"Lenny Summers will always be better than Javier. Suck it up," I scoff and snatch the controller out of Larry's hands. "I can't listen to your bullshit any longer, we're watching Mulan."

"UM EXCUSE YOU?" he gasps and snatches it back.

"HEY! My room, my rules!" I reach for the controller again, but he quickly stands up and holds it out of my reach.

"I'm taller, so I can do whatever I want," Larry sneers.

"Oh, get off your high horse. Lenny could read twice as well as you can now when he was fifteen."

"Why does every chapter start with you guys arguing and getting me involved?" Sal pulls me back on his lap, making me let out a yelp of surprise.

"What?" Larry asks, confused.

"Yeah, what chapters?" I question him, trying to break free from his grasp.

"Nothing. Stop moving," Sal sighs, hugging my waist.

"Not until Larry admits that Lenny Summers is better than Javier Escuella!" I declare.

"Larry, just say it. I wanna cuddle."

"Fine, Lenny is better. But we are not watching Mulan for the second time this weekend," Larry grunts and finally gives the controller back to me.

"Whatever. What are we... watching?" I pause to let Sally Face yank me onto his lap and almost aggressively hug me close.

"There's this cool horror movie about these mushroom weirdos worshipping their dead mom in the middle of a forest," Larry suggests. "It's called Gaia."

"Sounds good to me," Sal shrugs.

"Okay," I say.

Sal contently rests his chin on my shoulder while I turn on the movie and watch the trees go by. The camera work is really awesome. However, not fifteen minutes in, Sal is reaching under my sweater.

"No," I whisper to him.

He says nothing and removes his hand. I sigh and shift a bit, but he grabs my waist to hold me still. Ughhhhhh let me get uuuuup. Unfortunately, Sal cannot read minds, so I'm stuck here for another hour and twenty minutes. Whatever, I'm tired. I ignore the lady screaming as she pulls a stick out of her foot and turn around so I'm straddling Sal and can hug him.

He pets my hair softly and lifts his mask slightly to kiss my forehead. I press my ear against his chest and slowly drift off to the sound of his heartbeat. 

"Y/n. N/n. Child. Idiot. Friend. You are not watching Gaia. Stop hugging Sal and pretending it's Lenny," Larry pokes my side.

"I'm trying to sleep, and I'm not pretending he's Lenny," I push his hand away.

"You better not be," Sal adds.

"I'm not. Let me sleep."

"Nooo, you guys are so boring when you're together," Larry whines.

"Do you wanna hang out with just Sal then?" I sigh. I'm tired, bro.

"Nah, he only talks about you whenever you're not in the room," the taller teen sighs.

"We could go ghost hunting," Sally Face suggests.

"That's... actually a good idea. What say you, Y/n?"

"I'm down."

And the adventure begins.

The three of us are now bundled up in coats, trudging through the snow and overgrown weeds outside the church. Sal has his GearBoy and Larry is carrying a flashlight. I have a gold cross necklace in my left hand, and Sal's hand in my right.

"Hey, I'm getting something," Sal says.

I glance over to see the screen on his GearBoy lighting up brighter than I've ever seen it before, and Sal squeezes my hand comfortingly. I briefly scrutinize our surroundings to see where the signal is coming from, only to be met by this horrible sound, like layered shrieks from dying angels in God's choir and nails on a chalkboard, tied together in some twisted harmony. A sickly looking man appears over a nearby grave, muscles and bones before skin and hair.

"Holy shit," I squeak.

"Hi, my name is Sal," my boyfriend pipes up, calm as ever, like this is normal and healthy in nature. "This is Y/n, and this is Larry."

"What do you want from me, kid?" he grunts. His skin is a lot more unsaturated than what I assume a regular ghost's would be, and his eye bags and reddish nose insinuate he died of illness.

"Just some information, if you don't mind. Do you know anything about the cult?" Sal questions.

"I was in it."

"Can you tell us anything?"

The man sighs and coughs heavily before continuing, "Burn the church and what's below it. Burn Packerton's apartment. Burn the entire complex down, and bomb the dungeon. And most of all, burn Addison."

"Be gay, do crime. And that crime is arson, as preferred," I grin. ()

"Whatever you need to stay motivated," he chuckles and instantly pays for it with a small coughing fit, grimacing at the ache in his lungs.

The wretched screeching noise returns briefly and the sickly man disappears, skin and hair, then bones and muscle, just like before. Well, this has been interesting, but I'm gonna get frostbite if we continue to loiter around.

