FicWad

Having no other choice but to go join Lars and Dave, I pushed my way through the crowd and stopped in front of their corner. Dave, who was holding a beer bottle and had two empty ones sitting by his feet, waved to me happily and gave me a lazy grin, "Hey Olivia! It's great to see you. I'm so glad James invited you along today. I have a feeling that the show today is going to go better than last time's show." I sure hoped that the show would go better than last time and that Dave wasn't just feeling overly optimistic. The crowd had been so non responsive to the band last time. Hopefully this time they would show some more enthusiasm.

Motioning for Dave to be quiet, Lars turned to me and asked stiffly, "Where's James? He needs to get over here so we can practice!" Truth be told, I had no clue where James had run off to. Answering honestly, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I have no idea. As soon as we got in here, he took off and told me to go join you two."

Lars exhaled loudly and stated irritably, "He probably went off to the bar. That's where Ron is. He wanted to go get a drink while we were waiting for James. I'll go get them. Dave, start warming up on your guitar. We have no time to lose!" After saying this, Lars immediately started pushing his way through the crowd rather aggressively in an attempt to find Ron and James.

I took Lars' seat at the drums and looked over at Dave. Unfortunately, Dave was no warming up like he was suppose to. Instead, Dave was eying Ron's bass guitar with a glimmer of some unknown emotion in his eyes. Leaning over, he picked up the bass and rested it on his lap. Having no clue what Dave was up to, but having a gut feeling that he was up to no good, I tried to grab the bass from Dave and asked, "Dave, what are you doing with that? Ron is going to need it in a few minutes. Why don't you just warm up on your guitar like Lars told you to do? I think the show starts really soon and you want to be warmed up."

Dave, apparently, did not feel like warming up though. He gave me that same lazy smile and slurred, "I'm already warmed up, don't worry." From Dave's slurred words, I could tell it was pretty obvious that he was drunk. Not really wanting to mess with a drunken guy right now, I sighed and decided to let Dave be. Secretly, I crossed my fingers behind my back and wished for James, Ron, and Lars to come back soon. I was still also a little bit curious about where James had run off to earlier. He had took off without any warning or reason. The expression on his face had indicated that he had been scared of something, but really, what would James be scared off? I rarely ever saw James scared. I even doubted that there was anything that could scare James.

The sound of sloshing liquid jerked me out of my daze and I turned my gaze to where Dave was sitting with Ron's bass still on his lap. To my surprise and horror, Dave was pouring beer down the neck and into the pick-ups of the bass. I shot over to where Dave was sitting, grabbed the bass out of his hands and said rather angrily, "What the hell are you doing?" Dave was too drunk to really know what he was doing. He gave me some slurred response, but his words were incomprehensible to my ear.

At that moment, Lars returned with James and Ron trailing behind him. Lars looked like a general leading two soldiers in the military into battle. Ron was smiling and looked as cheerful as always, but James still looked spooked and jumpy. I forgot about the incident with Ron's bass as everyone grabbed their instruments and got ready to warm up. Still worried about James, I rested my hand on his shoulder and searched his eyes, trying to find out what was wrong, "Are you okay?"

James tried to give me a reassuring smile, but it came out more like a grimace instead as he replied, "Yeah, I'm-" James never got to finish his sentence. At that moment, Ron gave out a cry of shock and pain. James and I both jerked our heads up to see Ron go smashing into the wall nearby. His eyes were wide and his hands were trembling.

Several people hanging out in the Whiskey turned their eyes towards us to look at us curiously. Trying to take control of the situation before it got any more out of hand, Lars hurried over to where Ron was standing frozen against the wall and asked, "Ron, what's going on? Are you okay? You looked like you just had a seizure or something."

Ron moved his lips, but made no sound. After a second attempt, he managed to speak, "My...my bass. It gave me an electric shock and literally slammed me against the wall." Lars walked over to the bass and started to look it over carefully. Feeling guilty that I hadn't said anything about the bass and the beer incident, I quickly filled the others in, "Um...Dave poured a can of beer down the neck of Ron's bass." Lars looked livid at my comment.

