CRUSH

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine.
Summary: This takes place in the future. College, if you must.
Authors Note: The words in Italics are lyrics from a song...'crush' by Mandy Moore.

*****

Dorm Cafeteria

Blacks..Whites...Males and Females.

Those were the kinds of people who passed by her everyday.

Geeks..Brains..Gays and Losers.

Those were the kinds of people she was told to stay away from...but how could she when she was one of them; most of them.

A ring coming from her purse shook her out of her thoughts. Exhaling the sigh that she had been holding, Stacy unzipped her purse, and took out the ringing distraction that was causing her to lose her thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Why hello, m'sweet. How are we doing?"

Holding in the laughter that wanted to escape, Stacy smiled at her friend's famous greeting. "Hello Charles. What are you up to?"

Their was a brief pause before Charles a.k.a. Upchuck replied. "At the moment I'm in the process of deciding between 'Macaroni Surprise', and 'Chicken ALA Upchuck. What do you suppose I should decide?"

Stacy raised an eyebrow in surprise at the answer. Never since her and Upchuck had become friends had she ever known him to cook, let alone go grocery shopping. "Well, it depends on who you're eating with. Dining alone?"

Their was another pause, this time, in greater length before Upchuck responded, which told her he was probably blushing. "Actually, no, I'm not. Tonight will be a special occasion, I'm planning on proposing...to Daria."

Stacy literally gasped at the news. Not only was she shocked and surprised by the announcement, but she was also spell bounded by it. "Daria? As in Daria Morgendorrfer?"

"The one and only." Upchuck said, practically grinning through the phone.

"I...I can't believe it." Stacy replied in disbelief. She always knew that Upchuck had a crush on Daria, ever since high school, but she never thought anything would come out of it, especially a marriage proposal. "How long have you two been dating?"

"About as long as you've had feelings for a certain redhead."

"UPCHUCK!" Stacy yelled, her cool and calm attitude quickly changing. "I thought you said you'd never bring that up again."

"Well, someone had to. I knew you weren't going to." He replied, causing her to grow silent. "I don't understand why you don't just tell her already, Stacy. Get it over with."

Their was a long pause before Stacy answered him. "You know it's not that easy, Upchuck, and you also know she doesn't-"

Before Stacy could finish what she was about to say, a flash of pink out of the corner of her eye, moving closer towards her with each second, caused her to slightly yelp.

"I've gotta go, Charles. We'll talk about this later."

With that being said, Stacy quickly hung up her cell phone and threw it into her purse, seconds before the entire fashion club joined her at the table.

"Hey guys, long time no see."

****

Stacy/Quinn's Dorm Room

Stacy sighed as she jotted down the minutes to tonight's fashion club meeting, a meeting that her and her friends had been having every week since junior high school.

8:51 PM: President Sandi Griffin goes over the do's and don'ts of this year's fall dress code

8:53 PM: President Sandi Griffin explains that such clothing, as trench coats, are a major don't. Example: Daria Morgendorffer's old green trench coat. A big NO-NO.

At seeing what she had written, Stacy couldn't help but hope that the few minutes between now and 9 PM would hurry up and end soon. Upchuck had emailed Stacy, promising her that at 9 o'clock, eastern time, there'd be a phone call telling her whether Daria said 'yes' or whether she said 'hell no', and Stacy couldn't wait to hear the inevitable.

"STACY LILLIAN ROWE!"

Stacy jumped startled at the loud booming voice that Sandi used to call her name. True, by hanging out with such likes as Upchuck, and Jane Lane, Stacy had grown more of a backbone, but she couldn't help but to feel threatened when Sandi looked at her, or said her name in a certain way. "Y-Yes, Sandi?"

Sandi rolled her eyes at the day dreaming girl, while the other two individuals in the room looked from one brunette to the other. "If you had been listening, you would've realized that for the last two minutes I have been asking you to call this meeting to an end."

Stacy lowered her eyes to her watch, and realized, that indeed, it was a few minutes after the ending of their usual meeting time, and that everyone was waiting for her to call 'time' so they could go home. "So-Sorry Sandi."

As Stacy began to write the time down on her paper, she stopped in surprise as Quinn spoke up, from her seat beside Stacy. "There's no need to apologize, Stacy."

