Sal and Larry x reader hurt/comfort one shot
TW: Abusive parents, panic attack, angst, crappy writing
Relationships: Platonic with hints at a crush on Larry
Wanted to do a little fanfic for my feels after being inspired by this playlist!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FGOuYP0x88
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You tapped your pencil anxiously on your desk, watching the clock. You could never understand how you were so ready to leave, but not to go home. School was awful, but home.. Was even worse. You don't know what you even wanted anymore, and it tears you apart inside. But there was someone noticed the taps, two someones actually. Two classmates on either side of the room, ever since the teacher separated them. Both of them were your friends, and both were very much trouble, well mostly the tall one. The shorter blue haired boy was still trouble, but the kinda of trouble that you just know he didn't bring on himself. But they were your friends, and they you loved them, even with all the weird stories they told you about their "ghost hunting". Ghosts you believed, but cults? Demons? It all seemed too far fetched to truly believe, but you supported them. You listened to their stories all night over the phone, and wished more than anything, that you could go with them. To call your parents protective, would be a offensive at this point. They smothered you, painfully so, and your relationship with them, was rocky, on the good days. The thoughts of home and the tense there, swirled dangerously in your mind, as you watch the clock. It wasn't even lunch, but you were worried about going home already, and your pencil showed this, when it wasn't tapping, thanks to the dirty looks you got, it was between your teeth, taking the brunt of your emotions.
Sal was the first to notice this, as Larry was too busy doodling. Once the teacher turned to the board scratching the assignment loudly, Sal lobbed a paper ball across the room at the taller teen, nailing him in the head and making it nestle into his long and greasy hair. The teen looked up with a start, remembering the world outside of his little doodle page. He picked the paper ball from his head, and read it, knowing Sal's hand writing right away, and peaked at the other, before he read: "Are they alright today?" Larry looked from the paper, to Sal, who nodded toward you.
You had already laid your head down to keep from snapping the pencil in your teeth, taking to staring at the desk in the darkness your arms created around your head. Larry looked at you, furrowing his brow, then looked to Sal again, who gave a soft head tilt as Larry turned back to his paper, flipping a page, and quietly ripping it out, scribbling, and yeeting it to Sal at the earliest possibility. By now, you could hear them, you know the sound of paper balls smashing the two boys in the face from a mile away, but you didn't lift your head, simply looked at through the little crack in your arm where you could see Sal's desk and hands moving to read a new note. But you were too anxious to really think of anything else, other than they were plotting a hunt or a smoke sesh after school, so you shut your eye's again.
Sal folded out the note, smoothing it with his large hands, wondering why Larry always had to crumble it to death like that, the pencil was smudged and the wrinkles were over the top, but he still could read it, he had learned to read Lar's awful hand writing ages ago, a skill you had yet to pick up. Once he straightened the paper out, and read the very simple, and unnecessarily small text of "ditch x3?" Sal lifted his head and looked at Lar, you, the clock, and then back to Lar, tapping his wrist like it had a watch and gave a shrug, to ask him “when”. Larry smirked and leaned back into his chair some, looking up to the teacher, she had long fell asleep at her desk after writing the pages to read on the board, she pretended she was simply reading her own book, but the faint snore wasn't missed. The other kids had either gone to sleep too, or was fucking off more than them. Lar gave a glance back to Sal and his smirk turned into a shit eating grin, as he mouthed "Now." to the other teen, and nodded toward the window next to Sal. Sal's eyes widened behind his mask, they usually would ditch between classes, not DURING them. But he worried for you, he knew you wouldn't tell them about your home anymore, last time, Larry and you argued. It was like you didn't know what they did to you was abuse, or if you did, you didn't want to hear it. So you started to clam up about it, despite Larry prying till you both fought again. You two were often compared to a married couple, you bickered over things, but everyone figured it was cause you both we're just as stubborn as the other. Sal came back from his thoughts, glancing from Larry to the window. Larry still smiling, leaning forward again, motioning his hand to open the window, trying to encourage the bad deeds.
