Disclaimer: I dont own Sailor Moon or the characters... but I wish I did.

(Chapter 7: Getting Help)

After their little encounter Serena finally arrived at the Arcade and was still trying to slow her pounding heart as the sliding doors signalled her entry.

Andrew stood behind the counter as the usually bubbly blonde took a seat in front of him.

'She looks so lost' he thought to himself. He looked away suddenly as she raised her head.

"Hey Andrew, what would you do if you did something with someone and then that someone decided that it was a mistake and they left before you could do anything about it?" Andrew thought about what Serena had said and his face turned red with anger.

"Who is he? What did he do to you? I'll beat him to a pulp!" He yelled rather loudly. Serena was stunned by his outburst and as she realised what he thought she meant she quickly grabbed his arm to restrain him.

"No Andrew nothing like that!" she said hastily. He calmed down and gave Serena a big bear hug.

"Thank god" he breathed, "You know I'd do anything to help or protect you, Sere."

Serena suddenly remembered the reason for her visit and disentangled herself from Andrew's grip.

"Say Andrew I do need your help" she said sweetly. He eyed her suspiciously as he answered.

"With what?"

"To make christmas"

Andrew chuckled. "For who the girls?"

"Um not exactly." she sighed. "Its for Darien" she said hesitantly.

Andrew stood there shellshocked.

"F...fo...for Darien?" he stuttered. Serena nodded slowly.

"Why?" he asked.

"Well I felt bad for what I said to him yesterday and I figured I could give him a present to say sorry," she paused to let it all sink in. Then continued " and what better than a suprise christmas party!" she said with a big grin.

Andrew thought it over for a moment then he reluctantly agreed. Serena then handed him $300 and ordered him to go buy decorations and a tree. As he closed up the Arcade Serena somehow persuaded him to give her his key to Dariens apartment.

'If Dare finds out he's gonna kill me!' he thought.

2 hours later Andrew arrived at Dariens apartment to find Serena in the kitchen, covered in flour. She smiled goofily at him as he placed his shopping bags on Dariens table.

As he approached he noticed that Lita was with Serena and they were making cookies.

"Hey Andrew." Lita said as Raye, Amy and Mina emerged from the hallway.

"Hey guys what are you all doing here?" Mina looked up from the bags (she was snooping in) and smiled mischeviously.

"Why my dear Andrew, we're here to help Serena get her man, I mean prepare for the party" she said, with a wink.

"Oh okay" he replied cautiously.

Immediately Serena's inner scout took over and she started giving orders.

"Okay Raye and Mina, put up the tree. Next Amy, keep an eye out for Darien. Lita, Andrew and I will decorate while you finish the cookies."

"Yep" all five replied in unison.

"Okay then, lets get to it." Serena said.

After another 6 hours (A/N: by the way Darien is shopping and takes a long time to do so.) all of them plonked down on Dariens 3 seater leather couch and were exhausted. It was now night.

Popcorn on red string hung from the roof and all diffferent coloured balloons were floating everywhere.

The tree glittered with heaps of tinsel and delicate baubles but the gold star gracing the top was by far the most elegant of the decorations.

Serena admired their handywork and turned to look at Andrew in awe.

"Wow Andy, you got all this for $300? I'm impressed" she said.

Andrew got up and walked over to a bag that sat undisturbed behind the counter.

"Well actually all this," he said as he waved a hand around, " only cost me $100. So I used the rest to buy each of us a present to put under the tree."

Serena was about to squeal loudly when they heard the elevator ding. They quickly threw the presents undr the tree and dashed off to hide, as they switched off the lights. Mina and Andrew went into the pantry.

Raye and Lita hid in the kitchen and Amy went and hid in the bathroom.

Serena stood behind the tree and they all held their breath as a key slid into the lock and the door opened.

Darien entered his dark apartment and slammed the door behind him. As he reached into his pocket to deposit his keys he heard a small jingling sound and ferociously flicked the light switch to reveal the intruder.

However what he got was something very different.