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Cory was past his limit.
He already wasn't a party person, but the rest of his crew were almost itching to get out of their chairs and go have some fun out in the city.
It was some random party they managed to weasel their way into. Originally they were bar hopping, only making it around three bars before this party. Cory didn't recognize anyone at this house, besides for his crew, and you of course.
Oh right, you were the reason they were all at this party in the first place.
The group of you had just sat down at the barstools at the third bar of the night, until you excitedly shoved your phone right in Mick’s face. Apparently someone you had met during your somewhat short time in Philly was throwing a house party and had invited you and whoever else you saw fit to come and join, and you were all over it. Cory had barely sat down before he was being shoved out by Niall and Zach, somewhat matching your excitement towards the party.
And now here he stood awkwardly in between a bunch of mid-twenty year olds, gripping his Blue Moon to the point where the beer was nearly spilling from the tab.
Cory stood in what he assumed was your friend's dining room, which was turned into a snack and alcohol bar. The mahogany table had an array of chips and pretzels, along with what was probably a spiked bunch bowl.
He wasn't sure where the rest of the crew had wandered off to, probably messing with other party goers or trying to get some game. He didn't recognize anyone in the dining room as he quickly scanned the people around him. He took one last swig of his beer before setting the half-full can on the dining room table.
The party was more packed than Cory originally thought, maybe because his brain had been completely shut off for over two hours. The crowds of people along with the blaring white trash pop music made Cory’s head pound, but he persisted. He was practically swimming through the groups of people, mumbling out small apologies that he knew no one would hear. Cory pushed his way near the stairwell, where plenty of party goers either stood and chatted, or were drunkenly singing along to the newly transitioned song.
He took note of the song as he squinted up the stairs. It sounded like a Kesha or maybe a Pitbull song. Cory didn’t really listen to music like that, and he was sort of surprised he could even recognize the music in his own drunken state. He knew that you liked some of Kesha’s songs, with you practically screaming her songs when you and the gang took a car ride. Cory always thought you were funny when you sang with all your heart to these copy paste songs.
You always were very bold and extra like that. Despite that, you were also always so sweet and considerate. The chats you would have with him over Skype were typically nonsensical, but they were still a treat nonetheless. You were a joy to have around the office, and he hopes that everyone else agrees. Cory wishes he had one fraction of the confidence you bore, I mean you were the reason they were even at this party in the first place! He almost envied you in a way, not so much in a jealous way, more so in admiration of your radiant personality.
Come to think of it, you had been swirling around in his head all night, and the night before and even before that. He couldn’t pinpoint why you were stationed in his mind. Maybe it was your inviting energy, or maybe it was the way you did your hair, or maybe it was the way you held your chin in your hand in concentration. Maybe it was all of that combined.
Cory blinked, realizing he zoned out staring at these random people, with some staring back at him in curiosity or in confusion. Cory turned away and immediately bumped straight into a familiar face. Chris was holding two red cups of what Cory assumed was the spiked punch from early. Chris’ eyes were blown wide before settling at the sight of who he had crashed into.
“Cory! Hey! Dude, we've been looking for you!” He sounded quite chipper, maybe it was the alcohol. Cory felt his eye twitch and a frown form on his face.
“Yeah well, you guys totally ditched me!”
“Uh-huh, sure man. Okay listen, Mick and I are tryin’ to pick up some ladies, you wanna join?” Chris grinned at Cory, jerking one of the red party cups towards him in an inviting gesture. Cory scoffed.
“No no, I'm not in the mood for any of that. I'm trying to look for..” He started to trail off, glancing around Chris’ tall and skinny figure. Cory scans what he assumes is the living room behind Chris. The living room was just as packed as the dining room was, with most patrons being gathered around both the sofa and the love seats. There were three people sitting on the wine red sofa closest to the wall of the living room, and Cory perks up. Sitting on the far right side of the sofa, next to the arm rest sat you, a small smile across your face as you listen to the girl across from you chatting up a storm. You sat with your legs crossed, and your foot bounced occasionally. You looked way more relaxed than Cory had been that whole night. God, you were just so effortlessly sure of yourself. You were way out of Cory’s league and he knew that.
Chris opens his mouth to speak, but it stays ajar as he stares at Cory in confusion. Chris follows Cory's eyes and meets them at your figure, and it's Chris’ turn to perk up.
