Blueeyeddevil06 thank you for being my beta!

Darien sat at the arcade after school and was starting to get nervous. He really wanted to see Serena, but he didn't want to say something to her that hurt her. He knew she expected their banter to continue, and he didn't want to go too far and say something that was cruel. He was already crazy about her.

Then it dawned on him. She was playing the dumb blonde. He could work with that. He could pick on her grades and intelligence. She was stunningly brilliant. She would know that he didn't mean what he said. They both knew it wasn't true.

She walked in with Molly, Melvin, and Amy. Serena had told him the blunette's name last night. He knew he needed to wait to use it until they were introduced. He realized that helping her maintain her cover and hiding their relationship would be a fun challenge. It was exciting.

Serena walked over to Andrew at the counter and smiled at him. "Andrew, this is my friend Amy. I've known her for years, and she surprised me by moving here." She then turned her eyes on Darien. "Baka, this is my friend, Amy. Try to be nice. I know that's really hard for you." Amy smiled at them both and introduced herself.

Darien chuckled and turned to Amy, "So, hopefully you get better grades than Serena. Did she tell you that we met when she threw her test paper in my face?" He smirked, "She got a thirty percent on her math test."

Amy shook her head, "Serena, you really should be getting better grades than that."

Darien pretended that he didn't know what she really meant. "Maybe you can tutor her."

Amy laughed loudly, "Trust me when I tell you that I can't be of any help to her. We should study together though."

Serena rolled her eyes, picked up Darien's math assignment that he was working on, and stared at it. She shook her head and tossed his paper back at him. "You should be nicer to me, baka. Or, don't you know how to talk to pretty girls? You are into girls, right?" She leaned forward to pretend to try to make him nervous and whispered, "The answer to the second question is wrong. You forgot a step." She pulled back and laughed as he blushed. She knew everyone would think she unsettled him physically and not that she caught him making a mistake.

She looked over at Andrew and said to Amy, "And, that hottie behind the counter has a wonderful girlfriend. Sadly, there's no use flirting with him. He adores her."

Darien scoffed, "You assume he's her type."

"Hot, kind, and makes a great milkshake. That's everyone's type, baka."

"Not everyone likes to eat as much as you do, Dumpling Head." He found he didn't really like her assessment of Andrew. He made a mental note to get chocolate ice cream and have it in his freezer for her.

She laughed at him and said, "Fine, hot and kind. Still every girl's type."

Amy scoffed, "You're making things up now. You know that every single one of The Crew has a bad boy fantasy. We all know yours is pretty detailed after all."

Serena laughed loudly and Andrew asked, "The Crew?"

Amy nodded. She was laying the groundwork for the appearance of the rest of the team. "We have a group of close friends, and we've known each other for a while now. When we were younger, we named our group, "The Crew". It's lame, but it stuck. We were, gosh, ten when we came up with it. Surely we could be forgiven. She turned to Molly, "You fit right in. I'm so happy to have met you. The only difference in you is that you like Melvin. Honestly, he's a better choice than the bad boy type anyway."

Melvin shifted nervously, "I am?" He was realizing that Molly was becoming friends with girls who seemed to like older, more dangerous men. He didn't want Molly to see that and change her mind about him.

Serena nodded, "You really are. For one, bad boys have the tendency to be just that. Bad. Also, you're so sweet with her. Amy and I completely melted when you told her how pretty she looked today. It was so obvious that you meant it, and she was dressed like she is everyday."

"I always think she's beautiful." He stated it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Molly smiled and blushed.

Amy sighed, "Molly, I'm really starting to get jealous. I'm so happy for you."

Serena looked at Darien and said, "And, that's how a man treats a woman."

Melvin blushed. He was incredibly proud to be complemented over Darien. He was older and always had women staring at him.

Darien laughed at Serena and smirked, "Oh, I know how to treat a woman. Trust me." His eyes raked over her body. "That is when one's around."

Serena's body heated up, and she hid her desire. "What you're used to, everyone else calls prostitutes. But hey, to each their own. They do have to deal with your personality, so they should get paid."

Andrew sighed, "You both really need to be nicer to each other. I had hoped you worked everything out."

Darien grew pale. That's right. Andrew locked them into the room together yesterday after he told Andrew what happened between the two of them. Shoot.

Serena smiled sweetly at Andrew. "I was hoping to talk to you a moment." She turned to the others, "If you pick a table, I'll be right there." Molly, Melvin, and Amy left.

Serena looked straight at Andrew and lowered her voice. "You're more devious than you pretend to be. You locked me in that room yesterday with Darien, and I never suspected you would do something like that. Darien and I worked things out. Don't ask why, but no one can know." She pierced him with her gaze. "I need you to play dumb. Can you do that?"

Andrew nodded, "As long as my friend's not hurting anymore, then yes."

"And, how's it going with Rita?" Andrew looked at Serena's quick change in subject with confusion. She said, "I'll tell them I was asking about the two of you, and I figured you wouldn't want to discuss it in a large group."

"Makes sense. You were right about everything. I told her the truth, and she cried. She told me how much she misses me too and how much it meant to hear it was hard on me. She's loving what she's doing, but she hates being away from me. I told her I'll be here for her when she returns."

"Good man! Wow, really well done there. She must feel so much better."

He nodded, "She said she does."

"I'm really glad to hear that!" She then whispered, "See you tonight, Darien." And then she walked away.

Andrew looked at Darien and asked, "Do I have to play dumb around you?"

He shook his head, "I'm just happy we can talk about it, now. She's incredible."

"She's perfect for you."

Darien was confused. He knew the truth about her grades, but Andrew didn't. "What makes you say that?"

Andrew rolled his eyes, "I've known you for a long time. She's the first girl that I've ever seen hold your attention. And, now this is the most I've ever seen you smile. She's good for you."

"True, she's… exciting. She keeps me on my toes."

"She's also forgiving. It sounds like you were awful to her."

Darien nodded, "I really was. She was gracious enough to understand where I was coming from and forgive me. She's special."

Later that night, Darien was reading when he heard a key in the lock. At first, it startled him. Then he smiled and shut his book. When he did, he then looked up, and Serena was standing there smiling at him. She shut the door and locked it behind her. "Do you see any women around now?" She smirked. Serena was wearing a tight blue dress. It was low cut and showed off her breasts.

Darien pulled out his wallet, removed some money, and threw it in her direction. "You did say only prostitutes would put up with me."

She smirked, and walked to him, stepping over the money, "So, I take it you see something you like." She gave him a heated look.

He raked his eyes over her body, "That, I do. I like the outfit. It's sexy."

"You didn't strike me as the type of guy with a schoolgirl fantasy. I changed before I came over. I thought you'd like something that showed a bit more... skin."

He couldn't take it anymore. She was standing there and not coming closer to him. He stood up, walked over to her, and pulled her flush against his body. "I like this even better." He ran one hand down her back trailing his fingers along her spine. "You belong in my arms."

She laughed at him. "I know how much high end prostitutes cost. You're quite a bit short." She then kissed along his jawline.

"I actually believe you on that one. Do I even want to know how you know that?"

The joking light in her eyes died, and she shook her head. "No, you really don't."

He sighed, "The Dark Kingdom deals in prostitution, doesn't it? Shit."

She brought his attention back to her. "I plan on finishing what your father started. He wanted to end the Dark Kingdom too."

He leaned down and kissed her tenderly. "How long can you stay? I have chocolate ice cream in the fridge."

"Best boyfriend ever!" She smiled up at him. "I love chocolate."

He smirked to himself, take that Andrew.