Standard stuff…. I don't own anything…. Yada yada yada… Sailor moon isn't mine….
Serena stood there in the door way for what seemed like hours just staring at the man before her. It was fifteen after and she knew that Rei was waiting on her. She looked down at her bags and let out a sigh opening the door allowing Darien access to her home. Darien walked passed her and stood in the hall way waiting for Serena lead him into the living room. Serena stood in the same spot she's been in for what seems like an eternity looking at the curb where there was a black car waiting for her. She ran into her room grabbed a pen and wrote down a quick note and in a flash was out the door. Darien watched with a confused look on his face, looking down he noticed her bags were packed and that she was supposed to be headed somewhere. Serena was outside but a moment and came in with an expression on her face that he couldn't quite place. Walking past Darien, Serena made her way into her living room and sat down on the couch. Darien followed behind her and stood there not sure what to say or how to react.
"Is this a bad time?" Darien asked not taking his eyes off the blonde he hadn't seen in over four years.
Serena's concentration was broken by hearing Darien speak. 'Nope, definitely not a dream' Serena said to herself still staring straight ahead not sure of what to do next. She was mentally scolding herself for not ignoring the man in front of her and for not getting in that car. Another ten minutes went by without a word and Darien was starting to get annoyed.
"Aren't you the least bit happy to see me?" He asked.
Serena snapped her head in his direction and took a deep breath then let it out slowly. She wasn't sure how she felt. She surely wasn't happy, Darien showing up at ruined things. He had popped her happy little bubble and now she was back to being lost and confused. She was now faced with the reality that things are never easy. She laughed at herself for a second then shook her head as if she was clearing her mind of the madness that was about to come.
"What are you doing here?" she said nothing more than a whisper.
"My plane just landed and I needed to see you." Darien stated.
"At five in the morning Darien, really? You didn't even let me know you were going to be in town." Serena spat out angrily. Darien winced at the tone of her voice. 'She is angry.' He thought.
"I know this is a highly inappropriate time but the way we left things, I needed to see you"
Serena scoffed and rolled her eyes. 'Figures this would happen now.' She was angry more at herself than Darien. They had been together all throughout high school and it was her idea to break off their relationship while he was in America. She had hardly spoke to him in the past four years. It was easier that way. She didn't want to be in a relationship with someone she couldn't see or be with and when Darien said he wasn't sure when he would be coming back she knew it was over. She had thought that both of them agreed and that it was a mutual break up. Sighing to herself she thought. 'Guess I was wrong.' Rei flashed a crossed her mind and she frowned. What did this mean for them, how could she face Rei after she bailed on the girl for Darien.
Darien noticed the frown. "I can go Serena, I'm sorry to have bothered you."
Serena let out a sigh. "No please, sit, we should probably talk about things."
Darien took a seat and looked at the girl who seemed to be in the middle of a mental battle of some sort.
"It looks like you were headed somewhere, we can talk another time when you return from wherever you're headed."
"I'm sure the chance is long gone, though I'm sure that she'll understand why I was unable to attend." Serena said with a small smile relaxing into her couch.
Darien looked over at the girl not really understanding who or what she was talking about. The pair sat there for another few minutes before Serena spoke.
"How long are you in town?"
"Well I finished my degree a few months ago, so I figured I would take a little vacation."
Serena was shocked. She couldn't understand why everyone that was important to her had the need to leave her then randomly show back up to make her life a confusing wreck. She looked over at Darien trying to read him.
"That didn't answer my question." Serena pointed out.
"Well I'm not sure actually, I have a few job offers here and in the states. I guess that all depends on you."
"Why me?"
"Well I was hoping that if spent some time together that we could work things out."
Serena let out a loud sigh and put a pillow over her face and screamed. Darien looked at her and raised an eyebrow. A minute later Serena took the pillow off her face and placed it back on the couch.
