Hi! this one is done and done.
SAD collection is done as well! The link for my blog is on my profile, and thanks again for all of you who helped with my song selections. Go check out the list to see if your favorite sad song made the cut.
In additon to the news part of this chapter I'm glad to announce that I (drum roll please) have a job!!!!!!!
What does it mean? Well, thanks for asking, it means that I'm taking two courses in college (finance related, in which I'm not very gifted) and my tesis for my graduation...it's a lot and now I have an 8 to 6 job...which means that all of this is more that what I'm used to handle. In fact, my Twilight fic is the one suffering at the moment, but I'll hope to manage to keep going with this story, cause I'm in love with it.
You are still welcome to follow me on Twitter and Blogger and to become my friend on Facebook.
Please enjoy this chapter, and review!
Chapter 21
Beginning of a friendship
Darien and Serena walked around the park and went nearer to the lake; they weren't talking, just walking, and enjoying the uncommonly cold day in February.
"So, what do you want to do?" Darien asked all of the sudden.
"I don't know…maybe we could stay here for a while. I was wondering if we could feed the ducks or something" Serena said
"Ok, cool. I'll be right back. Wait for me here" Darien said and took off on a sprint to a little gazebo were they sold all kinds of food. Darien came back soon carrying two loafs of bread.
"Here, take this one" he said to Serena, giving her one of the loafs.
"Thanks" she said taking it the loaf into her hands.
They both opened the plastic bag that wrapped their loafs and started to make the bread into crumbles.
They threw the crumbles to the ducks that were starting to gather at their feet.
"What are you thinking about?" Darien asked Serena.
"About yesterday" she answered
"Nice day yesterday" he said sarcastically.
"A day for the books. No, actually I was thinking about how much I envy these ducks" Serena said.
"Why?" he asked
"I'm starving, I left home without having breakfast"
"Well, thank God, then"
"Why?"
"Have you looked at yourself? You look like someone who just escaped from a mental institution" he said pointing at her appearance.
"Oh, come on. I don't look like you" she said giving him a smile.
"Good one, but at least I took a shower today" Darien said, but once he said that Serena lost her smile.
"Did I say something wrong?" Darien asked
"You spent the night at Annaleigh's, right? That's why your jacket was there" Serena said in a monotone.
"Is there a problem with that?" Darien asked
"Well…no I guess, she is your girlfriend…I just don't get why she lied to me. She said you gave her your jacket last night" Darien frowned his eyebrows and thought the same as Serena. 'Why did she lie? To spare Serena's feelings?' That was the most plausible answer, and by the look of Serena's puppy dog face, it was. So he decided to play along.
"I didn't spend the night" he said
"But…you just said"
"No, I just asked you, if there was a problem with me spending the night at my girlfriend's, but I didn't" that actually lifted Serena's spirit a bit. Darien smiled at her and she blushed and looked away.
"I wouldn't have had a problem" Serena said throwing another piece of bread to the ducks that were now fighting for a particular big one on the ground.
"A problem with what?" Darien asked
"You two having sex" Serena said and Darien turned to look at her.
"Did you just say sex?" Darien asked with a bit of a 'Not believing you just said that' look.
"It's not a bad word; and actually I think I saw something on Dr. Phil that having sex is actually good for you. Hey! Stop looking me like that! I'm not saying anything bad!"
"I hate to disagree, but I think it's actually forbidden for someone underage to talk about sex"
"That's not true, at least not on this state" Serena said and stuck out her tongue to him. "But I'm serious, it's not bad to have sex, I mean, protected, I mean you really should use protection…otherwise…you know"
"I actually have no idea what you are talking about" Darien said
"Oh, come on Darien. Its not a big secret that you an Annaleigh…you know"
"What?"
"You know"
"Noooo, I don't know" (I feel embarrassed for Serena right now)
Serena thought about how she was going to say it and her face turned completely red at the simple thought. "Gone all the way" she said slowly, pausing at each word.
