Chapter 7

Serena had been in the hospital for 5 days before she was allowed to go home. Although Darien hadn't understood why she needed to stay that long for dehydration and the stomach flu...he complied to the doctor's wishes instead of rushing Serena home under his care. Although Darien was currently a entrepreneur, his other life goal before his current job was to go into the medical field; but since he had inherited his fathers company after he had passed away, Darien had no choice but to keep up the business, unable to deny his fathers last wishes.

Serena, being the sneaky girl she was, convinced the doctor's to not tell Darien the truth about her condition, lying that she wanted to give her husband a heart felt 'surprise'. Although Serena had accepted Darien's faults, and would be happy to let her husband know of their little bundle of joy, she was not naive. Serena didn't want the baby to be the reason why her husband stayed. If Darien was going to do what he had promised 5 days ago, Serena would be pleased to break the news to him. Until then, Serena wanted to take it slow, and terminate the problem that had started the recent unfortunate events.

Although Serena had a relaxing 5 days at the hospital, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in the white based building. Ever since her grandparents had passed away 10 years ago, the mention of a hospital would put her unease; it didn't help when she had to stay there instead of at home. It was a sad place, and even though there were many nurses and doctors that keep up smiling faces for their patients, she knew that not everyone was fortunate enough to make it through their medical problems. Darien...who knew of her fear for hospitals, went out of his way to make her feel comfortable. He made sure that she was busy doing something at all times, and rest thoroughly went she was tired. He brought in a single red rose every day, and would have a small talk with her to update what she had missed months before their 'break'. Although things weren't perfect...because Serena didn't expect them to be...she was mildly surprised that he would put in so much effort again.

Darien knew that she didn't like to be gushed with gifts. Instead of bringing a bouquet of flowers everyday, he had opt to bring a single flower instead. That had honestly put a smile on Serena's face. She felt like she was being courted all over again, and while she knew that she still loved him, she couldn't help but have the feeling like her love was growing even bigger by his actions. All that being said, she felt like a love sick fool. It was a mere few days before when she was feeling the 'I'm so depressed' mood, so she seriously take account of her judgements when she was riding the love train all over again.

No, she would not give in so easily.

Serena honestly appreciated the thoughtful things Darien did for her, but she hoped that it wasn't just for the first few weeks, and then back to what it was before. Although she found some truth to what caused the mess, she felt like she really need some confirmation that it wasn't all a dream. That what was happening right now...the relief that flooded into her system wasn't another nightmare waiting to trick her from behind. Serena honestly wasn't looking for the whole fireworks exploding in her heart thing...she was just looking for the man she fell in love with in the beginning...and maybe learn about him all over again from all the months she had missed him.

She never expected herself in this situation...but then again, she wasn't like all those other girls. Sometimes it wasn't about forgiving and moving on. It's about acceptance of the situation before you decide what you want to do afterwards.

You can't move on without acceptance.

"You still awake?"

Jolted by the voice, Serena turned around to see Darien coming out of the shower; he was wearing nothing but a pair of silk pants. Eyes trailing from his face to the slight formation of his abs, Serena was glad her husband wasn't into working out. Rock hard six packs were honestly not her thing, and Darien, being the simple guy he was...looked good with just a toned stomach.

Looking back up to his face, hoping he didn't catch her staring, Serena noticed his still wet hair.

"Mm, I was just thinking," Serena smiled sheepishly, lying against the pillow and pulling the blanket up to her hips. "Here, let me dry your hair."

Darien raised an eyebrow as his eyes crinkled in amusement, "Alright."

Motioning her husband forward, Serena grasped his left hand before pulling him to sit down next to the bed so that his back was against the bed frame. Turning slighty, Serena grabbed the towel he had in his hands before placing it on his head. Rubbing in circular motion on both sides, she smiled as she heard the quiet sigh of content from Darien. "How was work today?"

"Same old, same old. All it takes is 5 minutes for some idiot to mess up the whole system. I couldn't wait until I got off so I could come home." Darien grumbled, leaning his head back a little.

Serena grinned secretly, her heart leaping with joy that Darien had been more than anxious to get home in the past few days.

"Pass me the blow dryer would you? I don't want you to get a headache from damp hair." Tossing the towel with as much force as she could, she congratulated herself as it dropped in the hamper.

"Nice shot." Darien grinned, reaching forward to the vanity and pulling out a blow dryer from the drawer.