"I think it's time for you to leave Darien." Serena said in a flat voice. Standing up she headed towards the door. Darien didn't protest and quickly stood up and followed. When they reached the door Darien faced Serena and looked down at the petit blonde holding the door open for him. He gave her a smile and then kissed her cheek. Serena blushed a little and watched Darien walk down the path. She shut the door and slid down, pulling her legs up to her chest and began to cry. Serena wasn't sure what she was going to do. She needed to get a hold of Rei but wasn't sure what she could say to her to make up for not going. She knew the excuse wasn't good enough, nothing short of death would have been good enough for her canceling on Rei. Serena sat there with her head rested on her knees the tears had stopped flowing long ago but she couldn't will herself to move. It seemed like everything was crashing down around her. She reached for her phone hoping that Rei had messaged her or tried to call but there was nothing. With Shaky hands Serena dialed the raven haired girl's number, bringing the phone up to her ear her heart raced as she thought about what she would say. Serena stared at the phone for a second as the voicemail message played through the phone. She let out a small sigh and hung up the phone without leaving a message. Serena picked herself up off the ground and walked to her bedroom not caring that her bags were still sitting in the living room. She had been up for almost two days and needed to get some sleep for her sanity's sake. Too much has happened within the past twenty-four hours and she didn't want to deal with anything else.
Amara had just arrived at Serena's apartment to check on things like she had promised. It was a little after three in the afternoon. She walked over to the mail box to check the mail and then let herself into Serena's. She immediately saw that Serena's bags were still sitting there in the hall way. Amara panicked and ran through the apartment looking for any sign of Serena. Amara made her way to the bedroom where she found her friend fast asleep holding onto a pillow with tear stained cheeks. She walked over to the bed and little nudged Serena trying to wake her up without scaring her to death. Serena woke with a fright, jumping from the bed throwing the pillow she was holding in the direction of her attacker.
"Princess, calm down it's just me." Amara said wrapping her arms around the shaken girl.
"What are you doing here?" she said as she let out a sigh
"I should be asking you the same thing" Amara said raising an eyebrow.
Serena began to cry again. She just wanted to forget. She was the one who felt like running away now. She couldn't find the words to tell her friend how stupid she had been so she just stayed in her arms and cried.
"Princess, what happened did you guys have a fight?"
Serena shook her head. 'A fight, I could have handled that' Serena thought to herself as she pulled away from her friend and sat down on her bed.
"I was waiting for the car to arrive like Rei said it would, so naturally when I heard the knock on the door I thought it was just the driver. But when I opened the door… D... Darien was standing there hair a mess like he had been on a plane all night. I didn't know what to do so I stood there and I froze. So I wrote a message to Rei and sent the driver away and welcomed Darien in…" Serena trailed off not really wanting to continue the story.
"I have a feeling there's more to this"
Serena could only nod as she looked at her friend. Sighing again she continued her story.
"So we talked, I asked him why he was here and how long he was planning on staying. Then… then he..." Serena trailed off again with a blush on her face.
"Then he said he wanted to work things out between the two of us and that based upon that is how long he was going to stay. I didn't say anything to that and told him it was time for him to leave. As he was leaving he kissed my cheek." Another blush crept on her face.
Amara sat down on the bed next to her friend and leaned back on her hands. "So what are you going to do?" she questioned. Serena laid on her back looking up at her ceiling placing her hands behind her head.
"I have no idea, I am scared that Rei will never speak to me again. I tried calling but her phone is off. She didn't message or call, so I'm not even sure she got my note."
The older blonde looked at her friend for a moment and tilted her head. "What are you going to do about Darien?"
"He wants to spend some time together to see if things could be different between us. I don't know what I should do. Everything is happening so quickly. I thought I was just figuring everything out. I told Rei I wouldn't run from her, from us. Look at me, I did just that. All because my old high school boyfriends shows up out of the blue" Serena picked up a pillow and placed it over her face. She didn't want to be there. She wanted to be somewhere in a far off place. Amara removed the pillow from the girls face and smiled down at her.
"Love isn't easy my dear, if it were I'm sure life would be a bore. You can't sit here in self-pity. You don't even know how Rei is handling this. I'm sure her phone is off simply because they are traveling. They will be in the city by tonight. In the meantime come spend the day with Michelle and me, hmm?"
Serena thought on it for a moment and decided that she needed her friends right now and shutting herself away wasn't going to solve anything. She excused herself to go take a shower and get dressed. Amara found herself walking around the living room looking at the various pictures of the group throughout the years. Amara pulled out her cell phone and sent a quick message noticing Serena was now in the living room she quickly put her phone away and headed towards the door.
It was five-thirty before the car Rei had sent to Serena's had returned. She was a little annoyed at the girl, though this is something she should have expected from Serena. There was a look of confusion when she noticed the driver had only stopped to hand Markus a piece of paper with Rei's name on it. Once she saw her name she knew what the note had said. 'She wasn't coming' Rei thought fighting back the tears. The city they were traveling to wasn't very far, maybe a four hour train ride north. So the band had decided that they would take the train and one of their body guards would drive their equipment up. Rei stood there a moment lost in her own thoughts when a hand touched her shoulder. She jumped about three feet in the air and screamed slightly.
