FORGET HER. dave grohl

001. love in her eyes and flowers in her hair

AUGUST 23, 2011
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Dave went to bed on August 22nd knowing what tomorrow was. He hated the 23rd every year, but this year was different. It marked the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Reading performance. To anyone else, it was a fun day to remember, but to Dave it was a heartache. It was the day he met her, and he hasn't forgotten her since. No matter how hard he tried.

"What are you looking at?" His thoughts were interrupted as his wife of 8 whole years now had walked into his bedroom. He was looking at the photo albums his mom had put together over the years. And of course, Dave flipped to the picture of him and her.

"Just some old picture," he nonchalantly said, "Reading was 20 years ago, today. I was just a baby then." Which was true. He gazed at his 22 year old self in the picture. No beard, no grey hair, no wrinkles. He was young. And she was even younger, beautiful as ever, still is.

"Oh," his wife smiled, "look how young you were." She pointed out. Dave stifled a laugh, not sure whether that was a compliment or her pointing out that he was very old now. But he didn't think twice about it.

"Yeah." Was all he managed to say.

"And who's that? What's her name?" His wife pointed to the girl beside him. Dave smiled, looking at the girl in the picture, remembering everything that happened between the two of them. He was filled with that wonderful feeling again. But he just couldn't bring himself to say her name for one reason: he'd named his firstborn daughter after her. It was something his wife didn't know, and he didn't plan on telling her.

"Her name?" He became nervous, "oh, I don't remember." Dave lied through his teeth. If only it was true, if only he really couldn't remember. He wished he couldn't. He wanted nothing more than to forget her name, her face. He wished he didn't put her name on every guest list since 1994. But, nevertheless, it she permanently engraved in his memory. Every memory of her.

"That's too bad," his wife sighed, "she's beautiful." If only she knew, Dave thought that very thing every single day of his life. As his wife left his room, he continued to look through pictures of that day, thinking of all the memories. He wished so badly to go back, experience her again, maybe do things differently this time. He remembered it like it was yesterday.

AUGUST 23, 1991
READING, UK

"You nervous?" Kurt asked.

Dave wasn't a nervous person at all. Not usually. Something about today made him nervous though. That something was the fact that he had never played to this many people before. Nevermind was written, but not released yet. This was their chance to impress thousands of people before the album came out to really boost sales.

"Uh, maybe a little." Dave answered Kurt, lighting a cigarette.

"Me too," Kurt agreed, "I think it'll be okay." Dave smiled at his rare sense of optimism. You didn't see that a lot in Kurt. Everything was normally always "bleak and pointless" according to the blonde.

"Time will tell." Dave tried to finish his cigarette before the show started. He didn't like to put out half-smoked cigarettes, he liked to enjoy the whole thing.

"Dave, we're on." Kurt notified him. Dave cursed under his breath, putting his cigarette out. Only 3/4 of the way done. It was better than half, though. Dave ran a hand through his hair, he always did that. He remembered the night before, restless, staring at the ceiling, wondering how this exact moment would go.

"Rock n' Roll." He murmured softly before walking out on the huge stage. Dave barely looked up, scared to see the sea of people waiting for a good show. He never doubted his skills as a drummer, but right now he was. What if they don't like it? He tried to shake any thoughts coming into his head, but they all sort of overlapped one another. He begged for Kurt to begin playing "School" so he could start banging the drums loud enough to overpower the thoughts. And just like that, he heard his cue and began drumming.

The crowd seemed to be receiving it well, thankfully. Dave found this new confidence. Enough to keep going through the rest of the set list. Sometimes he thought back to his Scream days, even his early Nirvana days when they only played to 100 people at most. It calmed him. When the set list was over, Dave saw Kurt making his way to the edge of the stage. He knew what was about to happen.

"Don't you fucking do it!" He yelled at the blonde who chose to ignore him. Kurt giggled before leaping into Daves drum set, completely wrecking it. Dave always thought it was funny when Kurt did this. And it got a rise out of the crowd, which was a bonus. The three finally left the stage, heading to the back where all the cigarettes and food were. Dave grabbed his black leather jacket with a yellow stripe down the arms and put it on.

"I think my arms broken, no joke." Kurt said trying to straighten his elbow which resulted in a hiss of pain.

"You gotta stop jumping into the drums with so much force." Dave pointed out. Kurt could only agree with him.

"Hey guys!" Danny, the bands manager, had caught up to them, "do you guys have time for a quick interview?"

"Interview?" Dave asked with a quiver to his voice. He'd never done an offical interview like this before. He could see the three chairs already set up in front of them. Kurt hesitantly nodded which meant Dave had to now. He couldn't say no to the one thing Kurt says yes to. He gulped, but ended up sitting in the chair on the far left. The guy looked nice, it might just be okay.

"Wait, Kurt!" Dave flinched at the sudden shriek from behind them. Through the tent, he could see bouncy, blonde curls trying to push past everyone in their way. When Dave could finally make out that it was a young woman, his breathing hitched suddenly. She had the biggest smile on her face as she rushed around the chairs to Kurt's front side. She held an ice pack and white arm sling.

"Sorry, sorry." She urged to the interviewer who was waiting patiently.

"Thanks, Violet. You're the best." Kurt praised as she helped his arm into the sling and placed the ice back on his elbow softly. Dave stared at her, enamoured for two reasons. One: he didn't know who she was or where she came from and two: she was gorgeous.

"It's not the coldest but it's all they had," Violet frowned, hoping Kurt didn't mind. And of course the sweet boy didn't. He was beyond thankful she even went through the trouble to get him these things, "I'll let you boys get to it. Sorry again." She began to walk away before patting Krists head much like a dog. Krist only laughed at the woman, making Dave realize that Krist must've known her as well. Why didn't he know her though?

"I was hoping she'd be here," Kurt spoke up, "she hasn't met Dave yet."

"You said her name was Violet?" Dave asked licking his lips, they'd become very dry over the course of him gawking at her.

"Yep," Krist answered, "She always comes to these things. She's kinda like a groupie for the punks like us. Minus the sex part, obviously." He added awkwardly. Though, there wasn't another word Krist could use to describe her.

"Oh," Dave straightened out his jacket, "that's... cool. Does she fly with the bands or—"

"She comes with Courtney most of the time. Two peas in a pod." Kurt explained. Dave nodded, he knew Courtney. He knew the types of people she hung out with, he liked them. He might just like Violet, in fact he already did. The second he saw her, he knew he had to know her.

"Can we get started now?" The interviewer had just a hint of attitude in his voice. The band hesitantly agreed, a little excited now. They loved to make fun of prissy, snotty interviewers and make them look stupid. It was their favorite activity besides playing music. Dave took one last look behind him with an eye out for blonde curls, but he had no luck. He frowned a little, but quickly covered it up, hoping he'd see her later tonight.