Anywhere But Here

Anywhere But Here is a story by MMan based on the premise, "What if Lawndale had never existed?"

Warning: Spoilers

The point of divergence is that Horace Sloane donated the land that would become Lawndale to the state, rather than allow his grandson Nathaniel to sell the land to developers. Nathaniel Sloane planned to work with real-estate developers by merging the land along with the cities of Lawnburg and Greendale, which would become the new city of Lawndale. Instead, the land becomes the Horace Sloane State Forest and the two cities remain intact.

The story then visits the fates of the canon characters, virtually all of whom live elsewhere. Some lead much more successful and fulfilling lives than they would have ever lived in Lawndale, others have lives that lead to disappointment or death.

At the end of the story, the Morgendorffers stop at a hardware store in Lawnburg run by Angier Sloane. Daria meets Tom Sloane, and the two enjoy each other's company, but Daria is warned to stay away from Tom by Jane Lane...who lives, along with Tom, in the small town of Lawnburg.

(The later fanfic "How It Might've Turned Out]" by Bacner is an alternate take on this, where Nathaniel smothers Horace before the land can be given to the state but is cursed that the area will remain poor.)