Darien sat in his room, laying on his bed staring at the ceiling.

He felt kind of bad for the way he had broken up with Serena. He

remembered her chaste kiss to the guy at the carnival and felt a pang

of uneasiness. Could he have been wrong?

Darien didn't hear his sister come into the room. He felt her

jump on his bed and he sat up and smiled at her. Her black locks were

pulled into a ponytail. She was wearing blue jeans and a shirt that

said 'adorable'. Her eyes held blue fire. She was glaring at him.

"Darien," she said in her precise young voice, "I can't believe I

have such a horrible brother,". She proceeded to pop her thumb in her

mouth while standing on the bed and kicking her brother with her church

shoes.

"What?" Darien said, bewildered by such hostility in his sister.

He was still shocked about her kicking him.

"You her me you big Meany!! You chased Serena away!" Her eyes

filled with tears and she ran into his arms sobbing. She yelled "you

Meany!" repeatedly all while snuggling into his arms.

"What are you talking about Megan?"

"I saw one of the notes that you wrote in the garbage. I read

it," she looked guiltily into her brother's eyes. "I know I shouldn't

have but I already did it k?"

Darien nodded. He remembered throwing away the first note because

he wasn't so sure that it was the thing to do. Then he had remembered

the scene at the park and wrote a new one.

"I saw you throw it away and write another one. I saw you leave

with that note in your hand when you went to go to Serena. And, I knew

that you were supposed to meet her that day. I hate you big brother!!"

she exclaimed and ran from the room.

Darien wanted to cry he felt so bad. His sister read the note?

His smart little sister who could read people thought that he was wrong

about Serena. Well, Darien thought in his defense, she wasn't there to

see what he saw. How could she just make him the monster when he wasn't

at fault?

Darien was with Andrew walking in the hall. They were talking

about nothing important when he heard the first whisper.

"Did you see her? I couldn't believe it!!"

He paid no attention but when he heard more whispers, he was

intrigued.

"I would have never guessed she was so beautiful,"

"I wish I wouldn't have been so mean, she probably wont go out

with me now,"

"She's so beautiful, I don't know how I didn't see it before,"

There were so many whispers and yet, not a one mentioned a name.

The bell rang and he said bye to Andrew and went to his first period

class. He was afraid of what he would see when he saw Serena. He did

sit next to her after all.

He walked into class to see everyone huddled about Serena's desk.

He walked to the crowd they parted like the red sea giving a path to

what lay ahead. He sucked in a breath at the vision before him. It was

Serena, that's one thing he knew for sure. He knew that under her

façade, she was beautiful, but he never imagined this.

She was standing in the center of attention, talking avidly to

Mina and Raye. She was wearing a purple halter top with a small half

jacket at the top. She had a short violet skirt on, matching her eyes

and her feet were encased in high purple heels. Her blond hair was out

of a bun had a ponytail in the middle with the rest down. Her hair ran

in waves down the length of her back. She wasn't wearing glasses. She

was positively gorgeous.

Darien saw Serena look at him, saw the emotions cross her face:

shock, recognition, hurt, and then blank. In just that moment he

realized that he may have made a big mistake. The second bell rang and

everyone returned to their seats.

Serena was oddly quiet sitting next to Darien. She wanted to cry

again. He hurt her so bad. She leaned her head forward so that her hair

covered her face to hide her emotions from Darien.

"Serena, what happened to you?"

Serena took a deep breath and turned to Darien. He was handsome

and she felt her heart try to break free, break out of the lock she

placed it in. For some strange reason, she thought he would look

different.

She tried for a haughty look which was hard for she had never

tried it before. She lifted a mocking eyebrow and hoped her eyes

wouldn't betray her.

"I bought some new clothes," she said simply.

Darien was angry. What was with the new attitude. Did she change

once again. He liked to think that during the three months, he got to

learn Serena's real personality. Was she in one of her masks once

again?

Darien's heart pounded as he looked her over once again. She was

so beautiful it made his heart ache. He decided it was time for the

truth.

"We'll talk about it at lunch," he said and looked toward the

teacher.

