First Love | James Hetfield

The Roadie From Paris

12th of December, 1984

They were officially three weeks into the European tour. They had left Copenhagen the evening before and arrived in Stockholm in the early hours of the morning.

Annie trudged up to her hotel room that she so badly needed after three weeks of that damned bunk on the dingy bus. With droopy eyes and tired limbs, she flopped onto the nicely made bed, assuming everyone else was already in their rooms, and James would be up in just a moment.

But that wasn't the case. When she woke up the next morning, the room was still untouched besides her backpack that she'd tossed on the floor. James wasn't in the room.

She groaned, rubbing her aching head from their little party the night before, that consisted of various illegal substances and lots of Danish strangers.

She remembered Lars introducing her to a fellow Dane, who held up a glass of foggy liquid.

"Du vil have drink, ja?"

She furrowed her brows, looking over to Lars. "Uh... it's good, try it." he nodded, gesturing to the drink in the man's hand.

She took a sip, wincing at the strong taste that burned her throat. The Danish man nodded enthusiastically, clapping his hands together.

James went ignored as he approached the three, throwing his arm around Annie's shoulder and offering her a soft smile before eyeing the strange Dane whose eyes were pointed directly at his girlfriend's chest. "Lars, how do you say off limits in danish?" he chuckled.

"Ja, drik op og vi går hen til mig." The stranger said with a sly smile. Lars widened his eyes, darting his eyes over to the man.

"No! Nej nej. forbudt." Lars shook his head, motioning 'no' with his hand. He then took his arm off the man's shoulder, shoving him away.

"Ah, uanset hvad. prude." the man spat, waving her off with his hand before walking away with an annoyed scowl on his face.

She chuckled at the memory of the guy's funny accent as she rolled out of bed, cringing at the loud pop that came from her ankle. She was still wearing her converse.

Well that's convenient... she shrugged. That meant she didn't have to get dressed to leave the room. She cleaned herself up a bit in the bathroom before swiping a key off the dresser and leaving the room in search for the lobby, in which she assumed everyone would be. The hotel was quiet, as it was already past checkout. She forgot to check the time, but she guessed it was around five P.M considering the orange glow that shone through the floor to ceiling windows of the hotel.

She heard voices from the lobby, eventually recognizing one as Aurora's. "What the fuck is he doing?!" she heard her gasp quietly.

When she turned the corner, she wished she'd stayed in the room.

The color drained from her face along with the content smile as she was met with the backside of a woman who was straddling another man. James.

She immediately recognized the dirty blond curls that mixed in with the woman's bleached to a crisp hair. They were kissing. Making out. The woman was practically grinding on him.