Pretty like the sound of rain🌧️
{Sal Fisher x she/her Reader one shot}
Synopsis: you just moved into addison apartments for a new start and more than willingly accept the help of a beautiful blue haired boy and his friend💙
Warnings: major fluff! no smut, however characters in this story are adults! adult sal x adult alternative she/her reader. possible smut later in the series. MDNI!
Notes: this is my first ever post and my first one shot! i'm planning multiple parts, sorry if it's not so great!
also, it is so long! i'm so sorry, i couldn't get to a good stopping place😫
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it's raining again, not pouring down just yet. it's the sweet beginnings of a thunderstorm, painting the sky and screaming through the trees. it's your favorite weather and lucky for you, it's extremely common here. there's something about today, a strange feeling is in the air around you, and as you look out the window of the u-haul full of your things, your heart flips in your chest at the sight of your new apartment complex. a new start, thank god.
the words "addison apartments" appears almost hand painted on the sign in front of the building. it's dingey, and small and not the most beautiful building you've ever seen, but it's a new beginning for you and the rent is ridiculously cheap, so some maintenance issues and aesthetic displeasure is not a major concern for you. you park the truck out front and grab your bag from the passenger seat, slinging it across your shoulders. you make your way inside the building, wanting to set your bag down in your new place and figure out what to bring in first. it's just you, no roommates or parents. and you have a lot of shit.
you make it into your apartment, room 401. it's tiny and underwhelming but you're elated. it's yours and that's all that matters. you step into the bathroom to glance at yourself in the mirror for a moment. you lean towards the mirror a bit and fix your eyeliner slightly before attempting to brush your hands through the ends of your long hair. your bangs sit uniform on your forehead complimenting your heavy liner and mascara. you'd always been alternative. as soon as you turned 18 you began your journey of covering yourself in tattoos and piercings, stretching your ears and dyeing your hair dark. black nail polish messily coats your fingernails and silver jewelry decorates your face and neck. a big band t-shirt that fits more like a dress and your boots was the outfit of choice today. a bit lazy but comfortable to move in. you take one last look at yourself before deciding that despite having driven for a few hours today, you looked not bad at all.
you grab your keys and step out of the apartment only to see a boy sitting on the floor outside your door, criss cross with what looks like a game boy in his hands. his long brown hair frames his face well, and almost immediately your recognize the band on his shirt. he glances up at you and double takes quickly, staring at you for a moment.
"uhh, hi." you say, trying to hide your confusion and amusement with what you've happened upon.
"w-hey, hey!" he starts, bumbling and nervous suddenly. he looks down at the gameboy in his hands and jumps to his feet, holding the device behind his back. "i was just- well i mean i-" he stops as if he's trying to find the words to say.
"you haven't seen any ghosts around here, have you?" he says sheepishly.
"ghosts?"
"yeah, like uh spirits? or like a big shadowy guy with red eyes?" he says. you wait for him to crack a smile or tell you he's fucking with you, but he doesn't, his face is serious and his delivery is deadpan.
"can't say that i have. do they show up often around here?" you try to show him you're not making fun of him. he finally holds up the game boy and laughs nervously.
"you could say that." he says. you notice a slight lisp when he talks. "i'm larry. i live in the basement here, i've kinda taken on maintenance duties so if you need anything, i'm your guy." he smiles sheepishly again, pointing a finger gun in your direction before looking at the floor again.
"i'm y/n. i'm actually moving in today, i came for the ghosts." you say, which makes larry laugh and you can see the relief paint his face.
"the band on your shirt, i love them. did you listen to their latest drop yet?" you ask, leaning into your doorframe.
"dude, you know sanity's fall?? i've been putting my friends onto them for years now! the new album is fucking insane i swear!" he laughs, suddenly excited and relaxed. he points at your shirt, "deftones huh? a little bit soft for me but still a great band. you got good taste." he smiles, finger gunning once again, before glancing down at your keys in your hand.
"oh shit, you literally like just got here didn't you?" he asks.
"yeah, only a few minutes ago." you reply, jingling your keys in your hand.
"well, my friend is almost here, he's been helping me with some stuff around the apartments-"
"the ghosts?" you interject, smiling.
he laughs, "dude you have no idea. he's should be almost here, can we help you move your stuff in at all?"
"honestly, that would be amazing, i got a ton of shit and it's just me." you say smiling. he seems really genuinely nice and friendly, and already making friends with your neighbors is a plus for you.
