So sorry for the wait, things have been really bumpy. I really apologize, I really love writing and I wish I had more time, but unfortunately these days its all work no play. But holidays are coming so I'm optimistic!!! I hope everyone is working hard for all their final exams (like i am :) and I hope you all like this chapter!!!

Pretty-Unknown

Chapter 5 – Bad Romance

Darien launched another kick at the punching bag. He didn't mind the burning feeling in his bruised knuckles or the sweat blinding his eyes.

Each punch left a print on the leather, his teeth stayed tightly clamped together, jaw muscles tightening. He pumped all of his anger into his fists.

He couldn't bear the irritation. That ugly feeling in the pitch of his stomach that he hated. It pestered him constantly, like an itch in a cast that you can never relieve. Like not being able to make it go all away. Who knew a woman could drive him so mad this way?

Andrew approached Darien hesitantly.

"D, you ought to take a shower. You've been here almost three hours. That punching bag is on the verge of a mental breakdown."

Darien ignored him, looking straight forward and kept hitting.

"Comon' let's go eat. It's my treat." the blonde insisted, waiting for an answer.

Andrew shook his head and raised his hands helplessly at the gang of guys watching them from afar. He moved closer to Darien, trying to steer his attention.

"Listen, I don't know what the hell is up, but whatever it is, we can fix it…What is it? Is it your Dad? Should I be calling Michelle?"

Darien stared in front of him blankly, his face hard.

"DARIEN, LISTEN TO ME!"

Darien stopped throwing punches and slowly turned to face Andrew. He looked like an exhausted little kid. Andrew knew what he needed to do for his troubled friend.

"I'm tired, let's eat," he mumbled under his breath, and walked past Andrew to the changing rooms.

Andrew sighed, exasperated, and followed him.

FLASHBACK

"That was fun." he said, she let him approach her despite the fact that he was covered in snow. Serena stood on the tip of her toes as he bent down to kiss her goodnight. She pulled his neck towards her to deepen the kiss.

He ran his fingers through her long silvery blonde hair, holding her shivering body tightly closely.

Darien couldn't control his anger any longer.

"Hey you little bastard!" he barked.

Serena and Bradley whisked their gazes at Darien and Michelle standing in front of them.

Blood pumped dangerously hard into Serena's heart, almost cutting her breath, her face suddenly becoming very hot.

"What did you call me?" asked Bradley, his eyes looking daringly into Darien's.

He didn't know what was taking him. He didn't understand where this strong desire for violence towards this boy was coming from. If looks could kill, Bradley would be nothing more than cinder in the snow.

"Oh you heard me, prick. Are fucking her?"

Serena's jaw was nearly dropped to the floor. She couldn't believe it. Her body was frozen in place.

"Oh my god." Michelle muttered under her breath, "Darien let's go, we have to go NOW." she tugged Darien's coat insistently.

Darien pulled violently out of her reach, and turned his attention back to them. His voice was quivering, but every word was like a knife in Serena's stomach.

He couldn't see her face, but he knew it would hurt her. He wanted to hurt her so bad. His face drew into a cruel smirk.

"So are you? Cause I should let you know, that little...bitch isn't worth your fucking time. She's just playing with you. Like she does everyone else."

Serena's eyes filled with tears, she couldn't let a single sound come out.

"DARIEN!" Michelle scowled. "That is enough."

END OF FLASHBACK

Serena hiccupped before blowing her nose into another lavender scenting tissue. There were tear stains everywhere on her Mina's pillow.

Raye brushed her fingers through Serena's hair gently. She looked like a beaten puppy. "Oh honey, I'm sorry I didn't get here earlier. Boys are all jerks. They don't deserve us…" Raye pouted sadly at Serena.

Mina skipped into the room, "My mom called the school. If anybody asks, we all got swine flu."

Mina joined them in the king-size bed under the fluffy covers with an entire chocolate marbled cheesecake and three spoons. "There's nothing like our good friend Cake to cheer us up and give us nice round butts!" Serena cracked her first smile since the past 12 hours.

Mina beamed at her and scooped a bite. "It's an investment, I say."

"Michelle kicked me out."

"WHAT?!" Andrew grabbed a bite from his eggs, he eyed Darien, surprised.

Darien shrugged, taking a sip of his black coffee. His face had lost any trace of expression or emotion.

"Only for last night...Indefinitely actually. You know what? I don't even know."

