fade to black | james hetfield [1]

fourteen

chapter fourteen: coalesce

Iris returned home after another long and stressful day at work, having finished a double shift. As she put her things down, she saw a message waiting to be played on her phone's answering machine.

"Hey Iris, it's James. I know I haven't said much since the beach, but I swear it's because I've been busy at the studio. If you want to hang out, I have the day off tonight. But don't feel like you have to, I just...I miss seeing you."

Iris wasn't sure if she should go see James. Over the past week, her mental state reverted to the way it was before and she didn't want to burden him with her problems. 

She wasn't sure what had suddenly brought back the feeling of emptiness. On the one hand, it could've been exhaustion from her job. On the other hand, maybe she subconsciously missed him too.

She got in her car and drove to see him anyway. The voicemail played in her head again as she looked at the road, her mind speculating on the status of their "relationship."

They kissed, they held hands, and now he was calling her to say that he missed her. Was James her boyfriend now? Iris never thought their friendship was going to turn into something like this.

She sighed in frustration and kept her focus on the road. She liked James, but she didn't like having these kinds of feelings. Sometimes they did more harm than good. 

James heard a knock come at the door and just as he hoped, it was her. He could tell she was going through something again, but he was still happy to see her. "Iris, you came!" He said happily, wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug.

She couldn't help but laugh a bit, returning his warm embrace. "Yeah, I did." She let out a sigh of relief, starting to feel thankful for James's presence right now. She needed a hug every once in a while. 

As they settled into the couch where Iris once became vulnerable with James, he looked over at her. "How was your day?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Iris began to tell James about how much she had been working for the past couple of days. It seemingly had no end and she felt extremely pressured for a job so simple. 

He was listening to every word she said, trying to offer some advice where he could even if he didn't completely understand. Iris seemed to stay at his house for a while, barely even noticing the time that went by. 

When she took notice of the time, her eyes widened at how late it was. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stay so late." She muttered, getting up from the couch and getting ready to leave.

"No, it's okay," James said, taking her hand to sit her back down. "You can sleep over if you want." He hoped that she would say yes. 

Iris felt a bit nervous when he said that. She didn't mind sleeping over, but she was going to be alone. With James.

"I didn't bring anything to wear to sleep." Iris sighed in defeat. In a way, she was trying to use it as an excuse to get out of staying over, but James persisted.

"That's okay," He said, getting up from the couch and heading toward his bedroom. "I'll get something for you."

Now there she stood in the middle of his room, staring at herself in the mirror. He left some of his own clothes for her to change into, which fit her a little too big. His t-shirt was basically a dress on her. 

Was she his girlfriend? Were they starting to reach that territory? These were the kinds of things couples did, so were they dating now? Iris groaned before walking back to the living room.

When James saw her again, he couldn't help but admire her. He thought that she was naturally beautiful, especially now that she had pulled her hair down and a soft smile was present on her sweet face.

As she sat down beside him, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. Iris felt comforted by his larger size, an unspoken presence of serenity looming over them. 

They sat in comfortable silence, simply wanting to enjoy each other's company without having to say much. Iris was used to the silence, whether James was there or not. 

"Can I ask you something?" Iris spoke, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "Why do you care about me so much?" Iris says, looking over at him.

"To be honest with you, I don't know why," James sighs, his hand rubbing her shoulder. "Maybe you came to me in a dream and I can't remember it."

James would never forget his recurring nightmare. While it hadn't happened in a long time, it was still burned into his memory. He would never tell her about them, he didn't want to scare her away. 

They were the reason why he never left her alone. He was afraid that maybe one day his worst nightmare would come true and he wouldn't be able to save her in time.

He was glad that Iris didn't question him further. Exhaustion started to consume her, her eyes beginning to droop as she rested her head on his shoulder. 

James didn't bother to move, not wanting to disturb her sleep. He simply watched over her protectively until the sleep would eventually get to him, leaving them wrapped in each other's embrace.