The two women stared at each other in shock. They had been arguing and things had gotten more than a little ugly. Both had said things- hurtful things. Everything had gone too far and now…

Earlier…

"I'll need you to make sure that your father takes his medicine. Quinn has a date, so…"

Guess my plans aren't that important…not that I had any, but she doesn't know that.

Daria continued scribbling on the paper at the kitchen table that she had been working on.

"Really Daria we spent all that money on a computer for you and you're not even using it." Hellen berated her daughter thinking that the money could have been spent elsewhere if Daria wasn't going to put the thing to good use.

"It's easier to carry pen and paper for immediate thoughts." Daria offered by way of explanation.

"But you're at home," Helen countered. Daria looked up and saw that her mother wasn't really paying her any attention. She was checking her reflection in her compact mirror, much like Quinn, and offering up comments about something she wasn't even interested in.

"Yeah, right."

"I mean it," she snapped the compact shut after applying a deeper color of her lipstick; "there's no room for wasting money in this house. You'll be on your own soon. You've got to be more responsible."

"I am responsible mother." Daria said carefully trying to keep her anger from coming forth. She really wanted a peaceful evening and since both her mother and Quinn would be gone, she thought that she would have that and maybe finish a paper or two.

"Don't take that tone with me young lady." Helen warned.

"I'm going to my room." Daria started gathering her things.

"Oh no you don't, you're always running off to your room or to Jane's. You're a part of this family."

"This family mom?" Daria said incredulously. "Quinn is on a date and you claim to be working- all the time."

"Claim!" her voice was filled with indignation. "How do you think the bills are getting paid around here?"

"I always make sure that dad takes his medicines and has food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He is always clean, and I try to spend as much time with him while maintaining a 4.0 gpa. So, yeah, I do go see Jane occasionally, but that is only when the physical therapist is here. I am always back before they leave." She tapped the papers in her hands making sure that they were straight, "and last time I checked, ruby red lipstick wasn't a requirement for your so-called business meeting after hours." She spun on her heels to walk away, but Helen was not having it. She felt Helen's hand on her arm grip like a vice before being jerked back to face her mother that was now in her face.

"You listen to me Daria," she spat. "Your father has suffered enough with a heart attack and a stroke. He does not need you spreading inuendo in his condition." Her breathing was labored, and her nostrils flared.

"Hit a nerve, did I?"

Helen's grip eased a bit.

You are so like your father sometimes, but smarter- too damn smart.

"Not at all. I'm just worried about you unnecessarily upsetting your father." Her tone still carried anger, but she did manage to keep the volume down. "We wouldn't want him to have any setbacks, now would we?"

"You're a real piece of work mom," Daria snarled angrily, "but I'm sure Eric has already told you that."

Helen's face didn't give an inch in the anger that she felt.

"Just because you've chosen to be cut off from the rest of the world, doesn't mean that everyone has. I still must work to keep things going around here. This house doesn't take care of itself. Your father's hospital bills are – well they were practically insurmountable, but Eric has trusted me with a larger clientele base. That has helped enormously. So, you would do well give me some respect."

Daria laughed then at the absurdity of her mother's words.

"What's so funny?"

"You." She laughed some more. Helen's anger began to flood through.

"Me? You wear the same outfit everyday in some sort of effort to be a 'rebel' or something in the dwindling hopes that people won't see that you're just a pathetic little girl too scared to play with others on the playground… a brain!" She gave her daughter a scathing look before continuing, "no wonder Quinn refuses to acknowledge you publicly."

"And you're just a painted up old whore!"

The stinging of the slap across her cheek startled them both. Daria recoiled and stumbled backwards towards her room still looking at her mother in disbelief. Helen still held her hand out as though it weren't attached to her. Her actions had stunned them both.

"Daria, I-"

"Leave me alone!" Daria stormed up the stairs angrily and slammed her door. She immediately went to retrieve the already packed duffle bag from the back of her closet for emergencies. Then she sat on her bed for a moment to try and still the thoughts in her head.

She hit me…She HIT me!

"Daria…." Her mother's voice came from the other side of the door. "I have to- We'll talk tomorrow."

Daria said nothing and waited until she was certain that her mother was gone before going to the restroom. There she stood looking at her reddened face in the mirror and perhaps even more surprising were the unshed tears in her eyes.

Well, we'll have none of that! Let's get cleaned up a bit.

She washed her face vigorously until she was certain that her father wouldn't be able to tell that anything had happened. Then she went on to prepare him the food that she had prepped and make sure that he took his meds.

"Honey, you okay?" Jake observed his daughter and knew that something wasn't right.

She nodded and kept her eyes as well as her face averted.

"Daria?" he waited until she looked at him.

"I have a paper and stuff that's all, dad." She gave a weak smile.

"Why don't you go to your friend's house and have a good time. I'm not helpless." Jake hated that his eldest was taking him on as a burden. It wasn't the natural order of things to him and he didn't like it at all.

"I'll be in my room if you need me dad." She gave him a brief hug and went back to her room with the phone in hand. She punched a few numbers and let the phone ring for a while.

"Yo."

