Just the three of us- oh and him I guess

by griffintaggs

Summary:

Travis and his sister are starting their junior and freshman year, between work, school, church and supporting his sisters on his own practically, Travis has a-lot on his plate. He does NOT have time for Sal Fisher.

or

He actually does have time for Sal Fisher. (Shocker)

Notes:

Not proof read!!
I was sick of people forgetting that we got confirmation that Travis has two sisters so I made my own fic :p
Criticism is welcome, this isn’t my first fic, but it’s the first i’ve ever posted so tips are very much appreciated!! Im not sure yet how long this is gonna be, but enjoy!

Chapter 1: Under the Guise of Hate

Notes:

Updated and proof read as of 7/17/25

Maddie will not shut up.

That is all thats going through Travis’ head while he and his younger sister walk to school. It’s his first day of junior year, and Maddie’s freshman year.

Currently, she won’t stop chatting Travis’ ear off, asking questions.

“So do I just keep my backpack with me all day-?” she asks, Travis thinks it’s a stupid thing to ask. “Because at the middle school we do, but I remember when you were telling me about how you couldn’t get your lock open.” She doesn’t take breaks while she talks, she rambles it all out in one long run on sentence, so when shes done talking she takes a big gulp of air.

He decides to humor her, because he does remember his freshman year and how although he feigned indifference, he was nervous. He wishes he had someone to inquire about all his anxious teen thoughts, but curse god who had decided to make his life difficult before he had even left the womb, having both his sisters be born after him.

He thinks he was born mad at god.

“We have lockers, you’ll get one assigned to you on your first day. We got ours in English class.” He informs her. “But some people carry around their bag anyways, even though all the teachers tell them not to.” He adds.

Maddie’s face contorts. “That’s so stupid, it must get so crowded during passing period.”

Shes right, the hallways are always tightly packed during passing period. You can smell just how many people opt out of using deodorant. He scoffs,

“Apparently it’s a fire hazard.” he’s making air quotes around ‘fire hazard’.

“And it’s not at the middle school?!” Maddie’s sudden interest in the injustice of the school board of Nockfell makes Travis smile to himself.

“I don’t make the rules.” He tells her as they approach the ever present Nockfell high. Seeing this building for the first time again in three months makes Travis frown. He wishes he could say he hates highschool just like everyone else, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t enjoy it here, but it atleast gets him out of the house and guarantees him a meal.

Often times at home he will have to give up his share of dinner for one of his sisters. His mother had gone a couple years ago, when his youngest sister Mary was just two and Maddie was five. Travis being the oldest he had the most memory of what happened.

He was seven at the time, almost eight. He had woken up to the sound of his mom and dad fighting. This was a common thing for him to wake up to, but this time was different. He remembers her telling his father something along the lines of, “This is not what god has intended Kenneth and I will not be apart of it. This is nothing short of satanic.”

Travis had no idea what they could be talking about, but he remembers how angry this made his father.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about woman!” he yelled, and Travis could hear him pacing around the living room. “Now I know what’s best for you and you will join me whether you like it or not. You will not ruin this for me god damnit!” And with that Travis heard the familiar sound of his father smacking his mother across her face.

“Now you get to choose how this will go.” He tells her, as if she has a choice in the matter. “If you join us peacefully, and without protest, god will forgive you of your trust pass and allow you forgiveness,” He says, but continues, “or, if I must force you to attend, he will not be so graceful.”

“Fuck you.” Is all his mother has to say in reply, and Travis admires her for standing up for herself, but in that very same thought he fears for her when he hears a loud thud. He’s frozen in fear and can’t bring himself to go downstairs and check on her.

He hears shuffling for an hour or so after that, but never the sound of his mom’s voice. He forces himself to shut his eyes and fall asleep, because he thinks maybe this will all be over in the morning when he will wake up to the smell of fresh bacon.

Instead he wakes up to his father telling him to go make breakfast. He tells him and his sisters that his mom will not be coming home, and thats that. He does not permit questions on the matter, and when Maddie starts crying Kenneth just walks away.

Travis makes breakfast for him and his sisters for the first time that day.

Maddie’s anxious rambling drags him out of the gruesome memory. Forever the angel in the dark.

“ohmygoshohmygosh, Travis I’m so nervous ohmygosh-“ she rambles, impressively fast. Travis wonders if theres speed talking competitions. Maddie would win.

“Jesus Maddie cool your tits! It’s highschool not a job interview.” He honestly finds it a little endearing how much she cares. He pushes open the doors to the school.

Maddie ignores him and continues, “I can’t believe I’m in highschool right now, I feel so old oh my gosh.” she says, fidgeting with her hands while holding her backpack straps.

“Dude you’re fourteen, not forty.” Suddenly he’s got his signature scowl, it’s like this place brings it out in him. “What class do you have first?” He asks. He just wants to get her to her class and get rid of her.

“Uhm..” She pulls out a crumpled piece of paper. They had went to get her schedule early because she was so worried about it. Travis was surprised she hadn’t had it memorized.

“English, room 106.” She tells him.

“Mrs. Ralph?” He asks.

“Yeah, have you had her?” She asks anxiously. Travis chuckles.

“Oh boy did I.” He says. Clearly, this was the wrong thing to say because as he makes eye contact with Maddie it looks like she’s about to throw up. He feels a little bad, but what kind of big brother would he be without scaring her a bit?

“She was awful, she would never give out a grade higher than a B- because apparently nothing was ever up to her standards.” This admittedly, was a lie. Travis actually loved the class, english has always been the only subject that came easy to him. Although, Mrs. Ralph still didn’t seem to like Travis because she would sometimes witness his spouts of hatred. She was a nice teacher though and didn’t seem to let Travis being a bully get in the way of her grading his assignments.

“Are you serious? My first class of high school ever is with a terrible teacher?” She panics, as they arrive outside the dreaded classroom.

“Yep.” He pops the ‘P as he speaks, a hint of amusement in his voice. “I’m sure you’ll do fine though!” He says with a shit eating grin. Maddie blinks, and Travis motions for her to go inside the class. They’re there rather early, but he still wants time to find his class.

“Okay… I guess i’ll see you after.” She pauses and it looks like she’s just remembered something. “Wait- you better come get me after first hour.” Her voice is stern, and Travis knows he’ll never hear the end of it if he doesn’t. He groans.

“Fine, but I’m not gonna wait forever.” He says. Maddie smiles, and then enters the classroom with a shaky deep breath.

