Chapter 5: The Stupidest Thing
Serena waited in the park by the fountain. She didn’t even know why she was doing this. Why was Darien so insistent about meeting here tonight? She remembered all the times she had tried calling him, asking him to at the very least talk to her, explain why he was doing this to her. Every time he had simply said there was no reason to talk, his mind was made up and that was that. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the very reason he had called her out here was the very same reason she had tried calling him out here for? What would she do if that was the reason?
“Serena!” that old familiar voice called to her as he jogged up to her. He appeared very disheveled, his hair going every which way and his clothing hastily thrown on. That wasn’t like him at all, she knew. “I’m so happy you came.”
“I don’t know if I can say the same. But say what you need to say so I can get home.” she said coldly. “My mom and dad will be angry if they find me gone at this hour.”
He took her in his arms. “Serena, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize what I was doing to you.”
Serena pulled away hard. “You didn’t realize what you were doing? Of course you knew what you were doing! You know very well that you were breaking my heart every single time. If that’s all you want to say, I’m leaving.”
“Serena, please…just hear me out.” he begged her. “I have a good reason for why I did that.”
Serena stopped and sighed hard. “Fine Darien.” she sat down on the stone bench of the fountain. “You have five minutes.”
Darien looked down, trying to think where to begin. “Not long after Reenie came I started getting these visions. Horrible visions and nightmares. They told me that if we stayed together, something horrible would happen, that you would die.” he looked into his hands. “I couldn’t let that happen. I love you so much. I had to protect you no matter what it cost me.”
“You mean what it cost us, Darien!” Serena shouted. “You mean to tell me that all of this crap was because you had a bad dream? Do you even know how stupid that sounds. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard and I’ve heard some stupid things Darien, mostly coming straight from my own mouth.”
“It wasn’t just a bad dream. It was several, night after night. I couldn’t take the chance they were telling the truth! I had to protect you!”
“NO! You didn’t! You…you…” Serena grit her teeth.
“You jackass!” Raye’s voice came from behind them.
The two of them turned around. Serena had never been so grateful to see her dear friends. They came over to her, taking the position of guards around her. Raye and Mina placed their arms around her in comfort.
“Didn’t it occur to you that we would never allow anything to happen to her!” Lita demanded. “She’s the princess and our leader and more importantly, the closest friend any of us has ever had. We would protect her with our lives.”
“And for all you know, those dreams could have been sent by our enemy. Trying to drive you away from Serena. You didn’t even say anything to us about it, Darien.” Ami added. “We could have investigated the matter together as a team!”
Mina glowered, “I don’t think he knows what the word team even means, Ami. You’re wasting your breath. He’s too busy worrying about how everything effects him, only him. He’d rather tear her to pieces over this then just sit down and talk about it.”
“I can’t believe I ever wished he could be my boyfriend.” Raye snapped. “Which by the way Darien, I only stopped wanting that after we discovered that Serena was supposed to be your destiny. Thank you for wasting my sacrifice and all the tears I cried myself to sleep with.”
Serena felt tears boiling up behind her eyes. “Darien, leave. You don’t have to protect me anymore. I’d rather know I can count on my friends to be there for me, to protect me, then to have someone feel the best way to protect me is to lie and continually hurt me. I deserve more than that. I’m worth more than that.”
Darien couldn’t even speak. His mouth open and closed like a fish and his eyes just spoke volumes of confusion and heartbreak. He didn’t know what to do except do as she asked. He turned sadly and left. He had hoped that it wasn’t too late but apparently it was. He only hoped he could survive this terrible pain in his chest.
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Asleep in Serena’s bed, Reenie rolled over. “Mommy…Daddy…” she murmured.
In her dreams she was playing with her mommy, a goddess of a woman with long golden odangoes and perfect blue eyes, and her daddy, a regal man with dark hair and a gentle disposition.
“Small Lady,” her mother said her name with genuine love.
Reenie smiled up at her mother, her hero in all ways. “Mommy…” she leaned into her mother’s hug. She’d missed this for so long.
“Our precious little girl…” the man said, with just as much love as the woman. But Reenie just bent her eyes in confusion.
“Who are you?” she asked. The man faded away and another faded in. One that was suddenly very familiar to her but she couldn’t put a name to. “Daddy…”
AN: Yes, Reenie will indeed still be a very big part of this story. Darien has really put his foot in it so to speak. And for those of you who couldn’t tell yet, it’s over between Darien and Serena, at least for now. Who knows what the rest of the story will bring.
