Nothing Else Matters

Chapter 11: Final

It was starting to get really late, and Kirk hadn't shown up at the Metallica house. As far as we knew, he was still hanging with Megadeth. Lars was still in his room, muttering unsatisfied sentences about me, and how I made his life miserable and blah, blah, blah. James and I were just sitting awkwardly on the couch, waiting for Kirk to show. "Uhm, Jason?", James questioned, breaking the silence. I turned my head to look at him. "Yeah?", I replied. "Now that we're dating...", he started. He looked kind of nervous, scratching the back of his head. "You haven't... uhm... No, nevermind". I was starting to get really confused. "No, what were you gonna say?", I asked. He simply shook his head. "Nothing". Seconds later, Kirk came into the room. "Hi, guys", he said, and looked around the livingroom, "Lars isn't here, right?" We both shook our heads. "Oh, good". He sat down next to me. "Any news?" James leaned forward and looked at Kirk. "Yeah", he replied, "You and Lars are getting back together". Kirk quickly jumped up from the couch, and looked at James with an expression mixed with fear, anger and confusion. "What? No!", he said, his voice a little shaky. "Yes", James answered, and went out to get Lars. Kirk was looking for ways to escape, and tried just walking out, but I grabbed his wrist. "You're not going anywhere", I told him, "Like, seriously, it's for the band, Kirk, and our friendship as well". He dumped back down on the couch. "Oh, what kinda cuddly crap is this?", he murmured.

It took a while for James to force Lars out of his room, but after half an hour, he finally managed to get him down on the couch next to Kirk. "Alright", James said, "You two just fix things". Kirk just stared at James, while Lars was just throwing angry looks at every item in the room. "Are you fucking kidding me?", Lars spat in his Danish accent, "You didn't even have a plan to begin with? The entire idea was to get us in the same room, and that's it? I'm outta here". He got up, but James pulled him back down. "Alright", I said, "We all have some serious shit to talk about, and I might as well begin". I cleared my throat, while making sure everybody was listening. "Lars", I started, "Apologize". He stared at me. "What!?", he yelled, "Do you honestly think I'll just-" "Yes", I interrupted, "To Kirk, not me". He calmed a little more down now that he got my idea. "Fine", he mumbled with clenched teeth, and turned to Kirk. "I'm sorry", he began, "Not only for not telling you the truth to begin with, but also for just adding more lies to it. So I hope you'll forgive me, and that we could at least be friends". It was kind of surprising to hear Lars just coming up with the most heartwarming apology in the world, or that he even apologized at all, but I think he'd had quite some time to think about it. I could see Kirk's heart melt at the moment he said it. He threw himself at Lars for a hug. "I want you back", he said, smiling wider than he had in weeks.

Some days later, we had everything worked out: Lars and Kirk were back together, and believe it or not, even if it sounds like such a cliché: stronger than ever. James and I told them about our relationship, and they were, not surprisingly, totally supportive about it. The only concern now was that thing James wanted to tell me before Kirk came back home that day, so I decided to just go ahead and ask him.

"James?", I called into his room. It was 11 P.M., so I was sure he was in there. "Yeah?", he replied, "Just come in". I entered his room, and found him sitting on his bed, tuning his guitar. He put it away as I sat down next to him. "What's up?", he asked me. "I was just wondering...", I started, "What was it you wanted to tell me that time, when we were waiting for Kirk?". He thought for a while, but by the moment he remembered what I was talking about, his face went all red. "Oh, it was nothing", he mumbled shyly. "No, seriously, James", I said, and put my hand on his shoulder, "Tell me". He looked at me with his big, blue eyes. "Alright...", he sighed, then taking a big breath, "I was gonna ask you... uhm, if you had ever kissed somebody". I could feel my cheeks getting warmer as he said it, but I had to keep myself together for his sake. I carefully shook my head. "No", I said, "Not a guy". James looked away, trying to hide the fact that he hadn't either. "Oh", he said, almost whispering. My heart started pounding, and my breath went faster as I decided what to do. I grabbed one of his hands that were resting on his lap, which made him turn to me, and blush even more, if that was possible. I looked at him, James, that I now proudly call my boyfriend. I slowly leaned closer, to make sure that he actually wanted it too, closed my eyes, and felt his lips against mine.