The group headed back to the arcade. They sat down at the biggest booth exhausted. "I am going to murder your best friend" Joshua said out of breathe glancing at Nathaniel.

"whoa wait a second there" Nathaniel said catching his breathe again. "why is it when she makes us do something we don't want to she's my best friend. But when she does something amazing she's yours" he asked raising an eyebrow. Joshua tried to speak but his mouth was dry. He sat back and stared at Darien for a second. So far Darien did nothing but ignore them, he looked like he wanted to murder them. Darien's blue, dark, cold eyes met his. Men with suits, laughter, clinking of swords were heard, he's mind started to become foggy. Joshua held his head as these visions brought him pain. He blinked a few times until he regained his normal vision. He jumped as he felt a hand pat his back.

"you okay dude" Zachary asked worried, Joshua nodded slowly. He wondered why did he see all those things. It felt familiar; he pushed the thought to the back of his mind as the food was served. "So what are we gonna do while we're here" Zachary asked as he shoved a hand full of fries in his mouth and Andrew left right in the middle. "you know what I've noticed" Zachary said with his mouth full, Joshua groaned. Zachary swallowed his food. "ever since we got here. Serena's been acting strange. Right when her foot landed outside the plan she's been acting so, weird"

"yea like she wasn't weird before" Joshua said sarcastically, they all nodded in agreement. Darien watched as these boys cared about his Serena. He was jealous and hated them right now. He wondered if any of them had a thing with her. He clenched his fist tight not wanting to find out.

"yea but like. She's been more distant, I mean you guys have seen her. We haven't gotten a chance to hang out with her ever since we got here" Zachary stated.

"she's probably looking for some old friends" Matthew said logically.

"what if she's looking for those jerks" Zachary added. The four men had a worried expression on their faces.

"jerks?" Amy asked in a high pitch tone. Serena had talked bad things about them? It wasn't like the Serena, SHE knew. Amy felt a little broken that the girl who put so much faith in people, who hardly talks bad about people said something bad about them.

"I'm glad those jerks broke her heart, if they didn't we would have never met her and she even admitted that she'd do something drastic" Nathaniel said. "but I feel bad that those jerks missed out on such an angel" Lita felt a tug on her heart. Was she jealous? No she couldn't be. Zachary watched the blond walk in. He stood up.

"Serena Tsukino! Where have you been young lady!" he asked waving his finger at her like a father would do to his daughter. They all turned around and stared at Serena. That was definitely not the Serena they knew. Her hair was down, going down to her back till it reached her butt, it was layered and her bangs were parted to the side. She was like a mini Mina. Her clothing was different; she no longer wore skirts or school clothes. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a white vneck. They stared at her, she grew an inch or two taller, she grown some curves and her chest popped out more. They noticed that she was a little tanner. Her eyes still sparkled like pools. She put her hands on her hips.

"if you must know Zachary I was running around the streets naked singing single ladies" she teased. Zachary smiled at their inside joke.

"without me?" he teased back."I mean all the ladies would have love to see me naked and-"

"probably would kill themselves after see you run butt naked!" she finished off. She reached the table where she saw Andrew, he stood up in complete shock.

"Serena that is you! what happened to your odango's!" Andrew asked as she was pulled into a tight hug, Serena hugged back then hugged Jason. She remained silent. Out of all the people in the world her boys had to meet them.

"yea I don't how you put dumplings in your hair" Zachary added. Serena rolled her eyes and slapped Zachary's arm playfully.

"I'm pretty sure your mom dropped you or the doctor forgot to catch you when you flew out" Serena stated, her eyes looked around the table. She inhaled deeply and looked around the arcade. "business is really slow I see" Andrew sighed and nodded. "maybe since I'm back and buy your famous milk shakes things will go back to normal" Andrew smiled at the blond. But he noticed that her excitement level was below than it usually was.

"so where were you after you said you'd 'be back'" Nathaniel asked as he scooted more closer to Lita in order to get Serena to sit beside him.

"oh I saw my old friend and we were talking and she has a baby and said I was the godmother! Can you believe that!" Serena stated.

"I can't believe you're a godmother, I mean you can't even take care of yourself" Jason teased. Serena gasped and shot him the death glare.

