85-2, ffgirlmoonie-3 and supersaiyanx-3. The stats are--over 2000 hits, 12 favorite lists, and 29 alerts. Whoot!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.


Part Three. The Reunion.
"Where did you find this sweaty hunk of a man, Ren?"


If Serena were given a penny for every time something happened that left her shell-shocked in the span of her lifetime, she wouldn't have had to model for ten years to save up for college. She would've been a millionaire. Okay, a billionaire.

As it was, she stood there, stunned that Mina had actually done what she had wanted to do since the moment she met Darien Scott--punch him in the gut. He was doubled over on a mat next to Andrew, clutching at his stomach and wincing.

"Mina!" Andrew exclaimed, horrified that his friend had been attacked because of him. Oh yes, he was scared, of Darien and especially Mina. Darien pissed, he could handle. An angry, hormonal young woman who just happened to be an ex-girlfriend, he couldn't take on or hit back. He looked desperately at Serena, begging her with his eyes to rebuke her.

"Good jab, Mina," Serena said at last.

"Ren!"

"Thanks," Mina smiled despite feeling guilty.

Jaws dropped, but that didn't stop Serena from continuing coolly. "Have you been practicing?"

"You noticed?"

"Excuse me!" Darien exclaimed, starting to pick himself up from the ground. "What the hell are you two thinking?!" he wanted to demand but it came out as, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your beautiful friend, Serena?"

"Beautiful?" Mina asked, her eyes shining.

"Don't insult her," Serena hissed.

"I was doing no such thing. I really do want to know your friend's name, after all," Darien said, gritting half the words through his teeth. 'Even if I try to be pleasant she has to shut me down.'

"Don't mind Ren, she's a femme-Nazi," Mina offered after recovering from his compliment. She extended her hand and beamed another smile. "I prefer to introduce myself anyway. I'm Mina Bellamy, ex-supermodel and owner and designer of the Mina Bellamy collection."

Darien took her hand, impressed. 'Very confident.' He could tell by the introduction and the skin-tight leggings and sports bra. But even though she wore confidence to a tee, Serena had grabbed his full attention in baggy shorts and a sports tank. 'And that scowl she makes whenever I'm within fifteen feet of her.' "Darien Scott, actor and part-time nuisance."

Mina giggled, giving him an obvious onceover. Black mesh sweats, a white muscle tank and ruffled hair. Of course, she was pleased with what she saw. "Where did you find this sweaty hunk of a man, Ren?"

Serena almost choked on herself. "I would've let you know if there were any in the room."

"I resent that," Andrew said, finally getting up. He, too, wore mesh sweats in forest green, but donned a white baggy tee instead of a tank. As he straightened himself he crossed his arms over his well-muscled chest and imitated a pout that resembled hers.

Both Serena and Andrew's comments were left unnoticed. "Did you just call her Ren?" Darien asked, nodding at the subject at hand.

Mina quickly glanced at Serena and smiled coyly. "Why, yes. You can, too."

"No you can't!" Serena said, stomping her foot. 'Can't she tell that I absolutely loathe the man?'

"Like I said, don't mind her," Mina carried on carelessly, "She's not one for small talk or pleasantries."

"Don't I know what you mean," Darien said and grinned at the simmering woman. "Well it's nice to finally meet a friend of Ren's that doesn't lack manners."

"Hey!" Serena and Andrew yelped in unison.

'Who does he think he is? Trying to sweet talk my friend to get her on his side!' "I'll show you manners!" Serena shot back, swinging a gloved fist at Darien.

He had quick enough reflexes to step to the side, but her fist still caught his shoulder, pushing him off balance and into Mina. The two stumbled and crashed to the ground.

Andrew laughed.

'Justice is served! Oh god, Mina!' Serena heard Mina cry out, rolling onto her hands and knees and starting to get up.

"Serena.. Catherine.. LARAWAY!"

"Eep!" Serena replied, watching Mina charge at her. 'This is going to be painful.. hmm, she's pretty fast.' It could have been nerves or her bones compressing into mush, but like magic her heart dropped and her body followed suit.

Mina missed, but she tripped on Serena's stomach, launching into Andrew. The two toppled over Serena, pinning her to the ground.

"Mina!" Andrew yelled.

"Heh, oops!"

"Guys! Get.. off!" Serena screeched. The two struggled to but proved just how blonde they were by entangling themselves even more.

