"Oh God, oh God, oh God..." Serena kept muttering to herself, her hands clenched tightly on the steering wheel.
This just couldn't be happening. How was she supposed to know that by saving this guy's life, 5 days later she would be driving him and herself to his hide-out in the middle of nowhere, trying to get away from the police and whoever this "Blade" guy was.
Of course, she didn't much mind riding with him... Oh well... Serena sighed. If I'm going to be down at his level, I might as well not hide my feelings... at least, on the inside.
I wonder why I feel like this anyway? She thought, taking a left as Darien pointed to 9th street. Is it because he's cute? I don't know... I just feel some kind of connection towards him... kind of like love at first sight, I guess. Serena giggled at the thought, then blushed as Darien looked over at her questioningly. No, that can't be it. I don't believe in love at first sight. At least, not for me. I like to know a person, but then again, Darien isn't my type and... ah, screw it. I'll just go with love at first sight.
"Serena, are you ok?" Darien suddenly asked, as her face began to turn very red.
"Uh, yeah... I just can't believe this is happening to me." She replied, not completely lying. Well, she couldn't believe this was happening... but that wasn't necessarily the reason why she was blushing.
"I know. I-I'm..." Darien began to stutter. He wanted to apologize, but that... that just wasn't him. He was mean, cold hearted, emotionless... and to top it off, he had never apologized before, and he wasn't sure how to do it.
Ever since they had gotten in the car, Darien decided that he might as well stop pretending he didn't care about her... at least on the inside. After all, now they weren't both so different... cops and robbers. Now they were on the same level, and it didn't matter much anymore if they did fall in love. Of course, she wasn't in love with him, that was obvious.
"I-I..." He stuttered. Serena laughed.
"I except your apology." She said, a smile on her face. Incredible. He thought. Absolutely incredible. She's just as wanted as me now and she's actually smiling. And... talking to me like I'm a human being. That's a first.
The former police officer suddenly let out another very long sigh.
"Darien... I was thinking.... and, well... you never know how long we're going to be together... on the run, that is... so I was wondering if maybe we could call a kind of truce? I mean, forget that I'm a police officer, and that you're a thief? And... that I shot you and everything?" She asked, glancing at him quickly with hopeful eyes. She was already sure that he would more than likely say no. After all, he was a criminal. He wasn't supposed to be nice. And he wasn't nice. He had tried to shoot her too. He had shot other people, murdered, robbed...
"Sure."
The car suddenly came to a very quick stop throwing Darien and Serena against their seatbelts.
"You're... you're agreeing?" She asked, her mouth open.
"Why not? There's no point in arguing the whole time." He replied as she began to start the car up again.
"Hey Darien?"
"Yeah?"
"Are all criminals like this?"
"Nope, I think it's just me. But only when I'm around you." Darien wasn't sure what Serena's reaction would be to this, but whatever it was, he didn't want her thinking that he walked around calling truce to everyone he was mad at.
"Oh." She simply said, staring straightforward. There was an awkward silence, and both Serena and Darien could feel the tension in the air.
"So... why did you become a police officer anyway?" Was the first thing that came to Darien's head.
"Why did you become a thief?"
"I'd... rather not talk about it."
"Then I'd rather not talk about why I'm a cop."
Back to silence. Suddenly, Darien let out a very long sigh and began talking.
"My parents were friends with a man who wasn't what he seemed to be. By day, he was just a regular guy, but we found out that by night he did terrible things. One time the man killed someone very important, and he blamed it on my parents. The police believed him and... and then they killed my parents. After that I swore that whatever I turned out to be, I'd be someone that worked against the police. Funny, but I can't remember the man's name or what he looked like at all." He told her the story, remembering it the best he could. Serena let out a small laugh and began her own story.
"My story isn't really that complicated. When I was young my father was actually vice president of the United States. One day he and my mother were out late and some man murdered them. After that I had to go live with my Aunt in the big city in a run down apartment in a neighborhood where you were lucky to stay alive for five days. There were a lot of bad people there, and my Aunt would invite them into the house because she figured they had a right to warmth. They would abuse me and steal our things, but my Aunt never seemed to notice. I knew that when I grew up I would have to work against those people so that the little kids today wouldn't have to go through the same things I did." After finishing, she let out a small cough to clear her throat. Darien was now staring at her. Now, he laughed. But for some reason it didn't seam like the kind of laugh you would hear from a criminal. It was... warm.
"Who would have thought... complete opposites we are, and we're working together." He said, leaning back and grinning.
"It's not like we have a choice." She reminded him, scowling a bit. This was not where she wanted her life to lead.
