A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the late update, I've been working on this for a while, had a bit of writer's block but managed to get the ending I wanted today! :) I'm going to start the next chapter as well today so hopefully it won't take too long! I can't guarantee anything though because it's my birthday in a few days and I doubt my friends will leave me with much time to write! Haha. I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews I've been getting so far, it means a lot to me to know that people are reading my work and enjoying it! :) Love to you all! Please keep reviewing and here's chapter 7!

Happy New Year (Chapter 7)

It was New Year's Eve and Lita was throwing a big party. Students and young adults of all ages showed up to celebrate the coming of the New Year. Some, who were of legal age, had even brought alcohol. Serena eyed the alcoholic drinks warily, she did not want to go through the same experience that she had had in November again! She vowed to avoid them for the entire night.

Darien, on the other hand, wished she would, she was cute and funny when she was drunk. But mostly, because he wanted to kiss her at midnight. He knew this wasn't a good reason, but he really wanted to kiss her and didn't want to be rejected. How he wished she felt the same way he did!

Unknown to Darien, Serena was wishing the exact same thing and to her annoyance, the girls were prodding her to go talk to him.

"Go talk to him Serena! I'm sure he'd love to kiss you at midnight, he keeps glancing over here at you!" Mina told her.

Serena shook her head firmly, "No thank you, Mina, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want to kiss him at midnight, he's Darien for pete's sake!"

Mina, Amy, Rae, and Lita all shook their heads at Serena in disbelief.

Lita spoke up, "You may be able to fool yourself, Serena, but you can't fool us! You want to kiss him at midnight and the only way that's going to happen is if you stop avoiding him like you have been all night! Seriously, the poor guy is floundering!"

Serena looked at Lita like she was crazy, "I don't know what you are talking about, Lita! Darien hasn't tried to talk to me, let alone looked at me all evening. You're all crazy!"

"Now listen here Serena, I am Sailor Venus, the sailor scout of love and I know what I'm talking about okay, he wants to talk to you!" Mina told her.

Serena still shook her head, the truth was she was nervous about talking to him at the party. If she did, would he get the wrong (or right) idea that she wanted to kiss him at midnight? She didn't want him to reject her.

Rae growled in frustration and gave up her patience, "Enough!" she cried, "I have better things to do than listen to Serena pretend not to like Darien. Here," and Rae suddenly grabbed Serena and dragged her over to Darien on the other side of the room. "Good evening Darien," she smiled at him before letting go of Serena's arms and leaving to scope out her own guy for a midnight kiss.

"Hi Meatball head," Darien said to Serena. As he greeted her, he saw her expression of shock change to one of anger and frustration? He immediately regretted his words as she shook her head and turned to leave.

"Wait Serena, don't go, I want to talk to you!" he said.

"Then don't call me Meatball head, you jerk!" she told him angrily, "People aren't going to want to talk to you if you call them names!"

Darien lowered his head, chastised, "You're right, I'm sorry Serena. How about we try again?"

Serena sighed and raised her eyebrows expectantly. Darien smiled at her, stepped back and pretended to suddenly see her in front of him.

"Why Serena, how lovely to see you!" he said with a bow.

Serena giggled, "Good evening Darien," she replied.

"And how are you this lovely New Year's Eve?" he asked.

"Just wonderful," she replied with a grin, "I did have quite a rude dealing with some riff raff earlier, but luckily a courteous gentleman disposed of him."

"Ah, that is quite unfortunate, the people they let in to these parties!" Darien said, shaking his head sadly. Serena smiled at him and he smiled back, maybe he did have some hope after all.

"They are so hopelessly in love," Lita commented to Mina as the pair sneakily watched the couple interact.

"I know," Mina sighed, "it's so romantic, neither one will admit their feelings! We just have to get them to kiss at midnight! Do you have any mistletoe around here?" she asked mischievously.

Lita laughed, "No, I took it down for the party, but I can go get some out of storage if you really want it."

Mina pouted, "Nooooo… we can think of something else, I'm sure, or else maybe they will come to the right conclusion on their own!"

Lita replied, "We could… or we could do this?" she turned to whisper an idea in Mina's ear.

"Lita, you're a genius! I bet that will work!" Mina said evilly.

