Ohh….Poor Serena..what is going to do?!?!?!? WHAT?!?!? WHAT?!?!?!?! *calms down and pauses before looking around secretly * let's find out….dum da dum dum duuummmmmmmmm by the way, who here watches Monk the Series? It's an AWESOME show…people all over the world should watch it…lol…now onto the story!!!

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Serena fumed furiously at the carpeting on the apartment's floor as Darien stared at her, his jaw almost an inch away from the ground. Andrew retained his smile as he watched Serena trying to not run away while Darien just stared her at. Andrew had an amusing glint in his eye. Yes, Darien, soak in her beauty. After all, Serena was a sexy woman. If Rita was there, she would first kill him before turning friendly eyes onto Serena. Like a moronic person, he pointed at her, turned an aggravated face towards Andrew and looked back at Serena.

"…Meatball head…?"

Serena narrowed her eyes as she raised her head to face him. It was like she was prepping herself for the rodeo challenge. "Yes, Darien. It's me Meatball head aka Serena…surprised?"

"The hell I AM! It's like my nightmare's alive!"

"What, you finally looked in the mirror?"

She folded her arms across under her chest and stood in a defiant manner. Darien almost choked as he eyes momentarily trailed down from her face. He quickly shut his eyes and shook his head. No. It was Meatball head, not some other…sexy female…who he didn't not want to know. He opened her eyes again and looked back at her. Damn. It was real. He heard her mutter, "Been there, done that…"

Darien ran his hand through his hair before turning accusing eyes towards Andrew. He soon received back up from his enemy. Andrew took a cautionary step back. Serena was the first to open her mouth.

"It was bad enough that my so called friends deserted me, and that you had pity on me to take me in so that I wouldn't be homeless, but now…now you tell me that he's the other guy? You've pulled me out of the boiling water and dropped me into the fire!"

"It's not like it's a bundle of joy to see you every freakin' day of my life either Meatball head. I don't think you're even normal for a human..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"People are supposed to be smart creatures. I have my doubts about you…"

"Well you can take those doubts and shove'em up your nose!"

Andrew tried, in vain, to cease the shots of verbal affront. "Guys, I really don't think –"

"Why not your head? There's enough space in there."

Again, Andrew was the target, this time being Darien's turn. "Why, Andrew? Have I ever done anything to you? Have I mistreated you? Have I made you pay too much of the half? What? WHY?"

Andrew held up his hands to ward the two stalking creatures away. "Guys. This really isn't the way to settle things. Serena didn't have a place to stay so her friends called me up and –"

Serena gasped, "They forced you to take me in, didn't they? You're pretending to be nice aren't you? How could you, Andrew? What have I done to you? Do you want me to feel bad about the free milkshakes or something? Because I will and I have no –"

"Meatball head, I think it's the fact that you stalked him everyday of your screwed up life."

Serena swirled around and faced him, less than a foot away from him. She pointed a finger at his chest and growled, "I did NOT have a crush on him and my life was NOT screwed up! At least I didn't wear ugly costumes everyday to try and 'look cool'." She bent her first two fingers on both hands to emphasize the quote.

"Are you insulting my green jacket?" he glared at her, cursing her out in his head for having such nerve to butt into his life all of a sudden and then, actually have the nerve to insult his clothing.

"At least I didn't show off my legs to anyone who would look."

"Trust me, if it were you, you would have scared the hell out of everyone, even the blind guys!"

Andrew, finally annoyed, yet amused, at their tirade, yelled, "That's it, you guys! No more! You both can be compared to a pack of damn mules when you get together."

"You're calling me a mule now, Andrew?" Serena asked, annoyed at his analogy.

"He calls you as he sees you, Meatball head."

Andrew glared at Darien who just glared back. "Shut up, Darien. Now, both of you are my friends and I don't want this kind of thing happening everyday."

Darien straightened out his hair once more. "That won't be a problem, Andrew, because she is moving back out."

Serena gave out a huff. "You tell him, Andrew, that if he has any problems, that he could move out, because I'm staying." She could feel her toes digging into the carpet, as if trying to hold on to it.

"No. I don't care what she says, Andrew. I will kick her out. I'll even find her a place. Hell, I'll even pay for her rent!"

Serena shrugged. "I don't mind that if he's paying for it…for the next four years…?"

Darien held out his hand. "Deal."