Travis is proud of her and he knows she’ll be just fine. She’s the most extroverted Phelps child and it shows. While Travis and Mary both prefer to navigate on their own, Maddie will go out of her way to ask a stranger for help. Shes also the only Phelps child to leave her hair natural. Although Travis has stopped straightening his hair every morning, he still bleaches it. Mary, gets hers done at the salon with the money she steals from the charity box at the church. (Neither Travis nor Maddie have the heart to tell her to stop, it wasn’t going to charity anyways.) Travis thinks shes the only one who actually enjoys the sermons at church too. For Travis, it’s impossible for him to ignore the degrading comments that come from his father’s mouth while he preaches about their damnation. While Maddie seems to be able to look past it and take in the genuinely good parts of the sermon. Travis will occasionally look at her during mass and find that she’s listening very intently and digesting every word their father is saying. She seems to have a genuine love for god and her religion.

Travis wishes he could find the good in gods love but maybe he’s too far gone.

But Maddie keeps her hair long, dark and curly. She doesn’t feel the need to straighten it nor dye it and Travis admires her for it. He admires how she doesn’t let their dad get to her, even if it makes her his next biggest target.

She’s also rather tall for her age, curtsy of their father’s genetics. Travis knows she’s pretty insecure about it, but she doesn’t let it hold her back.

Dropping her off at her class felt like dropping your kindergartener off for their first day of school ever. He turns to head to his class.

He has Pre Calc first period. Usually, Mrs. Packerton teaches all the math classes, but since her car accident last year she was replaced by Mr. Freed. Travis had no problem with the man, he was an overall average teacher.

He still has ten minutes until he has to be to class, and it takes about two minutes to walk across the entire tiny school. He has to stop at his locker and put away his backpack anyways. He pushes his way through the crowded hall full of confused freshman and arrives at his locker. It takes him a little while to remember the code, but after about two minutes of trying codes he finally puts in the right one.

34-02-23

He opens the locker and puts his backpack away. It’s quite full because his work uniform is in there and he has a shift after school.

After his mom disappeared, his dad rarely ever went grocery shopping for the house and would just bring home frozen pizzas from time to time. Sometimes he would send Travis with twenty bucks and tell him to buy groceries, but that was barely enough for three days worth of food.

So he got a job in the summer before junior year. Maddie was going to get a job now that she was fourteen, but Travis wouldn’t let her and took on the role himself.

He makes five dollars an hour at the local grocery store, “Sam’s Place”. It’s only fifty cents over minimum wage, but it’s enough for them. It’s not a terrible place to work, it’s just rather boring. He likes to spend his time restocking and busying himself in the back, rather than doing cash register but his boss and owner, Sam seems to always put him on register anyways.

He takes a folder and notebook out of his backpack, just incase. Mr. Freed is the type to hand out homework on the first day, but still give you enough time to finish in class. He’s about to shut his locker when who he believes to be a freshman with long blonde hair walks up to him. She barely even goes up to his chest, he thinks he could step on her and squish her if he wasn’t careful.

“Excuse me, do you know where room 106 is? Mrs. Ralph?” She asks hesitantly. It probably took a lot for her to come up to Travis and ask, so promptly he says,

“Up your ass.” He then slams his locker, pivots and walks away.

Maybe he should have been nicer, but he didn’t have it in him to care. There were two people in this whole world he cared about, Maddie and Mary.

He gets to class with 5 minutes to spare, and Mr. Freed greets him at the door. “Welcome back Travis! Go ahead and take a seat anywhere, i’ll make a seating chart after attendance.” Travis grumbles in reply. You’d think teachers would ease up on seating charts as you get older, but how else would they show that they have more power than you do?

Travis takes a seat in the back and puts his head down to wait for class to start. Of course though, he can’t have anything because after only about a minute of “Travis head down time”, someone taps him on his shoulder.

“Travis?” He lifts his head and is greeted with that porcelain face he’s come to know all too well.

Okay- maybe not all too well. Not well at all actually. Him and Sal have only had a couple interactions since the little bathroom incident from last year. He’s mostly just avoided Sal since then and the few interactions were not very civil. They weren’t necessarily hostile either, they were just.

Travis can feel his heart beat pick up when he locks eyes with Sal.

“What do you want?” He grumbles. Looking away right after. It hurts to hold eye contact with him.

“Just wanted to ask how your summer was, I haven’t seen you around much.” His ever chipper voice sounds so soft on Travis’ tainted ears. He scowls.

“It was fine.” It’s almost like the words are pushed out of him, like a strong gust of wind just pasted through him, only ever just answering the questions he’s asked, never asking any of his own. Sal’s blank face looks at him. He wishes his prosthetic could show something about Sal’s facial expression, something to indicate his intent or how his feeling. Instead he’s met with blank porcelain.

“You do anything fun, anything other hobbies than walking circles around church?” He teases him. This makes Travis mad, but he holds it down and remains calm.

“I got a job at Sam’s Place.” Of course, Sal already knew this though as he had been through Travis’ line before with his group of queers. Larry had stopped Sal from paying cash for their orange juice and eggos, (don’t ask why Travis remembered what they were buying.) and pulled out a bag of change and made Travis count it all.

“That’s right! You’re a cashier.” Travis doesn’t bother telling him that he hates doing cash register. “I like your hair by the way, I didn’t know it was curly.” He says it likes its nothing. As if it’s totally normal to compliment another boy. As if theirs no repercussions to his actions. As if he’s not going to go to hell. Travis clutches the cross around his neck and flushes.

“Whatever.” He grumbles. “I used to straighten it, but it was too much work.” he adds quickly. He doesn’t even know why he felt to share that, why would Sal need to know that about himself?

“Well I like it! It suits you.” Sal says. Travis could tell he was smiling under his mask by his tone.

Then the bell rings, and Sal is forced to go sit down. Travis audibly sighs out of relief.

Mr. Freed enters the class and welcomes everyone back to another year at Nockfell High. He takes attendance and then asks everyone to stand up so he can assign them to their seating chart.

It seems the seating chart is random and not alphabetical, because he’s been seating people with all sorts of last names next to each other. He hears him call Sal’s name, and then directly after his own. Great.

Travis takes his seat next to Sal and ignores the way he watches him as he sits down. Mr. Freed gets to the end of the list and then announces, “These will be your assigned seats all semester long, please come prepared to class tomorrow in these seats. If you forget where you sat please don’t hesitate to ask.” Even better, Travis thinks as he rests his head on the desk. A whole semester by Sally Face.

