And here we have part two! Enjoy! Oh...I suppose I should rate this story, huh? Well...this chapter is PG, so it's safe. The whole entire story will most likely be PG to PG-13, but no higher than that. I don't do hentai. "Love Waits for You" by Stormlight ~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter Two ~~~~~~~~~~~ Darien saw Serena sitting alone on a bench in the park the next afternoon, and realized that now was a perfect time to confront her about Ryan. He strolled casually over to her and sat down on the bench as if he had every right to do so. Serena glanced at him, her jaw tightening, but when he didn't say anything her look turned quizzical, and somewhat annoyed. "Um, 'scuse me, Darien, but I happen to want to be alone," she informed him stiffly. He didn't reply for a moment as he watched a squirrel scamper up a tree, but then he turned a deep sapphire gaze to her, and she was astonished to see concern shining in his eyes. "Serena..." He paused, and she was even more surprised that he had actually called her by her NAME for once. "Serena," he said again, firmly, "I don't think you should see Ryan. He's...he just isn't the kind of guy you should be with..." "WHAT?! YOU TOO?!" Serena yelled, leaping to her feet. "Oh, this is just great!" she exclaimed angrily, looking up at the sky. "First, my best friends, who're SUPPOSED to support me, turn on me, and now DARIEN CHIBA, of all people, is telling me whom I can and cannot go out with! Is this some kind of cosmic JOKE?!" "Serena, this guy is a complete jerk! I saw how he treated you yesterday! I bet he treats his DOG better than you! You...you deserve better!" Darien protested, frustrated at her refusal to see common sense. Serena turned on him, her eyes flashing blue fire through a film of tears. "WHERE DO YOU GET OFF, DARIEN CHIBA?!" she yelled. "Where do you get off, telling me what to do?! Oh, so it's okay for YOU to make me utterly miserable, but no one else is allowed, is that it?" Darien, taken aback, stammered out, "No! I mean...that's not what I meant at all! I just..." "Well, I have news for YOU, Mr. Conceited Jerk! You go home and you say all those things to your mirror, 'cause until you do you have NO RIGHT to say them to me! Do you hear me? NO RIGHT!" With a soft sob, she began to turn away. Then she paused and looked back. "And for your information, Mr. Chiba," she added coldly, "Ryan doesn't HAVE a dog!" With that, she turned and fled, leaving a bewildered Darien to stare after her. * * * * * She was right. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Serena was absolutely right. Darien had been wrong to accuse Ryan of doing the very thing he himself had done on countless occasions, and he began to feel incredibly guilty about it. **But we're hardly even friends, and this guy is supposed to be her boyfriend!** he thought. **What does she see in him? Why won't she look for someone better?** Serena never hesitated to defend herself against Darien, and yet for Ryan...she seemed willing to overlook the emotional abuse he put her through, and that was something Darien could not understand. Didn't she think she could do better than Ryan? It was a question he put to Andrew later on in the arcade, wanting to hear his best friend's opinion of this Ryan person. Andrew's lips tightened at the mention of that name, and his hand stilled in polishing the glass he was holding. He seemed to be looking for the right words to say. "Ryan...doesn't strike me as the type of guy...who knows how a girl should be treated," he began carefully. "Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so," Darien muttered, staring into his coke glass. "But Serena won't listen to me." "Well...you can hardly blame her for that, can you?" Andrew replied with a slight smile. "After all..." "I know, I KNOW!" Darien replied, feeling his cheeks turn a faint red. "Serena made it very clear to me earlier that I was sort of guilty of the same thing. But...that just proves that she KNOWS that Ryan is a creep, and she still won't do anything about it!" Andrew paused. "Maybe...she doesn't believe that anyone else would be interested in her in that way, so she takes what she gets," he said slowly. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Darien snapped. "Who WOULDN'T want to go out with Serena?! Come on, YOU see all those guys watching her wherever she goes! Any ONE of them would fall down at her feet if she so much as looks at them!" Andrew's smile was sly as he regarded his friend. "So you noticed that, too, huh?" he asked teasingly. "You wouldn't happen to BE 'one of them'...would you?" Darien blinked in surprise at his friend, then gave a sheepish grin. "Up until a day or two ago, I probably would slug you for that remark," he replied dryly. "But now..." He sighed and downed the last of his drink. "Now I'm tempted to admit that maybe you're right." "Of course I am. I'm your best friend. It's my job to be right," Andrew replied good naturedly. Then he turned serious. "Look, Dar, if you wanna prove to Serena just how much of a creep Ryan