Corpse hated his birthday, but one thing that made him a little partial to it was his best friend Vanessa. To him, she was an angel. Ever since they'd moved in together a few years ago, she made it a point to either take the day off work or come home early on his birthday to order a pizza and watch cartoons and scary movies with Corpse.
Corpse would stress she didn't have to go to such lengths to make him feel special, but she always insisted, and he secretly looked forward to cuddling up with her on the couch. It almost felt like they were together, for he was much too scared to admit he had feelings for her in fear of ruining their close friendship.
He was glad he never said anything because he wouldn't have been able to take the rejection when she started dating someone else a couple of months ago. Dalton was a former coworker of Vanessa's that Corpse despised. After one too many passes at Vanessa, she gave in to going out with him much to Corpse's dismay. This put a huge strain on their friendship, not to mention a strain on her relationship as well since she was living with a guy.
But, today was Corpse's birthday, and he was thrilled that Vanessa insisted the day was theirs after weeks of brushing him off for Dalton.
Vanessa glanced at the time on her phone as she finished her short shift, seeing as she'd been given the okay to leave early. Before going home, she decided to surprise Dalton, feeling as though she owed it to him since she'd be spending the rest of the day with Corpse.
When she pulled up to Dalton's house, she had no idea those were the last few moments of their short-lived romance. No one had answered her knocking, and she discovered that the door was left unlocked. She entered to find clothes scattered in a trail towards his bedroom where she was met with a mess of two lovers scurrying to cover up their bare bodies, Dalton trying desperately to explain that it wasn't what it looked like, the other girl fleeing the scene, and Vanessa speechless.
It must have been over an hour that they discussed where things would go between them. Dalton apologized profusely, but Vanessa calmly explained that it was something she wouldn't be able to get over. They settled on deciding it'd be best that they both just move on and lose each other's numbers. She was actually quite grateful that things had played out the way they did because she felt a huge weight off of her shoulders.
Corpse looked up from the couch as Vanessa entered. He'd been sitting there with gritted teeth, just knowing she'd gone to see Dalton. It wasn't rare for her to make excuses as to why she couldn't do something with Corpse or suddenly disappear because Dalton had asked her to come over.
"Hey," she said, giving Corpse a coy smile that she came home nearly two hours later than she'd promised.
"Thought you got off at 1?" Corpse tried to keep his cool, hoping she'd just gotten caught up at work.
"Actually..." she started sadly but knowing he'd be pleased to know things were over between her and Dalton.
"You went to see him, didn't you?" Corpse asked knowingly.
"Yea, and-"
"-Just forget it, Van," Corpse stood, shaking his head in disappointment that she constantly chose Dalton over him.
Corpse decided it was enough. Though he hated his birthday, he looked forward to just being with her for the day. He felt like an idiot for waiting for her obediently on the couch as if things would, if only for a moment, be how they used to be. He was angry that she made him feel this way and betrayed that she'd conditioned him into thinking this was the one day of the year that he'd feel like a king.
"Corpse-"
"-Ever since you started dating him, it's like you couldn't give a shit about me," Corpse interrupted.
