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Time Marches On; Het, James/OFC, 2004, Sequel to 'The Shortest Week'
Topic Started: August 18, 2012, 1:22 pm (12,223 Views)
Shayniz21
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Poor Twisted Me
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I poke because I :heart:

Miss you and this fic...
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-DJ-
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Blackened
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thanks for the poke! yeah i'll try update tonight but college is craaazy at the moment but i'll try fit in some writing time! glad you're still interested! :heart: :heart:
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-DJ-
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Wow ok so firstly, MASSIVE apologies for the delay. I wasn't expecting college to be so full on; I have assignments due nearly everyday which is killing me and I have very little time to write. :(
Anyway here's the next part. Bit of a time jump but not much. Thanks for your interest for those who are still reading, i really appreciate it and love you all! :heart: :heart:



It was late July and California was amazing. I’d been here for a month or so and I loved opening the door in the mornings and feeling the warm breeze on my skin. It felt like I was in another world never mind another state.

During one of the days James was in the garage fixing up a car I heard a knock on the door. He obviously couldn’t hear it so I strolled to answer it and saw Lars’ small figure through the glass. As I opened the door he was finishing a cigarette.

“Hey Zara” he invited himself in and brushed passed me into the hallway.

“Hi, Lars. I’ll go get James”

“No it’s you I came to see actually”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. There’s a new art gallery downtown and I thought you might like to come with me to
check it out?”

Just then James walked in in overalls.

“Hey man” Lars greeted him with a hug.

“What do you want?”

“I invited Zara to a gallery…is that ok with you?”

“Uh yeah sure…do you want to go with him?” James asked me if Lars had some sort of disease.

“Yeah!”

“Awesome let’s go”

Lars drove us downtown which took around a half an hour with traffic. We stopped outside what looked like an abandoned building. When we got inside it was like a total different world. The light was dim and all the art was illuminated by fluorescent lamps over each piece.

“This is amazing, Lars. How did you find out about this place?”

“One of my artsy type friends told me about it”

We walked around the building and both of us loved the environment we were in. I was surprised
about how much he knew about art. Most of the pieces in were black and white and had a dark theme to them like baron landscapes and dead things. Exactly my type of thing.

“James showed me that book you gave him of your art. He flicked through it every day when we went back on tour. You should try get some in here”

“Aw. I wouldn’t consider myself an artist in the slightest. I’m more of a doodler. Are you going to buy anything?”

“Nah I don’t think so. I like this stuff and all but I prefer some more colorful stuff”

When we finished in the gallery, we went for coffee in a small diner beside the building.

“How’s California treating you?”

“It’s great. Everyone’s so laid back and diverse here. And the weather’s good unlike New York”

“Do you miss it?”

“Yes and no. I don’t miss the bad memories but I do miss my dog” I laughed. “He’s like my best friend”

“Uh huh. So what’s it like living with James?

“It’s good. Most of our days are lazy which is good after college”

“Yeah he said you hated it”

What else had he said about me to Lars?! But weirdly I felt comfortable talking to Lars for some reason. It felt like he always wanted to know more and always had an interest. It was like talking to a big brother or something.

“Yeah it wasn’t the best time of my life but at least I have something to show for it”

“So what are you gonna do when you get back to New York?”

“To be honest Lars, I have no idea but hopefully something will turn up. Things seem to work
themselves out in the end”

“James will miss you I bet”

“Yeah, I’ll miss him too…thanks for bringing me here by the way”

“No problem. You ready to go?”

“Yeah if you want”

We left to walk to his car when his phone rang.

“Hello? Oh hey man…oh. Ok yeah…I can do that…alright bye”

He stopped me from walking any further.

“Actually...I’m still a little hungry. Do you mind if we eat?”

“No go ahead”

We went back into the diner where he ordered a huge burger and kept checking his watch.

“Everything alright, Lars? You seem a little tense”

“Uh yeah I’m fine. So James says you like Motley Crue?”

“Yeah they’re alright. I--“ he got a text and cut me off.

“Ok so you ready to go now?”

He dropped me back to James’ place around 6pm.

“Not coming in to say hi?”

“Nah. Maybe some other time though”

“Ok. Thanks again for today, I had fun”

“Bye, Zara. Tell James he’s welcome”

What?

I walked to the front door and rang the doorbell but got no answer. I waited a while then tried again. Still no answer so I sat down on the steps of the house. I didn’t even have my cell phone with me to call anyone.Finally after around twenty minutes he answered the door looking freshly showered and dressed in a white long sleeve top and dark jeans with a rip in the knee.

“There you are! Are you going out?” he said closing the door and answering me with a kiss.

“Nope. We’re staying in”

“Ok so what are we doing?”

He didn’t answer me and led me to the dining room where he had the table set for two and I could smell food coming from the kitchen.

“I hope Lars didn’t fill you up too much”

“No he didn’t. How did you…wait, you knew he was going to take me out?”

“Eh…kinda. Look, sit down, we’ll eat and I’ll explain alright?”

“Ok. You need help with anything?”

“Nope you just sit down”

Around twenty minutes later, he put a plate of pasta and chicken in front of me.

“Enjoy! I think it’s the first time I’ve used this table actually”

“Thanks. What’s this in aid of though?”

“Nothing. I can’t cook for you?”

“Hmmm…” I gave him a suspicious look and he laughed at me.

