Okay, this is no big deal. It's just dinner with Tom- who is my boyfriend- who has wanted to spend more and more time with me- who might misread this whole thing and think that something more is supposed to happen. I'm over thinking again. It's dinner and that is all.

Tom entered the Morgendorffer residence and greeted Daria with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hello, you."

"Hi, Tom." She led him to the kitchen where she had set the table for the two of them. Both her parents were at work and Quinn was staying at Stacey's for some emergency fashion club meeting or something.

"Awww…you cooked."

"Close, I ordered. We have some delicious Chinese food delivery. Have a seat and dig in."

They both sat and began putting the food on their plates. Tom looked at Daria thoughtfully.

"This is really nice."

"Don't get all goopy, you're doing the dishes." She countered playfully.

He laughed.

"I guess this is as close as I'll get to domestic Daria, huh?"

You better believe it buster!

She ate a forkful of her Lo Mein.

"How was camping?"

"Lot's of bugs, but fine."

"I'm surprised you and Quinn didn't kill each other. "

"Mmm…" she continued to eat.

Tom thought about it. The way Daria described spending time with her sister seemed excruciating.

"What did you guys talk about?"

…Trent is into you…

"You know me, the latest fashion, which nail color is popular…"

Tom laughed at the image painted.

"Depthless Daria, that's interesting." Tom thought of Daria and how good she had looked with her brief change in clothes for their date before and then he added in Quinn's persona. He gave a bit of a frown.

"That's exactly how I felt," Daria spoke aloud picturing pretty much the same thing.

Tom ate some of his fried rice.

"What did you do while I was away on family retreat?"

Tom thought about his concerns and how he had chosen to handle them.

"The usual, dinners at the club and some hanging out."

"Thought you weren't a fan of hanging out at the club?"

"Not normally, but they do make one hell of a filet mignon." He gave her one of his winning smiles and ate some more.

…okay…does he think he's…slumming it here?

"So how is the wealthy doing these days?"

This is good, us and our usual banter. This, is why we are such a good fit. We get each other.

"I would like to propose a toast," Tom said suddenly while raising his glass of tea. Daria imagined that she was raising a brow much like one of the Lane siblings right now. "To us."

…o…..kay…

She raised her glass. Tom touched his to hers with a heart-warming smile.

They had an enjoyable meal. Both were comfortable and found an old movie to watch afterwards. The evening ended just as Helen entered the house- on the phone as usual. She stopped short seeing the young couple clearly alone in the house.

"I was just leaving." Tom stood and greeted Helen. "Mrs. Morgendorffer."

"Hello Tom." She watched until he had closed the door behind him, then she turned to her daughter. "You know Daria, I'm not comfortable with my teenage daughter and her boyfriend being in the house without parental supervision."

"You and dad were at work. We had dinner and that's all."

Helen studied her daughter. She was used to the flat monotone by now, so she looked for other clues as to what was on Daria's mind.

"I was your age once you know?"

So, you've told me… not 'the speech' again.

"Don't worry, I'm not giving you a speech," she watched her daughter let out a relieved breath, "but-"

I knew it!

"Don't let your intelligence fool you into thinking that you can handle anything. There are some things that books don't cover, and you won't know what they are until you're into it."

Daria thought for a minute, then nodded.

"There's some more take out on the stove if you want some." Daria offered.

"Thanks." Helen continued on to the kitchen leaving her daughter to her own musings.