"okay sweet!" he exclaims as you both begin walking to the elevator, "we can go down and see-" but before larry can finish, the elevator doors open and a new boy stands before you. except this time, your heart feels like it's doing a thousand flips in your chest as soon as you lay eyes on him.
long blue hair cut into a shaggy mullet lays messily around his shoulders. he is slender but muscular, and he stands almost a foot taller than you. as you scan his arms you notice the black nail polish that coats his nails like yours. he dons a black sweater, red pants and a worn pair of converse. his keys are attached to a carabiner that's looped through his belt loop. you notice his beauty immediately but what catches your attention most is his face, or rather what he's wearing on it. a white mask of sorts, with a purplish pink detail on one side of it. the mask is expressionless and you can see where the straps meet on either side. he's looking at the floor when the doors open, but the sound of the doors opening startles him slightly and suddenly your gaze is locked with his. blue eyes peer through the eyes holes of his mask at yours and neither of you move or say anything. you just stand, staring at each other.
"uh... sally? are you gonna step out or?" larry's voice from behind you makes you jump and breaks your gaze with the beautiful boy in front of you.
"shit." you hear the boy mumble under his breath, stepping out of the elevator to stand in front of you. you look up at him as he looks down at you once more, but this time he speaks.
"i'm uh... i'm sorry if i scared you."
it takes you a moment to register he's talking to you before you answer, completely mesmerized by him and suddenly all too aware of how embarrassing you must look.
"no, no, not at all. you didn't scare me." is all you muster up the courage to say and immediately mentally scold yourself for it. wow, really great first impression huh?
the boy looks over at larry, breaking his gaze with you finally. you immediately look at the ground, feeling your cheeks heat up.
"oh! uh, y/n, this is my best buddy and brother sal. sal, this is y/n. i was ghost hunting in the hall and ran into her. er- well, she kinda ran into me, but she's moving into 401, and i thought we could help her bring her stuff in. if you're cool with that." larry says quickly, running a hand through his hair.
sal looks back at you and steps back slightly, realizing how close the two of you were. he nods quickly, "yeah- yeah of course, i'd love to. help, that is, i'd love to help. not in like a weird way or anything, i mean only if you're comfortable. not that you seem uncomfortable, i- fuck." he stumbles over his words nervously, glancing at your eyes every now and then but looking away quickly.
"dude, are you okay?" larry asks, genuine concern ringing out in his voice. sal chuckles shyly and nods, "yeah, i'm fine. sorry. uh- lets go get her stuff. your stuff." he turns back to you before turning on his heels and pressing the elevator button. all three of you enter and descend to the first floor.
---
it had been a few hours but the three of you had finally gotten all of your stuff into the apartment. you watched sal as he lifted the heavy boxes with ease and occasionally you would catch him staring at you. not just looking; staring. even larry had called him out a few times, ordering him back to work. he'd barely said a few words to you and for some reason, your heart leapt when his eyes met yours.
sal went out to get the last box as you and larry sat on the floor of the living room, catching your breath.
"goddamn i'm out of shape." larry sighs, leaning his back up against a box. "and so sweaty."
you both laugh as you stretch your legs out in front of you, "me too. the storm suddenly kicking up in the middle of us moving everything was a nice touch." you say as you run a hand over your damp shirt.
"sorry sal is acting so weird. something's up with him, i've never seen him like that. that dude's a weirdo." larry chuckles.
"no, it's fine. he's not weird at all." you say, feeling your cheeks heat up again.
the sound of feet approaching starts that strange heart-racey, butterfly stomach feeling in you again, and you feel your palms get sweaty.
sal comes through the door, carrying the last box, setting it on the ground.
"right on man, thanks for grabbing that last one. i'm fighting for my life over here." larry says, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"no problem." sal replies, joining the two of you on the floor. he sits next to you, but not close enough to touch. you look at each other for a moment and then look away. larry stares at the two of you from across the room, and suddenly the most shit-eating grin plasters his face. he rises to his feet, "i uh, i'm gonna go say hi to my mom and henry next door. i haven't seen them in awhile." he says, still wearing that suspicious smile.
you wonder for a moment what he could be up to, and eventually make the connection in your head. he's trying to leave you and sal alone with each other.
"wait larry, what about the boxes and stuff?" sal begins, sounding panicked and nervous, and judging by the tone of his voice, he knows exactly what larry's up to as well.
"i'll be back to help unpack and shit, don't worry, i won't be too long." larry says before swiftly exiting the room and closing the door behind him.
a silence falls on the room and the tension is palpable. just when i thought sal might get up and leave, he speaks again.
"y/n is a pretty name, by the way."
you sit next to him, avoiding his eyes, shocked as the statement sends butterflies zooming through your entire body. sal looks at his hands as he picks at his nail polish.