"Excuse me, Quinn?" Sandi replied, raising an eyebrow, in what looked to be surprise.

"I said.." Quinn began, slightly glaring a little at Sandi. "There's no need for Stacy to apologize. It's not a big deal."

You know everything that I'm afraid of
You do everything i wish i did

"Is that so, Quinn?"

"Yeah, it is so, Sandi."

Stacy and Tiffany both stared shocked at the two girls on each side of them, each who were throwing glares at one another.

Luckily for the two, the main phone, in Quinn and Stacy's dorm room, began to ring, causing Quinn to release the eye-hold that she had on Sandi, and stand up to answer it.

"Hello...?"

As Quinn began to speak to whoever was on the phone, and Sandi and Tiffany began to pick up their things off the floor, Stacy couldn't help but think about what just happened...

Quinn had just stood up for her.

True, Quinn had only done what friends do for other friends, but no one had ever done that for Stacy before in her life, well, no one that she loved..no one that everyone loved.

Everybody wants you, everybody loves you

As the word 'love' popped into her head, Stacy couldn't help but move her eyes from Quinn, and try to hide her blushing face from Tiffany and Sandi, the two people that she never wanted to show her feelings to.

Quinn either for that matter.

"OMG! Are you serious? I'm so happy for you."

Quinn's use of words caused Stacy to snap out of her thoughts once again. Seeing as it was after 9, Stacy could only guess who was calling, and by the look of 'shock' and 'happiness' written across Quinn's face, there was only one answer to what it all meant: Daria had said yes.

Stacy listened and watched as Quinn said a few more words to whoever she was on the phone with, before hanging up, and turning towards Stacy, Tiffany, and Sandi, who were equally confused with what was going on. "You will never believe who that was on the phone."

"Upchuck." Stacy said, before anyone else could speak up, causing the other three girls to look at her confusingly. "Just a guess."

Quinn gave Stacy a reassuring smile, before continuing with what she was saying. "That was a good guess, Stacy, but, actually, it was Daria. Her and Upchuck are......getting married. Can you believe it?"

"Ugh." Sandi said, rolling her eyes with disgust. "That's so wrong. Ugly marrying Ugly. What's this world coming to?"

"Yeah...sooo..wrong." Tiffany replied, agreeing with her friend. "Ugly..marrying ugggly.

Quinn, who happened to be closer to her sister than before, glared at the two girls. "I'll have you know that Daria is not ugly. I mean, sure she wears those tacky clothes, and hides behinds those ugly glasses, but with the clothes, and glasses off, she's not ugly..she's beautiful. Inside and out."

And you say exactly how you feel about her

Stacy couldn't help but stare shocked at Quinn, never in the few years that she had known Quinn had Stacy ever heard Quinn say anything so..so nice about her sister.

Made Stacy wonder if Quinn would ever say something that nice about her.

And I wonder, could you ever think of me that way

"Whatever." Sandi said, obviously not impressed with Quinn's words like Stacy was. "I still think it's wrong, but it's your family."

For the first time in what seemed like years, to Stacy, Quinn smiled at something that Sandi said. "Yeah, it is my family."

******

"So, are you going to the wedding?"

Stacy looked up from her biology book to Quinn, who was at the moment, standing in front of the couch, stretching. "Yeah..that is, if I'm invited."

Quinn finished stretching, and smiled down at her friend. "Well, if you're not invited, then you'll just have to be my date."

Stacy blushed at Quinn's comment, and blushed even further when Quinn playfully winked at her, before heading towards the back of their suite, where their rooms were. "Goodnight, Stacy."

You say everything that no one says
But i feel everything that you're afraid to feel

Stacy didn't say anything for a second..just thinking about what she had said earlier on the day, but this time revising it a little:

Blacks..Whites...Males and Females.

Those were the kinds of people who passed by her everyday.

Geeks..Brains..Gays and Losers.

Those were the kinds of people she was told to stay away from ... but how could she when she was one of them; ALL of them.

"Goodnight.."

I will always want you, I will always love you
I've got a crush...

Quinn.

***

Consider my first ever sorta-slash fic to be complete. :)