~
Darien reached into his back pocket, searching for his keys. Finding them, he pulled them out and stuck them in the lock. Already smelling a rather displeasing odor coming from his apartment, he wondered when the last time was that he had taken out the garbage.
Smelling the scent also, Serena crinkled her nose before slapping her hand over it.
Opening the door to his apartment only made the smell worse.
"Oh my God..." Serena said in amazement. "This is the dirtiest place I have ever seen!"
From the doorway she could see a tiny room consisting of a couch, coffee table, bookcase and TV. Beyond this room were two closed doors, and to the right of her was a hallway.
Scattered on the coffee table where potato chip bags, candy wrappers and a few things that she didn't know what they were... And she didn't want to know. Strewn across the floor and the couch were dirty clothes and a few more piles of food.
Plastered on one side of the TV were at least 25 pieces of ABC gum, ignoring the trashcan that was right next to them. Then again, even one piece wouldn't have been able to fit in the over-flowing trashcan.
It looked as if Darien had been writing in the dust of the bookcase, and nearly half the books looked to be missing most of their pages. On the ceiling were a nice assortment of spit wads and a few more pieces of gum, and a very horrible odor was coming from one of the doors... which she assumed to be the bathroom. Something she did not want to see.
Darien suddenly walked over to the couch and pushed off a pile of underwear with his hand, making barely enough room for him to sit.
"I'm not exactly the neat type." He told her, grinning.
"Well by the time we leave here you're going to be! Now go get me a trash bag!" Serena replied rather harshly, stepping over a couple of bread and pizza crusts and right into a pile of something mushy that looked like frosting.
"W-What do you mean?"
"I mean..." She began, rolling her eyes, "that we're going to clean this place up. Blade, or whatever his name is, isn't going to come tonight, so we might as well clean."
Darien simply stared at her. It had been so many years since he had been around a girl... he had forgotten how demanding they could be. Sighing reluctantly he headed for the kitchen.
"Oh and Darien?"
He stopped to face her.
"You're cleaning the bathroom."
~
Carefully picking a piece of ABC gum off the TV with her fingernails, Serena plucked it into the bag before shaking her hand vigorously. It was a dirty job... but not as dirty as cleaning the bathroom.
Sitting back on her knees, she sighed, then called to Darien.
"Hey Darien? Do you have any music we can listen to?" She asked him. He emerged from the bathroom seconds later with a clothespin on his nose, rubber gloves on his hands and a rather disgusted look on his face. Cleaning the bathroom was not his idea of how to spend a Friday night... especially when there was a gorgeous girl in the next room. Shaking his head, partly to get rid of the horrible fumes in the bathroom, he thought for a second.
"Uh... I think I have a pure 80's CD..." He began, but was cut short by Serena.
"Oh really?! I love 80's music! Where is it?" Darien pointed over to the bookcase where she happily walked over and found the CD, popping it into the boom box placed on the coffee table.
A little bit later, Serena was plucking off the ABC gum with not nearly as much disgust, while happily singing along to the music. (Not too loud of course, she didn't want to bother Darien.)
"You're an obsession, you're my obsession, who do you want me to be, to make you sleep with me..." She sang softly, pulling off the last piece of gum.
"Anyone." Darien muttered from across the room, standing on a chair as he pulled spit wads off the ceiling.
"What?" Serena asked, looking at him.
"N-Nothing." He said just barely loud enough for Serena to here. Shrugging, she walked over to the coffee table and began wiping food off of it and into the garbage bag.
~
Four hours later, Serena and Darien were both sitting on the couch, panting, but being able to breathe clean air. Neither was moving much, and both had their eyes closed and their heads leaned back.
Darien was the first one to move, sitting up straight and stretching. Serena still didn't move, and he had a good notion that she was asleep.
"Serena..." He whispered, nudging her leg slightly. The girl didn't budge.
Poor girl.. can't blame her for being so exhausted though... this hasn't been a very easy day on her...
Suddenly getting an idea, Darien grinned. If she woke up, he would be in big trouble... but he didn't want her sleeping on the couch...
Ever so carefully, he picked her up princess style. Serena groaned slightly in her sleep, but didn't wake up. He carried her to his bedroom where he softly laid her down on the bed, covering her in the sheets.
She really is incredible... she has such a big heart, and she trusts me enough to fall asleep here... not that I would hurt her, anyway...
Suddenly getting very tired himself, Darien yawned and headed for his living room.
~
Love? Hate? Please R/R… although I suppose you've already read it if you're reading this… oh well ^_^ Anywho, for any of romance fans out there reading this… don't worry, it's getting mushy in the next chapter ;) As for all you non-romance fans, don't worry, it also has quite a few revelations in the next chapter as well…