Darien's POV

"Serena?"

"Hi Darien, I was just coming by to thank you."

I blushed. "For what?"

She smiled back at me as I opened the door and walked out to meet her as she smiled and said," I want to thank you for being there for me, I don't know if I could have done it without you Darien. Thank you."

I looked at her and brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes as she smiled at me and I saw a new light in her eyes, she was happy and healthy and that's what I wanted. A happy Serena. I leaned down and brushed my lips against her cheek as she smiled and kissed me on the cheek as I moved my lips to hers and wrapped my arms around her as she smiled at me and said," You have changed Darien, I like the new you."

"You know I do."

The two of us were in a trance until I broke it and leaned down and kissed her as she whimpered, her lips were soft and warm as I cupped her cheek in my hands as I kissed her, I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I was absolutely in love with Serena Taylor.

Suddenly, I shot up in bed trying to think about my dream which was weird. It had been a couple of days since Serena had been on the stand and I had been having these dreams lately about Serena, weird dreams about her mainly of me telling her that I was in love with her. I laid down in bed running my fingers through my hair trying to work everything out, my life had literally turned inside out because of Serena.

A lot had changed for me, I haven't spoken to my so called friends in a few weeks since everything happened. I guess you could say that I had changed but it was hard to imagine me having dreams about telling Serena that I loved her, I hadn't noticed a lot of things about Serena.

It was hard to imagine that just one person can totally change your life, the way you think, the way you are, the way you act and everything that you thought you knew was a lie. It was strange to think how my life changed in one split second, I was more anxious than anything in the world to see how this trail panned out. Mostly important how Serena was going to take it.

Serena's POV

I wish it was over, I wish none of this had happened. Everything was so much easier for me and now it had changed and now things were much more difficult. My siblings were in foster care, I was a mess, and my mother wanted to kill me so life was just real peachy. It had been a couple days since I was put on the stand and I was just glad it was over, I hated being on the stand but knew I had to do it. I kept leaning towards the hope that she would be lose custody of us and that's all I wanted. The charges against her were child neglect and child abuse among others, Darien's mom told that she would possibly get ten to fifteen years and that made me relieved.

I was just ready for this to be over.

The next day...

As I arrived to the courtroom, I noticed that Darien and his mother were talking quietly and he was trying to get information out of her. I knew something was going but I didn't know what it was. As I made my way over to them, I saw Darien smile at me and I knew something was up so I asked," Is something wrong?"

He smiled at me. "Your mom fired her attorney, she doesn't want anyone to represent her. She wants to do it alone."

"What?"

Suddenly, I felt weak and I felt like I was going to pass out. I don't know why but I felt sick to my stomach and Darien must have noticed because he grabbed me and I fell into his arms struggling to breathe, I closed my eyes as he brought me in the courthouse. I don't why this was happening to me, I should be glad to hear this. Now I knew that this day in the courtroom was going to be emotional and I wasn't sure I could handle it.

I wasn't sure about anything anymore.

Darien's POV

I held Serena in my arms as my mother handed her a glass of water, Serena was in shock and feeling low. I felt bad for her, I knew this would be a huge blow to her and I wasn't sure how she would handle it.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I don't think I can go in."

His mom grimaced and said," Sweetie, I know this is upsetting for you. It would be for anyone in this situation but you did so well on the stand and I know you can do this."

I rubbed Serena's arm as she smiled at me, I felt terrible for Serena. I just hoped she wouldn't take this out on herself. I didn't want that to happen to her but that is what I feared.

"Do I have to testify today?"

"Nope, today is going to be closing arguments and then the judge will decide what to do."

Sadie nodded. "I'll go in."

She smiled as I helped her up and the two of us walked in the courtroom which was packed, she didn't even look at the defense table because I knew how much pain she was going through. I had my arms around Serena for most of the day, she didn't seem to mind. A few times she would bury her face into my shoulder and I didn't mind at all, in fact I liked it. I knew that her mother was going to lose horribly, she wasn't even prepared and my mother was going to make sure that Serena's mom didn't see the light of day for a long time.

We listened as the judge gave his speech and we knew it was turning in our favor, he was lecturing her mother and we listened to what he had to say which wasn't pleasant. I watched as he gave her mother the harshest sentence that he could give, ten to fifteen years to child abuse and neglect among other things. I saw Serena breathe a sigh of relief as her mother was taken away, I hugged Serena as she smiled and buried her face in my shoulder. It was a big relief for all of us.

"So she's going to prison?"

I nodded. "For a very long time."

I didn't know what she was thinking but I knew that she was upset and her feelings were all mixed up, hell I know mine would be too. Serena had been through a lot in the past few weeks so I knew that she wouldn't express how she was feeling at the moment but from the looks of it she looked relieved but she also looked worn out and exhausted.

"Serena, are you going to be okay?"

"I don't know."

I rubbed her shoulder as she leaned on me and I helped her get up from the bench, I walked her out as she buried her face into my chest and started to cry as I ruffled her hair as she clung to me and sobbed and I ran my fingers through her hair letting her cry it out. I felt terrible for Serena, this had to take a toll on her and I knew that she was feeling stressed out, anyone in her situation would be.

"Shhhh, it will be okay Serena."

"No it's not."

"Oh Darien, I've made a mistake by doing this."

I cupped her cheek and said," Serena, no you haven't. You did the right thing."

"Then how come I don't feel like it."

As I drove her home in her car, I grabbed her hand as she looked at me and said," I still feel bad about my siblings, I put them in foster care and now look at me."

"Serena, you didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you did everything right in finding the help that you need. Your siblings are in better care now, don't take this out on yourself."

"Darien, it's my fault. I should've taken better care of them."

Seeing that this was only making her upset, I looked at her and said,' Serena, I'm not trying to tell you what you do but you can't do this yourself. You are only making yourself upset, you did the right thing. Anyone will tell you that. Don't do this to yourself."

"But Darien-"

"No buts about it."

I looked at her as she entwined her hand in mine as I smiled at her and said," Don't do this to yourself, I don't like to see you do this to yourself."

"Can you stay with me?"

I nodded. "I will stay with you however long you need me."

I knew Serena was going through a lot and not showing her emotions but I was also going through a lot, throughout the last couple weeks I became more in touch with my feelings and realizing that I did feel something for Serena, I just wanted her to be okay.


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