Sunset at Paradise Cove

Chapter 43

Author's Note: Hi everyone thanks for all the feedback I got on the last chapter. I appreciate hearing from all my readers and happy to see that you are enjoying this story where there will be only two chapters left to go, so please be sure to follow along. Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts or reviews. Thanks Mars Light

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon never did, never will, nor do I own Marry you by Bruno Mars which I have changed some of the lyrics from for this part of the story and I hope you enjoy my own little twist on the words!

Serena walked back to the small cottage tired with her feet aching after walking several miles from taking the wrong transfer and walked inside as she shut the door loudly behind her with a loud bang as she looked around seeing the cottage was left empty and slumped her shoulders down, wishing there had been someone else here to speak to of how her troubles went and then remembered him mentioning about going out tonight with his usual crowd.

She walked over to the couch and sat down with heavy sigh after a long and treacherous day getting lost taking two wrongs buses trying to find her way to the business district and then finally making it their only to hear dejection after dejection, she knew she could handle herself in the world of finances and had plenty of experience doing so after being raised from a young age on how to handle herself in the ways of big business, where things could be downsized, and how to impress corporate sponsors and put on a bright smile in front of a camera while her picture was being taken doing charity work, but in all of this she was never taught how to wait tables, or do any sort of gardening work, fold clothes, make meals, or do any kind of job that required actually getting your hands dirty.

She looked over seeing the newspaper sitting next to the couch where she had circled several potential places to live, but now it would have to wait even longer, as she went to place the paper back down and noticed a small note that was folded in half that had been lying to the side of the newspaper as she picked it up and began to read. I know you will do well today your strength, courage, and determination will see you through even the most-darkest of times -D

She held onto the note tightly in her hands as she looked around the small cottage with a tender smile, by the unexpected of this living arrangement that she did actually feel comfortable here with him, it felt like coming home.

She placed the note down on the table and stood up from the couch then walked over to the fridge, needing to find a snack with high calories to help wash down some of her troubles, but instead found herself standing in front of the fridge as she took down the picture of the two of them together and held it in her hand, she looked down at it starring at his supposing smile that first allured her, knowing this picture was supposed to serve as a reminder of why she should never trust him again, but instead she saw the girl starring back at her, who had never gone off on her own, or did anything her parents would not approve of, who had found courage and a new sense of adventure begin and it was all because of him.

She turned to the open window hearing the sound of music playing off in the distance and remembered him mentioning the large gathering going on tonight, she walked back towards the doorway curious and opened the door to step outside, and followed the music to the opposite side of the house as she looked out seeing down at the end of the beach there indeed was a large party of sorts happening, with tiki torches lighting up a pathway to follow.

She let out a small sigh knowing the current mood she was in, she would not be much fun to anyone at a party as she began to turn around to walk back inside, but stopped hearing the sounds of girls all cheering loudly as she let out a small chuckle knowing he was right where he wanted to be, doing what he loved, with girls all calling out for him which she was sure he was enjoying every minute of, and she was only going to be in his way.

She turned around to walk back inside the empty house and then stopped and turned around again to look at the large crowd as she thought about what Darien had mentioned earlier that most of the island would be there tonight, and her father had spoken to her multiple times that parties were just another way to make new business connections, as she let out a sigh knowing she did need to eat something.

She made sure the cottage was locked up tight then began to walk down the beach questioning herself with each step whether she belonged here or if she should just go back and wait until he gets home to see how it all went, but found herself walking until she on the outside looking in at the large crowd of people all gathered around in front of a small platform that Darien and the other members of the band were standing on playing.

She smiled seeing the way he stood at the front playing his guitar to the crowd, he seemed to really love what he did having the crowd all around him cheering out while he played loudly and knew it would make no difference to him what so ever if she was here or not

She let out a deep breath and looked around seeing he was right about one thing it did draw many people out, and this was her perfect chance to do some social networking and put her name out, but decided instead to let it wait a little bit longer and walked over to take an empty seat down at one of the stools that were set out by the small bar at the edge of the sand as she looked up at the stage watching both he and Andy playing their instruments as they sang the words, but it was more than just playing, it was the strong confidence and enjoyment they showed when doing something they truly loved to do, and was unsure if she would ever find something herself that she could show as much passion for.

