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

fourteen

   "What the fuck, Fisher?" Travis snapped, staring at the stuff that Sal had brought back.

   "I... Thought you'd be happy." He mumbled, holding the dog gently by the collar. "I wanted to make you happy."

   "It's not that I don't appreciate this, Sal, " Travis groaned, dropping his face in his hands, "but you acted like an idiot. Do you know what could've happened if my father caught you?"

   "I-I don't know, " He stammered, shrugging, "but nothing happened, so it's okay."

   "You said you saw him pull in the driveway as you were leaving." He deadpanned.

  "Yeah..." Sal scratched the back of his head. "I probably should've left that part out."

   "Do you know how much trouble we're in now?"

   Sal stared at the ground, frowning.

   "You don't, do you?" Travis scoffed, turning away. He felt his stomach twist. "You don't know anything about the things he's done, the things he's capable of doing."

   He grimaced. He had only been trying to make Travis smile. Instead, he was angrier than ever. "He... Wouldn't actually come here, would he?"

   "I don't know, Fisher!" Travis threw his arms up. "Growing up, I had my nose broken twelve different times. Twelve." He clenched his jaw. "He was able to get away with it every single time."

   "I'm sorry."

  "Yeah, thanks, Sal." Travis scoffed, sliding down to sit on the floor. "That really fixes it." His dog came over with a wagging tail.

   "I'm sorry. I thought-"

"You should've thought harder." He grumbled.

Sal sighed, feeling pain in his chest. Maybe the best thing to do was to give Travis some space. Perhaps he needed time to cool down. "I'll be back." He mumbled, walking out of his bedroom.

A shower sounded nice. They always helped him cheer up.

Sal stepped into the hallway, feeling defeated. His feet were cold against the hardwood floor. Maybe I should bring the stuff back, he considered before shaking his head. Travis would just be angry that he went back.

He understood that Travis was just worried about him, protective almost, but he wasn't great at expressing his emotions. The way he spoke made it sound like he hated him.

"Sal," Henry stuck his head out of his bedroom door, "What's all this noise about?"

"I-I'm sorry," Sal mumbled, feeling overwhelmed. He shrunk back close to the wall.

"Hey," his eyes widened. He stepped out into the hallways. "You don't have to be sorry, I just wanted to know what's going on."

"I'm sorry." He said again, feeling a growing warmth in his head. "I messed up."

"Sal," He grabbed his arm, "It's okay. Just tell me what happened."

"No, no, I," He mumbled. Sal wasn't sure if he could handle both people in this apartment being angry with him.

A bark sounded from Sal's bedroom and the boy dropped his head in his hands, sighing deeply.

"Was that a dog?" Henry furrowed his brows.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Sal whispered. "I was just trying to do the right thing."

He stepped back, shaking his head, "Listen, whatever's going on right now, it's ok, we'll figure it out." Henry took notice of how anxious his son had become, doubled over against the wall. "It's okay. Go take a shower and cool down. We can talk about it later, okay?"