Here's Chapter 2 for you guys. It's been edited quite a bit, as I said it would be. Some minor details have been changed. (i.e. it's been more than just a few months since Serena and Darien have been on bad terms.) Enjoy!

- xoxo, Crys (08.13.16)

"Picture Perfect"

Chapter 2

Darien sat at his desk upstairs, trying to focus on some minor paperwork he needed to complete, but he found himself thinking about the night before, unable to shake the awful feeling that he still had. Late last night, Dr. Shields had lost one of his patients; the woman unfortunately passed away during labor. It wasn't his first loss – there had been a few before - but it still managed to get to him just as it had the first time. Being a doctor had its ups and downs, and losing someone was an all-time down.

Every loss – hopefully summing to very few – was etched into your head. You remembered them all. Darien hadn't lost very many patients, maybe at most, three in all of his years of working as a doctor. But the fact of the matter was; he had lost three too many, and it angered him every time.

Darien always had to deliver the bad news to the patient's family, and it was hard. The days when he helped out with the women about to give birth were heartbreaking. Losing a woman after she gave birth was the absolute hardest thing to tell a family. Having to tell them that the newborn wouldn't ever have the chance of meeting their mother was truly painful. He couldn't imagine the pain they felt; Serena had a very quick and routine labor with his daughter, he was lucky.

But he continued on with his job. You can't save everybody, he used to tell himself.

That was why he hadn't come home, and that was why he was so pissed off. He had lost a young woman of about twenty-two years of age last night while she gave birth to her new daughter. The husband was completely devastated. Darien had only lost one other mother before. But she was in her fifties, so it wasn't as completely heartbreaking, considering she had lived a good majority of her life. But twenty-two. How could the world be so cruel? The young woman hadn't even lived a third of her life yet. It was just unbelievable how someone so young wouldn't be able to experience a full life.

So in the midst of his despair, he ran to the nearest thing that he thought that could take his mind off of his loss. Christina.

Christina was his secretary. She was a slut and everyone knew it. She watched Darien like a hawk and she wanted him – badly. At the time, Darien created the illusion that he needed her. So it was okay to screw around a little bit, right? He gave her what she wanted, and it was comforting to him. It took his mind off of his horrible night.

He felt no guilt. No regret. No shame. It was just sex.

After Serena had passed by his office, he wondered if she would ever find out. 'Probably not,' he mused. He had never slept with another woman while married to her. But in reality, he didn't really care if she found out. At least that's what he convinced himself of.

Darien was brought out of his thoughts when he heard his cell phone ring at the edge of his desk. He looked at the caller ID and noticed it was his best friend, Andrew, so he picked it up. Any other call would've been ignored.

"Hello?"

"Hey Darien, no work today?" Andrew asked from the other end.

"I decided to stay home today… paper work and all, you know?"

"I hear you, man." Andrew paused. "So I've got something I want to talk to you about. You busy right now?"

Darien looked down at his paper work and frowned, it could wait. "No."

"Excellent. I'm coming over then. You'll want to hear this in person."

Furrowing his brow, the ebony-haired man thought of what it could possibly be. Andrew wasn't the type to hold things in until he was face to face with someone. "Alright, I'll see you soon I guess. Bye Andrew."

"Yeah, bye."

Darien hung up the phone and thought about what Andrew wanted to talk about. If he wanted to tell him in person, it must be important. Or maybe Andrew was exaggerating a little. 'Guess I'll have to wait and see.'

All of a sudden, Darien heard Serena squeal, breaking the silence, and saw her run past his office. He quirked an eyebrow at her sudden excitement and got up to follow her. After their episode he couldn't imagine what she could possibly be excited about.

"Raye, Raye, Raye, Raye, Raye!" she squealed, running down the steps to their front door.

Before the fiery priestess could even put her hand up to knock on the door, it was thrown open, and the bubbly blonde jumped into her arms. Raye was confused at first, but returned the hug full-force. "It's been awhile, huh?"

Serena smile and pulled back. "Yeah, too long."

Raye nodded and followed Serena into the house, taking in its modern decor. "Wow. Not much has changed here. Feels like it was just yesterday."

"Well I try to keep things the same you know? I don't care much for change."

Raye nodded and looked towards the staircase, where she saw Darien walking down with an impassible expression plastered on his face.

"Hey Darien!" she smiled, greeting the ebony-haired man. "It's been a long time, huh?"

Darien nodded and glanced at Serena, who had become rather interested in her shoes as he came to stand right in front of her. "Serena?" he posed the unspoken request for an explanation.

"I was going to tell you when she got here." She said quietly, avoiding his gaze.

Darien raised a questionable eyebrow at her. "There's no need. Raye is always welcome here." He turned his attention back to Raye once he saw Serena look up at him with questioning eyes. She hadn't expected him to be so calm. "So Raye, how have you been all this time?"

Raye looked a little confused. She had never seen Serena so… uncomfortable around him. "Uh… oh, everything's been great Darien. How about you and Serena?"

