Sunset at Paradise Cove

Chapter 40

Author's Note: Hi everyone sorry about the lateness in getting the chapter out as I had said in the chapter note I had lost a dear friend of mine that had left me shaken and unable to think clearly for a while and things only got worse and more stressful afterwards, not to get into it too much detail but I was in a bad place mentally and emotionally for a few weeks, but I am going to try to get back on track and update both of my stories as quickly as possible. Thanks for continuing to read and follow along and please send your thoughts and reviews. Thanks Mars Light

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

"Well, if you surf like that come Friday, then that first-place trophy will be where it belongs with you for certain" Andy stated proudly as he carried his own board under his arm and walked out from the surf

Darien nodded his head as he brushed some of the spray back from his hair while commenting back dryly "yeah well there is not that much competition this year anyhow with Cooper not in it, are you sure you didn't want to sign up? I could have used someone to help make it more interesting"

Andy shook his head no as he let out a small chuckle and patted his friend on the shoulder telling him "I think I would rather pass, after all we all know you are going to win this thing anyhow just like you have done all the rest"

Darien nodded his head showing little excitement in all of his victories as he put his own board down in the sand and brushed away some of the sand from the front of it stating back "yeah well at least there is one thing that still comes easy to me, the rest well"

Andy crossed his arms as he looked to him with a roll of his eyes and let out a small chuckle replying back "I take it there are still some marital problems at home, I thought that when you returned with Serena it had gotten all been settled"

Darien let you a small chuckle wishing it was only that simple as he leaned up against his board and replied back "no not exactly, if anything it is more complicated now. We are still married and she is living with me but…"

Andy looked to him seeing that Darien had more on his mind the past few days then in all of the years he had known him, which only meant there was more to this then what he had been told so far as he questioned back intrigued "but what?"

Darien turned away as he looked out towards the ocean and let out a deep sigh thinking of out there in the deep blue, everything came naturally and he knew exactly what to do next, but here on land nothing was certain or would come that easy as he replied back quietly "after she lost the baby things between us, well they became distant and"

Andy looked on sadly seeing his friend in deep thought as he walked up the sand and patted him on the shoulder replying back "maybe it is not me you should be talking about this with maybe who you should be talking to is" but he didn't get to finish his comment when they both heard a voice shout out loudly "Darien over here"

Darien turned around first to see the group coming walking towards them as he let out a strong sigh while Andy shook his head replying back coldly "she still hasn't taken the hint yet"

Darien shook his head as he replied back sternly "no and I am not sure what I have to do to get the message across to her besides drawing a picture in the sand" as he looked to see Ryan, Bill, Candace, and of course Eva come walking there way as Eva quickly ran up to him and took a possessive hold of his arm replying innocently "well look at this luck running into you here again on the beach. I guess it is just our luck we keep running into each other and I happened to notice that you were all alone"

Andy looked to her as he cleared his throat watching the all too obvious way, she was throwing herself towards Darien who showed no interest in Eva what so ever as he patted Darien on the shoulder telling her back "I wouldn't exactly say he was all alone"

Eva turned to look towards Andy with a gentle laugh while wishing that she had found Darien here alone without all the others hanging about while replying back with a charming smile "oh you know what I meant, the little island princess is missing, what's the matter is she afraid she might get burned. I guess living on an island surrounded by water doesn't appeal to everyone, the princess probably doesn't even want to get her hair wet"

Darien felt his temper heating up hearing all of her snide remarks as he shook his head and replied back gruffly "cut it out Eva, I told you already Serena and I are together"

Eva feigned innocence as she reached out and put her hand onto Darien's arm replying back smartly "oh I know what you said, but we all find it ridiculous don't we" as she began to laugh stating profusely "I mean her and you, Darien you are both complete opposites, you have nothing in common. I don't know what you could possibly see in someone like her anyway, when you have such better choices, you should be with someone that is"

Darien quickly removed her hand away from his arm after hearing enough of this trash talk as he shook his head telling her firmly "definitely not you, we have been through this and there is not going to be an us, not now or ever I am a married man now"

Ryan reached out as he patted Darien on the back and let out a deep chuckle replying back to the others sarcastically "that's right our Darien, who found himself a new girl each week, has found himself in a big predicament, ending up being married to some girl after knocking her up, then losing the kid and still forced to live with the girl, I'll bet you don't even share a bed with her either? Has she even let you touch her, you know have a little fun late-night action under the sheets huh, huh?"

