and the stars will all come out

chapter nine! ☆

WITH THE AMOUNT OF EMPHASIS LANDRY HAD BEEN PUTTING ON HALLOWEEN, DAVE WOKE UP THE MORNING OF THE 31st FEELING VERY TENSE.

Why is she so obsessed with Halloween anyway? Dave wondered blearily as he sat up on the couch, rubbing his eyes. On top of feeling very tense, he also felt very tired: he probably needed to stop passing out with a guitar on top of him in the basement.

He completely and utterly refused to let the hangover bloom in his head: ignoring the searing pain in his legs, he stood up and began to hunt for any decent-smelling clothes that had been spending the past few days on the floor, numbly trying to decide between having a shower or having a cigarette first.

Cigarette, then shower, Dave decided, as he felt no motivation to rush.

In one way or another, this was what Dave's early mornings looked like now. Landry was often the very first thing he thought about, and it was like his mind kept inventing excuses to bring her up throughout her day until it was near nauseating. It didn't matter whether that was wondering what she was doing at that very moment, or hoping she was okay, at least, or feeling his stomach do a backflip whenever he caught a glimpse of her face from his imagination--

Dave grinned in spite of himself, because everything wasn't racy in his imagination.

Landry, to put it plainly, was beautiful all the time. Every time Dave looked at her, he found something he liked, and the longer he looked, the more he found himself taking notes, because he'd have to commit to the whole "officially writing songs now" thing at some point, right?

Whether it was the fact that her smile was wide and full, or that her eyes were the kind of deep brown that made him shiver, or her blonde hair was a curly, wavy, frizzy mess that fell to her shoulders perfectly, somehow, she was always beautiful. He found himself wanting to get closer to her whenever she was around, like he was freezing and she was the warmth.

Dave had accepted how enthralled he was by her at this point. It had been even longer since he'd accepted that the stomach backflips and the weren't just going to go away the longer he saw Landry. He wasn't sure if he should view it as an infection bound to get worse, but ultimately he didn't care, because it felt too good.

No doubt about it: he had finally found his muse.

For the first time since moving to Virginia, Dave shivered from the draft as he went to light his cigarette. This was another new feeling: with the blankets thrown everywhere and the absolute refusal to open a window, it was often so humid in the basement he was forced to go without a shirt.

He thought of it as like a checkpoint. As the world moved into November of 1998, his life was bound to change— he'd have new and exciting opportunities with Landry.

A rush of excitement ran through him, suddenly, and Dave felt the very bizarre urge to reach over for the basement landline phone and call Landry to tell her he missed her.

Enthralled again, he puffed on his cigarette as he imagined how intoxicating it would feel to see her later.

☆

"WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO YOU THIS MORNING?" NATE BASICALLY YAWNED, EYING DAVE SUSPICIOUSLY AS HE FOUGHT HARD TO GET THIS STUPID SMILE OFF HIS FACE.

They were the only two in the kitchen waiting for the coffee to brew, so Dave had been doing his best to to act natural. Clearly, it wasn't working.

He tried his best for his usual smile that didn't make him look like a maniac. "What, are you not excited for Halloween?"

To his relief, Nate smiled gently. "I'll admit it's kind of hard not to be, with Landry around."