Another Five Years

Fool in the Rain

*January 1995*

"Are you fucking kidding me, Jen?" Dave raked his hair off his face and spun around to face his wife. He was already drunk, standing under the awning of Re-Bar as it poured rain. 

"They said it was okay!"

"Fuckin'... fine. Whatever," he muttered and ripped open the door to the bar. He had been kicked out of that very same bar years before at an album release party when he, Krist and Kurt had sparked a food fight. It wasn't that he was worried they would kick him out again, in fact, the bar owner had begged the band to come back several times, he just didn't want to dredge up old memories when he was working so hard to move forward. The people that partied at Re-Bar were the ones desperately holding on to whatever rock was before Kurt died, but in the ten months he had been gone there had been a major shift in the industry and Dave was eager to change with it. 

Being a Saturday night, the bar section was packed with people and the venue side was even busier. He was recognized instantly, probably because there was a giant poster of a Rolling Stone shoot right next to the front door. Irritation grew in his chest as Jen waited impatiently for him to sign whatever his fans could find and took her arm when they approached the bar. "If you didn't want me to deal with people," he mocked her through clenched teeth, "You should have picked a different fucking bar, Jennifer."

She huffed in annoyance and shrugged him off, stepping past him when she saw some of their friends at the bar. He had specifically asked her not to invite Krist and yet there he was, his six foot seven frame towering over the rest of the crowd around him. He loved the guy, they had grown so close over the years, he just didn't want to be seen in public with him just yet. He was about to go say hi when Nate's girlfriend Kate appeared in front of him with a Jack and Coke.

"Happy birthday, Davey!" she said happily and handed him the drink before hugging him tightly. 

"Thanks, Katie," he slurred and took a drink out of the tiny straws while she laughed. 

"Have you met my friend Annie yet?"

Fuck. Kate stepped aside to reveal Anna and he let the straws fall from his lips. She was wearing a leather jacket over a dark floral baby doll dress, thigh high socks and Docs while sweetly smiling at him. The image of her bent over the bar's bathroom sink in front of him flashed through his mind and he blinked a couple times to clear his head. "Yeah, we talked for a bit at the last Sunny Day gig," he said smoothly and reached out to hug her with one arm. "Hi, Anna."

"Hey," she said shyly, slipping her arm around his waist and squeezing. "Happy birthday."

They stared at each other for a second, their smiles turning from hesitant to stifled laughter at their shared secret. No one knew that they had a past together or that they even knew each other before the previous autumn.

"Will you get me a white wine, honey?" Jen's voice interrupted their moment and Anna snapped her arm back so quickly she almost dropped her drink. 

Dave watched her link arms with Kate and quickly walk away, feeling his heart sink a little. 

"Dave, did you hear me?" Jen poked his shoulder hard enough to hurt and he took a couple breaths to calm down before brushing her off to go stand with Krist. 

He soon forgot his irritation with his wife after finishing the drink Kate had given him and the shots Krist had insisted on buying. His large group of friends was milling around the back part of the bar where several couches were arranged and a jukebox was blasting whatever the drunks were requesting. He found he was positioning himself so that Anna was in his line of sight at all times, though she remained at Will's side. Will was visibly drunk, keeping his fiance within arm's reach unless he sent her on another drink run in which Dave took every opportunity to join her at the bar.