"Rei… this note is for you…. It's from…"
"I know who it's from…. She isn't coming…"
Rei walked passed him without taking the note from his hands. Markus let out a sigh and walked after her. She stopped at the corner and waiting for cars to go by so she continue walking. She didn't need a lecture about how love prevails over all and all this bullshit she has been fed by Markus for the past two years. Markus quickly caught up with her and grabbed her wrist. He spun her around and wrapped her arms around her.
"It's okay to cry and scream and shout… but a refuse to let you run again."
"I can't handle this Markus. It's over… I tried…"
"Don't you want to at least read the note… maybe it's an emergency."
"Do you really think if it were an emergency that she would send a stupid note?!" Rei yelled at the man standing before her. There was a slight flicker in her eyes, it was like something had been switched. Rei pulled away from her friend and walked back in the direction of the hotel where their band was waiting on them. She pulled down her sunglasses and climb in the car waiting on the others so they could head to the train station. She looked around in her bag for her cell phone, after finding it she clicked the screen. No messages or missed calls. With a push of a button she turned the device off. She let out a sigh and rested her head back on the seat. She pulled out her mp3 player and put on her headphones trying to drown out the guy's conversation. 'This train ride is going to be hell.' Rei thought, all she wanted to do was get to the next venue so she could throw herself into singing and she wouldn't have to think about anything but the performance about her fans. That's all that mattered now.
They had reached the train station. There were a huge group of fans waiting behind the roped off section waiting to meet the band. Looking through the window at the crowd Rei put on her sunglasses and plastered a smile on her face then stepped out of the car. The crowd started to go wild calling for Rei's attention. She walked over to them and started signing autographs and taking pictures with some of their fans. Markus quickly joined her eating up all the attention. The two posed for pictures and then waved bye to their fans making their way to the platform to await for the train to arrive.
When the train arrived Rei quickly climbed aboard and headed straight for a window seat. Putting her head phones back in her ears she rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. She didn't want to deal with anything at the moment. Her heart was breaking. She opened her eyes looking around to see where everyone was. Standing up she stretched and walking through the car to find out where Markus was. A few moments later she found the boys sitting in the bar car having a few drinks. Rei sat down next to Markus and tried to plaster a fake smile on her face.
"How long have I been asleep?" Rei questioned.
"We have maybe another hour before we get there. How are you holding up? Markus replied after taking a sip of his drink.
Rei looked at the drink he was nursing and took it out of his hands and down it in one gulp. Setting the glass down, she motioned for the bartender. Markus laughed a little "That bad huh?" Rei shot him a look that said don't mess with me right now. In retrospect it probably wasn't the best way to deal with the situation at hand but she needed to forget at least for a little while. They didn't have a show for a couple of days, she needed something to keep her mind busy or she'd go insane.
"When you feel like talking about things I'm here Rei." Markus stated with a genuine smile.
"There isn't anything to talk about. I tried. It didn't work." Rei said with a shrug. She was trying to hide her emotions from her friend. She knew she was failing but she hated feeling weak.
"Uh huh…." Was all Markus got out before Rei slammed down another drink. Markus took the glass from her and told the bartender to not serve her anymore.
"Look, I'm not going to allow you to form some drinking habit over a girl. All you could do is try. If it's meant to be things will work out." Markus said a little annoyed.
"I'm tired of hearing everything is going to work out. I'm just done."
Markus looked at the girl and shook his head. 'She's lying to herself if she really believes she's done.' Markus thought. Markus stood up and grabbed Rei's hand and pulled her all the way back to their seats.
"Sit." It was a simple command. Markus waited till Rei complied. He understood the pain she was feeling at the moment but it pissed him off that she was acting like a spoiled brat. She didn't know the reasons why Serena couldn't come. She didn't read the note, she just stormed off like a child running again.
"I understand you're probably really hurt, you're let down. You had it in your head that you were going to get to spend three weeks with Serena without the influence of your friends. Something came up Rei. I'm sure it's a good reason. You of all people should know that life isn't going to give you everything you want and if this doesn't work out, you've learned something from it. First loves are always the hardest to get over Rei keep that in mind."
Rei didn't say anything she just looked out the window watching the scenes pass by.
