Sunset At Paradise Cove

Chapter 20

Author's Note: Hi everyone I loved reading all your comments and thoughts from the last chapter and I know Darien turned out to be a bit of a jerk, but we will see where this story takes him with a some unexpected twists and turns along the way, so please continue to follow along and send all your reviews and thoughts. Thanks Mars Light

Also, I want to dedicate this chapter to my husband and best friend who first introduced me to new genres of music and especially the music of Bruce Springsteen that I referenced in this chapter cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run. Also going forward any music or lyrics mentioned I do not own any right to. Thanks for reading

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon never did, never will thank you!

Serena rushed back to her hotel room feeling her chest heaving with the held in sadness and anger she held back as she tried getting the hotel room door open with a struggle holding the key card in hand while feeling herself slowly being torn apart from the inside out.

Finally, after a long struggle and a few certain choice words that left her mouth she got the door open and locked herself away in her own safe haven. With the door firmly closed she slid down against it to the floor and put her head back against the door as she shook her head and released the tear's she held inside asking "how could I have been so stupid"

She sat and thought over in her head of all they had shared together, all the kind things he had told her, all the times that he made her feel secure and free, almost like she could do anything, but it had all been a ruse, one large lie for his own pleasure as she let out a small chuckle thinking of his way of trying to explain it to actually make it sounds like he thought it was alright what he did.

She reached down and picked up her phone out of her pocket and looked down at the picture she had saved on her phone the picture she looked at over and over again dreaming of having this perfect life with him. But those dreams just went up in smoke as she took in a deep breath trying to figure out what to do where to go.

She looked around the room she was in and let out a long sigh having not expected to be here for more than a couple of days and now she would have to figure out a new plan and put her hand down to her stomach and took a deep breath in knowing she was alone in this long journey.

She heard her stomach let out a loud rumbling sound and knew she had to find herself something to eat after the crackers they served on the plane were not near enough to fill her up. She stood up from the floor and walked back over where she got a good view of the beach once more below and pulled the curtains closed tight then turned around and looked through what was left of the money Anna had given to her which was barely enough to get a drink and a small sandwich.

She sat down on the bed knowing she would need to find a way to get some other source of money coming in to support herself and this child, because the father could not be depended upon.

She lied all the way back on the bed putting her hands over her eyes knowing this certainly did not turn out as she had expected they would as she took a deep breath in, thinking of the life she ran away from while asking herself "maybe I should have just gone along with what they had planned for me after all than I would not have be stuck in this mess"

She stood up off the bed and went back towards the window pushing the curtains apart and looked out at the clear blue sky and what seemed like an endless ocean as she took a deep breath in while telling herself "no this is how it has to be. I can't let them lead my life for me. I will find a way through this somehow"

She heard the notification on her phone buzz and let out a small laugh knowing who it wouldn't be, he never took the time to actually contact her back once and now she knew why as she walked back over to the bed and picked up her phone having a pretty good idea of who the text was from as she quickly looked it over seeing there was more than one message actually there were 7 as she read them over quickly.

AS she expected most of the messages she received were from her friends asking did you arrive safely, did you find him, what did he say about the baby, good luck we'll miss you, enjoy having the life you dreamed about, and one from Anna stating be safe and happy and then of course the last one was one was from her parents who had figured out she wasn't coming back by now as she read there cryptic message you are being cut off permanently and from now on will remain dead to us.

She wrapped her arms tightly around herself reading her parents cold words knowing she could never go home again and she didn't want to but right now it left her feeling never more alone in a strangle place, then she felt at this very moment and did not know who she could turn to or what to do next now that everything had ended up a complete disaster.

She looked over to her carry on bag lying on the floor that she did not bother to unpack thinking by now that she would have ended up living her happily ever after with Darien, but instead she was here trying to get nickels and pennies together for food as she took the envelope out of the side pocket the girls had given her.

She took a deep breath in planning on leaving the money there as savings for once the baby was born for diapers and such, but looked around the hotel room she was in expecting she would need it much sooner than she expected to keep a roof over her head as she looked out the window and saw the bright blue sky above now had some grey clouds that were starting to drift over head which matched her current standings perfectly.

She started to feel a slight chill in the air and reached over to grab a light sweater to out around herself when she received another text notification and let out a strong sigh, not sure what to say to anyone. She knew her friends were looking for answers and would not stop contacting her until she made them aware that she was fine, but what could she tell them she couldn't admit the truth, that her dream guy ended up being a complete nightmare and she was stupid enough to fall for his good looks and charms.

Even if she did tell them everything it would not make anything better with having not enough money to get herself home with, and even if she did find a way to get back it would make no difference seeing as her parents made it very clear she was not welcome there any longer.