He seemed nervous the whole time we were eating and hardly spoke to me which was annoying me.

“Alright dude, I want answers!”

“For what?”

“Why you got Lars to take me out and why you’re all clean and dressed up?”

“I’m always clean! Are you finished?” he said pointing at my plate and avoiding the question.

“JAMES!”

“I’ll be back, wait”

He cleared the table while I grew impatient.

He came in after washing the dishes. It seemed like he was trying to avoid the subject as much as possible. I didn't even know what the subject was.

“Spill!”

“Ok so I’ve been thinking, Zara”

“Now you’re worrying me”

“Just listening to me for a minute ok?”

“We work well together right? And we love each other right?” I nodded. “And I know we said we’d take it slow but um…” he cleared his throat before he spoke again. “…I was thinking maybe you could…stay here? With me?”

“Aren’t I doing that already?” I chuckled, he didn’t seem to find it very funny though.

“No I mean move to California and not go back to New York”

“Wow James…”

“So?” he took my hand in his hopefully.

“Thanks for the offer but-”

“But what? You said you liked it here”

“I love it here but it’s just a big decision to make right now and I really don’t know where I am in life right now y’know? I don't have a job--”

He let go of my hand, got up out of the chair and left the room before I had finished my sentence.

“Fuck” I sighed and ran my hands through my hair.

I wanted to stay with him but I wasn’t prepared to throw myself into something huge like moving in with someone. I had stuff to figure out.

I wasn’t going to let this go without talking to James properly. I searched the whole house trying to find him; the basement, the converted attic, the huge garden. I checked the garage last and saw him looking under a car.

“What are you looking for?”

“Lost something”

“What did you lose?”

“My back up plan”

“What are you talking about?!”

“Go into the garden and wait there”

I wandered into the garden totally confused. He lost a back up plan? What the hell does that even mean? Was he speaking in code now?
I sat in the middle of the grass, leaning back on my hands and looking at the golden evening summer sky.

“Hey” I heard him call me.

“Find what you were looking for?”

“Yup. What if I said I could change your mind about moving in with me?”

“James, it’s not that easy…”

“But look” he kneeled beside me and put a chocolate colored Labrador with blue eyes in my lap from behind his back.

“You bastard! You think you can bribe me into moving in with you by getting me a dog?!”

“Is it working?”

“I fucking love you” I pulled the back of his neck towards me so I could kiss him in thanks.

“Will you stay with me? Please Zara? I know you said it’s not easy but we can make it easy”

“It’s not like we’ll break up if I leave though right?”

“Yeah but I don’t want to have to travel all the time to see you. It’d be nice to have you here when I get home from the studio or from tour and have you keeping my side of the bed warm” he smiled.

When he said that all my earlier decisions had changed instantly. How could I NOT stay with him? He was the best thing to ever happen to me.

“Ok”

“Ok what?”

“I’ll stay here”

He took the puppy off my lap and held him.

“Yeah man! I got the girl!” he spoke to the dog with a huge smile on his face while I laughed at him. I wanted to see that smile every day. I wanted to wake up to it, be around it all the time.

“Where did you get him?”

“I know some guy whose dog was having puppies so I got one”

“And you sent me out with Lars so you could collect him?”

“Yep. You gotta name him”

I stared at the dog and it clicked and watched his fur shine in the sun.

“Gravy”

“What?! What about it?”

“We should call him Gravy!”

“Why?!”

“Because he is the exact color of gravy!” he rolled his eyes at me.

“That’s a stupid name…”

“Ok then let’s call him Axl!”

“As in…Axl Rose?!”

“Yeah!”

“Forget it, Gravy is fine!” he laughed.

“Thank you so much, James”

“You’re welcome, baby. So it’s the just the three of us now” he said with the dog climbing on his chest licking his beard.

“The four of us…” I watched the color drain from his face.

“Zara?” he looked at my stomach then back into my eyes.

“I’m not pregnant, dude. Chill! But Kane is coming out here, got it?”

“I can deal with that" he breathed a sigh of relief. "I’m not ready for little Hetfields running around yet”

“You looked so worried!”

“However, I wouldn’t mind having some adult fun though” he whispered seductively in my ear.

“Oh really? What do you have in mind?”

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Shayniz21
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Poor Twisted Me
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YOU MADE MY FREAKIN' DAY!!!!

God, I have been dying for you to update but, I understand the pressures of school. It can be a bitch.

Anyway, I'm glad she decided to stay with James. I think they are good for each other and Zara can start a new life in California. I am curious though how James would have acted if Zara was pregnant? It would have been funny to see. Well, good luck with school and I hope to see and update again soon!!!
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HannahBanana
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This was sooooo cute! :D :heart:

And the puppy :wub: I would love James FOREVER if he gave me a puppy.

That's just so damn sweet and irresistibly cute
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-DJ-
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Blackened
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Just a short part for now, more later on :)


I woke up with a headache because of lack of sleep the morning after I had agreed to move in with James. Instead of thinking of all the great things that could happen with us being together, I kept thinking of the negatives: no job, what would happen to my house, an uncertain future and the list went on.

I left James sleeping and went downstairs to let the puppy out. The clock in the kitchen read 7.30am. If I was in New York I’d be sound asleep but I was waking up early every day in California. There was no way I’d go fall back asleep so I checked out James’ DVD collection in the living room. The shelf was mostly full of westerns and action movies but I finally came across Poltergeist. My ultimate haunted house movie. I got some chips from the kitchen and brought Gravy in from the garden and sat down to get engrossed in the film.

