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Starting at the Beginning	By : Katma Category: Singers/Bands/Musicians > Savage Garden Views: 2042 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I do not know the members of Savage Garden. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Kathleen could hear the laughter from the living room clearly in the kitchen, and it made her smile. Daniel looked happier than he had in a long while. Darren coming back really was a good thing, she mused. She hadn’t been sure when she had come into the house and seen him there. Kat didn’t know much about what had happened between the two except what could be read in interviews; Daniel was very closemouthed about this topic. Although she knew that both were at fault
for the breakup, she had felt that Daniel had reacted in a worse way to the breakup than Darren. Part of that probably had to do with the fact that she saw Daniel in private, whereas she only saw Darren in a social situation. He was quite the social butterfly, always polite, friendly, and composed. It was a striking contrast to her Daniel, whose natural grace and charm was dampened when he was faced with large groups of unfamiliar people.

These very characteristics made it hard for her to gauge how Darren really felt. She assumed, however, that the fact that Darren had made the first move towards reconciliation ssomesomething about how he had been affected. Kathleen put the final touches on the salad she was making and smiled. She had made quite a good dinner, if she did say so herself. Quickly, she set the table and laid the food out. Then she walked into the living room and leaned against the wall, listening to the men talk. Darren was telling some story, his face animated and his arms gesticulating wildly. Daniel was listening with sparkling eyes and a brilliant smile. Kathleen felt a small pang of jealousy that she quickly pushed aside. She hadn’t seen a smile like that on Daniel for almost a year now. But, she reasoned, it was only natural. He had, after all, just made up with his best friend. She continued to stand quietly, waiting for the pair to notice her.

Darren looked up first. His eyes widened when he saw her and he stopped mid-sentence. This caused Daniel to look up, as well. Kat laughed when she saw the surprise on their faces.

“How long have you been standing there?” Darren asked.

“Not long,” she reassured him. “I wanted to let you two know that dinner is ready.”

Daniel jumped up. Darren followed suit more slowly. Kathleen led the group into the dining room
and gestured grandly towards the table.

“Dinner is served,” she laughed.

“Mm, it looks good,” Darren commented, sitting on Daniel’s right. That left Kat sitting across from Daniel. She sat down, a bit surprised by this arrangement, but said nothing. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. The pair was already deep in conversation. Daniel grabbed the platter of chicken Kat had made and put a piece on his plate. He made as if to hand it to Darren, and then hesitated.

“You’re still eating meat, right, Dare?” he asked worriedly.

“Yeah,” said Darren. “I need the extra energy for my touring schedule.”

“Then here you go,” Daniel said, offering the chicken to Darren. Darren took a piece, then passed the chicken to Kathleen. After all the food had been passed around, the three set to eating.

“This is really good, Kathleen,” Darren complimented.

“Thanks,” she smiled. “I really like to cook.”

“And she’s good at it, too,” Daniel commented, smiling at Kathleen.
Unfortunately for her, that was all the attention she got that night from either one of the men. The two seemed lost in their own little world, and Kat felt very left out. She couldn’t believe that they were suddenly so close after everything that had happened. It was almost as if all those harsh words and the year of separation they had endured hadn’t happened. It was very confusing, but Kathleen just shrugged it off as being male behavior. Females certainly wouldn’t react like this, she thought with an internal laugh. We’d carry a grudge for ages, and things would never be the same between us again. But obviously it doesn’t bother guys. You apologize and then it’s all over.

This was interesting on another level, as well. She was getting to see a side of Daniel she’d never seen before. He was always slightly reserved, always held a little something back. Even in their relationship he managed to hold something of himself back. Kathleen had just assumed that was the way he was, but she was beginning to doubt that now. Daniel was the most animated and open he’d ever been, and it was all because of Darren. She had heard that the two had once been
like this, but she’d never seen it. By the time she met Daniel, the rift between him and Darren had already begun to grow. While they were still close, they were nothing like they were now. She had to admit, she hadn’t believed it when she’d heard stories about Daniel and Darren before the Affirmation tour, but it was hard to refute what her eyes were telling her.

Another niggling burst of jealousy hit her, this one harder to push away. She determined that at the next lull in the conversation she was going to push herself in. She wasn’t going to be left out any longer. She waited quietly for her chance, pushing her food around her plate. Soon Daniel finished his story about something that had happened at work, and there was a small pause. Kathleen quickly jumped in.

“So, Darren, how long are you here for?”

Darren looked slightly surprised at Kathleen’s question, but answered readily enough. “Well, not counting tonight, about three days. I leave the night of the third day. Leonie said that was all the time I could spare.” Darren rolled his eyes.

Daniel looked disappointed. “Only three days?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Darren responded. He looked hesitantly at Daniel out of the corner of his eye. “I have a really huge break coming up; some of my concerts were cancelled because of political unrest. I could probably come back to Australia at some point during that. I mean, if you wanted me to."

“Why wouldn’t I?” Daniel countered. “We have a lot to catch up on. And I want to show you around Meridienmusik, and I don’t have the time to do it on this short break. So, yes, I’d like it if you’d come back.”

