Chapter Text
He ran. Ran as fast as he could, his beaten up shoes a disgusting green colour, hitting the concrete. He didn't know where he was intending on going but somehow found himself standing in front of the Addison apartments, the door the only thing illuminated in the darkness of the night. He found himself inside the elevator sifting through his memories, trying to remember the apartment number he was told. “402… right right”, he muttered pressing the fourth floor button.
He thought back to the dingy school bathroom he had been sitting in weeks prior, knees pressed to his chest as tears ran down his face. He heard shoes scuffling outside the stalls and the crumpling of paper. He heard the shoes getting closer, before stopping outside his stall.
“Travis..? Are you in there?”
Of course it was him, it was always him never able to leave Travis alone. All Travis wanted was for that dumb blue haired freak to leave him alone.
“Cant have privacy even in the bathroom Sally Face?”, he said, trying to come off snarky, but ultimately coming out much quieter than intended.
“Are you okay dude? It sounded like you were crying.”
“Why do you think it's any of your business freak”, he spat out, pushing his face even farther into his knees.
“Why do you hate me so much?”Sal asked, slowly sitting down, back pressed against the door of the stall. Travis rolled his eyes bringing his sleeve up to wipe the last remaining tears.
“Because you and your dumb friends are a bunch of homos. It's sick, it's not right, God will never love you so why should I.”
“You know we're not all gay right? I mean except for Todd he's super gay”, Sal replied with a laugh. All Travis could do was sit there in silence, unsure as to why he was even replying to the things Sal was saying. He hated Sal, and Sal was supposed to hate him. That's why he was taken aback when the boy on the other side of the door said, “I know how hard it must be for you, your dad being a preacher and all. I can only imagine the pressure you feel at home. If you ever need a place to go or someone to talk to, just stop by my place. I live in the apartments, room 402. Don't be afraid to stop by sometime.”
He snapped out of his thoughts as the elevator dinged, reaching the fourth floor. He walked out of the elevator into a dimly lit hallway and walked over to the door of Sal’s apartment. The blond stood there awkwardly unsure as to whether he should even be here, it was the middle of the night and he was showing up to the apartment of someone he had bullied the entire year. He didn’t even know if Sal would open the door for him. He brought his scratched and scraped hand up to the door knocking softly, before waiting and knocking a few times harder when no one responded. A wave of defeat came over him as no one answered, and he was about to walk away when he heard the click of the door unlocking. He looked up as the door swung open to see Sal standing there, in an oversized shirt, with his mask on, only the top clip secured.
“Travis? Are you okay, it's so late man”, the shorter man began to say as he took in the state Travis was in. His bleached hair a mess compared to its usual clean style, the bruise on his eye looking puffy and fresh and blood dripping from his broken nose. He noticed a fresh bruise peaking out from under the collar of his shirt and the way Travis's lip was split and swollen. “Oh shit man come in come in”, he ushered in Travis at the realization. “Come on let me patch you up” Sal guided Travis through the darkness of the living room into the bathroom, Gizmo walking by the two of them and rubbing against Travis’ leg. Sal slightly laughed saying, “That's gizmo, that must mean he likes you.”
He turned on the bathroom light, the LEDs slightly flickering. Travis awkwardly followed in behind him sitting on the edge of the bathtub. He shivered slightly as he watched Sal pull out a first aid kit from under the sink, the cold of the night he had been in finally settling into him. Sal pulled out a rag and dampened it in the sink, turning to Travis saying, “I'm just gonna wipe off the blood real quick okay?” He waited for Travis to nod before starting, gently grabbing the bottom of his face with his free hand. As Sal cleaned up his face Travis avoided eye contact as well as he could. He was embarrassed he was here, embarrassed that he went to a freak like this for help. He shivered as Sal pulled away, dropping the rag down on the counter and grabbing some type of ointment from the kit.
He watched the way Sal moved through the bathroom towards him, seemingly unfazed by the blond sitting there. He watched as Sal started applying the ointment to his bruises, and the way when they make eye contact Sal's eyes crinkling in a way he can only assume is a smile. It made him angry, he couldn't understand why he was being so gentle and caring to him, why he would smile at him as if they didn’t have a history of hate.
“There I’m just about done, I'll grab you an ice pack for your eye and you should be good to go”, the blue haired boy told him with a slight smile. Travis almost didn't know what to say. He was so used to throwing insults and slurs at the boy in front of him that he didn’t know how to be kind. All he could do was nod in response as he watched Sal begin to leave the bathroom. Travis got up and followed behind him, ending up sitting on the couch as he watched Sal dig through his freezer. “If you want to talk about it you can, I can tell those weren't like self inflicted or anything”, the shorter boy told him as he placed an ice pack in his hand, and sat next to him on the old couch. Travis stared at the floor between his feet, one part of him wanting to just let out everything that had been happening, and the other part feeling ashamed of being here in the first place.
