Helloooo saw u were open for request and i could not resist. could you write the friend group throwing a surprise birthday party for sal? sal never really thought twice about his birthday and reader noticed this and was like “i am not letting this bday be an ordinary day” or something. So they rally the group together and its this really elaborate plan. Sal has a feeling that something is going on and he’s lowkey suspicious, but he doesn’t pry. Larry was sent out to distract sal and keep him away from his room so the others can set it up, but larry ALMOOSST blurts it out and sal is like “??? why did u stop talking? what are the others doing?” larry just tells him to not worry about it while spamming the groupchat (one they made without sal so they could talk about their plans) saying “i almost sold guys holy shit” the gc is up in flames. they both come back when everything is ready and its this whole thinngg. Sal is shocked and very touched that he has friends that care so much ^_^ when sal asked whos behind all of this, larry (or whoever of ur choosing) tells him its the reader and sal is close to passing out. Like reader did this all for me? maybe once the party dies down, leaving sal and reader alone, they share a heart warming moment? a confession? Or just how much Sal appreciates them? this is ridiculously long so you can most definitely take some parts out if you’d like. I don’t mind if you change things up a bit too. you have all the free creative liberty so you can do whatever. This is just a little suggestion that’s been in my mind for a little bit and I’d like for you to write it. <3 if you would like to ofc thank you in advance! I love your writing
HI HI! I love this idea so much omg - especially as someone who LOVES birthdays!⭐️
This one is gonna be a LITTLE bit lengthy - so my apologies if any parts seem rushed or anything. I really wanted to fit as much of this in as possible!
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Birthdays. the one time of year when the world is supposed to revolve around you, and no one can call you self-indulgent for basking in it. You’ve always loved yours. Even without a giant party or a mountain of gifts, the day meant something. It was a reminder that you made it through another year in a world that’s… frankly exhausting. Why wouldn’t we celebrate surviving?
So when your best friend, Sal Fisher, casually admitted he “just didn’t really care about his birthday,” you refused to let it slide.
“But it’s literally a whole day dedicated to you.”
“Yeah, and? I’m just one out of eight billion people.”
“Exactly. And you’re the only one of those eight billion who’s you. How is that not worth celebrating?”
He gave you the most Sal response imaginable: “Don’t sweat it, y/n. You’ll stress yourself out over nothing.”
Ashley was slumped across from you on the couch, scrolling her phone. Larry was in the chair diagonal to you, one leg thrown over the armrest, doing the same mindless scrolling. Todd and Neil were in the kitchen playing solitaire. Very “old man” core.
“You guys are actually the most boring people alive” you groaned, crossing your arms dramatically. Larry didn’t even look up as he flicked a dismissive wave in your direction.
“Shhh. I can’t hear my Instagram reels over your yapping, bro.”
Ashley let her head fall back against the couch with a long theatrical groan. “There’s nothing to do” she whined. And unfortunately… she wasn’t wrong.
Board games? Played to death. Movies? You could quote half of them. The weather was nice, somehow, for December, but everyone was totally committed to rotting indoors.
“Let’s play cards with Todd and Neil?” you suggested, lifting your head to glance into the kitchen, where Todd and Neil sat.
From the kitchen came an immediate, panicked shout: “NO.”
Todd stormed in, indignation radiating off him. “I refuse to lose again. My ego has been shattered and then beaten with a stick.” He collapsed into another armchair opposite of Larry’s, huffing like a little kid. “I don’t know why I keep playing with Neil… and even worse, I don’t know why I’m not getting better.”
Neil trailed in behind him, looking far too pleased. As everyone resettled, he placed a gentle hand on Todd’s shoulder. “It’s good to lose sometimes, Toddy.”
Todd almost feels his “loss” fire re-ignite at his boyfriend’s words, and turns around to face him, scowling. “Easy to say when you win every game.”
Larry finally snapped out of his screen-coma, which was rarely a good omen. “Hey, Todd,” he said while pulling his hair into a bun. “If it makes you feel better, I lose every game to Neil too. Actually… I lose a lot of games. To a lot of people.”
Todd immediately retorted Larry’s “reassurance”. “So you’re saying I have the intelligence level of an isopod. Amazing. I’m ruined.” He exclaimed, exasperated - totally slumping down into his seat yet again.
Ashley snorted, Larry shot him an offended look, Meanwhile Neil, still leaning behind the chair, started absentmindedly playing with Todd’s curls, which Todd absolutely did not acknowledge.
You couldn’t take the effortless conversation anymore.
“Should we go visit Sal at work?” you suggested.
Ashley looked at you, ran a hand through her hair, and blinked slowly. “I meaaaaan…” She paused like she was weighing the fate of the universe. “Nah. I have zero motivation to get up from this spot, dude.” She gave you an apologetic look, but not so apologetic that she’d actually get up and do something about it.
