[DISCONTINUED] ❝Ante Mortem❞ 【Sally Face】

【xvi ; sal unmasked】

"Honey, wake up, I made breakfast."

You snap your eyes open, lifting your head off someone's shoulder. You blink, seeing Sal beside you, still asleep and his mask on. He has his eyes closed, still asleep. You hear a chuckle, turning only to see your mom crouched in front of you.

"Come on, your waffles will get cold. That, and I need to get to work." She leans in, kissing you on the forehead. She frowns, seeing your wide eyes and sweaty state as she asks, "Are you okay, dear? Did you get a nightmare?"

"I'm alright." You sit up properly, getting out of the blanket carefully as to not wake up Sal. She smiles at you, before heading to the door and leaving the apartment with one last wave. You stand up, stretching your arms with a yawn before heading to the kitchen. You see a stack of waffles on two plates, making you smile. You bring them to the living room, seeing Sal had woken up judging by the way he has a hand under his mask, rubbing his eye probably.

"Morning." You greet, catching his attention. He looks up at you, eyes squinting a bit.

"Damn, I didn't even notice I fell asleep." He says groggily, ruffling his hair lightly. He stands up, noticing your ragged breath, "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright, I just.. had a nightmare." You reply, even though you don't remember what you had just dreamt of. It was so real but.. it was just a nightmare. Nothing to be scared of, but why is your heart pounding in alarm?

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sal asks you, concern evident in his voice. You shake your head, kindly denying his offer. He slowly nods, pointing at the bathroom, "I'll be right back."

"Sure." You give him a thumbs up, sitting on the couch and putting the plates of waffles on the coffee table. You run to the kitchen, taking two forks and coming back to the living room. You dig into your waffles, as your mom has dripped syrup onto them. You hear the bathroom door open, Sal getting out as he wipes his hands against his pants. You point at the coffee table, "Waffle?"

"Your mom made this?" He asks, sitting beside you and taking the fork and plate of waffles on the coffee table. You nod, smiling as a fork dangles off your mouth. "Well, tell her I said thanks."

"Didn't even realise she went home last night." You take the fork off your mouth, stabbing into your last waffle. "I'm only glad she didn't tell me off for having a boy here."

"She doesn't strike me as a strict mom." He mumbles. You give him a questioning look. He shrugs and explains, "I was awake when your mom said goodbye."

You nod, continuing to eat your waffle. You point at him with your fork, "Isn't, uh, your mom or dad worried that you didn't come home last night?"

"My dad would have called me, or he was too tired to notice." He replies, swallowing his waffle. He seems to avert his gaze, saying, "I don't have a mom anymore."

"Not it's my turn to be sorry." You avert your gaze, feeling guilty so suddenly. It was silent between the two of you for a moment. You look up at him, furrowing your eyebrows at he has to lift his mask to eat, "Don't you want to remove your mask?"

He thinks for a moment, and you suddenly panic, "Wait, no, sorry, I didn't mean to pry! You can keep it on, sorry."

"I mean.. you have seen my face, right?" He says, his voice a bit shaky. You shake your head. You found this strange, but with the slowly forming friendship between the two of you, you find yourself smiling.

"It's completely your choice, Sal, I wouldn't want to intrude on your privacy." You kindly smile, hoping that he does whatever he's comfortable with. Your eyes widen as he unbuckles the top clasps of his mask. Taking it by the front, he slowly takes it off. You close your eyes, just in case he changes his mind.

"You can open your eyes, you know." He mumbles. You slowly take a peek, before fully looking at him. It takes a few moments to get used to the sight, and you continue to eat in total, awkward silence. 

You both hear a loud sound from your room, making you say, "That's Larry."

"How did you know?" Sal asks, raising an eyebrow. You try to explain, but you didn't know how to as your mouth merely opens and close as you can't think of an excuse of how you knew. You quickly put down your plate, heading to your bedroom to retrieve your phone. You see the ringtone, it being Larry. You answer it, getting back to the living room.

"Hey Larry, what's up?" You set it to speaker, setting it down on the table as you pick up your plate. Sal blinks at you, his turn to be amazed.

"Nothing much dude, I do have a question though, have you seen Sal? Went to his apartment, his Dad said he never went home."

"Oh, Sal's here with me, accidentally stayed the night after a Lion King marathon." You answer, glancing at Sal to see him nod.

"Hey dude." Sal greets, also finished with his waffles. "Come up to Y/N's apartment."

"There still some waffles in the kitchen-"

The call ends. You chuckle, saying, "Bet he'll come up here for the waffles."

".. I bet he will." Sal says, a hint of suspicion in his voice. You sit in silence once more, eating the warm waffles. Your eyes makes it way up his neck and to his face, observing each and every scar. You can definitely see some punctures here and there, long scars ranging from his chin to his forehead. Soon you see him staring back, and you quickly look down at your food, embarrassed for being caught staring.

"Sorry, I'm just.." 

".. Y/N, it's fine, I'm used to it." 

"It's sometimes not good to be used to it, though." You say after swallowing your food. You smile at him, repeating, "Now let me be sorry, alright?"

"Weirdo." He rolls his eyes, though you knew he didn't mean it rudely. You could see his lips raising in the slightest, a sign that he was smiling.

So that's how he smiles.

He's really cute.