The Perfect Prank
Chapter XXII. Racing The Clock
By: Sailor Angie
AN: I asked, and you responded in droves. I love you guys, seriously. The writers out there may be able to appreciate the validation I feel when I come home from classes and yearbook meetings and find so many reviews in my inbox. Thank you so much, I write these for you, I really do. This is NOT the last chapter, there will be an epilogue following this chapter. So I'll be back. Oh, and Read, Review, and Enjoy!
Serena sat somberly on the airplane. She could see nothing but darkness outside her window. The sun had set a short time ago. The man next to her slept.
Serena wanted to sleep, she was certainly tired, but she would not allow herself to sleep. For she knew if she slept she would only dream of Darien.
She was still so in love with him. He was the first one who showed her love; the first one who showed her how to live.
She pictured him on top of her, muscles tensed, hands caressing her gently; making love to her tenderly. She had given him the most precious thing she had to offer; her virginity. And now what?
She hadn't tasted him in forever. Her lips longed to be bruised by his. Her body ached for this touch. She needed him to stay physically and emotionally stable.
Serena felt herself slowly loosing her sanity with out him. There was this emptiness inside her that only Darien could fill. She would give anything to be in his arms again.
An announcement over the loudspeaker drew Serena from her reverie, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. We are beginning our ascent into J.F.K. international airport. At this time, we would request that you fasten your seatbelts. Thank you." He finished.
Serena looked at her watch: 1:00 am. The plane was late. It didn't matter though. Her connecting flight left at 3 am. Sucky flight times, but they were the earliest ones she could catch. 'The farther I am from, the better.' She thought dismally.
Serena fastened her seat belt and took a deep breath. She attempted to take comfort in knowing that she would be reunited with Sammy and her family in just a few hours. 'I'd rather be reunited with Darien.' She let her mind slip. Serena shook her head, "I need to sleep." She whispered to herself in an attempt to excuse her mental lapse.
Slowly the plane descended, and Serena jumped slightly as the wheels hit the pavement. She had never been a fan of flying. She suspected that was why Darien had driven them to the ocean for spring break in stead of flying like Mina, Andy , and the others had.
Briefly she wondered where he was, and if he was thinking of her. Serena pictured him sleeping peacefully in his bed, having dreams that didn't include her anymore. But it didn't matter as long as he was happy without her.
Darien struggled through a restless sleep on his father's business jet. Images of Serena were all that plagued his thoughts anymore. And he did think of her every waking moment. He was miserable without her.
Obtaining the jet had proved to be a bit more difficult than Darien had anticipated. However, after his father made a few phone calls Darien was cleared to fly to New York.
Darien briefly recalled the short conversation he held with his father before his departure.
"Is she worth it Darien?" His father asked curiously.
"I can't live without her dad." Darien replied honestly.
"Good, she'd be crazy not to take you back." His father comforted.
"She'd be crazy if she does take me back." Darien mumbled to himself.
"What?" His father didn't catch it.
"Nothing, I have to go dad, you have no idea how much I appreciate your help."
"Good luck Darien."
"Thanks dad; I'll talk to you soon." Darien closed his phone.
He nervously looked at his watch, 12:30 am; they were just landing.
"I will find her." He said confidently.
"Sir, we're beginning our descent, please put your seatbelt on." The pilot asked politely.
"No problem Joel." Darien yelled up to the cockpit.
Darien felt the plane hit the ground, then gradually come to a halt. He made sure to thank his father's pilot with many words and a very large check for being woken up in the middle of the night and agreeing to fly him to New York as a favor to his father.
Darien flew down the plane's stairs with a duffle bag in hand. He ran off the tarmac into the airport. A glorious sight reached his eyes as he read the electronic signboard in front of him. 'Flight 541- delayed- ETA 1:30 am- Gate B.'
He smiled to himself; finally luck was on his side. It was just past 1 am, he was a short distance from Gate B, and he was gonna get her back.
As Darien walked casually to Gate B he phoned the Ritz Carlton and booked a room for a while.
