By the Light of the Moon

chapter six

     Bright and early wasn't exactly the truth- but I should have seen that coming. I show up to James' house at noon, thinking I would be late, yet I step into a dimly lit living room with, yet again, the boys and mountains of beer cans and pizza boxes on the floor, on the tables... What a sight to behold. Setup is typically around five, so that leaves me wondering how the hell I'm going to get all of the boys up and coherent in time to load everything up, haul it all over to Ruthie's and soundcheck in a timely manner...

     My train of thought is interrupted by a stirring sound in the kitchen, so I peek around the corner and look to see who or what is there. And there, only shown clearly by the stream of light falling through the open curtains in the conversely gray looking kitchen is Dave, stirring a spoon in a mug of coffee. His ginger curls all amiss, his torso clad by a fitted black t-shirt, and the same old blue jeans as always.

     "Mornin'," he acknowledges, barely turning to glance up at me through his bangs.

     "Oh- Dave! How long have you been awake? I expected you all to be dead as doornails," I tried to stifle my anxiety by acting as casual as him. He scoffs and shakes his head in agreement.

     "I figured this would be a two-person job. You're always stuck doing the hard shit by yourself," he replies matter-of-factly. I blink in response, feeling my mind reeling already. He's been so uncharacteristically kind recently- not to say Dave was really an asshole like everyone assumes. He has his moments with everyone where he lets his true heart shine through, but he jokes that those are times of a "lapse in judgment". Before, he would always tease me, 'Now don't let anyone hear about this- could ruin my reputation, y'know?' before giving a cheeky smile followed by a gentle jab with his elbow in my ribs.

     "Well thanks," I let out, "I definitely could use the help. I know this place is gonna be just as trashed as it is now after the show, but I don't wanna make my work twice as hard."

     He smiles and nods in agreement before taking a sip out of the mug and prompting to get started with cleaning. We make our rounds where we can, this time not worrying about waking the boys. Things were starting to feel a little more natural with Dave. Of course we were always friends, but being around him was comfortable, even one on one. I used to be so intimidated by him, the way he could put off anybody with a mean glare or some quick witted, sarcastic comebacks. He was always made of steel, but I think I'm starting to see it melt.

     Our conversation was abruptly halted with grumbles from Cliff and James, both croaking about closing the blinds, to stop being so noisy, which earned pretty good laughs from both me and Dave.

"Well listen here, smartasses, call time is five, and it's about one thirty. Get up before I throw your asses off the couch," Dave barks.

     "Christ, when'd you get so serious?" James groans. I laugh and sit next to his legs on the couch, patting his shin. His eyes flutter open, and he smiles. "Oh, that's why. Knew you were up to no good, Dee." He slowly gets up and ruffles my hair, swatting my hands at his arms to get him to stop. Through my squinted smile, I catch Dave look away, shoving his hands in his pockets before going to the recliner where Lars sleeps, shaking his shoulders, giving him the same speech.

     "I didn't have the chance to grab breakfast James, I'm sorry," I look back at the blond and offer an apology. He makes a face, "Nah, s'all good! We're low on time anyway, we can eat on the way to Ruthie's." I nod in surrender. I hear angry grumbles from Lars' side of the room and already feel a ridiculous smile creep to my lips. This morning is gonna be a handful.