Disclaimer: I don't own SM *wails*
Author's Note: New chappie! The beginning bored me a bit, but the end made me happy with myself. Hope you all enjoy!! =]
Summary: Serena finally gives him closure. Who exactly is him? And when things finally start to lighten up around the place, things take a bad turn for the worst. When pillows go wild and knock a certain someone unconscious!
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Roommates, You and I
By Yamito-Hitori
Part 8: Pillows gone wild!
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"--So yeah, that was the reason for it all. I'm sorry Amy, I didn't mean to cause such a ruckus.... yes, yes...huh? ..oh, okay... alright, I'll talk to you later then. Bye." Gingerly, Serena set the cordless phone back into place.
"What do we have here..?" Darien walked out from the kitchen and into the dining room, holding a steaming mug of black coffee in one hand and the Daily Inquirer in the other. "Calling the girls up to apologize?"
"Yeah, mister." She spat back in a frolicsome way. "Because of a certain someone I know." It had been precisely a full day since that significantly interesting night where all the commotion took place, and it had only been today that Serena decided to call Rei and Amy for a much-deserved apology. Neither of the two roommates decided to press on the subject of the time they were in the balcony, though in its place, a much lighter and a bit more cheery atmosphere was created.
"So," He asked. Taking a seat on one of the dining chairs, he flipped through the newspaper and began to read a random article. "What'd you tell them?"
Skipping lightly up the few steps of the stairs to the dining area, she sat herself across from him. "You were unfair."
"Unfair?"
"Well," She scrunched up her nose. "I couldn't exactly tell them that it was because of, well because of what it really was.. so I told them that you refused to help me with dishes. Quite unfair, don't you think, so I blew up at you."
Darien shook his head, his dark bangs swaying gently with the guide of his head. "Placing the blame on me... how nice of you Serena.."
"Aren't I?" She beamed happily, though in an instant, her lips fell to a thin line. "On another note, um.. Jaymison called last night."
Darien slowly proceeded to lift his eyes and met Serena's light blue ones. And though it wasn't staring directly at him, but at the table instead, she continued to talk. "He asked me if I wanted to go out today."
Darien curved a brow towards her. Remaining stationary, he examined her and paused for her to pick up where she left off.
"I.. I told him I would see him," She looked up to find a multitude amount of emotions reflecting on his face.. Agitation. Concern. Demoralization. The so-called 'cheery atmosphere' they unknowingly created seemed to slowly begin to evanesce.
"I see." Reaching for his mug, he prudently took a sip. It was a small one since the dark liquid was still hot. Not wanting a scalded tongue, he took one more sip and set it back down then began to re-read the papers once more.
"But it's only for closure." She concluded. "I just.. wanted you to know..."
He turned the flimsy page and began to busy himself with another article when her words finally flashed across his mind. Closure.
"Closure?" He asked, dumbfounded. He looked up from his papers to glance at her, but found no one. He could hear the tapping of the thin rubber soles of her bunny slippers resonating down a set of hallways.
* .:. * .:. * .:. *
She rubbed her hair for the final time, ridding it of water as much as she could then combing it. Considering how long her hair was, she was glad to find it dry easily using only but the air and a towel.
Glancing around, she found her cell phone resting on her bed and snatched it. She was fully dressed and ready to go. All she needed to do now was sneak past Darien. She wasn't ready for questions just yet.
With brisk movements, she furtively tiptoed down the hallway. Sneaking through the living room, she initiated a crouching walk towards the main door.
Sly as a fox, Serena told herself exultantly as she reached the doorknob. With a swift turn, the door popped open. And out she went without even a last look, the door closing almost soundlessly behind her.
* .:. * .:. * .:. *
Serena sighed, exiting the elevator. Mission accomplished.
"Good morning, Miss Tsukino." The old man at the main counter greeted.
"Good morning, Herald." She beamed joyously and waved goodbye as she left the building. Finally outside, she took out her cell phone and dialed Jaymison's number. They would finally meet; and she would finally tell him the truth.
* .:. * .:. * .:. *
In the far corner of the living room, on a lone armchair, Darien smirked. He had seen her appear into the living room, like an old lady with a hunched back, as she made her way out of the condo. His forehead had wrinkled into confusion at why she had been putting on silly shenanigans in front of him, though elected to stay quiet when she didn't sense his presence. Or didn't see him at all, for that matter. He held back a laugh as she exited, only to have it break loose once she had closed the door.
