Hello dearies!
It's been awhile, I know. I've been so busy with work that I haven't had the time to dedicate to updating this story as frequently as I had originally planned. But fear not, this story WILL continue, and it will someday come to a finish. This chapter isn't as lengthy as I had wanted it to be, but I felt that you all would rather have a short chapter, than no chapter at all. To all of the Darien fan girls out there... buckle up, because you're about to hate him, if you already don't.

As always, leave a review, feedback, ideas, etc.
Also, feel free to throw some suggestions as to what characters you'd like to see make an appearance. I'm definitely debating on some Seiya and Diamond, to heat things up a bit. Whether they're from the past or new comers is up for debate.

xoxo, Crys. (10.26.17)

"Picture Perfect"

Chapter 10

Serena Shields slowly shifted her gaze to acknowledge the voice that had come from behind her, royal blue eyes meeting piercing midnight blue for no more than a split second. "I was just thinking…" she trailed softly, turning her back once more, toward the breath-taking view before her. "that's all. What are you doing out here?" She hadn't any energy left over from the stressful day to say anything more. Not that she owed him an explanation for being where she was, regardless.

"You're going to catch a cold being out here at this time of night dressed like that." the figure stated plainly, motioning to her satin night robe, currently catching in the night breeze. "I don't want her getting sick."

The blonde let out a sarcastic chuckle; of course, it wasn't about her own personal well-being. He didn't care about that. It was about Annabelle's. She was her mother, and she spent the majority of her time with her, so if she caught something, their daughter would inevitably catch it as well. Always the caring father, right? No longer the loving husband, it seemed.

With irritation evident in her voice, she spoke once more, not as soft this time. "What do you want, Darien?" She had come out here to be alone, to be free of her husbands criticisms', and constant verbal abuse. This was a painful, but special place - to them both - and she didn't want him tainting it with some pointless argument over whatever he could manage to pull out of his ass at the moment. He was good at that, as of late - picking fights with her.

Much to her surprise, he didn't respond to her right away. For a second she thought that maybe he didn't hear her, maybe he had tuned her out - until she turned to face him and he murmured something along the lines of, "Nostalgic, isn't?" as he looked off into the nights sky, a distant look in his eyes that seemed to mask something deeper. He had said it more to himself than to her.

As they stood in momentary silence, the wind had blown another soft breeze, she could smell the hint of whiskey on him, instantly causing her to frown, and her heart to race. 'He's drunk and he wants to fight…' that was all that flooded into her mind at that instant. There was no other reason for him to be anywhere near her.

Feeling Serena's eyes on him, Darien snapped out of his revere, trying to forget a moment of the past he had been currently lost in. But he couldn't, and it was like his mouth moved without his permission. "Do you remember the last night we spent out here?" he questioned, his eyes dark, expression unmoving.

Serena felt her breath catch in her throat, as she almost choked on it from surprise. He wouldn't meet her gaze, but in that moment she felt as if they both felt the same thing - the ache in their hearts that had started almost a year ago. The ache that never healed, because they never spoke about it. "Darien-" she started, but she didn't know what to say to him. She didn't know what was safe to say, and what wasn't. She didn't know what he wanted her to say, and she didn't want to say the wrong thing, for fear of consequence.

After her hesitant pause, he took the moment to speak. "I want this pier removed." there was an undeniable sense of authority behind his statement - it wasn't a request. "As soon as possible. We don't need it anymore. We don't use it. It serves no purpose."

"Darien!" his wife now yelled angrily, as he turned away, heading back toward their house. "Darien Shields! Over my dead body! You will not have this pier removed, nor will you say that it serves no purpose!"

Ignoring her, he continued to make his way toward their home, refusing to explain his reasoning. He didn't need to. "We spent nearly every night out here on this goddamn pier after it was built, Darien! It is a part of our home, you bastard, don't you dare ignore me!"

The petite blonde was now chasing after him, trying to reason with him as they were about to reach the steps of their home. He was still ignoring her, intentionally. He didn't want to hear it. He was pissed off that he had found her out there, of all places, when she could've been anywhere else. Neither of them had visited "their" spot anymore, or so he believed. Being whom he was, Darien wouldn't dare show her what he was really feeling at the moment.

"Hey!" she called out once more, by this time she had caught up with him and had grabbed his forearm, jerking him around to face her. They were at the top of the steps, about to enter their home.

Startled by the action, and the force behind it, he looked at her with incredulous eyes. "Serena-"

"No! Please, please jus listen to me." he barely heard her whisper, as he watched tears well up in her eyes, nearly spilling over her bottom lash line. "Please don't. Please don't tear it down. If there is anything that I have ever asked of you, please do not do this."

