AN: Hey guys, I know it's been a while. I've been going through a pretty rough patch. I'm hoping to get back into writing but figured I'd start off with something small. With that in mind (and the fact that I just recently found this awesome game) I decided to make a series of one-shots for Sally Face. I am willing to take prompts though I reserve the right to refuse them as well. Most with be hurt/comfort and Sal-centric though I do intend to include the rest of the gang as well. Anyway, I hope you like it. Don't forget to comment XD

Disclaimer: I do not own Sally Face. Steve Gabry has that pleasure.

Sal was nearly vibrating with excitement as he scanned the words he'd previously jotted down. With a satisfied smile, he confirmed that the information was correct and quickly set about sealing the envelopes, being careful not to wrinkle the contents in his haste. It's been nearly a year since his dad had brought them to Addison Apartments after they'd left New Jersey and the weather is growing colder as Autumn takes hold of the outside world. The blue-haired boy had never much cared for the cold but as long as he remembers to bundle up then it doesn't bother him. He doesn't need to, though, for the task he has in mind. Instead, he grabs the small letters he'd spent the morning working on as he races out the door and heads towards the elevator.

'I hope I'm doing this right!' He thought to himself as the doors slid shut. 'I've never had a birthday party before! At least, not one that I invited friends to.'

Pressing the button for the second floor, Sal mused that that might be because he'd never had friends to invite to his previous birthdays. After getting out of the hospital, none of the other children had wanted anything to do with him besides the few who had taken it upon themselves to bully him. They'd been too afraid or disgusted... but not these three. Larry, Todd, and Ashley didn't seem to mind that he always wore his mask (his face as he referred to it as). They accepted him for him and never tried to make him into something he isn't. That's why this morning, for the first time in... well...ever, he'd written out birthday invitations. It may be considered juvenile, they were teenagers after all, but he wasn't going to let that dampen his good mood. All that was left was to deliver them and hope that his friends would show up the next day. He knew it was short notice. It's just... he couldn't bring himself to write them before now. Every time he tried, his anxiety had caused him to give up before he'd even started. For some reason, though, today had been different and he'd managed to go through with his plan.

With the elevator coming to a stop, Sal is effectively shaken from his thoughts. Barely letting the doors open, he rushes out and heads toward Todd's apartment. Raising his fist, the boy hesitates.

'What if they don't want to come? What if they're busy? What if... what if they don't really like me?'

These doubts and more race through his mind as he waits there, hand in the air, poised to knock on the closed door. Before they get the better of him, however, the door swings open and Ash nearly walks straight into him.

"Oh, hey Sally Face, I didn't see you there." She says, smiling kindly at her shorter friend. "Sorry I can't wait around, I need to run. My parents want me home in time for dinner, you know how it is."

"Huh, oh... sure..." He mumbles, awkwardly, stepping out of her way so she can get past.

She's nearly to the elevator by the time he remembers what he's got in his hand.

"Wait! Ash!" The bluenette called, racing to catch up with the other teen. "I forgot to give you this."

Ashley paused, waiting for the boy to reach her. Taking the envelope into her hand, she ripped it open, staring at the contents in silence. Sal stood there, anxiously shifting as he awaited her response.

"Sal... I have plans tomorrow." With those words, Sal felt his heart begin to break and he found himself unable to meet the girl's gaze. "My brother wanted to go out to a movie and I promised that I'd take him. It's just... it's so last minute... I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay... I understand." He replied, his eyes hidden in the shadows of his mask. "Have fun at the movies, Ashley."

"Maybe I can see if Ben's okay with me taking him this weekend?" She blurted out as he was turning to walk away.

"No, you can't go back on your promise. It's not a big deal anyway, family is more important." Sal declared, never bothering to turn back around.

He didn't notice Ashley bite her lip in concern before she turned back to wait for the elevator's doors to allow her entry.

Moving back to the Morrison's door, Sal knocked and waited for his friend's parents to let him in before heading towards Todd's room. He was sad that Ash wouldn't be able to make it but was still excited to have the other's over. Upon entering his red-haired friend's room, he noticed the boy working vigorously on some kind of project and decided to wait until he was noticed. He didn't want to interrupt if it was something important. About ten minutes later, the other male glanced up from what he was working on, jumping in fright as he noticed Sal standing in the corner watching him intently.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The teen exclaimed, regret shining through the eye-holes of his mask.

