Disclaimer: my idea, not my characters..

Author's Note: ack, some of you must hate me by now.. sorry so mucherrzz!! I just hit a blank page in my mind after the previous chapter. Now, I've semi-started thinking up ideas again. It's pretty hard when you think up how you want it to go, but when you put it into words, it doesn't quite as work as easily anymore. So with that explained, forgive me, and here is the new chappie. Enjoy!

Summary: Rei and the gang finally arrive! Situations arise and an ill-humored young lady decides to blow up at Darien. Will they continue this way, or will they settle their problems at last? Read on to find out what happens on this fateful day.

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Roommates, You and I

By Yamito-Hitori

Part 7: Wishing on a dim star

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            (So that was what it was. ~ Gods, why couldn't it have been an Air freshener?)
* * *

            Serena felt her heartbeat speed up, as she looked into those exotically attractive, yet confusingly mysterious, wild blue eyes.

            'Damn your stupid eyes!' was the only non-panicked sentence that ran through her mind. The others seemed to clash against each other, each silent thought wanting to be spoken out loud, though, in the speechless state Serena was in, none could be uttered.

            The room grew uncomfortably silent as Darien slowly, oh-so-slowly, retracted his head. Was he dreaming? Surely, he had to be.. She was underneath him, staring at him in utter confusion. Shouldn't it be 'him' who should be giving 'her' that look? It was ridiculously unreasonable!

            He mentally scolded himself. As the dumb fool that he was, he had just realized he had fallen asleep last night on the couch. How he had gotten into such a questionable position with Serena? That, he had no clue.

            He had not yet taken up five minutes since he was awake, and already a familiar scent came flowing back to him. A light and airy spice of mint and vanilla...

            'Mint and vanilla,' he repeated soundlessly. 'So that was what it was!' He gazed down at Serena. 'Gods, why couldn't it have been a damn food item or… or a glade air freshener?' His current position would have been much easier to deal with. Though he could just imagine how stupefied she would look if she saw him cuddling with a freshener.

            But that wasn't it! It didn't matter if he could have been cuddling with an inanimate object! The fact of the matter was that he was.. or had been, cuddling with her! HER! --Serena! --the girl beneath him! --His roommate! --His friend! ...his friend? Could he be considered that after all this time? Sure, he hadn't really been there for her in the past... and sure, he hadn't been much of a good friend either... but he was a friend nonetheless nowadays, correct?

            He breathed heavily as he saw her cheeks turn a darker shade of pink. Was that a blush, or was it the heat? He mentally shook his head. No time for that Darien! Do something, anything!

            Unknowingly, he had been scanning her face the whole time, looking for any reactions, any possibility of a wild psychotic woman growing within her with the name of 'kill Darien' chanting hysterically in her head. But he found none.. yet.. only found that bewildered look in her eyes..

            Those eyes.. His deep azure locked with her mild ocean ones and suddenly, removing himself like a peel-off-sticker from his roommate was suddenly irresistibly hard to do. You could almost say that he felt weakened, as if a thousand-pound boulder was instantly placed onto his back, urging him with a great weight, to push closer. What was this, he thought briefly as the realization dawned on him of his developing feelings. He relaxed his body, drifting closer to Serena. Gods, her eyes were truly quite mesmerizing...

             She breathed in. And out. In. And out. Was Darien edging closer, or was that just the side effects of hypervenalating?

            And then, he descended. Slowly, oh so agonizingly slowly, he came near as far as where their noses touched. Her hypervenalating breaths and his own calm and rhythmical breaths mingled as he inched even closer. She looked at him with her eyes forming in confusion, yet in an interrogating way. She always seemed to be that way when she was with him. Confused. This man sent her into a whole different world as a mass of confusion and satisfaction all at the same time.

            Not even a second breath was taken as Darien sealed the space between them, Serena's eyes widening as round as an eight ball. or is possible, even wider. She felt his lips press lightly against hers, then his soft peck, minutely encouraging her to kiss him back.