He gazed out the windowed paneling as he watched her flight come down the runway and approach the gate. Mentally he began to rehearse what he would say to her when he saw her. He imagined her crossing through the threshold looking tired at first, but then she would spot him. He couldn't wait to see her. . .
Serena's plane came to a slow stop. The pilot thanked the passengers for a good flight, and the flight attendants unfastened the pressure locked door and connected it to the hall leading to the airport.
Serena let most of the passengers bustle past her. They seemed to be in a hurry. While Serena felt as though she had all the time in the world. As people walked behind her she carefully retrieved her carry-on bag from the overhead compartment.
Looking around she realized she was the last person on the plane. She walked drowsily through the covered walkway, and squinted as the bright lights of the airport greeted her.
She shook her head fearing that madness had taken over. For a brief moment she thought she had seen Darien engulfed in the bright airport light. Blinking several times didn't seem to help either. His striking features still haunted her.
She stared at the vision in front of her making note of his every feature, wondering how she could create such a detailed photo of him in her mind. From his lengthy legs, to his tight torso, his muscular arms, and broad shoulders. His ruffled hair was a bit more disheveled than usual, but she could still detect the laugh lines around his mouth, his perfect lips, and his beautifully wondrous, always brooding, stormy blue eyes.
Then a strange thing happened when Serena witnessed tears falling from the imaginary beautifully wondrous always brooding, stormy blue eyes.
Darien waited patiently for Serena as all the passengers emptied the plane. Serena slowly walked out. With blank eyes she stared at Darien for an eternity. There was no joy or happiness in her face, only emptiness. He wondered how he had managed to cause her so much pain.
Then the thought dawned on him that perhaps this meant she was over him. Just thinking that he had come all this way, and that what he heard on the video no longer applied brought him to the brink of despair as tears began to form in his eyes and escape down his cheeks. He had lost her forever. . .
Suddenly Serena realized that this was not her imagination playing tricks on her. Darien really was standing before her.
In one swift motion Serena dropped her bag and ran to him. She felt his strong arms embrace her as she began to sob. "I love you Darien. I've always loved you." She choked.
"I never stopped loving you." Darien wiped both their tears away.
"What about the prank? I thought you'd never forgive me." Serena looked into his eyes.
"I was such a fool Serena, if only I had listened to you from the start we wouldn't be in this predicament." He brushed her hair with his fingers, "You see Serena, I never realized that you had ended the prank. I didn't know you had called it off. I thought you were in cahoots with everyone to scam me. I should have trusted you. But after what happened with Raye, I didn't know how to trust again. It was so easy for me to just pretend that I didn't love you anymore and push you away. But god Serena, I can't live without you. I love you." Darien buried his head in her tresses, becoming intoxicated by the scent he never though he'd breath in again.
"I love you too" Serena whispered as she rubbed his back.
"How can you just forgive me, after everything I put you through? After how deeply I hurt you?" Darien didn't understand how Serena could be so forgiving.
"You taught me how to trust Darien. You showed me that the world wasn't so horrible with you in it. You taught me how to love Darien. You'll have to try a lot harder to get rid of me." They both laughed together. And oh how comforting did if feel, not only just to laugh, but to laugh with each other once again.
"You never cease to amaze me." He lightly caressed her face.
"But Darien, how did you realize the prank was over? How did you know I'd be here?" Serena questioned.
Greg didn't turn the sound off on the video camera that recorded my graduation ceremony." Darien laughed inwardly, "I heard you spill your guts to Amy, and I pulled quite a few strings to intercept you here."
"You went through all that for me?" Serena really was touched.
"I had to get you back. I would have done anything."
All of the sudden Serena felt her mouth aching for his. She pressed her whole body against his, and let him take over the kiss as she flicked his soft hair between her fingers; all the while pulling him closer.
With every breath she hungered for his touch even more than the last. "I need you now." She sighed through swollen lips.
Slowly he drew away from the kiss, "I've got a room booked at the Ritz for a few nights. I hear New York is beautiful this time of year." Darien escorted Serena outside, and hailed a cab.
"But my luggage will be arriving in London tomorrow." Serena worried in the taxi.
"You're not gonna need any clothes for what I've got planned Serena honey." He grinned.
She hit him playfully, "Hentai."