Sal was a bit panicked at the idea, but caved, turning to the window next to him, and leaned over his desk to very softly push on it, begging it to be silent. It slid up with a little pop of air coming through, which caught the attention of a few people, including you, but thankfully, not the teacher, who just snored louder. Sal put a finger to his mask as the class looked at him. Some rolled their eyes, others snickered softly, but they all went back to their lives, but not you, you popped your head up and looked at him, with questioning eyes, before turning to Larry and raising a brow. Larry was practically out of his chair already, his stuff gathered to his side as Sal very anxiously slipped the window up enough to fit a person. You turned you attention to the window again, seeing Sal's things kicked toward the window as well, and gave a chuckle, along with a couple other students that were gawking, but you had to stop yourself from making a noise as a paper ball smacked the back of your head. You rolled your eyes before grabbing it and laying it out flat, squinting at the shitty hand writing on the mangled paper. "come with?" read the small text with a little ghost drawn other it.
Your eyes searched it frantically, looking for the joke, but when you whipped your head up to look to Larry, he was standing above you, bag over his shoulder, waiting for your answer right next to you. You wanted to speak but you didn't even know what to say if you were going to. Larry simply gave a breathy chuckle and mouthed "scared?" at you. Your eyes narrowed at him, a challenge? Fuck it then. You stuffed your stuff in your bag as fast as you could while being quiet, and slung it over your shoulder and joined Sal next to the window, with Larry not far behind you. But you could feel eyes on you, eyes filled with anger, and not "what are these chuckle fucks doing now?" like the others, you looked up to see Travis, the local homophobic homo. Once your eyes met, he glared daggers at you, and whipped his head around, looking toward the teacher. Larry's half lidded eyes widened, and his head went back a little in shock. Sal had gathered his bag and swung a leg out the window, and before he could fully hop out, he heard the boys voice ring out loudly. "They're skipping class again!" he screamed, his voice cracking, causing students to snicker, as the teacher woke with a start.
"Aw, shit, fucking Travis." Larry grumbled out, and turned to the window, where Sal had already hopped out and waited, but you were stuck stunned as the teacher rose from their desk and looked at you both. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, GET IN YOUR SEATS!" Larry snagged your arm, giving a soft shake and leaned down to you. "Come on, we gotta go now, or not at all." He said in your ear, before ducking his lanky limbs out the window and rolling out next to Sal with a laugh. Both looked up at you, the teacher closing in on you. "Back in your seat!" She screamed as she moved closer, reaching for you. Sal took a couple steps back, trying to put distance between the window, and get a head start, but Larry didn't budge, he watched you, with half lidded eyes. You glanced from the teacher to the window again, before sucking in air, and just straight up jumped out, like you were about to take a nice slide down a slip n slide, but instead of a nice slide, you just belly flopped out with a pathetic little slide, earing a laugh from Larry who helped scoop you up, and the three of you started to run from the grounds, hearing the teachers screams fade till all that was left was the sounds of your shoes padding away quickly.
Once you reached the fence at the end of the school's property, the two teens, easily hopped it, tossing their things over to the first over, which was Sal, who caught them and tossed them to the ground. You could tell they did this, like a lot. Once Larry was over, he turned to look at you, as you were sizing the fence up. "Heh, come on, you can't hop a window, OR a fence?" you narrowed your eyes again, this man could really push your buttons. "Not all of us can just step over it, you long legged ass." You grumbled scaling it, biting back your nerves. Once at the top, you swung your legs over, and sat at the top railing for a moment, looking at the ground. You were hardly higher than Larry, but something about being higher than the tall bastard was sending you for a loop. "Come onnnn, I'll catch you!" Larry finally said with a smirk, holding out his arms. Oh that was it, he's gonna catch you alright, with his fucking face. You hefted yourself off the rail and straight at the other teen, expecting his little lanky ass to crumble like his paper balls under your weight from that height. But instead the wind was knocked from you for a second time, as you were easily caught by the boy. His arms pressed hard around you with the catch, and he stumbled a tiny bit, but you were still safe, feet but a foot or two off the ground, dangling in his arms, like a rag doll as you tried to figure out what even happened.
You looked up, the boy's nose painfully close to your face, that was now heating up at the closeness. "I told you I would catch you." He said with a chuckle, not helping your embarrassment. You gave a weak wiggle in the boys arms, trying to signal to just drop you already from the bear hug. "Jesus...Fuck. How did you even catch me, noodle arms?" Larry was about to release you, before that comment, but instead his grin widened and he squeezed you tightly to his chest, showing off just how much more strength he had. You let out a breathy squeak, caught off guard by the pressure, before you heard a loud pop, and your eyes widened a little. He had popped your back in the most amazing way, and you both looked at each other, questioning if that just happened, before all three of you bust into laughter, Larry finally putting you down. "If the married couple is ready, we're not too far from school, and uhhh." Sal said, pointing up to the security guards, huffing as they ran to the fence, starting to yell for them to stop. "Oh shit, let's go." Larry said, grabbing his bag, and then yours, hefting both over his shoulders and taking off first. You and Sal quickly joined them, the sound of feet and backpacks shuffling away as you all left behind the guards.
