"Home?" Darien repeated. "But we just got here!"
Serena's eyes were filled with tears. "Darien, please, I cant be here, I just want to go," She said.
Darien was taken aback, but he didn't want to be an asshole and make her stay, and there was something frantic about her eyes that made him think that maybe she didn't belong there. "Okay, lets go."
Serena latched onto his arm, and tried to ignore the stares of the older, sexier girls with their belly shirts and tight pants glaring at her. She had never felt so small and nieve before. And the party brought back bad memories she chose to forget.
They drove in silence.
"Is something wrong, Serena?" Darien said after 10 minutes.
Serena continued to stare out the window. "No," she lied. "I'm just. I'm just really tired."
"Well, I feel like an ass," Darien said, sitting back into his seat.
Serena turned to look at him. "Why?" She said.
"Because. I took you somewhere you didn't want to be, and its not like you wanted to be with my anyway, you hate me, so I feel like an ass." Darien said. He really did feel like an ass. He wasn't sure why he brought her to a party, when all that happens there is getting drunk, dancing, and then sex. And she was too young for that, he knew that much. And he felt like a jerk exposing her to his way of life. Drinking, dancing, and women.
And it wasn't a comfort that Serena took her time with a response. "Its not your fault," she said slowly. "I just. I'm not a party-type girl. I just felt uncomfortable, but I like your company."
Darien sighed. "Okay, well, do you think we could hang out again some time?" He said, glancing over to her.
The sides of her pretty little mouth twitched slightly. "Sure."
Darien sat in bed, looking out the sliding glass doors that led to a small balcony. He stared at the moon, thinking about the night. He had walked her to her door, and tried to give her a goodnight kiss, but she had walked into the door too fast for him to even say good-bye. She said she wanted to hang with him again, but her body language said otherwise.
His thought were interrupted by the sound of the telephone ringing.
"Hello?" He said.
"Hey Darien, thanks for saying hello tonight," a smooth, sultry voice said into the receiver.
"What do you want, Ellie?" he said.
"I want to know where your new little girlfriend is." She said, a smirk in her voice. "I highly doubt you brought her home, unless cradle robbing is your new thing."
"She's 16, and what the hell would you know about her?" Darien shouted into the phone. "I don't want to talk to-"
"I know that shes not what she seems, Darien," his voice rolled off her tounge. "She got freaked out by the party, didn't she? Asked you to take her home, and then sat in silence the entire way?"
"I'm hanging up now," Darien said.
"She's been to parties before." Ellie continued. "One in particular, it was quite interesting, I saw it myself. She used to come into Rikko's rush parties on the weekends. She met one guy there, she didn't know much about him, of course. She was too young. But he exposed her. For the girls sake, Darien, leave her alone. She wouldn't want to know what you have done to all those other girls. What some other guy did to her."
Click.
Serena sat on the park bench, staring at the small pond where she used to ice skate in the winter. When her family would all take hands and skate together. And when she would fall, they all fell, and then she didn't feel so bad about being clumsy.
She missed those days, when she knew she always had someone to lean on. to depend on, to fall with her. But now she just always felt alone. No matter who she was with, no matter what they told her, she was alone.
Then Darien came. And she felt safe with him. Like nothing could happen to her with him. But it was an illusion, she knew. She knew all too well the false hope strong arms and cool eyes could have on a girl. She hugged her jacket to her tighter, despite the lack of breeze in the spring air.
"Serena!" Darien called out, walking towards her.
She smiled. She knew he would come. She wasn't sure why she called and left a message on his machine asking him to meet her there after school. She just. really wanted to see him again. To know he wasn't mad at her for being afraid.
"Hey!" She stood. He walked up to her, an uncertain look on his face.
"You okay?" He said, looking her up and down.
Serena laughed nervously. "Oh, yeah, I was just, yeah. I'm fine." She smiled.
Darien nodded slowly, looking into her eyes. "Listen, I know you probably had something planned for today, but I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me?"
Serena flushed slightly. "Yeah, of course! I didn't have anything planned at all," she said.
Darien brightened a little. "Great," he said, running his fingers through his thick hair. "Because I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the pound with me."
Serena raised an eyebrow. "The pound?"
"Yeah, I really want to get a dog, and I wanted your opinion, you seem to have good judgement," He said.
