#CURSE YOU CADDY!!!! SHOWING ME ALL THIS MERCH THAT I WANT NOW!!!!

[cherry-bomb-ships]

Sobbing into my hands as I debate saving money for groceries or spending it on Crash Bandicoot merch

[quaememinisse]

Title: At Best

Genre: Romance, Drama, Smut, Alternate Universe

Warnings: Violence

Relationship(s): Corey Taylor/OFC, OFC/OMC

Word Count: TBA

Chapters: 2/?

Summary: One fine summer, an up and coming drummer catches Corey’s eye.

Author’s note: Mature situations this chapter.

Previous chapter: 1 (<--Click there to read)

          Corey ends up not being at the signing, and Nanette assumes he must have gotten caught up doing an interview or taking pictures with some fans. She is over the moon for a while until she checks her phone halfway through the signing to find that Nolan texted her a handful of times. She doesn't read all of his texts, but they make it clear to her that he's not happy. She pictures him alone in his apartment and this makes her start to feel bad for enjoying herself. If only she could be there with him. To Nanette's surprise, Corey actually shows up out of what appears to be thin air, holding a large plastic cup of what she already knows is Bolthouse Farms carrot juice. He tucks a pair of darkly tinted sunglasses into the collar of his red t-shirt, grinning and holding the drink out in front of her. It takes a moment before she realizes he is offering it to her.

           "I was over at catering when I remembered that Lars told me how much you love this shit," he explains. She takes the cup from him, surprised by his random act of kindness; there's even a ton of ice in the drink. If Nanette doesn't know any better, she'd assume that Corey…is interested in her, in some way.

           "Thank you, Mr. Taylor," she says with a small nod. She had begun to start dying from the heat, anyway.

           "Mr. Taylor?" Corey throws his head back and laughs for a few seconds, causing Nanette to blush, but her tan makes it unnoticeable. Madden and Pinkerton cock their eyebrows at each other suggestively, something that Nanette pretends she doesn't notice, as she takes the most refreshing sip of carrot juice she's ever had. Corey's presence easily attracts more fans, and, probably to not look like assholes, more people end up asking for EPs and autographs than Nanette had initially predicted for the day. Her phone vibrates in her back pocket again, and she listens to Corey talking to Lars somewhere behind her as the tent is being disassembled. Nanette finds herself wishing that Nolan would just do something to make himself happier for at least fifteen minutes. When her phone continues ringing, she sighs and tries to answer it, but due to the loudness of the music coming from other stages in the distance, she can't make out a word Nolan says.

           She sighs, looking as irritated as she feels, because she catches Corey glancing at her with some sort of interest that she knows means he really wants to ask her what's wrong. But instead, he continues talking with James and Lars while Nanette starts back to the bus to call her boyfriend so he'll stop texting.

           "Babe, I'm losin' it here," Nolan states, already sounding irritated when he picks up the phone.

           "(Sigh) Why? You got enough for rent this month?" she asks, trying to sound like the caring girlfriend that she has always been.

           "I just want to fix my Caddy already so I can sell it for the—"

           "I know, Nolan. I know you want that truck, but you have to just pay rent for now. Remember? We talked about it," Nanette interrupts. Nolan sighs, and she can tell that his patience is wearing thin.

           "So, your band's Facebook page is getting bigger every day. Seems like you must be having a lot of fun out there," he says. She wonders briefly whether he intends to guilt trip her.

           "It's hot, and I miss you," she says, pacing the aisle of the tour bus.

           "I miss you, too. I'm just so mad I can't be with you right now, doing the same shit, you know?" Every time they've spoken on the phone these past few weeks, it has been basically the same conversation. Nanette begins to wonder how much more she'll be able to take before flat out screaming at Nolan that his situation is unfortunate, but there's not much she can do to help him, that deep down, she feels insulted that he wouldn't just take the merch managing gig that her bandmates had offered him. He had too much pride to help her band out, even after all his shows she's been to, the promo photos she's taken for his music? Sometimes, she wonders whether Nolan can think about anyone but himself. Even so, she finds herself missing his towering height, green eyes, brunette man bun, and voice that she could listen to for hours on end, except when he's complaining about the same thing he complained about two days ago.

