False Starts || Dave Grohl

Chapter 42

"This One's For You To Know, And Me To Find Out"

Present

Toronto, ON

My hands slide over the pristine soundboard with ease as I replay the audio clip for what felt like the thousandth time this afternoon. Headphones cup my ears underneath the black My Chemical Romance hoodie that Bean gifted me earlier this year.

I breath out a sigh of frustration before pushing my body away from the board, finally giving up on perfecting the piece today. Before I stepped out of my apartment this afternoon, I knew I would be too distracted to complete this to the best of my ability. My ultimate goal was to find something to distract me from everything going on, but it's pretty obvious that this isn't it.

Since my three friends arrived last week, my thoughts have been constantly clouded with thoughts of my past life. A happier life that consisted of a loving relationship, constant touring, and meeting three of my best friends. A life that was shattered on that cold rainy morning in April of 1994...

A knock on the door pulls me out of my thoughts, giving me time to mask my sadness with a façade of eagerness and stress. One thing I will never do is allow my co-workers to see me at my most vulnerable times. Ricky did once, the product of a congratulatory bottle of wine and unwanted playing of Nevermind, when we first began working together. Ever since then, I have sworn to prevent the incident from reoccurring.

My legs feel like Jell-O as I stride across the carpeted floor. My scuffed up black converse dragging slightly with each step before stopping abruptly in front of the white studio door. "What do you need?"

"You've been locked in there for a while Rose." Ricky's voice is shaky as he speaks, letting me know that he is nervous about something. "I wanted to check in, and you also have a visitor."

I purse my lips, curious as to how Amy would've found her way to the studio, but I'm in for a surprise when I swing the door open. Rather than my best friends' dark hair and eyes, I am met with familiar blue orbs and recently dyed brown hair.

Tears well up in my eyes as I take in the woman's appearance, not caring that I am still in the presence of my co-worker. He's harmless at this point. "You look like absolute shit Rosie. I told you to take care of yourself."

"I know," A smile appears on my face as the teenager crosses her arms over my chest in a disappointed manor, "My thoughts have been keeping me awake all week. You understand that better than most."

Frances Bean continues to glare, scanning over my frame for any other noticeable problems before smiling brightly and pulling my tired body into her arms. "I've missed you so much since I was last here. Things have been crazy back home, so I figured I could come here to get away for a few weeks."

"Does your mom know you're here?" I glance over her shoulder, grateful that Ricky understood this was a family matter and kindly left the two of us alone. "You know she'll try to sue me again for some other irrelevant reason if she knows you're hiding out in Canada again."

The young Cobain rolls her eyes, wrapping an arm around my torso to lead me back into the stuffy studio room. "You know damn good and well that I'm able to make my own decisions now. I mean, I just turned nineteen yesterday."

My jaw immediately drops, moving across the room to snatch my phone off a nearby coffee table in order to check the date; August 19th. "I completely missed your birthday." The palm of my hand makes contact with my forehead as I fall back into the rolling chair I'd been sitting in since this morning.

"Don't sweat it," Her hand falls lightly onto my shoulder, "I'm getting to spend a few days with you and that's better than any birthday call or text you could've given me yesterday." The blue-eyed girl grabs the second chair from across the room before turning all of her attention to the audio mix I've been working on. "So, what's this? The secret Linkin Park project I have been hearing about?"