Per questions posed: Yes, this story was posted on many a site years ago, so some of you have probably read it before. And yes, I know the link to First Love isn't working at the moment (we're in the process of switching to a new hosting provider). Thank you for your concern and Christina and I hope to have it back up soon!
The Lobby
Andrew backed away from the speaker as a loud crash and then static resumed. "Hmm... he's gonna be really mad when he gets out of there."
Serena laughed uncontrollably as Darien leaned back against the wall after slamming a fist into the small speaker. "Well, we won't be haring from HIM in awhile. And listen! No more elevator music! I should have done that awhile ago."
She giggled some more in agreement.
Andrew fell back into the chair laughing his head off. "Oh, that was nice."
"Well, I hope you're happy. Now there's no way we can talk to them! What if one is claustrophobic?"
Andrew sighed and looked up at him. "I wouldn't worry too much about that. I would be more worried that they'll strangle each other before they get out of there."
With that, he walked back over to the phone on the desk. 'Better call Rita and tell her I'll be late to dinner tonight. This could take awhile.'
"You're kidding! Darien and Serena?! But... they'll drive each other crazy! I have to see this for myself! Stay there, okay, hon? Yeah, I love you, too. Bye!"
Rita hung up her cellular and shoved it back into her purse. Throwing on her coat and a pair of gloves, she treaded out into the storm. After about four blocks, she paused at a café on the corner. Sighing, she trudged in.
"I never thought it could be so hard to walk a couple blocks. I guess awful weather just wears me out a little." She trotted up to the counter and ordered a cup of coffee to go.
"Rita?"
She turned around to see a tall brunette she recognized as one of Andrew and Serena's friends. "Oh, hello Lita!"
"What are you doing out in that terrible storm?"
"I'm going to Darien's apartment."
"Why?"
"Andrew's there... and you will never believe this!"
"What?"
"Darien and SERENA are trapped in an elevator together!"
Lita's jaw dropped. "You're kidding."
"That's exactly what I said when Andrew told me."
"But... Darien... and Serena... together?! They'll tear each other apart!"
"I know. Isn't it great? And not only that... but they're ALONE in the elevator!"
"No way! Mina and I have GOT to see this!"
"Mina?"
A girl with blonde hair pulled back in a red bow walked up beside Lita. "Hey there!"
"Rita, this is Mina. We were just relaxing here, waiting for the storm to pass... but now... we have to go check this out!"
"Check what out?"
"I'll tell you on the way. Come on!"
Rita grabbed her coffee and Lita grabbed Mina's hand and they all jogged out into the ferocious storm.
.............
Serena stared off into space, occasionally taking glances at Darien who was leaning on the wall across from her. She sighed loudly, looking away. They had passed the last fifteen minutes in silence, and it was driving her insane.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Darien asked.
"Nothing."
"You sure?"
"Yeah... well... I wonder what they're doing right now."
"Who?"
"Whoever's in charge of getting us out of this."
"I'm sure they're doing everything they can."
"Yeah..." Serena began laughing quietly and Darien looked down on her in confusion.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, I was just thinking... what if something really weird happens... like... there's a nuclear war and we're the only survivors. And then we get to be King and Queen of the Earth!" She giggled happily at the thought.
Darien smiled and rolled his eyes. "I don't think it would be too much fun being King if you didn't have any people to rule."
Serena looked off dreamily. "Yeah, I guess... but then, we'd just have to re-... re-... What's that word?"
"Repopulate?" Darien said raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah! We'd just have to repopulate the world."
Darien looked down at her, suppressing a laugh. "Serena, do you have any idea what you just said?"
"Yeah, we'd have to repopulate the world... why?"
Darien cocked his eyebrows again at her confused expression. "And just HOW do you think that is done?"
Serena stared at him for a moment, her mind clouded in confusion. Then, realization dawned instantly and she jumped to her feet, blushing furiously. "Oh, no! No! No! I didn't mean like that! I just... thought, ya know, we could like... I dunno... make robots or or clones or something and... and..."
