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After spending most of the day at the arcade, the girls were ready to go. Rei, Lita and Mina said their goodbyes while Ami And Serena remained. Serena was waiting for Ken who was ordering a burger to go. That was something they both had in common, they were bottomless pits when it came to food.

Sere was dangling her feet from the counter, she was trying to convince Ami to come out with them on Saturday. The girls had decided that they needed a break before they 'had meltdowns' as Serena had put it. Lita and Rei had agreed without too much trouble but Ami was still not sure if she could stay out all of Saturday without studying.

"Ami you have to come! The girls said they're all inviting their boyfriends and I'll be myself if you don't come"

Sere knew Zayn was probably going too, and that was her next argument.

"Serena, I….."

"Ami, actually I think Zayn's coming. I guess I'll just tell him you didn't want to hang out with him…"

"No! I mean, that's not really necessary"

Sere smirked. She could see the blush Ami was trying to hide.

"Well I guess that settles it. I'll invite Ken too! I'm sure he'd like having an excuse to hang out with Mina"

"Sere, don't go starting something you might regret.."

"No but they're perfect for each other! I just know they already like each other, imagine? If they get married I'll even be related to Mina! Too cool!"

Sere was left by herself to fantasize about having Mina as a cousin while Ami waved goodbye. Once Serena had a plan of attack, no one could get her to stop.

This was how Darien found her, his favorite blonde with a starry look in her eyes. He walked up to her and she still hadn't noticed him. He sat down on the stool next to her while he signaled for his usual from Andrew. He then approached her, and decided he'd try to snap her out of her daydreams. He poked her nose and she suddenly realized how close they were to each other.

"Darien!"

"Yeah, that's me" He flashed her his most flirty grin and went back to his seat.

"Did you poke my nose..?"

"Oh um yeah. Well I called out to you and you didn't respond. So I figured I'd wake you up. Were you sleeping with your eyes open?"

Darien new she had not been doing such a thing, but he couldn't stop himself from teasing her. Seconds later after he spoke, her cheeks turned a rosy red that indicated how embarrassed she was. He loved to see her various reactions, to see her face go from sad to happy or from calm to outraged. Lately though, he'd been focused on her embarrassed face. It was his favorite reaction from her, and he knew that although hardly anything embarrassed her, he was the exception.

Serena was a bit miffed that Darien was teasing her, but she saw the look in his eyes that said that he wasn't serious, he just wanted to play. Their relationship was different from a few months ago, they were actually able to have civilized conversations without killing each other, and Serena was grateful for that. The day she met Darien she had assumed he was a jerk. Granted, she also found him irresistible, but his constant bullying was too much for her. It was only after a few days after meeting him that she found out Andrew was friend. That day, she swore he had a look of jealousy after watching the way she interacted with Andrew, and after that, she became more aware of him as a potential boyfriend rather than a fated enemy.

Andrew was coming back with Darien's cup of coffee. He saw the looks his friends were giving each other and wanted to scream at them to hurry up and get married. He went through so much unnecessary stress whenever he was with both of them, he knew Darien loved Serena and he was sure she loved him too. Darien had made him promise that he wouldn't tell Serena, he didn't want her to find out about his feeling through someone else, but Andrew complained that by the time Darien was brave enough to confess, some other guy could have scooped her up. What Andrew didn't know was that when they were at the Crown, he would scare off people who looked a little too interested in Serena. Of course he couldn't protect her at school but that was another problem that he hoped he could solve if she went to his school. He knew she was taking a more serious interest in her studies and he wished he could help her study a bit more. Hmm. Maybe that was a good angle. If he helped her with homework and tests they would definitely be spending more time together. He could even coax her into taking the entrance exam for his school.

His thoughts were interrupted when Andrew placed the cup of coffee in front of him. Andrew knew he was probably daydreaming about Serena and only rolled his eyes at his two oblivious friends. Serena was absorbed in something Ken was telling her, when realization hit her.

"Oh my goshhhh!"

All three men turned to look at her.

"What's up Sere?"

Andrew loved her like a sister and was curious. Whenever she had a sudden realization, things were always interesting.

