A week passed and before she knew it, Serena was at Darien's karate school waiting excitedly in the bleachers to watch him earn his black belt. She had a notepad with her just in case she wanted to make any special notes for their project but she was more focused on supporting Darien by giving him her full attention. There was still a few minutes before everything was supposed to start when she suddenly felt someone's presence beside her. She turned around and found Andrew Hansford sitting next to her. "Hey," he said casually.

"Oh… hi Andrew," she said politely. They sat together in silence awkwardly. Serena had given up trying to hang with Darien's friends even when he invited her to join them. She knew Darien tried to convince them to be nicer to her, but whenever she was around them it was clear they weren't comfortable with her presence and she still heard them talking about her when they thought she wasn't around. However, Andrew was different. She noticed that he had stopped making jokes at her expense and sometimes even said hello on occasion. Even though she was surprised he was actually the one who came to sit with her today she appreciated the effort he was making. "Darien mentioned that you did karate too," she finally said. "How come you're not getting your black belt?"

Andrew smiled and rolled his eyes. "The keyword there is 'did.' Darien and I used to practice together, but that stopped after he accidentally knocked me out while we were sparring together. Dude gave me a mild concussion." He shook his head. "I might pick it back up again someday, but definitely somewhere else where Darien isn't training too. He's way too intense."

"Oh, I know. I was afraid he was going to knock himself out when I watched him practice."

Andrew looked at her confusedly. "When did you watch him practice?"

"I watched him at his apartment after he gave me some lessons a couple of weeks ago. It was a trade-off for our project. He spent time interacting with my family at my house so I interacted with him at his home. I went home a little sore, but I learned so much."

"Huh," Andrew said in amazement. "I guess he went easy on you since you're a girl. Just be thankful he didn't send you home with a concussion." Serena giggled and Andrew smiled at her.

"What's going on here?" a female voice said above them. They looked up and saw Mina glaring at them.

"Nothing, babe," Andrew said patting a seat beside him. "I was waiting for you."

"I don't want to sit there. Why are you sitting with her anyway?"

"We were just making small talk. There's nothing for you to be upset about."

Mina looked down at Serena condescendingly. "Well, Meatball Head, I hate to cut this 'small talk' short but I saved a seat for my boyfriend with our friends. Come on, Andy."

"Mina," Andrew scolded as he stood with her. "Don't be rude. Remember what we promised Darien."

"What you promised," she corrected. "I know Darien's on this kick for us to be nice to her and all, but what's the point of pretending to be her friend when I want absolutely nothing to do with her? No offense."

"None taken," Serena said graciously. "At least you're honest." Mina took Andrew's hand and started pulling him away. "Mina?"

"What?" Mina groaned with annoyance placing a hand on her hip.

"I like your earrings."

Mina smiled. "Thanks. There was major sale yesterday and I just couldn't resist." She suddenly smacked Andrew's arm. "How come you didn't notice my earrings?"

Andrew sighed. "I noticed them when you bought them after you dragged me to the store with you."

"But you should have complimented me because you haven't seen me wear them yet…"

Serena shook her head as they walked away bickering. Even if their signs of affection could be a bit over the top at times, Serena admired Andrew and Mina's relationship and part of her wished she had someone special too. She saw Darien come out with all of the other students and smiled. He seemed to be looking for familiar faces in the audience and happily waved at her when he made eye contact with her. She waved back before using sign language to say 'good luck' since he was so far away. He smiled and used sign language to say 'thank you' back to her. Throughout the week, Mr. Peterson had been making the class do different communication exercises to enhance trust and teamwork skills and one of the challenges was to learn American Sign Language to strengthen non-verbal communication. Serena and Darien had so much fun doing it that they still used some signs on occasion. She remembered the day she showed him how much fun it could be.

"He bought ice cream for them to share in one big bowl AND a milkshake with two straws," Darien was saying as they approached her house after school on Tuesday. "I'd say it's getting pretty serious."

Serena snickered as she unlocked the door. "That's because Sammy and Mika are 'just friends' and they just so happen to love the same flavor of ice cream and milkshakes. It's more efficient to share." She opened the door and let them inside. "I'll give them another month before they make it official... well as official as 14 year olds can be."

They walked into the den and found Irene dancing around with a baby. She looked up and smiled. "Oh good, you're home," she said with relief. "Hi Darien. Serena, I'd hate to interrupt your homework time, but could you please watch baby Jordan while I prepare dinner?"

