||The Secrets We Keep|| - Salvis

Chapter VI

      Sal rushes to follow behind Travis as they sprint, half holding Travis's bag to keep himself upright and going, and they don't stop running until they are far away from the church, panting and just barely standing. Travis turns to face Sal, the sun already starting to set in the background and the street lights turning on. "Are you alright?" he asks, guilt eating at him, as he had forced Sal to go in the first place, starting to second guess himself.
"I am okay." Sal mutters, looking around behind him, where the church is now in the distance. Travis takes note of Sal's slightly darker eyes as they stare off. Travis sighs, and they both walk back to the Addison apartments silently. When they get into the elevator, Travis presses the button '4', the elevator doors closing. Sal lightly sways next to Travis, until eventually leaning into him slightly, and Travis whips his head around quickly to look at him.  "What's wrong? You're acting weird." Travis says, though not moving except for rubbing his bandaged arms, his heart racing.
      " Nothing." Sal hums quietly, not telling him anything of the odd symptoms he had been having since feeling that presence behind him.
      Travis sighs, keeping one of his arms hovering over Sal in case he falls, his face going warm just at them being so close. The rest of the elevator ride is soundless, in a way peaceful. The elevator doors open after a while, and Sal moves away from him. They exit the elevator, walking to 402, and Sal fumbles to take his keys out, unlocking the door and opening it. "Hey Gizmo." Sal whispers, seeing Gizmo in the doorway and crouching to pet him, just moving out of the doorway.
       Travis side steps by them, taking off his shoes by the door and awkwardly watching the two. When Sal stops petting Gizmo, he stands, blinking back stars and excusing himself, walking to the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. He double checks that the door is locked, before unstrapping his prosthetic, him starting to feel almost suffocated in it. He rests his prosthetic on the counter by the sink, folding his arms on the vanity and placing his head in his arms.

      After what seemed like only minutes to Sal, Travis knocks on the door. "Sal? You've been in there for almost 20 minutes." He says, it muffled by the door.
      Sal sighs, sitting back up and looking at himself in the mirror, dazed and his eyes dull, though he doesn't notice the darker shade. He avoids the thinking that something had happened back at the church, and he pushes himself off of the vanity while quickly putting on his prosthetic.  He opens the door, staring at the floor and feeling Travis's presence in front of him, and he pushes past him. Travis watches as Sal gets himself water, taking it down along with a medication Travis assumes is something for his head, and Sal walks back down the hall to his room, Travis trailing behind. "Sal what is going on? You've been acting weird since we have left the church." Travis says, quickly by Sal's side, hovering a hand over his upper body before feeling his body heat practically radiating off of him.
      He puts a hand carefully on w arm, it burning. "Jesus christ you are boiling," He mutters, retracting his arm away from him.
Sal rolls his eyes, sitting down on the bed and leaning back. "I am alright, though you still need to rest so you heal from your injuries." he says, Travis carefully sitting down next to him and adjusting his position.
      "You are not fine. I don't know what happened but obviously you need to rest or something as well." Travis mumbles, shifting himself as Sal lays down and buries his face in his pillow.
      Sal starts to unstrap his prosthetic without thinking, exhausted and his thoughts clouded. Travis starts to look over, unaware until he sees Sal's prosthetic half off,  Travis looking away as he realizes even when the image is burned into his mind.  Sal, not in his right mind,  puts the prosthetic on his nightstand, curling up in his bed. After a couple minutes, Travis slowly removes his hands, not seeing much since Sal's hair covers his face now, but it being obvious Sal had passed out. He sighs, laying next to him and making sure to look away before feeling Sal's forehead, not paying attention to the rough feeling of his scars and focusing more on the burning feeling against his hand. He pulls away his hand, half hugging himself as he stares at Sal, having a terrible feeling that he had gotten Sal into a lot more than he knows.

      Travis had drifted off eventually, in a shallow sleep, until he feels a light pressure pressed up against him waking him up, and he opens his eyes to see Sal, cuddled up into him. He pushes away the urge to shove Sal away from him, taking a deep breath and feeling his head run with thoughts. He keeps deathly still, Sal burning against him, and he slowly sits up, discomfort shown in Sal's position in response. Travis looks at the digital clock, it reads 11:49 PM, and he sighs, rubbing his eyes and looking at his phone. He grabs it from the nightstand, checking the notifications, a lot more angry messages from 'K' showing up as well as calls, and he stands from the bed, leaving the room and walking to the living room to call him back. Kenneth answers on the first ring, Travis holding the phone away from his ear as if to know what was coming. "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" Kenneth's voice instantly rings through the area, making Travis flinch and turn down the volume quickly, glancing to the empty hallway as if Sal will appear there at any moment.
      "I-I am at a friend's house, sir.." Travis stutters, his voice quiet so as to not wake up sal, his ears ringing from the yelling and his head tired from sleep.
      "I want you home, now." Kenneth demands, practically fuming through the phone, and Travis quickly mumbles a 'yes' before hanging up and putting on his neon green shoes by the door, grabbing his dull and worn down bag as well and fixing his yellow (piss colored) hair. He looks back around the apartment, taking a deep breath and making sure to open the door quietly, leaving the apartment and walking to the elevator, worrying about what is going to happen when he gets home.

||(Authors note:) hello! Late chapter, but I'm posting chapter seven later. Uhhh, I'll make sure to add a TW for next chapter as well, so do not proceed any further without reading the Trigger warnings in the first chapter :] ||

Word count: 1152 with authors note, 1105 without