A/N: Thanks again for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! Enjoy the next chapter!

On Saturday, Darien came to the Crown to hang out with Andrew for a little bit while he was working. He took a seat at the counter and was immediately met with a hot cup of black coffee. "Thanks, man."

Andrew made a face as Darien drank his coffee. "I'll never understand how you can drink that stuff straight. It's disgusting."

"It's soothing," Darien corrected before taking a big drink. "So what's up?"

"Not much. It's just another typical Saturday and I'd rather be in bed sleeping. Everything ok with you?"

"Yeah," he said honestly knowing exactly what he was referring to. "Taking a walk in the fresh air to clear my head before I went home did the trick."

"So is that where you disappeared to after school yesterday? I was getting worried when you didn't answer my texts or phone calls."

"Yeah, it was actually Serena's idea. Sorry I didn't get back to you right away."

"So it's true then," Andrew muttered.

"What's true?"

"Beryl said she saw you leaving with her after school."

"Yeah… and?"

"She was 'concerned' about people getting the wrong idea."

Darien rolled his eyes. The only thing Beryl was concerned about was whether or not he was getting back together with her. "Well Serena and I are partners for that stupid project so yeah there's gonna be times when we have to be seen together. Yesterday was mostly her talking about some ideas we had while we walked to the park. She finally left and I had some time to myself which was nice because I really wasn't feeling it." He hoped that Andrew would buy it and not pry for once. It wasn't a complete lie, but if worse came to worse he could easily cover his tracks. "I know we give her a hard time, but she's actually kind of ok."

"Uh-oh, is her Jesus stuff rubbing off on you?"

"No. I've made it perfectly clear that I don't believe in that stuff. She still talks about it because it's a part of who she is, but she doesn't push it on me."

"Well power to you for putting up with her. I wouldn't be able to do it. Anyway, are you coming tomorrow?"

Darien looked at him with confusion. "What's tomorrow?"

"My birthday party! Oh that's right, you weren't there when we were talking about it and apparently you didn't read your text messages. We pushed the party to tomorrow night since a lot of people said they were busy today. I know Sunday night is lame, but my parents said they were going on a spontaneous day trip and won't be back until Monday morning so that means more partying for us. Does that work for you?"

"That works even better. I have karate practice later and I picked up an extra shift tonight so I'll be free all day tomorrow."

"Perfect! Mina is handling all of the entertainment so it's gonna be lots of fun."

"I wouldn't miss it."

"I'm glad you're coming. It'll be nice to see you let loose and have fun instead of being buried in the books… AGAIN." Andrew looked past him and frowned. "Crap. Those stupid middle schoolers spilled orange soda all over the place. I'll be back."

"I actually have to get going. I'll see you later." He waved at him before walking out of the Crown back to his apartment. He started thinking about how good it would be to get out there and have some fun, especially after having such a rough time the day before. But for now he had some homework to finish before going to karate class. He turned a corner and accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh I'm sorry."

"It was my fault, I…" She looked up and smiled. "Oh hey Darien."

"Hi Serena," he replied. He noticed the boy next to her glaring at him. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh this is my brother Sammy. Sammy, this is my friend Darien."

Sammy continued glaring at him and Darien recognized him from the day Serena gave him the Bible in the Crown. "Is this the guy who made up that stupid nickname for you?" he asked crossly.

"He didn't make up that name," Serena said calmly. "Darien is my partner for our Sociology project."

"But he hangs with that group who always make fun of you." Sammy poked a finger in Darien's chest. "If you ever do anything to hurt my sister, I'll make you live to regret it."

"Sammy!" Serena said pulling him back.

Darien put his hands up. "It's ok."

"No, it's not ok." She rolled her eyes at her brother. "Sammy, you're being rude. Apologize to Darien right now."

Sammy shrugged out of her grasp and rolled his eyes at Darien. "Sorry," he said before pushing past him. "I'm not sorry. I'll meet you over there, Rena." He walked ahead of them without looking back.

"Samuel Elliott Thomas, get back here this instant!" Serena called after him. When he continued walking, Serena groaned. "Did he really just do that? I can't believe he just did that! Wait until I get my hands on him!"

Darien couldn't decide what was funnier. A freshman below his shoulders trying to threaten him or the fact that Serena was getting so upset about her brother's behavior. He never saw her get mad before and he almost couldn't take her seriously. "What are you gonna do? Whack him with the Bible?"

