All Apologies

A Matter Of Time

On October 19th, 1998, Abi's mother died, and Taylor got a call from his parents informing him of what had happened. They told Taylor she was staying with them until he could come and get her. He knew this was coming, but he never fully grasped the idea that she was going to die. Taylor goes to Dave after that phone call and sits down on the edge of the couch with his leg shaking, not knowing if he will be able to get Abi. He was only new to the band, and even though he and Dave had bonded so much, he didn't know if he could travel that far to get a kid. Dave breaks the silence, "Taylor, what's up?" Taylor places his head into his hands and tries not to cry, "I have to go back to California for about a week for some family shit." Dave can tell Taylor is distraught and wants Taylor to tell him what's wrong because he hates to see his best friend so stressed out, "T, are you ok?" Taylor starts to cry and tells him that he must go and get his kid, Dave sits there in shock for a bit before replying. "You have a kid? And was able to keep it a secret? How old?" Taylor tells him it's an adoptive situation and all about the promise he had made with Abi's mother, and he answers anything else Dave asks. "Family means everything to me Dave, and she's the biggest fucking part of my life," Dave agrees and tells Taylor to go and get his kid. "I'm excited to meet her, and if all the legal shit gets sorted before the tour, I have no problem with her tagging along."

On the trip to get Abi, Taylor stresses over everything; clothes for her, the house, how she feels, the tour, and legal stuff. When Taylor finally arrives, he rushes into his childhood home to find Abi. He goes back to panicking when she is nowhere to be seen and doesn't answer when he calls her name. His parents calm him down, "Taylor baby, everything is ok, she is in the garage." His dad picks up after his wife, sounding slightly annoyed at the whole situation, "She has been smashing the drums for hours." When Taylor is about to walk off to the garage, his parents try to convince him to leave Abi to the foster care system. "Taylor, your father and I believe you can't handle the responsibility of a child." Taylor gets annoyed at this, he wants his parents to support this, "Mum, Dad, you don't understand. I am the last person she trusts unconditionally, and I can't just fucking abandon her like that!" His parents hesitate before they end up agreeing, they know deep down that Taylor would do anything for that girl.

When Taylor enters the garage, Abi is in the middle of a song, so he leans against the wall. Abi sees him but continues to finish the song because she knows he won't stop her playing. Taylor loves watching her play even though she is young and with a heavily adjusted drum kit, she plays well for her age. She finishes the song before putting the sticks down, looking at the blonde on the verge of tears. She turns her body towards him and asks, "Are you going to be my dad?" Taylor looks at the kid, tears starting to form, "I'm still Taylor unless you want to call me 'Dad'.'" He walks towards the drum set and Abi gets up, running into his arms. She starts to cry and tells him how she tried to help her mother, "She wouldn't wake up T, I tried everything!" She hugs Taylor and he rubs her back to comfort her. "After the rest of the legal things are sorted over the next few days, I'm taking you back to meet the Foo Fighters. You'll get to meet my best friend, Dave. He might even teach you how to play guitar." The girl sniffles into Taylor's shoulder, all Taylor can think about is how he will give this girl everything he can and is willing to protect her with his life.