A/N: Hi guys! Sorry it took so long for me to get this story back up when I promised I would do it much sooner than I actually did, but finding an editor is much harder than I thought it would be. But I did find one and she is great and I would like to think her for helping me with this story. So, thanks to Sierra Leone!

I know I probably should send this to be checked for errors again, but I'm really lazy.

But...yeah. I hope you enjoy this edited version as much (or maybe more) than you liked the original and I'll try to have the second chapter up soon.

Until then, enjoy!

DaddysGirl81 Out

Summary: After finding out that he got a girl pregnant, wealthy doctor Darien Shields decides to let her move in with him. Once she moves in, she turns his life, and all of his beliefs, upside down. Could he actually be falling in love with her?

The Baby Dilemma

Chapter One

Nineteen-year-old Serena Wilson scrambled out of her blue Lamborghini and rushed into the arcade. Raye was so going to kill her for being late…again. It wasn't her fault that her brother was fifteen and still needed a babysitter, she sulked as she walked through the doors of the arcade and was greeted by its owner.

"Hey, Serena," Andrew said kindly, his blue eyes filled with pity.

Serena sat at the counter and laid her head down on it. "How angry is she?"

"Pretty angry, Sere. I mean, you are over an hour late," he said calmly as he fixed her a chocolate shake with extra whipped cream and a strawberry—not a cherry—on top.

Serena groaned and lifted her head, taking a sip of her shake through the straw. "It's not my fault though," she whined rather loudly. "It's all Sammy's fault for throwing that party last week. Now my parents don't trust him at home alone. He's ruining my life!"

She emphasized the last word and her voice pitched loudly, causing Andrew to wince slightly and several other customers to look in her direction.

The twenty-three-year-old arcade owner used his index finger to massage his sore eardrum before speaking.

"I'm sure if you just explain to Raye and the others they'll forgive you."

She scoffed.

"You obviously don't know my friends as well as you think you do. Mina, Amy, and Lita may forgive me, but Raye will hold this over my head for the next six months," she let out a soft sigh before looking around the arcade. "Where are they anyway? They aren't in the usual booth."

Andrew motioned toward the back of the arcade.

"They decided to sit in the back today. Whatever you guys have to talk about today must be important."

She squirmed a little on her stool. Great. That just meant that Raye would be even angrier when she got there. She handed her empty glass to Andrew.

"I'll need you to refill this please. And give me extra, extra whipped topping and two strawberries. I'm probably going to need them."

He chuckled as he took the cup from her.

"Coming right up."

Five minutes and three chocolate shakes later, Serena finally lifted herself from her stool and made her way towards the back of the arcade. As she passed one of the driving games, a familiar voice called out her name.

She turned to see Lita, one of the people she was supposed to be meeting, waving at her.

"Hi, Lita."
The brunette fixed her with a stern look.

"You do realize that you're over an hour late, don't you?"

Serena made a face.

"Don't tell me you're going to yell at me too, Lita," she sighed exasperatedly. "I'm still trying to brace myself for Raye."

Lita nodded.

"You should, because she is pissed."

"Good to know," she grumbled.

Lita's stern expression turned to one of comfort.

"Don't worry, Serena. As long as you have a good reason for being late there really isn't anything for you to worry about."

"Says you, but what about Raye."

Lita laughed.

"You know Raye. She can be a bit or a hot head, but she cares about you. Besides, now she probably only yells at you out of habit rather than actual anger."

Serena rolled her baby blue eyes.

"How comforting," she replied sarcastically as Lita began to lead her to the booth where the rest of their friends were seated.

Lita and Serena walked in silence until the booth where their friends were seated came into view.

"Oh, god," Serena groaned motioning towards a girl with raven colored hair and brown eyes with a scowl on her face. "Raye looks so angry. Maybe I just shouldn't have come."

Lita snorted.

"What? And have Raye drag the rest of us over to your apartment so she can kill you? I don't think so."

The blonde sighed and bowed her head.

"I guess you're right."

"Why does she always have to be so late?" they heard Raye demand as they got closer to the table. "I mean, couldn't she be on time just once? It wouldn't kill her."

Amy, whose face was buried in a textbook, lifted her head for a brief moment.

"Calm down Raye. It's not like this hasn't happened before."

Mina, who was ogling a boy sitting a couple of tables away, nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Serena has been like this as long as we've known her. Don't act like it's something that just started happening."
Raye sighed.

"I just wish she'd stop being such a ditz. We're not in middle school anymore, we're in college. She needs to start being more responsible."

Serena slammed her hands down on the table, making the three girls jump and look at her in surprise. She glared daggers at Raye.

"I am too responsible. I'll have you know that the reason I was late was because I was babysitting."

Raye frowned.

"Yeah, right, Serena. Who would trust you to watch their kids?"

"Plenty of people," she replied indignantly.

"Really, then who were you babysitting?"

"Sammy," she muttered under her breath.

Amy lifted her eyes from her book as the other three girls leaned towards Serena.

"Who?"

"I was watching Sammy!" she shouted.

Raye stared at Serena incredulously for a few moments before speaking.

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that, Serena? Sammy is fifteen-years-old. He is totally capable of watching himself. If you're going to lie, you might as well come up with a believable one."

