Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry it's taking me so long to update, but the fact is I want to murder this story. I want to chop it up and flush it down the toilet. Yeah, exactly. A lot of the reviews I've been receiving have been really great, actually all the reviews. But there have been a few that made me concerned and thus has come the time to explain. One person was wondering, "Okay, why would Serena talk to Andy? They're totally different people." First off, yes I know they're different and would never hang out with each other, but maybe I have a plan up my sleeve? Hmm? This story does have a plot. Next comment, "Why is Serena so sensitive on and off? Get your character's thoughts straight." Yeah, well Serena IS a female and like most females, is constantly changing her mood and personality. For example: You're really kind to your friends cuz they're your friends right, and you're comfy around them. Five minutes later, you see the queen of bitches and she automatically bugs you and you get pissed at her very existence. Make sense? It should. You can't always be nice. You can't always be a bitch. If you still don't get it, just pretend that she's on her period or something. Then it'll all make sense. Nothing against women or anything, but y'all understand, right? A few other notes: Yes Serena and Darien don't have parents. Well, Serena does, but, well, I'll explain that in this chapter. Darien's are dead (big surprise).  Oh yeah, for those of you who are wondering why Serena crashed into Darien, of all people's arms in the end of the last chappy, uh Hi? She was almost raped and that's pretty rough on a girl. If I were her, I'd hug anyone who'd save me. And cry. If you still have problems about my story, I don't care at this point. This is my first story and I don't care about details, and ECT. I have no outline for this story and ECT. So bitch all you want. I'll take your advice when I actually try to write a good story. Wow that felt great. You're so right Lasako. It feels great to let it all out.  Anyways, for the greatest readers and reviewers in the world, here is Chapter….uh…..ummmm (Scratches head) Oh boy, it's been so long. Uh, let's go with 7.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon and/or its characters so it would be useless to sue me. All I own are panties with bunnies and superhero animals on them and I doubt you want them. If you do, then I suggest you save yourself a lot of time and money by going to Ross and buying your own pair for a $1.99.

Chapter 7? A New Beginning

            As the rain poured upon the two huddled figures, Serena silently cried into the strong chest which belonged to Darien. Darien could feel Serena jump in fear every time the roar thunder echoed through the sky. Her body was shivering as goose bumps surfaced the top of her skin. He didn't know what to do except let Serena release her emotions into him. 'But does she even know whose shoulder she's crying into?' he thought as her sobs began to subside. Finally, Serena pulled away and stared into Darien's deep blue eyes. She was surprised to find signs of fear and worry in them. Darien returned her stare and the two gazed into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever. Darien finally decided to break the silence.

"Did he hurt you in any way?" Serena could only shake her head as a 'no' as she continued to look into his eyes. Darien was confused, for Serena's expression seemed mindless, as if she forgot what had happened. He continued. "Well, uh, do you want me to walk you back to your place?" Serena slowly shook her head as she held out her arm for Darien to help her up. As she stood up, Darien noticed that Serena was wearing nothing but her school skirt and shirt and quickly took off his coat and covered Serena's shoulders.

"Here, you need this more than I do." Darien said quickly, but Serena didn't seem to notice the jacket that was placed upon her numb body. 'I wonder what's going through her mind right now,' Darien thought. 'I've never seen her still and fragile before.' They continued to walk in a mindless trance as Serena led the way to her apartment.

***********************************8

*Serena's Point of View*

'What's going on? Why am I so frightened?' Serena's mind was frozen and yet, racing with questions. 'Why is Darien helping me? We're supposed to be enemies. Why am I letting him put his jacket on me? Because he destroyed mine? That's no excuse. But if I have such a problem with it, then why won't I stop him? That's it! I'm going to shrug it off. Just because I'm in shock doesn't mean he can take advantage of my poor defense.' Serena was about to shrug the jacket off her shoulders, but couldn't find the will power to move. 'Why won't my shoulders work? I have to get rid of this jacket to prove to Darien that I'm stronger than he thinks right now. Oh, but the jacket feels so warm and comfortable. Maybe I'll just keep it on for a little while longer, until we get home. That way he'll freeze.' Serena's thoughts were interrupted by Darien as he slowly shook her shoulders. Serena then realized that she was standing face to face with the front door to her apartment. 'Dammit! How'd I let this happen? Just when I was about to make him suffer.'

