Special

By Effervescent Shine

Disclaimer: Um…I own a copy of Empire Records…does that count? No? Okay, then – they're not mine. Don't sue.

A/N: I'm not really sure what to say about this fic…when I thought about writing something Empire Records-y before, this is definitely not what I had in mind. But hey, what can you do? So anyway, I wrote this, and it's mushy and sweet and I'm not sure where it came from. Enjoy.

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She pulls away first; she always pulls away first. Drawing back, pushing disarrayed hair back into place, straightening her shirt and skirt. She looks a little bit regretful, like she always does, but she'll do it anyway. At his small sound of disapproval, she whispers, "I'm not ready for this, AJ," as she pushes herself out of his arms, off his couch and goes over to the stereo. She uses the badly tuned radio as an excuse not to look at him, until she feels him step up behind her, and has to turn around. His arms automatically wrap themselves around her hips as he brushes his lips against her neck. She stays quiet until he pushes her gently up against the shelf and his hands move slightly lower, insistently playing with the waistband of her skirt. Her body tenses and she breaks away once again, looking at him reproachfully.

"What's wrong Cor?" he asks breathlessly. Untangling herself from him fully, she sighs. "You know what's wrong. I don't want to do this right now. And you're pushing." She glares to emphasize her words. He reaches for her again, fingers tugging on the hem of her shirt. "I'm not pushing, I just want you…"

But she hits his hand away. "Well, I'm not ready! Why aren't you listening to me?"

He is glaring now too, suddenly frustrated. "Oh, so you were perfectly ready to throw yourself at Rex Manning, but when it comes to me, you suddenly decide to be virtuous? I don't understand you, Corey!"

The look in her eyes is poisonous as she pushes past him to get to the door of the small apartment, saying as she goes, "I want my first time…our first time, to be special. If you can't deal with that then maybe you just can't deal with me."

He catches up to her as she opens the door, the tone in his voice quiet but serious. "Look Corey, I want our first time to be special too. But I thought…" he sighs and runs his hands through his hair. "You know, I don't care if it's now or later or here or in a really uncomfortable place like the back of a Volkswagen. That part doesn't really matter. It was going to be special no matter what, because it was with you." She is quiet, not knowing what to say. At her silence, he offers her a sad smile and shuts the door, leaving her alone in the hallway with her thoughts.

They don't really speak for the next few days, except for cool exchanges at work, because she doesn't know what to say and he has nothing left he wants to say.

Then, out of the blue on a Tuesday afternoon she comes up to him, nervously playing with a piece of her hair. "AJ…I need to talk to you. Could you come over to my place after work?"

He tells her he'll be there and spends the rest of the day distractedly wondering what she wants to talk about, much to the dismay of the customers he's trying to serve.

By the time he shows up at her door, he's expecting a break up, and reluctantly knocks. She calls to him to come in, it's open, so he does. She's waiting for him, standing by her couch. There are a couple candles lit, making the air smell like raspberries, and Portishead is playing. She looks uncertain. "Um…come here," she says, and grins as he hesitates. "No, really, come here, I have something for you." He closes the door behind him and walks over to stand in front of her, the fact that she's smiling making him more relaxed.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out, then pulls her sweater over her head and hands it to him. He stands there shocked, blinking, until she breaks the silence by giggling and saying "well, you know…" self-consciously. He laughs and throws his arms around her in a tight hug. "So this is what you do when you throw yourself at someone?"

She considers this for a moment. "Yes," she answers seriously. He laughs again. "Rex is an idiot then," he says, kissing her softly.

She kisses him back and grabs on to his hands to pull him with her towards the bedroom.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asks quietly. She doesn't say anything, just nods her head, letting her eyes express her trust. Because she knows he is right – they are together, so it will be special.

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Hey, didja catch the Mallrats reference? If you did, then…well, I guess you have really good taste in movies. (Go you!) Review, por favor.