OUT OF THE RED ↝ dave grohl

thirty-seven.

JUNE 9th, 1991, OLYMPIA, WA

        "HAPPY BIRTHDAY REAGAN!" Shelli crowed enthusiastically. She wobbled into the living room from Kurt's boxy little kitchen, balancing a dish that held a frosted vanilla cake and setting it down on the coffee table. When she stepped back, she was beaming proudly.

"Wow," Reagan exclaimed, staring down at Shelli's creation. In shaky handwriting, she'd managed to spell out 'happy birthday' in electric blue frosting. Her handiwork was illuminated by rows of glowing rainbow candles, enough of them that there was an exact twenty-two. "You did good, Shell."

"Better than I could have done," Chris piped in. She was sitting on Kurt's couch besides Reagan, scratching at the thin band beneath her chin that was keeping her birthday hat securely on her head. "Ugh, Shelli, can we take these off?"

Chris gestured around the room. Everyone present at the party had donned a hat by the request of Shelli, who had splurged on party decorations for the occasion of Reagan's twenty-second birthday. She and Krist had driven from Tacoma and spent the day sprucing up Kurt's apartment with birthday streamers and confetti. It had been absolute hell trying to ensure that Kurt's menagerie of animals did not eat the plastic adornments.

"Not until she blows her candles out," Shelli scolded, clasping her hands together and turning her focus excitedly back on to Reagan. "Make a wish."

"Yes, please, for the love of god make a wish," Krist groaned as he too pulled at the party hat band pinching his chin and scruffs of days-old beard.

"Let her think about it!" Dave demanded. He was sitting on the other side of Reagan, second in charge to Shelli's lead on making sure the birthday party went smoothly. Together, they had lured Reagan into Kurt's place for the event.

"Are you guys seriously arguing about me blowing out candles?" Reagan said incredulously, looking around the room at her small gathering of friends.

"You do realize we leave for California tonight, right? We haven't got all day, woman," Krist pointed out, gesturing to himself, Dave and Kurt.

Kurt, who had been lounging on the floor beside the coffee table wearing a party hat of his own, lurched forward and blew the candles out swiftly. There was a sudden chorus of disappointed 'aw's.'

"Kurt, you shit!" Shelli cried defeatedly. She lunged at Kurt and slapped him across the head. "Reagan was supposed to do that!"

"Well, she was taking too long," Kurt said lazily, though he threw Reagan a sheepish smile. His eyes offered an apology, but Reagan smiled back at him, a reassurance that him stealing her birthday thunder was okay.

"I'm getting the lighter again," Shelli said. "We didn't even get to sing her happy birthday. We'll just re-do the whole thing."

"No!" Chris, Krist and Kurt all shouted at the same time, causing Shelli to flinch backwards.

"God, you guys are the worst birthday part hosts ever," she sniffed, taking off her own party cap and dropping it to the coffee table. Krist and Chris did the same.

"Do want a re-do on the candles?" Dave asked, taking Reagan's hand into his lap. He looked concerned, almost as if Reagan were turning two that day instead of twenty-two. To Dave though, these things still mattered — that is, if they mattered to Reagan.

"I'm alright. I think I'll live."

Candles weren't all that big of a deal to her on that day. The party alone had pleased her enough and she'd been touched that after a morning spent putting on a happy face for Kimberly and Richard while they served her a meager birthday breakfast, she was with her friends.