Unwrapping Christmas
By Mitzi
Chapter Three
Hi, y'all. Sorry I took so long to get this up, but I have excuses! I just moved to a
new house, I have screwy Internet connection, and I'm experiencing serious writer's
block on all my stories. Well, except "Shatter" and the ones I haven't actually written
yet…Thank you guys for being so patient! I'm doing my best to finish this, and
"Bittersweet Symphony" which has been very unloved lately by me, and I apologize to
anyone waiting for an update. It's coming, I promise. The same goes for the rest of the
stories. While you're waiting, why don't you go read "Last Tears"? Self-promo!
Disclaimer: Paste your fave here; I'm too tired right now to be clever…
* * *
There was utter and complete silence as Serena glared at Darien's shocked face.
"Serena? What on earth are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you about something. You know, about the-"
"Calendar. I saw you and the girls in the arcade. It's not exactly what it looks
like."
"Oh, really? So the pages covered with naked males don't actually exist, right?
We were all just imagining. And that, of course, takes into account the fact that you took
off like the hounds of Hell were biting your butt when you saw us. Is that what you're
saying?"
"No, but you don't understand-"
"What don't I understand, Darien? That you've spent the past year getting on my
back for the tiniest little mistakes while you're out doing porn! Is that what I don't
understand?!" Serena's voice had been getting steadily louder as she went from an
"inside voice" to red-faced yelling. Her chest lifting somewhat from her tirade, Serena
fisted her hands at her sides and resumed glaring at Darien, who had once again been
shocked into silence. With a quick "humph!" she turned on her heel and stomped back
down the hall and into the elevator. She never saw Darien's slumping shoulders, or the
world-weary sadness in his eyes.
Ten minutes later, Darien's quiet, thoughtful solitude was again disrupted by loud
rapping on his door. Sighing, he dragged himself off the coach and over to his front door,
not looking forward to having to face whoever was out there. He strongly suspected it
was Andrew, angry and hurt and not being informed of Darien's defection to the world of
the unclothed. The knocking, by this time, had turned into loud pounding.
"Geez! I'm coming!"
Grabbing the knob, he wrenched the door open. And gaped.
"Darien?"
Serena, apparently, had seen his eyes.
She, of course, received no answer, having stunned the poor boy into total
speechlessness- AGAIN. After two whole minutes of him looking, strangely enough,
like he was going to faint, she tried again.
"Darien?"
"Ye- Yes?"
"Move."
With that, Darien found himself shouldered out of his own front door as Serena
gently pushed into his apartment.
The two teens (AN: Did I mention that Darien is 18.5 years old and Serena is
15.7? I bet I didn't.) sat with a good three feet between them on the couch in Darien's
living room, saying nothing and absolutely motionless.
"So-"
"So-"
"You go first-"
"You go first-"
They stared at each other.
"Well?"
"Well?
"Argh!"
"Argh!"
Serena watched, incredulous, as she saw Darien's lips twitch with the beginnings
of a smile that quickly formed, and then stretched out into a loud chuckle. Disbelieving
what she was seeing, Serena's eyes widened as Darien shook with mirth. Helpless, she
found herself also succumbing to the humor of their situation and soon joined him on the
floor, rolling around, laughing 'til tears seeped out of her eyes. An eternity later, they
still lay on the floor, exhausted and unwilling to go back the cold silence or fiery anger of
earlier moments. Serena felt, rather than saw, Darien shift so that he was lying on his
belly, rather than spread-eagled and staring at the ceiling.
"Serena…Why did you come back?"
She turned her head to try and look him in the eyes, but found he was staring at
his hands rather than in her direction.
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because…I figured after taking me yelling at you, you deserved someone
listening to your lame excuse, even if they had no intention of believing it."
"Thank you for your honesty. I think."
"Hey, you asked!"
They lapsed into silence again, neither looking at the other.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"I want my lame excuse, thank you very much! I came back, so I think I deserve
some kind of explanation for my persistence."
"You mean your peskiness."
"Yeah- hey! That was mean."
"Sorry."
"I come all this way, twice, and this is how I get treat- what did you say?"
"I said sorry."
"Oh, my god." Serena began mock hyperventilating. "Darien Chiba,
apologizing. Amazing."
The pair shared another round of chuckles, this time not falling. How could they?
They were already there.
"Darien?"
"Yes, Serena?"
Not taking the time to dwell of his use of her birth-name, she took a deep breath
and plunged ahead.
"Tell me. Tell me about what I don't understand. Tell me what it really was."