Darien rolled his eyes back showing no interest in addressing any personal details of their relationship or lack thereof as he looked over and saw the curious faces of all his friends looking his way for the answers to Ryan's questions as he let out a loud chuckle and pushed Ryan back with a slight shove of his hand telling him sternly "no and for your information it's not like that between us. Serena is, well she is kind of"

Eva stood amazed to hear that he actually thought of this girl like she was perfect in some way. When the truth was far from it as she looked to Darien with a pleased smile questioning back "she's not pregnant well how convenient, isn't that perfect timing for her, she got herself nicely settled in with you and then oops lost the baby, well who is to say she really was pregnant at all, maybe she just made the whole thing up, so she could have you all to herself people have done that you know"

Darien turned around to look at her with his eyes deadly serious as he shouted out with a shake of his head replying coldly "don't speak of her that way, you don't know what you're talking about. Serena is heartbroken over the loss of our child" Eva let out a deep laugh expecting her thoughts had brought up a bit of apprehension as she commented back rudely "so she says"

Darien tightened his fists together watching her standing there laughing, while thinking she knows everything when in truth, she was the one who was the most in denial and he wanted to get rid of that self-righteous smirk on her face in the worst way for her delusional comments when Bill spoke up breaking up the growing tension telling him "hey Darien I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news or anything, but I think that is your house on fire"

Darien turned around sharply from his comment as he looked down the beach to the small cottage where he had left Serena earlier resting and sure enough there was a black cloud of smoke coming from that direction and he didn't hesitate for one second longer as he quickly left the others and ran down the beach towards the cottage.

He fumbled around looking for a spare key for a second and then finally forced the door wide open and could see the puff of dark smoke and could hear the smoke detectors going off loudly from inside and without any hesitation he quickly went to enter inside the cottage until Andy caught up with him while catching his own breath as he grabbed onto his arm holding him back telling him sternly "you shouldn't go in there, wait until the fire truck gets here or something"

Darien quickly pulled his arm away as he felt his heart beating rapidly while looking back inside to the room filled with dark smoke commenting back "I have to Serena could still be in there" as he quickly ran in through the open doorway with Andy following closely behind.

Darien rushed inside and did a quick survey around, but did not see any visible evidence of a fire, but there was a dark haze of smoke surrounding the room, as he used his shirt sleeve to cover his nose and mouth as he began coughing finding it difficult to breeze in the musty air and looked to Andy stating calmly "open as many windows as you can, we need to get some air in here"

Andy nodded his head as he quickly went to the side windows and forced each one of them open, which helped to ventilate some of the air out, making it easier to navigate while Darien made his way towards the kitchen where the heaviest smoke seemed to be coming from.

Daren walked up closer to the kitchen to investigate and as he got closer, he could feel the heat building up steadily until he found the cause of all the smoke with the stove top range badly scorched with steam rising off the top of it and a pot that was left heavily turned to charcoal from what had been a stove top fire that had luckily burned itself out as he reached over and turned off the top burner and then heard what sounded like a small sniffle come from the side of the room

He turned around shocked and surprised to find his worse thoughts had come true and that Serena had still been in here with the heavy smoke surrounding them as he quickly reached out and turned on the kitchen air vent to blow some of the smoke away from the surface as he followed the sound of the sniffles until he found Serena sitting in a back corner beside the fridge holding her legs up close to herself while keeping her head lowered down

He immediately breathed out a deep sigh of relief to see she seemed alright as he went over and kneeled down next to her taking both her hands in his own asking concerned "are you alright?" But did not get a response back which caused him greater concern as he shook his head telling her abruptly "why didn't you leave, you shouldn't have stayed in here, it wasn't safe" but just heard her quiet sobs in response as she shook her head replying back solemnly "I'm sorry, it was all my fault. I can't manage to do even something simple on my own"

Darien could see the tears that were staining her cheeks as he gently placed his hand under her chin to lift her head up to face him as he shook his head with a gentle smile telling her "I'm sure that is not true, now come on out of there, so we can talk. Why don't you come over here with me, come sit down on the couch, the smoke isn't as thick over here now"

Serena looked to him as she wiped away a tear from her eyes questioning back "why are you being so nice to me after I almost burned you house to the ground" Darien let out a small chuckle as he placed out his hand for her to take responding back "well it's still standing so whatever you did couldn't have been that bad, now are you going to come out of that corner or should I have all of your meals delivered there from now on"

Serena looked towards his extended hand as she nodded her head slowly and then took his hand as she began to stand up from the floor, while he put his arm around her to help her stand up as they walked together over towards the living room area and Andy turned around shocked to see Darien had been right and Serena was still in the cottage as he shouted towards them "is she alright?"

