A/N: Hey guys! Long time no see! Originally I wasn't going to continue this story, at least not until the start of Season 3, but yet here we are! I apologize for the long hiatus but I promise I won't leave this one again and i'll talk about that a little bit more at the end of this chapter so thanks for staying with me...if you enjoy this, it'll be so worth the wait, I promise.
The next morning, Travis started to walk out of his house with a frown, rubbing gently at his sore cheek, eyes big, feeling like he was two feet tall, discouraged. He didn't even feel like texting Vic back he felt so down. It was all because of Zack.
Sighing tiredly, Travis opened his door and walked out, frowning at the ground as he kept a hand to his cheek.
"Morning beautiful."
Travis jumped, but he honestly wasn't all that surprised. He looked up at Zack with a glare, fists clenching as he kept them stuffed into his pockets. "Leave me alone. Why are you always here anyways? Shouldn't you be with Grant?" He huffed, walking off hurriedly in a rush.
"Aww, you don't like seeing me everyday? Well that hurts." He heard Zack comment from behind him. "Just like you hurt Grant."
Travis scowled and exhaled an angry breath, hurrying into his car, driving off without a response, ripping out of there, relieved to get away from that creep wishing the guy would just leave him alone.
When he got to the station, Travis didn't go upstairs for breakfast, instead going to the workout room, reluctantly opening his unopened texts from Zack.
Okay you little twerp. Soon enough you'll be sorry. But I won't be.
Grant told me he loves me yesterday. Can't believe you broke his heart you damn heartbreaker.
I think you're cute, but i'm still going to hurt you. Can't wait until I enact my revenge on you.
Enact his revenge? Who the hell does this guy think he is? Travis frowned deeply, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.
He heard laughter and saw Maya and Andy walking by, turning away to make sure he wasn't seen, trying to stay hidden.
He didn't want anyone to see the large bruise on his face, not wanting the extra attention drawn to himself. The bruise was huge and not a pretty sight to look at, taking up his left cheek, about the size of a fist. Zack's fist.
Oh god Travis felt embarrassed.
Another text from Zack.
You're too sensitive, Travis. I can't wait until I get my hands on you and make you cry.
Travis swallowed hard, tense with anxiety, creeped out and yet worried for his safety. It seemed as if this guy was really out to get him and Travis wanted to avoid getting hurt at all costs possible, wanting anything but a trip to the hospital. Plus these texts were getting creepier and creepier.
But yet, he couldn't even tell anyone. Not even his best friend. '
He told himself he could just tell the cops and then they would come and take care of Zack before he could even get the chance to come after Vic, but Travis was so worried his best friend would get hurt he couldn't take that risk no matter what.
If Vic got hurt because of him he couldn't live with himself. But yet he was losing his mind over putting up with Zack, it was driving him nuts.
And if the cops didn't actually arrest Zack then Zack would know Travis told the police and then he would go after Vic and then he couldn't live with himself and oh, everything is so screwed up, he can't take it!
"19! Line up, now."
Travis looked up when he heard Sullivan shout, swallowing as he let out a breath, turning his phone off and putting it away, tensing as he prepared himself for all the questions he was about to be asked about his face.
This was not going to go well he could already tell.
Travis bit the inside of his cheek as he lined up in his usual spot next to Gibson, keeping his focus ahead, avoiding looking at the others as they came dashing in.
He immediately tensed up when Vic came strolling over, eyebrows furrowing, taking in a deep breath.
"Hey." Vic smiled at him but quickly slowed down when she saw him, eyes going narrow, gasping. "What happened to you?" She came closer, immediately expecting a response.
Travis swallowed and glanced at her but didn't say anything, quickly looking away, the Captain coming in, everyone straightening as he started walking past for 'Uniform Inspection' and all.
Travis held his breath as he waited for Sullivan to come to him, praying he wouldn't stop.
Miller. Hughes. Montgomery. Gibson…...Montgomery.
