Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Daria characters, that right lies with Viacom and MTV. I promise to return their toys when I'm done playing with them.

A/N: Sorry this chap took longer than the last few, and still no lemon. I started writing and it just started flowing. Still some filler here, but it's necessary damn it! Hope everyone enjoys reading as much as I enjoyed writing. I am working on Chap 5 today, also, 'til time to leave for work. It might get posted today, but may be Thursday. Please please please leave me a review, even if it's just to say that the story sucks and I'm evil for pairing Daria and Trent in any way, shape or form. I reply to all reviews personally.

A/N 2: I feel compelled to go ahead and say this now, as opposed to the end of the story. If you are looking for happy ending fluff, where D and T get married and live happily ever after, this is probably not the story for you. I tend to take a very realistic view of past vs. current relationships, and how they affect our lives. (which is also why Tom didn't last past high school - Daria said it herself, high school relationships rarely last). If you're married to your high school sweetheart, I commend you, and do not mean to offend, but having been in a Daria/Trent type relationship myself, I wanted to write a fic from that persepective. Also, Trent may seem a bit OOC and more talkative than he is in Canon. I think everyone is more talkative with people that are totally comfortable with, and I think over the course of time, everyone changes a bit. I know I'm not the same as I was at 17.

Daria stared fuzzily at the alarm clock that now read 2:31 a.m. She groaned, turned over, punched the pillow a few times, turned over again, and squinted at the clock as it turned over to 2:32 a.m. Give it up, Morgendorffer, she thought to herself as she sat up and stretched. Daria grabbed her tee-shirt and shorts off the foot of the bed where she had draped them, and pulled on a pair of warm socks, then padded silently towards the kitchen.

Daria shielded her eyes as she snapped the harsh kitchen light on, and headed straight for the coffee-pot to heat up some water for a mug of hot chocolate, thinking that a warm drink would help her sleep.

"Couldn't sleep either, huh?" Daria nearly jumped at the soft voice coming from the small table behind her.

"Sheezus, Trent, you scared the shit out of me." Daria replied, trying to catch the breath she had inhaled sharply at the sight of the wiry man sitting at the table with what looked like a half-full cup of instant hot cocoa. He simply half-grinned and toasted her with the mug before taking a sip, leaving a small line of white froth on his upper lip. Daria had to bite back an insidious desire to laugh as she took him in. Oh, if only his teenage fans could see him now, Daria thought to herself as she observed the supposedly hard-core lead singer of the grunge band sitting in a cracked Formica chair in nothing but blue boxers sprinkled with yellow smiley faces, grinning at her with his milk mustache.

As if he could read her thoughts, Trent cocked a sharp eyebrow and wiped his upper lip with the back of his hand. Daria chuckled as she dumped a packet of the brown powder into a coffee mug and added hot water from the carafe.

"So what's your excuse? It's not a strange house for you." Daria asked as she sat down in the chair adjacent to Trent, preparing for a long night of sleeplessness.

"Guess not. My sleep schedule gets out of whack when we're on the road. We're usually up all night and asleep in the Tank all day, or running on caffeine if we're driving."

"So how do you like your newfound fame. Well, notoriety, anyway," Daria clarified at Trent's questioning glance. He chuckled in response, and Daria was surprised that it didn't end in a hacking cough.

"It's a lot to get used to, and it takes more work than I thought it would when I was 22. I had to quit smoking and figure out why I was sleeping so damn much, so the first stop with the check from our first big gig was go to the doc. Discovered I was narcoleptic, on top of keeping really unhealthy hours and habits. That hasn't really changed, though, I usually drive 'cause I have to take these little pills to sleep decently."

"At least you recognized you had a problem." Daria shrugged as she took a tentative sip of her cocoa, not sure if had cooled off enough to not blister then inside of her mouth. Trent shrugged self-deprecatingly as he rubbed the back of his neck and replied,

"Yea, and I'm glad I found a solution, even if it is temporary. As for the sudden popularity, I know that it's fleeting. Teenagers are fickle creatures. We may be hot today, but all it takes for us to be out of a job is for the next American Idol to have a decent song."

Daria chuckled in response and shook her head at the concept. After a few minutes of silence, Trent cleared his throat and asked quietly,

"So why are you down here instead of fast asleep?"

"Too much to think about, I guess. Coming home always has a lot of memories, some I'm not quite ready to face yet, unless I have no choice." Daria replied, blushing as she met Trent's dark gaze. Trent didn't reply, simply took Daria's hand in his own warm one, and gently squeezed. Daria didn't have to say how much she appreciated the gesture.

"Trent, can I ask you something?"

"Ask away."

"You asked earlier if I remembered my eighteenth birthday, as if I could forget. I know Jane asked you to do that for me, but I assumed, at the time, you would wish her luck or laugh it off. Why didn't you?"

Trent scratched his head with his free hand as he hummed and thought out his answer, then replied slowly,

"I had planned to turn her down, I think, but something told me to think it over."