"Uh, Serena. Could you maybe open your door, so we could get in?" Darien asked the question as if it were some stupid suggestion. Serena scowled at Darien's sarcastic comment, but then realized that he thought that she was still in shock from the cold weather. 'Hah! I'm stronger than I look' she thought as she reached above the molding of her door and pulled down a spare key and slid it into the lock.

            The door clicked open and Serena flicked on the hall light. As she led the way into the apartment and began illuminating the room with more lights, Darien noticed that the apartment was as scarce with furniture as his.  As soon as he plopped down on the couch, Serena regained her attitude and began blasting Darien with questions.

"Why did you walk me home? Why are you being so nice to me? Why do you care? Is this a trick? We're supposed to be enemies!" Serena's mouth seemed to run at 100mph, a complete 180 from a half hour ago. Darien's mouth dropped in shock, surprised at Serena's questions and demeanor.

"Serena," he began quietly. "Don't you realize that you were almost raped by Anthony?"

            The room stood still in time and Serena's expression turned from pure anger and insult to a dead awe.

"R-raped?" the word seemed foreign to her. Nobody would dare to even think of challenging her, let alone trying to touch her. Then Anthony's name came like a tidal wave crashing against the shore. That was when Serena's memories came flooding back to her. It began with her as a little girl standing behind a wall, watching her mother being abused by her step father, her mother's cries for help, her fear for her mother's life. Later of her at the age of 10, placing a rose on her mother's casket and slowly walking back to her step-brother. Followed by her step-father's constant abuse and drinking. Then, her most recent memory of her being pinned against a wall by Anthony's body.

            Darien noticed Serena's eyes fill with fear as tears began to once again stream down her face. He leapt from the couch and took her in a comforting embrace. He led her towards the couch where she silently cried for a few more minutes. She quickly dried off the rest of her tears and made her way back to the kitchen.

"Can I…um…maybe get you something?" She asked fumbling through her cabinets in search for something to warm the two up. She finally found something as she held up a green canister of coffee. "How do you like yours?" she asked.

"Black." Darien replied before making his next comment. "Serena, I know what happened in your past."

            Serena dropped the canister of coffee as she pulled off the lid in shock of Darien's statement. Her hands shook as she quickly cleaned up the dirty coffee grounds and began to prepare the coffee.

"That's a bold statement to make for someone who barely knows me." Serena muttered as she returned the canister to the cabinet. Darien was silent for a moment before persisting.

"Why didn't you just stop the drugs?

"That's kind of a hypocritical statement now, isn't it Darien?" Serena declared.

"Don't bring my life into this." Darien said angrily. "This is about your life and Anthony."

"Don't say that bastard's name in my house!" Serena screamed as she slammed the cabinet door.  The room was silent except for the humming noise of the coffee maker. The timer finely went off and Serena poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Darien, while taking a seat next to him on the couch. Darien took a drink of his coffee before breaking the silence.

"Serena, for once, I'm worried about someone. I don't know why, especially since it's you. Maybe because I feel that I've finally met someone who I can relate my problems with. Now please, tell me, what happened in your past that's made who you are today." Darien's face showed sadness and a longing to here Serena's tale of pain and sadness. She almost felt his sadness.

She sighed. "Fine, since you saved me from the torture Anthony had planned for me, I'll tell you my story." She took a sip from her coffee before setting it in her lap. She looked out the window into the storm that was taking place outside. She returned her gaze to the top of her coffee mug and began her tale.

"It all started when my father died. He was a police officer and was murdered by some drug dealer because he got a tip that there was a major deal going on that night. My mother was very dependant of him and was a wreck because I was only four years old at the time." Serena paused to take a drink from her coffee. "Two months after my father's funeral, she came home one night from a bar and was really drunk, but seemed very happy. She told me she met a nice man who bought a couple drinks for her. I didn't understand what she meant, but it was the first time I'd seen her happy so I just went with the flow. Three more months passed and mom continued to see the mysterious man who continued to make her happy. One night, he came home with her with a suitcase in each hand and I thought mom was just having another sleepover like she always did with him. Then came up to me and showed me a pretty ring on her finger. 'Look Serena, you're going to have a new daddy'. I became angry. I didn't want a new daddy, but mommy seemed so happy and I didn't want her to cry anymore, so I just went to my room. Days turned to months and months grew into a year, but mom seemed to be getting sadder and sadder. I couldn't understand why, until one night, I was awoken by loud crying and screaming from the kitchen. I got out of bed and tiptoed behind a wall that was connected to the kitchen. I peeked from behind the wall and noticed my step-father kicking my mother, who was crouched on the ground. She had tears all over her face and her eye was purple. She continued to cry as my step-father yelled at her. I watched in terror as my mother's face was engraved with fear."  Serena once again paused and took another drink of coffee. Darien gave her his full attention, taking only a few sips at a time.