            But she didn't.

            I mean, who would? If only Darien could picture it in her point of view. Waking up to find yourself in the arms of your roommate? No, this certainly wasn't going to work..

            Countless thoughts reeled throughout Serena's mind. Was this real? Was this how it was? She had first felt like a cleansed woman before she moved in with a friend. And now.. well now, she felt like her lips had lost its holiness! Hadn't she mentioned a while back that she had never been kissed... although, that was up until last night with Jaymison. And now, well NOW, it was a whole different guy repeating the same process --in less than 24 hours even! And it doesn't stop there... this particular guy was Darien! DARIEN, for goodness sake! Where in the world had her sanity gone??

            Darien pulled back. Serena definitely wasn't responding. You could just imagine how low his manly 'pride meter' went down in just a few seconds. He frowned.

            "Serena?" At least now she knew he was awake. Fully awake. If he could call her name, then he certainly could think straight. Unfortunately for him, she did not want to think along with him. She would rather throw herself into the depths of an endless chasm in the earth and fall helplessly in perpetual motion, alone for centuries. Right now, that was what she needed. To be alone.

            Darien watched as she gently pushed him off, her eyes in a far away gaze. With a blank stare, she left (more like 'fled'), headed for her room.

            He internally winced when he heard the audible slam echoing throughout the hallways. 'Dumbass Darien strikes again!' How many times had he made her run like that? 'Oh for the love of god, too many times!' But this time, it was different. He hadn't insulted her… he was morely.. allured by her. It was just sad enough that she didn't seem to return those feelings. 'You're wishing on a dim star, Darien. Nothing'll happen, get over it.' With a heavy sigh, he retreated into his own room.

* .:. * .:. * .:. *

Serena bit her lower lip as she sat in her own room shortly after retreating to it. She deeply inhaled and exhaled. Darien gave off such overwhelming actions. "Damn you."

Placing an unclenched hand to her lips, she softly laid a finger over it. Then instantly, she shook her head vehemently, refusing to take in the previous events. Darien had done that because he wasn't thinking straight! That was it! He had just woken up and he wasn't thinking quite straight. That was it, right?

"Ugh!" Emanating a loud exasperated grunt in the air, she crawled under her covers, annoyed at the sudden anger he made her feel.

* .:. * .:. * .:. *

            Darien groaned in his hands as he sat on the edge of his bed in his own bedroom, with his elbows propped near his knees.

            That, was just too close for comfort. Besides the kiss of course. Momentarily, he wondered if that was the closest he had ever gotten to her. Would holding a wailing girl as he dragged her out of the Crown Arcade, count? He scoffed when that short little memory flew back to him. That day, long ago, when Serena had gotten into a fight with Andrew instead of the usually picked on, Darien. He had to literally hold her in a vice-like grip to keep her from pounding the brains right out of Andrew's cranium with her ear piercing wails. Andrew had stuck a pepper in her usual double fudged sundae as an April fool's joke. How strangely entertaining that turned out to be.

            He sighed once more. Those days with her, and the days he spent with her now. In a way, it was the same. In a way, it wasn't. What was it that made it seem as if something was eerily out of place?

            Just as he thought those last couple of words, a sudden soft ringing of a bell filled his ears.

* .:. * .:. * .:. *

            "Ring it again." Lita urged. "I'm getting tired of holding this box."

            "I swear to god, if they give us the reason that they're both sick I'l---" Rei was stopped short just as the door swung open to be met by a rather disheveled looking man.

            "Darien!" She cried happily and literally jumped on him, sending him hurling backwards onto the wall. It always seemed to be this way. Rei would always pull Darien into an unbreakable embrace that seemed more of a death grip than a greeting notion.

            "Rei, I--"

            "I'm so happy to finally see you!" She told him and increased the tightness of her hug. "It's been so long!!" If Darien didn't get himself out of her death grip soon, he had a feeling he would wake up tomorrow all purple and blue with bruises. He followed his gaze from the girl to the three other female visitors standing at the other side of the doorway, sweatdropping.