Travis cringed when Sullivan stepped back, feeling his cold, hard eyes stare right at him, making him sweat.
"Montgomery." He started and Travis closed his eyes tight for a minute, bracing himself. "What happened?"
Travis saw a few heads turn to look at him from the corner of his eyes and he gulped a little, not sure if he was shaking or not, his stomach in a knot. "It was just a misunderstanding, sir." was all he could say.
Sullivan's eyebrows furrowed a little as he stared at Travis. "Misunderstanding? You involved in a fight?"
Travis tensed and spared a quick glance at Vic, who was looking at him intently, quickly looking away again. "No sir, n-no."
"Good. Don't let me see you with one of those again." The Captain nodded and started walking down the line again and Travis exhaled a deep, long breath, relieved to get all of the attention off of him.
He waited until they were dismissed before he started walking off, not bothering to stay behind to talk.
He felt Victoria instantly grab his arm, frowning at her as she turned him around.
"Hey, seriously, what happened to you?" She spoke in a rushed voice, eyebrows furrowed. "Who the Hell hit you?" This time she sounded protective.
"Vic," Travis immediately sighed at her, looking tired. "It was nothing okay? It was nobody."
"Nobody? Who the hell is he, i'll kick his a**! Come on, Travis!"
"Vic." Travis sighed again, starting to feel queasy, knowing he wasn't even supposed to be talking about this with her. "Please, it's nothing. Can you just drop it?"
"No I can't drop this, you're my best friend! Come on, i'll kick his a** for you, just give me a name!" Vic huffed, gesturing with her hands, looking defensive and suddenly eager.
Travis gave her a look, showing her he was serious and wanted to be done discussing this. "Vic, trust me, it's okay. You don't have to be so worried about me."
"Of course i'm worried about you!" She huffed, giving his arm a playful punch. "That's my job!"
"Your job?" Travis felt himself smirk softly. "Wow, I feel so loved. Dedicating your whole life to me, awwww."
"Oh shut up." She snorted at him, rolling her eyes with a smile. "I mean your job is be worried about me so it's really no different."
Travis laughed softly. "Well it is true. I do worry about you, Vic. I want nothing but the best for you."
"Aww you do care." She smirked at him, both chuckling softly, Vic shaking her head as she started walking off. "Seriously though, later, I want answers!" And then she was gone.
Travis's smile disappeared, taking in a deep breath, biting his lip. He still had no idea what he was going to do.
Travis found Jack, looking a little hesitant as he walked up to him in the Turn-Out Room. "Hey, Jack?"
Jack turned to face him, seeming to look him over, looking slightly sympathetic. "What's up, Trav?"
"Hey, so I have this friend…" Travis started slowly. "And he's kinda getting…..bullied. You're a pretty intimidating guy, do you think you could give me some pointers on how to appear tough? For-For my friend?"
Jack raised a brow. "Does this have to do with the guy that punched you in the face?"
Travis tensed, trying not to look bothered. "No. No no, nobody punched me in the face, I just need this help for-for a friend."
"A friend that happens to be you?" Jack smirked softly.
"Yes-wait no." Travis shook his head no quickly. "Look, this isn't about me, okay?"
Jack chuckled softly. "It's okay, Travis, I'll help ya. Ain't no reason to be afraid to ask for help."
"Really? I mean, I woulda asked Vic to help me since she's great at this stuff but I really need a…..man-to-man talk about it, ya know?"
"I understand, Travis, I get it." Jack nodded at him. "So what kind of help do you want? Trash-talk?"
"Um, yeah sorta. There's this guy who is really jus'….being an ass, okay?" Travis sighed aloud with a frown, not happy about admitting to this. "I just really need to know how to tell him to back off."
"Okay, easy. First of all, when the guy gets into your face, you have to show him that you're not afraid of him, otherwise you're already screwed."
Travis's eyebrows were furrowed. "Riiiiight, okay, yeah." He nodded slowly, taking it in.
