Guys, I can't apologize enough for how long it has taken me to write this. I'm taking 19 hours this semester and between unforeseen family complications and

being sick for a month, I haven't had a lot of free time. But this is Spring Break week so I fully plan on getting as much as humanly possible typed up before I get busy again.

Thank you all that sent me messages asking me to update, I'm sorry I didn't respond to them but I did read them and they were much appreciated Hopefully you'll be happy with this update!

As always, thank you to AngelONight for being an awesome Beta

Chapter 13 - A Surprising Discovery

The next morning was a long one for Serena. After waking up a little after midnight from a bad dream regarding her testimony against Frank, she seemed to be in a complete haze. She hugged her pillow as she stared out the window, idly watching the rain stream down, letting her worries extend into reality. Trapped inside her own foggy world, she barely noticed when her alarm went off at 7. For a moment, it sounded as if it was a distant car alarm. She sighed as she got up to turn it off, stretched and made her way to the kitchen. Luna trailed behind her, eager for her breakfast while Serena made coffee.

When Mina arrived at the door a moment later, she sighed. She could tell by the distant look in Lily's eyes that it wasn't the time to talk about the picture she had found in Lily's room. Mina was getting frustrated. She desperately wanted to know why Lily was in a picture with the man she knew to be her father and why Lily was holding an award for a Serena Thompson. She had so many questions and it just never seemed like the right time to get answers.

"Lily, is everything okay?"

Serena stared at her coffee cup for a moment before lifting her head and looking at Mina, "I'm sorry, what?"

Mina sighed. "I just asked if everything was okay. You're pretty quiet this morning."

"Oh! Yeah, no, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind is all." She glanced towards her balcony and watched the rain come down. "It's raining pretty hard, huh?"

"Yeah… I'll have to change the outfit I planned to wear today. It was really cute, too!"

Serena smiled slightly at Mina's bright personality and then proceeded to stare out the window again as she sipped her coffee. She didn't even notice when Mina left the apartment to start getting ready for the day. She headed back to her room, took a shower and got dressed in some jean capris, pink tank top and a light rain coat. After slipping on some flip flops, she opened the door to find Mina preparing to knock. They laughed for a moment before Serena waved goodbye to Luna and they headed down the stairs to the lobby and off to campus.

In her first class, Amy had quite a difficult time keeping Lily focused. Every time she looked over, it seemed the Lily was staring off into space and not listening to the professor. After nudging her, Lily would stay attentive for about a minute before she would start zoning out again. Mina had a similar problem in their second class, except Mina wasn't able to prevent Lily from getting into trouble when the professor caught her not paying attention.

At lunch, when Serena had gone to the restroom, the girls all talked about her lack of interest in anything.

"I asked her this morning what was going on and she said that she just had a lot of stuff on her mind before she changed the subject."

Lita sighed, "Maybe I should fix her some more apple pie?"

Raye smirked, "Well, the way to Lily's heart seems to be her stomach, that's for sure."

"Not this past week, she's barely eaten anything!"

All the girls sighed at Amy's observation. It was true, their normally food-happy friend had shown very little interest in it recently. All conversation had to cease as they saw Lily heading back towards the group, but they were all extremely worried about her and knew they had to come up with some kind of plan to get her to talk about whatever was going on.

At dance that day, Serena tried to sit out and was frustrated when Mina wouldn't let her just watch. Alan danced with her a couple times and no matter how much he tried, she just wouldn't start up a conversation with him. Her mind was obviously not on the dancing and even though Alan tried to surprise her with a few complicated moves, she followed effortlessly and still stared off over his right shoulder.

After classes, the girls rendezvoused at Crown's to get a quick bite to eat before Mina and Molly had to head to work. Andrew noticed them immediately and made his way over to the counter, smiling.

"Hey, ladies! How are we doing today?"

"Oh, pretty good." Mina glanced hesitantly at Lily who simply smiled blankly back at her.

Andrew frowned at Lily and sent a questioning glance towards the other two. Mina simply sighed and shrugged her shoulders before Andrew nodded sadly. He had seen Lily depressed lately but he didn't know exactly how bad it had gotten. "You guys want the regular?"

"Yes, please!" Mina absent-mindedly licked her lips and headed to a booth with the other two following. Andrew delivered their orders, sighing when Lily's eyes didn't light up at the sight of food, before quickly going to help another group sitting at a nearby booth. Mina and Molly quickly dug into their meals but stopped when they looked over at Lily who was simply stirring her straw around in her water and staring at her sandwich. They glanced at each other and Molly was about to ask what was wrong when Lily sat up-straight.