"First of all, no one says 'Gone all the way' since ever, second of all, how come you blush at saying that and not saying sex and third, I don't think it's any of your God damn business"
"Like hell it is my business, you are my friend"
"Yeah, but friends don't talk about that kind of stuff"
"Yes they do"
"Well, I don't"
"You are going to tell me that you have never told Andrew about you and Annaleigh in the hot tub or you and Annaleigh during spring break or you and Annaleigh at her house in The Hamptons or you and Annaleigh at the lodge in Aspen or you and Annaleigh…"
"Fine, I think we all get it and no, Serena, a gentlemen never tells" and that comment shut Serena up. "And where the hell did you hear those rumors?"
"Well…you two have been an item for quite a while…I think people just assumed… you two are very popular after all"
"Did you assume along?"
"No…every time I heard something I tried to rip my ears off" and Darien laughed.
"God, so many rumors…" Darien wondered
"Were any of them true?"
"She is my girlfriend; we do normal girlfriend-boyfriend stuff"
"That's not very detailed"
"As I meant it to be"
"Fine don't tell"
"I'm not going to" and he gave Serena, the moment she turned quickly to see him, his breathtaking smirk. "Why do you want to know so badly? Did Annaleigh ever tell you something?"
"Never" Serena said while shaking her head.
"Because there's nothing to tell" Darien assured.
"So you two never…?" but he never answered, he just said "Moving on" and rolled his eyes and continued to feed the ducks.
Serena gave up and decided that she wasn't going to ask anymore…today. She kept feeding the ducks and at one point didn't realize that her loaf was gone. She emptied the bag so that the ducks could enjoy a few more crumbles and then went to the nearest plastic recycle can and threw the plastic bag there.
As she was turning to come back to Darien, a couple of arms scooped her from the ground leaving her on a bridal position. After that, the owner of the arms started to run, as if he was stealing something extremely valuable.
Serena yelp at Darien's action and moved her arms to his neck so she could hold for dear life.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" she screamed.
"Taking you to breakfast" he said in between intakes of breath.
"Now?!" she exclaimed.
"Yes"
"Where's the fire?!"
"No fire, just that you were out of bread and I feared for the ducks" Darien said and at that Serena managed to pulled one arm from his neck to punch one of his arms.
"Don't hurt the runner" Darien said in one breath
"Well, don't insult the starving" Darien laughed and quicken his step "Slow down, you are going to kill us" Serena yelled.
"Almost there" Darien said. They were now out of the park and sprinting towards Main Street and Baltimore Lane where, just at the corner, an iHOP was located.
They arrived at the restaurant three minutes later, being yelled at by two taxi drivers and a soccer mom who screamed at them: "Devil Children, go to church!". It really wasn't the drivers fault…Darien wasn't paying much attention to the traffic.
Once he put Serena back on her feet, she stumble to the ground, leaving him to help her back on her feet, once again…she may had been just a tad dizzy.
"You okay?" he asked
"Don't ever do that again" she said leaning against his chest. She stood there for a few seconds and moved her head from the side to the front, where she got to smell Darien's shirt. Roses and cherry wood again, just like heaven.
"I promise Meatball head, no more running" she smiled against his shirt.
They had the biggest breakfast ever. Darien ordered the sampler and Serena went with the split decision. Two coffees and two orange juices later, Darien got the check and paid for the huge meal. And then, once the bunny and the heart breaker were fed, they went back on track.
They walked for a bit around town and during several occasions, Darien offered to buy her some shoes, she didn't go for it. She said that food was the only thing she was letting him pay for her today.
They got tired of going around in circles and Serena asked what he normally did on a weekend. He said that normally he went to practice around one in the afternoon, but that wasn't going to happen, "No chance in hell of me showing up" were his exact words if I remember correctly (I'm the narrator…remember?).
She asked about what he normally did off season and he said that he would hang out at The Crown or go to Annaleigh's and do something. Serena turned quiet once she heard him say that.
"It's not what you think, Serena. We would play with Abby; watch a movie with her or something. I remember several times they played dress up with me…and no…no pictures were taken, that, I actually have in writing" Darien added as he saw Serena's evil face lift up the second she heard 'dress up'.
"Well…to bad for the photos; that would have been fun, having something to make fun of you and something to threat you with" Serena said
"Yeah, like, pick me up or I'll show everyone the pictures of you in a tiara, kind of stuff?" Darien said.
"Exactly" Serena assured.
