A/N: Again, a chapter I'm not really happy with.

Disclaimer: Owning Sailor Moon is way too stressful. I'm thinking of selling it. Any bidders? I know, I know, what a dirty joke. Some of you were pulling out your checkbooks, weren't you?

Subject to Change

"That's it!" roared Coach Etoukou when his eyes landed on Serena and Darien the next morning. Both appeared equally dejected, with mussed hair and pale faces: Serena sat hugging her knees to her chest on the pavement, Darien stood with his hands shoved in his pockets; both were staring into space with bloodshot eyes. "I'm tired of this! I thought you two fighting was bad, but you two not fighting is worse! You leave me only two options – I'll send you to the office and call a parent conference to sort this out, or you'll sort it out on the bleachers, right now." He pointed a stubby finger at the bleachers sitting a couple hundred yards away next to the track.

When neither of the teens responded, he bellowed, "CHOOSE!"

Serena's eyes slid like melting butter towards Darien. He glanced at her, thinking. If Coach called a parent conference – which he very well might, he seemed quite emotional about all this – Serena would find out that he was an orphan. And he most emphatically did not want that. Moreover, he didn't want her pity.

Darien's dark eyes hardened. "Bleachers?" he said to her.

Serena shrugged, the coolness of the gesture not belying her inner anguish. He hates me. And I don't blame him. "Fine."

"Go, then," ordered Coach. "And don't show your sorry, well-toned butts back here until you can't hold a civil conversation for five minutes without fighting."

Serena lifted her head to shoot Darien a what the heck is he smoking? look at the coach's rather alarming remark about "well-toned butts," then realized that they were fighting, and quickly ducked her head back down.

They both began to shuffle away from the gym towards the bleachers in the field. It was a quiet journey, so deafening that Serena would have begun to talk to herself – since she certainly wasn't about to talk with Darien – to break the silence if she wasn't so tired from staying up all night and wondering what Tuxedo Mask's motives really were.

The bottom bleacher bench made a little whine as Serena threw herself onto it, and she welcomed even that small sound to break the silence.

Darien stood above her, and she looked up at him expectantly, unwilling to speak first. She would show him how stubborn she could be.

Her obduracy served her well. The silence only stretched on for a couple more minutes before Darien broke.

"I…uh…" She watched him rake a hand through his hair. "The other day, when I was – you know…"

"Acting like a jerk?" she supplied sarcastically.

She couldn't be certain, but she was pretty sure she saw him wince. "Yeah, that. I didn't really mean it."

Serena leaned back in the bleacher, knotting her hands around one knee. What is this? Another empty apology? He's just gonna do it again…he couldn't like you enough to apologize, he hates you, remember? He's just saying this so I'll forgive him and he can get out of trouble with Coach… "Is that so?"

He threw her an exasperated look. "You're not gonna make this easy for me, are you?"

"No." Her voice came out knife-edged. Go on. Tell him off. He's not Luna. He can't take advantage of you. Show him you're not just sweet Serena. "Because this is the same thing you told me two days ago. But here we are in the same situation with you apologizing for doing the same thing. Silly of me to think that you'd actually changed." In spite of herself, her voice raised just a little, and some of her own self-loathing leaked into the words. "Stupid of to think that you could be nice – " She let out a strangled sound, half scream and half sigh, and regained control of herself. "But it's your idiocy we're discussing right now, not mine. You're brain-dead if you think I'm gonna fall for the whole I'm sorry Serena, please forgive me crap again."

"Hey, I said I was sorry, okay!" Serena heard the anger flaring in his voice and was obscurely comforted by it, because it meant that her treatment of him was justified…kind of. "Isn't that enough for you?"

"No," said Serena, injecting ice into her voice. You said you were sorry before, and you obviously didn't mean it. What's to say you mean it this time? "In case you hadn't noticed, Shields, I'm not one of those simpering underclassmen girls who swoon every time you open your mouth. I don't need you. I don't have any reason to bother with you if you're going to treat me like trash over and over again." She lifted her chin defiantly, eyes narrowed. "You wanted things to go back to normal, didn't you? Well, here we are. I hate you, you hate me, we're fighting, we're in trouble, just like normal. Isn't that enough for you?" She hurled his own words back in his face.

"You don't understand!" Darien exploded. His eyes swirled stormily, flashing into hers like lightning bolts. She refused to avert her gaze and stared back stonily. I am just as strong as you. With a strangled growl, he whirled away from her and slammed his fist into the bleachers struts. The metal groaned and bent inwards, but Serena was too intent on keeping her expression under control to notice. "You think I want to hurt you?"

You really think I would have let you get hurt? Serena's nails dug into her palms. For a moment, her fight with Darien slid away, receding into fog. The sensation of phantom arms and the ghostly gust of his words into her ear surrounded her. Tuxedo Mask…

"I don't do these things on purpose!" Serena was yanked back to reality with the sound of Darien's voice. "Sometimes they just happen!"

