Because of my obsessive need to multi-task, I have decided to start the beginning of a new story while the first chapter of my first story ("What Happens Next?" nope… no shameless plugs here) is still wet on the page. This one is a different tone from the other. I tried to be more serious... I'm also planning on staying away from teh romantics in this story, although the events here it will most assuredly be referred to in other stories... well you'll see… I'll continue the babble after you've had a chance to be appalled by the story itself.

Also, it's weird how coincidence works….. I got the idea for this story while in English… as soon as the professor let us leave, I headed home, working on sentences and voicing premature dialogue in my head.. I have a habit of that. Well, my college is at the end of a small dead end road, and when pulling out of that road (after getting my green light) I was rammed in the passenger side by a big truck… luckily no one was hurt, and it didn't even really dent my, or his, car.. He was going slowly enough when he hit me that it was more of a bump… but still, considering that I was thinking of a car accident story, it was a strange… at least to me…

Anyway… on to the story…

The blue Lexus screeched to a halt in fount of the Lane house. Daria jumped out and slammed the door, running up to the house. She didn't even bother knocking, as was her custom, but opened the door and entered the all too quiet house.

"Trent?" She called softly, looking into the living room. No one. Without wasting time she headed upstairs. As she reached the top step she heard a strange sound; the sound of someone sobbing. It made her heart want to break. She followed the sound to Trent's bedroom door, pushing it open wider. There he was, sitting on the edge of his unmade bed, disheveled and sobbing with his head in his hands.

That morning when Daria had woken up, she had thought about what life would be like now. She and Jane had just emancipated themselves from high school hell and were looking forward to going to college in the same city. Daria herself had removed the final thorn in the side of their friendship, Tom, and things had never looked better for her.

That's why Trent's call had been such a blow. All she had really been able to understand from the distressed voice on the phone was "Janey" and "wreck" and "hospital." With that, she had promptly grabbed the keys to her father's car and sped toward Casa de Lane.

Now here she stood, looking at her best friend's brother, the man she herself had had a crush on since she met him, sobbing into his own hands out of fear for the person they both cared so much for.

"Trent?" She said, very softly. He looked up at her, his normally impassive face streaked with tears, his eyes red. Daria stopped caring about being timid in that instance and rushed forward to embrace him. He welcomed and returned the embrace, squeezing her tightly and she felt yet more tears began to soak the shirt she wearing. "Trent what happened? I could barely understand you on the phone. What's wrong with Jane?"

Trent let his grip loosen slightly and Daria slid down to sit next to him on the bed.

"Uh..." He sniffed, picking up a shirt off the floor to wipe his face on, calming down enough to talk. "The hospital called. They said she was in a car wreck… Some drunk driver or something." He looked at Daria, the fear in his eyes evident. "Daria, they said she's hurt really badly. They said," He stopped, swallowing hard. "They said she might not make it…"

Daria felt as though her heart had stopped beating. Her mouth went dry and she tried to swallow but couldn't. "Jane…" she croaked. She wanted to cry, to scream, but she couldn't. She was frozen in her place. She felt Trent's arm go around her shoulders. His other hand was gripping hers with such a powerful force that it was almost painful, but Daria didn't care; she gripped his hand back. She had to hold on to something to keep from going completely insane.

Ok, I'm back. I just wanted to put in a word to explain why this is a kinda strange story. I let the words come as they would with this story. I know that the characters are much too out of character, even for me normally, but I felt in this instance, the break in character is justified. I would think that anyone who's ever had a loved one in danger might agree with me. I know when I'm in that situation, I would do many things that I normally wouldn't. I'd appreciate feedback, but I always know that they are out of character. I promise to try and keep them in character better in my other stories. Please don't hurt me… puppy face

Also, no, I don't know why Trent is crying so much. It's just in seeing Trent and Jane react to one another on the show, I always had in mind that they had a much deeper love for each other than they show on the surface. You know, the only two in the family that really stick together. I'm jealous really… I wish I had a sibling I could relate to the way they do… Maybe I'm taking his concern over the top, but he did just find out his sister is on the edge of death... also there are guiltily feeling on his part which are discussed in the next segment… so I'm living with it for now… maybe it will tone down when/if there is a rewrite…

For the most part I'm ok with this… I have a lot more than just this chapter done… this part was the easy part to write and edit…. I've gotten to that point now where I'm forces lines and such (which I hate in writing), so I decided to put some up and see how the flow works…

I also don't really like my title, but I'm at a loss for anything better… Damn clog in the creative juices…

Oki I'll stop now so you can review…

Kai