-1As he closed the car door, Darien stared at the drop of rain that landed on his windshield. What a fantastic complement to his mood.

Darien wasn't one to think of life as being unfair. He'd had many difficult experiences starting at a young age with the loss of his parents; had he been a "life's not fair" person, he'd never have made it this far. Pity parties weren't his thing. Yet, here he was, sitting in his car, cursing himself and everything else because of a 17-year-old girl. He was in one of those cliché battles between heart and head: his feelings for Serena versus his cultural knowledge. For the first time since he'd started fending for himself so long ago, he didn't know what to do. That lack of control almost made Darien call life unfair. Routine was Darien's way of life, and Serena was disrupting it completely.

Frustrated beyond belief, he slammed his hands into the steering wheel before putting the key in the ignition.

----------------

"Why has it been raining so much lately?" Serena whined aloud. After her daily trek to the Crown Arcade was interrupted by the beginning of a rainstorm, she had run to the bus stop. Though this got her out of the rain faster, she was, of course, still drenched. Under the shelter, she began ringing water from her pigtails.

"Now all I need is lightning, and it'll be a fantastic day." On cue, thunder rumbled, and the sky lit up. Serena dropped onto the bench, eyes wide. No matter how old she got, storms scared her. Glancing at the bus schedule, she realized she had just missed a bus and that the next wouldn't come along for an hour. Serena hugged her knees to her body to serve the double purpose of keeping her feet dry and making her feel almost safe. Almost.

----------------

Darien was not crying. He sniffed. He didn't have some macho issue with crying, but he did feel that this was unworthy of it. Sure, he'd never been able to take criticism from his superiors, like that he had just endured from Mr. Greene, and Serena had thrown him completely off, but no one had died or broken his heart or anything of the sort to warrant crying. He grumbled after the next sniff, adding this experience to the list of things Andrew must never know.

To counteract the case of sniffles he seemed to be getting, Darien turned on his radio and began to search for rock music to blare. Though this distracted him from driving more than he should have allowed on such a dreary day, something still managed to catch his attention from his peripheral vision. Glancing up, he saw a mess of blonde hair huddled in the corner of the bus shelter.

Darien's hand immediately came up to grip the steering wheel tightly with the other, and he began to slow down as the corner approached. He knew he should just drive past her; she'd never know it was him, and he could spare himself a few minutes of torture. The way she was sitting, though, suggested she was scared. Serena was a ray of sunshine, and he could easily imagine her being afraid of storms. Darien took a right at the corner.

Was he really going to subject himself to being alone with Serena, albeit for a short period of time? After trying to divert her attention from him, this would be sending the wrong signal. He certainly didn't want Serena to hate him, but he was fairly certain that he wanted her to stop liking him. Right? He turned the second corner.

----------------

Serena watched as the red car slowed and came to a stop in front of her. It had just driven by, and she'd seen it slow down. She so needed some creep to hit on her to improve her day. Had she been less upset, she had rolled her eyes. Instead, she pressed her face into her knees for a moment.

The door was thrown open. "Serena!" Darien called, "Get in!"

Serena lifted her head. At first, she could only stare. She wondered if she was getting somewhere. The jerk was being nice, an interesting change of pace. Then she realized that rain was soaking Darien's leather seats and that his face was starting to look a bit stormy, too. She leapt up and dashed to the car, slamming the door behind her.

"Thanks for that," Darien grumbled. "Though I'm sure you're equally good for my seats, considering that you're just as wet." Okay, he knew that he meant her clothes, but that last word was one of those he should not think about in the any sentence involving Serena.

Serena turned to speak to him as she put on her seatbelt. "You--" she began. Lighting flashed across the sky, and she jumped, hugging her arms around herself.

The action made Darien realize just how scared Serena was. "I'm sure you've spent enough time with me lately, but at least my car is warm and dry," he teased, hoping the humor would calm her. He felt rewarded at her slight smile. "Where to?"

"Home," she told him, following her statement with directions. "I hope you don't mind a quiet ride." Serena slipped her shoes off and pulled her knees up to her chest and realized Darien was looking at her questioningly. "When I was little, my parents and I were driving through the mountains when a rainstorm hit. The area is known to have washouts; you can figure out the rest."

Darien's eyebrows drew together as Serena hid her face in her skirt. For all of him that wanted to dismiss this as another of Serena's childish habits, he could identify. Her fear hit him a little too close too home. He opened his mouth to tell her about losing his parents and immediately closed it with a shake of his head. The point was to put distance between them, not bring them closer.

When thunder crashed, he saw Serena's body twitch from the corner of his eye. Darien was hit with a strong desire to hug her to his chest and tell her everything would be okay. Instead, he gently put his hand on her shoulder.

Though the gesture surprised her at first, Serena couldn't help but lean into Darien's touch. The weight felt so reassuring. Had she not been focusing on not seeming too terrified, she would have wondered at whether it was touch or his touch that comforted her.

Realizing that Serena seemed soothed, Darien opted to keep his hand in place. Quickly, he realized that the way he had contorted his shoulder was uncomfortable, so he slid his arm around her more fully.

At the feeling of Darien's fingers softly stroking her upper arm, Serena's attention to her staying calm began to waver as her brain tried to process the situation. He had always been a complete jerk, and two days ago, he had implied that he didn't like her. Even though she felt she had seen through his attempt, this change of events did not follow. Darien didn't want anything to do with her, yet here they were. He was giving her a ride home, trying to ward off her fear and, contrary to usual, passing up an opportunity to tease her. Plus, she was fascinated by the feeling of his caresses.

"Is it this one?" Darien asked, the fingers on Serena's arm ceasing as he pointed out the window.

She raised her head. "No, up there a bit," she responded. "See the blue car?" As Darien obediently drove toward the indicated house, he pulled his arm away to grip the gearshift, and she missed the weight. "Darien," she began, turning to look at him.

Serena's use of his name got his full attention; it actually worried him for what he felt was good reason. Darien stared at her, his hand still on the shift.

"Thank you for being so nice. It really means a lot to me," she said quietly. Serena was completely sincere; even her friends had laughed at her fear on occasion.

She gave him a huge smile, and Darien couldn't help but smile back. "Well, I can hardly be an asshole all the time," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Serena laughed. "I find that somewhat hard to believe." After unfastening her seatbelt, she leaned toward him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Really, thank you."

Despite not noticing the entire time she had been in his car, Darien became aware of Serena's body as she brushed against his arm. Then, watching her leap from the car and dash to her house, he couldn't help but appreciate how her white top hugged her chest and how her soaked skirt clung to her butt. "Dead kittens," Darien suddenly announced to the car, having noticed the trend of his thoughts. He failed to do anything to rid himself of the happy smile he wore to the Arcade.

AN: See the AN added to Chapter 1 for more information about the story. Sorry about the long delay; please don't hate me. I had a run in with a massive jerk. Talk about writer's block. Also, points if you noticed and/or were amused by the direct reference to the song in this chapter.