"Hey, I'm actually going to call it a day. I know it's early, but I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I'll see you both tomorrow though, okay?" She didn't give them the opportunity to respond as she got up from the table and headed towards the door. But, of course, she couldn't escape that easily. She walked straight into someone coming in. (Guess who!)

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She looked up into deep blue eyes and felt her heart quiver pleasantly. A blush crept onto her cheeks as she remembered the previous evening.

Darien smiled at her but his smiled faltered as he looked into her suddenly distant eyes. "Hey… Is everything okay?"

Serena smiled as widely as she could. "Yes, of course… I'm just going home for the night."

Darien glanced outside. While the sun wasn't out due to the rain clouds, it was still very much daytime. He looked back at her quizzically. "Calling it quits this early?"

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling well. But I'll see you tomorrow!" She ducked around him and out the door.

Darien turned around to watch her leave and was quickly joined by Andrew. "What's up with her?"

Darien sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "I have absolutely no idea…"

~*.*~

Serena sighed as she walked into the lobby. She was sure that her friends were worried about her. She knew that she had been a complete downer lately and wished so much that she could share her fears and history with her friends, but she couldn't. She couldn't tell anybody. The only people she could talk to are Amara and Michelle and while she loved them deeply, as they were like family, it would be nice to talk to someone that was separated from the situation.

"Oh, Ms. Avery! Wait up a moment, please!"

Serena frowned and turned around and headed towards the desk where Ken had called from. "Hey, Ken. What's going on?"

"I know you haven't checked your mail yet… mostly because you haven't had any…" he let that comment sit in the air for a moment, as he found it strangely odd, "but you got in a rather large envelope this morning that I thought you'd like to know about."

Serena frowned, but reached for it when Ken handed it to her, wondering who could be sending her things to this address. "Thanks…" Her eyebrows rose quickly when she saw who it was from. "Thanks, Ken! I appreciate it!" She turned and walked away quickly towards the elevator, not wanting to wait until she got to her apartment to read it. When she got to the elevator she ripped open the envelope and took out the papers inside. Paper-clipped to the front was a note.

"I thought you would want to see this as soon as it was released. I wasn't able to call or visit, as I'm dealing with another case, but I knew this would ease your mind. Know we both love you. We'll see you soon! - Amara and Michelle"

The elevator dinged and she stepped off to head to her apartment as she tore off the note and unfolded the newspaper article underneath. She opened her apartment, shut the door and quickly made it to her couch before she started reading. In it, it stated how Frank Marshall, a well-known employee of Chase Diamond, had been convicted of manslaughter in the second degree and multiple felony charges, as well as possible murders of police officers in the Washington area which were still being investigated.

Serena's heart felt like it stopped beating when she read the sentence that said Chase Diamond was being investigated for having been possibly involved, and in some cases for having ordered, Frank Marshall to become involved in the majority of the felonies and murders he was convicted of.

She sighed heavily and dropped the article onto her lap. All of the fears and worries she had built up, especially within the past week, seemed to come suddenly to the surface. Luna quickly came and jumped onto her chest, trying to ease her sorrow with purrs. Although it was still far from over, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders knowing that she could at least do this much for her daughter.

Picking up Luna and the article, she made her way to the bedroom and knelt next to the bed, pulling out the box underneath. She sighed as she opened it, looking at all the pictures and mementos from her past. She took a deep breath and set the article down on top of the other items in the box. There was still much more to do but she felt like she could finally put a lot of it behind her. The article said that Chase was finally being investigated, as Frank was one of his higher-end 'employees'. Hopefully, soon, it would all be over. The only unfortunate thing was, for it to all be over, she would need to come face-to-face with Chase one more time; whether she would have the courage to do that, only time would tell.

~*.*~

The next morning when Mina came over for coffee, she saw a completely different Lily. For the past week, Lily's smile hadn't been reflected in her eyes. Now, however, when Lily smiled it was like the world around her lit up too. When she asked what caused the change, all Lily said was that she got some great news last night. Mina sighed in frustration. It would have been the perfect opportunity to talk with her about the picture she had found in Lily's room, but Mina just simply wasn't prepared. Now that she felt Lily was okay to talk to, she didn't even know what to say.

"Mina, is everything okay?"

Mina's head snapped up and she nodded quickly. "Yep! I'm just gonna take my coffee and go get ready!" She held up her coffee cup, smiled and proceeded to sulk out of the room.

