Opposites Attract
AN: Soz 4 long wait. Hope u enjoy.
Disclaimer: SM does not belong to me.
Chapter Three: Saturday Morning
Darien's POV
I dropped the screwdriver in frustration and rushed my hand through my hair. The old piece of junk was scattered around the floor in front of me. I had spent the better part of the morning pulling it to pieces to see if anything small was missing or if something had lodged into the radio by mistake but everything was there and in good working order. I sighed again. I couldn't figure it out.
A small murmur from across the room called my attention to the small blonde bundle wrapped in my jacket. I frowned, annoyed at myself for giving her my nice warm jacket while I froze to death during the night. Just then she turned over facing my direction and I held my breath in expecting her to open her eyes any minute. She didn't. I stared back at the pieces of the radio in front of me trying to concentrate but I kept glancing at her. She looked so calm, peaceful in sleep…more beautiful. Her long golden tresses fell around her majestically framing her delicate lithe body. Her lips looked soft and yielding and I found myself wondering what she would taste like. Probably delicious, she certainly looked delicious. I scowled at myself. She wasn't the type of girl I would go for. I tended to find women with voluptuous curves to my liking, like the red head I met the other day.
Serena was an innocent. I could see it in her eyes, her naivety. Her body looked firm with a small hint of some curves at all the right places. Her breasts were not quite full yet and her hips suggested at something…the corner of my mouth tilted up as I recalled the way she walked…so enticingly sexy…definitely suggested at something.
I travelled down the length of her body with an appreciative grin, my eyes narrowed at the diamond ring on her left hand. I stiffened, my heart tightening as unwanted memories flooded my mind with long forgotten images.
"She's just a child!"
"She's your match Darien."
"I don't love her!"
"You will learn to love her."
"I'm going to marry Anne."
Darien frowned. Anne! She had been his whole life, his reason for living, and his reason for running away. Anne with her big almond eyes and her bright smile, Anne with her long mane of chocolate hair that cascaded down around her face, resting on her shoulders, Anne with her voluptuous curves that could tempt him to give his soul to the devil, Anne who had walked out on him without even a second glance.
I returned my gaze back to the sleeping bundle. What would it have been if…I shook my head. Get some sense Darien. No use thinking what could have been. You have to focus on the future, not the past. Still, I found myself staring at her, wishing she would open her eyes so I could see the ocean blue depths of her soul.
As if she knew someone was willing her to open her eyes, Serena stirred, bringing me back to my senses. I quickly focused on the pieces in front of me, colour flooding my cheeks. Somehow looking at her like that while she was sleeping made me feel guilty. An emotion I don't quite like to associate with myself. I frowned, my mouth forming a thin line. Why should I feel guilty? I didn't do anything. Damnit! Even when she's asleep she could still mess with my mind. I ran my hand through my hair again.
Serena's POV
The sound of tinkering brought my senses slowly around waking me from my sinfully delicious dream. I inhaled sharply snuggling closer to whatever it was that I was holding. I was wrapped in an aura of all male and I felt at peace. I shifted my weight slightly and felt a sharp pain run down my spine. My eyes fluttered open and the first thing I saw was Darien. Hunched up over that stupid piece of junk looking stern, focused. I stifled the groan of dismay I felt coming. I had at some point last night hoped that if I went to sleep I would wake up and find myself in my own room and that all this was just a nightmare. I should have known better. Well my day couldn't get any worse. I mean what else could be worse than waking up and finding yourself staring at the one person who could get you so riled up without even trying?
I stared at his brooding profile fascinated with the firm handle he had on the screwdriver. The way his attention never wavered from his objective. I watched as a hand was pushed through his thick raven strands wishing I could touch it. I saw the way his lips formed a tight thin line and I just wanted to trace it with my fingers. To release the tension I could see in his shoulders. I felt warmth in the pit of my stomach surge and spread through me, which startled me. Then I recognised that I was wrapped in his jacket surrounded by his husky maleness. I blushed and struggled to sit up shrugging his jacket off. No wonder I hurt when I moved. Sleeping on the floor left my body stiff and I groaned as I gingerly stretched my muscles.
