Author's Notes: Hello minna-san!! Back for Chapter 13, eh? Well, do I have
a treat for you (mutters hopefully) I think this MAY be the last chapter
cheers Not so sure.....but, you'll know as soon as I reach the end won't
you? Hehe.....Well on with the story!!
Title: Oops, I Klutz Out Again!
Author: KaBunny
E-mail: Alexandra_Miyoko@yahoo.com
Rating: PG
Chapter 13: Three Words
Serena continued stalking off toward the coffee shop leaving Darien to stand in the rain and stare after her. What had he been thinking? Darien had no idea. He knew he shouldn't have left in the first place. All the while in Europe, he had this sinking feeling that something bad was happening. And now that he was back, he had finally found out what it was.
He knew it was his fault and he was going to have to fix. No one else seemed to be able to prevent it, so how could he manage to fix it? It was impossible. Serena had become a total enigma to him in the five years he had been gone and the beautiful vivacious girl he once knew was no longer. Sure, she was still beautiful, but the pain he had caused her when he left changed her to be the emotionless being that she was. Somehow, Darien realized that he would have to use his past experiences to show Serena that life was much better living without fear of losing.
That thought through and Serena completely out of sight now, Darien walked back up to the hospital. He entered and walked back into the maternity ward to join the friends he hadn't seen in a long while.
Andrew glanced up as he saw the door open again. It was Darien and he couldn't have been more glad to have his last remaining best friend back near him. Darien was like the anchor that held the five best guy friends together. Andrew, Chad, Greg, and Ken knew it. During the absence of their 'leader' the five had grown quite distant, but now that he was back, Andrew hoped that they would drift closer again.
Darien walked over and sat down next to Andrew after shaking the water out of his hair the best he could. He was soaked!
"So, Andrew, what did I miss in my absence?" Darien asked, smiling at Mina as she turned to look at him. She mustn't have noticed when he walked in.
"Um, not much besides everything," Andrew stated casually.
"See the young girl over there?" Mina asked pointing to Raine. Darien nodded and then looked quite confused. "It's Raye and Chad's child, Raine. Isn't she beautiful?"
"Very," Darien mummered as he stared at the small child laughing merrily.
"She never got to meet her Uncle Darien. He was off in France studying to be a doctor," Andrew muttered into Darien's ear. "And that's only one thing you've missed. Imagine the rest." Andrew smiled, satisfied that Darien was completely shocked. The blonde leaned back over to Mina and muttered something in her ear that made her laugh and blush at the same time.
Raye had walked over to stand infront of Darien. Darien looked up at her and smiled. "Hi, Raye."
"Darien, I think it's time that you officially met Raine," Raye replied, taking Darien's hand. Darien stood up as Raye lead Darien over to the small table that Raine was sitting at. The small child looked up at its mother and then to Darien before looking back to its mother.
"Who's that, mommy?" Raine questioned, her eyes, the same eyes as Raye, stared back at Darien.
"This is your Uncle Darien," Raye replied as Darien sat on the floor on the other side of the table. Darien smiled at the child who looked skeptically at him. Raye leaned down to whisper in his ear. "I need you to do me a favor, Darien. I need you to watch Raine for me tonight while I look after Ames. Would you mind?"
"Of course not," Darien whispered back. "But, I haven't checked out the condition of my old apartment."
"Don't worry about that. Someone's been keeping up on its housecleaning for you just in case you came back," Raye mummered, smiling as she walked away before Darien could ask who. Who could've possibly had his house key?
"So, yoo my Uncle Dawien?" asked the three year old child. "Daddee talks a wot about yoo."
"Yes, that's right. Your daddy is one of my best friends," Darien replied, smiling at the child, who still looked at him skeptically.
"Den, den.....," Raine face then broke out in a smile before she continued with, "yoo be my fwiend too?"
"Of course!" Darien responded, ruffling the child's long brown hair. "How would you like to come with me tonight and sleep over at my house? Does that sound like fun?"