Mr. Freed goes on to explain the rules they’ve been hearing since freshman year. He assigns a three question review sheet, that takes most of the class about 5 minutes.

Travis doesn’t finish the first question.

As soon as the bell rings he shoves the sheet in his folder and stands up as quick as he can. He leaves no opening for Sally Face to talk to him.

He had work, school, church and his sisters to focus on, he does not have time for Sal Fisher.

Chapter 2: Metamorphosis

Notes:

This isn’t reallllyyy proof read so let me know if theres any mistakes or continuity errors. Sorry it took so long to get out, hopefully the length makes up for it! the next chapter shouldnt take so long.

Once Maddie’s classroom is in view Travis notices two things in quick succession. 

Number one. Maddie has made a friend, whether from last year or this one, she has taken up talking to a blonde freshman.

Number two. This is unfortunately the same blonde freshman who had asked him where room 106 was this morning.

He silently curses under his breath but his feet keep moving. He wants to just high tail it out of there, but he resists for Maddie’s sake. He had told her he would see her after class and by god he was gonna keep his promise. He would rather die than make empty promises like his father.

”Travis you dick bag!” Maddie starts when Travis reaches her. “The teacher wasn’t bad at all.” If she was a normal sister, from a normal house and a normal family, she probably would have hit Travis on the shoulder for his trick. 

She doesn’t move her hand.

Travis smirks and says, “She must’ve changed her ways.” Maddie scoffs in response. 

Suddenly, Travis sees the look of recognition on the blonde girls face. Her lip curls in and he can see the blue braces on her teeth. 

“Is this your brother?” she snarls. Travis can’t blame her because truthfully, he had been a dick to her but he still roles his eyes in response. Maddie’s brow furrows in confusion.

”Yeah?” She clearly has no idea whats going on. Travis feels a pang of guilt course through his body.

The blonde girl scoffs and turns around. While shes walking away Travis and Maddie hear her mumble, “asshole” under her breath. Maddie’s expression falters even more.

Travis feels like shit. He can’t stop hurting people, even the ones he loves the most. It’s as if it’s a chronic condition. As if he could walk into the doctor’s office and they would diagnose him with “chronic asshole disorder” (no cure!).

He could ignore this problem and act like he has no idea what happened, but it’s Maddie. Maddie, who would come crying to him to tell him when she forgot to rinse her dishes because she felt bad.

Maddie, who is looking at him as if he had just set their family home on fire. She knows that he had something to do with this. It’s as if shes yelling at him through her eyes. “I know you did this you asshole. You ruin everything for me!”

He gulps. “Maddie i’m-“ he starts but she cuts him off.

”Is this what it’s going to be like my whole high-school career?” She seems defeated already. “Mrs. Ralph asked me if I was your sister. She had me moved up to the front just because you're my brother. Are you really that bad to people here?” Her eyes are broken and sad. Travis doesn’t know if it’s pity or frustration but he feels like he’s failed.

It’s not even two hours into Maddie’s first year of high school and he’s already ruining it for her. He can’t even say that it’s not his fault and he’s trying, because he had consciously told that girl to fuck off. He had consciously decided to not try in all his classes, he has put himself in this position, and now Maddie too. 

He doesn’t know what else to say other than apologize.

”Maddie i’m so sorry.” His voice is hardly above a whisper. It’s so uncharacteristic for him to be apologetic, let alone at school but he can’t find it in him to care because he just needs her to know that he’s so sorry.

”I wish they knew you like I do.” Maddie says and it sends a shiver down Travis’ spine. Her words cut him deep and he’s frozen. His feet suddenly weigh a thousand pounds and he can’t move as Maddie looks at him with her sullen eyes, their mothers eyes, and walks away. He can’t move as the bell rings indicating second period has started and he’s tarty. He can’t move as he feels a tear slide down his face. 

He doesn’t make a sound, doesn’t move, just lets the tear slide down his face silently. Maddie’s words had cut him like a thousand knives. Those eight words, each one carried a significant weight only he and Maddie could understand. He knows exactly what she means. She wishes that all his teachers and classmates could see the Travis she gets to see during those quiet moments when their father’s not home. The Travis who throws bits of food at her and Mary as he cooks dinner, or the Travis who would sneak into her and Mary’s room at night and reassure them that all will be well and, fathers just going through a tough time, it’ll be over soon. 

She wishes they could see the Travis who use to tickle Mary until she almost peed her pants, just because she had called him a butthole. 

I wish they knew you like I do.

He doesn’t understand why he lashes out, or why he doesn’t care. He wishes he could crawl out of his perfectly constructed mask and scream, “This is the real me, not him!”. He wishes more than anything he could break down the layers and emerge from his cocoon. He wishes he could restart and come out of the cocoon and metamorphosize. 

He just can’t.

He had done this to himself, he had completely caused this himself and yet here he was wallowing in his own self pity in the middle of the hallway. He quickly wipes the tears away when he hears a voice.

”Mr. Phelps!” and Travis physically jumps at the name, because Mr. Phelps is his father. That name had always been reserved for his father and his father only. Travis had never gained enough respect to ever be given the title of “Mr. Phelps”. He knows he’s stupid to jump, because there would be no reason for his father to be at school but he couldn’t help the visceral reaction.

He turns around and is met with Mr. Evans, the schools hall monitor. Honestly he’s surprised Nockfell can afford to employ unnecessary people such as hall monitors, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Evans volunteered for the job. He seemed to derive an awful amount of pleasure from yelling at highschoolers all day. Mr. Evans is suddenly very close and Travis genuinely thinks he teleported for a moment.

“Get to class.” He sneers, although he has to look up because Travis is taller than him. This is far from Travis’ first run in with Mr. Evans, and he’s sure it won’t be the last. He snarls and rolls his eyes.

“Yeah yeah, i’m going. Got lost.” It’s a bad excuse, it’s his third year in this school and he knows Mr. Evans doesn’t believe him, but he doesn’t care. “Whatever, just get to class.” he replies and walks away. 

Travis takes a moment to compose himself and he try's not to let himself think about it. He takes the crumpled up schedule out of his pocket and reads his second period class. Pottery I. 

It’s the only art class on his schedule, and he only took it because he needs two art credits to graduate. He took it because he figured, how can you fail pottery? Although, if anyone could fail an art class it would be Travis.

