-------------Chapter 10

Serena woke up early the next morning, simply happy. She had gone to sleep smiling, and her mood had only intensified overnight. Unable to stay stationary in her bedroom, she got up and put her sweatpants and a tank top on. She quickly did her morning routine, washing her face and brushing her teeth before heading down the hallway. She stopped at Darien's door and knocked lightly, her heart had paused. No answer. She knocked again, but still no answer. Serena sat outside his door for a few more seconds before she quietly opened it. She smiled at the man who was lying in the huge bed. Darien was sleeping shirtless on his stomach. He was so peaceful, none of the indifference that was usually etched on his features, just pure relaxation. Serena smiled and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind her.

She continued down the stairs after checking in on Andrew and Mina who had fallen asleep in each other's arms, something Serena was jealous of. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept in the comfort of somebody's arms that cared about her. Her mind wandered through various thoughts as she set about the kitchen cooking breakfast. After about an hour and a half, she had successfully made an array of breakfast foods including bacon, pancakes, eggs and various fruit. She washed her hands in the sink and dried them off before heading upstairs to wake up the others.

Serena reached Andrew's room and knocked before walking in. She leaned against the door frame as she called them up.

"Mina… Andrew, time to wake up." She said softly. Mina stirred in his arms and looked up at Serena.

"Morning." She said simply, before laying her head back down onto Andrew's bare chest. Serena laughed at her; she was usually an unpleasant person to wake up.

"Breakfast is ready." She told her, and Mina's face lit up.

"Great!... Andrew, wake up! Breakfast time!" she said, getting out of bed. Serena gracefully exited the room before she witnessed anything she wouldn't want to see. She walked down the hallways and knocked on the next room. Still no answer. Serena walked into the room and found Darien in the same position she had left him in earlier.

"Darien? Darien? It's time to wake up, breakfast is ready." She said, unsure of what to do. She was positive that he would be like any other morning grump. Darien stirred a bit, and mumbled something before becoming motionless again.

"Darien, come on, time to get up. It's 11 o'clock already."

"No." he said, quite clearly. Serena laughed at him.

"Really, Darien? It's time to get up!"

Darien opened his eyes and looked at her. He groaned in frustration.

"You're a morning person, aren't you?" he complained. That might not work towards her advantage he thought.

"Kind of… on occasion, I guess. Now get up, your food is getting cold!" And with that she left Darien alone in the dark. He groaned and let his body slump back into the comfortable mattress. He drifted back and forth between dream world and reality. Finally, after twenty minutes he got up form his bed and went into his bathroom.

Serena, Andrew and Mina were all sitting on the kitchen stools enjoying their breakfast, when Darien walked down the steps, looking a bit disgruntled. He sat in a stool and began to grab some food.

"Good morning." He said, giving them a grin. Andrew laughed at his friend.

"I forgot how much you hated getting up before noon."

"Hate it." He said smirking at Serena, who stuck her tongue out at him. He was so annoying. She knew he wasn't that upset, he had been the one to suggest getting up early the next morning so that they could have more adventures.

"Suck it up, now eat."

"Yes ma'am." He grinned at Serena, and she rolled her eyes at him. Mina was looking at Serena with knowing eyes; something had changed between the two of them. She patiently waited for the four of them to finish eating their breakfast before asking her to join her upstairs to 'grab something'.

As soon as Serena had stepped over the threshold into Mina's room, Mina started giggling and beaming down at Serena, who stood there completely confused. She shut the door behind her and rolled her eyes at Mina.

"What is all this about?" she asked innocently… she couldn't be that easy to read. Serena didn't think it was possible for anybody to tell that she and Darien had shared a special moment together. Mina wasn't that good… apparently she was.

"I know something happened between you two! It's so obvious! The way he looked at you all during breakfast, how you kept smiling at him! Not to mention that he couldn't stop touching you!" Mina went on, describing the many reasons she knew something had developed between the two. Serena sat on the bed and giggled as she too thought about the little smiles they had shared between them; thinking that they were the only ones who had noticed. It was also true that Darien was always touching her. Every time he walked past her, he would run his fingertips against her skin, or he would brush her hands with his.

Serena had liked the idea of secret flirting, it was fun! But Mina had ruined it before it even had a chance to build up. It's not like she wouldn't have told Mina, she had just wanted to figure things out a bit more, or let them continue to flirt in their own way. Mina broke into Serena's thoughts.

