The Unexpected - Part Five
A P120 Challenge: < Conceited Jerk Darien > 
Usagi-chan
Usagi@tuxedomask.com
I don't own Sailormoon or anything pertaining to
This does take place in Japan
E-mail me!
~~~

Darien sat dumbfounded that Serena had said
no.  He was so sure she would have said yes,
especially after last nights kiss.  After
all, she had kissed him first, right?

Darien blushed at the thought.  It had been
so nice holding Serena so close like that.

Suddenly it occurred to him.  What if she 
had a boyfriend?  Maybe that's why she said
no, and she was so eager to forget the kiss.

'No!' Darien's mind shouted.  'There can't
be anyone else!  There can't!  She's my
Meatball Head and any guy who thinks otherwise
will have to...  Have to what?  Darien, think
reasonably here...'

Darien bit his lip in though and pondered what
he could do to win her admiration and love.

~~
Serena sat at her desk in school.  It had been 
three days since she had kissed Darien, and
two since he had asked her out.  She was glad 
that she hadn't seen him since she left the
arcade.  She had been avoiding him like the
plague.

The others were worried about her, and had
been teasing her about suffering from Sailor
V withdrawl, because she hadn't been to the 
arcade in days.  Whenever they agreed to meet
there for something, she always came up with
an excuse as to why she couldn't go.  They
didn't know what had transpired between 
Darien and her.

'Nothing happened Serena!  You stupidly let
your emotions carry you away, and you kissed 
him!  Darien was just being... polite or something
kissing you back.' She told herself.  'He only
asked you out for the same reason!!'

Serena sighed and buried her face in her arms.
She just wanted to go home and sulk.  Lifting
her head enough to see that school ended in 
five minutes, Serena almost smiled.

"Hey girl, you okay?" Lita asked quietly.
Serena nodded before resting her head
on her desk again.  Lita looked puzzled,
but shrugged.  No one ever said Serena
was normal.

On her walk home, Serena kept an eye out
for Darien.  She knew that if she saw him
on the street, she would end up talking to
him and if she ended up talking to him she
would end up spilling the entire story and
if she spilled the entire story Darien would
know how she really felt and if Darien knew
how she really felt she'd only get hurt.

Serena sighed again as she crosses the street.
She turned and continued walking on her way 
home.  Her eyes watched the cars as she passed,
and a sporty red one caught her attention.

'Wow!  Nice car!' She thought, then laughed
at herself.  'Sure, and the driver looks 
just like Darien...'

Shaking her head, Serena continued to walk,
never noticing that the red car had turned 
around and was slowly following her home.  

She turned onto her street, and glanced behind 
her before she started to cross.  

"Mom!  I'm home!" Serena called as the door flew
shut behind her.

"Hi honey!  How was school?" Her mother asked
from the kitchen.

"Fine.  I'm going upstairs to study." Serena
ran up to her room before her mother could
reply.  She tossed her school bag on the 
floor and sat on her window seat.  

"I wish my knight in shining armor would climb
up here and carry me away..." Serena sighed
dreamily.

~~
Darien smiled as he sauntered into the arcade.
He now knew where Serena lived, and he was 
pretty sure it wouldn't be too hard to figure
out which window was hers.

"Hey Darien.  You seem to be in a good mood,
considering." Andrew greeted.

"Considering what?" Darien asked as he sat down
at the counter.

"Considering Serena said no and you haven't seen
her since." Andrew replied.

"I've seen her, just never spoken with her.  And
I'm not worried." Darien smiled.

"Obviously.  Can I get you anything?" Andrew
asked.

"Coffee." Darien replied.  "I'll need to stay 
awake tonight..."
~~
Darien parked his car about a block from Serena's
house and grabbed the dozen roses that had been
in the passenger seat.  

Walking with the stealth of a cat, Darien headed
towards Serena's house.  He moved around to the 
back yard but vaulting the tall wooden fence.  He
hadn't wanted to rish it creaking if he opened it.

Darien looked up at the four windows that were 
on the second floor.  Judging from the curtains,
he distinguished her parents room easily.  

Looking at the last two windows, Darien couldn't
figure out which was Serena's, and which were 
her younger brother's.  In the dark, both sets of
curtains looked white.  