“Oh, hey! Look who it is! I think Niall was just looking for–”
Chris unexpectedly gets cut off as Cory shoves him aside and beelines towards your spot on the sofa. The scarlet punch spills from the party cups straight onto Chris’ jeans, and he scoffs. His head jerks up to yell at Cory for pushing him, but he stops. He watched Cory as he practically leaped towards you on the couch, and he smirked. Chris was well aware that Cory had some sort of attraction towards you. Whenever you called someone over to check your work on an animation, Cory always seemed to be at your side instantly. When the office would settle down to watch a movie or to record for the podcast, the two of you usually ended up seated next to each other. It's not like Cory was subtle about it whatsoever, you on the other hand were a lot more mellow. You already were sort of handsy with everyone in the office, never shying away from linking arms with Stamper or playfully smacking around Zach. It was normal for you, but despite this, you seemed to gravitate towards Cory the same way he did. You frequently slung your arm over his shoulder, always leaning into him. You frequently sat and watched him play Dark Souls or Sonic for hours, seemingly never getting tired of his constant fits of rage and screaming. You must’ve found his outbursts endearing or funny, or both knowing you.
Chris sighed, looking down at his pants. He’d have to really scrub his jeans to get that bright liquid stain out. It almost looked like he busted his balls or something. Chris took one more glance towards both you and Cory before stepping through the crowds of people to find his way back to Mick.
–
You too, were past your limit.
Usually your social battery wouldn’t die out so quickly, but tonight seemed different.
Maybe you were burnt out from all your social interaction this week, in and out of the office. Maybe you were stressed over your animation deadlines that were quickly approaching. Or maybe, you were distracted.
Whatever the reason was, you kept up your chipper and chilled facade and zoned back into the conversation being held in the living room. The girl sitting opposite from you was talking about a terrible first date or something, you kind of stopped caring after hearing five other terrible relationship stories from all these strangers. If you’ve heard them once, you’ve heard them all. You huff, taking a slow sip from your can of beer.
You were the reason that you and your crew were even at this party, and now you wanted to ditch early? Pathetic, you thought to yourself. You would squeeze out maybe an hour more of social interaction before you threw the towel in. You shut your eyes for a moment, wondering where the rest of your crew had gone. You saw Mick earlier, talking with some girls that couldn’t have been older than you, and you swear you saw Zach and Niall walking towards the back porch thirty minutes ago. You open your eyes again, looking at the girl who was still jabbering. Boring.
Instead of staring at this girl like everyone else was on the couch, you start to glance around the room. Your friend's house was a nice one, although you didn’t know her very well, you could tell she was sort of well off. The furniture you currently sat on was way nicer than whatever you had back at your apartment, and the selection of alcohol was better than any other party you went to.
You continued to scan the room, taking note of the clusters of people just swaying around with each other. No one in the living room particularly interested you, especially the people you sat with. Your mind started to wander again. You started to think back to earlier in the week.
–
The scene you were working on in your animation was taking longer than you anticipated, and the fact that you already spent so much time on this one particular scene had been driving you mad all day. You pinched the bridge of your nose and leaned back in your chair, letting out a frustrated groan in the process. You stayed like that for a second, before a familiar hand reached the back of your chair.
“Frustrated?”
Your hand leaves your face, and you turn in your chair. A smile creeps across your face as you see the culprit. Cory.
“A little bit, is it obvious?”
“I mean, you just let out this huge, guttural groan. It's like, you couldn’t make it more obvious.” He was right, which he usually wasn’t.
You huff out a laugh and cross your arms. You turn in your chair again, scooting up towards your tablet. Cory too moves in closer. The two of you squint at your screen as you show him the playback of your animation. You were dreading watching it again, you thought it looked so scuffed and wrong, yet you couldn’t really pinpoint what was really itching at you. Cory tilted his head as the scene you had been working on all day repeated. “So? Is this what’s making you frustrated?”
“Yeah, pretty much. I just– can’t figure out what’s wrong with it, y’know?” You slump in your chair, your mood plummeting at having to watch your work again. Cory straightened himself out, resting his hand on the back of your chair again. “Well, I think it looks awesome. Your composition is always so good, I don’t know how you do it.” Cory praises you, to which you force a grin.
