This is my favorite story! I'm soooo nervous posting it! I rewrote the ending like a hundred times! Ahhh! Please like it kay? Kay. Anyways....first season....G....don't own it...you get the idea... E-MAIL my fragile ego please? Especially about this story-inspired ofcourse by Alicia Blade's AMAZING Christmas story...if you haven't read it READ IT! It also inspired me to write the next fic I have to type up...untitled as of yet...anyways.....onto the story! *gulp* The Arcade is aglow with Christmas decorations, sweets and eggnog. Friends and couples laugh and dance and exchange presents. Darien leans back against the counter, his handsome face frowning bitterly. "I don't know how you ever roped me into this." He mutters to Andrew, working busily behind it. Andrew just laughs, "C'mon, you need to get out more and have a good time. Relax!" "Andrew, you've hung mistletoe everywhere, I can't even cross the room without some girl trying get me under it!" "That's the plan. If anyone needs a good kiss under the mistletoe, it's you my friend." Darien glares at him but Andrew only laughs in reply. A slow song comes on and Rita pulls Andrew away for a dance. Darien watches them a moment, then realizes that just about everyone is dancing. He carefully pulls on his coat and creeps towards the door, trying to avoid any of the cursed mistletoe. Meanwhile.... Serena is running full force down the street, through the snow. I'm late again! Oh no! What's wrong with me? Can't I ever be on time?! Her arms are full of presents and goodies for the party as she narrowly escapes various patches of ice and piles of snow. I will NOT fall, I will NOT fall, I will N-oh I'm almost there! The electronic doors slide open as Serena slips on a patch of ice and goes hurtling in, righteous pigtails flying! She slams into someone who cries out in surprise and they both grab out for something to stop themselves and rip the twinkie lights from the door frame, which provide no help and only serve to tangle them up into a huge knot of presents, sweets, lights, hats, scarves, arms and legs. They land inside the arcade, Serena on top of.... "Darien?!" He looks dazedly up at her and she feels so bad she forgets to hate him, "Oh I'm sorry, this is all my fault! Are you alright?" "Yeah, yeah I'm fine, I think." They make several tries to get up before succeeding and then untying themselves from each other. Andrew in the meantime has managed to stop laughing at them, but only because he has noticed something. Of all the people to get tangled up together like that! I-wait a minute! "Hey guys?" his voice sings out. Serena and Darien look over together, only just getting the last of the twinkie lights unraveled from their legs and arms. Andrew points grinning to the ceiling above. They look up and spot the mistletoe at the same time, "What?!" exclaims Serena. They look at each other a moment and then back to Andrew, "NO WAY!" they holler in unison. "C'mon, it's tradition! You HAVE to!" he laughs. By now other people have taken notice and Serena spies Rei and the other girls getting a real charge out of it. She frowns. "Yeah, mistletoe is mistletoe! C'mon you two!" Serena feels herself flushing. I can't kiss him! He hates me! And ofcourse, Darien is thinking exactly the same thing. But he can tell by the look on Andrew's face that he isn't going to let this go. With a groan he looks back to Serena, "Sorry Serena." he says quietly to her as he catches her about the waist with one arm and pulls her into a kiss before she can reply. The kiss is quick and Darien has let her go before she can even catch her breath but they are both surprised by it. Perhaps Darien most of all, for he's kissed girls before, but not like this. There was something infinitely more satisfying about kissing Serena than in kissing anyone he had before. That sweet, surprised look on her face, that soft, but unmistakable reply to his touch with her own. It had never occurred to him that the strong feelings she brought out in him were anything serious. She was fun to tease, and cute to watch..... His thoughts trail off senselessly as he notices her staring up at him, her cheeks flushed like his own, her eyes confused. They simply stare dumbly at one another a moment, as their friends smile with satisfaction in the background. He manages to choke out, "I was on my way out..." before leaving quickly. She watches after him a long time, until her friends surround her chatting excitedly and laughing. They help her gather her presents off the floor and drag her to a table so they can exchange them with each other. But Serena is oblivious to their chatter. She is almost numb when they ask her how she ever managed to kiss the one person she hates the most. She tries to brush it off and joke good-naturedly with them, but the sensation of Darien's lips refuses to dissipate. Finally, after a few hours of merriment she leaves. The girls bid her farewell and she heads out the door into the cold. Coming around the corner she bumps right into, "Darien?!" He stares down awkwardly at her, "I found your uh mitten in my coat when I got home." he stammers out, wishing a giant hole would open up in the ground and swallow him for sounding so stupid. "Thanks," she says smiling, "I