[Daria] With An "Uh", And An "Um" [8/?] (PG-13)
Title: With An "Uh", And An "Um" (Part 8 of ?)
Author: Kimmie
Fandom: Daria
Type: long fic, ongoing
Rating: PG-13 (so far)
Disclaimer: Daria was not written by me! I only wrote this fic.
Summary: A "What If?" What if Trent moved to Boston after the end of the canon timeline?
----------
Daria, in something of a fit of pique, decided to take the day off from school. Trent wanted to call out of work to stay with her, but Daria convinced him that going to one's job when one was scheduled to be there was merely step number one on remaining gainfully employed. She planned to spend the day doing all of the odd jobs around the place that piled up when everyone was busy like emptying the crumbs from the toaster and scrubbing the toilets and making sure the bills to be paid were in their spot on the kitchen table. After Trent headed out to work, pausing to kiss her lightly on the lips, she decided to make a little headway in a novel she had bought weeks beforehand, but hadn't had much chance to read. She was sipping coffee and flipping the page to the final chapter when Jane came downstairs. "Hey, amiga." Daria smiled, but didn't look up from her book. Jane shrugged and headed toward the kitchen for a bowl of cereal and a mug of coffee. She shoveled down the cereal and set the bowl in the sink before taking her coffee with her to sit near Daria in the living room. She sat quietly until Daria finished her book, then leaned forward so her elbows rested on her knees. "You're supposed to be in class now."
"I'm skipping. I need a mental health day."
Jane smiled. "Whereas, my one class today got cancelled thanks to my teacher accidentally drinking a mug of paint instead of his coffee."
"I told you it was dangerous not to have your own mason jar."
"True though that may be, I'm still going to laugh at his misfortune because he laughed at me the time I got the streak of oxide white in my hair." Jane drained the rest of her coffee in one big swallow and had a hard time getting it all down at once. Daria said nothing, but gave her a pointed glance as she took another small sip.
Daria pulled a piece of fuzz from the sleeve of her shirt and flicked it to the side. "Is there anything you'd like to do today? I can't decide if I want to be here just in case Tom comes by to pick up his own things. I'd worry about letting people into the house, but we've got renter's insurance, and I *have* been wanting a newer laptop."
Jane pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear and grimaced. "I kind of planned to paint today. The little place that's been selling my originals just sold two more, so they sent me an e-mail to ask me for two more. I normally have some back-up, but I've been slacking lately."
"Did you get enough for rent next month?"
"Yes! And enough for a new iPod and new running shoes, too!" Jane grinned like a lunatic.
"Good. Then you're off the hook and don't have to hold me while I sob into ice cream about the rich guy that got away."
"You've got Trent to cry to now. So whatever the two of you want to do with ice cream, well, that's your business." Jane pulled one leg up under herself. 'But, seriously, I think my brother assumes that you broke up with Tom to be with him. I'm not sure where he got the idea, but just be warned."
Daria focused on finishing her coffee quickly. "Um, he's maybe not so wrong?"
"Daria..." Jane frowned at her friend. "How much did I miss yesterday?"
"Trent and I went grocery shopping together. He's really turned into a guy that I can see myself being with. And then he fed me fruit and I may have *briefly* sucked on one of his fingers, and then there was a kiss, and then a lot of time with me sitting on the couch and thinking while I waited for Tom to come home."
"You sucked on one of my brother's fingers." Jane shook her head. "Okay. So, should I get a new set of ear plugs?"
Burying her face in her hands, Daria groaned. Pulling herself back up she said, "I don't know. My brain and my body are giving me two entirely different answers on that. My brain says wait until Christmas break to do anything more than a kiss just in case it's so amazing I forget all about school, while my body tells me to go visit him on lunch break wearing nothing but my trench coat."
"I think I have some insight into Trent's preference, if you'd like."
