victim// a salvis fanfiction

eight~ victim's salvation

hey!! tw for violence, watch out for the *!
enjoy!!! :)

~Travis Phelps~

"Yeah," Sal says, his head tilted up to look at me. "Yeah, I'll be at your place at six."

I fully expected him to beat me up for getting within a five foot radius of him so the fact he accepted my stupid offer is completely bewildering. I don't know how long I'm silent for, the whole idea of Sally Face in my house, my room, invades my brain and taints my thoughts making it impossible to form any response. However long I'm quiet for, it's long enough for him to take matters into his own hands.

He hands me a marker and plants his hand on the desk, "Write your address."

I look slowly from the marker placed in my cold hands to his hand resting gingerly on the desk. "Like- like on your hand?" I feel so stupid asking but if I start writing and he doesn't want me to I'm afraid he'll kick my teeth in. Is this how he felt around me?

"No shit, Trav." Trav? Maybe I heard him wrong, the mask probably just muffled his voice.

I take in the appearance of his hands as I begin to write, busted knuckles contrast the delicate rings that lace through each of his slender fingers. His skin is soft, like the petals of a fresh flower. Busted knuckles don't seem right on his hands, they should be on someone like me.

When I'm finished writing I silently curse myself for my lousy handwriting, I doubt he'd even be able to read it. But yet again he surprises me with his response. "Oh, you live close to me. That's good, I was worried about having to pay bus fair."

I'm not sure what to say in reply, and I start to panic out of fear I'll make myself look more stupid than I already have. I know he thinks I'm an asshole but I don't want him to think I'm a total dunce too.

"Hey, Sally Face! Chatting it up with Travis, are we?" I've never been so glad to hear the voice of Larry Johnson in my entire life.

Sal chuckles, it's a deep sound but somehow it still feels light. "Eh, I guess I am. What'd you want Larry Face?" He turns away from me to face Larry, who keeps his eyes on me. Our previous conversation seeping into my head and suddenly weighing down on my shoulders. I smile slightly and wave to him, trying to appear as amiable as I possibly can. Sure he doesn't hate me but there sure is a lot of distrust in his eyes.

His stare turns into a glare, and it's like I can read the thoughts in his head from the anger on his face. I told you about Sal, what on Earth do you think you're doing?

I move away from him and walk out of the class, the bell accompanying me down the hallways.

***time skip***

I run down the school entryway steps two at a time, desperate to get home and figure out what's going on in my head. Thoughts of the things Larry said in that classroom haunt me and the sensation of Sal's hand under mine won't leave my fingertips. I just need to write it out, I'll get home and I'll find the comfort of my pen and the blank page ahead of me and I'll figure everything out.

"Travis, we need to talk." The harsh grip of a hand on my shoulder stops me in my tracks, the voice is rough but I still recognize it immediately.

"Yeah, okay uhm, what is it Larry?" I turn to look at him, for the first time in my life having to look up to see him since he's standing two steps above me. I find it funny, but the next thing he says keeps me from laughing.

"No, I mean somewhere private." He pulls me by the arm to the vacant side yard of the school, not waiting for me to respond.

*tw starts here*

Before I can say anything I feel a sudden pain in my cheek and I don't process the fact it's because he's hit me until my head swings to the side and my knees buckle underneath me. The collision with the cold ground knocks the breath out of my lungs and I'm stuck there in a moment of shock.

*tw ends here*

I look up at Larry, terror and confusion clouding my head as he looms over me. "What the fuck did I tell you, Travis?" I try to speak, but my lungs are still fighting to gain back air. In the fight for words I somehow begin to cry, tears burning down my cheeks as I struggle to get them to stop. Why do I always cry in front of Larry?

He looks like he's about to hit me again, and I don't blame him for it, but he only drops down next to me in the dirt. He doesn't say anything, he just sits there. I manage to catch my breath fairly quickly after that, his company now feels just the same as it did when we were kids. I find comfort in it.

"Travis, I just want to know why."

I'm immediately excited, something I can provide an answer to, a way to fix my shitty past mistakes. "Okay, what do you mean?"

He pulls his knees up to his chest and rests his head on them, fiddling with a piece of grass in between his fingers. "Why did you leave me? Why were you so mean? I just... I don't know, it never really felt like you. I always remembered you being to shy to talk to the waiter at a restaurant so you'd tell me what you wanted. I remember you crying because you stepped on a flower and felt bad for killing it. What happened, Travis?"

I hadn't expected that, I hadn't expected him to remember. Hell, I barely remember it. "When I really think about it I think it stemmed from my dad. As I got older he got harsher. I guess I started acting out more so he had to discipline me more. He always said you were a bad influence but I didn't want to leave my only friend. Then your dad went missing and he kept insisting I left you, and I didn't know what to do. I thought I could get to be friends with you again when your dad came back but he never did, and then my dad got more angry. I guess work got to him, I don't know, but I was so tired. I just wanted to please him, surely if I could please him then he'd lighten up. I think I got lost in it, I acted how he did to me to you and your friends. I know it doesn't justify it at all, and I don't mean to explain my actions away either."

He stays quiet again for a while, I watch the clouds above us shift in the sky.

"I always thought it had something to do with your dad. I never liked him."

I nod, "Do you have any other questions?"

"Why do you want to be nice now?"

"I pleased him like I always wanted to, I realized it wasn't worth it. I realized I hadn't been myself. I had just been a copy of him." We're both quiet for a long time after that.

Suddenly I feel an arm wrap around me. I stiffen in the embrace, hugs feel foreign to me. Eventually I relax, resting my head on Larry's shoulder.

"I don't forgive you Travis, not yet. But I'm sure you'll get the chance to prove yourself. I really should get going now. Just, don't give up, yeah?"

I watch him stand, "Yeah, yeah okay Larry."

He smiles, I can't remember the last time he smiled at me. "I'll see ya 'round, Travis."

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heyo!! early update thanks to my friend, raeganc19 , who also has an amazing salvis story going by the way

how we feeling everyone?

i might start asking questions at the end of each chapter so I can hear more from my readers so today question: how was your day?

sincerely,

ashes <3