The title of the fic and the lyrics from the previous part comes from the song "When You Walked Into My Life" by Lila McCann.
When You Walked Into My Life
By Elysia [ely_chan@yahoo.com]
Rating: PG
Part Two: Getting To Know You (and Like You Too)
He had been staring at the phone for the last hour. Darien knew what he wanted to do, but mustering up enough courage to do it was another story. Sighing deeply, he grabbed the phone and dialed the number.
One ring, then two. The other end picked up, and a chirpy voice said, "Hello?" Darien let out a silent breath of relief. It wasn't her. "Hi, is Serena home?" he replied as calmly as he could.
"Hold on, I'll go get her." Lita set the cordless phone down on the table and sang out, "Serena! Phone's for you!" Then, because she was in a good mood and wanted to have a little fun, Lita added, "Sounds like a hot guy!"
Darien could hear some muffled conversation in the background, and then the phone was picked up again. "Hello?" Serena's crystal clear voice rang through the receiver and into Darien's ears. He couldn't resist letting her roommate's comment go. "So your roommates think I sound hot?"
Serena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, you know how us college girls are. Late at night we sit around talking about guys and how we can't live without them."
"Really?"
She giggled to herself. He had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker, thus proving that guys really were gullible. "No, of course we don't. Well, except for Mina, that is."
Laughing out loud, Darien faintly heard a "Hey!" in the background, the phone being set down on something, then a door being slammed shut. "Sorry about that," Serena said, picking the phone back up. "I had a little eavesdropping problem. So..." she replied, changing the subject, "Why did you call, Darien?"
All of a sudden he got rather nervous. 'Get a hold of yourself, Darien! It's just Serena you're talking to! Sure, like that helped...'
"Darien? You there?"
'Say something, stupid!' He gulped. "Well... I wanted to ask you about something."
She switched the phone to her other ear. "What is it?"
Darien felt his palms getting sweaty. He was... not going to do this. After all that, he had lost his nerve. But what could he do about it now? He had her on the phone, and he couldn't get out of it now. "I... I was hoping you could help me get ready for my English midterm, since you are an English major, you know." 'Open mouth, insert foot, Einstein.'
Serena switched the phone to her other ear, a little dejected. "Sure, Darien, I'd love to help you out. What are friends for, right?"
"Y-you would?" Darien was shocked that she would accept so quickly, but thrilled at the same time. "Great!"
"Well, when do you need my help? Is there anything I should bring?" He was still so relieved that he nearly forgot to respond. "Oh, yeah, that. Well, is tomorrow all right with you?" He glanced at the clock on his wall. "Um, Serena, I've got to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay? Bye." He hung up the phone before he totally lost it.
"Tomorrow it is," she mumbled to herself as she hung up the phone. She sighed, opening the bedroom door. Her three roommates fell into the room, looking up at her with sheepish grins. "So what's going on?" Lita asked, as she stood up and helped the other two to their feet.
With a shrug, Serena replied, "That was Darien, He wants me to help him with an English assignment." Mina, Lita and Ami all got the same look on their faces at the same time. "That's it? Did he say anything else? Did he ask you out?"
She shook her head. "I told you before, we're just friends," she replied, though the words sounded foreign to her ears as she said them. Friends. It pained her just to say the word. If that's all it was meant to be, then that was okay. But anything more was always a nice thought.
******
Darien groaned under the weight of his backpack. Times like these he wished he had a car, especially when Serena's apartment was nearly three blocks away. They agreed to meet at her place since all her roommates would be out for the evening and they could get some work done without interruption.
He wondered to himself why he hadn't just asked her out. He wanted to, but actually asking was difficult for him. He had never been one of the popular guys in high school. That was why his roommates were always setting him up on blind dates. He wished they would leave him alone when it came to dealing with his love life; he was doing fine on his own.
That thought stopped him in his tracks. His love life was fine? Since when? He hadn't made a date on his own the entire time he had been at college. But then again, he was too busy getting his homework completed to take time to notice any of the girls in his classes.
Until he met Serena. She did something to him that he never felt before. From the very first day he met her, up to two nights ago when he held her in his arms as they danced, he knew there was something special about her.
So why was it so difficult for him to show his feelings? He shook his head at his stupidity. The next time the opportunity presented itself, he would ask her out before he lost the nerve to do it altogether.
