AN: I'm sorry for the delay, as I said earlier, I was on Spring Break and just didn't have the time – or the internet connection. To answer someone's question, this is a Serena/Darien paring. I know it's not evident right now, but trust me, it'll get there.
I'll be busier for the next few months as finals begin to creep forwards and I prepare to study abroad in China (yay!), so the story submissions won't be as frequent as they were initially, maybe one new chapter per week.
Normal disclaimers apply.
I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and pleassssse review !
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Luna Falling: Chapter Four
Darien glanced back, looking longingly at his red Porsche. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and run back to the safety of his car and attempt to speed vainly away from his problems.
He felt Andrew's eyes on him, watching him from behind the counter - no doubt, giving only half of his attention to whatever overly-hyper kid was trying to decide, for the fifth time, which milkshake to try.
He slid his sunglasses over his eyes, hoping they'd hide what he no longer could, already anticipating the slew of questions that Andrew would throw at him.
He'd spent the past week, after his…unfortunate, yet unforgettable escapade in the arms of another woman, in his apartment doing his best to hide from the world.
He was undoubtedly ashamed of what he did. Here he was, sitting idle on his kitchen floor, surrounded by broken glass and strewn bottles and feeling disgustingly sorry for himself, when the first woman who saunters by causes him to betray the promises he had made for Serena only moments earlier.
He wasn't certain why he was feeling so guilty. He kept telling himself he hadn't done anything wrong. He and Serena had broken up well before he had cheated-no, it isn't cheating they weren't together…so why the guilt trip?
Darien felt himself grow cold as the rampage of emotions became too much for him to handle. The only outward sign of the inner battle tormenting him was the slight twitch of his jaw.
He walked into the arcade, hearing the sliding doors click shut behind him, and sat down at the first available counter stool. He waited, feeling his irritation grow as Andrew took his time serving the other customers before giving him his attention.
"So tell me the story again," Andrew began, referring to their earlier phone conversation. "You got drunk and let some random girl in your apartment and…slept with her?"
Darien nodded, never taking his eyes from his contorted reflection in the counter's red surface. He began to pick at a loose fleck in its surface, grateful to occupy his hands. He was fairly close to pulling out his hair, which would be a shame seeing as how Serena loved running her hands through it – though it wasn't as if he'd be feeling her supple fingers again anytime soon.
"That's pretty…random, Dare." Andrew continued.
He shrugged.
"And you're saying you've never seen her before in your life?"
Again, Darien nodded.
"Christ, Dare, I feel like I'm having a conversation with myself, feel free to chime in at anytime."
He gave his longtime friend an icy glare. "Sorry, what did you want me to say?" He spat.
"I want you to say what would make you do something so stupid!"
"I told you, I was drunk. I don't-"
"-I meant breaking up with Serena." Andrew cut in.
Darien sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "You wouldn't understand."
"Why don't you try me," Andrew snapped. He was sick of watching his best friend mope about something he'd caused; not to mention the anguish he had put Serena through.
"I'd rather not talk about it."
"Well it's probably for the best anyway." Andrew grumbled.
Darien pressed his fists into his temples, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Grabbing the steaming carafe, Andrew filled Darien's mug back up. "It means that Serena was too good for you. You've done nothing but hurt that girl from the minute you two got together."
Darien snapped his head up, "What the hell are you talking about?" Andrew knew absolutely nothing about his relationship with Serena, and as far as Darien concerned, he was walking on fragile ice. Yes, he had broken up with her in a way that was certainly harsher than necessary, but besides that, he had treated Serena like the princess she was…hadn't he?
Andrew sighed and ran his hands in his hair, "Nothing. Forget I said anything."
"No, it's not 'nothing'," Darien all but growled, "please share with the class what you're referring to. I know I wasn't the best guy for her, but I know that I kept her happy."
"…Which is precisely why she always came to me crying because you fucked something up again." Andrew finished. He hadn't wanted to get into a huge argument with him, but by Gods, that man could be the most stubborn jerk when he wanted to be.
Darien stared at him as if he had suddenly sprouted a second head. "What?" he choked.
Andrew had to be mistaken, Serena had never once hinted that she was upset their relationship. She always seemed so content – which isn't exactly happy, but it wasn't as if she was miserable either. At least he didn't think she had been. Was he really so out of touch that he could have missed her pain?
Andrew held his hands up, "I really don't think I should be talking with you about this. You should speak to Sere-"
"Answer me, dammit!" Darien slammed his fist into countertop, sending a spider of cracks crawling across the surface.
"You know you're going to pay for that, right?"
Darien looked at the splintered counter and then at Andrew. "I'll pay for it when you answer me." He growled softly.
