I'm Sorry- A Slipknot Story

Chapter 34

"AND YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER MET COREY! YOU'RE MAKING HIM DEPRESSED FROM HOW YOU TREAT HIM! YOU NEGLECT HIM AND RAISE SID ON A PEDESTAL ABOVE EVERYONE," he shouts, Corey snapping and standing, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him close to his face.

"Shut your fucking mouth," Corey growls, the man pushing him away.

"One more thing," the man says, looking at me.

"You should've never been born. You're just a stain on this band," he says, Corey jumping across the table and beating the shit out of the hater. I had to pull Corey off of him and hold his arms behind him, holding him back as the hater starts hating on our friendship.

"Both of you should have never met! You're making him crazy, irate, erratic! He used to be calm on stage, and now you're making him go crazy," the hater shouts, Corey trying to beat him again. But, I'm stronger than him, so I keep him back.

"YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE ON TOUR! YOU DON'T PLAY AND YOU DON'T SING! YOU SHOULD BE BACK WHEREVER YOU CAME FROM AND STAY THERE," he keeps shouting, the other guys standing and looking over to us. Meanwhile, the fans are backing away, making a big circle around us three.

"Do you know who keeps me sane?! Do you know why I'm still alive to keep all of you sane," Corey shouts, the hater stepping forward.

"I don't know, who," he asks.

"It's 9! She keeps me sane after every show! She helped me when no one else would help! She's the reason you're not getting the shit beaten out of you right now," Corey shouts, trying to pull away to beat him.

"You wouldn't beat a maggot," he says, crossing his arms.

"You're not a maggot! You're a hater who doesn't appreciate the band as a whole," Corey shouts, me letting go of his arms. 

Corey goes crazy and beats the guy until the guards had to pull him off and throw the guy out. I pull Corey to his seat and gently push him down to sit, sitting beside him as I do so. He's panting, taking deep breaths and looking away from me.

"Are you okay," I ask, him hugging me tight and burying his face in my shoulder.

"I won't ever let anyone hurt you. You mean so much to me, and I don't want you to leave," he says, his voice cracking.

"I won't leave. Partly because I'm in another country, but because you mean so much to me too. All of you guys do," I say, hugging him just as tight and rubbing his back.

'My god these coveralls are so fucking scratchy,' I think, hearing some of the maggots sniffling. I look at them and the girls are weeping, wiping their makeup-smeared face with a tissue and the guys comforting their girlfriends, wives or friends.

"This is why I fucking hate Lorey. They think that smut is all you two do, but it's not. You help all of them," one girl says, making me smile.

"It's okay for friends to hug, even when they're not happy or when they need someone," another girl says, Corey letting go and turning to the people, seeing smeared makeup and some guys trying hard to hold in their tears.

"Okay, okay, who was next in line," he asks, all of them lining back up in the same order. We both get back to signing, and Corey and I get so many hugs from the girls. The guys though, they only give Corey a handshake and giving me pats on the shoulder.

-Corey's POV-

I get pulled off of that piece of shit, the other guard kicking him out of the store. Liz pulls me to my seat and I sit, her sitting in her seat and looking at me with worried eyes. I catch my breath and avoid eye contact by looking the other way, making her worry more.

"Are you okay," she asks.

I couldn't help but hug her tight, putting my face on her shoulder. The thing was, I don't know what I said, but she hugs back just as tight and rubs my back, making me calm down as I squeeze my eyes shut to keep in tears. 

I really wanted to beat the life out of that hater, but I didn't for two reasons. I couldn't from being pulled off of him and I know Liz would be terrified of me after. I let go of her and look over to the fans, the girls having tear-streaked makeup and the guys trying so hard not to cry with them.

I get the signing back to normal and every time I got the chance, I glanced over to Liz to see if she's okay. She looks okay on the outside, but I could sense that the hater's words dug deep in her wounds. People don't see it, but I can see in her eyes that she's thinking about his words, slowly believing them. She puts on a smile under her mask, but the pain's still there.

-Liz's POV-

We finish the signing and I walk out with Jim, who notices my shoes and smiles under his mask. He catches up with the guys and I stay back with Sid, who hugs me and tells me to raise my foot.

"Why," I ask, raising it anyway. He then puts a $5 bill in it, smiling like a child who got candy.

"You deserve it," he says, all of the guys walking to me.

"Lift your foot," Corey says, me shaking my head. 

Jim picks me up bridal style and they put money in the same shoe Sid did, Joey putting a label that says 'US dollars' on it in English and Dutch. Jim sets me down on my feet and they pinch my ass, running out to the stage. I walk out to the crowd and the moment I get out there a woman who's fit enough to be in the Olympics walks to me, smiling.