Dogs

Sal was the hardest person in school to scare. no one had ever scared him. so the entire school, except for his friends, got together to scare him. Sal had been talking to his group of friends, leaning against Larry when he heard it. a low growl. curiosity got the best of him and he turned around. he froze. three huge dogs. his head felt weird, he was getting dizzy. when one of the massive creatures barked, Sal jerk backwards, bumping into Larry who was quick to catch him. he knew what was happening. Sal was going to have a panic attack. he was clutching his chest and screaming at Larry, mostly gibberish but he got in a few words about how he couldn't breath. he collapsed unconscious and Larry picked him up. everyone, but again their friends, was laughing. Larry glared at them.

"you fucking assholes! look what you did!" Larry shouted running for the office. Ashley was quick to follow. the whole school grew deadly quiet when they heard the sounds of the ambulance and realized what they'd done. the whole school was in trouble. they were immediately sat down, told what PTSD was, taught how panic attacks can cause certain people to nearly stop breathing, and were punished for what they'd done to Sal, no popular lunch foods for a month.

~~

nearly three and a half weeks later, Sal and Larry stumbled into school neither looked very good, they could see that even with Sal's mask. Sal had only napped a bit in those weeks, locked away in his room alone screaming. Larry had sat in front of his bedroom door the whole time, refusing to move in case Sal needed him. they were both exhausted and they looked it. the school seemed to stare at Sal, who couldn't care less if he tried. he was so tired and emotionally drained. his arms were covered in fresh bandages. his PTSD had aggrivated his depression. he held tightly to Larry's hand, his breath hitching slightly at certain parts of the school, but Larry just pulled him along carefully. when they finally reached their lockers Larry looked at Sal.

"are you... sure you want to come back today? we can go home right now." Larry said. Sal nodded silently and turned to his locker. Larry nodded and pulled his own books out. the teachers would allow Larry and Sal to sit together, Sal leaning against his taller boyfriend. the few classes were a breeze, but the class right before lunch, was where it happened. something sparked Sal's anxiety, causing panic. he suddenly stood and threw his desk across the room with surprising strength. his PTSD was acting up. Larry jumped into action, putting his hand up slightly and walking towards Sal, who threw his chair at the board and screamed at him, then ran from the room. "sorry." Larry muttered, chasing after him. Sal ran through the hallways screaming loudly.

"MOM! THE DOGS! THE FUCKING DOGS!" Sal screamed.

"Sal come back!" Larry shouted, trying to keep up with him. Sal finally collapsed to his knee's in the main hallway. Larry ran over to him and hugged him tightly. "come on, let's go home. you did amazing today." Larry murmured, scooping him up gently.

"I did it again." Sal muttered, clinging to Larry. it was true, Sal had done it again. he'd done this a few weeks ago at home, some how managing to pick the couch up in their living room and throw it in to the kitchen. Sal's father, Henry, didn't seem fazed. this apparently happened a lot when Sal was a kid, right after the accident. he'd also done it the other day, when the vending machine sat him off and he knocked over all the shelves in the basement and nearly hurt himself. he didn't mean to, it's just how he reacted.

"it's okay Sal, you didn't mean to." Larry replied. "and nobody got hurt, so the school will get over it." Larry added. he carried Sal home.

~~

three day's later they were back. Sal couldn't have a service dog, for obvious reasons, so he'd brought Gizmo, who had been trained years ago to help him with his PTSD. he even had his own cute little vest, but he didn't have a leash. Gizmo sat on Sal's shoulder, quietly, not moving. he stared at the school, as if disgusted what these people had done to Sal.

"hey Sal." Ashley smiled walking over, follwed quickly byt the rest of the group.

"hi." Sal muttered softly.

"how ya feel?" Ashley ask.

"stupid and tired. really tired." Sal replied.

"I'm sorry. I'm glad to see your back though. our friend group wasn't the same without you or Larry. it was just me, Todd, Neil, and Chug and it was super weird." Ashley smiled. Sal nodded slightly and cuddled to Larry's side.

"leave'im alone for a little bit guys." Larry murmured, sounding just as tired as Sal.

"are you guys okay?" Chug ask.

"no Chug, we're fine." Sal muttered. "just tired." Sal added.

"why did you bring Gizmo to school?" Todd ask reaching to pet the cat. Gizmo hissed at him.

"this is Sal's service animal. Gizmo alerts everyone to when he's about to have an episode so I can't try and stop it before it happens. don't touch him." Larry explained.

"but we pet Gizmo all the time?" Ashley said confused.

"he was off duty. retired. I had to get his license reinstated and he had to go through a little training again." Sal replied. Gizmo purrs softly cuddling to Sal. they headed to class. they made it for a while, but when they got to the class before lunch again, it happened. Gizmo yowled loudly and Larry jumped up. he grabbed Sal and pulled him out of the room.

"Sal?" Larry ask.

"I'm okay. just nervous, right before lunch is when happened. make me nervous." Sal muttered swallowing hard. "every time she say's it's almost lunch time it gets me." Sal sighed.

"it's okay Sal. " Larry murmured. he hugged him tightly and took him home, it would be a long road to recovery but it would be okay.