Eddie and I told Andrea, Kelly and Alan about our idea of living together and the search of a house in California or maybe Seattle; firstly, they congratulated us and then they told us not to worry as they were going to check some properties with an specific staff with the characteristics we would like to have, and by the end of the year we could check on those houses, because our schedule was very tight at the moment to go around checking for houses.
However, this didn't mean that we were free to make our romance public, because we were still under pressure from our respective labels, which every time I thought about it, I find it more and more stupid; however, little did I know that thanks to a legal advice from Susan, the band could negotiate with MTV and when the Unplugged was premiered on May, it was the uncut version, which meant, they begun the concert with Oceans and the part where Eddie explains the song remained on it.
Next day everyone was talking about the clear message from Pearl Jam's frontman, Eddie Vedder that finally confirmed some rumours related to a relationship with me. Luckily, when this happened, we were on tour in Europe while PJ was touring in the US, but we still had to cover some interviews, so the staff of both bands would talk with the producers and interviewers to avoid asking something related to our private life.
For a moment I thought this action was ok, because I didn't like that the press was involve in my private life; sure, now I was a high-profile figure, and that was part of the price I had to pay, but I was willing to protect my privacy at all costs.
Then, just when I thought everything was calm, MTV announced a theory about the events in the segment of MTV news; this, consisted in noticing the brown corduroy jacket Eddie was wearing the day of the Unplugged, and the same jacket that I wore on the SNL performance. Of course, nobody knew that I gifted it to Eddie so he could go everywhere with me on those months apart, after he gifted me a necklace with the same meaning, that was staying together in the distance.
I was impressed by the way they started to connect the dots, since I never paid much of attention to a piece of cloth and it seemed like something utterly stupid, but it had totally sense. Now I must say that by this period I was as famous as the fucking Madonna (blessed her heart) and the press wanted a piece of me always... something that I didn't sign for but... that's the way it is.
Spencer was bigger than the rest of the bands that were with us on the ride, although we never asked for this kind of fame; with all this I was feeling the pressure taking over me, but instead of returning to my past sleeping pills, I decided to transform all this frustration into poems that later became song lyrics.
Also, we would be reunited with some bands for the Lollapalooza festival but only until late-August, because our schedule was very busy, but, during a tiny break in the summer of the same year, the guys and I headed to the studio one more time, since I was very inspired by the events of the last months and the hounding of the media on me and my life.
This second album was going to be very different from the first one, and definitely the darkest album of our career; we recorded it in Abbey Road in a month, due to the dates in England we had at the moment, and then we flew to L.A. for the mixing.
The sound was raw and stronger than the previous one, changing a little on the topics. I was happy but also frustrated and feeling a little bit tired, so I basically wrote a mini opera about the price of the fame and the harassment from the press, but I also wrote about the benefits of it, the real friendship and of course about a mature and real love, always inspired by Eddie, but in a subtle way.
Certain day, around 9 am we were surprised by the dramatic arrival of Zack at home; we rented a house near the studio in Beverly Hills and we were taken aback by the sudden loud noise of glass breaking and falling. Immediately we thought it was somebody trying to break in, but when we went downstairs, we could see Zack covered in blood by an injure on his head.
"What the fuck!?" Alan was the first one to run to him as we followed him.
"We have to take him to a hospital!" Tom added, clearly scared.
"What's the nearest hospital?" I asked this time.
"Th- the... uhhmmm... the Cedars-Sinai! Let's take him there!" Adrien added this time, and we all got in Alan's car, as we didn't take so much time because luckily there was no traffic.
In our way to the hospital we learned that Zack got into a fight in a restaurant with some dudes, apparently because those guys started to make rude comments about something that he didn't want to tell us and ended up beating the shit out of them, but also ended up with a cut on his forehead because of this.
We were rushed to E.R. where Andrea was the one who started to fill the papers while Alan talked to the doctors as we soon were aware that Zack was going to be fine, but he needed stitches. The rest of us stayed in the hospital's waiting room talking about random things but soon I found myself very sleepy as it wasn't even 10 am yet and I stayed up very late the previous night, so I decided to go outside and light a cigarette.