Serena narrowed her eyes at Darien. He thought he could order her

around. Well, the only reason she would meet him would be to find out

why he broke up with her.

"Whatever" she said and wished she had a piece of gum to make a

bigger impression. In the movies, the girls usually had a piece of gum

and would blow it in nonchalance. She sighed wistfully and listened to

the boring lecture on genetics.



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~**~**~**~~*~*~*~*~*~**~~*~~*~*

"Serena, you don't have to talk to him. He doesn't deserve it,"

said Raye, anger darkening her violet eyes. Mina was in agreement.

"Yeah Serena. He hurt you and I don't want you risking yourself

like that,"

Serena smiled at her friends antics. She had to know why. That

was it. She, Mina, and Raye walked down the hall toward the lunch room.

When she reached the lunchroom, she looked over the crowd of people for

Darien and couldn't help but see that all of the attention was focused

on her. It was disconcerting but it was expected. She went through a

major change. She spotted Darien at a table full of guys, or jocks.

Whatever. Serena started toward the table, ignoring Mina and Raye's

protests.

Darien spotted Serena coming toward him. He was relieved. He

almost thought that she wouldn't talk to him.

Serena was stopped when she heard her name called. She stopped

and turned to see Jeff Burdens come up to her. He was one of the jocks

and handsome with his dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He was

about 3 inches taller than her.

He smiled charmingly at Serena.

"Hey Serena, how's it going?"

Serena smiled falsely at him and saw her friends stand on either

side of her as reinforcements. Her smile turned genuine.

"Hey. Jeff right?" she asked, feigning indifference.

She saw his eyes flicker and knew that he was annoyed. Serena

wanted to laugh.

"Well, Me and some of the guys on the football team are having a

get together on Friday and I was wondering if you wanted to come,"

Serena eyes glowed with ill concealed mirth. Was this the same

Jeff who had called her a bitch when she had bumped into him some

month's before. Now, to her hilarity, he was asking her out. What a

difference appearances made. At least Darien had liked her when she was

the Dowd.

Serena felt that familiar pain thinking about Darien.

"Well, you know Jeff, I do seem to recall that you think I'm a

bitch. Now, although, I may be a bitch in your eyes, I most assuredly

will be the utmost bitchiest bitch to you from now on so your story

will be in part accurate. And, I'm not sorry to say that I wouldn't go

with your sorry ass anywhere so stay the hell away from me,"

Serena smiled at Mina and Raye's approving nods. Wow it felt

great to let out some of her anger. She had always been the one to

think the best of a person, try and think about their feelings first.

But now her whole world changed and it wasn't such a bad thing.

Jeff's face turned pink with embarrassment. He grabbed the shards

of his dignity that was left and walked away saying not a word. Serena

laughed. She couldn't help it.

Darien saw the whole encounter and was mad at himself for being

jealous. He also saw that everyone at his table was looking at Serena

as if she were a delicious desert. He felt jealously consume him and

decided it was time for their talk.

He got up and walked to Serena who was laughing. He remembered

her laugh and thought it sounded like twinkling bells. It was a perfect

laugh for her.

"Serena, I believe we have things to talk about,"

Serena turned around and he saw the hurt in her eyes. She had the

sad puppy dog look in her eyes and it was in full force focused on him.

She nodded her head sullenly and held out restraining hands to

Mina and Raye who were eyeing Darien like a piece of meat to the

wolves.

Darien led her to a giant wooden sculpture of the deer in the

courtyard of the school. Deer was their school mascot. He sat on the

bench and Serena obliging sat next to him then scooted 3 times to the

left, trying not to be in such close proximity to the bastard who had

broken her heart.

"Serena, I need you to be truthful with me on this," Darien

stated, looking into Serena, deep into her violet eyes, causing her to

force herself to take a deep breath. Why did she have to be in love

with the bounder? Why couldn't she stop this power he had over her?

Determined to keep up her façade of nonchalance, Serena yawned,

covering her mouth with her hands.

"Darien, why did you break up with me? That's all I came here

for." She made a big act of finding invisible lent on her skirt and

picking it off.

