#salxreader

Sal knew the second she moved into the apartments s/o was different. From the day she settled in down the hall, in apartment 404, the whole building had just felt.. different. More peaceful. People smiled at each other more, neighbors interacted more.. Even old lady Gibson seemed to simmer down, going so far as to smile at poor Larry who all but had a stroke at the sight.

She was soft-spoken and kind, the new girl, and seemed to exude a warm comfort that made all your tensions melt away. 

Being only a few doors away She and Sal became fast friends. Her parents were rarely home, their jobs keeping them out of town on business trips more often than not, so they hung out a lot when they weren’t in school. Even though they’d become so close, Sal hadn’t yet revealed the dark past of the apartments, or the presence of the ghosts. Not that it really mattered as she seemed to know something was amiss within the building. She would avoid the basement at all costs, unless visiting Larry, and would regularly explore around the fifth floor on her own. 

It also become obvious pretty quickly how musically inclined she was- Her parents had a keyboard set up in the living room and, in her own room, here was a small assortment of lap harps, a ukulele and even a couple of little flutes. Larry joked on multiple occasions that she was a siren and that, one day, she’d lure everyone to the eerie temple under the basement to eat them. Sal laughed at first but, honestly, that wouldn’t be beyond their particular brand of weird anymore. 

Even the ghosts found her presence odd, as Megan had repeatedly remarked to Sal how brightly s/o glowed when she explored the upper floor. The more Megan said it, the more the curiosity ate at Sal’s mind. There was just something different about her, and everyone in the building knew it and even acknowledged it to some degree, even Todd. The possibilities of her being someone, or something, potentially connected to the cult was driving him crazy. He needed to know what she was.

And Sal got lucky during winter break, when he ran into her, almost literally, on the fifth floor. He’d walked out of the elevator and headed over to 503 to hang out with Megan, since Larry was sick with a cold and Todd was out with his parents, and was surprised to hear a soft melody coming from the abandoned apartment. Cautiously, he inched the door open, Gear Boy at the ready, just in case. 

In the middle of the empty living room was s/o, sat in the center of the room with a small silver harp in her hands, singing softly along to the tune she plucked. Sal could feel his jaw drop open as the most incredible feeling of blissful peace washed over him like a breeze; It was like every worry, stressor, ache and pain just melted away. After a moment, he recognized a head of tousled purple hair from beside s/o, and Megan waved to Sal excitedly from her spot on the rug.

“Sally Face! Hi!”

S/o jumped in surprise so hard her nail clipped a string on her harp, abruptly ending her soft melody in a sharp twang. She stared at Sal with eyes like dinner plates, nearly as pale as Megan. 

“S-Sal, uhm.. Fancy seeing you here! Wow you surprised me!” She laughed nervously, tucking some stray hair behind her ear. “Sorry, I um.. I came up here to practice! You know, with my harp! Its just so quiet with no one here…”

Megan was staring between the two of them, looking a little lost for words. “S/o, Sally can see me too, I thought I already told you that?” 

S/o’s head whipped to her so fast it looked painful, before she turned back to Sal, mouth working on forming words that just wouldn’t come out. Megan began laughing merrily before getting up to move to Sal.

“She can see me! Even without your little game thingie, Sally Face! Isn’t that so cool?”

Sal agreed, slowly moving to sit across from s/o as Megan, seemingly sensing that the older kids needed a minute, wandered off and disappeared through the adjacent wall.

“I um.. I guess I owe you an explanation..?”

“Only if you’re okay with it. If Megan trusts you, then so do I…” Sal trailed off, more than a little afraid to hear what she had to say.

She smiled, setting her little harp aside, “Well, I appreciate that… Truth is, Sally… I’m here to help you. Well, everyone in Nockfell, really.” She paused, picking at her nails for a second before continuing, “I was sent to help ease the souls corrupted by the Devourers of God. And to help weaken the demons they’re interacting with. It’s um..” She sighed, looking more than a little troubled.

“Listen, I’m not supposed to tell you any of this but.. you trust me, and you already know more about those monsters than you should, so I think its only fair that I trust you, too.” 

She closed her eyes and hummed a slow tune, and it filled the apartment with a wave of that warm comfort again. After a few notes, she stopped, the feeling slowly creeping away into the cold recesses of the room. 

“You feel that, right?” He nods slowly, pigtails bobbing into view. “Well.. that’s how I’m helping. I sing and my music brings peace and comfort to the souls around me, living or deceased. Sal… Sally, I’m an angel…” She whispered the admission, wringing her fingers nervously, eyes trained to a worn spot on the rug beneath them.