"Then when he starts trash-talking you, you have to trash-talk him back so he knows you're not afraid of a little fight. The key is to stand your ground. If he catches you afraid even once, he's going to take complete advantage of that." Jack watched Travis as he spoke who looked at him with big eyes.
"Okay, stand your ground, right. But, what do you do if the trash-talking doesn't work?"
"Then just tell him to back off and be firm about it. Threaten him back by saying something like, 'If you don't leave me alone then you're not going to hear the end of it. Understood?'"
Travis had his hands on his hips, shaking his head no with a anxious frown. "I can't say that to him. I can't threaten him, that-that's not me." He looked worried and Jack frowned at him.
"Travis, who is this guy?" He asked lowly. Travis glanced at him once and looked away. "Nobody."
"He's giving you trouble, isn't he? Look, if you need some backup we can-"
"No, no," Travis insisted with a hand. "It's fine, I just gotta take care of it by myself, it's sorta personal."
Jack didn't seem entirely convinced but nodded anyway. "Okay. Well, let's do some practicing, get you warmed up. I'll pretend to get up in your face and you show me how you would defend yourself. Okay?"
"Yeah, yeah sure, okay." Travis nodded with pursed lips, looking at Jack expectantly who cleared his throat, getting into character.
"Travis," He started with a gruff voice. "I don't like the way you pissed me off the other day. I think I outta teach you some manners." He stood tall, a mean expression on his face, making Travis swallow a little, thinking of Zack, trying to come up with something to say.
"Well I'm sorry I upset you, Jack. I didn't mean to."
"Okay, first of all, don't apologize." Jack shook his head. "That won't work, they don't care about that sappy stuff. So you know what I would say to that? I'd say, Well I think you did mean it Travis and that makes me very angry. I'd like an apology and I'd like it now." He huffed loudly, stepping closer to Travis so he was nose-to-nose with him, looking down at him.
Travis resisted the urge to step back, biting his lip softly, trying to look calm. "You just told me not to apologize." He said lowly.
Jack scoffed a little. "Okay, forget that, whatever, just tell me what you would say. Get mean, come on, tell me off."
"Um," Travis shook his head, unable to come up with something that sounded mean, not wanting to hurt Jack's feelings. "I uh, I think you're overreacting. Just leave me alone, okay?"
"Leave you alone, I'm not going to leave you alone!" Jack growled, grabbing Travis by his shirt and pushing him up against the wall gently, feeling Travis flinch. "What are you going to do about that, Travis?!" He huffed, wanting Travis to get angry and stand up for himself, watching him.
Travis frowned at him with big eyes, keeping still, his thoughts all jumbled and mixed up in his head, making him panic. Swallowing, he thought of Zack and frowned, shaking his head. "I-I can't do this, Jack, I-I'm sorry, I guess I wasted your time." He pushed past him gently, making Jack frown.
"Travis I can help you. Don't give up, man. What are you going to do if you see this guy again?"
"I'll jus' figure it out myself I guess." Travis huffed, walking away hurriedly, frowning at himself for not having the courage to defend himself.
He just wasn't the mean type, he couldn't just get up into someone's face like that. He was instead calm, patient, he talked things through until the problem was solved, not with fists.
Vic had once told him that out of the whole crew, he's the one with the most heart. Travis wasn't sure if he believed her but if it's really true than he for sure doesn't have a chance to stand up against Zack.
He was still really tempted to call up Grant already to get some answers. But wouldn't that be awkward….
Travis had a hard time focusing the rest of that day. All he could think about was Zack and how he so badly didn't want to see him again. The guy is just a creep! He tried to tell himself that if he does see Zack again to just tell him off and if it gets to be too much, call the cops.
Call the cops and they can help you, it's gonna be okay, you're going to be okay, Vic's going to be okay. Everybody's going to be okay. Right?
