2004
"Oh, shit," Jim mutters as he looks over at the woman in his bed.
"Yeah, I know," she replies. "Get me a painkiller, my head hurts."
"Yeah, gimme a second. I'm hungover too, y'know."
Eventually, Jim and his hookup emerge from his hotel room. The guitarist trails around the hotel lobby in an attempt to find his bandmates before giving up and eating some breakfast.
"Jim!" Joey calls from across the lobby. "C'mon, we gotta go!"
"Hm? Oh, fuck, right," the guitarist scrambles to grab his bag and follow Joey to the bus waiting in front of the hotel.
With the band now all gathered in the bus, the journey to Chicago can begin.
Even 6 and a half years after breaking up with you, your love for Chicago lingers in his mind. He remembers how you went there for a vacation with your parents and fell totally in love with it. He remembers your stress about applying to colleges in Chicago, and your successive overjoy when you were accepted into Northwestern. You were so excited to study art history and work at a museum...which one was it though?
Jim smiles to himself before shaking his head and lighting a cigarette.
A frequent daydream he had during Slipknot's first tour was finishing a show and coming backstage to see you waiting with all the other VIP ticket holders. He'd drop his guitar and rip off his mask as you ran up to him and kissed him.
It's so interesting how one detail can trigger so many memories, isn't it?
...
Slipknot makes it to Chicago in about 5 hours, giving the band time to drop their stuff off at a hotel and have some free time.
Jim, having heard about a cool exhibit at the Field Museum, decides to go check it out. Besides, looking at some dinosaur skeletons couldn't hurt.
He gets his ticket, goes through the entrances, and stalks into the huge lobby. He has to pause for a second to look around at all the massive things around him. There's a huge sauropod skeleton, taxidermized elephants, plaster pterosaurs hanging from the ceiling, and what Jim assumes is a T. Rex skeleton. Jim walks around for a few minutes until he hears, from a few yards away, "oh my fucking god."
The voice is familiar, too familiar. He looks over to see you.
6 years later, it's you. You don't look different at all, maybe a bit older, but you're the exact same.
"Holy shit," Jim mutters, not knowing what to do as you take a few steps closer to him.
"What are you doing here?" you ask, adjusting the box and the files in your hands to rest in one arm.
"What are you doing here?" Jim asks.
"I work here," you reply matter-of-factly. "You're not the only one who pursued their dreams."
Oh, right. This is the museum you were desperate to work at. Jim is unable to move or really get out a full sentence.
"So you've got some down time before the show tonight?" you inquire, motioning for him to walk with you as you enter an exhibit.
"Uh, yeah," Jim nods, a bit confused as to why he's walking with you. "I just wanted to check this place out. I...kinda forgot that you wanted to work here."
"No wonder you were so surprised to see me," you chuckle. "I hope you like this place."
"It's nice, you really were right," Jim looks around. "Where are we going?"
"Oh, this exhibit is the best place to start. It's just that the layout here isn't too intuitive so when you go through the museum, you can meet a lot of dead ends. I've noticed that when you start with the Egypt exhibit, you can go through all the displays much easier," you explain. "Plus, I have to drop off this sample to a class that's touring here today."
"Ah. Can I see the sample? Will it like crumble if I breathe on it?"
"Not even close, it's actually one of the best preserved Egyptian mummy talismans in the world," you smile, pulling the lid off the box and handing it to Jim. "Just don't touch it, though."
"Of course," Jim gingerly takes the box and studies the talisman. It's a garishly painted figurine of a man holding a bowl up.
"It's from a grave that was robbed in the Victorian era, then it was passed around the black market until the Field Museum opened, which makes it even more impressive that it's still preserved."
"Could it be a fake?"
"That's what I thought, too. My boss told me that I'm the eighth person to carbon date that little fucker and it's very real," you reply.
"Are you sure you should be calling a guardian of the afterlife a little fucker? Doesn't that give you bad juju or something?"
"Oh, hush," you laugh lightly.
You see the professor with a group of students and wave to her.
"I need the little fucker back," you mutter to Jim, who obeys and gives you the box. He watches as you trot over to the professor, give her a hug, and hand her the box and a file.
"Take care, sweetie!" she calls after you while you walk back over to Jim.
"You too, hun," you smile.
"'Sweetie'?" Jim raises an eyebrow.
"Don't worry about it, there's history."
"History of what? Of you getting a sugar momma?" the guitarist teases.
"Shush!" you admonish while suppressing a laugh.
"What? Am I right?"
"No! For fuck's sake," you pinch the bridge of your nose. "She was my mentor when I first started interning at the Institute of Art in college, and she helped me get paid and find good housing after freshman year."
"That's actually really sweet."
"Mh-hm. I owe her a lot."
There's a short pause while you two still trail through the exhibit.
"Y'know, I'm coming to the Slipknot show tonight," you inform.
"Really?" Jim raises an eyebrow. "Are you a fan?"
"Hah, you're funny. I mostly just wanted to see what you guys have been up to."
"A lot."
"I know. I hear about Slipknot all the time," you nod. "So are you in town long?"
"I think we have the next two days off, actually."
"Would you want to grab some coffee or something and catch up? No pressure, I get our situation is a bit weird."
"No, it's totally fine. Yeah, just tell me where to be," Jim nods.
