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Well, I'd say this one's rated about a PG.  It's a rather humorous
chapter, with everyone's favorite comic relief.  <g>  Hope I
succeeded.  I need comments!  Please!  Oh, more thanks to Alicia
Blade for her suggestions for this chapter.  Thanks, gal.  You're
the best.  Read her work, folks!  Really!  You'll love it!  =)
Well, on with the show!

    Rated PG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Out of the Blue"
  by Stormlight
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 CHAPTER EIGHT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        Lita yawned and idly swung her legs against the bench where
she and the other two Scouts were sitting, waiting for the arrival
of their unknowing victims.  "I'm bored!" she whined.  "What are we
supposed to do 'till they get here?"

        "I have a physics book with me.  You can read it, if you
want," Amy offered sweetly.

        A sweatdrop appeared on Lita's forehead.  "Only if I wanna
fall asleep for sure," she replied with a snicker.  She stretched
andyawned again.  "So...anyone up for a game of 'Rock, Paper,
Scissors'?"

        "Someone's coming!" Raye suddenly hissed, and the three
girls dove behind the wall which their bench rested against,
peeking out between the neatly-trimmed shrubs lining the top of it
in anticipation.  Sure enough, there came Serena and Rita strolling
along, deep in conversation.  Rita looked around subtly as she
listened to Serena talk, then saw an arm waving at her through a
clump of shrubbery.  She stifled a grin and led Serena over to it,
sitting down on the bench.

        "So," she sighed, continuing her conversation, "I guess
that's the end of the road for Andrew and me.  I mean..."  She
sighed heavily.  "...after everything I've done for him, THIS is
how he repays me?  I guess that's what I get for dating a younger
guy..."

        Serena looked alarmed.  "But...age shouldn't matter,
should it?" she asked worriedly.  "I mean...if two people really
love each other...age shouldn't have anything to do with it, right?"
She paused, then continued with forced carelessness, "If I were in
love with someone who was...say...six years older than me...and
maybe HE loved ME, the age difference shouldn't matter at all.
Aren't I right?"

        Was it her imagination, or had she just heard the bushes
behind her...titter?  She turned to shoot the plants a suspicious
look, but they sat there innocently, completely silent.  Shrugging
it off as her imagination, she turned back to Rita, who was suddenly
looking very nervous.  "Is something wrong?" she asked.

        "Wrong?  Oh!  Ha ha!  No, nothing's wrong!" Rita replied,
giggling nervously.  "SO, I guess maybe you're right about age not
mattering if two people love each other.  It's the hearts that
count."

        Serena looked vastly gratified to hear that.  At least she
wasn't crazy to believe that.  Maybe it even meant that...Darien
might believe the same thing... **Oh, get a grip!  He's...well...a
sophisticated college guy who, even if age DIDN'T matter to him,
would certainly never see ME as anything other than a whiny,
immature crybaby...even if his attitude HAS changed lately...**
She remembered the look in his eyes when he'd held her so tightly,
the heat that had burned into her soul at his expression, and she
shivered.

        Rita, for her part, was looking around, a bit nervously.
Where was Andrew?  He was supposed to have been there by now!
**Maybe something happened,** she thought suddenly.  **Maybe Darien
figured out what we're up to.  He IS a smart guy, after all.  Maybe
he isn't gonna come at all...**

        But before she could work herself into a panic attack she
saw two figures appearing from out of the dark, and breathed a sigh
of relief when she heard Andrew's familiar voice.  She stood up,
clearing her throat nervously as Serena stood beside her, looking
startled.  **Well, here goes nothing!** Rita thought to herself,
then pasted on a look of surprise.  "You!" she bit out, pleased that
her voice came out sounding annoyed like she wanted it to.  "What
are YOU doing out here!"

        Andrew looked just as startled to see Rita, and as annoyed.
"Boy, I can't get away from you anywhere, can I?" he snapped,
noticing the uncomfortable glances Serena and Darien were exchanging.

        From the wall, the bushes were suddenly in a frenzy of
activity as three pairs of eyes fought to get a better view of the
action.  Luckily Serena and Darien were too busy being uncomfortable
to notice that the plants were hissing at each other to "Move over!"
and to "Get your elbow out of my eye!"

        Serena stepped away from Rita, closer to Darien, and
whispered, "So I guess Andrew told you about their fight."  He
nodded silently, and her brow furrowed.  "We have to do something
to get them to make up.  They can't let everything go over a silly
argument!"

        "I agree," he whispered back, his breath tickling her ear,
and she shivered and blushed slightly.

        There was yet another giggle from the bushes, followed by a
muffled yelp as someone's elbow connected with someone else's ribs.
Serena whirled and gave the shrubs a narrow-eyed stare, wondering
if she was going crazy.  "Did you just happen to hear those
bushes...giggle?" she asked Darien in a whisper.  He shot her an
incredulous glance, and she hummed in her throat.  "Guess not."
She shot another suspicious glance at the plants, but they were
innocently silent.  Well, she had more important things to worry
about than haunted shrubbery.  The battle was heating up between
Andrew and Rita, and, she could almost see the steam rising from
their ears.