"Oh, I get it." Serena nodded sarcastically to cover her inner turmoil. Stop thinking about him. You can't be with him. You'll endanger Mars and Mercury…and the princess… "What you're saying is that it's not your fault you can't control your temper."

"No – I mean, yes, but – no! No, that's not what I meant!" Darien made a strangling gesture with his hands. "Look – could you just stop acting like that for a minute!"

"Acting like what?"

"Like that. All cynical and cold."

"Oh, you mean like you?" Serena demanded, eyes flashing. "What else am I supposed to do, huh? Act happy and nice and naïve – like it doesn't matter? Like I'm going to pretend nothing ever happened? Things don't work like that, Da – Shields." She hastily corrected herself. Oh God, maybe he does mean it. But… "You can't just erase the things you've done and start over again. I can't erase the things you've done." Her voice faltered for a moment – what if he really does mean it? So what if he means it this time. He still hurt me!– then sped up with more fervor than before. "I wish I could erase them, because they hurt! Right here!" She pounded a fist on her chest, directly above her heart. Despite her best efforts to harden her resolve and blow him off totally, the words began to spill out. "Maybe I'm a wimp, maybe I'm too sensitive, but I don't like when people treat me like they're my friends and then show that they're actually not! It scares me…it makes me afraid that maybe everyone in the world is like that – maybe no one in the world actually likes me at all, and they're all just pretending because I'm not even worth liking."

She bit her lip and looked away, blinking rapidly for a moment to rid her eyes of the moisture that had gathered in them. Her next words were bitter. "But you wouldn't know about that, would you? After all, everyone loves Darien."

(Switch in Point of View)

Ouch. Talk about feeling like a slug.

But how could she even think that about herself? Hasn't she even noticed that half the male student population has their eyes glued to her? Hasn't she noticed that she has the most loyal – if extremely psychotic – friends in the universe? And that she has Motoki and Asanuma – and me?

No, of course she hadn't noticed. Because he had kept her beaten down, trampled like a flower beneath combat boots, bulldozing over her self-esteem with his insults and snide comments. None of which he had really meant – not really. He has just meant them as fond jokes, the kinds one teased a little sister with. But it seemed that the Odango didn't regard him quite as fondly as she would an older brother. Which hurt, kind of, but who was he to be complaining?

He chose his next words carefully, measuring them out like medicine. "Serena…I am sorry. Really, really sorry. Yesterday was just…just another example of me being an idiot and taking out my problems on you. I haven't had the…most pleasant of weeks."

"Really?" came Serena's acerbic reply. "What was so bad about it? Did you get a B on a test? Oh, the horror!"

"No," gritted out Darien, a flame of anger licking the glacier of calm he had procured. "I had relationship trouble, something you never nothing about, since no guy has ever been stupid enough to ask you out on a date."

Serena's eyes flashed pain. "See?" Her arms circled her ribs, as though trying to shield her heart from an invisible spear. She took a deep breath, lowering her head to rest apathetically on her chest.

Darien didn't move, barely breathing. You slug! You slug! His subconscious shouted at him. You are the biggest, fattest, lying hypocrite I have ever seen –

"Odango," he said, reaching out to her without realizing, "Odango, I didn't mean it – please – "

Serena lifted her head, and when she did, there were tears trickling swiftly down her cheeks. He tore his eyes away from them and focused on her blue eyes, trying to read the emotions residing within them. The effort was as futile as trying to count raindrops.

"Serena…"

She cut him off. Still hugging her arms to herself, she rocked herself slowly back and forth. "I know. I know you didn't mean it, Darien." Her voice was a whisper. Was that good or bad?

Serena took another deep breath. "I…I understand. It makes a lot more sense now that – that you explained it to me." She laughed slightly, hair falling across her face. Though it was the middle of the morning, and the sun beat down fiercely on his back, Darien felt a shiver make its way down his spine. "People do….weird things for love…don't we? Stupid things."

"Odango…" Darien wasn't quite sure what to say. What did a naive kid like Serena think she knew about love? And if she was so naïve, why did her words hit so close to home? "Odango, did someone hurt you? Seiko?"

"No." Serena laughed again and tilted her head back to look at him. Her eyes sparkled like crystals in the sunlight that shafted down. But a strange chill pervaded the image of her, leaning back and laughing with crystalline eyes. This…this wasn't the Odango he knew. "I'm the only one who hurt me. Me and my stupidity. Now I've just gotta make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else." She lowered her head again and stood. When she looked up once more, she looked more normal, softer. Not sharp and jagged like shards of ice. "Do you need to talk about it?" she asked with a timid gentleness. "About your, um, relationship trouble?"

"No." Darien shook his head. "It's over." Not that it ever started to begin with.

"Well…" Serena tilted her head rather doubtfully. "I'm…here – if you ever want to, you know, talk…"

"You'll be the first one I ask," he promised. He hesitated a moment. "Does that mean that we're friends now?"