She was distracted from her thoughts hearing the bar tender speak up from behind her asking "what can I get for you miss?" she turned to look at a girl about her age standing behind the counter who was waiting expectantly for her to order a drink, but she didn't have two cents to her name to do so as she shook her head saying back apologetically "oh I'm sorry I am not going to be ordering anything, please excuse me" as she let out a small sigh and was about to stand up ready to leave, where she no longer belonged when she had an unexpected person walk up to take the empty seat next to her as Eva spoke up telling the bartender "please two margarita's for me and my friend here"

Serena looked around to see what other friend she could possible be speaking of, but it was just the two of them here as she shook her head hearing Eva of all people call her a friend, which couldn't be further from the truth as she shook her head having no interest in joining whatever game she was playing here telling her back politely "that is not necessary, but thank you"

Eva sat down on the empty seat next to her as she nodded her head knowing she had to find away to get rid of this girl once and for all replying back telling her innocently "look I know that there has been some bad blood between us and we have had our share of differences"

Serena looked to her expecting this somehow in Eva's description came as an apology while knowing most of the harsh words that came between them was because Eva had made her own mind up about her before even taking the chance to get to know her at all as she shook her head telling her disinterested "if you don't mind it has been a long day and I would rather just go home and get some rest"

Eva nodded her head sickened at the thought that this girl called it home where she was currently shacking up with Darien as she turned to her with a small sigh saying sympathetically "yes of course I understand, I just wanted to come over and tell you myself that I heard about what happened with the baby from Andrew and I am sincerely sorry for your loss, but before you go please have a drink this one is on me" as she let out a small chuckle telling her "I think you could use it with everything you have been through"

Serena looked to her unsure why she was actually being nice for a change but expected that she was up to something when the bar tender returned with two margarita glasses as she looked down at it knowing that one drink after the day, she had so far would not be so bad and nodded her head telling her back "alright just one, but I am not really a big drinker"

Eva looked to her nodding her head as she turned to the bar tender with a smile telling her "just keep them coming for me and my friend here alright" Serena looked to her with a shake of her head not interested in prolonging this any longer than necessary as she replied telling her "but I just told you I am not"

Eva looked to her expecting if this plan of her was to work she would have to get the princess to trust her as she let out a small laugh and shook her head while telling her "are you not currently living with the man who got you pregnant, shacking up with him, while you watch him be surrounded by all other girls all cheering out for him, and yes I know that we have had our share of clashes on him, but the truth is unless you have a surf board under your arm he would not care either way. I mean just look at him up there in his element, surrounded by all those girls and I can tell you personally that he has had his eyes on a few of them tonight"

Serena looked up to the stage seeing the crowd of girls all gathered around him and knew everything that Eva spoke was true, that he would not notice if she was there or not that he had his life all set out the way he wanted it until she came along as she nodded her head and picked up her drink as she took a small sip of it then placed it back down on the counter as she let out a small laugh telling her "it is good"

Eva nodded her head as she picked up her own drinking with a little gleam to her eyes and took a small sip of her own telling her back "I think you are well deserving of it, after all I did kind of overhear Darien myself speaking to Andy earlier and well let's just say that he was not exactly broken up about losing the baby. I don't mean to bring up a hurtful subject, but I just thought you should know that he was glad not to have any further distractions that a baby would bring"

Serena nodded her head as she felt the open wound of her heart being ripped wide open again as she nodded her head replying back "I know I am aware of that" Eva let out a small sigh seeing she was getting under skin as planned as she replied "Darien is a great guy to be around and can definitely show a girl a good time as we both know all too well"

Serena turned to look to her knowing what she was implying towards and was not interested in hearing what they did together as she picked up her drink to take another sip as Eva leaned back against the counter telling her "but the truth is, it doesn't matter what you, me, or any of those other girls do, he has his mind on only one prize, that is all that is on his mind every day, nothing is more important to him then getting that first-place trophy tomorrow, nothing"

Serena looked out to the stage and nodded her head knowing that every single free moment he had, he would be out there riding those waves and knew Eva was right, that his surfing was the one thing in this world that he would ever let himself truly care about and then heard Eva speak up asking "so what are your plans for the future. I mean I wouldn't expect that you would want to keep this up, living with him forever seeing him with girls hanging around all the time"

Serena looked to her surprised that Eva of all people would be the one that she would be opening up to about all of this and how hard her day went as she shrugged her shoulders back telling her with a small laugh "I am not sure really I had not expected things to be this difficult. I went out looking for a job today and thought that with the background that I have I would just go out and find a job with no problem, learn to support myself and find a place to live, but that proved to be more difficult than I had expected, most people either said I was too over qualified or just that I wasn't exactly what they were looking for"

Eva looked to her nodding her head trying to hide how pleased she was inside that she had no real reason to stay around here while telling her back half-heartedly "yeah unfortunately people around here are more partial to those who were born and raised here, they see outsiders as no more then tourists who will stay only a few weeks or maybe months and then be on their way"

