Disclaimer: We don't own them.

10 Reasons Why I Love You

Chapter 3: If At First You Don't Succeed...

By: Princesses Mercury and Venus


Serena's 10 things that make my perfect man:

10) It'd be cool if he was rich, but if he's not that's okay too I suppose...

9) He has to be honest. You know what they say, honesty is the best policy.

8) Consideration is always a good trait. I want a guy who will open doors and pull out my chair, but not treat me like I'm weak.

7)
Gentle... he has to be soft and kind...but not too soft. I'm not asking too much, am I?

6) Being able to cook is a must! The way to my heart is very much through my stomach.

5) It'd be nice if he was understanding and patient. It's going to take a pretty patient guy to deal with me...

4) Smart. I want him to be able to explain all those stupid things that don't make any sense. Like what came first, the chicken or the egg? I still want to know that!

3) Tall, dark and handsome...oh yes. Can you say yummy?

2) He has to love me. I think that's pretty important, don't you?

1) It would help if his name was Darien Shields...


Serena hiked up her baby blue, strapless, mini-dress for the seventh time since she had donned it. She didn't feel comftorble in it at all, she felt so...exposed. Everytime she took a deep breath she felt like she was going to fall out of it, and whenever she exhaled she felt like it was going to slip off.

"Are you sure this is going to work, Mina," Serena whined, "this dress just doesn't look as good on me as it did on you."

"I'm sure," Mina nodded confidently, "He said his favorite color was blue remember? Just follow the plan. Act cool, calm, and most of all grown-up. Don't argue, don't eat large amounts of food and if you feel the need to do something stupid DON'T. Got it?"

"Yes," Serena sighed, almost tripping and falling flat on her face as her silver stilleto heel got caught in a crack in the sidewalk. Mina instinctively caught her, steadied her and kept on walking without seeming to notice a thing. Apparently Mina had a lot of experience with this sort of thing.

"Don't forget to flirt a little bit, let him know you're interested," Mina added nonchalently.

"B-but," Serena stuttered, "I don't know how to f-flirt."

Mina twirled her golden hair, swishing through the air like a girl off of a shampoo commercial.

"Of course you know how to flirt," Mina giggled, "Every girl does. Just go with your instinct."

Serena swallowed hard and prepared to make a break for it. Maybe she cold outrun Mina... If only she could figure out a way to get the silver death traps Mina called shoes off of her feet! Before Serena could plan her escape they were in front of the Arcade door. Serena thought a place that sold ice cream and had her favourite games had never looked scarier.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Serena asked again, licking her strawberry flavoured lips nervously.

Mina just grinned and gave Serena a slight push toward the Arcade door, "Go and get him. And don't forget to work those hips!"


"Girl's like to feel wanted," Andrew was telling Darien, "Don't make fun of her hair, her clumsiness or her grades. Ask her how her day was. BE NICE."

"What do you mean be nice," Darien protested, "I'm always nic--" He cut off with a strangled cough as the Arcade bell gave a jingle announcing the arrival of a very scantily clad goddess.

Darien's eyes widened. Oh man, who is this and what did she do with my sweet, innocent Meatball Head?

Serena sashayed up to the two stunned men and gracefully took a seat on the stool next to Darien's. Leaning her head on her palm, she began to twirl a strand of golden hair around her finger. Darien was having a rather difficult time keeping his eyes away from that little blue dress she was wearing that he noticed matched her eyes quite nicely.

"A coffee," Serena ordered in a breathy voice, "Black."

Andrew shook himself out of his shock. "Coming right up."

He practically ran to the coffee machine leaving Darien all alone with the girl of his dreams and nightmares.

"So, Mea-- I mean Serena," Darien stumbled through his words, "How's your day going?" Real suave, idiot, Darien mentally scolded himself.

Serena looked up at him through her dark lashes. "It's going so much better now that you're here."

Ugh, Serena mentally retched, that sounded like something out of a bad soap opera.

"Oh really," Darien choked. Man, that sounded like something out of a bad soap opera...

Serena nodded coyly. "I've missed you Darien," she placed a hand on his shoulder and pouted, "it feels like I haven't seen you in ages." Hey, maybe this flirting stuff isn't so hard. Is Darien blushing? Maybe I should kick it up a notch...

