The Punk and the Princess (A Dave Grohl Fanfiction)

Ch. 16 - Stranger Things Have Happened

December 1991

"Can I have a bottle your cheapest beer and a shot of whiskey please" You say to the bartender.

"Coming right up" She says in a thick French accent, as she turns around to grab your beer. You let out a sigh of relief and pull out a cigarette. You loved coming to this bar because even though you were in a small city in France the bartender spoke English.

"Pretty dead today huh?" You ask and she shrugs.

"Well its still early" She replies and you nod, "The music festival is still in town, so I don't know if that means more people or not yet, they could just stay there to drink"

"There's a music festival in town? I didn't even know" You say, shaking your head. For the past couple days you had been finishing up exams before you returned to the states from your semester abroad.

Because of all the studying you'd been doing over the past week or so you had no idea what was going on in the outside world. You had just left your last exam and you were using that as an excuse to drink at 3 in the afternoon, not something part of your normal routine.

Just then someone else comes up to the bar, "Can I have a jack and coke on the rocks please"

Your blood runs cold the second the first syllable escapes his lips. You would recognize that voice anywhere.

You look up at him but don't say anything and when you make eye contact you swear he does an actual double take.

"Holy shit" Dave says breathlessly, "Julia?"

You nod and give a faint smile, "Hi Dave" You say lamely, not knowing what else to do or say.

"Its been...so fucking long since I last saw you holy shit" He says, still looking shocked and you nod.

"Almost six years." You mutter. You look him up and down for a split second, you can tell he's doing the same.

He looks good, as skinny as ever, with even longer hair than before. He has on jeans and a leather jacket, some things never change you thought to yourself.

"Your hair...its different" He says awkwardly, "Its shorter"

You tug on the blonde bob that barely reached your shoulders, "Yeah but that's good right? I'm twenty-two my hair doesn't need to reach my ass anymore."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess I'm the one with long hair now" He says and you nod again.

You're both broken out of your momentary trance by the bartender coming back and handing Dave his drink, which he downs a large portion of almost immediately.

"But what are you doing here?" He asks a minute later, in spite of everything still giving you one of his signature warm smiles.

"I've been here all semester, I'm studying abroad." You explain, still shocked yourself, "I'm guessing you're on tour here?" You ask

"Yeah!" He says enthusiastically, "Did you know I'd be in town?" He asks and you shake your head.

"I've been busy with school lately. I haven't been focusing a ton on what's happening in town over the past few weeks. I just finished up my last exam"

"Wow! Nice" He says, holding up his hand for a high five, "How close to done with school are you?"

"I'm in my senior year of college. My last semester will be when I get back this spring." You respond and his mouth drops open.

"I honestly cannot believe that much time has passed." He says, rubbing the bit of stubble he has left on his face.

"Yeah. A lot has a changed in six years" You say thoughtfully, thinking back on everything that had happened in your life since you last saw Dave.