Sal and Travis have been dating for almost a year now, Travis is still learning to accept his sexuality and grow as a person and Sal is trying to be more confident because Travis still hasn't seen him without his mask and he feels it's long overdue, though he doesn't feel like he will ever be ready and Travis understands that and reassures him anytime it's brought up in conversation, though he would be lying if he said he didn't feel the slightest of curiosity. Sal still insists that it'll happen. Today was the day. Sal thought. Today is the day I will show Travis the real me. He was scared and nervous. He hated to admit it but he was one hell of an overthinker, he couldn't shake away the thought of Travis being too disgusted with him and would break up with him or he won't find him attractive anymore. He reminded himself that Travis fell in love with his personality and will love him no matter what, that was enough to comfort him for just a little while. That day at lunch, as Sal sat with his friends, Larry spoke up because he noticed that Sal was awfully quiet and he wasn't eating much. "Dude, are you okay?" He asked, his voice quiet, so that the others didn't hear.
Sal looked up at him. He knew Larry couldn't see his face, but he still got embarrassed by how stunned he looked at the sound of someone suddenly talking to him. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine.." He replied and he looked back down.
"Are you sure? You're like really quiet today.." He paused. "Did Travis do something? I'll kick his ass if he hurt you." Sal looked back at him to speak again but stopped when Larry turned in his seat and went on to say, "Where is that scrawny bastard?"
"Larry-"
"Yo, Phelps! You piece of-"
Sal's eyes widened and he tugged on Larry's shirt when he stood. "Larry!" He pulled him down. "Travis didn't do anything, geez..." He mumbled, his eyes drawn to the floor, he knew if he looked up that everybody, including Travis, would be staring at them and he couldn't handle that right now.
"Shit. Sorry, little dude."
Sal sighed. "It's fine." He gulped hard and looked up at his best friend. They stared at each other for a long while, neither of them said anything. Sal was trying to figure out what to say and Larry was just waiting for him to say anything. Sal looked back down. "It's just.. I'm nervous..." His voice was quiet, probably too quiet and, well, as he said, audibly nervous.
Larry furrowed his eyebrows. "What about?" He asked, curiosity in his voice and he turned completely towards him.
Sal inhaled deeply, his heart pounding against his chest, he could barely hear himself talk. "I'm showing Travis my face tonight..." It grew silent or as silent as it could get in the school cafeteria. He felt sorrow wash over himself at the amount of shame he could hear in his voice when he said that. He hated how weird and awkward he was being.
"Are you sure you want to do that? You've never done that before, not, like.. voluntarily." Larry spoke carefully, he didn't want to upset Sal any further.
"He's my boyfriend..."
Larry sighed and scratched the back of his neck as he searched for the right words. He was never good at talking about these sort of things. "I mean, yeah, but that's like a big deal. I mean, obviously, it's your choice but I would want you to do it because you want to, you know? Not because he wants you to."
"Travis doesn't ask me, he knows how I feel about it. But I feel like if I don't do it now, then I never will and I want to do it, I want him to see the real me." As he went on, his voice grew softer and he started to feel better about it all. "I want him to know that I'm comfortable enough to show that side of me." He couldn't help but blush at the thought of wanting to feel Travis' lips on his, they've kissed before but just over the prosthetic. He wanted to feel his hands on his face, for him to see him smile, to look into his eyes without the prosthetic covering everything else, to feel his warmth against his face when Travis pulled him into a hug. He wanted it all. He nodded to himself. "This is something I need to do for myself and for him." He spoke with such determination that it made Larry smile and laugh even.
