Part two of his plan was much more complex. It relied more on Sal's mind. Whenever Sal was without his mask, Travis would be extra sweet to the other. Whether it was hugs, kisses or simple loving looks. Travis was going to try and teach Sal that he loved it when his prosthetic was off.
It was a bit complicated and took longer than he'd hoped. One of Sal's favorite things is kissing, Travis knew that. Sal liked being kissed, kissing Travis or Gizmo, everywhere and anywhere. Sal had been Travis's first and only kiss. Travis particularly liked kissing Sal's face, not just his lips but his deformed jaw, his scarred cheek, his missing nose, he has kissed every scar on Sal's face. After his injury a bunch of Sal's nerve endings got fucked. Some parts of his face were overly sensitive, some were painful to the touch, in some places he couldn't feel anything at all. But no matter if he could feel it at all or too much, Sal did enjoy the kisses.
Having Travis love something that he's always found so gross and bad, makes Sal's chest hurt. He feels so unbelievably happy, but also weird and gross. He feels the need to cover his face or put his prosthetic on. His gruesome face undeserving of such affection.
But, despite the utter embarrassment that would come with this step, it would be worth it. For Sal to be happy, feel happy, feel comfortable and safe in his skin, safe with Travis.
Travis continued with his constant kissing but also took the time to just stare at Sal a little bit. Look into his beautiful eyes, observe his pale, pink lips. Just look at him. This of course confused Sal, when their kissing would be interrupted by Travis looking at him with a pink face.
The first time, Sal thought he had food on his face and proceeded to rub around and ask. Travis simply said no before he looked back a the Tv show they had been watching. But the more he did it, the more concerned Sal got.
"Traaaavis..." Sal rested his elbows on the counter, bending over to watch as Travis made dinner. Travis peered down at Sal, sensing the seemingly important conversation on the brink, turned down the heat for the sauce he was stirring. Travis always tried his best to be good at boyfriending. When something serious happened or when Sal needed to talk, he put everything down and paid full attention to the other. "Did i do something...wrong" Sal's voice was quiet, afraid of the others answer. Whereas Travis was just confused.
"What? No! What do you mean?" Travis's eyebrows scrunched together as he stared at the other with wide eyes. "Why do you think you did something wrong?"
"Youve been acting weird and I-just got in my head bout it. I thought you were...I don't know thinking about things..." Sal refused to look at the other, staring down at his fingers as he fiddled. Travis took a step forwards and rested his hand on Sallys back.
"What kinda things..." Travis's face now looked completely concerned. Sal reluctantly looked at Travis when he carefully spoke, formulating his words before doing so.
"About us, bout me... about...maybe...leaving..." the words registered immediately, utter surprise filled Travis's face. Leaving, Travis leaving Sal, breaking up, that's what Sal thinks he's doing. Travis knew Sal would be concerned about what he was doing, he already was before during the first step. But this was so out of bounds from how he'd though Sal would react. Sal was looking back down now, kicking his foot against the floor.
"I...no Sal. I'm not-I've never-I..." Travis stuttered. This entire conversation amazed him, to think Sal would ever think this shit about them. He was exasperated and flustered, he sighed and moved next to Sal mirroring his position he grabbed Sal's hand. "I've never thought anything like that. kay" Sal stared at Travis, the holes of his prosthetic framing his eyes. Travis carefully brought his hands up to the back of Sal's head to unclip said prosthetic. Sal let him, he always let Travis touch his prosthetic. Travis was unbelievably gentle with the prosthetic, more gentle than Sally himself was.
Travis set the device down and stood up straight, he grabbed Sal's shoulders making the man follow him. Travis connected their lips in a gentle, soft kiss. Sal closed his eyes, breathing through his nose as he instantly relaxed at the touch. Travis gently pulled away to hold Sal's face gently, like a prized piece of art. His eyes soft, warm, a smile pulling on his lips.
"That! You keep doing that. Why?" Sal pushed his finger into the blondes chest. His eyebrows knotted together as he focused on Travis. Travis looked away as he gently laughed, covering his mouth with his hand. A habit Sal absolutely hated. Travis bent down and rested his head on Sal's shoulder.
"I don't know what I'm doing and why you think its so bad. I'm just looking at you."
"But why are you looking at me so much. I hate it. Are you judging me?" Travis laughing continued.
"What would I be judging exactly?"
"My face" Travis's laughs halted.
"Stop with that shit Sal I hate it. I'm not judging anything. I'm just looking at you. You want me to stop looking at you?" Sal rolled his eyes. Travis lifted his head up to stare at the other, a deadpan face. Sal huffed and walked to the living room. Travis smiled as he watched the other walk away. Going back to the dinner he was making.
