Ghost's whiny barks wake me up. I drowsily sit up from my couch. I look around, confused as to why I'm in my living room. Then, the events of last night replay in my head.
Larry! I should go check on him.
Tap Tap, Tap, Tap Tap Tap
There's light knocking at my door. I recognize the rhythm right away.
Sal..
I groan and make my way to the door.
I really don't want Sal to see me right now. I mean, I literally just woke up! I'm wearing fluffy black and pink Kuromi pajama shorts, a black tank top, and my bunny slippers. My hair is so messy right now, too! I feel so ugly and childish, oh my God..
I open the door, and I'm greeted by the sight of Sal. He's wearing his blue hair down, a black band t-shirt over a black and red striped long-sleeve, black cargo pants, and his every day blue converse.
I run my fingers through my hair, trying to smooth it down, "Good morning, Sally." I say, my tired morning voice giving away the fact that I just woke up.
Sal looks down at me, his blue eyes gleaming, "Morning, (Y/N). Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you so early. I just wanted to see if you were up."
I feel butterflies in my stomach.
Why do I feel happy that he chose to visit me first thing this early Saturday morning.. And why am I feeding my delusions?!
"I'm up now," I smile up at him.
"Heh.. I-I like your pajamas. Did you want to eat breakfast togeth-"
Then, his eyes dart from me to behind me. His gleaming eyes dull down as he reverts his gaze back to me, "Oh.. S-Sorry, I-"
I look behind me and I see a shirtless Larry walking out of my room, yawning and stretching.
"Mornin', apples of my eye." He greets us, grinning, making his way to my bathroom.
I look at Sal again, and his eyes are already focused on me.
"I.. Didn't mean to interrupt." He says in a rather short tone before turning around and starting to walk away, back towards his apartment.
My stomach drops.
Wait. Is he...?
"Sally, wait!" I chase after him, grabbing his wrist as he's walking away, "You weren't 'interrupting' anything, silly." I say, trying to pull him back towards my apartment.
He gently pulls his arm out of my grip, "...It seemed like it."
...Is he jealous?
I laugh, trying to act as normal as possible, "Ew! Well, I would never! Plus," I lower my voice, "I only let Larry spend the night because he showed up at my door in the middle of the night, high and drunk out of his mind. I'm offended you would even think I'd ever like him," I try to explain myself.
"..His shirt was off, and he came out of your room, though." Sal's body is half turned as he speaks to me.
Why does he care? Could he... No.
My eyes are slightly wide as I look up at Sal's eyes, "I slept on my couch with Ghost, Sally. I let Larry sleep in my bed because the boy could barely even talk."
I hope it doesn't seem like I'm over explaining or like I'm trying to overly convince him that I don't like Larry. I really don't want Sal to know I like him.. But I also don't want Sal to think I like anyone else.. Ugh, I'm embarrassing myself.
He lets out a breathy laugh and his tense body visibly relaxes, "Oh.. That makes sense." Sal turns his body to fully face me, rubbing the back of his neck, "N-Not that it matters or anything! I just didn't want to intrude.."
...So he doesn't care? I'm so confused. This is why I'm supposed to be staying away from boys. How do I make this not as awkward as it is right now? Fuck..
I smile, "Yeah. Now, come in and we'll have breakfast, okay?" I lead the way back into my apartment.
What the fuck just happened?
We make it inside and close the door right before Larry comes out of the bathroom.
"What's for breakfast?" Larry plops down onto the couch to cuddle with Ghost.
"Umm..." I walk to my kitchen to look around.
Sal sits next to Larry on the couch and takes Ghost from him, "Where's your shirt, dude?"
"(Y/N)'s warm ass bed made me all sweaty. Sorry you weren't invited to the sleepover, Sally Face," Larry teases Sal, giving him a playful grin.
Sal rolls his eyes, "Shut up, Larry Face."
"Stop taunting him, Lar. It wasn't even a sleepover." I say, shaking my head as I turn on my stove and place a pan on the burner, "Pancakes?" I ask. They both nod their heads eagerly.
"..So where'd you even get the alcohol from?" Sal questions Larry. Larry groans.
"How'd you-"
"You still reek." Sal answers Larry's question before he even asks it.