"What are you talking about? I'm telling the truth!" Serena sputtered. "Mom and Dad made me watch Sammy last night and this morning because Dad had a banquet that he needed to go to yesterday and Mom went with him."

"Serena, give it up," Raye said with her arms crossed. "I know you're lying. Last week your parents let Sammy stay at home by himself when they had to go out of town."

"Yeah," Serena said, "and Sammy threw a party and totally trashed the house."

"Are you serious?" Mina interjected.

Serena nodded.

"I can't believe it," Mina said dramatically. "How could he throw a party and not invite me?"

Lita arched a brow.

"You're in college, and you want to go to a high school party?"

"What? No," she shook her head vehemently. "I'm just surprised that he didn't invite me. I mean, he's practically in love with me."

"That was last month," Serena said. "He's moved on to some redhead in his biology class. I think her name's Tina."

"How could he move on that quickly?" Mina demanded. "I mean, am I really that easy to get over?"

"He's a fifteen-year-old boy," Amy said softly as she placed a comforting hand on Mina's shoulder. "They're prone to do things like this. Besides, you have a boyfriend already. It's not like you like him or anything. I mean, you don't, do you?"

Mina made a face.

"Ew! Of course not. He's like a younger brother to me."
"Then what's the big deal?" Raye demanded.

"Nothing really," she admitted. "I guess I just really liked the attention."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather be an actress?" Lita asked her. "I mean, you'll get a lot more attention then you will as an interior designer."

"That is true," Amy added.

"I don't know," Mina said. "I have thought about it, though."

"Wait a minute!" Raye exclaimed. "How did we get from trying to find out why Serena is over an hour late to talking about Mina's career?"

"What are you talking about, Raye? I already told you why I was late!" Serena yelled.

The raven-haired girl rolled her eyes.

"Right. Sammy threw a party and your mom and dad got pissed. That still doesn't tell me why your parents would make you watch your brother."

"Because they don't trust him anymore!"

"Okay? Well they could easily have chosen someone else to watch him."

"Why would they hire someone to watch him if I can do it for free?"

Raye didn't respond. Serena did have a point. Raye scowled and crossed her arms.

"Whatever."

Serena smiled triumphantly.

"Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way…can someone please tell me why it was so important that I meet you guys here."
Mina clapped her hands together excitedly.

"I'll do it," she sang happily.

Serena smiled widely.

"Wow! Sounds like something good."

"Believe me," she said happily, "it is," she gave a dramatic pause. "Well, you know about the new club, Blue Paradise, right?"

Serena nodded.

"Yeah. Well, it opens tonight!" Mina squealed.

Serena blinked, waiting for her friend to continue.

"…Okay?"

"What do you mean 'okay'?" Mina asked, appalled. "This is the best news ever!"

"And it would be even better if you would tell me what I have to do with the club opening tonight."

"Oh," Mina blushed, "I guess that would help," she pushed a long strand of blonde hair behind an ear. "Yeah, well, Blue Paradise is opening tonight and the rest of us were thinking about going. Do you wanna come with?"

Before Serena could answer, Amy lifted her nose from her textbook once again and said,

"I never said that I was going. You have to be at least twenty-one to get into that club and I do not want to lie about my age."

"But, Ames," Mina whined. "You have to go. It will be so much fun. You may even meet a nice guy."

"Yeah," Lita agreed. "C'mon, Amy. Live a little," she wrapped an arm around the blue haired girl's shoulders. "This is all a part of the college experience."

Amy shrugged.

"Not for me. I have to study hard if I want to get into medical school after college. I don't have any time for boys."

Serena and Mina gaped at her in shock.

"No time for boys!" they exclaimed.

Serena looked around the table.

"That's it. I am definitely going, if only to make sure Amy learns how to have a bit of fun."

Raye smirked.

"As if you could do that. What do you know about clubs and having fun?"

She lifted her nose in the air.

"I know enough. There is a lot of great music and even more hot guys to dance to that great music with."

"Amen!" Lita and Mina chorused.

"I'm not going, guys," Amy said.

"Yes you are!" her four friends shouted back at her.

Twenty-three-year-old Darien Shields massaged his temples as he sat down behind his desk. Today was his first day as a doctor at Crossroads Hospital and he was already ready to bang his head against a brick wall. He was the youngest doctor at the hospital and many of his new colleagues accused him of getting his job simply because of who his father was.

While Darien understood that was probably part of the reason he had gotten the job at such a young age, he also liked to believe it was because of how smart he actually was. After all, throughout high school he took all college courses so that he never had to go to university or college, he simply skipped straight to medical school.

He had done all of that without the help of his influential father.

His internal rant was broken by the sound of his cell phone ringing.

"What?" he snapped into the mouthpiece.

"Tch. Tch," he heard his friend Andrew's voice from the other line. "Such a nasty temper. No wonder you haven't met any nice girls."

"In case you've forgotten," Darien said more calmly, "I do happen to have a girlfriend."

Andrew paused for a few moments.

"Like I said, with a temper like that it's no wonder why you haven't met any nice girls."

Darien's lip twitched in the tiniest hint of a smile. It was true. His girlfriend was hardly what you'd call nice. In fact, she was the complete opposite. She was a bitch in almost every form of the word. She wasn't a female dog, but other than that…

"What do you want, Andrew?" he asked his best friend of fourteen years curtly.