Darien eyes widened and her froze. He didn't know what was going on, but he didn't like it... too much.

"One coffee," Andrew interrupted, handing Serena her drink which she grabbed with the hand that had been resting on Darien's shoulder a moment earlier.

"Thanks." After a slight hesitation she took a sip of the bitter drink. "Mmmm" she murmured, though it sounded forced.

"Serena," Darien asked tentatively, "when did you start drinking coffee?"

"For awhile now," Serena cooed, "it reminds me of you." She batted her eye lashes up at him, enjoying the panicked look on Darien's face. This was actually fun!

Darien couldn't decide if he wanted to run away or flirt back. He didn't like this new version of Serena, it felt so fake but it was very hard to concentrate on that with ehr tracing his collar with a long, slender finger. He wasn't the only one completely entranced, he realized, the entire male population of the Arcade had fallen silent and seemed unable to tear their eyes from the young girl or rather the body that said young girl was blatently flaunting to the entire world. Darien's blood begin to boil, not from attraction but from anger. How dare those boys look at his Serena!

He grasped her hand, pulled her to her feet and placed his jacket around her shoulders all in one smooth motion. Before Serena could protest he dragged her outside and made a beeline for the park. Neither of them noticed the two figures that inconspicuously followed.

They were about half way through the practically deserted park when Serena finally managed to yank her arm out of Darien's iron hard grip.

"What do you think you're doing?" She hissed, all signs of flirtatiousness gone.

"What am I doing?" Darien exclaimed, "What do you think you are doing?"

Serena wrinkled her nose in annoyance. "I was just sitting in the Arcade drinking some coffee."

"And I'm the Prince of Earth," Darien spat sarcastically.

"Well I'm sorry to have bothered your Majesty," Serena shot back, "Now if you'll excuse me I'll be leaving now."

"No way am I letting you go anywhere looking like that," Darien protested latching onto her arm once again.

Serena yanked her arm out of his reach.

"I am not a child! I can take care of myself!" She declared, glaring at him.

"Could've fooled me," he shot back heatedly.

His hands shook with rage, what had she been thinking walking around dressed like a prostitute? Obviously she had not been thinking at all. What could have pushed her to do this? He had to get her back home before she made an even bigger fool out of herself.

"Fine,"Darien huffed, "looks like we'll have to do this the hard way."

In one smooth motion he easily picked up small blonde and flung her over his shoulder as if she weighed no more than a backpack. Serena squealed, thumping Darien's back with her small fists, which caused Darien to flinch slightly but otherwise appeared to have no effect.

"Put me down! Now!" she shrieked, flailing her legs causing her shoes to fly off.

Darien picked up her shoes in his hand and used his arm to bind her legs in place. Pretending he could not hear the young girl's protests, Darien continued walking towards her house as the other pedestrian's watched with interest. He purposefully ignored the fact that he had her over his shoulder at all in a very small dress that revealed far to much of her silky, smooth skin... By the time he set her carefully onto her home's steps Serena had fallen silent and stopped resisting, her hands sore from smashing them against Darien's brick solid back.

Mina and Andrew watched from behind a tree as Serena straightened her dress in a dignified fashion, snatched her shoes out of his outstretched hand, and gave Darien a final glare before stomping into her house, slamming the door behind her. Darien stared at the closed door for a few moments before walking off, hands in his pockets and whistling.

"Well that was a complete and utter failure," Andrew muttered softly as they watched Darien head back towards the Arcade, "What do we do now,"

Mina just smiled, "It's time for Plan B." She began to walk away and Andrew followed in a light jog to keep up with the blonde.

"Hey!" he called, "We have a Plan B?"


Well that was a complete and utter failure, Serena pouted as she snuk up to her room.

She heaved a sigh of relief when she reached her sanctuary without being seen by anyone from the household, her parents would have had a coronary if they would have seen what she was wearing and her brother, the little brat that he is, would have told her parents, or used it as blackmail and then told her parents. Needless to say, she was happy when she got the dress off and safely stowed away until she could return them to Mina. It felt good to be in normal, covering clothes again.