"Mmm, well I did get some good practice when we were dating. You needed a good knock on the head with a pillow back then."

"I can't believe you still remember that!"

"I'm surprised you didn't! You're the one that got hurt." Serena chuckled, plugging in the electronic device into the socket.

"Yikes, all because I made fun of you at your school marks. I even offered to help."

"Puh-lease. All you did was mock me back then. I was surprised you held any feelings for me at all." She joked, putting the setting of the blow dryer on medium so she wouldn't accidentally burn his head on high.

There was a strange silence before Darien made the move to talk. Only the noise of the dryer had been filled between those seconds.

"You're the only one that holds my heart." Darien murmured, "Don't ever doubt that."

Serena's heart jumped as she heard those quiet words. She felt like one of the gates that had been locked in her heart had finally been cracked open. Unable to help herself, she felt the wet tears sliding down her cheeks as she continued to blow dry his hair. Trying to calm her shaking hands, Serena ran her fingers through the slightly damp curls before heating the section up. Sniffing slightly, she continued to work through the hair with her fingers until she felt a strong hand stopping hers. Eyes widening slightly, Serena watched as Darien took the dryer from her hand before turning it off. Piercing dark eyes catching her own, her voice hitched as Darien dropped the dryer on the floor before making the move to stand up.

Sitting down gently on the side of the bed near her legs, Darien held one of her hands before using his other to the thumb the wet droplets from her cheeks.

"Don't cry." He whispered, leaning forward to kiss each cheek before pulling back to look at her. "I'm sorry for what happened before. I don't have any excuses for my own mistakes. I just want you to know that I'll do whatever it takes, and no matter how long it would be for me to show you again...that I truly only have you in my heart."

"Darien..." Serena murmured, breaking eye contact before looking down at their entwined hands.

"I want to earn the right to have your love again."

"But-"

"Don't say that I already do...because I lost that right a long time ago." Tilting her chin so that she would face him again, Darien smiled slightly, "You deserve more than just sorries. Actions speak louder than words."

Kissing her slightly, Serena blushed as she felt his warm lips against hers. It had been so long since Darien had been so gentle.

Pulling back to look at him again, Serena giggled as she notice the mess on top of his head.

"What's so funny?" He frowned, noticing her gaze.

"I don't think I'm fit to ever be a hair stylist." She giggled again, letting the remainder of her tears slide down her cheeks. Moving forward to lay her head on his naked shoulder, she breathed in the scent of his body wash...and a tint of just 'him' before kissing his skin.

"What am I going to do with you..." Darien sighed, moving one of his hands to touch his bird nest head before wrapping his arms around her. He shivered as her lips moved against his skin.

'You drive me crazy.'

x.x

"Mina...do you think it's just her?" Rei frowned, brushing a flyaway hair from her face.

"I doubt it." Lita exclaimed, walking into the tense kitchen before placing herself in one of the chairs. "There's too many strings to be pulled to prove that it's just her in action."

"I agree." The blonde murmured, pouring four cups of hot coffee. "Here, the sugar is just on the counter, and if you want milk, it'll be in the fridge."

"I'm surprised she would go after Darien..." Rei frowned, grabbing her cup of coffee and putting a lump of sugar in before stirring.

"Why would you say that?" Lita asked, surprise shown on her gentle features. "I mean...Darien is practically the 'dream' guy for certain girls. I'm not saying that he's perfect, but any woman would want to find a guy like Darien. EVEN if he had been a asshole lately."

"Well...I agree that that would be a plausible reason for Ami to pick Darien this time..." Rei started, careful blow her coffee before sipping, "But Serena was always the supportive friend. I don't know why she would betray our friends trust like that."

"Hey...wait a minute here! I got played, and it wasn't a very nice joke." Mina warned, her gaze narrowing at the brunette.

"Hmm, I didn't mean it that way...but honestly. Would either of you hurt Serena? I mean, sure we're all good friends, but Serena was the one that got us all together. I'm not sure I would be sitting here drinking coffee with you guys when I would probably still be helping out at the shrine, and chilling with Chad." Rei exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air like she was trying to prove an important point. Which...was some what important.

"I have to agree with Rei there. I would never hurt any of you guys on purpose, but Serena does come first in this group of ours." Lita put out, rising up from her chair to get some milk.

"Minus Ami by the way. That girl was cut off from my list a longggg time ago." Mina growled, standing up from her seat to put her cup in the sink. She usually drank coffee like it was water.

