And I'm finally back with another chapter! I know that it has been a while and I'd like to thank Princesakarlita411, guest and WishStarAllie for reviewing last chapter! Now this chapter will be interesting since it deals with the Homecoming game, I wonder what will happen….
I own nothing but the plot
Kevin pov
Game day was not something new to Kevin Thompson. In all his seventeen years of existence he's had his fair share of game days dating back to his junior football league days. But the Homecoming game today was going to be very important. Because he had to sit out two important games the Lawndale Lions would not be making it to the playoffs this year so Homecoming would be the town's equivalent of a local Superbowl. Today was going to require a lot of focus for the team's QB, there would be so much pressure today (added on was the fact that the game was against the Oakwood Otters) and not just because the results of today's game would set the tone for the Homecoming parade tomorrow. No, the reason why Kevin would need to focus even more than what he usually did for any other football game was because his whole family mom, dad, and his sister Kristen would be in attendance for the first time since his father's affair had been discovered. Pretty much the whole town went to the Homecoming game every year already, but Kevin was sure this year would draw in a bigger crowd just because of the gossip surrounding his family which will likely kick up again after the game.
And for that reason alone, he was grateful that he managed not only to become friends with Daria, but also convinced her to come to Homecoming so that she could be with Kristen during the game (even though he did have to bribe her) and away from the crowds of gossiping people. The people would likely whisper and look down on his parents even more when they realized that his sister would not be sitting with them, but he didn't care. Despite his outburst at the hospital very little had changed, sometimes his parents would stop fighting if they thought either him or Kristen were nearby, and his father would sometimes give him money so that he could buy the things Kristen needed but that was about it. Nothing had really changed at home so why should Kevin let his parents pretend with everyone else that things were fine when they weren't? But enough about that now wasn't the time to focus on his problems at home he needed to head out of his house soon.
"Hey Kevin! How do I look?!" Kristen said excitedly breaking her brother out of his thoughts.
Kevin looked down and saw Kristen wearing a yellow shirt and blue pants with her face painted to look like a lion she even had a hat that looked like a lion's mane on her head. "Like the purfect little Lawndale cub!" He answered back just as excitedly as his sister beamed brightly, despite how much gossiping his sister's presence would bring once they got to the game, he was glad that she was coming. "Now let's get going we've got to go pick up Daria!"
"Why? I thought you said she agreed to come?" Kristen asked tilting her head to the side in confusion. "Can't we just meet her at the school?"
"Yeah, but this way we'll get to see her sooner and-" Kevin began to explain as he picked up his car keys, trying to find the right words. "And we can make sure to find you guys a good spot to watch the game!" He finished explaining as he hurried her out the house. Also, we can get out of here before our parents realized that you're not going to be sitting with them. Kevin thought to himself, it wasn't uncommon for Kevin to leave for games before his parents as the team does sometimes go over strategies a few hours before games. So, neither would realize that Kristen was also gone until they got ready to leave a half an hour from now.
The short car ride to Daria's house was filled with Kristen's excited chatter about going to her first live football game. Kevin could still remember the day Kristen had told him she had never been to one before, he spent the whole day in shock and according to Daria he acted as if someone had committed the worse possible crime in front of him (he argued that witnessing a bloody crime would have been better) as if the little sister of the Lawndale Lion's star QB not ever going to a football game wasn't the worse crime imaginable! This being Kristen's first football game was another reason why Kevin really needed to focus today, he didn't want to disappoint her with a lousy game. Not long after Kevin had parked his jeep in front of the Morgendoffer home did Daria come out of the house and started walking towards his car.
"Alright let's get this over with." Daria said in a deadpanned tone as she got into the passenger seat.
"Hey Daria!" Kristen said waving happily from the backseat. "I'm so happy you could come with us to the game! I've never seen a football game in person before, but Kevin said it should be fun! Hey why aren't you wearing blue and yellow? Kevin said that everyone wears blue and yellow at Homecoming, that's why I'm wearing blue and yellow and I'm also a lion like the Lawndale Lions!"
"Why did you let Kristen have so much candy today?" Daria asked in an even tone as Kevin started driving towards the school and Kristen continued talking excitedly.
