Chapter Text
"Say 'ahhh'!" Sal Fisher asked as he held out a chip toward me, I questioned his motives as I opened my mouth, he plopped the chip into my mouth and stared at me. I crunched on the chip and looked at the blue haired boy quizzically,
"What was that for?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, he simply shrugged as he stared helplessly at the chip packet that he held in his cupped, pale hands.
"You're hopeless at carrying out simple tasks, Y/N. I saw you try to eat a chip and miss your mouth." Sal mumbled, I made a fake shocked face as I put my hand across my heart and fake gasped,
"How could you Sal Fisher! You're so nasty! Watching me eat too? Where's your manners!" I said over-dramatically, Sal simply chuckled and shook his head,
"You're a dork, Y/N L/N." Sal said,
"Uno reverse card, loser" I said as I stuck out my tongue, eat that fucker.
Sal Fisher and I have been best friends for about 3 years now and we have been through pretty much everything. From cult leaders to bologna made out of disgusting ingredients, we both (somehow) made it out alive and uncovered the dirty secrets of the residents of Addison Apartments and what it stands on top of and hides.
Now, in present time, we're sat in one of Sally Faces best friends called Larry Johnson's treehouse who gave us permission to use it today. We're just hanging out and talking shit while eating junk food. It's one of the only normal things that we've done since we met. In fact, I took Sal for being high when he first introduced me to the idea of hanging out normally.
I grabbed a bag of gummy bears and opened them, I tore the bag from opening them as violently as I did so some gummy bears fell on the wooden floor of the treehouse we were in. "Fuck" I swore under my breath as I stared down the fallen soldiers who's gummy eyes stared back at me, seeking what I assumed was vengeance, however it didn't seem as intimidating seen as they're motionless gummy bears that probably cant hurt me or my cru- nevermind, everything that i thought could never happen has happened thus far into Sal and I's friendship, so who am I to guess that nothing abnormal wont happen tonight? The transparent multi coloured gummy bears seemed emotionless, which seemed normal to me by now considering being help with everything Sally Face's group has gone through. Sal stared at the miniature lolly bears that were on the floor in confusion,
"Y/N?" he asked suddenly, I looked at him and watched as he picked up a gummy bear from the floor and stared at it. he held the gummy bear tentatively with his index finger and his thumb as he squished the thing a couple times in confusion, trying to work out what the hell he was holding just now,
"What is this?" He asked, speaking words I never thought i'd hear come out of his mouth.
"You uncultured swine- how the hell do you not know what gummy bears are?! they're the single best candy in the world Sally Face" I exclaimed, Sal tilted his head and sighed,
"Y/N, you know that I don't have as big of a sweet tooth as you do, right?-" He said as he looked up from the gummy bear to face me, I quickly shut him up,
"Shhh, you're gonna try one right here right now, right in front of me" I insisted. I took a blue gummy bear from the plastic gold packet that sat beside me and extended my arm out in front of the blue haired boy, as if inviting him to take the gummy bear from my hands.
Sal finally sighed, "Y/N"
"Yes?"
"You do know I have to take off my mask to eat that, right?" he stated as a matter of a factly. My face turned as white as a ghost as I immediately lowered my hand and put the gummy bear back to where I had grabbed it from,
"Sal.. I'm so sorry, I should've known" I apologised as I stuffed another gummy bear in my mouth, feeling guilty. Sal shook his head as he gently placed a hand on the top of my head,
"It's alright, Y/Nick" Sal said, I couldn't see it, but I knew he was smiling by the tone of his voice. It was a task to know what he was feeling because of his mask and it was an extra challenge to know and understand what he's saying because of, you guessed it, his mask. His words come out muffled and hard to understand instead of clear and easier to understand, this ends up in a lot of misunderstandings and a lot of 'sorry, can you repeat that?'.
I blushed a little, my eyes darted up to where Sal's hand was, but I relished in the feeling of his hand on top of my head. Love was a bittersweet feeling to feel really, it made my heart throb and it made me blush a little. It was painful though, knowing he'll never like me the way I do towards him. Despite having my doubts, I had my hopes too, and I wasn't giving up on this feeling that I felt so strongly toward him. I wasn't giving up on him, I wasn't making that mistake ever again.
He eventually took his hand off of my head as he gazed at me, emotion that I couldn't identify swelling in his deep, indigo blue eyes. My lips parted ever so slightly as I put one of my hands on the cheek of his prosthetic pale purple and white mask. His breathing hitched, letting out a small gasp as he suddenly realised what was going on. he was quick to cover my hand with his, he leaned into my hand and closed his eyes, he seemed as if he were at peace. It was indeed a weird sight to see pale against (Y/SC) seen as you had never held the boys hand before, but it was only now that you were getting used to the idea of it.
