OUT OF THE RED ↝ dave grohl

forty-two.

TIME DID NOT appear to be on Dave and Reagan's side as their small vacation in Springfield flew by with unfortunate speed. Before either of them knew it, they were only two days shy of flying back to Washington. Reagan surprised herself when she felt a lingering sadness towards the idea of returning home.

"I don't think I'm ready to go back," she confessed to Dave as they sat in his room. They were getting ready for a noonday lunch courtesy of Ginny.

"Me neither," Dave said as he pulled a t-shirt spotted with holes over his head. "But I've got to get back to the band. And you've got work."

"Sadly," Reagan said with disappointment, always resenting of being reminded about her job. She laid back down Dave's bed, sprawling her arms out wide so that she assumed the position of a snow angel.

Nothing would ever compare to the week she had spent with him and his family. Ginny had been an excellent host and genuinely interested to know every detail about Reagan and her life. Simply being around Ginny made Reagan envious that Dave had been able to grow up with such a lovely mother.

Lisa had been just as welcoming, though she also served as a compelling tour guide. Between Ginny's fondness of gushing over memories and Lisa's knack for embarrassing Dave, Reagan had learned so much history about the first person she'd ever fallen in love with.

She wasn't even quite sure what her favorite moment of all had been. Perhaps it was a tie between Lisa carting her around to all of Dave's old venues from when he was in Scream, or Ginny living up to Dave's characterization and showing off family-filmed videos of Dave as a little boy.

Throughout it all, Reagan had nonetheless felt welcomed by the Grohls. With every passing day, she'd become more smitten with Ginny and Lisa and their special way of making her feel loved even when she still technically remained a stranger. They had integrated her as part of their family, though certain mysteries did remain. Reagan was still unsure of just how the deep the discourse with Dave's father, James, ran.

"He's not around anymore," Dave had told Reagan coldly when she'd asked him about it. "We don't speak often."

"Why?" Reagan had questioned gently in return, prepared to be the person Dave could divulge his familial tensions to.

"Because we're about as close as two people living on different planets," Dave said back with finality, closing the subject.

After that, Reagan had not brought up Dave's dad again. Ginny had mentioned him in passing when she'd told her usual round of dinner table stories, but other than that, the man remained nearly nonexistent. Lisa had told Reagan that their dad had not approved of Dave's aspirations as a kid. That hint of information was enough for Reagan to conclude that Dave had every right to avoid discussing his father.

Dave's dad aside, the family that he was close to had proved to be as wonderful as he'd promised. The trip was far from the dreadful failure Reagan had imagined it to be. The only downside was that she felt inexplicably closer to Dave now that she'd formed connections with Lisa and Ginny. The thought of not only losing him but also the addition of two more special people scared her. But that was only the pessimist inside her talking.

"What are you thinking?" Dave asked. He jostled the edge of his twin bed as he sat down beside Reagan, placing his hand on her bare thigh. She was wearing cut off shorts that day and a tank top, a far cry from her usual ensemble of t-shirts and jeans.

"Just that I've had a really great time here," Reagan said, telling the truth.

"I didn't know if you'd like Virginia. I thought you'd be dying to go home by the second day of the trip."