"For Argument's Sake."
By: Isis  @}->--
isis@moonkingdom.com
Rating: G
Disclaimers: Don't sue and don't copy!
AN: All right, is anyone still out there?  Mad at me are 
you?  Well too bad!  The goddess is having a great time of this.

Enter a new boyfriend, and an even dearer friendship.


Chapter 10
*@}->--*


"It's just not fair," Serena mumbled to herself.  She was clad in a 
cute little black dress and gold heart-charm jewelry.  But she was 
bent over on hands and knees inside of her closet.  "Why is it that I 
never seem to have enough shoes when I go shopping, but I have 
twenty different pairs when I'm trying to find the ones I want?"

She threw boxes and other shoes out of the way and continued 
digging.  "Hey!" she said spotting something in the back.  "I didn't 
know I still had these!"  She held up a pair of white flats that she 
hadn't worn in years.  She wondered idly if they still fit.  "Oh, 
well, I can try them on later."  She tossed them aside before she 
finally laid hold of the pair she wanted.

Only to discover that it wasn't a pair.  One of the black heels that 
she had wanted lay in her hand but the other was a totally different 
kind of black heel.  "OK, which ever of the mates I find first gets 
to be worn!"

After a few more minutes of scrounging, she came up with a pair.  
Slipping them on she stood in front of her mirror and admired the 
outfit.  *Oh, I hope this looks right!  Maybe I should have added 
some hose.  Am I too underdressed?  Could it be too much?  OK, 
breathe… in… out… in… out.  I'll be fine.  It's just a date; I'll be 
fine!  Then why is my heart beating a mile a minute and my knees 
are going weak?*

She fiercely told herself to calm down and relax.  He would be 
here any second and she wanted to make a good impression.  As 
long as she didn't totally klutz out in front of him she'd be just 
fine.  *I hope!*

There was a knock at the door and she jumped in spite of herself.  
Quickly recomposing she forced herself to walk to the door at a 
normal rate and paused just a second or two before opening it.  
Neil stood before her dressed in brown slacks and a brown striped 
shirt.  OK so his fashion sense needed a little help, but what guy's 
didn't?

"Hi, Neil!" she said enthusiastically.

"Hello, Serena," he said in the same way.  He pulled out a bouquet 
of flowers from behind his back and held them out to her 
nervously.  "Uh, these are for you."

She gasped at the unexpected present.  No one had given her 
flowers before on their first date.  How sweet!  She snapped back 
to reality and opened the door wider.  "I'm sorry, come in come 
in."  She took the flowers from him and stood back to let him.  
Sticking her nose in them she giggled at herself.  "Their beautiful, 
thank you so much!  But, really you didn't have to."

"I wanted to.  Besides, you look especially beautiful yourself 
tonight."

She blushed slightly and lowered her eyes for a moment before 
walking towards the kitchen.  "Thank you," she said again as she 
fumbled through her cabinets for a glass tall enough to serve as a 
vase until she found a real one.

"You really have a view from up here," he commented from 
behind her as he moved to look out of her balcony doors.

"Yeah, it's great.  I really love this place."  She filled the glass 
with water and unwrapped the bouquet.  She removed the paper 
and stuck them in only to find that they looked really stupid in a 
glass three times too big around for them.  She sighed and told 
herself that tomorrow she would go out and buy a real vase.

Walking back into the living room she smiled at her visitor again.  
"Thank you again, Neil."

"No problem.  Are you ready?" he asked crossing back to her.

"Yeah!  I even managed to find my shoes."


Four hours later the couple made their way back to her apartment 
door.  Aside from trying to use her spoon to cut her meat at dinner 
she had managed to avoid falling on her face or spilling something 
on him.  All in all, it had been a good night, even if it was turning 
out to be a little less than magical.

It wasn't Neil's fault.  He had done everything right and it had 
been fun, but there was just something missing, or wrong, or… 
maybe she was just being too picky.

"I had a good time tonight, Serena," he said as they stopped in 
front of her door.  He slowly released her arm that he had taken, 
but stopped before letting go in order to hold her hand.

"Me too," she said honestly enough.  He was a nice person to be 
around, and he was easy to talk to.  It shouldn't be hard to really 
like the guy.

"Well," he looked at her door as if trying to come up with 
something else to say.  "I guess I'll see you on Monday, right?"

