Major shoutouts to any and all who've followed this mess of a story and made it this far. Thanks to everyone's who's ever reviewed.
DaRkNeSsEz PuRiTy: cowers under desk I know there are some glaring plot holes but I'm going to fix them, honest. Hopefully it won't be too confusing when I go back and get everything edited. At this point I just want to finish and get the whole thing up while I can.
Kail Ceannai: I'm glad you found my story again. It's been so long, I just hope you find it again for this chapter!
Moon's Rose: I'm so happy you like it. But, any suggestions for improvement?
MoonPrincess568: Nobody seems to like Cupid. I can't imagine why :P Thanks for reading - your last review gave me the reminder I needed to get back to work, so major thanks for that.
A/N: My first fanfic so all thoughts would be truly, madly appreciated.
Cupid's Stay
Rated PG-13
Chapter 10
Serena woke up in her hotel room, her body aching from the fall that she'd taken. The pain was a familiar one, one she was used to after years of fighting and still more years of running into things. Yes, she was used to physical pain and found it far more tolerable than the pain in her heart.
In so many ways the fight had left her hollow inside. It was gone, that feeling she'd been carrying with her for days - the giddy excitement that comes with falling in love. It had left, as though it had never been. And, oh, how she wished that were true. That it had never been.
There was a part of her that insisted it wasn't her fault. She'd been under a spell of some sort – how could it be her fault when her actions, her thoughts, weren't her own? But who could care about fault when everywhere she looked, every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Darien's shattered face?
Darien who had rescued her time and time again. Darien who had once seemed so aloof, so invulnerable to all life had to offer.
Who had been neither of those things, but a lonely prince trying to find his place in the universe. And had found it with her. How could she ever have thought he would cheat on her? How could she have been so foolish? Yes, he and Mina had been up to something but they were friends! What did it matter, the secrets the two of them had shared when she knew she had his heart?
She had doubted him, and in so doing she had betrayed him, weeks before she'd lost her head over Kunzite.
Her stupid head had been guiding her the wrong way all this time - she should have listened to her heart. If it didn't already hurt so much she would have gotten up and banged her head against the wall. In fact, if someone other than herself had thought up that idea she would surely do it, and thus dislodge whatever bacteria had taken residence in the empty space inside; but, the very fact that she had thought it up made the plan a little suspect. Oh, how could she have been so very stupid? How?
Serena was still pondering that very same question when she heard a knock on the door some fifteen minutes later. She didn't answer, wanting to be left alone to her self-flagellation, hoping whoever it was would take the hint and go away.
He didn't.
Darien opened the door slowly, and cautiously poked his head in, clueless as to what would be on the other side, but wary all
the same. The way this vacation was going he wouldn't be surprised if his room had been inhabited by flying purple elephants.
But thankfully such was not the case, and the room was instead inhabited by the one person he actually wanted to see.
"Serena," he breathed out.
And he was so elated to see her (and without Kunzite!), so damn happy that he didn't even care that this might just be one more illusion produced by his poor, beleaguered mind. "Is that really you?" OK, maybe he cared a little.
The vision on the bed shot him a look too snarky for him to have imagined on his own. "Expecting someone else?"
Serena winced as the words tumbled out of her mouth. Hadn't she just told herself not to be so jealous? That Darien loved her, and she trusted him. So much for her plan to make him forgive her.
Ruined, already!
Alright, maybe not - for that to happen she'd first need a plan, and Serena hadn't yet reached that point. But she rather thought that if she had had a plan it would involve something like her looking her best and dazzling Darien until he forgave her. Oh, very well, so some serious groveling would probably be called for, but the important point was that she needed to look good. And maybe not make snide, jealous comments.
How was she supposed to convince Darien she was the most perfect girl for him when she looked like an extra for Mummies Alive?
She reached up and carefully touched the big gauze bandage covering her head on which she'd fallen. Darien's eyes darkened with some unrecognizable emotion as he followed her gaze.
That's right, she reminded herself. He should have been there - he was supposed to be there. He was supposed to save me. Where was he? The question reverberated in her mind, both in anger and in curiosity. Where had he been? Why hadn't he been there? The little voice in the back of her head, the annoying one, proclaimed that she had no right to expect him to be there for her after she'd so patently rejected him for Kunzite.
However, it was quickly overruled by her pain ridden body.
They both had some explaining to do.
A/N: If you made it this far, please let me know! Review!!!