FEBRUARY, 1989, SEATTLE, WA

                  IF THERE WAS one thing that Lindy could decidedly narrow down about what she admired from Kurt, it had to be his shameless taste in art. It was vulgar and sometimes hard to look at, but she gave him credit for spilling the contents of his mind into his own creations.

Their apartment had turned into a disarray of Kurt's various pieces, from bloodied babydoll heads to portraits of naked bodies with mismatched organs. He'd been painting like crazy, visiting thrift shops and obtaining items that he could deface with his own craft. But Lindy didn't mind. It kept him happy and sane when he wasn't playing shows.

The traces of his art seemed to watch her as she stood in their kitchen, crowding around her like some sort of ritualistic circle.

"So we changed the album name," Kurt declared, entering the kitchen where Lindy stood removing a pot from its place in the cabinet.

"Really?" she said, setting the pot on the stove and flicking it on.

"Yep. It's going to be 'Bleach' and they're predicting that it's going to release in June. Do you like it?"

"I love anything that you come up with," Lindy said, starting to rifle through the pantry for something to cook. All her earnings from work had gone towards rent and gas, so the shelves were bare, containing things like saltine crackers for Kurt's stomach aches and peanut butter.

"Let me cook," Kurt insisted, shuffling in front of her and pulling out a box of pasta. "I'll make you my signature dish."

"Fettuccine alfredo?" Lindy laughed, knowing that it was Kurt's favorite thing to cook.

"Yes. Go sit, or something. You look exhausted."

Kurt wasn't lying. With the middle of her second semester fast approaching, Lindy would be applying to the college of nursing at UW within weeks. She'd done nothing except work and study and then study and work, constantly running back and forth between school, the apartment and her job.

At the moment, her burdens had been manifested physically so that she looked like pure hell, her hair knotted into a floppy bun on her head and her face ragged. She wore a coffee stained sweatshirt that went down to her knees and no pants, further evidence that she was too tired to even do simple things like dress herself. She found herself feeling extremely grateful for Kurt's chivalrous offer to cook dinner for them both.

"You must be so excited," Lindy said, sitting at their round table for two and watching as Kurt deposited the pasta into a pot of boiling water.

"It is pretty great," Kurt admitted, sounding reluctant to brag about just how enthusiastic he was about his budding success.

After he'd finished making dinner, he filled both their plates and sat next to Lindy, digging in. They ate and discussed their day before Kurt made another surprise announcement.

"Shit, I almost forgot! We booked a gig playing for UW. How cool is that?"

"That's actually really awesome. You get to play for me and all my school mates," Lindy said. Kurt nodded, continuing on seriously and not catching the teasing in her voice. 

"And better yet, I guess your school newspaper wants to do an interview before the show."

"Now that in itself makes you a famous rockstar," Lindy laughed. "The Daily is exclusive for all the cool kids."

"I'm not a cool kid," Kurt complained. Anything that was deemed cool was far from his taste.

"You are to me," Lindy joked, pretending to pinch his cheeks with the exuberance of an elderly grandmother. Kurt batted her hand away but laughed along with her, always having secretly enjoyed the attention from her that he so craved. 

"Can we go to our room?" he asked, pushing his plate away. Lindy, who was in the middle of slurping a noodle through her lips, looked confused.

"Why? Are you tired?"

"No. I just want you now. Right now."

This reasoning was good enough for Lindy. She stood from her chair and dashed into the bedroom, racing Kurt there and jumping onto the bed with laughter as the springs creaked in protest. Kurt did the same, his hands immediately finding their place on Lindy's body and helping her out of her sweatshirt.

All she wore underneath were her underwear, and although they had been intimate for nearly two years, Kurt's face still blushed a lovely shade of pink upon looking at his girlfriend's naked body.

Lindy took his hand, guiding it to her chest. "Remember when you drew the map on me?"

"Yeah," Kurt chuckled, recalling the memory with fondness. "The rivers, hills and roads thing?"

"Do it again," Lindy whispered.

"I'll do it even better this time," Kurt assured her, before kissing his way down her body, something he knew without an absolute doubt he had come to perfect.

_________

On the day of Kurt's performance at UW, Lindy had been at the library, surrounded by her books with her mind clouded in medical terminology. It wasn't until the sun had set that she remembered she had somewhere to be. With a gasp of realization, she had hurriedly shoved her things in her backpack and left with a guilty conscious lingering over her. 