Serena frowned but shook her head and started to get ready herself. She met up with Mina an hour later and they headed down the stairs and into the lobby. Hearing the elevator ding as they passed it, they casually glanced over to see Darien stepping off of it.

"Good morning, ladies."

Mina noted that, although Darien's comment was meant for both of them, his eyes never left Lily's. She smiled slightly and nudged Lily's side to snap her out of her trance. "Good morning, Darien!"

Serena's cheeks flushed as she smiled at Darien. "Yes, hello!"

Darien raised his eyebrows as he saw the difference in Lily's demeanor. "I hope everything is going well…"

Serena caught onto Darien's prodding comment and nodded slightly. "Yes, everything is much better, thank you." It touched her to think that he cared that much.

Darien smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. I've got to run to a meeting though. Have a good day!"

Serena and Mina turned as he walked passed them and out the door. Soon after, they continued towards Mina's car.

"You know, I think Darien likes you."

Serena blushed, "What are you talking about? He's just worried about me, that's all."

"Uh huh, I'd say he's a little more than worried."

~*.*~

The girls noticed the difference in Lily as well, as it was extremely hard to miss, but none of them wanted to ask her about it because they were worried they might do something to cause her to revert back to being upset and withdrawn. For as long as it would last, they would welcome the change. They never wanted Lily to be upset like that again and made a private pact to do whatever they could to prevent it from happening.

Serena knew that her friends were worried about her and she hated not being able to confide in her friends, knowing that they were frustrated at being left in the dark about what has been going on. She knew that she could trust them and that they would love her despite her past, but she had promised Amara and Michelle that she wouldn't. After the rest of the girls left to go to their last classes, Serena started to wander to the library in hopes of running into Darien. Ever since Mina's comment this morning, she couldn't help but wonder if Darien really liked her. He did seem to stare a lot. He also offered her extra self-defense classes, but that was just because he was worried about her. Right?

And then there was Tuesday night. Serena's heart started fluttering at the thought of it. Darien had almost kissed her. But it was just situational. He felt sorry for her. He couldn't have feelings for her like that… and even if he did, she was in no position to date anyone. It wouldn't be fair to the person to lie to them about her past and leave them in the dark about the rest of it. Besides, who could really love her like that? What does she have to offer to anybody?

Serena was so lost in thought that she didn't have time to duck behind a tree before Alan spotted her.

"Hey, Lily!"

Serena froze, hoping that if she concentrated hard enough she would turn invisible. It became clear to her, however, that she was unsuccessful when Alan stopped right in front of her. She sighed, "Hi, Alan." She backed up a foot when he stepped too close for her comfort.

"Are you going to the dance tomorrow?"

Serena backed up another step, "Yes, of course. Don't you know that it's Mina's birthday tomorrow, too?"

Alan shrugged. "I thought I heard something about that, but I wasn't really paying attention."

Serena was about to scold him about paying attention to important dates in his girlfriend's life when she was saved by Darien.

"Hey, Lily. Is everything okay?"

Serena felt her heart flutter. "Darien! Yes, I was just saying goodbye to Alan."

"Oh, well if that's the case, would you like to walk with me a bit?"

Serena smiled. She couldn't help it, especially when he was nearby. "Yes, I would love that." She shuffled forward to stand next to Darien and they started walking away from a speechless Alan. She usually hated being so rude to people, but she just couldn't find it in herself to tolerate Alan more than she had to. There was just something about him that got on her nerves.

Serena leaned towards Darien, "Thank you for that."

"Anytime! I have a weakness for damsels in distress."

Serena's knees weakened when he sent her a half-smile and a wink. She regained her composure, however, and responded indignantly to his comment. "I was not in distress! I could have handled it perfectly on my own, thank you very much!"

Darien chuckled. "Sure, sure."

Serena rolled her eyes. "Actually, Darien… I did want to talk to you. Does the offer still stand for you to give me extra self-defense lessons? I mean, I understand if you don't want to. You probably have a lot of better things to-"

Darien stopped walking and faced her abruptly. "Of course it still stands! I would love very much to give you extra lessons!"

Serena smiled, "Are you free Saturday night? I mean, if you have plans I'm free Sunday, too."

Darien grinned, "How about both?"

"Really, you'd do that for me?"

"Of course!"

