Disclaimer: I do not own the show Daria or any of it's characters. They are the sole property of the copyright holders. I am not making any money from this story, and no infringement is intended.

*Author's Note*

Rated T for some language and adult themes, no lemon. Since I'm new to the fanfic world I'm not entirely sure, but I'd hazard a guess that this is not fluff or a Mary Sue. Probably safe to say this achieves shipper status, but you be the judge. Anything written in italics is the unspoken thought of the character. I will toss in a chapter or two that is not from the main character's POV, but I'll designate when I switch. This takes place canonically after IICY, and Daria's first college year is over. She is home from college for the summer. I tried to make this and the other parts of the series as realistic as possible, but I'm sure die-hard fans will say that there is a lot of OOC.

This is the first installment of a three-part series I'm working on, once all chapters of "The Request" are up I'll start posting the next part, called "The Pole".

The Request

June 17th

"Dar-ia! I hope you're not planning on sleeping until noon every day during summer break. Time to get up and at least pretend that you are in training to be a productive member of society!"

I wonder if this is what triggered the Mendez Brothers? I have been home a total of TWO days, and Mom is already on my case apparently. Never mind that I need to let my brain catch up on sleep after my first year at college; let's just goad Daria into a psychotic episode now that she's home and more susceptible to our torture!

"This is the last time I'm going to ask you to come down before I come and drag you out Daria!"

"I'm getting up, woman!"

I guess I can just slip back into bed once she leaves abruptly for work like she always does. Glad to see that some things never change.

I got dressed and headed downstairs to spend my forced family-time ignoring them with the paper and some strong coffee. This first year at Raft University had really kicked my ass mentally, not because the subject matter had been hard really but there was just so much tedious work involved with the classes I had taken. I needed to fall back into a mindless routine for a bit to recover.

Part of that was my fault though, I thought to myself as I walked down the stairs, I'm the one who was stupid enough to want a challenge. Why in the hell did I sign up for a 20 unit course load for my first shot at college?

"Hey kiddo, I got your favorite sections of the paper next to the coffee pot for you!" Dad asked me as I lumbered into the kitchen.

"Um, thanks Dad. Are you cooking something?"

"Why, do you smell something burning?"

"No … wait, was that a joke?"

"HA! Yeah Daria, I was just trying to get you to crack a smile. Haven't seen you since your spring break and you weren't in the mood then. Not like what I had to go through … 'SMILE Jakie, you had better show how THANKFUL you are' … thankful for WHAT?!?! Being allowed home two weeks a year to be subjected in person to the cruelty of that MAN…"

"Dad, it's too early for me to follow your path of childhood trauma. Can we do this after I've had enough coffee to kill a Colombian?"

Or, hopefully, never? Maybe I can distract him with something shiny …

"Oh, sorry kiddo. I never thought about it before but it probably hurts you girls when I talk about the horrible things that have happened to me in the past. That's why you hate to hear about it, right?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. That's exactly why we hate your stories. Mom too; it just hurts us to know how badly your childhood went."

Don't know how much more of this family interaction thing I can take. Being able to go days, sometimes a week at a time without talking to them is like manna from the gods. At least it looks like Mom left before I even brushed my teeth. Oh and thank whatever merciful power-that-be that arranged it so that Quinn would be on a month-long trip with that Stacy girl right now. I'll be acclimated to Mom and Dad again by the time she gets home. Sure we've been getting along better now that she is trying harder to be a decent human, but she's still Quinn.

"So, your mom wants me to ask you what's on the agenda today?"

"The usual: read, write, nap, TV, world domination, and not necessarily in that order."

"I can stay home from my meetings today and we can hang out if you want something to do. HEY! Let's go hiking again or something!"

"Uh, no thanks, remember what happened the last time we tried to become one with nature? Besides, I think I better call Jane. I haven't seen her in a month and we need to talk about the possibility of us renting a place together now that we can choose to stay in the dorms or not."

"Oh, ok Daria; just let me know if you want to do something with your old man."

At least he didn't sound too dejected. I'll have to try and do something nice for him during my break. Poor dad; he's here with Quinn and Mom and I'm not here to distract them periodically from bothering him anymore.

After I finished my toast I picked up the phone and dialed my best friend's number by route. I was greeted with a rather cranky reply on the other line.

"What?"

"Glad to hear that you are still so full of what I have been told is 'charm', I was worried my civilizing influence would wear off since I haven't seen you in a month."

"And here I was thinking that I was the good influence on you. Hey Daria, you back in town yet?"

"Yeah, sorry I didn't call sooner; I just needed a day or so of down time. No deadlines, no place to be, no real conversations, sleeping more than Trent. It was nice. I can see the appeal now of his lifestyle."

"See? You two were made for each other, I always knew it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Enjoying sleep is exactly the way to set up a solid foundation for a long and loving relationship I hear. Tell him to get over here to ask my father for my hand so we can get it over with already."

"Hang on a sec, I'll go wake him … HEY TRENT!!!!"

"Jane! How often do I have to threaten you with bodily harm before you get it that I'm not interested in your brother anymore, I've moved on from my crush and I wish you would too."

"Eh, until I get bored with this. Don't worry, he only conked out 5 hours ago so he'll be dead to the world for another 4 to 6 hours before he's ready to get up. So chica, got any plans for the day?"

"Actually I was hoping I could come over, if I stay here any longer I'll either go to sleep again to escape the boredom or I'll end up killing one of my parents."

"Which one?"

"Don't care; who ever happens to be within arm's distance first I suppose."

"Well as much as I long to preserve human life, I'll have to say that you coming over is a no-go. The house has been invaded by termites and some of the walls and floors aren't exactly safe."

"So, it's safe enough for you and Trent to live there, but not safe enough for visitors?"

"We know where all the soft spots are. You'd just clomp through the floor into the basement or something."

"Excuse me for not taking 'How to Be a Dainty Flower 101' during my first run at Raft. I'll make sure to take it next time."

"Actually, I wanted to ask you if we could stay at your house for two weeks. You know how expensive BFAC is and Trent is always low on cash. We can't really afford a hotel if we have to pay for the fumigation and the repairs to make this place habitable again."

"You … and Trent … stay here … for two weeks?"

"Yeah, since you're over my brother it really shouldn't be a problem now should it?" I could actually hear the smirk on her face as she spoke.

"Uh … no, no problem at all. I'll just check with my parents tonight; it will be nice to have more some sanity in this house for an extended period of time."

"You mean until being that close to Trent drives you insane, right?"

"That's it; you're sleeping in Quinn's room."