Gah! Haven't updated in forever!

Thanks so much to everybody for reviewing and prodding me to get this uploaded.

-------------------------------------------------

Chapter Twelve

Tom turned right on the corner of Brown Road and Cherry Street, glancing a bit at Daria as he did. "So… you've been alright?"

Daria thought a bit. "Yeah… yeah I am. I'm actually really enjoying college. It's surprisingly less totalitarian than high school was. You?"

"Same here. I've been making new friends…. meeting new people…."

"Oh. Me too," Daria looked out the window.

"Are you… seeing somebody?"

"Not at the moment, although I was unfortunately subjected to blind date torture several times by my friends."

"That bad?"

"Oh, you can't even imagine. By the way, you need to turn left here to get to my place." She pointed off to the side.

"Alright," he said as he turned in the requested direction. "Anyway, trust me, whatever bad blind dates you had, mine were worse."

"Is that so?" Daria raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Let me put it this way," said Tom. "Do you know every single kind of muffin there is?"

"No."

He grimaced. "I was told them all. All seventy-nine of them"

"Well, I was on a date with a madman and his puppet."

"I went out with a member of the Fashion Club."

"Ouch, that would be hard to top," said Daria.

"Do I win then?"

"Not unless you went out with a drag queen too, like I did. "

"……All hail the Queen of Bad Dates. Your crown and scepter will arrive in six to eight business weeks."

"Lucky me."

"Yeah." He grinned a little, but it soon faltered. "Listen….I've been thinking a lot about you lately."

Daria looked away again. "Turn right at the stoplight. My place is in that blue building right over there."

"Daria…."

"Tom, we've been through this---"

"So you haven't missed me too? Ever?" He frowned as he turned to pull into her building's parking lot. There was no answer. "Even a little?"

Daria bit her lip, not wanting to admit how she felt. She was the one who initiated the breakup, and she felt obligated to hold fast to her decision. "Look, whether I miss you or not is not the point."

"So you do, then." He turned the car engine off and turned to face her.

"We still have the same problems we had before. You're still from higher economic class than me and you go to school over 50 miles away."

"I know, I know. I just don't see why we can't work those things out. I really have been missing you--"

"Tom, next to a Fashion Club member, anyone would look good."

"Okay, I won't disagree that my blind dates made you look really great in comparison. Even if they hadn't been so horrible, though, I'd still miss you. I didn't realize how much I liked you until we broke up," he said.

Daria sighed. "Me too," she whispered, not realizing she had said it aloud.

"Then why can't we get back together?"

Realizing her secret was out, Daria blushed furiously. "I… you…. I…. We just can't!"

"But I---Ouch!" Tom let out a yelp as Daria looked on concernedly.

"Are you OK?" she asked. She wondered what had caused Tom's brief moment of pain and why he was suddenly giving her a strange, intense look. "You look----Ah!" Suddenly she felt a sharp jab in the chest. Instantly, the pain was forgotten as she looked at Tom.

'He's wonderful… and handsome… and smart and funny…..' she thought as gazed at him dreamily, unable to speak. 'Why did I care so much about the distance and money? I mean when you love someone, that shouldn't matter. Wait…. I love him? I love him! Wow…..'

After a few minutes, Daria finally broke the silence. "Maybe I was a little too hasty. I just want to say I… I mean, I never thought that… oh, forget it." She leaned in and met his lips in a kiss, not really needing to explain anything to him. He already understood.