"Ha ha." Daria smirked. "He's actually pretty romantic, but without going overboard about it, and I like that. I never wanted Chez Pierre out of Tom, but Quinn was right when she talked about how annoying movie-burger-backseat is. Well, frontseat. I didn't want the grand gestures and the six month anniversaries and the promise rings. I just want to know that I'm being thought of when I'm not explicitly in front of the person I'm dating."
"So, flowers and chocolate good... as long as they're bought beforehand and not while you're in the store looking at them."
"You make me sound so shallow, Lane." Daria glared at Jane, but a hint of smile still curved her lips.
"Well, Morgendorffer, I hate to break it to you, but it's your shallowness that makes you shallow. But if it makes you feel better, you have the depth of the ocean floor under the Bermuda Triangle compared to your sister." Jane patted Daria on the shoulder.
"Plus, I have scruples."
"Ew, don't talk about my brother like that in front of me!" Jane shook her head and made a face.
Daria rolled her eyes. "And you were the one talking about ice cream earlier."
"Which we are all out of, by the way. Since I'll be painting, I can't get any yet. But if you needed something to do, you could always attempt to visit Trent for lunch... and then bring back a carton of chocolate chip cookie dough."
Glancing at her watch, Daria pursed her lips and considered whether she had enough time to do everything she wanted to do today. "You know, maybe I will. What's an hour? It'll get me out of here, but you'll be here to keep the moving guys from stealing too much. It's only 10:30 though, so I think I'll gather up the things of Tom that aren't in his room and put them in here. I know I'll be all too happy to get rid of his collection of the new wave of National Lampoon's films."
"You mean you aren't going to miss, oh, what was it? Grandma's Boy?"
"I have considered setting the apartment on fire just to destroy that movie."
Jane laughed. "I'll just sit here; glad that Tom never got me to watch that one."
"You're a lucky one, Jane." Daria stood and walked the short distance to the shelf of DVDs that took up a large section of wall in their living room.
"You might want to call ahead to Trent to ask him about lunch. I don't know if he'll go at noon or not."
Daria nodded. "Yeah, that's true. The few times that I've worked retail, I never actually went at a convenient time."
"Don't think back to those dark times. Remember: we're freelance!" Jane pointed a finger in the air to punctuate her comment.
"We can afford to be freelance because we're covered under student insurance. When I get my degree, hopefully I'll actually get a real job so I won't have to worry about that and no longer have to take jobs writing website copy for the Bronies of Boston."
"It was so cute when the lead Brony asked you out."
"He had a pink horse on his shirt. Even if I'd been available, I wouldn't have gone out with him." Daria held up a stack of DVDs with a look of disgust and placed them on the coffee table. "I think that if either of us had actually seen a Steven Seagal movie prior to meeting Tom and *then* found out he liked them, we probably could have avoided a lot of hurt feelings."
Jane's eyebrows went up and she quickly held a finger to her lips. "Shh! Your mother will hear and she'll sue Steven Seagal for inflicting emotional violence upon our persons."
"It's more the Rape of the Gray Matter and the Falling of the Sleep, and there are any number of stupid Hollywood franchises that are as bad or worse."
"I nominate Twilight."
"And that's the only award it should win." Daria scanned through the titles on the shelf and picked up a few. "I don't know if I should add these to the pile or not since we bought them together."
Jane snorted. "He's a Sloane, Daria. Make 'em pay!"
Rolling her eyes slightly, Daria quickly transferred the rest of Tom's DVDs to the coffee table and reached in her pocket for her phone. "Jane, do you know the number for Food Hamlet?"
"Um..." Jane looked thoughtful for a moment, then pulled out her phone and checked her call history. "Yeah! Here we go. I called there last week to see if they sold Pixy Stix." She showed Daria the number and watched as the other girl typed the numbers into her cell phone.
Daria turned to Jane before hitting the send button and said, "If they had Pixy Stix and I find out you're holding out on me, I will kill you in your sleep."
Jane swallowed audibly. "They were out!" She smiled again. "Check while you're there! And don't forget the ice cream."
