As you wished, here is the update! Thanks for all the reviews!

Been So Long

The next day, Darien showed up at her house. Serena's mom answered it.

"Hi, may I help you?"

"Nice to see you again Mrs. Tsukino," he said smirking.

She'd know that smirk from a mile away. "Darien? Is that you? Oh, my, it's been so long. Come in! When did you come back?"

"Uh, last Friday."

Serena came down and froze. He smirked to acknowledge his appearance.

"Serena hasn't told me you were back. You know, she was so devastated when you left. She hated it whenever I called her Meatball Head. I thought calling her that would cheer her up, but she nearly bit my head off when I did. I guess you are the only one that can do that."

He had an amused smirk and looked over to Serena. "Oh, really? Is this true Serena?"

Serena's mother turned around and saw her daughter. Serena gave her mom a, why-are-you-telling-him look, a look only a mother and a daughter would of understood.

Mrs. Tsukino ignored it and asked, "Why didn't you tell me he was back? How could this handsome, charming, you man that was once a adorable little boy slip your mind?"

"Yes, Serena, do tell. Please enlighten us."

She glared at him. "Perhaps seeing this guy has given me brain damage so that I forget little tidbits of my day. I apologize for not informing you. Now if you don't mind, I have to get to school."

"I can take you," Darien suggested.

"Yeah, right. Like I'd want you to take me to school."

"Serena, be polite!" Mrs. Tsukino faced Darien. "She is terribly sorry and would love to accept your offer."

He flashed her a charming smile. "Well, come on then, Serena. You wouldn't want to be late, yet again. Please say 'hello' to Mr. Tsukino for me."

Serena mumbled a, "Fine," and walked towards his car.

As they drove, it was filled with silence. They got some stares as they got to school. Once again, she got angry glares from girls, but this time, guys gave Darien an angry look, but they were both oblivious to it all.

She got out of the car and mumbled, "Thanks for the ride,"

"What was that Meatball Head? I didn't quite hear you," he said in a teasing tone.

She sighed and said, "Thanks for the ride," a bit louder.

"Oh, you're very welcome. It was such an honor. I will take you home also. I would love to talk to you father again. Speaking of family, I would love to catch up with Sammy again. It's been so long,"

She walked away, "Keep dreaming."

"Then if you don't let me take you home, I'll just follow you home."

She turned around. "Fine," she started pushing him with one finger. "If you think it's that I want to go, you're wrong, so wipe off that smug grin of your lips because I'm only coming because you were going to follow me home and torture me! I'm not too happy right now, so I suggest you leave me alone! Argh!"

"I wasn't thinking that, but now I think you want to come and is using that as an excuse."

"You're impossible!" she yelled at him and went to class.

He smugly watched Serena walk away.

Serena met up with Mina.

"Sooo… Are you guys an item?"

Serena's eyes widened. "What!"

"Well, you guys were fighting like a couple and you guys were standing awfully close to each other. By the way, you guys got to school together in the same car. Am I missing something here?"

"We are not together, you hear me? He came over to my house and he and my mom talked. My mom made me accept his offer of taking me to school."

"Right… If you continue playing hard to get, that might bring you guys even closer. He looks like a guy that takes his goals seriously."

"Whatever, just drop it."

"So you admit you are playing hard to get?"

"I don't know. Every time we are around people he acts all mean around me, but when it is just me and him, nothing happens. It is really weird. I know that under all that ego, he really is a nice guy. I just act this way towards him because he earns it. If he just acted normal when everyone was around, I wouldn't have to act like that. You know what I mean?"

"So you do like him?"

"NO! I'm saying, I know him. I couldn't like him, he's Darien for crying out loud!"

"You're lying to yourself. Why can't you just admit your true feelings?"

"I seriously don't know what you are talking about. Come on, we have to get to class, don't want to be late."

Sometimes, I just wish that Mina couldn't see right through me…

At the end of the day, Darien was at her last class. He saw her walk the other way just as she saw him. He ran over to her and pulled her arm in his direction.

"We can't forget the deal you made, now can't we Meatball Head?"

She sighed and gave in.

"How could I?"

They got into the car and he drove to her house.

