Prologue
Disclaimers: Don't sue and don't copy!
AN: OK, this is for all of you out there that have friends that just can't keep their noses to themselves. Just remember, they think they're doing the right thing. And every once in a while,
they are.
- - -
"You know, this is becoming a Friday tradition with us."
"I know, but it's the only time I get with you Mr. 'I don't have time to spend with my poor starving friends anymore.'" Serena giggled at herself as she grabbed Darien's arm and hurried him along to the restaurant. She wasn't kidding about the starving part either!
"Yeah, well, just because some of us actually have jobs," he mumbled.
"That's not fair! I'm still looking; you know that. Just because my resume is lacking a few things that yours has doesn't mean that I can't get a job." She wasn't nearly as angry as she pretended. It had been two weeks since their failed attempt at the pros and cons of going to school and she had still decided that the 'I don't want to go' con was much more important than the pros.
"Yeah, you're missing my four years of college, my departmental school experience, and all those lovely letters of recommendation from my teachers. Oh, and then there's those little things like perfect attendance awards, 4.1 GPA, ya know stuff like that." His nonchalant singsong was beginning to give her a headache.
She didn't say a word as she dropped his arm and walked ahead of him with a frown in place. Then something he said caught up with her. "What a minute!!" She stopped in the middle of the sidewalk so quickly Darien didn't have time to stop to himself before he bumped into her.
"What?" he asked straightening both of them back up again.
"There's no such thing as a 4.1 GPA!" she said wheeling on him.
"Sure there is," he said perfectly serious.
"There is?" she asked with an incredulous look on her face.
"There is if you get more than a hundred percent in some of your classes. Extra credit counts."
"Ohooooooooow!!"
She sunk to her knees and gave a dejected little pout to the pavement. That wasn't fair! Out of every single person in the whole world why did Darien have to be so stupidly perfect? *No, over perfect!* she corrected. 4.1! How dare he!?
"Uh, Serena? Do you realize that you're sitting in the middle of a busy sidewalk?"
"So," she sniffed.
"So, get up Meatball Head! There's a whole line of people staring at us like we're from the moon!" With that he picked her up by the shoulders.
She gasped involuntarily as he set her back on her feet. He was gentle enough, but she hadn't realized that he could do that. She knew she wasn't the lightest thing on the face of the planet, but he picked her up like she was some street cat.
*Oh, speaking of cats, did I set out any food for Luna before I left?*
"Uh, Serena? I'm leaving you!"
"No!" she squeaked. She closed the small gap between them and grabbed onto his arm again. It was only then that she noticed the 'you really are from the moon aren't you' looks they were getting.
Darien led her down another block then turned the corner. "What was that for?!" he asked a little perturbed with her.
"Humph! For you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She folded her arms in front of her chest and turned her nose the other way. "You always have to be so perfect don't you?"
She didn't see him shrug as he mumbled, "it's just my nature."
"Yeah, you're so naturally annoying."
"I can't help it! What are you so upset about anyway?"
"You! For once I'd like to find something wrong with you!" She wheeled around to face him.
"What, you mean besides me being a 'conceited jerk'?"
At the mention of her usual name for him she smiled a little. "Yeah, besides that."
"Well, too bad. There isn't any!" Taking her arm again he continued to lead her down the street.
"Out of six billion people on the planet how did I end up with you?"
"Just lucky I guess."
She gave him a sour look.
"So I guess that means you don't want to hear about all of those national academic awards I got too, huh?"
She took her arm out of his and punched him with it. "NO!!"
He laughed and they walked the rest of the way in silence. Once they reached the restaurant Serena was surprised she had never seen the place before. It was absolutely beautiful! The walls had a golden tan to them and the tables were decorated in bold shades of green and burgundy. But what really got her was the stonework.
The whole thing was designed to look like an outdoor garden. Fake ivy climbed over little stone dividers. Various small trees lounged around the room making little groupings out of the tables. Flowers sprouted from spaces in the floor and dangled down from supports on the ceiling. And directly in the center of the room stood a water fountain nearly two stories tall.
