This is the last chapter I will ever write for this story, and Summer Rain is now on permanent hiatus… No- I'm kidding! But it certainly takes the sting out of having to wait for Sere & Dar to get together, now doesn't it? =P But I bet you're all reading the chapter title thinking, 'Oh no... they were getting close! Crystal's gonna be mean again.' Yeah... I am... a little. But at least you know that I'll never give up on this story.
Sorry for my leave of absence. I was invited to join a forum on FFN and it was fun for a while until I had to censor my opinions. Also as a result of my association with said forum, it looks like I received a couple flames. *Shrugs* Just goes to show the maturity levels of some individuals on this site, hmm? Anyway, back to what you're all here for!
Thanks to: Guest, Guest, Guest, H. Wales, Lunachan90, blonde-gal, smfan4ever72, MarsCrystal42, nofreakingway, MissTexMex, Guest, stephumz, Anne, MinnieMoosi, caiteexx, SerentiyMoonGodness, Guest, Kelly, CharmedSerenity3, Alex, Marcela, Infinity 4 3ver, KittyKat, kbtjmandy, devilsangels11287, NZBunny, Lucee, Mill Qs, sailormoon0630, Guest, amethysth, Miss Katrina Malfoy, Perfect Beauty, LoveInTheBattleField, Princess Moonie of the Moon, Usako, Guest, Sailor Rallison, SailorMoon489, Polevault Princess, Guest, Guest, and natashasurgirl for reviewing the previous chapter
Title: Summer Rain
Author: Crystal Saturn
Rated: T
Chapter: 1- Murphy's Law: Instance #3
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"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"
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"Heeeey theeeere, Andy-boy..." Serena skipped up to her cousin with a sing-songy quality in her voice "Can you pleeease siiiiign this permissiiiion slip?"
"I'm still your older cousin." Andrew raised an eyebrow as he watched his strangely bubbly younger cousin. "That's Sir Andy-boy to you, thank you very much." He snatched the pen and note away from Serena, scanning over it quickly. "What's it for?"
"A school field trip. It's not for another three weeks." Serena rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. Ever since the week before, she had started disappearing every night at the same time to rendezvous with her masked Romeo, and it had effectively increased her happiness exponentially. Her mood had lifted and she seemed like the carefree, free spirit that she had been before all the events that had lead her to moving in with him. Andrew knew that his two now-overly-peachy housemates were secretly meeting on the rooftop every night, but couldn't say anything to either of them for fear that spoiling the secrecy factor would also ruin any chances of them finally getting together. "Apparently our class is going to spend the weekend in the national park and observatory."
"Sounds fun. How long will you be gone?" Andrew continued to skim over the contents of the note.
"Sounds like a boooore!" Serena blew a raspberry. "We'll leave from school on Friday afternoon at 5, and come back 6am Monday morning... because 5 days of school isn't enough, they want us wasting our weekends learning too." She rolled her eyes, huffing her bangs away in frustration. Andrew couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, I'll sign it, but only after you call up and run it by your mother first."
. . .
A few days later, Andrew packed his weekend bag and checked the fridge to make sure it was stocked with enough meals and soup to last everybody for the weekend. Diana had contracted a cold, while Serena was currently suffering from influenza, and Andrew could not afford to fall sick at this stage in the semester. His exam block was scheduled for the following week, so he had decided to spend the weekend camped out at Reika's apartment.
"Are you sure you two are going to be okay by yourselves tonight? Darien will be at his graduate dinner tonight and probably won't be back until late." Andrew checked the pantry supplies before he turned to the two miserable, pathetically weak looking girls and gave them a pitiful sigh.
"We'll be fine, Andy." Serena smiled weakly. Her cheeks were flushed bright red and beads of sweat clung to her forehead, yet she was rugged up and visibly shivering. Diana nodded as she picked up her pen and paper pad. During the course of the week, she had managed to lose her voice.
'Hurry up and go before we sneeze all over you.' She jotted on her pad and Andrew chuckled, recoiling back slightly.
"Alright, alright. I'm going! Take care, you two. If you need anything... call Darien. Otherwise, I'll be back in a few days." Andrew grabbed his man-bag and practically bolted for the door.
'I'm going to take some lozenges and some cold medicine. The drowsy kind. If you need me, I'll be in a comatose, disoriented state, lying somewhere in your room.' Diana scribbled on her little notepad as she popped a couple of capsules into her mouth, cringing as though she was swallowing a hedgehog.