"Don't worry about it." The Todd said, passively, as he rose from his seat. "It was my fault for not realizing you were there in the first place. So, what can I do for you, Sal?"

"I, uh, wanted to give you this," Sal spoke, somewhat hesitant after what had happened with Ash. "It's an invitation to my birthday party tomorrow."

Todd had been smiling at him until he'd mentioned the date and it morphed into a frown instead.

"Tomorrow? As in tomorrow, tomorrow?" The brainiac asked for clarification as he glanced back at his desk.

"Yea, that tomorrow," Sal answered, his heart breaking further at the conflicted look on Todd's face. "I know it's last-minute but... I thought maybe you could still come."

"I'll see what I can do but I have to get this project finished in time for the school science fair on Friday. I've still got so much to do... I haven't even started on the wiring. It'll take hours for that alone. Not to mention all the..."

"Todd, don't worry, it's not a big deal." He interrupted, his head lowered in disappointment. "Just focus on your project, it's more important."

"Well, if you say so." The other male retorted, fiddling with a few random components. "I truly do have a lot I need to finish and..."

Sal inched backwards out of the room as his friend continued to rant. He didn't realize that Todd could see the melancholy slope of his shoulders reflected in the screen of his computer monitor.

Dragging his feet, Sal felt despair curling within him. The blue-haired boy wasn't even sure he wanted to visit Larry, not after the failure he'd experienced with his other two friends. Still, he had to try! Larry was his best friend, surely he'd be able to make time for him... right? Entering the elevator once more, Sal pressed the button that would take him down into the basement. He clutched the invitation to his chest like his life depended on it, the paper crumpling slightly as he tried to calm his breathing. By the time he was standing in front of Larry's door, he'd managed to get it mostly under control.

"Hey Larry," He said loudly as he walked into the room, not bothering to knock as he knew it wouldn't be heard above the music blasting from the speakers.

"Hey dude, listen to this!" His friend called in greeting. "It's the new single from Sanity's Fall!"

He cranked the music even higher as he began to head-bang. Sal listened for a moment but just wasn't in the mood. Maybe after they talked and Larry accepted the invite... maybe then... but not now. Reaching over, he pressed pause on the stereo, meeting the taller male's confused look with his own blank stare.

"What's up, Sal? Something wrong?" The brunette asked in concern, his dark brows knitted together in worry.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just... I wanted to invite you to my birthday tomorrow." He replied in a rush. Not giving himself time to back out as he shoved the invitation at his friend.

Larry looked at him with understanding as he took the envelope, ripping into it to reveal the contents.

Sal's breath caught in his throat as he saw regret begin to blossom on his friend's face and he felt his heart shatter as the cracks he'd gathered that day burst apart at the seams. Tears began to pool in his eyes but he held them back, refusing to let himself cry as he took a shaky step backwards toward the door.

"Sal..." Larry spoke, his voice soft as he raised a hand towards his friend. "God, I'm so sorry, dude. I didn't know. I'd be there if I could, you know that, right? But I can't... I have work."

"No... it's fine... really." He responded, voice muffled as he bit his lip to stop himself from sobbing. "Work is more important, Larry. Maybe we can celebrate some other time. No big deal. I'll... um... I'll just go."

With that, he turned on his heel and ran, ignoring the sound of Larry shouting his name as the tears he'd been fighting to hold back began to fall.

-XXX-XXX-XXX-

That night, Sal cried himself to sleep. For the first time in months, he had no nightmares and figured it was because he'd completely exhausted himself. In the morning, the boy didn't bother getting out of bed. He simply laid there for an undetermined amount of time, his prosthetic sitting on his bedside stand completely forgotten. Sometime around noon, his father knocked at the door and poked his head inside the room, a warm smile on his face.

"Hey, Sal, what time were your friends gonna be here?" He asked, holding a notepad in one hand. "I kind of need to know so I can figure out when to pick up the food."

Sal simply turned over onto his side, curling into himself in lieu of an answer.

