Peace. Not much to say. College life is interesting. Still love Sailor Moon. Still don't own it (sob). Also don't own Studio Ghibli (they make such awesome movies). I'm finally ready to continue and finish this story. Enjoy.

Chapter 4 recap:

With a smug smile she turned to get her milkshake from Andrew but realized there would be no shake for her or Darien that day seeing as how Andrew appeared to be in a comatose state of astonishment, the shakes in both hands squeezed so hard that their contents had spilled out onto the floor. With a small smile she turned back to Darien, who also appeared to be in a state of shock, and slid the money for his shake into his jacket pocket. "Buy a new one when he…well, when both of you, wake up." She said with a laugh.

Happily, she slid from his lap to the floor, stepped down from the bar and headed for the door. "See you tomorrow guys!" was the last thing she said before walking out into the sunlight.

Chapter 5

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The Next Day:

It was 3:30 PM and Darien was wondering the halls of his temp work place, Studio Ghibli. In five minutes his shift would be over and he would be leaving to meet a certain golden haired pupil of his. He sighed at the thought. The sounds of tinkling keys filled the hall as he unlocked a storage room door and placed his arm loads of files, sketches, and graphs in their appropriate boxes. When his hands were finally empty he took a few steps backwards to lean against the wall behind him. Unconsciously, his arms folded themselves across his chest and his head leaned back to rest. His eyes closed as her image appeared in his mind.

She had surprised him alright; and he hadn't stopped thinking of her since she walked out of the arcade the day before. The events of the previous day played back in his mind…well, the interesting parts did. He blushed at his train of thought. He remembered her figure sauntering up to him. He remembered the weight of her sitting in his lap. He remembered the warm, soft wetness of her mouth against his. His blush deepened. He remembered wrapping his arms around her and attempting to return her kiss just as she moved away.

There was no way to deny it: he had wanted to kiss her back. Through the last few months, since the moment he'd met her, he knew that he had something of a crush on her. But crushes were easily ignored…when one was in a normal mental state. But what with the shell shocked condition she had put him in with her actions; his desire for her had risen to take control. There would be no ignoring his feelings for her now.

He erected himself from the wall and made his way to the break room where he clocked out and then proceeded to elevator. He couldn't help but smile as he pressed the down arrow. 'How can one person go from being so fun loving and innocent to a sultry minx so quickly?' he wondered to himself. A bell announced the arrival of the elevator to the Ground level. Darien couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as he walked out of the lobby through the front door.

He couldn't wait to see what such a wonderfully unpredictable girl would do today after such bold actions.

The Crown Arcade was a twenty minute walk away from Studio Ghibli, so he fully expected to arrive there with time to spare. Darien, however, forgot that "the Serena-Darien sidewalk collision effect" liked to impede his plans…

!WHAM!

"AAAAAAH!" came a shriek from the young woman as she fell to the ground. She wasn't down long though, and almost as quickly as she had fallen, she stood up and began bowing and shouting apologies as fast as her mouth could make them.

Darien just rubbed his chest where she had hit him and laughed loudly. Serena looked up to his face in shock at the sound. He gave her his trademark grin and replied, "No need to apologize so much. You can't help it that I'm irresistible, and it wasn't that bad of a kiss." Serena just stood up rigidly and pouted.

"I wasn't apologizing for that, and you know it!" she stated. Darien only smiled.

"You don't know what I know because you don't know that much." He laughed again as a blank stare crossed her face. "Just say 'shut up, jerk' like you usually do, and that will be an appropriate response." Serena's face flushed.

"Don't tell me how to respond to your insults! Jerk!" she shot back.

"Yeah, yeah, stop yelling." He replied. "What are you doing here anyways?" Serena rolled her eyes.

"I'm on my way to the arcade of course. My school is down that way." She made a gesture down the road she had just come from.

Darien nodded. "Well, that makes this easy then. Let's head to my apartment." He turned and began walking in a new direction. He looked back in exasperation when he realized she wasn't following. There was a wicked smile on her face. Curiosity got the best of him. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"You –have- to tell me…" She trailed off as she held back a laugh. Darien just looked at her warily.

"Tell you what?"

"You –have- to tell me what Andrew did when I left. I could barely get to sleep because the expression on his face kept me laughing all night. I just –have- to know what happened."

Darien rolled his eyes, "Well, if you must know," he began, "after I 'woke up,' as I believe you put it, I found Andrew standing beside me with two handfuls of dripping shakes, a gaping mouth, and bugging eyes. I tried to snap him out of it, but the only thing he did was open and close his mouth like a fish. I seriously think you might have caused him permanent brain damage, because he was still like that when I left him."

He watched as the young blonde literally shook with laughter. Tears of mirth streamed down her face at the mental image of a guppy-like Andrew. "That is so awesome." She stated in between gasping breaths. The blue eyed man couldn't help but laugh along; her feelings were so contagious.

