POST-GAME CHAT (5)

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CORPSE / PRESENT: MARCH 2021


Corpse spun in his chair, rocking back and forth, his eyes closed, listening to his friends bicker. They had dispersed now, some going off to play Valorant while others had videos to make or things to film for. Corpse was doing nothing with the rest of his day, too emotionally exhausted to imagine working on any of the projects he needed to complete.

Luckily, Rae had stayed on the call with them, ending her livestream, leaving Rae, Corpse, Eden, Karl, and Tina to talk in Discord.

Corpse honestly hadn't done much talking.

He was trying not to get too caught up in the friendship part of this. They had tried that; it didn't work.

Knowing about her life wasn't exactly something he wanted to dive into.

"Rachel," Corpse groaned out.

"What, Corpse?" Rae said with a tone.

"Woah, why are you being hostile?" Corpse asked, playfully, his interest now peaked.

"I'm not!" Rae defended.

"You are, Rachel," Corpse teased.

"You know, you're lucky you're hours away, Corpse," Rae playfully threatened.

Corpse laughed. "As if you could do anything. You're small."

"I don't know how tall you are, but Im sure I could beat you up," Rae admitted, her tone more serious than he was expecting.

"I think you could beat him up," Tina encouraged.

"One day, Rachel, one day," Corpse teased.

Rae ignored him, going back to her previous conversation with the rest of the group, mostly talking about the new project she was excited to be working on. Corpse was proud of her, but couldn't help but wonder when Rae would be too big of an influencer to stream as frequently as she did now.

She hadn't promised that she would be re-signing her Youtube contract. Maybe by the end of the year, she wouldn't have to. She would be doing much more than Youtube.

Selfishly, he tried not to think about it. Rae was one of the best things that had come out of his hellish year. He wasn't ready to lose her yet.

When he checked back into the conversation, Eden was talking again, about coming to visit when she got her vaccine, and staying with Rae in Los Angeles. She was talking about meeting up with them, going out to dinner.

Corpse tried to convince himself that he would be okay with it.

But how okay would he be?

He tried to remember, his brain unable to process exactly how long it had been.

Eden had left last September. They had broken up in March. He had blown up in August. Or was it September? When was the last time they spoke without arguing? When did Eden move out of their room?

Time was a construct he couldn't figure out. Days had begun to blend together. When he only slept once every 36 hours, that could happen.

He sighed heavily, not realizing he was unmuted.

"You good, Corpse?" Tina asked, her voice sweet and quiet.

Off-stream Tina was no different, but a little less loud.

"Yeah, sorry," he spoke, his voice much deeper than he had remembered. He cleared his throat, once, twice, before coughing loudly. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized again, taking a swig of water from his nearly empty bottle.

"How are you?" Rae asked hesitantly, and Corpse could tell she was asking more about his health than his mental state. She wouldn't have done that with everyone in the call. She knew him better than that.

"Fine, fine," Corpse downplayed, muting himself quickly before hacking painfully. He shouldn't have eaten pasta. His mistake. His fault.

The carbs settled uncomfortably in his throat and chest, his body rejecting anything that wasn't natural.

"How was your first injection, Corpse? That was last week, right?" Karl asked casually.

And Corpse wanted to respond, but he couldn't help but keep his mouth shut. He didn't want Eden to know he was doing worse. He didn't want her to think of him as weak.

After a breakup, he was supposed to prove he was better off, not breakdown with his friends about how shitty his health had become.

"Not now, Karl," Rae said quietly, sensing that Corpse would be uncomfortable with responding.

"Sorry," Karl muttered, steering the conversation onto something else for everyone's sake.

Corpse sighed, trying to calm his aching heart.

NOTE!!
next chapter will be from the past and explains their breakup and stuff so be ready wooooooo

ROSÉ   -corpse husband- Where stories live. Discover now