Daria hit send as she stuck her tongue out at Jane. A few rings later, a chipper voice came on the line saying, "Hi! This is your friendly neighborhood Food Hamlet! My name is Suzie! What can I help you with?!"
Tempted to ask the girl to remove fifty percent of the enthusiasm for her voice, Daria forged ahead. "Hi. Um, I need to find out when Trent Lane is going to lunch."
"We don't give out personal information about our employees. I'm sorry."
"I understand that, but I'm his, um, roommate and I was hoping to take him out to lunch today."
"Ooo... Sorry. No can do."
"Can I talk to Trent for a minute?"
"No. He's busy right now."
"If I were to show up in about 45 minutes, what are the chances that I might be able to find out an actual answer to one of my questions?"
"Hmm. Well, I think it would be pretty unlikely since Trent goes on lunch in 15 minutes- Oops!"
"Thanks you." Daria hung up the phone. She turned to Jane. "They're sending him early, it seems, so I'm going to head out. Cat food and pork rinds, you said?"
"Ice cream and Pixy Stix, you heartless-"
"That's enough of that kind of language, Lane. I just hope it's not too late for the Piy Stix to sweeten up your tongue."
Jane rolled her eyes and stood up. "Well, go have fun with Trent. I'm going to paint a picture of an iguana eating a popsicle."
"That kind of thing sells?"
"Eh. That's what I'll start by painting. I get distracted, so it'll probably end up as a greenish naked lady eating a banana."
"Well, I guess I can see the market for that. See you later." Daria slid on her jacket, checked her pockets for her phone, keys and wallet, and headed toward Food Hamlet. When she reached the edge of the parking lot, she glanced across it to see if Trent was pushing a line of carts. He was nowhere in sight, so she figured he would be inside. She got to the doors, noticing they were a little slow to open, and headed through, glancing toward the line of guys standing at the ends of registers and bagging groceries. None of them were Trent, though one had a very similar tattoo. She wondered briefly if he'd seen it in the same magazine that Trend had. She headed toward the customer service counter and checked name tags for one that didn't say Suzie. "Hi, excuse me. Could you tell me where Trent Lane is?"
"Oh, hi! Are you Trent's girlfriend?" The woman, Marjorie, smiled widely, revealing very large teeth that Daria had a hard time looking away from.
"Yes, I am," she found herself saying, then regretted it. "Well, I guess," she back-pedaled. "It's complicated at the moment."
"I understand, honey. Look, Trent's over at the deli right now."
"Okay, thanks." Daria gave a quick smile and turned on her heel to head toward the deli, slightly upset that Trent must already be eating. Only, when she approached the deli, she saw him behind the counter slicing lunch meat and wearing a hair net, plus a chin guard. "Trent?"
"Daria!" Trent smiled. "Hold on a second." He held up a slice of what appeared to be ham in the direction of a middle-aged woman standing to Daria's right. "Is this okay, Mrs. Cunningham?"
"It's perfect. Now, remember, half a pound. No more. I'd rather have a little less than a little more."
Trent smiled and kept slicing until there was a fair pile of shaved ham on a piece of paper, then folded it over, placed it in a plastic bag and tossed it on the scale, hitting a few buttons before a sticker popped out. He slapped the sticker on the bag and handed it to the woman. "Half a pound exactly. Anything else I can get for you?"
"That's all today, dear. I do believe I'll wait until next week to indulge my love of pastrami."
"Have a great day, Mrs. Cunningham." Trent waved and took a moment to wrap the ham in plastic, put a label on it, and put it back in the cold case. "So, Daria, what can I get for you?"
"I heard rumor you have lunch soon."
"Yeah." He glanced at the clock. "Yeah, now. Cool." He pulled off the plastic gloves he was wearing and turned to an older blonde woman behind him. "Dana? It is cool if I break for lunch now?"
The woman looked up from a clipboard and nodded. "Yeah. See you in an hour."