"Darien, thank you... It really means a lot to me." Serena smiled brightly up at him before she remembered the party. "Oh, by the way we're planning a surprise party for Mina at Crowns before tomorrow nights dance… I'm sure she'd love for you to be there…"

"Well, actually I've been asked to attend the dance as a chaperone so I had to clear the entire evening. I would love to be there as well, I actually think I saw something the other day that would be perfect for Mina!"

"Oh, I'm so glad! I mean… I'm sure Mina will be thrilled that you'll be able to make, that's all. It's at Crowns at 7… I'll see you there, then?"

Darien nodded. "Most definitely."

Serena awkwardly waved goodbye and turned to walk away, barely missing a tree. She sighed and chose to ignore the laughter behind her.

~*.*~

After classes, they went by to see Raye perform and then Molly took Mina to a movie while the other girls went shopping for her birthday. It took them two hours in the mall, but they came out ready for the party tomorrow and thrilled with their presents. When Serena was walking back into the lobby with her bags she passed Sammy at the front desk and sighed, remembering the request Sammy had made of her.

Although playing the piano brought back memories for her they were good memories. Serena smiled and returned Sammy's wave as she walked towards the staircase. She would play the piano for him this weekend. It was good to remind them both how powerful the love of a mother was.

Serena wasn't home long before Mina knocked on her door. "Hey, Mina! How was the movie?"

"Oh, it was great! I love romantic comedies! Especially ones with dancing in it!"

Serena laughed as Mina did a little spin in her living room. "Would you like something to drink?" Anticipating Mina's response, she headed towards the kitchen.

Mina followed her but stopped as she pulled something out of her purse. "Actually, Lily… I wanted to talk to you about something."

The seriousness of Mina's voice made her turn immediately. "Mina, what's wrong?"

"Oh! Well, it's nothing really… I mean, I didn't mean to be nosy, I really didn't. I was just worried about you and I don't want to ask you anything you don't want to answer, but-"

"Mina, calm down! You can ask me anything. Come on, let's sit down." Serena guided her to the living room and sat her down on the couch. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"

Mina hesitantly looked at the object in her hand and slowly gave it to her best friend.

Serena looked down at the picture Mina handed her and felt her heart lurch into her throat. It was a picture of her holding an award for a dance competition standing next to her father. Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke softly. "Mina, where did you get this?"

Mina was starting to tear up as well. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to snoop. I was just so worried about you – we all were…"

Serena was preparing to explain why she was holding an award for a 'Serena Thompson' or why, when she told Mina she had no pictures, she actually has an entire boxful of them underneath her bed. But she wasn't prepared for what Mina said next.

"…and I asked Sammy to let me in incase you were hurt and needing help and I just saw all those pictures on your floor and again, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to snoop… but Lily… I need to know. Please, I need to know…" Mina hesitated a moment before taking a deep breath. "I don't know who Serena Thompson is, or why she looks so much like you… but I do know this man." Mina reached forward and pointed at the man in the picture before she reached inside of her purse. She pulled out a very old and folded photo before handing it to Lily. "This man is my father."

Serena's words choked in her throat as she compared the two photos. "Your… father?"

Mina nodded and sighed. "I've never actually met him, but my mum gave me this picture when I was little. They were dance partners for years and this was taken at one of their competitions. I don't even think he knows that I exist… My mum told me that he had a life here in America and it was best for everyone that he didn't know."

Serena was speechless as she stared at Mina. If Mina's story was true, it would mean that Serena's father cheated when he was in England. However, she did know that her parents had a huge fight before they found out they were going to be parents. It was a joke that Serena had been the glue that kept them together and made them try to work everything out. Of course, once they got passed their differences, they grew closer and their relationship turned out to be stronger in the end. What if the reason for the argument was because of his affair in England? What if one of the agreements that her parents made was that he was to never go back? Serena knew her father very well. If he had even thought for a second he might have another child, he never would have just ignored them.

Mina grew impatient for a response. "Lily?"

Serena snapped her attention back to the moment. If Mina's mother was correct, that this man was indeed her father, that would mean that she was Serena's half-sister. That would mean that she still has one true family-member left. The thought alone was enough to cause multiple tears to slip down Serena's cheeks and her heart to lodge in her throat. When she already thought of Mina as a sister, could it be possible that she actually was?

Please Review!
I know it takes an extra moment, but I'd really like to know what you think!

I'm going to be updating my other stories as well, but my main focus will stay on this one until it's finished. I hope you liked this chapter and that it was worth the wait! I have a move and 2 tests next week so it will be 3 weeks before I can get the next chapter up, but I promise a LOT is going to happen next chapter! And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. So hopefully that will give you something to look forward to!