September 21st, 1983
The Hotel, Room 103
11:20 p.m.
I got dressed while James showered, having just showered before him. The phone rang, and I picked it up in confusion, "I'm transmitting a call from room 100, a, uh-, Mr. Jack Torrance?" The operator told me, and I held my laugh from the obvious Shining reference, immediately knowing who it was.
"Yes, thank you operator."
"Come and play with us, Danny." Kirk's voice echoed through the phone, raised in pitch to imitate the twins.
"God, Kirk what do you want?" I couldn't suppress my laughter.
"Everyone's going to the bar in celebration, but when they're gone d'ya wanna just hang out and watch a movie? I'm too exhausted for partying."
I bit my nail while thinking, hearing the water running from the shower. "Wendy, darling, light of my life, i'll be there at 11:55 so we're sure they're gone."
"Perfect! I have booze!" I could tell he was smiling from the way he was talking, which made me smile.
"See you there, Wendy."
As the line went dead, I fell back into my bed, smiling. James opened the bathroom door, in leather pants and shirtless, rubbing a towel over his hair. "Happy to see me?" He leaned over me.
"God Hetfield," I laughed. "I'm not gonna go to the bar tonight, I think I'm just gonna watch a movie, maybe walk around."
"Awww, but everyone's going and it was our first show. C'mon, Astra." He begged.
"Nope, no dontcha gotta get going?" I slipped out from under him, heading to his bed, only for him to tower over me again. "Christ, James-"
I was stopped by James' lips crashing into mine, kissing me passionately. The thing is, I kissed him back. His arms slipped under me and I tangled my fingers into his wet hair, as he slipped his tongue into my mouth. His fingers moved down my back, and he pulled me up higher on the bed, climbing over me. As soon as we broke the kiss for air and he was about to go back for more, I stopped him.
"James, wait."
"What is it?"
"I can't do this," I sighed, frowning. "It was stupid and a drunken idea from a touch-starved bitch and that's not fair to you, I'm sorry."
"It's okay," He got off of me, grabbing one of his Iron Maiden shirts and pulling it over his head. "Don't apologise, it was my fault."
"James, before you go... Can we please not talk about this to anyone but ourselves."
"What happens in the room, stays in the room." He winked, grabbing his jacket and heading out the door. I glanced at the clock, 11:50. Great, 5 minutes. I combed through the hair James gladly tangled and fixed my skirt. Grabbing a bottle of red wine James had brought in from the bus, I left the hotel and found my way to Kirk's room. The door almost instantly opened as I knocked on it, and Kirk greeted me in jeans and a unbuttoned black button down. We exchanged our greetings, and I placed the wine with the pile of booze Kirk had collected, and turned to him.
"I rented some movies, take your pick doll." He handed me the videotapes. I looked through them, The Shining, The Exorcist, Halloween, Dracula, The Thing, and The Invisible Man to top it off.
"Dracula, it's a vampire kinda night," I threw him the cassette as he put it into the player and joined him on the bed. As the film began, he passed me a bottle of Jack.
"Wrap your lips around that."
"Kirk you got my favourite!" I kissed his cheek, opening the bottle and drinking from the lovely poison, and that's how we spent the rest of the movie, talking, laughing, and drinking. The bottle was near empty now, and Kirk had turned on the small hotel radio. I layed down on the small bed, Kirk looking down upon me.
"You know what quote from Dracula always stuck with me?" I twirled my finger around a lock of my hair, looking at the popcorn ceiling, trying to visualize little scenes in the dots.
"What quote?"
"When Drac's listening to the howling of the wolves, he says 'Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.' It's beautiful. So beautiful I put it in the lyrics for a song going on our next album."
"That really is art, isn't it?" He grinned.
"What's your favourite quote?"
"Oh gosh, uh," He giggled, thinking. "The Count, he said 'For one who has not lived even a single lifetime, you're a wise man, Van Helsing.' I don't know, I liked it."
"I think it's beautiful."
"You think so?"
"Yeah, Kirk, beautiful."
We locked eyes, our smiles eventually fading until we were just there, looking at each other as the radio played quietly in the background. Comfortable silence. You know you've found someone good when you can just be there, in silence, and be comfortable. Like we're saying everything at once, without either the two of us speaking a word.
Kirk looked down at my lips, then back at my eyes, his mouth left slightly agape. And I looked at his mouth, wanting to feel his lips against mine, find out what he tasted like, run my fingers through his hair.
I wanted nothing more than to kiss him.