| *********************************************** Title: Intro to Chemistry Part V: Results/Conclusions Author: Fawkes Email: [email protected] Rating: PG *********************************************** Ok, you've almost made it, this is the last part! Standard disclaimers apply. ~~~~<~~@ ~~~~<~~@ ~~~~<~~@ As he scrubbed yet another rack full of test tubes, Darien couldn't help but feel a bit sad that his experiment was over. For the past six weeks, he had been guaranteed two hours of Serena's time every day. But now, that was all ending. Alone in the lab, he allowed himself a dramatic sigh, and leaned in frustration against the sink. He wouldn't be able to stand it- not seeing her every day. In the new hole in his schedule, what would he do? Most likely sit at home and study, if, that is, he could manage to keep his mind off the fact that he was no longer here, was no longer with her. He had to tell her! And yet, he just couldn't. He remembered Andrew's words from the night before, when he had called him after dropping Serena off. "If you ask her out, she'll either say yes, or she'll say no. But if you don't, she won't even have a chance to say yes. And I think that's what she would say..." But what if Andrew was wrong? What if she did say no? He wouldn't be able to face her after that. It wasn't that she would laugh at him; in fact, he was sure that she would still be nice, but it would be out of pity. He wanted her face to light up when he entered the room, for her to miss him as much as he did her when they weren't together. If he messed things up now, he wouldn't even be able to talk to her anymore. Such thoughts continued to swim in his head as he pulled out some bottles of acid that needed to be neutralized and disposed of. Where had he put the sodium hydroxide... His train of thought was interrupted by the opening of the door. "Well, if it isn't my *favorite* lab assistant! And how are you today, Miss Tsukino?" "Sorry I'm late, Darien." He instantly noticed the dull quality of her voice, as well as her droopy posture. "I got called into my math teacher's office five minutes before school let out, so I had to stay after a while." "That's ok, Serena, it's no problem. Is everything ok?" Her eyes were fixed on his shoes as she replied. "What you mean is why did I have to talk to my math teacher. Go ahead and see for yourself." She thrust some papers she had been carrying out towards him dejectedly. Hesitantly, he took the test and flipped it over. In bold red numbers, circled at the top was...93? "You got a 93! Serena, that's..." "Fooled you!" A peal of laughter escaped the now delighted young girl. "Miss Setsuna couldn't believe it when she graded it! She called me out of gym and everything to congratulate me! And I got a 96 on my physical science test, and even an A on my English paper, and ok, so it was just an A-, but I'm still really proud and..." She was cut off as Darien crushed her into a bear hug, pulling her off her feet and twirling her around the lab. He set her down, and their laughter slowly faded. "Serena, that's really fantastic! Those are grades anyone would be proud of, and you deserved them, too." "I never would have gotten them if it hadn't been for you, Darien. I don't know what to say..." Impulsively, she threw her arms around his waist. "Thanks for helping me out and tutoring me and... and for believing in me, even when I didn't believe in myself." A surprised Darien happily returned the hug. "You're welcome, Serena." After a moment, the young girl pulled away slowly, blushing slightly as she did. "So, what do we have left to do here?" Darien reluctantly released his hold on her shoulders. "Not much, just clean the equipment and put everything away. It shouldn't take too long." "That shouldn't be too hard," she replied, as Darien rummaged in a cabinet. "Have these been soaking long enough? I'll just rinse them a few more times..." Out of the corner of his eye, Darien saw Serena staring to pour a large bottle of concentrated Sulfuric Acid down the sink. "No, wait Serena, that needs to be neutralized!" He desperately reached for the bottle in the same instant Serena jerked it back. The liquid splashed from the bottle, spilling over her hands and splattering onto Darien's lab coat. She cried out as the acid burned her skin. Darien reacted instantly, grabbing the girl by the back, dragging her to the safety shower, and pulling the cord. As soon as he was sure the water was rinsing her hands, he quickly removed his lab coat and made sure the water was hitting him, too, in case the acid had gotten on any of his other clothes. "How are your hands?" Concerned, Darien gently drew Serena's hands into his own, and raised them to his face for closer inspection. "They feel ok. The acid wasn't on them for long." She started to pull away, but Darien's grip was unrelenting. "Sorry, Serena, but chemical spills have to be rinsed for at least fifteen minutes, so we're both gonna be here for a while." Serena groaned and rolled her eyes. "Hey, what was that for?" She sighed, exasperated. "It's just that I finally thought I had my act together, I finally felt like a reasonably responsible, capable person, and then I go and do something completely klutzy like this." "Serena!" He laughed, and tilted her chin up so that her eyes met with his. "Nobody's perfect, ya know. So you spilled something, so what? It's not like that makes you a bad person. There's never going to be a point in time when you'll never do something klutzy, or silly, even again. It's not even a reasonable expectation! All you can do is your best- if you do that, if you really, truly do, then you shouldn't beat yourself up about the results." In order to be hit by the water's stream, they had to stand quite close together. As he spoke, she became conscious of his wet hair, falling across his face, and the way his soaked shirt clung to his broad shoulders and chest. Feeling slightly dizzy, she tottered forward a bit, so that their bodies brushed. She felt herself turning red, but couldn't tear herself away from his vivid blue gaze. "So you don't think I'm ditzy and worthless?" Darien screwed his courage to the sticking point. The time had come. "I think, Serena, that you are the exact opposite