Sal was quiet for a moment, digesting the fact that, not only were angels real, but that he had been hanging out and playing video games and eating pizza rolls with one for the better part of 2 years. And that she watched Saturday morning cartoons with him and snorted when she laughed to hard. And that an angel was the one who nearly burned Lisa’s kitchen down, trying to teach Larry how to make cookies last Christmas. And that an angel was one of his dearest friends.

Smiling behind his prosthetic, Sal reached out and covered s/o’s hands with his own, holding them gently. “Well.. that’s not the weirdest thing I’ve heard… But it’s definitely the coolest,” he chuckled quietly, earning a surprised snort from her. “Pretty cool to know that angels have to study Algebra and suffer just like the rest of us.”

S/o was fully laughing now, her eyes just a little misty. She turned her hands over to lace fingers with Sal’s, her smile gentle and, maybe not so surprisingly, radiant.

“Thank you, Sally.”

————

Your fingers were gentle as they moved to the upper strap of his mask and Sal couldn’t help the goosebumps that erupted over his skin at the soft feeling of your fingers in his his hair, brushing against his scalp.

You moved slowly, gently positioning your hands to take hold of the corners of his mask. Your eyes stayed on his, offering reassurance, searching for any sign of hesitance. Yet, even at your pace, generous as to allow Sal to stop you should he change his mind, you found none.

Lifting his mask from his face you kept your expression decidedly neutral, forcedly blank, fearing that even the smallest quirk of lip or brow may discourage Sal from letting your eyes rove the finally bared skin of his face.

Deep scars marred pale flesh, hard, heavy lines pulled tight over his skin. Even now, so many years later, you could see where chunks had been ripped from his face, a portion of his upper lip entirely missing, torn away and replaced by scar tissue. His nose was bent, crooked and disfigured, and his right eye was a patchwork of scars and stitching. But, what struck you more than anything, was the look in Sal’s eye. He looked so completely vulnerable, moreso than you’d ever seen him. You could see it too in the set of his shoulders, hard and stiff, the way his lips pursed hard together in a forced expression of calm.

Your expression softened as one of your hands raised to ever so gently cradle Sal’s jaw, thumb rubbing just slightly over one of the more deeply ingrained scars along his skin. As you smiled at him, soft and loving, you could feel Sal’s tension drop.

You were looking at him, smiling at him, gaze still holding as much love now as they had before. Somewhere, Sal had known you would never have thought of him differently for his appearance, but to have the fear put so completely to rest was the release of a weight Sal hadn’t even been aware he’d been carrying. Even as he found his eyes stinging, growing misty, you just kept smiling, fond, loving.

“Can I kiss you Sal?”

“Mhmm. I mean, uh. Y-yeah. Sure.” Unable to help but chuckle at an answer so completely and wholly Sal you grinned even more brightly, smile fading only as you pressed your lips to his.

You were gentle, slow; you knew Sal had never done this before, and with so much going on in the moment you feared overwhelming him. Still, he responded well, all things considered, slowly beginning to follow your lead as his marred lips moved against yours.

Though Sal’s hands stayed clasped in front of him, fingers fiddling, unsure just what to do with them, his mouth began to press closer to yours, body leaning towards you. Even as you pulled away Sal found himself lingering, rooted to the spot, some part of him still wishing for your warmth, your lips on his.

“I love you Sal.” As if he wasn’t blushing enough your words made him burn all the darker, ears flaming red; he’d heard the words a hundred times before, spoken them himself just as much, yet in the moment he couldn’t help but flush.

“Love you too Y/n.”

A moment passed in comfortable, adoring silence, though just as you turned to grab Sal’s mask for him you heard him call out to you again.

"do you guys ever let go of each-other?" larry chuckled as he grabbed a marshmallow and impaled it on his stick.

"not really." you smiled at sal as he continued to hold you in his warm embrace.

"you guys are so in love, it kinda makes me sad that i don't have that." larry huffed.

"didn't you have a girlfriend like- last week, larry?" sal laughed.

larry rolled his eyes playfully and held the marshmallow over the fire, watching as the marshmallow began to bubble up and turn brown.

"you know, i'm sick of third-wheeling. you want to know why? because, i'm starting to enjoy my time here with you guys. even if you're all lovey dovey." he playfully rolled his eyes.

"please, you love spending time with us." sal breathed out.

larry wouldn't admit it, but he loved seeing his two best-friends together. larry has never seen sal smile more, and since he's dated y/n, he's become more confident in taking his mask off.

"what time is it?" sal asked, larry pulling out his phone to check the time.

"two in the morning." larry answered, before tucking his phone back in his pocket.

"wanna pull an all-nighter?" you asked, looking between your boyfriend and your best-friend.

"you always have the best ideas, y/n." sal commented, removing the buckles of his mask to slide it up and give you a kiss on the cheek.