is, then you gotta start showing her how a REAL gentleman would treat his lady. Start pouring on the charm! Sweep her off her feet! She'll never know what hit her!" Darien smirked. "Oh, like Serena would EVER believe that I'm interested in her!" he snorted. "Not after the way I've treated her! She'd probably fall over laughing." "Well, you never know 'till you try," Andrew replied wisely. "The worst that can happen is she'll ignore you." Darien hesitated. "And what's the best that could happen?" he asked reluctantly. Andrew smiled. "You just might get yourself the love of your life," he replied mysteriously. He patted Darien's shoulder, put away the glasses he'd finished polishing, and headed over to the game area to help out a little boy playing Sailor V. * * * * * Darien didn't sleep all night. He was too busy thinking about Andrew's words, and the possibility that he might be right. But no matter how much sense his logic made, Darien could not bring himself to believe that Serena would ever see him as anything more than an antagonist. Which was why he was going to have to show her in some other way that there were nice guys out there and that she didn't need to be stuck with a self-centered creep like Ryan. He suddenly recalled a few years ago, when he'd been in high school, and had thought himself madly in love with the most popular girl in the school, who's name was Tiffini. He'd done everything possible to get the pretty brunette to notice him, but he was one of the "bookworm" types, and had hardly gotten her to bat an eyelash at him, even though other girls swooned at his mere glance. Finally, he'd resorted to sending her anonymous gifts and love letters, and for awhile it actually seemed to work...until Tiffini's boyfriend inadvertently discovered that it was Darien sending all those gifts, and had sicced his pet lackeys on him, thus convincing him to turn his attentions elsewhere. Darien smiled to himself as he recalled how quickly he'd decided that he WASN'T in love with Tiffini. He wasn't a coward, and he wasn't a weakling, but he'd known better than to take on an entire gang by himself...especially over one girl who obviously thought he wasn't worth the ground she walked on. He opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling, and a plan began to form in his head. Until Tiffini had found out it was HIM sending those notes...she had been thrilled and flattered at the thought of having a secret admirer. What if he tried the same tactics on Serena...only this time making sure she DIDN'T find out who it was? Would that be enough to make her realize that she could do better than Ryan? It was worth a shot, like Andrew said. And it was a good idea, Darien had to admit. He thought it over more carefully, discarding ideas and creating new ones, and by the time he finally fell asleep, he'd come up with a pretty soundproof plan to sweep Serena clean off her feet. * * * * * "Hey, Serena, you wanna go shopping with me on Sunday?" Molly asked, looking at her best friend hopefully. She and Serena were sitting on a grassy bank at school, eating lunch together. For once, Ryan was not with them, and for that Molly was grateful. It seemed like it had been ages since she'd been able to have her friend all to herself. Serena brightened at Molly's suggestion, but then her face fell a moment later. "Gee, Moll, I...I'd love to, but...but I already made plans to see that new action movie with Ryan," she stammered. Molly's face fell and she looked away, but not before Serena saw the deep pain hidden in her eyes. "Okay," she replied quietly. "I understand. He's your boyfriend. I'm just your friend, is all." Immediate guilt flooded Serena, making tears spring to her eyes. Molly WAS her friend, her very best friend, but ever since Serena had discovered that she was Sailor Moon, and had met the Sailor Scouts, she had been pushing Molly away. Whether it was to protect the other girl, or her secret, Serena didn't know, but it had created a rift in their close-knit friendship that threatened to break it entirely, and it was all her fault. And now that Ryan was in the picture... **Got to mend this, before I lose her,** Serena thought sadly. **Oh, Molly, I'm so sorry! I hardly even realized what I was doing to us! I don't want to lose you over some guy, even if it IS Ryan, or even over the Scouts! I can't let that happen! I...I'd rather die first!