Walking After You | Dave Grohl

fourteen

14.

"I BROUGHT LUNCH," her dad sang, lifting the grocery bags he carried, and made way into the apartment, heading for the kitchen. "I know you said you could order in, but nothing is better than a home-cooked meal"

Nessa followed him to the kitchen, wrapped in a blanket like a cocoon. She smiled softly, her red nose standing out in the middle of her face.

They were supposed to meet for lunch at the diner down the street from her work, a weekly tradition built not long after the grandmother's passing, out of a necessity to keep each other close.

However, when Nessa woke up that morning, feeling sick and weak, she quickly realized she wouldn't be coming to work or lunch. Her entire body ached and her body burned with a fever.

After a quick call to let her father know lunch would have to be canceled, Charlie suggested a change of plans, showing up to her apartment to cook her chicken soup instead.

"I wish I could eat a fat greasy burger, instead," she whined with raspiness in her voice. "But I would probably end up barfing it all"

They shared a laugh and she sat on one of the kitchen chairs, watching her dad cooking, and began their usual run-down of their weeks, each sharing whatever details they considered funny or relevant, and a round of small talk.

Nessa intentionally kept the subject of Dave tucked away, not ready to discuss it with her father yet. Talking about it, whatever it was, would make it real, and she'd rather pretend it was all a pink dream. Maybe that way it wouldn't hurt as much when it finally came to an end.

Her dad, however, wasn't planning on doing the same.

"I've heard you're dating Ginny's son," he started, trying to sound nonchalant. Charlie knew his daughter well enough to know he had to tread lightly if he wanted to get any information out of her. "The punk rocker kid"

Nessa looked up from her soup, surprised that her father would know who Dave was, much less that he would know something was going on between them.

She promptly shook her head, shoving a spoon of soup into her mouth in an attempt to hide her blushed cheeks. "We are not talking about that, dad," she muttered, but Charlie raised a brow, finding her reaction amusing.

"Why not?" He insisted, and Nessa rolled her eyes, going back to her warm soup without offering an answer.

Opening up about her feelings was something she still felt uncomfortable about. And she definitely didn't want to do it when her head felt like it was about to explode and her body convulsed in cold shivers.

"C'mon, just give a little something to your old man"

Nessa sighed audibly and propped her elbows on the table. "His name is David," she said, conceding, knowing he wouldn't stop insisting until she told him something. Charlie smiled contently, nodding apologetically for his insistence. "And how do you even know about him?"

Her father gave an awkward shrug.

"That's irrelevant," he waved to dismiss the question, and Nessa scoffed. She knew it had probably been her sister, considering she was the only one in the family that remotely knew what was going on.

"You're all so nosy..." Nessa complained under her breath but inhaled deeply when her dad's expectant look stayed above her. "There's not much to say, really. We're not dating, first of all. We met when I was in high school, then I didn't see him for four years and now he's back"

She explained in a way that made it sound simple, hiding the complicated layers that prevented them from actually being together. Thinking she had successfully satiated her father's curiosity, Nessa got into her soup once again, but Charlie read right through her.