First Love | James Hetfield

In The Air Tonight

July 1986
Wisconsin

When they arrived at the hotel in Ashwaubenon, Annie followed David around like a lost puppy. After they got their room keys, they parted their ways for showering and a quick power nap, until it was time to meet the band.

The last thing Annie expected to see when they entered the hotel's bar, was Ozzy Osbourne.

And James, and Kirk, and Lars... and Cliff, sharing drinks with Ozzy and his band.

David was the first to introduce himself to the band, then offering a friendly greeting to the members of Metallica whom he'd met before.

Annie stood with her mouth hung open, her eyes bouncing off all of the musicians who stood before her.

James slid off his stool, approaching her with a grin on his face. He wasn't surprised; it was almost like he expected her.

"Wh— what the fuck?" she scoffed in disbelief as James only wrapped his long arms around her tightly, planting a kiss on her head.

"Surprise." she heard David chuckle behind her.

James pulled back a bit, lifting her chin to see the amazement and confusion swirl around in her facial expression. When he connected his lips to hers, she looped her arms around his neck, kissing him back.

"How?" she breathed, pulling away from the kiss.

James laughed softly. "Photographer bailed last minute, and I happen to know one of the best photographers in town."

Annie laughed, taking a breath to respond before David cleared his throat. She turned to see him standing next to Ozzy who had a crooked smile on his face, looking back at her.

"Oh!" she snapped out of her daze, tucking her messy curls behind her ears and reaching her hand out to shake his. "I'm Anneliese."

James chuckled softly as he watched her turn all flustered in front of one of her idols.

"I'm honored to meet you, I..." she trailed off, shaking her head while their hands continued up and down.

Ozzy pried his hand away from her sweaty one. "Pleased to meet the girl this twit won't shut up about." he mumbled cheerfully, pointing his finger at James who only rolled his eyes with a playful grin.

"Thanks for coming out on such short notice," he said with that thick British accent of his.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, it's not a problem. I love it..." she trailed off as she'd already forgotten the name of the city. "..here." she added.

Ozzy laughed, mumbling something incoherently to which she simply smiled and nodded.

"Anyway, we've got a soundcheck here in about an hour, so.." he glanced at his bare wrist, waving a dismissive hand at her and finishing off his beer all in one swing before he and the others disappeared.

Annie slowly turned to face the other guys, her eyes wide and face red from that whole interaction. "Wow.."

Cliff's boyish laugh came from behind her as she looked over her shoulder at him. "Now you will get to take cool photos." he grinned at her, nudging her arm.

She nodded with a dreamy sigh. "Yeah..."

Only a few hours later, Annie was sitting on a large equipment case on the side stage while the distorted sounds of Metallica roared throughout the arena in which they were playing.

Before she moved to the side stage, she got to sneak around in front of the pit, snapping photos of the guys throughout their set.

They went through Damage, Inc. as their last song on the set list before saying goodbye to the raging crowd, the four sweaty men disappearing backstage.

As James left the stage, his firey eyes locked with hers as he took long strides toward her. She couldn't help but hang her mouth open slightly at the sight of his shirtless, sweaty torso and his veiny hands that were attached to her waist a moment later.

Before she could even greet him, his lips were against hers and his hands greedily pulled her closer. She could feel his rough fingers pressing into her skin through the small top that she wore, making her heartbeat speed up.

He softly bit her bottom lip and sighed into the kiss before pulling away to catch his breath. "Alright, alright... we gotta stop if you want to get pictures of Ozzy."

"Says you!" she laughed softly, staring up at him with wild eyes.

"I know." he shook his head, brushing her hair away from her face. "I just couldn't help myself." he said honestly. Throughout his entire set he thought about how he hadn't laid a finger on her for months, and she was just a few feet away for him to take if he wanted to. For a split second, he actually considered dropping his guitar and walking off the stage to make up for lost time with her.

"Shut up," she snorted, dropping her head against his chest only to move back and grimace at the sweat coming off of him onto her hair.

"No, seriously." he breathed, glancing down at her with a smile on his face. They held each others gazes for a moment before he leaned close to her ear to whisper,

"Find me after the show. We'll go straight to the hotel." he spoke almost sternly, sending chills up her spine. She held back nervous laughter. Even after all these years he was still able to make her all flustered— and she still wasn't used to the way he'd speak to her sometimes.

He pulled back so he could meet her eyes again, and there was that pink tint in her cheeks and the shimmering in her eyes.

"Okay..." she said slowly, as if she were in a trance by his stare.

At some point, his hands had moved to the wall behind her, his arms on each side of her head as if he were capturing his prey.

Snapping her out of the trance he had her in, he gave her thigh a light smack as he stepped back. "Now go do your job."

She nodded, hopping off the equipment case just as the crowd began cheering for Ozzy to come onstage.

Don't know what came over me... sorry guys💀

also very sorry for the huge delay in updates.. been pretty busy lately. Thanks for your support.

I also literally don't know actual British vocabulary so I'm sorry if Ozzy's character is cringe.

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