He makes his way to the art room he had been assigned too. He doesn’t knock before walking in, and everyone turns to look at him. All the eyes on him make him sneer, but a particular set make him flush. 

Of course he has to have the first two classes of the day with Sal, because why would God ever cut him slack? Even worse though, Sals friend, (girlfriend? He doesn’t know.) is in this class too. 

”You must be Travis.” The teacher says, not like a question, which makes him role his eyes. He just nods his head in response, he wasn’t sure if he could trust his voice at this point. “Go ahead and just sit anywhere, I won’t mark you tardy since it’s the first day, but be on time tomorrow.” 

How kind of you. Travis says in his head, and goes to sit at the only empty table. The room is arranged in seven tables with stools as chairs, Sal and Ashley, (? He thinks that’s her name at least..) are sitting at a table alone, so theirs two open seats at their table. Travis could have sat with them, but he thinks he would rather shove clay in his eyeball before he does that.

The teacher goes ahead to explain the rules that they have heard in first hour already, and are going to hear all day. He also goes over the rubric for the class and how assignments will be graded. Travis checks out after he says they won’t start any actual assignments until three days in.

He lays his head on the table and closes his eyes. He tries to think about anything but what Maddie had said earlier and consequently that happened to be Sally Face and his stupid fucking ugly hair and ugly eyes. Travis hates how his thoughts always wined up back to Sal, everything led to him. 

So many sleepless nights spent just thinking about the boy.

The boy.

Sal was a boy.

Travis should not be obsessed with a boy like this. 

If his father had known about his.. tendencies.. he would make him kneel on rice and pray for forgiveness until he saw fit.

Travis shutters at the thought.

He shutters again when he hears the teacher inform them that they’re going to do ice breakers. Everyone in the class is going to have to say their name and a fun fact about them, and Travis thinks it’s bullshit because these are the same people he’s been going to school with since kindergarten. The teacher starts and introduces himself as Mr. O’Connell. His “fun fact” was that he has two daughters. He points at a random person in the room and tells them to start.

Travis checks out almost immediately. He knows a couple of the people in here’s names, but can’t be bothered to learn the rest. 

Soon enough though, the chain had reached him and he figures he should probably say something, and something that won’t get him in more trouble than he already is. He wants to just tell everyone to fuck off, instead he says,

”I’m Travis and my family owns a church.”

There are other things he could have said, like, “I’m Travis and I play the drums”, or “I’m Travis and my hair is actually brown not blond”, but instead he just says something that everyone already knows. He doesn’t need anyone seeing who he actually is.

The teacher smiles and says, “Nice to meet you Travis.” and continues on to the next people. Now, he could say he hadn’t been specifically listening for Sal’s voice but he would be lying, and as soon as he hears it he makes a point to not look. He doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s cares, or that he’s even listening in general.

“I’m Sal, and I play the guitar.” He doesn’t say it with a lot of enthusiasm, no one likes ice breakers it seems, not even Sal, but Travis can tell he’s at least smiling. 

Travis wished he had said something else, something that he hadn’t already known. He wants to learn about the boy, he wants to know everything there is to know about his past, present and future. Travis already knows that Sal plays the guitar, it’s all he ever talks about with his friends. (NOT that Travis is listening.) Maybe Sal could have said something about the mask he wears, or about the various suspicious things Travis has overheard him talking about.

But alas, Sal doesn’t say anything new.

His friend is next and she says something about her love for photography. Travis thinks for a moment, that her and Maddie would get along well, but immediately he remembers that Ash is a fucking weirdo. 