Serena brightened, and then let out a laugh. "Yeah, I'm a great judge of character."
Darien noticed the sarcasm in her tone, but chose to ignore it. "So you want to come?"
Serena smiled again, her eyes sparkling. "Yeah! I love animals, I once had a dog, but he died. His name was Barkley. He was really cool." She babbled as they walked down the path towards the parking lot where his car was parked.
"What happened to him?" Darien said.
"Oh, he just got old, my parents had him before I was born, so he was pretty old to begin with. He was Iso/I big! I used to ride on his back as a baby, my parents videotaped it once. He never bit or anything." Serena said, taking Darien's hand and clasping it.
Darien smiled. She was so cute.
"That one's scary," Serena said, glancing at a pit-bull-rotwiler mix as it chewed on a bone in its cage. "How about this one?" Serena said, pointing at a small white.thing.
"Serena, that is the wimpiest looking dog I have ever seen." Darien said, a smile in his voice.
Serena pouted. "I like him."
Darien stopped a distance ahead of her. "Well, I like this one."
Serena trotted up to him, putting her nose against the bars to see a small black puppy, his ears flopping over his face, and once white spot on his face. He was skinny for a puppy, and his big eyes seemed lonely.
"Aww!" She said, leaning down and putting her fingers in the cage. "He's so sweet! C'ere little guy," she cooed. The puppy came trotting over, wagging his tail and bathing her hand in kisses. Darien reached out to pet him.
"Lets take him out and see how we like him."
The adoption lady (or 'cankle' lady, Serena called her, observing that her calves went right into her foot, with no ankle) took out a key and tied a blue rope around his neck. "Adoption fee is $23.55," she said in a cigerettey voice.
"Oh, we don't-"
"Okay! We'll take him!" Serena interrupted. Darien smiled and shook his head. "I think you should name him Lucky."
"He has to have a name for the paper's," the lady said.
"Nah, Lucky is too tacky." Darien thought, and bent down to look into the puppies eyes. "I think. Madison."
Serena considered. "Yeah, that's cute." She looked at a door, opposite the one that led to the room where the dog cages were. "What's in there?"
"Cats."
"Kittens!" Serena said. "Can we look?"
"Serena," Darien said warningly.
"Just looking, Darien!" She chirped, following the cankle lady. Darien began to fill out an adoption form as Madison wagged his tail and looked up at his new owner lovingly.
They both jumped at the shriek from the next room.
"Oh!" Serena squealed. "Oh, shes beautiful! I'll take her! Oh, shes so sweet!"
Serena ran out of the room, a small black kitten with a marking on her forehead in the shape of a crescent moon. "Darien, look!" she said, holding the kitten close as it let out a soft mew.
Darien, and his inability to say no, drove Serena the human, Madison the dog, and Luna the kitten in his small Mustang home. Serena looked at the sleeping kitten in her arms.
"Thank you, Darien," She said softly.
Darien smiled. "I'm prepared for your parents to come after me with a shotgun."
Serena smiled. "Not. not just for Luna," she said, looking over at him, the golden lights from the sunset splashing in oranges and pinks across her face. "You've been really nice to me the past few days. and I really appriciate it."
Darien swallowed. "No problem, Serena." He bit his lower lip, looking into her eyes deeply before turning away. "I really care about you Serena, and I just hope your honest with me."
Serena was startled. "What do you mean?"
Darien's brow furrowed, his gaze more narrow. "Your not seeing anyone right now, are you Serena?" He said, staring right into her soul. or at least it felt that way.
Serena stared back at him. "N-no! Why would you think that?" She stammered.
Darien sighed. "The party. You seemed scared. like someone was going to see you there, or something. I thought maybe you didn't want some other guy to see you."
Serena laughed. "No, Darien, that's not it at all." She leaned her head back against the seat. "I just. I've been to a party like that before, and something bad happened there, and I just. I. I don't want to talk about it." She said darkly.
"I'm sorry," Darien said, placing a hand on her arm, and rubbing it gently. "I just. I really like you, Serena, and I have for a while, but. I'm not really a romantic guy." Darien fumbled for words, feeling, for some reason, he needed to explain himself to her.
Her blue eyes looked at him, waiting for him to finish. She's so beautiful, he thought.