"You missed a lot of dates." Andrew remarked coolly. "A lot of anniversaries, a lot of holidays, a birthday, not to mention you can be just plain cold."
Darien flinched. He tried to recall the events Andrew had pointed out, and to his surprise, couldn't remember a single one. Had Serena even had her birthday yet? Better yet, when was her birth-…shit. Andrew was right.
He tossed a wadded hundred on the ruined counter, grabbed his coat and left without a word.
He hopped into his awaiting car and sped off in the direction of Serena's house. It wasn't until half way there that he noted that Serena was probably still in class, as he should be too. Time had slipped by him, and before he knew he had spent his entire lunch break - along with his fifteen minute grace period to hustle to whichever stuffy room his next lecture was being held in – on vainly arguing, if you could call it that, with Andrew.
After arriving, he could barely make himself pay attention to his erudite fifty-something professor, Dr. Farmst's, mindless lecture. The man's shrill seizure-inducing voice was usually annoying enough to keep Darien awake, and his obsessive studious nature was enough to keep him paying attention.
But now, when he wasn't forcing his heavy lids to stay open, his mind was elsewhere, clouded with thoughts of Serena and the mess he was in with her.
He absolutely had to talk with her, there was so much he needed to say, to ask – he was almost certain that if he didn't see her, he would lose his mind – that is, if he hadn't already.
Andrew had said that Serena had been unhappy during their relationship, but when he tried to think of a moment when Serena may have shown – or even told him she's was upset, he couldn't remember a single time.
Andrew had to be wrong. Serena would have said something. Hoping Andrew was mistaken, he decided, wasn't enough. He'd definitely have to speak with her…which also meant he'd have to bring up that woman – what was her name? Amber? – that he'd drunkenly slept with only weeks earlier.
He laid his head in his hands, Dr. Farmst's lecture on the prokaryotic cell cycle reducing to blurred muffles.
If he didn't fix things soon with Serena, he'd fail college at this rate; and that was the least of his problems.
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Do you love me?
The words ran frantically around Serena's mind. How could she possibly love Aaron, she'd just met him. How could he possibly expect her to fall in love with him so soon, especially after just getting out of such an intense relationship?
She had barely escaped answering Aaron's question. It had only been through the grace of the heavens that a rampant storm crashed down just moments after he'd closed his mouth. Lightening had flashed wildly in the sky and bellowing thunder made its presence known. It was only her fear of storms that postponed his broken heart.
The two ran back to the safety of his car, and he spent the rest of the ride home consoling her fears.
Aaron, she noted, was the complete opposite of Darien. Where he was aloof and detached, Aaron was warm and heartfelt. Where he was distant, Aaron was almost smothering with affection.
She had an overwhelming feeling that she knew Aaron before they had even met. The same connection she felt with Darien, she was getting with Aaron.
There was much more to Aaron than he was showing her.
Serena, not wanting to think about either of the men in her life, flopped onto her bed and snuggled under the covers though she remained fully dressed. She closed her eyes and began to nod off just as a light tap on her balcony doors roused her attention.
She sat up, kicking the covers from her feet and glanced at her alarm clock. Midnight.
Grateful that she had gone to bed dressed, she stumbled to the door, stumbling over Luna as she went.
She flicked on the balcony light and peered out the glass doors.
She jumped back when she saw Darien staring back at her. He waved goofily and motioned for her to open door. She hesitated. Did she really want to let this man back into her life after it took so many weeks to free her thoughts of him?
He knocked again, startling her, his eyes never leaving her form.
Cautiously, she opened the door and allowed him to enter.
Neither spoke as they stood shrouded in the darkness of her room.
Finally, Darien flipped on a floor lamp and sat in the armchair next to it.
"We need to talk."
Serena frowned. "I suppose you hadn't thought of talking when it was convenient for me and not at midnight when I have school in the morning." She spat. Inwardly, she cringed. She hadn't wanted to become the bitter ex, but she was still hurt - just looking at him hurt.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think-"
"-I know." She interrupted, "you never do think about anyone but yourself."
Darien took a deep breath. This wasn't what he had in mind when he impulsively decided to hop on his motorcycle and crash Serena's room at twelve in the morning. He wanted to explain himself, explain why he treated her the way he did, explain why he ended their relationship, and perhaps beg for her forgiveness.
When he left for that night, he hadn't imagined that she'd be glaring daggers at him. He'd assumed that she would be willing to instantaneously forgive him on site. Maybe he didn't know Serena as well as he thought he did.
He rose from his seat and walked to where she stood, arms wrapped tightly around her waist and her gaze avoiding his.
