A.N: Sorry it took so long guys! I'll be heading to California to visit mi familia on the 22nd, so I dunno when I'll update again, but I'll update at least once or twice before I leave. Tell me what you think!

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Chapter 30: Heartbroken

Darien got up out of the couch, and headed back down towards the café, where he ran into Rory not so long ago.

Just talk to her, and she'll leave me alone, he thought to himself as he made his way to the elevator. Should I tell Serena before I go? He asked himself as he pulled out his cell phone. Just call her and tell her… he said to himself, looking at his phone. There's no need to bother Serena. All I'm doing is talking to Rory, and that's al. He made up his mind.

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Rory sat at the café table, reading a book while sipping on her coffee. She wasn't sure why, but ever since she ran into Darien the night before, she couldn't stop thinking about him! He flooded her dreams, and she kept having flashbacks of their past. She remembered how he used to hold her in his arms, and how his lips felt on hers….. how could he just forget all of that? How could he give up on their relationship that fast? She never even got to tell him why she cheated on him….

Someone tapped Rory on the shoulder, interring with her thoughts. She spun around angrily, her beautiful brunette hair swinging gracefully around with her. Then, she looked up into the face of Darien.

"Oh…" she gasped suddenly. She didn't expect him to be there.

"Can I sit down?" he asked nicely.

What is going on! Rory thought, as she nodded quickly, tugging some hair behind her ears nervously. "Sure."

Darien smiled quickly, and took a seat across from her, resting his arms on the table, and interlacing his fingers together. "Alright. So you wanted to talk, so I'm going to let you talk, and I'll listen. But that's all," he said seriously, looking into her emerald green eyes.

"Okay," she said timidly, closing her book, and pushing it aside. "I just wanted to catch up with you first… and then I'll talk more about something later," she said, smiling at him. Yes! He's talking to me…

"Fine," he said, nodding. Doing good so far! See? It's not bad. You're two adults, talking to one another.

"So… how are you… and Se-"

"Serena," Darien finished for her. "We're doing good. I met her family over Thanksgiving break," he said, trying to make things conversational without feeling awkward or uncomfortable. "Her dad didn't like me at first, but I think he does now."

"Oh.." Rory said, a little taken-a-back. He's met her family…"So… so.. do you love her?"

Darien looked at her and nodded. "I do," he answered honestly.

Rory could feel a lump in her throat, and tears wanting to break the barrier and stream down her face, but she refused to show emotion. She wanted to be happy for him! But she couldn't help but hate Serena. "Did you ever love me?" she asked suddenly. Why did you just ask that! She yelled at herself. She didn't know how that question escaped her lips, but it did.

The question hit Darien in a face like a baseball. He didn't know how to answer it…. He looked away from her, stumbled around with his thoughts. "Umm…" he thought, starting to feel uncomfortable. "I thought I did for awhile," he said slowly, not really knowing how to say it. "But then… I met Serena. And now, comparing you with Serena, it wasn't love so much as lust and puppy love." When he was done, he looked up at Rory, who's eyes were wide open,

Rory felt like he had just slapped her. She felt hurt, and sorrow, and jealousy at the pit of her stomach. "Oh," she whispered quietly, looking down at her hands. Now the tears were just dying to surface her eyes, but she blinked them back, forcing herself to stay strong.

Darien watched Rory as she looked downwards. He could see her beautiful long lashes blinking away the tears. He didn't know what to say or how to comfort her. He felt awful for saying what he just said. You jackass… you made a girl cry, he yelled at himself as he watched Rory struggle with herself. But then again, his conscious spoke to him, she cheated on you and you shouldn't even feel sympathy towards her.

Rory jerked her head back, and looked at Darien, forcing herself to smile. "I'm happy for you… I truly am. But I just wanted you to know that I cheated on you because I missed you. We hadn't seen each other in weeks and I was lonely and I missed you! And it was Daniel I cheated on you with because he helped me bring the stuff into my apartment. He said he could tell I was upset, so he came over and started comforting me. Then one thing led to another and he started kissing me. It all happened so fast! And then I heard a noise, and I looked up and I saw you… I… I didn't mean too! I was just hurt, confused, and lonely. Then I tried to contact you, but you wouldn't pick up and when I tried to see you, Andrew would always answer…I.. I was just a complete idiot! I never meant to hurt you…. I… I loved you." Rory looked into Darien's sea-blue eyes.

