~Chapter 11~

I was just halfway awake. I had no idea, nor a desire to find out, where I was. All I could see through my closed eyelids was light. Darn sun... Ever wish that huge star so close to Earth had an off switch? 'Cause I almost always do. Agh...stupid thing... It felt like it was burning my eyeballs even with my eyes closed!

I rolled over to avoid the sunlight. But I rolled off a bed and the sheets caught me, leaving me hanging off the edge of the bed. The sheets felt very strained, like they were trying to hold me up under the weight of something else. But apparently that "something else" failed and the sheets dropped me, shortly followed by a very heavy object. Already on the floor, the object that had come tumbling down after me knocked the wind clean out of me.

I squirmed and struggled under what I just now realized was a human body. I wanted to scream out and tell the other person to wake up already, that they were suffocating me. I couldn't because I was struggling just to breathe right now, let alone talk. But thankfully I didn't have to talk or scream; the other person woke up and lifted their body off of my poor flattened one. I swear one of my ribs had broken and punctured a lung. I had to let myself stay still until I was able to breathe again.

I knew I had to have slept with someone. Summer had probably lost me while I was drunk and I'd ended up here, having had drunken sex with some random guy during the night. I sighed and wiped the sleep from my eyes. When I finally took it upon myself to face the horrid light that had penetrated my slumber, I found that this bedroom was much cleaner than any other I'd woken to. And one of my socks was right beside me.

I sat up and looked around, my eyes still trying to adjust to the light. Summer kept saying I was a vampire, the way I hated mornings so much. She got a kick out of it but frankly I failed to see the humor.

Normally I'd have a hangover, and a pretty bad one if I'd gotten so drunk as to have sex, but I didn't have time to think about it. Guess who I saw just crawling up? Go ahead, guess. Take your best shot, because if I had the shot you have right now, I'd never have guessed it was, of all people, Darien. And he was naked. And I was naked. Which meant only one thing.

I pulled the sheets up close to me and gasped in shock. The one person on the face of the freaking planet! THE ONE PERSON! Why? Oh why me? What did I ever do to the universe to have made it so darn mad at me?

He looked over at me. By now it didn't matter whether I'd covered myself or not. He'd already seen me naked. Obviously.

"Serena..." he whispered. There was something about his voice that seemed...I don't know...kind? No, no, it wasn't kindness...it was...um... Ah! It was love! That's what it was, yeah, love. "You're still as beautiful as ever."

I resisted the urge to growl ferociously at him. "Why did you let me do that?"

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Huh?"

"What's wrong with you! I trusted you!" I continued.

He sat up and lifted one hand. "Woah, hold on. What are you talking about?"

I allowed a frustrated groan. "I was drunk, you bastard!"

His face paled and he mouthed, "What?"

Yeah, that's right. I was drunk, and he didn't have the courtesy to stop me from doing stupid things. I'd misjudged him by a long shot. I assumed he would be the kind of guy that no one would find around here. Guess not, guess I was wrong. Though to be fair, it could've been worse...he could've taken my innocence had I not already lost it. Bu-

A roar reverberated throughout the entire building and the light faded, leaving the room dark as ever. It yanked me out of my thoughts. My first thought was that it was a power out, but that couldn't be right, considering none of the lights had even been on. My secondary thoughts were confirmed when a flash of light, not at all unlike a the flash of a camera, shot through the window, followed a few seconds afterward by an enormous boom.

I ducked and covered my head with Darien's bed sheets. I hated thunder! I HATED THUNDER! It was my greatest fear! My only fear! This was turning out to be the worst day ever and it was still nighttime... Oh, if only Darien had some kind of alcoholic drink; I'd snatch some up in a second and get drunk. Thunder never scared me when I was drunk. Then again, he'd chosen to sleep with me while I was drunk... Hm...

Another horrible sound blasted through the air and I couldn't help but jumping up. At the next one, I did the same, but this time tossing in a yelp. After it went away, I started crying. I wanted Summer... She knew what to do, she knew how to calm me down. I wished she was here right now, letting me snuggle close to her. I wish she was here to hush me and tell me it was going to be okay. But she wasn't, and Darien didn't know what to do!