* * *
Does this count as a cliffhanger? I've always wanted to do one of those. Wow,
I'm on a roll! Note to self: Eating Pringles cures writer's block. I'm gonna go work on
chappie four now, kay? Pwease weed an' wahview, and maybe email, too. Oar Ah'm
gonna hayve to wrate en fanny voices!
mitzifitz@yahoo.com
~Mitzi
By Mitzi
Chapter Three
Hi, y'all. Sorry I took so long to get this up, but I have excuses! I just moved to a
new house, I have screwy Internet connection, and I'm experiencing serious writer's
block on all my stories. Well, except "Shatter" and the ones I haven't actually written
yet…Thank you guys for being so patient! I'm doing my best to finish this, and
"Bittersweet Symphony" which has been very unloved lately by me, and I apologize to
anyone waiting for an update. It's coming, I promise. The same goes for the rest of the
stories. While you're waiting, why don't you go read "Last Tears"? Self-promo!
Disclaimer: Paste your fave here; I'm too tired right now to be clever…
* * *
There was utter and complete silence as Serena glared at Darien's shocked face.
"Serena? What on earth are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you about something. You know, about the-"
"Calendar. I saw you and the girls in the arcade. It's not exactly what it looks
like."
"Oh, really? So the pages covered with naked males don't actually exist, right?
We were all just imagining. And that, of course, takes into account the fact that you took
off like the hounds of Hell were biting your butt when you saw us. Is that what you're
saying?"
"No, but you don't understand-"
"What don't I understand, Darien? That you've spent the past year getting on my
back for the tiniest little mistakes while you're out doing porn! Is that what I don't
understand?!" Serena's voice had been getting steadily louder as she went from an
"inside voice" to red-faced yelling. Her chest lifting somewhat from her tirade, Serena
fisted her hands at her sides and resumed glaring at Darien, who had once again been
shocked into silence. With a quick "humph!" she turned on her heel and stomped back
down the hall and into the elevator. She never saw Darien's slumping shoulders, or the
world-weary sadness in his eyes.
Ten minutes later, Darien's quiet, thoughtful solitude was again disrupted by loud
rapping on his door. Sighing, he dragged himself off the coach and over to his front door,
not looking forward to having to face whoever was out there. He strongly suspected it
was Andrew, angry and hurt and not being informed of Darien's defection to the world of
the unclothed. The knocking, by this time, had turned into loud pounding.
"Geez! I'm coming!"
Grabbing the knob, he wrenched the door open. And gaped.
"Darien?"
Serena, apparently, had seen his eyes.
She, of course, received no answer, having stunned the poor boy into total
speechlessness- AGAIN. After two whole minutes of him looking, strangely enough,
like he was going to faint, she tried again.
"Darien?"
"Ye- Yes?"
"Move."
With that, Darien found himself shouldered out of his own front door as Serena
gently pushed into his apartment.
The two teens (AN: Did I mention that Darien is 18.5 years old and Serena is
15.7? I bet I didn't.) sat with a good three feet between them on the couch in Darien's
living room, saying nothing and absolutely motionless.
"So-"
"So-"
"You go first-"
"You go first-"
They stared at each other.
"Well?"
"Well?
"Argh!"
"Argh!"
Serena watched, incredulous, as she saw Darien's lips twitch with the beginnings
of a smile that quickly formed, and then stretched out into a loud chuckle. Disbelieving
what she was seeing, Serena's eyes widened as Darien shook with mirth. Helpless, she
found herself also succumbing to the humor of their situation and soon joined him on the
floor, rolling around, laughing 'til tears seeped out of her eyes. An eternity later, they
still lay on the floor, exhausted and unwilling to go back the cold silence or fiery anger of
earlier moments. Serena felt, rather than saw, Darien shift so that he was lying on his
belly, rather than spread-eagled and staring at the ceiling.
"Serena…Why did you come back?"
She turned her head to try and look him in the eyes, but found he was staring at
his hands rather than in her direction.
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because…I figured after taking me yelling at you, you deserved someone
listening to your lame excuse, even if they had no intention of believing it."
"Thank you for your honesty. I think."
"Hey, you asked!"
They lapsed into silence again, neither looking at the other.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"I want my lame excuse, thank you very much! I came back, so I think I deserve
some kind of explanation for my persistence."
"You mean your peskiness."
"Yeah- hey! That was mean."
"Sorry."
"I come all this way, twice, and this is how I get treat- what did you say?"
"I said sorry."
"Oh, my god." Serena began mock hyperventilating. "Darien Chiba,
apologizing. Amazing."
The pair shared another round of chuckles, this time not falling. How could they?
They were already there.
"Darien?"
"Yes, Serena?"
Not taking the time to dwell of his use of her birth-name, she took a deep breath
and plunged ahead.
"Tell me. Tell me about what I don't understand. Tell me what it really was."
* * *
Does this count as a cliffhanger? I've always wanted to do one of those. Wow,
I'm on a roll! Note to self: Eating Pringles cures writer's block. I'm gonna go work on
chappie four now, kay? Pwease weed an' wahview, and maybe email, too. Oar Ah'm
gonna hayve to wrate en fanny voices!
mitzifitz@yahoo.com
~Mitzi