Impractical Jokers Requests Book Two

Talk To Me (Sal x Reader ((Anxiety¡))

Request sent privately - based on previous ((anxiety)) chapter.

Third Person POV

Tears stained down her face, the girl feeling like it was the end of the world. She was being tormented by her own thoughts; fears, paranoia and anxiety writhing through her veins. Lost in a state of endless turmoil, with no light at the end of the tunnel, [Y/N] had given up all hope of ever getting herself back to the person that she once was.

A smile seemed near impossible at this point; there was no cause for such an elated emotion, not when everything in her path seemed to go wrong. Her brain worked differently; telling her that everything and everyone was out to get her. Those people laughing across the street were definitely laughing at her; at least, that's what she believed deep down.

Cornered in her bedroom, with her knees pressed up against her chest and her head buried in the curve in her arms, [Y/N] felt the lowest that she had ever done before. She had cried every last tear from within, waiting desperately with her phone in her hand, wanting to hear from the one person who could stop it all.

The one person who could save her.

Every second that passed felt like an eternity, and just as [Y/N] was ready to give up on herself and everyone else, she heard the front door to her apartment open and close. Footsteps raced down the hall, and before she could run from reality, he entered the room; panicked and fearful.

Pacing across the floor, Sal – her friend, lover, hero; the list was endless – skidded along the floorboards, crashing down onto his knees, as he fought with the girl, knowing that she could, and would, fight this feeling.

His soft hands wrapped around her forearms, gently, yet forcefully enough, tearing them away from her face, as [Y/N] tried to cower out of his reach. Her sniffles and cries were like a knife piercing through his heart, as Sal, himself, had tears in his eyes.

Not a day went by where he didn't worry that [Y/N] would end up just like this. He knew what she was capable of, how she perceived the world, and it killed him to know that he couldn't be there every second to ensure that this wouldn't happen.

"[Y/N], please!" Sal begged tearfully. "Let me see your face..."

Caving at the desperate tone to his vocals, the girl dropped her will to fight him, as Sal removed her arms from around her face; studying the anguish and pain worn across her features. With eyes bloodshot and tired-looking, gentle tears still rolling down her cheeks, and dark circles staining underneath her eyes, [Y/N] looked as though all life had faded from her body.

Sal knew this look all too well, this not being the first time that he had seen the girl in this state. He hated it when she wore the expression, but Sal knew that he had to try his very best to fix the girl, to give her another chance at life.

Leaning back against the wall to her side, Sal wrapped his arm around her shoulders, bringing [Y/N] into his embrace. He held her protectively, as a silence drowned them both. Resting his chin atop of her head, Sal squeezed the girl tightly in his arms, feeling a single tear begin to sting its way down his face.

No matter how many times that he saw her this way, it still pained him to experience the trauma with the girl. Sal wished that he could save her every time, and so far, he had succeeded, but he also knew that one time he won't be so lucky.

You don't have to be a hero to save the world
It doesn't make you a narcissist to love yourself
It feels like nothing is easy it'll never be
That's alright, let it out, talk to me