"Is that your foot?" Andrew asked.

Mina looked up. "Me?"

"No."

"Her?"

"Yes.. No. No wait.. No."

"What?!" Mina and Serena bellowed.

"Ahh.. I don't know!"

"Drew, you are impossible!" Serena cried, burying her face into the mat. 'Idiot!' A distinct laugh got her attention and she lifted her head to come face-to-face with a smug Darien on his haunches. 'Asshole!' "Happy now?"

He was having too much fun watching this. 'Always count on blondes to give great comic relief.' He had let go of a laugh and, leaning over, waited for Serena to look up. When she did, his breath caught in his throat. Below her enraged face was a flash of her cleavage, full and flushed against the mat. He had to force himself to exhale. 'Keep breathing, damn it! Now what was I doing? Oh yes, seeking revenge for pushing me. Hmm, I wonder if I can make her--'

Serena saw the corners of his mouth lift into a familiar, seductive expression. "Ecstatic, now that I'm at the right angle."

Her face burst into flames, the fire spreading throughout her body at the sound of Mina and Andrew snickering. 'Noooo!'

'Success!' He smiled at the effect he had on her and straightened up. He had planned to walk away in a suave kind of manner but suddenly felt something clutch onto him.

'Not so fast!' It took her a moment but she was able to slip her hand out of her glove and from the mess that was Mina and Andrew, and grab his ankle. Hyperextending her neck she caught his eye and said, "Eat mat!"

The original idea was to have him sprawled on the floor in front of her so she could see her accomplishment in all its glory. Instead, he fell forward and right on top of the human pile.

"Ren!" the three of them blasted.

"What? You're the ones that are crushing me," she muttered, thinking her rib cage was going to collapse at any minute.

Feeling bad at hearing that, Mina started to shuffle around, which only pressed Darien's body onto Serena's. "Mina," she choked, "Stop!"

"Why?"

'Because you're rubbing that sweaty hunk of man all over me!' "I'm getting a wedgie."

"I can see that," Darien mumbled, his face shoved right by her rear.

"Shut up!"

"Ow! You kicked my head, Ren!"

"Sorry," she said, twisting to try and face Andrew when her other leg automatically lifted.

"Damn it, Ren, you kicked mine, too!" Mina complained.

"Argh!"

"Mina! Ren! What the hell?" The new voice came from across the room. The four stopped and looked up toward the entrance. Serena recognized them immediately. "Ami, Lita.. Rei?"

Sure enough, the rest of the party team had arrived. Lita was looking fabulous in a yellow sundress, Rei in a lavender tube dress and Ami in the usual gray skirt suit. They obviously had not come here for the same reason as she and Mina. Which made her wonder.. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Hmph!" Rei said, looking disdainful at the sight in front of her. "Mina called me about some sort of emergency."

"So Rei called me," Lita added.

"And Lita called me," Ami finished.

Serena nodded, understanding in her eyes. Classic Mina. When she had a problem she wouldn't have stopped with Serena, she would've called on the whole crew.

"Is this what you needed our help for, Mina?" Rei flared, her temper starting to show, "Because this looks more like an orgy than a crisis."

Darien's eyes flew toward Andrew's. "Orgy?" they asked simultaneously.

"Andrew?" Lita asked, astonished to find the blonde man twisted in the mess.

"Lita?"

"Lita? As in Melita Cunningham?" Darien asked incredulously, whirling around and inadvertently kicking Serena in the shoulder blade.

"Ow!"

"Darien Scott?!" Lita exclaimed breathlessly, temporarily forgetting about Andrew.

"Ack! It is Darien Scott!" Rei shrieked, hearts practically dancing in her eyes.

"And you must be Rei Hino," Darien mused, giving her a dashing smile.

Serena rolled her eyes. 'My celebrity friends, starstruck. Hell must've frozen over.' "I think we've established names, now get off me, damn it!"

The four scrambled to their feet, Serena the last one. Before she could make one last futile attempt to see if at least Ami was still on her side the blue-haired one said, "Actually, you forgot about me, Ren."

Serena was tempted to give her friend a glare but the meek smile on her face showed she was genuinely insulted. "Ah, gomen nasai. Ami, this is Darien Scott, the actor who's going to be playing the male lead in m--um, the screenplay Brandon's going to direct. Darien, this is Dr. Ami Jones."

