So Fragile Yet So Devious

It had been three weeks since she’d gotten the information about Corey’s father and she kept the little piece of paper in a safe place until he’d gotten back. As soon as he’d gotten home, he sent her a quick text and she was on her way over. Since he saw her pull in the driveway, he had the door open for her when she came up his front walk. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her. He picked her up and spun her around in his arms.

“Cor.” She said laughing.

He set her down and bent his face down to kiss her but he stopped and his smiled faded just a smidge.
“I keep forgetting that I’m not supposed to do that anymore…..”

She bit at her lip nervously. Secretly, she wished he would kiss her. She loved Jeremy but his kisses were nothing compared to Corey’s.

“Well, come on in…” He said moving aside. “I just got here so my shit’s just kind of thrown in the floor.”

“And that’s different from any other time?” She joked.

He rolled his eyes and sat down on the couch. Reaching for the t.v. remote, he asked, “So, what’ve you been up to?”

She shook her head and sat next to him, “Not much. Just working. Finally got my tattoo license.”

He flashed a toothy smile at her. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”

“Thanks.” She said self consciously looking to her feet as a shade of red filtered through her cheeks. She moved to open her mouth to speak but was stopped when her phone began to vibrate.

“That must be Jeremy….”

“Good guess.” She nodded as she hurried to text him back.

“How’s that going?”

She lifted her shoulders up and let them fall as she brushed his question off. “I’ve really gotta tell you something spectacular first.”

“Can you answer my question before this spectacular thing of yours?” He countered with a raised eyebrow.

“Do I gotta?” He just shot her a glazed-over look causing her to sigh. “Things are going good. I guess. I mean…..Yeah, things are great.” He nodded. “Now can I tell you what’s so spectacular?”

His eyes rolled and he grinned. “Go ahead.”

“Okay, well, a couple of weeks ago Paul and I went to see your grandma.”

He scrunched his face up. “You did, huh?”

“Yeah, she’s really nice by the way. Now, I know where you get it from. Anyway, we got to talking about you…”

“Me?”

“Mmhmm. And well…” She reached to her purse to pull the piece of paper out of her wallet and give it to him.

He unfolded the note and read the name and contact information that was scribbled on it. “What’s this?”

“That’s….your dad.” She answered with a little bit of a smile.

He didn’t react. He just stared down at the paper in front of him for what seemed like forever.

“Faith?” She sounded worried. “You okay?”

“Why did you do this?” He asked in a low tone.

“I just had been thinking about what you said about him…and I thought maybe if I could help you find him that-.”

“Did I fucking ask you to help me find him?”

“I was just trying to help.”

“I don’t need any help.” He spat. “You had no right to go and do this.”

Her chin started to quiver as he voice rose.

“What’d you do? Go to my grandma’s and pump her for information?!”

“Corey, it wasn’t like that…”

“I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking.” He huffed.

“You know…..I was trying to do something really special for my best friend but if this is how you’re going to treat me…..I’ll leave. Do whatever the fuck you want.”

The next thing he heard was the door slamming. He glanced upward and could see her practically fly out of the driveway. He sat there drumming his fingertips on the arm of the couch then grabbed up his phone real quick to give his buddy Paul a ring.

“Hello?” Paul yawned.

“What the fuck were you two thinking?!”

He groaned loudly then hung up the phone. Corey tried calling him back but got no answer. He began pacing across the living room floor occasionally casting his eyes over to the piece of paper on the sofa. He heard a vehicle and quickly looked outside. He kind of hoped that Alex was back but instead Paul practically barreled through the front door.

“Okay,” He said pulling the hoodie over his head and grabbing a seat on the couch. “What the fuck is up your ass?”

“Explain to me why you two thought it was a good idea to try and find my dad without my knowledge.”

“Dude, it was her idea.”

“And you went along with it?”

“What’s the big deal anyway? Ever since I’ve known you you’ve always talked about meeting him.”

“Yeah, and that was supposed to be my decision to make. Not Alex’s. Not yours.”

“I hope you didn’t bitch at her the way you’re bitching at me right now.” He said resting his elbow on his knee and pointing at his friend. “All she wanted to do was fucking help you, man. And is anyone here forcing you to try and contact the guy? Man, you need to get a fucking grip. And while you’re at it, I’d call Alex and apologize.”

Taking a deep breath, Corey sat next to him. He played with the paper in his hands and asked in a mumble. “Do you think she’s really happy?”

“Huh?”

“You think Alex is really happy with Jeremy?”

Paul rolled his eyes and sort of laughed. “Nice try.”