I mix up the batter for the pancakes and start making them as Sal and Larry converse with one another.
I wonder if I should tell Sal that Larry was crying over his dad? I mean, they are each other's best friend. But I guess Larry would've just gone to Sal's if he wanted to, since he's literally two doors down.. I should mind my business. Well, they kind of are my business..
I'm flipping pancakes and buttering them, not paying much attention to their conversation anymore.
I really want to know why Sal reacted the way that he did earlier. I want to know if I was right about it being jealousy or if he genuinely just didn't want to intrude. It really seemed like he was jealous- or got the wrong idea at first. I mean, otherwise why would he have seemed so relieved when I explained that there's nothing going on between Larry and I? Should I have just let him go, then explained later? Did me running after him make it obvious that I have feelings for him? Maybe he was better off just thinking I liked someone else.. Ugh, I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about this. I just want to know why! Why?! I guess I haven't even asked him, but.... But nothing! I can't. I can't ask. I can't. Because what if I do ask him, and it turns out I misread the whole situation and I'm the one who made things awkward for myself..? What if I do ask him and then it's obvious that I like him, and what if he does find out that I like him and he doesn't like me back? That's the only possible outcome, though, right? Because Sal doesn't like me. I'd be stupid to think that he would like me.. I mean, how could he ever? I'm.. I'm quite unloveable, really.
"You're the best, (Y/N). I would die without you!" Larry exclaims dramatically, ruffling my hair before opening my fridge and grabbing the jug of orange juice.
Someone begs to differ.
I snap out of my thoughts, and I look down to see no batter left and a tall pile of pancakes on a plate, "Oh, shut up." I grin at Larry before opening a cabinet to grab more plates for the table.
Not sure how I managed to space out through that whole process and still make perfect pancakes, but breakfast is ready and the Addison Apartments are still standing, and that's what matters!
"I already set the table." Sal says from behind me.
I turn around and I see clean glasses, plates, utensils, napkins, and syrup all set up nicely on the table.
I breathe deeply before shifting my gaze to Sal, giving him an appreciative smile, "Thank you, Sally."
If Sal doesn't stop being so perfect, this might not end well.
~~~~~~~~~~
I take a deep breath before I knock on door 402.
I hate the way I feel for Sal. He asked me to come over to help him choose an outfit for tomorrow and to help him pack a couple CD's for the road. This sounds like so much fun, except for the fact that I can't help but to dread being alone with Sal! The air just feels so tense. I don't know if it's just me, but... Ugh. The thought of him plagues my mind, seriously. I just need to stop thinking about my friend in this way. I don't want to ruin this friendship because of some stupid, dumb crush. Besides, I don't think I'm someone who anyone would want to be in a 'relationship' with..
In just a couple seconds, Sal opens the door, "Hey, (Y/N). Come in." He says, stepping out of the way. It's night time, so it's no surprise that he's in his pajamas; black and blue checkered pajama pants and a black long sleeve. His blue hair is wet and dripping over his shirt, and he smells like hints of cucumber and mint.
"Hi, Sally." I say as I step into his apartment. I was too lazy to change into real clothes after I showered earlier, so I'm wearing Korn issues pajama pants, a black crewneck sweatshirt, and I didn't feel like wearing shoes so I'm just walking around in my fluffy Hello Kitty long socks.
I follow Sal into his room. Gizmo runs to me as soon as he sees me, meowing softly while he rubs his body against my legs.
"Gizmo, my baby boy! I missed you!" I bend over and pick him up, holding him like a baby in my arms.
Sal scoffs as he shuts his door, "Wow. Really, Gizmo?" He says in disbelief as he watches Gizmo and I snuggle our faces against each other.
"Leave him alone! He's just a little guy," I defend Gizmo who meows in return.
Sal chuckles, walking to his closet and grabbing an empty back pack, "Yeah, a little guy that apparently only allows you to hold him like a baby."
I giggle, "I can't help it that I'm everyone's favorite." I say in an obviously joking tone as I let Gizmo down.
Sal plops down on his floor in front of his collection, "There's no denying that." Sal says as he beckons for me to come look at his CD's with him.
