my favorite flower is the forget me not // sal x travis

7

On Monday, Travis was absent from school. Usually, Travis would call and let Sal know he's okay, but today there was no call. Sal waited by his locker and asked everyone if they saw him today but nobody saw him or heard from him. Throughout the day, Sal was anxious and his mind raced through the endless possibilities of what could've happened. Therefore, right after school, Sal walked to Travis' house. He nervously took a breath and knocked on the door. There's silence and he checked the driveway. There was no car in the driveway indicating that his dad wasn't back from his trip yet, thank God. Sal patiently waited and rang the doorbell after sometime. Finally, he heard footsteps. Travis answered the door. He looked exhausted and his face was flushed. 

"Sal...sorry I just woke up, I-" he paused and coughed into his sleeve.

Sal frowned and walked in. He gently placed the back of his hand on Travis' forehead. He was burning up. 

"I missed school, didn't I?" Travis asked in defeat. 

Sal nodded.

"Yeah, but hey, don't worry. I'll help with your make-up homework when you come back," Sal reassured him. 

The shorter boy held Travis' hand and helped him get to the couch in the living room. He sat him down on the couch and went to grab a blanket from Travis' bedroom. Sal knew he definitely had a fever. He has only been in Travis' house a couple of times to do projects together but they prefer to go to Sal's house because it is safer, mainly for the blonde boy. As he went up the stairs, Sal stumbled across a picture of Travis with his parents. They all look so young...Travis must've been five years old or something around that age. They were all at a park Sal didn't recognize. Travis' dad was carrying Travis on his shoulders. Travis was laughing and his dad was smiling. His mom was grinning at the camera, her curly black hair was up to her chin and she looked so alive. She was holding her husband's hand and shoved a hand in her pocket. 

Jesus Christ, what the hell happened?

Sal remembers meeting her for the first time. She looked so tired and drained. Just like Travis, bruises were on her face, arms, and legs. Her hair now went past her shoulders and when Travis' dad was around, she barely spoke above a whisper. Travis' father, on the other hand, had this threatening presence. It even made Sal afraid. He always had a stern tone and he always seemed like he was in a bad mood. Sal noticed that he never asked for things, he demanded them. 

Sal forces himself to look away from the picture and goes upstairs to grab Travis a blanket and a pillow. He comes down with a thin, grey blanket, a white pillow, and a thick, brown blanket. Travis fell back asleep and Sal carefully placed the thin blanket over him so he wouldn't over-heat. He kept the thicker blanket and placed it on the floor just in case. Sal tucked the pillow between Travis' head and the couch. He went to the kitchen and searched the food cabinet for a can of noodle soup. His hands fell upon a name brand of noodle soup that Sal didn't recognize but at least he found a can of soup.  He searched and found a pot and a spoon. He started to heat up the soup when he heard Travis mumbling. He set the fire on low and went to go check on his boyfriend. 

The blonde boy was sitting up and when Sal entered the room, he opened his arms and instinctively, Sal went over and hugged him. 

"I feel like shit..." he whimpered.

"It'll be okay, Travis, you just get some rest. Leave everything to me," he said before kissing Travis on his forehead and leaving to check the soup. In the meantime, Sal grabbed a bottle of cold water and a bag of ice. 

He called out, "Travis? Have you had any medicine yet?"

Travis responds weakly, "no."

He grabbed medicine that was laying on the counter and placed two pills next to the water bottle. The boy with pigtails then went to pour the warmed up soup into a cup. He brought everything to Travis. Despite not having an appetite, Sal encouraged him to eat as much soup as he can. Travis took the medicine and finished the water bottle quickly. Sal got up, grabbed the tv remote and the two watched a tv series about a bunch of boys in South Park, Colorado. Sal sat up and Travis rested his head on Sal's lap. Sal kept the ice bag carefully pressed against Travis' forehead and he gently ran his fingers through Travis' blonde locks. He stayed there until it got dark out. He helped around the house and helped Travis get ready for bed. He didn't leave until Travis was asleep in his room and he knew he was safe. Sal left around 10 p.m.

For the remaining of the week, Sal would go to school and walk to Travis' house to take care of his sick boyfriend. With the help of Sal, Travis was feeling better in no time.