Darien took a deep breath. This was the big question. The answer

meant the world to him, as if Serena somehow held a part of him and her

answer would shatter him once again. Darien shook his head at his

ridiculous thoughts. He had seen Serena kiss the guy, so he was in the

right. She hadn't even told him about it or anything, just passed it

off. But, he had to know for sure, the reason why, now that his sister

had forced him to see from another perspective. He had to admit, he

never gave her a fair chance to explain herself.

"Serena, while we were at the park, I saw you kiss another guy.

Was he your boyfriend? Please be truthful,"

Serena turned her head sharply towards Darien and sucked in a

breath. She saw the pleading in his eyes, as well as the distrust and

speculation. Why hadn't he said anything before? Was the whole break up

thing just because he saw her kiss a long lost friend.

Serena closed her eyes and clenched her fists, the silence

defining. He thought she was cheating on him. What a bastard. HE DIDN'T

EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO ASK HER!!!! She was angered beyond control and

to her utter mortification and Darien's shock, she slapped him.

Appalled by what she had done, Serena looked down at her hand as

if it were foreign to her. She looked at the red mark on his cheek and

had a sudden urge to sooth him, make the red go away. Then, she

remembered his accusation and decided against it. It wasn't fair that

she was in love with such a bastard and her mind didn't even have the

decency to punish him properly.

Wanting to cry, Serena pressed her fingers to her weary eyes and

took a haggard breath. She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't cry, she wouldn't

cry.

Without looking up, not wanting to see Darien's expression at

what she had done, she buried her face in her hands.

"Seiya was my friend. He hadn't seen me since I was 11 and he had

just informed me that he had a crush on me and wanted a goodbye kiss. I

can't believe you Darien. I cant…" Serena broke off, tears running down

her face. Damn it! So much for psychology, Serena thought bitterly as

she tasted a salty tear that was running down her face.

Darien felt a pang in stomach. He was wrong. His sister was

right. He had judged too fast and messed everything up. He felt

helpless as he watched the tears fall down her beautiful face. He

reached out to her and she turned away.

"Serena," he said, his voice sounding weak even to him, and

pleading "I'm soo sorry,". Darien looked at his hands. "I'll do

anything, anything to make it up to you," he said in a choked whisper.

Serena wiped the tears away, appalled at herself. That bastard

she thought. She was still in love with him, with all of the horrible

deeds and accusations he had strewn on her, and she hated herself for

it at the moment.

"I hate you Darien. I hate the fact that I love you and I cant do

a damned thing about it. I hate that I actually thought you were okay

when you were exactly the kind of person I had tried to stay away. I

hate the fact that I misjudged you. And most of all, I hate the fact

that you broke my heart beyond repair and there's not a damn thing you

can do about that either. I don't want to see your face, Darien. Can

you believe it!!! I never slapped anyone, let alone tell them I hate

them. I don't like the feelings you bring out in me Darien. This is our

final goodbye," Serena exclaimed. Furious, jumped to her feet and ran

back into the cafeteria.

Darien stared after Serena's retreating form. He had finally done

it. He had lost her. And she loved him. He felt unbearable feelings

churn in his stomach and heart. He had ruined everything.

At that moment, Darien knew for sure that he was in love with

Serena. Imagine that! He thought sardonically. He had lost her and he

hadn't even known that he loved her until it was… too late.

His hands were shaking, uncontrollably and Darien frowned at

them. He was devastated and for the first time in his teenage years, he

actually felt like crying. The macho jock, most sought after handsome

guy in the entire school, captain of the basketball and football teams,

was actually succumbing to the thought of crying.

Darien didn't cry, but a new determination lit his intelligent

eyes. He would find a way to make it up to her. All could not be lost,

there were ways to mend a broken heart. One just needed the right type

of paste to put the pieces back together.

Darien paced back in forth in his room. He had to find some way

to make up his blunder. He had no clue of what to do.

On the verge of insanity, debating whether or not to pull out his

hair in frustration, Darien decided to go to his last resort. His

sister. Maybe, the little terror would have some brilliant idea. It was

worth a try.