Andrew scoffed and Darien rolled his eyes.

"Is that anyway to speak to your best friend?" he asked with faux indignation. "I mean, we haven't spoken in over a month. Don't you just want to speak with me just for the heck of it?"

Darien didn't answer.

Andrew sighed.

"I hope you know that you are a killjoy. A stick in the mud. You have a pole stuck up your—"

"Just tell me why you called or I swear I will hang up on you and block your number," he growled.

He could almost imagine the pout on Andrew's face as he said, "Fine. I'll tell you." There was a pause. "When do you get off of work?"

"Tonight? Nine. Why?"

"Great! Be home and dressed in your dancing clothes by ten."

"Why?"

"We're going to Blue Paradise, this hot new club that's opening tonight."

Darien shook his head, even though he knew that Andrew couldn't see him.

"Who, exactly, is 'we'?"

"'We' is me, you, Joe, and Greg."

"I'm not going."

"Yes you are," Andrew said, not missing a beat. "The guys and I are determined to help you meet a nice girl."

"Andrew," Darien said, a bit irritated. "I already have a girlfriend and I'm not going."

"Darien," Andrew said, "you're girlfriend is a bitch, plain and simple…and you are going." with that, Andrew hung up the phone.

Darien scowled at the phone for a few moments, but before he could call Andrew back and give him a few choice words he heard a timid knock on his office door.

He slammed his phone shut and barked, "Come in."

The door opened slowly to reveal a girl, who couldn't be more than nineteen, with blue hair and kind blue eyes.

"Dr. Shields?" she asked tentatively from the doorway.

"Yes, that's me," he said a bit more calmly as he motioned for her to close the door and take a seat. "What can I do for you?"

"Well," she said as she fidgeted nervously in her seat, "my name is Amy Anderson and," she pulled a few sheets of paper out of her purse, "I've been assigned to you as an intern."

Darien stared at her silently for a few moments before speaking.

"I'm sorry, but there must be some mistake, I've only just started working here today. I haven't even had my first patient."

The blue haired girl—Amy—looked down at the papers that she had clutched in her hand before giving him a confused look.

"But aren't you Dr. Darien Shields?"

"Yes. But I don't see how I could have an intern when I haven't even had my first patient. I'm not even scheduled to have a patient until next week."

Amy took on a look of distress.

"But the supervisor for the obstetrics wing, Dr. Mattis, told me to come to you. He said that you would need the help."

Darien scowled.

"Let me see those papers," he demanded, motioning towards the papers she had clutched in her hands.

When he had them in his hands, he glanced through them and forced himself to hold back a curse. Dr. Mattis had in fact assigned this Amy Anderson girl as his intern. Apparently, she had been the intern of the doctor who just retired, Dr. Embers.

Darien fought the urge to bang his head against his desk. How in the world was he supposed to help train someone when he didn't even have anything to do? This week the only thing he was going to be doing was paperwork and observing other obstetricians while they worked.

He looked from the papers to the girl who was looking at him shyly and sighed. He couldn't exactly tell her to disappear for a week. He knew from experience that it was a lot of work to get an internship at a hospital, especially one as well off as Crossroads Hospital. It was, after all, one of the best hospitals in all of Japan.

He ran a hand through his black hair before looking Amy in the eye.

"Fine."

"Fine?" she repeated confusedly before a slow, shy smile began to make its way across her face. "Does that mean you'll let me intern for you?"

He nodded.

"Yes. But I'm not going to promise you any excitement this week. I'm only going to be doing paperwork and observing other doctors while they work."

She nodded.

"I understand, Dr. Shields. But I think it would be good for me to intern for an obstetrician who is just starting out."

He lifted a quizzical brow.

"You didn't like interning under Dr. Embers?"

"No," she said softly, "it isn't that. It's just that Dr. Embers has been around for years and is one of the best doctors."

"And…that's a bad thing?"

Amy blushed.

"No. It's a good thing. He has a lot of experience and was able to teach me many things. He was at the stage that I one-day hope to reach. However, I think it would also be good for me to observe a doctor who is just now starting out. That way I can see what I'll have to go through once I get through medical school."

Darien nodded in understanding.

"So you want to learn from both experienced and inexperienced doctors. That way you can see what you should and should not do."

She shrugged.

"I guess. Yes," she paused. "Not to say that you're inexperienced or anything…"

He smiled wryly.

"It's fine. I am inexperienced, I guess. I mean, I've worked under other obstetricians so I know what to do. But I've never really worked on my own. In fact, for the first few months I'll have a more experienced obstetrician constantly watching my work."

Amy nodded.

"Dr. Mattis."

"Excuse me?" he asked.

She gave him a confused look.

"Dr. Mattis is going to be your supervisor, isn't he? I mean, as the head of the Obstetrics Wing he has a lot of experience in the field and it's his choice on which obstetricians stay or leave."

Darien didn't reply, he simply raised a brow and handed Amy her papers back. She was extremely smart, he could see that. She seemed like the type of girl who could have skipped a few years and already be in her sophomore or junior year of college. But the papers he had just finished looking at said that she was in the second semester of her freshman year. He wondered why.

When he voiced his thoughts, she simply smiled and said, "I was offered the chance to go to a special school, but I couldn't bring myself to leave my friends so soon after meeting them. They were my first real friends, and we're still friends now."