“Same,” Larry agreed, lifting his other leg onto the armrest. Neil let out a sigh.
“Larry… it’s called the arm of the chair for a reason.”
Larry shrugged without moving. “When this chair stops being the most comfortable thing in existence, I’ll stop treating it like a hammock.”
Silence washed over the group for a few seconds before you spoke again.
“When’s his next day off, anyway?”
“Wait I got you on this one.” Larry holds up a hand to he acknowledged, and pulls out his phone once again.
“Uhhhhh..” he says, as he navigates through his totally unorganized Home Screen to find his calendar. Finally, he pulls it up, revealing that he has Sals work schedule.. in his phone. “The 13th.” He says, with a furrowed brow. He looks confused for a moment as he looks between his friends.. “Why does that day sound important?”
You roll your eyes and run your hands over your face before looking over at Ash.
“Because, dipshit. That’s Sal’s birthday.” She says, shaking her head. You add in quietly, “Is no one going to talk about Larry having Sal’s work schedule in his phone?”
Todd chimes in yet again to say “That’s the guy that just compared our intelligence, by the way.” Causing the rest of you to laugh with one another, even Larry - who admittedly felt a little stupid not knowing when his best friend’s birthday is.
As the laughter settles, you can’t help but feel a wave of dissatisfaction come over you thinking about Sal’s birthday. “I just can’t believe he won’t celebrate it..” you say, a somber tone in your voice.
Ash shrugs, “I mean, what can you do? The man doesn’t wanna celebrate. Can we force him to?” She says, and she has a good point. Larry stares with an absent-minded look into the wall, but you know he’s listening in on the conversation.
“I mean.. no..” You say, thinking for a moment. “Birthdays are just so much fun, I’m getting fomo FOR him, ya know?” When suddenly, Larry says something nothing shy of genius.
“You know.. one time when I was a kid.. sometime after my dad dipped out? My mom wanted to cheer me up by having a surprise birthday party.. but uh.. my only friend at the time was Ash so.. y’know” he laughs to himself thinking back on such a fond memory. “It was still a sick party though. My grandma, mom and Ash in one room was a blast.”
Ash perks up smiling, “I remember that party.” She says, adjusting her posture on the couch. “That was the day you got a skateboard that was 100% too big for you to ride. I can’t believe you didn’t eat shit on it.”
Larry smiles at her, nodding along “yep, still have that skateboard too.”
From behind Todd’s arm chair, Neil inserts himself into the conversation “Do you guys hear yourselves right now?” He says, as if the idea sitting in the middle of the conversation was obvious to everyone. A smile forms on your face as Neil keeps going.
“That’s how we’re gonna get Sal to celebrate his birthday this year. A surprise party!”
You immediately sit up from your previous slouching position, and a light shines from your face that the room had been missing all day. “Holy shit guys.” You say excitedly, “That’s a genius idea! We could get Henry and Lisa in on it, Chug, maple, Soda.. shit I bet even Travis would come.” You’re practically falling off the couch with how hard you’re leaning forward.
Todd shakes his head as he hears your excitement. “You’re forgetting one vital detail..” he says. “Sal’s closest friend has an IQ level of 40 and can’t keep a secret to save his life.”
We all glance over at Larry, who looks at us innocently.
“Who’s that?” He asks sincerely, reinforcing Todd’s point.
“Larry..” you say, leaning in his direction with the most serious look you’ve ever had. He locks eyes with you. “If we throw Sal a surprise party.. you HAVE to keep it a secret.” Larry just looks at you, and you worry he’s not really understanding. “If Sal finds out we’re planning a party for him.. he will shut the shit down for good, ok?”
Larry nods along as you talk.
“TELL ME YOU WONT SAY ANYTHING TO HIM.” You say, more intensely than anything else you’ve said. It almost makes Larry jump in his seat a bit. “Ok, ok! I won’t say anything, man.” He says, putting his hands up in defense of your intensity. You feel yourself relax slightly, knowing you got through to him.
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The next day and a half were full of nothing but planning for you all. The kind of planning that involved a shared Google Doc, group chats that pinged every thirty seconds, and Larry asking at least three times, “Wait, why are we doing this again?”
You had the living room transformed into what looked like a conspiracy theorist’s dream board. Sticky notes. Schedules. A poorly drawn blueprint of the boys’ house Todd was calculating supply budgets like this was a government operation, which was the exact energy that totally reassured you.
Neil had taken on logistics, and Ashley was scrolling Pinterest for decoration ideas.
You were the one trying to hold this whole thing together.
“Okay,” you said, tapping your marker against the whiteboard you’d stolen from Todd and Neil’s bedroom. “Let’s go over this one more time.”