'Did she just apologize in Japanese?' Darien realized that the blonde had introduced the two only out of respect for her doctor-friend. Still, it was satisfying to hear her call him by his name. As he watched the women's eyes glint with understanding and nod, he felt compelled to tease her again. "Ren, friends with a doctor? How did that happen?"

Serena's jaw unhinged as Ami actually smiled and burst into giggles. On cue, the others joined in. 'Ugh! What is it about that insufferable man that turns even the most shy--and married!--women into mush?'

Of the group, Lita was the first to catch her breath. "Where did you find this sweaty hunk of a man, Ren?"

"I swear, if one more person asks me that--"

"You might just have to tell them about our graceful interlude," Darien finished, winking. She blushed--that sort of thing never ceased to amuse and intrigue him. And obviously, he was not the only one startled.

The others were shocked to see Serena redden at the little comments the extremely hot Darien Scott passed at her. They, including Andrew, had already picked up on the fact that Serena hadn't referred to the screenplay as her own, meaning she didn't want that mentioned in his presence. But why all the secrecy on her part and the downright flirty teasing on his part? They were determined to find out.

"Why you--"

"So boys," Lita interrupted, refusing to let Serena ruin the moment, "What are you up to today?"

Darien shrugged, Andrew imitating. Rei beamed. "Then how about escorting us ladies to lunch?"

"I would love to--"

Serena glared at the raven-haired man, stopping him dead in his verbal tracks. "Actually, Andrew and Darien just received the script for Brandon's screenplay, so I'd prefer if they started looking them over--"

"Oh, Ren, you're not their boss, you know?" Mina nagged. Her eyes came to rest on Darien again, roaming all over his muscled body. A fine male specimen indeed. But she was more intrigued with the connection between him and her friend to acknowledge him as a seducible guy.

She knew from the moment Serena approached her at her birthday bash that something terrible had happened to her. It was written all over her face, that blank stare and monotonous stance. There was no asking her about it, though, she knew that. When Serena wanted to keep a secret she was able to do so, and Mina respected her privacy too much to blatantly interrogate her into some sort of confession.

Rarely was Serena ever caught speechless--she always had a load of rebuttals to any comment thrown her way. She always guarded herself. Yet Darien Scott rendered her speechless more than once since Mina had met him and passed through her new barriers as though they were merely stepping stones.

It seemed that Darien was Mina's last hope. She had come to witness that the man could get the impenetrable Serena Laraway to admit things she would normally not.

"If that is the case," Mina went on, "And you boys do have to look over your script, I'm sure you'll be done by eight, right?"

"Probably," Andrew said.

"Then be a dear and meet us at the Dark Rose at nine. You too, Darien."

"Mina!" Serena hissed, "Don't invite him!"

"Why not, Ren?!" Mina, Rei, Lita and even Ami demanded.

"Yeah, why not, Ren?" Andrew echoed, a teasing glimmer in his eyes.

Darien smiled, watching her jaw drop in surprise. "They have a point, Ren."

Her cheeks turned bright pink at the sound of her nickname coming from his pouty lips. 'Ack! Stop thinking like that!' She stomped away, yelling, "Traitors!"

Darien watched her friends grin at each other and gave them one of his own. "I think I like you guys."


An hour later, a fuming Serena sat with her four friends on the deck by Ami's outdoor pool. Thankful that the cushioned patio set had an umbrella to shade her, she took a sip of her pink lemonade before digging into some tossed salad.

"Honestly, Ren, I haven't seen you like this since you were thirteen," Mina noted.

"Like what?" she asked, feigning nonchalance while stabbing viciously at her plate.

"Paranoid. As if the whole world was against you."

"I wouldn't call it paranoia if my friends really were fawning over that horrid man."

"Ahh, so that's what this is about," Rei said knowingly.

"Don't play innocent with me," Serena snapped, "You could've filled Ami's pool with the amount of drool that was coming off your face!"

"Whoa, Ren, easy with the hostility," Lita piped defensively, "Care to explain why Darien Scott is such a sore spot for you?"

As soon as the question came out, Ami, Mina, Rei and Lita dropped their forks and leaned forward. It reminded Serena of the night at the hotel, friends waiting in anticipation to hear her news. Only this question made her cheeks turn the lightest shade of pink.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Don't play innocent," Rei rubbed in her face. Serena wanted to retort but Lita's stern look stopped her. "You hate Darien and we want to know why," she said.