"Yeah, well, nice try but that's not happening in this millennium" Serena laughed.
"I think it's sweet you played with her sister. It's so sad… her story"
"It really is. For Leigh it really has being a true hell. She told me how her mom was at the beginning of her pregnancy with Abby when Amber passed away. She actually thought of terminating the pregnancy, since she began to show signs of depression after the funeral"
"Oh God, that's horrible. What happened?"
"Well, Leigh begged her mom not to do it. She told to her mom that she needed to have faith again and that a baby always brought faith. Leigh's mom said that a baby wasn't going to fix anything and that this wasn't going to be Amber and Leigh said that was precisely why she should keep it, because Amber would have never let her end the pregnancy, Amber would have made her have the courage and the strength"
"Annaleigh is a very gifted person"
"What do you mean?"
"That she is very persuasive"
"I don't really think that"
"You don't?" Serena asked incredulously
"Underneath her confidence there's a very vulnerable girl, that's the girl I fell in love with"
Serena kept quiet for a while. She started thinking about the truth behind Darien's words. Annaleigh was very vulnerable. She had an extraordinary maternal instinct, she practically raised her little sister and she had always, no matter what, from the moment she met her, helped her in some sort of way.
Giving her new tutors each time one decided to give up with her, encouraging her, protecting her from the school rumors and the school mean girls and above all, Annaleigh had always been there to hear her problems. Annaleigh was also undeniably beautiful; actually she was even more beautiful when she let her heart open, when she cried. No wonder why Darien had fallen in love with her, even if she had said the night before: "You two deserve each other" out of hate; she was starting to feel that they really did deserve each other. Annaleigh was perfect in every way imaginable and Darien… does he need any further explanation? I don't think so, but if you are like me and care for a rerun, here is the list (in alphabetical order)
Amazing, brave, charismatic, daring, enchanting, funny, great, heroic, incredible, joyful, kind, manly, nice, pure, smart, tall, unbelievable, valiant, wonderful; I can actually go on, and on…but I think you all get my point.
'Just friends' she reminded herself again 'We are just friends. Don't screw this up'.
"So, Mrs. Roberts decided to keep the baby?" Serena said after a couple of minutes
"Yes… but she… likes keeping her space from her. After Abby was born she went back to work a month later…doesn't spend much time with her. That's why Leigh doesn't have such a great relationship with her"
"What about her dad?"
"Just about the same as her mom. Everything just exploded about two years ago. Annaleigh found out that both her parents were having affairs"
"That's when Abby got sick?"
"No, Abby has been sick since she was three. I remember when we first found out. Leigh and I had just started dating. We were watching a movie in their living room when Abby said she didn't feel okay and she started to have a nose bleed"
"Oh my God! Poor Abby!" Serena interjected
"Yeah…"
"So, you stayed with her. That's very sweet of you, Darien"
"She needed a friend by her side, it was the least I could do after she had been so nice to me when I started in the Academy"
"What do you mean?"
"Well… I wasn't very popular when I first started"
"I find that hard to believe"
"My first day was a nightmare"
"Really?"
"Yeah… I was still in the wheelchair, and I had a cast on one of my arms"
"I thought that your aunt and uncle would have waited for you to get better and then let you come back"
"My therapist said that I was slowing my recovery in an unconscious level… I didn't have trouble with the bunch of multiple intelligence tests they put me throw…but when it came to my physical recovery…I wasn't as successful"
"I'm really sorry" Serena said. She was feeling guilty as hell.
"It's not your fault" Darien said in a failed attempt to lift up her spirit.
"I should have never left you" she said with her face down
"Hey, hey!" Darien exclaimed turning her to look right to his blue eyes. "It's not your fault, Serena. I don't blame you. We were all very young, I think it was for the best"
"That you were left alone?" Serena said with water crystallizing her blue eyes.
"That sucks… but that isn't important right now"
"It's not? Darien, you are telling me that the kids in school treated you wrong because you were in a wheelchair!"
"It's not like that…they all knew who I was. They kept talking behind my back, asking me how I was, asking me if I remembered them. It was a blessing to meet Annaleigh because she didn't know me. She didn't know who I was. She didn't know about my tragic past, she didn't know about me!"