"I'd love to," Serena replied. She set her things down and took Jordan from her mother's arms. "We'll have lots of fun right?" She tickled his belly causing him to giggle.

"Thank you, Serena. Mrs. Winston got held up, but she said she should be here within the next hour or so. He's been fed and changed and his toys are over there so he should be good to go." She left the den and disappeared into the kitchen leaving the teenagers alone with the baby.

"Could you close the baby gate?" Serena asked as she set Jordan on the other side of the room near the toys. She looked over and laughed when she saw Darien fiddling with the baby gate. She walked over to help him. "Have you ever seen a baby gate before?"

"Can't say I have." Darien watched her secure the gate with ease. They turned around and saw Jordan running towards the gate.

Serena made a chopping motion into the palm of one of her hands. "Jordan, stop." Jordan froze in place and repeated the motion with his hands. "Very good."

"Rena pay?" Jordan asked while making a motion with his hands. He twisted his little fists back and forth with his thumbs and pinkies extended.

"Yes, we can play for a little bit."

He looked up at Darien unsurely and seemed to be examining him. "Who dat?" he asked Serena pointing at him.

"This is my friend Darien. Can you say hello?"

Jordan smiled and waved at him. "Pay?" He did the same motion with his fists again.

"Yes, Darien will play too." Jordan ran towards the toys while Serena and Darien followed him. He sat by a toy piano and started making noises with it while Serena and Darien sat in front of him. "You don't really have to play with the toys if you don't want to," Serena explained to Darien. "He just likes us being on the floor with him."

"What was he doing with his fists earlier?" Darien asked.

"It's sign language."

"Oh, so he's deaf?"

"Not at all. He still doesn't talk much yet because he's only 15 months old, but his mom uses sign language to communicate with him. She swears up and down using it helped him start talking earlier and will continue to encourage advanced brain development as he gets older."

Jordan started clapping his hands then faced Serena again. "Duce?" Jordan said.

"What did you say, Jordan?"

"Duce?" He motioned and pretended he was drinking something.

"Oh you want your juice." Serena looked around for his juice container, but she didn't see it. "It must be in the kitchen. I'll go get it for you. Unless you wanna get it, Darien."

"You know where everything is. I can stay with him."

"Ok, I'll be right back." Serena stood up and climbed over the baby gate. "Do you want anything?" Darien shook his head no. She went into the kitchen and found Jordan's empty juice container. "Mom, is there any apple juice in the refrigerator?"

"There should be. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, Jordan's just thirsty." Serena opened the refrigerator and immediately found the juice. She poured some in Jordan's container and hurried back to the den, but stopped at the sight in front of her. She smiled as she watched Darien bounce Jordan in his lap.

"Ready?" Darien asked. Jordan nodded before Darien laid on his back and lifted Jordan in the air. "All right! We're flying!" He made airplane noises while Jordan laughed. Darien joined the laughter as he sat back up with him and Serena's heart melted.

She climbed over the baby gate and came back to where Darien and Jordan were sitting. "Looks like you guys are having fun."

"Yeah," Darien said as Jordan climbed out of his lap and reached for the juice in Serena's hands.

"Ah, ah. What's the magic word?" Serena asked.

Jordan thought for a moment then started rubbing his chest with one hand. "Pees?"

"Close enough," she said as she handed him his juice container.

He stopped drinking for a moment and smiled at her. "Tankoo," he said before he blew a kiss at her.

"You're welcome." She sat back on the floor with Darien and watched Jordan sit back down with the toys while he continued drinking his juice.

"I guess sign language is easier than I thought," Darien said. "It's so easy a baby can do it."

"I told you. I'm sure Mrs. Winston has a book we can borrow or we can just look stuff up on the internet so we can figure out how to have a full conversation." Serena looked at Darien and smiled. Jordan was leaning on him holding out a book to him. Darien took the book as Jordan climbed in his lap and leaned against his chest. Serena scooted closer and listened as Darien started reading Dr. Seuss.