"YAY!!!" the child screamed happily. Raine dove at Darien and gave him the biggest bear hug she could muster. "I WOVE SWEEP OVAS!!!"
Darien hugged the child back as he glanced over at Raye to see her smiling at him secretively.
Having the child sleep over at Darien's old apartment was just the ticket. They couldn't argue infront of the child, so Serena was trapped. She would *have* to talk to Darien. Raye grinned evilly as she turned away to join back into the previous conversation that was going on.
~~~~~~
Serena sighed heavily as she finally reached the sixth floor. 'That's just great! As if my day hasn't been bad *enough*, the elevator has to break!' Serena thought, grumpily as she pulled the key to her apartment.
She opened the door and stepped into the apartment which she could now call her own. Well, we won't go into *that* one! Serena glanced around the room and smiled at its cleanliness. Her old room had never been this clean! But, she had vowed to keep everything in here clean.
Serena hung her back pack on the coat hanger next to the door to dry. She then wandered into her bedroom and changed into some dark blue fleece pjs to warm herself up. She then proceeded to pull her hair back up into a large bun after squeezing out all the excess water.
After she felt drier and warmer, Serena decided that it was time to start her homework, so she went to her bag and pulled out her dry book. Good thing for the water proof lining on the inside of her bag or her books would be dripping wet also.
She set three of the books on the counter and then remembered that she was supposed to go back to the hospital to check on Amy. Serena whirled around to glance at the clock and sighed. It was nearly eight at night. It wouldn't matter if she went now or not. She would just end up sitting in the waiting room all night and that meant that she would have to think about *him* all night also. Her friends would understand, right?
Serena sighed loudly again before closing her bag and wandering over to the couch. As she sat down she knew she forgot something. She hadn't turned a light on in here yet. But, that was because she was used to not turning lights on in here. Usually, Serena came home from the library late at night and went directly to bed without turning on any lights.
The blonde hopped up from the couch and reached over to flick on a light switch. Nothing happened. No lights turned on, just nothing. She flicked it on and off several times. She mumbled something about insolent apartment managers before wandering over to the phone. She picked it up, but it was dead.
Great. She was by herself on the sixth floor of an apartment building with no lights and no phone in the middle of a horrendous thunder and lightning storm. Great, just great. Oh, yes, Serena was just peachy keen. What else could go wrong?
The young blonde girl growled before wandering off into her bedroom and grabbing the lighter out of her bedroom drawer. She wandered back out into the living room and began lighting the 15 some odd candles strewn throughout the living room and the kitchen. She felt better now that there was at least a *little* lighting.
She then plopped back on the couch just in time to hear the door handle on her front door being jiggled. Serena hopped back up and ran to the front door, staring wide-eyed as the handle jiggled again. She ran into the bedroom and emerged with a rather large baseball bat. She stood then behind the door and waited for the intruder to open it.
A few seconds later the door swung open and of course, Serena, standing behind the door, couldn't see who the intruder was. Not that the dark didn't help. It seems that the lights in the hallway were off too. The blonde girl raised the bat, ready to strike the intruder once they closed the door.
The door swung closed and Serena went to swing, but instead dropped the bat to gawk at none other than Darien. She looked down into his arms to see a small sleeping figure.
"W-What're you doing in *my* apartment?!" Serena nearly screeched.
"Um, this is my apartment," Darien muttered, quietly. "As far as I remembered, I lived here. And be quiet Raine is sleeping."
"B-but......," Serena stared at Darien. She couldn't believe it. For the first time in five years, she was at lose for words. So, she growled instead and rolled her eyes in frustration.
Darien moved past her and walked into the bedroom. He pulled back the covers with one arm, the other holding up the petite child in his arms who was still sleeping soundly. He laid the girl into the bed and pulled the covers over her so she wouldn't get cold. The girl rolled over and mummered something in her sleep before Darien walked out of the bedroom and closed the door almost completely behind himself. He walked back into the living room to see Serena glaring at him from her position on the couch.
