A/N: MoonPrincess568 – well I guess it was pretty obvious, coz I wouldn't have put in that chapter with Leah tricking Darien and made it so important unless something was bound to come out of it, right? And Serena's just wearing slutty clothes coz she's really just a kid on the inside, used to getting what she wants and that, so she really isn't thinking about the consequences or breaking up marriages. She's not cold and uncaring or anything – just a little oblivious.

I don't know what you guys mean about it being a Serena/Darien fic, but I meant that there was going to be a lot of the story devoted to them, but Darien does have a wife, and he needs to spend time with her, too! About the ending (this story's nearing it, I don't know whether you guys have noticed it or not), there is a very big chance that Darien might not end up with Serena, but I haven't figured it out just yet. Sorry, Darien/Serena fans!

Once again, you guys rock for reviewing! I'm surprised you can be bothered at all to review! O

What Really Goes on in the Classroom

By MaryMagdalene912

Disclaimer: Yet another unfortunate reminder that the characters do not belong to me sob I wish they did though! Don't we all…

Chapter 6

There was a knock on the door of Darien Shields' office.

"Come in," he said, rubbing one of his temples with his fingers, wishing the annoying migraine would just go away.

The door creaked open softly and Serena stepped in. Darien sighed. Ok, here she was in his office, probably wanting an explanation for his frosty behaviour lately, or rehash of what they usually did in his office, neither of which Darien felt like giving her right now. She walked up to his desk, and close up he saw that she looked pale and upset, with slight shadows under her eyes as if she was under some great pressure. She was also wearing something decent for a change, jeans and a three-quarter sleeved top with collars and a higher-than-usual neck.

"What's wrong?" he asked, after a few moments of silence. There was no denying the fact that he still cared for her, but was it more or less than how much he loved Leah?

She nervously toyed with her hair, a habit Darien had not seen before. She always seemed so cool and confident, and sure of what she wanted, and even surer that she would get it. He snorted inwardly; the little princess had probably not even known that he was married, let alone even think about the results of what would happen if they were caught. She probably reckons that she can sleep her way out of trouble everywhere, Darien thought, and was a bit ashamed for thinking a demeaning yet true thought like that.

Still silent, Serena looked up at him, her eyes apologetic. Oh, save me the soppy stuff, thought Darien irritably. Without saying anything, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small present wrapped beautifully in pale blue and silver paper. Then, she pulled out a tiny card. Laying them both on the desk in front of him, she whispered, "Happy birthday."

Darien was surprised; he did not expect students to know his birthday, even if it was Serena, with whom he had no ordinary student-teacher relationship. "How…?"

"I saw your PIN code for the school computers. I knew the last two digits for the code must be the year that you were born in, so I figured the first four must be the day and the month."

Darien was even amazed that she had paid so much attention to him, and even a little flattered. "Th-thank you," he said, stuttering a little in his astonishment.

She gave him a small smile and turned to leave. She paused for a second, with her back turned to him, seemingly contemplating something. Then, abruptly she turned back to face him, bent down and placed a quick kiss on his lips and hurried out, leaving Darien feeling disoriented. Oh, no. Don't tell me she thinks it can all be solved just because she gave me a birthday present…

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Leah sat in front of the TV, picking at her egg salad. She had not eaten a thing all day, and it did not help that the Little One was not letting her keep anything down. The Little One. She sighed, patting her still-flat stomach. She couldn't believe that a bundle of cells was already splitting and dividing in her belly. And, even more amazingly, the cells held life. Leah smiled, the first she had worn all week. She had been so wrought with paranoia, that she had hardly the time to enjoy being pregnant. Now she smiled some more as she realised one of the things she had been yearning for, for a long time, had now happened. Leaping up on impulse, she did a little victory dance and decided to abandon the boring old egg salad. She wanted to make something happy, something with chocolate.

Putting on an apron, she broke some pieces of cooking chocolate and put them in a little saucepan suspended over a larger one with boiling water. She was going to make a lovely chocolate iced cake to improve her gloomy mood. Humming a little tune to herself, she got out a baking tray and began to butter it. Everything will be alright with Darien, she thought. I can't believe I jumped to the conclusion that it was him in the photo like that. God, I must be a really suspicious wife!

She went to her bedroom while the chocolate melted, and reached under her mattress for the envelope that had contained the pictures. Taking it out, she looked at the pictures again.

"Yep," she said, looking at the pictures, "that's not him at all! What was I thinking! He's so devoted to me, as if he'd ever go and screw some blonde girl." She laughed to herself, thinking even her own laugh sounded a bit strange, kind of hysterical even.

She raced back down to the kitchen, shoving the photos back under the mattress, humming tunelessly. Thoughts buzzed around her head, hardly having room to pass one another. It'll be ok, she thought, Darien doesn't know I suspected him of adultery. He'll think I'm just being a first class bitch because of the baby. He won't know what a horrid, mistrustful wife I've been. I'm gonna make it up as soon as he gets home tonight!

With that thought in mind, Leah hurried around, making the cake. She even iced the top with "for Darien" even though she had a real birthday cake waiting for him in the fridge, because Darien's favourite food was chocolate as he had once told her when he first met her. She smiled at the memory of that night that followed afterwards; it had been similar to the recent time where she had tricked him into sleeping with her without protection.

She was just applying the finishing touches to the cake when a mobile phone rang. Hearing the tune, she realized it was Darien's. Hunting around for the source of the sound, she found the phone quickly, wedged between the sofa cushions. Darien must have dropped it there when he was sitting down for his morning coffee.

Fumbling to pick up the phone before the person hung up, she pressed the green button to answer it. The shrill polyphonic tone stopped abruptly. She tried to say hello, but what came out was a masculine-sounding croak. She tried to clear her throat, but the person on the other end had already started speaking.

"Darien?" the voice was a girly, and a little breathless, "Did you like what I gave you?"

When Leah did not reply, the person continued to speak. "Darien, I'm sorry if I've done anything mean to you. But you've just got to tell me why you've been ignoring me! I don't know why you're treating me like this! Have you forgotten about all the good times we had?"

As soon as she heard the last sentence, Leah hung up the phone and threw it back down onto the couch. She was hyperventilating badly. The phone rang again after a while, and even when she did not pick it up, continued ringing. She picked up the phone angrily, pressed the answering button and hung up right after without seeing who it was. She knew already. It was that blonde bitch of his. So she had been right after all.

Turning the stupid phone off swiftly, she went to the kitchen to take off her apron. She saw the cake lying on the bench-top cooling. A wave of fury rippled through her like she had never felt before. She picked up the cake, plate and all, and smashed it. The cake splattered all over the kitchen floor, fragments of it erupting everywhere.

With tears blurring her vision, Leah ripped off the apron and threw it down onto the floor. She jumped up and down on the apron cursing and screaming, calling Darien every foul word in the dictionary and even making up a few original ones. Finally, she flopped down onto the couch all her furious energy used up, and closed her eyes, the hot tears leaking down her cake-smeared face. She gradually fell into a fitful sleep.