Darien nodded. He understood. He couldn't imagine being separated from Andrew and the others during his teenage years.

"I see."

There was a long, awkward silence in which Darien rapped his fingers on the desk a few times before smiling kindly.

"Well, Ms. Anderson, it was nice meeting you."

Amy smiled sweetly.

"You too."

They both stood and Darien offered his hand for her to shake.

"What time can I expect to see you here tomorrow?"

Amy followed Darien to the door.

"I usually come in at about 3:00 p.m., after my classes are over and I've eaten lunch. But on the weekends I come in at about 9:00 a.m."

Darien nodded.

"Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow at three."

Serena stared at her reflection then at Mina's and frowned. They almost looked like twins. She knew this would happen. Why had she let Mina talk her into getting a haircut?

"C'mon, Serena, it's not that bad," Mina said cheerily. "I like it."

"Of course you do," she snapped. "It's the same hairstyle you have."

Serena fingered her hair that now stopped mid-back instead of at her ankles and sighed.

"I shouldn't have let you talk me into a getting a haircut. Now everyone's going to think that we're sisters or something."

"That won't be anything new," Mina replied casually as she stepped away from the mirror. "People ask us if we're related all the time."

Serena sighed again. That was true. People had been asking if they were sisters for as long as they've known each other. Serena didn't really blame them either. If she didn't know better, she would think that she and Mina were related too.

They had the same blonde hair, the same blue eyes, the same small nose, and they even acted the same in certain situations. It was kind of creepy, like having a doppelganger.

"C'mon, Serena," Mina called as she walked away. "We have to go find something to wear to the club tonight."

Serena looked at her shortened hair a moment longer before rolling her eyes and following her friend.

"Just don't expect me to wear the same outfit as you."

"Of course not," Mina laughed, "Johnny is going to be there and I don't want you looking as good as I do."

"I thought you two broke up," she said with a frown.

"We did," Mina said with a nod, "but then we got back together."

Serena rolled her eyes in annoyance. Johnny had been Mina's off-again-on-again boyfriend for the past three years. He was a complete jerk, something that Mina was completely oblivious to. The only thing she saw when she looked at Johnny was an overly sexy man who liked what she liked, was sweet, and a great kisser.

When Serena looked at him she saw an overly sexy jerk who had convinced himself that he was God's gift to women. He flirted with just about anything with boobs and thought that the earth revolved around him.

Frankly, Serena hated him and she didn't know what Mina saw in him.

"C'mon, Serena," Mina's voice broke into her thoughts. "We have to find something to wear to the club. Raye wants us all to meet there at nine and it's already eight o'clock. I don't want to be late because of you again."

Serena stuck her tongue out at her.

"Fine, but it isn't always my fault when we're late. Just last week we were late to school because you couldn't decide on which shoes to wear."

"Hey!" Mina exclaimed. "That was a very important matter. I can't go to school wearing shoes that don't match my outfit, and I had three pairs that matched what I was wearing that day. It was hard to choose which pair looked best."

Serena rolled her eyes.

"Yes, of course," she sighed. "It would have been horrible if you had just grabbed the first pair you saw and threw them on your feet. It would have saved us both the trouble of having to deal with Raye and Professor Winters."

Mina's sole response was make a face and poke out her lips in a childish pout.

She and Mina shared an apartment. Mina had found the apartment the year before, when they were getting ready for college, and the two had moved in together. It was only a block away from Crossroads University, where they were attending school, and five blocks away from the apartment that Raye, Lita, and Amy were sharing. It was also only three blocks away from the food district, which was good because neither Serena nor Mina knew how to cook.

If they wanted a home cooked meal, Lita had to cook it for them.

Their apartment had two bedrooms, a living room, one bathroom they were constantly fighting over, and a fairly large kitchen that they kept stocked with junk food and pre-cooked meals for when they didn't feel like going out to eat or going to their friends' apartment to get something to eat.

In the seven months that they had actually lived in the apartment, they had already left their marks.

There was a rather large hole in the wall in the kitchen from when Mina threw a stiletto heel at Johnny after one of their breakups six months earlier that needed to be fixed. On the kitchen floor in front of the stove, there was a large scorch mark from when Serena nearly burned down the kitchen while trying to boil water. In the living room there was a large stain in the carpet from when Mina had dropped a glass of grape juice while dancing around because she had gotten her first passing grade in history, her worst subject. In front of the television there was a large stain that was a mixture of peanut butter and jelly because Serena didn't even know how to make a sandwich without making a mess.

There were a lot of dents, holes, and stains in the apartment that the two girls had made, making the apartment seem much homier than that of most apartments or houses that hadn't even been lived in for a year.

Serena left the bathroom and crossed the hall to her organizedly-sloppy room with Mina right behind her.

"I've already narrowed down the outfits I'm going to choose from," she told her friend. "It's either my pink shirt with the white shorts and pink and white shoes or my white dress—the one that has a pink sash—with the white stilettos."

The two outfits were lying across her bed and Mina examined them closely before pointing to the dress.
"I think you should wear the dress," she said with a decisive nod. "It makes you look more mature. But," she said with a doubtful look to the stiletto heels, "are you sure you don't want to wear sandals or flats or something. You're not exactly known for being graceful."