******
With a smile, Serena opened the front door and let Darien inside. Though she was wearing a pair of old jeans and an oversized sweatshirt, she still looked cute. "Unusually quiet, I know. It's amazing when I get the apartment to myself. Maybe I was just lucky." She pointed to the kitchen table where her books and papers were scattered on top. "I tried to clean as much as I could, but it'll have to do for now." As he sat down in one of the wooden chairs, she asked, "So what is it exactly that you have to do for English?"
He smiled sheepishly. "Well, it's the same thing that Mina had to do."
"Memorize lines from one of Shakespeare's plays? That shouldn't be too difficult. Which ones have you studied?"
"The only one I remember is 'Much Ado About Nothing,' and that's because we watched the movie in class last week."
Serena's eyes lit up. "That happens to be my favorite comedy by Shakespeare. Let me see if I can find my copy, and I'll help you pick a scene to memorize." She jumped out of the chair, and ran back down the hall into her room. Darien saw the light go on, and chuckled to himself as he heard her moving around the room loudly in search of the book.
"Found it!" she yelled, coming in from the other room, book in hand. Darien took one look at her and started to laugh. "What?" she asked, then looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail, and clumps of dust stuck to her shirt. Quickly, she brushed herself off and pulled her hair back into its ponytail. "Remind me never to go looking under my bed again. I'm likely to get lost in there."
Flopping down in the chair, she started flipping through the dog-eared copy. "So what's your favorite scene? Do you even have one yet?" Darien turned a couple of pages, and skimmed over the words. "Here," he replied, pointing to a section. "Act Five, Scene Two, right before everyone found out that Hero was proven innocent. This was pretty good."
Serena laughed. "Ah, so you're into the scandalous love affairs?" He grinned sheepishly. "Actually, I like when Beatrice and Benedick pretend like they can't stand one other, but it's so obvious that they want each other." She raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Sounds like you already know what you're doing. Do you really need my help?"
Darien grabbed her arm. "I only know a little, but the rest of it leaves me clueless. Mina said you helped her out so much, and I thought you could do the same for me. Please?"
Serena found his pitiful pout hard to resist and she giggled. "Okay, okay, I'll help you. By the time I get done with you, you'll be able to recite it in your sleep."
******
"Darien, don't you think we've been doing this long enough?"
"Just once more through, and I think I might have it totally memorized. Please, Serena?"
Serena rubbed her tired eyes and focused on the book again. They had moved from the table to the couch two hours ago, and Serena was starting to feel the effects of the late night. "All right. What line are you on?"
Darien ran his finger down the page and stopped. "Right here. 'Only foul words, and thereupon I will kiss thee,'" he quoted, slightly blushing as he did so, but Serena didn't seem to notice. She yawned, found her place and began to read. "'Foul words is but foul wind, and foul wind is but foul breath, and foul breath is noisome. Therefore I will depart unkissed.'"
He took a deep breath and attempted to recite the next line completely from memory. "'Thou hast frighted the word out of his right sense, so forcible is thy wit. But I must tell thee plainly, Claudio undergoes my challenge, and either I must shortly hear from him, or I will subscribe him a coward. And I pray thee now tell me, for which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?'" Happy that he finally remembered it all, Darien turned to Serena for her to continue the scene, but found she had fallen fast asleep.
Darien nudged her softly on the shoulder, but when she didn't budge, he knew it was useless and gave up. Besides, he had kept her going for almost three hours, and she deserved to sleep. He reached over and gently pulled her over so she could lay down on the full length of the couch. Grabbing the fleece blanket from the back of the couch, he unfolded it and spread it over Serena.
For a moment, he stood back and stared at her, watching her sleep so peacefully, almost wishing that he knew what she was dreaming about. Then on a sudden impulse he leaned forward and planted the softest of kisses on her forehead.
Settling back into the worn plush recliner in the corner of the room, Darien sighed deeply and closed his eyes briefly, thinking a quick rest would do him some good. He would only sleep a few minutes, then go home and get the rest of his homework done.
******
As dawn seeped into the dim room, Serena rubbed her eyes to clear her vision, yawning loudly. She hated sleeping on the couch because it always gave her a painful crick in her neck. She stood up sleepily and walked back into the bathroom.
She whirled around in the doorway and blinked her eyes. There, in the recliner in the corner, slept a peaceful looking Darien.