Serena almost grabbed it before Andrew cut in, shoving both of their arms out of the way. "Stop it, you freaks! Darien, you know you're going to regret what you are saying! And you know that this whole area is packed. Even if you found her a place far away, she doesn't have a car to get here!"

"She can ride the bus, Andrew!"

"It just won't work! How will she be able to pay for the whole apartment by herself? The dorms in her college are packed and her friends don't have enough space for her."

He heard Serena mutter, "Those asses. Not even a drop of pity."

Darien, on the other hand, looked desperate. "I said I'll give her the money!"

"You're going in circle! Stop it, man! Focus! FOCUS!" He grabbed Darien's shoulders and shook him hard. This was getting to be ridiculous! He hadn't expected it to turn out so badly but he supposed that they despised each other more than they let out. Or more than they pretended to hate each other…

"You said that it was okay that another roommate could move in. It shouldn't make much of a difference now!"

"But she's…she's like this freak of nature that never quits! She's not just any roommate!"

Serena's eyes widened in shock and anger. "Freak of nature? Freak of nature? I'll show you who's a freak of nature!" She started waving her fist over Andrew's shoulder until Andrew took it and shoved it down. She hissed and growled like a cat.

Andrew grabbed Serena's arms and shoved her towards the hallway. "You're room is the second on the right. You wait there while I bring in the luggage. Darien here will finish reading whatever and not come in your way. Go, Serena."

Darien looked insulted. "You act like I'm the bad guy here! I'm supposed to stay out of her way?"

His friend rolled his eyes. "Hhmm. Whatever would give me that idea…?"

Serena, although embarrassed about being sent to her room, she let out a triumphant laugh before daintily skipping over to her room. Ha. In his face! Andrew was going to let her stay and Darien couldn't do anything about it. She wouldn't leave if he had kicked her out anyway. If she had to live in this place with him, she wasn't going to take his attitude lying down. It was going to be mule against mule.

Darien watched her shut the door happily behind her and asked, dumbstruck, "…so she's staying?"

Andrew slowly nodded his head. "Yes, Darien…she is staying."

He let out a moan of frustration and threw up his hands. "Didn't you not even pay attention to the last ten minutes, Andrew? Did you blackout or something?"

"Just shut up and help me, Darien."

"You suck."

"I know."

~~~~~~

Andrew took a huge sip of his soda and coughed as he breathed at the same time. Rei patted him on the back. "Why didn't Serena come?"

All the girls, except Serena, and Andrew were sitting in a café in the afternoon of a mid-August day. Ami expressed her sympathy. "Is Serena ok, Andrew? Is she being all impossible?"

He shook his head and said, "No, it's not that. You guys really don't need to worry about her because she's her own person now, you know."

"We know. It's just that we worry about her."

He laughed and replied, "You should worry more about me than Serena. About an hour ago, she almost went crazy about meeting you guys and that's not meant in a good way. She almost cursed all of you all the way to your ancestors and then when I thought she finally agreed to come, she just went and locked herself in the bathroom. There was pleading and bribing and then when I realized I was late, I gave up and ran over here."

Lita grinned. "She's going to be the death of you, Andrew dear."

Andrew scowled. "Thanks for that tidbit. Let me go and get my coffin ready."

Ami said, "Come on, Andrew. It must be somewhat nice to have Serena there."

"True, true. She sure does brighten the day's routine. Ever since Rita left for Africa, I felt as if there wasn't anyone there. Darien was too busy with his work and so when Serena came, it livens up the day. I know its only been about two days since she's been staying with me but I'm feeling that my life, especially Darien's, is going to be changed a little."

Rei gave him a big smile. "We really appreciate what you're doing for us – for her – Andrew."

Andrew straightened out. "There's really no need for gratitude, Rei. Serena is like a little sister to me. I would have taken her no matter what. But I have one question to ask you guys…"

They all looked at him expectantly.

"Was there any other reason for asking me to take her in?"

Mina and Lita grinned while Rei and Ami sweat-dropped. "Take a wild guess, Andrew."

"Does it have to do anything about a name that starts with a D and rhymes with Barien?"

"Ding ding ding. You win. How did ya ever guess?"

Andrew scoffed. "I'm not stupid. It wasn't only you guys who saw the little connections. Although, at the rate they're going, the sparks are going to fly with arrows, not love."

Ami frowned. "That doesn't sound too good. What happened between them?"

Mina giggled with pleasure and said, "Please tell me. I really want to hear this!"

Andrew took a deep breath and narrated the entire scene that had opened up between Serena and Darien. At the end, the girls were either worried with shock or chuckling in amusement. More like Ami being shocked and the rest being amused. Andrew felt his mouth curve up as well. "I suppose it is funny now that I think about it."

Rei took a sip of her soda and asked, "How did Darien behave today? Is he still pissed off? Did he threaten to drag her out?"

"I doubt Serena would let that happen. She looks so comfortable in her room that it would take a whole army to drag her out. But I suppose he's a little calm today because he gets to get away and back into the research center. Darien still refuses to talk to me though."

"I suppose this all will take time. I'm hoping it won't take too long though. I've seen how Serena looks at us with our boyfriends and I feel terrible for her," said Lita with a sigh. "I just want her to be completely happy too."

"That reminds me," said Andrew. "How are the guys doing? I would like to meet them soon."
After talking for a while more, they all split up and headed their own way.