Serena kept quiet after that. Darien shook his head and apologized after blowing up at her.
They continued walking until they reached Darien's apartment building front door.
"Do you want to come up? Maybe watch a movie or something?" Darien offered
"I don't know…What time is it?" Serena asked
"Noon? No wait" he said as he checked his watch. "Two thirty"
"Two thirty? Are you kidding me?"
"Yeah I'm kidding…it's just two twenty nine" Darien said with a smirk which Serena responded with a sarcastic smile, you know, the one that says: you think you are being cute and funny? Well think again; smile.
"I should go home" Serena said moving one of her little bunny covered feet one side to the other. "I haven't called home all day; my mom is probably very worried"
"What's she like? Very strict?" Darien asked
"Not really, she is very young, she just turned thirty four last December. She is very laid down on rules, that's more of my dad's department. You know, no dating, no hanging out with boys"
"Wow, what is he going to do if he ever finds out about you hanging out with me?" Darien teased
"He never had a problem with you…he liked you a lot"
"I'll love to meet them one day…again I guess"
"They'll love that"
"So…no movie, huh?" Darien said as his cell phone rang and he look at the phone's screen to see who was calling. "Shit" he said. "Give me one second" and gestured with his hand for Serena to give him a moment.
"Sure, don't worry" Serena said, but at the same time moving closer to hear the conversation.
He opened his phone and answered "Setsuna, hi! Yeah I was about to call, actually_ No, we are not going to be able to make it…Yeah I'm sorry too… You have it?... Is it good?... Really?... Well, I'm up to try it but it will have to be until she comes back, I don't want to go alone. But you are sure it's the good stuff, right?" Serena made a face at that statement. 'The good stuff?' "I'm sure you tell that to all of your costumers" 'Costumers? Costumers of what?', Serena thought "And what about the tournament?... Is it today? What did the contract said? Well…I can't make any promises but I'll make sure to give it a try. Bye gorgeous!" Darien said he clicked his phone and Serena raised one of her eyebrows. "What?" he asked
"Are you on drugs?" she asked
"Nooooo!" he exclaimed offended.
"Well…by the looks of that conversation is either that or something worse"
"Serena, do you know what happens to a bunny that gets her head into a boiling pan of water?"
"What?" Serena asked, not expecting at all his answer.
"She gets eaten!"
"Not funny!"
"That will teach you not to eavesdrop on someone else's business"
"Who is Setsuna?"
"Urgggg. Jeez, it's like talking to a wall! Setsuna is a friend of Annaleigh's. She is a graphic designer and she owns a gaming store in Broadway Street in New York. Annaleigh has modeled for her a couple of times. She was wondering if we could make it to a show she is having tonight."
"Why would Annaleigh model for her if she is a graphic designer?"
"Well… Annaleigh was the face for her place, plus, Setsuna has fashion shows in her place. So, she usually asks Annaleigh to runway"
"Who's fashion show?"
"One time Setsuna had a Heatherette show for a Guitar Hero Tournament"
"Oh my God! I love Heatherette! They make such fun dresses, they are beautiful!"
"Yeah, well…they are…nice… I guess, I don't really know much about it. Annaleigh likes that kind of stuff. I go to try the video games really, she said she has the Fifa world-cup 2010, that it just arrived yesterday to her store" Darien said scratching his head. "… She is having a Juicy Couture Show tonight"
"No way!"
"Do you want to go?"
"To New York?" Serena asked excited
"Yeah…there's no way in hell I'm going by myself…but with you around, maybe it would be fun to watch how you make a fool out of yourself"
"I won't make a fool of myself!" Serena exclaimed
"So? Are we on for tonight?"
"You bet we are!" Serena said fiercely.
"So, we should go up" Darien said signaling the sky and entering to his apartment lobby.
"Why?"
"Show it's at one"
"Oh…we missed it" Serena said disappointed
"One in the morning Meatball head" Darien said and turned around to see Serena "This is New York we are talking about; sure you are up for it?"
"Bring it on" Serena said getting near him and whispering in his ear. Darien smirked.
He walked to the elevator and pushed the bottom for the doors to open. He bowed at her and gestured for her to get on the elevator. She did…smiling all the way to the elevator.
