Hey guys!

I'm so sorry that I've made you guys wait a little over a month for a new chapter. I've been getting more hours at work and a little shockingly hubs and I get some of the same days off of work so we spend those days traveling back home to visit with family. But here is the next chapter and i hope you guys enjoy it! please leave a review and tell me what you think!

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Chapter
Twelve
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"There you are" Sam said as he finally found Serena sitting outside on the steps that led to the entrance to the cathedral.

"Yeah" Serena bitterly laughed "Couldn't get very far, I forgot I had a busted ankle" she rolled up the bottom of her pant leg to show Sam her swollen left ankle and it looked like it was starting to bruise.

"How did you do that?"

"High heels are not meant for the uncoordinated. Be lucky you don't ever have to wear them" she said through gritted teeth as she rubbed the tender spot on her ankle.

"You know you need to get back inside. They're out here looking for you."

"I'd rather the Dark Moon find me than be in a room with that insufferable man for five minutes," Sam was taken back… he knew Darien could be a jerk but was he really that bad?

"I'll make sure he'll leave you alone and we'll get you to Luna as quickly as we can. Please come back inside. We also have ice for that ankle"

After a few seconds of contemplating Serena let out a sigh and agreed, "Fine… only because my ankle hurts and you have a first aid kit"

Sam helped Serena stand up and he let her use him as a human crutch to help her get back up to the apartment. Thank God for elevators since they lived on the 8th floor. When they got back up to the apartment Sam helped Serena onto the couch. Serena let out a sigh of relief when she didn't see Darien anywhere. Sam quickly came back with an ice pack wrapped in a small towel and then he handed her the remote to the TV.

"Here you can watch whatever you want,"

"Thanks but I'm not much of a TV person. I was actually wondering if I could raid your bookshelf"

Sam curiously looked at the bookshelf and then shrugged, "Knock yourself out, I don't really know if there's anything worth reading on there… they're all mostly Darien's."

Serena slowly got up and limped over to the bookshelf, she saw some titles she recognized and a lot that she didn't but her excitement grew when she found one of her favorites. Sam patiently waited and helped her back onto the couch and he had her prop her foot up on the coffee table for better elevation for her ankle. He sat in the chair next to her and they talked for a little bit until Sam started yawning and that was when they noticed it was starting to get late.

"Sam you should go to sleep, it's getting late."

"But what about you?"

"I'll be fine here on the couch. It wasn't that bad, besides I really want to read this book." Serena said as she all but kicked out Sam so he could get some sleep.

"Alright then, good night Serena." Sam said as he walked into his room for the night.

"Goodnight Sam,"

Serena didn't know how long she had been sitting there or how long she had been reading, all she knew was that she was getting to the part of the book that she absolutely loved in the movie. She was so captivated into the book that she didn't hear a door close and footsteps walking in her direction.

"You're still up?" a voice said, startling Serena out of her reverie.

"Uh, yeah… I didn't want to go to sleep yet. Did you just get back from patrolling? I didn't even notice you left," Serena asked as she placed a bookmark in the book and placed the closed book on her lap.

"Yeah, I snuck out while you and Sam were talking. What happened to your ankle?" Darien asked as he sat in the chair.

"High heels were not made for the uncoordinated to walk in… neither is running through the woods in the middle of the night." Serena said as she leaned over and began to adjust the icepack and move it to another position.

"May I?" Darien asked as he motioned to her ankle asking if he could look at it.

"Knock yourself out," Serena replied with a shrug and watched as Darien moved closer to her and began to unwrap the towel and moved the icepack away from her ankle.

"How long ago did you injure it?" Darien asked as he moved her foot around to examine how bad her ankle was injured, he took note of every wince she made.

"About over a week ago—ow!" Serena flinched harshly and Darien looked up at her, "That one hurt a bit"

"That hurt more than just a bit, this is a bad sprain Serena and you walking on it is just going to make it worse" Darien quickly looked around the room "Sam went to bed right?"

"Yeah… why?" Serena watched curiously as Darien placed his hand on top of her ankle and began to meditate. The warmth of his hand intensified as it began to glow a gentle gold and when the glow faded she felt no more pain and the bruising disappeared. "What the hell was that?"

"I'll tell you if you promise not to tell Sam,"

"Yeah I won't but did you go to Hogwarts or something?"

Darien chuckled, "No, Luna taught me. Apparently I was born with this power but couldn't control it. When Luna and Artemis found me they helped me by teaching me how to meditate. Now it only works when I want or need it to work"

"So why can't you tell Sam about it?"