Sighing, Serena told them the five-minute story of how she and Darien first met, how Brandon wanted him in her screenplay, how she dropped by to give him her script. When she was all done she looked up expectantly at her friends. Mina was the first to burst in laughter.

"I fail to see the humor in this," Serena said once she knew her voice could be heard over the chuckling.

"Oh, Ren," Ami sighed.

Rei added to that. "You are completely ridiculous."

"How so?"

"You are begrudging one of the currently most famous actors over a vanilla bean frappuccino?"

".."

And just like that, Serena cracked and joined them in laughter. When she sobered, she said, "Well, when you put it like that.."

At that moment an astounded Darien set his script down on Andrew's coffee table. Andrew, sensing something was amiss, asked, "What's wrong, man?"

Darien looked at him blankly, then answered. "Nothing. This script is.. well.."

Andrew, fearing his friend would only criticize Serena's work, said, "Well I liked it."

"Are you kidding me? This is the most amazing script I've ever read."

Andrew nodded in defeat, then shook his head in confusion. "Come again?"

"Of all the screenplays I've read for or been in, this has the most intriguing dialogue."

"Intriguing?" Andrew could not believe his ears. "Are you being sarcastic?"

"I'm being serious, Andrew. But the sarcasm in this," Darien said, waving the script in his right hand, "is fantastic. It's genius. It reminds me of something.. or someone."

"It should," the blonde muttered, a smirk on his face.

"Sorry, what?"

"Nothing. So you really like it?"

Darien rubbed his chin, flipping through a few pages to refresh the witty lines in his mind. "Yeah. I'm going to have absolute fun acting this out." With a turn of his head he met Andrew's furtive smile with an oblivious one of his own.

"Good to hear it. Let's start with scene one."


At eight, Darien left Andrew's to get ready for the Dark Rose. In all honesty he felt nervous. No reason, just nervous. He didn't like the feeling. He hadn't felt that since his first film audition two years back. 'It couldn't be because of Ren, could it?'

Quickly he discarded the thought. 'She doesn't even want me there.' With a glum face, he readied himself in dark wash jeans, a gray muscle tank and a black button-up shirt. 'I'd have better luck striking a conversation with one of her friends than her.' Grabbing the first pair of white Puma's he could find he shuffled out the door. 'Maybe she won't come?'

He had been to the Dark Rose only once before but remembered where to go. He took the quickest route possible there and found himself inside the club within half an hour. In seconds girls' attentions were diverted and relocated to him. He was doing his best to subdue the crowd beginning to form around him when he spotted a familiar blue-haired woman at the bar.

Excusing himself he moved toward her. She didn't see him since her back was to him, ordering some colorful drink in an island glass. She, however, whirled around upon hearing him call out, "Dr. Jones."

"Ami will do just fine," she smiled, offering the empty seat next to her. Gladly he took it. "I'm surprised. You're early."

"You are, too," Darien replied and turned to order his drink. When that was accomplished, he returned to received her response.

"I have my reasons."

"Oh?"

"For one, I'm a doctor, not an actress. It didn't take me long to decide what to wear."

He quickly glanced at her dark red, silk and knee-length skirt, black stiletto boots, cream camisole and cropped denim jacket. "And yet you look amazing."

"Thanks."

"Of course. And for two?"

Ami took a sip of her drink. "For two, I'm a doctor, not an actress. I wait in line."

"Ah," Darien said, not knowing if he should let his wit handle that statement. 'I'd probably sound like a pompous jerk.'

She giggled then, having read his face. The sound came as a relief and he found himself laughing with her. Sobering, he asked, "So how is it that Serena is friends with a doctor?"

"We met in college. I was starting my first year of graduate school and Ren, her first of college. Rei was visiting her at the dorms when we all bumped into each other. It was like fate planned the collision."

"You sound so resolved." Yes, he noticed that when talking about her friendship with Serena, Ami's confidence sky-rocketed. Those gray eyes of hers almost shimmered silver as she smiled and reminisced.

"Yes, if it wasn't for Ren, none of us would've stuck together."

Darien was slightly taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when Ren and Mina decided to end their modeling careers, Ren had one last show in her contract. There, she met Lita and, seeing that she needed a little improvement, she took Lita under her wing and introduced her to Mina as well."

"That would explain why Lita's become the newest leader in runway," Darien figured.

"Yes. Ren and Mina taught her the tricks of the trade. So you see, without Ren, Lita and Mina wouldn't have had become friends, Rei wouldn't have visited her and bumped into me and so on."

