Chapter 1: Can't Fight This Feeling

"I can see clearly now the rain is gone."

That is all that could be seen. Brightness. A blinding brightness. Kay opened her eyes. She had a splitting headache, and the sun wasn't making it any better. She looks over at the clock, it was showing that it was 11am. "Good lord," she thinks. There was a note on top of the clock that caught Kay's attention. Kay reaches for it and almost falls out of the bed. The second time however, she manages to snag it. The note then reads as follows, "Even with what you did last night, I'm glad that you were yourself. Maybe we can continue in the future. Love, your Guardian Angel. P.S. If you're reading this, I'm probably still asleep so please try not to wake me up unless you want to talk to me about it." Kay then rolls over to face the opposite side of the bed and realizes what is in front of her. "What the hell did I do last night?" Kay asks herself.

16 hours earlier…

Kay had always known Darjeeling from Sensha-Do but they had never been together in a situation like this one. Usually they had to be professional and even here they still had to. However being a commentator allowed them both to be more of themselves rather than being this mighty figure that ran a tankery team. Yukari was alright, but Kay just viewed her as more of a nervous wreck that was afraid of making mistakes. Kay herself was not perfect, but Yukari just seemed like not really her type.

Either way, Kay had a job to do and felt that she was doing a good one at that until Darjeeling told her to "contain her excitement." Kay obliged with the request, but it left her feeling sore about the subject. Even with that little incident, Kay still was happy with her first attempt at commentating the race. Even being allowed to commentate those finally laps where the viewer would be on the edge of their seat.

Kay decided that the best course of action was to ask Darjeeling if she wanted to go to dinner together. After all, it would be nice to get to know each other better if they were going to be working together for the rest of the season. By the time that they were done with media requirements and packing things back up, it had gotten to just about 7pm. Kay finally decided to ask the question that had been on her mind for a while now.

"Hey Darjeeling, you wouldn't mind if we had dinner together, right?"

"I guess I could do that. Do you have an idea for where we should go?"

"I was hoping you had an idea for a place. You are from a British based school after all."

"Alright then, it's my pick. You want to walk to my car with me?"

"Sure, why not."

They then proceeded to take the long trek down from the booth to the parking lot. After a somewhat uncomfortably long elevator ride, they finally reached the parking lot just outside the speedway. Darjeeling then points at a car and says "Well, there she is."

'She' was an early 90s Jaguar XJS Convertible, decked out in British Racing Green. It was in a pretty good shape from the outside, as it did not appear to be faded or have anything broken on it. Kay however, decided to point out the obvious.
"Are you sure that this will make it all the way, or will it break down halfway?" Kay joked with a teasing smile.

"Do you want to come with me or no?" Darjeeling sternly replied, already starting to get in the car after taking the roof down.

"I guess I will, if it makes you happy." "Why did I have to say that?" Kay thought to herself. Either way, she still got into the car with Darjeeling. "Do you mind telling me where we're going?"

"A new pub opened nearby, so I thought we could go see if it's any good."

"Alrighty then."

Darjeeling pulls out of the parking lot and onto the long open road to the pub. Darjeeling turns the radio on just to see what was on. "I Get Around" by The Beach Boys starts to play. "Round round get around, I get around, yeah." By this time the sun was about to go fully down under the horizon. "(Get around round round I get around, ooh-ooh) I get around." Darjeeling looks over at her passenger to see what she was doing. "From town to town (get around round round I get around)." Kay was just staring out the window, deep in thought. "I'm a real cool head (get around round round I get around)." Her hair dazzled in the sun as they went past a piece of open farmland. "I'm makin' real good bread (get around round round I get around)." Kay looks back at Darjeeling, locking their eyes together. "I'm gettin' bugged driving up and down the same old strip." Darjeeling looks away blushing while Kay just laughs.

After about 30 minutes, they finally got there. The sun had set by now, but the horizon was still a shade of pink and purple. The pub was made of stone walls, covered in white paint. The roof had old shingles on it with a new looking gutter. There was an old-fashioned wooden sign by the door that read "Royal Oak Pub."

"Is this the place?" Kay asks while opening the car door.

"It should be. Let us go inside and see if we can get a seat."

The interior of the pub really fit the name. The walls were covered in a light shade of wood while the floor was a darker shade. An 80s style jukebox was in the corner playing "Gimme Some Lovin" by The Spencer Davis Group. There was a bar in the center with tables and chairs surrounding it. Against the rear wall was a line of booths. The sign next to entrance read "Please seat yourselves".
"Where should we sit? You are the one who wanted to go to dinner with me after all," Darjeeling turns around to ask Kay.

"Let's do a booth tonight," They choose a booth over in the corner away from the main area of the pub. A waiter then comes over to take their order.

"I'd like a tea with fish and chips please," Darjeeling answers.

"I would like a dark cola with a cheeseburger please," Kay also answers. This makes Darjeeling somewhat suspicious as she had never heard of this "dark cola," but she just decides that it must be a new American term that Kay learned.

"Alright your order will be out shortly," The waiter then leaves the table to go help another customer.

"I didn't know you used these kinds of manners, Kay."

"I can be more brash if you want me to."

"No, I like this. You're more elegant this way."

"Well isn't that sweet." "Every little thing she does is magic…," Kay thinks, watching Darjeeling from the other side of the table.

"So how do you think you did today as your first day as a JASCAR commentator?"