"Come on, let's go." He prodded again. Serena continued to laugh as she walked up beside him and the two set off towards Darien's apartment together. They walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before another wicked smile crossed her face. It didn't take to long for her companion to notice it.

"Okay, what's with the smile this time?" he asked. They had arrived at his apartment complex.

A wicked giggle escaped the innocent looking blonde as they crossed the lobby. "Oh I was just thinking about the priceless expression on your face when I left you yesterday. I told you not to be so sure I wouldn't win." Darien felt the beginnings of a blush creep up. His pace quickened so that she wouldn't see.

"I'll admit that you caught me off guard." Serena jumped forward to hit the up button. Darien chuckled as they entered the elevator. "You scored a major point, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. That was hardly a winning move." Serena gave a derisive laugh at his assertion.

"Oh please. I won this game and you know it. Don't be jealous." Darien shot her a dark look.

"Jealous? I hardly know the meaning of the word."

"People with big egos have a tendency to naturally think they're better than everyone. It would make sense that you don't recognize jealousy when you feel it." A sour look crossed her companions face. She couldn't help but laugh at it. Score one for Serena. The doors opened before them and they made their way to Darien's door.

"I'm not jealous, because this game's not over." He said coolly as he unlocked and opened it. Serena looked at him.

"Oh? And what do you mean by that?" she asked teasingly as she followed him into the dark apartment. He closed the door behind them and gave her knowing smile.

"The way I see it, Serena," he said calmly as he stepped closer to her, "you may have won the battle…but, in the end," his deep blue eyes challenged hers, "I'll be the one who wins the war."

Her smile faltered a bit at the seriousness in his voice and the challenge in his eyes. Her mouth felt suddenly parched and her blood rushed in her ears. She mindlessly wiped her damp palms on her skirt to dry them. It never ceased to amaze her how much his words affected her body. Still, it took only a moment for the confident smile to return to her lips. She stared right back at him, her eyes challenging his words.

"Well then," she replied, "if that's how it is, let the games begin Darien."

He didn't know how or why it happened. But that look she gave him; that confident, competitive, challenging look she had given him…turned him on like nothing he had ever known. Heat and desire flooded his veins so fast it nearly took his breath away. His body wanted nothing more than to lift her up and pin her between the wall and himself and evoke moan after moan of her acknowledgement of his victory. Oh yes, he would be the one to win this. And in time, she would admit defeat. But for the moment he was glad the lights were not on. The bulge in his pants had to have been painfully obvious by now.

"Very well then, Serena." Darien said with a teasing laugh, as he began to walk away.

"And where are you going?" she called after him as she followed behind. He looked back at her, his eyes teasing and tinted with desire.

"Before we get to today's lesson I want to change out of my work clothes." He said as he began unbuttoning his shirt in front of her. "Want to come help me?" he asked silkily. Serena blushed bright red. Darien could feel the satisfied smirk that crossed his face. "I'll be in my room if you change your mind." He said as he left the room.

Serena quickly took a seat on the leather couch and tried feverishly to wipe the thoughts of stripping clothes off Darien's gorgeous body from her mind.

Not two minutes later he walked out into the living room again, dressed in black pants and a dark blue shirt. The young blonde couldn't help but think that he looked like he had just walked out of a men's clothing catalogue. She really couldn't help it…she stared at him…and Darien (with no small pleasure) noticed. "Take a picture meatball head. It'll last longer." On cue her eyes narrowed and her temper flared at the jab.

"Well do you have a camera on you, jerkwad?"

"Can't say that I do." He answered loftily as he walked to the key rack and chose the key to the Acura. Serena rose to follow him as he walked towards the door.

"My name isn't meatball head." She muttered. Darien only chuckled as they walked towards the elevator and proceeded to ride it to the underground parking lot.

Serena eyed the cars with longing. "Can't we take a different car this time?" she whined.

Darien just rolled his eyes and continued walking towards the Acura. Serena sighed, "well, at least it's not a bug, a PT Cruiser, an SSR, or a BMW. I guess there are worse things than acuras…" she thought out loud. The man paused.

"I'm sorry do you want to say that again? I can understand the bug and the PT cruiser, but did you just say at least it's not an SSR or a BMW?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes, you heard me right. SSR's and BMW's may be fast and popular, but that doesn't make up for the fact that they're hideously butt ugly. SSR's are to cars what Jessica and Ashley Simpson are to music. Ugly, pointless, and inexplicably popular wastes of time, and I have yet to see a BMW that looks halfway decent except maybe one 2-seater model."

Darien unlocked the Acura and tossed her the keys as he shrugged. "I guess there's no accounting for taste." Serena laughed and got behind the steering wheel.

"So what will we do today, oh master?" she asked in a mocking tone as she started the car. Darien tried not to think of the perverted comebacks he could answer to that, fastened his seatbelt and thought for a moment.

