Walking After You | Dave Grohl

twelve

12

"YOU COULD'VE TOLD me we were coming to a show," Nessa said when he parked the car in front of a building, where big groups of people gathered out front. "I would've changed my clothes"

Dave turned off the headlights and shook his head. "We're not here for the show," he clarified. "There's a spot I want to show you"

Nessa just nodded, following him blindly towards the building, her curiosity growing more and more with each step. Dave took her hand as they crossed the crowd into an alleyway to the side of what looked like an old beaten-down theatre.

"We won't get in trouble, right?" she asked, only half-joking, as he guided her up the maintenance stairwell that led to the roof.

Dave looked back at her over his shoulder and flashed her a reassuring smile. "Trust me, Nessa. I promise I will get you home in one piece"

Soon they reached the rooftop of the building. The sun had pretty much come down, so the sky was painted in a mix of deep blues, and dark oranges. There was a breeze in the air, and Nessa instinctively hugged herself, pulling her cardigan tighter around her torso.

"And this... is my spot," Dave introduced, tucking his hair behind his ear while the other hand pointed to the space around them. "I know it doesn't look like much, but I have a lot of memories from this place"

"Wow..." Nessa muttered softly once she inched closer to the edge, mesmerized by the mindblowing view of the city that extended miles upon miles in the horizon. "The view is beautiful from here. How did you even find this place?"

Dave approached her, stopping beside her, and chuckled cheekily.

"Well..." he started, and Nessa knew that a good story was coming. "When we were still in high school, Jimmy and I came to a show at a squat a few blocks away from here and the police came bursting through the doors"

Nessa listened attentively, an amused smile on her lips. She missed being a teenager and having fun. Granted, she only started doing that after meeting Stacy, but those had been the best years of her life. She loved her life as it was now, but she couldn't lie and say that it wasn't at least a bit boring compared to before.

Dave, however, hadn't stopped living a crazy life.

"And our acid dealers helped us escape and we ended up here," he laughed his big Dave laugh, scrunching his nose and tilting his head back, and Nessa imitated him, softly shaking her head.

"So this became your spot to get high, basically"

"At first, yes," he confessed. "But then it became a place where I could just... take a break. You know?"

Nessa nodded comprehensively.

"But I haven't really been here since I left to go on tour with Scream. Well, I haven't been in town lately," he shrugged, gazing at the highway in the distance. "I also haven't done drugs since then, pretty much. I saw a lot of people get really fucked up and it freaked me out"

The expression on his face stiffened a little and his smile faltered as he seemed to remember the not-so-good moments that came with touring the world with a punk rock band. Nessa instinctively reached for his hand, softly gripping his fingers in a silent attempt to comfort him.

On the other hand, Dave lifted his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his body. Nessa blushed slightly when she felt his eyes over her, and she heard him chuckle.

"Have I told you how adorable you look when your cheeks are all blushed?" he asked, half-jokingly, knowing how much she would hate that. As expected, she rolled her eyes and pushed away from him, but he could see a hint of a smile folding on her lips.