        "WHAT did I EVER see in you in the first place?!" Rita was
shouting.  "You're ALWAYS flirting with that little fan club of
yours!  Mere teenagers!  You never take me ANYWHERE!  You act as
though I'm INVISIBLE half the time!"

        "HOW can I think you're invisible when you're always
RIGHT THERE whining in my ear to GO someplace!  I can't help it
I'm a busy guy!  You know I'm in charge of taking care of the
arcade!  And I do NOT flirt with those teens!  I just try to be
nice!  If you have such a problem with it, then you must be really
insecure about our relationship in the first place!  Doesn't TRUST
mean anything to you?!" Andrew shouted right back.

        Serena watched all this with openmouthed astonishment.
She had NEVER known Andrew to yell at ANYBODY before, least of
all his girlfriend!  Those two loved each other to death!  What
were they doing, fighting about stupid things like that?  Rita
knew how important Andrew's job was to him, and she had always
supported him before!  Serena frowned, trying to figure out what
could possibly have happened to turn two of her closest friends
into screaming monsters.  They'd had spiffs before, true, but they
always went someplace private to talk it out calmly and rationally,
and to think of a solution to the problem.  They had NEVER fought
like this before!

        The more Serena thought about it, the more suspicious she
became.  It wasn't right.  Her instincts were screaming at her.
Something about this just didn't make sense...and one look at
Darien told her that he was in complete agreement.

        At that moment, Rita drew back her hand, as though she was
about to strike Andrew, and Serena gasped and stepped forward.
Wrong or not, she had better do something about this, fast!  "Rita!
Don't you dare!  Look, whatever happened...it can be fixed, okay?
Maybe if you just talked this over..." she suggested hesitantly.

        "Stay out of this!" they snapped at her, and she stepped
back with a small gasp, hurt showing clearly in large eyes that
shimmered with a film of tears.

        "Hey!"  Darien immediately bristled.  How dare they take
out their anger on innocent Serena!  "She's just trying to help
you!  Ya don't have to go ballistic on her!" he snapped,
unconsciously pulling Serena to him and wrapping a protective arm
around her shoulders, the other hand stroking her hair soothingly.

        The bushes nearly crowed with delight at this little act.

        Andrew and Rita immediately shut their mouths, staring at
Darien with shocked surprise.  Then a sly grin touched Rita's mouth
as she looked them up and down.  "You're right, of course, Darien.
But...since when do you care what happens to Serena?" she asked
coyly.

        Darien blinked with surprise, finally realizing the position
he was in.  He cleared his throat uncomfortably and stepped away,
releasing Serena, who looked away, clearly disappointed.
"I...uh...it doesn't matter!  I'm telling you that you don't have any
right to talk to her that way!" he snapped.

        "You're right.  I'm sorry, Serena.  Do you forgive me?"
Rita asked, looking shamefaced.

        Serena nodded silently, chewing on her lower lip.

        "Do you forgive me, as well?" Andrew asked, with a grin that
had never failed to win people over in the past.  "You know I didn't
mean anything by it."

        "I forgive you," Serena whispered.  She still seemed upset.
"I just...don't want you guys to break up over something so stupid.
Just 'cause you both have things you don't like about each other,
doesn't mean you have to ignore everything you DO like about each
other!  That's what being a couple is all about.  Overlooking the
bad and loving each other for who you are."

        The bushes sighed dreamily, and there was another muffled
yelp as someone's hand clapped over the culprit's mouth, hissing
at her to shut up.

        Darien was staring at Serena with something akin to wonder
glowing in his eyes.  "I think that's the most mature thing I've
ever heard you say," he told her seriously.  "And you're absolutely
right, you know.  People should love each other for who they are,
not for who they'd like them to be."  Serena gazed up at him, her
eyes shining, and behind them, the bushes once again sighed their
delight.

        This time, when Serena heard them, she decided once and for
all that it was NOT her imagination.  She highly doubted it was
ghosts, either, considering that one of those bushes sounded
suspiciously like Lita...

        "ALL right!  WHO is back there!" she snapped, whirling and
stomping angrily toward the wall.  There was a squeak of alarm, a
mad scramble, and three disheveled girls bolted from their hiding
place in a desperate attempt to escape.

        "FREEZE!"

        Serena's tone could most certainly have frozen them in their
tracks if her command hadn't.  Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she
marched over to the three nervous Scouts, glaring at them accusingly.
"Just WHAT in the name of high heaven is going ON here?!" she yelled.
"What do you three think you're doing?!"

        "Um...taking a walk?" Lita asked innocently.  "WHOO boy!
Will you LOOK at the time!  I have to get home now..."

        "I don't THINK so!" Serena growled, grabbing Lita's ponytail.
Lita yelped and fell back, allowing Serena to pull her backward
toward a very nervous Andrew and Rita.  "Somebody is gonna explain
something to me, or I'm gonna have to kill somebody!" she snapped,
glaring at them.  "Andrew, Rita, by your expressions, I take it that
you have at least SOME idea of what's happening.  Care to fill ME in
on the gossip?"

