(Waves hello) I DID IT!!! I updated twice in a week!!! (Feels very proud of herself)

Thank you ever so much for all your reviews! They really helped me keep my act together!

Special thanks to Final Stillness of Saturn for your comment about my poor quotation punctuation. I was just being lazy, so hopefully it's better now. And to Aqua Rhapsody for their comment about my writing fluidity. To everyone else, your reviews always make me smile like crazy seriously, if I could find a way to bottle them or something I could make millions selling them as a non-harmful albeit addictive drug.

And I apologize now for the filler-ness of this chapter… but it does have some important info. On our angst ridden Darien.

CHAPTER 11

The next day at promptly ten-to-four in the afternoon "Brandon" entered the large central lounge carrying her suitcase. As she walked towards the central fireplace she gazed around keeping her eyes open for her blonde city-girl of a friend.

"What am I doing" she murmured to herself knowing that it was silly to be looking for her.

"She'll be at least ten minutes late… she always is" the blonde continued as she/he plopped down on one of the many cozy sofa's to wait.

As predicted, and therefore right on schedule a flurry of blonde hair and long yellow-clad arms appeared in the doorway to the lounge at precisely ten-minutes after four, and as the figures blue eyes alighted on the head of short blonde hair a beautiful if slightly loud voice exclaimed,

"Brandon!" breaking the comforting silence of the room "it's so great to see you!"

And then "Brandon" was caught up in a tight embrace as the same voice whispered,

"Hey Usa, you ready to go?"

Usagi just laughed, "It's great to see you, but let's get going before anyone I know comes down and asks me about my 'girlfriend'"

Giggling, the pair exited the building, loaded up Usagi's luggage and drove off towards town where Minako had acquired a room for the next couple of days.

"So Usagi, do you mind telling me why you insisted on being so secretive about this." Minako commented as she drove

"mmm?"

"Well, you know, why you couldn't just change in your dorm room or something, after all, you said your room-mate knows about your being a girl and all"

Usagi hmmed as he gazed out the window into the distance, "just because he knows I'm a girl, it doesn't mean that he sees me as one."

The long-haired blonde laughed quietly to herself, "So you like him do you?"

"Yea… but I don't stand a chance. He's going to marry some rich socialite, and that will merge not only his family, but his wealth with that of another family."

"Not necessarily Hun, how do you know he won't marry someone else?"

Usagi's eyes got distant as she thought about all the clues she'd picked up over that last few weeks, as she allowed herself to whisper softly "I just know"

Minako didn't bring it up again, understanding that her friend felt more for this room-mate of hers than she let on, and the thought that he may not feel the same was something that Usagi didn't want to think about.

Back at the school Darien was supposedly relaxing now that his exams were through, and at a first glance he did appear relaxed sprawled out on his bed. That is until one noticed the phone tucked beneath his ear and the frown creasing his brow as his mother talked.

"Hello Darling" she innocently began,

"Hi Mother" he replied waiting for the assault to begin.

"So, have you thought about what your father and I discussed with you?" bingo she brought up the dreaded topic

"Yes I have" minimize answers, remain non-committed

"Well, are you going to do something about it?"

He cringed at the "You better be doing something or else" tone of her voice even as he grudgingly agreed,

"Yes mother"

"Good, because the merger with the Van Horn's would allow for increased growth as you know, and we wouldn't have to spend the money on getting new locations"

Darien sighed, he knew that his parents cared about him, but sometimes he just wished that they would leave business out of his love life.

"I know mother, and I'll work on it."

"That's my good boy; I'll see you over Christmas"

"Bye"

"Bye darling, I love you"

"Love you too" quick hang up phone before she thinks of something else.

Resting the phone back on its cradle Darien ran his hand through his hair as his dark eyes gazed off into seeming nothingness as the clouded image of his dream girl flooded his mind.

Perhaps it's best that I know I will never see her again. It will make everything easier, as not having her at all, is better than having her only to let her go…

With that last thought he rolled onto his stomach and picked up the phone.

His time as a care-free young man was coming to an end. He was graduating, with no hope of following his true passion, so it really was about time he let go of his childhood dreams and focused on the future that was all laid out for him. A future that didn't include mystical girls from nightclubs, but socialites from country clubs and knowing that only if he was somehow extremely lucky would he actually learn to love the woman his parents had chosen he resigned himself to his fate.

The day that the dance was scheduled to take place Darien awoke feeling as if it were his final day on earth. But instead of falling back into bed, he dragged himself down to the dining hall for breakfast where the majority of the student population could be found talking about the various young women that were going to be attending that evening's event.

"Hey Darien" Greg called, spotting the raven haired man as he entered the cafeteria. "Come sit down"

He did so, flopping down with none of his usual grace, "Hey everyone, what's up?" he asked, not really interested, but knowing it was the polite thing to do. Pleasantries exchanged he promptly dug into his meal, tuning out the conversation until someone stated,

"So Dare. I heard you and Van Horn are going to be hooking up again."

He gave a non-comitical shrug.

"Heh, she's one fine lady you know. Perfect hourglass and one of the best set of stems[i] I've ever seen"

He still didn't respond, simply stood and put his plate away before leaving the room.

"is it just me, or does he seem less than happy about all this?" Andrew questioned in the following silence.

In strict contrast with her room-mates foul mood, Usagi was practically bouncing with joy. Minako and she had been having the best of times. They had gone to a spa the day before for some much needed pampering, and this morning had planned on a quick breakfast before going to a local store that did make-up.

Inside Usagi was beaming; she had missed doing all of these "girly" things over the past couple of months, and was relieved to be able to get in touch with her feminine side once more.

Especially since all this tedious primping would make sense the instant her gown was pulled on.

She really couldn't wait!

AUTHORS NOTE

Ok… next chapter the dance, I got a lil carried away, and since I like my chapter to be around 1000 words. I broke it up.

Hugs to everyone for their undying patience

galene

[i] Stems-a term for a girls Legs