She turned to face him. "I really should! He knows better than that!" She frowned. "I'm really sorry about him, Darien. That was completely uncalled for and I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure if I had a sister I'd be the same way."

"I mean I get that he calls himself trying to protect me, but sometimes it's just downright annoying." She shook her head and sighed. "How are you feeling today? You look a lot better."

"I am a lot better. Thank you again for your help.

She smiled at him. "You're welcome. By the way, if you wanna come over to work on the project or even just to have dinner or something you're more than welcome to. Our door is always open."

"I appreciate it." He chuckled. "Sammy might not be too happy about that though."

"Well it's not his decision because he doesn't pay the bills. Mom and Dad have an open door policy and allow us to have people over all the time. They love having company."

"I'll keep that in mind."

She smiled at him. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to go find that brother of mine before he gets himself into any more trouble. Enjoy the rest of your weekend."

"You too." She waved at him before hurrying off to catch up with her brother and Darien smiled. Serena was definitely one of a kind and he was starting find her little oddities endearing. He continued walking home unaware that Beryl was watching his interaction from a store window across the street.

Andrew's birthday party was fun for the most part, Darien decided. He caught up with lots of classmates he hadn't seen in a while and of course most of the girls were flirting shamelessly with him all night. Beryl was using every excuse possible to stay close to him, but he ignored her and continued to enjoy himself. At this point, most people had gone home and he, Chad, Rae, Beryl, Mina, and Andrew were involved in a game of Truth or Dare. "Well?" Beryl asked impatiently. "We don't have all night, Chad. I'll ask for the truth one more time. What are the names of all the girls you've been in bed with?" Chad shifted uncomfortably and mumbled an answer. "What's that? No one can hear you."

"I'm a virgin!" he shouted a little louder than necessary. Everyone laughed as he started turning red. "It's not funny!"

"Oh yes it is," Andrew said as he settled down. "Have you even gotten past first base?"

"Trust me, we've run circles around second base," Rae replied as she fingered Chad's hair. "When the time is right we'll certainly score a home run."

Chad crossed his arms and blushed an even deeper shade of red. "You don't have to be embarrassed," Mina said. "It's only funny because you're overreacting."

Chad cleared his throat. "Moving right along… I pick Darien. Truth or dare?"

Darien thought for a moment. He definitely didn't feel like pouring out his heart and soul and risk the exposing 'hidden' truths about himself. The dares hadn't been too awful yet so he made his choice. "Dare," he finally said.

Chad tapped his chin in thought until a smile broke out on his face. "I dare you to sit with Meatball Head at lunch tomorrow."

Darien smirked. Easiest dare ever. He'd gotten used to sitting with Serena in class for an entire hour and a half each day so an hour at lunch would be nothing. "That's it?"

"Oh no, no, no. You have to sit with her, ask her on a date, then laugh in her face and tell her off in the most creative possible way you could imagine."

"No."

"Oh come on, Dar," Andrew taunted. "Are you scared you can't do it?"

"I'd have no problem doing it if we weren't partners for that project," he explained. "I don't want her to turn around and sabotage me when it's worth most of our grade in the class."

The group groaned. "Leave it to Darien to bring up schoolwork at a birthday party," Mina said.

"What if I give you $50 to do it?" Chad asked.

"I said no. Pick something else."

"Fine you chicken." Chad thought for a moment. "I dare you to kiss whoever the bottle lands on for a full 10 seconds." He picked up an empty soda bottle and put it in the middle of their circle. "Gender is irrelevant."

Crap. "Ok," Darien said with a sigh. He spun the bottle and held his breath to see who it would land on. The bottle started spinning fast and seemed to take forever to slow down. It finally slowed down near Andrew and then stopped on Beryl. Curses filled Darien's mind as everyone else cheered and whistled at him.

Darien gulped as Beryl came up to him. He closed his eyes and kissed her on the lips refusing to open his mouth just in case she tried anything. Ten seconds seemed to last for eternity; he felt Beryl's hands all over him but refused to give in and kept his hands to himself. He pulled away from her as soon as he counted to ten. "Aww," Beryl whined. "I was enjoying that."

Darien checked his watch. "I need to go," he announced. "It's getting late."

"I'll walk you out," Andrew offered as he stood up. "It could have been worse. You almost had to kiss me."