"I'm not going to sit here and lecture you the rest of the way. Just realize that maybe things aren't the way you think they are." Markus said as he took hold of her hand and gave it a little squeeze then got up and made his way back to the other band members."
Rei put her headphones back in and grabbed the spiral note book from out of her bag and began to write. She needed to get everything she was feeling out and the only way she knew how to do that was to put her feelings into random melodies.
The time passed by quickly for the five of them. The train had come to a stop and the only thing that broke Rei out the zone she was in was the shadow that Markus was casting over her notebook. She looked up at him and then out the window. She noticed that they were stopped so she began to put her things away when Markus grabbed the notebook and began to read. For split second Rei began to panic, she rarely let anyone read the note book but she knew Markus wasn't going to judge what was written in between the pages.
Markus sat down next to her and handed the notebook back to her with a soft smile.
"You've always wrote your best work when you get emotionally involved. There are some good lines in there. When we get to the hotel lets book some studio time and record a little. It's been a while since we messed around with some new material." Markus stood up to go grab his own stuff and stepped off the train.
Rei quickly followed putting her sunglasses over her puffy red eyes. There was another huge crowd waiting for the band as they exited the train. The pair spent about an hour signing autographs and taking pictures. They even answered some questions for the reporters and tabloids that were on scene. They finally reached their hotel around six o'clock that evening. Rei was worn out all she wanted to do was get a nice long hot shower to relax her aching muscles. This time around they had three different rooms since the plan was that Serena would be joining them Rei wanted to have some privacy. Walking into her hotel room she looked around for a second. It wasn't as big as the one they had just left but it wasn't small either. She sat her bad on the bed then walked into the bathroom. She turned on the water and turned it as high as she could stand. She walked back into the room and took off her jacket and emptied her pockets on the bed side table. Looking at the discarded cell phone she thought for a brief moment that she should turn it back on. Shaking her head she walked back into the bathroom. 'I can't, not yet' she thought to herself then proceeded to get undressed.
Rei stepped into the shower and let the scorching water run over her body. She stood there taking the assault on her body, she wanted to feel numb. Rei wasn't sure how long had passed but she had noticed that her skin was blood red in color and decided to get out of the shower. Walking into her room in nothing but a towel around her head she unzipped her bag to find something to wear. 'The perks of having your own room' she thought to herself with a smirk.
The next day Rei didn't set an alarm because they still had two days till they had their next concert. She had hoped she would get to sleep in but that went to hell when there was a loud knock at the door. Rei shot up and jumped out of bed. Putting a robe on, she walked over to the door and slightly opened it.
"Well good morning sunshine" Markus cooed.
"Oh shove it, what do you want" Rei was annoyed, she wanted to get back to sleep.
"Oh, did I wake you buttercup?" Markus cooed again.
"Serious Markus, what do you want?" Rei flashed him a look that could kill.
Markus laughed "Get dressed oh irritable one, we have studio time remember?"
Rei rolled her eyes and shut the door in his face. Markus laughed even harder and leaned up against the wall waiting for Rei to return. It took Rei maybe five minutes to get dressed and she was out the door. Rei started down the hallway when she noticed Markus was still leaning against the wall.
"Well are you coming?"
Markus pushed himself off the wall and rested an arm around her shoulders and gave her a smile. They walked out of the hotel like this and quickly got into their car. The studio was only a few miles down the road but they didn't want to attract too many people. They rarely ever recorded music while on the road but Markus felt it would do her some good. They arrived at the studio within minutes and were ushered inside. Rei was in awe of the place, there was a grand piano sitting in the one of the rooms, her eyes lit up. Rei sat down at the piano and played a soft melody. There was a smile on her face and she ran her fingers over the ivory. The piano was her first passion and oh how she had missed it.
Two hours had passed before Rei even realized. There were papers thrown atop the piano and sheet music laid out in front of her. Taking the pencil from her mouth Rei looked up at the clock and let out a sigh. There wasn't anything in the world that could calm Rei down how creating music had. Rei use to sit in front of the fire for hours trying to meditate and ease her soul but it never helped. It wasn't till she had met Serena had that changed. Being around her brought feelings she wasn't comfortable with and writing was the one thing she found to help sooth them.
Markus left Rei to her own device and watched her from the control room. The look of agony he saw on his friends face broke his heart. It was a big risk he had known that but he was sure he saw that Serena had returned those feelings. He wasn't sure what the note had said but he was confident that if Rei would just read it that everything would work itself out. He noticed that Rei had stopped working, Markus got up quietly and made his way towards the room.
