please don't leave me behind. {Sally Face POV}

five

November 19th, 1992
Molly slowly made her way down to the basement. She felt nervous to face them again, even though she knew that she absolutely had to. She already knew where Larry's apartment was, since it was the only one in the basement. (Or so she thought.) Also, she already had a key card since every resident in the building had one to access the laundry machines.

She trembled on her way down the hallway, past the vending machine. She wasn't that cold anymore, she was warm enough to where the turtle neck she had on would suffice. Thank goodness that the heater in Addison Apartments worked somewhat well... So, she took off the jacket and carried it in her arms. But, now she wasn't trembling because she was cold, instead she trembled because she was afraid still. She almost felt a bit nauseous, despite her stomach being empty. She was afraid that them being nice was just an act, and that they may be different behind closed doors. She just wasn't sure. It was difficult to trust people when you grew up around many fake people.

Molly hesitated as she knocked on the door. She heard loud heavy metal music playing from inside the walls. She actually knew the song, it was called Singular by Sanity's Fall. She waited for a few moments, but assumed that they didn't hear the knock over the loud sound. So, she knocked again, this time even harder. They definitely heard that time. As she waited again, she started to mimic the sound of the song with her finger, by tapping her arm to the beat of it. Soon after, the door swung open. It made her jump, because it opened sooner than she expected. Larry opened the door, giving her a polite nod.

"What's up? Came to hang?" He asked her with a small smile. He spoke so casually to her, like they've been friends for years. She also wasn't used to such a laid back attitude.

It took her a moment to answer, because she was distracted by the aroma of warm and fresh food that filled her nose once the door opened. She didn't realize that she hadn't responded, until Larry glanced at her again and raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, um, sorry... I just wanted to give Sal his jacket back?" She said. Her foot then also started to tap to the beat of the music.

Larry observed her for a moment. He looked at her hands, which were a bluish purple color, leftover from the cold outside air. He knew that she wasn't exactly warm yet. Larry could also tell that Molly may have a hard time warming up since she was so skinny.

"Are you sure you don't want to just keep it for now? I mean Sal has a shit ton of jackets... I'm sure he won't mind." He said as he stepped over to his stereo, and turned the volume down a bit. He could barely hear himself speak over the loud music.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay. Tell him thank you though," She smiled. trying to be as convincing as possible as she handed the jacket to him.

As he went to grab it out of her arms, her stomach grumbled loudly. Her face turned bright red as this happened, because she was immediately embarrassed. (She also felt extremely awkward.)

Larry had the gut feeling that he couldn't let her go home after hearing that. He lived in Addison Apartments his entire life, and knew Mrs. Gibson for all of that time. He didn't have to be told to know that she probably doesn't get fed as much as she should.

Larry took the jacket from her finally, and before she could walk away, he asked, "Hey, why don't you come hangout with us for a little while?"

She just stared at him, she was unsure how to respond. She wasn't completely comfortable with agreeing to come inside, since she didn't know either of the boys. She was just thinking of a way to decline his offer. Plus, she felt odd. She was still just wearing her small slippers and worn out pajama pants.

Larry then stood back and opened the door farther, "Come on dude, our pizza was just delivered." He said with a smile that was just impossible to say no to.

"I don't know..." She shrugged hesitantly. She was starving... but she also didn't want to intrude on the boys hangout.

"We also rented some movies... Rob from upstairs got us some R-rated horror flicks. It'll be funnnnn." Larry said, still trying to convince the girl.

Molly scoffed happily, trying to hold back a smile of excitement. "Okay, okay, fine." She said as she finally stepped through the door. She made her way to the dining table in the center of the room and sat down in the chair. She assumed this is where they were all eating since the pizza box and paper plates were on the table. She sat down, but didn't touch any of the food yet. She didn't want to be rude and get the first slice before anyone else, since she is still the guest here. She was also used to how things are at home, her father and grandmother never allowed her to take the first bite of food. She continued to admire the music, she continued to tap her finger to the beat of the music against the table.

Larry was grabbing cups from the cupboards and filling them with ice. He then proceeded to retrieve soda bottles from the refrigerator and place them on the table. Once he did so, he also sat down right across from her. To his complete surprise, he noticed that she was enjoying the music. He raised both of his bushy eyebrows at the sight, feeling rather amused.

"You like metal?" He asked, shock filling his voice.

Her eyes brightened once he asked. She doesn't exactly talk about her music taste with most people, mostly because she's never hung out with anyone who actually is into the same music as she is. "Y-yeah... I do actually."

"Have you heard of Sanity's Fall before? Or do you listen to different bands?" He knew Sanity's Fall was still a fairly new band, and not many people knew it.

"Yeah I do actually! I don't listen to them often because I can't afford their tape for my cassette, but I sometimes listen to them on my dads stereo..." Molly says quietly. She's trying not to feel embarrassed, since she for some reason was always made to feel like this sort of thing was embarrassing.

Larry nodded his head at her and held out a fist bump, "Unlike your grandma, you're fuckin' cool!" He laughed.

She accepted the fist bump as she awkwardly laughed with him. That's when Sal walked through the front door. He was holding a bag filled with many different things. His head was facing downwards toward the bag he was holding.

"Hey Lar, I'm back. I got my gaming system from upstairs and some chips from the vending machine. Don't tell Chug that I took the last-" Sal was speaking as he was rummaging through the bag. He didn't even notice Molly was sitting at the table along with Larry until he looked up.

"Molly is gonna join us for dinner..." Larry clears his throat. "Get this Sal, she ALSO listens to Sanity's Fall. Sick, right?" Larry said.

"Yeah, t-that's awesome." Sal scoffed nervously. He wasn't sure what to say, he was nervous yet excited that she was there. He couldn't put a finger on why though. It was probably the rush of potentially having another female friend besides Ash.

"I hope that's okay... I was coming to bring your jacket back until Larry asked me to come in." She said, she felt afraid of intruding their time together.

Sal shook his head as he took a seat, "Of course I don't mind... you're always welcome! And don't worry about the jacket, I have tons more." He said to reassure her, you could even see the corner of Sal's eyes wrinkle, showing that he's smiling at Molly under his mask. After him and Larry left her outside, they had a conversation about her and the jacket. They both expressed their concerns about her, they both explained the things they saw about her. The skinniness, the lack of warm clothing, being blood related to Mrs. Gibson, etc. They both agreed that it was only necessary for her to keep his jacket.

   "Told ya," Larry chimed in.

"Are you sure? I feel bad-" She asked once more.

"I promise," Sal said as he glanced at her, while grabbing a slice of pizza from the box. He smiled at her as he said this, and she noticed this because she watched as the corners of his eyes creased again. She wasn't able to see his mouth smile, but she was clearly able to see his eyes smile. Molly loved Sal's smile without even fully seeing it.