She took a deep breath in thinking of all the ballets lessons and piano lessons and luncheons that she had attended that her parents had demanded that she do, stating that it was what all well brought up girls are expected to do and refused to continue on with that life again, be her parents puppet. Never again, which only left one option to make the best life that she possible could here on this island for her own child be the kind of parents her own mother and father never were too her.

She put her hand down on her stomach knowing of the life that was growing inside of her that depended on her alone and spoke aloud "don't worry little one, your daddy didn't turn out to be what we expected, but I will figure this out somehow"

She heard her phone making a vibration sound after not taking it off silent mode from the plane and looked down at the name that was calling her as she let out a loud laugh stating "well that's pretty amazing apparently he has not forgotten our number after all"

She quickly denied the call, not ready to hear any more of his explanations of his crude behavior, being left with not having anything further to say to him at the moment that would change anything between them as she went and sat on her bed and pushed her phone to the side, then stared down at her hands wondering what kind of work she could get for herself here on an island when she heard a tone that a voice message had been left.

She let out a strong sigh and knew she should just ignore it, just erase the message as he probably did to all the ones she left telling him how much she loved and missed him, which he obviously did not take seriously at all and probably only just laughed at her as she reached back over and picked up her phone seeing the voice message she received was from him as she took a deep breath in and listened to his message which was only about eight seconds long with him saying coldly "Serena we need to talk, you know the number" and hung up.

She shook her head knowing that she could not hide away, especially not remaining on this small island, eventually she would have to deal with him again, but after his reaction down on the beach she was unsure how much he would actually want to do with his child, but also she was unsure of how much she wanted someone like him to have anything to do with this child.

She took a deep breath in not sure what to do when she heard she received a text message and looked down seeing how insistent he was suddenly becoming with the words let's talk and knew even if he had made mistakes, huge mistakes, she couldn't keep him from his child that doing so would make her no better than her parents as she picked up her phone knowing she was not ready to actually speaking to him again and replied back through a text saying "yes we do"

She walked over by her window and looked down to be sure unlike last time that he wasn't sitting down below waiting to brisk her off somewhere, but there was no sight of him as she took a deep breath in knowing the fantasy was definitely over as she heard she got a text back from him stating "I really do have plans tonight that I can't break talk tomorrow"

She let out a loud scoff knowing his plans were probably to try to manipulate other poor unexpecting girls as she took a deep breath in knowing she needed to keep things more calm between them if they were to ever try to find away to make this work for the child sake as she le the breath she held out and replied back "fine tomorrow" knowing that she could use the extra time to herself anyway as she asked "what time?"

She held the phone in her hand and waited a few minutes for his reply which she was unsure would ever come until she finally got his message back stating "afternoon I have a late night tonight and things I need to do in the am"

She held the phone in her hands wanting to scream at his words knowing what he wasn't saying that he probably had plans with some other girl on the beach where he would make all kinds of promises to her also no one that he actually meant a word of as she replied back "fine" and through her phone down on the bed not wanting to even see if she got any other messages from him.

Darien spent hours walking back and forth in a daze down the beach as he looked down to his phone seeing her last reply come in with one word "fine"

He took a deep breath in knowing that she was angry with him still, which was expected seeing as how they last parted down on the beach, but at least she was willing to discuss this baby thing further, but right now he had much to figure out himself on what to do before they spoken again as he continued walking back and forth on the beach, as he cursed himself for getting tied down with her while her words echoed over again in his brain that he was going to be a daddy, which he was far from ready to take that step.

He looked up to the sky seeing the sun was starting to become hidden behind the clouds and knew that his problems would have to wait until later and made his way down towards the pier where the others were waiting for him.

Andrew looked up to see there band leader who for the past hour was missing in action as he looked over seeing he looked very much un-Darien like with his hair tossed around, wearing an old t-shirt while still wearing his surfing trunks as he shook his head telling him "you look like hell" then picked up his guitar and handed it over stating "don't have much time for explanation although I am sure there is some sort of story to go with the blonde I saw you on the beach with earlier, but tell me later we were supposed to start out first set fifteen minutes. Pete is already threatening to not pay us, let's go"

Darien heard his words and let out a long sigh wishing it weas only that easy and then went over and sat down on a large crate while shaking his head not feeling much in the mood for entertaining a crowd at this moment as Andrew looked to him just sitting there asking frustrated "did you not hear one word that I just said we're on pick up your guitar and let's go"

Darien sat there shaking his head thinking of the one interaction he did have on the beach today the one he couldn't erase from his memory however much he wanted to as he spoke softly telling him "she's back"

Andrew let out a long-frustrated sigh after years of being friends with this man and never seeing Darien get this gloomy before and knew they would not be playing anything at least not right away as he turned to the others telling them "go play wipe out or something"

The other two men of the band looked to Darien with his head down in his hand and then looked back to each other as they both shrugged their shoulders and then went on to the stage to play as Andy turned and walked over to Darien asking him seriously "alright so what is bugging you, some girl wouldn't play along with your games this time"

Darien looked up to him wishing it were only that easy while shaking his head telling him "if only it were that simple, she came back"

Andy looked to him not sure what he was speaking about as he shook his head not expecting any girl would ever shake him up this much asking "okay I'll bite who's back? What are you talking about?"