"She's just excited about Homecoming! You know it's going to be her first football game." Kevin proclaims as he drove into the school parking lot. "Besides, she's going to be sleeping over at the Gupty's this weekend she's not going to have any sweets for a while."
"I had to agree to watch a hyperactive child at a Homecoming football game." Daria said with a sigh as Kevin parked his jeep. "What am I even getting out of this?"
"Ten bucks and a free dinner after the game." Kevin answered back evenly.
"I believe I agreed to twenty." Daria stated dryly.
"I don't even know why I tried; you can't pull a fast one on the kid of a lawyer." Kevin whispers to himself as he hands Daria the twenty-dollar bill plus an extra ten dollars. "The ten is for Kristen for snacks."
"Great, just what any hyperactive child needs more sugar." Daria said sarcastically as she puts the money in her jacket pocket.
Kevin pulled out his duffle bag and two folding chairs from the trunk of his jeep. "Alright, let's get you guys setup so I can head over to the locker room." He says as he locks up the jeep.
"Some kids at school said that their family is going tail-gating before the Homecoming game. Can we go too?! Before you go to the locker room Kevin?!" Kristen pleaded with her brother.
"Sorry Kristen, the game is gonna start soon so the tail-gating is already over." Kevin apologizes to his sister as he sets the chairs down, just as he had promised the location was away from everyone else and close to the snack stand. "Alright girls I've got to get going now. Kristen be good for Daria; I'll see you after the game."
"Good Luck Kevin!" Kristen practically shouted as the crowds entered the stadium and began to take their seats, from the sound of it things were already starting to get rowdy.
"Thanks Kristen." Kevin said while hugging and swing his sister around a bit before setting her down. "And thanks again for coming Daria."
"I mean you paid for me to be here, but I guess you're welcome anyway." Daria just said with a shrug.
"Still though thanks." Kevin said before picking up his duffle bag and walking over to the boy's locker room.
The school marching band was already starting to warm up the crowd by the time Kevin had made it inside of the locker room. Like most of his teammates Kevin was filled with nervous but excited energy, the cheering fans and the marching bands rendition of 'We Will Rock You' were all contributing to this energy. All in all it was a good night to play some football. Kevin nodded to his teammates as he walked over to his locker, zoning out as he went over strategies in his head. It wasn't until he had changed into his uniform that he noticed that Mac had also finished changing and was standing in front of the locker next to his. The two friends don't say a word to each other though, they just nod and waited for Upchuck to introduce the team. It's not that long of a wait, and with adrenaline pumping in their veins the Lawndale Lion's football team storm out into the field as the crowds cheer even louder. There was a time before where Kevin would search for his parents (who by now must be dealing with some whispers about Kristen) on the bleachers and wave at the fans but not tonight, tonight his focus was on the game and only the game.
By half time, the team was down five to eight, the Lion's were playing their hardest, but Oakland was playing rough tonight they were their rivals for a reason so it wasn't much of a surprise. It didn't help that the QB for Oakland Sam Stack and the rest of the Oakland team kept making comments about his father's affair in order to break his concentration (this was of course after Sam's comments about Brittany were shown to have no affect on him) it would appear that news of the Thompson affair had in fact reached the city of Oakland. As Kevin jogged off the field when time was called, he ignored his father yelling at the coach as he took off his helmet. He paid no mind to the cheering fans or to Brittany who tried to grab his arm. All he could think about was getting to a place where he could regain his focus, without realizing it until he got there his feet carried him over to the fence where Daria and Kristen were watching the game.
"Kevin!" Kristen greeted him in an excited tone, she was practically bouncing on her seat as her brother approached. "This has been so exciting! You can throw a ball so far! You have to teach me so I can play football too!"
"You had more candy didn't you Kris?" Kevin states as he approaches the fence.
"As you can see, she's very partial to the blue and yellow cotton candy." Daria explains in a dry tone after Kristen's rapid-fire chatter was over.
"I also had some fried dough and a large Ultra Cola!" Kristen states in a hyperactive tone. "Can I join a football team? I think the junior league tryouts are in the spring or summer! So, I have to train up soon!"
"And another Thompson joins the great football legacy." Daria said in a sarcastic tone.
