First Love | James Hetfield

Hit The Lights

September 3rd, 1983

Annie tapped her foot anxiously on the floorboard of Aurora's car. The girls in the front seats were rambling about something but she drowned it all out. They were on their way to The Stone, where Metallica would be performing.

Annie wanted to be on time so that maybe she could catch them before they went on, but the girls being as glamorous as they are, they were too busy with their makeup and outfits to realize they were seven minutes late.

Annie shook her head as she thought, we must've missed two goddamn songs already. She was pulled out of her thoughts when the car came to an abrupt stop in front of a small building.

She hopped out of the car before Aurora and Bea, looking up at the sign and smiling when she saw 'METALLICA' on top. "Come on, come on!" She waved Bea over who was breaking her ankles on the heels she wore. Bea looked up at her but she held a finger up. "Don't even start. You chose to wear those." She shrugged, opening the door to the venue.

Aurora had the tickets so Annie just stared awkwardly at the man behind the ticket counter. Finally, Aurora came in and handed the man all three tickets and they walked toward the door to the actual concert.

Annie shook her hands around anxiously as she heard loud guitars and drums booming through the room already. "Damn it, I told you we'd be-" Annie was cut off by a loud crash cymbal intro from the stage. She turned her attention to the darkened stage that eventually lit up around Lars' drum kit, then to Kirk and Cliff, and finally James who was strumming a fast rhythm along with the drums.

Her eyes lit up and her mouth fell open as she walked closer to the stage. She'd never seen any of them like this. She found an empty spot at the front where she kept her dumbfounded gaze locked on James.

"Whoa!" His singing voice was loud and way higher than his normal talking voice. "No life 'til leather, we're gonna kick some ass tonight!"

James looked down at the front of the crowd, scanning it and locked eyes with her. A proud smile slowly grew on her face as he looked away, trying to hide his own. Aurora and Bea stood on each of her sides, but she was too amazed by the show to notice.

"Hit the lights!" He screamed a few times before it went into a fast guitar lick from Kirk.

They blew through the set and Annie didn't take her eyes off them for even a minute. At some point Bea and Aurora strayed off to get drinks but she stood with shimmering eyes watching the show.

After Whiplash finished, James looked down at her and bawled his eyes to the side stage, telling her to go backstage. The guys went in the back while Annie went looking for the girls. She ripped Aurora off the side of a middle aged man then grabbed Bea from the bar and led them to a hallway in the corner.

"What are we doing?" Aurora was already wasted. "Going backstage." Annie mumbled, letting go of them to open the door. Surprisingly there was no guard blocking it. "Like groupies?" Bea slurred.

"No, not like groupies." Annie said, closing the door behind them and pushing them ahead of her. "Wait, that's so true!" Aurora looked at Bea with a dazed smile. "Cause you and Cliff, and me and Lars, then that weird thing that Annie and J-"

"Don't even say it Aurora. Don't even say it." Annie warned, shaking her head. They reached the end of the hall and Aurora attempted to open the very obviously locked door to no avail. "Why wont it-" she stumbled back when someone opened it from the other side. Annie let out an annoyed sigh as she entered the room.

"Hey, there they are!" Lars smiled brightly, standing up from his chair with his arms open. Aurora quickly scrambled off the ground to hug the sweaty Dane while Kirk and Cliff stood up.

A few minutes later they had to go back out for the encore, and Annie didn't even see James backstage at all. She went back out for a bit of Kirk's solo then for Metal Militia, which would be the last song of their set. After that was over, the three girls got drinks then went backstage again, and Annie still couldn't see James anywhere.

"Where the hells Hetfield?" Annie frowned with her hands up. "Oh, he's in the shower." Cliff pointed to the door behind him. Annie raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Somethin' about wanting to smell good for when-" Kirk was cut off by Cliff's hand slapping over his mouth. "Whatever." Annie smiled, pulling Cliff into a hug, then Kirk, and congratulating them. She liked Kirk's hugs. They were warm and comforting.

Beatrice shoved Annie out of the way and jumped on Cliff, engulfing him in a hug. Lars and Annie began chatting but she didn't really know what to do with herself without James there. Clearly the other girls had a certain someone they were excited to see, being Lars and Cliff, and Annie was looking forward to seeing James, but he wasn't there. She just hoped he didn't ditch or something. She hopped onto a table and swung her feet back and forth while looking around at everybody.

A few moments later the door swung open and revealed James struggling to pull a plastic bag off his cast. "What are you doing dumbass?" Came a voice from ahead of him. Came the voice. Her voice. He lifted his head up with wide eyes and broke out into that signature grin when he met her eyes. He was about to run to her and pull her into a hug but walked instead. "Trying to get this thing off." He mumbled, still struggling with the plastic and duct tape. "Well come here, stupid." She beckoned him over.

He walked closer until her knees where just a few inches from his hips, and held his arm out to her. "Ever thought about using scissors?" She raised her eyebrows at him while pulling Bea's purse over to her and grabbing the small pair of scissors. "No." He said robotically, not taking his eyes off her. "Yeah, clearly." She snorted, bringing the scissors up to the plastic.

She could feel his wet curls tickling her hand as she cut the plastic off carefully. "There." She said, putting the scissors back.

He mumbled a thanks then tossed the bag, then they stood silently staring at the ground until Annie looked up at him again. He looked back at her and furrowed his brows. "What?"

"Come here, you jerk." She grabbed his arm to pull him closer then put her arms around him, hugging him. That wasn't something she ever did. Nothing she ever even considered doing. Nothing James ever expected her to do.

The sweater he was wearing and the post shower smell brought her a new sense of comfort that she couldn't get enough of. James tensed up at first but slowly slid his arms around her back and rested his head on her shoulder.

She began talking into his shoulder to make it less awkward. "You guys were fucking great out there, I mean.." she sighed in amazement as she pulled away from the hug. James was caught off guard at the sudden movement and took a minute to pull away. "I've never seen you guys live, but that was your best show ever. Easily." She nodded.

"Yeah?" James chuckled, twisting his rings around so they faced the right way. "Hell yeah." She grinned.

Everybody hung out a little while longer so the guys could catch their breath, but then they decided it was time to party, so they packed all their gear up and went to the MetalliMansion.

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