Walking After You | Dave Grohl

five

5

1991

NESSA SIGHED, tiredly sinking into the couch. Instead of using her day off to relax, she had instead cleaned her entire apartment, worked on a few papers, and prepared meals for the rest of the week. Although it had felt nice to be productive, she regretted not taking a few hours for herself now that the sun was pretty much gone.

Four years had passed since the last time Nessa had seen Dave. In the meantime, a lot of changes happened in her life. To start, she had graduated high school with honors, which had granted her a full ride to the university of her dreams. Moving from small-town Springfield to a college campus had been a new experience, but she had loved it nonetheless.

However, by the end of freshman year, Nessa had to move back to her grandmother's house. Susy's health had declined considerably while she was gone, and eventually, Nessa had to transfer into the College of Arts and Education in Washington DC. Susy wasn't happy that her granddaughter was "throwing away" her dreams because of her, but Nessa would always put her family first.

During those times, Nessa juggled school, her part-time job at the department store, and the academic internship as best as she could, not having much time to do anything else. Those had probably been the most physically exhausting months of her life.

Around her junior year, Jules and her boyfriend had gotten married and by the fall of 1989, in Nessa's senior year, they were expecting twin boys. The news had delighted the whole family, so much so that their mother had even come to visit and stayed for a couple of weeks, for the first time in years. Being a little older and a little less bitter, Nessa was able to somewhat rekindle her relationship with her mom.

But the happiness didn't last long for the Biggs, unfortunately. The two little boys were born in early spring 1990, and only two weeks later, Susy passed away peacefully in her sleep, succumbing to her health issues after years of fighting against them. It was almost as if she had waited to meet her new grandchildren to go peacefully.

Staying at the house she had grown up in proved to be too painful for Nessa. Her father had moved in, believing that the property shouldn't be sold or left abandoned when so many memories were built there, but Nessa decided to move into her own place right after graduation.

Her good grades and dedication, plus all of the internships she had done throughout her bachelor's, had landed Nessa a position in a teaching training program in one of the best elementary schools in the city, as her supervisor's assistant.

When it came to Stacy, they remained best friends through the years, despite the different paths they chose for their lives. Stacy had gone to nursing school, dedicating her life to helping people in need.

They had originally planned to move in together once Stacy was done with school and came back to DC, but that plan had been discarded when Nessa received a picture in the mail from Stacy and Jimmy Swanson, Dave's childhood best friend, kissing under the Eiffel Tower.

Flashback to 1989

"When the fuck did this happen, Stacy?" Nessa squealed at the phone, still holding the picture her friend had sent her from Paris. "I didn't even know you guys were talking like that"

Stacy laughed on the other side of the line. "Well, this hasn't been going on for long. We got close before I left to come to Paris. I didn't tell you because my breakup with Mark was still fresh in our friend group and I didn't want the news to spread before I actually was a thing. And then, I had an epiphany," she giggled. "I sent him a plane ticket and he came to visit... and here we are"