A.N: I'm not sure I like this chapter… tell me what you think, and if majority rules, I'll revise it.

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Chapter 35: Confrontation

"So what's the plan?" Raye asked, looking up at Ami.

Ami and Brett glanced at each other, and turned back to Raye, looking beat. "Um… I dunno! I didn't know I was supposed to come up with a plan!"

"Well you're the one who said 'why not have a little fun?'" Raye snapped back.

"I dunno! It was just a suggestion!" Ami wailed, looking frightened.

Serena got up, and headed towards the door.

Brett raised up a questioning eyebrow," Where you going, Sere?"

"I'm gonna go and talk to Darien. He has to know about it."

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Darien sat on the couch, still without a shirt, watching TV restlessly.

As he flipped through the channels, he heard a soft knocking on his door and went to go answer it quickly.

When he opened a door, he saw his innocent Serena, looking up at him. Her eyes seemed angry, and it made him worry.

"Serena… is something the matter?" he asked, pulling her in gently.

She stayed quiet until they both situated themselves on the couch. "Rory. It's like her life goal to ruin our relationship," Serena said, looking into his crystal blue eyes.

Darien looked confused as he waited for her to go on.

"Ami and Brett were out eating, and Rory happened to be behind them talking on her cell phone to her little friend. While she was talking, Ami and Brett heard her talking about some plan to sabotage our relationship. To get you to 'realize' that you still love her," Serena said, pain evident in her voice.

Darien looked shocked by the news. He didn't know what to say.

"I don't understand why she would go to such extremes to do that! I mean.. she had this calculated plan! She was going to be my friend and gain my trust. Then after that, she was going to tell me that she saw you cheating on me. Then, she said she'd go to you and tell you that I never wanted to speak or see you again because I thought it wasn't meant to be. And that she'll comfort you and make you realize you still her. She's gone too far Darien. And that kiss! In the café! She planned it out! She knew I was standing there!" Serena yelled incredulously. "Raye and Ami are telling me that I should use this information to my advantage and get revenge on her or something. Make her plan completely backfire. But I didn't want to do anything without you knowing first."

Darien ran his hands through his midnight black hair, obviously overwhelmed by everything. "No," he said softly.

"No?" Serena asked, not quite understanding.

"No. You're not going to do that to her," Darien said as he got up.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Serena asked. Could he still have feelings for her? He's sticking up for her! Her mind automatically told her.

"I'm going to her confront her and talk to her about it," Darien said, thinking as he paced.

"Darien… you still don't have feelings for her, do you?" Serena asked, her eyes wide.

Darien snapped his head and looked at her," Of course I don't, Serena! Why would you think that?"

"Well… you're sticking up for her. She's conceived this plan to destroy us, and you're sticking up for her."

"I am not sticking up for her. I'm going to talk to her about it. Serena… I know how she felt when I caught her cheating on me. It was like how I felt when you caught Rory kissing me. I felt guilty, and hurt. She had to have felt the same thing. Only I didn't give her a second chance. I just left her. I didn't let her explain, nothing. That's probably why she's trying so hard," Darien explained to Serena.

Serena slowly nodded her head, understanding what he meant. She got up, and walked over to him. "Alright. You can talk to her," Serena whispered. She couldn't help but feel sympathy towards Rory. Serena thought about how she must have felt, and immediately felt guilty for even thinking about taking advantage of her. Even if Rory was planning on ruining her and Darien's relationship.

Darien looked down at her, and sighed. "Why do these things always happen to us?" He asked, bending down and resting his forehead against hers.

Serena grinned, grabbing both of his hands in hers. "It's a test," she said softly. " A test to see if we could survive through all of this; to see if we're strong enough, and to see if our love could withstand through all of the trials and errors. Because if we can face all of this together, then we can face anything together and we'll know that we can make it," she finished quietly, her forehead still resting on his.

Darien smiled at her. "You're such a poet, who knew?" he said, jokingly.

Serena laughed, and let go of his hands, bringing her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm quite the Shakespearean girl."

"So I've noticed," he said, chuckling.