"I don't always know what to say to people, sometimes." He said slowly. "And I don't usually talk about how I feel. Its easier to be closed up then honest with somebody. for me at least. But I really do like you, Serena. I like how you smile, and how you laugh, and. and I like the way you make me feel when I'm with you. And. and I don't want that feeling to go away." His voice trailed off.
Serena could feel her heart pounding. It was all she could do to stare at Luna, purring slightly in her arms, to keep from shaking.
"I want to be with you, Serena." Darien said softly.
Serena looked up at him, her eyes full of wonder. She didn't know what to say, or what to do. She felt the same way about him, of course. Everything felt so. so right when she was with him. So calm, so perfect.
"Darien, I-" she stuttered. A solitary tear she wasn't even aware of traveled down her cheek. "I got hurt once. Real bad." She said, her voice cracking.
Darien's heart fell.
"And. and I vowed then that I would never fall in love with anyone again. And. and I. I really like you Darien, your more then just a friend to me. but. there are other people out there that can make you a lot happier then me. You don't want me."
Darien turned to look at her. "The first time I saw you, Serena, I wanted you." His gaze was intense, and she could feel herself getting lost in his ocean blue eyes. "And I would never, and listen to me when I say this, I would Inever/I hurt you. Never."
The tears flowed freely down her cheeks as her chest rose and fell quickly. Darien parked in a parking lot quickly, unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned to look at her. The pain on her face was almost too much, he thought, as he reached over to wipe her tears away.
Serena let out a sob as his hand cupped her face. "Why do you have to be so wonderful?" she said as he leaned in to kiss her.
They kissed softly, absorbing each other's touch, every movement, every breath overwhelming each other's senses. They relished in the taste of each other, Serena placing her hand on his hand that cupped her face. They pulled apart slowly, and gazed into each other's eyes, as more tears fell down Serena's face.
"Don't cry," Darien whispered as he wiped her tears away. One fell down her cheek and landed on the sleeping kittens head, and she let out a soft mew. They both looked down at the confused gaze the orange eyes held, and Serena lifted her and placed her next to the sleeping Madison. "Serena, why are you so sad?" Darien said, pulling her to him.
Serena's eyes were filled with tears. "Darien, please, I cant be here, I just want to go," She said.
Darien was taken aback, but he didn't want to be an asshole and make her stay, and there was something frantic about her eyes that made him think that maybe she didn't belong there. "Okay, lets go."
Serena latched onto his arm, and tried to ignore the stares of the older, sexier girls with their belly shirts and tight pants glaring at her. She had never felt so small and nieve before. And the party brought back bad memories she chose to forget.
They drove in silence.
"Is something wrong, Serena?" Darien said after 10 minutes.
Serena continued to stare out the window. "No," she lied. "I'm just. I'm just really tired."
"Well, I feel like an ass," Darien said, sitting back into his seat.
Serena turned to look at him. "Why?" She said.
"Because. I took you somewhere you didn't want to be, and its not like you wanted to be with my anyway, you hate me, so I feel like an ass." Darien said. He really did feel like an ass. He wasn't sure why he brought her to a party, when all that happens there is getting drunk, dancing, and then sex. And she was too young for that, he knew that much. And he felt like a jerk exposing her to his way of life. Drinking, dancing, and women.
And it wasn't a comfort that Serena took her time with a response. "Its not your fault," she said slowly. "I just. I'm not a party-type girl. I just felt uncomfortable, but I like your company."
Darien sighed. "Okay, well, do you think we could hang out again some time?" He said, glancing over to her.
The sides of her pretty little mouth twitched slightly. "Sure."
Darien sat in bed, looking out the sliding glass doors that led to a small balcony. He stared at the moon, thinking about the night. He had walked her to her door, and tried to give her a goodnight kiss, but she had walked into the door too fast for him to even say good-bye. She said she wanted to hang with him again, but her body language said otherwise.
His thought were interrupted by the sound of the telephone ringing.
"Hello?" He said.
"Hey Darien, thanks for saying hello tonight," a smooth, sultry voice said into the receiver.
"What do you want, Ellie?" he said.
"I want to know where your new little girlfriend is." She said, a smirk in her voice. "I highly doubt you brought her home, unless cradle robbing is your new thing."