Darien had more than enough motivation to practice sign language with Jordan and it warmed Serena's heart to see how good he was with him. It was moments like those that made Serena like Darien so much. Despite the rough start they had and the wall he tried to keep up, somehow she had broken through the barriers and was intrigued by everything she found out about him and his personality. She grew to like him a lot and somewhere along the way she grew attracted to him as well; she was sure he sealed the deal when she watched how well he got along with baby Jordan. It was the first time she saw him laugh with a smile that reached his eyes and seeing him happy made her happy. But she didn't want to get ahead of herself and say anything because she wasn't even sure how he felt about her and she didn't want to ruin the friendship they worked so hard to build.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer said interrupting her thoughts. "Welcome to the Rising Sun School of Martial Arts. We ask that you remain silent and hold your applause until the very end of the tournament when all the students have finished. They have worked very hard and need to concentrate to earn their belts…"

Serena looked at her program and noticed that Darien was near the end since he was the only one earning his black belt while everyone else was earning lower level belts. She couldn't take her eyes off of Darien and either averted her eyes every time he looked at her or smiled nervously. Focus Serena. She didn't want to distract Darien by staring so much, but she noticed that he kept looking at her on occasion when he thought she wasn't looking. Maybe seeing a familiar face gave him a boost of confidence, but he knew his other friends were there too so why wasn't he looking for them? After a while she perked up when it was finally Darien's turn. She could have sworn he was trying to hide a smile when he bowed to his sensei and it made her smile as she remembered the day at his apartment. He started with a few simple punches and kicks before moving into a series of more complex punch and kick patterns, some of which she had seen already. She shuddered a little bit as he sparred with another student because she was afraid he was going to get hurt, but a sensei was acting as a referee just in case things got too rough. Darien made everything he did look effortless and she was sure he did everything perfectly which wasn't surprising because Darien was the type of person who was committed to working hard at whatever he put his mind to. Once he was done he bowed to his sensei again and took his seat.

"Let's have a round of applause for all the students who have successfully earned their belts today." All of the students lined up in the center. "Mya Ferguson, green belt." Applause filled the room as the sensei presented her with a green belt. "Steve Arnold, green belt. Ryan Gordon, blue belt. Mary James, red belt. Andrew James, brown belt. Thomas Clark, brown belt. Samuel Winchester, brown belt. Darien Shields, black belt. Congratulations." Everyone applauded louder. "Thank you for attending and have a wonderful day."

Serena turned her phone back on as she got up and headed straight for Darien. He was talking to his sensei and shook hands with him before she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and smiled at her. "You did it!" she said as she gave him a big hug. "I knew you could."

"Thank you," he replied as he let go of her. "Sorry I'm a little sweaty."

"Oh, I don't care. We should celebrate."

"That's a great idea. I just have to wash up and change my clothes."

"Hey Darien," Beryl said as she stepped in front of Serena. "Congratulations on making the black belt." Serena frowned and stepped from behind her.

"You were like Jonny Cage in Mortal Kombat," Chad exclaimed. "I've never seen anyone with moves like that."

"Thank God it wasn't you pretending you were in Mortal Kombat," Rae commented. "Last time you did, you almost broke everything in Grandpa's den."

"I remember that," Mina giggled. "He was so pissed and made you clean the whole thing."

"He was just jealous that I'm a better martial artist than him," Chad defended. "Like I always say: don't hate, appreciate."

Andrew shook his head. "Speaking of appreciation, let's celebrate our new black belt," he said clapping a hand on Darien's shoulder.

"Serena and I were just talking about that," Darien said. "What do you guys wanna do?"

Beryl looked Serena up and down with a glare. "She's not invited."

"Why not?" Darien asked. "It was her idea."

She scoffed. "Well it's a stupid idea if she really thinks she's going to hang with us. It was already bad enough when she was trying to invade our hangout time at the Crown after school."

Darien rolled his eyes. "It won't kill you if Serena joins us one more time at the Crown for some ice cream or something."

"Yeah, I can get us the usual discount," Andrew chimed in. "This calls for much more than ice cream."

Beryl groaned loudly. "I'm not coming if she's gonna be there. She'll just ruin the mood like she always does."

"Good riddance," Darien mumbled.

Beryl looked at him sharply. "Excuse me?" Darien shrugged. "You know what? I've had enough of you defending her all the time. And I've had enough pretending to be nice to her just because you have some fetish for freaks."

At that moment Serena's phone chirped and they all looked at her while she checked it. "You don't have to worry about me anymore, Beryl," she said. "I have to get going. Have fun." She started walking away, but Darien stopped her when they were a short distance away from his friends.

"You don't have to leave because of Beryl," Darien said sadly. "She's being ridiculous."

Serena showed him the text message from her mother. "Sammy needs a ride to soccer practice because Dad's meeting ran later than he thought it would. I have the extra car. Besides, I don't wanna be an extra wheel when it's obvious I'm not wanted."

"This is my celebration and I want you there, Serena."

Serena smiled. "You know our door is always open if you wanna come over later."

Darien sighed. "Is it ok if I come over for dinner?"

