In the Moonlight

Ruthless Bunny

Trent surveyed the club. It was funny how the atmosphere changed as the lights came on and the bouncers chased the stragglers out after last call. The Zon, which looked cool and menacing in the near darkness, took on a strange and rundown feeling with the overhead lights on. Daria was sitting at the bar, rolling the ice around in her glass. Jane was not in the club, but Trent had seen her leave with a guy. She was probably just talking to him in the parking lot, waiting for Trent to get finished so he could take them home. Trent helped Max carry the mixing board out to the Tank.

The crew was making the usual half-assed attempt at sweeping up the detritus of a typical Saturday night. They were snapping each other with bar towels. Nancy, the bartender was shooting club soda at the wait-staff with the bar gun. There were cocktail napkins flying everywhere. Daria was trying to stay out of the crossfire. Eddie came out, screamed at everyone, and threatened them all with bodily harm if they didn't quit screwing around and get the place picked up so they could go home. They stopped their antics and started to clean in earnest. They were all planning on meeting up at the coffee shop after they left. Nancy asked Daria if she wanted to join them, but she politely declined. Daria had something else on the agenda.

Finally, Trent was finished. He wasn't tired, he was keyed up, but he knew he didn't want to be in the club anymore. The band headed off in the Tank.

"Hey Daria, you ready to go?" Trent asked.

Daria looked around. She smiled slightly, wondering what he thought she could have wanted to stay for. "Yup."

When they got out to the parking lot, Trent looked around for Jane. "Daria, where's Janey?"

Daria had arranged for Jane to get a ride home with Mack. She wanted some time alone with Trent. "A friend of ours took her home. I wanted to talk to you alone."

Trent was surprised and intrigued. He wondered what Daria had to say to him. In the very back of his mind, he even hoped she might….no, he wasn't even going to entertain that thought. "No problem. You want to come back to my house?"

"No, Jane's there. Is there someplace more…private?"

Trent studied Daria under the harsh parking lot lights. He was trying to see if there was some signal she was giving him. "The Old Mill Road?" He suggested. It was where kids would go and park, but it was quiet, and had a nice view of the town.

Daria looked surprised for a second. She hoped he hadn't got the wrong idea, but it was the ideal place for what she had to ask. "You know, that's perfect."

They got into the car and drove through the deserted streets of Lawndale, beyond the edge of town, to the old road that lead into the hills. There was a large turn out, which offered a vista of the trees and the twinkling lights of Lawndale beyond it. Trent parked the car, and turned the volume down on the radio. It was very late, and Daria was sleepy, but she was determined to have this conversation.

"Thanks Trent, I can always count on you for the important stuff. I've got a situation, and I wanted your advice. " Daria got right to the point.

Trent adjusted himself in the seat, getting a bit more comfortable. It was a conversation that she wanted, his advice. He turned his full attention to her. "What's going on?"

"Well, you know that Tom and I have been going out for months now." Trent nodded as she continued. "I'm beginning to think that maybe it's time to move on to…" she had a hard time verbalizing it. "You know."

"Sex." He finished for her.

"Yeah, sex." She answered quietly.

"Why?" He asked.

She felt very awkward, she never discussed her feelings, she barely acknowledged that she had them, but she wanted a man's point of view, and Trent was the only man she could turn to in this situation. "I really like Tom, we have a lot in common, and, I, um….I like it when we kiss and…stuff."

Daria was staring out the window, avoiding Trent's gaze. He thought about it for a minute. "So, he turns you on?"

Daria sighed. "Yes." She admitted, in the very smallest voice possible.

Trent smiled in the darkness. He couldn't help but think 'our little Daria is growing up.' "So what's the problem?" He asked.

"Well, we're going to be graduating soon, and to be honest, while I think he's a great guy, and he's been a good boyfriend, I don't see our relationship going much beyond this summer. He's off to Princeton in the fall, and I'm going to school in California."

"So you aren't in love with him?" Trent asked, trying to stay objective. This was one of the weirdest discussions he had ever had with a girl.

Daria considered it. "You know, I care about him, but I don't think I'm in love with him."

"Well, you don't have to be in love with someone, to make love with them." Trent said philosophically.

Daria struggled with herself. She had thought about this over and over, but she had never said it out loud. "I know that, but it seems that for…a person's first time…that they should be in love. Shouldn't they?"

"Daria. You're a romantic." Trent observed.

"Now I have to kill you." Daria joked.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of." Trent said, "I wish I had been in love my first time, it just didn't work out that way."

They were both silent, each contemplating that statement.

"So you think I should wait?" Daria asked.

"Do you want to wait?"

"No. Yes. I don't know. That's why I'm asking you." Daria said, exasperated, not with Trent, but with herself.

"You want me to tell you what to do?" Trent asked her.

"Ok, when you say it like that it does sound stupid. I guess I want your input. You're a guy, you tell me."

"Daria, that's just the problem. I'm a guy, and I'm not you. You've got to figure out what you want, and then act on it." Trent told her. "You are one of the smartest people I know, if you can't figure this out, then how am I supposed to figure it out for you?"

"Trent, I came to you because you're the only man I know, and I want your opinion. Suppose you were Tom, would you want to make love to me, even if I weren't in love with you? Do you think he'll regret it in the future if he does?" Daria was so intense.