"She's 16, and what the hell would you know about her?" Darien shouted into the phone. "I don't want to talk to-"
"I know that shes not what she seems, Darien," his voice rolled off her tounge. "She got freaked out by the party, didn't she? Asked you to take her home, and then sat in silence the entire way?"
"I'm hanging up now," Darien said.
"She's been to parties before." Ellie continued. "One in particular, it was quite interesting, I saw it myself. She used to come into Rikko's rush parties on the weekends. She met one guy there, she didn't know much about him, of course. She was too young. But he exposed her. For the girls sake, Darien, leave her alone. She wouldn't want to know what you have done to all those other girls. What some other guy did to her."
Click.
Serena sat on the park bench, staring at the small pond where she used to ice skate in the winter. When her family would all take hands and skate together. And when she would fall, they all fell, and then she didn't feel so bad about being clumsy.
She missed those days, when she knew she always had someone to lean on. to depend on, to fall with her. But now she just always felt alone. No matter who she was with, no matter what they told her, she was alone.
Then Darien came. And she felt safe with him. Like nothing could happen to her with him. But it was an illusion, she knew. She knew all too well the false hope strong arms and cool eyes could have on a girl. She hugged her jacket to her tighter, despite the lack of breeze in the spring air.
"Serena!" Darien called out, walking towards her.
She smiled. She knew he would come. She wasn't sure why she called and left a message on his machine asking him to meet her there after school. She just. really wanted to see him again. To know he wasn't mad at her for being afraid.
"Hey!" She stood. He walked up to her, an uncertain look on his face.
"You okay?" He said, looking her up and down.
Serena laughed nervously. "Oh, yeah, I was just, yeah. I'm fine." She smiled.
Darien nodded slowly, looking into her eyes. "Listen, I know you probably had something planned for today, but I was wondering if you wanted to do something with me?"
Serena flushed slightly. "Yeah, of course! I didn't have anything planned at all," she said.
Darien brightened a little. "Great," he said, running his fingers through his thick hair. "Because I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the pound with me."
Serena raised an eyebrow. "The pound?"
"Yeah, I really want to get a dog, and I wanted your opinion, you seem to have good judgement," He said.
Serena brightened, and then let out a laugh. "Yeah, I'm a great judge of character."
Darien noticed the sarcasm in her tone, but chose to ignore it. "So you want to come?"
Serena smiled again, her eyes sparkling. "Yeah! I love animals, I once had a dog, but he died. His name was Barkley. He was really cool." She babbled as they walked down the path towards the parking lot where his car was parked.
"What happened to him?" Darien said.
"Oh, he just got old, my parents had him before I was born, so he was pretty old to begin with. He was Iso/I big! I used to ride on his back as a baby, my parents videotaped it once. He never bit or anything." Serena said, taking Darien's hand and clasping it.
Darien smiled. She was so cute.
"That one's scary," Serena said, glancing at a pit-bull-rotwiler mix as it chewed on a bone in its cage. "How about this one?" Serena said, pointing at a small white.thing.
"Serena, that is the wimpiest looking dog I have ever seen." Darien said, a smile in his voice.
Serena pouted. "I like him."
Darien stopped a distance ahead of her. "Well, I like this one."
Serena trotted up to him, putting her nose against the bars to see a small black puppy, his ears flopping over his face, and once white spot on his face. He was skinny for a puppy, and his big eyes seemed lonely.
"Aww!" She said, leaning down and putting her fingers in the cage. "He's so sweet! C'ere little guy," she cooed. The puppy came trotting over, wagging his tail and bathing her hand in kisses. Darien reached out to pet him.
"Lets take him out and see how we like him."
The adoption lady (or 'cankle' lady, Serena called her, observing that her calves went right into her foot, with no ankle) took out a key and tied a blue rope around his neck. "Adoption fee is $23.55," she said in a cigerettey voice.
"Oh, we don't-"
"Okay! We'll take him!" Serena interrupted. Darien smiled and shook his head. "I think you should name him Lucky."
"He has to have a name for the paper's," the lady said.
"Nah, Lucky is too tacky." Darien thought, and bent down to look into the puppies eyes. "I think. Madison."
Serena considered. "Yeah, that's cute." She looked at a door, opposite the one that led to the room where the dog cages were. "What's in there?"
"Cats."