Trent peeled off the netting from his face and hung the apron he was wearing on a hook before coming through a small gate and putting his arm around Daria's shoulders. "Hey."
Daria gave him a shy smile. "Hey. I hope you don't mind me stopping in like this."
"Mind? Nah. I think it's pretty cool." He pointed toward a doorway. "Give me just a sec. I gotta clock out." Nodding, Daria watched him walk away, then spent a few moments looking at various packages of cheese before Trent joined her again. "So, where do you wanna go?"
"There's a pizza place on the road behind here that does a pretty good slice."
"I could go for a slice." Trent gestured for her to lead the way.
"And then you can tell me why you're working in the deli now. I thought you were a bagger."
"I was. But they needed someone in the deli and they asked me. It's an extra two bucks an hour because there's always a chance someone could cut off their thumb."
Daria winced and cleched her hands unconsciously. "Just... be careful."
Trent rolled his eyes briefly, then reached down to clutch her hand. "I will be. If I lost a thumb, I couldn't hold your hand... or play the guitar for you. Besides, there was a whole safety course before they'd even let me go behind the counter."
"Isn't a girl allowed to worry about the, um, guy she likes?" Daria's grip on Trent's hand tightened.
"You can call me your boyfriend if you want, you know. I mean, I know we haven't really talked about it that much, but when it comes down to the terminology, sometimes the English language sucks."
"That's an apt assessment of the situation."
Trent moved his hand from side to side, causing her arm to wiggle. "I want to be everything for you that you'll let me be. So far, boy and friend are two of those things, so we'll start from there and work our way up. Sound good?"
Daria felt a blush cross her face. "Maybe we can talk tonight."
"I'll be off at 5 o'clock."
"I'll be looking forward to it."
They arrived at the restaurant and Trent held the door open for her, letting their hands disconnect. Daria found she missed the contact almost immediately, but Trent quickly made up for it by gently placing his hand against her lower back. The shivers that ran up her spine told her there was no way that she'd make it until Christmas break.
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End: Chapter 8.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 11b NC-17
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Author: Kimmie
Fandom: Daria
Type: long fic, ongoing
Rating: PG-13 (so far)
Disclaimer: Daria was not written by me! I only wrote this fic.
Summary: A "What If?" What if Trent moved to Boston after the end of the canon timeline?
----------
Daria, in something of a fit of pique, decided to take the day off from school. Trent wanted to call out of work to stay with her, but Daria convinced him that going to one's job when one was scheduled to be there was merely step number one on remaining gainfully employed. She planned to spend the day doing all of the odd jobs around the place that piled up when everyone was busy like emptying the crumbs from the toaster and scrubbing the toilets and making sure the bills to be paid were in their spot on the kitchen table. After Trent headed out to work, pausing to kiss her lightly on the lips, she decided to make a little headway in a novel she had bought weeks beforehand, but hadn't had much chance to read. She was sipping coffee and flipping the page to the final chapter when Jane came downstairs. "Hey, amiga." Daria smiled, but didn't look up from her book. Jane shrugged and headed toward the kitchen for a bowl of cereal and a mug of coffee. She shoveled down the cereal and set the bowl in the sink before taking her coffee with her to sit near Daria in the living room. She sat quietly until Daria finished her book, then leaned forward so her elbows rested on her knees. "You're supposed to be in class now."
"I'm skipping. I need a mental health day."
Jane smiled. "Whereas, my one class today got cancelled thanks to my teacher accidentally drinking a mug of paint instead of his coffee."
"I told you it was dangerous not to have your own mason jar."
"True though that may be, I'm still going to laugh at his misfortune because he laughed at me the time I got the streak of oxide white in my hair." Jane drained the rest of her coffee in one big swallow and had a hard time getting it all down at once. Daria said nothing, but gave her a pointed glance as she took another small sip.