“I guess, but right now I’m not that good. Can you tell me what might be wrong with this?” You pause the animation.
Cory hums, taking the mouse from your hand and clicking through your frames. He points towards a few frames in a circular motion. “Maybe here? I think the way you have these guys positioned can maybe be fixed? I don’t know.” His hand drops from your screen, seeming to be disappointed in his own advice. You sat up, your eyes going wide. I think he’s right, you thought to yourself. You click through your frames again to confirm, and you’re happy to realize that what he pointed out was the issue. Your eyes light up and you turn to face Cory, your arms spread out.
“Dude, you totally just saved me. Thank you so much!” You beam up at him, holding both your hands up for a double high five. Cory looks at you bashfully, scratching his cheek.
“Oh– well I mean it was nothing, you’re…you’re welcome.” He held his own hands out to reciprocate your high fives. When your hands collided together, you locked your fingers with his own and shook them. You didn’t miss how Cory gave your hands a quick squeeze, and Cory didn’t miss how he felt his fingers tingle being interlocked with your own.
–
You shake yourself out of your memory, a genuine smile gracing your face as you recall the two of you shaking your interlocked hands together. The conversation at the sofa was still going strong, with the speaker being moved to the guy sitting in the love seat diagonal from you. You had no clue what he was talking about, being too caught up in your day dream. The little trip down memory lane had lifted your spirits, and you found yourself thinking about Cory again, you wondered where exactly he was. You hoped he was okay, you knew how he felt about being at parties, and you hoped he was hanging around with someone he was familiar with. What you hadn’t realized is that your person of interest was searching for you as well, and had been maneuvering his way through the living room to greet you.
You felt a hand on your shoulder, which made you jump slightly. The guy sitting next to you on the couch also was surprised at your sudden scare, with both you and the random looking behind you to see Cory. What a coincidence, it’s like whoever was out there heard your call for Cory and sent him straight your way. You smile at him warmly.
“Hey you, I was just wondering where you were.”
Cory glanced at the guy sitting next to you, when as soon as they made eye contact, it was immediately broken. Cory put his hands on the back of the sofa and leaned down. “I was looking for you too, Chris totally ditched me and I was standing by myself like a loser for a while,” he grimaced, eyes darting to the people sitting around you. The other people didn’t seem to notice Cory was there at all, which might have just been a blessing in disguise for the two of you. You twist on the cushion to face him fully, your hand meeting his on the back of the sofa.
“I take it you don’t want to look like a loser anymore?”
“Wow, it’s like you know me or something.”
You chuckle and turn around in your seat. You didn’t want Cory to feel pathetic at a party, especially since all of his buddies were there with him, there was no point to exclude him. You sit up, moving to sit on the arm rest next to you. Cory stares at you in anticipation as you pat the cushion you just sat at, an unspoken invitation for him to take your spot. He slowly circled around the couch and hesitantly sat in your spot, and you smiled at him.
“Better?”
“I guess.”
Cory leans back against the couch, his eyes still focused solely on you. Cute, you thought. You lean back with him, bringing your arm around his shoulder like you had so many times before. You tuck him into your shoulder, his hair brushing against your neck. He looked away from you entirely now, as if he was embarrassed by your forwardness. You bring the can of beer up to your lips and take another swig, the can still cold from your lack of actually drinking the damn thing. You felt thrilled, or maybe it was the alcohol talking, but you were being bold. You switch your beer can to the hand that was securely around Cory and pressed the cool aluminum can to his cheek. You felt Cory shiver slightly, before sighing. The room felt hotter than it did before.
“I do want to leave soon, maybe if I spot Chris or something I can wave him over and we ditch this place,” You tilted your head, speaking directly into Cory’s ear, and you felt him twitch.
“I…I’ll keep an eye out for him…”
“Sounds good...”
So the two of you sat together, pressed up against each other. If anyone hadn’t known any better, they would assume that the two of you were a couple. Maybe you wanted it that way, you hoped Cory did too. Cory had relaxed in your grasp, and at some point you handed him his own beer can from the stash you had left on the side of the sofa. You feel yourself mellowing out, in this moment being the most relaxed you had probably been all week, and that was all thanks to Cory. Unbeknownst to you, Cory was feeling similar. He too, felt a sense of relief and relaxation take over. He wished that you had him flush against your side sooner, and you couldn’t agree more.