fade to black | james hetfield [1]

two

chapter two: this is for keeps

She was sitting alone, staring somberly at the glass of beer she downed in twenty minutes. A heavy sigh escaped her lips every few minutes, showing the depth of her pain. 

For some reason, he couldn't look away. It was obvious that she was struggling, the hopelessness present in her eyes and her face. She clearly wasn't okay.

It made him wonder why no one else was bothering to check up on her. She was in a room full of people and her mind was elsewhere. Nobody seemed to care that she was quietly screaming for help. 

Kirk's voice came into earshot. "Hello? Earth to James? Did you hear what I said about rehearsing tomorrow?" Kirk raised an eyebrow, looking between James and the girl across the bar.

"I don't think so Kirky, he's more worried about the girl over there." Lars replied with a smirk, laughing obnoxiously as he did so.

"I don't think he's worrying, I think he just fell in looove." Cliff teased in a sing-song voice, laughing along with Kirk and Lars.

James ignored them. "Does anyone want another beer?" He asked, looking at the empty bottles on the table. They all raised their hands, ready for another round. He stood up from the booth, making his way to the bar.

"Four more beers, please," James said to the bartender, standing in between empty chairs. He looked to his left and noticed Iris sitting there, her gaze still fixed on the empty glass bottle.

He opened his mouth to say something but thought it would be better if he stood quiet. Again he started to stare at her, and Iris could see him staring out of the corner of her eye.

Just as James was about to turn away, Iris snapped her neck to look at him. "What do you want?" She asked, her patience wearing thin as she stared at him.

He stood quiet, not sure what to say now. "Nothing..." He replied quietly, turning away. There was an awkward silence between them, both wanting to say something to the other person.

James cleared his throat and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, looking back at her again. "You looked upset earlier...Is everything okay?" He spoke up.

She didn't say anything after he asked that, simply taking another deep breath and staring back at the glass. He knew what that meant. She was hurting inside, but she wasn't going to let some stranger in on that.

"Leave me alone." She said after the brief silence, looking at him through the corner of her eye.

"I'm James. What's your name?" He asked, ignoring her request.

Iris kept her tone sharp with her short answers. She didn't care that he was being friendly. She was in no mood to entertain this guy, and for all she knew, he was probably trying to get her to come home with him tonight.

She looked at him through the corner of her eye again, debating whether or not she should give him the satisfaction. "...Iris." She answers.

"Iris," He repeated it out loud. "That's a pretty name."

She glared at James again. He probably shouldn't have said that, but he was being honest. She was a pretty girl and she had a pretty name. But with the way she was looking at him, he was sure she was about to punch him in the face.

She ignored the comment, turning to look at him full-on now. "Are you even from around here?" She asked.

Now that he saw her face, he could see how exhausted she was. Something was telling him that she wasn't like this. That under her cold exterior, she was actually a good person.

Jams shook his head. "My friends and I are in town to record a new album," He told her, pointing to Kirk, Lars, and Cliff in the booth across from her. They were too busy chugging to notice Iris looking at them. "We're all in a band."

Her face softened once she heard that. "That's pretty cool," She said, looking at the three of them one by one. "To be in a band with your friends..." She muttered under her breath, imagining it.

"Actually, we're supposed to be playing here tomorrow," James leaned against the counter. "You should come."

Her eyes widened when he said that. James wasn't sure if he said something wrong, but he was only trying to be nice. Besides, they weren't expecting many people to come, so he thought trying to get the word out to other people couldn't hurt.

Her cold demeanor quickly came back. "Um...no thanks." The chair scraped against the floor loudly as she stood up from her seat, paying for the beer she drank.

"Oh...yeah, I understand." James said quietly, watching as she left without saying another word. She didn't even bother to say goodbye. So much for trying to get to know someone.

Not long after she left, the bartender just happened to finally bring the beers over. James sighed, taking the beers and walking back to the booth as he thought about his conversation with the mysterious girl.