Slipknot's Daughter

Chapter 6

Around four o'clock, Sid, Corey and Jim finally return. When I hear the car pull up, I hurry downstairs, along with Shawn and Mick.
Shawn opens the front door and goes down into the driveway to help Corey and Jim with Sid, who had a bandage wrapped around the back of his head. Mick and I stand on the front porch, lightly shivering in the November chill. Sid slowly gets out of the car, then stands up with the assistance of Corey and Shawn.
Carefully, the trio make their way up the steps and into the house, Jim following closely.
Shawn and Corey gently sit Sid on the man cave couch. Sid lies down, and Shawn covers him with a blanket that was next to the couch.
"Now you just sleep off that painkiller, Sid," Corey says softly, going to the door and turning out the light.
Sid grunts in return, and Corey closes the door. "All right," he says, turning to us. "How are the chores going?"
Shawn says, "The trash is taken out and the lawn's mowed."
"The band room is clear and everyone's instruments are put away." Mick adds. "The kitchen, everyone's rooms, all the windows and the man cave is clean." I finish.
Corey nods. "Good. Colleen, are you and Rick planning to have dinner here, or eat out?"
"Um," I say, thinking quickly, "I'll text him and see what the plan is."
"All right. Is all your homework done?" Corey asks.
I nod.
"Cool. Where are the other guys?" Corey questions, looking around curiously. Mick pipes up, "Joey and Craig went out to get tattoos, Chris went to go pick up his girlfriend for a date, and, well, we were here... Cleaning... And you, Sid, and Jim were at the hospital."
"Okay. Sounds good. Any idea when they will be back?" Corey asks.
Corey, Mick and Shawn continue talking and I go back upstairs to my room.
I decide to change again, so I go to my closet and throw the doors open. Picking through various items, I select a silky red skirt and then pair it with a black knit blouse.
Then I suddenly wonder if that would be too dressy.
'Of course it would', I chide myself. 'You're only going to a movie theater. It will be in the dark most of the time...' I sigh in annoyance, then replace the blouse and skirt.
Moving onto my dresser, I pull open my pants drawer. Pulling out my favorite black skinny jeans, I lay them across my bed. I return to my closet and pull out a red tank top with thick straps and a soft plaid shirt with the sleeves removed. I lay these across my bed as well, then select my black and white Converse to wear.
I begin changing and finish a few minutes later. I look myself up and down in the mirror, admiring what I saw. I hope Rick did, too.
With that, I go into the bathroom to reapply my makeup. That done, I then begin styling my hair, deciding to make a little crown out of two braids.
Halfway through, I hear Corey call, "Colleen! Rick's here!"
My eyes widen in surprise, and I yell, "Coming!" I quickly finish up my hair, apply some deodorant and just a tiny bit of perfume, then hurry downstairs.
Rick was there, talking to Mick (Hehe, Mick and Rick... 😆).
So far, Mick didn't seem too aggressive, and was chatting with Rick in a surprisingly friendly manner.
Corey was standing beside the stairs as I come down, and pulls me into a hug when I reach the bottom. "You look beautiful," he mumbles into my hair.
I smile. "Thanks, Corey," I reply, hugging him in return.
He lets me go a few seconds later, then says, "Go say hi to your friend. He seems like a nice young man."
I giggle and lead him over to Rick. "Hi, Rick," I say shyly.
He turns to me and his eyes widen in surprise. "Hi, Colleen... Um... You look very nice today," he says quickly, color rising in his cheeks.
I smile. "Thanks. Um, I see you've met Mick." I observe.
Mick nods. "Yup, the squirt and I have met," he jokes.
I giggle a little. "Rick, this is my dad, Corey Taylor. Corey, this is Rick Gosse. He's a sophomore."
Corey extends a hand to Rick. "Pleasure to meet you, Rick. Is that short for Richard?"
Rick shakes Corey's hand and nods. "Yup, that's me. Richard Nicholas Gosse." He chuckles, then pauses. "Wait... Corey Taylor... Of Slipknot??" he inquires excitedly.
My heart drops to my knees.
Corey coughs, then nods. "Yes, that's me."
Rick turns to Mick and exclaims, "Which means you are Mick Thomson!"
Mick flinches a little (surprising for a man his size), then also nods in affirmation.
"So that means that Chris Fehn, Sid Wilson, Shawn Crahan, Joey Jordison, Jim Root and Craig Johnson are here, too?!?!" Rick asks in excitement.
My mouth grows drier and drier with each name.
"Actually," Mick says gruffly, "Chris, Craig, and Joey are out, and Sid is sleeping, so would you mind keeping an inside voice?"
Corey gave Mick a look, which Mick returns, then moves upstairs.
"Anyway," Corey says, attempting to paper over the awkwardness, "Will you guys be having dinner here or eating out?"
"Ah, eating out," Rick replies, noticing the awkwardness he had created. "I brought enough money so that Colleen doesn't have to pay."
"Ah, hello? Right here!" I object, poking Rick's side. "And I don't care if you did, I'm bringing my own money." I pull out my wallet, which I had shoved in my back pocket earlier, and shake it a little. Corey smiles.