"Yeah I know." I heard Darien mutter under his breath. "You are the last person I expected to see so goddamn early in the morning too."
Well! Sometimes I wonder if he has some psychological problem or if he's just mentally deranged.
"What's for breakfast?" I snapped irately. Damn I was hungry, too hungry to bother with his conceitedness.
Darien's head snapped up, a look of stunned surprise plastered on his face, then it was quickly replaced with anger, his eyes darkening to an intense blue.
"Do I look like your goddamned maid? Do it yourself." He retorted.
"Me. Make breakfast?" I drawled mockingly in my perfect English. "Whatever happened to 'Don't touch what doesn't belong to you' speech?" I threw his words back to his face feeling smug all over.
"It's a bit late for that don't you think? Now I'm giving you permission to touch whatever you want. Just don't eat the whole place up or you'll get fat." He gave me his one look over taking in my appearance with a smirk.
Feeling self conscious, I wrapped my arms around my middle. My eyes had widened in disbelief. "Come again?" I squeaked, my breath coming in heavy gasps.
Darien's blue eyes narrowed. "Don't expect that just because I made you a sandwich yesterday that it's going to be a habit. Make your own breakfast."
My head felt light, my breathing became heavy. I tightened my fingers around my waist in a protective gesture. Fat! Darien thinks I'm fat. Well what did I care what he thought. He was just some uptight sob. with nothing better to do then humiliate me. Then why did it hurt so much? I choked back the tears I knew was threatening to come out. Perhaps I was just feeling some emotional strain. I mean, the shock that I was stuck in a storeroom with a guy who had no conscious or humanity could be overwhelming. Especially after the stress of the afternoon before…I grimaced at that. It could also be contributed to feeling down when I missed the trip with my friends. Or maybe it was the fact that Darien was the second person to call me fat. Call me vain but I had always been self-conscious about my body and it didn't do to help someone's self esteem by calling them fat. I winced as the past pain resurfaced forcing it's way in my mind invading the deep tranquillity I had discovered after several months of excruciating hurt and humiliation. Several months of intense sessions with my psychiatrist.
My beating pulse subsided and my breathing returned to normal. I shot Darien an acid glare struggling to my feet. My legs felt wobbly it took all my self will to not faint. I wandered aimlessly about the room looking for something to eat. Something nice, not too fatty, not too salty and not too sugary.
After some moments of wandering in awkward silence I had gathered a carton of milk and a banana. Looking at the delicious food surrounding me I had lost my appetite. Nothing seemed to fit in my usual breakfast without including one of the forbidden delicacies.
I absentmindedly nibbled on my banana, the open carton of milk left untouched. The jumble of mess in my mind seemed to be forming a picture. A faceless man, just like in my dream, murmuring sweet nothings into my ear, my skin burning with his touch. I blushed at the intimacy of the image willing it to go away, only the image just cleared a little bit more, but still I could not make out his face. Closing my eyes, I could feel the heat emanating from his bare chest, feel his lips trailing kisses down my jaw, his mouth doing something at the hollow of my neck, his tongue teasing…
"A-hmm." I was vaulted back to the present, the fuzzy images disappearing and Darien's face came into focus. His eyes looked darker, filled with some kind of emotion I couldn't identify. He was just staring at me.
"You-uh-looked like you were miles away." He was still staring at me, that intense way that seemed to penetrate my thoughts. Then his lips curved at the corner, amusement glittered in his eyes. "What were you-uh-thinking about?"
I felt a flush creep up my neck. That was a question I did not intend to answer and by the way he was looking at me now it looked like he already knew the answer. My blush deepened. My face must have turned scarlet. How could I have let my thoughts carry me away like that. Now I was stuck in the most embarrassing situation ever. What must he think?
During that fleeting moment, after being caught unawares, I had averted my eyes trying to avoid him in case I gave away something I would regret later. So giving him a quick glance then I felt my breath caught in my throat and gasped. My eyes widened. How dare he? I could see it in his eyes, he thought I was thinking about him. Why the nerve…of all people he thought…insufferable man.
