A/N: Hey guys! So... it's been a while, hasn't it? And I must be a crappy writer to be taking this long to write a chapter. Ahh, well, I've been busy with my first quarter of college, trying to maintain my grades. So, I really really am sorry for taking so long! If any of my faithful readers are still reading, thank you guys! :) And enjoy the chapter! I know it isn't my best but I haven't written anything in a while.


Darien frowned. His little meatball head was hiding inside her room for one hour and fourty-three minutes (not that he was counting), possibly hiding from him? Was she upset about this morning when he said she wasn't ready to see her friends just yet?

Yes, it had to be that. Nothing else seemed plausible.

He stood outside of her room door, raising his hand to knock, freezing halfway.

What if she actually remembered something of the past? What if she realized he was lying to her?

No, that was the impossible…

Darien couldn't help but feel lonely at the loss of her presence. Even though she was right through the door, he never had her hide like this.

"Serena?" He lightly rapped on the door, holding his breath.

"Yes?" She flung the door wide open.

"How's studying?"

"Wha-oh yeah, that. I uh… studied chemistry." Serena stammered.

"That's great. Do you want some dinner?"

"Sure."

There was an awkward silence between them as they sat at the dining table. Darien missed her bubbly presence, which was replaced by a thoughtful, unreadable expression. He noticed how slowly she was eating and how she used her fork to play with the vegetables.

Serena idly stared at her plate of food, thinking of her friends. They seemed to know so much about her, besides Darien being her boyfriend. They told her of events at school, things they did after school, and about how she was a complete ball of sunshine, which was no longer true… Oh, the irony.

"Are you feeling okay?" Darien blurted out, wishing that he could just figure out what in the world was she thinking. Seeing her like this scared him, leaving him on the edge of his seat.

"Hm?" Serena broke out of her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine." She felt a pang of guilt for betraying Darien's trust. He had been nothing but honest, loving, caring, saving her from the depths of despair, and here she was, keeping a secret from him. Still, she couldn't tell him what happened today. She couldn't bear to break his heart. "Do you think my friends miss me?"

"Of course. You'll see them soon. Just be patient."

She didn't know if she could feel any guiltier than now. He didn't deserve this. He deserved someone more honest, someone who was completely perfect. She began to doubt if she was really the 'one' for him. What was so special about her? She was klutzy, she lost her memory, she wasn't very smart, she wasn't even that beautiful; so what did he see in her? And, on top of that, she just couldn't help that she was too impatient for her own good. She slightly slouched in her chair.

Darien then cleared this throat. "I have a surprise for you."

He watched as her eyes lit up brightly like stars, almost mirroring a glimpse of her old innocence.

"You'll have to wait and see."

Serena tilted her head curiously. "Can I guess what it is?"

"Sure, but I won't affirm your answer if you guess right." He watched her smile, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Is it… a stuffed animal?"

Darien smirked mysteriously, feeling slightly appeased at her energetic behavior.

She pouted at his response. "Is it a trinket?"

The door bell rung, preventing Darien from answering, and Serena watched with anticipated fascination as Darien glided towards the door.

Darien flashed brief smile at her before opening the door, greeting the person at the door with a friendly welcome. He then stepped back, allowing the visitor to enter.

Then, Andrew's face was revealed and Serena could feel the pressure exerting on her. She couldn't let Darien find out that she secretly met Andrew today. She swallowed thickly, staring at the blond-haired man and hoping that he would not mention their meeting today.

"Hi Serena." Andrew said amiably.

"Hi." She had to be careful to not mention his name.

"Serena, this is Andrew, a close friend of yours." Darien introduced, catching a glimpse of fear in Serena's eyes but it disappeared as quickly as a blink of the eye. He mistook her fear as shyness, the kind of bashfulness when someone would meet a new person. Somehow, it made him feel a sense of masculinity, pride in himself that she liked him more. He knew a while ago that Serena did have a girlish crush on Andrew, which made him feel green with envy, but no longer would Serena have eyes for Andrew since she was his girlfriend. Although, he did feel pretty bad that Andrew was long forgotten in Serena's memory.

"You must like living here, huh, Serena?" Andrew asked pleasantly, a friendly smile spreading across his face.

Serena was slightly relieved that Andrew hadn't mentioned anything yet. "Mhmm. Darien has been taking care of me."

Andrew laughed warmly, his green eyes sparkling with mirth. "Of course, he certainly knows how to take care of people. You ought to hear about Darien's babysitting experience."

Serena glanced inquiringly at Darien, who was blushing faintly, and she found that look adorable on his face.

"Uh maybe we should save that for anoth-"

"Don't be timid, Darien." Andrew grinned impishly before looking back at Serena, his grin widening so much that Serena didn't know how much wider his grin could be.

"Yeah, Darien!" Serena added pleadingly, focusing her attention on Andrew.

"You know Darien had to babysit my little cousin one time."

"Andrew!" Darien protested in hopes of stopping the storytelling.

"Ah that was a day to remember." Andrew reminisced with his mischievous grin still planted on his face. "When I came back to my house—you should've seen the place. It was a complete, absolute mess."

