Another Five Years

Let It Be

"What fucking happened?"

Dave had finally gotten enough of a hold on his tears to make a coherent sentence, but Anna obviously wasn't ready. She sharply shook her head and took several short breaths before collapsing in his arms.

Taylor suddenly appeared with a glass of water that she gratefully took, but didn't drink. She just kept gulping air like a fish out of water and it was scaring the hell out of Dave. "I can't- I can't breathe," she gasped.

"Panic attack," Taylor said, taking the water back and shoving Dave away from her. "Anna? Can you hear me?" he asked loudly.

Dave pressed his back against the hallway wall, completely terrified of what was happening in front of him. She nodded a little, but when her knees gave out, Taylor was there to catch her. He carried her into the bedroom while Dave remained motionless, staring down the steps at Scoots who was worriedly watching everything unfold from the lower level. The sound of water bouncing off the shower walls shook Dave from his stupor and he found Taylor standing under the steady stream with Anna still in his arms.

"This helped me in rehab," he explained, never taking his eyes off Anna's face. "She'll come around soon."

"What should I do?" he managed, looking around for something, anything that would make him feel useful.

"Towels... maybe get your bed ready for two people?"

The part of Dave's brain where he would throw a smart ass comment back at his best friend had been rendered disabled and the fact scared the hell out of him. Would anything ever be funny again? Would anyone give a shit about their music again? What would the world be like once the dust literally cleared? He darted around his bedroom laying out towels and throwing down clean sheets when Taylor came out of the bathroom in his dripping wet clothes to find him staring at a candle on the dresser.

"The fuck are you doing?" he asked tossing a towel over his hair.

"Would this help? It's lavender..." Dave asked, holding his lighter and feeling like a complete idiot.

"Smoke and fire are probably a bad idea," Taylor muttered. "I'll be across the hall with Scoots if you need me."

His feet made squishing noises on the carpet as he left the room and Dave suddenly feared being alone with Anna. What if she freaked out again and he couldn't help her?

"David?" Anna called from the bathroom, sending his heartbeat into overdrive. Hearing his full name was strange enough in LA, but seeing her leaned against the counter wearing only a towel and wet hair, holding his toothbrush was just bizarre. "Can I use this? I didn't really... pack anything except the dog."

He thought about the drawer next to her right hip that was the designated 'one night stand' kit. It was full of various condoms, hair ties, brand new toothbrushes, etc., and was something he once thought was incredibly cool and clever, but now felt completely disgusted by. "Yeah, of course," he said quickly, making a mental note to clear that shit out as soon as Anna wasn't looking.

"Thanks," she said softly, staring down at his toothbrush in silence long enough to worry him.

"Do you want me to stay in here with you?"

She nodded, her shoulders slumping a little in relief as she wet the toothbrush.

*

Dave sat back on the bed as Anna crawled in next to him wearing one of his shirts. She fell back against the pillow and frowned, looking up at him as he turned off the light.

"Did you change the sheets?"

"Yeah," he slid down in the bed next to her, careful to leave room between them. "I thought-"

She didn't wait to hear the rest before rolling into his side and throwing her arms around him. He was stunned for a moment, soaking up the feel of her touch as he rolled to face her. "What happened, Anna?" Her green eyes went wide as his hands went to her face, holding her just firmly enough to let her know that she was safe. 

"I didn't know what else to do," she whispered. "I went into this horrible robot mode and I just... I just got in my car, went home and got Scooter and I drove here."

"You drove," he said bluntly. "You drove from Arlington to LA?"

She nodded, her eyes still locked on his. "I just needed to be somewhere safe and he told me to go to you."

He felt as if his heart had shattered in his chest. This girl, the girl he had known since he was just a kid, one of his best friends and at times worst enemies, the one he had resigned himself to always love, she had come to him in her time of crisis and he wasn't sure if he was man enough to be what she needed. Her response had already answered his most important question, but he needed to hear it from her.

"Anna...," he hesitated, scared of what her reaction might be. "Where is Aaron?"

Her eyes instantly unfocused from his and he felt what was left of his heart rip from his chest. "He went back in. He got me out and then he went back in."

"Jesus christ...," he pulled her to his chest, holding her so tightly that her breathing was labored and his arms ached, but neither of them cared.

"We didn't know what had happened," she went on, her voice against his skin and so far away at the same time. "He said it was an earthquake with the way the building just... boom and the alarms and the smoke... then we got outside and saw."

He let her talk knowing she had to get it out. She had just spent nearly 40 hours in her car with only her dog to talk to after experiencing one of the most horrific and disastrous events in human history, now was the time for him to shut up and listen.

"I fought him, David. He put me in the car and then tried to go back in, but I held on to him so tightly that I ripped his uniform and scratched his arm... and he didn't care. He said, 'Go to Dave' and-"

"Wait, what?" he pulled back to see her face again, alarmed that he had come up in such a moment.

"He told me to go to you. I probably would have ended up here anyways but he needed to know where to find me, I guess."

"How do you know?" he asked. "What if...?" What if Aaron walked through that door right now, smelling of smoke and stale coffee?

Anna shook her head, tears welling just above her lashes. "I got a phone call on the highway in New Mexico. The funeral is next week at Arlington."

The finality of it all tipped him over the edge. Aaron was gone and he had exited as a true hero, which wasn't at all surprising. He had saved Anna's life and probably several more, using his last words to his wife to tell her to find him. In the heaviness of it all, it was easy to look for the significance, the double meaning behind his words. Aaron had sent Anna to him so she would be safe, but it was an open-ended request that he not only placed on Anna but on him as well.

*

He woke up with a start, squinting against the harsh sunlight that bathed his bedroom. He had never put up curtains, finding he woke up early enough not to need them and it kept the one night stands from getting too comfortable, but now he was swearing as he covered his eyes with the blanket. In his sleep-fogged mind, he felt that blissful moment of innocence before the proverbial truck of recollection hit him.

Anna. Aaron. Arlington.

He bolted from his empty bed and ran down the stairs, skidding to a stop in the kitchen where Taylor was leaning against the slider door, staring out into the backyard. Anna was running around their little yard with Scooter, tossing a tennis ball through the grass for him to chase. Dave watched her for a moment, letting out a relieved breath when she laughed at the black labrador.

"She'll be okay," Taylor said softly. "There might be some long nights, but she's pretty fucking tough."

"Aaron... he...," he started but couldn't finish the sentence. He didn't doubt that she was tough, but this was a pretty fucking massive hurdle for her to overcome.

"Yeah," Taylor stared down at his bare feet and sighed. "She asked if we'd all go to the funeral."