"I can't wait to talk to Mr. Tsukino again. He's such a cool guy. Oh, and Sammy too. He was about 3, right? I'll bet he can't remember me."

"I think you're the only guy that my dad had ever let me hangout with. He's so overprotective of me, remember?"

"Yeah, he was. I remember when I first met you. You were swinging and tried to get off, but you fell off. Your dad came running to you when you started crying, but I got to you first and hugged you. Your dad got so mad until he noticed that you stopped crying."

Flashback

Serena was swinging, but was getting tired of it. She tried to stop, but she couldn't. Then she saw someone jump off.

Maybe I can try…

She jumped off, but didn't land on her feet. She started to cry. Her father and a blue-eyed, jet-black haired boy saw from afar, and rushed to help.

The boy reached her first and held her. He whispered that it was going to be okay.

Her father finally got to her and was angry. Who was this boy? What does he think he's doing? Then, he saw how he handled her and she immediately stopped crying. Usually she would be wailing by now, but for some reason she wasn't. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad…

The boy handed her a lollipop and she smiled.

Somehow, the father knew this wouldn't be the last time he would see that little boy.

End of Flashback

"Yeah, I remember that," she noticed the sudden change in his voice. "Why do you act like this?"

"Like what?"

"Why do you act all nice and stuff when it's just me and you, but when there's people around, you act like a jerk? Why is that?"

"I don't know really. It's just that when I'm with you, I don't have to put up all the barriers. I trust you. You should know that. When there's people around, I just act like the person they expect me to be. You know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, kind of." She knew that ever since his parents died when he was eight, he wasn't the same to opening up to people again.

He drove into her driveway.

"We're here. Come on, let's go."

He got out of the car and went to her side of the car. He opened the door for her and gave her a charming smile.

"I just wish you had your barriers down all the time. I like it when you are nice."

"Me too," he mumbled. It pained him to be so mean to her.

She went into her house.

"Hey, Dad!" Serena said greeting her father.

"Hey, sweet - " he paused as he saw the boy, "Who is this?"

"Hello, Mr. Tsukino. Nice to see you again," Darien said politely and took out his hand.

He shook it while he eyed Darien suspiciously. Nice to see you again? Where have I seen him before? He looks so familiar too… Then it clicked. He hugged the shocked Darien. "Darien, my boy, it's been too long. You grew up pretty nicely, such a gentleman. Very worthy, if you know what I mean," he said winking at Serena.

She blushed. "Uh, Dad," she said pointing to the non-breathing Darien.

He noticed he was hugging to hard and let go. "Sorry, there. So, come on, let's go catch up. Sammy there is in the room too. He'll be so excited. He still remembers you, you know."

She went to her room to read some manga.

After a couple of hours, he found his way to her room.

"Shouldn't you be doing your homework other than studying? You know, in order to get good grades, you have to put effort into it."

Serena jumped.

"Don't do that. You scared me. Besides, I don't have any homework. I just have to study. I can do that later."

"And later is never?"

"….."

He sighed and looked around the room. He saw a few frames that had pictures of either him or them together when they were younger. He looked at one picture; he could tell it was from when he left. Her eyes were dull and she no longer cared to smile. He saw another one, this time she was happy. In this picture, she was with who he guessed was Mina. He is really glad that she came because he couldn't bear to know that she was unhappy for a long time. He smiled. Her eyes shined and her smile would brighten anyone's day.

"Darien?"

He snapped out of his daze.

"Was this picture taken after I left?" he asked pointing to the picture where she was miserable.

She looked to the ground and said, "Yeah,"

"And this, when was this?" he asked pointing to the picture where she was with Mina.

"That was when Mina first came about a year after you left. She made my life better, she took my mind off of you for a while, then after a few years, I totally forgot, that is, until yesterday."

"It hurts me to know that you were hurt for that long. You know, when I left, for a very long time, I thought of you and how you would be feeling and I wished you weren't hurt. It is a good thing that Mina came, so that you weren't sad that long."

"Yeah…" she said at the ceiling.

He checked the time. "Well, I have to go, Meatball Head. I have to do my homework and I'm going to do it today."

She rolled her eyes. His shields were up again after his confession…

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