"Of course Tom wants to make love to you Daria. He's your boyfriend. For what it's worth, Tom doesn't seem like the kind of guy who has regrets." Trent left it at that, but he was still annoyed with Tom for hurting Janey. Tom didn't strike Trent as an emotional guy, he was a carrier, he caused emotions in others, but didn't seem to get ensnared himself. Daria sat quietly, thinking. Trent could see the wheels turning in her mind, weighing everything. "Daria, do you think that maybe you're over-thinking this? Would it be so terrible to follow your impulses? What's the worst that could happen?"

"What if I did fall in love with him after we make love? What if he doesn't feel the same?"

"That could happen, it's happened to me. That's the one thing about adding sex to a relationship, you suddenly get all kinds of complications."

"Why does it have to be complicated? Maybe I should just find a stranger and get it out of my system. Then I can have my little high school romance with Tom." Daria said, frustrated with herself.

"Daria, you wouldn't want to fuck a stranger."

"No, I wouldn't, but it does seem to solve the horniness problem, without adding complexity to a very sweet romance." Daria said, in an uncharacteristically world-weary way.

Trent looked at her, really looked at her. She seemed so mature now. She wasn't the shy kid that Trent first met only three years ago. Daria certainly had a lot more going on upstairs than anyone he knew at her age, and that included him. He had always liked her, in fact, lately, he had a bit of a crush on her, but he hadn't dared let himself hope. But now that he understood where she stood with Tom, he figured, 'What the Hell.' "Hey Daria, want to screw?" Trent said with a devastating smile.

Daria giggled. "Come on, get serious."

"I've never been more serious in my life. Condoms are in the glove compartment." Trent sat back and stared into her eyes. He wanted to shock her a little bit, but he also hoped…

Daria found herself opening the glove compartment. The light came on, illuminating a flashlight, a box of matches, some rolling papers and a large box of Trojans. "Trent!" She exclaimed, scandalized.

"How 'bout it? Takes care of all kinds of problems." Trent thought about whether or not he should say it, and he decided to roll the dice. "We already kind of love each other."

Daria studied him. She had a crush on him for a couple of years, but thought that she was over it. It wasn't that she stopped thinking about him in that way, it was just that in her mind, it was something that was never going to happen, so she concentrated on other things. Daria could hear the blood pounding in her ears. He was waiting for her to say something, and the longer it took her to say it, the more probable it was that she would say yes. The clincher was that she did sort of love him. Being with Trent would satisfy her criteria, he was someone that she loved, and she didn't have a relationship with him to complicate. Or did she? "But won't sex really screw up our friendship?' Daria asked reasonably.

"I'm willing to risk it." Trent said simply as he leaned over to kiss her.

Daria loved to kiss. She loved kissing Tom, loved the way her mind stopped working when they were physical. Kissing Trent was something that she had fantasized about, but no fantasy could match what it was like to actually kiss him. It wasn't just about their lips. Trent invested something in his kisses. Daria felt herself responding, and suddenly realized that it wasn't just Tom that she had feelings for. "Ok, now I'm officially a slut." She said, tearing herself away from him.

Trent laughed at her statement. "You? Hardly. You're just hot."

Daria was completely blown away. "Hot? You think I'm hot? Me?"

"Look Daria, I know you try to hide it. You want to be respected for your mind. But you can't get away from your nature, and I'm telling you, you're hot." Trent said matter-of-factly.

She sat up, Trent's hand resting on her thigh. Tom never seemed to recognize that part of her. Sure they necked and stuff, but with Tom, it seemed to be a challenge to draw her passions out of her. With Trent, he knew they were there, and he just fueled the flames. "Trent, I'm not thinking clearly at all right now…" She stopped talking and kissed him again, she had decided.

Trent realized that he had an obligation to Daria, and he was very gentle and sweet with her. Dawn had begun to break. It was very early in the morning when they headed back to his house. Daria sat, thinking in the front seat as they drove through town.

"You okay?" Trent asked her.

"I think so." She responded.

They pulled up in front of the house. As they crept past Jane's room, Daria could see her sleeping bag unrolled for her next to Jane's bed. It seemed wrong. But they had also set the expectation up front that nothing was going to change. At least they hoped that nothing was going to change. Trent bent down to kiss her cheek.

"Good night, Daria." He turned to go into his room. She looked at him, and wished that she could lie in his arms while she slept, but those weren't the terms.

"Good night, Trent." Daria said as she headed into Jane's room. She barely had time for her head to hit the pillow before she was out like a light. It seemed like minutes, but it was hours later when Jane was shaking her awake.

"Hey Morgendorffer, wakey, wakey." Jane said, standing over her with a cup of coffee. "You must have been having good dreams, you're smiling like La Jocunda."

"Then why'd you wake me?" Daria asked uncharitably.

"Hey, I'm bored, entertain me." Jane said, offering her the coffee.

"Do you have any tea?" Daria asked.

They headed downstairs to make tea. Trent was up, at the kitchen table, reading the cereal box while eating his breakfast.

He nodded at them, but didn't say anything. Daria made her tea. Jane went upstairs to take a shower, leaving Daria and Trent alone in the kitchen.

"Morning, Daria." Trent said, smiling at her over the cereal box.

"Morning, Trent." Daria said, grinning at him over the teacup. "Sleep well?"

"Could have been better." He said. "You could have been there."

"I thought we weren't going there." She said, still smiling.

"What can I say? It's complicated." He explained.

"Why is it when I get in a car with a guy, it gets complicated?" Daria complained.