of 'ditzy and worthless.' In fact, I can't think of a single person who is worth more to me in the entire world." Serena's jaw almost dropped. As he spoke, his hand moved from her chin to stroke along her cheek. "I can't tell you how excited I was, when I found out that we were going to be in the same lab," he continued, "that I was going to get to see you every day." "So was I," she whispered quickly. Encouraged, Darien threaded his other arm around her waist, pulling her slightly closer. "But I was so afraid, too," she added, "that you'd just think I was a complete idiot. That you, that you wouldn't like me, too." "Silly Meatball Head! People don't fall in love with someone's understanding of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, or with how fast they can solve definite integrals. It's for how they make you feel." "Love?... you mean you... I mean, um, what are you saying, Darien?" she sputtered hopefully. "What am I saying? I am saying that I, Darien Mamoru Chiba, am in love with you, Serena Usagi Tsukino. I am saying that it makes me feel alive to be near you, and like there's still good in the world. I am saying that I think you are the most wonderful, kind, sweet, beautiful person I have ever known. And I am asking if you would give this egotistical jerk a chance, and consider being my girlfriend." She tried to speak, but no words would come that could convey her sheer joy. Throwing her arms around him, she burrowed into his chest. Finally finding her voice, she managed to squeak out a string of excited "yes"-es. "Oh, Serena..." Cupping her chin in one hand, he guided her mouth to his own. His lips were soft and gentle and warm, in contrast to the cool water that sprayed around them. Serena tensed for an instant, then relaxed into his secure embrace. Not wanting to push her too far, after a brief moment, Darien lifted his mouth from hers, and both were smiling as he rested his forehead against hers. He noticed that a blush still stained her cheeks, and brought a hand up to caress it. "What is it, Serena?" She smiled nervously. "It's just that, well, that was my, my first kiss, Darien." He smiled and drew her closer. "I'll bet you never dreamed your first kiss would be in the safety shower of a chemistry lab!" She laughed. "Of course not, silly! What sort of twisted girl would think up something like that!" (AN: Uhhhh...) "But," she went on, "I don't think I would have wanted it any other way." "Me neither, Meatball Head, me neither." And then he bent down to deliver Serena's second kiss ever, and it turned out that neither minded that they had to remain in the safety shower for another fifteen minutes. ~~~~<~~@ ~~~~<~~@ ~~~~<~~@ Andrew didn't look up when he heard the bell to the arcade door chime, and not immediately at hearing the mingled laughter of a young man and woman that followed. But it slowly sank into his head that there was something very... familiar about these two particular laughs. Lifting his head, much to his surprise, he saw Darien and Serena, arms linked together, dripping water on the floor, making their way across the arcade, completely oblivious to the stares they were attracting. They made their way to the cafe area, and Darien quickly took a seat at a booth. Serena attempted to slide in across from him, but he slyly pulled her down next to him, launching another fit of giggles from the giddy girl. Grinning himself, Andrew strode over to the booth. "I shoulda known! And what can I get for you two lovebirds?" Had Darien actually brought a girl to the arcade at any point in the past, Andrew would clearly have been cruising for a bruising by making this statement. But Darien just smiled, wrapped his soaking wet arm around Serena's shoulders, and replied, "We'd like a hot fudge sundae." "Make that two hot fudge sundaes!" Serena piped in. He smiled down at her dotingly. "Better yet, how about one really big hot fudge sundae with two spoons?" "And two cherries!" Serena added, all smiles. "Coming right up!" He returned to the bar to fill the order. As he prepared the dessert, four girls approached the counter. "Hey there girls! How's it going?" "Andrew, quick! Wouldja look at that?" Mina hissed. "Yeah, I know! Isn't it great?" "It's about time," Raye added. "Now maybe Serena'll be able to hold a conversation without getting all starry-eyed and distracted after twenty seconds." "Man, Andrew, that's the biggest sundae I've eve seen! Is it for them?" questioned Lita. "Yep, sure is." Amy was regarding the couple curiously. "But I just don't understand! I always thought Serena and Darien couldn't stand each other." "Naw, I always knew they had a thing for each other," Andrew replied. Five shocked heads jerked towards him. "What?!?!" "You did?" "No way!" "But how did you know?" He grinned back at the perplexed girls. "I dunno, I just always thought they had a lot of chemistry." And with that, he strode across the arcade, bearing the happy couple's desired sundae. ~~~~<~~@ ~~~~<~~@ ~~~~<~~@ THE END. Ok, first of all, if there are any lab safety fanatics out there, yes, when you spill something on yourself, you're supposed to take off all your clothes when you get into the safety shower. I decided to leave this out because, well, to put it simply, THIS IS NOT THAT KIND OF FIC! Muchos Kudos to my Amazing roommate, Sailor Mercury, for thinking up the brilliant safety shower hook-up idea. It may be a little bit... different, but I thought it was the greatest idea in a quirky sorta way. I'd also like to thank all the really great authors out there who inspired me to write my own fic (I'd list them, but there are just way too many). Ok, I REALLY REALLY REALLY want everyone to email me comments, because I want my writing to improve. I know I sometimes feel shy about e-mailing an author, but I don't bite, I promise, and I really do want to hear what people thought, and ways to make my fics better. Some things I was worried about in this fic included: too much Darien/ Serena and not enough other scenes, too cheesy/ not cheesy enough, not enough conflict to be interesting, and of course things about writing style and clarity. If you have any thoughts on these or other areas, please do let me know! Thanks so much for reading my fic! Fawkes |