Serena began to wake the next morning feeling more rested than she had in a while. She turned her head to realize that she wasn't alone. Darien was sleeping peacefully. Well, she thought time for him to get up as well. She went to the kitchen, took a glass and filled it with cold water. She calmed walked back to her bedroom and poured the water on his face.

"FUCK" Darien screamed as he woke up. Serena decided that it wasn't enough, she walked over to her stereo and turned it on, the classical music began to blast. If only it was something much heavier to listen to.

"Was all of this necessary? My head is pounding" Darien screamed at Serena.

"Yes. Do you remember last night at all? What you put me through? How you punched a guy? How many pictures were taken? That now I have a mess bigger than life on my hands?" Serena yelled back. Darien paused for a second and thought back to last night. He remembered seeing Serena dancing and drinking A LOT and then he remembered being so jealous that he could barely see straight. As he thought harder the rest slowly starting coming through the fog of his memory. He remembered pulling the hands of that guy off her and punching him and the cameras flashing everywhere. He then remembered Serena pulling him through the crowd and out the back door. After that, things got really hazy in his memory but certain words in his memory stuck out and they stung. She was crying last night he thought She cried about how I treated her and how I continue to. Serena waving her hands in his face interrupted his thoughts.

"Are you okay? You haven't said anything in about five minutes." She asked more tenderly, actually starting to worry that he was losing it.

"I'm fine." He finally forced himself to say.

"Listen" she said sitting on the bed next to him facing him eye for the first time. "I know that we haven't been on the same page so far but its time we start. I have a job to do and so do you. And for right now they are linked with each other. I know that you are successful and good at what you do but you have to trust that I am good with what I do as well." She finished waiting for his reply. She was done playing games with him and hoped he felt the same. When Darien looked at her, it was the first time he truly saw her after all these years. This was it, this is how I can start to fix the mistake I made all those years ago.

"I think you are right, Serena. I'm done playing this game with you. We can fix this, starting now" he answered her. And maybe we can fix us as well. She smiled at him and it was a brilliant smile, Darien couldn't help but smile back to her. She was contagious and he wasn't going anywhere.

"Come on, I'll make breakfast." She got up and grabbed his hand to pull him along. His touch sent tingles down her spine. She tried to just ignore the feeling. Serena then entered the kitchen and opened the fridge to search through it. She pulled out some eggs and various vegetables.

"Are omelettes alright?" She asked.

"Yah. Perfect." Darien responded. "Do you any help?" He continued.

"If you want you can chop up some peppers." Serena said, handing over a bag of various colours of peppers. Just as she was finished mixing the eggs to doorbell rang. She put down the spoon and went to the door. When she opened it she saw today's paper on her step. She quickly flipped through to page six, the society section and dropped the rest. Darien was in the kitchen still chopping peppers when he heard a scream. He dropped the knife and ran to the door to see Serena holding the paper in her hands.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. SHITTT" she screeched. Darien had never heard her curse in his life, he knew it was bad. He walked over to her and looked down at the paper and he realized exactly what she had been cursing at. There was a picture of Darien post punch, the guy on the floor and Serena's panic-stricken face. You had to give the photographer credit, this picture displayed everything to sell this section and everything to put his and Serena's careers a foot deeper into a very deep grave. Darien didn't even have time to form some sort of explanation/apology piled into one as the phone began to ring. Serena walked over to the phone, she had an almost robotic quality to her, but she was still in shock.

"Hello" She answered as calmly as she could. Darien watched the conversation, the only thing that he could tell that from Serena's end it was not going well.

"Well, of course Mr. Ackley. It will never happen again. If you believe that is the best way to proceed. Alright Sir. I will talk to you later in the week. Have a nice day." She hung up the phone and put her back against the wall and just slid down it, till she was resting on the floor. Darien stared at her. Though the situation was unforgivably serious he couldn't help but smile at her. The way her actions carried on as if he wasn't there. She was never ashamed of who she was and Darien admired her for that. He finally got up the courage to speak.

"So, how much trouble are we in?" He asked as he lowered to her level.

"Heaps" was all she said. Darien placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head so he could look her in the eye. This action gave Serena the push to continue. "Well, the good news is we both still have our jobs. The bad news is he thinks that you need more discipline. That would only come from 24-hour surveillance. So as of right now you are looking at your new roommate and new house for the next few weeks." She finished, waiting for a complete meltdown on his part. It didn't come though. To Darien, this was a godsend he would have an unlimited amount of time to let her get to know the real him.