"When you gonna carry my bag, dude?" Sal huffed and puffed behind his mask, adjusting the bag filled with most of their ghost hunting things, he turned to look at the tall teen, hefting the two bags. "When you belly flop out a window then get your spine cracked in a bear hug, I guess." He snickered and looked back to you, who tried your best to keep up, but again, they seem to do this, a lot, and had you beat in the running department... and the jumping.. actually let's stop thinking about that. Sal snickered and as the three of you ran till your were far enough to not worry anymore, so you all slowed down to a nice walk, which you welcomed. As you three walked Sal pulled out his phone and started to send a text, you trotted to walk beside him and smiled. "Texting Todd?" You questioned, which gained a smile from the boy that you could see in his eyes, even behind the mask. "Yeah, he's probably not going to ditch, but I like to let him know at least." Larry sighed, his usual slouch ruined by the two bags, forcing him to actually stand straight. "He never ditches, but it's cool, we just do small snooping without him." Sal gave a nod and stuffed the phone back in his pocket. "Yeah, he's got grades to keep up, so he doesn't like ditching."
Larry laughed, shifting the backpacks on his back, with a shake of his head. "Yeah, I'm glad I don't have to worry about that." You rolled your eyes, giving a tug to your bag to take it from him. "Ever think, maybe you should?" You teased, looking him up and down. He simply rolled his eyes and let the bag drop into your hands with the tug and shruged. "I make Cs, that's good enough for mom, it's good enough for me." Sal chuckled and looked over his shoulder at him "What about the F in chem Lisa was just yelling at you about this morning?" Larry frowned and groaned, "I forgot about that honestly." he said, his smirk coming back, earning a laugh from you both. A silence washed over you three as you walked, once the teasing and questions were aside, but you enjoyed the nice silence as they lead you into the woods. "Sooo," you finally interrupted the silence, wiping sweat from your brow. "Where are we even going?" You looked from one teen to the other, before Sal spoke. "There's this weird little house out here." Larry nodded and raised his hands, wiggling his fingers in a "spooky" fashion. "Yeah it's fucking creepy as hell. No one remembers it ever being there, no address for it or anything." he dropped his arms, and rolled his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. "And it's completely empty." Sal added, pulling his phone back out as it vibrated. "Other than some like, really, really old, dusty furniture." Larry continued, watching the other tapping away on the flip phone, before pocketing it again.
"Todd said the whole school is freaking out about us." Sal looked at the two of you, a smile behind his mask. Larry threw back his head with a laugh, "Oh man, were so boned." Sal hummed in agreement, but you stopped in your tracks. You couldn't take another step, as panic took over you. Gripping the straps of your bag, you looked at the ground, completely zoned, thinking about what would happen when you went home. You'd never be allowed to do basically anything, ever again. You'd be surprised if they didn't padlock you out of your room...again. Larry and Sally came to a stop as well, looking at you. "Y/N?" Sal asked, worry in his tone, but you didn't respond, your brain was going a mile a minute and didn't even hear him. Larry started snapping his fingers to bring you back, "Y/N? Come on dude, I can't have you both starting this zoning out thing." You looked at Larry with a start. "Hu-huh? Oh.. sorry I just uh..." You trailed off, eyes falling back to the ground, the thoughts trying to close back in. You wondered if you'd have a room left when you came back, would it be all thrown outside? All your things, your sketch books, your clothes, your bed, your cat? You shook your head and shut your eyes tight, wincing at the thought.