"Commendable, and understandable. What changed your mind?"

"Monique."

"Monique?" Daria was stunned, as she hadn't heard or thought about the sexy female rocker in years.

"Oh, yea. Well, you know that Mo and I were dating, on and off?" At Daria's slight nod of acknowledgment, he continued, "At the time of your birthday, we were off, but still talking, and occasionally writing songs together. You have to understand that Mo was my only female friend at the time, besides the bit that I hung out with you and Janey, and if I wanted perspective on what it was like for a girl's first time, I had to ask a girl."

"I can't imagine the first time is the same for a guy at all."

"Heh. No, nothing like it. A lot less pain, for starters. So I called Monique up and asked her to come over for a jam session."

Jane threw open the door at the rapid knock, wondering who it could be. Any of the members of the band wouldn't knock, and Daria was stuck shopping for a new birthday outfit with Helen. Jane knew Daria was probably miserable, and Helen would end up with the new clothes, but only thirty minutes shopping was too fast, even for Daria.

"Hey, Janey, is Trent here?" Monique asked from the front step, smiling what she hoped was a friendly expression.

"Uh, yea, up in his room." Jane replied, curious as to why Monique would stop by. She rarely came to their house, preferring to have Trent pick her up or meet her downtown. The only thing Jane could think is that Trent had asked her specifically to come over, and that meant he wanted advice over something woman-related that he was too embarrassed to ask his sister. Jane grinned as she led Monique to the stairs. Guess Trent's made his decision, Jane thought to herself as she pointed out her brother's room, where the sounds of an acoustic guitar were floating out.

"Go on up, he's been up there writing all day." Jane said as she headed back to the living room where she had been cleaning in an attempt to make Casa Lane presentable for Daria's birthday party.

Monique knocked gently on Trent's bedroom door and took in his disheveled appearance as he waved her in from his spot on the bed, surrounded by crumpled sheets of notebook paper, his acoustic in his lap.

"So what's this dire emergency that I had to leave practice early for? You have a new song you're wanting me to listen to?" Monique joked as she perched on the end of the bed. Trent laughed, ending in a hacking cough as he set his guitar on the floor and started gathering up his papers. He shook his head and turned to face his oldest friend.

"Nah, nothing like that, but I do need some advice. You know, from a woman."

"Uh oh, who is she, how old is she, and when is she due?" Monique asked, her grin quickly becoming serious. Sure, she and Trent had a lot of fun together, but she knew they'd never be anything serious, and she liked it that way. It left her more time for her band and her music career. If she needed relief and couldn't find it anywhere else, she knew she could count of Trent to be both clean and available.

"Ha fucking ha, Mo. She's eighteen, not pregnant," Yet, Trent added silently to himself as he made a mental note to pick up protection, "and still a virgin."

"Who on Earth do you know that's still a virgin, and wanting to sleep with you? Unless it's…ohhhh. Oh. She's cute, Trent. A little quiet, but it's the quiet ones that always turn out the freakiest."

"So I've heard," Trent replied with a bit of distaste, "I still don't know what to do. I've never slept with a virgin, and have no idea what I'm doing here. I only told Janey I'd consider it, and the more I think about it, the more the idea of teaching her appeals to me. It doesn't help that every time I see her blush and stutter, I get hard as a rock. Jane's convinced her that I'm completely oblivious, although we both know better, but it seems to have helped Daria become more comfortable around me, and I'm glad."

"Awe, my little Trent has his first crush." Monique giggled at the death glare leveled at her by whom she considered her best friend. "Seriously, though, if you're that interested in her, go for it. As for the technical stuff, it's her first time. She's going to be scared fucking silly, and if you make her nervous just standing there, you're going to have to find a way to get her to relax. What works for me, or anyone else you've had sex with, may not work on her. Ask Janey for suggestions, Daria is her best friend, after all, or go with your gut if you don't want to ask your sister. Also, I got that her family was kinda conservative. Go easy on the nudity until you find out how comfortable she is. Not everyone walks around the house in the buff like you do. Finally, when you do get there, use a lot of lube and go slow. It's going to hurt like a sunavabitch and she probably won't come unless you make her do so beforehand. We girls rarely have an orgasm our first time, and we're sore as hell afterward. Need to know anything else, o naïve one?"

"I think you covered it. So, condoms, lube, and painkillers." Trent replied, his head spinning a bit at the information overload.

"Preferably something for sensitive skin, and advil should work fine. Don't give her anything too strong without knowing how she'll react to it. I have to head back to practice, we've got a few new songs we need to beat out before Friday night. Wanna come watch us play?"

"Where?"

"The Zen, like usual." Monique asked, standing and hugging Trent around the neck.

"I'll think about it. Maybe even ask Janey to come with, if she ever stops cleaning." Trent replied, winking at his friend, "and hey, thanks for the talk."

"Any time. One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Don't fuck it up."