"Tell me what happened!" she demanded, not really giving Serena a chance to say no. Serena laughed at her, and told her how Darien had kissed her. She couldn't help but give Mina the details; how he had held her, the way his body felt against hers, the taste of his lips. It was obvious to Mina that Serena was happy, the most genuine kind. She smiled at her best friend and nodded, she knew the feeling of being swept off her feet, Andrew did that to her on a regular basis.

"This is so perfect! This trip will be so much easier now." Mina said, hugging Serena and laughing.

"You can't tell Andrew! I don't want this to be a big deal."

"Are you serious? You really think Darien isn't going to tell him? I'm positive that they're talking about it right now!" Mina said.

"Well, if he hasn't then don't tell him!" Serena said as she walked to the door and pulled Mina after her. Mina merely laughed and walked out the door after her.

They climbed down the stairs and walked into the t.v. room where Darien and Andrew were relaxing.

"So, what are we doing today?" Mina asked. "I want to do something fun!"

"And what did you have in mind?" Darien asked her.

"Let's go exploring! I bet there's so much to see here!"

"Yea, I've heard there are a bunch of tours you can take. Let's work on it." Andrew said, looking at Darien, who silently agreed.

"Grab us the laptop in the office, and we'll look it all up."

Serena went and grabbed the laptop and brought it back out into the t.v. room. The four of them sat around it looking up different parks and tours to go on, until they had narrowed it down to three. They were going to do the remaining ones later the next day, and during the week. They all went upstairs to change into their day clothes, excited about their trip. Serena was busy in her room, putting on her shorts over her bathing suit when a light tap came to her door.

"Come in." she said, her back to the door. As she finished buttoning up her shorts, she turned around and came face to face with a handsome dark haired man. She smiled as Darien put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him.

"Good morning." He said, planting a gentle kiss on her lips. She laughed at him.

"Good morning? It's almost 2 in the afternoon." She said, looking at her watch.

"I'm simply demonstrating the correct way to wake somebody up." Serena laughed and rolled her eyes.

"You get what you get." She said pulling away from him and walking around her bed, getting her stuff put together. Darien chuckled and sat down on the edge of her bed, and watched as she looked for a shirt to put on over her bikini top. Serena was looking for a tank top and was conscious of the fact that Darien was watching her. It almost made her uncomfortable, but he did it in a relaxed, "I'm-not-creeping-on-you" kind of way. She slipped a green tank top on, and turned to him. He was sitting there, just waiting. It was odd how comfortable she was in his presence, and that Darien had even come up to her and kissed her. Their relationship was truly something different than what she was used to. Darien's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Come here."

Serena couldn't help but approach him. As she stood in front of him, Darien put his hands on the backs of her legs and pulled her closer to him still as she put her arms around his neck. She looked down into his eyes and smiled as she bent down and kissed him. Darien pressed his lips onto hers and instantly felt the attraction. He put his hands behind her knees, and moved each of them, one at a time, to either side of his body, so that she was sitting on him.

The added pressure of her body being placed on his spiked the excitement in his kissing patterns, pressing his mouth to hers more urgently than before. Serena pressed herself onto him even more and kissed him harder, moving her hands through his hair. Darien was lost in Serena's scent, and pulled her body closer to his. As he parted her lips again, he slipped his tongue into her mouth, fully tasting her. Serena couldn't help herself as she returned the favor, brushing her tongue against his, creating even more sparks. Darien was going crazy on the inside; he wanted Serena so badly, more than anybody he'd ever laid eyes on. The feel of her tongue on his made his mind do flips; he had never been so excited, so eager to keep tasting somebody. He put one of his arms around her waist, and leaned back onto the other one, holding both of their bodies slightly higher than the bed. The incline made Serena's body cover his even more, and he knew he had to stop again. He leaned back up and pulled away from her lips, taking one last sweep of her mouth, before looking her in the eyes.

He brushed her hair out of her face, and she smiled at him before placing a quick kiss on his lips and climbing out of his lap. Darien was so surprised at her; she acted as if he had no effect on her, when she so obviously had a strong one on him. Serena went back to putting her things together, when she looked back over at him as he continued to stare.

"What?" she asked, her hands on her hips.

"Nothing, just get ready." Darien said, sweeping his hair out of his eyes. Serena rolled her eyes and finished packing. Once she was done she walked towards the door, Darien right behind her. Suddenly, she stopped and turned to face him.

"Did you tell Andrew?" she asked, curiously.

"No, did you tell Mina?" he asked, just as curious. She bit down on her lip and smiled a little. Darien laughed lightly and kissed her forehead.

"I swear, girls can never keep secrets."

