Status: NEW

So Fragile Yet So Devious

Pancakes

Inevitably, Corey overslept the next morning. He was supposed to have gotten up early and gone with Jim to see about some studio stuff but he never showed.

"Hmmph." Jim said to himself as he hung up the phone after Corey didn't answer his call. "Guess i get to go wake his ass up." Pulling in to his driveway, he noticed the extra car. He also noticed there was no sign of activity in the house yet. He plodded a path to the front door and was about to knock when he decided to peer into the glass on the door to take a look inside. His eyes fell up on Corey and Alex as they slept on the couch in each other's arms. His face was smushed against the glass as he ogled them for a second. He'd forgotten all about the phone in his pocket until it started to blare scaring the shit out of him. He ignored the call but decided to just go home. The studio could most certainly wait.

When she finally woke up, he was looking down at her with a silly, toothy grin.

"What?"

"Nothing, that was just....it was nice." She chuckled as she stretched her arms a little. "You hungry?"

"I could eat. Why?"

"How about I cook breakfast for the birthday girl?" He wiggled his eyes brows.

"Whatcha gonna cook?"

"Pancakes?"

"Yep! Get to it!"

He embarked towards his kitchen to start on breakfast and she headed towards his bathroom. She could hear him clanging around as he started on their food as she washed her face in the sink. Rinsing the soap away from her skin, she ran her tongue over her teeth. Normally, she'd brush them but she didn't have the implements to do so she guessed she'd check and see if he had any Listerine she could swash around in her mouth. When she opened the small cabinet door above the sink, a couple of orange prescription bottles fell out hitting her in the face. She was putting them back in side when she inadvertantly read the labels on them.

"Hey Dolly!" She heard him call to her as she stood there in his bathroom examining the pills she'd found. When the door swung open suddenly, she scurried to hide them behind her back. "What do you want to drink?"

"Milk!" She answered him quickly.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing......"

He could see that she was obviously holding something behind her back. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"Alexia Danielle Thomson" He said lowly. "What do you have?" She didn't answer so he grabbed her hand to see for himself. He gulped and panic filled his voice. "Where'd you find these?"

"The cabinet. Better question: what are you doing with them?"

"Umm, doctor gave them to me for headaches..."

"Oh? then why isn't that your name on the label?

"They messed up my name at the pharmacists...."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Cor, this isn't anywhere close to being your name..."

"It's pretty close." He argued.

"Yeah, because 'Robert Green' is soooo close to 'Corey Taylor'...honest typo I'm sure...."

"Well, there's the R's and the E's and the O's......and some people even say I look like a Robert...."

"You look like a 'Corey' to me, not a 'Robert.' Now let's try this again...why do you have these?"

"I have trouble sleeping?"

She gave him a knowing look.

"I hurt by my back?"

"You're fucking kidding me right?"

"Can I- can I have them back now?" He asked her nervously.

"No, you're not ever getting them back."

"C'mon Dolly, I need them."

"Don't 'Dolly' me. Why would you possibly need something that's not even prescribed to you?"

He merely rubbed his face and mumbled, "I just need them, okay?"

"Give me a good enough reason why you need them....and maybe you can have them...."

"I'm just.......trying to kill all the emotions." He muttered before walking off with his head hung nearly to the ground. He plopped down to lay on his couch grabbing one of the decorative throw pillows to cover his face. He let out a deep groan into the pillow.

"Cor?"

Letting his arm that held the pillow fall from his face, he looked at her with big, sad blue eyes. "Yeah?"

"We need to talk about this."

"I'd rather we didn't."

"Well, tough shit."

"It's not a big deal..."

"Trying to 'kill emotions' is a pretty big deal..."

"No, it's not.."

"Where do emotions come from, Cor?"

He looked at her funny as though she'd posed a trick question. "Your heart?"

She nodded, "So what exactly are you trying to kill?"

"Sometimes being numb just feels better..." He answered coldly.

"I don't think I'd ever want to see the day when that numbness causes your end."

"And if it does?"

"Then I won't see any other day after that one."

He shook his head and rubbed his face, "You don't mean that."

"Test me."

"What are we?" He chuckled a little under his breath. "Romeo and Juliet?" She cut her eyes at him. "Don't get me wrong...it's one of the most revered love stories of all time but it turned out too shitty. It should be changed around a little." He lifted his eyebrows suggestively. "After all, i wouldn't want us to end up miserable and dead like those two."

"Well, Romeo, you need to get rid of those pills or I'll do it for you."

He wagged his head up and down weakly, "Fine. Oh, breakfast is ready if you're still hungry..."

She nodded and hugged his neck. "Promise me you'll get rid of those?"

"I promise." He agreed as he hugged her back. "Can we eat now?"

"Yeah, let's go."