Daria pulled a piece of fuzz from the sleeve of her shirt and flicked it to the side. "Is there anything you'd like to do today? I can't decide if I want to be here just in case Tom comes by to pick up his own things. I'd worry about letting people into the house, but we've got renter's insurance, and I *have* been wanting a newer laptop."
Jane pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear and grimaced. "I kind of planned to paint today. The little place that's been selling my originals just sold two more, so they sent me an e-mail to ask me for two more. I normally have some back-up, but I've been slacking lately."
"Did you get enough for rent next month?"
"Yes! And enough for a new iPod and new running shoes, too!" Jane grinned like a lunatic.
"Good. Then you're off the hook and don't have to hold me while I sob into ice cream about the rich guy that got away."
"You've got Trent to cry to now. So whatever the two of you want to do with ice cream, well, that's your business." Jane pulled one leg up under herself. 'But, seriously, I think my brother assumes that you broke up with Tom to be with him. I'm not sure where he got the idea, but just be warned."
Daria focused on finishing her coffee quickly. "Um, he's maybe not so wrong?"
"Daria..." Jane frowned at her friend. "How much did I miss yesterday?"
"Trent and I went grocery shopping together. He's really turned into a guy that I can see myself being with. And then he fed me fruit and I may have *briefly* sucked on one of his fingers, and then there was a kiss, and then a lot of time with me sitting on the couch and thinking while I waited for Tom to come home."
"You sucked on one of my brother's fingers." Jane shook her head. "Okay. So, should I get a new set of ear plugs?"
Burying her face in her hands, Daria groaned. Pulling herself back up she said, "I don't know. My brain and my body are giving me two entirely different answers on that. My brain says wait until Christmas break to do anything more than a kiss just in case it's so amazing I forget all about school, while my body tells me to go visit him on lunch break wearing nothing but my trench coat."
"I think I have some insight into Trent's preference, if you'd like."
"Ha ha." Daria smirked. "He's actually pretty romantic, but without going overboard about it, and I like that. I never wanted Chez Pierre out of Tom, but Quinn was right when she talked about how annoying movie-burger-backseat is. Well, frontseat. I didn't want the grand gestures and the six month anniversaries and the promise rings. I just want to know that I'm being thought of when I'm not explicitly in front of the person I'm dating."
"So, flowers and chocolate good... as long as they're bought beforehand and not while you're in the store looking at them."
"You make me sound so shallow, Lane." Daria glared at Jane, but a hint of smile still curved her lips.
"Well, Morgendorffer, I hate to break it to you, but it's your shallowness that makes you shallow. But if it makes you feel better, you have the depth of the ocean floor under the Bermuda Triangle compared to your sister." Jane patted Daria on the shoulder.
"Plus, I have scruples."
"Ew, don't talk about my brother like that in front of me!" Jane shook her head and made a face.
Daria rolled her eyes. "And you were the one talking about ice cream earlier."
"Which we are all out of, by the way. Since I'll be painting, I can't get any yet. But if you needed something to do, you could always attempt to visit Trent for lunch... and then bring back a carton of chocolate chip cookie dough."
Glancing at her watch, Daria pursed her lips and considered whether she had enough time to do everything she wanted to do today. "You know, maybe I will. What's an hour? It'll get me out of here, but you'll be here to keep the moving guys from stealing too much. It's only 10:30 though, so I think I'll gather up the things of Tom that aren't in his room and put them in here. I know I'll be all too happy to get rid of his collection of the new wave of National Lampoon's films."
"You mean you aren't going to miss, oh, what was it? Grandma's Boy?"
"I have considered setting the apartment on fire just to destroy that movie."
Jane laughed. "I'll just sit here; glad that Tom never got me to watch that one."
"You're a lucky one, Jane." Daria stood and walked the short distance to the shelf of DVDs that took up a large section of wall in their living room.
"You might want to call ahead to Trent to ask him about lunch. I don't know if he'll go at noon or not."
Daria nodded. "Yeah, that's true. The few times that I've worked retail, I never actually went at a convenient time."