"Don't look at me like that," Darien said, sighing as he sat down on the other end of the couch. "This *is* my apartment."
"The landlord said he was going to lease your apartment unless someone started living in it," Serena answered, finally finding her voice again.
"So, you should've let him," Darien replied, glancing over at her. She wasn't even looking at him. She looked exceptionally good in those blues pjs she was wearing and the fact that the candle light softened her features didn't help either. "He would've had to send me a release form to use my apartment. I nearly bought this apartment. I would've if it was actually on sale, but it was only for rent, so I paid years in advance. So, he would've had to send me something in order for him to use it or I could've sued him."
"I *know* that," Serena grumbled, turning to glare at him again. "I am majoring in *law* you know!"
"No, I didn't know that, Serena," Darien stated, leaning his head in his hand as he leaned an elbow on the armrest.
"There are a lot of things you don't know," Serena mummered. Darien barely heard it.
"There's one thing I noticed about you," Darien replied, turning to look at her.
"What's that?" Serena mocked, looking at him with a sarcastic smirk on her face.
"I noticed that you've changed. You've become more distant with those that love you as though they're going to hurt you. I haven't quite figured out *why* you do that yet though because no loved one of yours has ever hurt you," Darien explained, watching Serena to catch her expression.
"Yes, someone has hurt me," Serena muttered, averting her eyes down. "You hurt me Darien. More than you'll ever know."
"How could I have hurt you, Serena, if we.....if we never....loved each other?" Darien asked, his eyes never leaving her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OOOOOO.....I *was* going to right Sere's response to that, but....I decided to make it a cliffie instead, so you'll just have to wait, gomen! But, yeah, I guess this *wasn't* the last chapter as you can plainly see, but it's getting closer....I think it will be the next one!!
What will Serena say to Darien's question? Is she too stubborn to admit the emotions she's been harboring for him for five years? Stay Tuned for Chapter 14: So You're Leaving!!
Oyasumi nasai! ~KaBunny
Title: Oops, I Klutz Out Again!
Author: KaBunny
E-mail: Alexandra_Miyoko@yahoo.com
Rating: PG
Chapter 13: Three Words
Serena continued stalking off toward the coffee shop leaving Darien to stand in the rain and stare after her. What had he been thinking? Darien had no idea. He knew he shouldn't have left in the first place. All the while in Europe, he had this sinking feeling that something bad was happening. And now that he was back, he had finally found out what it was.
He knew it was his fault and he was going to have to fix. No one else seemed to be able to prevent it, so how could he manage to fix it? It was impossible. Serena had become a total enigma to him in the five years he had been gone and the beautiful vivacious girl he once knew was no longer. Sure, she was still beautiful, but the pain he had caused her when he left changed her to be the emotionless being that she was. Somehow, Darien realized that he would have to use his past experiences to show Serena that life was much better living without fear of losing.
That thought through and Serena completely out of sight now, Darien walked back up to the hospital. He entered and walked back into the maternity ward to join the friends he hadn't seen in a long while.
Andrew glanced up as he saw the door open again. It was Darien and he couldn't have been more glad to have his last remaining best friend back near him. Darien was like the anchor that held the five best guy friends together. Andrew, Chad, Greg, and Ken knew it. During the absence of their 'leader' the five had grown quite distant, but now that he was back, Andrew hoped that they would drift closer again.
Darien walked over and sat down next to Andrew after shaking the water out of his hair the best he could. He was soaked!
"So, Andrew, what did I miss in my absence?" Darien asked, smiling at Mina as she turned to look at him. She mustn't have noticed when he walked in.
"Um, not much besides everything," Andrew stated casually.
"See the young girl over there?" Mina asked pointing to Raine. Darien nodded and then looked quite confused. "It's Raye and Chad's child, Raine. Isn't she beautiful?"