Darien's POV
Okay. So maybe I should have been a little more reticent in the way I answered Serena with her what should I call it…order? Demand? Watching her sleep I felt content. At ease. Then when her eyes opened my heart jumped to my throat. I saw her shiver with cold as she aimlessly wandered around the room looking for some food. I felt the urge to get up and wrap her in the warmth of my jacket she shrugged off but I stayed glued to the floor. I berated myself for knowingly putting her off. I knew she was self-conscious about her weight, I could tell by the look in her face when Seiya had told her she was gaining. I could see it in her eyes when I told her she was going to get fat. That damned three-letter word that always gets at a girl.
Grumbling something obscene under my breath I picked up the screwdriver and began to put the pieces together. In the corner of my eye I cold see her sitting down, holding something…what? Breakfast? What could she possibly get in this room that's not either fatty or sugary?
I put the screwdriver down and prepared an apology off the top of my head that would both save me face and save her any further humiliation. "Umm, Sere-." I said looking up and the words just refused to come out of my lips. She hadn't heard me, which was good. She looked besotted, her untouched carton of milk by her side, holding a banana in one hand inside her mouth like…
Snap out of it! I struggled to keep my body under restrain as the thought passed my mind. I looked up at her again. There was a faint blush in her cheeks, a dreamy look in her eyes. She closed her eyes and sighed her flush deepening to a pretty pink, her mouth slowly devouring the banana…her lips moving down then up, her teeth just nipping at it. I felt myself harden. What she was doing was enough to drive my senses crazy. It was bad enough that I hadn't been with another woman since Anne left me. I could feel the heat in the room and my body became aware of the long celibate life I had lived for the past two years. This was not good.
"A-hmm." That simple gesture snapped her out of her thoughts quick enough. "You-uh-looked like you were miles away." I stared at her face trying to read her thoughts. A smile touched my lips for the fleeting thought that I was the one she was thinking about. "What were you-uh-thinking about?"
I found it amusing humouring her, watching as her flushed face turned a deeper shade of scarlet. I heard her strangled gasp when she looked at me and knew she had saw the thought in my eyes. And the thought that it was me in her daydream tucked itself away in the back of my mind, I found to my surprise that it was comforting thinking it was me rather than any other man and I scowled when the glint of her engagement ring drew my attention. Seiya. I should have known.
"What do you see in him?" I growled surprised at myself for wanting to know. He doesn't seem to be the type of guy you would go out with let alone marry."
"You jerk. And you think you are?" she retorted sharply, her colour paling to her normal creamy complexion. "Just because you think you're god's gift to women doesn't mean that every girl who sets her eyes on you will think you're drop-dead-gorgeous. You may have the body and the looks of a Greek god but your personality stinks like a pig. I'm marrying Seiya because I love him and I don't see how any of that is any of your business." Her words stung like a dagger through the heart and I didn't know why.
Chad's POV
"Where are we?" I asked again under my breath. My head resting on the steering wheel. The morning air breezed through the opening of my jacket ruffling my hair.
"I-uh-I" I heard Ken mutter feeling anxious. "I don't know."
I hit my head against the wheel. I knew it! Trust someone like Ken to get us lost even when he's holding a damned street directory.
"Hey it's not all my fault. If we had stopped and stayed at that motel last night we would never have missed our turn." He exclaimed trying to defend what was left of his male pride. "We still would have made the concert if we had stayed the night but nooo, you had to insist we keep going and what do you know…"
"Well if it's a crime to want to get there early before everyone shows up so we can get some good seats then why don't you just cuff me now." I yelled back through seething teeth. "Hell, looks like we won't even be seeing the damn show."
"You know, why don't we just go back and see if…" Ken started.
"No." I replied sharply interrupting him before he can say another word.
"Well it's not like I'm not trying. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with ideas and all you do is sit there with your head on the wheel." He shouted.