Darien fell to the floor, clutching his stomach from laughter as Serena continued to spew excuses.
Finally, his constant laughter subsided. Looking up to her worried expression, he stated simply, "Serena, you are quite the character."
She wasn't sure what to make of that.
Ami grabbed at a piece of paper as it blew out of her hand, and shoved it back into her book bag. She hunched over it, attempting to keep the contents dry from the incessant rain.
"I think I should have stayed at home to study."
She stumbled back as a force came hurdling into her. "Now I'm turning into Serena," she said, looking up to apologize to whoever else was caught in the storm. She was surprised to see Lita staring down on her.
"Oh, hey Ames!" Lita yelled enthusiastically over the roar of the rain and thunder.
"Hello Lita," she replied, then said hi to Rita and Mina standing behind her.
"Come with us!" said Lita, turning her around.
"I'd love to Lita, but I have to get home and study for Monday's test and..."
"But Darien and Serena are stuck in an elevator together and we're going to go see them when they finally get out!" Mina said from the other side of Lita.
Ami raised an eyebrow. "WHAT?! Serena and Darien?!" She looked behind her, and then to wherever they were taking her. "Oh, I'll get an A on the test anyway, this is a can't miss opportunity!"
The four girls took off toward Darien's apartment together.
Darien stood in the middle of the elevator, arms crossed, looking solemnly up at the numbers above the door. It appeared they had stopped somewhere between the 9th and 10th floors. He felt a light tap on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Serena standing a few feet behind him, hands in her pockets, staring off to a high corner. She smiled and began whistling innocently.
Darien cracked a smile, laughter spilling from his lips. Rolling his eyes, he turned to stare off into space again. 'Cute...'
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he began to wonder where in the world his umbrella had disappeared to.
.............
Andrew laughed as four very soaked girls walked into the lobby. Standing, he walked over to the one with long red hair, now matted to her head. Shaking his head, he wiped some raindrops off of her face.
Pouting slightly, Rita held out her arms for a hug. Andrew simply laughed and backed away.
"Nuh-uh. I'm not touching you like THAT!"
She crossed her arms again angrily. "Well I love you, too!"
He smiled and helped her take off her jacket, settling for a light kiss on her cheek.
After Ami, Lita, and Mina had hung up their dripping coats, they all turned to Andrew.
"Are they out yet?"
"Nope. We haven't been able to talk to them either."
Mina bit her lip, turning to the closed elevator doors, Two men in orange jackets, walkie-talkies, and headsets standing in front. "I hope they're still alive up there..." she whispered.
"Just hold still!"
"Ow, that hurts!"
"If you would hold still it wouldn't hurt so much!"
"What's up with girls' obsessions with hair, anyway?"
"You wouldn't understand."
Darien rolled his eyes, folding his hands in his lap again. Serena kneeled behind him, doing Heaven-knows-what to his hair. All he knew was that it HURT. But would he make her stop? Of course not... especially since they made a deal that after she was done, he could play with her hair too... and he couldn't wait to run his hands through her long, silky locks.
"I'm almost done..."
He sighed. "Didn't you say that twenty minutes ago?"
She smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Don't tease, I really am this time!"
"Uh-huh."
"If you want, I can take it out and start all over again."
"No! No, that's okay, really."
Serena giggled. She twisted the last small, damp lock into place. With a smile, she came around to face him. Her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. "Wow... you look... different!"
Darien raised an eyebrow at her quizzically. Standing, he turned around to face the wall with a large mirror. His jaw dropped. Slowly, he reached up to touch his hair.
The short ebony strands stood up completely straight in medium sized, spiky clumps.
"Wow," he said, looking at the reflection from every angle.
Serena giggled, standing up behind him. "Do you like it?"
"I look like I'm 16!"
