𝓘𝓷 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 //James Hetfield

Chapter 9 - Dandelions and roses

I'm in front of Stacy's door, taking a deep breath before going in. This is just so much for one day. I have to get James out of my mind if I don't want Stacy to read me like a book. I swear she can do that. Stacy sounded so sad on the phone. Lately, I haven't heard much from how her life was going, I just guessed she worked a lot and didn't have much to tell me but even knowing her as much as I do, I was obviously wrong.

I enter her place and walk through the hallway leading to her living room. When I arrive all my suspicions are confirmed. She is there, sitting on the couch with her arms around her legs and her head buried in them, she isn't crying but she lets out a little desperate whine. I hate to see her like that. She has always been my example of a strong mind. She always seems to know what she is doing and when she doesn't, she stays confident and strong headed. Seeing her down feels like my world fell apart. Dropping my bag on the floor I run to her and take her in my arms.

"- A... Ann." she says, slightly lifting her head up. "You came." she says before taking me in her arms to start crying.

"- Stace. I hate to see you like this. What's going on?" i ask, hugging her tightly.

"- Well. It's about Pamela." she admits, between sobs.

"- Pamela?" i ask.

"- Her and I have been seeing each other for a month now... well... she's my girlfriend. Well, was." Stacy clarifies.

Stacy and Pamela? I could have never guessed. To be honest, Pamela never tells me anything about her life and Stacy has been discret lately, that could explain it. I was about to say that Stacy is only a few years older than me and Pam is in her early 40s but that would be hypocritical of me since my heart is being given piece by piece to a man that's way older than me.

"- Huh?" i exclaim, surprised.

Stacy gets out of my arms and replaces herself on the couch, sitting in front of me with her legs crossed.

"- I have always been attracted to her ever since I met her and a month ago we got out for a drink and things happened this way." Stacy explains, waiting for my answer.

"- Wow, I'd never guess, that's fucking cool!" i cup her sad face with my hands. "So what seems to be the problem?"

"- I don't know if you knew but Pamela was married to this guy." she commences. "And he's been cheating and abusing her emotionally for years. When she was able to get out she did and asked for a divorce." she pauses. "It's been a year since she initiated the divorce but this dude and his lawyer keep coming back and asking her for more and more to finalise the divorce."

"- Fuck." i curse, completely flabbergasted.

"- The court won't listen to her and leaves this guy blackmailing her and that's not all." she sobs. "He's been stalking her and threatening her. I was with her this morning and he bursted into her place and told her he would kill her if she didn't sign the divorce on his own terms. And he menaced me too, he said he'd "cut open this whory young f** she found for herself"." she pauses again, seeing how angry my face gets. "So Pamela told me it was better to end things between us before something happened to me." she concludes, her cries becoming louder.

"- Oh Stace..." i cup her face with my hands. "You are always so strong and so courageous, you've been there for me for all my bad times and I will too." i hug her. "I'm sure everything will be alright. We just need to get this asshole out of the way, want me to kill him?"

I hear Stacy laugh slightly. It's always been like this between us. We use humour as a way of saying we care about each other. She and I both know that saying banal sentences to try and cheer each other up is useless, so we laugh it off and try to have a good time. I remember when she took me to a nightclub the night after my mom's funeral, we had so much fun it made me feel so much better. That was quite a night. Her death also touched her deeply, she considered her as a second mother. But she knew we both needed to get our minds off things. I know Stacy can manage it. I know that Pamela didn't mean to hurt her, but it's her mistake to think that Stace can't face that with her. Plus, it would be nice if Pamela didn't go through all this alone. I'll try to talk with her as soon as I see her, perhaps tomorrow at the hospital.