"Every night, the beatings continued. Then, about three weeks later, my step-father's son from his first marriage came to live with us. His mother had lost child custody over him, so he was sent to live with his father and us. He seemed nothing like his dad. His appearance was completely different and he never talked. But he was defiantly smart. He was also my age. But I hated him automatically. Just the fact that my step-father contributed to the birth of him made me upset. So I never talked to him. Years passed and the torture grew and grew. Then one morning, when I was 10, after my step father had already left for work, I woke up and realized that my mother forgot to wake me up for school. I got up and went to her room and saw her sleeping. I walked up to her bed and stared at her angelic figure. No matter how many bruises covered her face, she always looked beautiful to me. Then, I noticed she wasn't breathing. I checked her pulse, like they taught me in school, but I couldn't feel it. I realized that my step-brother was already at school so I called 911. They took mom to the hospital, but I was left at home by myself. I was frightened when my step-father returned home from the hospital. He said mommy was dead." Serena looked as if she was about to cry again, but took a large gulp from her steaming mug and regained her composure.

"Although they didn't have a formal wedding, they did have a marriage license and he was now considered to be my legal guardian. I was so upset and began to cry when he told me. He just looked at me really angrily and said, 'you gonna cry for your mommy? Well mommy's not here anymore'. I was furious at his statement. 'Mommy will always be with me in my heart! And it's your fault she's not here anymore! You killed her!' I screamed at him. My step-father was enraged by my sudden outburst and he slapped my face so hard I fell to the ground. 'Don't talk back to me you little bitch!' then he went to the fridge and took out a bottle of beer. He chugged it while I sat in fear and anger about what he would do next. When he finished the beer, he threw the empty bottle at me and it shattered into a million pieces. A piece flew up and cut my neck. I remember how much the pain was. The blood trickling down my neck, staining the neckline of my favorite dress. This was when I discovered that the world doesn't protect you every day like my mother did. I had to fight for my survival. I guess my step-father realized that I was thinking about revenge for my mother because the next thing he said was, 'If you tell anyone about how I treated your mother and what happened tonight, I'll kill you and your step-brother in your sleep'. He noticed as the fear spread across my face and grinned. 'Clean up this mess'. Even though I said I hated my step-brother because oh his father, I didn't want him to get hurt either. I knew that he was a completely different person than his father. He hated him as well too. From then on, I began to talk to him more about his father and his threats. Since we were the same age, we both realized that we couldn't do anything, but try to avoid him as much as possible until we are old enough to leave and make it on our own. Every night, I took a knife with me to bed and hid it under my pillow, just encase he wanted to try anything". Serena looked out the window as if someone was calling to her, but she couldn't see them. Darien had an intense look on his face as if he could feel her fear as a child. He decided to ask the question that was mainly on his mind.

"Did he try anything or hurt you and your brother in another way?"

Serena paused and stared into Darien's eyes as she continued on with her story.

"He would try every once in a while to get one of us alone with him. My step-brother usually went to the library to study to get away from him. He was really smart and knew that his dad would never step foot there. I began getting into drugs and alcohol because I was always depressed. I had a small group of friends, Amy, Lita, Mina, Raye and Amara. Out of all of them, I was the closest to Amara. We all did the same things, except for Amy. She was too smart and didn't want to waste her mind on drugs, but she never cut back on the alcohol. Things were easier to deal with at home when I was with my friends. But one day, we heard that the guy who provided our drugs got busted and we needed to find a new dealer. That was how I met Anthony. He was Amara's older brother and seemed to understand my problems. That's why he usually let me slide a little on the payments. Things were still tough at home, though. My step-father was always waiting in my room for me, but I usually never returned home at night. I'd just go to school and never come home. Then, one time I had to get home to get some more money and when I crawled through my window, there my father was sitting on my bed waiting for me. He had been drinking too much and was furious that I never came home to clean his shit or fix him food. 'I'm not your fucking slave like my mom was!' I yelled at him. His anger skyrocketed and he tackled me. He was hitting me and screaming in my face. Then smell of alcohol was strong on his breath, and I didn't know what he'd do next. I tried to fight back, but he was stronger than me. I then realized that he was going to try to rape me, so I began to scream. I guess Amara was standing at the bottom of the apartment building underneath my window to make sure I got my money safely. When she heard my cries for help, she leapt through my window and beat the shit out of my step-father. She helped me out of my window and we ran as far away as we could. I was so grateful for her. She saved my life. That was when she told me she had strong feelings for me. I told her that she was my best friend, but I could never have feelings for her in that way. She understood, but promised to always protect me. To calm me down, we went to a bar and had a bunch of drinks. She told me that Anthony was having a problem with his drug dealings and he was short on money. I didn't think too much of it and we left the bar as happy as two girls at a bachelorette party. That was when Anthony stopped us. And…um. He was trying to…" Serena became at a loss for words.