           "I wish you'd come back, to be honest. So we can just get married and pick a house like we planned, and start living like we want to for real, baby. It's gonna work after I sell my Cadillac, get my VA loan, and with all the money you'll make…" And Nanette gradually tunes him out, until he says goodbye—no "I love you" to speak of. She finds herself wanting him to be happy, and wanting to be happy with him, but the resentment is just unsettling, and she hasn't exactly figured out how to broach the issue. He had made the excuse of not being able to fly out to see any of her shows because of the rent situation, that he doesn't want her to come home to streets, and somehow, despite how realistically sensible, that just wasn't a good enough excuse, not after all the time she'd put into supporting him. He keeps saying he can't come, but he'll see everything on Facebook. It isn't the same.

           Nanette finds herself wiping her eyes, and the sound of the bus opening causes her to retreat to the small bathroom where she can hide for a bit and wipe her tears of frustration. When she has managed to calm herself down, she isn't surprised to find that Corey has decided to tag along on their bus for the trip to Utah. She stays out of the way of the men, sitting at the back of the bus with a copy of one of Nolan's favorite books on existentialism, which he had been so sweet enough to lend her for the tour. Truth be told, she hadn't started reading it yet, not that she wasn't interested, but it merely reminded her of the lack of Nolan's presence and the guilt she feels over it. As the bus pulls off onto the road, James tells Nanette to stop being so antisocial because they have a guest on board. But she only shoes him away.

           "She gets her own hotel room, too, you know?" he jokes to Corey, who has turned around at the small table to look at her, "Because she's a girl," James adds. Corey cocks a brow with an expression of mild contempt.

           "Well, that's a grown ass woman. I can't blame her for not wanting to be around a bunch of sweaty dicks 24/7," he says genuinely before taking a swig of Reed's Stronger Ginger Brew.

           "A little sweat never hurt anyone. Come on, Nan! We got some fucking attention today because it was hot enough for you to wear next to nothing," James quips, but really, he's pushing it. Nanette stands to walk into her bunk and pull the curtain.

           "See? You're being fuckin' annoying right now," she hears Corey add. She's thankful that he can't see her smiling where she has hidden to turn on the small light in her bunk and read. She eventually falls asleep, and she doesn’t wake up again until it's dark, finding herself alone in her bunk, the reading light still on. Her phone is blinking with notifications, and she unlocks the screen to find that Lars has texted her that they went out to eat and ordered her whatever was vegan on the menu, that she'll have to come up to her hotel room to get it when she wakes up. He had even been so kind as to leave her the room key that will let her in. Nanette curses to herself, realizing just how late it is, how many hours have passed.

           She makes her way to get up when she starts reading missed texts from Nolan. She pauses at the door of the bus to see that he's informed her that she didn't call him back about the book, which she'd texted him about hours ago to say she would be finished reading in just another two to three hours. He had clearly become impatient. She doesn't bother to call him back, but to go up to her hotel room, shower, and eat the food that Lars left her in the mini fridge. The next few days go somewhat similarly ever since Corey started hanging around her bandmates so much. She has been watching Stone Sour side stage and they've been ambushing her band's sets, and their crowd sizes have skyrocketed from city to city. Nanette tries to keep her distance from Corey, but he seems to make a point of it to bring her carrot juice, and frozen waters for the rest of her crew, probably not to make it seem like he's focusing on her so hard, but she can't help feeling like he is.

           She doesn't say much to him, but he asks her one evening a week later why she always calls him Mr. Taylor. He says it makes him feel old, which causes Nanette to laugh. When she thinks that she has become more skillful at avoiding him, she finds Corey running into her when she walks around the venues in the morning, something she usually does by herself just to clear her head. He tells her that she's really quiet, and that it's frustrating to him in an entertaining sort of way. Later that day, he says it again, which makes her blush madly when she's sitting across from Madden playing cards on the way to another state. And Corey keeps tagging along on their bus, and looking at her in ways that make her feel the need to call Nolan and try to quietly have phone sex, fill her brain with him instead.

           "Everything I know about you, I know from Lars…Are you guys fucking?" Corey asks, out of the blue. Lars claps and laughs; Nanette freezes, and luckily, James, Pinkerton, and Madden are too engrossed in their iPods to hear this.