~~~~~~

Darien closed the door behind him and threw his jacket onto the rack. Today was an exhausting day for him at the center and he wanted to nap in peace. The couch looked warm and comforting, beckoning him with a sly finger. He felt his barriers shut down. Darien could resist anything but temptation right now and it was definitely getting the better of him. Resist, Darien, resist. You have work to do and you can't afford a nap. Before he knew it, his shoes where thrown in a pile, his papers dropped into the floor, and he ran over to the couch. With one huge leap, he managed to land on…Serena.

Before he could stop himself he landed with a huge thud onto her body, consequently waking her up with a huge jolt. Serena gasped from the pressure of his body as he managed to hit her right in the center of her body. She looked up to see what happened.

"Arrrrgh!!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Darien tried to scramble off her but he his right foot managed to slide into a small space between the cushion and the arm of the sofa. Subconsciously, he held onto Serena's shoulders as he felt himself topple over onto the floor with a big twist. Serena was still in shock from being jerked out of her restful nap. She heard Darien curse as he banged his knee against the table. His arms had shifted from her shoulders and onto her…neck? Serena managed to collect herself and clambered off him. She stood up and glared at him as he shifted himself into a comfortable pose between the floor and the sofa.

"What the hell are you trying to do, Darien? First you try to cave my ribs in and then you try to strangle me?"

Darien looked up at her and sighed. "Meatball head, if I was going to strangle you, I would have tired harder than that."

"That's what you say. Maybe you're just puny." She gave him an evil look.

Darien supported himself on his elbows as he managed to look insulted. "Puny? You think I'm puny? Who was the one who fell every time you ran into me?"

"Whatever you say, Darien. Do you mind getting off the floor? I would like to resume my nap without having to accidentally step on anyone in my sleep."

Darien winced as he stood up. His knee was numb with pain and probably very bruised right now. After all, it was the same knee he hurt two days ago. She had only been here for two days, and he was already getting hurt. It was just as bad as her running into him every day of his life. "You're actually concerned for me, Meatball head?"

"No, I just don't want to be charged for attempted murder. Move, Darien."

"I'm not puny."

Serena rolled her eyes. "Sure you aren't. Just move for heaven's sake!"

Serena tried to push past him and onto the couch but he blocked her way. Leaning in, he wrapped an arm around her waist. Serena instinctively tried to pull back but his arm but he was too strong for her. She tried to push away from him with her arms but that didn't work either. He tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her in to his chest. Serena gulped as the hard feel of it. He whispered in her ear, "Do I feel puny now, Serena?"

For some reason, his words tingled her senses and her spine shivered with the feeling. She looked straight into his deep blue eyes and managed to croak out, "..N-no."

Darien was surprised at her nervousness. She looked like a deer caught in headlights from the expression on her face. Her really, really pretty face…snap out of it, Darien! Snap out of it! Was she actually affected by him? He tried not to grin as he whispered, "Give me the couch…"

Serena, again, muttered out something akin to a 'yes'. She was feeling a little too jittery at the moment and she had not a single reason as to why. As quickly as he had grabbed her, Darien pushed her away and flew onto the couch with a sigh of content. Serena idiotically stared as he wedged himself into a comfortable position and shut his eyes, pleased with his gain.

She couldn't believe what just had happened. She growled in rage, only to make the smile on Darien's face wider. What the hell just happened? He took advantage of her jittery nerves and claimed the sofa for himself! What an ass! She almost slapped herself for her stupidity. Why couldn't you just shut up, Serena, before you said things that he had to feel like proving? Inside, she knew that he was anything but puny but noo, she had to open her trap. Her punishment - the removal from her haven. She huffed, let out a squeak of anger, and stomped to her room.