Or she’s supposed to be anyways.

~~~

Schools finally over, but Travis can’t find Maddie anywhere.

He’d seen her a couple times throughout the day, trying to navigate alone and she seemed fine. He had tried to talk to her but she would just walk away, or go into the girls bathroom. It was clear she was still angry and it was driving Travis insane. Still, he figured they would walk home together but shes just gone. 

Maddie knows she shouldn’t be walking alone in this town, she knows. Travis doesn’t think she would be stupid enough to walk home alone, no matter how angry she was. It’s a good thing he doesn’t have to worry about Mary, because the middle school is far enough away that she rides the bus.

He doesn’t want to leave, incase Maddie is still at school, and just got lost or something. He’s been frantically speed walking across the whole school for about a half hour at this point, theres only so many spots she could realistically be. 

“Dude he’s a fucking spaz!” 

Travis stops in his tracks and his hands tighten around his backpack straps. He knows that voice. He doesn’t turn around, in-fact, he speeds up.

Sal Fisher does not matter right now, I need to find Maddie. 

He’s about to turn to go to the office to ask if they have seen Maddie, but he hears his name.

”Travis!” 

Shit.

Travis pleads with God in his head to get rid of Sal, but clearly God had given up on him. He hears feet approaching him. He could book it out of there, but instead he grumbles and turns around.

Behold, Sal and his little girlfriend. At least he’s not with all his friends. 

“What do you want?” He spits out. Ashley shoots him a glare. He doesn’t have time for this.

”Nothing it’s just, are you okay man? You seem pretty frantic, I mean shouldn’t you be on your way home by now?” His voice is sickenly sweet. 

“It’s none of your business.” His foot is tapping at the ground at an alarming rate, he’s loosing valuable time by talking to Sal.

”Well yeah but.. are you sure you’re okay?” He sounds.. worried.

Travis’ eyes widen. Why would Sal Fisher be worried about him? Travis realizes he could use this conversation, maybe Sal had seen his sister.

”I’m fine, I’m just looking for my sister. Have either of you seen her?” At this Sals eyes widen, as do Ashley’s. 

“The girl you were with earlier? I didn’t know she was your sister. No man, I haven’t seen her sorry.” He seems genuinely sorry he hasn’t seen her. It’s stupid for him to be sorry, it’s not like it’s his fault shes gone.

”I haven’t seen her either.” Ashley says. Travis nods and turns to leave, when he feels a hand on his arm. He flinches away out of instinct, but also because his arm had been sore from his father.

“Wait-! Ah sorry.. but maybe we can help you look for her?” Ashley gives him a side eye, as if shes saying, really? We’re gonna help him? 

Travis scowls. “I don’t need your help.” 

“Well too bad, you’re getting it. Do you think she would have walked home alone?”

Travis is bewildered. This stupid little freak is so persistent. He figures, this isn’t the time for egos and grudges, so he just takes the help they're giving him. 

“I- I really hope not. She knows it’s dangerous to walk home alone but I don’t know.” He doesn’t mention the part where she’s mad at him, they don’t need to know. Sal nods.

”Ash do you have your walkie talkie?” Sal turns to Ashley, he bobs his head as he speaks. She nods.

”Yeah, you guys wanna walk to Travis’ house quick while I stay here incase she’s still here?” She seems reluctant to help, hut Travis guesses that shes can’t resist helping someone in need.

Travis is just standing there like a lost puppy listening to them create a plan at this point, he feels pathetic in the search for his own sister.

”That’s perfect, thanks Ash, we’ll be quick. Buzz me if you find her, the signal should reach to Travis’ house.” Travis try's to ignore the flame that ignited in him when he realized that Sal knows where he lives. 

This is not the time Travis.

Ashley nods and says a goodbye and Sal turns to him.

”Alright let’s go we gotta hurry, we don’t want to loose valuable time.” He starts for the front doors. Travis follows silently. He can’t believe that Sal had just offered up his help so willingly, as if they have been friends for years. As if Travis hadn’t been calling him slurs just 6 months ago. His kindness is something so foreign to Travis, he doesn’t know how to react or respond.

He figures he should probably thank him first, and the words feel so awkward leaving his mouth that he physically cringes when they come out. 

“Thank you, by the way.” Sal smiles, or at least Travis thinks he does because his eyes crinkle up and when he responds he can hear the smile in his voice. 

“Of course man! This is some serious stuff and I’m happy to help.” Again, he is bobbing his head as he talks and it causes Travis’ stomach to flip. 

They’re both walking fast, trying to make up lost time and Travis is surprised with how fast Sal can walk, given he’s.. virtually challenged. 

As they get closer Travis suddenly remembers something. “Uhm.. hey before we get to my house, do you think you could maybe.. stay back y’know? I just don’t want my father to see you, I’m not supposed to have friends he doesn’t know about.” He scratched the back of his neck. He feels bad having to ask Sal to stay out of view from his house, and it’s likely his father isn’t even home, but still theres that lingering possibility. 

“Sure man, don’t worry I get it. Probably wouldn’t be good if father Phelps saw his perfect son with good ol’ Sally Face.” He jokes, it stings a little but it’s the truth. They had been walking for about five minutes when Ash’s voice cuts through the walkie talkie, damn near giving Travis a heart attack. 

“Sal I found her, she’s in the bathroom.” Travis sighs in relief as his heart beat slows down. Of course she was in the bathroom, it was the one place he couldn’t check.

”Alright we’ll head back.” Sal responds as they turn around to head back.

”We’ll meet you half way.” Ash says back.

“Alright, later alligator.”

Travis feels so relieved to know that Maddie is okay, also a little jealous of Sal and Ashley, but he would never admit that.

”How long have you guys been together?” Travis asks. He try's with all his might to hold back the bitterness in his question but he’s not sure if it worked. To his surprise, Sal laughs. Like full on belly laughs.

”Dude we are not together. At least not anymore, I mean we tried for like a month sophomore year but that did not work out.” He talks with his hands and giggles through the whole sentence. Travis’ face feels hot. He can’t believe he just asked that and got that response.

“Oh.” Is all he can muster.

Suddenly he sees Maddie and Ash in the distance and perks up. He feels delighted at the sight of Maddie perfectly fine and untouched, but then he feels angry and he lets her know of such as she gets closer.

”You stupid fucker! You scared the shit out of me Maddie! I thought maybe you decided to walk home, like I get you’re mad at me but you can’t just do that! Be mad at me all day long, we can even walk home in silence if you want, but do not scare me like that again!” He rants, it all comes out so quick, it’s barely audible. Maddie knows what Travis had been thinking, there was a silent pact between all three of them to not just go missing. Someone should always, always know where they are. It doesn’t matter if they’re furious at each other, it’s them three against the world.

Travis can see tears welling up in Maddie’s eyes and he breaks. He completely forgets theres anyone else around them and reaches out for Maddie.

“I’m sorry.” She chokes out as Travis pulls her close. Hugging is few and far between in the Phelps household, only ever witnessed by one of the three siblings. Holding each other held a significant weight it wouldn’t hold with normal siblings, this is a pact. A demonstration of their true bond with one another. Never, had a hug between them ever seen the open air.