Five levels of stone let the water cascade down the its sides. The water was tinted to give it a light mauve glow. Each level was carved with rose patterns running along the rock surface. Surrounding its base was a ring of roses. Reds, whites and pinks floated through deep green foliage.
"Whoa, totally cosmic!" was all she could say.
Darien laughed beside her. "Are we finished admiring the décor, madam?
"No, not quiet yet." She continued to stare around the room as Darien conversed with the headwaiter.
"Oh, Madam? Our table awaits us." Serena stood awestruck by her surroundings. She hardly heard his words from behind her. But she snapped back to attention as she felt him take her arm and wrap it inside of his by himself.
"Sorry," she mumbled as the two followed their waiter.
"I take it you like the place?" he smiled at her.
"Totally!!" She glanced around her again. "Although I wish you would have told me that I was underdressed." She frowned down at little black dress she was wearing. Absolutely nothing fancy, and completely out of place in this setting.
"You're not. You look fine," he whispered into her ear.
"Oh, and that's suppose to make me feel better?" She didn't want to look fine. She wanted to look like all the other women in the room. Gorgeous!
"OK, you look great! Does that help?"
Poor Darien, he was trying she would give him that. "No, that doesn't help."
"Oh." He seemed a little dejected.
She laughed at him and leaned closer to whisper, "But thanks anyway."
He smiled at her as they followed their guild up to the second floor of the building. She hadn't noticed earlier that there was a balcony surrounding the first floor. "You know," she said wistfully, "I have to hand it to Andrew. If a guy brought me here for our first date, I'd marry him too."
"Note to self: garden restaurants, proposals, Serena. Got it." He looked at her, "Now if someone ever falls for you I'll know what advice to give the poor sap."
"WHEN someone does fall for me," she corrected, "you are to stay as far away from him as possible!" There was no way her husband-to-be would be listening to all of Darien's stories about her! "So why did the newly weds invite us along anyway? They can't need chaperones now."
He laughed and let her slide through a narrow space between two tables a head of him before answering. "I don't have the foggiest idea why they asked. But Andrew specifically told me I had to come, and I couldn't come without you."
"Uh-oh. I don't like the sound of that." It would be just like Andrew to do or say something to interfere between Darien and her. But there wasn't anything between the two of them. So what in the world was he up to?
"Neither did I. But what was I going to do?" He slipped his hand to the small of her back and whispered to her, "I guess they beat us here." With a small nod of his head he indicated the table they were headed to. Andrew and Rita sat together at a table next to the balcony railing. Absorbed in anything but their surroundings. She couldn't help but giggle at the cute sight they made.
"So this is where he proposed too right?" she asked quietly.
"Yep. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the same table."
"Ohhhhh! How romantic," she said. Thoughts of love and candle light dancing in her head.
"Shhhh," he advised. "Well, it looks like we're late," he began instead to the couple that hadn't yet noticed their approach.
"Oh!" they both said in unison.
Serena and Darien both laughed. She noticed that he had beaten the waiter to one of the remaining chairs and held it for her. Trying to look gracious she slipped into the chair. *Please don't let me klutz out in a place like this!* But she managed to slide under the table without falling off the chair. *Gee, no one's ever held my chair for me before! How sweet!!*
The waiter handed them both a menu and excused himself. Serena turned immediately to her right where Rita sat. "Rita, next time, you have to give me a call yourself. Messages going through these two don't come with dressing instructions."
Rita laughed in response. "I'm sorry. But really, I was just thinking how pretty you look." Serena could feel a slight blush rise to her checks. "Next time, I promise I'll call you personally."
"Good! And thanks," she said a little more shyly.
Rita smiled at her and then glared across the table at Darien. "You mean to tell me that you didn't tell the poor girl where you were taking her! It must be a guy thing to always fail to mention how you should dress." Turning back to her she continued, "The second time Andrew brought me here, he made it sound like we were going to a fast food place or something. I had the worst outfit in the world on! Oh, I was so embarrassed!"