Gasping softly, Serena padded across the carpet in her stocking feet and stood at the side of the chair, leaning over him quietly. It wasn't a figure of her imagination. He was really here, and that could only mean that he had slept there the entire night. She was relieved that the RA forgot to do her nightly checks, because Serena didn't have a way to explain herself out of this.
She looked down on Darien's peaceful features again, and a smile came to her lips. He was so adorable while he slept, his hair all mussed up and his mouth slightly open. She ran her fingers though his thick dark hair, pulling away slightly when he shifted in his sleep.
Even when Darien was awake, she had never been this close to him, nor this open with her feelings. Serena didn't understand why she acted the way she did; her dislike of obnoxious college guys just came naturally sometimes.
Funny how everything changed when she was near Darien. For the first time in a long time, she was able to open herself up to him and relate to him on a personal level without the fear of being hurt or rejected by him. She trusted him with her secrets; he didn't seem to be the heartbreaker or player type.
Suddenly she realized that blue eyes were looking back into hers. Darien's groggy gaze met her own, and silence ensued between the two.
"Serena? What are you doing here?" Darien asked, his voice cracking. She broke into a smile. "Good morning to you too, sunshine. Actually, you're at my apartment. You must have fallen asleep last night while we were studying."
He let that sink in, then his eyes flew open and he bolted upright, fully awake now. "Did I get you in trouble?"
Serena shook her head. "The RA didn't come by last night, so you're safe." She reached over and flicked a piece of hair out of his face. "You're real cute right after you wake up, you know that?"
Darien blushed. He watched her silently as she turned on the TV, flipping the channels until she came to the cartoons. "Wouldn't be a Saturday morning without these," she grinned. "I've got three different cereals to choose from. Which one would you like?" Serena asked him, pulling the boxes from the cupboard and showing them to him. He sheepishly pointed to the one with the most sugar.
As she sat down beside him on the couch, a thought came to him. 'Okay, lover boy, this is it. Remember you said the next time you got a chance to ask her out, you wouldn't pass it up? Well, here's your chance, buddy.'
He scowled. His inner voice was right. It was always right. He hated that.
"Erm, Serena...?" Darien faltered and ran a hand through his tousled hair. She turned her piercing blue gaze from the TV and on to him and he gulped. He had to do it; he just had to...
He suddenly focused on a waving hand in front of his face. "Hey, space case! Where'd you go?" Serena was giggling at him. While he was listening to that stupid inner voice of his, Serena had been patiently waiting for him to finish his sentence.
He hated being caught off guard. Darien's face flushed bright red, the way it always did when he was embarrassed. "Iwashopingyou'dgooutwithmetoday," he mumbled quickly, shoving a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.
Serena leaned back on the couch, giggling softly. "I thought you'd never ask."
Darien blanched. "What?"
"I've been wanting you to ask me out for a long time."
"Really?" He smacked himself mentally. 'Duh, you idiot! You should've known she liked you. Why didn't you ask her sooner?'
Darien sighed. He really hated when his voice was right.
******
Since the weather was perfect, Serena chose to go ice skating. A few inches of fresh snow had fallen during the night and now the town was covered in a thick white blanket. It was only the beginning of a long and cold winter season.
Darien walked beside the bubbly blonde silently, letting her chatter on, and answering back when she asked him a question. Inside, he was questioning himself. Of all the things to do on a date, she chose ice skating. If only he had listened to his mother when he was younger and done something about it, maybe he would feel a little more comfortable now.
It was no secret. Darien had no idea how to ice skate.
******
Serena finished lacing up her skates, and glided over to Darien on the bench, a glum expression on his face. Lucky for them, it was still early and the rink wasn't too crowded for a Saturday. She tapped his boot with her toe pick, and held out her hand to pull him up. "You ready? Let's go!"
He didn't move. "Erm, Serena... you see, well, I don't exactly know how to skate." She looked surprised for a moment, then giggled. "No problem. I'll teach you." She grabbed Darien's hand and helped to his feet.
"Just keep hold on my hand and concentrate on keeping your feet steady. Don't worry about anything fancy yet, okay?" Darien smiled shakily and moved one skate forward, then eased the other one after that. "Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of it!" This wasn't so bad after all...
That was his last thought before he slipped and fell, taking Serena down with him.