           "She's like my sister. The fuck kind of question is that? We've been friends since middle school 'cause of our moms. And besides, she has a guy. Calm the fuck down, Corey."

           "What? I can't ask a simple question?" he asks sarcastically, "Just curious." But when Nanette catches his eye for a fleeting moment, he's sort of flushed around his thick neck. He sighs, folding. When Nanette manages to fall asleep for the umpteenth time on the bus instead of reading Nolan's book, she awakens to sunlight and to find several irritated text messages from her boyfriend. At first, he's asking her if she's okay, why he hasn't heard from her in such a long time, the next, he's talking about the Facebook photos of her playing cards with Corey from Stone Sour, asking her what she's been doing with him on the bus all night. Nanette decides to ignore these texts, again, waking up to a key card left by Lars and a note saying that there's a really massive salad and veggie burger in her fridge in room 628 of the Wyndham Hotel.

           While she is sitting on her bed watching The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, her phone rings and she pauses in eating to transition her salad to the coffee table. She sighs before answering Nolan. Instead of the small talk, he just leans right into her.

           "Why are you ignoring me? I was worried about you," he says impatiently. One of the things Nanette has not been able to tolerate very well is Nolan's impatience with her, which has gotten so much worse ever since her tour began.

           "Why would I be ignoring you, Nolan? I play a set in the sun every day, I get sweaty, get on a bus, and fall asleep until I reach the next town—"

           "Please don't lie to me, Nan. You're always up playing around with singers on your bus."

           "…What do you mean by 'playing around', Nolan?" He's quiet for a little bit before sighing.

           "I just wish that you loved me as much as I love you," he says, "I wish that you cared about me enough to want to at least call me when you're done for the day. Why were you sitting on Madden's lap in that photo from last night on the bus?"

           "What are you talking about? You haven't even told me you love me in weeks. What are you trying to say, Nolan?" Nanette asks, glaring into space and lowering the volume on the TV as an orc drives Aragorn over a cliff.

           "You know damn fucking well what I'm trying to say," Nolan spits. The fact that he'd sworn at her maliciously is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. He's never done that before, even when they'd fight, and the next thing she knows, the phone call ends with her telling Nolan that he should try being happy for her for just once, that she's never cheated on him and never will, and her bringing up the fact that he actually cheated on her just a few months ago, that he was lucky she ever took him back. Before hanging up, Nolan tells her angrily, with venom, not to come back to Sacramento, because she won't find him and he isn't going to take her bullshit anymore. What bullshit?! She hasn't done anything wrong!

           That Nolan actually hung up on her makes it worse. Unsure whether it is the heat or the lack of proper sleep, Nanette shoves her phone into her suitcase and starts crying. She just completely lets loose, knowing that her bandmates aren't even on the same floor and won't hear her. She doesn't know how long she sits on the edge of the bed crying, but she's sitting there long enough to notice the torrential downpour outside in New Jersey. A pounding on the door startles her and she's silent suddenly.

           "Open up! We gotta evacuate—there's a tornado out there! Nan?!" Corey's voice is so desperate that she can't pretend she doesn't know he knows she's in the room. Nanette wipes her eyes on the sleeve of her bathrobe, grabbing her phone and charger before she hurries to open the door. She manages to ram right into Corey's chest, and he starts laughing, steadying her.

           "What the—? What are you doing? Let's get out of here!"

           "Hey—slow down. I was just trying to get you to come out of the room," Corey explains, smiling. His smile fades when he realizes how red Nanette's eyes are. She gazes up at him with embarrassment, turning away abruptly and shoving her phone and charger into her pocket.

           "That wasn't funny, Mr. Taylor. Please go away. I have to get dressed." His frustrated sigh leaves Nanette breathless. She knows that if she lets him into the room, he'll probably not want to leave it. Not after the way he kept looking at her last night on the bus. It was hard for her to keep away from him then. All she could think about was Nolan. Nolan, the reason she's crying now.

           "Nan, come on. How long are you gonna pretend to be so tough when clearly you're hurting? I could hear you crying from down the hall," Corey explains. She hears the door close softly behind her as she makes her way further into the room.