“BOO” I felt hands on my shoulders.

“FUCK!” I jumped up from the couch, spilling a pile of crumbs on the floor and clutched my chest.

“Son of a bitch!” I looked at James who was struggling to stop laughing. “Not even one bit funny”

“Oh wow, you spook too easily! Why are you up so early? It’s only nine. And chips for breakfast?
Really?” he said sitting down in just a pair of shorts.

“I couldn’t sleep. Why are you up?”

“Because I was looking for you. Are you ok? You don’t look so good”

“I’m fine” I rubbed eyes.

“I’ll take you out for breakfast…proper breakfast. I want to talk to you about some stuff”


We put Gravy out in the garden and went to a little French café. James was upset when they didn’t have waffles on the menu. The place was pretty empty and I was staring out the window at the morning sun without realizing.

“What are you thinking about?” he snapped me out of my trance.

“Just about how weird you are”

“How weird I am?”

“Yeah…it’s like I can’t say no to you…I mean, you asked me to go to your concert; I said yes. You asked me to be your girlfriend; I said yes then you asked me to move in with you and I said yes…there’s something about you…” I trailed off. “So what do you want to talk to me about?”

“Well…I noticed you haven’t been yourself since you agreed to stay with me and I was wondering if you regret your decision”

“No. Of course I don’t. I just need time to adjust to things you know? I have to find a job, sort things out in New York…”

“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk about”

He pulled a piece of paper cut out from a magazine from his wallet and gave it to me. I read the cutting and it was an advertisement for an independent art college in downtown San Francisco.

“You think I should go here?”

“Yeah! I know you didn’t like college last time because you didn’t like the subject but the course there is only two years long and you get your own exhibition at the end of it” he said enthusiastically.

“Have you been researching this?”

“Yeah a bit” I smiled at his interest.

“It looks good but I couldn’t pay for it”

“Well” he said picking at his croissant. “You live with me now right?” I nodded. “Then you could sell the house in New York to pay for college. We go there soon, put it on the market, get Kane and come home. What do you think?”

“I think you’ve been thinking about this more than I have!’

“Think about it, if you go to college, you’ll be occupied while I’m on tour and stuff y’know?”

“I’ll look into it when I get home ok?”

“Alright but I think it’ll be good for you. You can be my creative, sexy girlfriend” he smirked.

When I got home I phoned the college to enquire further. I wrote the details on a piece of paper and went to find James. I spotted him in the garden trying to get a tennis ball off Gravy.

“You’re supposed to give it back so I can throw it again!”

“Hey, I called the college”

“What did they say?”

“Well if I want to go there, I have to register within the next two weeks, put a portfolio of my work together then go for an interview so let’s hope I can do that?”

“So you’re gonna go?”

“I hope so!” he wrapped his arms around waist, pleased at my decision. “I need a favor from you
though”

“Which is?”

“Can I borrow the book I gave you to use as a portfolio? It’d save time. I’ll give it back to you, don’t worry”

“Yeah sure. I need to make a few phone calls because we’re going to New York…and the little guy who’s chewing my laces is going to annoy Lars for a few days”


TBC in New York....
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-DJ-
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Blackened
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Not overly happy with this one but it's out of the way :P



We got to my house around 11pm when it was dark and both of us were jet lagged after a flight on a private plane James had booked. I got the feeling it was seriously expensive.

“Memories, huh?” he laughed nudging my shoulder while I fumbled with my keys in the lock.

“Yeah. Big time.”

“What time is the estate agent coming at tomorrow to view the house?”

“3pm”

“Cool. Bed time now”

I was clearing out the rest of my wardrobe of jeans, sweaters and t-shirts while James was lying on my bed the next day.

“Don’t help or anything. Just lie there”

“I have an idea”

“And what would that be?” I said bending over to put my clothes in a box.

“We should say goodbye to your bed” he moaned grabbing a loop on my jeans and pulling me on top of him and kissing my neck.

“Good idea”

He rolled on top of me and got rid of his top, followed by his jeans and boxers then undressed me in quick succession.

“Tell me what you want” he whispered in my ear with his tip probing my entrance.

“You”

“How do you want it?” he entered me quickly before I even got a chance to reply. “Like that?” his thrusts were deep and slow.

“Yeah” I said barely aware of what was going on around me. The heat of his body was making me insanely hot.

“Mmm…so good” he groaned from the back of his throat.

There was a knock at the door.

“Oh no, you’ve gotta be fucking joking. Leave it, they’ll go away”

I looked at the clock and it was 3.15pm.

“Shit! It’s the estate agent. Get off me”

“I’m nowhere near finished though!”

“I’m sorry. You’ll have to use your hand, baby” I pecked him quickly while he sat on the bed and pouted.

“Goddammit…”


I got dressed as fast as I could and ran to answer the door. I saw a woman in a suit holding a clipboard through the window.

“Sorry I uh…was vacuuming, didn’t hear the knock” I blurted out breathless, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

“So can you show me around?”

“Sure”

I began to walk her around the near-empty house.

“So this is the living room, comfy couch. I won’t be taking any furniture with me. The kitchen is through here” I pointed.