"You don't have to say it. Andy already told me." Darien said calmly as he set his now empty coffee mug on the floor.

"Yeah, Andy, that's right. What else did he tell you?" Serena asked with not much surprise.

"Just what happened when Amara died and-wait." Darien was now confused. "How did Andy know all this? You'd never talk to him if your life depended on-". Darien stopped as the pieces of the puzzle began to come together. Serena only nodded.

"Yeah, Andy is my step-brother or my step-father's son. However you'd like to think of it."

            Darien was shocked at the statement, but realized it all made sense. Then, he remembered that Serena never talks to Andy at school. "But wait, if you two called a truce when you were against your step-father, how come you never talk now?"

            Serena also put her empty coffee cup on the floor next to Darien's and continued her story. "After Amara was killed, I ran back to my apartment, praying that my step-father was gone. I went through my window and began packing my things up. Andy must've decided to come home because he entered my room with a puzzled look on his face. 'What're you doing?' he asked. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting the hell out of here. Where's the bastard?' I asked. 'He went to the hospital because he said he didn't feel well. Why are you leaving?' I told him the whole story and asked him if he wanted to come with me. He declined because he thought we'd never survive. 'Oh, like we can survive here? Fine, see ya later, traitor' and with that I left the house and began searching for a place of my own. I found this apartment because it was all I could afford and I got a job. I had to switch from public school to private school because I got in trouble with the law a few times and they thought it would be therapeutic for me to attend a Catholic school and get my priorities straight. I attended the school and a few months later, Andy received a scholarship to attend the same school, but live in one of their dorms. I never talk to him anymore, because he didn't leave with me the first time. I guess I think of it as a sign that he still loves his father." Serena stood up and took the two mugs to the sink and began to clean them.

"What happened to your step-father?" Darien asked.

"Don't know. Don't care. We haven't seen him since, but he doesn't care. He got everything we owned and he doesn't need us." Serena answered as she hung the cups on a rack to dry. She returned to the couch and laid her head on the armrest and crossed her arms across her chest.

"I'm really sorry." Darien said with sympathy.

"Yeah, well what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger. I still steal drugs from Anthony every once in a while, but not anymore. The other girls decided to stop buying drugs, because they didn't want to take a chance with Anthony." Serena sighed at Darien's face. He looked like he was deep in thought and as if he felt sorry for her. She didn't like the pity she was getting so she changed the subject. "So why are you here?" she asked. Darien awoke from his thoughts and stared into Serena's deep blue eyes.

"I'm being accused for murder."

*Author's note: Hey! Hope you enjoyed that chapter! I told you I had an ace up my sleeve! Ha ha! Sorry I sounded mean in my author's note above, but I'm getting tired of this story. But it's far from over. Darien's trouble with the court is actually the main plot of the story. I just wanted to clear up a few things in this chapter. Since my birthday is in 5 days, I'm going to have a tough time adding up chapters, especially with my job and the fact that school's gonna be starting soon and then I have tennis! Oy! But I'll do my best for the best readers and reviewers on the internet. Oh by the way. If you pick up the newest issue of COSMOGIRL! There's an article about how to be yourself around the popular girls at school and there's a picture on the opposite page. And guess who's on that page? Sailor Moon! I'm so serious! You have to see it! And what I want to do is send COSMOGIRL! a huge thank you for putting Sailor Moon on the picture. Everyone should do it and they'll think she's a cool character to put in their magazine and do it again! So yeah, that's what I wanted to say. Thanks everyone and keep reading and reviewing!

                                                                                                                 -Neo Crystal Angel