Who Corey Was

20

Almost an hour later, I found myself sitting alone in the rec room, wondering how I was going to tell the others. I knew I had to go upstairs soon. There was a sound in the doorway and my head snapped up just in time to see a brunette figure leaving the room.

"No, wait!" I called. "Come back!" There was a pause. No response, but I could hear that he'd stopped. "Dylan, please."

There was a creak as weight shifted and he came back into the room. He hesitated in the doorway. "Come sit. Please," I requested, touching the spot next to me.

Still, he hesitated. After a few seconds, he sighed and obliged. I, too, stayed quiet a moment.

"Listen," I finally said, "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to snap at you. Xander just gets me so worked up." I sighed. "But whatever. I have to tell you something. And it's going to sound crazy, but I need you to believe me."

I launched into the tale of what happened to me, of what happened to Xander and Skye and Wes. He said nothing the entire time. In fact, he hadn't said anything since he'd come in here. I waited, but still he said nothing. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Fine!" I snapped, leaning back into the couch. I crossed my arms and turned away from him. "Fine. Believe me, don't believe me. I don't give a fuck! Xander will get the goddamn files and then you'll have your proof so you can just—"

"Why do you act like this all the time?" he finally demanded.

"Like what?" I spat.

"Like such a b—" He choked on the word.

"A bitch?" I laughed hysterically, rounding on him. "Why do I act like such a bitch? Maybe because I am a bitch. Maybe because I've grown up having to learn that there was no one I could trust but myself."

"You always push people away. I want you to trust me!" he shouted.

"Then trust me!"

He paused a second. "God, I wanna kiss you right now!"

"Then prepare yourself 'cause I am a kisser."

And then we were on each other. Kissing. Making out. Angrily. Passionately. Gasping for air. Yet all the while, something in the back of my mind kept screaming to stop, that this was wrong, so so wrong. It was quickly too much and I pulled away.

"Wow," he breathed. "You weren't kidding. That was...fantastic."

"Xander is getting the files," I whispered in his ear.

"It's okay," he whispered back, "You don't need them. I believe you."

"Well isn't that a shame," a loud voice interrupted. Dylan and I sprang apart, hitting opposite ends of the love seat. Xander stood in the doorway. "Guess I didn't need these after all."

He waved some papers in the air next to his face. "Found you." I glared at him, absolutely furious. He ignored it. "Come on kids," he paraded, glamorously turning around and marching out. "We've got a show to put on."