blueeyedevil06, thanks again for being my beta

Author's Note: I am on Tumblr under the same pen name. If you are on there, you can find me and see the Penthouse floor plans I'm using. There is a link to a real building, and if you scroll down, you will find the Penthouse. It isn't necessary, but sometimes the visual is nice. Especially since I am moving them out of the apartment from the anime, and everyone was familiar with that one.


Chapter 37 - FriDAY

It was Friday, and Serena realized she was inappropriately pleased that the confrontation with Bazzite was coming that evening. It was three weeks to the day that she told her friends about her feelings, encouraged by Andrew. Since then she received... everything. She was a superhero. She had a sexy fiance, one that their love stretched back thousands of years. She also had a ring. A perfect, Tiffany, princess cut ring. She didn't know exactly how many carats it was, but she was pretty sure she could ice skate on it. It was huge. No part of her even pretended to be above flashing the ring to Cleo and Misty. She reveled in their jealousy. He was hers. Now she had proof. A whole lot of proof. She was looking forward to the ball. She wanted to dance with her perfect prince. She wasn't even sorry.

At lunchtime, Serena asked Nephrite where Lita was. He cracked a huge grin and said, "Suspended, for being totally awesome."

Serena looked immediately concerned and asked what happened.

With pride he said, "She overheard Cleo tell someone you must be pregnant if Darien asked you to marry him so soon. She jumped straight to Plan B."

Rui asked, "What's Plan B?"

"She punched her in the face. Knocked her down with one swing. My girl is amazing." he told her.

Mina smiled and reported, "I already got her math teacher to move the test to Monday. Once I told him why she was suspended, he said he would come up with an excuse to delay it. I didn't want her being forced to fail because of her suspension."

"Thanks. She was worried about that," he said. "It doesn't surprise me that he hates Cleo too. You should have seen the principal trying not to smile when they told him what happened. He actually had to cover his mouth to cover it up."

"I don't mean to be a jerk, but you are all proud of her for punching someone?" Rui asked.

Darien chuckled and said, "You are right to ask us about it. This isn't the first time she tried to start a pregnancy rumor about someone in our group. The first time, it was about Molly. Serena got her to retract the rumor over the threat of showing Cleo's mother a picture of her drunk. It worked but apparently didn't stop her now. I doubt she will try that again."

Nephrite added, "Lita takes anything said about Serena very personally. Serena was the first to befriend her. There were true rumors that she had gotten kicked out of her last school for fighting. Everyone was afraid of her. Everyone except for Serena. She befriended her at lunch the first day Lita attended school with her."

Molly smiled, "You should have seen Lita's happy face when Serena brought her over to join us. Now that you mention it, this is the first time she's punched anyone at school since I've known her."

"She said she wasn't so angry anymore once she had friends. She had become an outcast at her previous school." Nephrite said.

Rui grew quiet. She then asked, "Am I the only girl in the group that Serena didn't invite?" She wasn't upset, she was just curious.

Serena nodded and said, "Only because Andrew is awesome. It was so romantic that he made sure that you would join us for lunch. I am so glad he did." She gushed and smiled at Molly.

Darien had to hold back a laugh as he watched Andrew sit up straighter. Man, did he love his girl. She made three people happy with one statement, all in different ways.

"I am so happy for Molly. He paid for both of our drinks at the Arcade Wednesday. I thought that was so sweet of him." Rui said.

The conversation continued and Rui told them about her tennis match that weekend. She was flying out that night to prepare. Serena was relieved. She was worried that Rui was going to feel left out since they hadn't invited her to go with them that night. She decided to talk to Darien about letting her in on the secret. Molly trusted her and could use a friend when there was fighting going on and she was left behind.

After school, they all met up at the Arcade. Once Serena saw Lita, she ran up to her and hugged her. She said, "Oh my gosh! I can't believe how happy I am that you punched her! I shouldn't be, but I really am. I am sorry you got suspended though. Next time wait until after school."

The guys started howling with laughter and Kunzite said, "Serena, you are great!" He then looked at Lita and said, "Good job. I know Mina talked to you and thanked you. I thank you too. You did well protecting her."

Lita smiled and said, "I would have done it even if she wasn't the princess. That punch was just because of who Serena is to me as a friend."