"I should probably try to get to sleep too." Serena nodded in agreement. "My body feels so weak." She placed the cold, wet hand towel over her forehead and shuddered.
Darien stumbled back into the apartment at two in the morning. It was rather uncharacteristic of him to be out at that time of night, let alone drunk at such a late hour, but it was different today. It was a significant day, and a day for celebration. As he shuffled down the hallway, a bolt of inspiration struck him on the butt. He turned away from his bedroom door and instead, he reached for Serena's doorknob. Slipping into her dark room, it took Darien many attempts to manoeuvre past bits of furniture to get to Serena's bed. Eventually, he made it to her side and knelt down before her sleeping form.
"Pssst. Dumpling, hey Dumpling Head." Darien whispered loudly as he shook her gently. "Wake up. I have something I want to tell you, and now is probably the best time considering I'm still a little tipsy."
"Dar...?" Her groggy voice sounded barely like a rumble as she turned over in bed and squinted her eyes to try and find the source of the voice within the darkness. The act of turning over in bed disoriented her to the point of nausea and her head felt incredibly heavy all of a sudden. She was drowsy beyond belief from the cold medication and it took great effort on her behalf to stay awake, let alone focused on what the drunk man before her was rambling about.
"I'm leaving." Darien blurted out. "I'm going to study abroad. My application was accepted today, and I leave in three weeks if I can get all my documents together in time." He waited for a response. All he received was a sleepy groan. Why was he telling her all this? All she wanted to do right now was sleep. "I know! Exciting, isn't it?" Darien continued, pepped up nevertheless. "But anyway, I thought I'd let you know. I've been meaning to tell you for a while now, but I haven't been able to pluck up the courage, mostly because it means having to say goodbye to you. That's the one thing I haven't been looking forward to. If I could take you with me, I would. You make me smile every day." Darien's heart began to beat heavily within his chest. "I didn't want to leave without tying up loose ends, but I didn't know if I should even bother telling you this." Another groan slipped from the sleepy girl as she rubbed her eyes, trying to decipher exactly what Darien was saying. He seemed to be babbling quite a bit. This was probably the most she had ever heard him say in one sitting.
"What I'm trying to say, Serena, is that... well..." Darien placed his hand in front of him and found her cheek. Caressing her face gently, he leaned in towards her, stopping only when he could feel her breath on his lips. "I'm in love with you." Capturing her lips against his, Darien was prepared to give the petite girl the most bone crushing, spine tingling kiss that she had ever experienced. More romantic than her first, and still more passionate than her second; Darien moved to deepen the kiss. The taste of beer and cherry flavoured cough syrup danced along his tongue as she groaned, pushing against him in protest.
"Guys, can you keep your conversation down, some of us are trying to slee..." Light flooded the bedroom as Serena swung her door open to investigate the source of the drunken murmurs. She stepped back in utter confusion as she watched Darien pull away from an evidently passionate kiss with Diana, on her bed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to..." Serena blinked a number of times as she flicked the light switch off and backed out of her room, running back to the comfort of the bed in Andrew's room.
Darien sat down on the floor of the dark room and closed his eyes, trying to piece together the events that led him to this moment. Slowly, a hand reached out in the darkness and patted him on the head for a moment. Eventually the hand found what it was searching for and the nearby lamp dimly illuminated the previously dark room.
"Diana?!" Darien watched as the violet eyed brunette sat up groggily in bed. "What are you doing in Serena's bed?" She looked at him under lowered lids, gently swaying back and forth as she too, attempted to comprehend what was going on. "Why didn't you stop me?" Darien smacked the palm of his hand up against his forehead and lowered it across his face.
"I tried..." Her raspy voice cracked under the strain of her weakened vocal chords and sore throat. "I'm so weak and drowsy..." Diana drearily reached for her notepad, flipping back to her previous page. She pointed to her last written comment before smacking Darien across the back of the head with the pad. Muttering incoherent noises, she shot Darien an irritated look and pointed in the direction of Andrew's bedroom.
"Shit." Darien cursed over and over as he leapt to his feet, after realising his mistake, and ran over to Andrew's room. "Crap, crap, crap crap..." He chanted before knocking gently on Andrew's bedroom door. No response. Slowly, he turned the doorknob and let himself in.
"Sere?" He whispered into the dark room. This time though, the light from the moon filtered through the bedroom window and into the room, illuminating it just enough so Darien could see the lump lying under the covers of the bed.