            "Mina. Amy. Lita. How nice to see all of you this morning!"

            "Oh Darien." Mina waved her hand as she entered, her voice playfully clueing him in. "It's almost afternoon. Why do you look so.. grungy? Didn't get enough sleep?" Her voice trailed on as she made her way down the corridor.

            "Yes, I do believe a bit of tidying is in need as well, Dare." Amy said as she passed him.

            "Well, food's on me." Lita said, taking off her shoes and balancing the box of pizza on her other hand. "What say we eat before we start inquiring about anything, shall we?"

* .:. * .:. * .:. *

            "Sere?" Darien knocked on her white door, "Serena..?"

            No answer.

            He gripped the bronze knob and turned only to find it stop short and resist. She had locked it. He furrowed his brows together and tried knocking again instead, this time a little louder. "Serena??"

            No answer.

            "I know you're in there. The girls are here. They just arrived around 5 minutes ago." He sighed when he still received no answer from the room beyond the door. "Listen.. about this morni--"

            In a flash the door swung with a mighty force that it slammed itself to the wall behind it, causing Darien to take a few steps back from shock. "Don't you dare say a thing about this morning. I don't care what your intentions truly were, you say a thing and I'll kick you out for the night." She said stiffly and began to walk off.

            "Serena," He tried to call out.

            "For the week." She called back without even a second look.

            Deciding that it was best to keep himself quiet, he followed her into the dining room.

            "Hey guys!" Serena perked up all of a sudden and began to give them all simultaneous hugs. "I can't believe your all here!" It really wasn't a complete lie. Even though she had really wanted to say it without much enthusiasm, she settled for the giddy and surprised greeting to lighten the mood that Darien had so easily ruined just moments earlier.

            Speaking of the devil, Darien appeared right after Serena had and sat himself on one of the chairs in the glass six-seater dining table.

            "Of course, you dork, you never called us up to hang anymore." Rei explained and set her hands on her hips.

            The young golden haired woman gave off a humiliated laugh. "Ah.. hehe.. sorry about that. Been busy and all."

            "Do tell." Rei asked as she sat on the chair to the left of Darien. She took hold of one of his arms and linked it with hers, wedding-style, and rested her head on his shoulder.

            Serena didn't quite exactly know why, but she felt her heart beat speed up right then and there. She furiously shook away the feeling with a smile and replied, "Nothing much to tell. Just that I've been busy nowadays, with this new apartment and all. Pretty boring if you think about it, really."

            "Well, I hope your doing good and not stressing yourself out everyday, if you know what I mean." Mina said. "You should see how my mom was the first time we moved. Not a lovely sight."

            "Well," Lita piped. "guess we better get to eating before the food gets cold."

            Serena watched as the three girls all took their seats and occupied a whole side of the table. Leaving the only seat available to her taking, was the seat coincidentally to the right of Darien. Minutely gulping, she made her way to the other side and sat herself down. Taking the chance to scoot away from him when they all started to dig in, she gripped the sides of her chair and quietly inched away. Though as soon as she had done so, she felt a warm hand fall upon hers.

            It was Darien. Well, as if that wouldn't have been obvious. He looked at her beseechingly and semi-confused.

            "Something wrong?" Amy asked.

            Both their heads turned to the blue haired girl as the rest were directed to them.

            "Nothing." Serena spoke up. Yanking her hand away, though out of her visitor's view, she continued. "Just repositioning myself. Very uncomfortable chair, don't you think?"

            "Not really." Amy smiled, casting loose of the subject. Reaching over to place another slice of pepperoni pizza on her plate, everyone returned to eating their food.

            For the rest of the time that they ate, everyone chatted lively about what had recently happened in their lives and so forth, save Serena of course, who would only talk when being talked to. She had a few other things in mind that kept her quiet.

