"Y/N, stop!"

Sal whisper shouts.

"We can't be seen together Sal, you both know this!"

You whisper-shout back.

Sal grabs ahold of your wrist and begins to pull you towards the same janitors closet you had hid in when you first met Larry.

"Fine. If you won't talk to us where people could see us, then lets go somewhere where they can't."

Sal's expression turned harsh. He was furious, not at you, but at your father. Your father was trying to take the love of his life away from him and he didn't like it one bit.

You struggled against Sal slightly, trying to pull your wrist out of his hand. His grip didn't hurt, it was just that you didn't want to be in any more trouble with your father then you already were. It would just make things more complicated and well...worse for you. It might even backfire on Sal and Larry, you couldn't let them get hurt - not because of you.

If someone were to see you three in a closet - especially a teacher. They would probably tattle on you to your father and after what your father had witnessed in the apartment, he would probably assume you three were doing the worst.

God, why did things have to be so complicated? This was all so much to take in, so much to just accept and just move along with. You couldn't deal with it all, it was extremely hard to adjust to everything. Your new 'prison' being your own room, loosing Sal and Larry, and even loosing a big part of your mom. Its just so hard...you hoped and prayed for better days. But you were beginning to loose hope and faith in the world, nothing seemed to be worth the trouble of trying anymore.

As you continued to struggle, one of the teens were beginning to have enough of it. Larry walks over and grips your upper arm, gently, but firmly. You were pushed forward into the closet by Sal and Larry's hands on your lower back.

You hear the door shut behind the three of you, as you now were standing in darkness, before a flick of a light switch turned on the tiny lightbulb that hung from the supply closets ceiling. You face the two boys with a rather irritated look displeasing your features.

Larry smiled at you.

"I missed you,"

Larry walks up to you and grips your waist, then tries to kiss you on the lips but you turn your head away from him before he could do so.

"Don't."

You say to Larry. But Larry only chuckles.

"Don't what? Kiss my girlfriend?"

Larry grins down at you.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

You tease and turn your face back to his. Meanwhile Sal stood over to the side with a pout apparent on his face, he felt left out.

"So, why did you two pull me in here?"

You finally ask.

Larry lets go of your waist and Sal speaks up.

"So, as I said, we have a plan to get you out of your little 'prison',"

He says with a victorious smile, happy with his mastermind level escape plan.

"And as I said to you - no."

You said showing no emotion, in your tone or on your face.

"We can't Sal. You know we can't."

"But I'm willing to try, Y/N-!"

Sal pleads.

"No, Sal."

You conclude. As much as you wanted to agree and just let them help you, you couldn't. You had to be the bigger person and decide you can't go through with all of this - its too much of a risk. For them and for you, but you didn't care as much for yourself; you just wanted Sal and Larry to be safe. God only knows what your father might do, he is quite...unhinged.

"Y/N, if you'll just listen, we can help! Why won't you let us just help you?"

Larry says. He was on Sal's side, they had to help you, they couldn't just leave you out to dry - they were going to help.

"Yeah. Larry has a point, Y/N. This could be our only chance to be together..!"

Sal exclaims.

"Your father could never let you see us again, we can't loose you, I won't loose you."

"Sal! This isn't some fairy tale! This is real life, and you don't always get a happy ending like in those stories you were told as kids. There's a reason they are just stories - they aren't real. They are make-belief. Made up for children so they would have something to be able to believe in! This isn't one of those stories."

You finally ramble out. Sal's eyes looked hurt, they held emotion of sadness, surprise, and realization.

Larry kind of just stood there and his expression also held one of slight betrayal. He never expected you to say something like that, the girl he knew, and fell in love with, had hope...this girl had none of the sort. She didn't have any hope anymore, there was no desire left in her to even want to try and make any of this work. This isn't the girl he knew.

"What are you trying to say..?"

Sal's voice was quiet and if you listened carefully - you could hear a slight waver in his words. He was upset, sad if you will.

You sighed. Your gaze fell to the floor as you held back your tears, swallowing the lump in your throat.

"I'm saying...maybe...maybe this just wasn't meant to be..?"

Your voice cracked. You saying those words made your heart shatter into a million pieces.

You wanted this to work but...there was just no point anymore. Everything was crumbling down already, so why not just help it all fall quicker? There was nothing worse than a slow burn, so maybe if you just ripped it off like a band aid, it would only hurt for a second.

Sal and Larry's hearts seemed to stop as that sentence left your mouth. No, no, no, no, no! This was all going wrong! They just wanted to save you, to help you, they couldn't loose you! Not now, not tomorrow- not ever!

"W-what..?"

Larry felt his eyes water.

You said nothing. You just walked through them, accidentally bumping their shoulder as you did so.

"I'm so sorry,"

You mumbled as you passed them.

The two just stood in the janitors closet in silence. Sal felt his heart break. The pain was so great it felt like his heart was being split in two. Which, emotionally, is exactly what was happening. Not just to himself, but to Larry as well.

Things were going so well only a day ago...what happened? Everything had seemed to be taken away from the two male teens so quickly. They never thought they would ever experience heartbreak. But now that they have...they don't ever want to experience it again. They had finally trusted someone, they let her into their lives - made them all love sick just to leave them out to dry.

A single tear rolled down Larry's cheek, as his eyes filled to the brim with even more tears. He thought you would be the one...

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2/14/23

AKA : February, 14th/2023