She was begging him, but he couldn't continue to look her in the eye anymore. He knew it was selfish of him to want to rid their home of that spot. He knew what it stood for, and the memories it held. The pain, the anguish - he knew what she was feeling. He didn't know whether it was the whiskey that softened him or the words she spoke next, all he knew was that he would never be able to go through with it.

"Darien, please, whatever this is, whatever we're going through, do not bring this into it, do not bring that memory into it." her last murmur was barely audible, "He deserves more than that."

She had taken it too far, without realizing it. She had put a face to the memory, when they had both discussed never wanting to know - somehow she knew, and she used it against him just now.

"No!" he shouted, pulling away from her, now void of any sympathetic emotion that he had momentarily felt. That was it, he was livid - she had crossed a line. "How fucking dare you, you bitch! We agreed-"

"I know!" she cried as she clung pleading to her husband. "I know we agreed not know the sex, to never speak of it because it will only make things harder, but Darien you've-"

From that moment on, she would never forget the sound that was made - a resounding clap through the night air. Before she could finish telling him that he needed to let it go, to move on with his life, with the family he had in front of him, Serena felt her husbands palm make contact with her left cheek, followed by the unfamiliar sting of the hit. He had slapped her, before she even knew what was happening.

He had slapped his wife so hard that she had almost lost her balance and her footing, but she managed to catch herself in time, avoiding another painful blow with their back steps. With shock written all over her face, she backed away from the man she no longer recognized as her husband, and started to sob uncontrollably, her hand now covering her red cheek.

With no time wasted, Darien had already reacted by stepping closer to her and pulling her into his chest as she let her legs give way beneath her. He cupped his hand over her mouth as she cried. "Shhhh. Serena, stop, Annabelle is going to hear you. Shhh." he pleaded in a stern, hushed voice. He did not want their daughter to know what had just happened. He hadn't meant for it to happen.

He lost his temper, and whether he would ever admit it to himself or not, was up for debate. All over learning that the baby they had lost just 9 months prior, was actually going to be his first born son.

Though the doctors knew the sex of the baby, Serena and Darien had agreed to wait until the baby was born to find out. They wanted to keep it a surprise. After the miscarriage, however, they had both agreed to not want to know the sex of the baby. It would make things that much harder. Serena evidently didn't keep up her end of the agreement, because she knew it was a supposed to be a boy. Their first son.

"Stop it Darien!" she protested in between sobs, against his chest and the hand that cupped her mouth to hush the deafening sound. "Don't touch me, let me go! I hate you!" she was now delivering weak blows to his chest, with closed fists over and over again, but he felt nothing but numbness.

He hadn't meant to hit her, especially not that hard, but he lost control. His mind went blank and he blacked out. He did yet another thing, he promised he would never do. Not only had he cheated on his wife, but he had hit her. He had hit her hard enough to know damn well it was going to show on her face tomorrow morning.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear, over and over again, as he rocked her back and forth against his chest, still perched on the steps, waiting for her tears to subside.

But Serena didn't care, those words meant nothing to her. He wasn't sorry, he was intoxicated, and she knew that. He was only sorry that it could've possibly woken up their daughter, and his perfect daddy image would've been shattered.

Serena was motionless in his arms, partially in shock, even though she had stopped crying. Darien didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing he could think of. Carefully picking her up, heading into the house and up the stairs to their bedroom, he laid her down on their bed.

Making sure the door was locked behind him, he reapproached the bed where his wife laid. She quickly turned over, her back facing him, unwilling to meet his eyes. Sighing, he ran a hand through his unruly ebony hair.

"Just tell me you don't love me anymore." he heard the crack in his wife's voice as she said it, still not facing him. She couldn't. She wouldn't.

She needed to hear those words. That Darien no longer loved her, that the man she married was gone and he wasn't coming back. Anything to help her understand why the love of her life had just smacked her.

"Serena, it was an accident." was all he could manage to say. 'It really was an accident,' he mused to himself, 'she shouldn't have said what she did and this would've never happened.' He would tell himself anything to justify his poor actions.

Serena didn't say anything more, as she felt the pain in her chest swell, and her heart shatter. Clinging to one of their pillows, she muffled her cries beneath it. She felt the mattress shift, as her husband took a seat at the edge of their bed, adjusting to his weight.

He didn't know what to do or say to the woman before him, and as he reached out to place his hand on her back, he felt her flinch. Quickly drawing his hand back, he stood up from their bed, unable to face her.

"Serena, you can't tell anyone."

And there is was. Her husbands number one concern: His reputation.

End Chapter 10

Darien... I don't even know where to begin with him.
Is he a monster? I don't know. A shitty husband? Absolutely. A lost cause? I guess we'll have to see.

Review review review.

xoxo, Crys. (10.26.17)