Serena picked up the dress and held it up to her body.

"I think I can handle it," she said with a shrug. "Besides, I'll probably take off my shoes when I want to dance anyway. They kill my feet."

"Then why did you buy them?"

She gave Mina a deadpan look.

"I'm nineteen-years-old and five-foot-two. I won't be growing any more and these shoes get me up to five-six."

"They're also the reason you sprained your ankle last year."
She shot a glare at her friend.

"Shut up and go get dressed. I don't want to have Raye screaming at me again for being late," she shimmied out of her jeans and lifted her white tank over hear head. "You're wearing your orange capris, right?"

"Yeah," Mina nodded as she made her way towards the door, "and my white halter."

Serena nodded and Mina closed the door as she left the room.

She slipped into her white dress and looked into the full-length mirror on her door. The dress was strapless and was thick enough so that she didn't have to wear a strapless bra with it. It stopped about two inches above her knees and hugged her in all the right places. It made her legs look longer than they actually were and made her look slimmer—not that she was fat—than she actually was.

She nodded in approval.

"Not bad, Serena," she told herself. "All you need is a little makeup and you'll be good to go. Who knows," she said with a slight shrug, "in this outfit you may even meet a nice guy and finally get a boyfriend."

Darien glared at Andrew, Chad, Joe, and Greg as he sipped at his margarita.

He had no idea how they had managed to talk him into coming to the club with them tonight. One second he had been yelling at them for showing up at his house and trying to force him into his "club clothes" and the next thing he knew he was walking through the doors of Blue Paradise and being bombarded with loud music and flashing lights while searching for a table.

"Don't look like such grouch, Darien," Andrew said. "You'll never meet any nice girls like that."

"Once again," Darien growled, "I already have a girlfriend."

"Yes," Andrew agreed. "But she isn't nice. In fact, she scares me. She strikes me as the type of person who eats babies for breakfast."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Darien demanded.

Chad shook his shaggy bangs out of his eyes.

"Dude, you're an obstetrician. You bring babies into this world. Why in the world would you want to date someone who can't stand kids?"

Darien responded by taking another sip from his margarita and directing his eyes to the door. He wasn't about to admit to his friends that he had been thinking about the same thing a few weeks earlier. He loved kids, he had even gone so far as to dedicate his life to bringing them successfully into the world and, yet, the woman he had been dating for the past two years hated them. She had even told him that she didn't want kids of her own. She thought of them as nuisances.

Darien, on the other hand wanted at least three kids. He loved the thought of holding a tiny person in his arms and knowing that he had some part in creating it.

But, obviously, before that could happen he had to find the right woman and get married.

He was brought from his thoughts when a group of five girls walked in and he was sure that in that group was that girl, Amy, who was supposed to start her internship with him tomorrow.

He closed his eyes tightly for a few moments before opening them and looking again. There was no way that that girl was Amy. In the short time that he had spoken with her, she had seemed like the kind of girl who wouldn't even think of sneaking into a club that she was too young for.

"Are you okay, Darien?"

He turned his attention away from the group of girls and looked at Greg.

"What was that?"

Greg sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, something he did when he was exasperated with someone.

"I asked if you were okay. You've been staring off into to space for the past five minutes."

"No," Darien replied. "I mean, yeah. I'm fine. I was just thinking."

"You sure about that," Joe asked as he nudged Darien with his elbow. "It looked to me like you were checking out a group of girls that just walked in," he grinned lecherously. "Did you see one you liked?"

"Did I see one I…What?" he sputtered as his face turned an odd shade of red. "Of course not!"

"Then why is your face so red?" Joe asked as he leaned forward on his elbows. "Was she really that cute?"

Darien's face darkened as he took another sip from his drink.

"I don't need to look at other girls. I already—"

Andrew covered the doctor's mouth with his hand.

"If you say one more thing about having a girlfriend, I swear I'll break your nose. The whole point of us coming here was so that we could relax and have a good time, not listen to you talk about how you shouldn't be here because your girlfriend wouldn't like it."

"Yeah," Joe agreed. "You're acting like a real killjoy."

"You wouldn't have to deal with it if you hadn't forced me to come," Darien said coolly.

"See," Joe said, flinging his hand at him. "You're a regular stick in the mud."

Darien scowled and attempted to take another sip of his margarita, only to find that he had drunk it all. He frowned at his cup and pushed away from the table.

"I'm going to the bar."

"If you just be patient," Andrew said, "a waitress or waiter will come and give you a refill."

He ignored his friend and headed towards the bar, pushing through the throng of gyrating bodies on the dance floor.

This was why he hated clubs. He couldn't stand the loud music, the flashing lights, or the crowded rooms. Honestly! There were so many people, he could barely move. He had always hated large groups of people, ever since his mother died when he was ten.

There had been a large number of people surrounding them when she died, and he had been smothered by so many people during the her funeral. He wasn't sure why, but ever since, he hated crowds.

After three minutes, he was finally able to extract himself from the group of moving bodies and make his way to the bar. He walked over to an empty stool a few seats down from a girl who was talking to the bartender. She looked familiar.

"What do you mean you don't serve juice?" she was asking irately.

"I mean we don't serve juice," the man said gruffly.

The girl sighed exasperatedly.

"Couldn't you bend the rules for me? I'm willing to pay."