That evening, Travis anxiously pulled up to his house, nearly holding his breath as he stepped out of his car with phone in hand, frowning as he started walking up to his porch, watching.
He could almost feel Zack's presence. That wasn't a good feeling at all and it made him feel sick, anxiety rising.
Keep it together, Trav…He told himself, gripping his phone tightly which helped him feel a little bit better.
He made it to his porch. All clear so far.
Quickly he reached for the doorknob, again holding his breath, getting out his key, putting it in the keyhole, turning the key- "'Eyyyy, there he is!"
Travis cringed, turning to see Zack coming up to him, giving him a mean look, swallowing hard. "What are you doing here?" He demanded, trying to remember what Jack had said earlier.
"You have to show him that you're not afraid, otherwise you're already screwed….."
Zack stood, looking amused. "Heh, well, someone hasn't been responding to my texts. Thought I'd stop by to find out why."
Travis's hands were stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. "Does Grant know about this?"
"N-No." Zack hiccupped, taking unbalanced side-steps towards him, making Travis scowl at him.
"Are you drunk?"
"N-No." He hiccupped again, giving a sideways grin, chuckling. "Nice bruise by the way."
Travis continued to scowl, ignoring Zack's comment, glaring. "Look, I told you to leave me alone. I'm serious, I will call the cops if you don't stop harassing me. So just back off."
Zack's smile disappeared, then reappeared with a smirk. "Th-That's funny, Travis. Have you forgotten what I told you?"
"Enough, you're not going to do anything to her. Now just leave me alone, you got it?" Travis frowned with big eyes, trying to keep his voice as firm as he could.
"You're the one who broke up with Grant pal," Zack growled at him with a sneer, looking at him with disgust. "You deserve this."
"Look, I told you, it just didn't work out with Grant, okay?" Travis frowned at him with a frustrated sigh. "Will you just drop it already? You're like some sort of stalker and it's really creeping me out, so just stop."
"Is that a threat?" Zack came closer with a growl, glaring down at Travis who mentally squirmed.
"Besides that, imma tell Grant what you've done because clearly you are not the right guy for him," Travis's voice was shaking. "And you shouldn't be going behind his back like this." He huffed, feeling like all the weight had just been lifted off his shoulders.
Zack snarled and punched Travis before he could even react, knocking Travis against one of the porch beams, the fire-fighter yelping in surprise.
"You're the one who went behind his back!" Zack spat, marching up to him, Travis gasping when Zack grabbed ahold of him by his shirt, crying out when Zack shoved him away and his back landed sharply on the porch steps, sliding down to the sidewalk, hissing in pain, stunned.
His back searing with pain, Travis gaped up at Zack fearfully when he saw him coming towards him again. "Wait-wait, stop, stop! I'm calling the cops!"
He heard Zack snarl and Travis felt himself being lifted into the air, seeing a flash of movement before him, his cheek suddenly smarting with pain as Zack punched him, making him gasp and yelp, falling backwards to the ground before he could stop himself.
"You're not going to do anything!" He heard Zack's voice, wincing. "Unless you want Vic to be the one to pay for it instead!"
"N-No!" Travis huffed and managed to get to his feet, shoving at Zack roughly. "Just get the Hell outta here!"
Zack let out a growl and grabbed Travis by his collar, slugging the man in the stomach, who gasped as the air was knocked out of him, hunching over in pain, yelping when Zack quickly punched him again in the face.
"I'm not going anywhere! You're mine!" Zack was shouting and Travis was having a hard time, breathing heavily as he started to get up, wincing.
"You-You leave me alone!" He shakily warned, gasping when Zack kicked him back down harshly, lying sprawled out on his back, stunned with pain. Travis squeezed his teary eyes shut tightly, his ears ringing, feeling like he couldn't move.
"I told you you were going to pay." Zack growled and Travis opened his eyes to see Zack lift his foot to kick him, making Travis squeak, covering his head with his hands, flinching away. "N-No don't!"
