blueeyeddevil06 thank you for being my beta and fixing this.

Chapter 27 - The Ring

Jadeite walked into the arcade at nine and was instantly surprised to see that Andrew wasn't working. He secretly thought he slept there. Okay, he didn't actually think that, but it was funny to contemplate. Especially now since Andrew wasn't working, but he was still there sitting at a table with Darien.

Jadeite walked over to them and said, "Well, the party has arrived. What did you want that you needed to be so secretive about? I'm naturally assuming Andrew will be in on this too."

Darien looked up and smiled at him. After looking around to make sure no one could overhear them, he said, "I wanted help from both of you. I'm going to buy Serena an engagement ring, and I wanted input from both of you."

Andrew and Jadeite both stared at him and had large smiles on their faces.

Andrew spoke first, "I would love to help you spend lots of money. You know we are both going to make sure you get her a really expensive ring, right?"

Jadeite laughed, "No kidding. She has more than earned it for putting up with your crap and then forgiving you."

Darien nodded, "I figured that would be the case. I happen to agree that she should have an expensive ring. That, and I'm a bit of a jerk. I want any guy that sees her ring to know that he doesn't stand a chance."

Jadeite added, "You're marking your territory."

Andrew quipped, "Well, it is better than peeing on her."

Darien rolled his eyes, "On that note, let's leave so we can ignore that statement."

As they walked out of the arcade, Jadeite added, "The necklace we bought her really bothers you, doesn't it?" Darien just shrugged. "Good!" Jadeite said.

Andrew looked over and asked, "What about her necklace? I noticed she wears it all the time."

Jadeite smiled at Darien and spoke to Andrew, "The stones are jadeite, zoisite, nephrite, and kunzite. We all bought it for her."

"Wow, that must be killing you that she is wearing jewelry from four other guys," Andrew remarked laughing at Darien.

Darien looked irritated. "Shut up," he grumbled. "Just get in the car so you can help me spend my money."

The car was quiet on the way to the jewelry store. They pulled up in front of Tiffany's, and Jadeite whistled. "Wow, you really are going to be spending a lot of money on this ring."

They walked in, and Darien alerted the guy behind the counter to the fact that he had an appointment.

"Are you at least going for a carat?" Andrew asked.

Darien shook his head. "Aren't you going to ask Rita to marry you? Don't you know how this works? Tiffany's doesn't sell diamonds under a carat, and their clarity ratings are only among the best. You can't get out of here without spending a lot. I figured you would both approve."

The salesman came out and brought some of the stones that fell into the parameters Darien had laid out on the phone. They all looked at the stones through a jeweler's loop, and Darien chose a beautiful three carat diamond in a princess cut. He thought that would be perfect for her. The diamond only had one small wisp of an inclusion.

Andrew was afraid to speak up and show his lack of knowledge on diamonds, but Jadeite was not. He said, "Don't you think she deserves a flawless diamond? What is with the wispy inclusion?!"

Darien replied, "First, you want a way to identify your diamond when you take it into the jeweler. That way, you know they didn't switch out your stone for a lesser one. Second, and most important, if a diamond doesn't have a single inclusion, it doesn't sparkle as much. The inclusion helps reflect the light, and the diamond actually looks prettier."

Andrew looked at Jadeite and just said, "Duh!" Jadeite slugged him in the arm. No way was he buying that Andrew knew that.

Jadeite then whispered, "Nerd," under his breath to Darien.

Next came out the settings for the diamond, and they looked through those. Darien, of course, chose Rose Gold and six prongs. He then picked an inscription for the wedding band. It would read, "Forever."

Darien gave the salesman her ring size as well as the down payment and received an appointment to pick up the finished rings.

They left, and Darien treated them to lunch as a thank you for their help and support.

Darien sighed, "Now I have to talk to her father and her uncle. That won't be stressful."

Jadeite chuckled and didn't envy him facing two men to ask for her hand. He said, "Are you going to divide and conquer, or are you going to talk to them both at once?"

"I haven't decided yet. I do know I'm going to wait until the ring is ready and bring it with me. I'm hoping a large rock will help pave the way towards their approval."

They all laughed at that.

Jadeite spoke up, "Is it strange for you defeating Diamond and then buying a diamond for her?"

Darien sighed, "Well, it is now! I'm sure I will get over it though. He will be a distant memory soon. Gosh, I'm glad he's dead at my hands."

Andrew looked around panicked, "Say that a little louder next time! Maybe you can spend some time being questioned by the cops today. That would be quite the memory. You buy a ring and then you get a set of matching bracelets for free."

Jadeite laughed until he came to a realization, and then he paled. "I just realized I would be the one to have to tell Serena you were arrested. It has officially stopped being funny for me."

Andrew shook his head and changed the subject, "Do you know how you're going to propose?"

"Yes, I do. Remember that house she fell in love with just down the street from her uncle's?" They nodded. "I bought it for her, and right now, a gardener is putting in a huge rose garden in the back. It has a gazebo with climbing roses all over it. I'm going to take her out to dinner and then bring her to the house. We'll go straight back to the gazebo and I will propose then and there. Once she hopefully says yes, I will tell her the house is ours and show her around."

Jadeite clapped Darien on the back and smiled. "Well, that is just perfect for her. All she wants is proof of your future together. An engagement and a house will do just that. She will be thrilled and touched with how personal it all is. I'm so glad I only punched you that day. Killing you, like I wanted to, would have made her miss out on all of this."

Darien grimaced, "The scary part is I don't know if you're kidding about wanting to kill me."

"I'm not." He deadpanned.

"Oh…."

"Hey, I'm glad I didn't!" Jadeite said to defend himself.

Andrew just laughed at them both and shook his head. He really enjoyed hanging out with Darien and Jadeite. The three of them were becoming great friends. And now, his best friend was going to become a happily married man.