"Y/N" Sal said, he took my hand off of his mask and held it, which made me blush a little more than I already was.
"Yeah, Sally face?" I asked, maintaining whatever cool I had left within me, Sal hesitated, his mouth opening once but quickly closing when no noise came out. He regained his composure after sighing, which made me feel a bit more at ease with what he was about to say next.
"I-I want to show you" Sally said to me, he avoided my gaze and bit his lip, I was confused,
"Show me- Show me what exactly?" I asked, this must've sparked something in Sal. His head whipped over to face me, his eyes containing that of anger.
"Show you my true face, idiot" he remarked as he squeezed my hand a little more than he should've. My breathing became shaky, and my eyes grew watery at the sudden outburst of anger displayed from Sal and the fact that he was willing to show me what lied underneath. Guilt replaced the nervousness and overall anger displayed underneath the boy's mask, and yet again, his eyes averted from my gaze.
"Really?? S-Sally face are you sure" I asked to double check with him.
"It'll be hard, that's for sure, but at least I'll try your gummy bear-- right?" He said with what I assume was a smile, but it wasn't genuine. In a moment of instinct, I shook my head as I put my hands on his shoulders and yanked him forward. I put my forehead on his prosthetic mask despite the protests and the gasp that came from him. My arms wrapped around his neck as I stared directly into his blue eyes that pierced into mine,
"Im not letting you show me something you're so insecure about for a fucking gummy, Sal" I said with a wavering voice,
"I want you to show me because you love me or have some sort of strong emotion toward me Sally Face. I don't care about this gummy, I really really don't" I firmly said, despite the obvious inconfidence in my voice. In that moment of silence that we shared, Sal sighed and wrapped his arms around my torso,
"Y/N, I'm not showing you because of a gummy. I want you to understand that" Sal said in reply to my previous statements, his voice was trembling and he seemed unsure about whether or not I wasn't going to accept him for who he was under the mask.
"T-then why're you showing me? Sal, I need to know so then I know that you're not just doing this to answer a question I had when I first met you." I asked, Sal closed his eyes as he pulled away from me ever so slightly, he unwrapped his arms from my torso and gently disconnected my hands and steered my arms away from his neck. He lifted his shaky hands to where he could disconnect his prosthetic from his face. He successfully got them both undone and sighed as he held the mask to his face. He sat there, staring at me, his blue hair puffing from where the belts of his prosthetic once were and with his prosthetic pressed against his face.
"Are you ready, Y/N?" He asked, he never answered my question, however, I got the feeling that he was going to answer that for me later. I yet again shook my head as I sighed,
"Of course I'm not, but then again, who really is? Anyway, don't worry about me, are you ready, Sally Face? That's what matters, right?" I asked, Sal chuckled, god I can't wait until his cute ass chuckle isn't muffled by his mask- maybe I was a little more ready than expected.
"It's up to both parties. Im ready, it's just-" He said as he sighed, I tilted my head a little,
"Do you want me to close my eyes and look away until you're ready?" I offered, he nodded as I closed my eyes, I heard the sounds of rattling metal and plastic against wood, and then, there was silence. I heard his shaky breathing and I felt his hands cup my cheeks. My cheeks lit up and overwhelmed me with a burning sensation that I wanted so badly to get rid of the pink on my face, but I knew it would be a wasted effort. Like music to my ears I heard his chuckle, I heard it for real, and it was right in front of me and audible. It was no longer muffled by the barrier in front of his face and between the both of us. I felt tears make their way down my face as I smiled,
"Sal..." I said through the tears of happiness. Happiness not only because I could hear his voice as clear as day, but happiness because he had the courage to show me what was beneath.
"Y/N" he said, closer this time, with his lips lightly grazing mine, I was scared to go any closer, I was scared to go any closer. Yet another chuckle came from the boy who rested his forehead on mine and held one of my hands,
"Can I.. Can I kiss you?" He asked as he squeezed my hand ever so slightly. I felt my heart pang, it were as if it were an attack at my chest and my composure, because without even seeing his face, with my eyes remaining closed, I could tell that he was smiling and he meant it. I could tell he was beautiful.
"Please Sal, please I need you" I almost begged, I'd been waiting for this moment for 3 damn years, it felt like an eternity to me. After a brief moment of silence, he pressed his lips to mine, they felt chapped and what I assumed was the scarred skin pinched at my lips, although the kiss was sloppy and rough, we still enjoyed it for what it was. He eventually pulled away and pressed his forehead against mine as joint silence after the kiss was shared.
