Author's notes: I realize I could have stopped this story at the last chapter, but I had to write one more for closure and some humor. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 8

Serena and Darien walked hand in hand towards her house to tell her parents the news. They stopped in front of the door and took a moment to gather their thoughts. "I can't believe you talked me into this," Darien said. "What if your dad kills me?"

"He won't as long as I'm around," Serena said caressing his hand. "I'll tell them my news about the school and then ease them into our relationship. Everything will be fine."

Darien sighed. "If you say so."

Serena smiled at him and opened the door with her house key. They walked inside and found both of her parents sitting in the den watching television. "Mom, dad," Serena said. "I'm home." Darien stepped back towards the stairs so he wouldn't be in the way.

Serena's mother turned off the television and immediately went to hug her. "Oh, Serena, I was getting worried. You were gone for so long."

"You know I always come in around this time after I go to the park," Serena said.

"Not last night you didn't," Serena's father said. "You came in around 1230am on a school night."

"She already apologized this morning, Ken," Serena's mother said. "Don't you have something you need to say to her?"

"I was getting to it, Irene," Ken whispered loudly. "Serena, I owe you an apology for how I acted earlier. I'm sorry I yelled at you and I'm sorry I misjudged you."

Serena hugged him. "It's ok, Daddy. I didn't get a chance to show you this earlier." She took out the acceptance letter to art school and handed it to him.

Ken read it excitedly while Irene read it over his shoulder. "Oh, honey, this is wonderful," Ken said hugging her. "When did you apply?"

"A month ago," Serena said. "I just got the letter today."

"So all those As in art class paid off," Irene said proudly.

"Yeah," Serena said looking towards Darien who joined her at her side. She took his hand and caressed his knuckles. "And because Darien. Mom, Dad, this is my new boyfriend Darien." Irene smiled while Ken looked like he was about to have a heart attack. "Daddy, don't have a cow. Darien's only 2 years older than me and he's a great guy. He's the one who actually influenced me to do better this year. He didn't say it in so many words, but something about being around him every day made me want to do better."

Ken smiled and shook Darien's hand. "Well, if he's someone who'll make my daughter a better person, then he's ok by me. It's nice to meet you."

"Would you like to stay for a late night snack," Irene offered.

Darien smiled and squeezed Serena's hand. "I'd love to."

*******

"I can't believe we're really doing this," Serena said holding Darien's hand. They were on their way to the arcade to surprise everyone.

"It's gonna be ok," Darien assured her. "You stood up to your class today so I'm sure you can stand up to your friends."

"I've already forgiven them about yesterday," Serena said. "I just don't want to hear their screams when they find out about us."

"Well I'm not looking forward to Andrew teasing me for the next few weeks telling me 'I told you so.'" They stopped in front of the arcade. "Are you ready?"

Serena nodded and they walked inside the arcade. The bells jingled and Andrew immediately looked up to see who came in. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things when he caught sight of Serena and Darien holding hands. "Here we go," Serena whispered as they sat at the counter.

"It's not April Fool's day, right?" Andrew asked.

"No, Drew it's not," Darien said. "Meet my new girlfriend Serena."

"Hi Andrew," Serena said sweetly.

"Since when? How?"

"We've been seeing each other at the park for the last four nights," Serena started. Andrew's jaw dropped and Serena giggled.

"I was coming home from the library the first night and ran into her at the park," Darien explained. "We saw each other like usual during the day and then met together unofficially at night."

"We got to know each other better at night and it kinda overflowed during the day," Serena said. "You and the girls saw evidence of that the other day. Oink, oink."

Darien laughed. "But I asked her out last night. We told her parents right after and decided to go public today."

Andrew smiled. "I told you you had a crush on her! And you called me crazy. Ha! Who's the crazy one now? Darien because he's crazy in love…"

"This is what I was afraid of," Darien whispered to Serena. She giggled while the door bells jingled again. They both looked up and saw Amy, Rae, Lita, and Mina enter the arcade. "Round two," he whispered as they walked towards them.

"Serena, we're really sorry about yesterday," Mina said.

"Yeah, we didn't even give you a chance to say anything," Amy said.

"Don't worry about it," Serena said. "I've already forgiven you. Look what I got yesterday." She handed Amy her acceptance letter while the other girls read it over her shoulder.

"Yes!" Lita said excitedly. "I knew you could get in somewhere. Congratulations!"

"I didn't know you could draw," Rae said. The girls continued excitedly talking about Serena's success.

"You should see some of her work," Darien suddenly said. "She's very good."

The girls stopped talking and finally noticed that he was sitting next to Serena holding her hand. Serena held her head in her free hand. "Here come the screams…" she warned Darien.

"AHHH!" the four girls screamed at once while Darien covered his ears.

"No way," Lita said.

"Meatball Head and Darien… together?" Rae said in disbelief.

"I knew it!" Mina said excitedly.

"Are you two really dating?" Amy asked.

"As of last night," Andrew answered for them. "Didn't I tell you?" He hi-fived Mina. "No one ever listens to us."

"But you guys argue all the time," Rae said.

"How did this happen?" Amy asked.

"Was Mina right for once when she said you had a secret relationship?" Lita asked.

"Come on, tell us!" Mina said.

The girls continued their questioning spree at the same time while Andrew kept talking about how right he was. Serena and Darien just looked at each other and smiled. "When do you think they'll be ready to listen?" Darien asked.

"Give them a few minutes to notice we aren't talking," Serena said knowingly. "Wanna share a hopeless chocolate devotion ice cream?"

"Gladly," Darien said standing up with Serena. They quietly escaped the girls and went to a nearby booth to order their ice cream from another waitress.

The End