Serena couldn't believe the lenghts she was willing to go to for a guy. A guy she had once considered her worst enemy no less, well her worst human enemy as the minions of the Dark Kingdom currently held that position. The point was Serena was not sure if he was worth it. That thought was immediately shaken off. Of course he was worth it, but from now on she refused to try and be someone else to make him like her. He would like her for who she was or...

Serena sighed, grabbed a pillow from her bed and hugged it close. Or he wouldn't like her at all. She just hoped it didn't come to that, otherwise she truly did not know how she would continue to live. She knew it sounded dramatic, but somehow, deep down inside she knew that without Darien Shields she would die.

She had always said he would be the death of her... she had just never understood how true her joking words had been.


Well that was a complete and utter failure, Darien thought as he returned to the Arcade, but suddenly he didn't feel like being at the Arcade anymore so he swerved in a new direction to the only other place he could think of: the Park.

He walked along the graveled path, suddenly very aware of all the couples that passed him by. Smiling couples. Laughing couples. Old couples. Young couples. Couples holding hands or holding each other. Usually all this happiness and love would have made Darien sick, but instead it was making him very lonely and yearning... for what he did not know. For something more. Something that he suspected wore fluffy, pink sweaters and had the most gorgeous, golden hair he had ever seen. Something he knew he shouldn't even want (she was four years too young for him!), let alone could ever get.

He was an idiot.

A perverted idiot.

Which was not what he had aimed to be in life.

He always knew Meatball Head would be the death of him...


"So," Andrew said twiddling his thumbs, "What do we do now?"

"Give me a second," Mina replied leaning against the counter her eyes shut in concentration.

"You mean you don't know! What happened to Plan B?"

"There is a Plan B," Mina said confidently, turning to face him, "I just haven't thought of it yet."

Andrew through up his arms in frustration, they had been sitting at the Arcade for the past three hours but the customers had finally begin to thin out enough that he was able to sit and talk with Mina. If she hadn't come up with something in three hours he doubted she was going to come up with anything at all.

Sorry Darien, he thought, looks like I make a pretty sucky best friend after all...

"If only we could get them to go out on a date somehow," Mina sighed, "then they'd finally have to admit they like each other."

"So set them up on a date," Andrew said simply, he didn't understand why girls always tried to complicate things.

"But Serena won't go out with him unless he were to ask..."

"Or if she didn't know it was him," Andrew joked.

Mina looked up in surprise, "That's it!"

"What's it?" Andrew asked, confused.

Mina's reply was a huge smile as she vaulted over the counter. "You're a genius, Andrew," she laughed catching him up in a hug.

Andrew was so shocked he didn't know what to do.

"Wait, what?"

"I'll call you later," she said as she released his stomach and sprinted out of the Arcade.

"Wait," Andrew asked the empty Arcade, "What just happened?"


"A blind date!" Serena exclaimed, "But what about Darien?"

Serena and Mina were sitting crossed legged on Serena' s bed which, for once, was actually made. Her room had also been cleaned. After she had returned home, well actually been returned by Darien, she had had so much extra frustrated energy that she had pulled out her "Things to do before I die" list and actually completed one of them. Her mother had been so surprised by the cleanliness that she had taken a picture to remember the moment.

"We haven't forgotten about him," Mina said quickly, "it's part of the plan, we'll make him jealous."

"I don't know," Serena sighed, "If he doesn't like me in the first place he won't really get jealous, will he?"

Mina sighed inwardly, "One: he has some sort of feelings for you, that much is obvious," Serena tried to interrupt but Mina shushed her with an impatient wave of her hand, "And two: It doesn't take much to make a guy jealous. He has never seen you with another guy before. What do you got to lose?"

What do I got to lose? Serena thought to herself. I could lose Darien.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Mina prodded, bright eyed.

"All right," Serena said, decisevly, "I'll do it!"


A/N: Sorry about the long wait you guys but I can't promise the next chapter will come any faster... So yes, please review if any of you are still reading this...

Hey guys. Sorry about the long wait-we had to brain-storm. And plus we've been alot busier with school and stuff. Please reveiw, much appreciated. :)

Princesses Mercury and Venus. aka MegTao and Sapphire Water Elf Princess