Serena burst out laughing. Taking a few steps toward him, she buried herself beneath one arm. "I think you look handsome. Strange... a little... punk-rocker-ish... but... cool."
Darien smiled and wrapped his free arm around her. "It's... different, alright."
Serena giggled happily.
............
"Check mate," Ami said, again.
"That's it, I SWEAR you cheat!" the man with the walkie-talkie, whom they'd found out actually had a NAME (gasp), said. The man with the walkie-talkie (of course, they forgot the name five minutes later) slammed the small pawn, the only piece he had won (and he lost a bishop in the process) down on the table. "I don't want to play with you anymore!" Standing up, he walked quickly over to the other side of the lobby... or, toward the elevator (remember the elevator? This story is about the elevator).
Ami watched him with wide eyes. "Is he angry?"
"I think we should call Raye," said Mina dreamily.
Lita looked up at her. "Oh, totally! She would kill us if we didn't tell her about this!"
"I'll go call her right now," said Mina, standing up from the couch and walking over to the still-deserted desk, before dialing the number of the Cherry Hill Temple.
"You've got to be kidding! Darien and Serena!? That is TOO funny! Of course I'll be there! A little storm can't keep me away from this. Hey, do you think you could make it so they don't inflict any permanent damage on each other until I get there? Thanks! See ya!"
Raye hung up the phone, quickly gathering up an umbrella and rain jacket before trudging out into the raging weather.
............
"I always wondered what you looked like without the meatballs," Darien said, pulling the last bobby pin from her golden hair. Serena smiled, sitting in front of his kneeled position.
"Does this mean you can't call me Meatball Head until I put my hair back up?" she asked hopefully.
Darien hid a chuckle, running his fingers through the loose locks. He stroked some from the side of her neck before leaning down next to her ear. "Nope! You'll always be Meatball Head to me!"
"Ugh! You are so aggravating!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. Darien smiled to himself.
'This is too perfect,' he thought, running his fingers through her hair again.
Serena forgot the teasing shortly afterward, allowing herself to relax beneath his gentle touch. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she fell into the soothing sensations. Her scalp tingled from after being released from the tight buns.
Darien never wanted to stop caressing the spun gold, but he soon realized that if he didn't do something else soon, Serena would find it just a TAD strange.
He took a lock from the side of her head, just behind her ear, and began to braid. He couldn't even remember how he learned to do this, but he thought he was doing a pretty good job. Until the ends started getting tangled.
"You have so much hair!" he exclaimed, trying to unravel the know he'd made. Serena giggled.
"Yeah, I know. It takes some getting used to."
He had finally continued his styling, wrapping the braid around her head in a crown, then around again... and again...
"You know, you could easily do one of those sixty's beehive things. That'd be flattering," he said sarcastically.
Serena rolled her eyes.
He secured the braid with some bobby pins from the meatballs, then ran his fingers down the mane again... pretending he was combing it, or something. The long golden locks pooled all around both of them on the elevator floor, catching the bright lights above in flowing rays. Finally, Darien let his hands drift from the cascading hair to wrap, rather possessively, around her shoulders.
"There you are, Princess," he whispered.
Serena felt dizzy being this close to him, though she had no idea why. Gulping, and against her body's protests, she stood, pulling herself out of his surrounding arms. Darien let her go reluctantly and stood next to her.
Serena looked at her reflection, a bright twinkle in her eye. She smiled widely, letting a small giggle escape, running her fingers lightly over the golden crown. She looked behind her at Darien's reflection. He was smiling down on her, quite proud of his work, his hands comfortably in his pockets.
"Look!" she exclaimed, pointing to the mirror. "It's the princess and the punk rocker!"
...............
"This had better be worth it! When they come out of there, they'd better either be half dead or married!" Raye yelled, wringing her raven hair out on the tile floor. "I had to trudge through that freaking tidal wave out there to get here, now where is that Meatball Head! I need someone to yell at!"
Mina chuckled nervously. "They're still in the elevator. We can't talk to them yet, either."