Darien took a deep breath in then let it out knowing he needed to get this off his chest to someone as he told him "Serena the one I told you about who almost drowned. You know the virgin with the nice tits, great ass and zero swimming skills"

Andrew looked to him with a slight nod of his head remembering of how Darien spoke of her and her clinginess as he asked seriously "she came back for you?"

Darien nodded his head thinking of the earlier scene when she showed up with another girl in his arms telling him "yes she appeared on the beach earlier when I was with Danielle" as Andy looked to him and then burst out laughing.

Darien stood up from the crate angrily to see his best friend laughing at his troubles as he looked to him asking coldly "what the hell is so funny to you?"

Andy tried to control his laughter and catch his breath, but he couldn't help himself as he continued on chuckling at his expense while telling him "I always knew one of these days the games that you play with all of these women would catch up with you, so what happened is she planning on moving here to be with you and live happily ever after, or is her daddy pressuring you into marrying her"

Darien shook his head at the thought of actually having to get hitched with anyone especially not with some upper society girl like her which he wanted no part of as he told him "your no help I came here to ask for your advice, not get this"

Andrew tried to control in his laughter seeing that his friend was truly upset as he told him seriously "alright, alright, so tell me what happened there must have been some scene that went down"

Darien looked to him angrily waiting for some other comment to come, but Andy just stood there looking intrigued to know more as he told him "I was with Danielle on the beach and she just showed up there unexpected, while I was kissing her"

Andy could no longer hold back his laughter as he started laughing again only harder this time while telling him "oh man I wish I had a camera for the look that must have been on your face, so tell me when are you going to see Danielle again or are you going to see her ever again" as he laughed even harder.

Darien shook his head seeing he was getting nowhere quick as he told him with a deep frustrated sigh "your no help"

Andrew looked to him knowing they would not be joining the band anytime soon without dealing with what was bothering him and got his laughter back under control as he told him "I'm sorry, but it should be rather obvious what needs to be done, if it's not already. I'm sure after she saw you with Danielle, she got the hint loud and clear about who you really are, not exactly prince charming if you catch my drift and probably left already"

Darien stood there shaking his head wishing that were only the case while telling him "no she's still here, it's not that easy"

Andrew looked to him curiously now wondering what type of girl would stick around after finding out about his hobbies asking "oh?"

Darien nodded his head telling him the words he had yet to speak to himself out loud saying quietly "she's pregnant and its mine"

Andrew looked at him with his eyes bulging open while questioning back "who's pregnant the easy blonde or the virgin with the good ass"

Darien let out a frustrated sigh with the turn of events that he has to suffer through as he told him "Serena, the one who came back"

Andrew looked back at him as he asked too loudly "you got the blonde virgin pregnant?"

Darien nodded his head unsure what he would do now as he told him solemnly "yes she's here and says its mine and wants to talk about it" when the next thing he knew Andy was laughing so hard and loud he had to hold onto the wall to keep his balance as he looked to Darien's angry face which just made him laugh even louder as Darien shook his head telling him "some friend you are"

Andy looked to him as he choked out the words asking jokingly "so are you going to give up your Camaro for a nice SUV and be all sports dad now and take your kid to little league practice"

Darien looked to him knowing he was getting nowhere quick with this while shaking his head telling him "come on this is serious"

Andrew continued laughing at this turn of events while telling him seriously "I am being serous you have a kid now to support buddy, so tell me was her father there demanding that you make a proper woman of his little girl"

Darien looked to him while shaking his head as he told him "no, it was just her" and then stopped and thought about it realizing there actually could be others as he got a haunted look in his eyes replying "or at least I think it was only her, she didn't mention anything about anyone else being here, but I will be damned if I get caught up marrying this girl"

Andy looked to him as he nodded his head taking on a more serious tone asking "so what is she doing here? What does she want from you child support or something?" as he let out a small laugh asking "or maybe surfing lessons for junior?"

Darien shook his head seeing Andy wouldn't take this seriously even for a minute telling him angrily "I shouldn't have come talk to you about this?" as he began to turn away.

Andy looked to see his friend retreating as he dropped the laughter and took on a completely serious tone as he shook his head stating honestly "what did you expect, the way you pay around with all these different women I am just surprised this hasn't happened any sooner"

Darien turned around hearing what his friend honestly thought telling him back "well you know what the problem is? What am I going to do about it now?