"At least she's having fun." Kevin says with a sigh as he set his helmet on the ground and leaned against the fence. "My dad's busy yelling at the coach right now cause we're down by three points, Brittany's trying to get my attention again and Oaklands playing rougher than usually. Also, apparently the Thompson family affair news has reached the city of Oakland."
"Looks like the town Cryer really got around." Daria said in a deadpanned voice. "You guys have got the second half of the game to turn things around though."
"The comments are starting to get to me though, I can zone out some of it but-" Kevin began to rant only to get interrupted by Daria.
"Listen Thompson I'm not one for pep talks in fact after this is over I will deny ever saying this, but I didn't come to the Homecoming game to watch your hyperactive sister only for you to get psyched out by some out of town meatheads." Daria said in a stern voiced. "There is nothing that they can say to you that the 'Great Citizens' of Lawndale haven't already said behind your back and at this very moment whispered in front of your parents."
"I guess you're right." Kevin said after examining her words, he was glad that his feet carried him over to the fence. Just like with almost every problem that Kevin did not know what to do about Daria was there to give him the guidance he needed. The sound of a loud whistle clearly meant that half-time was almost over, so he picked up his helmet from the ground. "Well, I'd better get back to the team. Thanks for the pep talk Daria."
"Remember it well because it will surely never happen again, besides your sister and I didn't come to this game just to watch you lose." Daria said evenly. "What a disappointing way to end Kristen's first football game."
"I guess I'd better win than." Kevin said with his usual smile as he put his helmet on his head and ran back to the field.
The second half was called and as Kevin and the rest of the team got into their positions Daria's words ranged in the QB's ears 'your sister and I didn't come to this game just to watch you lose' this ended up being a great motivation for him and he was able to keep his focus on the game. The Lions ended up beating Oakland twenty-eight to twenty, thanks to Daria's pep talk Kevin was able to tune out the Oakland team and do what he did best play football. It was such a great moment that Kevin was sure would stay with him for the rest of his days. The very second the team's final touchdown was made there was a roar of excitement amongst the players and the Lawndale Lion's fans, it was such happy chaos when the team made it back to the locker room.
"Hey Kevin, think you can give the three J's a ride to Scully's party tonight?" Mack asked his friend as they changed out of their football uniforms. "I'd take them, but my car is already full."
"I can't take them either man." Kevin said while shaking his head. "I've got to drop Kristen off at the Gupty's for a sleepover and after that I'm going out to eat with Daria."
"Why'd you plan a date with Daria after the Homecoming game?" Mack asked his best friend in confusion. "You know there's always a party after Homecoming."
"It's not a date, I owe her dinner for coming to the game to watch Kristen." Kevin quickly explained.
"Dude we just won the Homecoming game! You see Daria all the time so why not do the dinner thing some other time?" Mack asked. "I'm sure she'll understand."
"Hey, I'm not breaking my promise to Daria! I owe her for coming, I even owe her for this win tonight. Besides dude it's not like there aren't going to be other parties!" Kevin said firmly as he closed his locker. "And you know we've got the Homecoming parade to deal with also."
"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day where you'd pick something else over going to a party." Mack said shaking his head. "You must really like Daria a lot."
"Of course, I like Daria we're really good friends." Kevin said with a shrug.
"Yeah, but when you were with Brittany, she always complained about how you'd ditch her for a party. Especially when it was a party that Scully was throwing?" Mack reminds him. "And now you're ditching a Scully party after winning Homecoming to have dinner with Daria."
"So?" Kevin questioned in a confused tone.
"So, you like Daria." Mack said firmly.
"Yeah, I already said that we're really good friends!" Kevin repeats back still in a confused tone. "I don't get what you're talking about? And we both know that hasn't happened in a while."
"Kevin you like Daria!" Mack proclaims almost harshly frustrated when he sees that Kevin still looks confused. "God, Kevin how can you make so much process and still…unbelievable!" Mack had apparently reached his limit with his friend; he didn't say another word just shook his head and walked away from his locker.