"What?! Well who's working on getting them down?!"
Mina pointed to two construction workers, one currently involved in a thumb war with Lita, while the other cheered him on, the headset wrapped around his neck, and the forgotten walkie-talkie in his pocket. Raye rolled her eyes, sighing.
"This town's going to Hell in a hand basket," she mumbled.
"Hey, think about it this way, this just means that Darien and Serena are going to be stuck up there for a LONG time!"
Raye got an evil gleam in her eye. "I wish they had cameras in those elevators. I'd really like to see what's going on now."
"Darien, you're making it too hard! It's VERY simple."
"What's the point of this again?"
"It's just for fun."
"Who in their right mind would sit there and come up with things like this anyway?"
"It was probably some tired and hungry kid who couldn't afford any toys, so they came up with this."
Darien looked at her with false sympathy. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he said, "Serena, do you want me to buy you a toy?"
Serena glared at him and pushed his hand off her shoulder. "Darien, be serious. This is actually pretty fun when you know how to do it right. Now pay attention."
Darien smiled at her, never taking his eyes off her face. She stuck out her tongue in concentration and he nearly broke out laughing. Yes, she was simply too adorable.
"There, see! Now you try! Darien? Darien?!"
"Huh? What?" She rolled her eyes, dropping the string from her fingers.
"Weren't you paying any attention at all? Cat's Cradle is the easiest string game there is, now you are GOING to do this, whether you like it or not!"
Darien rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, I'll try. Now... how did you do that?"
She smiled in spite of herself and once again picked up the long string tied into a loop. "Okay, first you slide it over your four fingers, like this..." she put it over his willing hands, wrapping the string around each one time. "Then you string your middle finger through the opposite one... no, like this... Darien, stop being difficult!"
He laughed. 'This is TOO much fun!' "What did I do?!"
"Middle finger, Darien."
"Oh, right." He followed the directions, glancing up every now and then to see her staring down at their hands. Her tongue was once again sticking out to the side in diligence as she molded his fingers around the string. He looked down to see a neat little shape of diamonds and rectangles formed perfectly in his hands.
"There! See, now that wasn't too hard, was it?"
Darien smiled. "Yeah, I know I'm good!" he said, sticking his nose up proudly.
"Hey! I'm the one who... Oh, you are so annoying!"
He only laughed harder as she punched him lightly in the chest, then pulled his arms over and around her, trapping her in his embrace. She squealed in surprise, looking up to see mischievous twinkles in his dark blue eyes.
"Am I really that annoying?" He had meant for it to sound somewhat frightening, yet it came out in a low, almost hurt whisper. She gasped slightly as he unconsciously pulled her closer to him.
'So close... He's so warm and... he smells so good and... So unbelievably close... And handsome... Beautiful eyes... smells like roses... deeper than the ocean... So incredibly close...'
"Serena, are you okay?" Darien asked, worry in his voice. She hadn't said anything in about a minute. All she did was stare at his eyes, almost looking into them... into him. He was beginning to wonder if she'd gone into shock.
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts as best as she could. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she answered, beginning to back out of his grip. However, she soon found that she couldn't. Her eyes looked up to him to see that he was looking away sheepishly. "Darien?"
"Houston, we have a problem."
Her eyes darkened. "What's the problem?"
"I... I'm sorta tied up here... And I don't know how to get out of these stupid knots..."
Serena rolled her eyes, her head collapsing onto his chest, laughing. "Oh for goodness sakes, Darien, it's not that hard!"
"I've never done this before!"
Turning around, she began working on the mess of strings, attempting to free both her and Darien from the small web.
"Gee, do you even know how to tie your shoes?" she asked teasingly. He rolled his eyes, leaning his head on her shoulder and watching her attempts to untie them.
............
"Rouge."
"Check."
...
...
...
"Shadow."
"Color?"
"Blue."
"Shade?"
"Light."
"Check."
...
...
...
"Brow pencil.