"Let's try driving around the neighborhood for a while and see how you do. I want you to call out everything you see that could affect your driving: like pedestrians, stop signs, animals, and stuff like that. I want to see how well you can pay attention to your surroundings." Serena nodded and slowly pulled the car out of the garage.

45 minutes later…

"Cat…stop sign…joggers…tree limb in road…pot hole…stop sign…car behind me…you know, this is kinda like playing 'I Spy.'" She smiled at her passenger.

"You're not doing half bad at this." He conceded. "You must be a pretty good 'I Spy' player."

She laughed. "Yeah, my family goes on a lot of road trips. I have lots of practice." He nodded.

"Well, you seem to have the hang of this part, at least. It's going to be getting dark soon, though, so let's go ahead and head back. Tomorrow let's try parallel parking and driving on one of the less crowded roads with stoplights, ok?" The blonde nodded excitedly. Finally! Some real driving experience. Deftly she pulled a three point turn and drove back the way she had come. A few minutes went by in silence before a loud bang rang out and the car lurched to the side. Serena gave a surprised shriek and slammed on the breaks, causing Darien to jolt forward and cry out in surprise.

"OH my god! Oh my god! I'm so sorry! What happened? Did I hit something? I didn't mean to! I swear!" she cried. Darien winced at the pain in his ears.

"Chill out meatball head. Panicking won't get you anywhere on the road. Just sit there for a minute and I'll see what happened." He unbuckled the seatbelt and exited the car. He took one look at the car and knew immediately what had happened. "Hop on out of there meatball head, we need to change the tire. I'll need you to…" he stopped midsentence. She looked to be on the verge of tears. He climbed into the car and turned her face toward him with his hand. Confusion marred his face. "What's with those watery eyes? It's just a tire." Serena sniffled and averted her gaze.

"I…it's just that…that I finally thought I was doing well and then…and then this had to happen." She sniffled again as a single tear fell. Darien shook his head and rolled his eyes at her inexperience.

"You really are a meatball head." He teased, but his eyes held a smile. "Tires blow out all the time. It's not your fault. These tires are just old. That's all. I've got a spare in the trunk, so no harm done, okay?" Serena looked doubtful. Darien let a smile grace his lips and he pressed his forehead to hers. "You listen here. I don't like it when you cry. You won't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning this game if you're only gonna be all teary eyed all the time." Serena let a mute chuckle escape her and pouted. Darien gave her a wicked grin. "Although, I'll admit you might have a chance if you pout like that." Serena blushed and smiled. "There's the smile I like." He crowed triumphantly. "Now let's get out and change the tire together, alright?" She nodded happily, tears completely gone.

It took the two of them less than 10 minutes to change the car's tire, and it only took so long because the sun had begun to set and there was little light to see by. It didn't cause any major problems though and the two were soon back in Darien's garage and walking towards the elevator in a pleasant mood.

"Hey Darien?"

"Yeah?"

Serena blushed faintly, "I just wanted to say thank you for being so understanding about the tire. It kind of surprised me that you could be so nice. I forgot to tell you how much I appreciated it. I didn't know you had it in you." They entered the elevator.

He smiled (more than just a little happy) for her words. "Well, someone I know did once say that 'when you take a person for face value you miss what they truly are.'" Serena smiled in recognition of her own words.

"So it would seem." She observed.

"And you're welcome." He said warmly as he looked into her eyes. They reflected her gratitude and her happy disposition, and again he felt the heat rise in his body and his attraction become apparent. She noticed the change in him and felt the blush rise in her and she swallowed hard. They took a mutual step toward each other and his arms reached out to pull her closer to his body. Her eyes fluttered closed in a silent request, and he was more than willing to fulfill it. His senses were heady with the scent of her perfume and the warmth of her soft body against him. With no small yearning he leaned in to kiss her waiting lips.

The sound of the bell and the opening elevator doors startled them out of their mood. They both looked up in surprise. Darien half groaned with disappointment and leaned his forehead against hers. "Tomorrow, then?" He asked, with an almost imploring tone of voice.

"What time?" She asked, flushed.

"Is 4PM okay again? I've still got the same hours."

Serena nodded. "That's fine." She extricated herself from her arms and began to walk out of the elevator. She went only three steps before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into his arms. The elevator doors closed behind her and his hands went quickly to either side of her face and his lips pressed against hers in a passionate kiss. Seconds later he pulled back with a very satisfied smile on his face and pressed the "open door" button. Serena looked dazed but happy. Darien chuckled as he gently guided her out of the elevator.

"As if I'd wait an entire day for that." He said as though it was the most obvious fact on earth, "You really are such a meatball head!" he teased as the door closed between them. He laughed when he heard here last words through the crack in the door…

"My name is SERENA, JERK!"

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Chapter 5 end

YAY! Another completed chapter! Oh the joy! Please review! Nothing makes me write faster than reviews. Nothing makes me write slower than seeing so many hits and so few reviews. Love you all! Thanks for reading!