Faces and masks: If i'm with you

Part 1

— Ah! - a startled cry in the middle of the night woke Larry. He opened his brown eyes wide, startled, as someone beside him jerked out of bed and panted, sobbing softly.

It was Sally. His tousled blue hair, silvery in the moonlight, hung over his shoulders, sticking out in all directions. The narrowed blue eyes and the glistening tears at the corners, as well as the trembling body, showed that he was very afraid.

Larry had rarely seen him like this. Never, to be precise, before he and Emily had started staying at his house. His blue pajama shirt was soaked with sweat that rolled down his pale skin. The pale pink cuts covering the left side of his face, almost imperceptible, seemed to tremble too.

Brown was removed from the face of the long strands and looked at who was sleeping between them friend. Oddly enough, she didn't Wake up, still curled up, sniffing softly. Her long red hair was all over the bed, and he had to brush it away, too.

- "Looks like Sally's having another seizure... should I Wake her up?" -    he thought, crawling over to his friend.

"What happened? Another nightmare? - he asked cautiously. The only answer was a heavy hoarse breath and empty blue eyes.

"Are you all right?" - he leaned closer, careful not to wake her. He hoped Fisher would calm down and go to bed as usual, but this time it was different.

"Yes ... Sorry to wake you. Don't worry... " -  he whispered, and looked down at the sleeping girl, covered to the top with a blanket. He silently watched on it sad mournfully, spent palm on direct hair, and, whispering something vague, averted glance, obscuring his bangs.

- "Sally, come on, move toward me.  We'll sleep together. Let's hug Emily and go to sleep. Like the exam. You have bad dreams all the time, don't you? -  he offered with a smile, at which Fischer blushed and looked away sheepishly.

- "N-n-no! What am I, little or something?

"That's the last time I asked.  Good night.  - Larry chuckled to himself. Sally had been very shy and withdrawn from the beginning, and even now, after all this time, he was still embarrassed by the two of them, even though he didn't really want to be inconvenienced.

Pouting and hiding his red cheeks, he lay back, turning his back on the girl and his friend, but still feeling both.

- "Well... I could punch you or her in the face because I'm not sleeping well." - grumbled he, on that brown-haired smiled.

— Nothing. If you do that, you'll get one, too. Hey, do you think you're gonna have another nightmare? —  he asked his friend, moving closer in his turn.

"I don't know,"- he muttered.

- "Hey, Sally, turn around."

- "Why?"

— Why not?"

— Okay. — Fisher lifted slightly, grimly looking at the brown hair. - "What do you want?"

At the same moment Larry moved quickly to the other side, and it so happened that Sally was now in the middle. From the back he was already embraced by pale, thin, but strong girlish arms, and in front of Johnson.

— A-Ah! W-what the hell?! — " he cried, almost kicking his friend as he hugged him tightly.

- "I won't dream about him. If I hug you like this too, you won't have to worry about nightmares. - He smiled warmly, remembering how his mother had done the same thing when he'd had a nightmare.

- "My mother always hugged me like that. You have nothing to be ashamed of. We're friends. You hug Emily all the time, and you're not too shy. -   he wanted to joke, but he heard soft sobs. Hands immediately came loose and it bounced away from him like a scalded cat. - "Ah! Oh! You don't like it?! Sorry!

Sally was sobbing louder by the second, clutching the sleeping Emily and the blanket in his arms, his eyes squeezed shut. From under long eyelashes and tightly close the eyelids tech shiny with tears.

- Why am I the one "Sally Fisher"?! Why was I born into this family?! Why should I be a murderer from birth?! I've always tried to be optimistic, but it's no use! - he cried, sobbing.

— Sally... - muttered brown-haired, with sadness despite him. He remembered what he had seen when he came to his "home." He remembered everyone he'd seen, what he'd learned, and what he'd seen with his own eyes. He'd believed it from the start when Sal told them about himself. I remembered how he tried to laugh about it, and in General it seemed that he was not too worried about this family "profession".

In cold blood, he killed his opponent in the trial, ripping out his heart and crushing it. I remembered the ice in his darkened eyes at that moment and the grin that later turned into a cheerful smile. He remembered the darkness that had consumed him when he had tried to kill the avenging girl. I remembered and saw how he was in those moments when protecting people close to him. Him, Emily, and even new acquaintances. He saw and knew that killing was like breathing to him. Yes, Sally Fisher was a living killing machine. A creature that carried only death, as he said to himself. But now ... his opinion of his best friend was crumbling.

— I've always tried to be optimistic, but it's no use! My past will not disappear! It will always haunt me! My hands are already up to the elbows in blood! But I realized too late that I didn't like killing at all! By then, my hands were already stained crimson! the boy continued to scream, pouring out all the pain he had been holding deep within himself for a very long time.

— Guys... — Larry heard a quiet voice from the side and sharply turned his head in there. His eyes widened as he saw Emily sitting on the other bed. Moving his gaze towards his friend wasn't there. When did that happen?

"You... " she cut him off with a look, nodding at the blue-haired man to "let him talk."

"I want to forget it!"

"Memories are the most precious thing to us. That's what Rachel always told me. I immediately understood the meaning of her words, but... still there is something that you really want to forget. For example, the imprisonment. But would it be right to erase even your best memories? It breaks my heart to see Sally's face like that. He always comforted me, believed in me, and I never saw him cry. But now... like Larry, I can't say those simple words. "I want to help him forget,"  - she thought.

- "I want to erase them! My past! Everything!

— I can't find the words. The books didn't mention it... and Rachel didn't tell me.

- And meet you like a normal person!

Emily quietly got out of bed and walked over to them. Sitting down next to them, she hugged the guy, immediately felt his hands on her waist, felt the moisture on his shoulder, open because of the sleeping sleeve of a long dark t-shirt that served for her pajamas. He was crying, sobbing, and nuzzling her shoulder and then her hair. Sitting side brown-haired also hugged them, stroking his friend on the back and looking questioningly at her friend.

- "I'm sorry, but I don't know what to do, Larry...