Larry slumped dramatically into the couch. “Dude, we’ve gone over it like, twelve times. Sal’s birthday is on the thirteenth, he’s off that day, we lure him out, send him on some errand, he comes back, boom, party. Pretty sure I got it.”
You stared at him, suspicious. “Repeat it again.”
He sighed deeply, as if the weight of the world pressed down on him. “Birthday. Thirteenth. Errand. Boom. Party. Yay.” He waved his hands half heartedly. “Are you happy?”
“No,” Todd muttered, shuffling through a list in his lap. “But that’s simply because I know you, Larry.”
Neil nodded. “You are a… wildcard.”
Larry pointed at him. “Wildcards win card games, and Todd doesn’t.” He jabs, attempting to be funny, but the look Todd gives him after the fact is anything BUT funny. In fact, it’s funny that Larry is still alive right now.
Ashley snickered from where she sat cross-legged on the floor. “Okay, children. Focus. We need to figure out the distraction.”
You perked up. “Right. Someone has to get Sal out of the house long enough for us to set everything up. But it can’t be suspicious.”
“It can’t be me,” Neil said immediately. “He’ll know something is up if I ask him to hang out one on one.”
Ashley pointed her pen at Larry. “You’re out too. You’ll slip.”
“I will not slip, dude” Larry said, instantly sounding like someone who would absolutely slip. “I’ll be a steel trap. A fortress. A vault.”
“Larry,” you said gently, “you told Sal his own Christmas present last year because you thought he ‘already kind of knew.’”
“Okay but in my defense,” Larry argued, “he guessed it before I OFFICIALLY told him.”
You pause, holding the marker to your lips as you think for a second before shaking your head. “No, I think it has to be Larry.” You say confidently looking over at Ash.
Ash sucks her teeth nervously, almost as if to tell you it’s “not a good idea.”
“Think about it.” You begin, “Larry is the only one that could really get away with asking Sal to hang, besides me, but I want to be here to organize the party.”
After some thought, everyone starts to agree with one another - and a carefully concocted plan begins to form.. and repeated to Larry 10 times over.
You woke up eagerly the day of the event.. something in your chest couldn’t sit still, and you just prayed to yourself that everything went as smooth as possible. To know that you guys had made it this far without Sal finding out was a damn miracle, but it could still happen.
First things first, you check in with the group.
You send one final text to the group chat before heading out of the house.. like you were born for this moment.
Larry.. was a nervous wreck. As nonchalant and aloof as he usually is, he was forced under the pressure of not telling his best friend a huge secret - which, for someone like Larry, would not be an easy task.
“You seem weird today, man.” Sal says, glancing over at Larry from the passenger seat of the car. Larry’s hands grip the steering wheel just a little bit tighter, but not in a way that Sal would notice.
“Nah, weird? I’m never weird bro. Just wanted to take my buddy out for a birthday breakfast is all.” He says, reaching a hand to squeeze Sal’s shoulder. He makes note of Larry’s off putting behavior yet again - “See! That was weird! You never do stuff like that.”
Larry stays quiet putting both of his hands back on the steering wheel before finally speaking up again, “Sal, I’ll turn this car around. NO IHOP FOR YOU.” He says, in a half joking yell that makes Sal laugh to himself. He puts his hands up defensively “OK, ok.. you’re not weird.”
The rest of the drive to IHOP was a little more normal, and Larry realized that once he just forgot about the party, it was easier to act a little more normal around his friend.
IHOP wasn’t busy either, so it was literally just a day full of good luck, and Larry was clinging onto that for dear life. “Hey man, your birthday is bringing us good luck. An almost empty restaurant.” Larry says, pointing at all the empty tables inside the IHOP.
Sal smiles at Larry, “you think so? Because I think it’s just a Wednesday morning and everyone is at work.” He glances back up at Larry, who’s now frowning. “You’re a fun killer bro.”
The two boys are greeted by the hostess, who looks like she’d rather be anywhere else than where she currently was. “Is it just the two of you…?” She says without really moving her mouth at all. It was pretty impressive. Sal nods to her, worried that if he said anything she would respond with an attitude.
They follow her back to a booth and sit down across from one another. Larry smiles to himself “Man you have no clue how excited I am for this.” To which Sal shakes his head. “I guess I’m pretty excited too, it’s been a while since I’ve actually gone out for breakfast.”
But Larry wasn’t talking about the breakfast.. and he realizes he’s starting to get a little too lose with his words now that he’s gotten comfortable. He tenses up slightly.. “uh, yes man! I love IHOP so much!” And everything about his statement was awkward…
“By the way, if you tell the waitress it’s my birthday, I’ll fucking kill you bro.” Sal says to which Larry nods along “Nooo worries, man. I know how it is.” He says.
