Chapter 6
When Darien woke up, he noticed that Serena was stirring. He sat up
and tried to help her. “Serena, do you feel okay now?”
“Mmm... Yes, Darien.” Serena was so happy. A huge burden felt like
it had been removed from her shoulders. “What are you still doing
here?”
“I wanted to stay and make sure you were okay. Don’t worry,”
he added. “You’re parents aren’t home yet. And now, if you are sure
you’re okay, I’ll be leaving. I don’t want to bother you.” He was
hoping that she might take back the words from tonight.
“Darien, I don’t want you to leave yet. I want to talk to you first.”
Serena had decided that she had made some rash decisions in her life,
but the one she made tonight could be repaired. “You saved me. I
don’t know what I would have done if the pain didn’t stop. I want to
make it up to you. How can I do that?”
“Just promise me that we can still be friends and see each other. I
don’t want to avoid you.” said Darien.
“You’re right. I didn’t really mean it tonight when I said I wish I’d
never met you. The truth is, my life has been filled with nothing but
happiness for the past few days. And I have you to thank for that.”
Serena felt how serious this was getting. She better not let it go too
far right now. She still had so much more to sort out. “Well, Darien,
it’s getting really late.”
“Yeah. It’s time for me to head home.” Darien stood up. He walked
toward the front door. “I guess I’ll see you around."
“I’ll see you.”
said Serena. As Darien opened the door, she called his name. “Darien?”
He turned around. “Yes?” Serena kissed him on the cheek.
“Thank you for being there for me.” She pulled back.
“It’s my job. I’ll always be here.” And he walked out of her house
and into the warm night.
The next day, Serena slept in. When she got up, she had breakfast and
got dressed. Around lunch time, the phone rang. It was Darien. They
exchanged pleasantries, and then Darien got to the point.
“You know, I don’t have any classes today. You want to meet me in the
arcade at, say, two o’clock?” Would she? She couldn’t wait! “Yes, Darien. I’ll see you then.”
She hung up the phone, overjoyed. She would get to spend the day with
Darien again! Those kinds of days were the most interesting kinds of days.
At two o’clock, Serena walked into the arcade, wearing the dress that
Darien liked so much (although she didn’t know it at the time.) They
spent some time talking and then decided to go to the park. They
rented a rowboat and took it out onto the water.
“Darien,” Serena said lazily, “Tell me about us. What kind of a
couple were we?”
“Are you sure that you’re ready to hear all of this?” asked Darien.
“It could take days, even weeks!”
“I have all the time in the world.” said Serena.
So Darien told her stories (revising slightly to rid many of them of
the Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Mask twist). Serena was hanging on to everyword.
After several stories, Serena commented, “Oh, how romantic. It sounds
as if we were perfect together. You know, Darien, you’re one of my very
best friends. I could talk to you for hours.” Serena sighed happily.
Darien cringed inwardly. Best friends was good, but it wasn’t what he wanted.
The boat ride was over. Darien stepped out onto the dock and put his
hands our to lift Serena. She grabbed on and pulled herself up, only
to trip on top of him. “Oh,” she said, “I’m such a klutz.”
“Yeah, but you’re my klutz.” Darien whispered the lines he had seen
over and over in his head. “What did you say?” asked Serena.
“Oh, nothing. That was just something that we’ve done before. We
rented a rowboat, and you tripped trying to get out. You said you were
a klutz, and I said that you were my klutz.”
“Oh! How romantic!” There were stars in Serena’s eyes. Then her eyes
faded. “So many lost memories. Darien, I’ve had enough for today.
It’s a lot to absorb. Walk me home?”
Darien took her home. They were silent the whole way there. Darien
was waiting for Serena to talk next. When they got to her house,
Serena said, “Once again, I’ve had a great time. Darien,” She grabbed
him and hugged him fiercely, “Thank you for being so understanding. I
wish I knew how hard it was for you. I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, I’ll be seeing you.” Darien said, and Serena walked inside.
A few days later, Serena ran into Darien at the arcade. Literally.
“Oh, Darien! It’s you!” Serena beamed. “Yeah. How are you?” he asked.
“I’m doing great.” she chirped. “I’ve had some time to think.”
“Did you remember anything?” he asked.
“Not exactly. Some words popped into my mind. Mostly planets. I’m
just trying to figure those out for now.” Actually, Serena didn’t care
to figure out the words. She was wondering why her heart was pounding
and why she was so happy to see him. After all, it was just Darien.
“Well, Serena, I’m in a hurry today. I just got my fall schedule for
college and it’s really messed up. I’ll catch up with you later.”
Darien said, then dashed off with his papers.
Serena felt strange. She’d felt lust and had crushes before, but the
feelings she had for Darien were different. They were wonderful.
Serena went into the arcade. There she saw her four friends sitting
together. They waved her over.
“Hey, Serena. Saw you talking to Darien out there.” said Mina. “How
are you two doing?”
“Well, I’m fine, and I guess Darien’s okay.” said Serena. “I haven’t
seen him in a few days.”
“Oh, so you haven’t been with him?” asked Raye. Since the girls
hadn’t seen Serena in a few days either, they had thought she was with
Darien. Because she wasn’t, it was time for some direct action.
“Serena, how do you feel about Darien?” asked Lita.
“Feel? Well, I guess he’s my best friend, next to you guys.” Serena
didn’t want the girls to know that she might be feeling more right now.
She wasn’t sure that she wanted herself to know. “We can talk about
anything, even our past relationship.”
The girls were disappointed. They thought that Serena would be in love
by now. Serena was wondering why the girls had such gloomy looks on
their faces. Then it dawned on her.
“Are you guys trying to set us up?” she asked.
“How did you guess?” Ami was surprised. After all of their careful planning.
“I’m ditzy sometimes, but I can see through this.” Serena was almost
appalled that her friends didn’t think that she could figure this out.
“Look, I really appreciate this, but right now, Darien and I aren’t
doing that. Don’t push this issue, please.”
“All right, we won’t.” said Mina. The goddess of love knew when to
keep herself out of situations. The girls changed the subject and
chatted happily for the rest of the afternoon.
Chapter 7