The girl had golden hair that stopped mid-back and was wearing a strapless white dress that stopped a few inches above her knees and hugged her in the all the right places. Darien noted that although the dress was a bit tight and extremely short, it still left quite a bit to the imagination.

The girl was now leaning across the table with her hands clasped together.

"Please," she was begging, "please can I have some juice?"

"Look here, girlie," the bartender said, "I would love to give you some juice but we don't sell juice here."

"But I'm thirsty," she whined.

"Well," the bartender said gruffly. "I guess you'll just have to order something else."

She scowled at him.

"You don't sell water and you don't sell juice," she threw her hands up in exasperation. "What exactly do you expect me to drink?"

The barkeep seemed just as exasperated as she was when he reached below the table and pulled out a shaker filled with ice, a bottle of vodka, and two different types of creams: Crème de menthe and Crème de cacao. He poured the two creams and the vodka into the iced shaker, put the top on the shaker, and shook the drink for a few seconds before pouring it into the glass he had taken out.

He pushed the glass towards the girl.

"You can drink this."

The girl eyed the drink warily before picking it up and taking a hesitant sip. Her eyes widened and she grinned widely at the bartender.

"Mmm. This is really good," she took a large gulp. "What is it?"

He lifted a brow and shrugged.

"It's called a Flying Grasshopper."

She made a face before taking another sip of her drink.

"I hate the name," she said—Darien noticed that her words were slurring a bit and her cheeks were turning a light shade of red—before taking another drink from her cup. "Normally I wouldn't drink anything named after a bug, but this tastes really good," she downed the rest of her cup and shook it at the barkeep, asking for more. "And to think that it's nonalcoholic," she giggled. "I thought I wouldn't be able to drink anything."

The bartender laughed as he handed the girl her newly filled glass.

"Sorry to break it to you, girlie, but there is plenty of alcohol in that there drink."

The girl didn't seem to be listening as she downed that glass quickly and stuck the cup out for another refill.

"I mean," she said as she began swaying slightly back and forth on the stool, "Raye said that the only thing you'd be serving here was alcoholic beverages," she said, her face holding an air of seriousness. "She said to me, 'Serena I told you the only thing they serve her is alcohol. That's why it's an adult club. If you wanted something else you should have brought it yourself.'" She snorted. "Boy is she going to be mad when I tell her that she was wrong," she sang happily.

She—her name was obviously Serena—had absolutely no alcohol tolerance. It was obvious that this was the first time that she had even had a sip of alcohol, let alone two cups.

This was proven in the way her cheeks began to redden and the way her eyes crossed when she attempted to look someone straight in the eye. The bartender either didn't notice or didn't care as he continued to pour her cup after cup of the alcoholic beverage.

It was most likely the latter, Darien decided.

After pouring her another cup—her fifth, Darien noted—the barkeep moved down a bit to the young doctor.

"What'll be?" he asked in his gruff voice.

Darien, who had been sucking on a piece of ice while he waited, handed his cup to the bartender.

"Margarita," he said. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked while motioning towards Serena who was twirling around on her stool while singing something that Darien couldn't quite make out.

"Ah," the barkeep said with a shrug, "she'll be fine. It's probably just her first time. After the affects run off she'll just pass out wherever she lands," he said as he handed Darien back his glass.

Darien nodded slightly, giving the girl one last look before sliding off his stool and heading back towards the dance floor and his friends.

Twenty minutes later, Serena felt dizzy as she began to hobble back toward her friends with another Jumping Grasshopper in her hand. She felt like she was spinning around really fast and at any moment she would lose her balance and the ground would reach up to catch her.

This was bad because her friends were sitting all the way on the other side of the club, Mina probably flirting with Johnny while Lita and Raye were looking for prospects and Amy wondering when they would leave so she could study for that big exam that was a little over three months away.

"I should have listened to Mina and worn flops, or something," she muttered as she took a tentative step and nearly toppled over, spilling a few drops of her drink onto the floor.

She scowled. This was her…she couldn't remember what number cup this was. She had lost count after three. All she knew was that she could not have anymore. The bartender had told her so. He said he did not want to be held responsible for her if she wound up passing out or something.

But Serena didn't understand why he thought she would pass out. It wasn't like she had drunken alcohol or anything. She had just drunk that weird, yummy juice that he had given her.

"He was a liar," she said, draping herself on some random person's shoulder. "He told me that they didn't sell juice here," she grinned, "but I got some and I drunk a lot of it," she sung happily.

She pushed herself off the stranger's arm and once again began teetering towards her friends. They were in view now. Barely, but they were in her view.

Mina was straddling Johnny's lap and the two were making out while Raye and Lita were each flirting with guys she had never seen before and Amy was looking uncomfortable as another guy was trying to speak to her.

Serena continued staggering toward them but was stopped when she ran into a brick wall that jumped out of nowhere and she was thrown to the ground, the green drink spilling all over her white dress.

She screamed. This dress had cost her a hundred and twenty dollars. She had had to save up for weeks to buy it and now it was ruined.

"Sorry," a masculine voice said from above her. "I guess I should have been looking where I was going."

She looked up to see a redhead with blue eyes staring down at her apologetically. Her response was to fix him with the nastiest glare she could muster, which wasn't very intimidating because she wound up cross-eyed.

