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

twenty two

Travis woke up in a cold sweat after yet another nightmare.

He'd been having awful dreams lately. Dreams about his father hurting him or Sal, dreams of Travis glancing out the window and seeing Kenneth's face grinning at him on the other side.

   Sal's bed was losing his scent. His guitar was dusty.

Henry's outlook on the situation was getting worse.

Travis made taking care of Gizmo his new responsibility. Sal's father was too much of a mess to get it done. He'd come to realize that cats were actually pretty cool.

Gizmo would cuddle up by his waist as he slept. He'd always been kind of skeptical of him, but with Sal gone, he'd grown fond of Travis.

Maybe he knows that we both miss Sal, Travis thought, before shaking his head, no, that's stupid. cats aren't that smart, are they?

Either way, Travis was happy to be comforted when he was so stressed out, even if it was by a cat.

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   "Chocolate's fine," Larry shrugged to Todd, who turned his back to order from the ice cream truck.

    The wind blew up and into the sleeves of his tee-shirt, making him shiver.

   "You should've brought a jacket." Todd smiled after returning with two ice cream cones. One chocolate and one vanilla.

   Larry laughed. "Sal would've annoyed the hell out of me until a hoodie on." He admitted. "He probably wouldn't have even let me leave the building without one during this weather."

   "He's always worrying about everyone else." Todd grinned, shaking his head. "What does Sal normally get from the ice cream truck?"

   "Hm," Larry tilted his head up, biting the inside of his cheek as he thought, "Usually someone that no one else would choose, like those characters themed popsicles, or a snowcone or something, but his favorite ice cream flavor is cookie dough, I think."

   "Let's pick up some for him, for when he wakes up."

   Larry nodded with a smile, sitting in silence for a moment as he listened to the bustling of the world around him. "What's Neil up to?"

   Todd's face softened, "Neil is at his grandmother's house, helping her with her garden."

   "I'm surprised you didn't go with him." Larry laughed, "You two are usually inseparable."

   "She lives a few states away." He explained, shrugging. "It kind of sucks, but Neil will be back in two days."

   "Yeah, I get you." Larry sighed, "It's been pretty lonely with Sal not around, and we're obviously not dating or anything like you and Neil are, but the kid's my brother." He frowned. "I miss him, man. So I try to visit him a lot."

   "I'm sure he'd appreciate that." Todd put a freckled hand on his shoulder. "He'll wake up soon."

   "I know." Larry asserted, "It's just that it's been two weeks already, dude. Everyone's worried about him." His eyes widened. "Especially Travis. Have you seen him recently?"

   "Ah, " He winced, frowning, "he's not taking it well? I saw him a few days ago and he was asking me and Neil about being gay and stuff."