Darien kept his arm around Serena while he carefully sat her down on the couch stating back "I think so, looks like the fire was started by the stove, it's under control now, but I am not sure how much smoke she inhaled" as he looked over and saw a half full water bottle on the table as he picked up the bottle and handed it over to Serena saying "here take a sip you could use it"

Serena looked down to the water bottle in his hand as she shook her head thinking of the disaster that led up to this mess as she turned her head away crying out "I don't want it" and then covered up her face with her hands in humiliation telling him again "this is all my fault, I'm sorry I can't do anything right"

Darien held the water bottle in hand as he saw she would not even turn to face him right now as he reached out and tenderly touched her own hand seeing she had a small burn mark on it, but luckily was nothing to serious as he replied back "I am sure it is not as bad as it seems, I am sure one day we will probably look back at this moment and laugh about it, but for now you should take the drink, it will help clear away some of the smoke that is left in your throat"

Serena turned back around as she looked towards the kitchen with the grey fog that was still left in the air as she nodded her head and took the bottle from him in hand, taking a few small sips from it while Andy looked around the room seeing there didn't seem to be any permanent damage, but it would involve a good clean up once the smoke cleared out as he shook his head stating positively "well at least no one was hurt"

Darien nodded his head in agreement as he sat down taking the open spot beside Serena while he wrapped his arm tenderly around her shoulder commenting back, "he's right you know" as he put his hand up to her cheek to turn her head to face him stating with tremendous relief "it could have been much worse"

Andy stood watching the tender moment rising between them and expected that whatever troubles were bothering his friend earlier they would find a way to work it all out and Eva would have to be looking elsewhere as he let out a small cough stating pleased "I am going to go tell the others everything is alright in here"

Darien nodded his head in agreement replying back casually "yes that is probably best don't want any of them panicking or anything"

Andy quickly agreed as he walked towards the door and turned back once more seeing his friend sitting next to a girl that changed him in many ways for the better as a small smirk crossed his lips and then turned to leave them be

Serena heard the door close as she turned her head away unable to look at the mess, she had caused any longer as she stood up from the couch and cried out deeply "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to destroy your house like this. I understand if you want me to leave, but I will find a way to make this all up to you somehow"

Darien let out a small laugh as he stood up and walked over to where she stood by the door as he put his hand onto her arm and she turned her head back to face him, he stated strongly "I don't want you to leave Serena. I am sure this was just an accident; you have nothing to feel sorry about" as he reached out and took her hand in his own telling her "come with me"

Serena let out a long sigh as she nodded her head and let him lead her as they walked back towards the kitchen where she could see the smoke was starting to clear out now as he looked around seeing the only damage, luckily was just to the stove which could always be replaced as he gave her hand an extra squeeze and then looked to her curiously asking "so do you want to tell me what actually happened here?"

Serena let out a long sigh expecting this would come at some point, that she would let it show that she had absolutely no idea what she is doing as she shook her head in shame replying back "I can't do anything right that's what?"

Darien looked to her with a shake of his head, while trying to lift up her confidence saying back "I don't understand where this is all coming from"

Serena looked to him unsure how he would think anything less as she shouted back saying "this was all my fault. I just wanted to try to do something that other people do for a change. I was going to try to make us dinner tonight, but instead I almost burned the entire house down instead"

Darien looked to her with a small grin seeing how red her cheeks became when she got really upset about something as he smiled asking her "so you tried cooking first time I take it?" Serena nodded her head yes to the obvious telling him "If you want to call it cooking but it was a disaster I tried and failed horribly, I told you I can't do anything right"

Darien shook his head seeing the way her shoulders were slumped down in defeat as he let out a loud laugh telling her "I am sure it was not all that bad; I can actually tell you a worse story"

Serena looked to him with a shake of her head doubtful that anything could get much worse telling him with a heavy sigh "I almost burned your house down how much worse could there be"

Darien looked to her with a genuine smile as he grabbed a towel and wiped the counter down telling her "well the first time I ever tried cooking was not much better if anything it was much worse, still have the scorch marks on the ceiling above the stove from it, the thing went up like a roman candle, come over here and I'll show you"

Serena looked to him doubtful by his words, but seeing the serious expression on his face made her feel a little easier as she walked over and looked up and sure enough there was both old and new burn marks on the ceiling as she began to let out a small laugh, while he began to laugh along with her as she walked over to the stove and began explaining "I was cooking and added some more oil and the pan suddenly started smoking and then caught on fire, I began to panic unsure what to do and then I"