        Andrew gulped.  He had NEVER seen Serena this riled before,
even at her maddest.  He had a feeling that he'd better do as she'd
asked, or he might regret it later.  "Well, er...you see," he began.

        "It was my fault!"

        Serena turned astonished eyes to Amy, who was watching her
with guilt written across her features.  "YOU, Amy?" she gasped.
"Wh...what do you mean?"

        Amy sighed.  "This whole setup was my idea, Serena.  I
convinced Andrew and Rita to stage a breakup and then go crying
to you and Darien.  They were to lure you to the park tonight,
then pretend to make up and leave both of you alone together.  In
the hopes that...uh...seeing them together might...er...well...that
is..."

        "Just spit it out, Amy," Serena said tiredly.

        "Well, that it might make you and Darien finally admit how
you feel about each other," Amy finished in a rush.

        Serena's mouth dropped open in shock as her face flooded
with color, and she shot a glance at a very surprised Darien.  He
met her look with one of his own, and a small grin twitched at his
lips.  She bit her lip and looked away, not able to stand the fact
that he was trying not to laugh at her.

        "I can't believe you would be so devious, Ames," she said
accusingly.

        "It wasn't ALL her fault," Raye jumped in defensively.
"We helped plan it.  She just came up with the idea, and it
would've worked, too, if SOMEBODY had kept their trap shut behind
that wall!"  She glared accusingly at Lita.

        "Hey, you were sighing as much as I was!" Lita protested.

        Serena abruptly sank down on the bench, all the feeling
going from her legs.  She could hardly believe that her best
friends in the world would go to such lengths to humiliate her.
They were only trying to help, she knew, in their own twisted,
somewhat demented way...but frankly she would have been better
off without it!  And what must Darien think of her?!  Why...he
might even think that she was part of this whole thing, that she'd
helped to set him up!  She shot him another glance, but his face
was expressionless, that cold mask he so often wore fixed firmly
in place.  No help there.

        "So...maybe we'd better go now..." Rita was saying, slowly
edging away and taking Andrew with her.  "I mean...I'm sure you and
Darien have LOTS to talk about now..."

        Serena looked up, alarmed.  "Oh, no you don't!" she cried.
"No WAY are you gonna leave me alone with him NOW!  Not 'till you
tell him that I didn't have anything to do with this!  This was all
your idea!"

        "Serena, I'm sure Darien doesn't blame you," Lita told her
gently.  "Your shock is proof enough that you didn't know anything
about this."

        "Unless she's just a good actress," Raye chimed in.

        "Raye!"  Lita smacked her arm, non-too-gently, and glared.
"You're NOT helping!"

        Darien had been silent up until that time, but now he spoke.
"Maybe you're right.  Maybe you guys had better go.  We...uh...have
some things to talk about."  His face was still expressionless when
Serena looked up at him, and she gulped.  Something told her that
she was not going to enjoy this...

        The girls shifted and nodded uncomfortably, and Amy gripped
Serena's hands.  "I'm sorry, Serena.  Can you forgive me?" she asked
pleadingly.  "I never meant for this to get so out of hand..."

        Serena hesitated, then smiled wryly.  "Gotta admit, Ames,
I never expected YOU to be the ringleader of this little circus."
She giggled.  "I gotta hand it to ya, it probably might have even
worked.  At least...as far as Rita and Andrew fooling us into
thinking they were fighting goes.  They're pretty good actors."

        The two lovebirds straightened proudly at the praise.
"Well...we did our best," Rita replied smugly, sliding an arm
around Andrew's waist.  Serena rolled her eyes at their
miraculous "make up."

        "I knew you too were too gone on each other to actually
break up," she snorted.  "I was beginning to wonder.  I might've
even figured it out on my own if the Three Stooges over there
hadn't blown their cover."

        "Hey!" Raye protested, glaring at her.  Lita just smirked.

        Amy gripped Serena's hand comfortingly.  "Things will work
out," she assured her friend.  "I would have never even thought to
pull something like this if I didn't believe that something good
would come of it."

        Serena gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand, then
glanced at Darien.  "Sure you don't wanna stay and back me up?"
she asked in a low voice.  "I don't think I can face him now.  I
mean, what if all he wants to do is laugh?"

        "Why would he?"  Amy sounded surprised.

        "Why WOULDN'T he?" Serena countered wryly.  "I'm not exactly
his dream girl, after all, and he's gotta know I have SOME feelings
for him.  He isn't stupid."

        "No.  He isn't.  And because he isn't he ought to know that
you're just what he needs in his life.  You bring out the best in
him, you know."

        Serena gave a squeal of laughter.  "Now THAT'S something
I've never heard before!" she giggled.  "Are you sure we're talking
about the same Darien?"

        Amy giggled, as well, then released Serena's hand and
stepped back.  "Good luck," she whispered, then turned her worried
gaze to Darien.  He regarded her for a moment, and then, to her
complete surprise, his eye closed in a slow wink and a small grin
touched his mouth.  She immediately relaxed.  Whatever happened
tonight, she knew Serena would not be coming home in tears.

        It seemed that Cupid's Angels of Mercy were a success,
after all...