Darling, Let's Run From it All

「Chapter 7 」

"How the fuck did you just beat me?" Sal exclaimed, tossing his controller down onto the couch.

Travis only shrugged in response, though his smile was wider than Sal had ever seen it. Granted, even then, it was quite subtle, but it was an improvement to Travis's usual ever-grumpy expression.

This side of Travis was one that Sal found himself liking a lot; he wasn't loud, he wasn't rude, he wasn't closed off or defensive (well, for the most part). He seemed to just be... himself.

"Guess you're not the king anymore," Travis commented with a light smirk.

"Oh, not true! One loss does not remove my title!"

"What if I beat you a second time, then?" Travis asked.

"Still wouldn't remove my title."

Travis chuckled lightly and set his controller down on the couch.

The two had planned two meetups since their last to finish their project, but had finished it on the first- this time, they really were just hanging out.

Sal found it nice; he was finally getting Travis to open up a bit. Maybe he hadn't learned about the boy's struggles yet, but at least they were getting along now. Sal felt as though Travis might even consider him a friend at this point.

"Hey, guys," Sal said, sitting down at his group's usual lunch table. Both Larry and Ash were already sitting there.

"Hey, Sal!" Ashley exclaimed with a smile.

"Hey, dude," Larry said, voice much less excited. This Sal found odd, as Larry was usually in a pretty good mood at lunch. He sure didn't seem to be right now.

"Something wrong?" Sal asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Nah, man. I did want to ask you, though, weren't you and Travis just working on a project?"

"Uh... yeah, we were. Why?"

"I don't think playing Mario Kart with him was part of the project."

Sal sighed. "It wasn't."

"Dude, I'm telling you-"

"It's a bad idea. I know. You've told me a million times!" Sal exclaimed, cutting Larry off in the middle of his sentence. "Give him a chance. One. And if he fucks it all up, then you can hate him all you want."

"Why should I even give him one chance? I think he already fucked it all up when he bullied us for years."

"Larry, I wouldn't be trying to be his friend if I didn't think he was actually a good person," Sal pointed out with an exasperated huff. "You haven't even tried to be nice to him."

"Of course I haven't! He's an asshole, and he doesn't deserve the chance you're giving him!"

"I think he does," Sal shrugged. He desperately wished that Todd was here to talk Larry down and keep them from arguing. "I mean, dude, it's my choice anyway."

"Lar, he's right. He's not going to change his mind. You know him, he's stubborn as hell," Ash said with a strained smile, trying to lighten the mood.