Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta!

Darien was sitting at the Crown Arcade counter drinking coffee and studying when Serena and her group of friends came in. He forced himself not to turn around and look at her. That lasted all of five minutes.

He looked back over at her, and she was laughing at something Mina had said. Her eyes sparkled, and her cheeks were flushed. His heart lurched, and he gripped his coffee cup tighter. He needed to get himself under control.

His attention was drawn away from her when there was a screeching noise outside followed by a massive crash. He turned to look, and in front of the arcade, he saw one car T-boned by another. He leaped out of his chair and ran out to the scene of the accident.

Had he not seen all the blood, he'd have laughed over the fact that Serena had beaten him there. She really was fast. Before he got there, she was pulling open the car door and checking on the driver. Luckily, the other car had hit them on the empty passenger side.

When he got there next to her, he saw all the blood and the man's broken arm. He looked at Serena in panic. He knew she was soft-hearted, and he didn't have time to stop to comfort her while she cried.

To his surprise, she stayed calm and murmured to the man while Darien helped him out of the car and to the sidewalk. He had a cut on his head, and Darien looked for something to clean it with.

Andrew came out and handed him a first aid kit, and he began cleaning the wound. Serena was talking kindly to the man and keeping him calm and his mind off his obviously broken arm.

A short time later, the ambulance arrived, and the emergency workers took over. They put him on a stretcher and took him away. Since neither of them had actually seen the accident, they went back into the arcade, and Darien gathered his things. He was not going to be able to study there for the rest of the day.

He noticed Serena walking out the front door with her bag, and he caught up to her. "Are you okay?" He looked at her, and he saw tears in her eyes.

"Yes… No," she sighed. "His arm. It was awful."

"Yeah, it was. You stayed calm and helped him, though."

She nodded, "I generally can. It's after the danger has passed that I cry like a baby. I'm just trying to get home first."

He fidgeted with his bag and said, "Why don't you come to my place? You can cry there and then I can help you with your homework. No one would see me help you there."

He was a bit irritated that he used someone else's pain to try to get her to spend time with him. Not irritated enough to stop, though.

She looked up at him with her big eyes full of tears. "Okay. It will help take my mind off of what happened." She shuddered. "I haven't seen a break that bad before."

"I was impressed with how you handled it."

"Thanks. I just knew I couldn't keep him calm if I was crying."

As soon as they got into his apartment, she dropped her bag, held onto Darien, and started crying. He was shocked at how quickly her tears came. He patted her back in an attempt to soothe her. Darien knew he had no reference on how to comfort someone. He just hoped whatever he could do would help.

When she stopped weeping on him, she sniffled and sighed. "Sorry that I cried all over you like a child."

"Don't, Serena. Don't dismiss it like that. You were so brave today, and you helped that man. You held together so well at the scene. You were the one who comforted him. You can cry. It was horrible."

"You're not crying."

"I want to be a doctor, do you?"

"No."

"Then you don't need to be able to shut off your response to someone else's pain." He gave her a kind smile, "Plus, you have the biggest heart of anyone I know. I'd be shocked if that didn't break your heart to see someone else's suffering."

"Thank you for that. It's nice to know you don't think I'm childish. I tend to act that way."

"No, you tend to be joyful. That's not childish."

Serena blushed and picked up her bag. She cleared her throat and said, "Well, did you mean it when you offered to help me with my Math? I'm horrible at it. That will probably make you cry."

"Why?" He asked, amused.

"I'm so stupid it has to horrify you."

"Let's just work on your math."

She showed him what she was learning, and he pulled out a notebook and began re-teaching her how to solve the problem. She was looking at him so earnestly that he had to remind himself not just to shout out that he loved her.

After twenty minutes of teaching her, he lost his concentration. She was working through a problem and biting her lower lip. He reached over and stroked her cheek as he encouraged her, "You're getting it. Don't get frustrated."

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "What?"

It was then the horror of the situation dawned on him. He'd caressed her cheek like he had the right to, and he didn't know how to apologize. Instead, he tried to play it off like it didn't happen. "I said you're getting it. Getting frustrated will only make it more difficult."

His stomach dropped when she said, "You stroked my cheek."

