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You were still relatively new in Haddonfield, moving in long after the Halloween night massacre and the tragic babysitting that took place the year after, but you never bothered to look into what happened. Which resulted in weird side looks from other citizens whenever you expressed unfamiliarity with these topics. But you got used to them after a while.
That might have been the main reason you never bat an eye towards the judgmental faces people threw at you whenever you were seen with the young Cunningham boy.
"Yeah, yeah, Corey over there is free right now, he will have a look at it. Corey! Come here kid!", that was the first time you ever heard his name, the first time you saw his face. You couldn't help but fall hard for his dorky smile and puppy eyes, only magnified by his round glasses. Corey, himself was taken aback by how polite and sweet you were towards him, as most of the city outright hated him. You decided to push your luck and ask him on a date, to which he happily agreed. Who knew a broken car could take you to such treasure?
You made your relationship official a few weeks later. His mother obviously disapproved, believing you weren't good enough for her boy, but she decided to protest silently since you were probably the only woman in town who wanted to talk to and spent time with Corey.
"You seriously don't know anything about the incident?" he asked you once after you encountered a rather rude waitress on one of your dates. "I don't. By any means, if you want to tell me, go ahead, but I don't think it's so bad that the whole town has to treat you like that." "Aaa... It's a long story... and I think you're better off not knowing."
It was very early in the morning, you stayed up all night preparing for the upcoming Halloween and were ready to go to sleep when frantic knocking at the front door stopped you on your way upstairs. Now, Haddonfield might have not been known for being the safest city, but its only serial killer certainly didn't knock, so you weren't worried about opening the door.
But you did become quite worried when you opened the door.
"Holy shit! Corey! You look awful, what happened?" Your boyfriend was slumping against the doorframe, looking all beat up, jaw tightened in pain. "It was those kids again, they cornered me up..." say less, you were already dragging him inside your home. "Did they corner you up in the sewers? You smell like shit... Go sit in the kitchen, I'll bring you something to change into and-" you were already running off to fetch a few things when Corey caught your wrist "Y/N, I have to tell you something."
You smiled and reached your free hand to his face, caressing lightly over the bruised skin "You'll tell me once I patch you up, ok?". And with that, you were off upstairs, rummaging through your partially shared wardrobe for clothes you then quickly brought to him, before going to look for a first-aid kit.
Once you got back, Corey, who has already changed, was sitting at the table. You walked up to him and pushed aside his soft curly locks to better assess the damage done. His dark eyes were looking into your soul, you could tell there was something heavy on his mind. You noticed some bruises forming on his neck. "Did the kids have tried to choke you?" you asked while you soaked some cotton pads in disinfection, "No, that was an unrelated incident, but, listen...". Corey flinched a bit when the pad brushed against his scratched cheek, "I'm listening...", you threw him a soft smile.
"I killed someone."
He told you about the kid he was looking after three years ago, the accident that completely changed his life. Corey looked so broken, definitely fighting with himself about whether or not he should've told you. It was safe to say it knocked the wind out of your sails. "Now that you know, can you face the crowd? Can you be seen with me and still be proud?"
You let out a heavy sigh and put aside the cotton pad "Corey... God, I'm going to sound soo cheesy, but... let me quote something... I will fight for you if you will fight for me.". He smiled at that. "I love you Corey, and if people are picking fights with you, they're picking fights with me."
You leaned forward and kissed his forehead. Corey looked up at you, "Can you hold my hand?". You did so without any delay. He squeezed your hand in his own hold, lowering his gaze and concentrating on your intertwined fingers.
"...Sometimes I want this city to burn..." Corey murmured, mostly to himself, but you heard him. "We can always move away, leave the city behind if that's what you want" you went on caressing his cheek with your free hand, careful to avoid touching the scratches. He laughed a bit and shook his head "It's too late for that, I feel like the fire has already started..."
You tilted your head to make him explain what he meant, but he didn't elaborate. It didn't matter, you were going to find out soon enough.