Sal put an oversized hand on your shoulder, while Larry slipped his fingers around yours and held your hand so tenderly, you could feel it through your freak out. You looked at them both, trying to pretend you didn't have tears in your eyes, knowing it was a lie. Sal finally spoke again, rubbing the hand on your shoulder for a moment. "You're worried about your folks, huh?" his voice was comforting, like the one you'd hear from someone that loved you dearly, it was almost strange for you to hear that from someone, did you really never get to hear that tone from anymore else? "Yeah, don't worry about it tho-" Larry squeezed your hand, you could see he was upset, you knew the look he had when he was upset, his brows would knit together, and he couldn't stop from frowning, almost looking like a pouting child. But you saw restraint in his eyes, like he was, for once, biting his tongue. "Y/N just-" He started but sighed and looked away, his hand never leaving yours though. You felt bad, you knew what he wanted to say, and you didn't know if you could fight this time.
You came from this train of thoughts as well, when Sal slid his hand down your arm, to catch your free hand in his, like Larry. The both of them, on either side of you, holding you hands gently, their love pouring through their palms. It reminded you of those cute pictures you've seen, where parents hold the hands of their kids as they walk. It was then, that you were absolutely certain, no one had shown you love like this. Love that you didn't question, that you didn't fear. Love that you can actually feel. It felt really nice, you couldn't help it anymore, your eyes dropped to the ground, as tears ran down your cheeks, a small sob escaping your lips. Sal's hand seemed to hold yours even more gently, where Larry's tightened, you could truly feel their emotions, and how they handled yours differently. It was beautiful, and grounding, but still the tears fell.
Larry was steaming mad, but he wouldn't let you know, he hated your parents, he was so pissed about how they treated you. If they weren't abusing you emotionally and mentally, they were neglecting you to go do whatever they wanted and left you alone. And when they weren't doing either of those, they had the nerve to gaslight you, till you wouldn't listen to your friends, even though they loved you. He wanted to speak, say what he wanted to for weeks now, but he knew there would be venom in his voice that he couldn't stop, so it was Sal that broke the silence. "Y/N... Me and Lar have been talking." He glanced to the taller teen, before looking back to you, as you stared a hole into the grass. "And we've been talking to our parents..." He continued, but this time Larry spoke up, more aggressively than he meant to, "Yeah and-" he lowered his tone when he noticed you flinch, sadness creeped into his heart when he saw that, and he vowed, he'd never make you do that again. But he continued his sentence, with the softest and most loving tone his anger allowed. "An-And we want you to move in with us." He finally got it out, but why did he feel his cheeks heating up? Why was he suddenly so nervous? It was his idea, he brought it up to Sal weeks ago, and after talking, and getting the evidence he needed to show both their parents, they agreed without a hesitation. Their parents had already started to make their relationship more serious, talking about marriage, but even then, they couldn't stand what they heard about your parents. Sal's dad and Larry's mom had reactions, similar to their sons. Soft pitty, and bitter anger. Lisa even talked about fighting their parents, but they decided that instead, taking them in was the best option.
You looked up quickly when he told you, looking between the two of them. They we're joking right? They had to be. But it wasn't a bad idea, and you'd be lying if you said you didn't think about it. Late at night, when your parents fought, you put your headphones on, to drown them out, thinking about what it'd be like to live in the apartments with Sal, Larry, and Todd. You never really said it, but you wanted to move into them when you were able to, and well, you just kind of forgot, you would be able to do that soon. You were only months from your 18th birthday, Larry was even closer, where Sal had already hit his. It made sense for them to even think about this, and you you realized, you could just, never go back. But you couldn't stop staring at them, you just knew it was a lie. Why would they want to live with you? Who even were you living with? They lived in two different apartments.
Larry finally broke the silence again, "Well? Aren't you even going to answer?" He sounded hurt, was it from your pause? Was it because you seemed like you didn't want to? But you finally spoke, "Why?" was all you managed out of the many questions in your head. They both stared at you blinking, they didn't really expect that question you guessed, but you felt Larry's hand grip tighter, and he tugged it, just enough to fully obtain your attention. "What the hell do you mean 'why'? Your parents suck, Y/N. You're fucking scared to even go home." He spoke bluntly but with a calm tone, worried of freaking you out again, and knew this topic never had gone well before. But you softly sighed, you gave both boys a soft squeeze to their hands, catching them both off guard, from the limp fish they felt they were holding earlier. Now, you held their hands back, even stroking a finger over each boys hand, but never looking up. "I know..." your words were flat, and you barely realized you said them. They were true, weren't they? You knew they were, you didn't want them to be, but they were. You didn't want to go home, ever fucking again. You didn't want to hear them yell at you, to belittle you, to use you for a therapist or maid. You wanted to be free.