"Yeah, back to the grind already," she said trying to make the 
conversation a little lighter.  He was certainly a focused type of 
person.  Small talk really wasn't his thing she imagined.

"Yeah."  He paused a bit longer.  "Well, I'll see you."

"Yeah," that seemed to be their favorite word tonight.  On the 
impulse of getting this over with she bounced up and hugged him 
lightly.  "Thank you again, Neil."

"Don't thank me.  I had a great date."  She pulled away enough to 
look at him with a slight blush growing on her checks.

Without preamble he brought a hand up to her check and bent 
down to place a kiss on her lips.  She softly returned it closing her 
eyes to savor it.  His touch was gentle but without any real passion 
behind it.  She waited for the lightheadedness and the quickened 
pulse rate that usually accompanied a kiss like this.

But it never came.

He pulled back and she looked up at him.  His green eyes looked 
back at her with a warm nature behind them, but no true feelings.  
"Goodnight," he whispered.  She mumbled something and he 
released her and walked back down the hallway as she let herself 
into her apartment.

She closed the door and leaned against it.  So that was it.  No 
lightning, no thunder, no heart flutters, no nothing!  What was 
wrong with her?  A wonderful date like this and she didn't feel a 
thing for the man!

She had been nit picking all night long about everything he did or 
said.  Constantly comparing him and examining him like he was a 
test subject or something.  What was she doing?  It was like she 
was trying to find a reason not to like the guy.  And that kiss…

*Maybe I'm just not attracted to him the way I thought I was.  But 
he's cute and he's smart and he has a great personality.  What's 
wrong with him?  Maybe I'm forcing myself too hard.  It's just our 
first date, what was I expecting?  Most guys don't come along and 
totally knock you off your feet with one kiss!  I don't think.*

With a frustrated sigh she flipped on the light and threw her purse 
on the coffee table.  *So maybe he's not my Prince Charming.  But 
he is charming.*  She smiled to herself and walked into the kitchen 
to examine the flowers he had given her.  A cluster of carnations 
and wild flowers looked back at her.  Yes, tomorrow she would 
find a vase for them.  But tonight she'd go to bed and wonder if 
she was being too hard on him and not truthful enough with 
herself.


Ring…  Ring…  Ring…  Rin-.  Darien knocked the phone off of 
the bedside stand.  He slowly brought it up to his ear.  "'Ello?"

"Darien?  Did I wake you?"

He rolled over with the phone still in hand.  "Yes."

"Oh, gee, I'm sorry."  There was a pause before the perky little 
voice came back.  "You're suppose to be home from your morning 
jog by now, what are you doing in bed?"

"I was sleeping," he muttered still refusing to open his eyes.  "It's 
Sunday, I don't go out jogging until the afternoon, if I go at all."

"Oh!  Well, learn something new everyday."

"Most people do, but you have certainly given it a good shot to 
never learn anything."  He repositioned his pillow under his head.

"Boy, you are a grump in the mornings aren't you?"

"Yes.  What time is it?" he asked not willing to roll over and look 
at the clock.

"It's, uh, seven-thirty."

"And what exactly are you doing calling me at seven-thirty in the 
morning Miss 'If I don't get twelve hours sleep, you just don't 
want to know me.'"

"Very funny.  But I just called to chat.  I'll call later, you may go 
back to bed sleepy head."

"I haven't gotten out of bad, and you didn't call to chat."

"How do you know?"

He laughed into the phone.  "Because nothing short of a hypnotic 
suggestion would make you get out of bed before noon on a day 
that you didn't have to.  I take it something happened last night 
with Mr. Right."

"Actually, no, nothing happened."

"What?"  He finally opened his eyes.

"It's kind of hard to explain."

He rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.  "Give it a 
try."

"Well, he was really, really sweet.  He even brought me flowers, 
and we went to the Rose Garden, which I assumed is because of 
something you said so please remind me to interrogate you later 
about what else you told him."

"Sure, so you had a good time?"

"Yeah, it was fun.  I mean we got a long and everything."

"So what's the problem?"

"…He kissed me."

Darien propped himself up on one elbow.  "So?  What, you don't 
kiss on the first date?"

"No."

"So what's wrong with him kissing you?"