Serena nodded her head remembering past conversations she had with Eva where she was told in so many words that she was an outsider who did not belong here and after the experiences she had today, being told in so many words the same thing she began to feel that way also as she hung her head low telling her back "yeah I got that"

Eva looked to her with a smile knowing she finally was listening to what she had said all along that the princess does not belong here as she picked up her own drink asking "so what are your plans now, I mean well I don't want too but in too much, but I did hear Darien and Andy speak before and well I got the impression that he was all for you going and finding somewhere else to live, that he actually thought in was a great idea and well with no job to speak of I guess it could be hard, and you would just end up intruding on his space longer, wouldn't you"

Serena turned to look at her surprised that Darien would say those things, when he had told her himself in so many words that she could stay as long as she needed, but expected that he didn't think it would be an extended stay as she thought of the note, he had left on the table expecting she would a find a job right away as she looked to Eva questioning back "intruding on his space, he said that"

Eva nodded her head trying to keep the overall pleasure out of her voice as she told her back calmly "yes from what I heard he thought it would be a good idea that you both have some space apart that having you living there was starting to cause him problems, I mean you did almost burn his house down after all"

Serena looked up onto the stage where he played, he had said that the fire was no big deal, but of course it had been and having her around making it seem like they were actually a couple or something living together would be the furthest thing from what he could actually want and she did not want to find herself falling for him again as she nodded her head expecting the problems that Eva spoke of would not exist if she was no longer around as she nodded her head telling her "I see well I just have to find somewhere else to go and then I will be out of his hair permanently and we can both move on with our lives like we should have done from the beginning"

Eva looked to her with a smirk liking the sound of that and hoped she could convince her to go back to where she belonged as she leaned back on the stool questioning "well what was your plan before you came to the island?"

Serena looked to her shaking her head knowing that returning back to her parents or following in the path they had laid out for her was definitely not something she would ever do again as she picked up her drink and took a longer drink this time, then placed it back down on the counter telling her with a shrug "nothing worth mentioning that part of my life is over with now"

Eva took in a deep breath not wanting to think that she would have any lasting ideas of actually staying around here as she released her breath, she held knowing she had to find a way to convince her to leave this island while still sounding like a supportive friend as she looked to her saying "well I was just curious what else you would had given up to be here"

Serena looked to her surprised by her comment as she thought back to all the plans she and her friends had when they thought up the trip to this island as she looked to her saying "well I don't know about really giving up as you say, but before we came to the island this was something my friends and I had planned we were supposed to have a last trip before my friends and I all left to go away to different colleges. I did have my own plans to go away to school also, but that is over with now and it wouldn't have made any real difference I would have still just been following the same path as before that my parents expected of me and would not have been happy"

Eva looked to her with a genuine smile hearing the perfect way to get her out of her hair once and for all as she spoke up with with a gleam to her eyes asking "well why can't you?"

Serena let out a long deep breath thinking about all the heartache she had felt from her parents trying to force her into a marriage she did not want, and their careless selfish behavior after losing her baby then shook her head telling her strongly "it's a long story, but in the end all I was doing was what my parents expected of me and I did it to please them, instead of myself, but that part of my life is over now and I will never go back there, never"

Eva nodded her head unsure what happened there, but could tell that there was an added story between Serena and her parents, not that she really cared that much about what it is as she replied back telling her "ok, so you don't want to follow in your parent's footsteps, but you did want to go away to school didn't you? like your friends did, have the full experience, so why don't you go, not to please your parents this time, but do it for yourself there are plenty of good schools to choose from"

Serena looked to her surprised by her comment never really considering it an option after leaving her parents that she could still go and find something that she was interested in, find a good school, take a few courses and live on campus in the dorms as she nodded her head telling her intrigued "I had never really considered it an option before, but I guess your right it could be something to look into"

Eva looked to her pleased to see this could be what she had been waiting for and just needed to give her the added push to do so and leave this island permanently as she told her back excitedly "well you should, this could be the perfect solution to your problem, you wouldn't have to follow what your parents had planned for you. you can go somewhere else and forget all about what happened before make a new start for yourself somewhere maybe out on the west coast, still thousands of miles away from whatever it is you are running from and you will have the ability to make your own choices and I would be happy to help you. Take it from me I have lived on this island all my life and this is all I know like the others here I have become trapped here, but you can still leave and make something of yourself besides working at the corner grocer or the tiki like the rest of us do, is that really what you want or would you rather have more?"