"Yeah see...that's why I don't understand..." Rei muttered. "Ami always seemed the most friendly towards Serena. Do you think something happened that we don't know of?"

"Well you tell me. I stopped contacting that bugger since that day...I know you guys might see her from time to time. So what's the deal?"

"Er, I actually haven't seen her in a bit either." Lita replied sheepishly, scratching her head before running her hands through her coffee brown hair. "We never had anything in common, and hung out in our group...so after that split...it was just...weird to hang out with her alone. Not that I'm saying I wouldn't hang out with her...but it's...just weird."

"I've only seen her a few times myself. I tried to forgive her past actions, but seeing how this problem has surfaced up now...proves that me not trusting her so far was a good thing. Last I heard, she's been seeing Beryl and her ding dong friends." Rei added, playing the few gatherings she did have with Ami in her head.

"Wait a minute...Beryl...really?" Mina asked in shock, "I thought she never liked her! After Beryl's mother married Ami's uncle, she never bothered to mention how 'great' the red head was, but instead, the opposite."

"Change of tune." Lita muttered, grabbing the crackers from Mina's table before putting them into her mouth. "You seriously need to get some food. The crackers are stale, bleh."

Making a face, Lita dumped the remaining crackers into the trash before going to the sink to wash her hands; grabbing a apple at the same time before rinsing the top off.

"Well whatever it is, I can't say if she's on this whole mishap. Right now, we don't know what her next move is, and I've already got her followed by one of Kunzite's men." Mina informed, relaying the current plan that was in her head.

"Do you have anything for precautions sake? I'm sure you do since you got Kunzite to put one of his men on Ami." Rei frowned. Although Rei had taken a liking to Kunzite immediately, his schemes and men were a different story.

"Yeah, don't worry, I have it under control." Mina replied, giving a 100 watt smile. "Kunzite is going to be here any minute to discuss the plan, so, don't bombard him with too much questions because after all, I was the mastermind this time!"

"Now is not the time to boast Mina." Lita warned before giving a small smile herself. It was obvious the blonde was trying to lighten up the mood.

"I just want to get rid of the nasty before she starts hitting on our men as well." Rei murmured, angry that it had turned out this way from all those years ago. She was sure that that was the reason to why Ami was on a frenzy.

"Well well ladies, what a pleasant surprise to find you sitting in my kitchen." a ominous voice spoke, their tone of high authority.

"Oh shut it." Mina glared, brunching up her eyebrows. "Stop trying to scare them."

"It worked the first time." Kunzite smirked, bending down to give Mina a peck on the cheeks. "I should've recorded their expressions.

"I still have to get you back for that." Lita threatened, eyeing Kunzite with a look of distain. Although she didn't really hate the man, the jokes that he made were far less than amusing. Maybe to other people, but the victims seriously got the short end of the stick.

"My apologies fair maiden, it was never my intentions for you to be that strongly affected by my little fun activities." Kunzite grinned, brushing down his white work shirt before taking a seat next to Mina.

"Save it Lita. He's just trying to rile you up like always." Rei said knowingly, giving Kunzite a look before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Now, where were we?"

x.x

"What do you want from me?"

"You already know what I want. The proposition is too good for you too put down. You get what you want, and I get what I want. Simple as that." replied the voice from the other side of the phone. Although their tone was cool and casual, he knew that they were far nervous than usual.

"I don't get why you're doing this. The outcome will never be how you want it to be. You know that."

"It doesn't matter what the outcome is. I want it MY way. THIS time. Regardless of what happens, I want to know that I put part of this in action. I'll do whatever it takes, and I'm going to win." The voice threatened, the vibration of the words proving how sensitive they were on the subject. "It doesn't matter if she has him right now. He WILL be mine in the end."

Clicking his tongue, he thought deeply about their words. Denying their request would surely be the wrong move, especially when they were in such emotional state...but if 'she' ever found out about this, there would be a hard time explaining the situation once it was over. Then again...everything would unravel in the end. It wouldn't be a secret anymore to what was going on. Still, there was doubt on his mind that the person was still being tricky on their terms.

"Give me time to think about it." He finally said, running through a few different situations in his head.

"I don't have time. I will call you back in a day. You better have your decision then." Clipped the voice before he was met with the dial tone.

