the unforgiven | james hetfield [2]

eight

chapter eight: stranger danger

If Iris could go back in time and stop herself from opening the door and listening to James, she would. Ever since that day, he never left her alone. 

Sometimes he would call her phone once in a while, which wasn't so bad. But he wanted to see her face instead, so instead of calling, he started turning up at her apartment more often.

Maybe James was acting out a bit in insecurity and worry, but he wanted to make things right with her. He was practically killing her with kindness at this point. 

Iris knew things were never going to go back to normal when James happened to go to the art studio she worked at right as she got off the clock so he could give her a ride home. 

She wasn't paying much attention, the only thing on her mind was going straight back home so she could lay in bed and do nothing for the rest of the day. 

That was until she kept hearing a car obnoxiously honking from behind her. Not thinking anything of it, she didn't bother to look and see what all of the commotion was about, so she kept walking.

Iris looked to her left when she saw a car pull up beside her with the window rolled down. She peeked inside and her eyes widened. "James?! What the hell?"

James smiled wide, parking the car right beside her. "Hey, Iris! Let me give you a ride home." He spoke to her through the open window, acting as if things were back to normal. 

Iris wanted to walk away and leave him on the curb, but she knew he was going to follow her anyway. She came closer and peeked in through the window. "How did you even find me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I know we've been apart for a long time, but I've been around the art studio before. Remember?" James asked.

She stood there and tried to remember a time when James visited, but it wasn't ringing a bell. In the time they were apart, she had tried to erase any and every memory she had with him.

Perhaps the time he visited the art studio was one of those moments she had tried to block out completely. The longer she stood there in silence trying to remember, the more guilty she felt.

James read her expression and could tell that she was drawing a blank, which hurt a little bit. "Are you gonna let me drive you home?" He asked again, clearing his throat.

He wasn't trying to show it, but he could tell that the damage had been done. The way they left things made her so distressed, she couldn't even remember certain events with him.

Iris blinked and snapped out of it when she heard James's question. "You know this looks bad, right? First, you follow me to work, now you're offering to drive me back home." 

"But I didn't follow you to work," He replied with a smirk, trying to convince her. "And, I'm trying to be nice and fix things by offering you the ride. So please, get in."

She sighed as she listened to his words. She didn't think he was going to act so quickly in trying to mend things, but clearly, he was taking it as a challenge he was determined to beat.

She could also just throw it back into his face by walking away and taking her usual route home, but she did agree to give him a chance. At least he's trying, she kept telling herself.

"Fine," Iris got into the passenger seat of his car, closing her eyes. "You better not drive me somewhere else, I want to go straight home." She let out a sigh as she felt the car move.

"Long day at work?" He asked, glancing over at her face and the road. He didn't want the car ride to be quiet and awkward, so he tried to strike up a conversation with her. 

She opened her eyes and narrowed her eyes at him as if she didn't want to be having this conversation right now. "Yes, long day at work." She replied, her tone sharp. 

James didn't appreciate the way she looked at him, his brows furrowing. "Can you calm down? I'm trying here, I'm not going to do anything. Jesus." He muttered under his breath.

Iris didn't want to be that way, it was just the automatic response she had with someone she couldn't let get close. She had to keep him at arm's length, just like when they first met.

"I'm sorry," She sighed, rubbing her temples. "I'm just stressed out and you suddenly being here again is not exactly helping."

"Just say that next time instead of making me feel like the bad guy," James replied, keeping his eyes on the road. "You look at me like I'm an idiot sometimes." 

Iris's brows furrowed in confusion at his words, and she couldn't help but laugh a bit at his comment. "Seriously, James?" She asked with a bit of a sarcastic tone.

James looked over to see her laughing, unable to resist cracking a smile. "What are you gonna say, that I am an idiot?" He replied.

"Well..."

"Iris, come on!"

"You said it, not me!"

The brief tension quickly disappeared as they laughed. A sense of nostalgia washed over them, reminiscent of old times when they were constantly joking around and bantering with each other.

Maybe things weren't going to be so bad after all. If they could get through something as little as that, who was to say they couldn't get through more of them together?

As James drove back to Iris's apartment, her annoyance was replaced with a sense of hope that someday, things would go back to the way they once were.