was wondering where that went to." They stare at each other a moment. Serena watches Darien...he isn't...is he blushing?! "Look, I'm sorry about all that Serena. Andrew's obsessed with finding me a girlfriend and he hung mistletoe ALL over the arcade trying to get me to kiss someone. I was making my escape out the door when I ran into you and I knew he wouldn't let it go." Serena shook her head, "I think I ran into you. There's no need to apologize. Besides, you know everyone took a real pleasure in it happening to us of all people. I'm sorry too. Having to kiss some junior high kid you don't even like in front of everyone probably didn't make your Christmas." Darien replies before what she says sinks in, "Yeah well, having some college guy who constantly tortures you, grab you and kiss you in front of all your friends must've set the party off to a great start for you too." They regard one another for a moment before Darien realizes the full weight of what she said, "I don't hate you." he says softly. "You don't?" she asks with surprise. "No. I-look, I'm sorry I tease you so much. I don't tease you because I hate you, I tease you because it's fun to get a reaction out of you." He stops himself there, feeling utterly ridiculous admitting that. Serena raises her eyebrows at him in surprise, "Oh." is all she manages. He doesn't hate me? "I promise I'll try to stop calling you Meatball head." he says, unable to suppress a crooked smile. "I'll believe that when I see it!" she says with conviction. They both laugh softly. He looks down uncomfortably. She can tell he still feels badly over it. "Look Darien, don't feel badly over it okay? I don't-really I don't. I'm sure all the girls at the party were jealous." He raises his eyebrows at her in surprise and she flushes uncomfortably. Why did I say that? Why don't I ever think before I say anything? "I mean, I-" He smiles as she trails off. "That's a nice compliment Serena. I'll take it, and thank you." She blushes up at him. "Well, I guess I'll see ya around. Have a Merry Christmas!" she says. "Yeah you too Serena! Bye!" he says as they head off in different directions. It was a strange truce-but a truce none the less. The next day at the arcade Andrew is working behind the counter when Serena comes in from the cold. "BRRRRR! It's freezing out there! Hey Andrew! Can I have a hot chocolate please?" "Sure thing Serena!" He waits until she is seated and sipping before teasing her about the previous night, "Soooooo, you had to kiss the enemy! How ironic!" he laughs unmercifully at Serena's indignant face. "That was all your fault Andrew! He did NOT want to kiss me!" "How do you know that?" "Andrew, he teases me all the time. I'm just some klutzy, crybaby junior high kid he enjoys getting a good laugh from! WHY would he want to kiss ME?!" "Sometimes guys tease the girls they like." Andrew points out, "Trust me, that is NOT the case here." Serena assures him. "You might be surprised Serena. There were a lot of girls his age at the party last night. A lot of them tried to get him under the mistletoe and he wouldn't kiss any of them. He would only kiss YOU!" "Andrew! You are being so ridiculous! He was on his way out the door! I was the LAST person he ran into! He just did it to get you off his case!" Andrew spots an envelope sitting next to her hot chocolate, "What's that?" he asks. "It's a card for Darien." she says, "Will you make sure he gets it next time he's in? It's just a joke card. He probably won't even think it's funny. I don't want him to get all wierded out if I give it to him myself. He's acting awkward enough around me as it is!" "That's cause he likes you!" "It is NOT!" Andrew spots Darien coming down the street and gets an idea. "I'm going to prove you wrong!" he says and pulls her over the counter to his side. He pushes her down. "Just stay there and listen-not a word!" he says as Darien comes in. "Hey Darien." "Hey Andrew." he says wearily, sitting down where Serena had been. "Have you recovered from last night?" teases Andrew. Darien glares at him, "No!" then he looks down and spots the envelope, "Hey what's this? Did someone forget it here?" "Actually it's a card for you from Serena. She left it here for you." "Oh." Darien frowns and slowly opens it. Why would she get me a Christmas card? The card has a pretty average scene on the front but on the inside Serena has drawn some mistletoe on fire and written, "Deck the Halls and burn the mistletoe! Merry Christmas from Serena" He laughs in spite of himself and shows Andrew, "See? At least someone sees it my way! You've added another victim to your list Andrew." "I didn't exactly see you cringing Darien." observes Andrew Serena's eyes widen as she hides behind the counter. "What are you talking about?" he says, trying to ignore the sudden tightness in his stomach. "I think you enjoyed that kiss, and I think Serena did too!" he ignores the sudden pinch to his leg from Serena. "Oh come ON Andrew! She HATES me! How could she enjoy kissing someone she hates?" "Annnd?" queries Andrew in a most irritating way, "And, even if she didn't hate me, why would she want some college guy like me kissing her? I'm pretty sure she'd like him to at least be her age!" "I don't think she