"Sere, please could we talk?" he asked again.
Serena released her waist and took a seat on the edge of her bed. "Alright."
Darien sat next to her and took her small hands in his. "I have a lot to tell you. I guess I should explain myself first." He looked directly into her cerulean eyes and continued. "About our breaking up…I know I should have talked with you about what was going on, but Sweetheart, I honestly thought I could handle it. I never thought it would go this far."
Serena gently pulled her hands from his warm grasp, "You don't have to explain…I know why you did what you did. We're more connected than either of us know."
"So you knew? You knew the whole time?"
"That you ended it because you dreamed of me being killed? No, not the whole time, I began getting the same dream a few weeks after…after…it was over."
He signed heavily, "Well that's one less thing we have to discuss. I have to-"
"What do you mean one less thing?" Serena broke in, she clenched her hands in her lap, feeling heat rising to her face in anger.
"You didn't even bother to talk with me about our relationship, Endymion." She said, using his full name. "You did as you always do, you made the decision yourself. I was devastated, I had no clue what was going on you just shut yourself down and me out of your life."
Warm tears began to pool at Serena's eyes, but her stubbornness and fury with the man before her refused to let them fall – at least not while he could watch.
Darien instinctively jumped up and kneeled in front of her, tenderly took her trembling hands in his. "Serena, I'm sorry. I have no excuse for what I said, and all I can do is hope you'll forgive me one day. I know I've made mistakes with you, in fact I'm still making mistakes with you, but Angel, I'm trying. I'm trying to fix it." He lightly pressed his forehead against hers, "I still love you. I never stopped loving you. Give me one more chance."
That's when she felt those tears trickle down her cheek, she couldn't hold them back any longer, and she couldn't hold back her feelings for him any longer.
"Okay." She breathed.
A tender smile crept onto Darien's face. He wrapped his fingers around Serena's chin and brought his lips to hers.
"Thank you."
Serena closed her eyes and allowed herself to be once again, stolen away by Darien.
The words of Aaron gently tugged at the back of her thoughts.
Do you love me?
Serena knew the answer, as she had the moment he'd asked her that. Her heart would always belong to one man, though faulty as their love may be at times, he would be her only.
No. Never.
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"Dammit, Dammit, DAMMIT!" Aaron cursed. He slammed his fist into a glass coffee table, sending shards spraying through the air.
He dragged his bloody hand through his hair, completely unaware of the throbbing pain.
"Calm down." A busty blonde, Angela, purred. "It isn't over yet."
Aaron paced through his dimly lit penthouse, his eyes ragged and his nerves fraying.
"I can't believe she took him back!" He stopped in front of the wavering projection of Serena and Darien kissing in her room. He and gone through great measures to set up surveillance in her room, her bathroom, all throughout her house. He watched every move she made, sometimes unable to tear his eyes from the floating screen. She was like a drug. A young, beautiful drug.
And that blasted fool of a prince was taking her away from him.
Angela lied down on his leather couch, her stomach protruding with the seed of Darien. Though it had only been a matter of weeks since their encounter, she already appeared to be well over five months pregnant.
"Brother, please." She ran her swollen hands across her temple, "you're giving me a headache."
Aaron took a deep breath, taking a seat next to Angela, he took her feet into his hands and gently began massaging them.
"This was the whole point of me baring his child, just for this occasion." She spoke calmly.
She was always the rational one, always the one to sit and figure things out before reacting. Whereas he was only so far from jumping out of skin and slitting the throat of Endymion.
"Right." He murmured, feeling his temper falling. "She'll be disgusted when she finds out he impregnated you. Especially if she thinks he did it while they were still together."
He laid his head back on the sloping cushion and closed his eyes.
Everything would fall together.
But until then, what would he do? She was taken with that…that…man again. How was he supposed to win her heart if her devotion lied elsewhere?
He had to figure this out.
He stood up, and removed his sister's feet from his lap. He walked towards his balcony, overlooking the bustling Tokyo, even in the middle of the night the town ceased to sleep. He slid the doors back, and shifted into his wolf form.
Without a second thought he leapt into the streets below and began racing through night.
An uncontrollable rage was coursing through him, and somebody was going to pay the price.
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AN: Done. I hope some things are cleared up in this chapter. As I've said several times earlier, I won't be able to update as frequently with impending finals, but I will try to get a story/chapter out once every 1-2 weeks.
Also, my apologies if there are a lot of grammatical errors in here, I happen to –hate- editing, and tend to skim when I am editing. So if anyone's up for the challenge of being my betareader, please email me –points to contact link in profile-
Thanks!
As always, please review. xD
Have a great weekend!