"I didn't feel anything…"

He gave up and flopped back down in bed and snuggled the covers 
up around him again.  "Define not feeling anything."

"I don't know.  It was like there should have been a spark, or a… 
something!  But there just wasn't.  There was just no attraction 
between us.  I don't really understand.  Aren't you suppose to feel 
something?"

He chuckled lightly.  "Do you remember after your first kiss you 
asked me if it always felt the same?"

"Yes,"

"I told you then that you were talking to a man that has very little 
experience in the matter.  I haven't gotten any better lately."

"Darien!  I'm trying to be serious here!"

He held the phone away from his ear in order to save his hearing.  
"So am I.  I can't tell you what to feel or not to feel.  But listen, so 
maybe you really aren't attracted to the guy.  So what?  It's 
happened a million times before throughout history, you're not the 
first don't worry."

"But, I've never just not felt anything for someone I go out with.  
It's totally weird."

"Serena, you've had a crush on almost every guy that you've dated 
that I can remember.  It was different with them because you 
already had feelings for them.  So maybe he didn't knock your 
shoes off.  I don't think many relationships are ever based on 
whether they fall in love at first kiss.  Now stop worrying and get 
off your couch and out of your pajamas."

"How did you know I was still in my pajamas and on the couch?"

He smiled into his pillow.  "Because your phone sits in your living 
room and I'm sure you're stretched out on the couch trying to 
avoid the killer spring.  You also never get up before noon most 
days, and if you aren't going anywhere or are upset about 
something you never bother to change into normal clothes."

"Whoa, totally freaky!  What do I need a boyfriend for when I 
have someone that knows me inside out anyway?"

"Yes, and I still love ya.  But getting back to Neil, what do you 
think he thought?"

"I don't know.  He said he had a good time, but so did I.  He's a 
great person to be around, he really is."

"You just don't like him kissing you."

"Do have to make it sound so cold."

"Isn't that what you said it felt like?"

"No, I said I didn't feel anything.  I didn't say I didn't like it."

He again switched positions and rubbed his eyes.  "You know 
what?"

"What?"

"I think you have a lot more experience with this subject than me."

"I can't help it if you have a pathetic excuse for a love-life."

"Gee, thanks."

There was a laugh from the other end of the phone line.  "I'm 
sorry, but what am I going to do about this?"

"It's funny.  The one man on Earth who has the most 'pathetic 
excuse for a love-life' is the one who always seems to get the 
romance questions."

"You have better advice than everyone else."

"How?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't ask you."

"Oh.  OK, well, you have two choices my dear."  He finally sat up 
with a yawn.  "You can either end it now and go on your merry 
little way, or you can stick with it and see where you end up."

"So dump him, or see if I can turn the frog into a prince."

"You got it."

"What if he really likes me and I never like him back?  What if I 
hurt him?"

"Someone gets hurt in every relationship.  That's just how they 
work.  The question is how bad the damage will be."

There was a long pause from the other end.  "Do you really believe 
that?"

"Believe what?" he asked innocently.

"I think I just found out why you have no experience with 
relationships."

He sighed and flopped back in bed again.  "Maybe you did."

"Come on Darien.  The reason for dating is so you can find that 
one person in life that you can't be without.  The one person that 
you'll always be with."

"I thought we were talking about your problems."

"We just switched."

He stared up at the ceiling again not really seeing anything.

"Darien, I know you have always pushed people away from you.  
You're afraid to be close to someone, and afraid to lose them.  But 
surly this is different.  I mean, we're talking about love here!  You 
can't tell me that you never want to fall in love with someone."

He remained quiet taking in her words.  Love.  Probably the most 
overrated word in existence.  But it was the one word that he 
would never hear.  He didn't mean to be so pessimistic, but he 
couldn't open himself up that much.  It was hard enough to know 
how vulnerable he was to Serena let alone with someone he openly 
loved.  The fear of losing them would be more than he could take.

"Darien?  You still there?"

"Yes, just thinking."

"Listen, I know you too well to think that you haven't thought this 
through a thousand times before.  But think about this again will 
you?  There has to be something worth living for, and I know that 
something is a lot better than just your stubborn will."