"My lady" Darien said. A laughing Serena got in and Darien pressed the 22nd button.
"Wait; are your uncle and aunt at your place?"
"Why?"
"Just wondering" Serena said biting off her bottom lip.
"No…I texted Silvia earlier, said that I wasn't up to being moping around all day so that I spent the night at Ann….Andrew's. She said she'll be out doing some shopping" Darien said quickly.
"That reminds me… I'll need for you to lend me your phone, I need to call home and say I'll be out for a little longer"
"Yeah, okay"
They made it to the apartment and Darien turned on the lights of the living room.
"Yeah, it looks like we are alone. Phone is in the kitchen" Darien said, signaling to the open arch that leads to the Shield's kitchen. He walked through another hall and entered a room. Serena's heart pounded hard when she realized the possibility of this room being Darien's room. All of her childhood and preteen years she fantasized of being exactly there, in his room.
She soon forgot all about the phone and stayed in the living room, examining closely the pictures that stood above the side tables in the living room. Silvia and John had obviously taken most pictures from Darien's former home. There he was at the age of eight with his junior soccer trophy, at the age of nine dressed as a pirate for a school play, at the age of ten dressed as a prince for a Blue Bear camp play.
This picture caught her attention, since all of them, Seiya, Taiki, Yaten, Melvin, Molly, Sammy and her were in the picture. Serena smiled as she remembered the day of that play. Darien was her prince, Seiya wasn't very happy about it, but was content with playing her most loyal guard; the one Serena was supposed to end up with.
"You called your mom?" Darien asked as he entered the room. He wasn't wearing a shirt…just his faded blue jeans. Serena's mouth opened as she took in her view, his perfect six pack staring at her, two hands took the picture from her hands and laid it again on the side table. "Earth calling the Meatball head, Meatball head, are you there?" Darien asked. Serena swallowed and shook her head.
"Yeah"
"Ok, what did she say?"
"About what?" Serena asked
"Going to New York?"
"Oh… I haven't called home… I was just looking at these pictures, I have this one too. Do you know the story?" Serena asked pointing at it.
"I don't know anything about this pictures, I can't remember, remember?" Darien said in a teasing tone.
"I thought…Silvia might have"
"She brought that one from my house one day I was still in the hospital. She showed it to me and said that I shouldn't be sad, that I had to be strong for my friends, that they would come to visit as soon as I got better…they never did" Serena stared at him for a while and she started to feel guilty. Guilty because he was totally right, she was responsible for making Darien feel sad and lonely. He had every right to feel angry at her, she had stripped him from friends to encourage him to get better and better not mentioned the guilt she felt for making him and his family escort her to say goodbye to her friends. How do you not feel guilty after that? After the consequences of her actions? Of her affections? How do you not feel guilty? Or angry? Was this the reason Darien wanted to get to know her better? To make her feel guilty? That wasn't right, was it?
"This was a mistake" Serena said and pushed him to the side so she could head for the door,
"Hey, wait! Where do you think you are going?" Darien said catching her arm and trapping her between him and the door.
"The only reason you want to be close to me is to hunt me down with guilt" Serena said angrily with her eyes closed so she couldn't she him
"Look at me" he whispered and she did, she opened her eyes "I'm sorry. I don't want to make you feel guilty. I'm just very frustrated"
"Why?" Serena asked, her words getting caught in her trough
"You are the only connection to my past that I have found. Silvia…she starts crying every time I asked something and John… I don't like to ask him… it was his brother who died in that car crash. From what I've overheard them say, they were very close. It just pains me to no end and frustrates me even worse to look them all sad, hear them talk about people I feel, have no connection to me"
"Why am I different than your uncle or aunt?"
"I'm guessing you knew me better. And I do want to know you, Serena. You are a very nice girl and I do want to be your friend" he said
"Then, you don't want to make me feel bad or guilty?" Serena asked losing her voice as she saw Darien's lips get closer to her face.
"Never" he whispered and kissed her forehead. He touched her forehead with his own and gave her a long hug…God! Such a long hug! "You were very special to me and I want to regain that. I want to regain as much as I possibly can and I want you to help me" He moved away and intertwined his fingers with hers, bringing them to his mouth to place a soft kiss on her hand. Serena was blushing, and Darien said "Please forgive me, Buns"
He took Serena's breath away, so she simply nodded.