Though confused by his best friend's behavior Kevin decided that it was best not to linger inside of the locker room. He could always talk to Mack again some other time, right not he had to drop Kristen off at her sleepover and take Daria to dinner. The parking lot had thinned out a bit by the time he made it back outside, after politely getting pass so rowdy fans Kevin was able to make it to where Kristen and Daria were waiting for him. The car ride to the Gupty's was filled with Kristen's excited chatter about the Homecoming game, Kevin was glad his little sister enjoyed herself so much tonight as this would be another thing that they could bond over. Football was something that Kevin knew more than anything and it was exciting knowing that he could now pass on his knowledge to Kristen, he might even investigate finding a junior league for her to join if she really wanted to play.
"Alright Kristen we're here." Kevin interrupts his sister's excited chatter as the Gupty home came into view. "Now you did make sure that you had everything you need for the weekend, right?"
"Yes Kevin." Kristen says rolling her eyes at him, as she opens the car door and rushes out. "Goodnight Daria!"
"Hey! I saw that!" Kevin scolds as he follows her to the front door of the house. After about ten minutes of making sure his sister was settled in the Gupty house, Kevin came back to his car ready to take Daria out for that dinner. "Okay, now let's go get that dinner!" Kevin states once he got back into the jeep.
"Are you sure that you don't want to do a rain check on that dinner?" Daria asked. "You just won Homecoming after all I'm sure you'd rather be dulling your senses at a party right now?"
"It's fine, remember win or lose was part of the deal?" Kevin said dismissing her suggestion as he drove his jeep. "Besides tomorrow's the Homecoming parade and that's an event all by itself."
"It must be exhausting being one of Ms. Li's props." Daria says in a deadpanned tone. "Well, if you're sure about not going to a party I'm certainly not going to complain about a free dinner."
Kevin drove for ten minutes and stopped in front of a diner, before Daria could get out of her seat Kevin told her to wait inside the car. Kevin than quickly ran into the diner and came back not five minutes later with a bag of food.
"Why aren't we having dinner at the diner?" Daria asked as he got back into the jeep and started driving once again.
"Because we're going to eat the dinner somewhere else." Kevin answered evenly as he continued to drive. He drove his jeep for another fifteen minutes before stopping again this time he parked his jeep alongside an empty road. To the left of the road was a patch of trees, the area wasn't lite very much almost appearing pitch black in some areas.
"Kevin what are we doing all the way out here?" Daria asked after she took a moment to check her surroundings.
"We are going to have dinner out here." Kevin just says getting out of the jeep and picking up the food he had gotten from the dinner along with a backpack and a flashlight. "Come on we need to go this way." He said pointing to the direction of the trees.
"Kevin, did you get tackled too hard during the game?" Daria asked as she stared at Kevin in disbelief. "Why did you bring us all the way out here just for a simple dinner?"
"Trust me Daria, it will make more sense in a little while." Kevin just said before walking into the trees, Daria not having much of a choice followed behind him. It isn't long before the trees begin to part, and a view of an entire city was seen from where the two were standing.
"Is that Lawndale?" Daria asked as Kevin began to open the backpack and pull out a picnic blanket.
"Yep, and we are officially zero point five miles out of the city limits." Kevin proclaims as he sits down on the blanket, he begins to pull the food out of the bag as Daria sat down next to him.
"Do you come up here a lot?" Daria asked him as he handed her share of the food he had brought.
"Not a lot just every once in a while." Kevin began to explain. "It's nice when I do get the chance to come though. Everything can feel so overwhelming sometimes it's like my whole life is just tied to living in Lawndale, I've been playing football for this city since I was six years old a lot people expect me to bring in a state championship trophy for the school. Now I've got a little sister to look after because my parents won't. I feel like I might get sucked into this city and be stuck in Lawndale forever. But then I drive out here and remember that Lawndale is not some huge endless city with endless responsibilities. It only takes twenty minutes to drive away and be anywhere else. So I don't have to be stuck here if I don't want to be, I can just leave take Kristen and go though I should probably wait until I'm eighteen just to be safe."
"Wow, next to your reasons for wanting to get out of Lawndale mine feels less profound." Daria said after a moment of silence had passed between the two.
"Your reasons for wanting to get out of Lawndale aren't any less valid than mine Daria." Kevin said firmly as he stared out into the city. "Everyone who wants to get out should get out if they can. I just hope it's not too late for me."
"Why would it be too late?" Daria asked him.