Darien grinned as he heard the slam of her door. All of a sudden, his day was much brighter. He scowled. Now he was addicted to fighting with her again. If he won, then only would his day have some meaning. He was being childish again and it was all her fault, damn it! She brought out that side of him and it was all over a stupid couch. He had his own bed for god's sake…and she didn't. For a short moment, he felt pity for her loss of the couch but the feeling disappeared as soon as sleep overtook him.

~~~~~~

Serena slowly creaked open the door and peered out to see of Darien was still on the couch. It was almost a half hour after she had been jolted out of her sleep and she wanted some revenge. As she crept out and into the kitchen, she heard a light snore float from the couch. Yes, Darien was sound asleep. And hopefully, he was a deep sleeper. The marker in her hand brought an evil glint into her eyes. From the kitchen she took a step towards the couch. She was still safe. With a few more steps, she was standing directly over Darien. She slowly puled off the cap to the marker and winced as it made a loud pop. He was still asleep. Serena managed to lower a knee to the floor and held onto the arm of the couch to balance herself. She lowered the point of the marker onto his face and let out a sigh of relief. He didn't feel it. With care, she quickly drew out her plan without interruption from the sleeping jerk. This will teach him not to mess with her! She slowly placed the cap back onto the marker and left it on the table if Darien ever wanted to know what he was drawn on with. She ran over to the door, put on her shoes and jacket, and headed out. She didn't want to be there when he woke up, no matter how much she would miss the expression on his face. With a giggle, she walked into the elevator.

~~~~~~

Andrew walked in and saw the papers scattered on the floor. "Darien, you have to stop making this type of mess every time you feel a nap attack." He received no answer. He looked around the room until he spotted a pair of feet dangling from the edge of the couch. He estimated that Darien had been sleeping for about two hours now. He walked over to the couch to find Darien laying on his stomach, fast asleep with his face buried into the cushion. Andrew placed his drink next to the marker on the table and shook Darien's shoulder.

"Darien? Wake up. You've slept enough. Darien? Wake up!" He shook Darien's shoulder again but with no response. This happened every single time. Andrew had no choice…but to pinch him.

Darien flinched in pain and groggily woke up. "Andrew, stop it. I just got here. I need…more…sleep."

Andrew pinched him again. "No, Darien. You have been sleeping for more than two hours. Get up!"

Darien tried to comprehend what his friend was saying. Two hours…that was 120 minutes…that was a long, long time….two hours?? Darien bolted up from the couch in a flash almost knocking Andrew to the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me before? I have so much work to do!" Darien quickly pushed his hair from his face as Andrew stared up at him, his eyes wide with surprise. Darien frowned down at him. "What? Did I drool or something?"

Andrew quickly shook his head as his eyes traveled to the marker on the table. He then read what it said: 'Super Permanent Marker – lasts twice as long as any other permanent marker!'. Andrew gulped down laughter as he excused himself to his room. "Uhh…I need to go and get to work. I just came back, Darien, so I couldn't wake you up." Andrew lowered his eyes so that he couldn't see Darien's face.

"Where have you been?"

"Oh…here and there…talking to Serena's friends…I have to go…oh, by the way, this is yours." Andrew placed the marker in his hand and scooted over to his room. Darien looked confused as he heard an eruption of laughter from Andrew. What the hell was up with him? Darien dropped the pen onto the couch and headed for the bathroom. Maybe he look like a wreck. He wouldn't blame Andrew because he definitely felt like that. Darien turned on the faucet and splashed his face with water, jerking him awake. After wiping off, he caught his reflection in the mirror…and froze.

There was a black moustache above his lips and nose hair dangling down his nose. All of a sudden, he had grown side burns and his eyebrows were made into a bushy uni-brow. His left ear had hair growing out of it while his right ear had round circles drawn to indicate earrings. Around his eyes were big circles, giving him the look of a raccoon. To finish of the effect, were the words 'I'm stoopid' , 'Kick me', and 'Brain not included' written across his forehead. Darien rushed out of the bathroom and read the print on the pen. Permanent marker? Super permanent marker?

Andrew gave out a shot of laughter as the apartment echoed with Darien's scream.

"I'M GOING TO KILL HER!!"