           "I'm…I have to get dressed. You should go—"

           "I'm not going anywhere until you turn around and look at me…Nan…"

She avoids Corey's request, standing there and closing her eyes. It isn’t until she can feel his presence about two feet away that she bothers to speak.

           "I'm just not happy right now. It's not something you need to worry about."

           "When a woman cries the way you were crying, it's because some bastard made her," Corey states. Nanette's heart jumps. He must have been in this sort of situation before, perhaps on the end of the bastard, and for a moment, she feels very wary of him.

           "Please, I just have to make sure you're okay. I can't turn around and leave until you can convince me of that."

           "You don't have to be so…I'll really be fine, Mr. Tay—"

           "Hahahahaha, stop calling me that, Nan. You know my name."

           "Corey…please go away. I'm fine, alright?"

           "No. Stop lying. You don't have to pretend to be so strong all the time just 'cause you're the only woman in a band on this tour. I'm not a complete idiot; I know you're really hurting inside. I just want to understand why—"

           "You already told me why. My boyfriend is…my ex, maybe—I don't know! I need to be alone right now." A silence passes, during which Nanette can hear Corey inhale deeply. The breath holds, and she waits to hear it to exhale when she feels Corey's hand encircle her upper arm. At this, she jumps slightly and turns around. For a handful of seconds, she's unable to believe he had touched her this way.

           "You shouldn't have to feel this way. A real man wouldn't make you feel this way," Corey states. Nanette meets his gaze, and it's on her long enough that she starts to feel naked before him, despite her bathrobe. And the next thing she knows, Corey's hands are clutching on her waist and his lips are spicy with something she can't quite place, perhaps ginger…? It isn't a long dance to the bed, where his hands manage to find their way under her robe. The heat of his mouth clamping down over hers causes Nanette to moan. Realizing she's going to end up having sex, she thinks about Nolan for a fleeting moment, watching Corey unbuckle his belt, pull his jeans off, throw his shirt over on the sofa. She pushes up on his chest briefly as he mounts her, and his clear eyes gaze down at her with some confusion. Nanette grins and lifts a finger to signal pause. She hurries from the bed and to her suitcase, finding the new box of condoms she had purchased a few weeks before the tour, when she thought Nolan would be with her all summer.

           She hands an unopened condom to Corey, who sits on the edge of the bed waiting for her. He tears it open seamlessly, all the while, drinking her in with a set of hungry eyes. But the type of hungry they are reminds Nanette of the way that Nolan looks at her; it's not just sex. She's only glad that Corey didn't resist when she handed him the condom; Nolan didn't like to use them most of the time, and she would not have been able to handle a pregnancy scare on tour all summer.

           "Are you sure?" Corey asks, after securing himself, pulling her by the hands back to the bed. Nanette nods, not giving a damn about anything else at this rate. Corey grins without teeth and wraps her up in his arms, kissing up the midline of her chest until his lips meet her neck, where they tickle her at the throat. He distracts her with this playfulness as she straddles him, and she hardly notices him search for her entrance, until she gasps at the sudden sensation of being taut around his hardness. They moan simultaneously, Nanette digging her nails into his slightly sunburnt shoulders. Corey winces once before gazing down into her eyes with what looks like some kind of relief. She realizes now that he has wanted her from the moment he shook her hand. The thought sends chills up her spine, chills that are chased by the tips of Corey's calloused fingers as he massages the vertebrae located beneath her freshly bathed flesh.

           He moans against her shoulder repeatedly as he carefully maneuvers up between her legs, her feet planted against the quilt. Corey starts off gently to ease Nanette onto his girth. She trembles in his hold, throwing her head back to moan. He slides inside her deeper with every thrust, gazing down at her intently for any sign of uneasiness. He had instantly fallen in love with how petite she is, and merely felt like a giant around her, but the noises escaping her mouth convince him that she's only experiencing pleasure. He bucks his hips roughly once. Nanette's breath catches, and she pulls her arms around Corey's neck, pushing a hand up through his hair and gripping it, causing him to laugh without sound. His lips turn up into a sultry grin.