"You feeling okay, bud?" Henry inquired, stepping into the room in order to place a hand against his son's forehead, placing his notepad on the dresser before doing so. "You don't feel warm. What's wrong, huh?"

The teen spoke softly, his words so muffled by his blanket that they were completely incomprehensible to the older man.

"What's that? Couldn't quite make it out." Henry said, his voice taking on a slightly joking tone though his eyes betrayed his concern.

Sal shot up, nearly knocking heads with his father and allowing the man to see the tears trailing down his face in rivulets.

"I said, they're not coming!" The now seventeen-year-old exclaimed, his voice cracking as he failed to contain his grief. "They all h...have better things to do than to hang out with a fr...freak like me! I should have known better, dad! I sh...should have kn...known..."

He trailed off as his body was consumed by sobs. He was shaking so hard that he barely even felt it as his dad wrapped his arms around him in a gentle embrace, not saying a word, just letting him get it all off his chest.

"I thought they w...were my friends. I thought that maybe, j...just for once, someone might like m...me." He cried out, his face buried in his dad's chest. "But I w...was wrong... they're just l...like the others! No... they're w...worse! The ones before them o...only bullied me, they n...never pretended to b...be my f...friends."

He felt the arms tighten around him as his dad made shushing sounds above his head.

"What did I d...do to deserve th...this?" He asked, voice nearly a whisper as he choked back another sob.

"Hey, no Sal, this is not your fault." He felt his father pull back until he was forced to look into the older man's eyes. "None of this is your fault."

The teen's eyes widened as the man continued.

"Not your mom, not the bullies who tormented you in Jersey, and certainly not this." The man spoke solemnly as he began carding his hand through the mop of hair on his son's head. "I know... I wasn't always there for you the way I should have been. I wasn't there when you needed me to be but I promise you... I will not let you down again. I'm here, bud, whenever you need me to be... I'll be here. You're not alone, anymore."

With a pain-filled cry, Sal sprung forward until he was once more engulfed in his father's embrace. He hadn't realized it before but he'd been needing to hear those words for years, maybe since his mother had been killed. Now he had and he couldn't contain the emotions that surged within him. It was just too much.

After letting his boy cry for a few more minutes, Henry pushed him back, gently using his hand to lift the teen's chin so he'd meet his eyes once more.

"Now, son, I don't believe that Larry and the others were faking being your friends. More than likely, they're just busy. You didn't give them much warning, after all. How about we organize something for the weekend instead and see how it goes then, hmm?" The man asked, calmly.

Sal reached up, running the back of his sleeve across his eyes in order to wipe away the tears and nodded, sniffling slightly as he did so.

"Okay." He said, voice hoarse from crying so much.

Just then, a knock sounded at the front door, startling the two badly enough that they jumped. Henry carefully got off the bed and headed towards the living room.

"Why don't you wait here and I'll go see who it is, then we can figure out what to do for the rest of the day. It's still your birthday, bud, so you get to choose." He declared, swiftly making his way from the room as the knock came once more.

Sal sat there for a few seconds before deciding to get up and get dressed for the day. Before doing so, however, he carefully wiped his face dry, took a few calming breaths, and put his mask on. He heard low voices in the other room but couldn't make out who they belonged to or what was being said. It didn't matter anyway, he figured, it was probably just one of their neighbors hoping to borrow something. It's happened before on several occasions so it's not like it's an uncommon occurrence.

'Maybe it's Robert. He mentioned being out of baking soda when I stopped by a couple of days ago.' He pondered as he pulled a fresh shirt from his closet.

"Sal, you should come out here." He heard his dad call, snapping him from his thoughts as he nearly tripped getting his socks on.

"Kay, I'll be out in a sec." The seventeen-year-old shouted back before quickly pulling his hair into its signature pig-tails.