Until now.

Here they are, hugging in the middle of the sidewalk outside a run down gas station. Here, where anyone could see them. 

Travis pats down Maddie’s hair, and just says, “it’s okay, it’s okay” over and over. He doesn’t know what else to do. Its what he always does to soothe his sisters in times like these. 

A cough breaks their spell, as Travis remembers that Sal and Ashley are here as well. He gently pushes Maddie away by her shoulders and try's to ignore the way she winces despite his attempt at being gentle. “Uh.. thank you guys. I- we- really appreciate it.” He feels super awkward.

”Don’t sweat it! We’re happy to help.” Sal says. 

“Yeah, it was nice meeting you Maddie!” Ashley quips. She seems to have the look that she had just realized something. Maddie smiles.

”Thank you, you too.” She looks at Ashley as if she had hung the moon.

They say goodbye and part ways, they’re only about ten minutes away from home at this point. Travis guesses that Mary should be home soon, if she’s not already. He turns to look down at Maddie, guilt turns in his stomach. 

“I’m really sorry Maddie. I didn’t mean to ruin anything for you.” He’s serious, this is probably the most genuine he’s been in awhile. She shrugs and puts on a slight smile.

”It’s okay. It hasn’t been so bad, most of my bad day has been my own fault.”

Travis’ brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

”I just- I mean most of my friends change over the summer. Like, father never lets me go pla- hang out, with them so they’re different, while I’m still the same eighth grader basically. I mean how can someone change so much over three months? I just, I don’t think they like me anymore.” She sighs at the end.

Travis’ first instinct is to see red, how dare they be mean to his sister? He pushes it down though and takes a deep breath to settle the thoughts. 

“I don’t see how that’s your fault. I mean, they were the ones who changed, not you.” 

She sighs. “I guess so.” It’s clear she doesn’t believe him.

”Hey,” he nudges her a little, “I like you just how you are. I’m sure you can find other people who will too. Those bitches don’t know what they’re missing out on, you’re the coolest sucker on the planet.” He smiles and try's to cheer her up. 

“If I have to make new friends, you do too.” She smiles up at him. Clearly she wasn’t the only one who needed friends.

Travis’ smile drops. “Maddie..” He starts, but she cuts him off.

”Nope, I won’t hear any of it, you have never once mentioned a friend of yours, so if you’re making me socialize you have to too. How about Sal? He seemed really nice, plus Ashley is like the coolest ever.” Travis’ mouth falls open.

”I am not befriending Sal Fisher!” He damn near yells. Maddie laughs. Travis sighs, 

“Fine though, if it will get you to cheer up I will try to make a friend or two.” He emphasizes the word “try” because he knows the attempt will most likely be fruitless. Maddie grins. 

“Deal.” She holds out her pinky, and Travis takes it with his own. Maddie bends down to kiss her thumb, but instead of returning the gesture Travis sticks his touch out and laps it around his thumb and forces their thumbs together. He cheeses.

”Gross!” Maddie cackles, that ugly stupid laugh all three of the Phelps children have hidden under layers of walls. Travis returns the gesture. Each others laughter is contagious, and the last minute of their walk home is filled with giggles and uncontrollable laughter. It’s as if it’s their own little bubble of happiness, nothing could disturb them. They are in their own world. 

Their laughter continues up the steps of their home, until they get inside. Usually, their father isn’t home until later, usually around seven o’clock, but today when they open the door the air is heavy and filled with anger.

“Travis. Madeleine. ” A loud, eerily calm voice booms from the walls. “Where have you been?”

Their fathers towering frame lingers just past the doorway. Mary cowers behind him, an unwilling pawn in their father’s game. 

Well, nothing lasts forever I guess.

Notes:

guys i think i might make a fic where Maddie and Travis are twins too.. let me know if you would rather see that. I would still continue this one even if i make the twin au

Chapter 3: Wall

Notes:

new chapter yay i didnt proof read this lol

“Sir, I don’t control the prices, I just work here.” 

Get me out of here.

Currently, Travis is listening to a man, maybe in his mid-forties, complaining about the price increase on Poptarts.

”You listen here, boy, I know your daddy, and I know you’re a good kid.” He starts. “I bought this exact same flavor of Poptarts two weeks ago, and it was twenty cents cheaper. How about you just do me a favor and give me a discount, you gotta have a family and friends discount right?”

Fucking fatass.

He does get a discount, but it’s reserved for him and his immediate family. Travis had seen him at church a couple of times before, but not enough to consider him family. Hell, he doesn’t know if he would even consider his own father family.

He looks the Poptart man in the face and shudders. His eye is completely white and puffy, it has veins protruding that make it look like a purple spider had devoured his eye whole; there's no way he can see out of it. He gets a chill down his body and just feels off. This man sends dread coursing through his veins.

He tries to shrug it off. He’s probably just tired.

”Dude, no offense, but you aren’t family or friend.” He’s starting to lose his patience, and a line is starting to form behind the Poptart man. “Either you pay for the Poptarts, or get out of the line. Theres people behind you, and I can’t have you holding up the line.” 

The Poptart man looks absolutely furious but silently submits. He all but slams the Poptarts on the conveyor belt, no doubt causing them to crumble in the box and pays. Before he leaves, he makes sure he gets the last word.

Travis can’t shake the feeling of raw fear that this man provokes in him. It’s getting hard for him to hold his ground and not collapse under the weight of his piercing gaze. That eye. That ugly, lifeless eye, that's full of life. Travis has never seen anything like it, or maybe he has, that's what's so frightening. He feels a deep connection to the man, not a bond, a connection.

“Don’t you think for a second that your father won’t be made aware of your little stunt. I’m sure Kenneth will not appreciate knowing how rude of a son he’s raised.” He stomps off, or more so waddles off because he couldn’t have weighed less than 250 pounds.

”Yeah, yeah.” Travis mumbles and tries to hide the fear he feels. It won’t matter to his father that the Poptart man had been ridiculous, it will only matter that Travis has embarrassed him. He shudders to think what will happen when his father gets word of this incident. 

He audibly sighs out of relief, and suddenly feels like he’s been dug out of a grave. The weight lifts of his shoulders and he can breathe again as soon as the man steps foot off the premises. 

Travis can’t believe he’s so scared of a Poptart man. 

~~

Twenty more minutes and he’s home free. Although, that might not be a good thing, but it also might be. God only knows.

His foot taps against the ground anxiously as he leans against the register. It’s been slow for the past hour and he feels like ripping his hair out of his scalp. 

Instead he counts the tiles on the floor.

He figures out that his little corner of the store, register three, is 5x7 tiles. 

Interesting stuff.

He tries to keep his mind from wandering too far. Wandering means he’s not in control of what he’s thinking, and when he’s not in control of what he’s thinking, he’s usually thinking about Sal Fisher. It doesn’t matter how hard he tries to get him out of his head, it never works and he will always end up thinking of the short boy. Every waking thought he has about the boy fills him to the brim with shame. Often times he wakes up in the middle of the night in a puddle of sweat after an unwanted dream involving the two, and wonders what he had possibly done to deserve this.

