A/N: So... unexpectedly busy. :p Gonna update this now while I've got the chance. :p

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or anything to do with it. This story is a figment of my imagination.

Summery: She likes being alone. She is, after all, the best pickpocket girl ever. Or so she tells herself. Then, one pickpocket trick goes wrong, and she's suddenly visiting Halifax for the holidays with overly cheery Darien. And she learns the hard way that getting under his skin is not easy, but he seems to be doing a great job getting under hers and into her heart.

The Pickpocket Gir

Chapter 3

I think I slept for three hours or so when he woke me up.

"Hey, pickpocket girl, we're changing subways now."

I sat up groggily and rubbed my face with my hands, and took the sunglasses off. The light in the subway was dull, but I still squinted against the light.

"Another subway?" I mumbled.

"Yeah," he grinned. "We take that one for forty minutes, then one more for maybe two hours or so, and then we take a taxi to my place."

"Oh. Great."

I was still tired. I felt it in every bone and muscle in my bony, begging me to just slow down and take a nap, but my mind was racing with a million thoughts and I doubted that I could sleep through them.

The subway began to slow down, and a bunch of people got up and started to make their way towards the doors. Darien got up and took my bag, but I took it from him and slung it over my shoulder. "Don't touch my bag."

He laughed. "I should have known. Most girls are worried that someone might touch their hair and ruin it."

"I'm not most girls," I mumbled, even as I reached up with my hand to push my hair behind my ear.

The subway came to a stop, and the doors breathed open, and I felt Darien's hand around my wrist, leading me out the door. "You know, I'm not going to run off. We're too far from my area for me to be able to just hop on a subway or a bus and ride there alone and know where I'm going."

He laughed again. "Yeah, right, you keep on trying. I'm not one to be fooled easily."

He took me to the subway schedule board and looked for our next subway. "Alright, so we have to wait maybe five minutes for that one, but we'll have to run for our next one because it pulls up about a minute after ours."

"And what if ours is late?"

"Let's hope it isn't."

"And if it is?"

He sighed. "The next one to pull out heading in that direction is in four hours."

"Four hours?"

He grinned. "Let's hope we're on time."

He pulled me to the next stop, and we both sat down on the bench to wait. When the next subway pulled up, we got in and sat down in the back again.

"So what's your name, pickpocket girl?"

I sighed and opened my bag and took out a bit of chocolate wrapped in foil. I broke off a piece and popped it in my mouth to melt, wrapping the rest of it back in foil and putting it in my bag. I resisted the urge to moan at how amazing it really was. Chocolate? Comfort food? Definitely.

"Wow, you really like chocolate, don't you?"

I let the rest of it melt before I replied. "My family had been poor before the… well, anyway, my dad, he loved chocolate. Usually we bought our food and rationed it throughout the week when for others it would probably last a day or two. Sometimes, he would put on extra hours when he was up to it, and he would buy himself, my mom, and me giant chocolate bars. We would sit down around our kitchen table, drink tea and savor it, while my parents recited old stories of when I was a kid." I laughed at the memory. It was probably my favorite. "I used to know those stories backwards and forwards. I still do. I just liked hearing them."

He nodded slowly. "That sounds nice."

I stretched and grabbed my glasses again, putting them on. "It was. Now do you mind?"

I pretended to sleep. He seemed to know, but didn't say anything. The ride dragged on forever before we finally pulled up and he shook me awake.

My mind snapped back. I had managed to doze off lightly somewhere along the ride. I stood up and grabbed my bag, and he grabbed my wrist. "We're running for this one."

We pushed our way lightly to the front of the crowd, where the doors were. The subway slowed down, and then stopped, and when the doors opened Darien sprinted and I had no choice but to follow. We got there as the people were getting on. We got on just as the doors closed. He sighed in relief. "Made it!"

I took the sunglasses still on my face and pushed them up onto my head and headed to the back. There was an elderly couple sitting there, talking. I sat down next to the old guy, and Darien sat down next to me. I glared at him. "That place is for my bag."

He shrugged.

"Go sit over there," I pointed to some seats a few people away from me.

He didn't budge.

Finally, I sighed and gave up. Fine, if he wanted to sit, he could sit. But I wasn't going to. I got up and began to make my way to where the seats I pointed to were, but he grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled me back.

The elderly couple were watching us by now, eyes wide. It annoyed me that they had been listening. I put my bag down on the ground, hoping it didn't get too infested with whatever was down there, and hissed through my teeth, "You're paying to wash that bag."

"Gladly. If you give me your name."

He was so frustrating!

I was too restless to even pretend to sleep now. Jogging here and fighting with him had woken me up. I slipped the glasses into my bag and reached into my pocket to look through change. I had collected the four dimes, a nickel from some lady on the last subway, and a coupon for soap. I put the money into the secret pocket of my bag, and zipped it up.

He grinned. "Successful day?"

"No," I grumbled. "Here, you can get 15% off your next soap bar if you spend $40 or more on their other brand soap bars."

He laughed. "I'm good, thanks."

We all sat awkwardly, staring ahead for some time. The old couple was obviously eavesdropping.

"So, ah, what's your name?"

I growled deep in my throat. "Will you stop asking me already?"

"Not until you tell me."

"Save your breath. I'm never going to tell you."

"Fine. You'll tell me when you fall madly in love with me."

"Which is never. I'll never fall in love." Love hurts, and I didn't need anyone to be happy. I was happy.

"Ah, but don't be too sure about that."

I stared out the window as we moved through the outdoors, watching as random mountains and trees whooshed by us.

"Where did you get the scar?"

I picked up my bag and hit him with it. He was laughing. Why was he laughing?

"You know, you're cute when you're angry."

"Oh, save it for the sluts who go for that stuff."

"What stuff? I just said you're cute."

"Yeah, and I bet that line usually works on girls, huh? Not me, buddy, so just lay off. I want to go home."

He was trying not to laugh. I could tell. Why was he so happy? It made me want to make him miserable.

"Who's a pouty face?"

"Will you quit it? How old are you?"

But it had made me grin. I know it did. And he saw.

"A few years over five."

"What? Nine? Yeah, I can tell."

"Do you like oranges?"

"Hmm?"

He leaned in close, his hot breath fanning my ear. "Do you like oranges?"

"Yeah," I said, trying not to back up.

He leaned back into his seat. I resisted the urge to shudder. Was it cold in here?

"I'll get you some."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm. When we get to where we're heading and drop off our stuff at the apartment, I'll take you out to dinner and then get you some oranges."

"I'm not dating you."

"I never said it was a date."

"When you say 'out to dinner' it implies a date."

"No, it doesn't."

I growled. "You're impossible!"

I ignored him for the rest of the ride. It was easy, since he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Finally, our stop was announced, and I grabbed my bag and felt his hand around my wrist again. Figures. Even in Halifax he thought I'd run off.

Smart guy. I would have.

As we were stepping off, I took out the change I had slowly taken from the old guy's pocket and counted it: a five dollar bill, a penny, a quarter, a receipt for some imported stamps, and a lottery ticket. I dropped the receipt and lottery ticket near the door they had probably entered from.

"When did you manage to get those?" Darien asked.

I grinned. "I was bored and the old guy next to me was annoying. But it's ok, I already paid him back."

"How's that?"

"I gave him the coupon."

TBC

A/N: thanks for reading! tell me what you think!