This step was much more challenging than the last. Sal knew something was up, he also knew he hated being stared at like without his prosthetic. "Do you think somethings wrong" Sal laid on his bed feet hanging off with Gizmo on his chest.
"Do you think somethings wrong?" Ash sat on the bed next to him listening to the music Larry was playing for them.
"He's just acting weird...What if there's something wrong with me!" Ash made a face while Larry turned around completely, now very interested in the conversation.
"What no Sally there's nothing wrong with you. If you need me to punch Travis, I'll do it." Larry never warmed up to Travis the way the others did. They were just too different, they weren't as bad as they use to be but they still bickered, and Larry was always very inclined to kick his ass if needed.
Sal sat up, moving Gizmo to his lap and unclipped his prosthetic resting in on the bed next to him. "Did something change? Scarring a different color or something? Anything" Ash rolled her eyes but took him seriously. She gently held Sal's head in her hands, scanning her eyes over his face. Larry got up from his seat on the floor and stood behind Ash to look too. Sal looked back at them, fliping between them both. Ash gently smiled.
"There's nothing different to me. Just the same old Sal."
"Yeah there's nothing..." Sal dramatically flopped back onto his mattress. "Are you seeing him tonight?" Larry went and sat back down by the CD player.
"I want to. To clear this up and stuff. But i also miss this place. And Gizmo of course." Sal gently pet the orange cat while looking around at his room, personalized for him. He liked Travis's house a lot, it was very homey and colorful. Travis tried to make it as much not like his fathers home as possible. But Sal missed this place, especially since Larry moved in.
"You should just move in there, take Gizmo with you. You spend all you time there anyway." Larry looked through his CDs. Sorting them in an order that made sense to only him.
"And leave you here all alone." Sal poked at his brother back with his toe. Earning a slap.
"I'm a big boy. Plus, then I'd get to see the shit hole and hang out there." Larry smiled a devilish grin towards Sal. Both Sal and Ashley rolled their eyes.
"It stings?"
Travis hummed as he continued rubbing the bleach into his hair with gloved hands. Sal sat on the toilet and watched in awe. He hated the smell but liked watching, supporting Travis despite his true feelings on the matter. He had wanted to see Travis's real hair for a long time. But to Travis it was out of the question. His father was the one that made him start bleaching his hair to scrub out any reminder of his supposedly monstrous mother. Travis had dark roots and using products and a flat iron, he straightened the natural waves. Something his father also implemented him to do.
Sal was wearing his mask as usual. They blank face staring at Travis silently. Once finished, Travis tore off his gloves before walking over to Sal and carefully taking off his prosthetic, leaning down he kissed the scared skin of Sal's lips. Sal gently kissed back, Travis had chapped lips while Sal barley had lips at all. He hated it, and for a while he assumed Travis hated it too. But the truth was made obvious very quickly in their relationship.
Completely blind Travis placed the medical device down on the counter. Before moving to hold Sal's neck in his gentle hands. He got down onto his knees to save the other any neck pain from looking up for so long. Sitting in-between Sal's legs, they continued kissing. "Make sure none of that gets on me. I like my hair the way it is" Sal was quickly shut up by Travis chasing his lips the second he pulled away. The kiss was deep and passionate, with Travis's intension clear. Sal pulled away before anything else happened. Pushing Travis away when he fought to continue. "I wanna talk."
"Later.." Travis said, his annoyance clear on his face. He was pouting.
"I'll forget later. So don't distract me and then we can get back to what we were doing when you wash your hair out. " Sal smiled, Travis rolled his eyes before sitting down on the ground and looking up at Sally Face.
"What is it"
"I want to know what's wrong with me? Or what's wrong with you perhaps" Travis stared at Sal with wide eyes before they relaxed when he realized what Sal was talking about. This Damn plan wasn't going the way he wants.
"Sal...we talked about this already..." Travis pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"I know, I know. We did but you didn't give me an answer. I talked with Ash and Larr and they don't know what could be going on either. They told me to talk to you. So here we are."
"You can't ask them about relationship issues. They've both been single all their lives. You should have asked Todd or Neil about it" now that its being said it makes a lot more sense to go to Todd and Neil, especially since they're gay. Asking his two single straight friends about him and Travis probably wasn't the best idea.
"You're still avoiding the issue, Travis. I don't like to force you to do anything you don't want to but this is different, its important, and I'm worried. So please just talk to me. Give me something so I can stop worrying." Sal moved himself off the toilet and onto the ground with Travis. He held Travis's hands in his, gently stroking his knuckles.