"How about lunch?" Darien asked and Serena nodded again. "Good, I think there's pretty much nothing in the kitchen…how about some pizza?" and Serena woke up from the spell Darien put her with his tender kiss. "What toppings do you like?" He asked and went to the couch to fetch the shirt he had laid there and he put it in on.
"Can we get two large pizzas? One half pepperoni, half Hawaiian and the other one half meat lover's and half Brazilian?" Darien blinked twice and said "Nice choice, I'll see what I can do about it"
"Don't forget to order it with extra cheese on the border and with cheesy bread!" Serena said before he reached the kitchen, so he turned and asked what she wanted to drink and she said a diet coke…since she was watching what she ate (of course she was).
The pizza came, this was around three in the afternoon. They were watching the Sports Center, some game in the Champions League. Serena told Darien over and over again that she didn't liked soccer and asked if they could switch for a movie or something else and that she knew that in the CW a marathon of the newest season of Gossip Girl was on. Darien said that no way in hell he was going to watch that, that the performances where very average (please note here the sarcasm, since half the cast is from Gossip Girl…yes I like Gossip Girl and not afraid to say that I owned the first two seasons. Jealous anyone?)
They finished with their pizza and the soccer game finished about fifteen minutes later.
"Sorry about that" Darien said turning off the T.V.
"Don't…it's like having a flashback" Serena said curling in the couch of his living room.
"Did I do that a lot? Watching sports I mean?"
"All the time" Serena said a bit sleepily.
Darien smiled as he watched her falling asleep. "Glad to know some things haven't changed"
"You have always been good at sports" she yawned "…in school, in plays" Serena said opening her eyes and looking at him. She smiled.
"What?" Darien asked
"I was just remembering our camp play, the one of that picture"
"What happened?" Darien asked eager and moved nearer to Serena so he wouldn't miss one word.
"Sure you don't mind?" she said, a bit afraid to unsettle him.
"By all means"
"Fine. It was one of the first trips to the mountain. We made a play at the end of summer. I was casted as Princess Margaritte and you were Prince Eric. You were supposed to be this mean prince that treated everyone badly. Seiya, Yaten and Taiki were my guards and Seiya was meant to protect me" Serena said giggling. "During the scene that Seiya was supposed to kill you I…kind of screwed it up"
"That's new"
"Shut up" Serena said pushing his arm
"What did you do?"
"I went to scene when I wasn't supposed to and started crying by your body and yelling 'please Darien don't die, don't die' everybody started laughing and Seiya said 'Serena, he is not even dead, he is just pretending' and you held my hand to caught my attention and winked at me. When I saw you I threw myself at you and hugged you and gave you a kiss on your cheek" Darien smiled at his lost memory, he thought that it would have been nice to remember as she did.
They spent hours talking about them, about what they loved and hated, about food, about T.V. shows, about movies, about families. Serena found out that Silvia and John couldn't have children, it wasn't impossible but it was very difficult. They were happy taking care of Darien, but apparently something happened during the five years that they have taken Darien in, that she stopped ovulating properly. Darien was extremely sad for her, since she was a wonderful mother; he said that she deserved to have her own children.
On the other hand, Darien found out a lot of Serena as well. She told Darien that she actually had two half sisters from her father's previous marriage. She told Darien that they were about his age and that they have never treated her or Sammy nice. They were named Beatrice and Kate, but her father called them Birdie and Kitty. They lived in New Jersey and thankfully her father had stopped taking Sammy and Serena to go see them along. He also found out that her mother Ikuko, had been a student at Brown where she met her father, Kenji. Her father was an assistant professor in a Literature class and her mother was his student. He was married when they met, but they couldn't deny how much they loved each other.
Kenji split up from his wife of ten years and his two little girls and moved in with his young, promising student. The whole thing apparently had been a big scandal at Brown and it caused for Ikuko to lose her scholarship and Ken to lose his job. That didn't stop them, so they moved in to 10th City to start over. They were welcomed fairly by the community and Ikuko started working at the local school as a kinder garden teacher and Ken started as a junior writer in the local paper. Soon, Ikuko found out that she was pregnant and, since it was twins, she decided to quit her job. Luckily, Ken had been given a promotion and his own column.