Darien bit his lip as he stared at the windows,
roses still in hand.  

'If only there was some sort of sign...' He
thought.  As if on cue, a pale hand reached 
up and pulled the curtain's shut.  Darien
smiled.

'That must be Serena...' He thought.  Reaching
down, Darien gathered a handful of pebbles and
began tossing them at the window.  

After a few stones hit the glass and bounced 
off, Darien saw movement inside the room.  A
small light flicked on before a head with
brown hair appeared at the window.  Darien's
jaw dropped.

"What do you want?" An angry voice shouted
from the window.

"I'm so sorry!" Darien exclaimed.  "I thought
that was Serena's room!"

"Serena?  What would you want her for?" The
boy asked, then shrugged.  "Try that window."

He pointed to the one next to his before
disappearing from view.  Darien sighed.
He had a sinking feeling he would never 
live that one down, if it ever got out.

Darien tossed the remaining pebbles at 
Serena's window and waited for the blonde to
appear.  After a few minutes, he saw her 
sitting in front of her window.

"Darien!" she exclaimed, rather surprised to
see him.  Darien smiled and began to sing.
Serena gasped in shock as he held out the
roses and continued to sing.

"Darien!" She hissed.  "Be quiet!  Stop that
now or my father will kill you!  Stop!"

Darien shook his head.

"Darien!  You have to!  If my father finds
out there's a boy..."

It was too late.  Serena heard her father 
getting up and shouting something at her
mother.  Ands he was sure she heard the 
word 'shotgun'.

"Darien!  Hurry!  Go!" Serena told him.

"Serena, I..." He began before he heard 
shouting inside.

"Serena!  If there's a boy in there, I 
want you to stand back so I can get a 
clear shot!" 

Her door burst open and her father stood
there, holding a rifle.  Serena gasped.

"Daddy!  No!  There's no one here!" She
exclaimed.

"Did he just go out the window?  Don't
protect him Serena!" Her father told her,
running to the window and pushing her
aside.  

Darien was stunned.  He had no clue her
father was so extremely protective of
his one and only daughter.  The man
was standing at his dauthter's window
with the loaded shot gun aimed at Darien.

"Daddy!" Serena shouted.

"Ken!  Put that gun down now!  No one
is in here." Serena's mother spoke
with a firm voice.

"He's out here Ilene." Ken replied, still
taking aim.

"Ken!  Hand me that shot gun now or you'll
be sleeping on the couch for a week!" Ilene
threatened.

The next thing Darien knew, he was seated
in a warm, brightly lit kitchen with a 
mug of hot chocolate.

"Again, I'm really sorry for my husband's
actions." The tall lady told him.  "He's
always so worried about Serena..."

"It's not a problem Mrs.Tsukino." Darien
smiled.  "I understand completely."

"I don't know what got into him tonight 
though." She shook her head.  "Don't worry
though Darien.  I'll make sure it never 
happens again."

"Really Mrs.Tsukino, don't worry about
it.  I'm fine, Serena's fine."

"I know, and I'm glad." Ilene smiled.

"Me too.  I'm glad." Serena echoed.  "I'm
going to go up to bed.  I'm really tired."
Serena told them, restraining a yawn.

"But Serena, you have a guest..." Her
mother began in protest.

"No, no!  That's fine, Serena." Darien
smiled at her.  "I should be going now anyway.
Its late."

Ilene glanced at the clock and saw that it 
was well past midnight.  

"Oh it is late!  You should stay here the
night Darien." Ilene told him.

"Oh no, Mrs.Tsukino." Darien stood.  

"Oh I insist!  Serena can show up up to
our guest room on her way up to bed, right
Serena?" Her mother asked.

"I guess." Serena shrugged.  She began up
the stairs.

"Go on Darien.  I'll see you two in the morning."
Ilene began cleaning up the kitchen as Darien
followed Serena up the stairs.  She silently
led him down a corrior and stopped in front 
of a room.

"This is our spare room." She told him, her 
voice flat and tired.

"I'm really sorry about all this Serena." He 
told her as he stood in the doorway.

"Sure Darien." Serena yawned.  "See you in
the morning.
~~~