Everything: A Mini-Series of Drabbles
Giggle
One year. A full year he had waited for this day. A year full of teasing, yelling, smiling, glaring, indirect flirting, shoving and poking, blushing, falling and catching, not-so-accidental touching, and a time or two, crying, whether it be of longing, laughing, or hurting.
Darien wondered if she would remember today's significance as he approached the Crown Arcade, a certain spring in his step. Today marked one year since he had collided with the beautiful blonde who had resided in his dreams ever since the day her legs caught his eye and they fell into each other, quite literally. He checked the time on his wrist; precisely twenty minutes before she would be released from school, giving him enough time to spend a few minutes chatting with Andrew. After all, he wanted to shower her with his undivided attention today, so Andrew would need to be appeased with socializing now, before her arrival.
The tall, dark-haired, handsome young man strolled through the doors and over to his usual bar stool. The guy with the sandy blonde hair and green eyes behind the counter glanced over his shoulder at the sound of the bell above the door, starting to serve the former his usual cup of coffee, pouring the caffeinated muck into a mug, placing it in front of him on the counter just as he sat down.
"Are you ready?" Andrew asked him.
Darien glanced up and quirked an eyebrow, an inquisitive look on his face.
"You've only been talking about this day all week. One whole year of obnoxious banter between the two of you today," the blonde answered, a smirk on his face and a particular gleam in his eye.
Darien sipped quietly at his coffee before answering him, slowly, calmly.
"And that requires readiness how?"
Andrew stepped back from the counter, incredulous.
"Don't tell me you aren't going to do it!"
"Do what, exactly, Andrew?" Darien replied, still speaking lowly, biting back the slowly mounting irritation.
His best friend stared at him from behind the counter as if he'd sprouted another head, shaking his own.
"All this talk of 'one year this' and 'one year that'… I was sure you were this excited because you were planning on finally telling her how you feel, Daz."
Darien stared at him, his right hand still firmly gripping the coffee mug as his left rested on his lap in a loose fist, his mouth slightly open, a thoughtful look in his eyes and he seemed to contemplate what Andrew had said. He stayed that way for a good fifteen minutes, the thoughts running through his head, Andrew's sense clicking into place in his own mind. How had he been a coward so long? And how had he so easily intended to continue as one? For how many more years could he keep it up, the blood boiling inside of him?
"You're absolutely right," he mumbled lowly, reaching the conclusion in his head. It was time.
Andrew looked up from the counter, which he had been meticulously polishing with a washcloth.
"Huh?" was all he could muster. He'd lost track of what they'd been talking about in Darien's expanse of silence.
And just then, Darien heard it, and there was no time to explain to Andrew.
That giggle. It was louder than the bell above the door, louder than the chatter of the girls around it, louder than the thoughts in Darien's own head. Serena's giggle signaled her arrival.
Darien fought every fiber in his being not to turn, leap and bound straight to her side. Not to scoop her up and claim her as his own. Not yet. He heard footsteps that could only be hers approaching the counter.
"Hi Andrew, h-hi Darien," he heard her say in a voice that hardly sounded like hers, too shy and quiet for the Serena he knew. He turned to face her, taking in a gasp under his breath as he looked at her over his shoulder. Her cheeks were the loveliest shade of rosy pink from a blush, and her lips looked the softest they'd ever been, shining under a slick coat of gloss. She was so close to him, her left hand resting on the counter near his coffee mug, her right arm mere centimeters from grazing his leg.
He cleared his throat and thoughts at once, pulling back slightly to get the room he needed to breathe and compose himself, remembering that today was the day.
"Hey, Mea-I mean, Serena," he said with a smile, proud to have caught himself as he turned around fully in the barstool.
Serena sighed. Little did he know she melted inside to hear him say her name.
"To what do I owe the honor of being called by my name for once?" she asked, returning his smile as she brushed a few strands that had come loose from her odangoes behind her ear, still shy, still unlike herself.
Darien took it deep breath. It was time to be brave.
"Well, I'm not sure that you're aware, but today is a very special day, Serena."
Her eyes widened and her smile didn't falter, still glued onto her features. He couldn't possibly know the significance of the day. He couldn't possibly remember-
"Something happened, exactly a year ago today. And I didn't know it then, but it was something that changed my life, the way that I see my whole world, all the way up to this moment. And this moment-"
"Please say that you're talking about the day that we met, Darien," she interrupted, bold, her hand on the counter inching ever closer to his, pleading in her voice.
He chuckled at her impatience, and her question gave him a glimmer of hope he didn't know he could have. "Would you let me finish?" he asked politely.
His only answer was her blush as she looked down and began to pull nervously at the hem of her skirt.
"Where was I?" he paused, trying not to be distracted by the sweet innocence of her actions.
She looked up then, giggling at his blank expression. That giggle.
"You were saying, 'And this moment,'" she helped him along.
He smiled again, a blush beginning to form at his neck. "Right. So, yes, my life has been completely changed and this moment will change it even more so. This moment will cause my world to turn upside down, and that could be either from total joy, ecstasy, bliss, or it could be from pain and sadness, but either way, it will be better than where I've been for a while now, so regardless of the outcome, I need this moment."
Serena nodded, indicating he should go on. He gulped, and took a hold of the hand that was toying with her hem. She gasped slightly, blushing again as his own blush spread across his cheeks.
"It's been a year since you tumbled into my arms, Serena, and I have thought of nothing but you since that day. I know I have teased you endlessly for a year, but it's mostly been because I'm an idiot, just like you say I am, and I never have the words. So it only makes sense that after a year of falling for you, I could finally find the right thing to say, but even then-"
She giggled, interrupting his rambling, and moved her hand from the counter to his lips, quieting him with a finger. And just as smoothly as she'd quieted him down, she stood up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"You don't have to deliver a persuasive speech. I like you, too," she said quietly, looking up at him beneath her eyelashes.
He laughed then, squeezing the hand he still held while tilting her chin up with his other. "Is this what it will be like, then? You'll never let me get a word in if you're always interrupting me!"
She giggled again, this time letting it ring loudly and without restraint. It was music to his ears.
He pulled her closer, tugging her hand still.
"The way you laugh, it's everything," he whispered into her ear, placing a soft kiss just near it on her cheek.
And on the opposite side of the counter, Andrew stood, mouth agape, washcloth slipped to the floor.
And there's another "drabble!" I know, that was so not a drabble, but I had to cover a year's time! I promise I will get better at these with practice my darlings. About ten more to go until the series c'est fini! My goal: finish it this year! I also will be rolling out another chapter of Exchange. I know I say that each time I update and that you think it's an empty promise but I literally do work on it almost every week… just in very small increments. x.x But you'll have it before Christmas! Promises, promises. And you'll also have another little Christmas gift waiting dearies. (: Can't wait! Review!
Love,
Rosie