Kurt had begged her to show up on time, reminding her nearly every hour of the time and place of the event. She'd assured him that she would be punctual, but as she ran across campus, her bag jostling on her back, she realized that she would have to be held accountable for her actions.

The gig, entitled "Four Bands for Four Bucks," had attracted a crowd of what had to be at least six-hundred people. Lindy spotted the large gathering from far away, running up on the horde of band followers out of breath.

"'Scuse me, sorry, gotta' get through," she said, offering apologies as she elbowed through the mass of people up to the front where the stage was. Kurt was off to the side, straining his eyes as he scanned the crowd in search of her. When she appeared, sliding between two people and waving with her book bag falling from her arms, relief melted across his face.

"I didn't think you were coming!" he exclaimed, grabbing her hands and tugging her forward out of the mob.

"I got sidetracked at the library, I'm sorry. But I wouldn't have missed this," Lindy affirmed.

As the last band, Skin Yard, finished, Nirvana was beckoned forth. Kurt kissed Lindy's lips quickly.

"Gotta' go. Stay here so I can see you while I'm on stage."

Lindy obeyed, shifting her bag to the other shoulder as she watched Kurt don his guitar and join Krist and Chad centerstage. As they launched into the set, starting with the ever-turbulent 'Floyd the Barber,' Lindy immediately felt relieved to be out of the depths of the audience.

A mosh pit had started and bodies were slamming left and right, and unruly college kids charged forward, leaping onto the stage and flinging themselves back into the swarm. Lindy fought laughter as she watched Kurt act as if nothing were happening, advancing forward with the song as if the young adults flopping to and fro around him were an everyday occurrence. If anything, Lindy believed that Kurt was severely enjoying the amount of chaos arising around him. It was an addiction he shamelessly sought, time after time.

It was no big surprise that once again, Nirvana had put on a memorable show that would no doubt be discussed as legendary amongst anyone who had witnessed it. When Kurt leapt off stage, removing his guitar from over his head, Lindy was the first person he came into contact with.

"Fucking brilliant!" she yelled, throwing her arms around his neck. When he kissed her, she was amused to see Daniel, her ex-chemistry project partner, wedged in the lot of people while gaping at them both. Surely he was confused as to how Lindy's apparently murderous boyfriend had just put on the best show he'd yet to ever witness in his life. 

"I could see you the whole time," Kurt told her, holding her close as the crowd converged in on them.

To someone else, Kurt may have merely been stating a fact. For Lindy, it was more than that. His assertion that she had been in his range of sight the entire set meant, in Kurt's way of speaking, that he wouldn't have quite played the same if it hadn't been for her smiling occupancy in the midst of a hundred unknown faces.

_________

A few days after the renowned Nirvana performance that had sent a thrill of admiring whispers through campus, the student newspaper, the Daily, released their interview they had done with Kurt that same day.

Lindy was sure to get her copy, finding a barren spot on campus where she could sit and read what her boyfriend had said in light of the show.

In the article, Kurt commentated on the music scene of the Seattle, respectfully discussing what he thought to be the resurrection of good rock music. He spoke highly of other bands, but only with the utmost esteem did he reference Nirvana. He spoke of his band in the same way a person might reminisce on a past lover. There was a tenderness in his words.

Further down the article, the interviewer asked Kurt more personal questions about his early beginnings and life outside of music. Lindy saw that Kurt was quick to denounce Aberdeen, bashing the little town with disgust as well as many of the people in it. She didn't blame him, but felt melancholy when she thought of Aberdeen. Despite it being the source of her most terrible childhood memories, she had also met Kurt there. Without Aberdeen, there would be no Kurt in her life.

At one point in the interview, Kurt was asked if he felt grateful towards anyone in his life particular for their support of his musical ambitions. Lindy teared up when she read his response.

'Well, to be honest, I'm pretty much solely thankful for my girlfriend. We've been together for almost two years now. I think I'd be dead without her. She takes care of me. She loves me. She's never thought my music was just bullshit, you know? I see it in her face when she listens to us play.  I really could give a shit about how big the band gets. It's always come down to who you've got standing next to you at the end of the day. And I mean, as long as I've got her, I'm going to leave the Earth happy."