"And then face Mina's wrath because you liked it?" Andrew nudged him. "I had a lot of fun. Happy birthday, man."

"Thanks. Have a good night."

"Good night." Darien waved and began walking home. Kissing Beryl reminded him of what he had with her: nothing. He felt nothing whenever he kissed her back then and still felt nothing now. They were never able to develop true intimacy and he didn't want to waste their time running in circles when all she wanted was to get in bed with him. Darien sighed. He hoped that kiss didn't plant any false hope in her head, but if it came up he'd be sure to make it clear they were done for good and Beryl would just have to accept it.

On Monday as soon as Beryl got her lunch, she found a spot with her friends and immediately noticed that Darien was missing. "Where's Darien?" she asked.

"He's over there with Meatball Head," Mina said.

Beryl watched with growing jealousy as Darien was talking to Serena about something that made the both of them laugh. She had seen them together on Saturday through a window while she was at work and it made her angry. "Maybe he actually grew a pair and went through with the bet."

"He already said he wouldn't do it and would catch up with us later," Andrew said.

Mina sighed. "I still don't understand why he went to sit with her all of a sudden."

"Isn't it obvious?" Chad asked. "She snuck in there, did some Jedi mind trick, and made him fall in love with her."

Rae hit him on the arm. "I told you to stop watching Star Wars before you go to bed."

"It's not like he's completely abandoned us," Andrew said.

"I'll handle this," Beryl said as she stood up. She walked over to the table where Darien and Serena were sitting and took a seat next to Darien. "Good job, Darien," she said sweetly.

Serena looked confused and Darien gave her a look. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I'm glad you decided to go through with that bet after all." She handed him a $20 bill.

"What bet?"

"Remember? It was right after our kiss. We were playing truth or dare and Chad dared you to sit with Meatball Head today. You sweetened the deal by putting some money on the line."

Serena looked hurt. "Is that true, Darien?"

"No! Well, yes we were playing Truth or Dare and they dared me to sit with you, but I refused to go through with it."

"Hmm, it's quite a coincidence that you chose today of all days to start sitting with me," Serena replied.

"It's not what you think."

"You don't have to deny it now," Beryl said. "The game's over and you won the money. Although you would have gotten more money if you actually laughed in her face."

"I'm glad I could be of service to you," Serena said sarcastically before standing up.

"Serena, she's lying."

"She's not lying about you playing the game, is she?"

"No, but…"

"That's what I thought. See you in class." She walked away and Darien started after her, but Beryl grabbed his arm.

"Just let her go," Beryl said.

Darien snatched his arm away looking at her angrily. "Why did you just do that?"

"I'm just trying to save you from committing social suicide, ok? She's just a freak and you'd be better off without her."

"And who are you to tell me what's best for me?"

She shrugged. "Since she's out of your hair why don't you come on back to the table where your real friends are?" Darien hesitated for a moment looking at the doors where Serena went out, but he sighed and followed Beryl to the other table. "Look who I brought with me," she said proudly. They all looked at her as if she grew another head. Beryl turned around and saw Darien exiting the cafeteria.

"So much for taking care of it," Mina said. "What'd you do to piss him off?" Beryl huffed and continued eating her lunch.

Darien diverted from following Beryl and went to find Serena before the bell rang. He found her in the courtyard eating the rest of her lunch by herself. "Serena, can we talk please?"

She glared at him. "What's there to talk about? You obviously don't really want to be around me unless you have to."

"Why do you think I'm out here with you now?"

"Because you feel guilty and you're trying to clear your conscience."

Darien was getting frustrated. "You're such a hypocrite!" he spat out. "What happened to looking for the good in everyone? Did your Jesus power suddenly run out?"

"Well at least I don't have to play games to stay on my friends' good side."

"This isn't a game! I told you Beryl was lying! I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you or anyone else. I guess you're too stupid and judgmental to realize that, right Crack Baby?" He felt his blood go cold when he saw the look on Serena's face after he said it and he knew he went too far. If looks could kill, he'd certainly be a dead man. "Serena… I…"

The bell interrupted him. Serena quietly gathered her things and stopped in front of him. She continued glaring at him and before he knew it she smacked him in the face. She hurried away before he had a chance to say anything else.

a/n: To be continued... I might not be able to update for a bit because I'm trying to write a ton of final papers in the next 3 weeks, but I'll be back with more as soon as I can. Hope you're still enjoying it!