He smiled unconsciously at her while she continued.  "You have 
friends Darien.  Friends that care about you.  And you have me!  
And this is me talking some sense into you.  You can't live in the 
past and don't need to.  Everyone on the face of this planet has the 
same fears of losing those close to them as you do!  They don't 
realize it nearly as much because they haven't lost anyone yet.  But 
don't believe for one minute that no one else lies awake at night 
afraid that the people they love won't be with them in the 
morning."

He closed his eyes, the truth of her words rang much too clear in 
his mind.  He'd heard them before of course, but Serena always 
had a way of putting things into terms that his heart understood, 
even if his brain didn't.  "So get off my butt and do something with 
myself, is that it?"

"No, just don't hide from something that you don't know."

That was the phrase he didn't want to hear.  He didn't want to 
admit he was afraid, scared to death of that pain ever happening 
again.  But he was.

"Darien, loving someone and losing them is a lot easier than never 
loving them at all.  You should know that."

"I know."  He couldn't think of anything else to say.  He knew 
very well that Serena knew him better than he did sometimes and 
this was one of them.  She could always see through him when it 
counted.

"Good!" she said triumphantly.  "So what are we going to do about 
me?"


"So now, tell me about this Cora chick."

Once again Darien was unprepared for one of her questions.  
Funny, she should have run out of things to surprise him with 
about three years ago.  "Who?" he muttered instead.

"You know who!  I had a lovely conversation with Neil about your 
supposed infatuation with some girl you've never seen before.  I 
found it a very amusing story to listen to."

"You know, I really do think you should dump the guy," he 
grumbled.

Serena laughed at him as they continued their walk around the 
park.  The rose gardens were out in full force once again before the 
coming winter, and they were more beautiful than she 
remembered.  "Too bad.  Now spill."

"What's to say?"

"Well, you can start with the description of why the only man I 
know that wouldn't find a beauty pageant winner pretty would be 
knocked off his feet by some astronomer-type whatever."

"Astrophysicist."

"Right, Whatever."

He chuckled a bit at her before opening up.  "I don't really know 
what it was.  She just seemed different."

"Different as in the most beautiful woman you've ever seen or 
different as in she had two heads?"

"I think I would have noticed an extra appendage."  He gave her a 
sour look and continued his walk.

"Oh, come on Darien!  Tell me would you?  I'm curious as to what 
type of woman finally manages to turn your head."  She stopped 
him with a hand on his arm and guided him towards a park bench.

"You're totally set on this aren't you?"

She swore he was dragging his feet.  "Yes!  You make me tell you 
every detail of my life but you won't tell me a single thing about 
yours.  Now sit down!"  She practically threw him at the bench.

"I don't force you to tell me anything."

"Sure you do!  Every time something goes wrong you 
automatically pop into my head and this little voice says 'tell 
Darien, he'll know what to do.'  So I do."

"And this is my fault how?"

"You're always in my head," she mumbled sitting down beside 
him.

"Oh Kay."

"So come on, tell me about her."

He leaned back to get a little more comfortable on the cement 
bench before responding.  "She's engaged.  How's that for 
information."

She looked at him shocked for a moment.  Neil hadn't told her 
that.  Of course maybe he didn't know either.  "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, neither did I until I caught sight of the ring, which was of 
course after I made an idiot out of myself."

"Uh-oh," she said to herself.

"Yeah, and guess what, she's marrying Mr. Blimber's son."

"Mr. Blimber?"

"The primary astrophysicist at the Observatory, they work 
together."

"Oh."  It was all she could think to say.  She had wanted to find 
someone that could be a suitable match for Darien, and by Neil's 
descriptions she would have been perfect.  *Why are the good ones 
always taken?*  "So what was it about her?"

"I don't know."  He looked over to her with an odd expression.  
"Why?"

"Just wondering," she shrugged, "I have to know what I'm looking 
for right?"

He popped off the bench like he'd been shot.  "No!  N.  O.  NO!  
The last thing I need is someone else constantly on my case about 
this girl or that.  Andrew still hasn't given up and he's bad enough 
for both of you so just get that idea out of that pretty little head of 
yours!"

She laughed uncontrollably at him.  It didn't seem to help maters 
any.

"Serena, I'm serious!  You were the one griping at me just this 
morning about finding someone.  I do not need help!  At least in 
this mater."  He grudgingly sat down again.  "I still think I should 
have my head examined for having you two as friends.  I must 
have psychological damage after all these years," he muttered.