"...It's nothing Sal I just like looking at you. Not in a bad way, I'm not judging you or contemplating leaving you or any shit like that. I just like you face. I always have, now it's just the place where we--where I can do look and touch without feeling weird. You always said growth was a good thing" Sal processed every word said. Travis was never very good at intimacy for a long time. Being alone in the same room as Sal was too much for him. Sal told him that it was normal and to take his time getting comfortable. To all of a sudden be free of doing and feeling his bad, ungodly, gay feelings was a lot for Travis, they both knew that. And even when they are at the place they are now, it still overwhelms him a lot, pet names and kissing and touching of the innocent and non-innocent kinds. This plan has helped Travis be more comfortable, he never thought Sal would see that as a bad thing.
Sal sighed gently. 'I just like your face' he said it so simply. Larry and Ash have always made it clear that his face is not a bad thing that needs to be covered up in front of them. That they wanted Sal to be comfortable. But no one, nowhere, in no situation has ever downright said that they liked his face. His disgusting, monstrous face.
Sal sat for a moment contemplating Travis's words. He was frozen and looked terrified. Travis could see this. He reached out and grazed the back of his hand along Sal's face. To Travis, Sal was perfect. He was an angel. The angel that redeemed the poor broken lost soul of Travis Phelps.
"Sal...your beautiful. I'm not lying" Travis was quiet trying to read Sal's reaction carefully. No one had called him beautiful since he was young, before the accident. His mother called him beautiful. Sal's eyes filled with tears as he looked at the blonde hair. Travis saw this and quickly reacted by pulling Sal towards him, smushing their chests together in a hug, Sal quietly cried into Travis's chest. Travis wrapped his arms and legs around Sal, squeezing, making him feel very safe and secure. Sal clung into the others shirt. God the room smelled. And god this in not how Sal expected this conversation to go. He didn't know what to feel.
Beautiful
Travis though he was beautiful.
He wanted to happy but also didn't fully believe him. He wanted to hate the lies but also desperately wanted them to be true. It was overwhelming. It was too much. He wanted to run and hide away from Travis but also have him hug tighter. He was ugly, hideous. Unhuman and unwanted to anyone with eyes. A freak like him wasn't to be loved, to be cared for, especially by someone as amazing as Travis, as perfect as Travis. He felt the need to push Travis out of the room to take care of himself using Travis's razor. He didn't deserve Travis.
Travis and Sal showered together after his panic was over. They sat on the floor and relaxed int he warm spray of the shower. Sal straddled the others lap helped gently scrub out the product in the blonde's hair. Travis hated having his head touched, but he would truly let Sal do anything to him, he trusted him that much. Sal made him question his entire being from the moment he saw the masked one. He's life is completely different because of Sal and he wouldn't change it for anything. He was happy with Sal, it was complicated but good. He loved Sal and just wanted Sal to know that. When in the shower they continued their less than-innocent activities they postponed earlier.
They currently lied in bed together looking at each other, just observing the others tired face's They had one had locked and the other occupied. Sal gently stroked Travis's face, admiring the tanned skin, the scar on his lip, the light freckles on his cheeks. Travis's hand held up his head to properly look at the other. Sal usually hated being stared at, but how Travis was looking at him so sweetly, he couldn't deny the other. Travis admired the others pink and red scarring, his bright blue eye, his pale skin, his light lips, his electric blue hair, to him, everything about Sal was perfect, every scar on his face was perfect.
"What do you see that you like..."
"I see you"
"I'm hideous." Travis hated those words, he hated all bad words directed at Sal.
"Your perfect. And anyway...I don't think I'm much of a looker either." Sal's face scrunched up in confusion. He immediately moved closer to tower over Travis's body, his arms sat on either side of the others head, their bodies pressed together.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Travis quietly laughed at the others confusion.
"What do you mean 'What am I talking about' you've seen movies. You have to be the only person that would every date this" Travis signaled to his face and body.
"What! Travis you are crazy. Nuts! You are so hot and cute anyone would be lucky to date you." Travis got on his elbows and leaned up closer to Sal's face.
"When I say all that stuff about you, you don't believe me. Why the hell should I believe you. We're both too biased.
"You complimenting me and me complimenting you are two very different things. And of course I'm biased but I knew you before we were friends and still thought you were attractive." Sal mumbled his words, their faces bumped together, the tension distracting him slightly.
"They aren't different things, neither of us are attractive in a normal way but we both think the other is attractive. You liked me back in high school when I was covered in bruises and had a swollen eye." Sal sighed loudly before relaxing his arms and falling on Travis's chest completely. Travis gently laughed, his chest shaking under Sal. They both started laughing, hugging each other and mutually laughed at how ridiculous this all was.
"You are one of the prettiest people I have ever met Travis, inside and out."
"Same goes for you Sally Face." The room went silent as they fell asleep on top of each other. Both thinking about the day and everything that had just went on. Sal's chin dug into Travis's chest as he looked at the other, Travis looked back. Sleepy eyes peering at the other. To the other, they were beautiful, hot, cute and perfect, though they personally didn't see it that way, they both knew without a doubt.