"Let's hold hands." Sal held out his palm as he walked to school at Travis's side.
Travis lifted his hand and hesitated. "What if someone sees?"
"We can stop if we see someone coming."
Travis interlocked their fingers and felt warm inside as Sal grinned.
"Let's watch a movie tonight," Sal suggested with a smirk. "I'll even fall asleep on your shoulder."
Travis rolled his eyes. "I didn't like it that much."
"You liked it enough to mention it while crying." Sal chuckled.
"I wasn't crying!"
"You weren't?" He tilted his head.
"No." Travis huffed.
Sal just smiled.
__
"I knew it!" Larry exclaimed before Sal clamped a hand over his mouth.
"N-not so loud, man!" Sal frowned, letting go of him. "It's very low-key, alright? We only started dating yesterday!" He whispered.
"Sorry, dude." Larry sighed and leaned back against his locker, "I'm happy for you, man, but if Travis messes with you and shit, you gotta tell me, okay little dude?"
"I'm worried about him," Sal admitted.
"Why?"
He sighed, dropping his head. "He's really paranoid about his father, and the church, and his sins." Sal made air quotes with his fingers.
"He's still in denial?" Larry raised an eyebrow.
Sal shook his head. "He doesn't deny being gay. The problem is that he hates that he's gay. He doesn't wanna go to hell."
"He doesn't really have a choice, dude." Larry scoffed. "If hell is real, and gay people really do end up there, that guys gonna be the first one down there."
"Stop!" Sal laughed for a moment and then sighed. "I'm just worried that he'll never overcome that fear."
"He'll be alright, " Larry assured him, looking away. "I don't actually know much about your new boyfriend,"
Sal panicked and looked around to check if anyone heard. He couldn't imagine that Travis would be happy to have the whole school know he's gay.
"But I know that he'll be okay." Larry smiled. "He just has to learn that being gay isn't something to be ashamed of."
__
"Trav," Sal smiled, coming up behind him.
"Hey, " Travis was sitting and eating Lunch by himself again. Sal leaned over his shoulder and grinned.
"Come sit with me today." Sal picked up his bag.
"Wait, " Travis mumbled, watching as Sal slung his backpack over his shoulder, "I can't. They'll-"
"You're obligated to sit with me now." Sal smiled. "I want to sit next to you."
Travis hesitated, knowing that Sal was right. Their relationship was very quiet and casual, but Sal deserved to be able to sit with him.
"Come on." Sal grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him towards the other table.
__
It must have been around three a.m., and a week after they'd started dating when Travis heard him scream.
It was the kind of blood-curdling scream that made you flinch, the kind of scream that was able to shook Travis right out of sleep.
"Sal?" He called back. Henry was staying the night at Lisa's.
Sal's scream quickly became many screams, and before Travis knew it, he was leaping to his feet and bounding down the hallway, towards Sal's bedroom.
He flung the door open and faintly recognized sleeping Sal's form on the bed. His prosthetic was on the nightstand, but it was too dark for Travis to see his face.
"Sally face!" Travis exclaimed, shaking his shoulder as Sal screamed and cried in his sleep. He made a conscious effort not to look at Sal's face. He knew his eyes would adjective to the darkness eventually and he'd be able to see, but he knew Sal wasn't ready to show him, so he looked away.
"Sal, wake up!" Travis shook him harder, prompting the blue-haired boy to shoot awake, breathing heavily.
"W-what, Travis?" He shuddered, "I- Am I awake now?" Sal looked at him, noticing how Travis avoided eye contact. He flushed, gasping. "Damn it!" He cried in realization, immediately covering his face with the blanket and reaching desperately for his prosthetic.
"I-It's okay," Travis assured him, nudging the mask closer to Sal's hand. "I didn't see anything."
He kept his head turned as Sal strapped his mask on. "Are you alright?" He mumbled once he was finished. "You were yelling."
"Yeah." He nodded stiffly. "It was a bad one, but I'm okay."
"A nightmare?"
"Yeah, night terrors," Sal responded. "I've had them since I was a kid."
"Will you be okay?" Travis mumbled. "We can... Talk about it." He was surprised at how caring he'd become.
Sal shook his head. "It wasn't... Anything you'd understand." He frowned, balling his hands into fists, letting out a soft sigh.
"What's wrong?" Travis mumbled.
He balled his hands into fists, looking away. "Are you sure-" He mumbled as Travis sat beside him. "Are you sure that you didn't see?"
Travis felt a stabbing pain in his chest. "Yeah." He nodded. He knew how insecure Sal was about his face. "I'm sure. I was more focused on waking you up, and my eyes hadn't adjusted to how dark it was in here."
"Did I wake you up?" Sal winced, blushing.
Travis smiled slightly. "It's ok. I'm gonna go back to sleep anyway."
"I'm sorry," Sal mumbled.
"It's okay." Travis stood up. "If something happens, just come get me."
"Wait." Sal grabbed his wrist frantically, looking up at him from the bed. "Don't leave." The dream had really shaken him.
"O-okay." Travis stepped away from the door.
Sal moved over and made a spot for him in the bed. "There's enough room for both of us."
"What happened to taking it slow, Fisher?" Travis scoffed playfully, sitting on the mattress.
Sal blushed. "I didn't mean it like that! You don't have to stay here- I mean, I just... I'm scared and- I didn't mean it in like, that kind of way-"
"I know, Sal, " Travis smiled a bit. "I was just playing with you."
"O-oh." Sal blinked, feeling heat rush into his cheeks. "Okay."
Travis pulled the comforter over himself and laid down with his back turned. He kept his eyes open, realizing that he hadn't felt the blue-haired boy lay down.
"Hey, " Sal mumbled quietly, "I... I take my mask off when I go to sleep, so don't look this way, alright?"
"Sure," Travis whispered. He listened, hearing the click of the straps on Sal's prosthetic followed by the sound of his mask being nestled on the bedside table.
"I feel naked without it." He admitted.
"Well, you wear it all the time. I get that it's weird to be without it." Travis tried to relate. He heard a small splash and furrowed his brows. "What was that?"
"N-nothing," Sal responded, staring at the glass cup. He'd have to wake up before Travis in order to get himself looking presentable before his new boyfriend could see. He wasn't going to make the same mistake that he did last time.
Sal laid down, facing away from him so that they were back to back. "Thank you." He whispered.
"Hm?"
"For not looking."