"actually she's good at babysitting, it's just if she's in charge of a kid. So help that kid" Joshua said. Serena smacked Joshua in the arm hard. "ow! Bunny it's true!"

"so how did you meet Andrew and Jason?" Serena asked. Matthew explained, Serena bite her tongue when Matthew explained that they knew her.

"how did you guys meet?" Andrew asked.

"MEMORIES!" Zachary yelled. "I wanna go first!" he stated.

"you're the last person who met her I should go first!" Nathaniel said, they got into their little argument.

"I met her first so I will start!" Joshua said. "well she was in the baseball field when I was going to practice I was a really good at baseball..."

Joshua entered the field, watching as the ball machine shot balls. He stared to see who was hitting the ball. The person was wearing basketball shorts and a boys white vneck, he noticed that the persons leg was smooth, and too feminine to be a man's leg. He looked more up until he seen her face. Her eyes were filled with anger and disappointment. He knew that feeling, but he couldn't let some sad girl take up his field. It was his time. He unplugged the machine, as the last ball came out. She swung hard making a homerun. She waited for a while until she realized that the annoying sound of the machine wasn't there anymore. She put her bat down and looked around until she saw him. "can I help you" she asked annoyed as Joshua swung the cord around.

"It's my turn to personally use this field" he said in a harsh tone.

"says who?" her voice was furious. He raised an eyebrow.

"coach johnson" he stated. She stayed quiet and exhaled hard. "now excuse me little girl but do you think you could leave now" he said in a fake sweet tone. She rolled her eyes as she put the bat near the cage. She walked pasted him, bumped his shoulder hard before she left. Joshua watched her leave. Wondering why she was so upset.

"so for a few weeks I'd always seen her in the batting cage letting her anger out and we'd always get into the same issue, me kicking her out and her bumping me on the shoulder or occasionally dropping the bat on my food" Joshua stated.

"don't break a nail" Joshua said as he handed her a bat, he gotten there early once again just to watch her swing. She was pretty good. This got on her last nerve. She dropped the bat on the floor and marched toward him.

"what's your problem?" she asked almost in a yelled tone. He was stunned no one had the balls or in her case the guts to stick up for themselves to him. They would just walk away and ignore him. And if they did try to start a fight he would win. But he was terrified of this girl. "every day you come here to taunt me about my swinging. I'm not planning on going pro so it shouldn't matter if I'm good or bad. I don't even know you and I surely don't need your stupid criticism!" she yelled, anger filled her eyes. She was shaking with her fist clenched. Joshua just stared at her, still stunned. He surely wasn't going to let this girl get away for speaking to him like that. But she was a girl, a good looking girl, but he wouldn't allow it. Serena's stomach turned, another Darien in this world. For weeks his teasing would remind her of Darien's teasing. The only reason why she would go back to the batting cage was to hear Joshua's taunts, even though it did annoy her. It kept her sane for while. But for some reason she couldn't bare to hear anymore of his ridiculous taunts. She didn't even know him and there he was acting as if he knew her story. Serena rolled her eyes at his quietness, she bumped him hard when she walked past him.

"I'm sorry" he yelled, she stopped in her tracks. She walked back toward him and gave him a look. "I'm sorry. Really I am. It's just that, your different" he said.

"yea different" she whispered as she shook her head, she was indeed different.

"In a good way. It's just you remind me so much of my little sister and-" Joshua was obviously lying, but he needed a reason to tell her why he said that kind of stuff, because to him it was clueless.

"lying" she stated. He smiled. "your such a bad liar Joshua" she said.

"how do you know my name" he asked confused, this blond angel knew his name but her's was always a mystery. He smiled, he didn't know why and didn't want too. This was the first girl who made him smile without any flirting.

"we're in the same art class" Serena stated. "I'm Serena, you sit right beside and you drew that very sexist picture of a girl and-" Joshua's laughter interrupted her.

"I am really sorry though"

"and that's how we became friends. Who knew an apology can fix things" Joshua stated. Serena rolled her eyes.

"An apology can't fix everything." Serena stated. "at least your pride wasn't as high as I expected" Andrew looked at Matthew, he understood that it was his time for story time.

