Chapter Text
I really need to run more, this is embarrassing, he thinks when he finally stops his feet. He doubles over, resting his hands on his knees as he shakily laughs to himself. His mind is eerily silent compared to how he thought he would react once it actually happened, and then he laughs to himself again once he realizes that he knew this was going to happen sooner or later.
He probably sounds hysterical, now that he thinks about it. A bruised, probably bloodied, beat-to-shit kid running in front of your house and laughing to himself. It can’t be a great sight, especially if you recognize him as the pastor’s son.
Pastor’s son. His dad’s words suddenly ring in his ears, Get the fuck out, freak! And don’t come back!
And the reality of the situation settles into his chest like a punch to the gut. He can’t go back home, he has no money, and his phone–
He digs into his pockets, almost sobbing in relief when he finds his phone, severely cracked and a small part of the screen missing from his father attempting to break it, but still working and decently charged.
Who would he even call? He can’t call the police, they’ll just take him back. He can’t call any of his ‘friends’, he barely has any, and they wouldn’t even let him crash at their places anyways. The best bet is Sal, and even then, he couldn’t do that because Sal’s friends still don’t like him, and he doesn’t want to make Sal choose between him and them–
But, still. His thumb hovers over the call button on Sal’s contact. He knows he couldn’t do that to Sal or Sal’s friends. He would just make them uncomfortable.
But. Still. It’s just one night. They wouldn’t know, right? Sal did say he could call him if it was an emergency.
“…Fuck it.” he mumbles to himself as he taps the screen, quickly pulling the phone to his ear as he sits down on the middle of the sidewalk. It only rings once before Sal picks up,
“Hey, man! What’s up?” Sal answers casually, and it sounds like he set it to speakerphone if the occasional clanging of metal and footsteps are any indication.
He shrugs, as if Sal can see him, and he yawns, “Uh– nothing much, what’s up with you, are you– are you busy?”
“Eh, kinda? I mean, Larry, Ash, and Todd are here, but we’re also not really doing anything, so I’m free to talk.”
His mouth feels dry, and he feels sick to his stomach. Of course, the one time he needs somewhere to go for the night they’re there. And then he feels sick all over again when he realizes he’s getting mad at them for something they don’t even know about–
“Trav? You okay?”
He needs to talk. He needs to say something, he needs to speak– “Oh– Uh– sorry for interrupting, Sal. We don’t have to talk, you can go back to them–”
“No, no, I’m not going back to them, they’re fine on their own. Did something happen? Are you okay, should I come get you?”
“I–" He shakily exhales, turning to rest his forehead on his knees. He squeezes his eyes shut and just decides to rip off the band-aid, “Yeah? If that’s okay? I just– I dunno, my dad kicked me out, and I don’t really know where else to go for tonight? If you can’t then that’s fine, but I just– I don’t know what to do.”
He hears loud footsteps and the sudden jingling of keys, and what he thinks is Sal yelling? It’s muffled, but it goes away quickly before he shakily speaks into the phone again, “Okay, first thing’s first, you’re somewhere safe? He didn’t hurt you, he’s not near you or anything?”
He can’t really describe the way that Sal is speaking to him, but it makes him tear up all the same. He shakes his head as if Sal’s in front of him, before he remembers he has to actually speak, “No, he’s– I ran. I’m…” He swallows, truly looking around for the first time.
He doesn’t know where he is. Nockfell is a small town, but he truly doesn’t recognize this neighborhood. He continues speaking as he tries to look for street signs, “...I don’t really know where I am? I just kinda– ran , I don’t know.”
“No, I get that. Second thing, can you turn your location on? You’ve seen me do it before, right?”
He nods, giving a shaky yeah before he puts it on speaker, closing out of the call screen to share his location with the other boy. He hears Sal’s phone buzz when he does, and the other speaks again, “Good, good. You’re actually really close to us, so we’re gonna come get you really quick, ‘kay?”
He just nods and sets his phone down on the concrete, listening to the ringing in his ears as he rests his right cheek on his bruised and scraped knees.
Now that he isn’t worrying about where to go for the night, he realizes how awful he feels. He feels nauseous, like he’s carsick or something. Paired with the ringing in his ears, his head feels fuzzy, and his left ankle is starting to hurt . He absentmindedly feels at it without looking, wincing when he touches it. He thinks he hears Sal say something, but he writes it off as his mind playing tricks on him.
He hears a car stop in front of him quickly, so much so that the tires screech as the car parks. He relaxes a bit, because that means Sal’s here. He feels hands shake his shoulders, and it takes far too much effort to lift his head up. The mystery hands do half the work for him, though, coming up to cup his cheeks and tilting his head up for him.
He tiredly smiles at the sight of Sal’s prosthetic, but he can’t spit out what he wants to say before Sal is turning back to somebody else, “What– what’s the thing for a concussion? What should I do?”
Todd steps into his line of sight, and guilt seeps into his bones as he realizes that he’s making them waste their time on someone they don’t even like, he ruined their day. The redhead seems as chill-but-serious as he usually does though, crouching down next to Sal.
“I’ll do it, scoot.” Todd answers, shifting to be in front of him when Sal moves away from him. One of Todd’s hands resumes cupping his cheek, keeping his head up as the redhead begins fishing his phone out of his hoodie pocket, “You can hear me, right Travis?”
He nods, trying not to lean into Todd’s hand. That would be weird, and he would make Todd uncomfortable.
“Okay, good. Any nausea, dizziness, headaches? Any troubles with concentration right now?”
He thinks for a second, staring at the ground before he looks up and nods again.
Todd’s expression shifts a bit, but his tone stays flat, “That’s less good. I’m gonna shine a light in your eyes for a few seconds, it’s gonna suck but just try to keep them open.”
He nods, and that’s all the warning he gets before Todd turns his phone’s flashlight on, pointing it straight at his eyes. He flinches back and blinks, squinting as he tries to keep his eyes open as long as they can. It feels like more than a few seconds, but eventually Todd sighs and turns the flashlight off.
Todd turns to Sal, “Definitely a concussion, but it doesn’t seem severe enough for a hospital. Let’s just get him to your place and patch him up.”
Sal murmurs a thanks as Todd stands up again, walking away, and Sal shifts back in front of him. His hands find Travis’ as he softly speaks, “Hey, Trav, we’re gonna get you to the car and back to mine, okay? Do you think you can walk?”
He nods, finally finding something to say, albeit shakily, “Yeah… ‘course I can. I ran, I can walk.”
Sal patiently nods with him as he pulls him up, and Travis has to hide his wince as he puts pressure on his ankle. He lets Sal lead him to the car, looking into the lit interior and seeing Larry in the driver’s side, Todd in the passenger side, and Ashley in the seat behind Larry. Larry and Ashley are looking at him with a weird expression that he can’t decipher, but his mind fills the gaps and concludes that they’re trying to hide pure disgust.
He tries to ignore the rising guilt and shame in him as Sal takes the middle seat, next to Ashley, and pulls him into the right side of the car. He quietly closes the door behind him and buckles in, trying to make himself as small as possible as the car is filled with tense silence.
It turns out that he really was close to where their apartment building is, and he just finds it embarrassing that they had to drive to get him, instead of them making him walk for a few more blocks. Everyone silently unbuckles, and he quickly gets out and holds the door open for Sal, who gives a quiet thanks.
They all file into the elevator, and he remembers squeezing himself into a corner before he blinks and he’s suddenly in a bathroom, wearing clothes that aren't his. Another blink, and he’s laying down on something soft, eyes closed. He hears hushed words around him, but he catches none of it, only focusing on the hands carefully carding through his hair as he drifts off.