"So... Are we actually going to commit arson?" Larry breaks the awkward silence.

"Uh, no," I blink.

"We aren't?" Sal asks, puzzled.

I look him dead in the eye, "I love you, but what the actual fuck?"

"I think it's time to go home," Larry shivers. "I'm freezing, man."

Sal and I nod in agreement, and I put the necklace in my pocket. It's good that the church isn't far from the Addison Apartments, because I hate the cold. The snow crunches under our feet on the sidewalk, making me cringe.

"Hello, children. What were you doing out so late?" Addison peers at us through his mail slot as soon as we enter the building. 

"Just taking a midnight walk around a spooky graveyard. Doing drugs and shoplifting. Normal, sane people activities," I assure him.

"If you say so. Stay warm, dear children," he lets the metal flap on his door fall shut.

"You too," Sal replies.

The three of us head to my apartment for tea and whatever else we can find in the back of the pantry. Larry and Sal are whispering about something on the couch, so I just ignore their suspicious behavior and start warming up mugs of hot water. I sit on the counter and munch on an apple, swinging my legs while the tea steeps.

"Yeah, but they..."

"Don't tell them..."

I pick up on snippets of their conversation. Why are they keeping secrets? I sigh and toss out my apple core. I then bring the tea over to them. I notice Larry elbow Sal when I walk over. Whatever. They can be rude if they want to. I just won't talk to them unless they talk to me.

"Thanks, love," Sal ruffles my hair. 

"You're welcome," I smile halfheartedly before going into my room and shutting the door behind me. 

This is bothering me so much, and for what? For what? Come on, tell me, brain. One good reason that doesn't have to do with overthinking.

...

You suck at your job. I sigh and change into a pair of black sweatpants and a loose graphic tee. Oh my god, why is it so hotttt? Because the whole place is falling apart, and the ventilation sucks. David and Sara are getting frostbite right now. I plop down on my bed and glare at the ceiling. I shift uncomfortably for about ten minutes before I finally realize what feels wrong. My door is closed and Sal isn't with me. Ehhhhh, but I don't feel like going out there and pretending not to notice their whispering.

Fortunately, I don't have to. Sal knocks on my door just moments later. I get up to open my door with a bored frown on my face.

"I've gotta go. My dad wants me home tonight. Sorry, pet," he kisses my forehead. "Larry's mom is mad at him, though, so he was wondering if he could stay. Doesn't wanna ask you, of course."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. Tell him he can stay. I love you, Sally Face," I smile tiredly.

"I love you too, Y/n Face," he kisses my lips softly and is out the door seconds later. Damn, I don't really want to sleep on my own after what we saw in the churchyard, though.

"Y/n?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I... Can I sleep with you? I'm sorta freaked out by the whole 'creepy dude obsessed with arson' thing," Larry rubs the back of his neck.

"Of course, I was just thinking about asking you the same thing, actually," I confess.

"Good to know I'm not the only one who's still jumpy about ghosts and stuff," he chuckles and sets his empty mug on the coffee table.

"Yeah," I smile softly. "You coming or not?"

"Yeah, just a second," Larry nods and pulls out his phone. I run a hand through my hair and head back to bed. I decide to text Sal for a few minutes.

Sal // Y/n

Hey

Hey

I miss u

I miss u too heh

R u scared by the creepy ghost stuff?

Not really

Interesting

U should go to sleep now it's getting late

Alright gn bear <3

Gn pet

I turn off my phone and sigh. Larry waltzes in just seconds after I do and picks me up to set me on the other side of the bed.

"Why?"

"Because I refuse to sleep by the wall, that's why."

"But... Why?"

"Because," he sighs and smiles contently with closed eyes.

"You're strange," I chuckle.

"No, you're strange," Larry declares. 

"I said it first."

"I said it last."

"You're still strange."

"Fine by me."

Just as he says that, I can hear the sound of hail hitting the roof and echoing through the fifth floor. Calm down, it's just hail. It almost sounds like rain. There's no thunder, you have no reason to be scared. Deep breaths...

"You don't like hail?"

I shake my head and swallow hard. I shut my eyes and take another deep breath. You're okay, it's just a little ice. It sounds just like the rain, even though it's chunks of ice that could end up giving someone a concussion if it hits them. Oh my Gods, shut up, shut up, shut up!