"Yes," she snapped from her position on the ground, "you should have. This dress cost me a lot of money and now there's a big green stain on it that probably won't come out."

He offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Let me make it up to you by buying another drink," he grinned.

She scowled.

"How is that going to make up for it?" she grumbled. "Buying me another drink won't get this stain out of my dress."

"Maybe now," he said, "but it's the best I can do." He leaned forward and whispered softly in her ear, "You see, I'm not very good with stains. However, I am good with spending money. So, even though I can't help you with that stain, I can at least make up for the drink I made you waste."

Serena shivered slightly. He had a deep, smoky voice that made her feel tingly all over. And not in a good way, he gave her the creeps. But he had caused her to spill her drink all over herself and she did want another one.

She looked him up and down before speaking.

"Okay. But only because you promised to pay for it."

He smiled.

"Wonderful. Now if you would only tell me what you were drinking…"

"A Jumping Grasshopper," she replied immediately.

He fixed her with an odd look before nodding and stopping a waitress who was walking nearby.

"Could you, by any chance, bring a Bloody Mary for me and a Jumping Grasshopper for my friend?" He pointed to an empty table in a corner. "We'll be seated over there."

The waitress nodded and left as the redheaded man took Serena by the arm and led her to the aforementioned table.

"We'll wait for our drinks here," he said. "And while we wait, why don't we introduce ourselves?"

Serena looked at him warily.

"You first."

He laughed.

"Okay. My name is Ned," he motioned towards her. "Now it's your turn."

She blinked at him.

"That's it? Your first name? I would hardly call that an introduction."

He smirked.

"What? You want me to give you my whole life story?"

"No, but a last name would be nice."

He chuckled.

"I'm afraid you'll have to earn it."

She frowned slightly at him.

"I have to earn the right to learn your last name?" she asked incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"Quite," he replied with a slight smirk.

Serena rolled her eyes but didn't reply.

She had to earn the right to learn his last name. What in the world did he mean by that? What did he expect her to do? She hoped he didn't expect her to do anything perverted because, although he was extremely cute, he looked like he was about thirty. That was way too old for her liking.

She had decided years ago that she wouldn't date anyone who was more than five years her senior, any older than that was just disgusting.

Serena told Ned her name and he began to tell her a bit about himself. After five minutes of sitting with him Serena learned that he worked for the Ochoa family, one of the most prestigious families in all of Japan. The Ochoa family was second only to the Shield family.

"What exactly do you do for them?" she inquired.

He smiled toothily at her.

"That's a secret I'm not at liberty to tell."

"What," Serena said disdainfully, "do I have to earn the right to learn that information too?"

He shook his head and smiled gravely.

"Let's just hope you never have to learn that information."

Serena looked curiously at him and was about to ask him a question when the waitress appeared with their drinks.

"A Bloody Mary for you," she said as she placed the drink in front of Ned. "And a Jumping Grasshopper for you," she gave Serena her drink and smiled at the two of them. "Enjoy. If you need anything, let me know. "

"Thank you," Ned replied with a slight bow of his head.

Serena smiled and nodded her thanks.

The waitress walked away and Ned raised his cup to Serena before taking a sip of his drink. Serena did the same and the buzz that had begun to fade since her last drink had been spilled over dress returned at full force.

"Mmm," she sighed. "This is so good. I wonder, do they sell a lot of nonalcoholic beverages that taste like this?" she asked Ned.

Ned looked at her in confusion.

"Nonalcoholic?" he paused, then smiled slyly. "Why yes, they do," he said. "In fact, if you want I can buy you one. It's called an Apple Martini."

Serena downed the rest of her drink and looked at the man questioningly.

"But Martinis have alcohol in them, don't they? I thought they were one of the most popular alcoholic beverages out there."

Ned nodded.

"They are, but Apple Martinis don't have alcohol in them. It has the same ingredients as regular Martinis, minus the alcohol."

Serena picked a piece of ice out of her cup and began to suck on it.

"Are Apple Martinis good?" she asked. "I mean, are they as good as Jumping Grasshoppers?"

Ned grinned.

"They're better."

"Really?" she asked excitedly.

"Really," he replied.

The next thirty minutes was spent with Ned buying Serena different types of drinks, convincing her that each one was just a type of juice.

After her last drink Ned smiled at her.

"So, do you want to go dance?" he asked.

"I…I…dunno," she said as she swayed a bit. "I feel kinda dizzy."

"Nonsense," Ned said. "It'll be fun. I'll hold you up if you feel like you're about to fall."

Serena was vaguely aware of the little voice in the back of her head telling her not to trust Ned, but she ignored it. He had given her a lot of yummy juice and the whole time she had been sitting by him he hadn't done anything to prove he wasn't trustworthy.

She tottered onto her feet and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor and into the middle of the throng of gyrating bodies.

On the dance floor, Serena was having a lot of fun until a slow song came on and Ned pulled her closely against his body. So close that Serena couldn't tell where her body stopped and his started.

She squirmed, pulling back.

"Let go," she said.

Ned pulled her up against him again, running his hands across her bum.

"Just calm down, Sere," he whispered huskily in her ear.

She pushed against his chest, but he didn't move an inch.

"Let go of me you jerk," she snapped. "And don't call me Sere. Only my friends are allowed to call me that."

He chuckled.

