"It doesn't matter to me if you like it or not, she was and always will be my concern."

A brief second passed before Seiya let out a short laugh. There was no humor behind it, just incredulity and anger. He stepped towards Darien slightly, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched.

"You lost every right to care about her after that little stunt you pulled, Shields. You do not get to toss a girl aside and go back to her whenever you please," he hissed, anger rising in his bones. Who did this man think he was? Who did he think Serena was? Did he think the blonde was a toy? Something to amuse him till he got bored? No, Serena was much more than that. Serena was much more than he could ever deserve. Her purity and overwhelming loving nature was not something that this coward could just use and abuse.

Darien stood up abruptly and took a menacing step towards Seiya, fists clenched tightly at his side.

"Darien," Andrew warned from behind the bar, worried that his best friend was going to do something stupid. As a matter of fact, he already did do something stupid by opening his big mouth. All Andrew could hope for was for the situation to not escalate any further.

"You don't know anything about our relationship," Darien growled, anger coursing through him at the man for daring to even comment on his relationship with Serena.

Seiya sneered, not one bit intimidated by the angry male. "Then did you know how badly you broke her? How she lost ten pounds in two weeks because she couldn't eat? Where were you when she cried herself to sleep every night? Where were you when she was buried under schoolwork because she was so depressed she couldn't focus on her grades? Where was your care then? Face the fucking truth Shields. She doesn't need you."

"Darien don't do anything -," before Andrew could finish his sentence, Darien had planted his fist in Seiya's face, making him stumble backwards.

"-stupid," Andrew finished lamely. His eyes went to the girls at the booth and he groaned lowly when he saw that Serena had witnessed everything just now.

"Is that all you have Shields?" Seiya taunted, shedding his school blazer after regaining his footing. He didn't want to cause a scene, especially not in front of Serena, but all he was seeing was red. A small voice in the back of his mind told him to stop, but he ignored it, anger overruling logic and reasoning. For the past nine months he had been itching to plummet Darien. Now that the man initiated the fight, how could he back down?

Darien smirked and cracked his knuckles, eyes darkened with rage, "Far from it. Did you think taunting me and putting up a fight with me would impress Serena? Just admit it, if she wanted to be with you, you wouldn't be in this position right now."

"Darien, stop antagonizing him!" Andrew said, hurriedly rushing to stand in between the two males.

"Get out of the way Andrew. If this coward thinks that he can still stake a claim on Serena after all that bullshit he put her through, I'm going to teach him a lesson," Seiya said lowly, eyes never leaving Darien's stormy ones.

The two glared at each other, waiting for each other to strike first. The heated atmosphere was broken when footsteps came rushing towards the men.

"Seiya, are you alright?" Serena asked worriedly, rushing to his side. She ignored both Darien and Andrew, focusing her attention solely on Seiya. She grabbed his arm and yanked him down so he was at eye level with her and she reached out with her other hand to gingerly touch his face where a nasty bruise was already forming. Her touch and the concern in her eyes brought Seiya back and all the tension left his body as he allowed her to fret over him.

"I'm fine Dumpling. Just a small sting," he said softly, smiling at the attentive blonde. He looked over her shoulder to see Darien seething and he smirked, mirth dancing in his eyes.

"It's not okay," she said, brows furrowed. Seiya raised a brow at the tone of her voice. Was she angry at him?

"Andrew, can we get an ice pack please," she asked politely, looking over to the blond man. His eyes flickered between her and Darien before he nodded and set off to the backroom to grab an ice pack.

"Dumpling, I'm fine. You worry too much," Seiya said, loudly enough for Darien to hear. He knew it was petty of him, but he couldn't help but gloat. Who was the one who Serena worried over? Who was the one Serena rushed to help? His eyes met Darien's once more to see a different emotion, not anger, on his visage. Darien looked like a kicked puppy right now, hurt and wounded. Seiya felt a rush of pleasure running through him as he basked in his victory over the other man. Call him immature, but there was no better feeling than to make that bastard understand that Serena didn't need him anymore.

The blonde in question let go of his face and allowed for him to straighten up. She sighed and said, "Go grab a seat with the other girls. Andrew will give you the ice pack."

Seiya narrowed his eyes at her wording, but then immediately grasped her arm, a frown on his face.

"Serena it's not worth it."

She looked at him hotly, azure eyes burning. "Go, Seiya. It'll only be a couple minutes."