The relief on Darren’s face translated into blindingly brilliant smile, which Daniel returned. Immediately, the two returned to their private conversation, leaving Kathleen out again. She sighed, resigned to her position, and contented herself with just listening.

None too soon for Kathleen, the interminable dinner was over. Very reluctantly, she asked Darren if he wanted to stay for coffee.

“I’d like to,” Darren said, “but I should probably be going. I haven’t checked into my hotel yet. I should probably do that before too long. Wouldn’t want to have my hotel room given to someone else.”

“Well,” offered Daniel, draping a companionable arm over Darren’s shoulders. “If they do give your reservation away, you’re welcome to stay here.”

No, he isn’t, Kathleen thought irritably, but said nothing aloud. She had a feeling she’d lose this argument in a heartbeat.

“Hey, about tomorrow night,” Daniel continued. “I hear there’s a new club open. It sounds like your kind of place. You wanna go there?”

“Sounds good,” confirmed Darren with a smile. He turned to Kathleen, the smile still firmly in place. “Thank you for dinner. It was very good.”

“You’recomecome,” Kat said. She felt a nudge from behind her. She guessed that Daniel wanted her to invite Darren for dinner again, but she wasn’t particularly looking forward to another night of nonexistence. She hesitated for a moment longer, but gave in when Daniel shot her a strange look.

“Would you like to come to dinner the night before you leave?” she invited unenthusiastically. Daniel gave her another odd look, noticing the tone of her voice. Darren didn’t seem to pick up on her unwillingness, however, and accepted the invitation gladly. Kathleen gave an internal sigh. Oh, well, can’t win ‘em all. And he’ll be gone soon, thank God.

Darren soon left, and Kathleen walked to the dining room and began picking up plates. Daniel followed her in.

“Kat, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she answered shortly, taking the plates and heading into the kitchen.

“Come on, Kat, I know something’s wrong.”

alrealready told you. Nothing’s wrong, ok?”

“Kat, you don’t get all worked up over nothing. Are you upset that we didn’t invite you to go out with us tomorrow? Cuz if you are, you can come. We just didn’t think you’d want to.”

“And I don’t,” Kathleen responded with feeling.

“Then why are you upset?” Daniel asked, a puzzled frown on his face. That did it. Kathleen set the plates down and turned around to face Daniel.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I just spent the last few hours being completely ignored by you and Darren?”

“We didn’t ignore you,” Daniel protested.

“Oh, yes, you did. Completely and utterly ignored me. That was the worst dinner I have ever had to sit through in my life. And I’m not looking forward to a repeat of it in the near future.”

“Kat…” Daniel was at a loss. “We didn’t mean to ignore you. It’s just… I haven’t seen him, really seen him, in over a year. We had a lot to catch up on, is all.”

“And that’s another thing. You’re going to forgive him, just like that,” Kathleen snapped her fingers, “after everything he did to you?”

“We both were at fault, Kat. And he did apologize.”

“And that makes it all better?”

“Yeah, it does,” Daniel was getting irritated, as well. “Why are you making such an issue
of this, Kathleen? It’s my business whether I forgive him or not, not yours.”

“Yeah, I k” Ka” Kathleen answered with a bit of defeat. “I just didn’t like being ignored all evening for a man who treated you the way he did.”

Daniel smiled a little and wrapped his arms around Kat’s waist. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were jealous,” he teased, his anger dpearpearing as quickly as it had come. Kathleen didn’t say anything. Daniel’s eyes widened. “You are jealous!” he breathed.

“Yeah, a little,” Kat said, twisting out of his arms.

“Don’t be, Kat. It’s just… Darren and I have a history. He was my best friend for such a long time. We’ve experienced so much together. It makes us really close. I know when we get like that, we tend to shut other people out. I’d just forgotten about it because it’s been so long since we were that close. But it doesn’t mean I don’t love you, Kat.”

He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her waist again. She submitted this time, wrapping her arms around neckneck.

“Yeah, I know,” she answered. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s k,” Daniel murmured, leaning down to brush her lips with a kiss. Kat kissed him back, stifling that annoying voice in the back of her head that kept saying that what she’d witnessed went beyond normal friendship. It was almost as if Darren and Daniel were bound together on some deep level, a level she could never hope to reach with Daniel. She could now see where all the rumors about the pair came from, and it made her uncomfortable. Please, she begged whatever power was listening. Please let this feeling just be my insecurities and not woman’s intuition. I don’t want to lose him.

Daniel broke the kiss, pulling away slightly. He smiled at Kathleen.

“Better now?” he asked.

“Much,” she responded quietly.

“Good. Do you need any help cleaning up the kitchen?”

“Nah, I’ve got it.”

“All right, then. I’m going to be in my studio… I didn’t get all the work done I needed to. Don’t
wait up for me, ok?”

“Okay.” Kat leaned up for one more kiss, then returned to the kitchen. The emotional turmoil of the day had exhausted her, and she wanted nothing more than to get the dishes done and go to bed. She was sure everything she had felt tonight would look silly in the morning. And if it didn’t… well, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.
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Starting at the Beginning