A laugh. A simple laugh that only she seemed to cast upon him like no one ever did.
* .:. * .:. * .:. *
She sat alone on an old wooden bench in Cherry Park, watching, as nameless faces passed her by. Kids, Teens, Parents, Seniors, Couples..
For a passing moment, she wondered how her own children would look in the future. As she admired the happy families passing by, her gaze fell upon a group of young teenagers running amuck then slowly clearing away as a familiar figure appeared amongst them. One whom she direly needed to speak to. She kept an attentive watch on him as he sat beside her, then leaning forwards to give her a kiss on the cheek.
She eluded the greeting smooch and held a hand on his chest, pushing him backwards softly.
Right then, he knew something was coming. He knew, then and there, that the same person who had given it to him would soon vanquish the happiness he gained when she agreed to meet him. By the look in her eyes, he knew something was wrong.
"I..." She began, a little lost on how to begin, and laid a comforting hand over his. "We.."
"We what?" He asked, afraid of the answer.
"We cant-- We cant see each other anymore." Her eyes held a hint of remorse and sympathy. She was never one to break the news to a guy. Since there were never any guys before.
"Oh." He sighed heavily. His breath, slightly frayed. Although, their time spent together was as much as a fly's life span, he enjoyed every moment of it. Though now, he wished he had never enjoyed it too much; Seeing as now that she, the base of all that joy, was telling him that she didn't want him anymore. "I don't really need to take a guess who the new guy is, do I?"
Bowing her head in guilt, she whispered, "I had to tell you now before you thought we were something more than friends. I'm sorry."
"I admire you for that then." He said a bit hastily and stood up. "Tell him I said 'Hi'." And with that, he left. To where? He didn't know, he just knew he needed to leave before his emotions took over him.
"I feel like a damn witch." she said to herself. "Evil and.. disgusting." Wearily, she got off the bench and ploddingly walked home.
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It was around mid-noon when Darien heard the door creak open from the living room. He half expected for Serena to walk in with a gloomy face.
He was close.
Because she walked in with that expectant gloomy face of hers ..and more. Tears streamed down her face as she got down the steps. She made a move to continue, to trudge down to her room, when Darien spoke up.
"Serena!" He ran to her, concern and worry flickering in his eyes. "What's wrong?" He cursed inwardly. If anybody had done anything to her he'd...
She gazed up at him, her eyes reddened, as he held her on the sides. "I.. f-feel so.. bad.." She said in between sniffs.
Feel bad? He asked himself. Feel bad for what?
"I-I told him we c-cant see ea-each other anym-more.."
Darien realized that she had been talking about Jaymison.. and the closure she had mentioned earlier. Suddenly, he felt like a greedy bum. He had secretly wanted her for himself, so he didn't care the least bit for his old buddy when Serena told him that she would tell Jaymison off... Dear god, where had this jealousy and sudden possessiveness come from?
"Oh gods, Serena. I'm sorry." He released her arms and circled them around her instead. "I'm sorry." He kept repeating. "I'm sorry.."
"I-it's not your f-fault.." She managed to say, faintly aware that he was holding her ever so closely, "I just feel s-so mean..."
"It's my fault." He told her, letting go of the short embrace, and held her at arm's length. "It was because... of me, wasn't it?" He shook his head vigorously. "'Cause of my goddamned feelings. I should've..."
Her sniffs grew softer as she looked at him. Angry with himself, he let go of her and sat on the couch. "You shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have... I hate getting in between people..."
She gasped almost inaudibly. "D-Darien.." Slowly, she made her way to where he was, and kneeled in front of him. He had a facial expression of displeasure that was directed.. towards himself. He was displeased at the thought that he had intruded between two people who could have had something together. "Darien.." She said softly, her sniffs beginning to disappear. "Look, I do feel bad.. but not because I lost him. I don't want to be the kind of person who would be with a guy just because she felt sorry for him. I don't want to give him 'pity love'."
"But," He started. "You don't even know him that well. Who's to say nothing could have happened between you two?"