Obviously what I said was a joke, so is he also joking? Or is he being serious? If he's serious, then he's basically saying I'm his favorite person. But he probably is joking, because why would I be his favorite person? We do hang out a lot though, so maybe I am one of his closest friends..? Sal, why do you have to do this to me?!
"But also, he's an emotional support animal for traumatized kids so he probably thinks he can help you."
I laugh as I sit on the floor next to Sal in front of his CD rack, "Wow, that's the nicest way anyone has said 'you have issues' to me."
Sal laughs nervously, "That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. It adds depth to a person." He jokes.
"True, actually." I say, agreeing.
We start going through his collection. It mainly consists of 90's and early 2000's nu metal, 80's/90's and early 2000's thrash/doom metal, 90's and early 2000's grunge, some random post-hardcore CD's, a couple indie rock CD's, and only two Black Metal CD's which are only Sanity's Fall. We end up choosing the best of Slayer, Anthrax, Korn, Foo Fighters, and The Smashing Pumpkins. We finish packing Sal's backpack for tomorrow while we chit chat about how I need to introduce him to more Black Metal.
Finally, we're able to relax and hang out, "Let me do your eyeliner, Sally." I give him a happy grin, waiting for his response.
"..I don't think that's a good idea..." He touches his mask nervously and starts to stand up.
I smile, reassuringly, "I'm not going to ask you to take your mask off, silly. Sit back down!" I say, and he does as he's told.
"I-It's going to look stupid on me." He shifts awkwardly to face me completely.
"You're not capable of making anything look stupid."
That slipped out.
There's a moment of silence while I pull my eyeliner out and position myself comfortably on my knees to apply the eyeliner to Sal's eyes.
"..Are you sure?" He asks as I begin carefully lining his eyes through the eye holes of his mask.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I wouldn't lie to you," I say in a soft and low voice, concentrating so I don't get any makeup on Sal's prosthetic.
"Thanks, (Y/N)." I can see his eyes scanning my face, and I can feel my heartbeat speeding up.
"Mhm." I hum, trying to act like I'm not about to shit my pants from how nervous his gaze makes me, "And... done." I say as I finish up Sal's eyeliner. I smile at him, sitting back and looking at his eyes to make sure it looks good.
He looks past me, at the mirror that's hanging on his closet door to look at his reflection, "Can you teach me how to do that?"
I clap my hands together excitedly and hold them up to my heart, jokingly swooning, "I knew you would like it! You can keep this. I have another one at home." I give Sal my eyeliner, which he takes from me and puts in his pocket.
"Thank you."
"Of course." I smile sweetly at him.
"H-Hey, (Y/N)?" Sal's voice sounds nervous, "Remember that song you showed me? The one by Pantera?" He stands up, leaving me sitting on his floor.
I nod slowly, "Yeah, I remember. Why?" I ask, watching Sal as he walks away from me and towards his guitar.
Sal clicks his amplifier on and picks up his red electric guitar, "Uh.. I remember you said you liked the solo, so I learned it."
My eyes widen with excitement as Sal begins plucking away at his guitar, playing the solo from Pantera's 'Floods'. He's standing over me as he plays, and I'm staring up at him from the floor. I'm mesmerized, my eyes locked on Sal's hands and fingers as they move gracefully up and down his guitar's neck. He leans towards his guitar as the solo speeds up and becomes more intricate. My eyes trail up from his hands to his masked face, lingering on the sight of his wet blue wavy hair swaying, his fringe pieces slightly sticking to his prosthetic.
I am never recovering from this. Everything he does makes me like him more and more. He's just so talented, and God, he's so pretty. The way his bright blue eyes stare at me through his porcelain-like prosthetic face, his slender figure towering over me as I watch him from the floor... Ugh, the eyeliner is making his bright eyes pop even more than usual. And he said he learned this solo because I told him I enjoyed the song. He has to know what he's doing... This is torture!
He finishes the guitar solo, which he nailed perfectly down to the amplifier settings, and I'm left dumbfounded.
Everything he does is attractive.
"...You're the coolest guy I know." I say, genuinely.
"Heh.. Y-You're the coolest girl I know." Sal says, running a hand through his hair to move it away from his eyes, but it falls right back in place.
Oh, God.. It's going to be impossible for me to get over this boy.