She wasn't playing along, and he didn't know what to say. "Umm…" What was he supposed to say to that? There wasn't a lie that would actually work. Well, sorry. But that one was too hard for him to choke out. Her skin felt so soft, and he wanted to touch her again.

"Why?" she pressed.

He swallowed hard and shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I asked you first," she replied.

He clenched his fists. His stomach was in knots. He wanted her to drop it. "I don't know," he gave in and lied.

"Bull," damn, she didn't believe him.

He carded his hands in his hair and fisted it. He sighed out in frustration, "Fine. Because I wanted to touch your cheek and I forgot to stop myself. It won't happen again."

She gave him a sultry look. "What if I want you to do it again?"

He swallowed audibly and looked at her in shock. "What?"

"Nope. I won't repeat myself. You heard me."

"No, I've clearly gone insane and started hearing things. It sounds like you want me to touch you," he locked his eyes on hers.

"Your brain works just fine, Darien."

He reached over, cupped her cheek, and asked, "Is this okay?"

She whispered, "Yes." She then smiled at him.

"Can I kiss you?"

She leaned forward and kissed his lips then pulled back. "Yes."

He pulled her towards him and kissed her, encouraging her mouth open. It didn't surprise him that she tasted like strawberry lip gloss. He then slid his tongue in her mouth and kissed her passionately. He discovered that there was a white-hot desire burning in him. He kissed her desperately, and her kiss matched his.

They were left gasping for air. "What's her name?" Serena asked.

"What?"

"The girl you like. What's her name?"

She looked up into his eyes with so much vulnerability that he immediately answered her. "You. Her name is Serena."

She smiled and leaned her forehead against his. "Are you ever going to ask me out?"

"I didn't have the courage."

"And now?" She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "Do you have the courage now?"

He held out his shaking hand for her to see. "What do you think?"

She rolled her eyes, "After that kiss, you don't know how I feel about you?"

"I've liked you for so long it's going to take time for it to sink in."

"Are you going to make me ask you out?"

He just stared at her as she looked at him with a playfully annoyed look. "No." He replied. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yup." She then leaned in and kissed him again. He cupped her cheek and slid his eyes closed. His chest expanded when he heard her moan into the kiss. She liked it.

She pulled back and admitted, "I was hoping it was me."

"What was?" He asked in a daze.

"The girl you liked. I really wanted it to be me."

He looked at her in confusion. "You just broke up with Seiya."

"He asked me out, and I didn't have the heart to say no. I'm not good at disappointing people." She shrugged. "I only dated him for a week."

"Wait, you only said yes because you didn't want to hurt his feelings?!" He looked at her in shock. "I thought you really liked him."

"Oh, no. I didn't." She blushed. "I guess I need to get better at saying no."

"If you're just saying yes to me because -"

"No! I broke up with him because he demanded I didn't talk to the one guy I wanted to date!" She said to assure him of her feelings.

"I thought he was an ass when he said you couldn't talk to me, but now I kinda get it. He must have realized you had feelings for me." He was confused with his own sympathy.

She shook her head, "No. If he had talked to me and pointed it out, and I agreed not to talk to you, that would have been different. It's not healthy for him to demand I don't talk to someone. Plus, in a way, I did realize he was right. I did want to talk to you because of my feelings for you. That was the real reason I broke up with him."

"You broke up with him because of your feelings for me?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I wasn't fair to him. By saying yes, I gave him the wrong impression. I realize now that I was unkind."

Darien held her hand and admitted, "I was so happy to hear you had broken up with him."

"Can we stop talking about my ex?" She gave him a saucy look. "I'd rather kiss you."

He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her again. This one was full of passion and joy. He had her in his arms, and she was his girlfriend. He had no intention of letting her go.

Before Serena left that night, she had taken a selfie with his cell phone and put it as his lock screen and his home screen. Darien didn't admit that he was glad she did that, so it wouldn't seem weird if he had.

When he laid down to bed, he stared at her photo. Before he could think better of it, he texted her: Good night. I'm so happy right now.

She immediately texted back: Good night. I can't wait to see you at school tomorrow.

I'll be outside your door waiting to walk with you to school. He replied. He smiled when she sent a heart emoji in response.