Hopeless Romantics

Chapter 12 - Larry

HEYO! This chapter is going to be a time skip to when their older now, i had nothing else to write for when their still teens so I decided to do a time skip to when their about 19 years old, right when Sal and Larry move in with Todd and Neil. Also just a little thanks to my friend Auri for giving me some ideas for my last chapter :) love you bestie 😫🙌🏼 /p

*evil laughter*

POV: Sal

"Babe, you ready to go?" I yelled to the bed room, "Yep, One second!" Travis still lived with me in my apartment. About a year ago when I turned 18 my dad and Lisa got married and he moved into the basement so Travis and I got the apartment to ourselves. But the cult and all the ghost shit was getting really overwhelming for us so we're moving in with Todd and Neil. Larry's moving in with all of us too in a couple more weeks so we will all be living together. Maple and Chug live in Chug's parents old apartment and Ashley left for college just six months ago so we won't see them that often anymore.

"Okay I'm ready." Travis came out of the bedroom holding one more box with his name written on the side. "Okay let's go pack up the van." We carried our last few boxes and brought them to the moving van parked outside. My parents and Larry came outside soon after and we all said our goodbyes. We'd only be moving down the street but it was still hard saying bye. I lived in these apartments for almost four years now, I've been through a lot here. Meeting ghosts, putting Charley in jail and finding out he's actually innocent. I still don't believe that though.

We pulled into the driveway of our new home and brought our stuff inside. Travis and I are sharing a room downstairs, Todd and Neil sleep upstairs and Larry gets his own room beside ours. Him and Ashley broke up last summer because of her going to college, Larry's still upset about it but he's getting better. We started unpacking our stuff, I started by putting my clothes away. All of our furniture was brought to the house already so we only had to worry about the little stuff like clothes, bedding and other necessities like that.

——

The next day I got a call from Ashley, she said that she's on spring break so she's coming to visit Knockfell for a couple days to see us. I was talking to Neil upstairs when the doorbell rang, I ran downstairs and opened the door. "Ashley!!" I held out my arms, "Sally Face!" She hugged me, "I missed you, how you been man?" She let go of the hug. "I've been okay, how about you?" "Same. Wanna go to the lake and catch up?" She pointed at her motorcycle. "Damn. Hell yeah."

We sat down by a tree at the lake, "So, be honest this time. How have you been?" She asked. "I've been better to be honest, just stressed with all the moving. Larry's been acting weird recently, and I'm worried something with the cult might happen. I mean now that I'm out of the apartments what if something happens to the people that still live there? I sound stupid don't I?" Ashley sighed, "You don't sound stupid, I get it. I'm sure everything will be okay Sal, don't worry."

We sat in silence for a while, just the sound of the wind rustling the leaves on the trees in the background. "You still having nightmares?" I nodded in response, "Sorry, are they as bad as before?"
"They're... different. It's hard to explain. I've been losing a lot of sleep because of it."
"Are you worried about anything? Sometimes when I'm worried about something or just struggling with something difficult, I'll get nightmares from that."
"I've had this overwhelming sense of dread lately. It doesn't make sense because everything is fine. Everything should be good."
"Have you been taking those meds?"
"Uh, yeah.. well, most of the time."
"You should take them if they help. I have a cousin who struggles with depression too and she said the meds she takes help her a lot."
"I guess they do help. But they also make me feel numb inside, at least with dread I know it's real... or at least really me."
"I think I can understand that. I just want you to be happy Sal. You make sure you call me if you ever need help, or even if you just want to talk. I'm always here for you, right?"
"I know, thanks Ash."
"And I've said this before but you know you don't have to wear that around me."
"My face?"
"Your mask."
"It's like a part of me now, it's the face I wear in public.. the face I wear all the time."
"I just want you to know that you don't have to wear it if you don't want to. It's just you and me out here, no one else is around."
"How have you been?"
"I've been okay. You know... but I'm starting to feel better now that I'm out of the city."
"I thought you liked the city?"
"I love the city, it's great and there's always cool things happening there i just don't love living there. It's so noisy all the time and so crowded. You can't hear yourself think sometimes."
"I can see that."
"The longer you spend there, it starts to feel like your losing connection to nature. As weird as it sounds, I miss Knockfell. I've missed the fresh air, the nature. I miss seeing the starts at night and being able to hang with my friends."
"I've missed you too Ash, though I don't think we'll be seeing any stars tonight. Not with that storm rolling in."
"I noticed that, looks like we might get rained on."
"What about art school?"
"I think I'm gonna take some time off school, I'm feeling pretty burned out."
"Do you think you'll go back?"
"Probably, I just need to figure some things out first. I might take a few classes at the community college while I'm getting my shit together."
"Oh that would be cool Larry's also thinking about going."
"He mentioned that, I was surprised. I didn't think he'd go to college route."
"Me neither."
"It could be like old times again. The whole crew back in school."
"Are you happy?"
"Happy with what?"
"Everything. Life."
"I don't know, that's a hard question. Even though I've had a hard time lately, I try to find things that make me happy. Things that are worth pursuing. Otherwise what's the point, you know?"
"Yeah..."
"I'm happy right now. Are you sure your okay Sal? I'm getting a little worried about you."
"I don't know, I guess I am feeling a little off. It just feels like everything is wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"It feels like nothing puts me at ease. It's like this constant feeling of discomfort like my soul isn't aligned with my body. I just feel like screaming at the sky until it breaks apart."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Let's do it!"
"I don't know.."
"C'mon! I bet you'll feel better!"
Ashley's and I stood up and started screaming at the top of our lungs. It felt nice to be honest.