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

Chapter 36

If there was one type of person that James couldn't stand, it was a women beater. He could never even imagine himself putting his hands on another woman, much less his girlfriend. He was just as suspicious as Ali was when they noticed that bruise on Kate's arm. Her reaction when Ali asked her about it told the whole story.

A few minutes after Kate went in the restroom, Seth got up and headed for the door.

"Tell Janah I had to go." he said and opened the door.

"Nah hold up. What or should I say WHO caused that bruise on Kate's arm, Seth?" James stood and before he could approach him, Seth stepped out of the apartment and left without giving a response.

"We have to talk to her." James turned to look at Ali who nodded in response. She was very concerned about Kate and so was James. If it really was they thought it was, they were going to help her as much as they could. They owed her that much. She had helped them out so much before and kept their relationship a secret. They both wanted to return the favor and help her out. Besides that, Janah was Ali's best friend and Ali wanted to her help mainly because of that. She couldn't even imagine what had been going on when her and James were in San Francisco.

They waited until the bathroom door finally opened. James walked out into the living room and noticed Seth was gone. She wasn't surprised. "Where's Seth?"

"He said he had to go. Kate, are you guys okay? He didn't cause that bruise, did he?" Ali didn't want to ask so bluntly but she really wanted to know.

"I told you the bruise is nothing so just drop it." Kate snapped. "I'm going to bed." she said and went to bedroom, slamming and locking the door shut.

Ali sighed and shook her head. "What are we gonna do?"

James approached her and cupped her cheek. "Since she won't talk and tell us what is going on, we have to go to the second option. We need to know if Seth has an anger issue or something."

"I doubt Seth will say anything, babe. You saw how he just left when you asked him earlier."

"I wasn't talking about Seth. I was talking about Phillip."

"Oh yeah...you're right! I'm sure Phillip will tell us something. Let me text him."

Ali: Hey Phillip, was wondering if you would like to grab a coffee with James and I. We would like to talk to you about something.

Phillip: Yeah sure. Just name the place time.

James and Ali entered the coffee shop and immediately spotted Phillip sitting in a booth.

"Hey, Phillip thanks for meeting us." Ali greeted him and James shook his hand.

"No problem. What's going on?" Phillip asked. He was very curious as to why James and Ali wanted to meet with him.

"We wanted to ask you about Seth." Ali answered.

"What about him?"

"Does he have any sort of anger issues of any kind?" James asked. He noticed that Phillip stiffened his posture.

"Why do you ask?" Phillip spoke after a few moments of silence.

"When we came back from San Francisco yesterday, we noticed a bruise on Kate's arm and...you know...when I asked her about it she got nervous and Seth was there and he left when James tried to ask him about it."

Phillip sighed in disappointment. He really thought that he had gotten some sense into Seth. "Yeah, I'm willing to bet money that he caused that bruise, unfortunately."

"Elaborate?" Ali asked.

"Seth does have anger issues. He's beaten up women before. I told him a long time ago to get help and he did. I would even accompany him to his sessions and everything. I honestly thought that he was done doing this but I guess not. If I would have known, I would have never let Kate get close to him, and I would have warned her. I thought for sure that Seth talked to her about his past. He told me he did. He was obviously lying." Phillip explained. Just the image of Seth putting his hands on Kate made him sick to his stomach. He wasn't going to allow Seth to get close to Kate. For some reason, Phillip felt responsible and wanted to help Kate out. He was just glad that James and Ali told him.

"He doesn't step foot into the girls apartment anymore, under any circumstances." James said sternly.

"We have to talk to Kate as soon as possible. When we woke up this morning, she wasn't there. She left a note saying she went to the UC campus to do something." Ali shrugged.

"If you guys don't mind, I would like to get a chance to talk to Kate first." Phillip said. "I kind of feel responsible and I want to help her out as much as I can. First though, I'm gonna kick Seth out of our apartment. I'm tired of living with the asshole...I can't live with a women beater."

Both Ali and James nodded in agreement.

Phillip had left the coffee shop first and went to get Kate from the apartment to talk to her. Luckily she was already back from UC. Kate hesitated but Phillip insisted and she eventually gave in. Once James and Ali got to the apartment, they were already gone.

"I really hope that Phillip can help Kate. Most importantly, I hope Kate accepts his help."

"I want to kill Seth." James said as if it was the most simply thing in the world.

"He's not worth it babe. Hopefully after Phillip kicks him out and Kate leaves him, he will leave us all alone." Ali said and James nodded.

After a few moments of stolen kisses and light touching, there was a knock on the door and James growled. "Dammit." he rolled off of Ali and she adjusted her shirt.

James opened the door and saw Seth standing there. "Is Kate here?"

"No she's not and no you can't wait for her. One, you aren't welcome here anymore and second, Kate doesn't want to see you anymore."

Seth gave a sarcastic laugh. "Did she say that or are YOU saying that?"

James was boiling with rage and before he knew it, his jaw connected with Seth's jaw. Seth fell to the floor but immediately got back on his feet. He swing his fist but missed when James ducked his head and they hit him in the jaw again.

"Guys stop!" Ali panicked. Seth deserved to get the shit beat out of him but she didn't want the situation worse. There was no telling what Seth was capable of doing.

"Get the hell out here and don't you dare show your face around here again!" James yelled.

Seth turned around gripping his jaw and left without another word.

"Bitch isn't worth it anyways..." Seth mumbled as he walked down the stairs. Phillip wanted him out of the apartment and he couldn't have been happier to leave. He got in his car, where he already had his bags packed and left. He knew all those anger management sessions he had in the past were nothing but a waste of time. He was screwed up and he was always going to be that way.

Phillip and Kate didn't know how they ended up in this position. All they knew was that this was more than just comfort and it was something real. There was no doubt that Kate was miserable and hurting but that wasn't the only reason why she did this. Phillip of course wanted to help Kate and wanted her to feel safe, but that wasn't the only reason he had done this.

"That was amazing." Kate whispered as she kissed Phillip's bare chest. Phillip grabbed her arm and pressed a light kiss on the bruise. Then kissed her softly on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her frame and held her tight, making sure that she felt as safe as possible. Despite Phillip feeling responsible for making Kate feel safe , he was doing this for more than just feeling guilty.

They both fell asleep in each others naked embrace, without a single regret.