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Author's Note: Disclaimer: Do Dreams Come True? Chapter Six Serena looked at Darien, her first love, the only true love of her life, and blinked. "Excuse me?" "What, do you want me to get down on one knee?" he asked with an affectionate laugh. "We're getting too old for that; you don't want me to throw out my back, do you?" She didn't even crack a smile. "Did you just ask me to…" As her voice trailed off, Darien realized that she wasn't as jubilantly happy about the proposal as he was. His smile faded and the hand cradling the jewelry box in his inside jacket pocket slowly fell away to rest at his side. "You don't want to," he said in a flat voice. "Darien…" There was no way to tell him gently. "I can't marry you." He turned back to face the spectacular view of Tokyo. "May I ask why?" Again, his voice was cold, as it had been the first time she had tried to tell him no. But this time, she wasn't going to rush to appease him as she had before, as she had since she was fourteen. "Take me home, Darien." ~ She awoke to a soft hand touching her face. "Good morning, baby," she said in a sleepy voice. "What time is it?" "I don't know, time to get up?" She smiled and opened her eyes. "So what would Mommy's baby boy like to eat for breakfast?" The little boy screwed up his face in deep thought and pulled at Serena's hair. "Pancakes. No, cereal. No!" As he debated, Serena gave him a big kiss on the cheek and dragged herself out of bed to look for clean clothes. Seeing her yellow dress lying on the ground, she was reminded of the night before and groaned inwardly. Darien had been the picture of courtesy as he dropped her off. He had apologized for his sudden proposal and told her it was all in a moment of rashness. Being too tired to deal with it, Serena had merely nodded and feigned sleep for the duration of the ride back to her apartment. This morning, thinking about her actions the previous night, Serena knew she had made the right choice in turning down Darien's offer of marriage. Everything was happening too quickly, and she wasn't even sure anymore that her feelings had not been merely residual instead of true and honest love. The mere thought of the whole, messy situation had Serena's head spinning. "Let's go see Aunt Molly," she decided. ~ "Oh, Serena! That is so romantic!" Even as an adult, Molly was prone to a bit of gushing. At this moment, she had stars in her eyes as a result of the retelling of Darien's botched proposal. "But do you understand why I said no?" Serena asked desperately. "Of course!" Molly leaned forward in her chair and gave her best friend a hug. "Then tell me why," Serena pleaded. "I'm so confused; I don't even know what I want right now." Molly smiled sympathetically. "I know you better than you know yourself, Serena. Let me tell you what I think, okay? "First of all, you never got over Darien. That much is clear. Childhood sweethearts are hard to get over. Once you love someone, you never really stop loving them. So when you had the chance to get back together with him, of course you went for it. Then your brain started catching up with your heart and telling you that you're both different people now, which is true. And you've grown up. You're not his Meatball Head anymore, nor is he your Tuxedo Mask. That's why jumping into this relationship just won't work. I think you need to take it from step one and start all over again, get to know him again. Otherwise, you'll never know if he's changed from the boy who could potentially cheat on you." Serena simply stared, open-mouthed. "When did you get so perceptive?" she wondered aloud. Molly laughed. "It's been years, Serena. We've all grown up, not just you and Darien. I have a son now! Mothers are entitled to this kind of knowledge." Serena smiled back. "Well then, I should have twice your knowledge! If only I could figure out what I want… I know I loved Darien back then. But after the whole thing with Mina, I'm not sure if I can trust him anymore. I guess I'll just see what happens and try to keep an open mind." Molly nodded. "Just follow your heart, Serena. I know it'll see you through." ~ The next few days crawled by, much to Serena's chagrin. She had avoided Darien as much as possible, making up pithy excuses when necessary to escape having to see or talk to him. She had used the time to really think about how much they had both changed, and to her dismay, she found that she did not really like the man Darien had come. His extreme mood swings disturbed her, as did the fact that he was clearly stuck in the past. She couldn't figure out whether she was a replacement for Mina, or if he really did want to pick up where they had left off so many years ago. As she contemplated these issues yet again, the phone rang. "Serena, don't hang up on me." Darien's voice was rough and hoarse. The sound of it sent shivers up her spine. "What's wrong?" she asked, moved by his urgency and desperation. "I can't do anything but think of you. Please, just let me see you," he pleaded. She closed her eyes briefly and held the phone away from her ear. She was always weak when he sounded so vulnerable, and she knew that he knew that. Perhaps this was yet another ploy to make her succumb to his desires. "I'm sorry, Darien. That's not a good idea. I don't think we should see each other for a while. Just give me time to think, okay?" "You've had days!" he cried, his voice breaking. "Can't you just give me 5 minutes to see you?" Serena's back stiffened. "No. You really need to just back off and give me time. I can't think when you're calling me every ten minutes!" With that, she hung up, thinking that perhaps this time, he would get the message. Within seconds of her abrupt disconnection, the doorbell rang. "If it's even him, I'm just going to slam the door in his face," she growled, stalking to the door in frustration. She threw it open, yelling "What?!" with all the pent-up anger inside her tiny frame. "That's what I should be asking you!" an angry Raye responded. Behind her, Lita and Ami stood with their arms folded, visibly upset. "Um…" Serena swallowed hard. She hadn't seen those sorts of expressions on their faces since she was a teenager and made all sorts of terrible mistakes day after day. "Come in?" |