Darien watched amused as his little sister walked in arrogantly,

her chin up as if he were beneath her, a look on her face of pure

regality.

Megan frowned up at her brother, hands on her hips and looked at

him expectantly, still mad him for his stupidity.

"What," she said curtly.

"I need your help Meg," he said, kneeling down. He tried for a

smile that came out as a grimace. "I made a big mistake with Serena,

you were right,"

Meg couldn't keep the pleasure out of her face. She smiled at her

brother for the first time in 3 days.

"I need to find something, anything, to make it up to her,"

Megan grinned at her big brother. She made a big act of thinking,

bringing her finger to her mouth and looking toward the sky like she

had seen someone do in a movie.

Charming, Darien thought, watching his sister's antics. She was a

marvel.

"I think you should fill her entire room with roses. And then you

can hide in her closet and fall down saying you're sorry." Her eyes lit

up. "And, you can dress like a prince, like someone from a fairy tale

and pretend that Serena is the princess and get on your knees and tell

her your sorry,"

Darien couldn't hide his amazement. The idea was perfect and he

was suddenly so very thankful for an unusually sharp and smart little

sister.

An image of Serena, beautiful in purple entered his mind and he

decided to tell his sister about it.

"You know Meg," he said, grinning, "Serena changed. She took off

her glasses and wore a dress to school. She looked so beautiful and I'm

sure you would have been shocked if you saw her. She looked like this

princess in your idea. A real princess ya know."

Darien saw Megan smiling up at him. She walked to him and

whispered in his ear, "I already knew. I saw it when I first met her. I

thought she was funny. She winked at me and told me with her eyes not

to let her secret out," Megan smiled, proud of herself then bit her lip

in worriment. "Don't tell her cuz I wasn't' supposed to tell," she said

and ran out of the room.

Darien stared after his little sister. Surely she had to be the

best little sister a guy could ask for.

Darien smiled to himself as he grabbed his walked at headed for a

flower shop. Serena was in for a surprise.



Serena sighed as she pulled into her drive way. She was feeling

so many emotions, she could hardly keep up with herself. She got out of

the car and headed inside. When she found the door unlocked, she

wondered at it. She thought she locked the door that morning. She

looked at the doorknob and wondered. Maybe this new look thing was

going to her head.

She closed the door and locked it. She set her keys on the key

rack as she made her way upstairs to her room. She almost fainted at

the sight before her.

Her room was filled to the brim with roses. White, pink, yellow.

She was speechless. Her floor was covered in rose pedals and roses ware

on her bed, her chair, her desk, and the window sill… everywhere.

Serena ran into her room and stood in the middle feeling as if

she were in a fantasy. She heard a noise coming from her closet and saw

Darien standing in front of it. Regret was written all over his perfect

features. He was dressed in a medieval clothing, Elizabethan clothing

and looked to be some kind of Romeo. Serena suddenly had a premonition

of what he was going to do and she smiled at him, tears filling her

eyes. He looked immaculate as always and debonair.

Serena scolded herself mentally. It wasn't fair that he could win

her heart so easily. She saw his eyes, felt his pain, and wanted to

comfort him, forgetting her pain. Abruptly, Serena turned away from him

and pressed her fingers to her eyes. Why did she have to be in love

with him? Why did everything have to be ruined this way?

Darien walked around and put his hands on Serena's shoulders.

"Please," he said, his voice broke, "Please turn around Serena."

Serena sighed in resignation. She couldn't hide from his and she

felt bad enough. She felt his regret to the very core of her soul and

she had no choice. She turned around.

She looked at him, really looked at him and felt a pang of sorrow

and regret. There were shadows under Darien's eyes and only his pride

kept him from crying. His mouth was set in a grim line, his eyes boring

in to hers. She sucked in a breath as he dropped to his knees before

her eyes.

He looked at her, his heart strewn in to the very depths of his

soul, his heart held in a platter at her feet.