"And you still looked absolutely beautiful," Andrew interrupted.
"Somehow I don't think that's why those two women were staring at us Darling."
"You just didn't notice all of the men staring at you."
Darien looked over at Serena and rolled his eyes as the two became lost in their own little world again. She sent him a sour look that said she thought it was sweet. Serena purposefully opened her menu and stared down at the lists before her. She quickly flipped the page to the main courses, then flipped it again to the deserts.
Normally the desert list would be the first one she would read anyway, but there was a different reason why she was flipping pages. Looking over to the newlyweds she figured they weren't noticing much anyway. Lightly she tapped Darien on the arm and leaned over closer to him.
He gave her a funny look until she whispered, "I don't think I can pronounce a thing in here!"
He chuckled and whispered back, "That's because most of the dishes are listed in the language they were originally made in."
"What do they do that for? I'm not all that great at the two languages I do speak!"
He laughed at her again although she didn't find anything amusing about the situation. "Just read what they're made of. Pick out what you want and I'll try and translate for you, OK?"
"Oh. OK!" She went back to her menu and studied the desert section first. Most of the descriptions she noticed were readable. Although, she was beginning to wonder if someone had forgotten to translate the ingredients to some of them. *What is purl anyway?*
"What are you thinking about?" asked a quiet voice in her ear. She turned to meet Darien's eyes as he leaned close to her. His bottomless, smoky, blue eyes…
She blinked a few times at him before finding her voice again. "What do you mean?"
"To start with. What are you thinking about? For food." he said looking a little amused with her.
"Oh!" She turned back to the menu before her. She couldn't even remember what she was thinking of ordering! She couldn't remember anything, and it suddenly seemed a little hot to her. *Maybe it's all the plants around,* she thought. "Well, um, I'm not quiet sure."
"Oh Kay…"
"What are you going to have?" she asked automatically.
"Well I thought about this one," he said indicating one on her menu. She quickly scanned the contents, not recognizing half of them, and remembered it as one of ones that she had been thinking about too. "You know, I was wondering about that too. Have you tried it before?"
"No, but I've heard it's suppose to be good."
"Well, first time for everything! Remind me the next time we come to a place like this to bring my mom's herbal description book." She laughed at her own joke, trying desperately to get rid of that uncomfortable feeling she was getting. *What's wrong with me? I feel like I should be eating with an emperor or something instead of just friends. Why am I flaking out like this?*
"Serena, are you all right?" This time the whisper came from her right side. Rita placed a hand on her arm and looked a little concerned.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a little hot in here don't you think?" she asked shakily.
"Oh, I hadn't noticed," she said.
Serena saw that Andrew and Darien seemed to be caught up in a conversation about the décor of the place. "Rita?" she asked, "I think I'd like to find the restroom. Would you come with me?"
"Sure!" She leaned over to the guys, "You two boys will have to excuse us while we powder our noses," she said rising to her feet. Serena followed suit.
"All right. We'll order for you," Andrew rose to kiss his wife goodbye, "Don't be long though."
"We won't!" Rita waved as she led the way back down the stairs.
*I hope we won't,* Serena added to herself.
"So what's up with you and Serena?" Darien had chosen the wrong moment to take a drink. A full minute of choking and he thought he'd seen his life pass before his eyes.
"What are you trying to do, drown me?"
"No," Andrew said laughing, "but I think I came close."
"You did. Now what is a question like that suppose to mean?" he asked a little more harshly than he should have.
"Whoa, don't go defensive on me!"
"Sorry," he coughed again, "I about had a near-death experience. Give me a break."
"OK. But really, what is between you two?"
Darien stared at his friend for a minute before he convinced himself that he was serious. "What do you mean? There's nothing between us. We're the same as we've always been. I argue with her and she yells at me. What's up about that?"
"Oh, so, um, might I ask where my best man ran off to during the dance, and why a certain young lady was at his side when he returned?"
Darien wasn't liking the tone of this conversation. "Andrew, I don't think I want to know where this is going."