"It could be worse. We could be in a lot more trouble. We can make this work. Look I know that since you have been hired I have done nothing but prove that I really am in need of someone like you to set my priorities straight. But I can make you this promise, I will do anything you need me to do. I won't make this hard on you. From this moment on we can face my mess of a social life together." He finished in the nicest voice. That voice brought back so many memories. She looked at him for a second. She saw sincerity and she smiled at him. She then realized that they were in what could quickly become a compromising position, his fingers still under her chin and he was leaned down towards her.

"Your words mean a lot to me. Thank you. So, breakfast? Then we can go get your stuff. Today I have no appointments so we can just get you settled and then go over your social calendar until Christmas." She got up quickly and headed back towards the kitchen. Knowing that he was behind her was enough to keep her moving.

An hour later they drove in Serena's car following Darien's directions to his house. She drove up to up through the property she realized the full extent of Darien's wealth. The house just kept going. Beautifully classic in structure. He led her into the house. It was plain, very, very plain. Everything was either white or black. Serena fought the urge to take her lipstick from her purse and colour it along the walls to give it life. It was a pity that a house so beautiful could feel so lifeless. They wondered up the stairs and into his bedroom. Serena was trying to pack his appropriate clothes as fast as possible. The idea being in his bedroom with him was being her way too nervous and way too uncontrollably aroused. Darien noticed her nervous manner but decided that she had been through enough today and his teasing might make her go right off the deep end.

The drive back from his house had been relatively quite as they mentioned things like the weather. Avoiding any topic that could lead to a deeper conversation. Arriving back at Serena's home she led him into the guest room. Darien took his time really looking at the house. It was decorately so personally. So much better then his own. If you walked into his house you would never believe someone lived there. But Serena's house had been lived in. It was a home. They spent the rest of the day sitting at the kitchen table planning the events that Darien and her would take part in over the next few weeks. As the discussed everything they joked, they moved around each other aware their movements. Serena looked at the clock and jumped up finally.

"I forgot I have a date in an hour. I have to go get ready." She said as she disappeared into her room. Darien felt dizzy. Date? His mind screamed. His hands balled into fists, his knuckles turning white. Then he realized that there was something that she was forgetting. That he had to go with her everywhere, he planned not to let her out of his sight. She must have realized the same thing as she walked back out towards him, in only a very thin, short robe. Darien felt his pants tighten.

"I totally forgot that you had to come with me," she began " Be ready for 7 and please don't embarrass me." She realized that he was staring at her, or rather her body and began to blush madly as she retreated back into her room. Darien loved her blush, it was so refreshing to find a girl still somewhat modest. Darien got up and headed into his room and into the guest bathroom. He Showered and dressed himself in black dress pants with a dark blue dress shirt. He realized that he had only taken half the time that Serena gave him. He went out into her living room and searched through her bookshelf which took up an entire wall. He found a worn copy of The Great Gatsby. He pulled it off the wall and flopped down onto the couch and began to read.

Serena stepped up into the living room with a necklace in her hand. Darien looked up from the novel and it dropped into his lap as his mouth hung open, unable to close. She was wearing a strapless black dress that had a sweetheart neck and clung closely to her body and ended just above her knees, wearing a pair of high heels basically screaming to Darien to take her and ravish her. Her golden hair was waved and her make-up was simple.

" Can you put on my necklace, I can't get it" She asked innocently. He walked over and took the necklace from her hands and walked behind her. He looped his arms around her and clasped the necklace together. He was barely able to breathe as he whispered "Done" in her ear. She turned around the face him and was much closer than she realized. They both stared at each other as she felt his warm breath on her and her lips began to tingle in anticipation. Their lips were seconds apart as the doorbell rang the jumped apart. Serena silently thanking it and Darien silently cursing it.

"I hope that this guy is worth it, Sere" he whispered to her as she smiled at him before moving further away to answer the door.

Okay so sorry that it took so long to write this next chapter. I was violently ill for like a week, right through Christmas. So I hope that everyone is having a great vacation and as always your reviews are muchly appreciated. Have an awesome new years. And I will try to update the first day 2009!

Adds.