Darien walked over to the cabinet by the stove as he grabbed a box of baking soda from the top shelf in the cabinet and started pouring it on top of the range telling her with a chuckle "let me guess you put water on it, but that only made it worse"

Serena nodded her head yes as she replied back telling him full of regret "I, I didn't know it would only make it worse I am a failure at domesticity, maybe it would be best if I hadn't come here"

Darien put the box down on the counter hearing her speak of giving up as he walked over and put his hands down on both of her shoulders telling him firmly "you are not a failure and like I said this isn't the worse that I have seen because I did the same thing too when I first started out and when the water didn't work, I only made it much worse by putting flour on it instead, take this as a lesson flour doesn't help either. Now tell me the truth do you really want to give up and go back to that sheltered life you had before because of one mishap"

Serena let out a small chuckle hearing about some of the same challenges he had faced also as she shook her head telling him back "no I don't want to go back there"

Darien nodded his head with a small grin telling her "wise decision" as he took her hand and walked back over towards the stove telling her "there will be some mistakes made, but it will all be about learning and moving on from what not to do next time" as he picked up the box of baking soda telling her "next time if the pan gets too hot turn off the burner, use the pan lid to contain it if it is not to hot, and if all that fails baking soda, if that still doesn't help then there is also a fire extinguisher under the sink, but above all else you must promise me this"

Serena looked up to him surprised that he was being so calm and understanding about how she almost ended up burning his house down as she questioned back "what else, although I don't believe I will be doing much cooking again in the near future"

Darien nodded his head from her words expecting he would be handling most of the cooking at least for a while as he put his hand up to her cheek telling her tenderly "next time if anything like this happens again and it gets too much for you to handle, do not put yourself at risk, just get out of the house. You have no idea how much you had me frightened when I realized that you were still in here"

Serena looked to him surprised by his words that he was genuinely concerned over her well-being as she nodded her head replying back simply, "I promise"

Darien stood there looking into those two bright blue orbs of hers as he wanted to reach down and hold her close up against him and kiss her deeply as he quickly shook the thought away from his head knowing it was too soon and walked back over to the stove where he took the badly scorched pan in hand seeing two rounded objects that were completely unrecognizable as he shook his head questioning back "so what were you trying to make here anyhow"

Serena stood there blinking her eyes for a second unsure what just happened feeling that for a split moment there had been a connection between them again, but she quickly tossed it aside as quickly as he had done so as she looked to him with a shake of her head telling him back "I tried to make us some hamburgers I thought it was something a wife would normally do; you know cook dinner, but instead I just destroyed your house"

Darien looked to her surprised that she had tried to do all of this to be a good wife for him as he looked down to the stove seeing the badly burned pot and knew how much effort she had put into it, even if it didn't go as planned as he told her with a grin "actually it's not all that bad" and then lifted up one of the badly burnt pieces of meat from the pan as he looked down at it

Serena looked to him holding up the remnant of what was once a piece of meat questioning back "what are you doing with that now?" as she stood with her mouth open wide to see him actually take a bite out of one of those things

Darien crunched into the patty tasting the overall taste of charcoal that was left covering the meat as he swallowed it down and let out a small cough as he turned to her with a grin replying back pleased "it's a little over done but not bad, I like it"

Serena stood there with her mouth fallen open wide as she shook her head amazed that he would even try a bite of one of those things and he did it for her as she shook her head telling him back "you really don't need to eat that"

Darien placed the well burnt piece of meat down on a plate as he turned around with a smile telling her "there not that bad just needs maybe some extra ketchup, some relish, maybe some lettuce and tomato, maybe a few onions and pickles"

Serena gave him a sideways glance not thinking any number of toppings could possibly fix the fowl taste of the burger that he just ate wile Darien nodded his head in acceptance telling her "alright so what do you think about pizza instead"

Serena held back a small chuckle as she watched him go for a glass of water and drink it down quickly while she nodded her head replying back "I think that sounds like a much better idea"

When their attention was thrown to the side as Andy came walking back though the door with his eyes covered with one hand while holding a box underneath his other arm as he shouted out "hope I am not disturbing anything in here"

Darien looked towards Serena with a small laugh telling her apologetically "sorry my friend here just comes and goes as he pleases without ever knocking" as he looked back at Andy with a small laugh telling him "uncover your eyes you dim wit we were just talking"

Andy stepped further in the room as he removed his hand to see sure enough, they were just standing in the kitchen talking as he let out a small chuckle telling them "well so you are"