"Oh, but I do!" Andrew had that innocently devilish look on his face that Darien had learned to fear.
"Whoa! OK, there is nothing going on between us. Nothing more than there ever was. And if you must know, yes I disappeared with her during the wedding dance. I needed to talk to her." Man he did not want to get into this with Andrew, he just wanted to get past it and move on. "I was apologizing for that fight that we got into a while back. Remember the one Serena came to you for help with?"
"Yeah, I remember. I remember how devastated she was, and how bad a shape you were in too I might add. And that was after your apology."
"It made me realize a few things," he answered honestly.
"Oh? What sort of things?"
"Not those sorts of things," he gave him a warning look.
Andrew just shrugged back. "Listen I'm just going to tell you that you two have been looking a little cozier then normal. And I'm going to remind you that friendships can turn into the best relationships. I mean Rita and I were friends—"
"You knew each other less than a month before you asked her out."
"So?"
"So, Serena and I have known each other—what—five years! Don't you think something would have already happened if it was going to?"
"Not necessarily. You have to remember she's only eighteen now. I think I would have locked you away for robbing the cradle if you'd had a thing for her when she was fourteen. Besides her father would have killed you!"
"No kidding," Darien mumbled staring at his water glass. "There is just no way Serena and I will ever have some romantic involvement. It's not physically possible. Me and Meatball Head! Andrew you're due for another CAT scan aren't you?"
His friend seemed to look at him a little more seriously. "Yeah, well, all I know is that you're not exactly a social highlights film. But you talk to her, probably more than you do to me anymore."
"Not my fault. You didn't give me the number of your hotel," Darien said trying to keep the mood light.
"What I'm trying to say here is that you're comfortable with her. And I'm telling you, Darien, that if you ever do feel something for her, tell her! Grab her before someone else does. And don't let go for anything!"
He swallowed involuntarily and decided the sights below their balcony seemed very interesting. But he wasn't seeing any of it. He wanted to dismiss this whole mess and forget all about it, but he couldn't. "Why bring this up anyway?" he finally asked still not looking away from the fountain in the middle of the floor.
"Why not? Maybe it's just the fact that you seem different when you're together anymore. I don't know. One of those 'just in case I'm right' sort of things."
"Serena are you sure you're all right? You look a little shaken." The older woman nudged her arm as they fought their way through the crowd to the back where the restrooms were located.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I guess I just feel a little out of place in here," she answered. That was definitely not the reason, but she really didn't know why she was feeling this way. *Could it be Darien? But why in the world would I feel so- So what? Confused? Was that a good word for it? Why am I confused about Darien of all people? Granted he's always been a little confusing. OK, so I'll never figure out that man if I had a thousand years to try. But why this? Why now?*
Rita opened the door for her and Serena smiled at her as she walked into one huge bathroom. She was surprised they didn't have one of those little attendants that turned on the water for you and gave you a menu of soups to choose from. But aside from the size it seemed almost deserted. Only two young women primped in the mirror and talked idly to themselves.
"Serena?" Rita asked.
"Yes."
"Is there something going on between you and Darien?"
Serena sputtered a moment before managing a "What?"
"Well, I was just wondering if the two of you might have started something. You know," she winked at her and stood waiting for an answer.
"I really don't know what you mean Rita. Darien and I are the same as we've always been. Nothing's changed between us. I don't think," she added a little unsure herself. She'd never thought of it before. Sure she cared about him, she'd admitted that herself, and he had admitted he cared about her. But maybe what he had said to her meant more than she thought it had. Was it possible?
"Why do you ask? Did he say something?" she asked.
"No," Rita shrugged. "I was just wondering. Well, Andrew and I were."
"But no reason it got brought up?"
"Well, you two do seem a little more snugly than normal. But you tell me!" Rita grabbed her hands and held on to them. "Is there something going on or not?"
"No. No, there's nothing any different about us. Just the normal fights and arguments and a few laughs thrown in along the way. You know how we are!" She couldn't help but smile. Rita seemed a little upset that no juicy gossip came out for her, but she smiled back.