“Can I see upstairs?”

“I guess” I was a little wary of her wanting to see the bedroom considering James’ state when I left him.

We were outside the bathroom. She looked around and was nodding and taking notes when I heard James bellowing from across the hallway.

“Oh, Zara. FUUUUUCK…yeah” I took it that he’d had finished what we had started earlier. There was no doubt that the woman heard and I cringed at the thought.

“Is that all you want to see?”

“Eh…yeah. I think I’ve seen and heard enough” the forty something year old woman scorned me.

I walked her to the door.

“How long do you think it will take to sell?”

“Not long at all. There’s students looking for a places to stay at this time of year going to college. I’ll call you about the price and offers in a few days. People may want to view the house too”

“That won’t be a problem. I’m leaving here tomorrow and I’ve given you a key so…”

“I’ll be on my way then”

I ran back upstairs to James. He was zipping up his jeans when I walked in.

“Did you have fun?”

“Not really” he shrugged.

“Sure sounded like you did”

“What do you mean?”

“We heard you!”

“Heard me what?” he smiled cheekily.

“Don’t act like you don’t know! You were pretty loud”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about” he kissed me. “C’mon, lets box up the rest of your stuff”

We cleared out the spare room, my room and finished up in the living room packing away DVDs and CDs.

“This is not coming to my house” he held up my Girls, Girls, Girls album.

“Aw come on. Why not?”

“It just isn’t!” he tossed it on the table. “Neither is this one” Def Leppard’s Pyromania was thrown aside too.

“You’re no fun” I moaned. “What have you got against hair metal anyway?”

“Nothing. I just think there’s better music out there. You can take this one though” he grinned holding up …And Justice For All.

“I don’t want that one”

“Tough”

“Let’s go get the dog” I suggested.

“You go. I’ll stay here and finish boxing everything”


I went to get Kane from my neighbor who lived a few doors down. I walked slowly down the street and took in the sites that I’d be missing. I took one long look at the bus stop I met James at and smiled to myself remembering him in sunglasses in the middle of winter.

When I came home with Kane, the lights were off in the house except for a candle in the living room. The radio station we listened to the night off the power cut was coming from the small radio and James was chilled out on the couch.

“Just like old times” I sat beside him and laid my head on his chest.

“Yup. That was a fun week”

“I don’t think I ever had so many hard-ons in a week before” his thumb rubbed my shoulder and I lifted my head to look at him. “What? Don’t look at me that way; I can say that now because I’m your boyfriend”

“Remember you thought Kane was my boyfriend” I laughed “Were you jealous?”

“Honestly? Yeah kinda”

His heartbeat together with the soft music was soothing and I was drifting in and out of sleep but unbeknownst to me my hand had fallen from his stomach to his crotch. The feeling of his soft lips on my temple roused me a bit.

“Baby, don’t tease me” he whispered.

“I didn’t do anything”

“You know what you did” his nose was nudging my cheek and his tongue was making its way along my jawbone. “You owe me”

“I owe you nothing” I giggled.

“I know you want me” I felt him smile against my neck while he was gently pushing his weight on top of me.

“No I don’t”

“Remember the first time I kissed you?” he nibbled at my lips.

“Mmm”

“And you were scared…” my hands travelled up his sides and slid his top over his head. Things started to heat up quickly. Our kissing was slow and lazy while my hands roamed over his back.

“What the-“

A key turned in the lock in the front door and Anna walked in and saw James kneeling shirtless over me.

“Oh god! I’m sorry! I-I just came to get beer!” she ran to the kitchen and I followed her. “What are you doing here?!”

“I could ask you the same thing! Listen, I have some news…” I shut the kitchen door. “I’m going to live with James in California…for good”

“Oh…”

“I was going to call and tell you but we had so much to do. You know, planning and stuff. At least you won’t have to come and check on the house anymore”

“Are you selling it?”

“Yep” I could see the disappointment in her heavily made up eyes.

“Remember the amount of time we spent putting this place together? When you bought it was pretty much just a shell of a building and cost you pretty much nothing. People thought you were crazy for buying it” she laughed. “Oh well, as long as you’re happy. I got that job by the way”

“That’s awesome!”

“Yeah, I hate it” she sighed.

“You can come visit whenever you want ok? And thanks for everything” I hugged her.

“I’ll miss you, my little sober friend. Can I talk to James?”

“Sure”

She left and went to speak to James in the living room. I guessed he mightn’t have been in the best of moods after being interrupted twice in one day.

After around ten minutes both of them came back into the kitchen and Anna hugged me one last time.

“I can’t cry because I don’t want to ruin my make-up. I have a party to go to. Have a nice life you two…and you look after her!” she hit James’ chest. It was the first time I saw him looking intimidated by someone. “Bye!” and the front door clicked shut.

“What did she say?”

“Well…basically that if I did anything at all to hurt you, she’d hunt me down and cut my balls off”

“Sounds like her”

“So what time are we leaving at tomorrow?”

“There’s a car coming to pick us up and load all your stuff at 2.30pm”

This was something that was going to take a lot of getting used to. Be driven places by chauffeurs and flying on private planes. A whole other world compared to walking and getting the bus every day.

The next morning the sound of James’ laughter woke me up. I turned over and found him sitting on the edge of the bed fully dressed reading something.

“What’s that?”

“I took a look in your attic to see if we were forgetting anything and I found your ‘People I Love’ list!”

