Better Than I'd Thought | Sally Face x Travis Phelps

thirteen

"Hey, doggy, " Larry smiled at the large dog, hiding his fear.

The German shepherd walked towards him, sniffing his outstretched hand with a wagging tail.

Larry sighed in relief as she rolled on her back and licked his clothing.

"She likes you." Sal laughed quietly with a smile, "I hope Travis will be happy to see her."

"I'll try to get her in the car," Larry said. "Go see if Travis needs anything from upstairs. I'll be with the dog."

"Right." Sal nodded, turning his back to head up the stairs.

Of course, he wasn't sure where Travis's room was.

"Bathroom, " he mumbled, peeking through one of the open doors. "Closet, " He sighed, opening another one.

Sal walked further down the hall and opened the door to the left. A small bed, a messy desk with crumpled paper, a small cross on the wall. That seemed pretty Travis.

He strolled in and glanced at the desk, which was covered in papers, each written on with sloppy, angry handwriting.

Sal hesitantly picked one up and frowned while reading it.

Sal,
Get out of my head. I'm not gay I'm not gay I'm not gay I'm not gay I'm not gay I'm not gay. Faggots like you go to hell. I hope you all rot there, but doesn't that mean that I'd rot there too? I'd rather be there than here, at the mercy of my father's hands.

"Oh Travis, " He grimaced, setting the page down. Sal was embarrassed that he hadn't realized how badly Travis was suffering at home. He knew that Kenneth Phelps was a strict, conservative father and that Travis had a hard time at home because of it, but he didn't know it was like this.

"I'm sorry, Travis." He mumbled, looking around the room. It was an absolute wreck. Sal could tell Travis struggled alone in this room frequently. The environment was incredibly grim.

Sal shook his head. He needed to find things in here that Travis would want. His eyes landed on the bed, where a raggedy stuffed bear was placed. Sal smiled and picked it up.

It was worn with what he assumed was many years of love.

On the bedside table were a pair of headphones and a camera. Sal slid both under his arm and shrugged, heading for the door. He paused again, glancing at the desk. It was covered with mountains of crumpled papers. Many of them were addressed to him.

He'd already read one, that was bad enough. Sal wasn't about to stand in Travis's room and read things that were private, even if they were addressed to him.

Sal quietly shut the door behind him and made his way downstairs, feeling scared, alone in such a dangerous house.

He wasn't sure if he was truly aware of the kind of man Kenneth was, but if Travis, someone who has trouble expressing the simplest of emotions, went white at the mention of his name, Sal knew being around the guy wasn't a good idea.

Sal locked the front door and jogged outside after climbing back out through the window. He shut the latch on the other side.

He didn't know why he was going through the effort of covering his tracks. Surely, Kenneth would notice that someone had come. They did take his dog, after all.

Sal opened the car door and sat beside Larry. Bella was panting, laying in the back seat. "Was it hard getting her in here?"

"Nah, dude," Larry shrugged, "She was pretty chill."

"Ok, cool." Sal glanced over his shoulder as Larry pulled away from the house. His stomach dropped as he watched a black car turn, entering Kenneth's driveway.

"Don't look." Larry swallowed. "It's okay." He kept driving at a steady pace.

Sal whipped his head back around after they had turned a corner. "Do you... Think he got our plates?"

He shook his head. "As far as he knows, there's no reason for him to want our plates."

"R-right, right." Sal hesitated. "Do you think he saw the dog?"

"She was laying down." Larry glanced in the rear view mirror. "It's unlikely."

"O-okay." Sal let out a breath. Maybe he should've listened to Travis. He smiled for a moment, realizing how happy he'd be when he returned with his dog.

Of course, it was likely that he'd be scolded once he got home, not only by Travis but by his father as well.

He didn't get his permission to bring a dog into the house, and he didn't get permission to leave with Larry at midnight either.

"Was he sleeping when you left?" Larry asked.

"Huh?"

"Travis."

"Oh, " Sal mumbled, still thinking about Kenneth's car. If he were out of the house a minute later, they would've been in big trouble, "yeah, he's in my bedroom."

"Ayo, " Larry's eyes widened as he smirked, glancing at him, "Damn, dude, you two are getting freaky already, huh?"

"Huh?!" Sal blushed. "No! I just feel bad making him sleep on the couch! It's not anything like that..."

"Yeah, right, " Larry snickered, rolling his eyes.

"I mean it, dude, " Sal sighed, looking down at his lap, "he's never even seen my face..."

"Oh, damn, bro," He mumbled, starting ahead at the road. "When are you planning on showing him?"

"I... Don't want to show him."

"Like, ever?" Larry asked.

"Maybe, I dunno." Sal shrugged with a groan. "

"So like, he's gonna marry you having never seen your face?" He raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't seem achievable."

"Hey!" He flushed, turning to stare at Larry with wide eyes, "Who said anything about marriage?"

"Oh please," Larry chuckled, "no ones more of a hopeless romantic than you. I'm sure you've thought of it."

"It's... Only been like a month." Sal said slowly, "Since we started dating."

"So?" he laughed, "You're a sucker for lovey-dovey stuff, man. There's no way you haven't thought about it." Sal was a famous romance movie enthusiast. There's nothing he enjoyed more than a poorly executed rom-com.

Sal's face felt hot. He fidgeted with his feet and sighed. "Maybe a little bit..."

Larry cracked up.