The rest of their outting felt.. pretty normal. They sat with one another and ate their breakfast, not a single peep from the group chat the whole time. Everything seemed to be going smoothly and that’s all anyone could ever ask for.
Until.. the check arrives.
The boys finish up their breakfast around 11 AM. Larry is doomed with the task of killing a whole hour with Sal before they’re allowed to return back home.. the waitress brings over their check and sets it down in front of them, and Sal makes the attempt to grab it.
“Nah man, I got it! My treat, your birthday, that’s how the cookie crumbles.” Larry says, taking the check from the table and pulling his debit card out of his wallet.
“Hey, thanks man.. I uh.. appreciate it.” Sal says, it was a kind gesture. Sure Sal didn’t really give a shit about his birthday, but he couldn’t deny that the little things made him a little bit happier.
Setting his card and the check back down on the table, Larry smiles “Of course man, plus we’ve got like a whole hour to kill bef-“
He freezes. His facial expression drops from a smile, to what someone would call literal dread. Larry almost blew up the entire operation… but Sal wasn’t necessarily suspicious. Larry had known Sal since he was 15, and never once went out of the way to make a big deal out of his birthday (per sals request). So Sal just kinda assumed something else was going on.
But poor Larry didn’t know what was going through Sal’s mind.
“An hour until what?” Sal says, curiously. Larry.. well let’s just say Larry could fill both of their water glasses with the amount of sweat that was protruding from his forehead. He quickly fills the silence with panicked words “uh… fumigation! The house.. it’s uh.. bed bugs.. we’ve got roaches Or… NOTHING. I have to go to the bathroom.” Larry says, and quickly stands up from the table, rushing to the men’s bathroom.
There, he shuts the stall door behind him and sits on the toilet - not to use the bathroom, but to text the group chat.
And with that, Larry wiped the sweat from his forehead and headed back out into the restaurant. Sal, now standing up from the booth putting his jacket back on greets Larry again, “You ok?” He asks, almost slightly concerned.
Larry waves him off “yeah man, I’m good. Sudden stomach ache, you know how it is.” Sal nods, and Larry is totally in the clear. Again, Sal didn’t really suspect Larry to start, just kinda assumed he was about to go blow up the bathroom or something.
Sure, it was a little odd that they’d schedule a fumigation without telling him - but Todd did shit like that all the time. Home maintenance and what not. Easy to shrug it off and move on.
So - the next hour was again full of paranoia on Larry’s part, and just total ignorant bliss from Sal.
Larry breathed a sigh of relief when he finally received the go ahead to come home.
Once Larry parked the car, Sal could tell something more than just fumigation was happening.. but what he was about to walk into was so much more than he’d ever expected.
Larry stayed silent. He was so excited and full of anxiety at this point that if he said a single word he KNEW he’d blow it. Sal just assumed the pancakes gave him a sugar high, and that’s why he was vibrating.
The two walk together back up to the door. “Thanks again man, for breakfast. That was so damn good.” Sal says looking up at Larry, but Larry doesn’t even look him in the eye. “…Ok?” Sal says, jiggling his house keys in his hands to find the right one.
He sticks his key into the door knob and twist it. Meanwhile, everyone on the other side of the door was getting into position and Sal didn’t even realize.. the doorknob twists fully, and Sal pushes the door open to be greeted by..
A dark empty kitchen. Exactly what he expected to see. He walks in, kicking his shoes off by the door, and Larry follows behind him, still completely silent.
The two walk into the living room together, when suddenly…
Sal completely jumps out of his skin..
Standing before him are all of his friends and family.. His dad, Lisa, chug, maple, Soda, Ash, Todd, Neil, Travis.. and standing in the middle of everyone was y/n. The living room was beautiful decorated with streamers and balloons.. there was food sitting out on the table, and a small pile of birthday gifts sitting on the floor by the TV.
He didn’t know what to make of it, so he just stood there silently. Something he never would’ve expected in his entire life.. and here it was. All of his favorite friends and family making the effort to celebrate him..
The room falls quiet, and for a moment, no one can tell what Sal is feeling.. but he knows. Behind his prosthetic his eyes begin to well up with… tears. A single one falls, and he slowly walks towards everyone.
“Guys.. I..” he stutters, but he can’t seem to find the words. He was.. grateful.
As he stepped further and further into the light, everyone could see the tears in his eyes and crowded into him. Even Larry.
“No Sal don’t cry!” “Aww” “it’s ok, we love you!” “Happy birthday, Sal!”
All words he heard over and over again in the moment.. which led him to cry just a little bit more. He couldn’t believe it.. that despite his own contempt for his birthday, his friends and family still wanted to celebrate him.
“Man, fuck you guys.” Sal says, choking slightly causing everyone to laugh along with him.
A/N - SORRY THIS ONE TOOK ME SO LONG HOLY CRAP
Thank you so much for submitting!