As he was doing so, his eyes caught sight of the picture he had affixed to his mirror. It was a photo that Ashley had insisted they take one night when the four of them had been hanging out. He was in the middle, since he was the shortest, with Ash and Todd on either side. They were both in silly poses, smiling widely for the camera. Larry was standing just behind him, his arms draping over his shoulders in a loose hug as his chin rested on top of Sal's head. He, himself, was smiling brightly, though you couldn't see it behind his mask. Seeing the pic brought a fresh wave of sadness washing over him but this time he was able to withstand the tears. Instead, he let a weary sigh escape his mouth before tearing his gaze away. His dad was right, it's not their fault that they'd had plans. If he'd only gotten up the nerve to ask them sooner then maybe this wouldn't have happened. Maybe they'd be sitting in the living room, laughing at something one of them had said while eating cake. But it's not doing him any good thinking of what could have been. So, taking another calming breath, he gathered himself together and walked out into the other room... only to stop short at the sight that awaited him.

"Guys... what?" He stuttered, his brain unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

There, in the doorway, stood his three friends. Each of them had a brightly wrapped package in their hands and Larry had a plastic bag hanging from his arm full of something Sal couldn't make out from where he stood. Glancing at their faces he was surprised to find that they each wore an apologetic expression that quickly morphed into sad smiles upon seeing him.

"Sal, I was just telling your friends how nice it is of them to come to your first ever birthday party." His father said, turning so the others couldn't see the wink he sent him.

'Aw, now the kicked puppy looks make sense.' He thought to himself as the three moved past the door to approach him.

"Geez, dude, you could have let us know you'd never had a party before. We would have gone all out instead of just bringing a few lame decorations." Larry said, holding out the bag he'd been carrying to show the streamers and balloons that were nestled inside.

"But... how..." He replied, still having trouble articulating what was on his mind. "You had to work!"

"I called in sick. Nothing's more important than my best bud." The taller teen explained, looping his arm around the smaller boy in a slightly awkward side hug.

He hesitated, a shell-shocked expression on his face before hugging Larry in return.

"What about you guys?" Sal asked, turning to face the other two, he spoke once more after breaking the embrace. "Ash, you said you were taking your little brother to the movies. And Todd, what about your science project?"

"Ben's letting me reschedule. I explained the situation to him and he totally gets it." Ashley replied, taking her turn to hug Sal.

"And I managed to figure out the wiring last night so I should have plenty of time to finish before the science fair," Todd added, taking Ash's place as she stepped back.

"But... I don't want to cause you any trouble... I'm sorry." He said, reaching up to anxiously tug on one of his pig-tails.

Larry reached out and gently pried Sal's hand loose from where it had tangled in his blue hair before softly enfolding it in his larger hand.

"You are not causing us trouble." The other male soothed, smiling fondly. "And you have nothing to apologize for. In fact, we should be apologizing to you. You told us that our stuff was more important, that it wasn't a big deal. You're always thinking of others first but, you know, it's okay to be selfish sometimes. It's not healthy to keep everything inside when your feeling upset."

"Yea, Sally Face, we shouldn't have made you feel like you weren't important to us," Ashley spoke up, her voice regretful. "That's just not true. You're one of our very best friends!"

"No matter how busy we get, friends make time for each other." Todd chimed in, pushing his glasses further up on his nose. "So I hope you can forgive us for forgetting that for a little while. Larry's right, we never should have hurt your feelings like that."

"So what do ya say, dude?" Larry spoke again, holding the plastic bag up in front of his face. "Should we get this party started? We have seventeen years worth of parties to make up for."

Sal couldn't believe what he'd heard. They cared about him so much that they'd changed their plans just so they could be here for him! With a small nod, the others cheered and quickly began going through the bag in search of decorations to put up. Within an hour the place was covered in streamers and balloons with a large banner proclaiming 'Happy Birthday!' stretched above the kitchen table. His father had run to the store during that time to pick up a cake as well as put in an order for several pizzas. Presents were passed forth after everyone had finished eating and Sal opened them with utmost care. He wanted to savor every second and store it safely in his memories so that he'd never forget this day. In the end, he'd gotten a Sanity's Fall Cd from Larry, a set of art supplies from Ash, a book of scientific facts from Todd, and a brand new game system from his dad.

Now, looking around as everyone dug into the cake, he couldn't help but feel a surge of love for each and every one of them. This was real. They were real. He finally had what he'd always wished for. It didn't matter what he looked like or if others thought he was a freak because right here, in this moment, he had people who cared for him... and that was enough.

AN: Hey, hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to leave a review :)