Serena shook her head, and he felt his insides twist. Buck up, Shields, she's just some underclassman, why should you care? "Why do you even care? You don't want to be friends with me."

Darien made a noise of protest, but she cut him off. "No – think about it, Darien. Really think about it, think about the way you treat me. Am I someone that you actually, honestly like? As a human being? Or am I just your punching bag? Something to take your frustrations out on when you're mad?"

Darien fell silent, his eyelashes' shadows darkening his irises as his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Through the haze that was engulfing her as she watched his stormy eyes, she felt a needle of surprise that he was actually doing something she said.

"I…don't think you're right," he said at long last, pulling her from the fog. She watched him ever so carefully, schooling her face into a blank mask, because she didn't want him to see the pain, the shame that would flood her when he told her that she wasn't someone worthy of his friendship. "I mean, I'm not justifying my outburst or anything, but the fact that I yell at you, or that I'm short with you – means that I feel comfortable enough with you to express my emotions. With other people, I just clam up and pretend nothing's wrong – but I don't feel like I need to hide anything. I trust you enough to see how I really feel. Isn't that what friendship's about?"

Serena didn't reply. Her eyes remained glued on Darien's, piercing and sharp. He felt dread coil in his stomach. He had overstepped the boundaries – what on earth had possessed him to think he knew anything about what friendship was, anyways? Him, Darien Shields, who had never had a conversation with anyone that lasted longer than ten minutes until he reached high school. He was such an idiot. Idiot, idiot, idiot…

Finally, Serena spoke. Her eyes burned into his. "Every time I think I've got you figured out, you go and say something like that." Her voice still held an edge – this time, an edge of desperation. "Every time I've finally managed to convince myself you're a heartless jerk who isn't worth my time, you have to go and say something that makes everything better…why can't you just let me hate you!" Her wan cheeks were stained crimson with anger and maybe something else. She dragged her hands down the sides of her face, as though trying to rub the color away. "God, Shields, I don't understand you. How you're all nice and happy one minute, and then depressed and evil the next – but I guess – " she took a deep breath, " – if you trust me that much…I could give it a try…learning to understand you, I mean…"

At first, Darien fought to keep the happiness he felt exploding in his veins from showing on his face, but then he realized that this would be a clear act of hypocrisy against the words he'd just told Serena. And he vowed that if nothing else in this world, those words – that he trusted her – were never going to turn into lies. They would always remain the truth, if he had anything to do about it. He wouldn't betray her trust the way he'd betrayed Sailor Moon's. Ever.

So he let the grin uncurl on his face, and was rewarded with a smile blossoming timidly on Serena's.

"Just – promise me one thing," said Serena seriously, her light eyes boring into his with an intensity that unnerved him. "If you hurt me – and don't try to tell me you won't, because you will, that sort of thing happens no matter what – you have to tell me why, okay?"

"Yeah, of course," Darien agreed without thinking. He wouldn't hurt Serena again, no matter what she said, he wouldn't let himself be mean to her anymore, she didn't deserve it, so she didn't need to be worrying about him explaining himself to her. "I will."

"Promise me."

"I promise – I'll never hurt you, Serena, and therefore I'll never hurt you without explaining why," he added before she could stop him. "So – friends?"

"Friends." Serena grabbed his hand in hers and skipped with him off down the track. Just on time, too, for the bell rang at that moment, and they both broke into a run, screaming, "NOOOOO! WE'RE LAAAAAATE!"

Then Darien stopped dead, and Serena smashed nose-first into his back. She bounced backwards onto the grass. "Ow! Why'd you stop, you numbskull?"

"I just realized something," said Darien slowly, a sly twinkle in his eye. "We already have detention…"

"So they can't give it to us again even if we're late," finished Serena, pumping a fist in the air. "Yes! I could get used to this whole detention thing." She giggled.

Darien eyed her a moment. Serena didn't usually giggle. With her, it was either a full-out, gut-busting, side-splitting, knee-slapping, hee-haw howl of laughter. Serena giggling meant one of either three things: she was about to keel over from exhaustion, she was high on sugar, or she was faking it.

The second option was out of the question. Serena on a sugar-spike would have split his eardrums with some high-pitched squeal or other by now. The first option was a possibility, especially with the huge bags that lay beneath her eyes, but something about the falsetto pitch of her giggle made Darien almost certain it was the third option – she was faking. Something was still bothering her.

Darien ignored the slight feeling of disappointment in his stomach – so his behavior towards her wasn't the only reason that she had shown up to school looking like heck and grumpier than Satan. Big deal. Of course she had a life outside of him. Of course she had friends he didn't know, and a social calendar on which he didn't exist at all. And this didn't bother him. Not a whit. Of course not.

Which was why he decided not to probe her on the matter of what was still bothering her. Well, that, and he didn't want to set her off again.

That was what he told himself, anyways.

A/N: Blech. Review, please. Tell me what I can do to make the story better.