"Hey Jane, it's me- Daria."

"What's up amiga?"

Hearing Jane's voice was already helping.

"I need to talk- it's kind of sensitive stuff, but-"

"Say no more. I will be there in just a few minutes."

Daria held the dead line for a moment before putting it back in its cradle in the hallway. She went and peeked in on her dad and found him fast asleep. She had just made it back downstairs when she heard Jane's knock at the door.

"What's up?" Jane's bouncy voice greeted her.

"Do you want a soda or something?" Daria offered as Jane followed her to kitchen.

Jane shrugged and watched as her friend got her a soda and shuffled around the kitchen for a few minutes before finally taking a seat across from her. That's when Jane had a chance to really look at Daria. Clearly something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" she sat forward.

Her face is red… Oh God, has she been crying?

"I… I'm gonna have to leave…"

They sat in silence for a moment.

"I can't be in this house anymore." She accentuated each of her words with her two forefingers hitting the table.

"What happened?"

"My mom and I…we…argued…." She took a steadying breath and was surprised at how hard it was for her to get through a simple conversation. "It got ugly."

"Okay, then we can get you set up at the casa de Lane." Jane supplemented.

Daria's eyes filled with tears for a second time and again she held them back while shaking her head.

"I don't want her getting all in your family's business. She can be…. Stubborn."

"We Lanes are tougher than we look, besides- you're one of us. You're a Lane baby," Jane smiled trying to lighten the mood.

Daria gave a weak smile.

"Thanks Jane, but you should at least talk it over with Trent- or your parents…"

"Trent's cool and my parents have a place in Arizona that they call home. They offered for us to move there last year, but Trent and I love our freedom. My parents had already transferred everything over to Trent anyway so…."

"Still, talk to Trent or I could since it's my problem."

Jane made a call to Trent and gave him a quick briefing on Daria's situation and as expected, Trent was more than willing to help.

"Go get your stuff."

"I can't leave until I talk to Quinn and my dad." She glanced towards the stairs then back at Jane. "I have to make sure that he knows…"

"I get it. We could pack as much as can fit in the car right now that way you won't have much left to take."

Daria nodded. They worked together putting as much of her stuff into the car as possible and thanks to some creative packing, they managed to get almost everything. The Lanes already had furniture- such as it was, but Daria was thankful. She looked at her room; wasn't too different from before except for the empty hangers in the closet and minus the few bits of skeletal décor that she had chosen to take with her. She turned upon hearing Quinn coming up the stairs.

"Oh, hi Daria." Quinn prepared to sail on into her room.

"We need to talk." Daria's tone was somber. She followed Quinn into the pink infused room. Quinn plopped down on the bed and looked up at her sister standing in the doorway.

"Hope this isn't going to be a lecture, because mom said-"

"I'm moving out."

Quinn looked at her with disbelief.

"I'll be at the Lanes until I graduate. Now this means that dad will need your help with certain things. I have it all written out and I will continue to get his meds ready and I will be here as much as I can but not when mo- Helen, not when Helen is here."

"Did you and mom have a fight?"

"You could say that."

Quinn waited.

"I'm sure it'll blow ov-"

"It won't."

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"What happened with you and mom?"

"Don't worry Quinn, it's something that could never happen with you. She loves you. You're perfect."

Quinn grew quiet and scared. Daria's tone was so…absolute.

"I could talk to her for you."

Daria smiled at that and shook her head.

"It's done. I left dad a note and I'll be by after school tomorrow."

"What should I say to mom?"

Daria opened and closed her mouth. She hadn't thought about that.

"Tell her the truth. Tell her I'm gone."

Daria turned and went to retrieve the bag from her room.

"See you around Quinn." She said as she passed the doorway.

Quinn watched from her window as her sister exited the front door and walked away down the deserted street. It would be hours before her mother would come home, and it wouldn't be until the next day that Helen realized that her eldest had left the family home.

"Hey Da- what happened to your face?" Trent had only meant to give the small young lady a cursory greeting and then some space so that she could assimilate into the household without him hovering too much, but when he had fully rounded the table and saw the large scarlet streak on her cheek, he had been more than a little surprised. He saw her embarrassment as her hand flew to cover her cheek.

"I- I-"

"Does it hurt?" he knelt and gently removed her hand so that he could further examine it more closely.

"No, it's fine." Her eyes didn't meet his.

His roughened fingertips didn't touch the area, but instead traced the outline of it. She flinched slightly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't- it doesn't hurt." She bit her bottom lip. "Thinking about how it happened…" she still could not look at him. "My mom and I were arguing, and things got…messy."

"She hit you- Damn it." He swore the last under his breath.

He pulled her up and into his arms. He felt her stiff form soften after the briefest of moments. One hand cradled the back of her head and the other rubbed up and down her spine in the most basic comforting ways. It was instinct…it was necessary…it was most definitely needed. They stayed that way for a while. She hadn't realized how comforting human interaction could be, so she allowed herself to cling to him as though he were a life raft in the drowning ocean of her life. She tried to pull away, but…

"Just a moment more…"

So, she remained in his arms…