"Because whenever I use my power it takes a lot of energy. Your injury was small and didn't take much but the injuries we get can take me close to two days to heal from fully. I try to heal Sam while he sleeps but it doesn't do much if I'm drained."

"So is this your way of apologizing and making amends from earlier?" Serena asked as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Kind of… I was actually wondering if you wanted to burn that dress" Darien asked as they turned their attention to the destroyed dress that laid in a heap on the floor by the front door.

"I would love nothing more than to burn that dress, but how would we do it? We—I can't leave this place, remember?"

"There's a fire pit on the rooftop. Some like to burn their trash up there while others like to enjoy a summer night bonfire on the weekend. It's the middle of the night, no one would be up there now"

Serena agreed to it and followed Darien up to the roof and was in awe when she saw the view. She dropped the dress next to the pit and walked over to the ledge. She had never seen a city from this point of view… she had never seen a city. When Serena was a child, after her father had just gotten into office, she used to play in the gardens but one day the Dark Moon had sent someone to kill her and ever since that day she wasn't allowed outside. Even going on her balcony was a big 'no, no' but some nights she had managed to go out to look at the stars but the view from her balcony wasn't anything compared to this.

"So beautiful," she whispered to herself.

"What you've never seen a city before?" Darien stared at her, he couldn't help it. The light pollution from the city and the light from the full moon made her glow. She was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

"I've seen cities, but not from this view… not from up here" she took a few more moments to take in the scenery before her, "Alright that's enough, let's go torch that dress. Hope you know how to start a fire boy scout" Darien chuckled.

Within minutes Darien had the fire going and Serena happily tossed the monstrosity of a dress into the blazing pit. Not wanting to leave yet, the two sat on a sofa that was set up next to the pit and they began talking.

"So why did you join the Silver Alliance? Don't you miss your family?"

Darien paused for a moment and Serena began to mentally kick herself for being ignorant, "I won't give you the full story… but I'm an orphan. I don't have anyone but the Silver Alliance. I don't agree with what the Dark Moon Clan is doing and something needs to be done about it"

"I'm sorry Dar—"

"It's okay, I've grown to live with it. But tell me, what did you do to have one of the Dark Moon Clan's top agents come hunt you down?"

Serena sighed, she knew eventually show would have to tell him something so she added more to the story she had told Sam earlier, "I honestly don't know. My friend, Cat, had dragged me to this party, made me dress in that stupid gown, just so she could confess her love to this guy. Turns out this party was to celebrate his engagement and she was crushed. I took her to our favorite place, the swings at the park, hoping to cheer her up but that was when they came. I don't know what happened to her… I don't know if she's even still alive but when I really think about it… I feel almost betrayed. Like she had set me up. I do remember the man with the red hair saying something almost like 'Diamond's going to love me?' I get sick thinking about it. And I can't sleep without seeing their faces… Darien what if they capture me again? Are they going to kill me or torture me making me wish I were dead?" Darien's blood boiled at the mention of Diamond's name but Serena was on the verge of tears so Darien did the only thing he could think of to console her, he hugged her and held her close.

"It's okay to cry, but just remember that I won't let them find you"

"You're just saying that because Luna will kill you if anything happens to me" Serena said with a sniffle and Darien chuckled.

"Yes and no. I'm not doing this because I have to, I'm doing this because I want to."

Serena stared at him with wide eyes then smiled softly, "Thank you" the two stayed close as they continued to talk through the night, neither of them remembering when they had fallen asleep.

When Darien woke up a couple hours later, he smiled at the small blonde who had made herself comfortable by cuddling up to his side. The sun wasn't up yet and there was a slight chill in the air so he quietly got up, picked her up, and took her back down to the apartment. Sam was still asleep, he assumed, and he felt bad to leave her on the hard couch so he tucked her into his bed and decided that he would sleep on the couch.

"Where did you guys go? I had a panic attack and almost called Luna when I couldn't find either of you" Sam questioned as he walked out of his room.

"We burned her dress upstairs and she fell asleep. I was gonna leave her up there but it was starting to get cold."

"So you gave her your bed?" Sam asked as he quirked an eyebrow amused.

"What? I'm just trying to be nice" Darien said with a shrug.

"Yeah and remember what happened the last time you were 'just trying to be nice'?" Darien shuddered at the memory, "Luna will kill you if anything happens to her. I'm going back to sleep" Sam said and then retreated back into his room leaving Darien to his thoughts as he laid down on the couch.

"I can't get close to her. I can't get close to her. I can't—" he chanted in his mind until sleep consumed him.