Andrew shrugged his shoulders back expecting him to fix this the same way he does whenever a large problem comes along that can't be solved telling him "you know what you have to do"

Darien looked to him disgusted by the thought as he told him "I am not marrying the girl that is completely out of the question"

Andrew shook his head having no intentions of watching that happen telling him "not that geez no, she's been through enough already I wouldn't do that to the girl too"

Darien looked to him hearing the support he was getting from his friend while shaking his head telling him "thanks glad to hear you think so much of me"

Andrew shrugged his shoulders back by his comment telling him "you said so yourself, you wouldn't marry her that you're not the marrying type remember"

Darien looked to him knowing it was true that he had no intentions of settling down, but it was by his own choice not because of what others saw him as and asked curiously "what do you mean by not the marrying type"

Andrew shrugged his shoulders back knowing Darien would be the last of his buddies to ever let himself get hitched telling him back "you know all that stuff about love honor and cherish until death do you part and I think there is also a part in there about forsaking all others, while keeping it in your pants and not using woman for sport and your own pleasures"

Darien looked to him knowing all the words he said made him feel nauseated and with a quick shake of his head told him "fine your right, marriage is not happening anytime soon or possibly ever, but it doesn't change the fact that she is here saying there is a kid that's mine. What am I supposed to do with this?

Andy looked to him not taking much thought into the problem while shaking his head telling him "the same thing you do whenever you have any other problem that comes along, that you can't sweet talk your way out of, go talk to your father"

Darien had a disgusted look come across his face while shaking his head at the thought of having to pay a visit there asking him "my father, do you really think it needs to come to that"

Andy reached down and grabbed his guitar off the floor as he nodded his head telling him sternly "yeah unless you want to be changing diapers soon and have me standing next to you as your best man at your wedding"

Darien had a look of horror cross his face at the thought of what was mentioned as he nodded his head in confirmation telling him "fine I have to meet with her tomorrow. I'll pay him a visit with my father tomorrow morning"

Andy nodded his head glad to see that was being settled and hopefully they could get back down to business telling him "good glad that's settled now, come on now let's play get your mind of things, grab your guitar"

Darien nodded his head knowing his friend was right and maybe right now what he needed most was something to take his mind off of all of this when he heard Andy asking "so tell me do you take requests?"

Darien shook his head realizing that it wouldn't be that easy as he started to walk towards the stage as Andy came walking up beside him asking "how about don't worry baby, or maybe be my baby, or how about ohh baby, baby"

Darien shook his head not in the mood for any of Andy's corny jokes right now telling him "not funny" Andy shook his head back at his comment telling him "actually its hysterical" as he continued on asking "we can always do who's your daddy or maybe daddy's home, or if that doesn't suit you maybe you would prefer marry me"

Darien shook his head as he looked out on the large crowd at the tiki lounge tonight telling him "drop it already I don't want anyone else knowing about this, until it goes away, now let's play" as he walked out onto the stage as his band members finished up there rendition of wipe out as Andy looked towards him ready to get down to serious business asking "so what will it be boss?"

Darien looked out on the crowd seeing in the back of the room there was one face he didn't recognize, as he shook his head expecting that she was checking up on him and would never allow himself to settle down or be kept, no matter what he would stay in control and could handle this situation. It was only a minor setback that could be handled as he looked towards Andy and put his guitar strap around his shoulder telling him "hungry heart it is"

He started playing the cords of the song as he sang out to the crowd with a fierce determination "got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack I went out for a ride and I never went back. Like a river that don't know where it's flowing. I took a wrong turn and I just kept going"

Andy looked to him hearing the meaning in the words that he sang and shook his head to his friends choices as he picked up his own guitar and started playing backup while Darien went on with the chorus singing loudly "everybody's got a hungry heart, everybody's got a hungry heart. Lay down your money and you play your part. Everybody's got a hungry heart"

Darien's guitar was on fire while Andy and the rest of the band tried to keep up with him, but the crowd seemed to enjoy the song he played as they started singing along with the chorus while he played out to the crowd of women dancing around him, while fully realizing there was a blonde sitting at the back table.

Serena shook her head as she watched him playing with a grin on his face, and was not sure what she was expecting to find by coming back here tonight.

She heard him tell her loud and clear his thoughts on this whole baby thing, without saying a word to her. It was clear watching in the song choice he played and the way that he enjoyed all the girls flirting with him, that what he was really saying to her as he played the song is that he would not be settled down with a wife and a kid as she stood up from the small stool she sat on, paid for her juice and then walked out of the lounge, knowing no words that could come between them tomorrow would make any difference.