"Kittens!" Serena said. "Can we look?"
"Serena," Darien said warningly.
"Just looking, Darien!" She chirped, following the cankle lady. Darien began to fill out an adoption form as Madison wagged his tail and looked up at his new owner lovingly.
They both jumped at the shriek from the next room.
"Oh!" Serena squealed. "Oh, shes beautiful! I'll take her! Oh, shes so sweet!"
Serena ran out of the room, a small black kitten with a marking on her forehead in the shape of a crescent moon. "Darien, look!" she said, holding the kitten close as it let out a soft mew.
Darien, and his inability to say no, drove Serena the human, Madison the dog, and Luna the kitten in his small Mustang home. Serena looked at the sleeping kitten in her arms.
"Thank you, Darien," She said softly.
Darien smiled. "I'm prepared for your parents to come after me with a shotgun."
Serena smiled. "Not. not just for Luna," she said, looking over at him, the golden lights from the sunset splashing in oranges and pinks across her face. "You've been really nice to me the past few days. and I really appriciate it."
Darien swallowed. "No problem, Serena." He bit his lower lip, looking into her eyes deeply before turning away. "I really care about you Serena, and I just hope your honest with me."
Serena was startled. "What do you mean?"
Darien's brow furrowed, his gaze more narrow. "Your not seeing anyone right now, are you Serena?" He said, staring right into her soul. or at least it felt that way.
Serena stared back at him. "N-no! Why would you think that?" She stammered.
Darien sighed. "The party. You seemed scared. like someone was going to see you there, or something. I thought maybe you didn't want some other guy to see you."
Serena laughed. "No, Darien, that's not it at all." She leaned her head back against the seat. "I just. I've been to a party like that before, and something bad happened there, and I just. I. I don't want to talk about it." She said darkly.
"I'm sorry," Darien said, placing a hand on her arm, and rubbing it gently. "I just. I really like you, Serena, and I have for a while, but. I'm not really a romantic guy." Darien fumbled for words, feeling, for some reason, he needed to explain himself to her.
Her blue eyes looked at him, waiting for him to finish. She's so beautiful, he thought.
"I don't always know what to say to people, sometimes." He said slowly. "And I don't usually talk about how I feel. Its easier to be closed up then honest with somebody. for me at least. But I really do like you, Serena. I like how you smile, and how you laugh, and. and I like the way you make me feel when I'm with you. And. and I don't want that feeling to go away." His voice trailed off.
Serena could feel her heart pounding. It was all she could do to stare at Luna, purring slightly in her arms, to keep from shaking.
"I want to be with you, Serena." Darien said softly.
Serena looked up at him, her eyes full of wonder. She didn't know what to say, or what to do. She felt the same way about him, of course. Everything felt so. so right when she was with him. So calm, so perfect.
"Darien, I-" she stuttered. A solitary tear she wasn't even aware of traveled down her cheek. "I got hurt once. Real bad." She said, her voice cracking.
Darien's heart fell.
"And. and I vowed then that I would never fall in love with anyone again. And. and I. I really like you Darien, your more then just a friend to me. but. there are other people out there that can make you a lot happier then me. You don't want me."
Darien turned to look at her. "The first time I saw you, Serena, I wanted you." His gaze was intense, and she could feel herself getting lost in his ocean blue eyes. "And I would never, and listen to me when I say this, I would Inever/I hurt you. Never."
The tears flowed freely down her cheeks as her chest rose and fell quickly. Darien parked in a parking lot quickly, unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned to look at her. The pain on her face was almost too much, he thought, as he reached over to wipe her tears away.
Serena let out a sob as his hand cupped her face. "Why do you have to be so wonderful?" she said as he leaned in to kiss her.
They kissed softly, absorbing each other's touch, every movement, every breath overwhelming each other's senses. They relished in the taste of each other, Serena placing her hand on his hand that cupped her face. They pulled apart slowly, and gazed into each other's eyes, as more tears fell down Serena's face.
"Don't cry," Darien whispered as he wiped her tears away. One fell down her cheek and landed on the sleeping kittens head, and she let out a soft mew. They both looked down at the confused gaze the orange eyes held, and Serena lifted her and placed her next to the sleeping Madison. "Serena, why are you so sad?" Darien said, pulling her to him.