Darien sighed, slapping his hand on his forehead in defeat. There was no stopping Andrew…

Serena giggled, momentarily forgetting her problems. She listened intently as Andrew described the house and she could imagine vividly the description of the house: tissues all over, food spilt on the floor and splattered over the walls, toys scattered about, and so much more. She smiled genuinely and secretly watched Darien from the corners of her eyes. He seemed really flustered.

"At least the demon child fell asleep. It could've been worse." Darien sulked.

"And you didn't believe me how crazy my little cousin was." Then Andrew laughed abruptly as he remembered the highlight of the memory. "Oh Serena, my favorite part was—"

"Don't even go there." Darien warned, reaching over toward Andrew to cover his mouth.

"Darien's face was completely white, covered in baby powder!" Andrew dodged Darien's hand, laughing manically. "Even his hair was white!"

Darien began to chase Andrew around the apartment while Serena laughed until tears came out of her eyes.

"He looked like a scary snowman." Andrew cackled.

"Did not!" Darien finally caught Andrew by the shirt.

Andrew raised his hands in defeat, though he still wore his knowingly smile. "Okay, okay. I give up."

Darien glared once more at Andrew before releasing him from his grasp.

"But you do gotta admit that you were scary-looking."

Darien was about to make a snippy retort but Serena interrupted.

"I doubt Darien could ever look scary," Serena said with a grin. "He's just too cute." She stood on her tip-toes and reached up to ruffle Darien's messy hair.

"Cute?" Darien scrunched his face with slight disgust for the word.

"Yep!" Serena then pinched his cheeks.

Andrew just laughed at Serena's antics. They looked just like the epitome of a perfect couple. But he had a feeling that things were going to be crashing down soon. Serena's friends were probably going to spill the beans to her and the truth was ugly. It would hurt both Serena and Darien. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the couple, who clearly loved each other deeply.

The night seemed to fly by quickly and Andrew left the happy couple.

Darien tucked Serena into bed, placing a kiss on her forehead and another on her lips. "Goodnight, Serena." He stared lovingly into her eyes.

"Goodnight, Darien." She whispered, silently wishing he didn't leave just yet. But he shut the door, leaving her to her thoughts. Maybe it was better if he left for the night. She still had to collect her thoughts. Something was off. She could sense it, something in her gut, telling her that nothing was as it seemed. She strained to recall the past, but nothing came to mind.

She let out a frustrated sigh, letting sleep to consume her and nightmares to plague her.

"How could you betray me like that?" Darien was aloof, his tall build towering over her cowering body. "I cared for you, gave you everything, took you in, and you repay me like this?" His angry cobalt eyes were as hard as stone, a sight so harsh that she wished she would never see such a look cross his face again.

"But I wanted to see them!" Serena cried, clutching onto his arm.

Darien brushed her off him, taking steps away from her. "I trusted you."

"You still can." She watched through her tears as he began to back away further, out of her reach. "Darien!"

"Get out of my sight," he demanded harshly, no longer staring at her.

She didn't know what hurt more; his incapability to look at her or his icy words. "But Darien…" Her voice was nothing but a silent croak.

"I said leave!" He pointed to the opened door of his apartment.

She couldn't find it in her to move an inch toward the door. "I…"

Darien did not wait a second longer before shoving her out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

She stumbled a bit, landing on the ground. "Darien!" she sobbed helplessly. She crawled toward his door, weakly hitting the wooden door. "Darien… I love you," she breathed, but he didn't hear her. "Darien!"

Serena awoke drenched in cold sweat and hugged herself, shaken from her nightmare. What would she do without Darien? She felt horrible, disgusted with herself for going to see her friends. She should have listened, should have been patient.

Darien was everything she could have asked for. Without him, she wouldn't have made it this far, would she?

She crept out of bed and out of the room. She just wanted one little peek at Darien to comfort herself that he would still be there for her. She stepped slowly, and hopefully quietly?

As she stood outside his door, she twisted his doorknob slowly and the door clicked open. She nervously chewed her lower lip. The sound could have been loud enough to wake him, but she hoped that luck would be on her side and allow him to continue sleeping.

Slowly, she pushed the door, taking nearly a minute to open enough space for her to sneak through.

However, she walked straight into something and her blood went cold. How could she be so klutzy!

But the 'something' she had walked into had grunted some words.

And before she had the chance to scream, the lights flicked on and it was her Darien that was staring confusedly at her.

His hair was a mess, a few locks straying in front of his sleepy-glazed eyes. Serena couldn't help but admire how handsome he looked even when tired.

"I'm sorry," she whispered hurriedly, looking away from him. "I had a nightmare and I was scared… But I'll go back to my room." She blushed embarrassedly and turned to leave.

His warm hand circled around her wrist, preventing her from going any further. " I'll always be here to protect you, Serena."

But what if you can't protect me from yourself? Serena launched herself into his arms, surprising him at her sudden affection. "Can I stay with you tonight?" she murmured into his warm, solid chest. Please don't leave me. I won't go out to see my friends again until you say so…

"Sure?" Darien replied in a daze. He carried Serena to his bed, slipping her under the covers before joining her. He felt her arms wrap around his waist, hugging him closer to her petite frame. He tiredly ran his hand through her golden silky hair and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and a few more sloppy ones on her closed eyes, nose, and lastly, lips. He slipped away into his sleep as did she, the both of them feeling comfort from the long day.


A/N: Thoughts, anyone? :) Also, don't forget to leave a review. :D