The Only One
(Part IV)
By GOST
After English on Friday Jane followed Daria to her locker.
"Got any plans yet for tonight?" Jane asked.
"Not unless my agent calls me with a last-minute drug deal," Daria replied.
"Great!" said Jane. "There's a Mystik Spiral concert tonight and Trent said it would be cool if you could come. I was going anyway to help out with the equipment."
"Don't you mean, you'd think it was cool if Trent said it would be cool if I could come?"
"Trust me, Daria, he really said it! Who knows, you might nab him yet!"
"Uh huh..."
"Well, come, ok? You won't regret it."
"Alright, come pick me up?"
"Sure thing, you can ride in style in the Tank."
"...If we make it there in one piece."
That night the Morgendorffer's doorbell rang and Quinn rushed to answer it. She flung the door open only to be disappointed by Jane and Trent standing on the doorstep.
"Oh! It's you," Quinn said blandly.
"Your date's late, huh? He must be losing brownie points by the second," Jane replied.
Quinn huffed angrily and stalked off, leaving the door open to Jane and Trent. They came in and closed it behind them.
"Daria!" yelled Jane up the stairs.
Daria emerged from her room and joined them, wearing, of course, her usual green jacket and black skirt.
"Hey Daria," said Trent. "You uh...look nice tonight."
Daria gave Jane a pointed look, then looked at Trent, who had averted his gaze. Daria stared at Trent for a moment, and Trent shuffled his feet nervously. Jane let out an involuntary giggle.
"Um, thanks," Daria said hurriedly. She practically lunged for the door. "Let's get out of here."
Sitting at the bar of the club where Mystik Spiral was playing, Daria was unusually silent. Jane, having finished her work as roadie, joined Daria and ordered herself a Coke.
"Why so glum?" Jane asked, noticing Daria's furrowed brow and despairing countenance.
"Will you tell me what the hell has been going on?" Daria said. "I mean, the whole boxers thing I can understand being your doing, but Trent has been acting really, really weird."
"Did you ever consider the possibility that he might actually like you?"
"No."
"Sure you did," Jane said teasingly. "Otherwise I wouldn't have caught you daydreaming so often."
"Okay, you got me there. But I'm really confused, Trent just isn't acting like himself."
"Daria, no offense intended, but you're being really dense." Daria coughed derisively. Jane continued: "Listen Daria, there is one thing I've learned from my attempts to push Trent towards you."
"What's that?"
"He didn't need to be pushed at all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daria started to ask, but just then the lights dimmed and the stage was lit. Trent walked to the front of the stage and the sheer decibal value of his first chord drowned out any reply Jane might have made.
"Hi everyone," Trent spoke into the microphone over his lasting guitar chord. "We're the band you're about to hear. Mystik Spiral. But I don't know, we might change the name."
Max started in with the first beats of the drum and the band charged into a rousing rendition of "Icebox Woman". The audience loved it, and the club was filled with cheers. As the last beat faded out, Trent once again stepped up to the mike.
"Okay, it's time to slow things down just a little. This is a brand new song. Writing a song is a lot like living your life - sometimes the right thing just comes along and completes it perfectly. For me, the thing that completed both was a very special girl named Daria. So Daria, this one's for you."
Trent leaned back from the mike, closed his eyes and strummed his guitar, a gentle chord that filled the room. Then he leaned forward and began to sing.
"Love's always seemed so hard to find
I felt like I was goin' outta my mind
You'll never know how hard it's been
To have looked at you and never seen..."
Jane looked beside her to see how Daria had reacted to this. Daria, however, was nowhere to be found.
As soon as the short song was over Trent slid his guitar off of his shoulder. "We'll be back after a short break," he told the crowd. "We're Mystik Spiral."
He climbed off the stage and shielded his eyes against the bright spotlights. He could see Jane at the bar, but Daria wasn't with her.
"Janey, where's Daria?" he asked, anxiousness apparent in his usually relaxed voice.
"I don't know, Trent. She said something about being confused about you before you started your set, and then by the time you got into that song she was gone."
"Oh, man. Janey, I didn't screw this up, did I?"
"I hope not, Trent," Jane said matter-of-factly.
"What should I do?" he asked.
"Clear up any confusion, I should think," replied Jane.
Trent finally found Daria on a bench not too far from the club. She was sitting quietly, probably unsure of what to do with herself. Trent came up behind her and sat next to her on the bench.
"Hi Daria," he said, looking at the street.
"Hi, Trent," she replied.
"Listen Daria, I hope I didn't embarrass you or anything up there. I just wanted to give credit where credit was due."
"Think nothing of it."
There was a moment of silence. Daria was strangely aware of her hands in her lap and moved them nervously. Trent moved a little closer to her on the bench and slowly put his arm along the back, his hand close to her shoulder. They stayed that way for a minute, each very aware of the space between them.
"Daria...?"
"Yeah Trent?"
"I...uh...I haven't been making you feel uncomfortable, have I? Coming around to see you all the time?"
Daria looked at Trent, and he turned to her. He could see that her eyes were clear and steady behind her glasses. "No."
Trent decided it was time to take the plunge.
"Daria, I know you don't think of me as any kind of person you should be with. I mean, I'm a slacker, and I used to date girls just because of the image they would give me, and I don't know what's going on half the time..."
"Shut up, Trent," Daria interrupted.
"Huh?"
To Trent's surprise, she leaned towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. He flushed a little. After another moment of silence, Trent looked Daria in the eye.
"Daria, I think I love you."
"Are you sure Jane didn't put you up to this?" Daria said suspiciously, still not quite believing her ears.
"Absolutely. Daria, you're an amazing girl. I can't believe what an idiot I was not to see it all along."
"Trent?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I love you too."
Trent leaned closer to Daria, his hand moving to close around hers. She felt his free arm encircle her and she leaned her head towards his. As their lips touched, it felt as though a bolt of energy sparked between them and Daria couldn't help but think "My God, I'm kissing Trent....I really am." It felt as though the kiss would last forever, sweet and perfect.
"Yayyy!!" came a voice from behind them. They pulled apart and turned to see Jane grinning ear to ear, hands clasped in mock congratulation. Daria began to blush again. She wondered how long it would take her to get over that.
Note from GOST: Well, that's over with. Hope you Daria/Trent fans enjoyed it. ^_^ Please please please review! We're pretty new at this, so feedback is much appreciated!
Check out our other fics too if you get the chance ^_^.