Oh my god. This felt like the night we told each other our secrets. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. I thought I would die with embarrassment.

“Want me to tell you who’s on it?”

I didn’t answer him. He moved to lie on the bed beside me and propped himself up with his elbow. I pulled the covers over my head in an attempt to block him out.

“Well there’s Jon Bon Jovi, Chris Cornell, Nikki SIxx, Slash, CC Deville…that’s worrying…Eddie Vedder, Phil Anselmo, Sebastian Bach…” I could feel my cheeks burning a bright red.

“Gimme that!!” I failed to grab it out of his hand.

“Ah ah! There’s one more…” he showed me the piece of paper I had written on around ten years ago and pointed to a name. “What does that say?”

“…James Hetfield” I whispered.

“I can’t hear you”

“Do you get some sort of sick enjoyment out of embarrassing me?!” I was practically pleading with him to stop.

“Yes I do. I also found this!” he hand me a notebook full of pictures I had cut and torn out of music magazines. They were mainly photos of topless musicians.

“I hate you so much right now” I rolled on top of him to try and pin him down.

“Well according to your little list, you love me. And a lot of other people too…remind me never to bring you to an awards show. Tell me, how long have you had a crush on me?” he smirked, clearly wanting his ego massaged.

“I don’t. I told you; I hate you!” I tried my best to be mad at him but I ended up a with a huge smile on my face instead.

He looked at my little scrapbook again and it seemed an idea had formed in his head. He sat up slightly and took off his shirt.

“Still hate me?”

“Even more now”

“Can’t say I didn’t try” he pulled me down so my head rested on his bare chest. I felt like a child being held by its guardian and that’s how James always made me feel: protected. Safe from any harm in the world.

“Will you miss it here?”

“Of course I will, it was home for my entire life…but I think I’m ready for a change”

“Glad to hear it…now get your ass off me because we have to go home!”



Thanks for reading :heart:
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Shayniz21
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Sorry it took so long to comment. I am so happy Zara has agreed to live with James and is going to that college. James is definitely pushing Zara in the right directions as far as her future is concerned. Can't wait for more!!!
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-DJ-
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Looks like i'm back with regular updates (I've probably jinxed that now). Anyway here's a short one :)


It was around three weeks after we had gotten home from New York with Kane. The estate agent managed to sell my house in time to a foreign couple and put the money I made from it into the bank. My dad always told me never to depend on anyone for money no matter how rich they may be.

I also had my interview for college which went terribly but they liked my portfolio. They asked me about artists I hadn’t got a clue about and I stuttered my way through the whole thing. I ended up wearing Vans and jeans to the interview too because Gravy had gotten a hold of the only decent and presentable pair of shoes I owned the night before.

All I had to do now was wait on the mail to arrive to see if I got accepted or not. It was one of the more nerve racking moments of my life.

James arrived home from HQ the day I was due to find out with a bundle of letters. He flicked through them and they were mostly bills and band stuff.Then he handed me an envelope addressed to me with the college logo on the outside.

“Go for it” he encouraged me but I just fidgeted with the envelope instead. “What are you waiting for?” I shrugged in answer. “Gimme that” he tore the envelope open and read the piece of paper inside without any emotion on his face. “Oh wow” he sighed. “I don’t know how but you got in”

“Shut up! Are you kidding?!” I grabbed the letter and read printed in bold block letters: “Dear Miss Dean, we’re happy to inform you that you have been accepted for your course of choice

I stared at the sheet in disbelief with my hand covering my mouth. Maybe my luck was changing…?

“Thank you” I wrapped my arms around James’ neck.

“What for?”

“I wouldn’t have known about the college if it wasn’t for you let alone applied for it”

“I just want what’s best for you and for you to be happy here”

“I love you”

Then I started to cry. I hadn’t cried so much since I met James.

“I hope they’re happy tears” he wiped my face with this thumb then rested his forehead against mine. “We’re gonna be fine okay?” he kissed me softly and smiled reassuringly. “Now go take a bath because you start college tomorrow”

“What? Tomorrow?!”

“Yeah it says so in the letter”

“They tell you the day before?! Oh my god”

I ran upstairs and started to prepare for the future.



The radio from the alarm clock woke me up the next morning.

“Baby, get up” I felt James poke my side.

“Later…” I opened my eyes slightly and looked out of the window. The morning was dark and gray and I wanted nothing more than to stay in bed. I was just about to fall back asleep when James pulled the covers off me to try and get me up. Sadly, it worked.

My first day was more of an induction day but it was from 10-6. There were all kinds of people in my class; people straight out of high school, professional artists, people wanting a hobby and then there was me. We were told the course outline and what our assignments would be for the year. I struggled to keep my eyes open while the lecturer spoke.

“What’s your name?” a black haired, twenty-something year old guy sitting beside me asked.

“Zara” he shook my hand.

“I’m Evan…you’re quiet”

“Huh? I’m just tired, sorry”

“So are you from around here?”

“I live here now but I’m originally from New York”

“No way! Me too!”

“So what are you interested in?” I attempted to make conversation.

“I’m not sure yet…we’ll see” he grinned.

Later we had a drawing “test” in which we had to draw an object from memory. I picked one of James’ explorers because they pretty much littered the house at home and also because their detail and shape would be great for drawing. When the test ended, I figured I’d like the course after all. I found it relaxing and remembered how much I enjoyed when I was young.