            After finishing, they continued to sit and discuss new arising topics. Though the current conversation was interrupted by the melodic tune to a 'London bridge' remix. The tune grew louder when Mina pulled out her cell phone. "Hello?"

            "Mina!" Andrew called on the other line.

            "Andrew?"

            "I.. I.. She.. broke up with me!"

            It puzzled her but asked nonetheless. "Who?"

            "Celeste! She.. broke it off. I-I couldn't stop her! She only left me a note and when I got home.." He hadn't sounded like he was crying though it was known that he was heartbroken. He laughed bitterly and added, "I feel like my heart's been thrown into the blender and set on devastate."

            "Aw, Andy." Mina comforted. "Tell you what, I'll be right over in a few."

            "..I-I'd like that..."

            "Alright well I gotta go. Be there, okay?"

            "I will.."

            "Bye." And with that she hung up the phone only to be faced with questioning faces.

            "'Andy?'" Lita asked wanting to snort out laughing.

            "Yeah." Mina stood up. "Long story short, Andrew needs me-- I mean, help. Well, us. Now. You, me."

            "Me?" Lita inquired.

            "Aw, Lita. I can't exactly drive yet.."

            The brunette sighed and got off her seat. "Alright let's go.."

            "Wait!" Rei exclaimed. "What about me and Amy? I don't want to go yet~!" Once more, she linked her arm with Darien's showing them the reason she did not yet want to leave.

            Amy simply shrugged and replied. "We'll stay here for a while. Pick us up right after, alright?"

            "Will do, bye!" Mina shouted as she ran towards the door. Lita followed suit and in seconds the door slammed shut.

            "And they're off!" Rei turned to Darien. "Guess that leaves the four of us for some fun!"

* .:. * .:. * .:. *           

            "No, Winston. You mustn't go. Lord knows I cant go on without you I'd cry my heart out knowing that you might never return to me!" A man in a black business suit and a briefcase shook away a young lady's arm.

            "No." He replied. "If you have no hope for me now, thinking that I shall never again return, then there truly is no hope for the both of us. This just wont work Emelia."

            "This was not my idea of fun." Darien spoke out as a snuggling Rei inched even closer in the midst of the movie. Amy could be seen curled up on the armchair, fast asleep.

            "Oh but Dare.." Rei lifted her head to smile at him. "This story is so sweet! Doesn't it just set you in the mood?"

            Darien nodded awkwardly. "Right.. Listen I'll just , uh, go help Serena with the dishes okay.. It isn't really fair that she's doing it all by herself."

            "But Dare--!" She began to protest as he hoisted himself off the couch.

            "No, no... no need to help me. Unless you want to wash tons and tons of dishes, that's fine with me."

            She scrunched up her nose. "On second thought... just hurry up, okay? You might miss the good parts."

            "I'll rush."

            Within seconds, Darien had made a beeline out of the living room and made his way to the kitchen.

            Carefully, taking precautious measurements so as not to upset the already angered girl, he slowly peeked behind a wall to peer inside the kitchen room.

            He felt like a lion stalking its prey and it humored him so.

There, in front of the sink she stood washing the rest of the dishes. She turned to put plates and forks on the drying rack and when she reached to place back a cup it involuntarily slipped like soap out of her grasp. Struggling to take hold of the falling cup, it became futile when it hit the ground mercilessly.

            Darien winced at the sound.

            Closing her eyes with a sigh, she began to pick up the broken and scattered pieces. In a nutshell, Darien wondered whether he should interrupt at this time. Though observing that she wasn't in any better of a mood, he decided to wait a while.

            "Ouch!" She grumbled and held her hand towards herself. Darien saw a small drop of red liquid begin to gather itself on the tip of her right index finger. Just as he was about to step in, her voice halted him. "Damn you, Chiba."

            Did she know he was there?

            She picked up the rest of the broken pieces and threw them into the trash. "Got me all mixed now. Gods, how I hate you." Darien felt relieved when she continued to wash the rest of the dishes, realizing she had been talking to herself but found himself a bit disappointed at her last few words.

