the unforgiven | james hetfield [2]

fifteen

chapter fifteen: family reunion

The day when Iris and James managed to speak to each other again was an interesting one. It wasn't exactly in her plans to see the band again, but that was what happened.

Iris had the day off. James was walking around the apartment, seemingly getting ready to head somewhere. She normally wouldn't bother asking, but curiosity got the best of her.

As she watched him head to the front door ready to leave, she finally broke the days-long silence that had been dragging on between them. 

"Hey, where are you going?" Iris asked, already mentally cursing at herself. She knew she sounded like a crazy girlfriend who rarely let their boyfriend out of the house.

James turned back to her. "I'm going to the studio for a bit, going to hang out with the guys." He explained, holding some beers in his hand. 

He stood there for a minute, debating if he should ask her to come or not. He knew the band hadn't seen her in a while given their separation, and he wanted to spend some time with her.

"Do you want to come?" He blurted out, finally managing to look at her this time instead of keeping his gaze somewhere else.

Iris was a bit taken aback to hear him ask that, but she was willing to accept his invitation. "Sure, just give me a second to change." She said before heading into her bedroom. 

Iris forced herself to accept, hoping that this would be the first step in having things go back to normal. She couldn't ignore him and keep her distance forever.

Even though she was trying for him, things were still a bit awkward. She and James made some small talk, but most of the ride was filled with the music coming from the radio.

James was a bit anxious about what the guys would think when they saw Iris again. They didn't know what exactly happened with Iris, just that she was gone one day and never came back.

He still hadn't told them the truth about what happened, but he knew that they knew he and Iris were no longer together at some point. Her showing up again would mean something was up.

The closer they got to the studio, the more anxious he felt, and before they knew it, it was already time to reintroduce her to some familiar faces.

Iris hid behind James, almost as if she wanted to surprise the band before they could even see her. She couldn't resist the smile on her face, waiting for James to say something.

"Hey guys," James entered the room. "Look who I brought with me." He said with a bit of a proud tone, stepping to the side to reveal Iris standing behind him.

"Iris!" Kirk shouted right away, not even giving time for the rest of them to process. "Long time no see friend, where have you been?!" He got up to hug Iris tightly.

Iris returned the hug, a sense of nostalgia washing over her at seeing them again. "Life has been...interesting." 

Lars came over not that long after, also wanting to hug Iris tightly. "Hey, that's alright. As long as you're here, that's what matters." 

Jason came over and gave her a high five. "Hey, Iris! Nice to see you again." He greeted her, remembering the few times she was around the band before they blew up.

When Iris first met Jason, she was probably the first one who managed to give him a chance. She never had the chance to get to know him, that was around the time James started changing.

But at that moment, what made her heart hurt more than anything else was Cliff. It was still so fresh in her mind despite it being almost ten years, but the grief never really went away.

One moment he was there, and the next he was gone. None of them had the chance to even say a proper goodbye. And it was obvious how much it changed all of them in the years after.

Sure she was there to help James through that dark period, but he was her friend too. Out of all of them, the person she was closest with was Cliff. He was the annoying sibling she never had.

She felt a bit teary-eyed seeing how happy they were to see her, it was almost unexpected. She could only imagine how Cliff might've reacted. His presence was still felt.

"Okay, okay, enough already. You guys are acting like she moved away or something." James said as he saw the tears in her eyes, pulling a chair for her to sit down.

"Yeah, right. Sounds like someone's getting jealous." Kirk teased James, who simply rolled his eyes and didn't give in to his taunting.

Iris laughed, her tears subsiding in the meantime. "Oh please, he has nothing to be worried about."

The band didn't even care about what was going on with the two of them, they were happy and excited to see her, catching up on lost time.

A sense of longing washed over Iris and James. Not a longing for each other, but just for things to go back to the way they were. To be happy again.

To James, this was all he needed. Hanging out with his friends, his partner by his side, and sipping on a cold beer.

Iris, who once kept her guard up around everyone, had ultimately changed because of him, because of all of this. She missed this.

As they laughed and drank into the late hours of the night, Iris realized that James was the best thing to ever happen to her.

And she still loved him.