"I met Serena because she was an interesting person" Matthew said. "I mean I've seen girls who drape themselves on guys. All the girls would do that with me but I just ignored them." Serena's stomach tightened. Matthew was another person who remind her so much of Darien. "but she was always that odd girl out. She was loud in class, always guessing and always hyper. Which caught a lot of guys eyes and stuff but I was just wondering why she was the only girl who didn't like me. So I asked her and well what she said made a good point"

Serena stared up at the man with silver hair. The way he stared at her reminded her so much of the way Darien was when he was curious. "why should I follow around a bunch of preps and drool over one guy. Chances are one out of a million of them are gonna date you and if they get that chance you might just dump them and move on to your next hoe" Serena said as she turned to walk away.

"I'm not that kind of guy" Matthew said as she stopped in her tracks, she turned and faced him.

"if you aren't that kind of guy why don't you just tell the girls you're not interested instead of having them cry when you date them, fuck them then dump them" Matthew stayed silent. "Exactly. I've seen enough heart break from my aunt, my friends, and myself to know what not to do" Serena turned to walk away. She sighed and stopped. "Listen, if this is your way of finding 'the one' I suggest you use another method." Serena turned around to face him. "instead of breaking hearts you should try to get to know the girl better."

"you don't believe in the whole love at first sight or 'the one' kind of love?" Matthew asked as he stepped closer.

"depends" she turned on her heel again.

"wait what kind of answer is that?" Mathew asked curiously. This girl surely was different, but yet he felt as if he known her. He felt an attachment, he felt like he needed to protect her.

"an answer" she turned around to face him with a smile. She was feeling comfortable talking to him. "you know I thought you'd be a jerk like these girls said, saying how cold you were, how selfish, how messed up"

"but.." he said starting off a sentence for her. They were forming a bond, she knew it. But something in the back of her mind told her this was going to be a trap and another heartbreak when they know the real her.

"they got the whole messed up thing right, but you aren't cold your just alone" Serena said truthfully. Matthew stared into her compassionate eyes. He was shocked and a little happy that someone had seen through his disguise.

"how would you know that" Matthew asked still starring at her.

"because I know the feeling of being alone, being lost, and the feeling of having no believe in you" she said, Matthew stared into her eyes. He found someone who cared about him. Not like a lover, but as a friend. He found a true friend. Someone that could see past his snobby self.

"how do you know my life is so messed up" he asked, he didn't want to let someone in, because if he did. They'd just leave. They always leave. He'd known the feeling of disappoint, disownment.

"people talk." she paused as she looked away. He was sure she knew something, and she didn't want to say something that would make him mad.

"they could be just rumors" he said following her. "come on tell me"

"I saw your dad hit you" she whispered in a apologic tone. Matthew cleared his throat. "and you punched him back. It's obvious you had a tough life just by watching the way you two were like. You hate each other it's obvious." she spilled it out. She couldn't understand why it was this easy to talk to him. Like it was easy to talk to Joshua. She just couldn't understand any of it.

"I don't hate my father" Matthew said. "I feel sorry for him" Serena nodded in understand. "do you want to start off as friends" Serena looked up questionably. "I don't do the whole 'friends' thing." She said as she sat down. Matthew sat beside her confused. "and why not" he asked. She sighed. "because. It's complicated" he raised an eyebrow. "the past hurts and I'm trying to move on"

"you're not moving on by not doing something because of the past" Matthew stated, she rolled her eyes as a smile appeared on her face.

"and that's how our friendship formed" Matthew said. "ever since she'd known my story we'd been tight" Serena smiled at her friend. "and that is also why I'm her favorite"

"sike you know that's all me!" Zachary said. "I mean after all I am just awesome" Zachary said as he stuck his chin in the air, patting his chest proudly.

"how did you meet Serena?" Andrew asked. Zachary laughed hard.

"our meeting was much more simple than all of these guys" Zachary said. "well it was during class and the teacher had to pick two students to demonstrate something and we kind of both got competitive after a few fighting bam we were known as twins!" Zachary said in a high-pitched excited tone. Andrew looked at Nathaniel.

"we'd been friends actually since she moved in. It was simple I helped her move into her aunts house because her aunt and my mom were best friends, so we just instantly became tight" he explained.