"It was alright, I guess. You managed to help me be a bit more confident in myself if I had to be honest. You don't mind if I try something right?"

"And what would that be?"

"I want to test you on something but only if you feel like doing it."

"Sure. Why not."

"Alrighty then." Kay, now in the deepest voice she can do, starts to speak. "Go ahead, make my day." Kay then goes back to her normal voice. "Do you know what that was from?"

"No? Was I supposed to know what it was from?"

"How have you not seen that movie?"

"I'm a lady, I frankly don't have the time for such trivial things."

By now the food and drinks were brought to the table.

"Let's dig in!"

And so that's what they did. Just sat there and enjoyed themselves as they filled up for the night. Occasionally talking about the food and the music being played. Once Kay had finished her cheeseburger however, that is when the problems started. By this time, Darjeeling was getting increasingly worried about how Kay's speech was slurring.

"Are you alright Kay?"

"I'mmmm jusssst fine."

"Are you sure? Your speech has slowed down considerably."

"Nah its jusssst nothing."

"Alright well I'm going to call the waiter over about this. Can you please come over here?" The waiter walks over to their booth.

"What's the problem ma'am?"

"What is this supposed "dark cola" that my frien-, co-worker has been drinking?"

"Oh its beer. It is after all, what your friend here ordered." The waiter walks away from a flabbergasted Darjeeling.

"KAY! You've been drinking beer this entire time?!"

"What's wrong with me drinking it? You know, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"This isn't the time for this right now. What is more important to me is trying to get you back to the hotel." The jukebox in the corner starts playing "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon. Neither of the two at the booth realize the change.

"I can't fight this feeling any longer."

"Buuuuuuuutttttttt Darjeeling! I want to tell you something." "And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow."

"Fine what is it." "What started out as friendship has grown stronger."
"I love you." "I only wish I had the strength to let it show."

"YOU CAN'T JUST SAY THAT TO A LADY!" "I tell myself that I can't hold out forever."

"But it's the truth." "I said there is no reason for my fear." "The way that you are able to be so confident, so elegant, so much of what I want in a person." "'Cause I feel so secure when we're together." "You seem to make a room light up the second you enter it." "You give my life direction, you make everything so clear." "You're my guardian angel in this world." "And even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight." "I know you probably do not have similar feelings and I understand that." "You're a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter's night." "It feels so great to get that off my chest." "And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might." Kay then just stares at Darjeeling for a few seconds, before collapsing onto the table.

"What the hell just happened? Why the hell did that just happen?" Darjeeling takes a couple minutes to recompose herself. She cannot help but smile however at Kay's drooling face on the table. She runs her fingers through Kay's hair, watching it rise and fall. "What am I going to do with you now?" Darjeeling thinks out loud.

Darjeeling then pays the bill for the meal while trying to think of a way to move Kay from the table and back to the car. "I might as well just carry you." Darjeeling then tries to pick Kay up off the bench. "Damn you're heavy." Darjeeling decides to just power through and carry Kay back outside to the Jaguar. By this time it was extremely late. Darjeeling exits out to the car, still carrying her co-worker.

When she turns the car back on, the radio starts to play If You Leave Me Now by Chicago. "If you leave me now." It was a quiet ride back to the hotel as Kay was still passed out in the passenger seat while Darjeeling was left with just her own thoughts. "You'll take away the biggest part of me.""What should I feel about this. I mean, she did just confess to me her feelings, but we need to be professional here." Darjeeling thinks back to what Kay told her. "Ooh-ooh, no, baby please don't go." "About how she was her guardian angel." "You'll take away the very heart of me." Darjeeling was familiar with this term as she had often seen it used in religious texts, but not when someone was talking to another. "Ooh-ooh, no, baby please don't go." It was kind of cute in Darjeeling's mind that Kay would think of her in such a way. "Ooh-ooh, girl, I just want you to stay." After a while she finally arrived at the hotel that they were staying at tonight before moving out to the next race. "A love like ours is love that's hard to find."

After some help from a few hotel employees, Darjeeling was finally able to ger Kay to the room and lay her down in the bed. "Now what do I do? I can't just leave her here but there's also nowhere to sleep other than with her on the bed," Darjeeling was thinking out loud again. "I still don't know how to think about what she said earlier." She was now pacing back and forth in-front of the bed. She began to think about how it had led up to this point. The race, Kay asking her, Darjeeling watching Kay's hair dazzle in the sunset, talking about manners, Kay's weird question, Kay calling her a guardian angel, Darjeeling playing with her hair while she was passed out. It all made sense now.

Darjeeling made a promise that night. She would now be Kay's guardian angel. Always there in her times of need. Always to be there wherever they went. Darjeeling made her first act as guardian angel to be writing a note to Kay when she woke up in order to tell what had happened while she was drunk. Darjeeling slipped under the covers next to Kay, and quickly fell asleep.

The Present Day

There she was. The girl that Kay had confessed to was right there in-front of her. Her very own guardian angel. Kay slightly nudged her, and she began to wake.

"What time is it now?" Darjeeling groggily asked.

"11am. Are you still confused after last night?"

"No, I took some time and thought it over. I wouldn't mind if we continued like this. Would this mean that we're now dating?"

"It can be whatever you want to call it."

"I'll do it under one condition, however. I don't want people to know that we're together for a while."

"Alright then, my guardian angel, what do we want to do now?"

End of Chapter 1