Darien nodded, the information a bit strange to him. Serena was the glue of the women's friendship. Because of her, four different and independent women were brought together. He took a swig of his drink, grunted.. snorted.. whatever noise he made, Ami heard it.

"What is it?" she asked, a little miffed.

"Nothing. It's just hard picturing Serena as the source of a strong female force."

Instead of being offended, Ami nodded. "It probably is now."

"Now?"

Ami hesitated, took a long sip of her drink and looked away. 'Cryptic.' She avoided his gaze for a moment longer then turned to him. She looked like she was about to admit some tragic secret and felt guilty about it. In a hushed voice, she said, "Ren used to be all sunshine and flowers. Her spirit.. she was so vibrant, so capable of doing anything she wanted. And when she came back, she wasn't the same. Sometimes it's as if I'm staring at the ghost of what she used to be."

The bluenette's confession unnerved him. What she said confirmed what he had said to Andrew earlier that day. Serena, the annoyingly-witty albeit fascinating Serena Laraway, was a shadow of what she had been. "What happened?" he asked darkly.

"I think it has something to do with her boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" 'Impossible!' Darien couldn't picture Serena with a boyfriend. She was too.. too anti-male.

Ami opened her mouth to speak but shut it quickly. Replacing her set jaw with a smile she looked over Darien's shoulder and greeted Rei, Lita and Andrew. Sighing, he spun around to do the same.

Andrew looked fit in stone washed jeans and a green button-up. Next to him, Lita donned a light rose button-up dress that hit her mid-thigh. Her matching rose earrings and pink satin kitten heels finished the look. Next to her, Rei stood in a gold-sequined contraption-of-a-dress with matching gold dangling earrings and slip-on sandals.

"You ladies look stunning," Darien offered, nodding at Andrew in acknowledgement.

"Don't I know it," the blonde added.

Rei feigned humility while Lita grinned vivaciously. Ami shook her head with a knowing smile. She looked up again in search of two missing blondes. "Where are--"

"Ren was ready an hour ago, but she offered to pick Mina up," Lita explained.

"Figures," Andrew tossed.

"I heard that," a voice came from behind them. In response the group turned and took Mina in. Her frilly orange dress bounced as she made a pose, white bangles and peep-toe heels adding to the mod sight. "Orange?" he heard one of the women choke next to him.

"Orange is the universal color. It goes with every skin tone," another voice said as its owner joined Mina.

Darien's breath caught at the sight of Serena in dark wash jeans, a silk, black babydoll tank and a lacy gray cardigan. His eyes roamed over her, from her loose, bedhead waves, to her black stud earrings, to her leather wristwatch, to her black eyelet espadrilles. "Beautiful," he murmured under his breath.

The comment went unnoticed. "The party animals have finally arrived," Andrew said, giving each blonde a warm hug. Suddenly he looked up and from Serena and Darien. "Was this staged?" he asked, motioning to how similar the two had dressed. Serena just smiled.

Though he tried, he couldn't keep his eyes off of Serena. She smiled warmly enough, but as she denied Andrew's suggestion and carried on and joked with her friends, he couldn't help looking at her differently. 'What happened to her?'

His thoughts were interrupted by a call for a move in location, to the V.I.P. room. The group of seven reorganized themselves across the room where a woman awaited calls for drinks. Darien ordered a replacement for his drink, Ami followed suit, and the rest requested a mixture of new drinks.

The drinking and socializing went on for an hour. Darien noticed that Serena was quieter that Ami although she outdrank even Andrew. When a joke was made toward her, she again lifted her cheeks into a smile, but never added to it. More than once he caught her glancing at her watch and at other times, him.

At the end of that hour, he glanced over at her again. Their eyes clashed and locked, blue against blue in an all-consuming moment. Slowly, she lifted her chin. "Dance with me."

Not a question. Not a whispered plea. It lingered in the air until his legs brought him up and soon he found himself on the dance floor with what he had come to realize as an angel-temptress.

Serena, on the other hand, found the situation quite natural. After that afternoon's enlightening conversation with her friends she knew she had to let up on Darien. How she was to do that without squashing her pride stumped her until she mentioned dancing. It was a no-risk white-flag.

As she swayed her hips to the rhythm and worked him to the music, something else entered her mind. Someone else. Him again.

