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Just a few days ago, Travis had accidentally caught a glimpse of Sal’s face after Sal had forgotten to lock his bathroom door while cleaning his glass eyeball. Things have been awkward since, and Sal swore it was okay, yet Travis couldn’t seem to stop apologizing.
Travis was staying for the night at Sal’s due to.. issues with his father. The clock read 2:48 AM, Sal now wide awake after jolting up from a night terror. The bluenette took a breather before realizing the tall blonde wasn’t beside him.
Travis was allowed to sleep in the same bed with Sal at sleepovers as long as his back was face towards him so he didn’t see the boys scarred face.
Sal rubbed his eyelids groggily as he sat up, reaching for his prosthetic on his bedside. The boy grabbed his mask and strapped it on, clasping it together. His feet reached the floor with a grunt, dragging along the green carpet. Sal noticed the bathroom light was on, meaning either Travis or Henry was in there. Although, Henry was still on his chair after a long day of drinking all his thoughts away, so it was no doubt that it was Travis.
Sal brought his hand up to the bathroom door and knocked softly, not wanting to startle the blonde.
“Trav,” The boy muttered. “you in there?”
No response.
Sal could’ve sworn he heard faint sniffling from there. It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, and he knew it wasn’t good. Sal gently placed his hand on the door handle.
“Trav, I’m coming in. Okay?”
Turning the door handle, Sal was surprised to find his boyfriend curled up with his knees up to his chest and arms around his legs, Gizmo sleeping right by his feet. Sal sighed. He wasn’t upset with Travis. After all he’d been through, how could he be?
The bluenette took a few steps forward and crouched down beside the blonde, placing his hand on his cheek and wiping away his tears. Even though Travis never showed too much emotion around others, it still hurt horribly when Sal saw him upset.
Blood drops and broken glass on the floor. It was no shocker what Travis had done.
“..Can I see your arms?” Sal asked, taking his hand off of Travis’s face. Sal himself struggled with self-harm, but he needed to take care of Travis right now.
Travis didn’t show Sal his arms, waiting for Sal to grab them himself because the poor boy was so tired and exhausted to even move properly. Travis just gave a simple nod. It was clear he was hesitant, however. To Travis, crying was for the weak. He didn’t like being pictured as weak.
The masked boy gently took his boyfriends hands, expression softening as he saw the red drops of blood forming on his arms. He looked up at Travis, tilting his head a bit out of concern.
“Trav.. why?”
Travis hesitated to answer, knowing that if he opened his mouth, more tears would flow down, and he already looked pathetic enough. His lips parted, trying to get a sentence out.
“I- I don’t-..”
The blonde let out an accidental whimper along with a shaky breath, feeling as if there was a large steel ball in his throat that kept him from speaking. Travis was never good with expressing his emotions. With the way he was raised, it wasn’t surprising, really.
“When- when I saw your face,” His breath hitched in his throat, tears still welling in his eyes. “you slammed the door on me and told me to get out and you cried and I messed up really bad and- I don’t know!”
Travis wasn’t a soft crier. His wails filled the room, echoing off the walls. Sal didn’t respond and got up from the ground. He walked to the sink and opened the white cabinet right below it. Travis watched with teary eyes as Sal rummaged through the cleaning supplies and rolls of toilet paper, seeming to be searching for something. Finally, the boy reached for a blue, plastic box labeled, ‘First Aid’. Sal walked back to travis and sat with his legs crossed, opening the box and grabbing a handful of bandaids. Placing the bandaids to the side, Sal also grabbed a small bottle of rubbing alcohol to apply on the cuts before applying the bandaids to his arms.
“This is gonna hurt a for a second.” Sal added as he poured a small amount of alcohol onto a cotton swab.
Dabbing the alcohol onto Travis’s skin, he winced and pulled back, eyes watering even more than they already were. Sal noticed this and put his smaller hands in Travis’s once again.
“The more you hesitate, the more it’s gonna hurt. If we’re quick, we can get this over with. Sound good?”
Sal was always good with situations like these. That was one of the many reasons Travis loved him so much. With a quiet whimper, Travis put his hand back out for Sal to bandage up. Sals pale hands reached for Travis’s brown ones. One hand held Travis’s to keep him calm, while his free hand bandaged him up.
After ten long minutes of wincing, whining, and crying, the blonde’s arms were all bandaged up. Sal gave him a small pat on his shoulder before standing up, putting his arm out for Travis to grab.
Travis hesitantly grabbed Sal’s hand, standing up.
“Up you go.” Sal muttered, pulling Travis up. The blonde towered over the boy, yet he clung to Sal the same way a child would to its mother. Sal simply took his hand and lead him back to bed. Cuddling always helped.
The two boys hopped into bed, pulling the covers over them just below their underarms. Sal unclipped his prosthetic and put it back on its original spot. Travis already had his back faced toward Sal so he wouldn’t see. Placing a soft kiss just below Travis’s jaw, Sal spooned the taller boy. Travis was always the little spoon. He liked feeling little.