"Andy! Ken's starting school with you guys on Monday! I almost forgot to tell you!"

"Really?" That's fantastic!"

Ken then began telling them of how he was transferring, sparing them the details of his alter ego. He then asked them questions of how the school was like, the sports, the extra-curriculars. He told them he was planning to go into the football team, though they were halfway done with the season. He chuckled, he had a recommendation from his previous high school. He was a quarterback and was the sole reason their school had gone undefeated. He was always too glad to boast of his football achievements, he had been playing since he was six. Only Andrew was on the football team, as running back, so they would definitely be interacting. The two got to talking about football and soon Serena and Darien were left out of the conversation.

"You don't play football?"

"Nah. I tried it freshmen year. It was okay, but not really for me. I do play soccer though. And Andrew got me to join the baseball team last year so I've been doing that as well. I prefer soccer though"

"Really? You seem like you'd play golf too"

Darien almost snorted.

"Well actually, yeah I used to play. It's something my mom and dad used to enjoy apparently."

Serena wanted to tease him and say only a nerd like him would like something boring like golf but once he talked about his parents, she couldn't make fun of him. She sometimes forgot he was raised an orphan, and wanted nothing more than to hear about his childhood, to comfort him.

"It's okay, you don't have to be sad. I'm sure they appreciate the fact that you wanted to know them even in the smallest way possible."

"Thanks Rena."

They were having a very intimate moment, they were in their own world, unaware and uninterested in the world around them. It was small moments like these where they were too enraptured in themselves that they hoped their love was mutual. However, the moment's spell was soon interrupted by Serena's cell phone.

It was a text from Rei, apparently she had heard from Ami that Serena had practically forced her to go and Rei wanted Serena to invite Darien.

Rei was aware that when Sere was around her friends and their loved ones, she seemed to smile more, laugh more and try to be more cheerful. The first time Sere had gone out with the girls and company, Rei noticed her laugh and thought she has fine. However by the end of the day she could tell it was all fake, and that bothered her. She asked her if she was okay but Serena had denied all accusations.

Rei always kept an eye on her after that. Sere knew Rei was the only who noticed so she tended to avoid her gazes. Rei wanted to help her but if Serena didn't come to them, they wouldn't be able to help. She knew it was hard for he friend to pretend to be happy when she was alone, but Serena was not one ruin the mood. She laughed and giggled to please her friends but it was her hearts desire to be as happy as them.

Rei knew Serena would try her best to make Mina and Ken happy, she always put others before her, to a fault. She figured it was time to intervene.

Serena's phone chirped again, it was another text from Rei:

Sere~~~~

If you don't invite Darien I'll call him myself and tell him you were too embarrassed to invite him on a date with you. And I'll tell him how much you loooove him.

XOXO

To which Serena replied:

Much love to you too Rei.

Thanks for blackmailing me. You win this time.

XOXOXOXO

Serena threw her phone in her purse, annoyed that Rei had asked her to do such a thing. She did want Darien to go out with them next Saturday, but she wasn't sure how to ask him. Unfortunately for her, Ken was bugging her now, telling her to order anything to go because they were heading home and Ikuko wanted him to bring Serena with him.

"Kay.. Wait for me in the car I'm just gonna go to the bathroom"

Ken waved goodbye to his newly acquired friends and headed out the door. Serena was relieved when Andrew took her cue and left her alone with Darien.

"Darien?"

"Hmm?"

He was still sipping his coffee.

"Next Saturday, come with me to an amusement park"

He blinked. He stared at her.

She didn't want him to say no so she added, "All the girls are coming and the guys too so you know, you should come too"

He didn't really know what to say. He wanted to go, but he could only nod his head, still processing the fact that Serena had asked him out. Once he confirmed, Serena ran out of the arcade.

Darien was left confused. Did he have a date with his beloved meatball head next Saturday?

AN: I stopped writing this story for like a year, and I'm glad I'm finally able to get back into writing. Updates probably won't be very consistent, but I won't be neglecting this story either. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed! I saw the problem some of you mentioned, that the story was marked complete. I'm not sure how that happened but I think I fixed it. Thanks for the feedback~~