aspirations • a series of cliff burton one-shots

○ purple haze

date:march 1984

"fuck," i whimpered as i stormed inside the flat boys shared during their visit in london. "where did we put 'em? under the mattress?" i shouted, getting no answers. the mattress was absolutely the first place to check for some illegal stash, which also happened to be the 'innovative' hiding place of cliff.

"clifford lee burton we are in trouble and by trouble, i mean real trouble!" i said again, trying to sound more threatening and banging at our room's door. "i'm gonna count until three and then burst in!"

it wasn't usual for him to keep me waiting for this long. "one," i bit my lip, getting slightly worried something might be wrong. "screw this," i said under my breath and just opened the door.

the room was empty, only the music.

purple haze, all in my brain

lately things they don't seem the same

i stood there with a confused expression on my face. i even forgot what to do and left the room. i was roaming in the house without any purpose until i bumped into kirk. "if you're looking for cliff he is off to buy a new walkman with scott." he informed me.

"where was i when he told that?" i inquired the poor curly mess, still confused.

"sleeping? hitting the pot? or maybe on the road?" he threw some wild guesses.

actin' funny, but i don't know why

excuse me while i kiss the sky

i rolled my eyes and just as i was reaching for the mattress the door barged open. "we don't possess anything more illegal than my girlfriend's pills i swea-" cliff was literally begging to the officer who stepped inside the house. i had about five seconds so i did the first thing that popped into my mind.

sleep.

however to make sure i threw my clothes around before i got under the sheets so that if they wanted me to get up i could say i am naked so they had to get out and i would check under the mattress. i was honestly amazed by this spark of practical intelligence.

purple haze, all around

don't know if i'm comin' up or down

"and your room?" the officer asked, cliff sighed and pushed the door open, i really wanted to see their faces.

"uh, here but my girlfriend is sleeping." cliff whispered, i could swear he was unsure if i was really asleep. "she is really sick so i'd appreciate it if we could finish it without waking her up." cliff said as he sat down on the bed next to me, lovingly caressed my hair. if it was someone more intelligent, he would definitely understand we were covering the mattress.

"this is an investigation sir, i'm sorry but i will have to disturb the lady." i rolled my eyes even though my eyes were closed. "also, she should probably sleep... in clothes if she wants to get better." cliff sighed and lightly nudged me. "laurel, babe... can you switch to the sofa?"

i didn't move at all. "i'll be dead in a minute anyway, you can carry me wherever the fuck you want after that." i said, coughing after every word. i turned to the other side, which caused the sheets to shift and it apparently showed a little bit of skin as i felt cliff made a quick move to wrap the sheets around me tighter. "alright if it is that bad..." i heard him mumble and smiled victoriously into the pillow.

am i happy or in misery?

what ever it is, that girl put a spell on me

as the officer was seemingly staring at me, cliff grunted. "dude just do your job and keep your eyes to yourself. she's my girlfriend!" the officer shook his head and quickly started to search through the room.

"your house seems clean." the officer announced, still eyeing me. "seems like we mischarged you sir... our most sincere apolog-

"what the fuck? you just accuse me of something i never have done, put me in jail for hours naked and then just say you're sorry?!" cliff shouted at him, i shifted to wrap my hands around his torso. he was now going to have us arrested.

"sir." he said in a threatening tone and then walked away, brushing past a very confused kirk.

cliff, arms wrapped around my waist as i stood up on my knees on the mattress, and i just watched the older man leave and didn't move a muscle until we instinctively felt that he went far enough. then slowly, we turned face to face and i felt the old, familiar sense of humor building. it always started with a smile that tugged at the corner of the lips then built to be a jovial laughter fest. we sometimes just stared at each other and laughed for minutes, even if it was an irrelevant or inappropriate time. he started it first this time by throwing me down to the mattress and laughing into my belly.

he knew i was ticklish.

"STOP!" i screamed, laughing so much that i almost cried both from the absurdity of the previous event and being tickled. he took a deep breath to get his shit together, straightening up. i also tried to catch my breath. "what the fuck was that?" he took my hand in his and gave it a tight squeeze as he stood up.

"i should ask you, what the fuck was that?" he asked, gesturing at my body.

"just a good emergency plan." i smiled as i wore one of his oversized tees. he chuckled as he reached at the end of the mattress, then he pulled something.

"well, it turned out well." he said, showing me the package. "it somehow always turns out well with ya." he mumbled as he laid down to the bed, pulling me into his embrace and planting a kiss behind my ear. i laughed as i nodded my head. this man, i swear.

purple haze all in my eyes

don't know if it's day or night

you got me blowin', blowin' my mind

is it tomorrow, or just the end of time?

"have you got your walkman though?" i asked, getting out of context for a moment.
"fuck that walkman."