"I…I was so dumb before." Kevin begins to explain in a serious tone. "Looking back to even the beginning of the year I can't believe how bad I was, and it's not like I'm this super smart person now but I was so dangerously dumb. And now I'm trying to catch up on material that I should have known a long time ago and maybe I'll be able to graduate now if I keep this up, but college is a whole other thing. And maybe I could blame my dad for making me think that the only thing I'll ever be good at is football, and maybe I could blame the public school system for pushing me forward when I wasn't ready just so that they could have their trophies. But I know I let myself take the easy way out even though I saw how hard Mack and other football players were working. I told myself that it was okay because they had other stuff they could do, but football was all that I had."
"To be fair being conditioned to think a certain way your whole life has a strong affect on any person." Daria explains to him. "And remember you've done all this work on yourself because you wanted to set a good example for Kristen it's really honorable."
"Yeah, I'd probably be acting the same way I was before if Kristen never came into my life." Kevin states as he looked back at the city.
"I know, I certainly wouldn't have been able to spend this extended period of time with you if Kristen had never existed." Daria said evenly. "That time where we were stuck working together at that Nut house is not a very pleasant memory."
"Not one of my best moments, although it was kind of good that I was self-aware enough to realize that I wanted to work towards not pumping gas." Kevin says as he thinks back to that time the year before, he hadn't hated that part time job but that had mostly to do with the fact that his shifts were with Daria. Though he guessed that Daria hadn't had as much of a good time working with him as he had with her. "Did you used to hate me? I know I must have annoyed you a lot back then."
"Hate is a strong emotion that I would never take lightly." Daria said in an even tone. "Not gonna lie Kevin I see no reason to, you were always very annoying to me. Someone who didn't seem to understand the meaning of sarcasm, but I never hated you even on a bad day you weren't the worse meathead I'd ever encountered, but I didn't want to be anywhere near you for a prolong extended period but there was never any hate on my part."
"We've come a long way then." Kevin says in his happy-go-lucky tone.
"We must have, if I'm letting you drive me out here in the middle nowhere just to eat dinner." Daria states in a dry even tone. "It still surprises me even with the way you've changed that you'd rather be here than at a party after winning the Homecoming game."
"It's not that surprising." Kevin counters back. "This was part of the deal for watching Kristen, I did say win or lose that we'd go get dinner after the game."
"Kevin, you could have scheduled a rain check like I offered though." Daria reminds him. "Shouldn't you be celebrating with your teammates at least?"
"You don't have to worry about it Daria, I wanted to do this." Kevin said with an easy shrug. "We hadn't been able to spend time with each other as much because of practice and I like when we spend time together cause I really li-" Kevin was cutoff mid-sentence as he for some reason was reminded of his earlier conversation with Mack "Kevin you like Daria!" Mack's words hadn't made sense to him at the time, but now it couldn't be clearer. He might actually like Daria as more than just a good friend would.
"Kevin? Kevin?" Daria questions shaking him a bit and breaking him out of his sudden realization. "What happened to you? You were completely spaced-out mid-sentence?"
"Right, sorry I just ah realized Mack was right about something he said earlier." Kevin said quickly shaking his head in embarrassment. "I guess sometimes old Kevin can still sneak up on me!" He joked as turned to face the city once more. Daria thankfully didn't question it further and ten minutes later the two packed up their things so that they could head back into Lawndale.
"Despite, the unorthodox setting this dinner wasn't that bad." Daria said as the walked back to his jeep.
"We can always come back whenever you want." Kevin tells her. "I like…I like owe you big for the Homecoming win. You know how you said that you and Kristen didn't come to the game just to see me lose really helped me keep focus during the second half."
"Glad to help make Kristen's first football game memorable." Daria just said in an even tone.
"Yeah, this night is really…really unforgettable." Kevin whispers to himself as he seats down in the driver's seat and begins to drive down the road back to Lawndale.
A/N and that's the end of that chapter! Again sorry for those who've been waiting for a while but I did warn everyone about me going back to school. Anyway I've finally made it to Kevin starting to realize his feelings, I kinda knew it would be him first it just makes sense that way. Next chapter will be in Daria's pov and will included the I loathe Parade episode! So stay tuned for that and as always please read and review see ya!