and the stars will all come out

chapter two! ☆

AS FAR AS DAVE GROHL WAS CONCERNED, HE WAS EXPERIENCING A REBIRTH.

It had taken two long, gruelling weeks to clean up everything they'd deposited in Nate's humid basement over that past year, and even longer to decide what they wanted to keep for the drive and what they wanted to toss. But now they were finally out on the open road, windows down as far as they could go, ready to face a full week of driving with a few packs of cigarettes between them, a full tank of gas, and all the CDs that reminded Dave of Virginia. Every time Taylor had ended up in the passenger seat and a Bowie song came on, he yelled all the lyrics he could remember out of the open window, which made the rest of them laugh until Nate almost choked on his Doritos in the backseat, and it was all such a rush of dopamine that Dave didn't even realize how long they'd been driving for until they were pulling over to check into a crappy motel.

They were in New Mexico.

Nate was hugging a pillow as he climbed out of the car, and as his feet hit the pavement, he looked up at the sky like a little kid.

"Don't the stars seem brighter here?"

Taylor glanced around the empty parking lot, then up at the sky. "I dunno what you're talking about."

He looked back at Dave. "You got a lighter?"

"Later," Dave told him. "I'll get us checked in."

Nate was still staring up at the sky as Dave walked away, and an awkward beat passed between them.

"It's starting to hit me how little I noticed when I was in LA," he said to Taylor. "And it's scary thinking about how I'm only gonna go through this world once."

At this, Taylor grinned at him. "The world's huge, ain't it?"

"Sort of," Nate answered. "I mean - certainly seems that way when everything in the States is so spread apart."

"It's not that way in Europe," Taylor said knowledgeably. "You know, I went on a camping trip with my parents in Finland once, back when I was in high school, and when I went to get takeout for us all one night, I ended up getting lost and drove around in Norway for two hours. A whole different country. Wasn't even a sign that said welcome to fucking Norway."

Nate grinned, hugging his pillow tighter. "Can't imagine what that's like."

Taylor shrugged his shoulders. "Fucking horrifying, that's what it's like."

"Guys!" Dave called from across the parking lot: he held up the key he was holding and jangled it. "Room 84!"

☆

LITTLE ROCK WAS A CURIOUS CITY.

"When's the last time you've been here, Nate?" Taylor asked as he climbed out of the car.

Nate grimaced, already counting the dollar bills he had left for snacks. "High school."

Dave nodded, understanding the odd feeling of temporarily being in a city for a night or less - knowing that someone out there had found their heart in the place that he now stood, probably broken it a few times, discovered every nook and cranny, the whole circle of life, and he was just some random loser passing through.

You got used to it eventually.

"Move quickly and then we'll be out of here," Dave replied, nudging him reassuringly. "Get me some Slim Jims while you're in there, 'kay?"

Nate nodded, speed-walking to catch up to Taylor (who was already heading towards the gas station) while Dave stayed behind to refill the car.

Geographically, they still had so much farther to go, but if the rest of the road trip went anything like it had so far, he knew it wouldn't be much longer now. Even though he'd been stuck with the same two people in a shitty car for most of their journey, and he'd periodically lost feeling in his legs from the lack of leg room, time had practically disappeared in a haze of cigarette smoke. Hope had started to overtake the fear - he had nothing left to lose, and fuck, did it ever feel wonderful.