Andrew and Darien have been close friends for a very long time. As his best friend, it was his job to understand him and help him in the best way possible. And Andrew knew that Darien wasn't ready to talk about this just yet. He would have to wait.

Andrew gestured his glass in the air, "Well you know I'll always have your back whenever you need it. I'm here if you need to talk."

Darien pulled a false smile and nodded.

Later

"Thanks for the breakfast 'Drew. Feeling a little better now." said Darien bent over the car sill. Andrew gave him thumbs up and started the engine.

Darien waited until he drove off to walk to his apartment building. The truth was he wasn't feeling better at all. He felt like crap. The more his anger melted away, the more his senses came back, the guiltier he felt for the things he said.

He rushed into his apartment, hoping Michelle wasn't home.

She entered his room to find him. "What the hell are you doing here?" Michelle looked at him coldly.

He felt like a child in a bad act.

Darien couldn't bare it when she was this way with him. Michelle was the only woman who's opinion of him mattered.

Darien sat on his bed, his eyes on the floor. "I came to apologize for the way I acted last night."

Michelle nodded distantly. "Get out." she said, in an ordinary tone.

Darien looked back at her, surprised. "But you said that—"

"—that's right Darien. I said to apologize. Not to me you idiot! Do you even realize what did? You broke that girl's heart. She liked you."

"She didn't like me! She was with another guy. If she would have really liked me, she wouldn't have been kissing some guy." he raised his voice, defensively.

"Can you hear yourself? She doesn't belong to you! She's not yours, so why did you allow yourself to call her those names that she didn't deserve? You treated her like a slut on the street, but between you and her, we all know you're the whore. And if there is one thing I don't tolerate, its bullies. That's exactly what you are Darien Shields. That girl didn't do anything to you. Now get out."

Darien couldn't believe Michelle's words. He knew Michelle had always been extreme, but this was going overboard. Wasn't she supposed to be on his side about this?

She stomped out of the room, he followed her tail.

"Mich, where the hell am I going to live? I pay for half of this apartment, you can't kick me out."

Michelle smirked, stopped in her tracks, her back to him. "ha! No you don't. Don't you remember that you stopped paying half the rent to pay back your little debt? Don't play dumb with me Dar, your Dad has plenty of rooms in that big house of his. hmm?"

She turned around to face him. "You either apologize to Serena or live with your Dad until I forgive you."

Darien glared at her. "How much time will it take for you to forgive me?"

"Two weeks."

"What?!"

"Then do it the easy way and apologize to Serena, now." Michelle looked at him, eyeing him impatiently. She unhooked the cordless phone and handed it to him.

Darien sighed, powerless.

"Urgh, it's Bradley again." Serena stared at her vibrating phone. Twenty-two missed text messages since last night.

"I'm just so confused right now. I don't see where the hell Darien's reaction could have come from. At first I thought he liked me, then he completely ignored me and treated me like I was nothing, and then he calls me a bratty tease."

She licked the spoon clean and tossed it on the empty cake plate. She was getting tired of being the one to hurt. This wasn't her. Serena Bretford was the one breaking hearts, not the other way around.

"But I don't care how he sees me anymore. I'm tired of always trying to please everybody. I'm not a fucking doll. He didn't make his move when he had the chance, and now he's calling me names? I just hope I never have to see him again."

Raye dabbed the polish brush into the dark purple tube and gently painted her index.

"I mean, you'll see him what—once every 3 or 4 months? So what if his father is marrying your mother?"

Mina shot Raye an irritated look. Serena slapped her forehead. "Oh my god. That's right. Our parents are getting married. Which means I'm stuck with him for life."

Serena let out a discouraged sigh.

"At least until they divorce." Raye grinning, rolled on her back. She innocently blew on her glossy nails. Mina and Serena glared at her.

Raye tried to hide her smile, "Whaat? I'm just kidding Sere. Of course they will stay together forever."

The two blondes rolled their eyes at Raye. She was probably the last person on earth to believe in marriage. Her father had practically made a sport out of it.

"At this point, I think you should just avoid him. Ideally, he would apologize if he had a decent amount of class." said Mina, the two other girls nodded, acknowledging.

3 Days Ago

A tall woman with long dark wavy hair walked through the streets of Manhattan. She had a red oriental designed cloak over her beige coat and black sunglasses on. She opened the large glass door to a classic restaurant. The warmth embraced Ilene as she recognized her date at their regular table.

Greg stood up when she arrived, he contemplated his fiancée proudly.

