"I wish there was a different place to get pizza from Nockfell," Sally Face mutters, mostly to himself.

"Is it gonna end up like last time if I ask why, sir?"

"No," he chuckles. "I just don't like the way that delivery guy looked at us."

"What do you mean, sir?" I ask.

"I don't know. Like he was weirded out, and not because of my mask. He's seen me plenty of times, but not with you."

"Maybe he thinks you're older than you are and I'm younger than I am," I reach for another piece. "You have a really deep voice, and I don't think me laughing while being carried compares to it well. Plus he can't tell how old you are by your face, sir."

"Maybe."

"Oh my Gods, how have you already eaten three slices?" I laugh suddenly.

Sal shrugs and takes a fourth. Damn. Capacity goals, I guess. I finish my second and catch myself about to lean on his shoulder. I could ask, but I'm 92% sure it's going to be a 'no.' I sigh and extend my legs to readjust my socks.

"You can lean on me," Sal says. Wow, am I that easy to read?

"I wanna go back to sleep, sir," I whine and rest my chin on his shoulder, peering up at him.

"You don't want more food? You only had two slices, love," Sally Face ignores me.

"No thank you, sir."

"Alright. You can go back to sleep or go grocery shopping with me," he says.

"That's a tough decision, I should sleep on it. I'll let you know what I think after a nap, sir."

"No, make it now, please," he chuckles and kisses the top of my head.

"I'll go shopping with you, sir," I yawn.

"Okay, I have to ask my dad for the list, but he's at work so it might take a little while."

"I'm gonna go to my apartment then," I mumble. "Kiss?"

"No," he says, pecking my cheek as if to taunt me.

I huff and walk into his room to get my garter before pulling on my shoes and leaving. So rude. I get ready quickly and put on the necklace he got me, a pair of white shorts and thigh-highs, and a light blue hoodie that pretty much makes my shorts invisible. I put on the first pair of light blue shoes I see, which happen to be Converse that I put silver spikes on the top of.

I grab my phone, key, and some money before leaving and locking the door behind me. I text my mom that I'm going shopping with Sal while I walk to his apartment. As I'm about to knock on his door, he opens it.

"Hey, nice shoes," he smiles and takes my hand.

"Thank you, sir."

The car ride is boring, but short. I'm really annoyed that I can't just tug on his sleeve and point at whatever I want to see, and that I actually have to talk. It's very inconvenient, not that Sally Face cares. He holds my hand for the short walk to the building entrance.

"Turns out he only needed like four things, so this should be quick," Sal assures me. "And you don't have to use titles in public."

I nod and rock back and forth on my heels while he pulls out his phone to look at the list.

"What are you so excited for?" he chuckles. "You can never stand still."

"I'm not excited, I'm annoyed that I can't just tug on your sleeve to get your attention or hold your hand," I pout.

"I am too, I think it's cute. But a deal is a deal," my boyfriend sighs and pats my head. My face turns red and I stare down at my feet. We get the first three items before any shenanigans start, but of course, I disrupt the peace. Or attempt to, at least.

"We should-"

"No. We are not playing hide and seek."

"What? Why not?" I whine.

"Last time I did that with Larry we almost got kicked out."

"Do I look like Larry?"

"No, you have nice thighs and you're short."

"Why is everything about my thighs?"

"Because I like them."

"I won't let you touch for the rest of the day."

Sal stopped walking abruptly and hooked his finger on the ring of my choker, but he didn't pull. Oh shit. He leaned down a little to my level and looked me dead in the eye.

"You do not get to make these kinds of deals with me, puppy," he said in a low voice.

"That's not fair," I scowl.

"Life isn't fair. We are not playing hide and seek."

"At least when I talk back it's for a good reason. Maybe you should write three paragraphs on why you should listen to me," I grumble.

"There's no more than one and a half reasons I should listen to you," he whispers in my ear.

"That's not true."

"Give me three."

"One, I could be right, and in certain situations, that might be crucial. Two, it will make me feel more heard, and that's important in a healthy relationship. Three, you might actually learn something or have fun."