She was still laughing but instead of hitting him for the comment 
she hugged him.  He almost unwillingly hugged her back.  "OK, 
I'm sorry.  I promise no blind dates.  But still, I want to know 
about the one and only person I've ever heard of actually getting 
under your skin."  She looked up at him with a knowing smile on 
her face.

He didn't argue.  "I'm not really sure what it was.  She was 
beautiful.  Quiet, or reserved maybe, but she was also comfortable 
with people.  Does that make sense?"  He didn't wait for a 
response.  "She seemed very sweet and open.  She just had this 
little magical air about her; I can't explain it.  Otherwise she 
was…"

Serena looked up at him as he trailed off.  There was something 
that he wasn't telling her.  "Was what?"

"I don't know.  It's really odd, but the whole time I kept 
comparing her to you."

She didn't find it all that odd.  "That's kind of like me.  I kept 
comparing Neil to you the whole night.  No mater how much I told 
myself to cut it out I couldn't help it."

He looked at her a little amused.  "So does that mean if I asked you 
out you won't like me anymore either?"

"I don't know."  She leaned her head back on his shoulder.  "You 
know, the two of you are a lot alike.  But there's also a lot of 
differences."

"No two people are made alike."

"Maybe."  She thought.  She'd spent most of last night thinking 
about this too.  Could that be why she liked Neil to start with, 
because he reminded her of Darien?  It was possible; she would 
have to admit that she wouldn't mind dating someone like him.  
But maybe she didn't notice how different they were until she got 
to know Neil better.  Could that be it?

"Yeah, Meatball Head, you still in there?"

"Hum?  Oh, yeah.  Do you think there's just something wrong with 
us for thinking like that?"

"Oh yeah, there's something wrong with us, I just haven't figured 
out what yet.  But on this, no, I don't thing we should commit 
ourselves quiet yet.  I mean we've known each other for forever.  
We have a, well, good relationship, so when someone else walks 
into our lives comparisons are normal.  We like finding something 
that we're familiar with in the people we meet."

She took in his words then looked up at him.  "You really do sound 
like a text book, you know that?"

"Thanks."

"Your welcome."  She paused again.  "So this is just like when I 
met Romola and thought she sounded like Mina right?"

"Right."

"So when you met Cora she reminded you of me?"

He paused a moment.  "Yeah, she did."

"So does that mean if I asked you out you'd think I was some 
gorgeous babe too?"  She smiled up at him.

"I didn't say that."

She giggled to herself merrily.  "Oh well."

They sat together enjoying the remainder of the warm sunset 
quietly.  The days were shortening and the winds, and storms, were 
picking up once more as the summer wore itself out.  Somehow, 
she was sort of glad to see autumn come in.  Usually summer was 
her favorite season, but this year the summer had brought on too 
many changes for her liking.  Some quiet time was just what she 
needed now.

"Darien?"

"Hum?"

"What's your favorite season?"

He looked down at her for a moment, probably trying to figure out 
what had brought on that question.  "Well, I don't know, I like 
things about all of them."

"Oh, come on.  You have to have a favorite."

He paused to think, "I guess maybe spring or fall.  I don't like 
winter and summer is too long and boring.  But, I guess fall.  I like 
the colors, and the atmosphere."

"Oh, yeah, the 'death and dying king' strikes again."

"That wasn't the atmosphere I was talking about."

She laughed at him.  Yes, fall would be fitting to Darien's style.  
Still warm at times but the wind always held a chill to it.  Not like 
winter where everything is dead and long buried.  The colors fit, 
drab but vibrant as well.  And the mood, like everything knew that 
the winter was coming and was preparing.  Hiding themselves 
away so that they would be safe and protected until they somehow 
knew when it was safe to reemerge.

Yes, that would fit.

"So let me guess, you like summer right?"

She smiled.  How did one person manage to know her so well?  
"Yes, I like summer."

"It fits."


*@}->--*


"Hi Neil, come on in.  I'm not quite ready yet."  Serena let him in 
and closed the door behind him.  After some serious thought, and a 
lot of late night phone calls to the girls, she had decided to give the 
guy another shot.  That was last week and she had to admit that he 
was growing on her.  Date number three was on tap for today and 
'meet the father' night had come a little too soon.

