Soulmates - Salvis

XV : Worried

WORRIED

     It was currently the morning, Sal had stayed up all night, as Travis accidentally fell asleep in Sal's arms. He had been so tired and he hadn't even realized it.

Once Sal had moved off the bed that night, he ended up on the roof of the building, with his pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

He returned to his apartment shortly after, deciding to stay in the living room, watching television with Gizmo on his lap, keeping him company.

"Sal?" A small voice poked out of his room, looking over to see Travis slowly walking out of his room.

"Hey, Travis." Sal warmly smiled towards the boy, watching as he took a seat next to him on the couch, the couch where they had first confessed to each other.

"How long ago did you wake up?" Travis asked curiously, he had been horrible at holding eye contact with Sal, he always just felt so nervous. Yet he had no problem with anyone else.

"Just an hour ago, how'd you sleep?" He lied, he didn't want to be putting any more worries and concern onto him.

"Good. My head hurts, though." He spoke with a small whine, putting his hand on his head. (this is so me. id rather have the rest of my body in absolute torture than to have my head hurt.)

Sal let out a hum, "How long has it been since you've eaten anything?"

"I don't know, a couple days?" Travis responded in a mumble, keeping his voice down to prevent a bigger headache.

"That might be part of your problem. I'll make something that'll be light on your stomach, okay?" Travis hesitantly nodded, he knew he needed to eat, but he felt like he shouldn't.

Sal got up and started making some soup, it didn't take long to make for this specific kind. Once he was done he sat in on the table in front of the couch, and was prepared to talk.

"So.. I have a few questions." Sal spoke carefully, watching as Travis, very slowly, ate his food.

"Hm?" Travis hummed in question,

"Okay, so, firstly.. Do you know what made your dad.. Do that? It's never been that bad before, has it?" Sal asked cautiously, not wanting to set Travis off in any way, or to make him upset.

Travis's facial expression clearly fell, he was silent for a moment before he finally spoke, "To sum it all up, I told Phillip I was gay and we had this whole talk, but my father was listening the whole time, so when Phillip left my father beat the shit out of me. And no, it's never been that bad before. The worst I've ever gotten, besides what happened last night, was being choked, then starved for a few days." He explained with a sigh.

Sal was completely appalled, he couldn't expect anyone to do this to their child, let alone anyone in general.

"That.. That's so— I don't even understand how someone could treat anyone like that, let alone their own son, Im so sorry you've had to go through that, Travis." Sal explained sorrowfully, full of pity, and sympathy. He felt so unexplainably terrible for what he had gone through.

"It's alright, I just hope I'm permanently away from him. But what was your other question?" Travis tried desperately to drift the topic away from the abuse he'd suffered.

"Did you figure out if you're gonna go to the police yet? If not, what are you gonna do?" There was deep, sympathetic, and depressing tension in the air, weighing them down. Their voices remained low, just to explain the sadness that filled the air.

Travis let out a sigh, almost desperate to get away from the question, "I guess we could try going to the police. I don't really see any other option here."