"Don't think back to those dark times. Remember: we're freelance!" Jane pointed a finger in the air to punctuate her comment.
"We can afford to be freelance because we're covered under student insurance. When I get my degree, hopefully I'll actually get a real job so I won't have to worry about that and no longer have to take jobs writing website copy for the Bronies of Boston."
"It was so cute when the lead Brony asked you out."
"He had a pink horse on his shirt. Even if I'd been available, I wouldn't have gone out with him." Daria held up a stack of DVDs with a look of disgust and placed them on the coffee table. "I think that if either of us had actually seen a Steven Seagal movie prior to meeting Tom and *then* found out he liked them, we probably could have avoided a lot of hurt feelings."
Jane's eyebrows went up and she quickly held a finger to her lips. "Shh! Your mother will hear and she'll sue Steven Seagal for inflicting emotional violence upon our persons."
"It's more the Rape of the Gray Matter and the Falling of the Sleep, and there are any number of stupid Hollywood franchises that are as bad or worse."
"I nominate Twilight."
"And that's the only award it should win." Daria scanned through the titles on the shelf and picked up a few. "I don't know if I should add these to the pile or not since we bought them together."
Jane snorted. "He's a Sloane, Daria. Make 'em pay!"
Rolling her eyes slightly, Daria quickly transferred the rest of Tom's DVDs to the coffee table and reached in her pocket for her phone. "Jane, do you know the number for Food Hamlet?"
"Um..." Jane looked thoughtful for a moment, then pulled out her phone and checked her call history. "Yeah! Here we go. I called there last week to see if they sold Pixy Stix." She showed Daria the number and watched as the other girl typed the numbers into her cell phone.
Daria turned to Jane before hitting the send button and said, "If they had Pixy Stix and I find out you're holding out on me, I will kill you in your sleep."
Jane swallowed audibly. "They were out!" She smiled again. "Check while you're there! And don't forget the ice cream."
Daria hit send as she stuck her tongue out at Jane. A few rings later, a chipper voice came on the line saying, "Hi! This is your friendly neighborhood Food Hamlet! My name is Suzie! What can I help you with?!"
Tempted to ask the girl to remove fifty percent of the enthusiasm for her voice, Daria forged ahead. "Hi. Um, I need to find out when Trent Lane is going to lunch."
"We don't give out personal information about our employees. I'm sorry."
"I understand that, but I'm his, um, roommate and I was hoping to take him out to lunch today."
"Ooo... Sorry. No can do."
"Can I talk to Trent for a minute?"
"No. He's busy right now."
"If I were to show up in about 45 minutes, what are the chances that I might be able to find out an actual answer to one of my questions?"
"Hmm. Well, I think it would be pretty unlikely since Trent goes on lunch in 15 minutes- Oops!"
"Thanks you." Daria hung up the phone. She turned to Jane. "They're sending him early, it seems, so I'm going to head out. Cat food and pork rinds, you said?"
"Ice cream and Pixy Stix, you heartless-"
"That's enough of that kind of language, Lane. I just hope it's not too late for the Piy Stix to sweeten up your tongue."
Jane rolled her eyes and stood up. "Well, go have fun with Trent. I'm going to paint a picture of an iguana eating a popsicle."
"That kind of thing sells?"
"Eh. That's what I'll start by painting. I get distracted, so it'll probably end up as a greenish naked lady eating a banana."
"Well, I guess I can see the market for that. See you later." Daria slid on her jacket, checked her pockets for her phone, keys and wallet, and headed toward Food Hamlet. When she reached the edge of the parking lot, she glanced across it to see if Trent was pushing a line of carts. He was nowhere in sight, so she figured he would be inside. She got to the doors, noticing they were a little slow to open, and headed through, glancing toward the line of guys standing at the ends of registers and bagging groceries. None of them were Trent, though one had a very similar tattoo. She wondered briefly if he'd seen it in the same magazine that Trend had. She headed toward the customer service counter and checked name tags for one that didn't say Suzie. "Hi, excuse me. Could you tell me where Trent Lane is?"
