First Love | James Hetfield

Alan

1984

"James, what are you doing here?!" Annie shot up from her seat on the cement patio.

"Annie, I needed to talk to you." he held his hands up in surrender as she stomped toward him. She furrowed her brows. "You have shows to play! You can't just ditch the—"

"It's done. The shows are cancelled." he cut her off, looking into her eyes that were turning into a brewing storm, the opposite of what they were a few minutes ago.

"What the fuck? You can't just cancel on all those people..." her tone stayed firm. Even after what he did to her, she still cared about the damn tour.

"Yeah, and I can't just cancel on you either. On us. I sat around for hours thinking about what I should've done— if I— if I should've stayed and left you alone or... or come after you." he let out a heavy breath, brushing his hair away from his face.

"Yeah, well you should've stuck with the first option, cause I don't really wanna see your face." she fired back, looking at the other neighbor houses rather than his eyes.

He slouched his shoulders and scoffed quietly at her uncooperative attitude. "Annie, give us a chance, please." he spoke quieter now, hyper aware of Mick's awkward presence a few feet away.

"I did give us a chance!" she shouted, pointing a finger at her own chest, then his. "You're the one that ruined it."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm so fuckin' sorry. That girl had been around for our other tour too, before you and me ever..." he trailed off, getting sidetracked. "I— I tried cutting her off before this next tour but she didn't listen and—"

"So, what? You thought fuck it and did it anyway? Did you fuck her?" she swallowed thickly at the thought, preventing any bile from rising in her throat.

He sighed tiredly, rubbing his temples. "No. I didn't sleep with her. Not since—" he stopped himself there, assuming she wouldn't wanna hear the last time he screwed a groupie.

"Since when?" she couldn't hold back a small laugh, fully expecting him to say since Mick's party.

"Since August. The last month of our previous tour."

Annie nodded, pursing her lips together. "We hooked up in August." she blinked at him.

"Hooked up?" he cocked his head back in shock. "That's what you call it? This? Just a hook up?"

She sighed, wiping a hand down her face. Of course, now she was the asshole. "No. That's not what I call this."

"If you think all we were is fuck buddies, then maybe I shouldn't have come after you. Maybe I shouldn't have let all those people down— but hey, excuse me for not wanting to let one of the most important people in my life down." he held his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry that I chose you over thousands of people who paid to see me."

She stayed quiet for a moment, taking in his words. One of the most important people in his life. She let out another soft sigh, letting her tense shoulders rest.

The last few rays of the sunset had been taken over by clouds, beginning to sprinkle rain upon them. Mick decided to take his leave at some point.

Apparently he'd also informed Beatrice about James making a surprise visit, and she'd rushed out the door, staying quietly on the patio while they argued.

"James, If I thought this was just a hook-up I wouldn't have cared so damn much about you sleeping with that bitch." she grumbled the last part.

"I didn't sleep with her!" he was quick to defend himself on the fact. "I didn't sleep with her." he repeated quieter.