I uncovered my head just long enough for me to take "shelter" in the corner of the room. I threw the sheets over my head again and resumed crying. I felt Darien sit down next to me. Somehow I doubted he'd gotten dressed.

"I don't know if you remember this, but you were always scared of thunderstorms," he said. "One time Rini ran away in a thunderstorm, and you gathered the courage to go out in the storm to look for her. You bumped into me and you got so scared you clung to my arm the whole time."

I sniffled. "You're lying. I would never go out in that hellhole!"

He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to him, brushing the sheets off my head. "I wish you would remember."

He wasn't dressed, he was still naked. The sheets I'd been using to hide myself with fell off me. I was too terrified to care. I liked human contact when I got like this. It gave me this sense of security. Somehow, though, being pressed up against Darien made it worse instead of better. I didn't think that was supposed to happen.

"It's still hard to believe you can't remember anything. Especially after last night," he commented.

"Summer told me I hit my head," I replied.

He nodded, as if he understood what it was like to be told you had a past that you couldn't recall. "That makes sense, I guess."

I opened my mouth to say something, but I saw a flash of lightning. It was really close to us, so the thunder came quickly after. I cried out and curled up in Darien's lap. I hardly cared that we were both naked and, thanks to me and my stupid fears, snuggled up against each other. He stroked the top of my head and released a continuous string of hushes in an attempt to calm me down. It started to work, but more thunder came and, once again in a short frenzy, I leapt into his arms and buried my head in his shoulder. I wanted the storm to pass already... I hated showing weakness in front of other people. I had a reputation to uphold.

He patted my back and held my waist. I felt like I was being treated as a frightened infant, but at the moment I didn't care. My breathing evened out after a short amount of time. For awhile I didn't hear any thunder, just Darien's warm breath against the base of my neck. I sniffled and wiped away my tears. At least he was trying to comfort me. It was chivalrous, despite the fact that he'd had sex with me while I was smashed and was now hugging my still-nude body. But I was probably just as guilty for the latter. I was, after all, the one that had jumped into him. Most guys would've taken this to their advantage. They would've tried to make a bold sexual advance by now, trying their level best to seduce me back into their bed for some more sex. What made Darien so different?

I felt him softly kiss my cheek, flecked with red blotches from crying. I couldn't believe I allowed it. I usually became very aggressive toward those who tried to kiss me when I wasn't drunk. But he'd offered me more than most guys did; he'd offered me his trust, his support, his protection, and even his comfort. I didn't quite know why, but something told me I had to repay him somehow. I didn't like being indebted to anyone, especially him as of now.

Thunder struck my heart and I jumped again from fright. This time Darien hand had slipped from my back to my butt and when I sat down, I accidentally sat on his hand. At first I was too upset to notice, but when I did, I pretended to not have noticed. I was testing him, seeing if he would try anything with me. His hand was limp under my bottom. He didn't try to squeeze me. He was flushed, yes, but I couldn't really blame him. He was trying to be a gentleman, not calling me out for sitting on his lap and even worse, his hand. He was in the perfect position to do pretty much anything to me. I was close enough that if he wanted to touch me, he could. But he didn't.

I could feel his heart racing in his chest. He might have had thoughts of doing something, but to me it was the actions that counted, and he resisted from doing anything to make me feel uncomfortable. But why? We'd just had sex. He'd touched me then, so why wasn't he touching me now?

I bit my lower lip. He seemed to have seen it and his face grew a new shade of red. Was I acting cute without knowing it? How was he different from all those other guys I'd slept with. There had been numerous times I'd done something cute or sexy without realizing it, and each time I did that I was either groped or someone tried to kiss. One time a girl had tried to kiss me and I'd slapped her away. The worst part: she wasn't drunk. My hand had immediately convinced her that I was straight.

I sighed. I hated that he wouldn't touch me without permission. It gave me a reason to trust him, a person a barely knew. What if he tried to touch me even with my permission? Was he man enough to withstand that? It was another brilliant test. It would allow me to know whether or not he respected me enough to refrain from doing something to me when I wasn't drunk.

