FicWad

Dave looked surprised that I had actually talked to him, but he nodded at my request and stood up. Suddenly, I could feel three other pairs of eyes on the two of us. Lars was staring at us with wide eyes, obviously wondering what was going on. Ron and James knew that there was a problem going on, so they just looked at us sympathetically. Well, kinda. James looked at me with concern, but almost glared at Dave. Where had that come from? I had always known James to be kind to everyone. I hadn't seen this side of James before. I did remember James telling me that Dave hadn't responded well to the truth about us, but still!

Trying to pretend I was oblivious to the fact that everyone was staring at us, I straightened my shoulders and walked stiffly out of the living room and into Lars' friendly-looking kitchen. There were old paintings from the renaissance lined up all over the walls and there were lots of dirty dishes placed all over the counter as well as a dirty towel.

Dave followed me out of the living room and shut the door quietly behind him so the others couldn't eavesdrop. That was a good idea. Too bad I hadn't thought of that. Dave walked into the kitchen and stood before me with a questioning look on his face. This wasn't at all what I had expected. I had expected Dave to scowl at me, slap me, or starting yelling or screaming. On the contrary, Dave just stood there looking perfectly calm and not the least bit angry.

Peering up at him suddenly made me very dizzy. Everything seemed to blur and I found myself leaning heavily against the counter. Blinking back the dizziness, I said in a rush, "I'm really sorry about the other night. I overdosed on a bunch of painkiller and I didn't really mean any of the things I did. I just couldn't control myself. I'm sure you're really mad at me and I suppose it's probably impossible for us to be friends again, but if you could forgive me eventually, it would sure mean a lot to me."

"Hey, whoever said anything about me being mad at you?" Dave asked, raising an eyebrow. He certainly didn't look mad. As a matter of fact, he looked even more calm than usual which was saying something because Dave usually had a very boisterous personality. Dave went on, "I could tell you weren't feeling yourself. I figured you were just drunk or something. But seriously, Olivia, there's no need to apologize. I don't regret anything I did with you."

Dave's comment just made me feel that much worse. It was clear that Dave really was in love with me. Unfortunately, I wasn't ever going to be able to return that love since I was already with James. I wondered which of the two I would've choose to be my lover if I had met them at the same time back at school. I shook my head and tried to dislodge these thoughts from my brain. After all, there was no point in contemplating the past when I had the present and future to deal with right now.

"Um...Dave?" I asked cautiously, knowing that what I was about to say was probably going to upset him. "We can't ever be together again like that though. I've been with James since the day he rescued me from Ray. I should've told you that earlier, but I just kept putting off telling you that for some reason. I guess I just didn't want to ruin our friendship over it."

"Yeah, I already know about you being with James," Dave said, dismissing my sentence with a wave of us hand. I could tell it was pretty clear that he didn't really feel like talking about James unless he had to. Going on, Dave said, "James already told me all about that. I just wish I had been the first one to meet you. Then maybe things would've worked out differently." Dave gave me a little sad smile and added, "Right? I mean, we could've been like how you and James are now."

Knowing that Dave was probably right and did have a point, I nodded a little reluctantly, "Yeah, maybe so. Still though, there's really no point in discussing that at this point. The basic reason I brought you out here was so I could apologize to you for acting so crazy the other night. Believe me, I don't normally act so...forward. Anyways, do you forgive me?"

"Of course," Dave replied without a moment's hesitation. I sighed with relief. So Dave forgave me easily. Now everything was going to work out perfectly, right? Wrong. After a moment's thought, I added, "Thanks for forgiving me. You aren't going to hold any of this against James though, right? I mean, it's not like he did anything wrong. It was fate that made us meet each other before I met you. If you're going to blame this on anyone, blame it on me or fate, not James."

Dave's eyes instantly narrowed at the mention of James and his lips formed a thin line. After a few moments of thought, he finally said, "I won't hold it against James." The words seemed like they had been forced unwillingly out of Dave's throat. Something told me that the little war between Dave and James wasn't over yet. Deciding to ignore that for know, I turned and started back into the living room where the other band members were still waiting for us. They were probably gossiping about what we were talking about right now. Ron and James could get pretty gossipy, I didn't know about Lars though.

But before I could head back into the living room, Dave grabbed my shoulder and turned me back around to face him, "Can I say one more thing, Olivia?" There was a kind of pleading look in Dave's eyes that went straight to my heart. Feeling sorry for him, I stopped what I was doing and turned back around to give him my full attention. Dave hesitated slightly, looking nervously at me as if what he was going to say was something I didn't want to hear, "Is there anything I could do to make you hook up with me instead of James? I mean, I would do absolutely anything for you. Just name it and I'll give it to you."

