Roommates * sally face x reader *

Chapter 1

Another long day.
Though, every day felt long. Between school, homework, and my job, every day seemed endless. I thought when I moved out on my own that I would at least get to enjoy the beautiful apartment I so desperately searched for. Though, in the past 8 months that I had lived here, it feels like I never spent more that 2 hours at home a day. Waking hours that is.
Three months in, the long hours I spent away at my job and at school just never seemed to be enough to pay for everything. Inflation had hit extremely and my job could no longer pay for everything. Thankfully, I found a roommate in no time.
A high school friend had stepped up to help out. My empty second bedroom now had a permanent occupant to give it the love and life it deserved. Well, I guess as much as a 21 year old boy could give it. The bed on the floor, the scattered band posters, and the tv on a coffee table was the love and life it received.
The day that he moved in it felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was able to have help around the apartment, as well as another income. After a few weeks out fridge and cabinets were completely stocked with food, something that hadn't happened except for the first week I moved in. All of my family and friends brought over so many home cooked meals that I didn't even have to buy groceries.
Sal and I met our junior year. We both took advanced biology and we're sat at the same dual workstation for the entire year. It didn't take long for us to become close for the last two years of high school. While I left town to go to college, Sal stayed home. He couldn't leave his father, but things have improved in his dad's life and he felt as if it was finally time.
Fate worked out for the both of us. I posted on my Facebook that I was looking for a roommate on the same day that he had decided to move out of the small apartment him and his dad lived in for over 5 years. He was tired of the town. While he had made so many friends, he had also made bad memories and wanted to get away from that. What made his decision even easier was that it was several hours closer to his hometown.
I unlocked the door to my apartment, huffing as the sticky door flung open. On the other side of the door was the living room. Decorated with a cute colorful rug to hide the nasty Manila colored carpet. Over the few months I accumulated multiple pieces of free furniture. An older gray sofa from my aunt, a - surprisingly semi matching - recliner from my grandmother, and a black bean bag chair, given to Sal from his best friend Larry. To the left was a very small kitchen, though it had an island / bar that separated it from the living room. I saw Sal's blue hair pop up from behind the island seconds later.
"Hey! You're home early." He said, kicking some pots and pans back into the poorly sized cabinet at his feet. He looked at me, puzzled. "Why are you home so early?"
"Well, my last class got out early for spring break. The teacher actually just brought in some pizza and drinks and we could leave as we pleased."
"Sooo.. you're not going to want dinner then?" He said, holding up a pot in his hand.
"I will eat dinner, don't worry." I laughed, hanging my bag up in the small closet next to the door. "I didn't really eat anything there. I left once she said we could leave."
Sal chuckled, "Good because I was making something new and I was hoping you'd try it with me."
On Friday Sal would always cook dinner. My classes usually ran til 9:30 at night, and I wouldn't get home until around 10:15. So, he would always cook dinner and leave me a plate in the fridge. It's been his tradition since he moved in. I definitely won't complain though. He cooks very well.
"Something new?" I questioned, sitting at the kitchen island. "Do tell."
"Well, you fry up some chicken and then you make a gravy out of the grease, boil some noodles and mix it all together."
"That sounds terrifying. But, you haven't made something I don't like yet, so I wish you luck."
He smiled at me, "You know, your support is kinda backhanded."
"I've been told."
In the last few months, Sal had been more comfortable with me seeing his face. Normally, he always wears a prosthetic mask. As a young child, he had some sort of accident that left half of his face disfigured. He's extremely self conscious about it and only a few other people have seen it. He's never told me what happened. He just says it was an accident and he was quite young.
"I am going to go take a quick shower, though, while you're cooking that. It was insanely warm out and I've been sweating." I said, standing up - making my way towards the shared bathroom.
"It should be like 30 minutes so hurry up!" He called after me.
I opened the door to the bathroom. It was a good sized bathroom. It had an out dated double sink and a bathtub and shower combo. We had it decorated very oddly. My sink had all of my stuff tucked neatly away in the cabinet below and above, while Sal's was a little less neat. Everything sat on top of the counter. There were photos of calming beach scenes while Sal's added touches were cacti. We had a shelf of just cacti and succulents. We even had a cactus shaped rug. It would be very jarring to the untrained eye honestly.
*
"This is actually really good." I said after taking a large bite. "Where did you find this?"
"Tik Tok honestly. You can find some cool shit on there."
"Yeah I'm not on the recipe Tik Tok that's for sure." I laughed.
"I really don't know how I got there. But, I'm enjoying it."
"How was work today?" I asked after a moment of silence.
"So boring honestly. Nothing fun every happens in a factory."
Sal worked at one of the big factories in town. It was somewhere where he didn't feel like people would judge him. He hates dealing with the public and getting the questions of "What's on your face," and "What happened." Factory people really just don't care about anything but their money.
"No one passed out today?"
"No, surprisingly. They kept it pretty cool inside today, actually. I was kinda happy to go on break cause I was getting a little cold." He laughed. "What about you? How was classes?"
"Boring too. Nothing happened in any of them because of spring break. They mostly just talked about what we needed to do during break and that kind of stuff."
"I really don't miss school."
"I don't blame you. I knew college was going to be hard, but really the only hard part is dealing with the other people."
"I've heard that, honestly. Ash was talking about how everyone at her college acts like they're the next Picasso or Van Gough when really they're just as good as the next guy."
Ashley was one of Sal's best friends. She was one of the first friends he had made after moving to town. Ashley and I never got along for some reason. Even back in elementary school. We always had issues working together, sitting near each other, and really anything that we had to do in close proximity. Lately things have been going better between us now that Sal lives with me, but I just try to stay neutral.
"Yeah, I bet there's a lot of pricks in art school." I said, taking another bite. "And speaking of school and spring break, are you going back home to visit?"
He shook his head, his mouth slightly full. "No, I couldn't get the time off work to go and stay. I might go up next weekend and see everyone, but unfortunately you are stuck with me for your entire spring break." He grinned.
"We do live together, it's not unfortunate for us to hang out." I laughed, "Contrary to what you think, Sal, you're actually really fun to hang out with."
"Is that why you've been missing movie night?" He smirked. "And don't sell me some bullshit on work or school. You act like I'm deaf and can't hear you over there and whatever - I mean whomever - you bring home with you."
"Oh, yikes. You can hear that?"
"Unfortunately, (Y/N), I can. Our apartment is not that big." He laughed, "Also, one or two has wondered into my room instead of the bathroom. It's quite an inconvenience."
"I'm so sorry." I said, overly embarrassed.
He chuckled, "I'm not judging you. You're in college. Live a little." He smiled.
"You should also live a little, you know that right?"
He shrugged, "I'm not really fighting the ladies off with a stick here."
"You're telling me that none of those factory ladies have tried?"
"Oh, they've tried. But they're all also like 50.."
I laughed, "I'm sorry, that's not funny. But, Sal, I'm sure there's some girls out there who are looking for a fun time, or a fun guy. And you're both. I understand if you're happy just hanging by yourself though. I don't like the whole strings attached thing either."
"Oh I can tell. I don't think I've seen a repeat." He chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows at me.
"Alright, I am done with this conversation and I am going to bed." I said, standing up and placing my bowl in the sink to be washed the next morning.
"Oh, I see. Missing movie night. AGAIN." He said, shaking his head in disappointment. "What's his name this time."
I laughed at his joking smile. "Alright, movie night it is. But I'm picking the movie."