"You're so cute when you're lost in thought, you know that" Markus said as he sat down next to Rei and ran his fingers over the keys.
Rei blushed and looked at her friend.
"I see why my friends think there is something between us. You're a huge flirt Markus." Rei said starting to play along with him.
Nudging Rei with his elbow he winked at her then stared at the wall behind the piano as if he was remembering something.
"We're both spoken for. Besides your reactions are totally worth it."
Rei rolled her eyes and stood up starting to gather the mess of papers along with the sheet music and stuck them in her notebook. Markus took the cue that they were done here and stood up and headed towards the door holding it open for Rei. When the pair returned to the hotel they gathered in Markus's room to talk about the upcoming show. Rei wanted to show the other guys the songs she had been working on and wanted to see if they wanted to go over to the concert hall to practice.
Serena was mentally exhausted and hanging out with her friends didn't seem to help her any. She had spent the night at Amara and Michelle's place simply because she didn't feel like arguing with her blonde haired friend. She didn't sleep well that night either, she laid awake staring at the ceiling thinking about the situation she was in. The sun had started to peak through the windows when Serena sat up in bed giving up on getting any sleep. Kicking off her covers she made her way to the bathroom and decided she would get dressed for the day. Leaving the bathroom she noticed there was a light on in the kitchen so she decided to see who it was. Walking into the kitchen she saw Amara reaching for the coffee pot. Noticing she wasn't alone Amara turned to face Serena.
"You're up before sun is completely up, I think this is a first." Amara smiled.
"You have to go to sleep before you can wake up" Serena stated taking the cup that Amara was offering. Serena didn't typically drink coffee but she was going to need it today.
"Worrying so much will cause you to get wrinkles. Have you decided what you're going to do?"
"Tell Darien the truth. It's been years and I can't just go back to how things use to be."
"And Rei?"
Serena let out a sigh. Thinking for a moment looking deep into her coffee as if it was going to give it the answers she was desperately seeking.
"Last time I called her, her cell phone wasn't on and I don't have another way to get ahold of her."
"That's not an answer to my question."
"I… I…" Serena stopped and looked up from her coffee. She couldn't even tell one of her closest friends how she was feeling. Serena groaned and set down the coffee cup and started to pace in the kitchen.
"I'll tell her how I feel" She said out of the blue not speaking to Amara but as if she was trying to convince herself that's what she was going to do it.
Amara smiled. Serena had a look of determination of her face. As she was leaving the kitchen Amara called out "Where are you going?"
"I have a plan, just going to get my phone." A moment later Serena was back in the kitchen sitting on the counter with her legs crossed scrolling through her contact.
Serena was sitting very impatiently in a booth at the crown. Looking at her watch she noticed it was just now ten o'clock. Serena was annoyed that time was moving by so slowly. Andrew noticed Serena sitting alone so he decided to go over and talk to her for a few. Sitting down he tried to get the girls attention.
"Earth to Serena" He said waving his hand in front of her.
Coming to Serena blinked a few times. "Oh hi Andrew, sorry I was thinking."
"No worries, what are you doing here all by yourself?" Andrew said and flashed her a smile.
"Oh, I'm just waiting for my friends, they should be here any minute."
"I'm impressed, you're here first" Andrew chuckled.
Serena let out a snort and rolled her eyes. "You know I'm actually pretty punctual, I have grown up a little Andrew."
Serena's statement only made Andrew laugh a little harder putting his hands up in defense.
"Oh I'm sure Serena, I meant no offence."
The chime on the door rang throughout the crown and Serena's head shot up hoping it was her friends. To her surprise it was Darien. 'Shit, that's right, I need to talk to him. But not right now' Serena thought to herself and she began to stand up to leave. Andrew turned his head to see how had walked in to cause Serena to get up to leave.
"Hey! Man it's been years, Darien." Andrew said while standing up to go over to his best friend.
"Yeah I just got back into town yesterday. Sorry I didn't call."
"No worries man come sit, let's catch up" Andrew said pointing over to where Serena was standing.
Darien looked over at Serena and smiled. He noticed she was walking towards the pair. His smile got bigger.
"Well I need to be going Andrew it was nice talking to you." Serena stated politely.
"I thought you were meeting your friends?"