"We still aren't playing hide and seek, my love."

"But-"

"No buts, I don't want to get kicked out. Also, we need to get moving," he lets go of me and resumes walking. I grab the last item and Sal puts an arm around my waist.

"Please don't touch me right now," I say.

"We're being followed," he mumbles, just loud enough for me to hear. "That's the real reason I said no. I just didn't want them to hear, but they're a little farther now."

"Ah... Nevermind then."

"Sorry, love. I just don't want you to get grabbed."

"It's fine. Where are they?" I ask him. I don't want to look around, because that's just too obvious.

"Behind us."

"Okay..."

After a while of walking in tense silence, I can hear their footsteps becoming a little faster. Sal and I pick up the pace. They walk faster. We walk faster. They walk faster. We stop walking altogether.

"Stop following us," I groan. "You're being annoying, Jesus. I'm just trying to be mad at my boyfriend in peace, but you're making it really fucking difficult."

I turn to face an older man, maybe in his fifties? He looks a little surprised for a split second, and stops in his tracks. We stand there for a few moments. Sal tightens his grip on my waist and I continue to glower at the creep.

"Are you just going to stand there? Go! You're girlbossing too close to the sun, and if you don't back the fuck up, this guy right here is going to be distributing your liver and phalanges to strangers on the dark web," I wave him off.

He says nothing and continues walking towards us. I feel my heart drop to my stomach and my hands turn ice cold. It takes my brain a second to register that I need to start running, but when it does, I run as fast as I can, with Sal right behind me. We sprint to the registers, where there's a lot of people and plenty of employees.

"Why me?" I pant and pull up my socks.

"Are you okay?" Sal hugs me tightly. Dude didn't even break a sweat.

"Yeah..." I sigh. "I should run more."

"I can't believe that's what you're worried about right now."

"What? I mean, he's not going to follow us where there's a bunch of people. Might as well worry about something while I've got the adrenaline going," I shrug.

"Let's just pay and get out," the blue-haired boy sighs.

We quickly get through checkout and he holds my hand tightly until we get to his car. I follow him to the driver's side, and he seems to know what I want. Sal sits down and I climb on his lap, straddling him with my face buried in the crook of his neck. He rubs my back for a while until my hands stop shaking.

"Thank you," I mumble against his skin.

"Of course."

I let go of him and he lifts me into the passenger seat. Neither of us say a word on the way home.

- Timeskip to the next day 💅 -

"Hey, good morning. I made waffles," I lean down to kiss Sally Face's forehead.

"Hmm?" he furrows his brows and sits up.

"I broke in," I hold out a plate of waffles. "Waffles."

"I see that. Did you make them?" he takes the plate with a smile.

I nod.

"They smell amazing, thank you. Did you already eat?"

"No, I was just gonna give you those and eat something at my place."

"That's ridiculous, come here," he sighs and motions for me to sit on his lap.

"No, I made those for you," I say.

"You made them. Sit," he pulls me on his lap with his free hand. I sigh and move so I'm not elbowing him in the ribs.

He ends up making me eat an entire waffle, and I talk about bog bodies and the burning of the Alexandria Library and the copies of the books there while he eats the rest. Sal nods along and asks an occasional question. I don't have the answer to all of them, but that's only because there's no way to know what we lost in those libraries.

"How do you know all of this?" he asks after a while.

"Intrusive thoughts that led to hyperfocusing on researching this stuff," I shrug.

"Hm. You look nice today, by the way," he smiles.

"Ah- thanks," I look down.

"Why do you hide your face?" he sighs.

"Because my face turns red and then I get embarrassed and it turns even redder. No more questions," I reply.

"It's cute, though. I can't make you, but I wish you wouldn't," he picks up one of my hands and fidgets with my fingers.

"You're not helping, Sally Face," I remind him with a chuckle.

"I don't care," he grins and kisses my cheek.

"Okay then. I refuse to do nothing today, I have way too much energy for no reason. Get up, we should bother Larry," I climb off his lap and pick up the empty plate.