Serena started to tear up, "That is the sweetest thing you have ever said!"

Raye chuckled, "We all really are scary."

"Says the girl who tried to light someone on fire." Jadeite said.

She shrugged, "I already alluded to that. I included myself."

"Oh, I wasn't correcting you. I was complimenting you." was Jadeite's reply.

Raye blushed and held his hand after that.

After they all ate together, Darien took the girls over to his place. His excuse was that he wanted to get something from the apartment before the girls took it over getting ready.

When he pressed the button for the Penthouse level and swiped a card, he made sure he was standing in front of the panel. He didn't want Serena to realize quite yet. Mina held her attention and secretly flashed him her Sailor V sign.

When they went to step out, Serena was startled and said, "This is the wrong floor."

Darien shook his head and said, "You deserve better than that apartment, and I can afford it." He opened the door to Penthouse A and said, "You girls should get ready here tonight. The moving company comes tomorrow to bring the rest of the stuff up."

Serena's eyes got huge, "This is amazing! We are really going to live here? Oh, no! We haven't even packed."

"That is what the guys are going to be helping me with while you girls hang out here." Darien announced.

Serena smiled at him, and her gaze then drifted to the room. "This place is… Darien I don't even know how to tell you how much I love it. It is overwhelming. I love the furniture that is here already too."

Mina smiled and handed Darien his credit card, "I am glad you liked it. There were limited options when I needed to have it right away. Darien gave me his credit card and told me to find things you would like. Wait until you see all of the rest of the stuff he bought you."

He laughed and said, "The credit card company called to tell me my card had been stolen, and some girl had gone on a shopping spree. I had to get them to unfreeze the card."

Serena looked startled, "Wait, that was the shopping you were doing when I called you to tell you I was engaged?"

Mina nodded and said, "I told you I was having a great time with someone's credit card. You just thought I was joking."

All of the girls hung back as Darien showed Serena around. They would look later. They wanted him to have this time with her. What he had done for her was a huge deal, and they wanted them to experience Serena's first walk through together.

Serena couldn't believe her eyes. She chuckled that it was easier for her to accept she was the Moon Princess than it was for her to believe she would be living there. It had four huge bedrooms all with walk-in closets. She learned the new term "Junior Master Bedroom" when Darien showed her where Sammy would sleep. She laughed when he explained that their bedroom was on the other side of the Penthouse. She knew Sammy would be pleased.

When he showed her the Master Bedroom, her jaw dropped. "This is huge!" she said, spinning around to take it all in.

He then showed her the attached bathroom and the his and hers walk-in closets. She looked at him and said, "I get my own walk-in closet?"

He smiled and said, "You do. I hope you know that I would give you anything."

She melted and hugged him. "You planned this wrong by bringing the girls too. I kinda want to have sex with you in this closet right now."

"The closet turns you on?"

"No, you do. I want you." she replied.

He looked down at her and whispered, "They wouldn't hear us."

"But, they would know!" she pointed out.

He shrugged, pressed her up against the wall, and said, "So?"

She slid off her panties, and he pulled out a condom.

"You carry those around with you?" she asked.

He replied, "Of course I do. I have an incredibly sexy fiance. I don't have any of my normal control when I am around you."

She raised her eyebrow at him and asked, "Should we try having sex up against this wall?"

They managed to make it back to the living room later with everything back in place. Serena even thought she might be able to hide what just happened. She should have known better with Mina there.

Mina took one look at her and said, "You get 'em, girl!"

Serena blushed then said, "It's a really amazing Penthouse."

Darien smirked and said, "And, I'm really glad she liked it."

"Did you just make a sex joke? Who are you?" Lita asked him.

He shrugged, "I'm a little less uptight. Having Serena around has changed me for the better. Kunzite mentioned it to me the other day."

Serena smiled at him and took his hand. "You really are wonderful."

A short time later, Darien headed out to go and pack up his apartment. He wanted to make sure he was the one who packed Serena's things. He also wanted an excuse to peak at the new lingerie too.

Mina had even purchased snacks and drinks, so they all sat around marveling at her new home and eating.

When it was getting time to go soon, Serena pulled out her Pen and said, "Moon Power, change us into princesses."