Serena scoffed at Darien, and pulled away from him.

"And men can never admit their feelings." Serena said simply, turning away and walking out of the door. Before she could get three steps away from him, Darien had caught her around the waist and pulled her to his body.

"I can admit that there's something different about you, and that I want to figure out what it is." He said, holding her closely. Serena couldn't help but melt in his arms, she felt so safe there, being held. His body was so strong and comforting to her small one. She could feel her heart doing flips, wanting so badly to burst out of her chest after hearing him say those words. She knew she had to be calm and collected, so she turned to him and smiled.

"Admit that to Andrew." And with that she kissed his cheek, and walked away, grabbing his hand at the last second and dragging him behind her.

"You are just so full of yourself." Darien said, allowing himself to be dragged down the stairs. "Why did you tell Mina?"

Serena laughed, "As if I actually told her. She guessed! She knows me and noticed that we were acting differently towards each other. That's what a best friend does." She said sitting on a couch.

"Well, thank you for calling my best friend inefficient." Darien said, sitting next to her and picking up the remote to the t.v.

"Oh, you know I didn't mean it like that. Girls just like pointing out things like this." Serena said, taking the remote out of Darien's hand. He looked at the blonde girl and lunged at her. Serena shrieked and tried to keep the remote from Darien, but she had no chance. His body was bigger, longer and stronger than hers. He grabbed the remote out of her hand, smirked at her and kissed her softly.

"That's what you get." He said, straightening up and changing the channel back to where he wanted it. Serena stuck her tongue out at him, and sat with her arms crossed over her chest. Darien laughed at her and continued to watch t.v. until Mina and Andrew got downstairs.

"Finally, you two took forever." Darien said, looking up at the two of them.

"Oh, we were just talking." Mina said, looking from Serena to Darien. He knew why she was looking at him that way, and chose to ignore her.

"Yea, because D, I hope you know that I did notice a certain changed behavior between you and a certain girl." Andrew said nonchalantly. Serena turned pink and Darien rolled his eyes at him.

"I mean, we're your best friends. We know you guys. Fess up." Mina said, standing her ground next to Andrew.

"What would you like me to say?" Darien said, looking up at Andrew.

"That we were right." He said, simply, a smirk on his face.

Serena was glowing red as they talked. She couldn't believe that they were talking about this right now! The more they talked about this the more she felt more guilty. She had forgotten that Malcolm existed, that Lita existed. The more she thought about it, the more disgusted she felt with herself. What had happened to her? She had never been the kind of girl to cheat on her boyfriend, and now her best friend was supporting it, even pushing it? Subconsciously, she pulled away from Darien's body, feeling even more awkward as the conversation continued.

"Fine." Darien responded, then ignoring Andrew.

"Good." He replied, "Now, let's get going! We have so much to do!" Andrew said, getting everybody back on track, and clearing Serena's thoughts. She immediately perked up and grabbed Darien's hand and pulled him to the door.

"Mina, let's go!" she squealed, and Mina grabbed Andrew and they were out the door in record timing. The two men were being dragged everywhere, and neither seemed to mind all that much, as long as the girl who was pulling them was having a good time. They piled into the car, Mina and Serena in the backseats, and headed out to have more adventures.

Their theme for today was water sports, they had already gone snorkeling the day before, but this time they were going to try water skiing, jet skis and tubing. Serena had never tried any of these activities, but she was excited nonetheless. Darien and Andrew, as usual, were experts on everything. They had both spent numerous times doing all of the above. At this time they were going to a secluded body of water, where Darien's family owned a boat house and jet skis.

"Gosh Darien, what don't you have?" Serena asked as they walked down to the boat house.

"A pet, never had one of those." Darien smiled at Serena as she giggled at him. That noise made him unreasonably cheerful.

The four of them climbed down the stairs and towards the dock. Darien and Andrew did all the basic maneuvers in order to get the boat down off the lift and into the water. They figured they would start off with an easy activity… tubing. As they all piled onto the boat, Darien and Andrew explained to the girls that all they really had to do was hold on to the tube. Both men had interesting ideas about what was going to happen once they were in open water.

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The group of four was climbing out of the car, both girls looked exhausted, meanwhile the two guys looked as if they had had the time of their lives. Darien and Andrew kept sneaking smirks at one another, which did not go unnoticed by Mina and Serena. They got into the house and went straight to their bedrooms to shower and relax.