Serena covered her mouth to hold in a laugh at how the friends got along well together as she looked to Darien telling him happily "it is good that you have such good and close friends. I don't mind him stopping by"

Darien looked to her pleased seeing that she was even kinder and more understanding than he ever would have expected as Andy broke the silence between them stating back "well I told the others the danger has passed so they called off the fire brigade, doesn't look like there is any immediate danger, any longer"

Darien nodded his head glad he wouldn't have to deal with any of the others questions at least for a short while as he replied back "yeah not so bad just a grease fire"

Andy let out a deep laugh getting a scowl back from Darien as he walked over and placed his hand over Serena's shoulder telling her back "is that all, that's nothing you should have seen the fire that he caused a few years back"

Darien shook his head expecting that some of his exploits would be revealed as he replied back casually "I already told her" while Andy let out a small laugh and continued to elaborate telling her "now those were some serious flames, they reached all the way up to the ceiling"

Darien nodded his head hoping to cut this off as he replied back casually "yeah she knows about that too, and I think she gets the idea" while Andy continued on telling her with a laugh "we ended up having to have three fire trucks show up to put the fire out" as Serena looked to Darien with a laugh feeling a little better by her own mishap asking "three?"

Darien cleared his throat ready to change the subject to something other than his kitchen disaster story as he looked over seeing Andy had carried in a package with him as he questioned trying to change the subject to anything else asking "what do you have there?"

Andy looked down to the box he held under his arm as he let out a small chuckle replying back "oh yeah almost forgot this is yours I found it outside, I guess when we were rushing in before we missed it"

Darien reached out and took the box from Andy's arms as he looked down at who had sent it with a knowing smile and then handed it over to Serena telling her "this is actually for you, I had it sent from a friend"

Serena looked to him surprised unsure why or what he would have had sent to her as she questioned back uncertain "for me?"

Darien nodded his head as he handed the package over to her with a little gleam in his eyes replying back "yes why do you seem so surprised, go on open it, I actually think it is the perfect time to do so"

Andy stood watching on confused knowing by the curve of his friend's mouth that he was up to something as Serena took the package in hand and then walked over to the couch as she sat down and opened the box

Darien and Andy stood by watching as she let out a loud gasp and then pulled out what was inside the box as Andy looked to Darien confused questioning "an old doll?"

Serena sat holding the box with the doll still preserved perfectly inside, feeling stunned with tears in her eyes as she commented quietly "its Suzie" and then held the box up as she took a good look at the doll with her hair and dress perfect as she looked back over to Darien surprised that he would still remember the story she had told him that day about this doll as he nodded his head in an unspoken understanding telling her "I think the doll has been trapped behind plastic long enough don't you, go on open it Serena"

Serena wiped away a single tear from her eyes as she took hold of the box and carefully opened it being cautious not to rip it too much as she pulled away the ties that held the doll in place as she carefully took it out from its carton and for the first time held the doll up in front of her as she gently ran her hand down the long flowing silky blonde hair and let out a small sob as Darien smiled watching on telling her "she's free now Serena"

Andy stood watching on unsure what the meaning of this doll actually was to her, but could tell by the emotions it brought out it was a pretty serious toy as he looked to Darien with a shake of his head telling him "someday you are going to have to tell me what this is all about"

Darien nodded his head pleased with the arrangement he made as he watched the way Serena carefully touched the dolls pink dress as he smiled replying back "maybe someday" and then tapped his friend on the shoulder as he changed the subject telling him "we were just talking about going to get some pizza you in"

Andy looked to him with a small chuckle knowing that he would never turn down a chance at a free meal as he replied back "you paying?"

Darien nodded his head expecting as much to come as he told him "yeah, I'll pay" while Andy had a grin cross his face telling him with a deep laugh "well you know me, I won't ever turn down free food" and then stopped as he looked over seeing the look shared between Darien and Serena as he let out a small chuckle replying back "that is unless you two prefer to be alone"

Serena held the doll in her hands as she looked to Darien surprised that he would make such a sincere gesture for her as she heard the implication behind Andy's words and knew that she couldn't think to much into this, that it didn't mean anything and wouldn't change anything between them as she placed the doll on the couch beside her and shook her head replying back "no of course not you should definitely come with us"

Author's Note: Hi everyone I hope you enjoyed this chapter just on a side note the part with the stove and burning the hamburgers came from an actual event, first time cooking didn't catch the house on fire but sure did get pretty smoky in there so a word of caution.

Also Please send you thoughts and reviews or if you want to share your own kitchen mishaps that works too. Thanks for reading and following along Mars Light