"Well...that went well." He grimaced before putting the phone back in its cradle. Running a hand through his short dark hair, he once again ran through the best plan he would use. Stalling for time was a good idea because it would give them an idea of doubt. They would panic, and in the benefit for him, more likely to make a mistake. However, it was obvious that he was not dealing with just a normal person. She was smarter than the average, and that made him extra conscious.

Taking out his other cellphone that he rarely used, he speed dialled 1 before waiting for the other person to pick up.

"Three lights flower shop, how may I help you?" A mellow voice asked, rather impatiently at that.

"I need a bouquet of red roses for tomorrow. The time, I'll call again to give, but please have my order by then."

There was a pause before the person replied, "You need this urgently? It's rather late to call a last minute order."

"Well, my princess is celebrating tomorrow. Please send it to Arcadia."

"Hm, alright then. I will wait for the time."

"Thank you."

"Bye."

Clicking the end button, he thought again...carefully before walking out to his balcony. Taking out a packet of smokes, he lit one before taking a deep puff.

Shame that this was stressful enough to bring back a old habit. Shame.

x.x

Serena groaned as she ran to the bathroom for the 3rd time since she woke up. Although she thought she was lucky to have avoided the symptoms for pregnancy, it looked like she was wrong. Her stomach, or rather baby was no agreeing with whatever food she ate. She knew she had to get some nutrients, but she honestly didn't want to puke over and over again. Luckily, she had called her doctor about things she could do about it so it wouldn't be too troubling for her.

Rinsing her mouth again, Serena grimaced as she looked at her reflection. Matted hair and dark eye bags, she looked like she hadn't showered or slept in weeks. Cursing slightly, she took off her night jammies before stepping into the shower.

Darien had to go back to the office for a emergency, those leaving Serena alone. Although she was slightly skeptical of him leaving again for work, he promised that it would only take 2 hours before he would meet up with her for lunch. Since he technically wasn't off the 'hook', he was still making many attempts to get back into her favour. As corny, and naive of her to believe, she felt warm and fuzzy at these actions. Once again...asking herself...

Was she on crack?

She couldn't be thinking normal with all these strange thoughts.

Deciding to take her mind off it once again, Serena shampooed her hair before conditioning thoroughly, running her hands through her long locks. Taking a shower was a definite must in Serena's agenda, but washing her hair was the best thing in the world. Although there were many negatives...because her hair was absurdly long...it took a long time to wash, took a long time to dry...but after all that, she loved the feeling of the hair against her skin, and the floral lavender scent of her shampoo.

Scrunching out the water, Serena quickly grabbed a towel before stepping onto a mat. Drying her hair first before the rest of her body. Shaking the wet tresses, Serena wrapped the towel around her before walking towards her bedroom.

"I think I'll wear-" She stopped abruptly as she bumped into a warm figure, her warning senses tingling immediately. Glancing up, Serena huffed out a breath of relief before glaring slightly, "You scared me!"

Watching the humour in Darien's eyes, Serena couldn't help but give a small smile herself before pushing him back slightly to walk to her closet. A little shy at her current state of undress.

"I was just wondering where you were." Darien smiled, walking over to the bed before sitting down on the mattress, turning his body to look at his beautiful wife. She had smelled heavenly when he had bumped into her. Although his intentions were less than innocent, he knew that he couldn't make a move...just yet.

"You could've said something. If you don't make a sound, it is slightly creepy." Serena scolded, clipping on her bra, and wearing her panties before quickly slipping into a baggy top and tights. Her stomach was showing now, and it was not easy wearing constricting clothes.

"In my own house?" Darien laughed, eyes crinkling as he stood up to walk towards her, just as she was about done with dressing.

"Yes, in your own house." She murmured before half heartedly glaring again.

"Do you need to discipline me, ?" Darien whispered, pulling her into a gentle hug.

"Don't play with me." Serena growled, pushing slightly against his chest.

"Never." Darien promised, his tone voicing out his sincerity. Pulling back to look into her eyes, he whispered, "I'll never let you down again."

"I-"

DING DONG.

A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry once again if it seems like I'm taking a really long time to update. I've been trying to write this bit by bit while I have school. I'm currently struggling with my essays and finals right now. I really appreciate all the reviews you've left! I'm sorry if I haven't been able to reply to everybody. I sincerely thank everyone of you for commenting! I'll try my best to update, and I hope you understand the pace of my writing.

If you have any questions, feel free to pm me.

Thank you again!