𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐫

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

955 words

Christmas Day 1986

After Cliff's death, the band started to slowly come back together again. They knew that they'd never be the same but they could at least try to make peace with each other.

James stopped drinking cold turkey after he rekindled his relationship with Veruca. It became too much for him so he simply switched to one or two beers a day. Christmas had just rolled around the corner and the days were no longer as bleak as they usually were for Metallica.

On Christmas Eve, Veruca spent the day with her bandmates so that they could do their gift exchanges with one another. She came home in the early hours of the morning to find James awake.

"Hey." He mumbled as she locked his apartment door behind her, her jacket falling to the floor. "Hey." She replied, placing a quick kiss to his cheek as she sat down next to him on the cushiony couch.

"So how was it? How's the gang?" The blonde asked in reference to her band. "It was fun, honestly. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed them. Tiffany says hi." He flashes her a quick smile and gently squeezes her hand.

His other hand was still in a cast from his skateboarding accident six months prior. A skeleton arm had been drawn on it. He was pretty miserable considering the fact that he couldn't play during that time. He also swore off skateboarding because he didn't want to get hurt again.

"Should we open up our presents?" The purple-haired girl questions as she glances over at the pitiful plastic tree that was decorated with Metallica ornaments and toilet paper. "Sure."

James stands up and walks toward the top part of his closet where he had stored all of his friend's presents. This was ideal considering how short Veruca was. Meanwhile, Veruca was collecting her neatly wrapped gifts from inside the bathroom closet.

Once back in the living room, they splayed out their presents on the living room carpet. Poor James had trouble wrapping his, but he tried his best. The pair counted down with each other and furiously began to tear the paper apart. Veruca immediately gasped when she saw two cassette tapes, both of which were decorated in skateboard stickers and labeled with a sharpie.

"That one is a mixtape and the other one is a um...a song that I wrote for you." He mumbled the last part as he rubbed the back of his neck. This was a habit of his when he was embarrassed or nervous.

"Aww, sweetie! This is so nice, thank you." She exclaims as she wraps her arms around his neck. Once she pulls away, she thrusts two large boxes into his hands. He opens them to reveal a new record player and another box filled to the brim with records.

"Holy shit this is cool, thanks, babe." He gives her a one-armed hugged presses a chaste kiss to her forehead. Just then, a knock sounded at the door.

"Open up, fock wads! It's focking cold out here!" Lars shouted from the other side of the door. Typical Lars. He was always like the annoying little cousin who everyone tolerated. They loved him nonetheless, though. Veruca chuckled to herself as she stood up and opened the door.

A red-nosed Lars and Kirk were standing on James's doorstep. Jason decided to stay with his family for the holiday. As the rest of Metallica scurried in, they dropped their coats on the ground to be picked up later. 'Ruca had made eggnog earlier that day for everyone to enjoy, it was spiked with rum for their enjoyment. Lars scoops himself a cup and immediately gulps it down with an audible satisfied sigh.

"Oooh fock yeah, this tastes so much better with the rum in it." He coos as he helps himself to more. "Hey, man, that's my eggnog too," James grumbled as he took a glass of the sweet liquid for himself. Kirk, on the other hand, was chatting happily with Veruca about the latest horror movie that they had both recently seen. They were both horror kids at heart who also happened to love metal.

After their mini argument, Lars and James grew bored and slumped onto the couch. James nestled into Veruca's side, the effects of the rum taking over as he began to leave soft kisses on her face. He oftentimes became clingy when he was drunk.

"I guess it's present time, boys. Wait here while I get your gifts." The purple-haired girl excused herself and went to collect the rest of the band's gifts.

Lars got an entire bottle of Smirnoff all to himself. Kirk got a handful of new Horror comics, hot off the press. This was one of the first times that the boys actually smothered her with affection, hugs and kisses galore.

Once the night was winding down, half of the Smirnoff was in the egg nog and Lars and Kirk were passed out next to the fireplace. James was stretched out on one of the couches, his gaze focused on the window.

That's all he ever did now, think about Cliff and sit there in his misery. It was a sad sight to see because he felt like he couldn't vocalize anything. Veruca came up behind him and gently stroked his hair.

"It's going to get better, Jamie. I just know it." She mumbled as she pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. Soft tears crept down his cheeks as he viciously wiped them away. Holidays just weren't the same anymore.

Things would get better though, what the girl had said was true. They just needed to wait. Taking to the bottle didn't help though.