Travis felt Zack's foot kick him in the stomach and Travis yelped in pain, curling into himself, sucking in air between his teeth, tears pricking at his eyes, crying a little.
He felt Zack's movement beside him come closer and Travis cringed when he heard Zack hiss into his ear "Told you I'd make you cry."
Travis shook a little and sucked in a shaky breath, lying there with his arms wrapped around his stomach in pain, hurting.
After a minute, he dared to look up at his attacker's face, tensing when he saw Zack was gone, swallowing hard.
Clutching his stomach, he winced again, struggling to sit up, holding his cheek as he wiped at his eyes, sniffling a little, still aching with pain.
"Ahhh, gah…." Travis got to his feet, clenching his teeth tightly as he tried to ignore the pain coming from his back and stomach, starting to head inside, a hand to his back. "Ow…." He whimpered softly as he walked up the steps, wishing his head would stop pounding.
Once inside, he locked the door and went to the fridge for some water, sitting down roughly in one of his chairs.
The pain wasn't as bad as it was moments ago but it still hurt. Travis took out his phone to text Victoria, longing to talk to her.
An unopened text from her read Hey, ready to talk about what happened now?
Travis bit his lip and typed No with a deep frown, taking a drink of his water as he waited for a reply. Just moments later, a text came through, but it wasn't from Vic.
Remember, not a word about me to anyone. You better not have called the cops or I will hurt not only you but Vic as well. And I won't be so nice next time.
Travis frowned deeply, feeling his chest tighten, staring at his phone with big eyes, debating what he should do, feeling like he could start crying.
Another text, from Vic.
Travis? I'm serious, I wanna talk.
Travis swallowed hard and looking away, turned his phone off, without replying to either one of them.
He then slowly got up and started for his bedroom, frowning as he laid down, wincing from the pain in his back, swallowing hard as he stared up at the ceiling, closing his eyes shut tightly as he thought of Michael, wishing he was here.
And then, Travis went to sleep as there was nothing else he could really do but pray that it would get better. Than Zack would just disappear so Travis could have his life back again.
The next morning, Travis felt humiliated as he walked into the station. Biting the inside of his cheek hard, he was not prepared for this. He didn't want everybody to ask him all these questions: What happened to you? Who did this to you? Travis, what happened?
Travis put a hand to his cheek as if he just remembered the new bruises were even there, frowning deeply as he avoided going upstairs for breakfast with the others, instead going to the turnout room. Nobody was in there at the time and he was glad, exhaling a deep sigh.
His back hurt. His stomach, which was bruised, hurt. His face hurt. Worst of all, his pride hurt.
When he had first looked at himself in the mirror this morning, it felt as if he had shattered. He didn't think bruises could be that ugly-looking. His right cheek: just one big blob of a bruise. It looked awful.
He wasn't surprised when he lifted up his shirt to see bruises on his stomach either.
Now Travis was just bracing himself, expecting the worst, not wanting to be swamped with questions all day.
But he knew he was going to get questioned whether he liked it or not. And he especially knew Vic was going to give him trouble. He had never even texted her back last night.
Now, seeing him like this, Travis knew she wasn't going to be happy with him.
When it was time for Line-Up, Travis took in a deep breath and walked out, trying to keep his gaze lowered, doing anything in hopes to keep the attention off of him.
He went to his position, keeping his head lowered, glancing at Jack out of the corners of his eyes, not knowing if Jack had noticed yet.
He straightened when he heard Vic's voice, looking over slowly, awaiting the worst.
Vic looked surprised and startled with worry. "Travis….what happened?" She almost whispered, seeming to stop in her tracks as if everyone else wasn't rushing in for line up, going still.
Travis of course didn't answer, swallowing and giving her a sort of sympathetic look, turning away, seeing Vic do the same when Sullivan came in.
As Sullivan went down the line and stopped in front of him, the Captain was not pleased. "Montgomery."
Immediately Travis lowered his head.