He seemed caught off guard at the last part of her speech. "You what?" Darien asked, looking baffled.

Rory, realizing what she had just admitted for the first time, looked down at her hands again. "I loved you…" she repeated, bringing her eyes to meet his again, shyly. "I didn't realize how much I cared about you until it was too late," she finished.

Darien was completely frozen. He hadn't moved a muscle since her confession; it felt like he hadn't even breathed. He looked away from Rory, and down at the table as millions of questions swarmed through his head. He was so busy with his thoughts that he didn't notice that Rory had gotten up out of her seat, and was standing next to him. Darien felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and he looked up, snapping back to reality. He looked up into Rory's sorrow-stricken face, and before he even knew what was going on, she leaned in, and kissed him.

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"Well girls," Serena said as she made her way out of the bathroom," I'm gonna go down to the café and get some coffee. Would you guys like anything?" she asked as she put on a denim jacket.

"No thanks," Raye answered as she looked up at Serena.

"Me neither. But thank you for asking," Ami replied as Serena nodded and headed towards the door.

"Alrighty then! I'll be back in several minutes," she chirped happily as she swung the door open.

The air that morning was cool and crisp as chilling winds swept across the campus. The clouds above covered the sky, making it a mixture of grey and white puffs.

Serena made her way across campus grounds, making the café her destination. Mmm coffee, she thought happily as she neared the building.

Serena reached the building, and stepped into the store cheerfully, making her way to the counter. "Hi," she greeted the cashier.

"Good morning," the cashier greeted back, smiling. "How may I help you today?"

"I would like a hot cup of French Vanilla coffee, please," she answered, pulling out her money.

"Okay," the cashier said, pushing some buttons on the register. "The total will be $3.45."

Serena paid, and stood by the pick-up counter as her cup of coffee was brought to her. "Thank you," she said as she picked up the cup. Serena took a sip, immediately feeling the coffee's warmth spread through her entire body, and waking her up.

As Serena took another sip, she scanned the café to see if she saw any familiar faces. As she looked, her eyes caught two. When she realized who it was, she gasped, and dropped her cup of coffee.

There, in the corner of the store, was Darien and Rory, kissing.

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Darien didn't know what was going on! He was looking at Rory one minute, and the next, her lips were on his! Darien immediately tensed up, and pushed her off of him, his eyebrows furrowing together in anger and confusion.

"What the hell are you doing!" he asked as he got up out of the chair clumsily, looking at Rory angrily.

"I…." but before she could finish her sentence, Darien saw Serena out of the corner of his eyes.

"Serena…." He whispered as he looked at her. She saw us, he thought.

Serena was in shock. She'd never felt so many different emotions come to her all at the same time before. She felt confused, angry, jealous, hurt, and heartbroken, all at the exact same time.

Darien saw Serena's face fall, as tears welled up in her eyes. He had never seen her look like that before. He felt his heart beat faster, as he felt his heart break by looking at Serena's face. She spun around, and ran out, tears streaming down her face.

Darien went around Rory, completely forgetting she was there, as he ran after Serena. He busted through the door, and sprinted after her. "Serena!" he yelled as he chased after her. He was surprised at how quickly she could run. "Serena! Stop! It's not what you think!" he panted.

Serena didn't want to know what happened. All she knew was that her heart was broken, and she couldn't breathe and stop crying. Darien was the last person she wanted to see or talk to right now because he was the cause of all of this pain. She ran even faster when she heard him shout her name. Serena reached the dorm building, and looked around for a place to hide. The elevator would take too long, and she looked to her right. Ladies Restroom. Serena heard the door open, and she knew it was Darien, but before he could reach her, she ran into the lady's restroom.