I drove home exhausted. Even though it wasn’t a major college, the campus was still huge. I lost count of how many times I got lost. I walked in the door, threw my bag in the hallway and flopped on the couch. I would have fallen asleep if it wasn’t for a hyper puppy jumping on my belly and licking my face. I felt a weight lifted off my body and a kiss on my forehead.

“How was your day?” he took the dog onto his lap and sat down at the end of the couch.

“Ok I guess”

“Make any friends?” he said in a childish voice.

“Are you mocking me?”

“No I’m serious”

“I met some guy called Evan but I only talked to him for like five minutes. He’s nice though. He’s
from New York too”

I looked at James and his expression was a slightly pissed off one after I mentioned another guys
name.

“What did you do today?” I tried to get him to talk to me.

“Not much. Just played with this guy” he pulled the dog off his shoulder. I knew he probably had a tough day keeping Gravy in his sights. He liked to go missing around the house and chew things. He seemed to have a soft spot for James’ leather guitar straps. “Hungry?”

“Starving”

“I’ll go out and get something”

“But there’s stuff here”

“I’m going out ok?” he shouted.

He got up and I heard a car roar into life in the drive then speed away. Was he pissed at me?
The whole time he was gone I couldn’t figure out why what I had done to put him in a mood.

He returned around an hour later with a bag of Chinese food. We dished up our own meal and ate in silence. Afterwards, James went down to the basement and I cleaned up the kitchen. The basement was his little soundproofed refuge where he’d play guitar or blast music if he was stressed. I hardly ever went down there but there was no way I was going to let this hang.

Surely enough when I went down to the basement I found him sitting at a bench changing guitar strings and a Dio album was playing. I flicked the off switch on the stereo to get his attention.

“Hey…can we talk?”

“Yeah”

“Are you ok? You’ve hardly spoken to me since I got home…have I done something to upset you?”

“No. I’m fine”

“I’m not stupid, dude. I haven’t had many boyfriends…or even any before you but I know when guys are pissed off. Tell me what’s bugging you”

He took a deep breath.

“This Evan guy…do you like him?”

“Seriously? That’s what this is about? He’s a creep, James. You’re not…jealous are you?” He didn’t answer me but just sighed and scratched his beard instead. “Look at me” I ran a hand through his short hair and his blue eyes looked my way. “You have nothing to worry about…believe me?”

“Yeah” he smiled lazily. Thank god. “But I’m picking you up from college tomorrow”


More soon :heart:
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myparanoid
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Frantic
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Love it! Please keep writing.
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-DJ-
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Blackened
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Awesome, new reader! :heart: Here we go :)


Fast forward to December...

Things were still good between James and I. He got over the whole jealousy thing and toured for a while in October and November. College was going well and my lecturers were impressed with my abilities. I settled in to Californian life and accepted it as home.

It was the first week of December and there was a Christmas party in HQ for the Metallica family and friends and crew.

“You know what’d be cool?” I broke the silence on the drive.

“What?”

“If California got snow for Christmas”

“No, that would not be cool. That’d mean it’d be cold and the sun is way more fun anyway”

When we pulled up to the building, I saw Lars sitting outside on his own in a sun chair. As soon as we stepped out of the car, Lars jogged straight over to James.

“Hey man. Can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Yeah lets go inside” James went to walk but Lars stopped him with his hand on James’ chest.

“Kirk wants to talk to you in the kitchen, Zara” I took that as my cue to leave the two of them alone and headed to see Kirk. I knew by Lars’ demeanor there was something wrong.

“Hey Kirk” he greeted me with a hug and was by himself in the kitchen pouring a drink.

“How are you?” he asked almost cautiously.

“I’m fine” I smiled despite the horrible atmosphere “You?”

“Uh yeah. I’m good”

“Why is everyone acting so weird today?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well Lars in talking to James and stopped him coming in here and now you’re being strange and looking at me as if it’s the last time you’re going to see me!” he laughed towards the end.

“You’re probably just imagining it”

“Hmm…so where is everyone else?” I noticed just the usual people that were at HQ normally. It wasn’t much of a party but a Christmas tree sat in the corner.

“Well it’s still early and there’s more people coming. How’s James?”

“He’s fine! I better go get him actually, I’ll be right back”

“NO! Wait…I want to talk to you”

We went upstairs to Kirk’s office and it was terribly awkward when we were walking up there. Everyone I passed either gave me a sympathetic look or a sad smile. So much for Christmas spirit.

“So did you see that documentary on German expressionist horror last night?”

“No I didn’t actually. Was it good?” he didn’t answer me. His mind was clearly somewhere else.

“Kirk?”

“Yeah it was ok…” he continued to stare at his fingers.

“Tell me what’s going on please…”

“Nothing”

“Kirk!”

“Alright look, I just want you to know whatever happens you’re welcome here, ok? We’ll still be friends because I like talking to you and so does everyone else here. You’re like family you know?”

What? I was freaked out. I never saw Kirk like this.

“Kirk, tell me what is happening!”

He took a deep breath and was going to speak when James opened the door without any color in his face.

“Zara, we need to talk”

He motioned for me to follow him to his office and told me to sit down.

“You’re not sitting?” he shook his head and continued to pace around the room with his hands on his hips. “What’s all this about? Is Metallica alright?”