"I don't know him that well." She admitted. Softly smiling, she got up and bravely gave him a kiss on the forehead like he did the a couple nights before. By the gods, she didn't even know what she was doing until her lips pressed onto his skin! "But I don't want to get to know him. I want to get to know.. to get to know you."
Feeling a hot blush creeping up on her face she decided to take her leave. The atmosphere was getting a bit thick, anyways. "I'm going to go take a nap. I'll be out by dinner."
Darien stared, too shocked for words, as she vanished behind a wall. Had he heard her right? Surely, he must have heard her right!
In some strange way, he felt happy and saddened at the same time. He now knew he had feelings for her, yes, but he felt as if he didn't deserve to have those feelings. And if, by chance, he found that she was starting to feel the same too, he'd definitely be angry with himself. Because simply.. he didn't deserve her.
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It had been hours since their last conversation. Darien had decided to lock himself up in his own room after that. Though, without a straight mind, he decided to busy himself with television. After just minutes of watching, he gave up and retreated into his room once more. Serena was constantly bugging his mind! Not that he hated it.. He swore that after half an hour since their talk he had started to see little smiling chibi faces of her swirling around in his head.
Wanting to take her out of his mind, he decided to make an early dinner. It was getting dark, anyway. He marched out of his room aiming to setup dinner, but he froze when he saw where his feet had taken him.
The front of her door.
He breathed and wondered, but all of his thoughts were silenced when he had the urge to open her door. He turned, and pushed in, to reveal the full interior of her room. Other than the times when he had helped her to move in her things, he had never really seen the inside of it at all when it was finished. Glimpses, maybe.. but never fully. He extended the space between the door and the frame to widen his view.
There on the bed near the window, Serena laid. Slightly in a curled position, he noted that her blanket had fallen on the floor.
He couldn't help but crack a small smile at the sight before him. How peaceful she looked with her sleeping form luxuriating in the blanched moonlight. He walked over, unable to resist, and found her hair scattered everywhere. Picking up the blanket, he flapped it in the air and slowly guided it as he set it back down to cover her.
Unconsciously, he sat himself on the edge of her bed afterwards and examined her. Despite how she always set her hair in her signature bunned-pigtails, this was a complete different look he saw on her. She had taken the two buns off and her hair was freely strewn every which way. The sight reminded him so much of a beautiful angel in storybooks..
She had a calm face. Even more angelic than when she's mad. He added. Of course, what face wouldn't look better than when they're mad? If he had a misanthropic Serena coming at him angrily compared to a relaxed version of her, he would gladly pick the less death-threatening choice. Although, she did look cute when she was mad..
Her eyes were closed and he was almost saddened at the fact that he could not see her shimmering fair blue eyes. But he was about to get that silent favor, granted. Slowly, her eyelids slid open revealing those spellbinding eyes.
Had he mentioned before that they were truly quite mesmerizing? He would have laughed at his own question if not for their current situation.
Groggily, she spoke, "Darien..?"
"..It's me." He answered. Her eyes fluttered closed again, and briefly, he wondered if she had just been sleep talking. But her eyes opened once more and narrowed into slits, trying to adjust her pupils due to the light that one of the moon's beams clearly shone on her face.
Suddenly, he felt odd. What in the hell was he thinking when he entered her room?!
Oh, wait, that's right. He had been thinking of her.. But suddenly, that wasn't such a good idea anymore. He got back on two feet and made for the door. Though upon reaching the doorframe, a voice stopped him.
"Please stay." Her bland voice requested. Like a trained dog on a leash, he obeyed. She patted on the edge of the bed he'd been sitting on earlier, and again, he followed her wishes. What a sight this would be to Andrew, who had told him: 'never yield to women, make them yield to you. Remember it's your manly pride that's at stake!'
He smirked at himself inwardly. Like he said before, she was-- you guessed it --'Mesmerizing'.
"What brings you here?" She asked. "Come to haunt me in my dreams too?"
"No." He broke into a grin. "Why? Have I been in it recently..?"
Turning a rosy color on the cheeks, she playfully punched him on the arm. Though barely awakening just a few minutes ago, her punch had only felt as hard as a falling blob of Jell-O. "As a matter of fact..." She began, thought decided against the subject. "Hold up, Mister. You didn't answer me. What are, or were, you doing here?"