"Don't come any closer." Serena's voice called out. "I-I'm sick." She sniffled and her voice squeaked. "I just want to sleep, please."
"What you saw in there. It wasn't meant to happen." Darien began to explain. "You see, I'm still a little drunk and-"
"I really don't care. What you do is your business. It's your life. I'm just sorry I walked in on you." Serena pulled the covers up over her head just as Darien approached and sat down on the bed beside her.
"Sere, it was a mistake. It didn't mean anything. I thought that she was-"
"Please, Darien. You don't have to justify yourself to me. You and Diana have history, I get it, but I'm really tired now so if you'd please just leave me alone, I really just want to get some sleep and get over this virus." Serena shuffled away under the sheets. "I have a migraine and the more you talk, the worse my head feels." Darien's stomach churned uneasily, but he knew that tone in Serena's voice. There was nothing more he could say or do tonight.
Walking around to the other side of the bed, Darien sat down on Andrew's executive desk chair and leant back. That was where he would sleep that night. After his terrible mistake, Darien felt as though he needed to be near Serena. Even though he couldn't explain to her what had happened, he just needed the comfort of being around her.
The feeling of a cold, wet towel being placed upon Serena's burning forehead was enough to shock the poor girl awake. Serena gasped as she bolted upright in bed. The cool towel slid down her face and plopped down onto her clammy hands.
"Sorry." Darien's voice penetrated the silence of the dark room, turning Serena's attention towards the dark form on the bed beside her. "You were burning up again."
"What time is it?" The groggy blonde rubbed her swollen, tired eyes, brushing away dried tears and the remnants of sleep.
"Quarter to five in the morning." Darien watched as the ill teen kicked the covers off of her warm body and flung her legs over the side of the bed. "What are you doing?"
"Going to get a glass of water." Serena struggled to stand on her shaky legs.
"I'll get it for you, stay in bed." Darien leapt to his feet, to Serena's protest.
"I'm fine." She frowned, pushing herself up off the bed, only to lose consciousness and collapse. Luckily, by that time, Darien was close enough to catch the limp young girl in his arms. He gingerly laid her back down in bed and placed the covers over her shivering body once again.
"Please get better Sere. I have so much I need to tell you." Darien sighed once more. As he sat tirelessly by her side in the twilight veiled room, he contemplated what he would say to Serena when she finally came around.
Considering he would be leaving in three weeks, would it be worth telling her of his feelings? Would he bother her with the news of his departure while she was still ill? Surely it would only increase her stress levels and delay her recover, right? Nevertheless, three weeks was a long time to keep a secret; the agony exacerbated by the fact that he would be keeping news of his departure from one very important person. Three weeks of secrecy would stretch to feel like an eternity when that one very important, special person lived merely across the hallway. Should he keep it from her? Could he?
Darien let out a long sigh as he leaned forward in the chair, running his hands across his face callously in frustration. In that instant, he had resolved to keep all details of his departure and plans to study abroad under wraps from Serena for as long as he possibly could. Sure, three weeks was a long time to be avoiding the inevitable conversation and to be hiding away from Serena, but it was nothing compared to how slowly time would pass if the conversation didn't pan out so well and he discovered that his feelings for Serena were not reciprocated. That would mean three torturously slow weeks of awkward dinner silences, bowed heads as they crossed each other in the hallway, pitiful looks of sympathy from Serena and numerous unnecessary apologies.
On the other hand though, if he confessed his feelings to Serena and she openly returned his affections, there was no way in the world that Darien would make his flight. He wouldn't leave her. There was no way that he could. Two years away from Serena, just as their relationship was about to blossom? It would be hell. Either way, it seemed as though the best thing to do was to let it go; to let her go. He wouldn't confess his feelings for her, nor would he tell her that he was leaving for fear that she would ask him to stay, or even worse, shed a tear as he left.
'This is for the best.' Darien's mind betrayed his heart that screamed cowardly murder.
As dawn began to break over the horizon, Darien began to succumb to dribs and drabs of shut eye. He had long been sober, but the absurdity of the unfortunate events that had occurred earlier still weighed heavily in his mind, so much so that he couldn't sleep, rendering him mentally exhausted and cognitively drunk, swimming in a pool of self loathing and deep regret.
. . .
"Hey." Diana peeked her head into Andrew's bedroom the following morning. "Is she any better?" Her raspy voice strained as she quietly entered the room and stood by Darien's side.