"Well, so much for getting a romance out of the two of you."
"Like you don't have enough romance in your own life! Rita you just married one of the greatest guys I know. You can't tell me you're bored with him already!" Serena giggled as Rita blushed
pink.
"No, I'm not bored," she said quietly.
Serena laughed and felt much better about everything.
But that didn't last long. Rita turned back to her and said quietly, "Serena, I know you care about Darien. If you ever do find that you have feelings for him, talk to him. I've seen the two of you together and I know how easy, or how impossible, it could be for the two of you to fall in love. Think about that will you?"
Dinner had passed quietly and dessert had brought conversations of work and Serena's quest for work. She didn't exactly like the type of jokes she was getting but it was all in fun. Besides she was quickly preoccupied with the mound of a chocolate bunt-cake-type thing. It came drenched with blueberry syrup and wiped cream, a sprinkling of nuts covered it and a cherry topped it off! It almost looked too good to eat.
Almost…
"Oh, this is total yumminess!!!" she said between bites.
The other three laughed at her. Rita grabbed her fork, "Mind if I have a taste?"
"Oh, surrre," she mumbled around a mouthful.
"Careful, Rita, you could lose a hand trying that," Darien cautioned her.
"Humph!" was Serena's only possible reply.
"Uh-humm," and vigorous nodding was Rita's response.
"Gee, its seems to be very good," Andrew observed.
"Yes, it does doesn't it?" Darien added.
With a single look at each other they both grabbed a spoon and attacked her defenseless dessert. "Yeah!" she swallowed, "Wait a minute! Get your own!"
They both laughed around the bites they had stolen. The couple at the next table turned around to stare at the noisy group but Serena only gave them an 'I'm sorry' smile and continued to berate the dessert thieves.
About an hour later the four of them said their last good-byes and they split off into two pairs and headed home. "Oh, I am soooo full," Serena wined.
"That's what you get for not sharing," Darien observed.
"What do you mean? You probably stole a fourth of it!"
"I did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not."
"Oh, shut up! Besides, I don't know why you didn't let me pay for my own."
"Because I'm the one with the 'prestigious title and flourishing career' remember?"
"Oh, yeah, I forgot," she muttered giving up on the debate. It was dark and the streets had thinned out more than before. A warm wind was blowing and she quietly missed the atmosphere of the restaurant. "That was a really nice place. You haven't said if you'd been there very often or not," she poked Darien with her elbow.
"No, just a few times. It was always Andrew's favorite hang out," he replied.
"You know, I still don't get why those two wanted us there. Most of the time I don't think they remembered us anyway," she grumbled before a flashback to what Rita had talked to her about came back. *There was a reason that they asked us. But does that mean that Andrew said something to Darien too?*
"I noticed they seemed a little on the preoccupied side," he said. But there was just a slight pause that hinted something was on his mind as well. *So he got the same lecture I did. I wonder if I should bring it up? I mean Darien and I talk about everything else, why not this?*
"Uh, Darien?" she hesitated.
"Yeah."
"Um, did Andrew say anything to you?" she hesitated again.
"About… Uh…"
"Us," he finished for her.
She stopped and looked at him. Trying to read his expressions were hard enough, but emotions were completely foreign objects to him. She could rarely read a thing. "Yeah, did you get the 'what's up with you two' lecture too?"
"Yeah. Apparently those two got something in their heads and it scares me to think what they may try and do with it."
"Oh, this is me totally agreeing!" Relief washed in and took with it all of her doubts from earlier that evening. "Where do they get these ideas anyway?"
He considered for a moment, almost said something, thought again, started again, thought some more and finally said, "Mars!"
She laughed and took his arm as they continued the trek home. Was she insane to even think of Darien that way? He was a friend, and a confidant, and probably the best psychiatrist she could ask for. But he wasn't any more than that. *Sorry Rita. I thought about it, and I have to agree with your second point. It's impossible for us to be together. We're just not cut out for that. Ha, you really aren't going to get any romance out of us!*
- - -
@}->-- "To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything." -Anatole France.