"Very," Darien mummered as he stared at the small child laughing merrily.
"She never got to meet her Uncle Darien. He was off in France studying to be a doctor," Andrew muttered into Darien's ear. "And that's only one thing you've missed. Imagine the rest." Andrew smiled, satisfied that Darien was completely shocked. The blonde leaned back over to Mina and muttered something in her ear that made her laugh and blush at the same time.
Raye had walked over to stand infront of Darien. Darien looked up at her and smiled. "Hi, Raye."
"Darien, I think it's time that you officially met Raine," Raye replied, taking Darien's hand. Darien stood up as Raye lead Darien over to the small table that Raine was sitting at. The small child looked up at its mother and then to Darien before looking back to its mother.
"Who's that, mommy?" Raine questioned, her eyes, the same eyes as Raye, stared back at Darien.
"This is your Uncle Darien," Raye replied as Darien sat on the floor on the other side of the table. Darien smiled at the child who looked skeptically at him. Raye leaned down to whisper in his ear. "I need you to do me a favor, Darien. I need you to watch Raine for me tonight while I look after Ames. Would you mind?"
"Of course not," Darien whispered back. "But, I haven't checked out the condition of my old apartment."
"Don't worry about that. Someone's been keeping up on its housecleaning for you just in case you came back," Raye mummered, smiling as she walked away before Darien could ask who. Who could've possibly had his house key?
"So, yoo my Uncle Dawien?" asked the three year old child. "Daddee talks a wot about yoo."
"Yes, that's right. Your daddy is one of my best friends," Darien replied, smiling at the child, who still looked at him skeptically.
"Den, den.....," Raine face then broke out in a smile before she continued with, "yoo be my fwiend too?"
"Of course!" Darien responded, ruffling the child's long brown hair. "How would you like to come with me tonight and sleep over at my house? Does that sound like fun?"
"YAY!!!" the child screamed happily. Raine dove at Darien and gave him the biggest bear hug she could muster. "I WOVE SWEEP OVAS!!!"
Darien hugged the child back as he glanced over at Raye to see her smiling at him secretively.
Having the child sleep over at Darien's old apartment was just the ticket. They couldn't argue infront of the child, so Serena was trapped. She would *have* to talk to Darien. Raye grinned evilly as she turned away to join back into the previous conversation that was going on.
~~~~~~
Serena sighed heavily as she finally reached the sixth floor. 'That's just great! As if my day hasn't been bad *enough*, the elevator has to break!' Serena thought, grumpily as she pulled the key to her apartment.
She opened the door and stepped into the apartment which she could now call her own. Well, we won't go into *that* one! Serena glanced around the room and smiled at its cleanliness. Her old room had never been this clean! But, she had vowed to keep everything in here clean.
Serena hung her back pack on the coat hanger next to the door to dry. She then wandered into her bedroom and changed into some dark blue fleece pjs to warm herself up. She then proceeded to pull her hair back up into a large bun after squeezing out all the excess water.
After she felt drier and warmer, Serena decided that it was time to start her homework, so she went to her bag and pulled out her dry book. Good thing for the water proof lining on the inside of her bag or her books would be dripping wet also.
She set three of the books on the counter and then remembered that she was supposed to go back to the hospital to check on Amy. Serena whirled around to glance at the clock and sighed. It was nearly eight at night. It wouldn't matter if she went now or not. She would just end up sitting in the waiting room all night and that meant that she would have to think about *him* all night also. Her friends would understand, right?
Serena sighed loudly again before closing her bag and wandering over to the couch. As she sat down she knew she forgot something. She hadn't turned a light on in here yet. But, that was because she was used to not turning lights on in here. Usually, Serena came home from the library late at night and went directly to bed without turning on any lights.
The blonde hopped up from the couch and reached over to flick on a light switch. Nothing happened. No lights turned on, just nothing. She flicked it on and off several times. She mumbled something about insolent apartment managers before wandering over to the phone. She picked it up, but it was dead.
