and the stars will all come out

chapter twenty-one! ☆

DAVE HAD NO CLUE WHAT HAD HAPPENED TO LANDRY, AND HE WAS IN FULL-BLOWN PANIC MODE.

Okay...shit.

The secret was definitely blown, now, and there was nothing he could do about it. He had no idea how Landry had reacted, because he hadn't actually been there when it happened, so he was now left to deal with the aftermath. The inevitable confrontation - fuck fuck fuck, he could just hear her voice now.

Why didn't you tell me, Dave?

Truthfully, Dave didn't even know. In his mind's eye, he saw the cameras flashing, the chaos of the red carpet, the enormous, eye-catching titles on the magazines, and everything else - a world he'd never intended for Landry to deal with. If he ignored how selfishly he'd been acting recently, at the core of his attempt to hide himself from her, he'd wanted to shield her from that.

Sighing, he flicked ash off the end of his joint, onto the frozen ground. He was outside on the frigid porch again, a blanket from the basement thrown over his legs, watching the fireflies dart around the driveway. It had been years since he'd been interested in smoking weed, but after it became clear that the knot in his stomach wasn't about to go away, he'd had Taylor roll him a joint just before he left the cabin to go visit some girl in the city. The aftertaste in his mouth tasted more earthy than the harsh tobacco flavour he was used to when he smoked cigarettes.

Truth be told, the joint wasn't doing much to distract from the panic rumbling in his stomach. He'd have to steal Taylor's bong if he wanted to feel anything.

Nate hadn't even come back from the cabin since that afternoon, Dave had no idea where he was, so he would be totally alone with his thoughts for the next few hours. It felt like a punishment: he was trapped in the cabin, drowning in this sinking feeling, suspended in the finite amount of time between when Landry had figured out they were the Foo Fighters and when Dave would inevitably see her next. He had nothing useful or productive to do, he didn't feel like breaking a rib moving the soundboard into the basement to get his mind off of Landry, so he was stuck here. It was a very odd feeling.

Nate leaving for this long was very uncharacteristic of him, and normally Dave would've wondered about what he was doing, but right now he was just worrying about Landry.

Breathing heavily, Dave raised his hand to inhale from the joint again.

☆

WELL, THIS IS FUCKING AWKWARD.

It was the only thought that had passed through Landry's brain ever since she'd woken up.

Yawning, she dressed wearily, wondering what the day ahead of her would look like. She'd been watching the phone on the wall like a hawk ever since she'd confined herself to her apartment, and Evelyn hadn't left any voicemails. The diner wouldn't be open for another three hours, and her songwriting notebook remained closed. She would've usually been content to drive over to the cabin and waste the day away, but considering recent events, she wasn't sure if she wanted to do that anymore.

Ah, well. It was still relatively early. She had a full day's worth of opportunities ahead of her.

In the bathroom, Landry was watching her reflection in the mirror carefully as she stuffed an endless amount of bobby pins into the deformed bun she'd knotted at the back of her head. The bun looked even more deformed than previous attempts, as it was hellbent at flopping out of shape when she turned her head and tiny flyaway hairs were escaping the hair tie, defeating the purpose of her work.

She bit her lip as one of the pins refused to go in: she just wanted her hair out of the way of her face, but--

You've gotta go over there, Lani.