"Nice. I have to get back to work, but, uh...," you search your pockets for a pen. Once you find one, you write your number on a spare sticky note on the remaining file on your arm and give it to Jim. "Call me."
You flash Jim a smile before turning away to go to the back work offices.
Holy shit, Jim stares at your number in his hand. This is weird, right? Are you just looking to hook up with your ex or something? It doesn't feel like something you'd do, but things could have changed in the literal years it's been since he saw you.
He trails through the museum, letting his curiosity guide him. It's a wonderful museum, and as he meanders around, he realizes why you used to dream about working here. There's almost no end to all the things to look at and explore. The exhibits must be fun to curate.
...
The show went well last night, now Jim has to meet you at a coffee shop. He's got mixed feelings about it. It helps to treat this like an old friend reunion and not an awkward coffee with an ex.
He had a good conversation with no hostility in the museum, so what could be that harm here?
Jim pushes the door open at the cafe you told him to meet you at and looks around. He sees you in a small booth, writing something with a mug in front of you.
"Hey," he gently greets.
"You came," you smile. "Sorry, I brought some work in case you ditched me."
"Course I wouldn't ditch you. I just couldn't figure out the trains and it took me forever to get here."
"That's alright, they're bizarre. I should've given you some directions."
"No worries. I'm gonna order and I'll be right back."
You nod and start putting the papers away.
Jim soon returns, sitting across from you with a mug of coffee. This scene brings back so many memories of sitting across from him on coffee dates, dinner dates, playing card games, studying together...
"So what have you been up to while I've been a nerd?" you inquire.
Jim, who looks a lot more at ease than you, tells you all about recording their self titled album and Iowa, then the touring and all the things that came with it.
It takes about 10 minutes for you to fall back into a regular conversation just how you used to. You both forgot how you clicked when you were together. Weird how that works, isn't it? With some people, six years can pass and you can fall right back into old jokes and banter. Almost how it used to be. Almost.
Telling Jim about how you've been doing is a little uncomfortable. He's done and seen so much. By comparison, just going to college and working feels so mundane. But each story from Jim triggers a story from you and you quickly remember how batshit crazy college was.
You talk from 5:30 to 8 in the evening, when a barista approaches your table and informs you through gritted teeth that the cafe is closing and you need to leave.
There's an awkward period of time between the barista telling you that and getting outside.
"Alright, well I guess I'll see you at shows and...around," you say.
"Yeah. Just call me if you ever want good tickets and I'll make something happen," Jim smiles a little bit.
"Take care," you flash a smile in return before navigating homeward.
You wonder if you'll ever even talk to Jim again, but at least you caught up. And...maybe--maybe--because it felt so easy to be with him, he might consider reconnecting. Nothing serious or anything, just regular communication, y'know?
Three months later, you get an assignment from your boss to pick up something from Iowa. You'll get four paid days off work to get it.
You know what that means. Time to annoy Slipknot!
"Hey, loser," you greet Jim when he picks up.
"What's up?" he replies.
"I'm coming to Iowa for a few days to pick up a piece from the Des Moines Art Center. Want to meet up somewhere?"
"Sure."
You pause for a second. "Actually, it gets me through the museum a lot faster if I have someone with me. Wanna pretend to be my intern?" you suggest.
"I guess," Jim chuckles. "Sounds fun."
You've been talking to Jim every few days now and warmed up to him more. Every conversation is easy again, like you're just high school friends again.
Still, with every conversation, you remember what it was like to be a teenager with him. Driving around, going to music stores, hanging out and doing homework in your room...making out in his car.
The main drawback of befriending Jim again is that you're not sure how you feel about him. You remember so vividly the year you spent as his partner and how deeply you loved him. But now, it's supposed to be different, right? You're a mature adult now. You can be friends with him, like a normal person.
The day comes two days later, when you fly into Des Moines for the first time in ages. You change into a better outfit and meet Jim at a park by your old house.
It's all fun and games getting food and sauntering through the museum. Most of the people in the offices are staying late that evening to meet you, something that makes you quite nervous. You do a round of introductions before telling the main curator that you've got an intern you want to teach about these samples, to which he immediately steps away and leads you to the sample room. Jim is surprised that you were right about getting through faster if he posed as an intern.
Once inside the room, you start shuffling through the boxes while talking to Jim.
"Corey's got a date tonight. I'm so fucking glad we're back home so he can see her again. I'm tired of hearing about her."
"You didn't retaliate with your own girlfriend?" you asked.
"Don't have one."
"You didn't meet anyone on tour?"
"It's impractical to start a relationship on tour," Jim shrugged.
"Citation needed," you raise an eyebrow.
"Just trust me on that one. Besides, I reconnected with someone and that's enough."
You chuckle lightly as you open a box and take out a sample. "You flatter me."
"Come on, stop bullshitting. You don't miss me?"
You look over at him with the sudden change in tone. "I mean, yeah, of course I missed you."
Jim leans closer to you. He places two fingers under your chin and pulls your face up to look at him, his breath now fanning on your lips. With a moment of hesitation, he closes the distance and gently kisses you. You waste no time relaxing into his touch before pulling away with a blush scratching at your face.
"God, I missed you," Jim pushes a stray bit of hair away from your face.
You think about that a lot as you get back to your hotel.
...
part 3? i accidentally made a lot of lore for this 🤭🤭
thanks for reading loves <3