multifandom oneshots/preferences

xxiv. the middle--alicia taylor (slipknot)

requested! huge thanks to @MrBallensGrandma for the idea of an alicia one shot<3

Finally, it's shooting day, when you and a few other people are going to be extras in a Slipknot music video. 

Finally, you get to see Alicia again. 

You've worked with Slipknot before both as an actor and as a member of the set crew, so you're no stranger to the whole Slipknot package, including the members' partners. You and Alicia clicked a year ago when you first met, and you've stayed in touch with her since then.

...and maybe you've got a little crush on her. 

Yeah, yeah. You know about Corey and all that.  Who doesn't? And hell, the age gap does seem a bit off-putting. I mean, you're in your mid 20s and Alicia is nearing her 40s. 

She sure as hell doesn't look it, though, you think as Alicia walks on set with Corey. She notices you and her face lights up with a smile as she runs over to hug you. 

"Y/n! It's so good to see you, how have you been? Oh my god, I've missed you."

Your heart beats a bit faster at her smile. "Uh, I'm alright, work has really been hectic lately," you run a hand through your hair. "How are you?"

Alicia moves toward a coffee maker on a counter on the side of the set, pulling you towards her. She tosses a nervous look over her shoulder in Corey's direction, but he's distracted by his bandmates. 

"Is something wrong?" you place a hand on Alicia's arm. 

The woman says nothing as she fills a cup with coffee, trying to hide a subtle tremble in her hands. 

Your eyebrows lower. "Did he hurt you?"

"What? No, no. We're just in a fight. It just kind of sucks right now." 

"Ah, I'm sorry about that," you give Alicia's arm a gentle squeeze. "Do I need to beat him up?"

"What?" Alicia snaps her head up to look at you. "No, uh...maybe. I'll see how I feel."

"If you say so," you shrug and let go of her arm as you begin to walk over to a prop counter with Alicia in tow. 

"So what are you doing in this one?" Alicia hums, excitedly touching and inspecting all the props.

"Getting stabbed!" you smile back, holding a prop knife in your hand. 

"Ooooooh! I want to get stabbed in a music video," Alicia whines. 

"Next time," you smirk and pat her head. 

...

You definitely clicked over the past year, but now it seems different, and not just on your end. A small bit of hope rises in your chest on the drive back to your apartment at the thought that perhaps Alicia and Corey's time together has waned. Slipknot loves working with you, so you're bound to be working on another music video within the next year or so. That could give enough time for a breakup and enough recovery time for you not to be a rebound. That is, if Alicia is even queer. You always had a feeling she was, but it's not like you can ask her without the natural implication of you being into her.

Let's be totally clear here, you absolutely are. 

But you're not going to put Corey through knowing an actor for his music videos is in love with his girlfriend. He deserves better than that. 

It's definitely not weird to spend an entire evening making mental fanfictions of professing your love for Alicia, right? Surely that's a normal person thing to do. 

... {time skip brought to you by snuff played over kahoot music}

Of all the ways you pictured counseling Alicia through her heartbreak, driving her around rural Iowa in the middle of the night somehow didn't make it to the top 10. 

Top 30 or 40 maybe, but you've left that list untouched for about 8 or so months since you last did the music video for Slipknot. 

Alicia squirms a bit as she looks out the window at the endless rows of corn. She quietly sniffles and lets out a shaky breath, so you instinctively reach out and rest your hand on her wrist on the console in between you two. 

"Still hurts, doesn't it?" you ask, looking over at your companion. 

"It has for three months, why won't it go the hell away?" Alicia clenches a fist under your hand. 

"You had a deep connection with him, Alicia. You still need time to process it, and shit like this isn't easy. I know you used to do these drives with Corey a lot and I'm sure this is bringing up a lot of memories for you," you reply with a soft tone. 

"God, but why could he not have just fixed his shit up?" 

You turn your focus completely back on the road, knowing if you said something, you'd hurt Alicia even more. 

"Asshole should have just been like this in the beginning so this could all be avoided," she continues. "Argh, shit, this hurts."

You move your hand to adjust the volume on the radio as you hear a familiar intro play. 

Alicia continues to vent to you until she hears you singing along to "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World, coincidentally the first song you and Alicia discovered a common love for. 

"It just takes some time, little girl, you're in the middle of the ride," you sing and give Alicia an encouraging smile. "Everything, everything'll be just fine, everything, everything'll be alright!"

Alicia musters up a smile of her own. Among all the painful nostalgia on this drive, she's able to access good memories with you as you blare the song and floor it along a more bumpy stretch of road. Good for the car? Hell no. But it does wonders for mental health, and Alicia begins to calm down. She hums along to the music with you and taps her foot. 

You slow the car down at the last verse so you can lean over and reach under Alicia's chin to sing to her. 

"Hey, don't write yourself off yet, it's only in your head you feel left out," you give Alicia a sympathetic smile. "Or looked down on."

"Just do your best, do everything you can!"

"And don't you worry what their bitter hearts, are gonna say," you press a gentle kiss to Alicia's forehead before you release your hand from under your chin and belt the chorus. 

Alicia is simply left bewildered, flustered in fact. She swallows and tries to slow her heartbeat down, but it's hard to when she is in the presence of your unfettered soul at night, unyielded by the need to be "presentable" or abide by standards. 

Suddenly the drive doesn't hurt so much anymore. 

Suddenly...you mimicking the sounds of a guitar riff and singing a one hit wonder burn themselves into Alicia's heart. 

When you drop Alicia off at her place at around 5, she is very certain that she has moved on from Corey. 

...

thanks for requesting an alicia taylor oneshot, and thank you so much for reading! we got this book to 1.3k reads and thats just EAAAAHHHHH exciting!