Great. She was by herself on the sixth floor of an apartment building with no lights and no phone in the middle of a horrendous thunder and lightning storm. Great, just great. Oh, yes, Serena was just peachy keen. What else could go wrong?
The young blonde girl growled before wandering off into her bedroom and grabbing the lighter out of her bedroom drawer. She wandered back out into the living room and began lighting the 15 some odd candles strewn throughout the living room and the kitchen. She felt better now that there was at least a *little* lighting.
She then plopped back on the couch just in time to hear the door handle on her front door being jiggled. Serena hopped back up and ran to the front door, staring wide-eyed as the handle jiggled again. She ran into the bedroom and emerged with a rather large baseball bat. She stood then behind the door and waited for the intruder to open it.
A few seconds later the door swung open and of course, Serena, standing behind the door, couldn't see who the intruder was. Not that the dark didn't help. It seems that the lights in the hallway were off too. The blonde girl raised the bat, ready to strike the intruder once they closed the door.
The door swung closed and Serena went to swing, but instead dropped the bat to gawk at none other than Darien. She looked down into his arms to see a small sleeping figure.
"W-What're you doing in *my* apartment?!" Serena nearly screeched.
"Um, this is my apartment," Darien muttered, quietly. "As far as I remembered, I lived here. And be quiet Raine is sleeping."
"B-but......," Serena stared at Darien. She couldn't believe it. For the first time in five years, she was at lose for words. So, she growled instead and rolled her eyes in frustration.
Darien moved past her and walked into the bedroom. He pulled back the covers with one arm, the other holding up the petite child in his arms who was still sleeping soundly. He laid the girl into the bed and pulled the covers over her so she wouldn't get cold. The girl rolled over and mummered something in her sleep before Darien walked out of the bedroom and closed the door almost completely behind himself. He walked back into the living room to see Serena glaring at him from her position on the couch.
"Don't look at me like that," Darien said, sighing as he sat down on the other end of the couch. "This *is* my apartment."
"The landlord said he was going to lease your apartment unless someone started living in it," Serena answered, finally finding her voice again.
"So, you should've let him," Darien replied, glancing over at her. She wasn't even looking at him. She looked exceptionally good in those blues pjs she was wearing and the fact that the candle light softened her features didn't help either. "He would've had to send me a release form to use my apartment. I nearly bought this apartment. I would've if it was actually on sale, but it was only for rent, so I paid years in advance. So, he would've had to send me something in order for him to use it or I could've sued him."
"I *know* that," Serena grumbled, turning to glare at him again. "I am majoring in *law* you know!"
"No, I didn't know that, Serena," Darien stated, leaning his head in his hand as he leaned an elbow on the armrest.
"There are a lot of things you don't know," Serena mummered. Darien barely heard it.
"There's one thing I noticed about you," Darien replied, turning to look at her.
"What's that?" Serena mocked, looking at him with a sarcastic smirk on her face.
"I noticed that you've changed. You've become more distant with those that love you as though they're going to hurt you. I haven't quite figured out *why* you do that yet though because no loved one of yours has ever hurt you," Darien explained, watching Serena to catch her expression.
"Yes, someone has hurt me," Serena muttered, averting her eyes down. "You hurt me Darien. More than you'll ever know."
"How could I have hurt you, Serena, if we.....if we never....loved each other?" Darien asked, his eyes never leaving her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OOOOOO.....I *was* going to right Sere's response to that, but....I decided to make it a cliffie instead, so you'll just have to wait, gomen! But, yeah, I guess this *wasn't* the last chapter as you can plainly see, but it's getting closer....I think it will be the next one!!
What will Serena say to Darien's question? Is she too stubborn to admit the emotions she's been harboring for him for five years? Stay Tuned for Chapter 14: So You're Leaving!!
Oyasumi nasai! ~KaBunny