Darien smirked, but she hadn't seemed to notice. "We're as happy as ever." He said wrapping his arms around her waist, and laying his head on her shoulder. "Aren't we Serena?" he asked, silently daring her to say otherwise.

Serena stiffened, and he seemed to get a kick out of it. "Yeah, we've been perfect." She replied, while fighting off the urge to lift her leg with all she had, and jam it right into his groin. 'Bastard.' He was playing with her.

Darien, sensing her shifting weight quickly pecked her on the cheek and backed up, but not before whispering, "Not so fast, sweetheart." In her ear.

"Well, I'll leave you two girls to chat now." Darien said as he began towards the stairs. "Oh and Raye, it was very nice seeing you again. Don't be a stranger now." he said before ascending the stairs.

Raye smiled and then turned her attention back to Serena. "I so know there's a pool here. So… are we going to?"

Serena let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and smiled at Raye. She knew she loved to swim and she knew she couldn't deny her unspoken request. "Did you bring a suit?"

Raye beamed and pointed towards her bag. "You know it."

"Alright then, let's go change. Follow me."

Serena had led Raye to one of the guest bathrooms and told her she could change in there and that she'd be in the next room over. Raye nodded and gently closed the door after Serena exited.

Serena made her way to her room to change. She shuffled through her drawers to find the new suit she had just bought. "Ah hah!" she declared in triumph as she found the suit. It was a black two piece bikini that showed off her splendid figure and complimented her breasts greatly. She quietly closed her door and quickly removed her clothing before putting the bikini on. 'Perfect.' She thought as she looked herself over in the mirror. Simple, but sexy.

Serena heard a knock on her door and heard Raye's voice on the other side. "Just a minute." She called, while she grabbed two towels out of her closet and made her way to the door.

"Ready?" she asked stepping outside.

Raye nodded, clad in a crimson red two piece, similar to Serena's. "Yep."

"Kay, lets go then." Serena said as she made her way down stairs and out to the pool, Raye in tow.

"I totally forgot about the hot tub!" Raye exclaimed in awe, as they entered onto the pool deck. She had always been slightly jealous of how Serena's life had turned out. Her relationship with Jadeite had been nothing short of rocky, and now she was currently single. "God, Serena, you really made your dream come true, huh? All of this, a beautiful daughter, and Darien. I'm Envious Serena. Envious."

Serena couldn't stand it. 'And Darien?' she questioned herself. God, Raye had no clue. No clue at all as to what hell he was bringing upon her. "Raye, we really need to talk." She said softly, while getting into the hot tub after Raye, whom had long since leaped in. 'Twenty-six and still full of life.' She thought to herself. Her best friend was still as fiery as ever. Darien, however, had taken the fire out of Serena.

Raye glanced at her friend and noticed her sudden unhushed tears. "Serena?" Raye questioned, moving to sit next to her. "Serena, what's wrong?" she asked, concern evident in her tone.

Serena looked up at Raye who had pure concern written all over her features. "Raye, I can't take it anymore. I don't know what to do, or what happened. I just – god Raye I don't know! I want everything the way it used to be. I'm tired of the picture perfect life!"

Raye was certainly confused, looking wide-eyed at her blonde companion. "Whoa, whoa, come on Serena slow down, honey. Take a deep breath." She suggested, therapeutically.

Serena nodded and did as she was told., but it wasn't easy.

"Now, what's the matter? Are you stressed?" pausing for only a moment, Raye continued, "Is it Annabelle? Is she too much to handle?"

Serena's head shot up. "No, no, no!" she protested, "Annabelle's great. She's such a good kid, Raye. It's not her. It's-it's…"

"It's what Serena?" Raye prodded.

Serena spat the word as if it burned to speak it. "Darien."

Raye faltered for a moment. "Dar-Darien?" she asked unbelievably.

Serena nodded.

The raven-haired woman couldn't believe her ears. Darien was the last thing she expected to have been bothering her friend. He had been so polite, coming down stairs to greet her. "But he was just-"

"He was acting, Raye. And he's goddamn lucky I didn't plant my heel in his groin! Cocky son of a bitch." She scowled. God would she like to show him.

Raye was silent. She was confused and had no clue what the hell she should say. So she started with a simple, yet dim, question. "Acting?"

Serena felt like literally knocking some sense into Raye at that moment. "My god and you're supposed to be a therapist?!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Let's not bash my profession now! I'm just confused, that's all. You talk a damn mile a minute, so how about you explain." Raye countered. Details. The woman needed details.

"Explain? You want me to explain?" Serena questioned, almost amused. "Get comfortable then."

Raye shot Serena a look. That sounded like something Raye would say to her patients. But nonetheless, she complied and made herself comfortable in the warm hot tub.

"Comfortable?" Serena asked.

Raye nodded, gesturing her to continue.

"Okay, so,"

End Chapter 2

Chapter 3 will be posted in the very near future, thank you for reading.

- xoxo, Crys (08.13.16)