The quick and simple knock on the door is enough to scare Corrie out of his trance. His ass visibly jumps off his bed. Corrie lets out a deep breath and frowns. He closes his "finding inner peace" book and sets it on his rounded nightstand. His bedroom isn't allowed to have sharp corners.

Corrie pushes himself off his bed and shuffles over to the door. He turns the doorknob and gasps.

"Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for," Devon mutters, scratching the side of his head. Corrie opens the door wider, allowing Devon into the room.

Walking towards his bed, Corrie stutters over his words, "fuck. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--I didn't expect you. I thought it would be my mom or something. But I guess I should've known better, my mom tends to just barge in. Fuck." Corrie sits down on the edge of his bed, fumbling with his bed covers. The material is flimsy and a disappointment to all other blankets.

After sitting on the seat in Corrie's room, Devon's eyes wander all over the room. His gaze falls on Corrie's latest read. He raises an eyebrow. "Inner peace?"

Corrie's cheeks grow pink. "Jennifer, uhm, my therapist, she suggested it. It's kind of mad bullshit, but I guess some of the concepts make sense."

Devon nods his head. "I guess that's good. You've never been one to read."

"Yeah," Corrie agrees. "Being in here gives me a fuckton of free time. Reading isn't the worst thing in the world." Corrie shrugs his shoulders. He can see there's something wrong with Devon. Corrie can see it his eyes.

"They don't have a gym or anything?" Devon gives Corrie a small and fake smile.

"There is one. There's a whole process," Corrie shakes his head. "Ever since my relapse the doctors have tightened my restrictions. They have to decide on the amount hours I can work out, schedule a nurse to watch me, take in consideration that--" Corrie cuts himself off.

"Wow." Devon frowns a bit. "Exercise is good for your physical health and mental, isn't it?"

Corrie sticks out his bottom lip. "I mean, what's the point? It's not like I'm ever going to play sports when I get out of here."

"You don't know that."

"What's wrong?" Corrie asks suddenly. Devon shakes his head and Corrie holds up his hand. "Don't fucking tell me nothing's wrong."

Devon opens his mouth and then closes it. What is he supposed to say? Is he supposed to tell Corrie about all the goddamn shit going on? "I--I can't."

"What the hell?" Taking a deep breath, Corrie prays that he can calm down by counting to ten. Him and his anger management class have been working on taking ten. He has too many problems. The only upside to being here is that he isn't the most fucked up person.

He doesn't want to get angry. He doesn't want to be the same person he was, getting angry at the smallest things. He wants to be normal.

"There's so much going on that you don't know Corrie." Devon frowns. He seems to being that too much lately.

Life without Corrie was terrible. It was bare, void, cold, and insanely lonely. But despite it all, it wasn't stressful. Devon found himself in the eye of this hurricane that is Corrie. It was so peaceful; it was so easy; it was simple.

Can anyone blame Devon for wanting his relationship to be less than chaotic all the time? Everything else around him is falling. The team is losing all their games because their star player is gone; his parents keep fighting about everything; his band teacher is begging for him to do some kind of solo for contest; Bradley is still fucking gone and nobody's got any clue what happened to him. Nothing is going right. Why can't anything go right?

"Tell me. You've got to tell me," Corrie begs. Tears well up in his eyes. Why is he so goddamn emotional? "Please tell me."

"You know I can't," Devon sighs. "I just can't goddamn do it. Not because I don't want to confide in you, but because you can't hear it." Maybe he shouldn't have come here. Maybe it would've been better if he stayed at home and let this continue to drag on.

But there's this huge part of Devon that doesn't want this anymore. He doesn't want the 24/7 feeling of guilt because he's keeping so much from Corrie, and because maybe he wants to leave this all behind.

"Please." Corrie sounds so pitiful, so broken. They're both so broken.

Devon looks at Corrie and immediately he knows that leaving isn't what he wants to do. But is it what he needs?

"How am I supposed to tell you all of this shit while you're in here, Corrie? There's too much goddamn fucked up shit going on. But while you're in here, I feel like I can't tell you." Devon looks down at the floor, and runs his hands through his hair.

"What's the point of coming around if we can't talk?" His voice cracks, and undoubtedly Devon knows Corrie's crying.

Without looking up, Devon whispers, "I don't want to break up. I want to visit. I want to talk about all the good stuff. I don't want the dark stuff."

"You have to take the good with the bad, Devon. I told you that you only wanted the good and fun me. You don't want the parts of me that love drugs and alcohol. You don't want the me that has depression." Corrie chuckles, it comes low in his throat. "But, I mean, who the fuck would?"

"Is that so wrong?" Devon asks with a frown. "Fuck. Hell yes it is." Silently, Devon curse at himself. "This is so fucked up."

"Everything is so fucked up." Corrie wipes a tear off his cheek and stares up at the ceiling as Devon stars at the floor. The silence that falls over them is suffocating.

Suddenly, Devon hears heavy footsteps coming towards him. He watches Corrie's blue socked feet walk timidly towards him. He feels Corrie's arms wrap around him.

Devon stands up, throwing his arms around Corrie's shoulders. Corrie wraps his arms around Devon's midriff so tightly it almost knocks the breath out of him. Devon lies his head on Corrie's shoulder, and Corrie nuzzles into Devon's neck.

They stand there for what feels like hours. Everything melts away. For a moment, they forget that they're in a rehab center. For a moment, they both feel like they're standing in the eye of the hurricane. It's peaceful and calming.

But eventually, they remember that despite the peace they find in the eye of the hurricane, the hurricane is still destroying everything in it's path.

They pull apart, and it's an odd feeling. It's like when they were kids and threw a birthday party. Everything was so full of life, and you could barely pee without having someone there. But when the party is over, and everyone is gone, and you just feel kind of empty because you can breathe by yourself.

Just because you can breathe by yourself doesn't mean you want to.

That's what this is. They both know how to live without each other. They know they can live by themselves, but it's kind of empty. It's hollow.

They make eye contact, and as if they can read each others minds, they attempt to smile.

Maybe they don't have to breakup, but maybe they can't be together.

__________

☒ - unedited

So, does Cevon need to break up? Is it toxic? If so, why are they still together? Is it love? Or is it the illusion of love?

Please tell me if you see any mistakes, I'm the queen of typos.

Read, vote, comment, and please share!

Next update: next week?

Teaser: Corrie and Jennifer have a session, afterwards, Corrie learns startling information about Ophelia!

Quick notes:
[ 1 ] predictions, thoughts?
[ 2 ] PM me if ya wannaaaa
[ 3 ] twenty votes & ten comments?
[ 4 ] i love you and i'll see you soon. ❤️️