"But I'm your hentai." He roped his arms around her.
"I love you Darien." She snuggled close to him.
"I'll love you forever Serena." He kissed her temple.
AN: Whew, what did you think? And a reminder, there is an epilogue that will be coming out after this, so please stay tuned! And thanks for everything! Before I go, I just want to comment on some general questions regarding:
1. Updates, I am a sophomore in college at UW-Madison, and I'm the editor-in-chief of Madison's yearbook, so I don't have a lot of time to myself. Between classes and yearbook I barely have enough time to eat and sleep, let alone write and type up fan fiction. So please, be patient. If I promise another chapter, then there will be another chapter. Usually I find I update about every 2 weeks give or take a few days, and it depends on deadlines and papers/tests as well.
2. Finishing, I know sometimes I can't get chapters out super-fast, but I try. For those of you that are not familiar with the way I write, I write all my fics in my notebook, and then type them up. So when I start a story on , it's usually already finished on paper, but just not typed up. So regardless of my update schedule, the story will be completed. I can't stand unfinished stories as much as the next person.
3. Sequels, I'm not a big fan. Hate to break it to you guys. That's why I like writing epilogues, I want you all to know what's happened to the characters, but I don't want to spend another 20 chapters explaining what's going on a year later when I could be writing a completely different story. I guess it gets too stale for me. I apologize if that disappoints any of you.
4. Shout Outs, I really want to start doing these again in my next/new fic. Unfortunately it depends on how much time I have, because I have to weed through the reviews and pick which ones I want to respond to, and then type up a response. But I want to do it for all my reviewers, because I want you to be heard, you are important to me. So without any further ado, here are the last shout outs for The Perfect Prank:
Cassandra Lee, I'm not sure where it takes place. I have a vision in my mind, but I wanted to make it vague enough that you could imagine it anywhere you wanted it. Great question, I asked myself the same thing.
Akimoto Torachi, DaRkNeSsEz PuRiTy, Silverian Rose, the fact that I brightened your day means more to me than you might ever know. As I've said numerous times, I write for you guys, and I'm so glad to have touched your lives. Thank you for letting me be a part of your recovery. Something I've learned is that boys aren't worth your tears, but the one that is, will never make you cry. Keep your chin up, and e-mail me anytime.
Leira, what can I say except that you better come along for the next ride when my new fan fiction is published. I can always count on your review to make me laugh. Thanks for all your support, since day one.
Mikahoshi11, girl you better call me. You should be my beta reader for my new fic. I miss you, thanks for always reviewing.
Crystal Promise, emmastarz, AMI MIZUNO1, Eo, serena/darien, The Final Stillness of Saturn, krys, Illusioner 1412, invisible2u, Devil Velociraptor, koldy, serena79, you guys have reviewed like every chapter, and you've been with me since the beginning. To know that I have you guys really keeps me going. So to you and all the others that have been with me, I couldn't have done it without you.
Mad NUTZ, emerald-pedals, Moonmoore, Sailor-StarletArlet-Music, hopester002, AbFabJill, Sapphiregirl, thank you guys so much for coming out of the woodwork and reviewing. And thanks for having me on your author alerts. If you keep coming back every week, I'll be here.
Animerocksjapanrocks, Priestess of Anime Darkness, ladytokyo, Runa, Vivian Le, Maggie, Hyperangel08, Serenity Komoshiro, :, Pretty-Unknown, Serenity's Blaim, KuTiExAzNxAnGeL, hit60, niki, Small Lady, krystelo, SammiM, Goddess-Princess-Serenity, BeckettBaby21, Sheba The Devil Whore, coey-san, kay-pee16, Moonlit-Jeannie, Forever Tranquility, Usagi Usako Chiba, chxpsticks, you guys rock for reading and reviewing. I hope I updated soon enough for all of you, and I'm glad you're still enjoying the story. Cuz I enjoy writing it for y'all. Remember, there's still an epilogue left. Have a great day guys!
Preview --- Chapter XXIII. Epilogue --- Raye and Chad breakup? Mina's knocked up? And Darien and Serena are held up? WTF? I guess you'll find out in the Epilogue.