He stared at her intently for a couple of seconds, searching for any hesitation or unwillingness, but saw none so he let go of her arm.

"Fine, but if he tries anything, I'm going to punch him," he said lowly, the threat not unheard by Darien. He shot the man a glare and walked towards the girls who looked on with tension. If looks could kill, Darien would be dead ten times over from the glares that Raye and Lita were sending his way. The only reason why they sat in place was because if Seiya returned by himself, that meant that Serena wanted to deal with Darien by herself. As much as they didn't want to, they decided it was best to respect Serena's wishes.

The blonde turned around slowly, a frown set on her face. Her eyes flashed with displeasure and that to Darien hurt more than when she was worrying over Seiya. They stood in front of each other in silence. Darien didn't know what to expect, she could have easily ignored him, yet she chose to stay behind and talk to him. What was her plan? Was she going to yell at him and tell him to fuck off? Honestly, that seemed like it was the most probable outcome.

"Let's talk somewhere private," Serena said, then noticing the look that Darien gave her, she blushed lightly and said sternly, "just talking. We don't need to cause a bigger scene than you already did. Don't try anything or I'll kick your ass myself."

Darien put up his hands in surrender, the corners of his lips lifting up just a bit into a small smile at her attitude. She huffed and walked in the direction of the restrooms where the break room of the Crown was located. Andrew had just walked out and he almost dropped the ice pack in his hands out of surprise.

"Hey, Seiya's with the girls right now. Can you get that to him?" Serena asked, a smile on her face. Seeing that she was fine and that Darien didn't coerce her into anything, Andrew relaxed and nodded. He narrowed his eyes at Darien and the look on his face said it all: don't cause more trouble.

Serena walked in first and Darien followed behind, keeping a reasonable distance from Serena to show that he didn't have any shady intentions. But, when he closed the door behind him, the reality of the situation set in. He was in a room alone with Serena. He really had no ulterior motives but he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to sweep her up and kiss her senseless. He couldn't help but notice her, really notice her after nine months. She was absolutely glowing.

"You look good," he blurted out without thinking, then immediately regretted it. Instead of accepting his compliment, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. He shouldn't have said that. Of course she wouldn't just blush prettily and accept his compliment. After what he did to her both at the Crown and earlier, she had no reason to trust him.

"You had quite a day today. Why did you do it?" She asked, a hard edge to her voice.

"Huh?"

Serena scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, annoyance written all over her face.

"Don't play dumb. Why did you punch Seiya?"

Darien scowled at the sound of the other man's name coming out of her mouth. Regardless of how he felt about Seiya, he knew that Serena cared for the other person, much to his displeasure and jealousy. What was he supposed to tell her? That he couldn't handle the truth of what Seiya had said? That he punched him out of pent up regret and anger?

He must've taken too long to answer because he heard Serena give a heavy sigh.

"Fine, don't tell me then. Stay away from me and my friends Darien. You've done enough harm as it is," she said, anger behind her words. She began to walk towards the door, but he quickly stepped in front of her, not allowing her to leave. He just got to see her in half a month and he wasn't going to let her walk away from him so easily.

"Move out of my way," she demanded, trying to maneuver around him to no avail.

"Serena please-"

"No, Darien. You told me last time that you were going to prove that you loved me but what have you done? You walked in today with some girl on your tail and then you two gaze into each other's eyes like you're starring in some romance drama-"

Darien raised a brow at that. She couldn't have been jealous, could she?

"- and then I turn around to see you punching one of my closest friends, as if you didn't cause enough trouble with your girlfriend. Why did you even promise me that you love me if you have a girlfriend? Is it fun to play with my emotions? I haven't seen you in half a month and when I do you bring your girlfriend around and punch my friend in the face for fun?"

Darien knew it was a bad idea, but he reached out to grab her by the arms and shook her enough to make her stop ranting and focus her attention back on him. She squirmed, trying to get out of his hold, but she knew that until she calmed down, he wouldn't let her go. In the end she could only take a deep breath and stand still, eyes on the floor.

"You can let me go now," she muttered. Darien watched her for a brief moment before letting go of her, pretending as if he didn't see the way she increased the space between them.

"Saori's not my girlfriend," he finally said after an awkward silence hung in the room.

"Who cares if she's your girlfriend or not," Serena huffed.