“I don’t know how to say this so I’m just gonna go for it” he readied himself to speak. “Susan’s pregnant”

“Oh…with your baby?” he nodded. “That’s what Lars was telling you?”

“Yeah”

“And that’s why Kirk was being weird with me?”

“Yeah”

“So um…are you going to be with her now?”

“NO! I’ll be there for the kid no doubt but I’m not leaving you! I never meant for this to happen, Zara. It complicates everything, I’m sorry. Things were going so well”

“It was when you were with her though, right? You didn’t cheat on me?”

“No I didn’t!” he kneeled in front of me but I couldn’t look him in the eye. The news had hit us both like a ton of bricks. “Baby, I swear I didn’t. She’s due next week so it was before we even got together. You believe me don’t you?” I nodded. I believed him. “I would never cheat on you, I love you”

“I know. I love you too. I’m just a little shocked….you’re gonna be a daddy” I smiled at him in an attempt to get him to smile back. But I failed. “You don’t want kids?” I ran my hand down his face.

“I do but not with someone I don’t love” he moved and sat beside me on the couch and rested his head on my shoulder. I knew he was more confused than I was.

“I’m sorry” he said quietly.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for, James”

“How did everyone else know before me?” That was a mystery to me too…and why she left it so late to tell him.

“She’s coming here today for the party, that’s why people are kinda tense”

Now I was worried. What if she wanted him back? I saw how they were, they looked good together but she drove him nuts. Maybe he could see past that and want to make it work? Both of us were quiet, lost in our own thoughts, asking ourselves question after question.

About half an hour later, Lars walked through the door behind Susan with a serious pissed off look on his face. Her belly was huge.

“Tell him” Lars told her.

“It’s twins, James” he shut his eyes and squeezed my hand.

“Not that! The other thing you just told me!” he shouted again.

“They also mightn’t be yours, there was someone else too…” she spoke quietly but didn’t seem ashamed of the fact she cheated. James sat forward and put his head in his hands.

“So you cheated on me?”

“You cheated on me too!”

“What?! No I didn’t!” he stood up and looked at her as if she was insane.

“Yes you did! With her!” she pointed at me.

“We didn’t do anything!”

“Listen Jamie, it’s ok. We can work through this” she rubbed his arm but he snatched it away from her touch.

“Who was it?”

“It doesn’t matter, Jamie”

“Who was it?!”

“I don’t know…?”

“Don’t bullshit me, Susan. I got enough of that when we were together now who did you fuck?!”

“Some fan at a show when you were rehearsing” he laughed sarcastically and threw his head back.

“This just gets better and better. Here’s what you’re gonna do; you’re gonna have the babies, get a DNA test done. If they’re mine, I’ll be there for the kids but I’m having nothing to do with you. Got it? If they’re not mine, you stay the hell away from me forever. Now go”

She left the room with a disgusted look on her face and Lars left behind her.

“C’mon lets go home. I’ll drive”

On the drive home, James hardly said a word. There was mainly silence interrupted with some longs sighs full of thoughts he was torturing himself with. When we go home he made a sandwich in the kitchen and I made some sort of attempt to console him.

“You ok?”

“Yeah”

“Do you want to talk?”

“I’m going to bed”

“Its 7pm”

“Goodnight” he snapped.

I could understand his temper being short because of the news he got earlier so I let him be. However, I didn’t know if I could stand him being like this for another week…
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Verde Manzanita
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I have no feelings in my soul, where most have passion I got a hole
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God, I missed so many chapters!

What can I say? I loved each of them, but I really hope James gets better. I understand the confusion and maybe anger that he should be feeling but Zara must be having a hard time too.

MOAR! :heart:
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-DJ-
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Blackened
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Sorry about the delay guys, college sucks right now :(


The following morning, James wasn’t any better. I slept in one of the guest rooms because I got the feeling James wanted to be by himself. I got up around 11am, cleaned up around the house and walked the dogs but I was bored because I was off college for the weekend. I had no idea when he would be up so I called Anna for some advice.

“Zara! Hey how are you?”

“I’m…yeah. I’m ok? You...how are you?”

“Uh oh. Is there trouble in paradise?” I guess she heard it in my voice.

“You could say that”

“What’s up?”

“Well before I got together with James, he was going out with someone else…then yesterday she
turned up at a party we were at…”

“Oh that sucks”

“…and she’s pregnant…with twins…”

“Shut up!”

“But they also might not be his…she did it with a fan at a show and she’s due next week”

“Holy shit! Sounds like a soap opera, Zara!”

“I know. James is all over the place about it. He went to bed at 7pm last night and he’s still not up yet. He’s hardly spoken to me either. I’m worried you know?”

“Yeah. It’s a shitty situation to be in. You should talk to him though, he needs you right now. Do something together”

“I don’t know, shouldn’t I just leave him for a while?”

“No. He’s a man and he’s stubborn but try ok?”

“Alright. Thanks, Anna. I’ll talk to you soon”

I thought about her advice and she was right. She knew men better than I did.

I went to James around 4 pm, still not up. He was turned on his side away from me. I sat on the bed and rubbed his shoulder.

“You awake?”

“No” he groaned at me.

“C’mon…”

“Just go away, Zara” he said getting irritated.