"And if you stop to remember that I told you we ran out of fuel because of your last suggestion then maybe you'll get it through your puny brain why I keep saying no." I sighed and took in a deep breath. Moving I threw my head back against the headrest. "What do you think Drew?" I asked, having not heard from him since we got stranded.
Andrew opened his eyes and I could the bleakness of our situation in his green eyes. "What are our options?" I heard him ask sourly.
"Nil." I sighed dropping my head back on the wheel. "Nada. Zilch. Absolutely…"
"Having trouble boys?" My head shot up and I was staring into a pair of amused violet eyes. I had been too absorbed in the depressing situation we were in I didn't even hear their car coming up. A quick glance at the others confirmed that they hadn't either. I stared at the car that occupied four of the sexiest girls of my acquaintance.
"Why is it that boys never stop to ask for directions?" The blonde sitting in the passenger seat asked innocently although her blue eyes conveyed a stronger message.
"Hi girls." I said smiling relief washing through me. "What brings you to this part of the world?"
"Isn't it obvious?" The brunette asked her green eyes laughing at us. "We're the angels sent to answer your prayers."
Serena's POV
'The insufferable pig.' I was angry. Oh yes I was very angry. How dared he? He had such nerve to pry into my life and demand an explanation about everything I do. Argh!!! Somehow I had let him get under my skin. Big mistake. But no more Miss nice Serena. Time to bring out the class A bitch everyone knows from high school. Oh yeah, I'll play this game and we'll see who comes out on top.
'Welcome to my game jerk.' I muttered staring at his broad back through slitted eyes. 'Let's see how well you can play.'
I felt the corners of my lips twitch in anticipation. I was actually looking forward to my little interlude with Darien. As if he knew I was looking at him his head came up and our eyes locked. I traced the contours of my lips with my tongue keeping eye contact with him. I watched as his eyes darken with what? Some emotion I couldn't quite figure out before a shutter fell over them and he was just staring back at me with no expression marring his handsome face. Oh yeah, I could fel the adrenaline rush as the next few hours in his company playing my rules began to look a whole lot better. My anticipation felt so great I could feel little electric shocks tingling all over my body. I favoured Darien with one of my smiles.
"Welcome to my game Darien." I murmured as sultrily as I could breaking eye contact with him. Through downcast eyes, I added softly for his benefit "Rules are…there are no rules."
I winked then I turned my back on him and walked around the little storeroom racking my brain on how I could better him. It had to be good, better than any of my other performances. Something that will tell him I'm my own master and I answer to no one. Not him. Not even Seiya.
Darien's POV
Damn! Why does she keep getting under my skin. It's none of my business whether she marries the lunatic or not but no…I had to go and open my big fat mouth and say something like that. Now what she going to make out of that?
I sighed. It didn't matter what I do I always end up insulting her or getting angry at her. Why? That's the damn problem. Just stay out of it Dare…she's no concern of yours. Then why do I feel like I want her to be? The back of my neck started to tingle. I turned around and found Serena staring at me. Anyone could get lost in those big blue orbs of hers.
I took in a sharp breath. She was tracing her lips with the tip of her tongue…and still staring straight at me. What's going on? Slowly the corners of her lips curved upwards. The smile started from her eyes which were now sparkling into her mouth. Her mouth that looked full, passionate. I could feel my senses stirring and I quickly put it under control. Fighting to keep an even face on.
She turned away then said something barely audible, but I heard it none the less. "Welcome to my game Darien, rules are there are no rules." She winked at me and quickly walked off behind a couple of shelves.
I didn't know what to think. My mouth almost dropped out of it's jaws. I felt the first signs of aching in my loins. God did that girl even know what she was doing to me.
"What game?" I shouted back at her wanting to know. She didn't answer me back. Frustrated, I left things as they were. Game? What does she mean? I guess I'll find out soon enough. But first I had to get myself back under control. In this storeroom, I can't find relief from a cold shower and the only other means was absolutely out of the question. But why should it be? Because she's spoken for.
AN: Waddya think? R & R. Tanks!!! Smile now ^_^