"I care Serena. She's not my girlfriend. I meant it when I said I was going to try and prove to you that I love you, but I'm just... I don't know anymore. I see you with Seiya and the girls and I wonder if I even have any right to try and win you back. I don't deserve you Serena. You just seem...happier," he said softly, voice trailing off into a whisper at the end. Darien couldn't help but wince at his own tone. He never felt so vulnerable in front of her before, not even when he was explaining to her his reasoning for his actions half a month ago. His eyes left her figure and fell to the floor instead. He inwardly cursed himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why would she care? Why should she care? If anything, it was pathetic. He broke up with her in the cruelest way possible, left no words of comfort like he did with Saori, yet he was the one who was afraid? He told her he would do everything in his power to win her back, yet he was moping and holding back because he was insecure?

"Is that...is that how you really feel?" She asked after a while, surprise coloring her words.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He was so damn stupid.

"Darien," Serena finally said, her tone soft.

When he refused to look her in the eyes. The doubt and fear gripped his heart once again. Was this it? Was she going to reject him and tell him to leave her for good? She had already done that earlier, but if she repeated that sentiment, then he would really lose it. Or would she look at him with pity at his vulnerability? Perhaps both. He didn't want to see it. Whether it be rage or pity, he wasn't ready.

"Darien look at me," Serena said again patiently.

Hesitantly, he shifted his gaze to the blonde. There was something in her eyes that made him almost forget to breathe. Her gaze was tender and if he were not delusional, he would almost think it was, dare he say, loving. He inwardly scoffed at himself. Love? What had he done to be worthy of her love?

"Don't ever think you're not worthy. You're right, I am happier than I was nine months ago. You hurt me really badly, ripped my heart out of my chest. I was miserable for so long and thanks to the girls and Seiya, I finally felt whole again. But, that doesn't mean I wasn't happy with you. Even after all these months, I still -," she suddenly cut herself off and cleared her throat, a light blush on her face.

"My point is that we all make mistakes Darien."

Suddenly he was overwhelmed by shame. It bubbled up in his chest and stole the breath from his lungs. He had done much more than commit a couple of mistakes. Mistakes could always be forgiven but was what he had done really just mere mistakes? Not only did he break her emotionally, but he nearly fucking violated her! Seiya was right, he didn't deserve her. Not after everything he had put her through. He should've just let her walk out the door earlier because he didn't deserve her.

"I did a lot more than just commit a couple mistakes Serena. Nothing I did to you was right. Hell, you should be mad at me! Why are you comforting me?" He asked, voice thick with emotion.

Serena seemed taken back by his response and her blue eyes studied him closely.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

As if she had come to a conclusion, she exhaled and shook her head slightly, a frown on her lips.

"Darien, you're not afraid," she paused and then held his gaze, making him flinch. He wished that she wasn't looking at him in the moment so she wouldn't have to see how vulnerable and fucking pathetic he was.

"You need to let go of your guilt and your insecurity. You still haven't let go of what happened have you? What you did probably haunts you still and I won't try and pretend like I know what you're going through but, you can't love me till you forgive yourself for what you did. You're not seeking my forgiveness Darien. You're seeking to rid yourself of the guilt and regret because of what you did."

For the umpteenth time that day, he was rendered speechless. Was that really it? Was his hesitation this past month simply because he was so guilt ridden that it held him back? He didn't break up with Saori till today because he was scared of hurting her. Like how he hurt Serena. Every night he laid in bed and he couldn't sleep because he missed Serena, but there was more to it. It was the guilt and the regret of leaving her. The way she cried out for him and he ignored her. The cruel way he treated her. The pain he caused her. Deep down he knew that no matter what, Serena would be ready to forgive. But he couldn't let go of the guilt and that weighed down on him.

Fuck.

Why had he ever thought she was childish?

Serena gave him a knowing looked and sighed, moving towards the door.

"I should get going before Seiya barges in here to punch you," she chuckled. Darien numbly moved aside and watched with a pained heart as she opened the door and crossed through.

"Oh, and Darien?"

His snapped out of his stupor to the blonde who was standing at the door, the light from the window framing her and making her look as if she were an angel. Then she flashed her bright smile at him and he knew, he just knew, everything would be fine.

"I'll be waiting for you when you're ready."

hey guys! how's quarantine? i hope yall are safe and sound! social distancing is important and so is hygiene (pls wash ur hands ty). not rly happy with the way this chapter went but meh. i think Darien has a lot of self reflecting to do and not just blindly chase after our fav blonde superhero. is it moving too fast? looking forward to your responses :)