"Probably because you had a decent breakfast and slept well for once," my boyfriend laughs.

"Most likely. Now come on, I'm excited to annoy someone," I beam.

"You really can't stand still today, huh?"

"Not if my life depended on it, now get uuuuup," I groan and pull on his arm.

"Okay, okay. I'm getting up, gimme a minute," Sal laughs softly and brushes my hand from his arm.

"Fine, I'm going to wake Larry up," I kiss his cheek briefly and leave his room, shutting the door behind me.

I quickly deal with the plate at my apartment before practically running to the elevator. As soon as the door opens I head to Larry's place. I knock on his door before entering, but he doesn't respond, so I let myself in.

"Wake up, I'm here to annoy you," I gently nudge him. He groans and turns over. "Lar-bear, wake up!"

"Get out," he mumbles.

"No, absolutely not. Get up. I'll drag you out of bed if I have to."

"Go for it," he mutters.

I grab one of his arms and pull as hard as I can... And he falls right on the floor.

"OW!"

"Oh wow, I didn't actually think that would work. Anyway, I warned you. Get up, Larry."

"Oh my God, why am I your friend?" Larry grunts and stands up.

"Because I'm hot, and funny, and hot, and also hot, and funny."

"Sure, man. So why are you waking me up instead of your boyfriend?" he sighs and yawns.

"I already did that," I smile.

"I feel bad for him," the taller boy pats my head.

"I made him breakfast. I think it's a fair trade," I scoff.

"Nah, that's just paying him back for one of the many meals he has provided you with," he snickers.

"You woke up 45 seconds ago. Stop that," I poke his arm.

"Nope. Get out, it's too early for this," he motions to the door.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"You're banned from the daycare," he tosses me over one shoulder the same way Sal does and carries me out of his room.

"Put me down! I'll never let you pick me up again!" I exclaim.

"I'm carrying you all the way to your apartment just because you said that."

"No you're not!" I try to push his hand off of me, but like always, it does nothing.

"Watch me, bro. Stop, you're gonna fall."

"That's the point."

Larry only chuckles and adjusts his hold on me. I stop struggling as soon as the elevator doors open. I flick the back of his head, purely out of spite.

"Ow. Not cool," he flicks my leg in return.

"Neither is carrying me," I huff as he walks off the elevator and toward my apartment.

"Same with waking me up."

"Hold on, let me get a picture of this," I hear Sal snickering from somewhere in front of Larry.

"No!"

"Haha, that's what you get for waking us both up," Larry grins and squishes the side of my leg.

"Ow, not so hard, idiot," I poke his shoulder blade.

"Alright, Sal's gonna rip my head off for that anyway," he chuckles and gently sets me down.

"Finally," I glare up at him.

"Never wake me up again, amigo."

"Never pick me up again, amigo," I sneer.

"No can do," he sighs and pats my shoulder.

"This is the best picture I will ever take of you two," Sal interjects before I can say anything, holding out his phone for us to see.

I look at his screen. It's Larry, shirtless and disheveled as ever, making an annoyed face while holding onto my waist and thigh so I can't escape. All you can see of me is my legs and just enough of my face to see that I'm yelling something over his shoulder.

"I won't lie, that is pretty fucking amazing," I laugh. "Larry, you look like an old man."

"Good, I don't need a fake ID anymore," he grins.

"Anyway, I'm going back to bed. You're gonna pay for this, Y/n," the taller boy yawns and walks back to the elevator.

"Actually, you have to babysit Y/n. My dad is making me run more errands, and as much as I love them, I don't know how they're still alive," Sal says.

"What?" Larry and I say in unison.

"Sal, I can take care of myself!"

"No you can't, but I don't want to babysit anyone except my pillow," my friend snorts.

"Sorry, but I can't take you with me, so I'm leaving you with Larry," Sal lifts his mask and kisses my face.

"This isn't fair," Larry whines.

"I'll give you five dollars."

"Come on, Y/n. Whose place are we going to?" Larry takes me by the hand.