She stopped just as she got to the door. 'Shit' Serena thought to herself. She had forgotten that she was meeting her friends to discuss her plan on how to make things up to Rei. Walking back over to the pair she stood there not really sure what to say. The three made their way back over to the booth. Serena sat a crossed from Darien and Andrew looking down at her hands resting in her lap.
"How long are you in town?"
Serena looked up when she heard the question. She prayed to God that Darien would give a vague answer and not explain that he was back to win Serena over. She looked at Darien who was now looking at her. Their eyes locked for a moment before Darien answered.
"I haven't decided yet."
"We'll have to get together and catch up. I need to be getting back to work. I'll see you two later."
Serena smiled at Andrew then went back to looking at her hands. Darien noticed that Serena was acting strange but before he could ask her what was going on the chime went off again and in walked Serena's friends. Seeing this Darien took that as a cue to get up and leave. While by the girls he flashed them a smile and headed out the door. The group made their way to the booth and sat down.
"You didn't tell us Darien was back?!" Mine slightly yelled at the blonde.
"Calm down mina, I just found out yesterday." Serena stated flatly.
Serena noticed all of her friend were staring at her so she decided to tell them what happened and why she wasn't with Rei. The conversation carried on much longer than Serena had wanted but it felt good to talk about it.
"Never mind why he is here, what I need help with is getting Rei to talk to me."
"Wait, can be back up a minute. You haven't talked to Darien about this have you?" Mina asked.
"Not yet but I planned on it."
"Shouldn't you do that before you go talk to Rei, you can't lead them both on." Amy stated
"I'm not leading anyone on, I just haven't done it yet okay."
The girls looked at their blonde haired friend then they all nodded and smiled. The girls talked about how they could get Rei to talk to Serena again. No one knew how to get ahold of her. They didn't think to ask for another number since Serena was supposed to be with her they could have always called one of them if they wanted to get a hold of either one.
"I was thinking about going up there and going to one of her concerts, maybe get back stage passes and surprise her."
"That could work, don't they always do a meet and greet after the show for people with back stage passes?"
"I'm not sure, I know they like to meet their fans so it's possible."
Serena rested her chin on her hand staring out the window of the crown. She didn't know how she was going to get Rei to understand. She just knew that she had to try. The group talked for another hour or so before they split up and decided to go their own ways. Serena was walking down the street lost deep in thought when she found herself at the park again. 'I always find myself here' Serena thought as she walked over to their bench and sat down. She had only been there for a few minutes when her cell phone rang. Excited, she answered without looking to see who it was.
"Hey!"
"Hey Serena"
"Oh… it's just you… Hi Darien"
"Now don't sound too upset to speak to me."
"Look I don't think…" was all Serena could get out before she was cut off my Darien.
"There's this big concert up north in a few days and I happened to score some back stage passes. I didn't know if you knew but Rei's in a band and they are in town. I figured we could go together and go see her. I mean if you want that is… I know it's a last minute thing but I just…"
Serena cut him off before he could finish what he was saying.
"I'd love to…" Serena had surprised herself with the answer she just gave. She reminded herself that she need to talk to Darien before this situation get any farther out of hand.
"Great, well we can head up there the night before…" Darien sounded too excited for Serena's liking. Sucking in a breath she decided to bite the bullet now before something happened that she couldn't explain to anyone.
"Darien" Serena called out but Darien was going off rambling about the things they could do while they were out of town.
"Darien" she called out a little louder this time. Darien noticed and finally stopped talking.
"Yes?" He asked
"I think we need to have a talk before this little trip out of town."
"Okay…" was all he said
Serena let out and sigh and decided it was now or never and she defiantly needed it to be now.
"I know your intentions for us to get back together are serious but I need to be honest with you because I can't let anyone else get hurt." Serena started off.
"We broke up for a very good reason, you left and weren't even sure you were going to come back. It's been far too many years and my feelings for you are not the same as they once were."
Serena paused again willing herself to continue.
"I have feelings for someone else and I am interested in exploring those feelings. If you do not wish to go to the concert then I understand. I just couldn't go away with you for the weekend with you thinking there was a chance we would get back together." Serena finished.
There was silence on the line for a moment. She wasn't sure if Darien had hung up the phone or fainted. Sitting on the bench looking over the water she waited for his reply. She could hear him breathing so she knew he was still there. Another moment went by and he still hadn't said anything.
"Darien?" she said softly.
"Yes, im here… just thinking."