" "Check."
...
...
"Gloss."
"Tint?"
"Pink."
"Dark or pale?"
"Pale."
"Baby or pouty?"
"Baby."
"Full or thin?"
"Full."
"Brush or stick?"
"Brush."
"Shimmery or dull?"
"Oh, just give me the stupid lip gloss already!"
"Okay, okay, relax. Here ya go."
"What do you say?"
"Check."
"Better."
"Are you almost done yet?" Amy whined.
"Yup, just hold still a little longer... While I apply this last coat... and... voila!"
"Ooh, she looks gorgeous! Wow, I never knew she had it in her."
"Yeah, no kidding. Before she was always so... dull..."
"She was pretty, but now!"
"The men will flock to her!"
"Would you all stop talking about me like I'm not here?!" Amy yelled, grabbing the hand mirror Mina offered. Her jaw fell as she ran a hand slowly through her hair. "Wow, I AM hot!"
"Yes, I'm a magician. How DO I do it?" Mina said, blowing on her knuckles and running them over her still-damp shirt.
"Hey... um... could I... um... have your number?" asked Ted (Walkie- talkie man. They remembered his name... eventually).
Amy looked him up and down with disapproval in her eye. "How old are you?" she said tiredly.
"Um... Twe... twenty-eight, ma'am."
She looked away in deep thought. "Hm... sorry, but I try not to date anyone TWICE MY AGE! What is wrong with you?! Yuck!" She jumped to her feet and stormed away, yelling over her shoulder, "And Mina, I HATE make-up!"
Mina looked after her sadly. "She could have been my greatest achievement yet."
Lita placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "There will be others. Let's just... pray for her now..." They each bowed their head silently.
..........
"How much longer do you think it'll be before we get out of here?"
"I'm sure they're doing everything they can, Serena." "I want to go home," she whispered, more to herself than to Darien. He looked down on her sadly.
"I know, Serena. I'm sorry this happened to you."
She looked up at him with confusion in her eye. "Why? You didn't do anything."
"I know... but, you don't deserve to be here, you know? You should... be at home... in you warm bed... After eating a warm dinner..."
"And hot chocolate!" she chimed in.
He smiled, running a hand through her bangs again, before tracing along the golden braid. "And hot chocolate. And then... your mom would tuck you in all nice and toasty warm." Serena giggled as he wrapped his green jacket tighter around her. "And then she'd sing you lullabies and tell you stories and..."
He was cut short by shrill laughter. "You've got to be kidding! How young do you think I am? Mom stopped doing that stuff when I was seven!"
Darien looked down on her small, beautiful face, rested so trustingly in his lap, one hand resting beneath her neck, the other on her flat stomach. His fingers continued to stroke through her hair slowly. "Well... I don't know... I mean, I know you're not a kid, but..."
"Well, when did your mom stop singing you lullabies?"
The question was so innocent, and yet stung him so harshly. He clenched his teeth together, letting his head fall back against the elevator wall. His fingers stopped running through her hair.
Serena looked up at him, confusion apparent. 'Why is he being so silent? Did I say something?"
"Darien? What's wrong?" When he didn't answer, she was about to sit up, when she felt his warm hand on her shoulder. Her eyes caught his as he forced a small smile... well, only half forced. "Darien?"
He inhaled deeply, returning to his exploration of her hair. "I... never had a mom. Well, I did... but, I don't remember..."
She cocked her head to the side as best as she could, urging him to continue. The sadness was deep in his voice, but she felt for some reason that maybe she could help him. Somehow...
"My parents died in a car crash when I was six. I had amnesia and the doctors sent me to an orphanage. I don't remember anything... about my mom or dad... or if I had any brothers or sisters. I don't know where we lived or... what my dad did for a living. I don't even know if my real name is Darien. When I lived in the orphanage, I used to dream about what it must have been like, to actually have had a family. Sometimes I'd lay awake at night, and imagine I was at home, somewhere where I actually belonged. And if I thought really hard, I could even imagine my mom's voice. And I'd come up with fairy tales she would have read to me... or lullabies she would have sang to me..." His voice faded away as he was pulled into a sad reminiscence; his fingers unknowingly continuing to caress her soft bangs.