“I really should leave now, thanks I guess”, but he didn’t move to stand up as he nervously shifted his feet around. He could feel the way Sal was looking at him, the pity in his eyes as he looked over the state Travis was in.
“Travis, can I ask you something?” Travis looked up at Sal still holding the ice up to his eye. “Did your dad do this?” Sal watched the way Travis looked back down with no response and understood that as a yes.
“You know he kicked me out this time”, Travis suddenly felt himself unable to stop talking, unsure as to why he was even telling Sal these things. “He uh found my notebook, and as soon as I walked through the door he started yelling at me, and you know,” he started explaining, shrugging and looking away from Sal, feeling the embarrassment show on his face. He was sure Sal could see the color on his face even through the dark of the room. “I don't think I can ever go back to that place.” He felt Sal lean back against the couch and sighed slightly, his warm breath contrasting the cold room. The silence began to fill the room as neither boys knew what to say to each other.
“If you want to stay you can, but if you have somewhere else to stay that's cool too”, Sal suddenly spit out staring down at his own hands in his lap. Both were surprised at the invitation, Sal even unsure as to why he would do that. All Sal could think of was to try to be as kind as possible, Travis had come to him for help for God's sake. Travis’s gaze slowly shifted up from the floor to Sal, taking in the boy next to him. “Il go get you a change of clothes, you must be cold in that shirt.” Travis watched as the other boy quickly stood up and entered his room quickly re-entering the living room with a thicker sweater and pants, “I don't know if these will fit, I tried to find some bigger stuff but you know I’m much shorter than you”, he said handing the clothes over to Travis with a gentle hand.
The taller boy grabbed the clothes almost cautiously, not knowing why he isn't just getting up and leaving this stupid apartment. He didn't say anything as he stood up and quickly entered the bathroom to change. He pulled the worn thin long sleeve he had on over his head, exposing his bruised skin to the cold air of the apartment. He turned and faced the mirror, eyes scanning over his own body, looking at the bruises and scars littering his chest and arms. He felt shame for things he didn't even do to himself, and even more shame for the ones he did do. A real man shouldn't feel things like this towards himself, he had been told that his whole life. He turned away after remembering the things his dad had said about his scars and quickly continued changing, leaving the bathroom swiftly after.
As he walked into the dark living room he saw Sal waiting for him by the bedroom door, with his weird cat next to his leg. He could feel both of their gazes fall upon him, and he watched as Sal stopped leaning on the doorway. “If you wanna stay on the couch you can, I’ll bring you out a blanket and pillow”, Sal quietly said to him, and Travis once again found himself unable to reply. He simply walked back over to the couch and sat down again as he watched Sal sigh and began to go look for some of the aforementioned items. When Sal left the room, Travis’s eyes took the opportunity to start wandering around the dark room. He took notice of the pictures hanging on the wall, of Sal and his dad, his mom nowhere to be seen. It almost resembled the walls of his own house, he thought. The thought of home caused his mind to start spiraling back to the earlier events of that night that led him here.
Travis had just finished his walk home from school, and had barely walked in the door before he saw his father sitting at the kitchen table home earlier than expected. He could instantly feel the tense energy as he looked over at the table and noticed the book sitting open in front of his father. It only took a moment before he realized that was his notebook, the one he thought he had hidden well enough, and the same one he had put all his sins into. “Travis. Come sit down.” Hearing the sternness in his voice he instantly rushed over and sat across from his father. The yelling started instantly, he didn't even hear all the words being spewed at him. Words about how god was going to send him to hell for his sins, how he wasn't raised to be a sinner, wasn't raised to be a fag like the other kids in this town. He lost track of the time as he realized the yelling wasn't going to stop soon and as the aggression escalated. He only snapped out of the daze he was in when the first strike hit him. The beating didn't stop as he fell to the floor, the wooden chair flipped beside him. He zoned out once again as it continued. He found himself locked in his room unaware of how he even got in his bed. He found himself digging through his nightstand drawers, finding his razor still hidden in the bottom.
“Travis?”
Hearing the familiar voice seemed to take Travis out of the trance he was in. He looked up suddenly, realizing the other boy had been trying to get his attention for a minute. “Here man, I got you a blanket and stuff.” Travis grabbed the bedding from him, giving a nod and a half attempted smile. The awkwardness once again filled the space between them, “Alright I’m going to bed,” the bluehaired boy said with a nod, “goodnight Travis”. Sal started to move away from the couch and towards his room.
“Sal?” Hearing the boy behind him he turned back around. Nervously Travis began, “um I just wanted to say thank you, for taking me in like this all of a sudden.” He quickly looked away from him after meeting his eyes.
“Yea of course man it's no issue really, you're always welcome here”, Sal told him with a smile, obstructed by his prosthetic but evident by his eyes. “ Sleep well Travis”. Travis looked up at the boy in front of him,
“Goodnight Sal”.