I hug the blue stuffed animal Sal gave me, but it doesn't help me calm down very much. Just as I'm about to get up and take some melatonin/[other sleep aid if melatonin doesn't work for you], Larry sighs and wraps his arms around me. I freeze at first, surprised, but eventually contour my posture to his to be more comfortable. 

"Good night, dude/dudette."

"Night, Larry."

...

I slowly open my sleepy eyes as daylight filters through my curtains. Wait, Sal doesn't hug me like this in his sleep. Who the hell is in my... Oh, it's Larry... OH, IT'S LARRY. Should I wake him up? Ehh, probably not. I'll wait for a little while, and if he doesn't get up, I'll just get out from under his arms. I close my eyes again and try to match my breathing with his for a few minutes. 

"What the hell...?" Larry mutters in a slightly hoarse and tired voice. "Oh, right." He yawns and nuzzles my neck. AYO???

"Good morning," I yawn. 

"Morning," he mumbles. 

"Come on, time to get up," I say. 

"No. I'm still tired, and I'm making it your problem," his hot breath against my skin made it hard for me to stay still. 

"Whatever," I sigh and hug one of his arms to my chest. "I'm going back to sleep then."

"Same," Larry sighs and pulls me a little closer. 

It's nice to be close enough to someone to cuddle and sleep with them platonically without things being awkward or uncomfortable. I close my eyes again and try to drift off again. Who knew I could be this tired after waking up? Just as I'm about to fully lose consciousness, I feel someone shake me awake. What the hell...?

"Leave me alone, you just said you were going back to sleep," I groan. 

"What...?" Larry grumbles. "Stop moving."

"Larry. Why are you sleeping with my partner/boyfriend/girlfriend?" I hear Sal's voice, and immediately my eyes snap open.

"Sal?" Larry groans and takes his arms off of me to sit up.

"Why are you sleeping with Y/n in their bed?" Sal repeats patiently.

"We were both freaked out by the weird ghost that died of like TB or something, so we didn't wanna be alone," he rubs his eyes and stretches.

"Yeah. I got scared of the hail storm, which is why Larry fell asleep hugging me," I add, also sitting up and yawning.

"Hey, why are you here?" Larry asks suddenly.

"I was going to wake them up so we could get lunch. I figured you would have left by now," Sally Face crosses his arms and shifts his weight, looking down at me.

"Well, don't worry. I texted you because I was scared, but I didn't want you to get in more trouble. Especially since Larry was already here," I assure him.

"Alright, I trust you. Please just... let me know, if this happens in the future. I was really worried for a minute," Sal sighs and pushes a few loose strands of hair away from his mask.

"Okay," I smile.

"Yes sir," Larry mocks me.

"THIS IS WHY THE ONLY TIME WE CUDDLE IS WHEN I'M SCARED!" I try to shove Larry off my bed, but he manages to catch himself.

"Aww, you're blushing," he sneers.

"Get out. You're done. You're done. Banned from the daycare, bitch. You were girlbossing too close to the sun," I grab a pillow and hit the taller boy with it as hard as I can.

"Shut up, you swallow Sal's glitter glue like twice a day," he cackles and snatches up a pillow to hit me back 

"What?" Sal asks.

"It's from sECuRItY Breach-!" I aggressively hit Larry with my pillow over and over while blocking a few attempts to get me back.

"I surrender, LET ME BREATHE, BITCH," Larry laughs and drops his pillow beside him on the bed.

"That's what I thought, Lar-bear," I grin smugly and toss my pillow aside.

"Shut the fuck up," he groans.

"Does anyone wanna explain what the daycare is? And also the glitter glue thing?" Sally Face is definitely furrowing his brows under his mask, even though I can't see.

"You go to the daycare in the game Security Breach, but this animatronic named Sun tries to stop you from turning off the lights to keep you safe, and when you go by the light switch, they get scared and offer googly eyes and glitter glue and whatever. Oh, and people simp for them and say glitter glue instead of-"

"Okay, that's enough. Thank you, Larry, please shut up now. Also, you get banned from the daycare in the game," I chuckle nervously and clap a hand over Larry's mouth.

"Wait, so he meant you swallow my..."

"Yeah," Larry pulls my hand away from his face and smirks.

I glare back at him as my face heats up, "And just for the record, I don't."

"You sure? It took you a while to deny it, and Sal's ears are pink, which means he's blushing," the taller boy raises his brows at me.

"Yes, Larry. I am sure. I am also sure that you need to stop talking."