For Serena, it was refreshing to hear about Darien's life from him and not from an idiotic rumor. She found out that Silvia used to be an architect in New York and that John was a very fancy lawyer, working for 'Crane, Poole and Schmidt' (does the name rings anyone's bell, if so, please review). They met during a case in which John was defending Silvia; apparently she was the victim of a wrongful termination from her former working place. After the case was done, John asked her out and after just six months they got married.
Serena told him about her fear of thunder, Darien told her about his fear of the dark.
She told him about her favorite flower and he told her about his favorite soccer team.
She told him about how much she would like to learn how to dance and he told her about how much he would like to teach her some day.
They really talked for hours, up until the moment Serena found out that it was almost six and that she needed to get back to her house before her mother killed her, she confessed to Darien that she had forgotten to call home, he rolled his eyes.
He got changed to go to NYC. He put on some black jeans, a white shirt that had some kind of logo on it and his leather jacket. He gave Serena the passenger helmet and they went outside the Shields apartment and into the elevator to go down into basement 2 and fetch his bike. Soon he remembered that he had left it at The Crown and so they walked the mile-long distance between his apartment and his favorite restaurant/game parlor.
They didn't enter the restaurant; they went directly to the parking lot to fetch the bike. As they mounted the bike Darien checked that he had everything he needed for their little trip. Bike, check; wallet, check; phone….
"Shit, I think I left my phone at the park"
"It's nearby, let's go see if we can find it"
"It's nighttime, someone probably took it by now" Darien said, but Serena insisted that he needed to have a little more faith and so he gave up and pleased her.
They looked around the lake, but Darien was right, it was too dark to look. As he was about to tell Serena to just give up, he felt something vibrate in his jacket. He had forgotten that he had put it there and so he took it out and read the three unread messages.
First one from Silvia: "Don't come back too late…take note that my family has a heart condition history, so please don't come back too late…so I won't end up in a hospital for exceeding stress levels" Darien laughed at it and answered a "lol, love you, see you tomorrow"
Second one from Setsuna: "OMG! So u r coming? Promise it will b gr8. Any chance u r bringing a friend? I'm short in models!" Darien answered "Does a size 4 help?"
Then the last one, it was from Annaleigh: "Getting on the plane. I'll miss u" Darien didn't answer; simply put his phone back where it was.
"Serena I found my phone" Darien said and then heard a big splash and a scream from Serena, cursing the freaking cold water.
He ran to help her out and started laughing at her. She was mumbling down some unintelligible stuff but it didn't matter to Darien, he was having too much fun.
After that, they went back to the bike, brought it to life and drove all the way to Serena's place. She told him that if her mom saw her like this she was never going to let her see another day so she told him about her brilliant plan to get in through her balcony door and I think pretty much you all remember pretty well what happened after that.
I won't bore you with much details about the trip and how amazing it felt for Serena to see the famous City Lights for the first time in her life or how awesome was to roll around Broadway Street and finally reach the extraordinary Times Square. But what I can tell you is that they made it to New York by eleven. Setsuna's store was packed with media, gamers, models, V.I.P.'s and regular P's.
Darien brought Serena backstage and introduced her to Setsuna who fell immediately in love with Serena's appearance. Serena immediately fell in love with Setsuna's. She was even prettier that Annaleigh, if that was even possible. She was tall, tanned, with dark green eyes that complemented her dark brown hair. She was one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen.
"So, exited to be a model?" Setsuna asked to Serena who was showing her around
"What?" Serena confusedly
"You are modeling tonight, aren't you?" Setsuna asked again
"Nooooo, I'm not! Darien, tell her I'm not"
"Mmmm, about that…" Darien started
"Oh my God!" Serena exclaimed and hit Darien with her purse several times.
"Don't worry sweetheart, it's going to be okay. It's just runway, anyone can walk" Setsuna encouraged and left Serena and Darien in Hair and Make-up.