Aw, Dave was being really sweet. Still though, I couldn't help but feel the slightest bit angry at him for trying to take me away from James. Shaking my head, I replied, "That's a really nice offer, Dave, but there's nothing I want. I'm really happy with James. Nothing is going to separate us. We've been through a lot together."

Dave's face fell like he had been expecting that answer. Before I could head back towards the living room again, Dave fished a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me, "If things don't work out between you and James or if you two get into an argument or something, feel free to call me, okay? I'll always be here for you."

Smiling sadly, I took the piece of paper from Dave and nodded, "Thanks. I really appreciate your concern." I realized that I Was being really formal with him, but I guess I was worried about losing my control around him again like last time. Last time had certainly not gone as planned. I had made mistakes then that I could never afford to make again. Gazing up at Dave's face one more time, I felt a wave of guilt and sympathy wash over me. I reached up and kissed Dave lightly on the cheek before turning and heading back towards the living room. This time, Dave didn't try to stop me and instead followed me inside.

Once we were inside, six wide eyes turned to look at us once more. I felt a little self conscious as I rejoined James on the couch. James gave me a smile and squeezed my hand. I laced my fingers through his and rubbed his hand gently with mine. Suddenly feeling tired, I leaned my head against James' shoulder and closed my eyes. Feeling that someone was watching me, I reopened my eyes to see that Lars, Ron, and Dave were all watching me and James carefully.

Lars was looking at us with an unreadable expression, Ron looked irritated, and Dave looked vengeful as he watched the way I stroked James' hand. Clearing his throat loudly to get everyone's attention, Lars said, "All right everyone! Let's actually start this band practice. We're starting three hours late and we've got a hell of a lot of work to do."

Ron and Dave threw their guitars over their shoulders while James looked down at me with a smile. He leaned close to me and whispered in my ear, "Are you going to be okay now?" I nodded, just glad to have James sitting so close next to me. James grinned at me and replied, "Of course you are. Just relax for now." He gave me a kiss on the forehead and then moved to the center of the room to join Ron and Dave who were giving him looks that said, "Hurry up!"

As soon as the band started playing, I actually ended up falling asleep. Don't ask me how I managed to sleep with guitars screeching in my ears and Lars banging on his drums, but somehow I managed it. Healing from the wounds in my back really took a lot out of me and made me pretty tired. I slept for pretty much the whole band practice. I only woke up again when James sat back down on the couch next to me and placed his hand over mine. I jerked up with a start and smiled at him guiltily.

"So guys," Lars said, still sitting at the drums and looking as alert as ever, "Nice job today. I think if we play exactly what we played today in the same order at the club next week, we should be fine. You've all worked hard and everyone's done a great job. Now I've been thinking about our first album some more. I know we haven't found anyone to produce it yet, but I still think we should come up with some title ideas for our album. I mean, we will have an album sooner or later. It never hurts to be extra prepared, you know? Do any of you guys have any ideas for the title?"

There was a silence for a moment while the guys tried to think of a good title for the first Metallica album. I yawned sleepily and tried to get my eyes to focus. Suddenly, James' eyes lit up next to me and he said, "I have an idea!" Everyone turned to look at James curiously. Well, everyone but Dave. Dave was still eying James resentfully. James continued, "How about 'Metal Up Your Ass'? It has kind of a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Lars scratched his chin and looked thoughtful for a few minutes. Finally, he nodded with a serious expression on his face and said, "Hm, I actually like that. What do the rest of you guys think?" Ron gave his consent to the suggestion and Dave agreed as well even though I could see the resignation in his face. Lars smiled at us, "Okay then, we have a name for our first album. That's great. We're getting this band farther and farther along everyday. Well, great work today. You're all free to go. Remember, practice at eight tomorrow. I don't want any of you to be late like today though. We still have a lot of work to do."

Everyone nodded and started packing up their band equipment and started towards the door. As Dave crossed the room, he rested his hand on my shoulder for a moment and said, "I'll see you soon. Thanks for talking to me earlier." Seeing that sad smile on Dave's face, I felt even worse than earlier. Why did I have to mess things up between us?

"You don't have to thank me for talking to you," I commented. "I mean, we're still friends, right? Friends always talk to each other." Dave nodded slowly, but something in his expression told me that we weren't the same friends that we used to be. I watched him leave with a sinking heart, wishing I could take back all my actions from the last few days.