"what a sweet thing to say." you reply, feeling the blood rush to your ears.
"so, what brought you here?" he asks you, turning his body to you slightly.
"uh, it's a long story. the short version is i wanted to get away from back home and the people there and exist outside of them." you reply, hoping that you weren't saying too much.
"nockfell isn't exactly a place for new beginnings." he replies, but quickly adds, "but uh, i can't say i'm upset to be looking at you right now." he laughs nervously. "oh god, i'm sorry, i'm really like not trying to come off weird, you're making me nervous for some reason. i'm not always like this, promise." he scratches the back of his head, eyes meeting yours again.
"i don't mind at all." you reply, smiling back at him. there's another moment of silence but you're the one to break it this time.
"i think you're pretty. not like girly pretty although there's nothing wrong with that. more like pretty like a sunset, or the sound of rain." you say, though you have no idea what will come out of your mouth next, your thoughts are a mile a minute.
sal sits for a minute silent, looking at you.
"you think i'm pretty?" he says.
"yeah, like a lot. like beautiful." you reply, feeling nervous now.
"no one's ever said that to me before." he says, still staring at you.
"now you're making me nervous." you say smiling slightly, fidgeting w the laces on your boots.
"it's a prosthetic, you know. it's not just a mask. and i don't think what's underneath it is very pretty." he looks down at his shoes.
"i bet it is. but at least it looks pretty cool on you." you giggle as you scan the prosthetic once again, looking at the details of it now. it's worn, he'd obviously needed it for a long time now.
there's silence again.
you scooch your body in front of him, sitting criss cross. he looks at you quizzically. you look at him for a moment before gently reaching up and running your fingers across the edge of the purple-pink piece, tracing where it starts and ends. he watches you carefully, leaning back slightly. he flinches and instinctively reaches up to grab your hand away, but he stops.
"i'm sorry. i- i don't know why i did that. i should've asked you, i just wanted to see the detail on that side. ugh, im sorry, that was stupid." you groan, covering your face with your hands in a moment of utter embarrassment. what the fuck did you do that for?? people probably try to touch it all the time, i bet he's sick of that shit and now he's gonna be sick of you too. you scream at yourself in your head, badly wishing you could turn back time and make sure that never happened.
he doesn't say anything at first, he just gently takes your hand and presses it against his cheek, running his thumb along the side of your fingers.
"you can touch me." he says softly. your stomach is in knots at those words. his speaking voice is so sweet. deep and lovely and kind.
he leans into your touch, closing his eyes for a moment. the whole world is quiet for just a second and this moment feels familiar. like you've done this with each other many times before. but the two of you suddenly pull away, realizing it might be uncomfortable for the other, to have such an intimate moment so soon into meeting each other. tension fills the air again, less awkward and more full of longing.
"what are you doing tonight? i mean, other than unpacking." sal leans forward slightly, his voice almost in a whisper, his face closer to yours than before. pretty blue eyes study yours.
"other than unpacking, absolutely nothing." you say, matching his soft and whisper tone.
"come over." he says softly. "we can watch dumb movies and you can meet gizmo. or we could just talk or nap or something if you're tired. whatever you want." he sounds like he's smiling beneath his prosthetic as he sees your smile begin to grow across your face.
"like a date?" you ask, cheeks burning red.
"i was hoping it would be." he replies giggling.
"i've never been asked on a date before."
"i just- i-" he pauses, "im not usually forward or anything like at all. i'm usually like a stuttering mess and awkward and embarrassing when i like someone. i don't want to make you feel uncomfortable, i just... now that i know you exist i just want you around." he stutters out, his voice sounding nervous and giggly again.
your face lights up red at the words he's just spoken to you. you fiddle with your hair, taking far to long to respond before you sputter out, "yes. yes please. please ask me to come over like that all the time." you laugh nervously, praying you're not coming off as too much. he laughs nervously with you, the two of you avoiding each others eyes. sal would never admit it, but his cheeks burned red under that mask. he was so unbelievably nervous yet there was something about you. and he knew if he didn't jump on his chance, he might never have the courage to again.
"well uh... can i help you unpack? at least a little. i feel bad helping you lug all this up here and not helping. i could at least set up your bedframe or put up those shelves." he says, pointing over to the coffin shaped shelves you have on the kitchen counter.
"you really don't have to." you say, feeling your heart flip at his offer.
"well, i mean, it's more so just an excuse to stay with you." he laughs, "we could unpack for a little and then we could walk to my house together."
"uhhh, that plan better include me." a voice from the doorway calls out, which you can already recognize as larry's. he comes through the door and sits down next to you, nudging your shoulder.
"got a little crush, huh?"