            She washed out her hands first then picked up another plate. Soon as she had done so, she felt as if she was about to drop another glassware as a voice spoke up behind her. "Do you really hate me that much? Or.. hate me still?"

            She twirled at breakneck speed to find none other than Darien himself. "Hells, you shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" With a scowl, she returned back to her work as Darien stood next to her, and facing the opposite direction, he leaned his back on the counter.

            "You shouldn't be so ill-tempered all the time." He teasingly retorted.

            "Don't bother me right now, okay?" She mumbled, crabby and tempersome. "I'm not up for your god damn games."

            Darien looked down to his right to find her concentrating on the dishes. "My games?" She said nothing back but only remained quiet in her particular state. "Look Seren--"

            She nearly sent the last cleaned plate crashing onto the dish rack then gyrating a full 180 as she pointed an accusing finger at the befuddled man. "No, YOU look! The only reason I actually thought that you and I could move in together was an option was because of the fact that I wanted to get to know you better! Not like when we used to bitch at each other pointlessly, get me?" She hissed. "Not to go around having you set me up with one of your damn friends or to have you confusing me with your own damned self! And as soon as I thought that you--- well that you had something-- ugh, god! Why am I even... --when a girl messes with you, you don't do a thing to rid yourself of your cursed position! What are you trying to show me? That you can play with any girl that throws herself at you?! or any girl you want, for that matter! ..What do you want from me-- just tell me and leave me be." She exhaled heavily then helplessly added, "..then maybe we could actually tolerate each other for the rest of the time."

            "Serena," He began to explain.  "that's not at all it I--"

            "Then what is it?"

            "If you'd let me explain long enough.."

            She huffed in defeat. "What then?"

            He faced her fully before speaking. "What happened this morning-- I.. I-It wasn't some sort of act to see if I could get you or play with you because it just so happened that you were.. we were.. you and I were somehow placed in that position.." He shrugged and knotted his brows together. "I just.. find you.. I don't know how to explain this... interesting, I guess?"

            "Interesting?" She snapped. "Interesting? You think I'm some sort of experiment for you?!"

            "No, no that's not it." He shook his head.

            "I think I've heard enough." She said as she turned to leave. She was held back as he caught her wrist and pulled her to look back at him.

            "Serena, please. That's not what I meant. Why are you making this harder than it already is? I'm trying to exp--"

            "No, Darien. Every word that comes out of your mouth makes it harder than it already is. It's you not me; Get it straight." With that she viciously wrenched her hand free with a wild shake and stormed out.

            "Serena!" He called after her, following suit as she made her way down the steps. "Serena, listen, please.."

            "Save it." She answered as she passed by the living room earning puzzled looks from Rei and a half-asleep Amy. "What's going o--"

            "Serena!" He ran after her as she vanished through the hallways. When he finally saw her form he jogged to it, only to be met by her door and slam.

            He closed his eyes. "Gods, Serena..." He whispered. "That was all I wanted. To get to know you too."

* .:. * .:. * .:. *           

            It had been hours since her and Darien's so-called fight. Darien had finally given up calling her name after half an hour since she had locked herself in the room and soon after that time, she heard Rei and Amy voice their good-byes. She laid on her bed since then, shaking her head for her un-thoroughly thought out actions. She felt as if jealousy had taken up half of her brain and refused to believe anything else he tried to tell her. Foolish and immature, she now told herself. Serena you can be quite a drama queen sometimes, her inner being scolded.

            It must be more than three hours since then, she estimated and made her way to her door, unlocking it. Carefully, she turned the knob and slowly opened the door, greatful that it didn't creak. Thankful for the fact that Darien wasn't around to lecture her or anything of the sort, she made her way to the living room.

            Scanning the darkened area, she found a silhouette against the balcony. The doors were shut so the thin curtains didn't flap to show who the person was. But she didn't need to guess twice to know whose shadow it belonged to.

