Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the time it takes to type this out.

"Speech"

'Thought'

Narration

Cold Feet

It had been a marathon day for Daria Morgendorffer. She had spent her time sitting on the couch half watching TV, half taking in all of the events that had happened to her recently. She had blown the opportunity to go to a school with snobs who could actually read a book, gotten an inexplicable rash due to her inability to communicate with a boy, gotten pierced because of said boy, accidentally made her mother cry tears of joy, found out she could be corrupted by sheer vanity and almost died in a massive storm with two horny idiots. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, there seemed to be a trend slowly emerging that no amount of rational thought could alleviate.

The doorbell rang. "Damn, hormones." She muttered as she got up and hit mute on the remote. Daria opened the door to find Jane with a bag and her easel.

"The manger will do." She said.

... … … … … … … … …

"I've got to admit, Jane, I wasn't really sure about this." Daria said while they walked home from school.

"Walking home together? Well the other kids had to find out about our friendship sooner or later."

"I meant about you staying with us."

Jane mocked gasped. "I'll have you know Helen never says anything so rude when she turns my morning run into a morning crawl. And I can't get her to stop talking."

"Yeah, welcome to my world. What I meant was how two people who are normally the closest of friends can share the same closed space for too long and end up killing each other."

"Please, tell me how you really feel."

"But this is actually working out perfectly. My parents don't bug me about being social because I can read in the same room you paint in, I have someone to double-team Quinn when I'm tired and if you go crazy I have proof of nurture over nature."

"I can't tell if this is good or bad."

"Jane Lane, I think I love you."

The artist faltered for a moment. She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Kevin's jeep hopping the corner ten feet in front of them, causing the pair to jump. "So how's your driving coming along?"

... … … … … … … … …

Daria should have known that the past few days would have been jinxed the moment that she opened her big mouth. Here she was, with no homework, ready for another peaceful night of controlled melancholy…and Trent walks in. After fast talking- wait that's not right- slow talking his way into dinner and a room, the writer had realized how much trouble she was in. She glanced at Jane who responded by grinning evilly. 'I wonder if I should have been killed by Kevin today.'

As night moved on, the thought of vehicular homicide seemed more appealing in the teen girl's mind. She was so distracted by the musician's presence that she couldn't even beat Jane in Scrabble. Yes, the pen was beaten by the brush in a battle of word. The absolute worst came when her father's voice rang out. "Trent! Your date is here!" Daria could only watch helplessly as he walked away with a girl obviously more "mature" then herself. The night continued to replay itself over and over again as she lay in bed. She had hoped that the feeling of being punched in the stomach would eventually go away. What she didn't expect was the feeling of someone slipping into bed next to her. "Trent?" She whispered anxiously.

"Guess again." A wry voice said as Daria felt two blocks of ice touch her legs.

Daria screamed and whipped around to find herself face to face with her best friend. "What the hell, Jane?"

"Well Trent's stuff was all over the couch." She gave a loud yawn. "I tried sleeping on your floor but being surrounded by mattresses became a level of hell so…"

"So you thought you'd jump in with me and attack me with a terrible draft?"

"Oh, that was no draft that was my feet." She said raising them again to prove her point.

A cold sensation ran up Daria's legs. Not as frigid as before, but enough to wake her up completely. "Stop that!"

"But your floor was so cold."

"That's not my fault. Why aren't you wearing socks? I've never even seen you without your boots. I wasn't sure you even had feet."

"I wasn't sure myself. But your house is so clean that I'd thought I'd risk washing my socks. I gotta say this is quite liberating. I just might become a foot nudist."

"Is that what they're called?"

"Maybe, we could be the one's to patent it." Jane opened one eye, realized her hair was there and brushed it away to try again. "So how you doin'?" The writer rolled over with a 'Mmmph.' "C'mon, kid, talk to me. I at least owe you something for all this warm hospitality."

Daria was silent for a few minutes. Jane almost gave up on her friend giving an answer and was getting ready to go to sleep herself. "I think that this whole Trent thing might be just a schoolgirl crush." She rolled back around. "I mean no offense to him but I just don't see us working out together. I mean we had a conversation about Huckleberry Hound for God's sake."

"Sometimes love works in mysterious ways, Amiga."

"I've never been in love. I don't know what it is." Daria deadpanned.

"Jane's Addiction. Touché. Well, Classic Girl, true love comes from being able to stand a person long enough and deeply enough that you can't put anything before them and them before you."

The brunette glared at the raven who just smiled sweetly. "Okay who are you and what have you done with Jane?" Jane raised an eyebrow. "That was sound advice that didn't have a hint of sarcasm." Jane's smile faded as she bit her lip. "What? Did you realize that your explanation leaves the two of us as each other's most logical companion? Does your lip taste that good?"

"I really like watching you talk." Jane said as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Daria's glare gave way to a look of utter shock.

"Lane? You're kidding, right?" Jane gave Daria an uncomfortable look. "You're serious." She frowned.

Jane grabbed her head and tried hiding under the covers. "I-I don't know. It's just…"

"…Yes?"

"Well as crazy as it sounds I don't think anyone's ever said 'I love you' to me before. I know you were just joking earlier but it got me all messed up."

She muttered something of an apology and tried to get out of the bed. In an uncharacteristic move, Daria grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back under the sheets. She clutched her friend's face and forced it to meet her own. "Tell me you're joking."

Jane made an equally alien move as a few tears prickled at the sides of her eyes. "Well you know my parents." She shrugged. "'Don't want to clutch a butterfly' and all that crap."

"That doesn't mean they don't love you. Just because they don't say it…or aren't always around." Daria said, her voice trailing off.

A smile slowly crept over Jane's face. "Way to convince me, 'Kiddo.' If that had come from anyone else I wouldn't believe it but with your parents…okay as much as I'm actually enjoying human contact, you're hurting my jaw." Daria gasped and let go. Jane rubbed her cheeks where her friend had been clutching them. "You got quite a grip, Morgendorffer."

"Sorry."

"Ancient history. But look, you're not the only one dealing with hormones and confusion. I'll tell you what, if you want we can just blame biology and forget this ever happened." Jane rolled over and closed her eyes. "Yeah let's just do that."

"So you're putting my surprise on the subject before your own feelings?" Daria said softly. Jane's eyes shot open as a hand awkwardly reach around and touched her own. "In all honesty, I really like watching you paint. It's amazing how much concentration you put into every brushstroke."

Jane squeezed Daria's hand. "Daria, if you just want to make me feel better you should know that I don't want to jeopardize our friendship for anything."

Daria nuzzled a little closer while Jane turned back around. "I don't either but I was serious about what I said earlier about being clueless about love."

"That's because it requires a soul, my dear."

"Thank, God." Daria's deadpan returned. "For a second I'd thought I'd lost you."

"A moment of weakness. I'll never be serious again."

"Hold on to it for one moment. We really should figure out the 'state' of our relationship." Jane's eyes twinkled. "What I mean is we should find out the level of 'attractiveness' we hold for each other." Daria's brows furrowed. "Are you even listening?" Jane leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on Daria's lips. "Damn, hormones."