Greta Van Fleet Imagines

Memories (Danny Wagner)

It was drizzling on the day

She asked me for divorce

Okay, so she didn't ask me for a divorce. We weren't technically married, but we were together for so long it felt like we were. It came out of nowhere, for me at least. I'm sure she was thinking about it for days before actually bringing it up. She was blunt when she asked. No emotion was evident on her face. You could easily tell this was her final decision. I don't blame her. We were fighting more often than not. Most of the time, our fights weren't even justified. It was just us getting under each other's skin. But isn't that what couples do?

As much as it hurt for me to hear her say she was done and wanted to break up, I told her, of course. What else was I supposed to say? I couldn't try and force the relationship, especially when it was clear that she's moved on. I guess she was tired of the fighting — the constant yelling. The distance between us, both physically and emotionally. The fighting was always worse when I returned from a tour. I guess being away from each other for so long gave her time to overthink. Then once I arrived home, everything would explode. I left my suitcase by the door – fight. She left her makeup out on the bathroom counter – fight. Even when I was home, we barely saw each other. My sleep schedule was usually messed up as a result of jet lag, and when I was awake, she was sleeping.

The hardest part of it all had to be watching her pack up her stuff and carry it out to her car. No words were spoken to each other that day, aside from a simple "Goodbye Daniel" as she put on her sunglasses and drove away. That's when I knew it was over. She called me by my full name. Not Danny or drummer, or any of the other countless nicknames she gave me over the years.

Once her car was out of sight, and I was back in the safety of my own apartment, I lost it. I've never been much of a drinker; usually, I reserved that role in the band for Sam or Jake. But that day, I most likely would have been considered an alcoholic. I drank what alcohol I did have, not caring that I was mixing liquor with beer. I just wanted to forget what happened. I was going to remember what I wanted to, and this day wouldn't be one of those memories.

It was a couple of days later, when I decided to go through the boxes of memories under the bed we once shared together. They were mostly filled with pictures. That was her thing; mine was music while hers was photography. She was regularly taking pictures either with her phone or the camera she carried around with her. Most of them were pointless, just us being stupid together. But there was one that stuck out. Mainly because I remembered the day like it was yesterday.

We climbed into the oak

You offered me a smoke

What else do you say?

The picture itself was just us kissing, but Y/N was hanging upside down from a tree. She wrapped her legs around a branch and just let herself fall backward. For the first time in days, I laughed. This was typical Y/N, going to absurd lengths to get what she would consider the perfect picture.

We had decided to go hiking that day, something we both enjoyed doing. After walking for a bit, we came across a large oak tree in a clearing. Y/n took off towards the tree before I even had a chance to catch up with her. But that's how it always was. She was always fifteen steps ahead of me. She jumped up onto a low hanging branch without much effort. I, on the other hand, almost died trying to get up there.

Once we were both situated, Y/N pulled out a smoke and offered it to me. I do smoke occasionally, and I have nothing against it. It's just not something I enjoy regularly doing. We sat in silence for a bit, passing the smoke back and forth while taking in the sounds of nature. Eventually, Y/N grabbed her phone and began playing Madonna. I laughed partially from the high that was setting in and partly from the fact that she was actually playing Madonna. But I shouldn't have been surprised. Madonna is one of her favorite musicians. That was another difference between us. Y/N was in 80s pop/rock music while I, on the other hand, prefer 60s blues with the occasional 70s rock band thrown in.

She puffed on the joint swinging her legs along to the music. Suddenly she spoke, not once taking her eyes off of the sky. "Do you think we'll go extinct one day?"

"I'm sorry, what?" I was caught off guard by her question.

"Do you think we'll go extinct one day? Like the animals from centuries ago. The mammoths and the dinosaurs." She handed me the joint, and I took a drag. It was beginning to near its last leg now.

I thought for a moment before answering. "Probably. If the earth goes through another drastic climate change like it's done in the past. But that would probably be long after we're gone."

She didn't answer back; she just nodded her head in response. I handed her back the joint, and she took one last drag before tossing out into the high grass around us. After a moment of silence, I jumped down from the branch we were sitting on. I expected Y/N to follow behind me, but instead, she swung backward, legs wrapped tightly around the branch as to not fall. She leaned in and kissed me. One hand resting on my shoulder, the other one was used to take the picture. The sky spun so fast when I felt her lips on mine that day. It was pure bliss.

I prayed for the day I would remember thesemoments, and here I am reliving them all on my bedroom floor. The onlydifference this time is that you're not here to laugh with me anymore.