multifandom oneshots/preferences

xxiii. far away--joey jordison (slipknot) part ii

a/n: sorry about the possibly confusing povs in the last chapter! I'll edit it soon, i just want to finish the series and get it all published before i go back to clean it up :)

Joey warms up to you more after that night. The next day, you drive to school in decently good moods. You even talk a bit on the way there. 

As soon as you and Joey meet up with the band, Corey notices a change in his friend. Something was off. You now stand between Corey and Joey, instead of Corey separating the host from the exchange student. 

Sid is just pretty sure you slept with him and leaves it at that. Mick, his girlfriend Stacy, and Shawn all secretly think the same. Corey and his girl Alicia consider it as a possibility. 

No, all you did was actually get to know Joey last night. You listened to music with him and told him about Czechoslovakia in exchange for stories about Des Moines and how Slipknot came to be. It was quite pleasant to your surprise; Joey is lovely and genuine as a person. Unbeknownst to you, he feels the same towards you. 

And thus the seeds of a friendship are sown.

Over the next month and a half, you accompany Slipknot on outings, band practices, and anytime the group hangs out. Stacy and Alicia adore you, Corey and Sid bring out the Czech crackhead in you, Paul is always sweet, and Joey is your absolute best friend. Yeah, best...friend. You're not too sure how you feel towards Joey, but you know you've never felt like this toward a friend before. 

Joey also considers himself your best friend, until one band practice where he pulls into Corey's driveway to see you dancing with Alicia and Brenna, Paul's girlfriend, a giant smile on your face as you laugh and sing a Molchat Doma song. 

Oh, shit. He can't look away from you. He cannot look enough at you. It's like you're moving in slow motion as you spin Alicia around and let her fall back into you, dramatically kicking her foot out. Just, you. In a moment of letting yourself go in the safety of fellow weirdos, Joey has the luxury of witnessing you dance and sing in a nasty ass garage in Des Moines. 

He dreamily retrieves the takeout in the passenger seat and stalks up to the group in the garage. 

Could he tell you anything about the rest of that night? No. Only that every time your gaze met his, he wanted to be the one dancing with you. 

"He's got it bad, man," Corey smiles at Alicia as Joey pulls out of the drive with you. 

"Oh yeah," Alicia nods. 

"What about them, do they like him back?"

"Couldn't tell ya," the girl shrugs. 

...

"Hey, Y/n, someone on the phone with a Russian accent was asking for you," one of Joey's little sisters informs you as you walk in the house. 

"Hm?" you hum until it clicks in your head who it was. "Holy shit, thank you!" you smile and grip the girl's shoulders before pacing into the living room to call your family back. 

You're in tears by the time the call hits the 10 minute mark. You haven't heard your parents' and grandmother's voices in an entire month and a half, so hearing them now is overwhelming. Everything about the experience is so surreal. Your physical body is in a living room in Des Moines, but your mind and your soul are now petting your beloved cat in Prague. 

Your family asks about the stay, how school is going, and if you've made any friends. 

"Ah, well, I have made some friends," you chuckle in Czech. "Most of them are in a band together. They play metal music, it's actually quite good."