By the Light of the Moon

chapter four

     We drive home in the same fashion, my lap and arms full with a large bag of donuts- all of which Dave barely allowed me to partially pay for. We ended our concert in the middle of "Dazed and Confused", much to Dave's chagrin. I noticed he was taking the longer, slower way home just so we could 'get to the good part'.

     He pulls into the driveway and sprints out of the car just to make it to the passenger's side and open my door for me. I glance up at him, giving another sideways look, but before I can open my mouth in protest, he stops me,

     "What? Your hands are full," he spits out, matter-of-factly, "I'm not gonna let your clumsy ass drop the food- I'm hungry!" I roll my eyes and step out, letting him lead the way back into the house.

     Dave unlocks and opens the door with a clamor, flickering the living room lights on and off to wake up the boys. We're met with moans and groans, cursing and kicking. "Christ, Dee!" and, "What the fuck?!" heard all throughout the room.

     "Hey, hey, wake the fuck up!" Dave calls, "Soup's on!" He snatches the bag from me and waves it around. I rest my hand on my temple and grin, 'he really isn't the most pleasant in the mornings.'

     The first to make coherent words is James. He sits up, rubbing his eyes and then smoothing out his hair. He blinks slowly before realizing what's going on. "Dee, you got donuts?"

     "As always!" I reach out and offer him a hand to get up. He takes it, nearly pulling me to the floor in the process. He catches his footing, his lanky legs wobbling. I laugh and put up my arms in a faux-flex motion. He ruffles my hair before heading for the kitchen, eyes on the prize. Lars and Cliff are fast to follow, wordlessly eyeing the bags of donuts that Dave is unpacking.

     "Dave, how the fuck did you get up so early?" Lars raises an eyebrow, "weren't you the last to fall asleep?" This earns nods and murmurs from Cliff and James, looking over to Dave. He shrugs, keeping his eyes on the donut in his hand as he chews. "Diana woke me up," he swallows, "cleaning and all,"

     I sheepishly grin and peep out a 'sorry' before turning around and making some coffee, tactfully hiding my blush again. Thankfully, Dave is casual enough with his response to where no one asks any more questions. Instead, Lars pipes up about a gig, and the conversation goes on flowing. I turn to face them all, quietly stirring in sugar to my cup of coffee, pretending to listen, nodding along when appropriate. 'Why the fuck are you overthinking everything?' I scream in my head, 'Dude- nothing's serious about this! Dave was being cool this morning, there's nothing wrong with lending a hand- you help the boys pack gear all the time, it's just simple favors. Why are you getting worked up all of the sudden?'

     "Di- wait, are you listening?" Cliff snaps me out of my daze. My eyes flutter and I shake my head. "Shit sorry, I uh, spaced out. What's up?"

     "He asked if you're still coming to Ruthie's in two days," Dave butts in, "we kinda need the extra help to pack before we head over there for the gig." The rest of the boys turn to look at me. My eyes scan them all and land back on Dave. His eyes narrow and he turns his head slightly. 'Fuck.'

     "Y-yeah! Why wouldn't I?" I smile, trying to shift the attention from myself. James and Cliff look at each other and shrug it off, and Lars nods, acknowledging it and moving on, continuing about what time we need to get there, when the headliners are showing up, so on and so forth. But Dave's eyes aren't moving, and for once, I'm daring to hold his gaze. My heartbeat picks up- I wonder what he'll do if I keep his eye contact.

     He mouths a quick, 'you alright?' and I nod to answer him. I psyched myself out for no reason... he probably thinks there's something wrong with me.

     I tune back into the conversation being had at the table, trying to distract myself yet again. 'God, cool it, Dee.' I've never been very good at the whole self-soothing thing, but it looks like I've gotta learn to manage.