"Fuck," cursed James, eyes narrowed at Dave. Lars' cheeks were red and he looked like he was the one who was about to have a seizure, "Well, I guess the show for today is over at this point. There's no way Ron's gonna be able to play after this and you're way too drunk to even hold a guitar, Mustaine. I get the fact that Ron isn't your best friend or anything, but really, this has just got to stop. You can't keep bullying him around like this."

Dave nodded drunkenly, still smiling. Sighing loudly with exasperation, Lars pointed Dave towards the door, "Now go! I don't want to see you again until you're sober." Knowing better than to argue with Lars, Dave stood up and threw his guitar over his shoulder before sauntering towards the door. Lars, still looking angry, paced back and forth, "Ron? Are you alright?"

Ron gave a weak nod, but looked drained of all his energy. James went over to Ron and gave him a little hug, "I'm sorry about that, Ron. We'll make sure it never happens again, okay? I'll keep a close watch on Dave. And don't worry about your bass. We'll find a way to get you another bass somehow or the other...right Lars?"

Lars nodded dubiously, obviously having no idea how the hell they were going to afford another bass for Ron. They could worry about that later though. Something was seriously wrong with Ron though. The expression on his face told us that he was trying to make a very big decision. Finally, Ron tapped James on the shoulder and said, "You know what? I quit. I've had enough of Dave bullying me all the time. I know you and Dave don't think I really contribute much to the band anyways. Good luck finding another bassist." We all turned and stared at Ron with horror.

"But you can't leave, Ron!" I burst out, not sure why I was all of the sudden feeling so protective of Ron. I guess I had just gotten used to him being around and it seemed like we were going to lose a little part of our family if Ron left the band. Unfortunately though, the damage had been done. Giving me a wry smile, Ron said quietly, "Yes, I can leave if I want to, Olivia. I'll head back home and find another band to join or find a different job. Besides, you should be happy that I'm leaving. It'll give you and James more privacy, which is something that you two desperately need." Ron tried to give us a little smile.

"Are you sure about this?" Lars asked, looking even more flustered than before. "If you don't want to be in the band, then go ahead and quit. But if you're only quitting because of Dave, why don't you reconsider it for a while? I can do my best to work with Dave. I know he can be a bit...unruly at times, but James and I can work with him."

Ron went over and shook Lars' hand as he said, "Thanks for the offer man, but I'm good. There are a lot of things I want to do in life and being in a band isn't one of my top priorities. It's been great working with you all though. I wish the best luck to all of you and the band!" Giving us one last look, Ron swung his ruined bass over his shoulder and started towards the exit of the Whiskey. The remaining three of us watched him go sadly. Losing Ron was like losing one of the only true friends I had made her. Because besides for Ron, the only other friends I had were Dave and Marty. Marty, I would probably never see again. And Dave...well, Dave was off somewhere doing who-knows-what because he was drunk as hell.

"This has just been a terrible day," Lars complained, sinking down on a chair at a table nearby. James and I followed him and sat at the table as well. Tugging at his dark brown hair, Lars stated, "First, Dave prevents us from going on stage, and then we lose our bassist. Shit. What's gonna be next? Whatever you do, don't tell me that you want to quit the band, James."

James punched Lars lightly on the shoulder and replied, "Of course I would never say that. You know the band means as much to me as it does to you. But really, this isn't gonna be all that hard. All we need to do is find another bassist. It'll be okay." As James spoke, another band climbed up to the stage and started playing instead. None of us really listened to the music at first. We were all too upset about Ron's departure to think about much else. However, as time went on, James started paying attention to the music. Suddenly, he called excitedly to Lars, "Hey Lars, listen to this! This is like our kind of music! Do you hear that amazing shredding sound? What guy from that band is doing that?"

Lars, who had put his head in his hands, looked up and started concentrating on the band as well, "You're right, James, that is a pretty cool sound. It's kind of hard to tell who's making that sound though. It appears to be the guy with the red hair, but I can't really tell. What do you think? And also, what band is this anyways?"