"Serena," he said softly, "I'm so very sorry. I know anything I

say can't make up for the amount of pain I dealt you. If only I would

have asked, things would have been different but I was so stupid

Serena. I beg you, Serena, here on my knees. I-" he closed his eyes for

a brief moment. "I love you and I want you, I'm begging you, to forgive

me,"

Serena felt a flurry of emotions and didn't have a clue as to

what to do. He loved her? She felt the lock on her heart click and

open. She felt her soul rejoice in the knowledge of the fact that

Darien loved her. She looked at him, his look pleading, so pitiful,

laying his heart at her feet and she felt happiness well inside of her.

Tears ran silently down her face and she smiled, a smile of pure

happiness that reeled from the very depths of her soul.

"I guess that counts for something," she said, surprising herself

at the calm she said it with. "I guess that just means I have to

forgive you." She grinned at him.

"Get up you fool, and kiss me,"

Darien felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulder.

He stood up, tall, masculine, and arrogant. Then he smiled, a bright

and happy smile and leaned down to kiss the woman he loved.

Serena felt like she was floating on air. She ran her fingers

through his hair, pulling him closer. When they finally separated for

breath, Darien smiled brilliantly at Serna.

"Serena, what made you come out of your shield?"

Serena sucked in a sharp breath. "You mean you knew that I wasn't

myself the whole time?"

Darien smiled self deprecatingly. "Yeah, you kind of said some

things you weren't supposed to say when you yelled at me at Raye's

house. I also saw you watching Snoopy Come home without looking at your

glasses. And, I took off your glasses and saw your what you hiding

beneath,"

Serena smiled. She gave up. He was impossible and she loved him.

"I did that because my brother Sammy died in a car crash," And

because she had finally overcome his death, no tears welled up in her

eyes as she continued, "You see, he was the most popular guy in his

school and he died in a car crash on the way to picking me up with a

couple of his friends. I decided that my brother had died because he

was so popular and I was determined not to follow in his footsteps. I

ensured that by adapting a new look, a particular dorky look. I locked

myself in my room for 3 months when he died. And I came out a Dowd.

When you broke up with me, I had actually come to the shack in a blue

dress with no glasses. I wanted to show you the true me for my

anniversary present. I was so angry when I found your note. I fell to

the floor crying and it was then I decided that I had to live for

myself and no one else,"

Darien frowned, his eyes shining with misery. "I'm sorry about

what I did Serena," he looked off to the side. "I have your anniversary

present with me. I bought it before the carnival,"

Serena smiled at him and walked to her drawer and took out a

present of her own.

"I still have yours. I got it at the fair,"

They exchanged a long glance, and both looked away, wanting to

forget the nastiness that came between them. They both handed each

other their presents mutely.

Darien's present was in a giant box. Serena shook it, grinning

all the while but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what was

in it. Running out of patience, she ripped the wrapping paper off and

opened the box. She let out a delighted "oh!" as she took in the

contents of the box. They were all of the Charlie brown movies

including Snoopy come home. Serena beamed at him and took out the

tapes. "Oh wow Darien!! This is so great!" And with that Serena ran and

jumped in to his arms. "You bully!! You're present is so great, My

present probably doesn't even amount to it!"

Darien grinned back at her. "Well, I'll just have to see for

myself,"

Darien fiddled with the paper and it was taking him forever.

Serena had a feeling he was doing it on purpose.

Darien opened the paper and found the most precious rose he had

ever seen. It was beautiful. Much to his embarrassment, he felt his

eyes fill. He blinked back tears and turned to Serena.

He hugged her.

"This is the best present I have ever gotten,"

Serena tried to hide her glee. "I saw it and thought it was

perfect. I love you Darien," she said, smiling up at him.

"Well, It's about time you said it," he replied, grinning

impishly.

"Oh you! You should have known already dufus!"

He smiled and Serena felt herself melt.

He kissed her and held her close thereafter. They stood like that

for some moments. Then, Serena poked Darien in the ribs. He grunted and

grinned at her.

"What was that for?"

"For leaving me broken hearted and clueless. I didn't know you

loved me you brute. I'll not let you break my heart again,"

THE END…