           "Does that feel good, honey?" he asks her erotically. Nanette nods, meeting his thrust when he moves again. His tattoos become a bit of a blur to Nanette as she watches him push up inside of her repeatedly. She wonders now where the hell he got all this stamina from at forty-three, but doesn't bother asking as he literally transitions into a standing position and continues fucking her with ease, holding her up in both arms. She writhes with pleasure in his sauna-like grasp, and he eventually turns to place her on the bed on her back. He does this so gingerly, as if afraid he might drop her through a glass wall, and his expression as he does it is the same as Nolan's expression every time he made love to her. It's not going to stop here, Nanette realizes, and her throat and stomach flood with butterflies that she can't quell. Corey picks up her legs, securing them on either side of his waist, the bed tall enough that he can stand there and make it between her thighs just right.

           All she can see and feel, taste, smell, and hear, is pleasure. An orgasm begins to well up and she shudders, spreading her legs further as Corey's fingers deliberately and skillfully manipulate her clit. She can tell that he's just trying to please her, that this is not about him. He had managed to make her feel good before, in other ways, and the intention is positively salient now.

           "C'mon, sweety," Corey breathes, beckoning her closer. She grasps at his abdomen, scratching, her head lifting up off the disheveled quilt, and she implodes, her legs beginning to twitch, upper body writhing in a wormlike fashion. Corey's hands force her legs to remain open throughout the entire climax; he wanted her to get the most of it, and didn't stop thrusting through her spasms. She's fresh with sweat by the time her orgasm ends, and Corey carefully mounts her again, pulling her legs around his waist. He continues, pausing to kiss her, soon finishing himself. When he pulls out, the pleasure gradually dissipates, until she can't take him kissing her anymore without thinking about Nolan.

           She starts to cry, and audibly. Corey's face lifts away and he gazes down at her with worry. Nanette covers her eyes with her hands, unable to face him. She has never cheated in all of her life. She shouldn't have done this, not when there's supposedly a man waiting at home to marry her. Disgusted with herself, she just breaks down, even though she knows that she had genuinely wanted what had just happened.

           "Nan?" Corey asks worriedly, fearfully. When he tries to pull her wrists to get her to look at him, she rushes out from under him and runs into the bathroom. She closes the door, hearing him calling her name, already coming after her. He knocks on the door, and she's far too ashamed to open it and face him. She hears Corey pace and sigh for a handful of seconds.

           "Please," he says calmly, and she sees the handle jiggle as he tries to open the door, hears him sigh again, "Nanette, can you just open the door and come out and talk to me?"

           "Go away, Corey," Nanette manages to state clearly from the inside. He sighs again.

           "Why?" She doesn't answer, and she eventually hears his footsteps retreating. She waits for a minute before Corey knocks on the door again.

           "Nan…I'm sorry," he says, not knowing what he had done wrong; to the best of his knowledge, she had wanted him, too. He even asked her first.

           "Please…I can't leave if…I need to know that you're not going to hurt yourself if I leave this room." Nanette's heart jumps, and as she continues to lean against the wall wrapped in a new towel, she bites her fingers unsurely.

           "Why would I do that?" She asks him genuinely.

           "Because he hurt you. I don't know what he did, but I know it was bad. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I left and you hurt yourself over some piece of shit," Corey explains.

           "I'm not going to hurt myself," Nanette states, a little bit agitated, "I'm not crazy," she says defensively.

           "I didn't say you were…Fine. But will you just open the door and let me see you before I go?"

She pauses for a moment, before rushing over and unlocking the bathroom door. The fear on Corey's face makes her feel badly for having had such a meltdown. He sighs with relief, inching towards her and pausing when she takes a step back. He reaches for her shoulder and pauses, retracting his hand. His clothes are back on, but he doesn't look like he wants to leave.

           "Corey—please—I need you to go. I'm serious. I need to be alone for a little while."

           "I will. But first, can you promise me that I'm going to see you later on at your set?"

She nods, closing the door until there's only a crack, keeping Corey at arm's length.

               "I'll go now, okay? …I just want you to know that…I wasn't trying to upset you. And whatever he did, I wouldn't hurt you like that…" She gazes into the one clear eye that she can see through the door before he steps away and leaves the room.

(Click here for chapter 3)