Of Wolf And Man - A James Hetfield Fanfiction

~6~

I opened my eyes slowly, my head feeling like it was going to split in two, and my insides aching dully. James was bedside me, snoring quietly. Last night was incredible but this pain was killing me. I moved to try and get a glass of water, but James opened his eyes and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. I sighed in his arms "morning Wolfy" I said quietly. He smiled, looking into my eyes "my head hurts" I said, putting my hand to it. He gave a small smile, still not saying anything. I was confused, but knew if I asked he wasn't going to tell me, so I just waited. Eventually he said "I'm disappointed in myself" quietly, and shook his head. I scanned his face, wondering why. "Last night I could've hurt you again, I made your wrists red baby, and I never want to hurt you" I hugged him to me "it's okay James" I said, putting my head on his shoulder gently. He was breathing heavily down the back of my neck, and I knew he was beating himself up for what he'd done. "That wasn't me though, and if I can't trust that not to happen then-" I let go of him slightly and looked to his eyes "baby honestly it's okay" I said, smiling. He stared deeply back into my eyes, and said "you're too forgiving, you shouldn't have to put up with this, with me" I responded with "Don't say that baby, I love every single part of you". He smiled, and said "I love all of you too". I put my hands in his hair, stroking it gently, and smiled "never change your hair" I whispered. "Someone came up to me a couple weeks ago and told me to cut it" he said with a twinkle in his eye. He was waiting for my reaction with a small smirk "that should be illegal, your hair is beautiful please don't cut it" I said with a shocked look on my face. He smiled "I won't, I'll keep it long for you baby". I smiled, looking to the golden curls. "I love you Wolfy". I whispered, and he kissed me softly "I love you too" he said, breaking the kiss. I laid there staring into his eyes, before I heard a knock at the door. We both exchanged a nervous look, and he got out of the bed, quickly pulling his clothes on. I put my head down, not prepared to talk to anyone this morning. I heard the noise of the door opening, and three familiar voices. I heard James say to the other three "couldn't you have waited a couple more hours?" And Lars' voice answered "well someone had a good night". I sighed, thinking I'd better get dressed and go see them. I heard footsteps approaching the room and James' voice quietly said "don't go in there-" he probably thought I'd gone back to sleep. I smirked to myself, before standing up and getting dressed, wearing the clothes we'd bought at the store. I yawned, stretching my arms out, and tried to make myself look presentable in the mirror. I sighed, and opened the door, walking into the other room and smiling at the guys. "Looks like you had a good Christmas" said Lars, and Kirk smirked to himself. I glanced up at James, smiling shyly. I sat next to him on the couch and he held me to him. My head was still pounding, and I brought my hand up to it again. Cliff was staring at me, and he quickly stood up, returning shortly with a glass of water. I smiled gratefully, and held the cold glass. James was still holding me close to him, and he kept smiling down at me occasionally. I drank the water slowly, feeling it cool my mouth. I put the glass down on the table, and rested my head heavily on James' arm. I closed my eyes, trying to make them stop stinging. I was only partly listening to their conversation, before one thing was said that made me feel very much awake. Cliff had said from the other side of the room "don't forget we've got a gig in Sacramento in a couple of days, 29th to be exact - so you're gonna have to prepare for that." I lifted my head to look at James and I saw that his eyes had widened. "Oh hell I forgot about that" he said before glancing to me. "We won't stay there long though, our next gig is the 31st and it's back here so that's fine". I put my head back on his shoulder and tried to pull myself closer to him. I felt his hand hold the bottom of my tshirt - he was clearly stressed. I stroked his arm softly to assure him it was alright, and he sighed. Cliff smiled and said "it'll be fun, c'mon you love it normally". James looked to me and said "I don't normally have something worth staying for". I blushed and looked away, also not wanting to show him how much I'd miss him for those few days. Cliff smiled sadly to me and said "they want us to leave tomorrow, so we have a couple of days to let things happen y'know?". I nodded, understanding. I looked up to James and said "c'mon be happy about it I'll be fine here, I know how to take care of myself". He smiled, and gently brushed a piece of hair out of my face. He had a way of making me feel like it was only the two of us even when there were other people around. I breathed deeply and felt the discomfort from inside again. I gave a small smile, and said "I promise I won't burn the house down". He laughed, and I saw Kirk smile. Lars said "well that's a promise none of the rest of us can make, I'd say go for it James". Cliff smiled, before standing up and gesturing for Kirk and Lars to do the same "we'll give you time to pack" Cliff said. I smiled, assuring him that I'd make James do it. They all walked to the door, and the room was quiet again.