OUT OF THE RED ↝ dave grohl

twenty.

OCTOBER 11th, 1990, OLYMPIA, WA

          REAGAN DROVE HERSELF to the show, insisting to Dave that it was okay for her to take her own car. He needed to drive to the venue that night with the band anyway. It was a rite of passage, especially with it being his first performance with Nirvana.

She'd told herself that she was going for a multitude of reasons. She loved shows, she loved Nirvana, and Kurt and Krist were both her close friends. She would have shown them support on any given day of the week.

But, as Reagan walked up to the North Shore Surf Club after parking her car in the venue's lot, she couldn't help but to feel like she was primarily there for Dave and Dave alone.

It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Indisputably, she and Dave had become very close. It only made sense that she was present for his first time performing as Nirvana's drummer. That's what friends did for each other.

Of course, it would have made even more sense to Reagan if she and Dave were truly just that — friends. To her, she felt as if her attendance in the audience that night meant something else. It was a sure sign that her and Dave's relationship was intensifying.

Her motorcycle boots crunched gravel beneath their soles as she walked up the club's front doors. A young guy with a crop of scraggly blonde hair was manning the cover fees, leaning against the open door and counting money.

"Five bucks," he told Reagan as she approached him. She reached into her pocket for the slim stack of one dollar bills that she'd brought along, but someone interrupted before she could pull them out.

"Wait, no! She's with me."

A young woman appeared through the doorway, donning a clean white Melvins shirt that she'd knotted at the waist. Her black hair framed her delicate face, and although she stood at a much shorter height than the ticket seller next to her, she looked adamant and fierce.

"Shelli," Reagan said brightly, identifying Krist's wife right away. Shelli grabbed her by the wrist and jerked her inside, ignoring the displeased look on the club employee's face. They quickly entered a sea of people.

"I can't believe you were going to buy a ticket," Shelli called over her shoulder, using her free elbow to push her way through the crowd. "The guys would have given you hell for doing that."

"I'm just trying to be a good, paying customer," Reagan said, allowing Shelli to tug her along. "Did you know I was coming?"

Shelli threw her a smirk, seeming to take great amusement in Reagan's question. She found the cluster of Kurt and Krist's mutual Olympia friends that she'd been looking for and pulled Reagan into the group.

"I only knew because New Guy wouldn't shut up about you being here tonight."

Reagan did not have to ask who 'New Guy' was. She huffed a little, avoiding Shelli's knowing stare. She wondered how Dave would take to her potentially duct-taping his mouth shut.

"Do you want to go back stage and say hi? Before they go on?" Shelli asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"No," Reagan said. "That's okay."

"Are you sure? He'd probably like to see you first. Might ease his nerves in case he thinks you're not coming."

Reagan smiled, not even caring that Shelli must have thought she was either crazy or downright evil telling by the look on her face.

"Nah. Let him wait to see me. It's healthy to be nervous before a big performance."

Shelli cocked her eyebrow questioningly, but Reagan didn't elaborate further. Dave may have made it plainly clear that he wanted her, but she wouldn't make it easy on him. If she was going to abandon her personal morals, she was going to at least make him work for her attention.