Karen and Serena were sitting at the usual kitchen seating area, talking over a bowl of tortilla chips and salsa. Serena was full from breakfast, but there was always room for a snack- especially if she was comfort eating.

Careful, S. You don't wanna ruin that lean figure of yours…

Oh, who are we kidding? The girl could go supersize at 'In-n-Out' three times a day and not put on a pound, and she isn't bulimic like some of the UES girls- *cough, cough* Blair Waldorf. She just has a metabolism like a jet engine- burns fuel like mad.

Karen was busy telling her about all the crazy stuff she did as a teenager. She wanted to try and make Serena feel a bit better and let her know that she didn't judge her.

"Woah, Karen, I would never have expected you to be so wiley." Serena said incredulously.

"Hey, I'll have you know, I was pretty cool when I was your age. Make the most of it before you grow old and boring like me. Be a kid while you can"

"Hey, I don't think you're boring. I think it's cool that you care." Serena smiled and drifted off into thoughts about her own mother.

"-but don't do anything illegal; anything that could get you pregnant, hurt or in trouble." Karen added seriously. Serena gave her a look like, excuse me? before bursting into laughter.

"Ok, Karen… I'll try to make sure not to walk on the cracks in the pavement either. You can never be too safe!" they laughed together and kept bantering back and forth 'til they were both practically in tears and out of breath from laughing so much.

For that instance, Serena felt truly happy. She'd forgotten everything that was bothering her and it was just her and Karen having fun and bonding- nothing else was important. Moments like this put things in perspective and reminded her that maybe things weren't so bad.

Just because things weren't so bad, doesn't mean they aren't going to be…

Serena was trying to calm her intermittent bursts of laughter as she wiped the tears from her face when the door opened unexpectantly, revealing a sweat-drenched Lucas, back from playing basketball. He hadn't looked up yet and therefore, hadn't seen the bonding sesh that was going on about five feet away from him. Karen and Serena were too hysterical to have noticed his entrance either.

"Mom, I'm-" Lucas stopped as he took one of his earphones out, hearing the hysteria flood into his ear. He took one look at them and finished off his sentence. "-just going out again." He forcefully pulled the door handle. Serena immediately came down from her high and sprung up off the stool, heading towards him. "Lucas…"

He quickly whipped around to face her. He was pissed off as it was and playing basketball always got blood pumping too. "What do you want from me, Serena? What, you thought you could get to me through my mom? I don't wanna see your face- especially not when I come home. Whatever this is, it's pathetic. It's not cute. I don't want you and I don't see why anyone else would…stay away from me." He bitterly shouted in her face before slamming the door shut and heading back out.

Serena stood there numbly, unable to even cry. Karen was stunned silent by Lucas' behaviour, so there was a slight delay before she got up to comfort Serena. She wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. "I'm so sorry, Serena. This is my fault. I'll talk to him"

She stood there in her arms for a while, fighting away the tears she felt filling up her eyes before she slowly broke away from the hug. "No, he's right. I shouldn't be here. I better go. Thank you for everything, Karen…" she turned around and went to leave as a single teardrop hit her skin like a bullet.

"Serena, you know I'm always here for you. Don't think that just because Lucas is feeling this way that you can't talk to me."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Serena smiled sadly and headed out the door.