Chapter 1

        "Darien?  Are you awake?"  Darien looked around his
apartment.  He knew that voice.  It was so familiar, and yet, he did
not know who it belonged to.  He rubbed his head, which was still in
pain.  The aspirin had not worked as well as Darien had hoped.
        { Wait a minute.  How did I get in my bed? }
        "Darien?"  That voice again.  Why did it seem so strange, and
yet so familiar?
        { It has to be the headache.  No way I'd forget a voice like
that, even for a second. }
        Darien looked around.  In a few seconds, a raven haired
beauty walked into his room.  She had legs that were revealed, except
for the top portion of her thighs.  Her top was a semi loose T-shirt,
but it still revealed curves.  Her hair was long, and flowed like a
river down her back.  Her eyes were dark, and concern was in them.
        { Rei?  What is she doing here? }  Darien's eyes widened in
surprise.
        "Darien, I came by to see you."
        { What?  Why?! }
        "I sensed you were in trouble, so..."  Rei walked over to
Darien's bed.
        { PLEASE don't sit down.  Please don't sit down.  Not on my
bed.. }
        Rei sat down at the foot of Darien's bed.
        { Oh man... }
        "What's the matter?  Darien, are you okay?"
        { I thought you could sense things like that. }  "Uh, sure.
Just a little woozy.  That's all."  { What's going on?  I feel so...
different... }
        "You sure?  I told Serena that I sensed something was wrong."
        "What?  Why?"
        "I just thought she would like to know."  Rei moved closer to
Darien.  He could smell her breath.  By his guess, she had brushed
her teeth very recently.  No more than an hour ago.  It still smelled
like a mint.
        Rei placed a hand on Darien's forehead.  "Hmm..  You don't
feel hot..."  Rei looked into Darien's light blue eyes.  She knew she
was doing a good thing, but somehow, she felt guilty for a reason.
She just did not understand why.
        Rei looked down, closing her eyes.  { Why isn't Serena here
yet? It's not like it's 3 in the morning.  It's barely dusk! }  Rei
felt a finger on her chin.  It guided her pretty face to look up.  It
was guided to the point where she was looking into the eyes of...
him.  Again.  { Damnit!  Why is this happening!? }
        "...Thanks.  For... everything.  For being there.  You're a
true friend, Rei."
        { Friend.  Friend.  But that's all it CAN be, isn't it?
Just... friend. }  Rei heard a door open.  { Serena! }  She turned to
the direction of the sound.  Serena walked in, and her jaw dropped.
        { Wh... what the heck is this? }  Serena didn't know exactly
what was going on, but by Darien and Rei's position, she could guess.
        "Serena.." 
        "Shut up, Rei.  Just shut up."  Serena's eyes were full of
tears, and her heart was cracking.  And soon, it broke.  The tears
left Serena's eyes.
        "Serena.."
        "You shut up too!  You two can have each other!"  Serena ran
out of the apartment.
        "Serena!"  Darien's eyes had tears in them.  Rei quickly got
up.
        "I should go, too.  Maybe I can explain."  Rei ran after
Serena.  {Damnit!  What have I done?! }
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Serena slammed the front door of her house.  Only her little
brother, Sammy, was home, so her parents were not able to yell at her
for it.         { Good.  I don't need them yelling at me right now. }
        "Serena!" called out that familiar, annoying voice.
        { Ooohh!! }  "What!!?"  Serena sounded sad, rather than mad
at her little brother.
        "Hey, why the waterworks?  Did you get dumped or something?"
Sammy was within an arm's reach now.  Big mistake.
        Serena backhanded him across the mouth, not caring about any
of the consequences.  "Shut up!"  Serena ran to her room, and slammed
the door. Her sobs could be heard by Sammy, and by Luna, who had
witnessed the whole thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Luna meowed loudly outside of Serena's door.  The door
opened, and Luna walked in.  Then, the door was closed once more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        "Rei, what are you talking about?"
        "I'm saying she just stormed out, not giving either of us a
chance to explain."
        "That doesn't sound like Serena.  Still, with your past with
Darien --"
        "What about my past with him, Lita?!"
        "Hey, I didn't mean anything!"  Lita felt like she was on the
defensive.  "Just calm down."  { No need to get all bitchy on me. }
        "Sorry."  Rei took a deep breath.  "It's just... I can't
stand to see her upset."  Lita looked into Rei's eyes.  She could see
that Rei was really hurting, or was it all an act.  Maybe she wanted
to have someone on her side.  Maybe Rei really WAS trying to get to
Darien.  Maybe this was all one big ploy to try to slowly win his
heart.  The thoughts raced through Lita's mind.
        "Lita?  What's wrong?"
        "Huh?  Oh... nothing..."  Lita looked down.  { Why did you
have to date Darien?!  It would be so much easier for me to believe
you! }
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        "Luna, it's not fair!  *I'm* supposed to be the one with
Darien!"
        "Serena, I'm sure you just misunderstood the whole thing.
Rei doesn't even like Darien anymore.  Remember?"
        { Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England. }  "Yeah," Serena
mumbled. { Sure.  Whatever. }  "But she was on his bed.  And they
were really close to each other."
        "Serena, they dated for a while, and they're friends."
        "I meant PHYSICALLY close.  You couldn't have squeezed a
snowflake between them!"
        "Serena, I really hope you're exaggerating on that."
        "I am.  But not by much.  It would have been really easy for
them to have been playing tonsil hockey before I went in."  Serena's
heart thumped, and seemed to work it's way to her throat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Serena's parents opened the front door, complete with grocery
bags in each arm.  They closed the door, and Sammy walked up to them.
        "Need me to help?"
        "Sure, Sammy."  His mother handed him a grocery bag.  That's
when she saw his face.  It was as red as a beet across the mouth.
"Sammy, what happened to your face?"
        { Oh boy.  Serena seemed really upset... }  "Uh...  I got hit
with a ball.  It was my fault.  I didn't see it coming."
        "You gotta be more careful.  And I thought I told you not to
leave the house when we were gone."
        { Oh shit. }  "Yeah.  But I --"
        "But nothing.  You're grounded for a week, young man."  Sammy
cursed inwardly, and sighed.
        { I hope Serena appreciates this. }
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Darien fell to his knees, and grabbed his head.  His eyes
widened, and he screamed.  It was a scream like bloody murder.  A
black light shot out of his mouth.  It flew into the nearest wall,
and seemed to just vanish.  Darien fell to the floor, completely
unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Rei walked into Darien's apartment, which was unlocked.  She
walked into the kitchen, and saw Darien lying on the floor.  He
seemed as if he was lifeless.
        { Oh shit! }  Rei ran over to him, and kneeled down beside
him.  She checked for a pulse.  { It's very weak. }  Then she saw
that his chest was not moving.  She checked for breathing.  { Oh no!}
        Rei immediately started artificial respiration.  { Come on!
Breathe! } She put her open mouth to his open mouth, and continued
forcing air through his windpipe.  She never noticed Serena standing
in the doorway.
        { Fine.  You wanna stick your tongue down his throat, be my
guest. }  Serena ran down the hall, crying.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                                To Be Continued...
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