Disclaimer: I do not own Grojband or any of its characters. I also do not own any of the songs used in this story.

Chapter 11: Somewhere I Belong

Laney stepped out of the garage and onto the street outside. She looked around the city around her. What was once a vast city of oddly shaped buildings was now laying in ruins. The only building still standing was what was once the tallest, the building with the large 'LYRICS' sign at the top.

She moved slowly to the building, careful not to step in any rubble. She reached the building and cautiously opened the door. Even though this was the only building still standing it seemed as though it could collapse at any minute.

Stepping inside, she found herself in a place that wasn't the inside of a building. When she was here before, it was a beautiful sunny meadow. Now all of the grass had withered and died, the sun setting on the horizon giving this place a bleak and empty feeling. She noticed that the beavers were gone too, the ones that crafted together Corey's lyrics out of whatever inspiration they could find.

She searched through the field, but it wasn't hard to find him.

She saw a cage in the middle of the field. Standing outside that cage was Corey. And standing inside that cage was Corey.

The two were simply staring at each other. It was impossible to tell what might be going on inside their heads right now. When Laney reached them the Corey outside the cage simply said, "You're free to go"

Suddenly the cage was gone and the entrapped Corey was released.

"Core!" Laney ran to the original Corey and hugged him, nearly knocking him over.

"Lanes..." Corey slowly returned her hug, "I... was starting to think I'd never see you again"

Tears ran down both their faces as they embraced, the second Corey simply watching them with a blank expression. So this is as far as I could get... I want to say that I was close, that I almost did it. But I didn't.

He continued to watch them as he thought, So now I'll be locked away again. I'll be forgotten again. I can't stay because she didn't choose me... but... but...

He held his head as pain started to shoot through it. It felt like he was being torn in half. Like a part of himself was being taken away.

"Lanes, I'm so happy to see you" the Corey she held cried. In this time of relief, he thought she had never seemed so beautiful...

"I know, Core. I know" she rubbed his back, trying to sooth him.

He looked at her and he did it. He didn't entirely know why he did it, but he did.

He kissed her.

Maybe it was the comfort she brought him. Maybe was the relief of her freeing him. Maybe he was scared that she'd disappear and none of this was real. Maybe he just always wanted to do it.

Laney froze. She had never expected that this would happen. But slowly her shock melted away and she kissed back. After what felt like an eternity, they broke away. She didn't know what to say next "Core..."

They were interrupted by the sound of a cough. They looked and saw that the other Corey was still there, looking at them coldly. "I'd hate to interrupt, but we should really rap this up"

The two stepped away from each other, their faces red from embarrassment. Laney looked to the other Corey and asked him, "What's going to happen to you now? Even if you get locked away again, I still want to help you"

"Ooooh, about that" he said slyly, "I changed my mind"

Laney wasn't sure she heard him right, "You... what?"

"I changed my mind," he repeated, "I think instead I'm gonna go back to the whole 'become a rock god plan'. Really, I don't know why I agreed to this"

"But you said-"

"I say a lot of things. So what's going to happen now is I'm going back outside and continue my plan. Of course if I leave this place before you, then your mind will be trapped here. With you out of the way, there's no way that Kin and Kon could stop me" he spoke coldly.

"But why would you do that!?" the original Corey asked, "How could you do something do something like that to Lanes? Didn't you say that you love her?"

He laughed, "No"

Suddenly Laney remembered what the other Corey had told her at the park. If Corey accepts his repressed emotions then his repressed self will disappear. So if Corey accepted his affection for her, then his repressed self would lose any feelings he had for her.

"So... later" Corey suddenly left the building.

"Core! We have to go after him!"

They chased after the other Corey and just as they stepped out, the Lyrics building finally began to collapse. Corey urged her, "We have to hurry"

They ran down the ruined streets and found him standing in front of the garage, the way out. The problem was that he seemed to be having trouble opening the door.

He cast them a look and then went back to trying to open the door, "I'm getting out of here no matter how hard you try to stop me. It's just a matter of time until I open the door"

They tried to reach him but an invisible wall surrounded the repressed Corey and the garage.

"What do we do now?" the original Corey asked.

Laney thought hard about what to do. Then she remembered why the repressed Corey when back on his word. Corey accepted a part of himself so the repressed Corey lost that part. So what if he accepted more?

Corey has to accept himself. ALL of himself.

"Core! You have to accept him" she explained to him.

"What are you talking about?"

"You have to accept that he is a part of you. The anger, the sorrow, everything. If you accept it all then we can stop him"

He looked shaken. "I... I can't"

"You have to" she pleaded, "He is a part of you. And that part doesn't make up everything that you are"

Corey shook his head, "I'm... I'm scared"

The other Corey flinched. He stopped trying to open the door and looked at them, "What are you doing?"

"What are you scared of?" Laney asked.

Corey took a deep breath, "I'm scared... that if you know... that if anyone know that these feelings are inside me... then you'll hate me. Everyone will leave, and I'll be left alone"

The repressed Corey struck the invisible wall, "Stop! Stop it now!"

"Core... I could never hate you. Neither could Kin and Kon. We're your friends. No matter when you're feeling we will help you through it"

Corey hesitated, "You... Do you promise?"

"You can't do this!" his other self shouted, fear starting to creep into his voice, "Not after everything, not after all the pain you made me go through!"

"I promise" she held his hand.

Corey responded by kissing her again.

"Lanes... I love you"

Laney smiled through her tears, "I love you too, Core"

Corey's other self fell to his knees, "Why..."

"Why, why, why, why, WHY!?" he screamed.

"Why do you get to live? Why do you get to be happy while I disappear!?" he cried.

His body started to glow, line shinning off of him as his body started to vanish, "I just wanted to be happy... I just wanted to live!"

He thought of the Newmans. He thought of Carrie. "I just... wanted a place where I was accepted"

(When this began)
I had nothing to say
And I get lost in the nothingness inside of me
(I was confused)
And I let it all out to find
That I'm not the only person with these things in mind
(Inside of me)
But all that they can see the words revealed
Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel
(Nothing to lose)
Just stuck, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own

I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real
I wanna let go of the pain I've felt so long
(Erase all the pain till it's gone)
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm close to something real
I wanna find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong

And I've got nothing to say
I can't believe I didn't fall right down on my face
(I was confused)
Looking everywhere only to find
That it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind
(So what am I)
What do I have but negativity
'Cause I can't justify the way, everyone is looking at me
(Nothing to lose)
Nothing to gain, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own

I will never know myself until I do this on my own
And I will never feel anything else, until my wounds are healed
I will never be anything till I break away from me
I will break away, I'll find myself today

I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm somewhere I belong
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm somewhere I belong
Somewhere I belong

The last light shone from his body and flickered out.

He was gone.

A/N: There you have it. He basically died. He didn't merge with the real Corey, he didn't get a separate body, he doesn't coexist with the real Corey, he's just gone forever. I've been trying hard to get you to feel like is a also a victim here. He did all of these things only because he saw it as his only option. When it came down to it, his only options were to either disappear or to live in loneliness. I was going for a really bittersweet ending.

Unfortunately I've run out of time to write the epilogue. Sorry about that. I won't have another chance for at least another two or so months so I'll try to spare a couple hours to finish it then.

I've got two more hours living in this house that I've lived in my whole life. But I'm really excited to join the Air Force. Thank you everyone who has supported me and this story. I had no idea that it would be as popular as it did and I'm really sorry for the rushed ending. And I'd like to give a special thank you to Chris Nest for inspiring this story.