Darien shrugged, though inside, his stomach flipped at how to answer the question. "..to check up on you, I guess."
"You guess..?"
He gave a small grin. "I can worry, can't I?"
"That's a first." She gibed. "Really, what are you doing here? If you've come to ask me to cook food, forget it. I can't even boil water for the life of me!"
He chuckled but then the tug on his lips died down to a neutral state. "Serena, all those years.. how do you I say this.. You haven't really been very fond of me all those years of our feuding, have you?"
She furrowed her brows together and sat up in a cross-legged position. "What makes you say that?"
"We always fought, back then.. I know I may have been mean, and.. a smartass... and a bully..."
"And quite tempermental." She added for him.
Resisting the urge to smirk, he replied. "Well yes, that too, but I wouldn't say that now, seeing as that I'm not the one in here with a high temper anymore."
"That's true... but where are you trying to get at with all this, Darien?"
"Tell me," He looked at her. "Why are you tolerating me, now? We never had a good background in the past and.. I know you must've despised me in many ways.."
She laughed out loud then. "Oh yes. Many, many ways, dear Darien.. Should I bring out a list of it all? This might take sometime..."
Darien couldn't help but spare an amused smile. If the gods could hear her laugh, he was sure that they would begrudge her and toss her into the underworld with spiteful malice. Her laughter was a beautiful thing. She usually laughed frivolously, lacking seriousness, and that's what made it special. Her gleeful laughter wasn't something she forced out to please others. Like when someone told a humorless joke. Hers just came out freely ..and with much merriment.
"Now, you tell me, mister!" She poked a finger to his chest and repeated her actions as she continued, "Why pick on me, dammit? There were thousands of others you could have chosen to bestow your torture upon, and instead it was me. Was it my hair? Tell me. And you better be honest because if it is my hai---"
"It was you."
Serena gasped, feigning utter shock, then punched Darien on his right shoulder. "So, you finally admitted it!" She laughed while glaring. "It was the whole package after all!" Then with one quick swing, she grabbed the nearest pillow and smacked him across with it.
"Hey..." Darien jumped back defensively. Then, realizing what she'd done, he grinned and reached for the fallen pillow. "Why you..You'll get what's coming!" And with a much swifter swing, Darien literally whacked the pillow onto the thin being. And I mean, WHACKED, because as she tried to sit back up on her bed, she fell back down onto the laying position.
"Ugh.." She groaned.
"Oh gods, Serena!" He dropped the pillow and rushed to her side. "Are you okay? I didn't know you wouldn't be able to withstand it! I'm-- I'm sorry!"
"Never played pillow fight with a guy before..." Finally regaining her senses and the strength to sit up, she rubbed the side of her forehead. "There was Melvin of course, but that didn't really count.." She looked up to face Darien. "I'm okay, don't worry. I just..." She paused, and that's when it hit her. Darien's playful hit took a turn for the worst. "Ugh, god..." A wave of aftershock dizziness had finally hit her and her eyes slightly rolled back, as her body fell back on the bed.
"Serena..?" Darien asked stupidly. "Serena??" He pulled on her eyelids and found her gaze to be completely unaffected as he waved a hand back and forth in front of it. But when he laid two fingers on her neck's pulse point, he was relieved to find it still beating.
"Thank god.." Immediately, he briskly turned at the pillow on the ground, and glared. Glared, at the damned thing, as if he thought it would just burst into flames and dissipate. "If she doesn't wake up soon, consider yourself de-stuffed."
Sadly to say, the pillow never made it that night. It never even got to see the new morning…
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Author's note: Hope you guys liked this chapter! =] HAHAHA! The ending cracked me up for a few seconds! If that didn't make you at least smile, then... I'm glad it made at least 'me' laugh. hahaha! I didn't really plan it to be there, it just popped in my head. Poor Sere! ...I'm so evil... hahaha! Okay, okay.. Stay tuned for the next chapter!
Replies: Thank you to all of you for the helping boosts of words! I feel as if I've gotten part of my mischievous, though not quite humorous, side of me! THANK YOU!!!
Please R+R! =]
*-- chapter finished: December 29th '03 // 5:38 a
*-- chapter last updated: December 29th '03 // 5:38 a