from beginning to end, A Larryface Fanfiction

arriving and meeting new people

Sal was exhausted when the long road trip was over. They'd been driving for hours since early morning. He couldn't tell if his dad was any more tired then usual, but at least he'd cleaned up well, his eye bags were a little less dark and his hair had been carefully combed. He even wore his favorite fully grey long sleeve shirt and jeans.

Sal pov:

I looked up when the car stopped before unbuckling sluggishly, grabbing the little belongings I owned and walking toward the building. Was I nervous? Maybe... yes. But I was also hopeful. Just barely since I guess I knew better then getting my hopes up for being in a healthy environment. My eyes widened when I saw the building, it felt... Weird. I jumped when my dad reached past and opened the door for me. I thanked dad and stepped in, letting him pass so I could follow him to our apartment. Dad had come the past few days to get everything there first that we couldn't take all at once. (thank god his work was considerate enough to give him time to move.) Of course we still need to set up the apartment. Gizmo had been brought over to settle into his new home yesterday. But I was still worried about 'big boned' fur baby.

As soon as I stepped in I heard the hungry mewls of gizmo and smiled softly under my mask, my fur baby was fine and of course had finished his food in record time and wanted more. So I set the belongings down briefly as I dodged the boxes on the floor, I don't have the mental energy to fix my mask again if it broke. Finally I got the cat food and filled up gizmos bowl half way (since it was a big bowl), humming happily. I almost flinched when I could feel dads soft sad gaze on my back before I heard his voice. "Y'know sal, since I've already had time to meet the people in this place maybe you should too, good to know your neighbors and all.." His voice, despite the effort, still had the sad, exhausted undertone. I nodded and left quickly. i knew he tried his best to make time for me and knew I worried about his overworking and sleep issues. So I knew when I left he'd be right back to working on his computer instead of resting.
I mentally sighed but just said "sure dad, sounds like fun."
I glanced around my floor first, not seeing much until I saw a cop guarding a heavily police taped room. I frowned and thought about asking the cop but when I made eye contact he glared at me as if I'd be the next behind police tape if I spoke to him. Ultimately I decided I'd save my curiosity of what happened until a bit later. Slipping into the elevator I decided to go to the floor above me first. The moment I got up there I was slapped with a disgusting smell that had even me grimacing. It smelled like rot, iron, and mold. It was.. an odd area, shut down and abandon for who knows how long. I hated the thick iron smell.

Slowly I crept through it, the floor didn't creak at all. Usually I would've appreciated the anonymous factor it gave me Incase someone else was here but right now I hated it. Because a thick squish was heard whenever I walked through certain spots. I chose not to think about what ever was soaking these floors. I opened one room only to see... Newspaper? In a stack like you'd see for some neglectful pet owner. At some point the smell of iron had began to suffocate me. Too much, too many memories. I turned and half sprinted to the elevator after I swore I saw someone sitting on the news papers. The overwhelming feeling of familiar dread had warned me that whatever was up here was absolutely fucked. I shakily clicked floor 3, the next floor I needed to visit. Allowing the slow uncertain elevator ride to help me clear my head. Without thinking my hand had trailed to my hair and had gently began playing with a pigtail.
Walking down the halls of other floors and knocking on neighbors doors to introduce myself there were a few who didn't answer, the rest were odd or nice enough. Until I met what I suppose was the maintenance person mopping up a suspicious puddle. She smiled, eyes gentle and kind. When she spoke her tone had a soft rasp like quality. "Oh why hello there! You must be the new tenants! How've you been settling?" I considered it before responding, voice muffled by my mask but still understandable "it's been okay, but people seem really on edge." She nodded, eyes kind "oh yeah.. poor Mrs. Sanderson.." I tried to ask more about it but was brushed off. Instead her face lit up and she pulled a key card from her pocket. "I love in the basement with a son your age, you should go meet him since you two would get along great!" I smile (she can't see it. No one will) before thanking her as she told me to just tell the apparent Larry she sent me and deciding to pop down there later. Getting a head start to make a friend before a shitty school life could start would be good, especially since Lisa seemed super nice, so why wouldn't her kid?

But first I began walking around a bit more, thinking about the one guy name Charley I met. Hearing a nazley "come in." Id slipped in and was greeted with... A LOT of ponies, all neatly stacked and cleaned pristinely. Minus one that seemed to have blood? No it's probably a shitty knockoff design choice. I had focused on the apparent owner. A overweight man in a greasy wife beater. The little hair he had was practically sopped in grease, same with the stubble on one of his chins. "You must be those newcomers. I'm Charley. What's with the weird mask? Oh teens with there horrid fashion choices. Unlike my lovely glitter sparkles best pony girls group." I just mentioned a gentle "it's not a fashion choice sir, and what's sparkle gli-" "YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT SPARKLE GLITTER FRIENDSHIP PONY GIRL GROUP! HOW DO YOU EVEN HAVE A CHILD HOOD YOU POOR THING. It has romance, drama, love triangles!" I had to bite back a grimace at the... Excitement this guy seemed to show while ignoring the other half of my sentence. I just awkwardly smiled out a tight "I'll make sure to watch it sometime." He did his best to nod his head in approval. "Well once you understand the AMAZING thing that is glitter sparkles pony girls group feel free to come visit and admire them." Feeling his heavy breathing from there Id agreed and gently took my leave. Deciding to head to the first floor finally. I spoke first with a detective who confirmed me and dad's alibis. The only other person being a grumpy woman who angrily grumbled about teens.

I finally began to head to the basement. I smiled at the nice clean smell it gave likely from Lisa. I headed right to Lisa's home. I after a bit of elimination figured which was Larry's room. I knocked gently. Soon a casual "hello?" Greeted me. I smiled since the tone seemed chill and more lax. "Your mom said to let you know she sent me." Immediately I heard a soft 'ohhh' before Larry spoke "yea you're the new guy, come right in man." I slid the door open and was greeted by the distinct smell of teenage boy and paint. Not a bad smell in all honesty. He greeted me with a lazy grin and wave. Standing a bit farther in his room. I approached and his first reaction was a bit refreshing. "Whoa rad mask dude." I awkwardly said a soft "it's a prosthetic." His face flushed just a bit in embarrassment. I laughed and shrugged it off "it's fine man, friends call me sally face but I'd prefer sal." He cocked his head at the statement since sally face wasn't usually a friendly term. I decided to elaborate."Well not really... Friends but hey figured why not use whatever an asshole say to empower me." I scratched the back of my neck. He grinned before talking "that's fucking rad man, can't be an insult if you don't let it." I felt the blood rush a bit to my face, Larry was.. Larry was really cool.