“No. Not until you get up”

“Then you’ll be here a long time…”

“I hate seeing you like this…I love you, you know…”

“I know”

“If you get up we’ll do something…just us”

“Ugh”

“Please?”

“Like what?”

“I wanna take you somewhere. It’ll be fun and I guarantee you it’ll take your mind off whatshername”

“Fine” he finally agreed.

My persistence paid off and we left the house around half an hour later after James showered.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise”

“I’m sorry for last night by the way”

“I understand but just forget about all that for now”

Ratt came on the car radio and he went to change it but I slapped his hand away. It was the first time he had smiled all day. We pulled up to something that looked like an abandoned building site with a storage building. There was no one around for miles, we were at least two hours from home and it was dark already being that it was winter.

“Where the hell are we?” he asked me when I stopped the car. He was lost in his own State.

“We’re here. Get out”

His heavy boots walked over gravel and dust while he looked around clueless and slightly scared.

“Is this where you’ve come to kill me?”

“Nope. I was going to save this until Christmas Eve but I think you really need it now. Here, happy Christmas” I handed him a key to open the padlock of the storage space which was more like a huge garage. I just prayed he liked it. He struggled with the heavy lock but when he got it open and opened the door and flicked the light switch, his face looked at me in awe.

Inside the building was about twenty or so vintage pick-up trucks and cars. Some were in good condition but others would have to be completely rebuilt and customized but I knew he wouldn’t mind doing that. In fact, he’d revel in it.

“How did you find out about this?! Was it expensive?” his voice echoed inside.

“Never mind that. Do you like it?”

“Best present I’ve ever gotten!” he bear hugged me and lifted me off the ground.

He spent around twenty minutes looking at each car with a silly smile on his face which was completely welcome.

“Hey come here and check this one out!” he shouted enthusiastically from the back of the unit.

He called me over to a dark green pickup from the 50s. I pulled the tailgate down and sat on it.

“This is awesome, thank you” he kissed me and leaned against a car opposite me with his hands in his pockets.

“You’re welcome”

“And I’m sorry about yesterday and earlier too. I was an ass. Obviously this affects us both but I was just being selfish and never even thought to ask how you were feeling” he spoke quietly.

“I’m fine. We’ll get through this somehow”

There was silence for a short while.

“I don’t know if this is the right time to ask or not but you know before we started going out? Even before we met?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you ever…how do I say this…um…think about me?”

“Well I thought about how much of an awesome singer you were when I would listen to your records”

“No I don’t mean like that, I mean--“ he came closer to me.

“Oh, you mean did I ever fantasize about you?”

“Yeah…I guess so” he scratched the back of his neck shyly.

“Nah not really” I smiled.

“Don’t lie”

“I bet I can guess your sexual fantasy though” I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my chin on his belly.

“Go for it”

“Hot car sex…am I right?”

“How did you know?” he chuckled.

“You brought up sex and we’re surrounded by cars…and those magazines in your office at HQ with half naked girls sitting on expensive cars” I watched him blush. He thought I didn’t know about those. “So with all that stuff, it’s not that hard to guess”

“I know something that’s hard…” he grinned shamelessly.

“What’s that?” he took his jacket off and laid it underneath me so I could lie back on the bed of the truck and I pulled him by the neck of his tank top down to kiss me. Our tongues wrestled hotly while my mind pondered over the fact we were actually going to do this…

“Tank tops” I blurted and broke the kiss.

“What?!”

“You look really hot in tank tops”

“Noted” he smiled and made for my lips again in an intense open mouthed kiss. It felt like the kiss went on and on and my arousal only soared when I felt his warm hands reach under my tee and lift it over my head. He leaned in and kissed my collarbone, moving from left to right, then up to my neck, kneading my breasts at the same time and I moaned in response.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” he said with a low raspy voice. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he could see the goosebumps on my skin. His tongue continued to snake down my stomach and he suckled lightly on my underbelly while he unzipped my jeans. He eventually managed to slide them and my panties down my legs and pulled me towards him so that my butt was on the edge. I was expecting him to unzip himself next but he bent down slightly.

“What are you doing?” I panicked slightly.

“Shh. Just relax, ok?”

His fingertips traced over my inner thigh and I gasped when I felt his hot tongue part me.

“Oh…god” I sighed. This felt amazing. He pulled my fleshy hood back and the tip of his wet tongue ran circles over my clit. My eyes were rolling in my head. “James…stop” I managed to say breathless. “I want you”

He undid his heavy belt buckle and let his jeans and boxers fall to his knees. His hands put my legs around his waist and he entered me quickly. My breath hitched in my throat as I felt his skin on mine. His thrusts were deep and fast but he hit the right spot every time.

It was quick, it was rough but it was what he needed…or rather, what he wanted.

“Ugh…I fucking love you” he huffed out, laying his head in the crook of my shoulder still on some sort of high.

“I love you too but you’re crazy for making me do that” I giggled.

“Don’t act like you didn’t like it” he zipped himself up.

“Let’s go. I have college tomorrow”

“Merry fucking Christmas to me” he smirked.

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Shayniz21
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Poor Twisted Me
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Sorry i haven't commented in forever but i am reading. I loved these last few chapters. I think Zara is being a really good sport about the whole baby thing and to be honest i really hope they're not his. Zara and James should have babies!

Can't wait for more!
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HannahBanana
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The past few chapters were really good :D

I hope the babies aren't James'.
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