Lita laughed, "Let's hope so, those two need all the help they can get!"

Serena was in pure heaven at that moment. The guy she secretly crushed on was being a total gentleman. It was so sweet and adorable. Oh goodness, she wanted him to kiss her at midnight! Just thinking about it, sent a light blush across her cheeks. She hoped Darien didn't notice.

But Darien, being in tune to all things Serena, did notice the blush, and wondered why she was blushing, was it something he said or was it something she was thinking? How he wished that he was the reason behind that pretty blush!

"Would you like some punch?" he asked her.

Serena nodded and smiled, "Non-alcoholic please," she said with a wink.

Darien smiled and tugged on a ponytail, "We wouldn't want a repeat of last time, now would we," he said.

Serena blushed and Darien laughed. How he hoped to have a repeat of last time, well at least the kiss part. He went to get her some punch, completely alcohol free and brought it back to her, only to find another guy talking to her. What was this guy doing with His Serena?

"Here's your punch," he said gruffly, handing it to her as he took his spot next to her and glared at the guy talking to her.

"Thanks," said Serena brightly, completely unaware of Darien's jealousy, "This is Mark, Lita just introduced us! He's new here, so we have to make him feel welcome!" She smiled up at her new friend Mark.

Mark smiled back hesitantly at the pretty girl, feeling slightly anxious from the glares he was getting from the guy next to her. He stuck out his hand in greeting, "Mark Green," he said to Darien.

Darien took his hand and shook it, "Darien Shields, it's nice to meet you Mark," but from his looks, it didn't seem like he thought it was very nice to meet him.

Serena smiled at the two of them, she did love making friends! She was completely oblivious to Darien's silent anger. She took a drink of her punch, enjoying the alcohol-free taste.

"So how long have you two been together?" Mark asked the couple.

Serena sputtered on her drink and went into a coughing fit as Darien patted her on the back, completely red in the face.

"WHAT?" she asked.

"We're not together," Darien explained, taking her punch cup from her hand while she regained control of her breathing.

"Oh, sorry," Mark replied, intrigued. It was obvious that Darien was in love with Serena from the glares he was getting and that Serena had a soft spot for him from her reaction. Oh that Lita, she should have warned him about what he was getting into! Well, until they admit their feelings, he might as well have a little fun, right?

"Well, in that case, would you like to dance Serena?"

"Ummm, well," was all Serena could reply before Mark whisked her off to the dance floor, leaving Darien red faced and angry with her punch cup in his hand.

"The nerve of that worm!" he muttered, stalking back to the punch table to put down her glass. There he stood, staring angrily as the two danced and Serena laughed.

"Problems, Darien?" Andrew asked his friend, noticing the scowl dominant on his face.

"Oh no, not a one," Darien replied, still staring at the two dancing.

"You know, if you like her, you should ask her to dance," Andrew said, leaning against the wall next to Darien.

"If I what? I don't… I –what makes you think I like Meatball head?" Darien sputtered indignantly.

"Well for one, the fact that you have a nickname for her, I mean Meatball head, seriously Darien? And two, the fact that you have been staring at her whenever you aren't with her this entire evening, not to mention when we're at the Crown! You have been watching them dance for the past 20 minutes! When are you going to cut in?"

"I… I," Darien for once didn't know how to respond. He was at a loss for words. He couldn't deny his feelings for Serena to his best friend, but he didn't know how to confirm them either. He looked lost and unsure.

Andrew clapped his hand on Darien's shoulder, "It's okay man, she's sweet and worth the chance! If you don't go for it, you do realize that this Mark guy is going to end up kissing her at midnight, which is in, ohhhh about 30 minutes!"

That got Darien going, there was no way, no way he was going to let this Mark guy kiss his Serena! He marched off towards the dancing pair, leaving a laughing Andrew in his wake.

"Excuse me," he said, tapping Mark on the shoulder, "Do you mind if I cut in?" The look Darien gave Mark was one so frightening, Mark was surprised he didn't just crumble at Darien's feet.

"Of course," Mark said, putting Serena's hand in Darien's and leaving the scene. Serena looked up in surprise to find herself staring in Darien's eyes. She looked at him curiously as there seemed to be some strange emotion in them, one she didn't understand, but it disappeared quickly as he looked down at her and took her into his arms for the dance.