With every puff I gave to my cigarette I was feeling less sleepy, but not enough as I needed to be, so I thought about grabbing a coffee after the cigarette, but someone else made it happen before.
"Seems you need this" He told me as I looked at him with a weird expression, but he just gave me a warm smile and a disposable cup with hot coffee in it.
"Kurt...How...?" I asked, clearly confused and he just laughed a little at my reaction.
"Courtney gave birth to our child a few hours ago" He said with a smile.
"Really!? Congratulations!!!" I said extremely happy and hugging him. "And...?" I asked with curiosity.
"It's a girl" He told me proudly.
"This is so fucking cool!" I told him, without hiding my excitement.
"Yes... it is but... it's also terrifying you know?" He answered me with a small change in his voice and lighting a cigarette.
"Well... sure it is but... it's also everything! I mean... you're a father now Kurt. It's not going to be easy, but that's the point" I told him.
"Wow... you sound very mature now" He told me in a serious way but I just laughed.
"If you say so... Anyways, how did you know I needed coffee?" I answered, giving a sip to my coffee.
"I saw Adrien and Thom in the waiting room and they told me about Zack's incident. When I asked for you, Adrien told me you were here smoking, trying to maintained yourself awake and I remembered how you used your combo coffee + cigarette to wake up, so I decided to grab a coffee for you and... here we are" He told me smiling and lighting a cigarette.
"Well... thank you" I told him raising my cup and drinking again "By the way... What happened to your hair?" I asked as I noticed it was shorter.
"Just a small makeover... you don't like it?"
"No, it's ok... you look like a modern Beatle" I told him and we both laughed, until he went serious.
"Uhhmmm... Lily... I need to... I need to tell you something"
"Yes?"
"I want to uhhmmm, apologize for the things I said in Rolling Stone. I know that we had our history but uhhmm... I should've asked you first and... I also want to apologize to Eddie for what I said about his band" He told me, clearly ashamed.
"Alright, I accept your apologies... plus, that was almost 6 months ago, nobody remembers that (I wished). As for Eddie... you'll have to tell him by yourself" I told him and he looked at me with a half-smile.
"So... are we good?"
"Did you apologize to Courtney?" I asked this time.
"Yeah..."
"Alright then, we're good" I said and we both smiled.
Our cigarettes and my coffee finished, and that's when he asked me if I wanted to meet his daughter and I accepted immediately as we both got into the hospital again, until we reached the nursery wing.
"She's the one that it's already moving" He told me, excited.
"Oh my god Kurt!!!!! She's so gorgeous!" I said to him and a nurse noticed us, taking her and going closer to the large window where we could see her better.
"Hey..." He said softly and calling her.
"She looks like Courtney... she's beautiful" I said with all the honesty without taking my eyes off of this precious babe and he just looked at me.
"Talking about Courtney... Do you want to see her?" He asked me and now I looked at him.
"I- I... yes, I would like to but... she's probably very tired and... let's be honest, I'm the last person she would like to see right now... I don't want to upset her more than I already do" I said, looking at the floor.
"I don't... I don't think she's gonna get angry but... you have a point" Kurt told me and smiled at me.
"Have you thought of any name?"
"No... we haven't"
"Well, she's gorgeous like her mom, so any name will suit her"
"Hey... What about me? She's beautiful because of me too" He told me pretending to be offended and I chuckled.
"Alright, she has your eyes" I said and he smiled.
"That's enough" He laughed.
"Anyways, I'm off because I have to return to the others. Congratulations to you and Courtney, you made a beautiful baby... and Kurt, be nice to them... you have two wonderful women in your life now... take care of them and love them... that's all you need" I said, giving him a hug.
"I will, thank you Lily... and good luck in Lollapalooza"
"Thank you! See ya'" I said and walked away.
Soon after I left the place, Courtney appeared next to Kurt, who was surprised, as she told him she left the bed to go see the baby, but she stopped when she saw him talking with me, the last person she expected to see that morning and confessed to overheard our conversation, but that helped her to change a little her perspective.