Fight Fire With Fire // James Hetfield Fanfiction

CHAPTER SIX: is it love, or tequila

After i got out and walked down the street a ways i looked down at the ring. I didn't want it. Although, it was pretty. James was completely right about me only being concerned about wealth. Growing up neither james or i had money, and it seemed now we both made it to the top. Maybe he was just jealous because it was easier for me. He took it too far this time, though. That scared me. It made me wonder if his secret about crying in front of that dave guy was real.

"Honey, look i found my ring.. It was in the pocket of my jeans" i smiled and showed it to him on my slender pale hand.

"Oh i'm so glad, my love" he said and kissed my hand before going back to drinking with bob, who was his trainee "are you okay? You look upset" he added when i was about to walk away.

"It's nothing, darling, get back to work" i turned and started off to the bar, and dallas slapped my ass. I rolled my eyes and continued on.

i then decided i was going to get very drunk that night, and was about to do so when of all people, james interrupted my plans.

"Can't you see im busy?" i asked him when he sat next to me, turning to me as if to try and get my attention. He laughed sarcastically

"If this is your busy i'd like to see what you do the rest of the time"

"You know, i have a great idea" i said and turned to him. He raised his eyebrows and waited for me to continue "you can leave me the fuck alone and go on with your pathetic life"

"Well, take a look at us both, liv. You're the one that's following me around on tour while i'm making a name for myself. Who's pathetic?" he said

"You are a textbook narcissist" i said, annoyed "you think i want to be here? Do you think i like going out to all those dinners with you and your band? No, i'm just a little pawn whore for dallas to play when he needs idiot boys like you in a good mood" his face looked serious when i said that

"He really does that?" he asked. Why was he so concerned now? This guy was giving me whiplash

"Yes" i replied "he told me that i help him make money by going, because you guys like seeing be because i'm good looking"

"Oh" he said and ordered a beer. I rolled my eyes

"Yes, are you going to play around with my emotions some more? Or can i go" he frowned and ordered some shots

"No stay, let's drink"

"Why should i" i asked, getting up from my seat. He grabbed my hand and i looked around quickly, making sure nobody i knew was in the room.

"Because when we're both drunk it's more fun. Less fighting" he pleaded in a cool voice with a grin. I hesitated and looked over my shoulder again to double check

"Let's just go up to your room and do it" i said reluctantly. I wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but i knew if i didn't do anything i'd lose my shit out of boredom. He agreed and we headed upstairs. Now somehow it was like nothing happened.

"Okay lets make a bet" he said and i sat on the floor as he got a bottle of tequila out of the mini-fridge, then started rummaging around in his bag "whoever taps out first, has to pay for us to go to this place... i don't remember what it's called. But it's like this hill and it overlooks all of the city"

"How do you know?" i asked and he shrugged

"Because i'm a super genius that knows everything, duh" he grinned and i grinned back. Our eyes locked again. It gave me butterflies and i looked away

"Okay, you're on" i said and unscrewed the lid on the tequila "although, i have to warn you, i hold my liquor very well, so be prepared to pay up" he laughed at my words and snatched the bottle from my hands, sitting in front of me on the floor and setting two shot glasses in between us, which must have been what he was looking in his bag for

"You're a funny girl. I know you better than that" he grinned, pouring the drink into the glasses. We both smirked at each other as we raised them to our lips "go" he said and we both downed them. It was a familiar burning sensation. The last time i'd done something like this was on my twentieth birthday. Then i got married and was accustomed to a different lifestyle, and different types of expensive alcohol. Dallas never liked doing shots.

We both laughed softly and before he poured another he said to me "i regret what happened to us in highschool" i looked at him, slightly puzzled to what his real feelings were. We downed the next one, the liquid really going to my head now

"You ever wonder how different things would be if nothing had happened then?" i asked him, shifting my position slightly so that i could lean against the wall.

"All the time" he smiled and i waited for him to continue, but instead he poured another. We took them and he laughed "maybe we'd still be doing this, you know? Maybe what happened was meant to happen.. Maybe we'd be back in norway in a nice little house in the city like you always wanted" i couldn't help but smile at his attentiveness to the details of six or seven years prior.

"Maybe we'd be-" i paused to think "we'd be in that apartment in san francisco with a dog" he grinned with pride

"Would you prefer that to how it is now?" he asked. I didn't know how to answer that. Because i honestly wasn't sure if i knew the answer off the top of my tequila ridden head. I laughed softly pouring just myself another shot.

"Which scenario?" i asked, drinking it and coughing a bit. He weighed his options with a funny face. It made me smile..

"The norway one" he replied, sure of his answer. I thought some more, then found my answer

"None of them" i said "none of them" i repeated "if i stayed in your life, i would have ruined what you have going now. If you came to norway with me, you never would have had your band.. If we stayed in california, well you'd have the band but i'm positive it wouldn't be as big as it is now" he then started drinking straight from the bottle.

"I think that" he said, smiling and handing me the bottle "that back then, if i knew how my life was going now, i would go back and make sure we moved to norway" i blushed and wondered if he meant that.

"You're crazy. This way we're both successful, and now we're doing shots in your hotel room in france" he laughed. I could tell we were both drunk, but it didn't seem like it at all. I was sure from a sober perspective we probably sounded crazy and incoherent.

"Yeah" he said "but i'll always beat myself up for what happened.. And now you're married to a guy you don't even like, and obviously repressing feelings for me" i laughed hard. 

It was true, though.

 and i assumed i was only admitting that to myself because i was too intoxicated to tell the difference between left and right clearly.

"Oh yeah? How can i like you if i don't even trust you" i teased "you took me on a tea date. And you remembered what i liked. Then you kissed me just to get my ring so you could use it against me" he looked absolutely taken aback at my words

"What?!" he asked loudly and laughed a bit "bullshit. All that was true.. I was going to give the ring back to you the day i threw it, but forgot until we got to the cafe and i took my opportunity because i like making you blush.." then added what i assumed he meant to say quietly, but was perfectly audible "you're cute when you get embarrassed" my heart skipped a beat, and for once i wasn't trying to calm it down. I of course, blushed even harder at his words

"Swear?" i asked and he smiled

"If i'm lying you can smack me again" he said sincerely and i giggled softly

"Oh i will" i said and we locked eyes, once again. It felt like when we were kids. It was crazy to me how we met in a history class, and seven years later here we were.. And right then i seemed to remember exactly why i fell in love with him in the first place. His smile, his determined eyes, his soft lips and rough hands... but most of all that he had dreams, and he wouldn't stop until he got there. My slow fuzzy brain remembered the exact feeling that it was like when i realized i loved him. I seemed to repress that feeling deep down. I hadn't felt a feeling like that with anyone else in my life, not even when i was in love with dallas.

Somewhere my sober brain told me that this was wrong to feel this. It was wrong to let him in. it was wrong to fall in love with him, because it would end just like last time. So to suppress that sober part, i took the last drink that i could remember taking. After that, it was all a hazy blur of events