"But we're friends, Serena," he said. "I bought you all those drinks."

Serena's response was to jam her four inch heel into his foot.

He yelped in pain and gripped his foot.

"You little bitch!" he snapped. "That was my toe!"

She smiled snidely at him.

"Good," she said before she turned on her heel and began to teeter away as fast as she could.

As she teetered away she felt a hand grip her arm and whirled her around.

It was Ned.

He pulled her against his body again and growled, "Where do you think you're going, Serena? We weren't done."

She squirmed against him as tightened his grip on her arm.

"Let me go, you jerk," she said. "That hurts."

Serena was vaguely aware of the looks they were gaining from other couples on the dance floor and found herself wondering why none of them would help her.

Darien was drunk. He knew he was. But it was the kind of drunkenness that wasn't so far gone that he didn't know he was drunk. Just the kind of drunkenness that would probably cause him to do things he would later regret.

For instance, he knew that he would probably regret bringing the girl he had seen at the bar earlier home with him. But there really wasn't any other choice. She was totally wasted. She didn't even know where she lived. Only that it was an apartment that she shared with her friend Mina.

He had saved her from some guy who was groping her on the dance floor and she kept calling him Hero. He had tried to tell her what his name was, but he wasn't sure that she had heard him. She was swimming somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness.

After he had gotten her away from the guy who was groping her, he had tried to help her find her friends but she wound up throwing up all over some guys shoes instead so he had decided that it would be better to just leave. He had called Artemis to come pick them up and take them to his flat.

He did not want his father to know that he had been out clubbing and was bringing in a strange and drunk beautiful girl.

And she really was beautiful, Darien noted as he stared at her. She was curled up in the backseat beside him with her feet tucked under and her head resting against the window. The moon hit her pale skin perfectly, almost making it look as if it were glowing. Her pink lips were moving slowly as she mumbled to herself about something. Her has was messy, but in an extremely sexy way. It looked kind of like bed hair, the way girls hair got after having a…entertaining night in bed.

Darien's appraisal of the girl sitting beside him was interrupted when the car pulled to a stop and Artemis turned around to look at him.

"We're here," the whitish-blonde haired man said. "Do you want me to carry her inside for you?"

Darien shook his head.

"No. I've got. Just go and make sure the guest room is decent."

Artemis nodded and left the car.

Darien waited until his longtime friend and butler had entered the flat before he slipped out of his side of the car and made his way over to the girl's side. He tapped slightly on the window, causing her to jump away from it in surprise, and opened the door. He offered her his hand to help her out of the car and she stuck out her foot.

Darien cleared his throat.

"I'd prefer your hand."

She giggled.

"Oops. Sorry, Hero."

She extended her hand and he helped her out of the car. She immediately lost balance and fell against his chest.

She smelled good, he noted, like strawberries and champagne.

He sighed, pushing her away a little. He already had a girlfriend. There was no need to smell other girls.

"Are you okay to walk?" he asked

"Mmhm," she muttered. "Serena's okay," she said, attempting to walk away from him.

After a few steps she began to wobble and he caught her just before she hit the ground.

"I'll just carry you inside. Okay, Serena?"

He scooped her up bridal style and she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"Okay, Hero."

"My name's Darien," he told her.

She responded with a nod.

"Okay, Hero."

He sighed as he crossed the threshold into his flat and began towards the stairs. She was obviously not listening to him.

She was surprisingly skinny. Not that she looked like she would be heavy or anything. It was just that if he didn't know she was there he was sure he would forget all about her. She was literally as light as a feather.

Her scent reached his nose again. He was certain that she was doing it on purpose somehow. It was sweet and intoxicating. It made him want to do things that he knew he shouldn't; partially because he already had a girlfriend and partially because she looked so young, so sweet, so innocent.

Darien reached the top of the stairs and turned into the guest room. Artemis had pulled back the covers and laid a gown on the bed.

He looked at Darien with raised brows.

"Do you need my help with anything else?" he asked.

Darien shook his head.

"No," he laid Serena on the bed. "You can go back to Luna and Diane now," he smiled warily at Artemis. "Thanks for coming, though."

Artemis grinned, his grey eyes sparkling.

"Of course. What kind of friend would I be if I hadn't come?"

He clapped Darien on the back and left the room, closing the door behind him. A few moments later Darien heard the front door close and the car pull out of the driveway.

Darien looked down and stared at Serena. Her eyes were closed, she was breathing evenly, and she was letting out soft, barely audible, snores. He wondered when she had fallen asleep.

He sighed softly before sitting on the edge of the bed and removing her shoes. First her right shoe, then the left one. His fingers grazed slightly against her left heel as he took the shoe off and she giggled slightly in her sleep, curling her toes.

Darien smiled softly before tossing the shoe on the floor with its counterpart.

He moved up the bed slightly and lifted Serena into a sitting position so that he could unzip the back of her dress and he was once again hit by her scent.

He pulled her against him as he reached behind her to unzip the dress. Her eyes fluttered open and connected with his.

Darien bit back a curse. Her eyes were beautiful.

She stared at him for few moments, her eyes searching his face and Darien found himself hoping she wouldn't try to kill him.

She didn't. She did something much, much worse.

She kissed him.

And it wasn't long before Darien found himself laying down on top of her and kissing her back.