He’s even thought about kissing Sal.

Of course, he doesn’t know what he looks like under the prosthetic, so he has to rely on his imagination, which isn’t so hard for a boy who’s only ever had his imagination. 

But his imagination is not supposed to be filled with Sal Fisher. He will not think of Sal Fisher, he won’t think about his stupid prosthetic or his stupid stocky legs or the stupid way he bobs his head when he talks or- 

shit

He’s thinking about Sal Fisher again.

He sighs and runs a hand down his face, trying to rub away the tiredness and the aching in his eye. He wishes he could run his hand down his face and just pull the whole thing off. Maybe then him and Sal could match. 

He sees a customer out of the corner of his eye and turns.

”He-“ He pauses.

Well, speak of the devil and he shall appear. And he certainly was, the devil.

”Hey, Travis! Just picking up some kitty food.” He places a bag of cat food down on the conveyor belt. He’s dressed in a tank top over a fishnet shirt and jeans. With a skirt on top. Only one word can come to Travis’ mind to describe Sal, but he would never voice it.

Beautiful.

Travis is so flustered that, stupidly, he feels a little insecure. Here he is, dressed in a lousy polo and a dirty old apron, probably looking like he just crawled out of the pits of hell, and Sal looks like he’s ready to attend the Oscars. 

Okay, maybe not the Oscars, but he looks nice. 

He’s not entirely surprised Sal has shown up to his work; he’s been trying to talk to him all week at school since Maddie had decided to pull her little stunt. Maybe Sal thinks they're friends now, and Travis makes a mental note to remind him that they certainly are not friends.

Travis realizes he’s been staring for a minute and speaks.

”H-hey.” He grabs the cat food, and it’s unsurprisingly heavy, and he flushes when he fumbles the bag. Sal chuckles.

”Long day?” Sal questions and tilts his head.

”Something like that. 7.56 is your total.” Travis mumbles and feels his stomach twist when Sal hands him a ten-dollar bill, and their hands graze. It felt weird to see Sal at work; it’s a shift in dynamic. It’s hard to see Sal as a customer rather than a peer or classmate. 

“When are you off?” Sals continues the never-ending spew of questions. Travis glances at the clock to his right.

”Why do you care? Want a bag?” He’s trying to keep the conversation to the absolute necessities, but he tries not to think about the fact that he secretly wants Sal to keep talking.

Sal shakes his head, “No need to pollute the earth anymore when it’s already in a bag. Besides, I’ve got two perfectly capable hands.” He holds his hands up and waves them around, as if to show Travis that he does, in fact, have two perfectly capable hands. Travis scoffs, something in between a laugh and a remark.

He hands Sal the bag and his change. Normally, he would say a polite parting, but he holds his tongue while Sal reaches for the bag. “Thanks, Travis,” and instead of leaving, of course he has more to say. “Are you doing anything after you get off?” He accepts the change. Travis flushes.

”Yes actually, my sister uh, n-needs new shoes.” It’s a Saturday at 3:56 pm. His father isn’t home, and won't be until seven, and his sisters both have choir rehearsal for the church until five, which technically Travis does too, but he told his father that he works until five. Technically, he really didn’t have anything going on after work.

He was planning on going downtown quick and picking up a new pair of shoes for Mary and then going home to enjoy the only moments of peace he gets in that retched house.

”You care if I tag along? I just got back from a concert- not a big band or anything, just a local one- I mean, I don't know if I would even consider it a concert, it was just a basement show. Anyways, I’ve got nothing to do, and it would be cool to finally hang out!” Travis freezes. He says it like it’s an everyday occurrence Like, he asks Travis Phelps every single day if he just wants to “hang out.” 

For a moment, Travis wonders why Larry isn’t with Sal; wouldn’t they go to a concert together? It would make sense, they’re best friends, and as far as Travis is aware, they do everything together. So where was Larry?

”W-what? Fuck off, no. Hang out with Larry or something.” And he swears to God (well, maybe not, that’s blasphemy), he wants to take all the coins out of the cash register and shove them down his throat so he can never speak again. Why, why does he stutter so much?! He can’t get a single simple sentence out without it sounding like someone is holding a gun to the back of his skull.

Sal shrugs. “Larry had to go home right after the concert. He dropped me here and went home. Family matters.” Travis swallows the curiosity in his throat. He wonders what’s so wrong at Larry’s home that Sal doesn’t want to tell him.

”Oh.” Is all he says, and taps his hands at his sides. He’s so goddamn awkward. Sal blinks twice.

“..so?” Oh yeah, he’s expecting a response.

“Are you still expecting another response? I- I already told you dumb fuck, I’m busy.” He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. “Plus, my father would probably kill not only me, but you.”

His blank sheet of a face stares at Travis. 

“Well, how would he know?” He simply asks. As if Kenneth Phelps doesn’t have a tight grip on just about everyone’s balls in this town.

”Trust me, he would know.” He doesn’t stutter that sentence; he knows it for a definitive fact.

“We’ll be sneaky, in and out, and if anyone asks i’ll pretend to be a girl.” He’s so goddamn persistent. Travis looks to the clock and realizes it’s four o'clock. He turns to clock out. Sal trails behind him.

”I don’t know if that’s any better.”

“C’mon, just this once. If you hate me after, then I will pretend nothing ever happened, and I give you full permission to punch me again.” Travis pauses.

”Dude, what?” His lip pulls up into a grimace at the thought of punching Sal again. “I’m not gonna punch you again.” Again, he doesn’t stutter because he knows it’s true. Sal chuckles.

“Still, technically, you owe me one.” 

“What? For what?” 

Sal sighs. “I didn’t want to use this card, but I helped you find your sister, so you owe me one.” 

His sister.

He had promised Maddie that he would try and make friends. Although he had explicitly told her that the friend would not be Sal Fisher, it wouldn’t necessarily hurt to hang out with him once.

Okay, it actually could hurt. It could hurt really, really bad if his father found out. He would never hear the end of it and neither would his sore eye.

But he thinks of Maddie and the promise he made, so maybe he could try.

“Okay fine.” He punches out his time card. “Just-just once, and- and only because you helped me.” He crosses his arms. Sal, in turn, tosses his arms in the air.

Why had Sal been so persistent as to have brought up the fact that he helped him find Maddie? It didn't seem like something Sal would ever use against him, he wonders why Sal has stooped to that point.

”Whoop whoop! Alright, let’s head out!” And Sal turns to leave. Travis almost lets out a chuckle at Sal’s dramatic display. 

Almost.

~~

There’s a small ding when they enter the store. It’s not a big one, just some local thrift store run by some old lady. Travis comes here every school year with his sisters to get clothes for the new year. Their father gives Travis 150 dollars to get clothes for all three of them every year, but more often than not Travis has to end up sacrificing a couple articles of clothing. Travis doesn’t understand why his father is so cheap on clothing and food when he knows they’re well off. 

Honestly, he thinks his father would probably flip his lid if he found out that they buy their clothes second hand, but he never gives them enough money to buy first hand.

This year, they hadn’t had enough money to get Mary new shoes, so Travis promised that he would get her some with his next paycheck. 

