make-believe | jason newsted

vii

chapter seven: groupies

The band had been working on the album for the past couple of weeks, making a great amount of progress on the album. Every session was productive, even on their worst days.

Jason wasn't messing around when it came to his song in particular. It had to be perfect, and the band was slowly getting tired of recording it over and over again when something didn't sound right.

They spent days trying to perfect it to the way Jason wanted. He wasn't just pouring his heart out for this girl, the whole world was going to hear him pour his heart out. It had to be perfect.

And so Nothing Else Matters was chosen to be released as one of their first singles for the album. It wasn't supposed to be released so early, but the band decided to go ahead with it anyway. The label was sure it would perform well.

Jason was a bit happy about that. Maybe if the song did well enough, the mysterious girl would happen to hear it somewhere and recognize it. But he was already getting his hopes up a little too high.

In celebration of Nothing Else Matters being released to great success, the band decided to celebrate the only way they knew how: throwing a party with alcohol and groupies.

Jason wasn't in the mood to go to this party. He only showed up because the guys were begging him to come and take his mind off things for a little bit, and he didn't want to be that guy.

They all met at James's apartment, showing up to hang out with the guys before everyone else came. He couldn't help but vent his anxiety to the band about this song, letting out everything on his mind.

"What if she doesn't hear it and we did all of this for nothing? What if she thinks that it's not even about her? What if—"

"Relax, man!" Kirk interrupted him. "You're overthinking things, the song hasn't even been out for a week. You gotta give it time." That didn't do much reassurance for him.

"Yeah, don't worry about that right now," James added on. "Besides, she probably won't like all these groupies being around so you better take advantage while you can." He laughed. 

Jason sat in his little corner while the rest of the band partied and had some drinks. He was fine with just sipping on a beer and hanging out with the band, but he was by himself for most of the time.

Lars eventually came over with a girl wrapped around his arm, approaching Jason. It was obvious he was already drunk, stumbling a bit in his walk with a smirk on his face.

"Hey Jason, why don't you come and entertain the ladies for a little bit? Don't leave them hanging like this." He slurred, telling the girl to go ahead and take a seat next to Jason.

Jason sighed and made some room for the girl to come and sit next to him. He wasn't interested in spending the night with some groupie, but he figured he had to entertain her until she got the hint.

The girl giggled and sat beside him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Lars gave Jason a wink as she began to talk to him. He would be lying if he said she wasn't a good distraction.

As pretty and distracting as she was, her presence only reminded him of the mysterious girl that he longed for so much. He wasn't interested in the slightest, but he wasn't going to be an asshole and leave her by herself either.

While he talked to the groupie, Kirk started yelling from the other side of the apartment at some point. Everyone came to a silence as they heard what he had to say. 

"Hey! We're gonna play the new song, some of the girls wanna hear it!" Kirk shouted as he went over to the stereo to put a tape of the song in. He was just as drunk as Lars and James at this point.

Everyone who was there cheered for a second before Lars and James shushed everyone in the room. The beginning notes of the song began to play, and everyone sat in silence listening to the track.

The girl sitting with Jason looked over and whispered to him. "I heard you wrote the song, is it true?" She asked with a slight giggle.

Jason's eyes widened, a bit surprised to hear that. Someone must have told her. He nodded his head with a bit of a smirk. "Yeah, I did."

"Wow, it's so beautiful," She whispered. "Whoever that girl is must be so lucky." She smiles. He raised an eyebrow at that comment. Did they tell her the whole story? 

Listening to it made him anxious again, his mind going back to thinking about her. All he could think about tonight was where she could be and if she would hear this song.

He got up and sped out of the apartment without another word, the band and the girls watching him disappear suddenly.

Now that the song was out, his thoughts for the mysterious girl were driving him crazier than before. He couldn't think straight, and all he wanted was for things to go back to normal. 

He had to find this girl, even if it was going to kill him.

A/N: i know jason didn't write nothing else matters but can we pretend for this fic thanks </3