"so how did your whole group thing get together" Andrew asked he was curious into the story as the girls were.

"that's pretty personal. i don't think Serena wants to relive that" Zachary said in a serious tone. Serena rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't that bad" she muttered. The four boys stared at her in disbelief.

"that jackass tried to rape you and it wasn't that bad!" Matthew exploded in anger. Serena covered her face as her secret was know out in the open and in front of people she didn't want to know.

"you were what!" Jason said as anger exploded inside him. Serena avoided the gaze Darien gave her. "where is the jackass that tried to rape you"

"he left the day of the court day." Zachary said. "that jackass is still somewhere out there." He exhaled out as he put his arm protectively around Serena. "Serena it was that bad." Serena shrugged his arm off of her. She was between Zachary and Nathaniel. Serena stayed silent still avoid any eye contact. They'd see the fear in her eyes, the pain of the memory.

"how did Serena getting almost raped gather you guys together." Raye asked curious.

"she was running because she escaped and..." Matthew drifted.

"why are you telling them" Serena couldn't handle this anymore, she jumped over Zachary so she was standing. "you guys are the last people I ever expected to spill that secret out." Serena said angrily. That's when Nathaniel figured it out.

"Serena, I didn't know-" before he could continue Serena shook her head disappointedly.

"Serena, you know I have to know this" Jason said in a series tone. Serena didn't mind them telling Andrew or Jason. It was Darien she was worried about. She swallowed hard as she looked away.

"Serena I'm sorry" Zachary said trying to reach out to her. Serena backed up until she reached Joshua; he put his arm around her.

"Bunny you know how Matt gets when he can't control his anger. This is a big deal. I swear if any of see that jackass again, we're gonna be going to jail for what he tried to do to you" he said.

"we better get going" Nathaniel said as he walked out with Serena, trying to calm her down. They all walked in silence as they walked back to the Tsukino household. Serena fell onto her old room. Still filled with Bunnies everything was where she had left it, except for few things Sammy admitted he messed around with. She closed her eyes as the memory crawled into her mind of that tragic day.

Everyone was out busy; Serena decided she would walk around the park. The boys all had to get fitted into their Tuxedo's and her mom went to keep her aunt busy which left her alone. She didn't feel like sitting in the waiting room watching her aunt walk in and out picking a dress, because she knew her aunt was a very picky person. Her earphones were on as she jogged around the park in sweats and a black vneck. She was still pretty pissed off that her guys who almost spilled her utter most important secret, the more she got angry, the faster she ran. When she finally calmed down she slowed her paced until she was walking, she closed her eyes put her hands behind her head, taking deep breathes. She missed this park. This was where most of the Youma battles were at anyways. She continued to walk, she opened her eyes and looked at the lake, the water glistening so beautifully. She stretched her limbs.

Raye sat at the edge of the steps of the temple. She was suppose to meet up with Darien to come up with a plan to win Serena over. Everyone knew Serena was a forgiving person, she said she had forgiven them. But they had to win their trust back. And they had to get everything the way it's supposed to be. Her mind wonder off to the wavy blond haired man, he was very attractive and what she hated was she was jealous of Serena because of a man she had never met. She couldn't understand it but it was like Serena and Darien. When she tried to get his attention Serena followed them, thinking that Serena liked Darien back then got her angry but now she was fine with it. She wanted Darien to be with Serena. She wanted Serena to be happy and in love. She wanted her best friend to be able to trust her again. Darien sat beside her, she snapped out of her thoughts. Darien looked troubled, angry and jealous. She understood why. A sigh came out of both of their mouths. "the girls are coming too" Darien said as he leaned against the wall. Raye nodded, they sat in silence as they waited. Not wanting to talk about Serena only caused Darien pain and Raye knew that. A man with wavy blonde brown hair appeared, they recognized it. It was Zachary. He was whistling and walking. "Hey Zachary" Darien called out. Zachary looked at them and walked toward them. No one knew who was the jerk that broke Serena's heart, and Serena kept it planned that way. So Darien and Raye were just the jerks who didn't believe in her. He sat down in front of them.

"hello" he said politely, he continued to whistle since the awkward silence kicked in. The girls appeared, Zachary repeated his hello unsure what he was going to do next.