The boys looked at you for a long time, both caught off guard by the response, but before they could even collect a sentence, you spoke again. "Which of you would I live with?" You finally looked up, Sal smiled behind his mask, his eyes showing it plainly again, but Larry thought his heart was melting still from the way you held his hand back. He never understood how someone who went through something so hard, had such a soft grip. But he had to shake his thoughts from his head, a smile creeping on his face. "Me, of course." He chirped happily, earning a brow raise from you. Sal rolled his eyes, "Neil got a house, it's right down the road from the apartments, and Todd's going to live with him of course, and he invited me to come along." Larry pipped up to finish for his bro, "And I'm hanging back for a bit, I'm not gonna move out just yet, I still haven't figured out if I'm going to college, like these nerds have." he said smirking at Sally, earning an eyeroll. You looked from Sal to Larry for a minute, before looking back to Sal again. "So how shit of a roomie is he?" you question, making Sal chuckle loudly, and earning a scowl from Larry. "The worst." Sally teased, raising a hand to his face and waving it in front of his nose. "His room smells like pot and paint all the time, and he loses everything he touches." Larry narrowed his eyes at the other, "And your mask stinks." He retorted with a smirk. Sal raised a finger and waved it at him, "It's a prosthetic thank you, very much." Larry rolled his eyes and mumbled "A stinky one."
You all laughed and your smile could warm these entire cold, dark woods. You felt so safe and happy with them, and you never even noticed. "Alright." You said with a shrug, dragging both their hands up with it. Larry looked almost shocked, like he never thought you'd agree, but Sal just smiled at you both. "Wait, really?" Larry questioned, still stunned. But you simply looked at him, and gave him the biggest smile you've ever had in your life, tracing a finger over the ring on the boy's finger. "Yeah Larry, I'd love to live with you guys. I really would." It was their turn to join in on the tears, and they finally let go of your hand, before closing in around you, the two of them wrapping their arms around you and each other. You beamed and let out an embarrassed giggle as you hugged their arms to your chest, enjoying the group hug, more than you ever thought you would. You all held each other for a moment, enjoying the comfort of the group hug, you all had a place, and it was together.
But all things come to an end, including the cuddle puddle. Which was rudely interrupted by the loud blaring of your ringer, Sanity Falls, poorly recorded off Larry's stereo on your flip phone. You pulled the phone out, as the boys finally released you, but they didn't move far from your side, peaking at the caller ID on the front. It was your mother. Your stomach bounced from your feet to your throat, and back again, eyes scanning the phone, your hands starting to shake. Sal's eye's grew sad, seeing you so upset. Larry was trying to control his anger, his want to just- Before he could finish his thought, you opened the flip phone up, accepting the call, stunning both boys, not only did they think you'd ignore it, but you always skittered off to answer it when you did. But instead, you just flipped it open, your fingers trembling against it. Your mother's voice blared through the phone, as if it was on speaker, the loud bitch always did have some lungs on her. "Y/N? Where the fuck are you? Why did you leave school? You are in so-" you turned the phone, taking each side of the flip phone in your hands, and snapping it in half, the voice spotting short as you broke it. Larry was stunned, and upset, that's just what he wanted to do. You looked at the halves of the phone, and threw them to the dirt, stomping them in a little, feeling a wave of euphoria wash over you. You looked back up to the boys, almost looking for approval. But before your face could even turn to Larry's, he had scooped you up in another bear hug. "That was fucking metal, Y/N!" He spun you, nearly side swiping Sal with you dangling legs, but he jumped back and pumped a fist in the air. "Hell yeah it was!" He cheered, as the lanky boy finally finished spinning you, put your feet on the ground. You head was spinning, but you couldn't tell if it was the twirl or joy anymore, laughter spilling past your lips, even though tears still formed in your eyes. But for once, the tears weren't painful. But you looked up to Larry, as he put his hands on both sides for you shoulders, looking in your eyes. "I'm proud of you, Y/N." your lip quivered, but you jumped a little when you felt Sal hand on your back. "I am too." his voice was calm and gentle, just like the hug Larry pulled you into, as Sal rested his mask against your shoulder, wrapping his arms around you from behind. You laid your face against Larry's chest, the two of them felt warm and comforting against you, and you smiled as you sobbed softly. "Thank you." You finally choked out. You were finally home.