"I'm sorry"
"No, no you're right it has been to many years. I thought by leaving I was doing the right thing. We had been together for so long and I just figured that you would want to experience life a little more. When you… I mean we decided to break up. I thought that maybe that's why you had found someone else. You never seemed happy around me Serena. I'm sorry I left."
Serena sucked in some air and was about to reply but she couldn't. She didn't know what to say to the voice on the other line. She had loved him all those years ago and probably would have loved him still if he wouldn't have left, maybe not the way he wanted her to but none the less still loved him. It took Serena a while to get over his absence, but being around Rei made it better. A smiled came to her lips when she thought about Rei then she frowned thinking of the past few years and the day Rei had left.
"I'm sorry I couldn't love you like you loved me Darien."
There was a slight chuckle on the other line.
"It's okay Serena, first loves are always hard to get over."
"Darien you're my…" She trailed off not even sure if she could actually say it.
"Serena I think we both know you're wrong about that. You may have loved me but I think it's because you felt you had to."
Serena looked down at the ground then back at the water. 'Had I really loved Rei all along and was just too blind to see it. How come everyone else knows but me?' Serena thought to herself before turning her attention back to the conversation she was having on the phone.
"Is it really that obvious?" Serena asked.
"Yes." Darien quickly changed the subject back to the concert.
"My offer still stands I mean that is if you still want to go? I've already bought the tickets and I think it would be a nice surprise for Rei."
Serena laughed lightly and decided she should tell Darien that it was Rei before things got really crazy.
"I'minlovewithRei" Serena said in one strung together sentence. She had blurted it out without even a pause.
"You love Rei?" Darien asked sounding a bit surprised.
"Yes…." Was all Serena could get out.
"The other morning when I came to your house, you were packed ready to go somewhere. Where you headed to meet Rei?"
"Yes…" was all she replied again.
"But you didn't… how come?"
"I… I… saw you standing there in front of me and I panicked. I hadn't seen you in so long and there you were hair a mess looking worn out. I didn't know what to do. So I decided to stay, it all felt like a dream… I guess I needed to know you were real. I had always thought that you would return someday. Granted I had thought it would have been maybe a few months after you had left saying you couldn't be away from me and had to come back. So when I saw you standing there, that's all I could think about. Then I saw the car and I had to decide…. I should have went, but at the same I couldn't."
They carried on their conversation for a little while longer but it was getting late and Serena needed to get getting home to take care of things if she was going to be going away this weekend. She said Good bye to Darien and got up from the bench making her way to her apartment. Since her bags were already packed she didn't have to do too much but take a few things out of her bags that she wouldn't need since she would only be gone for the weekend. She set her phone down on the table in the hall way while she began to go through her bags. A while had passed when her phone started to vibrate. She turned her attention to her to it. Serena stretched out to as far as she could to reach it from her position on the floor. She clicked on the screen it was a message from Mina.
Mina: Hey, any ideas on getting Rei to talk to you?
Serena: Yeah, I'm heading up there with Darien this weekend…
Suddenly there was a call from Mina. Serena answered it knowing what the girl was about to say.
"First it's not like that and second I told her that I'm in love with Rei." Serena stated before Mina had a chance to say anything. There was silence on the line for a second.
"Good. Man I was about to lecture you. Does Rei know you're coming?"
"No, I can't get ahold of her. She still has her phone off."
"I'm sure everything will work out Serena just be honest with her when you get there."
"I plan on it. I just hope she'll speak to me. I need to be going ill be in touch"
The Train ride was really nerve racking for Serena. She couldn't sit still and didn't really have much to talk about. Her mind was racing. Dairen tired his best to distract her by talking about the states but it didn't help Serena wasn't interested. They pulled into the station by late afternoon and got settled into their hotel room. The concert wasn't till tomorrow so they decided to do some site seeing.
A/N: Alright I decided to stop it there. I debated about adding another scene with Markus and Rei but it would have just been filler. Not quite 10,000 words just over 7,000 but that's still good. I've been debating about lowering the word count per chapter to make it easier for the reader anyways.
Just wanted to explain a few things. I use the dub names because I grew up with them. I use Rei instead of Raye because I like the way it looks. I could switch to the Japanese names but it would get confusing for me lol.
Also this is loosely based off the anime. So there won't be in fighting or anything. Only Amara and Rei call her Princess and there is a slight hint towards Serena's destiny with Darien.
Also sorry if there are any mistakes