Her father had popped in fifteen minutes ago for a nice chat with 
his little girl.  And he was just in time to find out about her plans 
for the evening.  Ken Tsukino wasn't about to let her out of his 
sight until he had personally met and critiqued her date for the 
evening.  Something neither one of them was prepared for.

"Uh, Neil, this is my father, Ken Tsukino.  He just popped in for a 
visit a few minutes ago."  She ushered him over to the chair her 
father had taken up residence in.  "Daddy, this is Neil Arden."  For 
the moment both seemed very calm.  Both held smiles as they 
shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.  *So far so good.*

"Let me grab my purse and I'll be ready," she said quickly ducking 
into her bedroom.  She was afraid of leaving the two alone for any 
amount of time.  Her father had a history of being able to scare the 
living daylights out of men in less than a second flat.  *Come on 
Dad, just chill out this time will you?  I didn't even get to warn the 
guy!*

She rushed back into the living room to find it was too late already.  
They both stood where she had left them.  Only now her father was 
smiling but Neil held that nervous fake smile that replaced the 
features of every man she had ever dated.

She smiled brightly at her father with a look in her eyes that told 
him she'd have a private word with him later.  She pronounced a 
"Ready!" and guided them both towards the door.  They walked 
out and rode the elevator to the ground floor before parting 
company.  Her father made a production out of giving her a kiss on 
the cheek goodbye and saying goodnight to Neil as well.  Of 
course he used the same tone and expression that he'd used with 
Darien when they had moved her in.  Neil wasn't quiet as steel 
willed as Darien though and quickly said goodbye and nearly ran 
for the door.

She giggled silently to herself.  "Tell mom hi for me when you get 
home!" she said as the couple walked away.  *Maybe he'll get the 
point in that one!*

As distance stretched out between them she turned to her date.  
"Let me guess, he gave you the 'one wrong glance at my daughter 
and I'll skin you alive' look right?"

The other laughed a little nervously.  "Yeah, I guess you could say 
that would describe it."

She laughed at him.  "Don't worry about Dad.  He's always like 
that.  Once he gets to know you he's a push over though.  It's just 
that first impression.  I'm sorry I didn't get to warn you before you 
had to meet him.  I could have saved you some of the pain."

"That's all right.  I've run into overprotective fathers before.  
Although none like that!"  He looked back over his shoulder to 
make sure they weren't being followed out to his car.  "No wonder 
someone like you didn't have a boyfriend already!"

"Yeah, Dad's pretty hard on the social life."

"I can imagine."

"But as long as you're not going to suddenly fake sick and dump 
me for the night I think we'll be fine."  She took his arm as he led 
her the rest of the way to his car.

"This is me not faking sick," he said looking down at her.


It was really a pretty night.  The moon was up and almost full, and 
the stars that could still be seen under Tokyo's lights were 
twinkling merrily.  "I should really take you up to the observatory 
some night so you can actually see the starlight," Neil said as they 
walked along.  They had run out of movies they wanted to see so 
Serena had suggested a walk through the Sunset Park.  It wasn't far 
from their restaurant and she seemed to know it like the back of 
her hand.

"Can't I see the stars from here?" she asked.

"About of third of them.  There's too much light in town to see 
anything very clearly."

"Oh."

He looked over at her.  The park had a few lights scattered here 
and there along the paths, but they were walking seemingly 
aimlessly through the different flower gardens and along the river 
edge.  In the uncertain light he could make out her features mostly 
by memory and by the dim glow of moonlight.  She was beautiful, 
no denying it.

Her long blond hair swirled around them in the cool wind as they 
walked along, arm in arm.  Her features were soft and smooth; her 
lips were blushed a light pink with gloss.  And her eyes.  Those 
crowning jewels that had fascinated him the first time he'd seen 
her.  Crystal blue and sparkling, they could not be ignored.

She was beautiful.  But she was also so easy to be with, so easy to 
talk to.  No mater what, she seemed so comfortable to be around.  
He hoped that also meant that she was comfortable with him.  
They got along so well when they were together, but it was more 
of a friendly type of atmosphere.  This was their third date and 
he'd managed a kiss from her exactly once.  That first night when 
he had dropped her off.