He landed on his stomach, kissing the ice with his already cold lips. Darien groaned softly, wondering to himself just how much more he could take of this. Lifting his head up, he came face to face with Serena, who had fallen down with him. She was breathing heavily and her breath came out in puffs of cold air.
"Darien...?"
His face crumpled. "Ah, Serena, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you fall."
"Um, Darien?"
"I mean, you're so nice to try to teach me and all."
"Darien."
"Yeah?"
Serena squirmed a little. "You can repay me by getting off of me. You're kinda heavy."
It was then that Darien realized he had been on top of Serena the entire time. And not just on top of her, but laying across her body. He could have sworn the ice beneath him melted as he blushed furiously and rolled off her body.
"Sorry about that," he replied sheepishly, helping her to her feet. Serena brushed the snow and ice shavings off of her. "Maybe we should leave the skating alone for a while," she remarked.
Darien heaved an inward sigh of relief. "So what do you suggest instead?" He asked while unlacing his skates. Serena's eyes lit up. "Let's go play in the snow. It's been so long since I did that!" Darien grinned. Finally, something he was good at. With a devilish grin, she took off running again, and he sprinted after her, determined to catch up with her this time.
******
They chased each other to the park, scooping up handfuls of snow and throwing it at each other, laughing the entire time. Serena stopped at an oak tree to catch her breath. Darien came up from behind and dumped a pile of snow over her, making her scream loudly. She wiggled around, trying to get the cold snow out of her jacket. When it was mostly gone, she scooped up a handful of snow and lobbed it at Darien while he wasn't paying attention.
Just before Serena could get away again, he grabbed the back of her coat and pulled her down into the snow with him. The powdery snow cushioned their fall. Serena looked into Darien's eyes curiously, wondering what had gotten into him so suddenly.
He had never blushed so much in his life. Staring back into her gaze, he only saw the depths of her blue eyes... all that really mattered. The snow wasn't even cold anymore.
She was losing the battle quickly. Looking into his deep gaze, it was too much for her to try to turn away. The gap between them grew closer and closer together, and their breaths mingled in the frosty air.
Leaning forward just an inch, Darien captured her lips with his, emitting an immediate response from Serena. Her arms wound around his neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss even more. Her fingers slid into his hair at the nape of his neck and began playing with it, sending chills of pleasure down his spine.
They broke apart only for the need of more air. Serena drowsily looked into Darien's eyes, and they both smiled. The snow had begun to fall again, and they were covered with tiny snowflakes. He reached a hand up and gently brushed some flakes off of her face, never taking his gaze away from her for a moment.
It was then that he also noticed that her teeth were chattering. "We've been out here long enough, don't you think?" he asked softly. Pulling Serena up out of the snow, Darien embraced her tightly in order to warm her and also for the purpose of just holding her close to him. Even though she was freezing, he felt warm all over just by being close to her. "C'mon, let's go back to your apartment and warm up."
******
They kissed again on the way back, and even longer at her front door. Serena felt completely safe with Darien, without having to even question him about it. Deep down inside she knew he would never take advantage of her.
Something changed in Darien after they kissed. He was so much more tender and gentle with her, treating her as if she was about to break. He got her settled on the couch with a thick fleece blanket wrapped around her, and then he volunteered to make up some cocoa as well. Snuggling deeper into the blanket, Serena decided with a grin that she could get used to this treatment very easily.
He brought over two steaming mugs of cocoa, and handed one to her as he sat down. She sipped from it, then placed it on the end table so it could cool down some more. Cuddling up next to him on the couch, she sighed contentedly. Darien wrapped an arm around her, and kissed the top of her head. "If I didn't have so much to do, I'd could stay right here forever," Serena murmured, ready to fall asleep in his embrace.
"What exactly do you have to do?" Darien asked. "You can't have much more homework than me." She shook her head. "Homework is just part of it. I have to study for all my finals, finish up one last project, clean the apartment, and then I have to pack." She groaned. "That's going to be a nightmare."
Darien was confused. "Pack? It's just Christmas break." Serena's head shot up, looking at him in shock. "You mean you didn't... oh no, I thought I told you!" She covered her face with her hands. "This makes it even worse."
"What makes what worse?" he asked, dreading the answer. Serena looked into his dark blue eyes sadly. "Darien... this is my last semester. I won't be coming back."