"where's Serena?" Mina asked as she sat beside Raye. Zachary put on his thinking face similar to Serena's, his tongue stuck out with his head titled to the sick looking up, tapping his chin.

"mhmm," he wondered. Still trying to think. "either she's at home sleeping or pigging out. Or she's with the other boys" he stated. "so" he said awkwardly. Another awkward silence kicked in.

"ZAAAAAAAAACKAAAAARY" a voice called. It was an angelic voice regardless the tone was hideous. They all looked to the corner where the blond came out, her hair not in her usual odango's which made Darien frowned. He loved her hair. "JOSHIE I CAN'T FIND HIM" Serena yelled as she walked backwards unaware that she would soon be tripping and falling onto Zachary himself. She took another step and fell, sitting on Zachary. "oh never mind I found him!" Serena said happily. "I win!" she stood up as Matthew came around the corner. Darien stared at Serena, she was happy. And it hurt to see her happy with four men and not him. Zachary stood up and dusted himself. "where were you this morning Serena, when we came back you were gone" Zachary asked. Serena finally realized that the gang was here, she really wished that Matthew didn't meet Mina then none of this would have happened.

"blowing off some steam" she admitted, she wasn't that mad at the boys anymore. She knew they mean well, but she could never stayed angry and her guys. "how was the tuxedo fitting" Serena asked.

"I think it's pointless, I mean my uncle hasn't even proposed to your aunt yet what if she says no" Joshua said as he appeared out of the corner.

"this is why you can't a get a girlfriend" Serena teased. Joshua rolled his eyes. "hey be more optimistic and have more faith in your uncle, my future cousin!" Serena said with a smile.

"He hasn't even thought of a way to ask her. Matthew added.
"we're talking about my aunt Helen here guys, it needs to be something she's gonna remember forever." she reminded them, they all nodded in a agreement. Serena looked at her watch. "Gotta jet! I promised Andrew that we'd catch up" she ran off. Nathaniel glanced at the group with dagger eyes and followed after the blond in a slow pace.

"don't mind Nathaniel, he's more protective of Serena's heart" Joshua said. "I'm more on the protective side as in if I see her with a black eye or a broken noise that bitch is gonna have my foot up their ass." Darien swallowed hard.

"it would also help us if you guys don't tell us which guy was the one who hurt her and which one was the friend that was in that plan" Matthew said, though they all had a feeling it was Darien. No they knew it was Darien but they rather have assumed it then having them hearing it.

"we're really sorry about what we said, we were just mad that -" Mina stopped, she knew if she spoke further the secret would be exposed.

"hey" Matthew said, she looked up. "give her time, I mean we've all 'lost her trust' but we always gained it back. You gotta fight for her trust and her respect. We had to use eight different methods in order to forgive us."

"what did you do?" Amy asked, she wanted Serena's trust back.

"singing to her would be nice" Zachary stated.

"buying her food" Joshua added

"piggy backing her to her classes"

"go on your hands and knees and follow her until she forgives you" Matthew added.

"dance for her works too" Zachary finished. "there's more but these usually work" Lita sighed.

"it's going to take a lot more than all those things for her to gain our trust back" Lita stated, she knew Serena forgave them. But deep down she also knew that Serena didn't want to forgive them. "it's been a year." Matthew patted her on the back softly.

"She's the most stubborn person I have ever met, but she has a good heart" he stated. They all looked at him, everywhere they turned the scouts and Darien would always see something that reminded them of their meatball head leader. Everyone would speak highly of her, even haters. Ms. H even spoke highly of her when she wasn't around. Everyone loved her. Everyone envied her. Something she never noticed.

"I'm jealous of her" Lita admitted, Zachary looked at her confused. Sure everyone was jealous of someone once in their life. Zachary was secretly jealous of his blond friend too. "I mean, she's always so happy. Even if bad things happen she's-"

"a good friend" Zachary finished. "she always sees the good in people, thinking they deserve a second chance. She thinks everyone deserves a chance to start over. To her it's like there's no such thing as too many chances"

"man she got us on our soft side" Joshua stated as he elbowed Zachary. The group laughed, they felt a connection and a strange bond