Maybe he was trying to move this too fast.  Or maybe she really 
just wanted to be friends.  She always steered the conversations 
towards something light and kept her distance even though she was 
right next to him.  Something just seemed off for the fact that they 
were dating.  But he really like her and if it came to a 'let's just be 
friends' conversation he wasn't going to ruin it.

Although he truly hoped it didn't come to that.  This angel beside 
him was too good to let go of without trying to hold on to her.  But 
the question was if he could hold on.

"It's a beautiful night."

Her words shook him out of his daydreaming.  "Yeah, it really is.  
Do you come out here very often?  You seem to know this park 
really well."

"Yes, I do.  This park isn't very far from my house.  It sits right in 
the middle of my old stomping grounds, and my apartment still 
isn't too far away from it.  Darien's apartment building is right 
over there."  She pointed up to her right.

"Oh?  Which one?" he asked with mock enthusiasm.  Did he have 
to come up every ten minutes?

"The shorter one in front.  You can just see the top floors from 
here."

"I see."  He really didn't and he really didn't care to either.

"Lots of happy memories here.  I really love this place."  She 
quieted again and just kept walking along.  Neil began to silently 
wonder if he was anywhere in her head at all.  He was starting to 
think of himself as a walking stick instead of a date.  But he 
remained quiet with her, just enjoying the company anyway.

At a quarter till twelve they found themselves in front of her door 
again.  "It was really a great night," he said not knowing what else 
to say.

"Yeah it was," she agreed.  "Thanks Neil."  She turned toward him 
after she unlocked her door.  He was about to turn and leave when 
she spontaneously jumped up and hugged him.  He smiled to 
himself once he found her in his arms.  He hugged her back 
happily.

"Gee, I have to take you walking around a park more often," he 
said into her hair.

She giggled and looked up at him with those sparking eyes.  He 
couldn't resist the temptation set before him.  So sue him if he was 
moving too fast, he couldn't resist this woman.

He bent down to meet his lips with hers before she could somehow 
manage to slip away like she usually did.  He kissed her softly but 
he held it as long as absolutely possible.  He slowly pulled away 
trying to commit every detail to memory.  Her feel, the smell of 
her perfume, the way her lip-gloss tasted.  Everything he could he 
stole in order to keep locked away with him.

He wanted this to last, and he didn't want to leave.

She looked up at him carefully as if measuring something.  Maybe 
he shouldn't have been so forceful.  But the look in her eyes 
changed a bit as she used the arms she had wrapped around his 
neck to bring him closer to her again.  He was slightly surprised by 
the move but no less thrilled by it.  She pressed her lips to his a 
little more passionately; and he wasn't struggling any.

He kissed her back with equal force and pressed her closer to him.  
She seemed so small wrapped next to him.  So sweet, so…

His brain shut down before the thought did.

She pulled away slowly.  And moved back towards her door.  But 
to his dismay she said goodnight and slipped into her apartment 
before he could protest.  He didn't want to leave now!

Serena slipped back into her apartment and locked the door behind 
her.  She kicked off her shoes and threw her purse to the side 
before she sat down in her chair and let herself focus back into 
reality.  What did she just do?

She'd kissed him.  Not only did she kiss him; she kissed him like 
she was on some bad soap opera!  And then she walked away and 
left him standing there on her doorstep!  What was she thinking!!

She hadn't been thinking.  Now she had a full-fledged war between 
emotion and hormone going on in her head!  How could she kiss 
him like that when she didn't know what she felt for the man?  If 
she felt anything for him at all!  What had she done?  How was she 
going to call this off now if she finally realized that she cared 
nothing for him?  How could she do this to herself and to him?

Of course he wasn't exactly resisting much.

How could she base something like this on such a physical 
instinct?  How could she not consult her feelings before doing 
something like that?  How could she…

Serena let the questions slip out of her mind.  She got up and 
walked out onto her balcony.  The midnight wind was cold and 
lonely without the summer warmth.  She stood staring out at the 
city lights wondering if there was anyone else staring back in her 
direction.  She looked up at the few bright stars twinkling above 
and forgot to feel the cold anymore.


_____________
@}->-- "Your friend is the man who knows all about you, 
and still likes you" –Elbert Hubbard.
@}->-- "The loneliest place in the world is the human heart 
when love is absent" –E. C. McKenzie.