"Of course you can. Do you have any special requests?"

"Not really. Everything you and your mom cooks is always delicious. What do you suggest?"

Serena thought for a moment. "We can have a Japanese themed dinner and then bake a cake to celebrate too."

Darien grabbed his stomach dramatically. "That sounds so good. Are you sure I can't come over now?"

Serena giggled. "You can't. I have to get Sammy and your other friends are waiting for you." She paused. "Since it's your celebration, you can invite your friends if they want to come... except maybe not Beryl since I apparently always ruin her mood. Have fun at the Crown, ok?"

Darien sighed. "It won't be as much fun without you there."

"Don't let anything they say or do put a damper on your mood. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about those things."

Darien looked impressed. "Wow, did you make that up yourself?"

"It's a Bible verse I memorized."

"Of course it is."

Serena smiled and gave him another hug. "I'll see you later, ok?"

"I look forward to it."

Darien watched Serena leave until she was out of sight and sighed before returning to his other friends. "If you all could give me like 5 minutes to wash up and get changed I'll be ready to go."

"Well we could have been there already if Meatball Brains wasn't yakking away," Beryl said.

"Serena also said you all were invited to a Japanese themed dinner at her house if you want to come," Darien added ignoring her.

Beryl scoffed. "And why the hell would we go to her house? That's just a disaster waiting to happen. Now hurry up and get showered or whatever so we can go to the Crown."

Darien had enough. He was about to blow up at her, but he remembered what Serena just told him. Don't let anything they say or do put a damper on your mood. He took a deep breath and crafted a level response. "Beryl, you're not invited."

"What?" she said in disbelief.

"You're not invited," he said slower. "You weren't invited to Serena's house and you're not invited to come with us to the Crown. This is a time to celebrate my accomplishment and I don't need your negativity, how do you say it, ruining the mood."

"Oh my God, if this is because of what I said about Meatball…"

"It's not," Darien interrupted. "At least not entirely. Your behavior just now reminded me exactly why we broke up in the first place. You're a liar and I can't trust you. You always play sweet and innocent and then you turn into a conniving, manipulating brat with a horrible attitude about the stupidest things every time you don't get your way. I'm sick of you and I'm tired of dealing with your selfishness. I've given you plenty of chances to change, but you just keep proving over and over again that you're not a real friend and you're really doing nothing to enhance my life. You're nothing to me."

Beryl scrunched her face in anger. "Well screw you then!" she yelled. "I'm tired of you too. You're a worthless fool and you're gonna be sorry!" She shoved past him and left the building.

"And that is why I never want to be on your bad side," Andrew said when she was gone.

"She had it coming, man," Chad added. "It's like you totally picked apart my brain and said exactly what I've always thought about her."

"Then why didn't you say anything to her?" Darien asked.

"Because she's Rae's friend and I'm scared of what Rae would do to me if I ever told her off like that."

"Ex-friend," Rae corrected. "You know as well as I do that Beryl and I have been drifting apart for a long time. You're just trying to use that as an excuse because you're more scared of her than you are of me."

"I was just trying to be considerate of your feelings, babe," Chad said sweetly. "You're the only girl I care about." Rae smiled and gave him a kiss.

"Awww," Mina cooed. "We're rubbing off on you." Rae just stuck her tongue out at her.

"While the married couple continues to kiss and make up, let's get some food and celebrate Darien's black belt," Andrew suggested.

"You guys go ahead," Darien said. "I still need to change, but I'll meet you there in a little bit." They left the building while Darien went to the locker room to change clothes. Maybe he took it a little too far telling Beryl off like that, but she deserved it. She should have been thankful he didn't yell and curse her out like he really wanted to. For now he was glad she was out of his hair and he wondered why he didn't do this a long time ago. It felt great to finally have all of that off his chest and now he could focus on all of his real friends peacefully.

Beryl was seething. Her room looked like a tornado ran through it with all kinds of items strewn about. She had turned over every piece of furniture in sight, broke all of her frames with pictures of her and Darien together, and tore apart every piece of paper she could get her hands on. How could he do this to her? So what if she spoke her mind about that stupid Meatball Head. He had no right to speak to her that way and she was going to make him pay. She logged onto her computer and started typing away to formulate a plan.

A/N: Uh oh… what exactly is Beryl up to? Any guesses? Stay tuned to see what happens next. I have a lot going on in the next couple of weeks so it might be a while before the next chapter is up. Thanks as always for the follows/favorites/reviews. It's always good to see that people are still interested in this story.