She pulled away from his face, and looked up into his eyes. "So… what are you going to say to Rory?" Serena asked, looking concerned.

"I'm not sure yet. I just know that I have to let Rory know that there can't be anything between us anymore but friendship. And that if she can't handle that, then we can't be anything at all," Darien answered, looking deep into her eyes.

"Be nice to her, okay?"

Darien's eyes looked amused," After all she's done to us.. or thinking about doing to us, why are you so concerned about me hurting her feelings?"

"Because she's a human-being," Serena answered simply. "She's been through a lot, probably. And I know what it feels like to be rejected from a person you really like, or think you may love."

Darien looked confused," You thought you loved someone before?"

"You," she answered, smiling. "I probably fell for you long before you asked me out. But the fear of being rejected from you was hard. It hurt to think about it, you know?"

Darien looked sad," I'm sorry I was such an ass to you in the beginning," he mumbled.

Serena laughed and kissed him quickly on the nose. "You're such a cute ass though. And I have you now, don't I?"

Darien ginned and nodded," Completely."

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Rory was back on campus, now going to retrieve all of her books for next semester, since she'll be attending there. She walked up and down in the Student Store, looking at her list of books she was supposed to get. Just as she picked her eyes fell on one of the books on the list, her cell phone vibrated. She jumped in surprise, and then pulled out her cell phone.

Darien? She thought to herself as she read his name on her cell phone. He's calling me, she thought nervously to herself as she fumbled to click on the 'talk' button.

"Hello?" she answered meekly.

"Rory? This is Darien," his deep, manly voice coming at the other end.

"Hi, Darien," she replied, feeling herself blush.

"Are you busy right now?" he asked.

"Not particularly. Why do you ask?" Rory questioned out of curiosity

"We need to talk," Darien replied, sounding stern.

"Oh… okay. Sure. Well I'm on campus right now buying my books. Where do you want to meet at?" Rory asked, suddenly feeling a rush of excitement.

"How about the campus park? Meet me at the pond. I'll be there in about 10 minutes."

"Okay. See you then," she said, and turned off her phone. Oh my gosh! He wants to talk to me! She thought happily. She hadn't even seen him yet and her heart was beating uncontrollably.

She dropped the books on the floor, and sprinted out of there, heading towards the park.

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Darien got dressed as Serena dozed off on the couch.

He stepped out of the bathroom, and looked towards her. Seeing her sleeping form, he smiled to himself. She looked like an angelic doll. Her golden hair surrounding her like a blanket. She had rosy red cheeks that Darien adored, and eyes that you could get lost in. He watched as she stirred in her sleep, moving around to get comfortable on the couch, her chest rising and falling in a rhythmic movement. He remembered when he first saw her. She was hiding in her big clothes, and even then, he could remember how intrigued he was with her. Even with her baggy clothing, she was undeniably beautiful. But now, she showed the world how gorgeous she was. She no longer hid under extra, unnecessary, material. He leaned down and kissed her sweetly on her forehead, and grabbed a blanket from his bed and draped it over her.

Darien glanced down at his watch, and headed out. He was running late.

It was a beautiful autumn day as Darien stepped foot outside, heading towards his destination. As he walked, the golden leaves swirled around him gently, swaying this way and that. Gray clouds sprinkled the sky, making it the perfect autumn scene. It even smelled like autumn.

As he got closer towards the man-made pond, he saw Rory sitting on a bench, looking straight ahead, completely unaware of his nearing presence. Her brunette hair was waving in the wind as she tried to rid of her nervousness in the pit of her stomach. She had on a green blazer that accentuated her piercing green eyes. She wrapped a gray scarf around her neck to keep her warm.

Darien arrived at the bench and stood still, wondering on how to start the conversation with her. Rory looked up, and saw him, immediately standing up.

The tree above the bench rustled loudly as Darien began to talk. "Can I sit?" he asked politely.

Rory smiled and nodded, sitting down once again. Her eyes skimmed over Darien quickly. His hair was all askew; it looked like he just woke up and got out of bed. She thought it looked adorable. He was wearing a black jacket, and an aqua colored long sleeve shirt underneath. Even though his clothes were not tight fitted, you could see the define outline of his lean body structure.