Serena climbed underneath the warm jets of water, and relaxed all the muscles in her body. She could not believe Darien and Andrew! They had taken the girls for insane rides on the water. Darien and Andrew seemed to enjoy themselves when Serena and Mina were being dragged behind the boat, clinging to the tube. At first, she had thought they were merely being cruel, but after being thrown off once, she realized that it was all in good fun, however mean it had started out to be. She and Mina ended up becoming much more stable, and had enjoyed the rides, but what they did not enjoy was the water skiing. Both girls had failed trying to get up on the skis, which earned insults and jokes from the two guys, who got up with such ease and grace. The two even knew how to do simple tricks, laughing the entire time. Her favorite part had been the jet skis, and Darien had even let her drive him. The feeling of speed on the water, the bumps and splashes made everything more enjoyable. That was the best time of the entire adventure, but still she had tried new things, and she was happy with herself.

Serena got out of the shower and got ready to go downstairs by pulling on her lounge pants and a simple white tank top. She pulled open her door and walked past Darien's to the stairs. When she hit the stairs, Darien had just emerged from his room, black hair tousled and pulling a shirt on.

"Serena, wait up." He called to her, pulling his shirt over his head. Serena watched as the muscles in his body began to flex. That had been one of her favorite parts of the day; Darien's strength was making her want him even more.

Serena turned to him and laughed, "Says the guy who tried to kill me while tubing today."

That smirk that Serena loved so much, flashed onto Darien's face, making him look more handsome and seductive.

"I would never try to kill you, where would I find another intern?" he asked, walking up to her and smiling. Serena rolled her eyes and continued walking down the stairs, as Darien laughed his deep laugh at her.

The two of them sat down on the couch in front of the t.v. and Darien turned it on to search for a good movie or show. Mina and Andrew came down after a couple of minutes and they helped pick out a movie. Serena had no care for what they watched… she knew she would end up asleep during the first few minutes. As the movie began, Serena curled up and fell asleep twenty minutes into the movie. Darien watched her out of the corner of his eye; he didn't want Andrew or Mina to make a big deal out of him watching Serena sleep. He simply wanted to make sure she slept peacefully. He watched her for the first hour of the movie, taking in the beauty of the sleeping girl. Serena looked as if nothing could harm her, she looked happy lying there on the couch. Darien caught himself smiling down at her figure, curled up within itself, it was the cutest thing he had seen in a very long time… in fact this was the first time in ages that he had even used that word!

Andrew watched Darien as he gazed down at Serena's sleeping figure. He noticed the genuine care that was in his eyes for the girl who cuddled into the couch. Andrew was holding Mina's sleeping body in his arms, as he continued to calculate his best friend's body language. He could tell that Darien wanted nothing more than to touch her, but for some reason he held it all in. Andrew was surprised to see that much care in his eyes, and it made him upset for his best friend because he knew it would come down to a battle between Malcolm and him, and Andrew really had no clue what would be the outcome. Trying to be helpful, Andrew got up and pulled Mina's sleeping body into his arms, holding her tight.

"I'm going up to bed, you should probably take her up too." Andrew said, turning his back on Darien and carrying Mina to the stairs, and to her bedroom.

Darien continued to look down at Serena and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand, feeling her warmth. He smiled down at her, and scooped her small body into his arms. Serena stirred a bit, cuddled into his body, then went back to a soundless sleep. Darien couldn't help but be proud of himself, that he had been accepted by her. He walked up the steps and carried her into her room, lowering her onto her bed. She stirred again, and opened her eyes a bit.

"Darien?" Serena mumbled, as Darien smiled down at her, touching her face.

"Yea?"

"Will you stay with me?" she whispered, her eyelids fluttering open, then closed. Darien smiled at her, and kissed her lips. Serena flashed a smile, her eyes still closed. He knew it would not be a good decision to get in bed with her, although he wanted nothing more than to do just that.

"Maybe some other time, okay? Get some rest, we have meetings tomorrow." Darien chuckled as he saw Serena's sleeping face frown a bit. He walked back to the door and shut it quietly, going back to his own room.

Darien stripped down and climbed into bed, wishing that he would stop doing the decent thing and allow his body to do as it pleased. He wanted so badly to feel Serena's body curled up against his, to hear her steady breathing and the beat of her heart. Darien was aching for the day when he would be able to wake up and see her smiling up at him, anxious to kiss him. He hated how life never worked in his favor, and that for the first time when he was being sincere, he would not end up with the prize.

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A/N: Hey guys, I'm so sorry about how long it took for this chapter to come up, I'm swamped with work! College is no joke, but every spare moment I have I try to write something! Tell me how you like it, as always I love to hear your comments!