KISS THE RING ☆ Taylor Hawkins

31. Big boys don't cry

Although their manager had strongly advised them not to stop in Los Angeles, the Foo Fighters still decided to go home for two days, between their busy dates on the American tour that preceded the European one. This meant that Pat and Diane's house would be a circus, but both of 'em thought that they needed it, even if they would regret it when the boys left the house in turmoil again. Diane was trying to get the most out of those last few days of freedom before leaving for the Version 2.0 promotional tour, which would start in mid-May from Wisconsin, spending most of her time with Pat and Dave N. She had found, In the guitarist, another fraternal figure, clearly not like all his other close friends, which she needed at the time. Although the guitarist represented a constant temptation for his old habits, she managed to cope very well with him, limiting herself only to a drink with the dark-haired man and to smoke a few hits of weed sporadically. The singer also saw in Dave something to extrapolate, an inspiration from which to draw to jot down some draft that she would work on later. As much as he, on his side, might seem pimp with her praise and continual compliments on her artistic vision (among other things), Diane always responded by shaking her head with a half-smile on her lips. He was influencing her in everything, her makeup became heavier, almost always coordinating with the guitarist's one, her hair became a more decisive red than the copper color she had worn up to that moment and the clothes more tighter. "You need some tattoos." The guitarist announced when he saw her come out from behind the purple curtain of the dressing room of that poor shop they had decided to empty one afternoon in early May. The redhead, at first leaning her arm against the wall of the dressing room, laughed while, approaching the dark-haired man, she put her hands on the hem of her sleeveless black dress to be able to fix it, trying to cover herself as much as possible. "Not now, maybe after the tour." The guitarist spread her arms towards her who, smiling broadly at him, let himself be held in her arms, joining the laughter of the dark-haired man. "You'd be damn sexy with tattoos on."-"Are you saying that I'm not without 'em?" Dissolving their embrace, the singer put the hands on her hips and, waiting for an answer from him who smiled slyly, looked him up and down with a frown. "It doesn't work on me, Diane." The two stared at each other for a few minutes before interrupting their stupid game to burst into a thunderous laugh that took their breath away. Moments like these inevitably led her to think about the blond, about how much he would have liked to spend more time with them but also how much it would have made him turn up his nose, because despite the appearance where everything seemed ok, she knew that this situation didn't suit Taylor completely down. He didn't want to manage her life or her friendships, but he felt their relationship was in jeopardy, threatened by the guitarist's presence. Diane did nothing but tell him about Navarro, Dave over here, Dave over there, today we did this with Dave, tomorrow we will do this other thing. It was also okay for him that the guitarist could visit Garbage on tour, despite having ruined his day because of that news, preferring the peace of their relationship to Diane's malaise. Although the redhead didn't live this situation so calmly, she wanted to carry on her relationship with Dave trying not to hurt anyone, least of all herself. After the party at the guitarist's house, she had talked to Claudia about this problem, making her friend smile as if the questions she was asking about she had already heard. "Don't you think you have to give that poor Taylor some respite?" Diane gave her a more than confused expression for those words. "Are you saying that it's my fault?" The bass player shrugged her shoulders as she turned her gaze away, ignoring the redhead's eyes fixed on her. "Why can't I keep my friendship with Dave without him feeling bad?" - "Friendship? From your eyes it seems like you have to jump on each other at any moment." The singer put her hands on her hips, lowering her head and shaking it in the process. "I would never do that to Taylor, you don't know how much I care about him."

When the boys set foot in the City of Angels, they immediately headed for the house of their two friends, all three with large smiles printed on their faces: Dave and Taylor couldn't wait to spend the evening drinking and having fun with the redhead and Pat and Nate, as soon as he understood the hint, he put a hand to his forehead, starting to mentally prepare himself for what could have happened. Dave and Taylor literally looked like Beavis and Butt-head, a pairing with an absurd chemistry that the bassist managed to digest and get over it over the years. While Pat, now almost an expert, was in the kitchen preparing dinner for his former bandmates, Navarro and Diane listened to music in the living room, changing and swapping vinyls, devouring one and starting immediately another one after. At that moment, albeit reluctantly, the guitarist put on the Jane's Addiction live album under the advice (obligation) of the redhead who was becoming more fangirl than her boyfriend. "I can't listen to an album of mine without doing a line." He said the before running his hands through his hair and looking around for his shoulder bag. The redhead rushed on him, closing his mouth immediately, hoping the other guitarist hadn't heard them from the other room. "Not here." She then whispered, responding to her friend's confused gaze as he sighed slightly and then nodded his head. "Do what you need to do in my bathroom." She added pointing to the stairs in the first room of the house. "Wanna come with me?" The guitarist took her hand, waiting for her answer which was not long in coming, in fact the singer shook her head slowly, smiling at him just before leaving a kiss on his cheek. "I don't feel like it, Dave." He nodded before taking his bags and going upstairs, locking himself into the redhead's bathroom. Diane took a deep breath after putting her hands on her hips, bursting into laughter only after hearing a wail of pain from her roomate, still inside her kitchen. "Don't you even dare!" Pat announced while the redhead, after leaning her shoulder against the door jamb, crossed her arms over her chest while continuing to keep her amused smile on her lips. She found her friend dabbing his arm with a wet cloth, shaking his head and rolling his eyes in response to the singer's gaze. Certainly he had distracted himself at the stove and burned himself. Suddenly the front door opened wide and Diane, with a smile that ran all over her face, went towards the entrance of the house: the boys introduced themselves, first Dave still wearing sunglasses, a shoulder bag and his inevitable chewing gum between his teeth, on his left was Nate who, with his usual quiet manner, looked around before resting his eyes on Diane, immediately returning her smile; finally there was Taylor, with his back slightly bent forward and sunglasses on his head, who was the last to enter the house and the last to greet the girl who, putting her arms around his neck, held him tightly to her for a few seconds. While the other two made their way to the kitchen, almost certainly to help the guitarist, the couple remained at the entrance. "How long are you staying?" The redhead whispered shortly after, hiding her face in the hollow of the drummer's neck who, giggling at her words, moved away from her to be able to take her face in his hands. "Hello to you, Cherry." The singer poked her lip slightly forward before approaching her boyfriend again, kissing him slowly and gently. The drummer put a hand behind her neck while his other moved to the girl's side, thus making their exchange of effusions more intense. "Give me a reason to not pick you up and take you to your room immediately." The blond whispered after stopping their kiss in order to catch their breath, making the singer laugh as she placed her forehead against his. "Because Pat did-"-"Because you should at least give me time to go downstairs!" Announced Navarro, who had manifested himself on the flight of stairs silently, immediately opening his arms to the two who turned to look at him, Taylor with a confused expression on his face and Diane with an amused one. "Dave! I didn't know you were here." The drummer first smiled at him, then turned to his girlfriend who raised both eyebrows. "I told him you were coming home today and he really wanted to see you, so I invited him to stay for dinner." She shook hands with the blond and he nodded, before he released it to get close to the guitarist and hug him fraternally.