Rick smirks and says, "Fine. But I'm paying for the tickets."
I roll my eyes. "Fine. I'm going to go grab my jacket." I retort. Pushing my wallet back into my pocket, I hurry back upstairs and snatch my jacket off my door. Tromping back downstairs, I see Corey and Rick talking quietly.
Rick turns to me and asks, "Ready?"
I nod, then turn to Corey and hug him. "See you later, Corey," I say.
Corey squeezes me. "Bye, Col. Take care of yourself." He kisses my hair, then releases me.
Rick pulls the door open and holds it for me, then follows me out onto the porch.
"You crazy kids have fun," Corey calls. "Bye," we reply, then turn and walk down the driveway to the sidewalk.
"So," Rick says after we had gone a little way down the sidewalk, "Mick told me Corey adopted you... That must have been really exciting!"
I shove my hands in my pocket and look at the ground. "Yeah, really exciting..." I mutter. I hear Rick's steps stop, and I turn to look at him.
He was giving me a rather confused look. "Hey, what's wrong? Did I say something?" he inquires.
I sigh and say, "Well, it's just that... Before you came, I was telling Corey that I was afraid that when you met everyone, you would only like me because I was Corey Taylor's daughter... And the only reason you would want to hang out with me is because it would be your chance to meet Slipknot..." I look at the ground again.
I hear Rick's steps approach me and I look up. He gently slides his finger under my chin and tilts my head up so that I was looking straight into his eyes. "Colleen, before I met your dad, I already wanted to be with you. You're beautiful, easy to talk to, funny, smart... Meeting your dad only made me impressed with your luck. I like you for YOU. It's you I want to hang out with, to joke with, to..." He pauses. His fingers drift up from my chin and gently caress my cheek.
I feel my stomach fill with butterflies and my ears grow warm.
He leans in. "To fall in love with," he whispers before softly pressing his lips to mine.
I close my eyes and melt into the kiss. My arms find their way around his waist, and I feel his hands cup my face, securing my lips to his. A bit of his hair tickles my cheek. My face grows warmer, and I relax into his chest as our lips moved in sync.
I feel him smile through the kiss, and I did too.
Finally, I couldn't help but giggle and break away. Rick's hands move down to my waist. I look up at him with a huge smile on my face.
"I'm sorry," Rick says suddenly. "That was a dick move, I shouldn't have..."
I silence him with a finger on his lips. "It's fine. That was really sweet." I gaze into his lovely green eyes for a few moments before he breaks the silence.
"So I'm guessing you won't mind if I ask you to be my girlfriend?" Rick inquires. I laugh happily. "I would be honored to be your girlfriend," I answer.
His face breaks out into that adorably silly grin and he hugs me. "You just made me extremely happy." Rick says, letting me go so he could look at me. "And you me," I reply. He pulls me back into his chest and I press my nose into his shirt, breathing in his cool smell of washed apples. We stand like that for a while, just holding each other.
Finally I pull away and say, "We're probably gonna miss the movie..."
He shrugs. "Yeah, probably. Let's go." He smiles and takes my hand and we start walking. I place my other hand on the crook of his elbow and lean into him, grinning stupidly.
*TEN MINUTES LATER*
We finally reach the movie theater and decide to see MCFARLAND, USA. Sticking to his word, Rick bought both of our tickets and a medium popcorn to share. He did permit me to buy a bag of sour gummy worms, also to share. We eagerly head into the movie theater to find that there were only two other people in the theater besides us. They sat in the front, and Rick and I head up to the back.
Rick sits first, setting down the snacks and things, then pulls me into his lap. I snuggle into his powerful chest and his arms rest around my waist. He takes a piece of my hair and lazily twirls it. I take his other hand and play with his long fingers. His cheek presses against my forehead, and I occasionally lift my head to peck him on the lips or cheek. We talk softly about random stuff, like school and life and the world.
He tells me how he was bullied a lot in elementary school and the first two years of high school, because everyone thought he was an emo loser. He had started self harming in sixth grade when his parents divorced, and in the first year of high school, he was sexually harassed by this creepy gay senior named Johnny. Johnny graduated, though, and since then, everything was okay. He had made a couple friends since then, and his life had been pretty boring until he met me.
I tell him about how my mother died when I was six, and how I had lived in an orphanage for the last nine years. I told him how I had also been bullied by Taylor and her friends endlessly. Then I had been adopted by Slipknot, met Black Veil Brides at Dutch Bro's (he was impressed by this and also insanely jealous), went to high school... And the rest was history.
He smiles at me. "So I guess we're like Lilo and Stitch," he says.
"Huh? What do you mean?" I ask, confused.
"Well, in Hawaiian 'lilo' means 'lost'," he explains. "And 'stitch' means 'pulled together'. We've both lost someone, and we were pulled together by fate."
I gaze at him in awe. "That was beautiful," I murmur.
"Nah, you're beautiful. That was just cheesy." Rick replies.
I giggle, blushing, and he leans forward to kiss my nose. Then he pulls me into his chest. I push my head under his chin, and the movie started.