"What did you want to talk about?" Rory asked, crossing her legs and resting her hands on top of her knee.

"About us," Darien said, looking at her familiar face. He had never forgotten how beautiful and sensual Rory was, but he didn't feel as compelled and attracted to her as he used to.

"About us?" Rory said, a little breathlessly, her heart racing.

Darien nodded, and thought about how he should start it without making her feel uncomfortable or hurt. "I dunno how to put this…." He sighed, running his hand through his disheveled hair.

"Did something happen with you and Serena?" Rory asked, trying to hide her curiosity.

"No. Me and Serena are good," Darien said, looking straight at Rory.

Rory's face fell, though she tried her best to disguise it with a forced smile. "Oh.. good. Then what's up?"

Darien looked away from her eyes, trying to avoid her gaze by staring at the pond. "I know about your plan, Rory," he said gently.

" Plan? What plan?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Rory," Darien said sternly, turning his head now to look at her. "

"No, Darien… what plan?" Rory asked, looking serious.

"Your plan to break me and Serena up. That plan."

Rory's heart suddenly skipped a beat, her gaze drifting away from Darien's. "I-I don't know what you're talking about," she scuffled out.

"You don't have to lie to me. I already know. My friend heard all about it," Darien started, looking a little angry. "Out of all people, I would never have expected you do or think of something like that. You've completely changed-"

"No! I haven't changed," Rory said, stretching her hands and placing it on his knee," I just… I want you back," she whispered.

Darien raised his gaze to Rory's sad eyes. "Rory… you can't have me back. We're friends, but that's all we can be. You can either accept that, or not. It's your decision. We've grown up, we're two completely different people. Relationships come and they go. Ours is gone," he said gently to hear.

Rory's eyes stung with tears as she blinked them away. She nodded, and took her hands off of his knee and wiped her face, sniffling. "What's so special about her?" she whispered quietly. "What does she have that I don't?"

Darien's face softened, shaking his head," You can't compare yourself to Serena like that. It has nothing to do with how different the two of you are," he explained to her. He watched as she slowly nodded, wiping the droplets of tears rolling down her cheeks. Darien suddenly felt guilty and sad that he made her cry. He hated it when girls cried. He instinctively scooted closer to her and draped an arm around her, bringing her head to rest on his shoulder. "Don't cry on account of me," he muttered softly to her, trying to calm her down. "I'm just one guy, Rory. You're going to find someone for you, and when you find the right guy, you'll look back on this and wonder why you even liked me in the first place," he said gently.

She sniffled again, and mumbled a 'yeah' to Darien. Rory knew she could hook up with a guy in a snap of a finger, but a guy genuinely being interested in her and not sexually interested in her, was hard to find. The guys that approach her always seemed to be fake, and only seem interested in one thing, and that is getting her in bed with them. They never seemed to look past her looks and truly get to know her.

Darien slowly parted from her as she lifted her head off his shoulder, her eyes puffy from crying as they pulled apart. Darien looked at her and gave her a smile. "Friends?" he asked, sticking out his hand.

Rory gave a small laugh at his gesture, and nodded. "Friends," she replied, taking his hand and shaking it.

Darien grinned at her and gave her a brotherly hug and kiss on top of her head. "Don't worry. He'll come around sooner or later, and when he does, I hope you're truly happy," he said, letting go of her and standing up.

"Thanks," she said as she got up as well, looping her arm through her purse.

Darien tilted his head and gave her a look, as if asking if she was alright or not.

Rory smiled and swiped some hair behind her ear," I'll be fine," she almost whispered. "I wish you and Serena the best," Rory uttered, completely genuine.

"Thank you," he replied, giving a nod of the head. "Anytime you need anything, don't be afraid to call me, Andrew, or even Serena. I think two would make really good friends," he admitted.

"Will do," Rory smiled.

They said their goodbyes and they headed off in their own directions.

Darien let out a relieved sigh as he was in the elevator. Things are back to normal again..