Memories flashed. Feelings coursed through her veins, heating her skin. She turned to face her companion as the music faded and her eyelids fluttered wide open. She was met with hazel eyes, thick brown hair and a devastatingly beautiful grin.

"Beau.. Tu m'as manqué." And she kissed him.

Darien didn't know how to react while they were dancing. Serena's body was incredible to watch. He was honestly dumbstruck, hoping that whatever his own body was doing wasn't too embarrassing.

In an instant the song was over, and she was leaning dangerously close. Trying very hard to control himself, he waited until she opened her heavy-lidded eyes. Over his thundering heartbeat he heard her mumbled French and felt her lips brushed against his. And against his better judgment, he kissed her back.

Her mouth tasted like passion fruit, her sighs his undoing. He couldn't get enough, pressed tightly to her, liplocked and all. 'Enter very naughty thoughts.'

A quick shove in the back separated the two and brought them back to their senses. Darien, having caught his breath, stared at Serena, hoping the look in his eyes wasn't scaring her as it was scaring him. 'What were we doing?!'

'Oh god!' Serena put a hand to her mouth, tracing her bottom lip at the spot where Darien's had been occupied seconds before. She gasped, realizing how turned on she had actually been. 'Not toward Darien! Just my imagination!' "Sorry," she went on, flustered, "I thought you were someone else."

Darien looked drained as she said that. "You mean, the person you asked to dance with?"

"No, no, because that's you!" Serena cried. 'It's official. I'm an idiot!' She moaned, wondering how well her words were going over with him.

'She's not making any sense.' Then it hit him. "Serena.. Are you drunk?"

She nodded. "Sloshed."

"Do you need to throw up?"

"No."

"Need to sit down?"

"Maybe."

Gently, he took her arm and led her to a less-crowded part of the club and sat her on a couch. Once they were situated, Serena rested her head along his arm, leaning whole-heartedly. "I meant to say sorry."

"Oh?" Darien asked. "For what?"

"I hate men," she spat, wrinkling her nose.

'Does she know how cute she looks when she does that? Wait.. this is messed up. I meant to get on her good side, but.. what does this mean?' He was busy engrossed in those thoughts that all he could really come up with was, "Oh?"

Serena sighed deeply. "No. I hate one, but it's not you. Did you know I used to have an Old English Sheepdog?"

"No, I didn't."

"Yeah. I named him Ruffles."

He had to stifle a good chortle. "Interesting name."

"Not really. I was eating Ruffles when I got him. In any case," she said, sighing once more, "Ruffles trained me to be a good owner. Dogs have an affinity for me now. That's probably why Jaime likes me."

Feigning interest wasn't too bad. This piece of information could always prove useful in the future. "That explains that. Where's Ruffles now?"

"Gone."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Everything I care about goes away."

'Great. Here's the snobby rich emo girl routine.' He started to roll his eyes when he heard, "Even things I don't know about go away."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his curiosity peaked. He lowered his gaze and stiffened at seeing a glistening speck watering at the edge of her eye. 'Is she.. crying?'

She opened her mouth, silent words forming, then closed it. "No clue."


A week found Serena in Brandon's studio parking lot. The week's previous mishaps came to mind but she deftly obliterated the memories. 'Whatever happened I have to put aside.' She told herself this three more times before stepping out of her car and into the building.

When she found Brandon, Andrew, Reika and Natalie, her heart sank. 'Did I blow it? Did he--'

Her melancholy thoughts were stumped by a grande vanilla bean frappuccino placed in front of her face. Serena blinked, staring from the drink to the hand that held it, to the owner of the hand. An expressionless Darien.

"Thank you," she said, taking it from him.

He rejoiced inside as he walked away. He had been thinking about her and that kiss all week, at least in between running lines. Seeing her after all that time refreshed the strange mood he had toward her. As he took his place next to Natalie, he allowed himself to finally smile. 'Not just a face..'


End Part Three.


A glimpse at the next chapter, Part Four. The Rehearsal.

Darien repeated what she told him at the Dark Rose as best he could and watched as Mina's face twisted slightly.

"Do you know what that means?" It was a ridiculous question. If she hadn't known, she wouldn't have reacted. He didn't want to seem to eager to know, though, so he played dumb.

"Yeah. She said, "I missed you.""

"What? Are you sure?"

Mina nodded. He was truly intrigued now. "Do you know what she was talking about?"

"Beau Cassidy.. her ex-boyfriend."