            She hesitated then bit her lip as she proceeded to his whereabouts. She stopped as she got to the glass doors and slowly slid them open. He hadn't set a word yet, but instead he sat still on a lone table. She slid the doors closed then climbed onto the table as well and sat herself beside him, leaning her back onto the glass and drawing her legs to her chest.

            "I thought you'd still be mad at me." He whispered.

            She bit her lip at how dumb she must have looked then, and even now. She gulped before speaking softly. "I know it was stupid of me to have acted that way earlier. It's just.."

            "I know.." He said knowingly. "The way that little scene happened between us and how I must have seemed like I've betrayed you somehow when Rei often attached herself to me.."

            Serena looked at her knees. "Oh, don't say that.. it's not like we're you know.. like an item or.. well.. you know.. like a, well, you know what I mean."

            He smirked. "Yeah.."

            They stayed silent for a while admiring the way the night sky looked with the stars dancing and glistening amongst it. The city didn't look so bad itself with all its bright lights, thought it was nothing compared to nature's lights.

            "Honestly though Serena," He turned to her. "I do find you interesting..."

            "Oh.." Serena pulled her lips closed then continued. "Listen, sorry about earlier. Just having one of those days."

            "It's okay." He smiled. "I should have been used to it by now."

            She smiled back at him.

            "Why tolerate me all the time, Darien?"

            He shrugged, gazing at her. "Too cute to get mad at? Even when you're in a bad mood you always make this face..."

            "Oh really?" She said, trying to hide a grin as he returned to examining the sky.

            "Yes, Miss, you do." He ran a hand through his jet-black hair. "Back in our younger years when we used to have those pointless fights, as you called it, I was even partially glad that you paid more attention in obliterating me and bringing me down than paying mind to just any other person."

            She snorted. "Please Darien. I'm starting to sense you had a crush on me." She teased.

            He replied casually then, "So what if I did?"

            Serena's long pigtails swayed when she turned to face him. "What?"

            He, in turn, looked back at her. "So. what. if. I. did? ..And what if I still do?" Serena's mouth slightly gaped open, searching desperately for words to reply. But none came.

            Setting one of his hands on the table for a sturdy balance, he gradually advanced. She knew what was coming; It was like deja vu all in one day.

            This time, though, Serena didn't feel at all like fighting it, but instead like giving herself up into temptation.. and possibly bliss.. slowly, she closed her eyes awaiting the kiss.. Though she felt nothing rest upon her lips. Instead, she felt a soft pressure on her forehead as he gave it a soft kiss. He lingered there for a moment then retracted. "I made a mistake, Serena. I'll try my best not to let it happen again.."

            A bit flustered, she opened her eyes. "W-what mistake?"

            "I felt like I forced that kiss upon you this morning." He clarified. "It felt like something I wanted, rather than what I thought we both wanted. But I've got to admit, Serena, you made my morning.. of course when you ran out on m--" Surprisingly, he was silenced when she laid a soft finger on his lips and hushed softly.

            The night grew quiet as she rested her head onto his shoulder, enjoying the moment. He broke into a soft smile at her antics. Shifting slightly, he placed an arm around her and her small waist, causing her head to nuzzle near his collarbone instead.

            "I'm glad you didn't lock yourself up the whole night, Serena."

            "..And I'm glad that you've only just begun to open up."

            He couldn't help but smile at her words.

* .:. * .:. * .:. *           

Author's note: Hope you all liked this chapter, and hopefully, the length and the story made up for the long update. tee hee. Been a bit busy, but as you can see, I am still alive. lol. Please bare the updating days because sometimes I just suddenly run into a wall and lose all ideas.

Replies: Thank you all who have given me reviews!! They have not gone unnoticed and unread! They do help, so thank you very much again!

*-- chapter finished: December 27th 2003 // 2:03 a

*-- chapter last updated: December 28th 2003 // 4:08 p