Mark walked weakly over to the punch table and eagerly gulped down some punch. Lita spotted him and came over smiling.

"Seriously Lita, next time, you have to give me some warning about what you're going to involve me in! I'm still surprised that guy Darien hasn't killed me with those looks he was giving me! And I could feel his eyes on us, the entire time we danced!"

"Well, I never asked you to dance with her, just talk to her!" Lita replied smiling, "So that was at your own risk!"

Just then, Andrew came up to join the conversation, "He looked like a bat coming out of hell, now didn't he?" he said chuckling. The others stared at him for his use of the strange expression.

"Well, he seems to be looking better now," Mina said with a smile, slipping into the group conversation, "they both do!"

"Yeah, let's hope neither of them does anything stupid and they manage to make it to midnight!" Lita said, watching the couple dance gracefully across the floor.

Watching them dance, Mina said, "if they keep dancing like that, I don't think we will have a problem!"

Back on the dance floor, Serena was in heaven, just feeling pure bliss. She felt weightless, almost as if she had wings as she glided across the dance floor with Darien. She was so happy with Lita's choice of music, she had wanted a sophisticated party and really there was no better feeling than dancing to this music with Darien. She caught his eye briefly before he twirled her out and he smiled at her. A faint blush rose across her cheeks.

Darien just stared down at the angel he was dancing with. How he was able to keep dancing and not just take her into his arms, he did not know, but he did love the feeling of her hand in his and he could see the happiness in her eyes as they danced. He wished the moment would never end.

But time passed quickly, unknown to the two of them as they danced through it and soon the clock was approaching midnight.

This feels so familiar, Serena thought, as Darien brought her close for the last song before midnight. She wanted to snuggle into his chest, but was scared of what he would think. But, feeling his arms tighten around her, she gave in and rested her head on his chest as they danced quietly together.

Darien smiled down at the blue-eyed goddess in his arms and his grin nearly split his face when he felt her rest her head on his chest. He had never been happier than with Serena in his arms. A sense of peace and comfort overtook him as they danced to the lyrics of the last song.

All too soon, the dance came to an end and Lita called out that it was the countdown to midnight! Everyone gathered around the TV to watch the countdown. Darien instead took Serena to the window, away from the crowd.

"Darien?" she asked, curiously, "Why are we going this way? Don't you want to watch the countdown with everyone else?"

Darien shook his head, refusing to relinquish her hand. All he wanted, all he needed to celebrate the New Year was her next to him. And maybe... just maybe...

The crowd began chanting, 20, 19, 18…

Serena looked up at him with her blue eyes, nervously biting her lip. She didn't know what he was thinking; she couldn't read the emotions in his eyes. Was he going to kiss her? Did he want to?

11, 10, 9, 8…

Darien looked down at the beautiful girl before him and he could see the nervousness in her eyes and he smiled at the cute way she bit her lip. He was nervous too, but there was no way he couldn't, no way he'd be able to stop himself.

5, 4…

He brought his hand up to the side of her face and her eyes closed momentarily at her touch, "Darien?" she asked softly, as if afraid to say something.

"Shhhh," he whispered to her.

"3, 2, 1… Happy New Year!" The crowd cheered and couples kissed, Lita kissed Mark as a thank you for going along with her plans, leaving him a little dazed. Andrew shyly leaned down and kissed Mina, who returned the kiss enthusiastically and Rae enjoyed some lip action with some random hot guy, taken in completely by her fiery personality and looks. Even Amy got a kiss from a shy guy she had been talking to that turned her face completely red.

As the crowd yelled out congratulations, the pair by the window was lost in their own world. When midnight struck, Darien leaned down slowly to gently press his lips against those of his angel. Her eyes drifted closed as she sighed in happiness and her arms found their way around him. When he knew he wasn't getting pushed away, Darien moved his lips slowly against hers and felt her respond with her own. Slowly and tenderly they kissed each other, as if they had all the time in the world. There was no urgency behind their kisses, just a need to share the deep and confusing feelings that they had for each other. Finally, Darien pulled away, pure happiness radiating from him and he whispered into her ear, "Happy New Year My Meatball Head."