I hugged his neck and pressed myself closer. Unfortunately, a wave of thunder scared me again and I ended up pulling myself much closer than intended. His body was nice. I hadn't noticed it before, but it was muscular and...his scent... Somehow I recognized it and accepted it. I assumed he was right, that we really had been a couple in the past. I wondered if I had lost my virginity to him back then. What if my first time hadn't been with some random stranger, but with Darien instead? I smiled at the thought, though I didn't know why.

I uncurled myself after I settled back down and sat in his lap properly, with my legs hanging over his. If I wanted I could wrap them around his waist, but I didn't. This was a test and nothing more. So far he was passing it, but he didn't look like he would be able to keep it up much longer. I felt his excitement under me. The perfect time to moan. My hands moved from his neck and clung to his shoulders. My fingernails dug into his skin. I have to admit, part of me couldn't control that much of the test. But it was fun being able to turn him on, unlike the many other men I'd slept with. Yes, he was very different from them. But the real question I needed to answer was, how different?

I heard the rain patter against the window. It was no longer just a thunderstorm. For some reason, I hoped it would turn into a downpour. I'd always loved the rain. It calmed me and at those special times everything made sense, everything was clear and tranquil and calm and relaxing... Oh, I really did love the rain. I loved hearing it pitter-patter against the windows of any place I was at. I found it much easier to smile during the rain. Those little water droplets may annoy most people, but they were my oasis. It was like the pleasure of getting drunk without the uncertainty and unawareness. To me, rain was amazing. A true wonder of nature.

I sighed contentedly in Darien's neck, my breath obviously reaching him. He whined to let me know what I was doing to him, but I ignored it. I already knew. I felt one of his fingers tapping me lightly on the back, but I moved closer to his neck, so close that my lips were touching his skin. He stiffened and sharply inhaled.

"Uh, Serena..." he choked out. "You...you're..."

I move my mouth to his ear and whispered softly, "I know." I couldn't help it when the edges of my mouth curved upwards into a sly smile.

He gulped and relaxed a little bit. "You aren't drunk again, are you?"

I laughed quietly. "Maybe just a little." But when it became obvious to me that he was taking my response seriously, I said, "I'm not, Darien. It was a joke."

"Are you okay with what you're doing? Do you even know-?"

I interrupted him with, "I know. I'm fine with it."

And I spoke the truth. There hadn't been any thunder to scare me recently and the rain had been set in his favor, setting the mood and actually giving him a chance. If the rain could give him a chance, I suppose it wouldn't hurt for me to do the same. I was okay with this. I might turn vicious the next time I woke up, but for now he was fine...and safe. If anything, he should be glad. Aside from business purposes, he was the only man I was going to sleep with while I wasn't drunk.

He was lucky to have just the right situation at just the right setting at just the right time.

I grabbed his hand and placed it on my lower back I rocked my hips side to side, practically massaging the hand I still sat on. I used a hand to guide his face toward mine. Still unsure, he hesitated to kiss me, so I was the one to place my lips over his. The kiss was gentle and in no way dominant. I was giving him every signal I could. There was no possible way he couldn't pick up on them.

And I turned out to be right. He moved his hand up and down my back, softly caressing me. I moaned again. I was already turned on, why couldn't he see that? I wanted him to actually go on with the activity. He was a man, he was supposed to be able to sense these thing. But at the same time, I was glad he was taking it slow. Never before had such shivers been sent up my spine and throughout my body. For the first time in my life I felt a twinge inside my lower stomach. I didn't know what it was, but it felt funny in a good sort of way. I wanted it to happen again.

What was it about Darien that caused me to have this kind of attraction to him? It felt like I should've done this ages ago, even when I didn't know, or in this case didn't remember, him. But why? He was so...so...different from what I was used to. I felt alive, and I wasn't drunk. And here I thought life couldn't throw anymore surprises at me... At least this surprise was good. At least this surprise was Darien.

A/N

Okey-dokey. I think you might be able to tell where this is headed now.

Oh yeah. PLEASE REVIEW! I really need the motivation...