"Greg honey, so how was the paperwork for the house yesterday?" Ilene's suede gloved hands cupped his face to kiss him.

They both sat down their respective chairs and the waiter arrived with their menus.

Greg's face pulled into a wide grin. "It's done."

Ilene looked up from her menu, surprised. "Already? But I thought you said it would take months…"

"Ah, I was being pessimistic. It's hard to find such an eager buyer in this economic state, but it seems I put the estate on sale and just my luck! I knew quite a while ago, I just wanted to make sure everything was done before telling you."

Ilene was almost leaped out of her seat to ask him the question burning on the tip of her tongue.

"So what are you saying exactly?"

"If I told you the moving trucks are scheduled to move my belongings to your house in 3 days, what would you say?"

Present Time

"So what's it going to be, Dar? I'm giving you a good alternative considering how much of an asshole you were last night." Michelle stood firmly in front of him, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Darien, walked back to his room, packing a bag with clothes. He didn't to apologize. Not because he thought he was right, but because he couldn't bear looking at Serena in the face again. He was too ashamed to talk to her, not after what he said. He would rather spend some time at his father's, the time Michelle would take to cool off.

"So you refuse to apologize?" she asked, leaning on the side of the door. "You know there is no turning back if you do this, if you decide to leave, you don't come back here for 2 weeks. As soon as you walk out that door, you assume the consequences of your acts mister! Now gimme your keys."

Darien dropped the keys into Michelle's palm. He wouldn't be able to come back without them. He swung his bag over his shoulder. He couldn't give Michelle what she wanted. And what was two weeks living alone with his father going to do to him?

As she closed the door behind Darien's back, Michelle's smile grew wider. She dropped his keys into her bag. He had absolutely no idea what was in store for him. She grabbed he cordless phone and started dialing.

She knew Darien was too much of a coward to apologize. And everything was going the way she planned. Last night, she'd stayed up all night, the scene replaying itself in her head. The violence, the passion, the jealousy. It had all inspired her next book. The desperation in her eyes was heartbreaking. They were clearly in love. But if someone didn't do anything about it...

"Hey Greg. Darien should be on his way. He came to pick up his things earlier. Oh, he's going to be so happy. I can't tell you how much Darien loves Ilene, he keeps telling me so much about her. He'll be so surprised when you tell him the news. Sure it'll be a big change, but its only for two weeks." Michelle tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder, brushing through a stack of papers on the counter until she eventually fell on a Greyhound bus ticket with today as the departure date.

"I know, I still can't believe how much time it's taking them to fix the water pipe problem in the apartments. Oh yes, they're evacuating everybody. I'm actually grabbing a bus to visit my mother in Michigan. Of course I'll tell her you said hi. When I come back in two weeks, everything should be as good as new! Aw, thanks Greg. I'll be careful. Have a great moving day. Bye,Bye!"

Click.

FLASHBACK

"DARIEN!" Michelle scowled. "That is enough."

Serena couldn't speak she was so shocked. She couldn't tell whether she was trembling from the cold, or from fear of Darien's aggressiveness. She was afraid of him, of the violent streak in his eyes. She was ashamed of the mocking look he had given her. What had she done to make him so angry at her?

"Serena, who the hell is this creep?" asked Bradley.

"Her step-brother." intervened Michelle, looking angrily at Darien, who had already started walking back to the car, leaving Serena's wallet to freeze on the ground under the snow.

Michelle picked it up, and dusted it off. She handed it the shivering blonde. Her wet cheeks glittered in the moonlight, she looked like a sad angel in her nightgown.

Michelle approached her closely, and whispered something low enough for only Serena to hear and followed Darien to the car.

Serena looked down at her wallet and then watched the car slipping into the darkness.

END FLASHBACK

Serena was about to leave Mina's house when she slipped her cellphone into her coat and fell on something wet and hard in her coat pocket. Pulling it out carefully, she looked at the still damp suede purple wallet questioningly. All of this could have been avoided had she not forgotten her stupid wallet. She was damning herself when suddenly she remembered the woman Darien had been with. She'd whispered something so unbelievable, that Serena hadn't even payed attention to it. What had she meant when she said..?

"I'm Darien's best friend. And if it makes you feel any better, he is completely and madly in love with you."

Love it? Hate it?

Its reassuring to hear someone's opinion every once in a while... Of course, hails are well received.

Don't own Sailor Moon, nor do I own Bad Romance. Though I wish I were Lady Gaga. But until that happens, they call me...

Pretty-Unknown

xxx