"Doesn't look like it. In fact, I think she's getting worse." Darien refused to tear his eyes away from Serena's sleeping form. An awkward silence followed for the next few minutes as both Darien and Diana struggled to think of how to bring up the topic of the night before.
"So I guess you haven't told her yet then?" Diana rocked back and forth as she crossed her arms, seeming to protect herself from the uncomfortableness of the inevitable morning-after conversation.
"About what?" Darien's eyes glazed over slightly as they darkened a number of shades.
"What do you mean 'about what'?" Diana strained to keep her voice quiet through her evident annoyance. "About everything, Darien! About how you feel about her, about you leaving, about how you're in love with her..." Diana's voice began to trail away and she cleared her throat, desperately trying to stave off her sickness.
"No, I haven't told her." Darien rubbed his weary eyes and glanced over at the cold towel and wash bowl on the desk. His frustration and lack of proper sleep suddenly all crashed down on him all at once. "She's been asleep all night. Besides, she saw me kiss you. It's all a mess. Why were you in her bed last night?" His long fingers raked through his ebony hair in annoyance.
"We didn't want to infect each other and create another strain of super-flu." Diana's voice cracked and she frowned, clearing her throat. "It was Serena's idea to quarantine ourselves in separate rooms. How was I supposed to know that you'd come barging in, in the wee hours of the morning, drunk and looking for some lovin'?"
"I wasn't drunk." Darien frowned, "...Much. And besides, you should have stopped me."
"I was out of it from the meds, my ears were throbbing and I couldn't speak. I had no idea what was going on." Diana admitted with just as much frustration at the situation they were all in. "And another thing, what were you doing going all gropey gropey in the dark huh? You could have at least had the decency to tell Serena how you feel about her to her face."
"Well excuse me if I was only just intoxicated enough to have the courage to sneak into Serena's room and up to Serena's bed to try and confess to Serena how I felt about her. How was I supposed to know that the sleepy girl in her bed wasn't her at all? Do you have any idea how hard it is to wake her up in the morning? I just thought she was being difficult again." Darien sighed once again.
"When are you going to tell her?" Diana crossed her arms. She watched as a slight frown graced Darien's brow. "You have to tell her how you feel." The violet eyed woman's weak voice cried out desperately. Doubt clouded over across Darien's features. His eyes glazed over once again in thought as he continued to stare at Serena's sleeping form. Diana slapped Darien's arm to gain his attention.
"I don't know if I can now." He confessed quietly. "Everything's changed now. I-I don't think I can do it anymore."
"You said it yourself, Dar. You stumbled into 'Rena's room, and over to her bed to kiss the woman that you thought was her. Surely she has to be able to see the mistake there. She has to know how you feel about her. You need to straighten everything out with her before you go." Diana watched as her best friend slumped back in his chair with exhaustion. Clearing her throat, she attempted to speak again before her squeaky voice gave out completely. "You have to at least tell her that you're leaving."
A small sigh escaped from Darien's lips. He was completely sober now, and for once in his life, he wished he wasn't. He wished he had the courage to face his predicament and set things straight, instead of running away from these new and unknown feelings and situations. More than anything though, he wished that he hadn't have been drunk the night before. He wished that he hadn't have kissed anybody, or at least, if he was going to be particularly inspired, he wished that he could have at least made his kiss count. But fate works in mysterious ways, and it seemed that it simply wasn't the right time or circumstance. Darien was never, ever fatalistic, but this time it looked as though this was a sign. He figured that maybe, just maybe, this was all for the best. It was probably better that she didn't know about how he felt about her. It was probably better that she didn't know that he was leaving. That way, he wouldn't have to deal with his emotions, and scarier still, her emotions and uncertainty. But most importantly, he wouldn't have to say goodbye.
"Maybe..." Darien sighed quietly as he stared at the ceiling. His mental state during the morning aftermath of his drunken night of misjudgements echoed that of countless others around the world and throughout the history of alcohol. As he closed his eyes; his heart filled with regret, uncertainty, and doubt.
"No 'maybes' Darien. Just tell her. She has to know, and you have to be the one to let her know that you're going away for a while-"
"That's the thing Di, I'm not going away just for the weekend, or a week, or even a month. I'll be gone for two years. That's too long to have this looming over her head. I can't just drop that bombshell on her and fly off across the Pacific Ocean for two years and expect her to wait for me. I can't do that to her, Di, no matter how much I like her. That would be selfish of me."