“I can’t believe she doesn’t want to be here to get them with you. I know me personally, I’m very picky about my shoes.” Sal chimes in next to him.

”Yeah well, if she wants a choice in the matter she can pay for them herself.” He grumbles, and he doesn’t mean it at all. The only reason Mary isn’t here is because this is the most convenient time for Travis to get them, he doesn’t really have time any other day. 

Sal chuckles in response as they hurriedly make their way over to the shoes. It’s pretty quiet in the store other than the soft sound of old music and Travis doesn’t like the awkward atmosphere. Plus, it smells like old lady in here.

Mary told him that she’s a size seven, seven and a half if they're getting really picky. 

“Wait so how many siblings do you have?” Sal asks as he bends down to browse the shoes with Travis.

Travis picks up a pair of gently used shoes, they looks good enough and he checks the insoles for further damage. “Why do you care?” He’s building up the wall between them even further, or trying to anyway.

”God forbid I wanna learn about you a little. You’re an interesting guy sometimes.” Sal grabs the shoe from Travis to examine himself, earning an appalled look from the blond.

”Me, interesting?” He scoffs.

”Don’t let it get to your head,” he puts the shoe back in its place, “don’t get these shoes either.” 

Travis scowls. “What? Why not, they're perfectly fine.” 

“Says Mr. neon green shoes, don’t subject your sister to that kind of torture. These are better.” He picks up another pair of shoes, they’re a size eight but maybe he should size up, Mary’s still got some growing in her.

Travis takes the shoes and ignores the comment about his beat up green sketchers that he’s had since freshman year. Maybe he’s the one that needs new shoes. The price on this pair is a little higher, but it’s better than buying first hand. 

He’s glad Sal is here, if not only to help him make okay enough fashion decisions. Mary would probably burn him at the stake if he brought home an ugly pair of sneakers.

”Yeah whatever, your shoes aren’t any better, they look like you found them on a battlefield.” He glances at Sal’s extremely beat up vans, theres a hole thats been stitched back together. They make their way to the counter.

”At least they don’t look atomic, I mean seriously dude, check those things for radiation poisoning. I just had Ashley stitch em’ up and they’re good as new!” He puts his feet out as if he’s showing them off, to make a point or some shit, Travis doesn’t know. He rolls his eyes.

The old lady at the counter greets, more specifically Travis and somehow she knows him by name. He shutters to think, maybe she knows his father, but he waves the thought. Travis has never seen the woman at church before so he doubts it. 

“Hello Travis, you’re back mighty soon!” She takes the shoes and scans them. “This all for you dear?” 

Travis pulls out his wallet. “Yes Ma’am.” 

He can feel Sal staring at him. It must be a strange sight for the boy. Seeing Travis Phelps of all people talking kindly to an elderly woman. It makes sense, given Travis doesn’t remember a single time Sally Face has ever seen him be outwardly nice, let alone use a word like “Ma’am”, even to teachers. 

But Travis knows one thing, if his dad wouldn’t kill him for being with Sal, he would most certainly kill him for being rude. He’s sure he's gonna get a mouthful-or a fistful depending on his mood- about the situation with poptart man earlier. 

It’s actually quite commonplace for Travis to be polite outside of school, at least to people who are not his peers. Every once in awhile his father has him greeting people at the doors of the church on Sundays, though usually that’s Maddie’s job.

”Thats going to be four dollars and fifty six cents please.” She gives him a caring smile. Yeah, definitely not a member of the church. 

He attempts one back, but it probably looks more like a grimace, it seems everything does.

He hands the woman a five, they exchange pleasant goodbyes, and suddenly Travis is alone with Sal again. The door dings a second time as they step out.

”It’s weird seeing you be polite.” Of course Sal had to immediately bring it up. Before Travis even gets the change to formulate a proper sentence again Sal is rambling. “But I guess it makes sense, with church and all. You probably have to be nice all day at church, do you stand at the door and greet people? I wouldn’t be able to do that it actually sounds so boring, like last summer, I was selling tickets at the fair and I got so bored that I made Todd do it instead. Pretty sure it’s actually illegal for me to do that, since he wasn’t the one getting payed but oh well.” 

Holy shit this guy can ramble. Travis barely picked up two whole words in that whole monologue. 

“Hey where are we going?” Sal finally seems to realize that they aren’t in town anymore. Apparently he had just spaced out and let his feet take him wherever they wanted. Why, they wanted to go with Travis, he didn’t know.

”I’m going home. I don’t know where you’re going.” Travis responds.

”What? Already? What time is it?” He speaks really fast, but Travis finds he likes it. It’s hard for him to keep interest in something when someone drones on and on and takes forever to explain something, but Sal, although he says a lot, he says it so quick that Travis can keep up.

”It’s 4:30.” Mary and Maddie get out of choir at five, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they got let out early.

“Do you have to go home right now? I have nothing else to do and I get so bored so quick. Come on man don’t abandon me like this!” Travis thinks he’s trying to make a joke but it’s not sticking. Sal Fisher has got to be insane because this is the second time today he’s damn near begged Travis to hang out with him.

Travis pauses, which made him realize just how much faster Sal had to walk to keep up with him, because it takes Sal a moment to loose his momentum.

“Why do you want to hang out with me so bad?” He barks, his ever present scowl only getting worse. It makes his blood boil, why does Sal think he has the right to act like Travis is some broken little boy? He doesn’t need someone to hang out with, and he certainly does not need anyones pity.

Especially Sal’s.

”Because I think you’re interesting, is that so hard to believe?” Yes actually, yes it is. 

“Yeah well, I don’t want to be. I don’t want you poking and prodding at my business, and I certainly do not want your pity.”

Maybe, just maybe he’s overreacting a little bit.

Against all odds, Sal steps forward.

”I do not pity you Travis.” He sounds so matter a-fact, it renders Travis speechless.

”Yeah whatever.” 

“No, for real man. I don’t talk to you because I pity you, I talk to you because you deserve it. You’re a human being just as much as anyone else, and you deserve to have a friend.” Travis buts in.

”I have friends oka-“ 

“Other than your sister.” Sal states. How he knew who Travis was referring to is beyond him.

”I just think you’re probably a real cool dude under those stupid walls you build up.” Sal speaks up again. “I mean hey,” He gestures towards his face- or mask.

“Who am I one to judge walls?” And he chuckles.

Travis is taken aback. Did Sal mean for his words to resonate with Travis so much? Just a few words and Sally Face has once again rendered Travis speechless. He can’t keep doing this.

In a way Sal’s right, Travis and him aren’t all that different, or at least they have a lot in common. Sal hides behind that mask of his, and Travis hides behind his fists. Travis wonders, how many walls Sal truly hides behind, there must be something lying far beyond the barrier that few, if not zero, people have seen. 

Strangely, Travis wants to see it. He wants to see all of it. All of Sal. Whatever he has hiding beyond that wall, Travis wants to see it all.

So naturally he tells Sal that.

”Whatever fucking weirdo.” 

And turns to head home.