"Without a Shower"
By M Man
"Dear Tom: I'm sorry about last night, but when I thought about it for the 50th time, I realized I'm just not ready. Please let this letter serve as my acceptance of the inevitable breakup. Daria."
Daria stared at the note, barely visible in the moonlight. She was parked in front of the house next to the Sloanes. She didn't want the car to be visible from Tom's house.
The note said what she wanted to say. She couldn't go through with their sex date. Their relationship was certainly over, now.
She quietly got out of the car and quickly made her way across the well-kept lawn to the front porch, where she left the note. Her heart pounding, she ran back to the car and drove home.
Tired and depressed, she fell into a fitful sleep as soon as she reached her bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes or take a shower.
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"Daria!"
Daria opened her eyes and blinked. She could see through the window that it was nighttime.
"Daria! Someone's here to see you!"
Daria tried to gather her thoughts. Quinn was yelling through her door.
Could it be Tom? Would he be angry? Or Jane, curious about the outcome of the evening's plans?
"Quinn?" Daria managed. "Could you tell him I'm not..."
"Daria, I'm already late for my date! Bye!"
Daria heard Quinn racing down the stairway.
"Wait, Quinn," she said, jumping out of bed and opening the door.
She heard the front door slam. Quinn had left.
Oh, well. She might as well face the music: Tom's anger, or maybe Jane's teasing for her wimping out.
She walked down the stairs.
She stopped and stared when she saw who was waiting.
Sitting on the sofa were Jane and Tom. Tom had his arm around Jane's shoulders.
Daria's jaw dropped. Why were they...?
"Daria! Did you forget?" asked Jane.
"Forget... what?" stammered Daria.
"Daria? Is something wrong?" asked Tom.
Daria stared, not comprehending.
"Daria, I thought you wanted to go to the Fellini film festival," said Jane. "Tom said you called him about it."
"Fellini... film festival?" said Daria, still not understanding.
"Yeah, you called me this afternoon about it," said Tom. "We sort of agreed that we'd all be going unless Jane said no, in which case I'd call you back."
It was coming back to her now. Afterwards, she had closed her eyes and laid down on her bed...
"Oh, yeah," said Daria, "now I remember."
"Are you sure you're OK?" said Jane.
"Yeah, I just had a... really weird dream," said Daria, blinking.
"Yeah, I've always said Daria has the weirdest sex dreams," said Jane, grinning wickedly.
To Jane's surprise, Daria didn't blush.
"Yeah, sort of," said Daria, a faraway look in her eyes. She then stared at Tom for several seconds.
"Are you really sure you're OK?" asked Jane again.
"Jane, do you remember a fire here, at my house?"
"A fire? Like what? A wastebasket catching on fire?"
"No, a big fire. Like I moved into your house for a week while it was being repaired."
"Daria, I really don't think you should be going out tonight..." said Jane, hesitantly.
"No, I'm OK. Like I said, a weird dream. I'm awake now."
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Later that night, Daria sat watching "La Dolce Vita." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jane and Tom sneak a quick kiss in the darkness. She knew they thought she wouldn't notice.
She wondered what it would be like to kiss Tom. Jane had said he was an excellent kisser. Of course, she'd never dare to kiss him, after all, he's Jane's boyfriend.
But she could dream.
THE END
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Closing Theme: Theme from "Dallas"
NOTES:
This fic is a tribute to the "Blast from the Past" episode of the nighttime soap opera "Dallas" (with references to Daria episodes "Fire!", "My Night at Daria's" and "Dye! Dye! My Darling!).