Understanding Hurt

Chapter 7: He Knows

Two days later, Serena was lying in her bed, looking up at the ceiling. How did everything go wrong so quickly?

...

Seiya was downstairs in the living room when he heard the door bell ring. He sighed and got up slowly. Darien rung the door bell two more times, growing impatient. Seiya opened the door with more forces than needed. "This better be a cure for cancer." He said to the boy with anger in his voice.

"Is Serena home?" He asked looking around Seiya's shoulder, and into the house. "I keep trying to call her, but she won't pick up." He said standing on the tip of his toes, trying to get a better look inside. He sighed and stood regularly. He looked at Seiya's confused face. "She's home...I know she is, she just doesn't want to talk to me. It was my fault I shouldn't have tried to get her to tell me-"

Seiya put his hand up, stopping Darien from talking any further. "Who the hell are you?" He asked raising one eyebrow.

Darien looked away. "That's right, you really don't know me." He mumbled more to himself than to Seiya. He looked back at Seiya. "I'm Darien Shields. Serena's friend."

"Friend..." Seiya said in disbelief. He knew that Serena had no friends. She was always telling him how everyone hated her.

"Yes," Darien said knowing what he was thinking. "I'm her friend."

"You know-"

"Everything..." He said quietly.

Seiya set his lips in a straight line, and looks at Darien intently trying to break past his phony act. But he couldn't, because all he saw was himself in Darien. He saw the boy trying to help Serena, the boy ready with open arms when she's running towards him crying. All he saw was a boy who wanted to help Serena. To care for her. And that's more than he could ever ask for in a friend for Serena.

Darien looked down at his feet getting a feeling that Seiya won't let him in to see Serena. Seiya let out a small sigh. "Come wait inside while I go and get her. It's rude of me if you just sit out here." He left the door open so Darien could come inside as he starts heading off to get Serena.

"Wait!" Darien said grabbing Seiya's shoulder, stopping him from walking any further. "Don't tell her I'm here." He said nervously.

"Then how do you expect her to come down here?" He asked raising one eyebrow. "She doesn't get out of her room much as is, and I have no reason, other than you, for her to come down."

"Let me go to her room and talk to her." He said with a small smile as he thought of seeing Serena again.

"Alright." He said happy that he didn't have to come up with an excuse to get Serena to come downstairs. "Her room is up the stairs and-"

"To the left. I know." Darien said as he jogged up the stairs. Seiya's eyebrows come together in confusion as to why Darien knew his way around his house.

Serena heard a light knock on the door then another a few seconds after as if the person was hesitating. "Seiya?" She asked sitting up in her bed and looking towards the door.

Darien took a deep breath not knowing what to expect from Serena as he slowly opened the door. Her eyes widened when she saw Darien walk through her bedroom, and sit down next to her on her bed. "Yeah, it's me." He said with a slight laugh as he knew she was surprised it was really him.

She looked down at her hands, not knowing what to say to him. Not even knowing if she was mad at him, or sorry... Was she happy to see him, or terrified at what might come next?

He looked down at his hands as well. "Why didn't you answer my calls?" He asked looking up at Serena through his eyelashes. She shrugged while looking away from him. "I don't know." She said letting out a sigh. "I guess I just didn't want to be the one to tell you what happened."

"I've always known, Serena." He said in a serious tone, as he looked straight at Serena.

"What?" She asked looking at him fast. She looked at him for a few seconds then said, "No, no you couldn't have known-"

"When I first talked to you, I knew..." He said watching her face as it turned to shock. "I have always know. I wanted to wait and see if you could trust me enough to tell me yourself."

"So-so this whole time when you 'acted' surprised that people were mean to me, you already knew exactly why!" She yelled then she lowered her voice to a whisper as she said, "Do you even care about me?" She asked shaking her head in dissaproval. "Was this some kind of sick joke to you?" She asked keeping her voice in a whisper.

"No!" He said sternly. "I did this because I wanted to see if you could actually trust me, if you actually believe me when I said that I didn't care what you did, that I will always, no matter what, be your friend."

She looked at his serious eyes and broke down. She cried hard into his chest. She knew she should have told him in the beginning, even if he did already know. At least he would've known that she trusted him, believed in him. He doesn't say another word as he holds her in his arms and lets her cry.

"Yeah," He said answering her question. "Andrew told me the night you ran out of the house."

She looked at him worried, "And what did you say?"

"I told him to fuck off." He said serious.

Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. "Your kidding right." She asked laughing.

"No." He said laughing with her. "I'm not kidding. Even if I wouldn't have known already, he was stupid to even say those mean things about you."

She looked at him and smiled as her laugh faded. "Thank you."

"For what?" He asked smiling back.

"I don't know." She said shrugging. "Everything."

He laughed slightly. "I haven't done much. I'm just a good listener is all-"

"That's not the only thing." She said looking down at her hands for a second then she looked back up into Darien's eyes. "You have been here for me when I need you the most."

"And it'll stay that way."

"Good-" Dariens' phone started ringing, interrupting their conversation.