Alternate Ending to: Antisocial Climbers (season 4 episode 2)
This will have multiple chapters,,,I hope I wrote them in character! I'm still trying to get a feel for these two...
Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
Everything
They were going to die. It was just an inevitable fate that they were going to meet on that day, Jane thought. They could barely see and the blizzard didn't seem to be blowing over any time soon. Luck was definitely not on their side.
But, then again, was it ever?
"Listen," Daria's voice snaps Jane from her thoughts. "I'm sorry I gave you all that crap about your boyfriend."
Jane hesitates for only a split second, her mind reeling. Should she tell Daria the truth or just let this play out? It'd be best to die without any humiliation and awkwardness, right?
"Well, I'm sorry I embarrassed you all those times in front of your brother."
She opted out of the truth.
The two trudged on for a few seconds, letting the sound of the flurrying snow and whipping wind deafen them.
"I feel like we should say more."
"I know. That was kinda pathetic."
"Um..." Daria stops for a second, trying to think of something to say. "I'm sorry my parents didn't stop at one child."
"I'm sorry they added those ugly, blue M&M's." Jane blurts, the apology more for herself than Daria. "Better?"
"I've made my peace." Daria shouts over the wind, stopping for a second to assess what little surroundings they could make out over the blanketing white.
"Hey, just up ahead! Isn't that the opening to a cave?" Jane points.
"If it is, I hope there's a ravenous bear inside willing to tear us apart."
Jane cracks a smirk, following Daria into the cave. It wasn't very deep but there wasn't any snow, so there were no complaints. The girls sit down, leaning on a large rock.
"We might as well stay in here until the storm blows over."
"Well, I mean, we could always just go back out into the storm and risk it. There's probably absolutely no chance that we would die or anything like that." Daria interjects.
"Hey, no need for all the sarcasm. It could always be worse. DeMartino could be with us or, even better, Quinn could've asked to come along."
"As if she would've asked to come along. Her snow boots might have gotten ruined and we can't have that, now can we?" Daria gives a small chuckle, crossing her arms over her chest and staring up at the ceiling of the cave. "But you're probably right. I'd rather be stuck here with you than any other person."
"Means a lot, coming from you."
Daria looks over, staring at Jane with narrowed brows.
"Does it?"
It's now Jane's turn to look over, her eyes wide.
"I'm sure you'd prefer it if I were Tom."
This causes Jane to groan, her eyes narrowing at the mere mention of his name.
"Can't we have a conversation that doesn't revolve around him? Not to mention, didn't you just apologize for giving me crap about him?"
"Well, I dunno, since it looks like we're going to survive this God awful day, I thought it would be okay to take the apology back."
"That's pretty harsh. And here I was, thinking that you were being honest."
"But you know it's true. You'd prefer him over me."
"If I knew any better, I'd say someone's feeling a bit jealous of my relationship with him."
Daria looks away, her gaze returning to the ceiling. It's silent for a moment, Jane's heart skipping a beat.
"...Are you?"
"Doesn't really matter, either way."
Jane's gaze drops to the floor and she picks up a loose rock, rolling it around in her hand. The silence that has washed over them eats away at her until she's ready to burst. So, she does the next best thing. She talks.
"I have more to say."
"What?"
"Earlier. When we were trading our last minute sentiments? I had more to say."
"Well, we're gonna be here a while."
"...I'm sorry that I started going out with Tom."
Daria's silent for a moment.
"There's no reason to apologize. He's your boyfriend and I'm just being a - "
"I only started going out with him to make you jealous." Jane blurts, flicking the rock across the room.
"What?" This completely gears Daria's attention, causing the girl to drop her gaze from the ceiling and look directly at Jane.
"I just...I was never really interested in Tom. He was just a good looking guy that was interested in me and...well, that doesn't happen very often. At first, it was just going to be a little fling, you know? Someone to help me take my mind off things." Jane pauses,
"But after I saw how much it was bothering you, I decided to let this thing play out a little longer. It just felt good to have that one person who means absolutely everything to you...need you? Want you? I dunno, if just felt good. But I did feel bad. I felt really bad. I didn't get to see you as often and when we did get time together, you spent it bitching about Tom. I wanted - I want things to go back to normal."
Jane looks at Daria, a serious look on her face.
"But you're everything, Daria. And don't you forget that."
Her eyes avert past Daria's face, towards the entrance of the cave.
"Hey, the blizzard's letting up!" She stands, making her move towards the entrance. "Lets get out of here and find DeMartino. Hopefully he hasn't turned into an -"
"You're everything, too." Daria interrupts, standing up and brushing off her clothes. "But I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to take what you just told me. What was that?"
"It was a confession of friendship."
"Really? Because that sounded something more along the lines of, 'hey, Daria, you're my everything and I wanted to make you jealous because I wanted you to notice me more than you already do'. Basically, it sounded like you have a crush on me."
"Crush? Now, you know that Jane Lane does not have crushes." Jane jokes, her face glossing over with a smirk. "I just have strong feelings for people that are more important to me than others."
"That's probably the dictionary definition of a crush, Jane."
"No, I was thinking it was more along the lines of infatuation."
"It's the same thing."
"What are you, a walking dictionary?"
"I'm not exactly to that point, but I'm really trying to get there."
They stand at the entrance of the cave, staring intently at each other.
"So, uh, I'm supposing we should really get to looking for DeMartino."
"Jane, I really like you too. Or, in your terms, I'm infatuated with you. Which should really explain why I've been acting like such a jealous asshole since you've been going out with Tom."
"Daria -"
"Don't make me say it again. If you'd prefer friendship out of this, that's perfectly fine. I don't want to ruin our relationship or anything. Believe it or not, but it's really hard for me to keep a friend and I'd prefer not to loose you so soon -"
But Jane is on her before Daria know's what's happening. She smells like soap and paint, a smell that Daria will never forget. And even if she wanted to, there's no way Jane would ever let her. Her lips are softer than Daria ever expected.
Jane pulls away for a moment, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"We'll work out specifics later but, right now, you like me, I like you, and DeMartino's turning into an ice cube. I think this is the moment where we agree to just let whatever's gonna happen, happen, for the sake of that man."
Daria smirks. "And when have you ever cared about the well-being of a teacher?"
"I dunno. I think that I might just be a little more cheerful, at the moment. He's pretty lucky he caught me in such a good mood."
Daria chuckles, sidestepping Jane and walking out of the cave, onto the snowy path.
"C'mon. Lets go find him."
"Yes Ma'am."