Serena sat there as she thought of what Eva had spoken of, she had spoken to Darien earlier about finding a job, to support herself and she would have taken whatever did come along, but no one wanted to hire her, but stopped and wondered if she really did want that to be her whole life, working in a small basic position when she knew she was capable of doing much more, and considered this other option that Eva put before her and knew she could actually be right. She could apply fill out some applications and maybe start in the spring semester and choose her own course of studies and find a new exciting possible future for herself as she looked to her with a smile not expecting that Eva would actually be helpful for once as she told her pleased "thanks I'll seriously think about it"

Eva smiled to see her planned had worked out perfectly and she would even help her pack all her things and buy her a one-way ticket out of her as she lifted her glass up and looked to Serena with a warm hoping soon, she would no longer be in the way and she and Darien could be together without her distraction as she began a toast saying "then I think we should raise a glass to the bright future ahead for you"

Serena lifted up her own glass knowing that she sure did have some ride with a bunch of unexpected twists and turns along the way, but was pleased with the thought of finding for herself a new normal and finally feeling a sense of peace while telling her back happily "I'll drink to that" as she lifted her own glass to her lips when she paused hearing an announcement Darien made from on stage saying to the large crowd "this next song goes out to a very special girl who is here listening right now, who has changed my world around, I think you know who you are" as he began to play his guitar while singing, with that little grin she knew he used when he was up something as he sang aloud "it's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do. Hey baby, I think I want to marry you"

Serena looked up on the stage surprised that he would play this song as she shook her head, expecting that he was probably trying to impress some other girl but, then she could swear he just winked at her from up on stage as he continued to sing the word lyrics to the song or at least it sounded like them with him singing "is it the angry look in your eyes, or is it the way you took me by surprise, who cares baby I knew I wanted to marry you"

Andy kept playing on backing him up as he listened to Darien once again changing the lyrics to a song, but this time did not mind so much as he walked over to his friend and game him a slight nudge to his shoulder telling him supportively "go on man go get your girl"

Darien nodded his head as he grabbed the microphone in hand telling him with a genuine smile "you got it" and then proceeded to walk down the side steps of the stage, where all the girls quickly gathered around him, but he hardly paid any attention to any of them as he walked through the crowd making his way towards the back singing with a little "well I know this little place on the boulevard we two can go, no one will know that you beat my high score, so come on girl"

Serena looked to him with a smile as she heard him continue to definitely change the lyrics for her alone, there was no doubt any longer in her mind as he sang out "Who cares what others say or if the captain's end's up completely trashed, got a pocket full of empty cash, us two can blow, feeling out of control and it's on girl"

She looked around the cheering crowd realizing no one else seemed to pick up on the word changes, he improvised with or they just didn't care, because right before her eyes everyone started singing the words to the song, while she swayed back in forth to the rhythm

Darien walked up to her with a huge grin on his face seeing that she was actually having a good time and wanted to see that smile last as he took her hand in his as he told her through a light whisper "I have a secret this song is for you" then bent down and gave her a small kiss on the cheek and then stood up as he kept hold her hand as he pulled her up from the seat with the crowd cheering all around them while he smiled singing out "don't say no more, no, no no-no, just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah-yeah"

Serena didn't know how, but before she knew it, he had worked his magic again and had her standing up on her feet in the center of the large crowd, where all eyes were focused on them, she had to laugh aloud hearing all the cheering going on around them, but he hardly noticed at all as he continued to sing to her alone telling her "and we'll see where we go, go, go, go-go. If you feel ready like I'm ready"

Eva sat with her mouth open wide watching this spectacle, unsure how everything had spun around to be completely wrong as the bar tender walked over and placed another margarita down in front of her as she looked to her friend Darien dancing with a girl, but more so that he looked genuinely happy doing so, as she looked to Eva with a grin telling her "here I think you could use this"

Serena smiled finding herself caught up in the moment as she saw all the eyes upon them, but then instead of just cheering loudly, one person started yelling followed by another until the whole space was filled with people all cheering the same "kiss her"

Serena let out a small nervous laugh hearing what everyone waited and expected to him as he smiled and placed his hand up and placed it gently behind her neck as he sang to her "cause it's a beautiful night we're looking for something dumb to do hey baby, I think I am going to kiss you" as he followed along with what the crowd wants and quickly dipped her down low as he heard the surprised squeal come from her and then put his mouth down on top of her own.

Serena was surprised by the unexpected move, but more so with herself as she placed her arms up around his neck as she kissed him back while the crowd cheered on, and before she knew it she was left completely memorized, feeling breathless and weightless standing on her own feet, as he slowly broke the most amazing kiss she had ever experienced as he took her hand in his and placed a small kiss on the back of it as he smiled telling her with a grin "hey baby, I think I wanna marry you" and then gave her a quick wink and quickly left to go back up on stage as she stood there dumbfounded on what had just happened as she watched him join the rest of his band as they finished the song to the cheering crowd.