"Oh, hi! Are you Trent's girlfriend?" The woman, Marjorie, smiled widely, revealing very large teeth that Daria had a hard time looking away from.
"Yes, I am," she found herself saying, then regretted it. "Well, I guess," she back-pedaled. "It's complicated at the moment."
"I understand, honey. Look, Trent's over at the deli right now."
"Okay, thanks." Daria gave a quick smile and turned on her heel to head toward the deli, slightly upset that Trent must already be eating. Only, when she approached the deli, she saw him behind the counter slicing lunch meat and wearing a hair net, plus a chin guard. "Trent?"
"Daria!" Trent smiled. "Hold on a second." He held up a slice of what appeared to be ham in the direction of a middle-aged woman standing to Daria's right. "Is this okay, Mrs. Cunningham?"
"It's perfect. Now, remember, half a pound. No more. I'd rather have a little less than a little more."
Trent smiled and kept slicing until there was a fair pile of shaved ham on a piece of paper, then folded it over, placed it in a plastic bag and tossed it on the scale, hitting a few buttons before a sticker popped out. He slapped the sticker on the bag and handed it to the woman. "Half a pound exactly. Anything else I can get for you?"
"That's all today, dear. I do believe I'll wait until next week to indulge my love of pastrami."
"Have a great day, Mrs. Cunningham." Trent waved and took a moment to wrap the ham in plastic, put a label on it, and put it back in the cold case. "So, Daria, what can I get for you?"
"I heard rumor you have lunch soon."
"Yeah." He glanced at the clock. "Yeah, now. Cool." He pulled off the plastic gloves he was wearing and turned to an older blonde woman behind him. "Dana? It is cool if I break for lunch now?"
The woman looked up from a clipboard and nodded. "Yeah. See you in an hour."
Trent peeled off the netting from his face and hung the apron he was wearing on a hook before coming through a small gate and putting his arm around Daria's shoulders. "Hey."
Daria gave him a shy smile. "Hey. I hope you don't mind me stopping in like this."
"Mind? Nah. I think it's pretty cool." He pointed toward a doorway. "Give me just a sec. I gotta clock out." Nodding, Daria watched him walk away, then spent a few moments looking at various packages of cheese before Trent joined her again. "So, where do you wanna go?"
"There's a pizza place on the road behind here that does a pretty good slice."
"I could go for a slice." Trent gestured for her to lead the way.
"And then you can tell me why you're working in the deli now. I thought you were a bagger."
"I was. But they needed someone in the deli and they asked me. It's an extra two bucks an hour because there's always a chance someone could cut off their thumb."
Daria winced and cleched her hands unconsciously. "Just... be careful."
Trent rolled his eyes briefly, then reached down to clutch her hand. "I will be. If I lost a thumb, I couldn't hold your hand... or play the guitar for you. Besides, there was a whole safety course before they'd even let me go behind the counter."
"Isn't a girl allowed to worry about the, um, guy she likes?" Daria's grip on Trent's hand tightened.
"You can call me your boyfriend if you want, you know. I mean, I know we haven't really talked about it that much, but when it comes down to the terminology, sometimes the English language sucks."
"That's an apt assessment of the situation."
Trent moved his hand from side to side, causing her arm to wiggle. "I want to be everything for you that you'll let me be. So far, boy and friend are two of those things, so we'll start from there and work our way up. Sound good?"
Daria felt a blush cross her face. "Maybe we can talk tonight."
"I'll be off at 5 o'clock."
"I'll be looking forward to it."
They arrived at the restaurant and Trent held the door open for her, letting their hands disconnect. Daria found she missed the contact almost immediately, but Trent quickly made up for it by gently placing his hand against her lower back. The shivers that ran up her spine told her there was no way that she'd make it until Christmas break.
-----
End: Chapter 8.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 11b NC-17
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17