"Now I sorta don't want you to see my face" Sal joked, I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around his neck and let go of his hand,
"Can I open my eyes now, Sal?" I asked as I felt his figure stiffen, I shook my head and kissed what I assumed was his cheek, it was rough in some areas, but I didn't care.
"Sal, if you don't want to show your face, then that's okay-"
"Open you eyes, Y/N. You can do it now" He said as he caressed my cheek with one hand, I nodded as I sighed and opened my eyes. I blinked a couple of times to adjust to the light as my eyes re-focused to meet Sal's scarred face. Only now was when I realised how close in proximity we were to each other. Of course, it was shocking at first, there was no guarantee that the that the damage done to his face was going to be pretty, but despite the scarring and his small nose and lips or lack thereof, he was beautiful. He seemed vulnerable and he seemed scared,
"If you have anything to say, then say it, Y/N" He said, he was tired of the silence, he was sick of me judging him silently in my mind without him knowing what I was thinking. He wanted to know, and I was going to be honest with him,
"I mentally prepared myself for what I was going to see, but this isn't what I was expecting- in a good way of course! What I'm trying to say is that you're gorgeous, Sally Face. Im happy you could trust me enough to share this with me" I answered as I smiled weakly. Sal raised his head a little bit as he smiled a small yet grateful smile that I complimented him,
"T-thank you.. Y/N. I've never been called gorgeous or anything of the sort before.. That meant a lot to me" Sal replied. His blue eyes looked straight into my E/C eyes. We both smiled a wide smile as we both hugged each other, his head rested on my shoulder as he cried a little bit, all that pent up emotion mustn’t have been good for his metal state. I cried a little myself as I pulled away from the hug a little bit and pressed a short kiss to the boy's lips,
"I love you, Sal Fisher. I always have" I said in a love sick voice, they were 3 words I was too scared to say up until now, I was too scared to tell him how I truely felt just in case I ruined everything and / or he didn't feel the same. He smiled as he tucked some of my hair behind my ear and mumbled,
"Likewise. I love you too, Y/N L/N, I love you more than you'll ever know" He said through shaky breaths, this moment felt like a dream on a good night. It felt like something we would only dream of and fantasise about. However, this was reality, and I would never change it for the world. I smiled sheepishly as we both stared into each others eyes and held hands.
"Do you wanna sleep over, Y/N?" Sal asked, breaking the moment for a bit as he pulled me up onto my feet with him and smiled a little bit, I looked around and saw that the blinds were up in the treehouse,
"Of course I do, get some blankets and pillows and I'll close the blinds, it's around 2AM anyway." I said as I let go of his hand and went to close the blinds.
By the time I had closed all the blinds, he had gathered an abundance of pillows and blankets and he placed them all on the lounge. I picked up Sal's mask and placed it somewhere near the lounge to protect it from getting broken. I walked over to the trap door that allowed people into the tree house and locked it, Larry taught me how to lock it this morning despite my protests, I remember him patting my back and laughing.
Sal laid on the couch and looked at the ceiling, "I can sleep on the floor if you'd like?" He offered, he looked over at me and I allowed his blue eyes to fall on me and gaze at me. I shook my head as I stopped dead in my tracks, I gulped as I let my heart pang once again,
"I can, uh- I can sleep with you? if you want? I know that you get terrible nightmares and stay up until ungodly hours trying to sleep, so maybe I could help with that?" I asked as I held my arm and looked at the floor, my face turned a deep shade of crimson and his did too. He opened his arms and smiled,
"Y/N, come to papa" he said to get my attention as he smirked, that's my Sal that I fell in love with.
"You're a dick head, Sal. Im glad to see you got your confidence back, tho" I said with a smile on my face, I laughed and I walked over to him. I laid in his arms and grabbed the blanket to cover me. Sal hit the light switch that Todd implemented for him to use and the lights turned off. The room turned pitch black and I whimpered. I shoved my face into Sal's chest and held him close. He, at first, didn't know how to react, but he simply hit a button that was next to the one he hit before, which turned on a night light that made the ceiling turn to stars.
"Y/N, you're safe now" Sal said as I took my head out of his chest and loosened my grip on him. I looked up at the ceiling and saw the stars that covered the roof and I mouthed a 'woah'. Sal smiled as he chuckled, I looked down at him as my cheeks started to turn pink which made Sal laugh harder. I couldn't stay mad at him, I laughed myself as I ran one of my hands through his short, blue hair, it was actually much softer than one might think, which was a blessing and a curse. Sal hummed as he took my hand and held it,
"I love you, Y/N"
"I love you too, Sal" I replied as I gently shut my eyes to sleep. I felt lips against mine one last time as I fell in and out of consciousness.