"Oh Darien," she whispered, her eyes searching his as they stared into space. At the sound of her voice, Darien snapped back to reality, bringing his eyes to focus on her.
After a moment of silence, he whispered, "Don't do that."
She furrowed her brow slightly. "Don't do what?"
"Don't look at me like I'm a different person than I was five minutes ago, just because now you know something else about me. It's just a sob story; we all have them."
Serena smiled wearily. "I don't think you're any different from five minutes ago. You're still the guy who calls me Meatball Head and teases me every day. And you're still the guy who saved me from the storm. I was just... wishing that I could've been there for you, when you were at the orphanage. I wish I could have known you, somehow..."
Darien smiled down on her. "You're here now," he whispered.
She returned the smile, reaching up to twirl a small 'spike' of black hair around her finger. Releasing the hair, she sat up slowly, before turning around to face him and leaning against the same wall he was against. He looked over at her, confused. Though he hated to admit it, he REALLY liked the feeling of her lying on his lap.
"Come here," she commanded.
"Huh?"
"Come here. Come lay down," she patted her lap innocently, a bright smile on her face. Darien raised an eyebrow, but slowly, VERY slowly, crawled over to her, before turning around unsure.
"Um... Serena..."
That was all he could say before she grabbed the collar of his black shirt and pulled his head down to her lap. He gasped, looking up at her confused.
"Uh..."
She giggled. 'It's fun making him uncomfortable,' she realized.
"Just relax, okay?"
"What are you thinking, you little minx?" he said with a smile and contemplating eyes.
She laughed and hit his shoulder lightly. "Oh, you!"
He chuckled back and settled himself into his new position. Serena looked down on him with a happy seriousness, her eyes glazed with a happy, caring twinkle.
"Relax," she repeated, running a hand over his eyelids. He closed them and breathed in deeply. Her hands played gently with his hair, much the same way he had with hers, caressing, then twirling her fingers around a few select locks. She wet her lips nervously, before beginning to sing a lullaby her mom used to sing to her when she was younger.
"Where are you going?
Where are you going?
Will you take me with you?
For my hand is cold,
And needs warmth.
Where are you going?"
Darien looked up at her in surprise. THIS, he was not expecting. Their eyes met, and she only smiled, continuing to sing the soft, beautiful song.
"Far beyond where the horizon lies,
Where the horizon lies,
And the land sinks into mellow blueness...
Oh please, take me with you.
I can skip the road with you.
I can dare myself.
I can dare myself."
She tore one hand away from his hair, once again brushing it over his happily glazed eyes. He complied, closing his eyelids and letting the song drift around him.
"I'll put a pebble in my shoe
And watch me walk.
I can walk and walk...
I shall call the pebble Dare.
We shall talk together about walking.
Dare shall be carried,
And when we both have had enough,
I will take him from my shoe, singing,
Meet your new road.
Then I'll take your hand,
Finally glad
That I am here
By your side.
By your side, by your side...
By your side."
Darien was afraid to move. He didn't want this to end. This... that he had never had... only dreamt of. True, she wasn't his mother, or even A mother, but she was someone who evidently cared for him... and who he did care for as well... And for the first time, they were actually showing that.
She leaned down and kissed his forehead tenderly, her fingers tracing down his strong jaw line. After she pulled away, Darien slowly, groggily, opened his blue eyes to look up at her.
With a gentle hand, he wrapped his palm around her fingers, still lingering on his neck. Pulling it to his lips, he charmingly kissed the back of her hand, his eyes still locked on her pale blue stare.
"Thank you."
.........
Stay tuned for chapter 3!
"By Your Side" is from the Broadway musical, Godspell.