✓ | Mr. Hetfield, My Teacher. [Metallica: James Hetfield]

Chapter 24

Ali managed to get herself together before arriving at the airport. She tried to compose herself before finally getting out of the car. She grabbed her luggage and made her way inside. She instantly found her parents, sister, brother and Kate. Kate walked up to Ali before she could get to everybody else.

"Are you okay?" Kate asked concerned. She knew how hard it was going to be to say goodbye to Kate. They were use to seeing each other everyday and now that wasn't going to happen. Kate couldn't help but feel bad for the couple.

"Yeah I'm fine." Ali assured her.

"Umm?" Kate grabbed Ali's left hand and spotted the promise ring. "What's this?"

"Shit! I forgot to hide it." Ali took off the ring momentarily and put it in her pocket. "I'll explain on the plane ok." Ali said and went to go approach her parents.

"Sweetie, where were you?'' her mom Brianna asked.

"I had to take care of something mom. I told you."

"Right. Well, this is it I guess." the tears were already falling from Brianna's face. "I'm gonna miss you so much honey." she went in for a tight hug.

"I'm going to miss you too mom. All of you." she turned to her sister, brother and her dad and gave them a warm smile. "I'll call everyday to see how you guys are doing and everything."

"I'm proud of you Ali. Go knock em dead right on the ass." her father chuckled and kissed her forehead.

"I'm going to miss you dude." Jonathan wiped the tears from his eyes and hugged his sister with Veronica.

"I'll miss you guys too but I'll come during breaks. I'll be back before you guys know it." Ali started to cry again. The reasons were a mixture of her family and of course of James.

A voice over the speaker went off saying that the next flight to Chicago was boarding. Ali said goodbye to her family one last time before finally heading off with Kate. They went through security with their tickets already in hand.

Ali sighed as she handed over her tickets so it could be checked. Once they did everything and got settled in their seats, Ali pulled out the promise ring James gave her and put back in the place it belonged.

"So now you wanna tell me?" Kate asked smiling. She knew it was either a promise ring or and engagement ring. Either way, Kate thought it was adorable and she wanted to know every little detail.

"It's a promise ring Kate. He gave it to me after we...you know.'' Ali giggled and covered her face in embarrassment.

"Aww that is so sweet. You guys kill me. In a good way." Kate was such a big supporter of James and Ali. It made her wish she had someone to have that type of relationship with.

"Yeah, he told me that as long as I wear it, he'll be with me and that hopefully one day, it will turn into something more." Ali put her head back on the headrest and looked up. Remembering the look in James' eyes when he was practically pouring his heart out to her. His blue gorgeous eyes were filled with nothing but sincerity, love, lust, and honesty. It made Ali feel special and just made her love him even more.

Once the plane took off, Ali looked out the window and sighed. She was really going to miss everything and everybody from SF but she knew she would be back at some point. Ali laid back on her seat and closed her eyes. She definitely needed a nap. Kate on the other hand, plugged her earphones in her ears and blasted the music on her phone. Music always calmed her down, even Ali. She closed her eyes trying to relax but then someone tapped her shoulder. She rolled her eyes and took the ear buds out of her ears annoyed.

"What?" she said sighing.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help but overhear the music you're listening to. It's Nirvana right?" the man asked with a smirk.

"Yup. You a fan?" Kate asked with a smile. They guy was pretty attractive. He had some gorgeous green eyes. He was sitting on the set of seats next to her and Ali.

"Huge. I'm guessing you are too?"

"Yeah. I'm Kate by the way." she extended her hand and he immediately accepted it.

"I'm Seth. Seth Knight."

(With James)

After Ali left James was pretty much down. She hadn't even been away for more than a couple of hours and he was already suffering. Well, he was already suffering before she even left. He knew they would keep in contact though. And he knew they were going to see each other again. He just hoped that everything would still be the same. His fear was that Ali would find someone better in Chicago and leave him. He knew she would never do that but in the back of his mind, he still had that fear.

He couldn't help but love the look on Ali's face when he gave her the promise ring. His heart melted at her reaction and the look in her eyes. He knew that she loved it and she did indeed hope the same as him. That ring would become something way more in the future. He knew that as long as she wore that ring, he was with her and she would be safe. She practically wore his heart on her finger.

James walked back into the bedroom and looked at the bed. It still contained the rose petals and the messy bed sheets caused by Ali and himself. He smiled to himself and remembered every single detail of what had happened a couple of hours ago. For the first time, they connected with nothing in the middle. They were both in the moment and didn't realize what the consequences could be; and at this point, they still didn't. He eventually snapped out of his thoughts and started cleaning up the bedroom. Once he was finished, he was about to head for a shower until the doorbell rang.

James rubbed his eyes and went to go see who it was. He approached the door and opened it. His jaw dropped.

"K-Kristen?!"