Chasing light~James Hetfield x Y/N

River escapade

Trigger warning ⚠️: Mention of suicide.( doesn't happen, but someone thinking another was trying to commit, still wanted to put it tho)

James waited about an hour, before slowly getting up from under her, carefully placing her on her pillow and pulling the blanket over her. He would've loved to stayed there for days on end, but if the others woke up seeing him there, they would known that there was something going on, since he rarely gets that close to someone in that little time. Before going back to his bed, he bent down, gently rubbing her cheeks while admiring all of her beauty. He then tenderly laid a kiss on her forehead and went back to sleep.

The next morning, the Metallica members were in the main area talking and eating their breakfasts."I'm not usually one to dislike late mornings, but Y/N normally wakes up really early, it's kind of strange.", Robert said between taking bites of his jelly covered toasts, "Plus we're also going to the bridge in an hour or two, so someone needs to wake her up." They all looked at each other in slight fear, they didn't know how she would react to that, I mean usually younger people tend to be grumpy at the one who wakes them, but in some cases, they can also get aggressive. They learnt that on the road, when trying to wake up each other after rough nights and let's just say they weee glad that was over with.

All of a sudden, Lars puts his hand and the air and says "Not it!", triggering a whole chain reaction. Despite the odds, it was, of course, James who said it last and now he'd have the terrifying task. Tho he was hiding his actual joy for it, he's get to see her again, another day to spend with his little drummer. "Gosh damn it, if I get hit by the sleepy one, you all owe me  big times.", he says while getting up from his seat, making his way to the cabins. Opening the door, he saw her very comfortably snuggled up in her blanket, still lost in Neverland. A wave of relief flooded him seeing that she was alright now, it worried him to death seeing Berry in such a state of panic.

Crouching down to her height, he lightly started shaking her."Y/N.", he whispered," It's time to wake up sweetheart, we have to go to the bridge soon and you don't want to miss that, do you?" It took a couple more shakes, but a disappointed groan alerted him that she was awake. He was staring at her face as her doe eyes fluttered open and tiredly stared at him. Fuck, she remembers. She quickly grabbed his back and hugged him. They didn't speak a word, only held onto each other for a minute, before scooting back like this the others wouldn't suspect anything. "I'll let you get ready. When you're done, come sit down with me, I'll have your toasts ready.", he said while holding  out her arms.

20 minutes pass and Y/N walks out looking neet, but seeming like a zombie. That night, one out of many, hit her hard, even more than the usual bullshit she had to deal with. This creature, she had seen it as a kid and thought it was gone for good, but no, it was waiting for the perfect moment to get her. These nightmares started a few months back and the more time moves on, the more these dreams fade into her reality. Some nights, she would wake up to see it in the corner of her room staring, but every time she got closer. She really needed to find some good sleeping pills to help her out, so she was planning to go to the pharmacy in their way back.

Earlier, she looked rather pale with her eye bags almost carved into her face, but the fresh air and warm sun  really helped Y/N get some life back. Walking with James, she explained everything and he seemed very understanding, but worried, this isn't anything good. She wanted to hang out with her friends tho, so she cut the conversation a little short, leaving him to roam his mind for any reasonable answers to her situation. Joining her band mates, she went on the railing to get a better view of the river below them. Becky and Sofia has spotted a couple ducks and she really wanted to see them, so Berry put more and more of her weight onto the edge. Looking away to check what she was up to, James did not like what he saw. She was too close, did she want to fall off? Maybe that dream was the last straw for her, he thought.

Leaning even closer now, Y/N felt a pair of arms securing themselves on her waist, pulling her back. She knew whose they were, cause she still vividly remembered them holding her all throughout the night. He turned her around like this she could face him, cupping her face, "What were you doing?!", he said worried, "You could've fallen down and drowned!" She was shocked, it never crossed her mind how little it would've taken for her to have fallen down, but she wasn't trying to. "There were ducks earlier and I was trying to find them, I got a little too carried away, I'm sorry." The altercation drew attention from the touring groups and there were too many eyes staring, making them both uncomfortable. "You need to be more careful, we can't lose you."

She could see slight tears in his eyes, making her feel even worst than before. She should've been smarter, now her star was hurt. They all spent about half an hour before heading back on the road, but before that, Y/N left early to adventure the drug store. After finally going through a round of trying to find something, she chose a bottle and hoped for the best. It had to help her, so she wouldn't have to see the pain he was feeling no longer and obviously so she could have a peaceful night sleep for once.

(Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it! I know this chapter is boring, it's really just a filler tbh, next one will have more interesting stuff, hope you're enjoying reading this:)