THE WILL OF LOVE by Ʋis Rating: G - PG Email: aeris_t@edsamail.com.ph Webpage: Nightfall Wishes Hiya! Pardon again, for much delay. Hope you don't give up on me! Oh, and please, pretty please, visit Nightfall Wishes: nfwishes.20m.com! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If she only knew What I knew but couldn't say If she could just see The part of me I hid away - "If She Only Knew" by 98 degrees ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FOUR ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In the room was tension, jumbled emotions, contradiction, and deception. One was hoping, the other fearing, while the the remaining one knew nothing. "Excuse me," a small voice said, killing the silence in the room. Faces snapped in her direction, and the fragile-looking nurse trembled. "Doctor, the results are here." "Ah, yes," the lady doctor said, a smile on her face. She was oblivious to the disturbance the nurse caused to the couple before her. "Bring it here, please." The nurse gave a cautious look at the pair before running towars the doctor, shoving the folder into her hands, mumbling some polite excuse and then running out the hall. The lady doctor, who seemed to be more than a little insensitive, examined the results. Two pairs of blue eyes were glued onto her, one pair the color of the ocean while the other the color of the sky, yet she didn't seem to mind. Putting aside the folder, her smile grew even wider, as the the worry on the faces of the two increased twofold. "I have good news for you," the lady doctor said brightly, every bit as bright as her smile. This woman's optimism was getting on their nerves. She waited patiently for some response from the two, but when it has become evident that they would not speak, she continued. "The results are..." The couple held their breaths. "Yes?" "...you adorable young couple will live a peaceful life... with dozens of healthy children." Darien experienced a conflict of emotions: contrasts of joy and disappointment, of half surprise and half expectance; Serena's reaction, on the other hand, could not be mistaken for anything aside from what it really was. Serena fainted. Darien managed to catch Serena's body before it made contact with the floor. "Serena! Serena, wake up!" Wake up, Serena told herself silently as she silently sat in the passenger seat in Darien's car. Darien was beside her, also silent, seemingly intent on avoiding conversation, and instead focused on driving. The embarrassment Serena felt increased threefold, and she felt blood rushing to her face. She thought, What have I gotten myself into? It has been twenty minutes after the hospital scene, and Serena was thankful it was all over. But her fear remained. She feared that Darien would get mad at her, that her parents would reject her, that Raye and Amy would desert her, and that... Darien pulled off the road, catching Serena's attention. "Wh-What's wrong?" Serena asked. Darien deliberately refused to answer. Without a word, he turned off the stereo, then the engine, and finally turned towards Serena. "You know exactly what's wrong." His voice was deep, serious, unlike the many ways that Serena heard it before. Serena gulped. "I-I don't know what you mean." With a sigh, Darien ran a hand through his midnight-black hair, Serena's quivering eyes following her every movement. "Don't play games with me, Serena. It won't work." She was unable to reply. "You know, we're basically in the same boat. None of us wanted this, to be forced into a lifetime commitment that defies both of our visions. But, as you know, there is no way out." Serena's expression began to change. Her eyes narrowed, suspicious. "What are you getting at?" Another sigh. "I'm proposing an agreement." "An agreement?" "Yes." "And that is?" Serena prompted. "Well," Darien said, "for a start, we should get along. Since we're going to get married, we might as well try to make the best out of it. You could go on with your life, finish your studies, go shop and do whatever girls do, with financial support from me. My only condition would be that you should keep the Chiba name clean, for it is where my business's success relies on, and that you fulfill your duties as a wife." For a while Serena was silent, contempletative. Finally, she decided. "I agree. But, if you are to have your conditions, I should have mine too." This caught Darien off-guard. It never struck him and never did it enter his mind that Serena would propose her own conditions. Yet, it was not unreasonable, so Darien nodded. A smile flashed across her face. "Great. Well, since I have duties as a wife, you too have your own duties. So, when I need escorts to parties and such, you should be there." Darien shrugged. "That's quite easy." A mischevous grin replaced the genuinely happy smile on Serena's face. "This marriage being one of convenience and not one of love... You wouldn't mind if I keep my boyfriend, would you?" A long, unnerving silence followed the question, and once again tension filled the lack of sound. The grin Serena wore began to fade into a grim expression. Her thoughts were racing. 'I hope I didn't make him mad... I was just joking, I swear!' These thoughts were interrupted by jingling sounds, which she realized was coming from the keys Darien was insterting through the ignition. Serena was about to apologize when a smile spread on Darien's lips. "We'll see." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm sorry that this is SO short... Can't think much these days... But I promise you that something will happen in the next part... I hope you all like it!