** She sniffed and gave Molly a bright smile. "Ya know, who wants to see a dumb war movie, anyhow? I'd much rather go shopping with my best friend!" Molly's expression turned hopeful again. "Do you really mean that? Just the two of us?" she asked. Serena nodded firmly. "Just the two of us! I won't even invite the Scou...er...Amy or Lita or Raye! It'll be just us!" "Oh, Serena!" Molly squealed, throwing her arms around her friend's neck. "We'll have a great time! Just you wait and see! It'll be just like it used to! We can rent videos and watch them on our new television and eat popcorn and my mom's great brownies and all sorts of stuff!" "Sounds like a blast!" Serena replied enthusiastically. "But wait..." Molly's expression became pensive. "What'll you tell Ryan?" Serena hesitated, then gave her a cheery smile and a shrug. "The truth, of course. He's my boyfriend; he'll understand, I'm sure," she replied positively. * * * * * She was wrong. Ryan did NOT understand. At all. He glared at her as she stood before him in the arcade after school, looking anything but understanding while she explained the situation. He sat there, tightlipped, and said not a word, which made her rather nervous. "Come on, Ryan! You...you aren't angry, aren't you?" she pleaded. "Angry? Of course not! Why should I be angry? I mean, my girl goes and cancels our date 'cause she'd rather hang out with some little twit than with me, but so what? I should be LEAPING with joy!" he nearly snarled. Serena felt her hackles rise. "Molly is my best friend, and I've been practically ignoring her! I'm trying to heal our friendship!" she defended. "Sere...sometimes, ya gotta let things go," Ryan replied soothingly. "If you and...Molly, is it?...are drifting apart, well...isn't it for the best? Sometimes ya gotta meet new friends and let go of the old, don't you think?" "NO!" Serena was horrified that he'd even MAKE such a suggestion, and tears sprang to her eyes as she stared at him in shock. How could he be so...so callous? "Okay, okay! Calm down, Sere," Ryan hissed, glancing around. "Don't make such a scene! What are you, three?" "I...I'm sorry," she whimpered, struggling to hold back her tears...something she rarely EVER did. His words stung her, but she guessed that they were no more than she deserved. She knew how much her immature outbursts embarrassed him. "Look, I gotta go, okay?" Ryan told her uncomfortably. "But...I thought we were gonna have dinner together," Serena stammered. He had promised to buy her dinner, something he had not yet done since they'd started dating. In fact...now that she thought about it, they hadn't even gone on any actual DATES as of yet. It was weird to her, but as she'd never had a boyfriend before, how was she to know what couples did together? Besides, they'd only been going out for a week. She just needed to give it some time, is all... He was laughing at her lightly. "Yeah, well, I figure that if you can cancel a date, then so can I," he told her. "Besides, the way you eat, if I bought YOU dinner I'd probably go broke!" Serena felt her face flush with humiliation. How could Ryan say such cruel things to her?! And in front of other people, no less! She watched, stunned, as Ryan slid from the booth he was sitting at, waiting for some sort of apology, but none was forthcoming, and she watched in numb bewilderment as he sauntered out the door, not even saying goodbye. Shaking her head to clear it, trying to ignore the stares she was sure were directed her way, Serena slowly turned around... andthere stood Darien, not three feet away from her. Judging by his expression, he had heard the entire exchange between them, and he was NOT happy. She met his gaze, and he returned it silently, his sapphire eyes filled with worry. Biting her lip against an unreasonable urge to break down and cry, she slowly slid into the booth Ryan had vacated, hoping that if she merely ignored Darien, he'd go away. It was not to be. After a mere moment, she felt eyes on her, and glanced up to once again meet a deep, sapphire gaze, filled with concern. Darien leaned closer to her, his eyes searching her own. "Are you okay?" he asked, and the gentleness in his voice nearly made her break down, despite her firm resolve not to. "I'm fine," she stated in a flat, emotionless voice. "Just peachy." She even managed a smile for him, suspecting it looked a bit mechanical, yet hoping it would be convincing enough to make him leave. It didn't fool him in the least, and the knowing look he gave her told her so. "He didn't have any right to talk to you that way," he told her darkly. "What do you see in him, Serena? Why are you with someone who hurts you like that?" "It's none of your business, Darien!" He sighed. "Well, how about I buy you a hamburger? Would that help cheer you up?" he suggested, giving her his best knock-'em-dead smile that never failed to win them over in the past. Serena looked up sharply, her eyes narrowed. "Why are you suddenly being so nice to me?" she asked suspiciously. He shifted. "I...I just feel bad, about what Ryan said to you. You deserved better than that." Serena looked away uncomfortably. "I don't want your pity, Darien," she mumbled. He sighed. "I'm not giving you my pity. I just wanna know if you want a hamburger. My treat." She hesitated, and he felt a tiny spark of triumph. "No thank you. I'm not very hungry right now." The spark fizzled and sputtered out like a match in a monsoon. "Come on, Serena..." "I SAID I'm NOT HUNGRY!" Serena yelled, her patience finally at an end. She leaped out of her seat and bolted from the arcade, leaving Darien to once again stare after her, thinking all the while that this scene was becoming depressingly familiar... Continued...