"It's called 'Trauma'," I pointed out a banner above the band. James and Lars nodded and refocused their gaze on the guy with the red hair. Not knowing what else to do, I did the same. It was kind of hard to see what the guy looked like. After all, he looked mostly like a blur of red hair from where we were sitting. I did notice that he was tall and slim and seemed to be the life of the band though. As Trauma played more and more, James and Lars became more and more excited.

"Lars, guess what?" James asked excitedly, almost jumping up and down in his seat. Lars, also sharing James' sudden enthusiasm, looked at him curiously. James went on, "I think the guy with the red hair is play a bass! What do you think about trying to recruit him to Metallica? I mean, now that we've lost our bassist, we're kind of stuck."

Lars scratched his chin and thought for a moment. Lars never made impulsive decisions and always liked to think things through. Finally, Lars nodded with a serious expression upon his face and agreed, "That's a pretty good idea. We'll go talk to him after the show, okay? Cross your fingers that he'll accept our offer. And James, whatever you do, don't get too drunk. We need to make a good impression on this guy in order to recruit him to our band."

James nodded and resentfully put down the bottle of beer he was drinking from. I watched as James slowly looked over the people around us and the suddenly, he froze. He had the same spooked look on his face as earlier. Before I could ask him what was wrong, James grabbed my wrist and yanked me down onto the floor with him. Having no idea why we were sitting under the table on the floor, I looked at James with a look that said have-you-lost-your-mind, and said, "What the hell are we doing?"

James clapped a hand over my mouth and whispered, "Shh!" Deciding to trust James' judgment on this, I quieted up and looked around at the people around us to see if one of them was what had caused James to act so strangely. Looking around anxiously, James whispered, "Hide me!" Still completely lost at what was going on, I was about to protest when James pressed me roughly against him and slammed our lips together. Even though the kiss was rather forced, I still enjoyed it and found myself running my tongue over James' lower lip and I let my hand run down his chest.

"Guys!" a voice called us. "What are you doing down there? I thought we were focusing on the band right now. Can't you kiss Olivia later or something? This isn't the time or place." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lars looking at us exasperatedly as he dipped his head under the table to see what we were up to.

James motioned for Lars to be quiet, but apparently, it was too late. A pretty blonde girl who had been walking around the tables a few moments earlier, peered under the table as well. In a light, almost musical voice, she called out, "James, is that you? Are the three of you having a little party under the table or something? Why was I not invited?"

I could hear James mutter a couple of swear words under his breath as he pushed me away and gave the girl an awkward smile. James pulled me back into my chair as he sat back down on his and told the girl, "Hey Brianna. What's up with you?" The girl who was obviously named Brianna, smiled a brilliant white smile at James and took a chair next to him. I suddenly remembered that Brianna was the same girl James had been talking to the other night when Metallica had played at the Whiskey.

"Oh, I'm doing fine," Brianna said, moving her chair closer to James' so their thighs touched. I couldn't say I was too happy about Brianna moving in on James like that. She didn't have any right to do any of this. I mean, they barely knew each other. They had only talked once before. It wasn't like they were in a relationship or anything.

Brianna put a hand on James' shoulder and looked up into his eyes with her big, sapphire ones, "So James, do you have any plans for tonight? I've missed you." Brianna ran her hand all of the way down James' arm and let her hand rest on his upper thigh. James, for once in his life, didn't have a ready excuse at hand and just sat there speechless. Brianna continued to give him that pleading look as she brushed her hand over his thigh and to the inside of one of his legs.

"James and Olivia are coming to my house for dinner tonight," Lars finally said, rescuing James from a pretty awkward situation. Shooting us a meaningful look, Lars added, "Right?" I agreed vigorously and James nodded mutely, still not able to find his voice. Brianna looked disappointed and simpered, "Aw, that's too bad. Well, come visit me another night then. You know I always like your company." Brianna leaned over and kissed James' cheek before turning and clicking away with her high heels.