cared. But you didn't answer me, did you like it?" "It was....nice..." Darien says quietly as Serena holds her breath. He actually thinks I hate him and hated having him kiss me? Andrew just looks at him. He can see right through this. Finally Darien sighs, "Fine, it was the nicest kiss I've ever had. Are you HAPPY now? Because it doesn't matter that it was a great kiss because she HATES me!" "Are you sure about that Darien?" "Huh?" "Did she scream at you and slap you in the face? And why would she make you a Christmas card if she hates you?" "She made this to break the tension." he says, and it's true. "Why don't you just---" "Andrew! Don't even start! You are getting to be a worse match maker every day! It is NEVER going to happen!" With that Darien tucks the card in his pocket and leaves. Serena stands up slowly, staring dumbstruck after him. Andrew leans in close to her ear, "See? I told you." "I-I had no idea. I-" Andrew smiles, "Darien seems like he always has everything under control, but the truth is, he teases you because he likes you and doesn't know what to do about it." Serena is speechless. She manages to gather herself together and get out the door. She heads after Darien, unsure of what to do. She finds him in the park, sitting thoughtfully on a bench. "Mind if I join you?" she asks and he looks up with a start. "No, not at all." he says bewildered. "Darien, I-I want to tell you something." she stammers, trying not to sound awkward, "I want you to know that I'm not angry over the kiss. It's not like I totally hate you or anything-I really thought you hated me. I just wanted you to know I didn't hate it or anything. I don't want you to feel bad over it." Darien just stares at her a long moment, "You've really forgiven me for teasing you? You don't hate me anymore?" "I never hated you!" "Thanks for the card, it made me laugh." She smiles, "Next year you and I can show up early at the party and destroy all the mistletoe! What do you say?" "Deal!" he smiles. She tries to be bold with her next words but flushes in spite of herself, "That was my first kiss." she admits. The smile dies on his lips, "I'm sorry-" "No no, don't be sorry. It was...actually... really nice." He stares at her in disbelief. "I mean, I just figured it was awful for you because you hated me and then when you said you didn't hate me I figured you didn't want to be kissing some dumb little junior high girl...." "I felt the same way!" he fairly hollers, "I thought you wouldn't want some college creep that teased you all the time kissing you. I thought you hated me." They smile at one another a moment before he says, "Serena, it was a nice kiss." he takes a breath, "Actually, it was the nicest kiss I've ever had." His cheeks are burning now. So are hers. All at once he realizes he wants to do anything that will give him the opportunity to kiss her again. What am I going to do? Ask her out? What if she says no? What if she says yes? The sudden joy at his last thought lends him his voice back, "Can I......walk you home?" She smiles, "Sure!" They walk in a chummy silence. "I'm glad we're getting along now." She says cheerfully. "We've united against our two common enemies," he jokes, "Andrew and mistletoe!" She laughs, "I think we should change the tradition. Mistletoe is far too easy to get a hold of. Let's make it something obscure....something you'd never get caught under...." "Good idea...hmmmm...." They both try to come up with something. "Some sort of vegetable...." Meanwhile....at the Tsukino house..... "Sammy! Stop running around with that plane this instant! You're going to drive me to distraction! I'm TRYING to make dinner!" "Something that wouldn't grow up high...." "Yeah...like..." "Sammy! Watch where you're going! Sammy! Ahhh!" Mrs. Tsukino's head of cauliflower flies out the open window.... "Cauliflower!" "Cauliflower it is! Ha ha. What are the chances of us ever getting stuck under-" "Uh Darien?" "Yeah Serena?" "Look up." They stand at her doorway and perched in a steamy heap in the snowy branch above them is a huge head of cauliflower. Darien swallows hard. That has to be a sign. "What are the chances of THAT happening!" she exclaims and then blushes madly. Darien begins to laugh, just chuckling at first but quickly giving way to longer, louder gasps. Serena finds it contagious and soon joins in. Darien rarely laughed...which was a shame because it was a wonderful sound. The steaming cauliflower melts through the branch and falls to a heap at their feet. Darien smirks at it and then suddenly grows serious. He takes a step closer to her, trying not to look totally nervous. She looks up at him with wide blue eyes. "Should we take it as a sign?" he asks her uncertainly. She feels her heart flutter nervously but takes heart when she sees the same stammering nervousness reflected in his eyes. "I'm afraid we've made it a rule..." she says and slips her arms around his neck...she remembers his words...It was the nicest kiss I've ever had...she smiles and raises her lips to meet his. He catches her up in his arms and forgets everything...even the cauliflower....kissing Serena is like coming home... I'll never let you go. He thinks fiercely, her own thoughts answer his.... Neither will I....