"Like her?" Diana rolled her eyes, "Since when had we downgraded? Who said anything about just liking her, Darien?"
"You know what I mean." Darien raked his fingers through his hair for the umpteenth time. "I'll let her know that I'm going, but not right now. As soon as she gets better, I'll tell her then."
"I hope so, Dar." Diana eyed her best friend down suspiciously. "And I really wish you'd let Sailor Moon know that her saviour will disappear too." The violet eyed girl turned and left the room, leaving Darien to contemplate her words and figure out what he was going to do about Sailor Moon.
"Hey uh, I'm going to go get some medicine for Sere." Darien walked out into the living room as he finished towel drying his hair, fresh from his well needed shower. Tossing his towel lazily over the back of a kitchen chair, he ran his fingers through his damp hair, effectively brushing it into place. "Maybe I'll make her a pumpkin soup while I'm at it."
"I'll come along" Diana slowly rose to her feet as Darien reached for his car keys. "Staying inside is driving me insane, besides, I'm feeling much better after my nap and I need to pick up some more lozenges and cash in my antibiotic prescription."
"Alright then." Darien nodded quietly. Much to Diana's disappointment, things were now inevitably awkward between them. Darien refused to look her in the eyes whenever they spoke, and even though the misunderstanding was mostly his fault, she couldn't help but feel bad about her role in the whole fiasco.
As soon as the apartment door clicked shut behind the duo, Serena emerged from Andrew's bedroom, and tiptoed into the kitchen where she picked up the telephone. Her body ached and she yearned to be back in bed once more, but she needed to do this. Dialling a set of numbers she knew like the back of her hand, Serena leaned her body against the cool kitchen counter and listened to the tone.
"Moshi mo-"
"Rei, it's me, Serena." The blonde's voice trembled and her eyes watered as she couldn't help but recall the scene in the bedroom from the night before.
"Serena, what's the matter?" Rei immediately picked up on her friend's distress.
"Rei…" Serena clasped her hand over her mouth as she stifled a sob and tried to compose herself enough so she could talk.
"'Rena, are you crying?" The dark haired girl on the other end of the line began to panic. She had heard whiny Serena on countless occasions, but never a tearfully distressed Serena. "Is everything alright?"
"I saw…" The tearful blonde uncontrollably hiccupped a strangled sob. "I saw Darien kiss Diana last night-"
"I'm coming over. I'll be there in 10 minutes." Rei sighed as she dropped the telephone receiver back onto its cradle and leaped for the door.
. . .
An hour passed before Darien and Diana returned to the apartment, carrying bags of groceries and medicine to sooth Serena's burning fever.
"Sere…" Darien called out quietly as he entered Andrew's bedroom, holding a new batch of flu medication. A deep frown marred his features as he stared at the tousled sheets of the empty bed in confusion.
"What's the matter?" Diana stepped down the hallway, noticing the strange look on the tall man's face.
"Serena's not in Andrew's room." He looked about the apartment.
"Well, she's not in her bedroom…" Diana's voice trailed away as she noticed a note sitting on the dining table. Picking it up, she scanned the contents of the letter before reading it out loud.
"I don't want things to get worse at home, with me spreading my germs around. I've gone to spend the week at Rei's. I'll come back when I'm feeling better. - Serena"
Darien uttered a groan of disappointment and annoyance as he carelessly tossed the medication down on the kitchen counter and slammed his fist down beside it. She was avoiding him like the plague, and it was entirely fault. The worst part of it all, was knowing that there was nothing he could do or say to bring her back. He had to let her go for now.
. . .
*dodges tomatoes* okaaay, so that was the storm before the bigger storm before they get together. If you're getting annoyed with the back and forth of it all, then I would probably suggest that you hold off on reading the next few chapters, until about… chapter 38. Yes, it will really take that much longer until I script them together. Bad author! Yes yes. On the plus side, I have planned out the next 12 chapters and have started writing most of them. On the neg side, I'm coming up to exam week which means we'll all be incredibly lucky if I update in the next 3 weeks. I'll try for it, but with 3x2500 word essays due, I make no promises!
Also, if you wish to ask me any questions, please leave a signed review so I can get back to you. I've been pretty bad with responding to reviews lately, but I'll get back into the habit of replying, because I love you all so much for taking the time to review, and I love having chats with my readers! Any-who, let me know what you thought!
Crystal Saturn
