"YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Korinna Embry exclaims, chasing Casey Becker around her living room, Casey tripping on the carpet.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Casey pleads, now being toppled by Korinna as she began her tickle-fest.

"I. Am. Not. Watching. Halloween. For. The. Thousandth. Time, Case." Korinna enunciates her words with each tickle, all while rolling her eyes and alternating between tickle assault and soft punches.

"It's just until Steve gets here, then you're free to go, remember?" Casey reasons, causing Korinna to raise an eyebrow and get up off the girl. Kory dusted her hands off on her lap, catching her breath.

"Still, there are plenty of other movies to choose from. Nightmare, Carrie, IT, Friday, Pet Sematary, Cujo, TCM-" Kory doesn't even notice she's lost in thought until her words die down while she walks into the kitchen, dragging her finger along the counter. Casey followed her, rummaging through the Becker's junk drawer until she found what she was looking for; a pan of Jiffy Pop popcorn, placing it on the counter next to her.

"Okay, okay. I get your point, Kor. But Halloween is my favorite!" Casey whines, pretending to stomp her feet on the ground like a 3 year old spoiled toddler, causing Kory to stifle a chuckle.

Now sitting on the kitchen island, Kory plays along with Casey's attempt. "And Nightmare on Elm Street is mine." She taunts, picking up the house phone that was laid next to her on the island counter, tossing it back and forth between her hands, scoping out the scenery of the house. She notices all of the doors unlocked.

"Why are the doors unlocked, Case? Didn't Kieri say he wasn't going to be back until 11?" Korinna questions, Casey immediately rolling her eyes at the mention of her older brother.

"Ew, please do not go all "googley eyes" for my brother while I'm right here." Casey pretends to gag, making Korinna raise her eyebrow in suspicion. Casey sighs.

"Okay, so this was obviously before you and Stu...um..." She makes an awkward gesture with her hands, helping Korinna understand she didn't want to necessarily relive this part of their relationship.

"Kiernan was always on my ass about the whole thing, and you know he's always so protective over you, I mean, he walks us to school every morning and he walks you home every night...that, plus the constant bickering like a married couple, I assumed you guys would've became a thing." Casey finally finishes her rant and Kory just glared for a second. Before she laughs. Hard.

After a few moments of Korinna laughing in silence, she takes a deep breath. "Oh my god, you're serious?" Kory realizes, and at this revelation she laughs even harder. Casey shoves her in the shoulder and walks back towards the kitchen counter, anger resident on her face.

"Okay, no, Casey, I'm sorry. I promise I'm not laughing at your brother. Don't get me wrong, he's cute and he's a nice guy, but he's your brother. He's my friend, and I have a boyfriend, who I love." Korinna quickly stated her reasoning, hoping to calm an angry Casey down. She was a little confused as to why Casey brought this topic up if she was so bothered by it.

"You love Stu?" Casey questions, emphasizing the word love in a way that has Korinna rolling her eyes. She can feel her cheeks hearing up, but she doesn't blush. She refused. The sound of the phone ringing interrupts their conversation, Korinna picking up the ringing phone and placing it to her ear.

"Yes, I love him." Korinna whispers while making a gesture with her eyebrows, one that has Casey heading back into the kitchen to now open the pack of Jiffy Pop to put on the stove.

"Hello?" Korinna answered the call, enduring a few moments of silence without hearing a response back. She could hear rustling and background noise, someone was there, yet there was no reply.

"Hello?" She asks once again, becoming more and more impatient as she heard audible whispering on the other line. It was faint, barely eligible, and there was no possible way she could figure out who was on the other line based on their voice.

"I'm hanging up the phone now, creep." Korinna audibly scoffs, pulling the phone away from her ear and at the sound of it, the person on the other line finally yells out a "Wait!", causing her to bring the phone back to the side of her head.

"Stu? What the fuck?" Kory exclaims, Stu laughing on the other line as Casey re-enters the living room, asking who was on the phone. Kory covered the speaker with her hand, and whispered "The Boyfriend" before returning back to the conversation at hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but oh man if only you could've seen the panicked look- I mean heard the panic in your voice." Stu continues laughing, Korinna rolling her eyes and letting out a sarcastic chuckle.

"Haha, you're so funny, Stu. Glad to know that prank calling my best friend's house makes you feel good."

"This wasn't a prank call, I wanted to know when you were coming over."

"I told you, once Steve gets here and Case kicks me out." Korinna explains, Casey now holding up the Halloween VHS tape, waving it around as Korinna tried to gesture for her to put it back.

"But I miss you." Stu whines like a puppy dog, Kory not even having to see him to know that he is for sure pouting, jutting his bottom lip out while it quivers.

"Don't be a baby, I just saw you this morning at school. And after school, when we went to tutoring, and when I drove you home...and you're getting ready to see me again soon." She tries to reason, Stu, for some odd reason, continuing to persist on the fact that he needed to see her. Now.

"I'm not leaving until Steve or Kiernan gets here, and that's final." Korinna states firmly, interrupting Stu's whines and protests, until Casey finally decided to cut in.

"It's okay, Kor. I know you really wanna see him, too." Casey empathizes, Kory doesn't even pretend to entertain the idea at first.

"No, I'm not leaving you here home alone. I said I was gonna stay until Steve got here so you could watch your movie together-"

"Oh, nonsense. My brother's on his way back from his game as we speak, and Steve should be here any minute. My parents will be back soon, there is no reason for you to be here when they're practically walking through the front door." Casey interrupts Korinna's sentence, providing her with every possible reason and answering every possible excuse she could've found to stay in a matter of seconds.

"I mean it, Kory. Go be with Stu. As your best friend who screwed things up, I owe you this much. Be with him so you can tell him that you love him." Casey wiggles her fingers like a small child, going "oooooo" after saying the word love. Korinna shushes her quickly, before finally breaking out into a small smile.

"Okay, okay, I'll be there in 20 minutes. You should order a pizza, I'm starving."

"Alright, I'll see you soon, Kory."

"See you soon, Stu." Korinna hangs up the phone and grabs her bag off Casey's floor. She checks the time on the Becker's clock. 10:15.

"Alright, Case. You won, I'm gonna head out now. Make sure to lock these damn doors behind me, I don't know who just sits in their house comfortably knowing their doors are unlocked." Korinna rants as she fishes for her car keys, stopping outside on the Becker patio to give Casey a hug.

"I love you, Kor. I'll see you tomorrow. You have to tell me all about what happens when you tell Stu you love him."

"Case, if you don't stop saying "love" like a 5 year old I swear to god-" Kory is cut off by Casey hugging her tightly, loudly saying goodbye. She laughs before getting into her car, pulling out of the Becker driveway, and driving off, excited to tell her best friend the next day all about the night she was going to have...

Little did she know, her best friend wasn't going to make it to school Thursday morning...

a/n!
there's chapter 1! i was unsure on what i wanted to do, since the opening scene in scream is so iconic and timeless, but i still wanted to showcase what casey and kory's friendship was like even after everything they've been through.

so I decided to have Kory come over to Casey's house and have her leave just when things started going south for Casey. it's gonna make her survivors guilt even worse, trust me, but that's the best part about writing fics like these! letting my characters overcome their fears and traumas and becoming downright badassess.

also Kiernan and Kory? Haven't even had them interact yet but I promise you next chapter they're gonna be so soft and warm your heart. Stu and Kory on the other hand? They're gonna be a complex duo for sure.

the next chapter will be all about Kory's reaction to the sudden death of her best friend, so stay tuned for the heart break!

Love you guys, and I hope you keep reading <33