"I'm going to kill you" Serena said as she was being scrubbed off of her own makeup and beginning to be painted with thousands of different products. About two hours later, one o'clock in NYC time, Serena was done. Darien had actually enjoyed watching the hair stylists and make-up artists work on her. They were having a great time, eating delicious stuff from craft service, cracking jokes and making predictions about in which outfit or which shoes she was going to fall in.
As the stage manager was beginning to call the models to come and form a line, Darien said his goodbyes and said that he was going to be in the front row with Setsuna in case she fell down and needed for someone to help her out. Serena was left completely terrified and indescribably nervous when the winners of The Beatle's Rock Band Tournament started to play a different, more modern rock version of "Hard Day's Night". Five girls walked the runway and after five different directions that the manager gave her and that she didn't get, a prayer in his behave and one from hers, she was being pushed to go.
She heard clapping from the front row and she recognized Darien and Setsuna there. She smiled and put on her best 'smile with your eyes' look. The cameras where flashing like crazy and she started to strut down the long way. Her nervousness passed as she realized that things could have being far worse. At least she was dressed, unlike other models that weren't wearing nothing but a pair of boy-shorts and a winter coat. At least she was wearing a pair of jeans, a shirt, a blazer and a cute hat. As she was in the middle of her tour she realized that the runway was very unconventional. It was an elevation created that zig-zagged in the middle of the store, filled with glitter and confetti.
She finally made it to the cameras where she posed once, with her hip popped to the left, twice, with her head high and hip to the right, thrice, turned around with her shoulder shrugged to one side and she, looking to the cameras and giving a wink. She couldn't help but to smile all the way back to the backstage. In a rush she was being dragged to the changing room where they put her in a black mini dress and some boots that amazingly were two sizes too small…and she had very small feet. She did the same tour down the whimsical runway. She was in such a rush that she didn't even realize that it was over up until Darien went to find her backstage again. He hugged her and lifted from the ground.
"You did amazing Buns!" He yelled over the music of a much upbeat version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
"Thanks! I can't believe I just did that!" she said out of breath.
"Serena!" she heard Setsuna calling her from behind and running to greet her. "You were amazing baby! You and Annaleigh have to come next time I have a tournament"
"I don't think so Setsuna, I already kidnapped her long enough for a whole year" Darien said
"Well…tell me if you ever consider modeling for a career and I'll hook you up with my former agency"
"You were a model?" Serena asked in shocked
"You think Serena could do this for a living?" Darien and got hit on his arm again by Serena.
"She is a natural" Setsuna said with a smile. "Most girls start at sixteen, but I see you definitely on the cover of Seventeen, Teen Vogue… you could have a brilliant career"
"You really think I could?" Serena asked completely eager about the possibility of being good at something like her brother, famous like the Kou's and have a glamour's life like Annaleigh's.
"Setsuna, don't encourage her, she is going to think it's true" Darien said and got hit on both his arms by Serena and Setsuna.
"Yes you can sweetie, give me a call, anytime you want" Setsuna said and then got called to attend at the media that was starting to gather around the press room.
"Oh_my_God!" Serena said and Darien simply caught her hand and moved through the crowd and rolled his eyes.
"Come on buns, I have to get you home" Darien said leaving the crowd and looking for the back door that lead to the basement.
"Darien wait!" she called
"What?"
"I have to get changed!" she said worried
"Fine! But let's hurry up!" Darien said and moved them all over again through the crowd and into the changing rooms. As they were about to go into the changing room someone was opening the door from the inside. All dressed up in his fabulous red suit, the guy could not believe his eyes.
"Serena?" he asked in disbelief
"What are you doing here?" Serena asked as well.
I am very curious to know what you think about Serena and Darien's family story, did you liked how they are becomming better and better friends, what did you all think of Setsuna? (she will be played by Megan Fox if you were wondering) and most of all I want to know who do you think it is at the door of the changing room.
Place your bets everyone and don't forget to check out the SAD Collection, the ultimate timeless, sad, angst and depressive songs ever...for a teenager.
Special thanks to my special beta, I love you!!!!
BTW, I am going to change the Valentine dresses, I found about a much better way to show you all what's in my head, so don't forget to check that out as well on my profile...what else? Well, just a reminder that the next chapter might take me longer than usual...but hey! I have a job! Kudos to me!
Please review! Bye, Love you all!