"Thought I suggested to you not to come to work looking like that again…?"
Travis was so embarrassed, feeling everyone's eyes on him, staring at the floor. "I'm aware, sir."
Sullivan's expression remained the same. "I'm afraid I have no choice than to put you on reception than."
Travis lifted his head with a frown. "Reception? But I-"
"I can't have you going out to save lives looking like that. That's the way it has to be. Understood?"
Travis glanced quickly at the others with almost shame. "Understood, sir." He frowned, looking back at the floor with a sad look.
Sullivan offered a nod and went through the rest of the line, assigning each their duties. When they were dismissed, Travis tried to hurry away in avoidance, but was immediately swarmed.
"Travis, who did this?"
"Travis, tell me what happened."
"Hey man, are you alright?" Maya, Vic and Warren all put out their concerns as they stood around him and Travis stepped back, opening and closing his mouth several times, frowning at them with big eyes.
"Tell us who this guy is, Trav." Jack gruffed and Travis finally found his voice. "N-No, no. It-it was nobody. I-i'm fine, guys."
"Travis just tell us who's been beating you up." Jack insisted.
"Jack!" Travis hissed with a frown.
"Dude you've been getting beat up?" Dean and the others questioned, Travis quickly shaking his head no at them, wanting anything but to be talking about this with them. "No, no. It's alright, it's okay. It was just some guy and i'm totally fine. So you can all stop worrying about it."
A few of them murmured and he felt a hand grab his arm, looking to see Vic with concern all over her face. "Travis."
Travis brushed her off and started to walk off. "I'm okay, Vic." He stated softly, managing to break away from them and get up to the front desk, exhaling a deep breath, shaking his head and running a nervous hand over his face when he was alone, butterflies in his stomach.
He was going to go crazy if this kept up. He could not let Zack's doings interfere with his work; he wouldn't even be able to go on any calls today! The whole point of being a firefighter is responding to calls, not sitting at some lousy desk doing work all day.
When he wasn't doing reception, he was also doing chores, tending to the hoses, trucks and tools, engaging in light conversation with his friends. A call for all units came through however and everyone but him left and it must have been a serious fire because they were gone for hours and Travis couldn't help but feel disappointed that he had to miss it.
Luckily he got to hear all about it though when they got back, discussing it at the dinner table. He made sure to look pleased for his friends, doing his best to ignore his phone that was lighting up with new text messages every few seconds.
When his shift was finally over and they were heading out, Vic asked if he wanted to hang out tomorrow and Travis agreed, hoping it would be a good chance to avoid any further encounters with Zack. He didn't say any of that to her of course, but just gratefully accepted.
"Great. It'll be nice to hang out with you outside of work. I've been a little worried about you, Trav." Vic stated softly.
Travis made sure not to let his nervousness show, shrugging it off nonchalantly. "What's there to worry about?"
Vic raised a brow and nudged him softly in expectance. "You tell me."
Travis grinned a little nervously with a scoff. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He changed the subject quickly.
"Okay." Vic just nodded as they walked out, saying their good-byes. Travis got into his car and looked at his phone but didn't unlock it.
28 New Messages
He felt his eyebrows narrow and he set it aside with a frown, not opening any of them, driving home in hopes that Zack wouldn't be there.
To his surprise, he wasn't, as Travis anxiously tip-toed slowly up to his porch, looking around him, relief washing over him as he made it inside, checking five times to make sure he had locked the door.
He opened the texts, but didn't respond to any of them.
How's my little Travis doing today? Still sore from the other night?
Scared yet?
You haven't seen anything yet.
I wish you were home more. I'd love to spend more time getting to beat you up.
How's it like being without Grant? I know you don't regret a thing and damn that pisses me off.
You are the pawn as to I the manipulator.
What a creep, Travis thought as he felt his lips curl up as he shuddered, quickly putting his phone down, glancing over at Michael, well a picture of Michael. What i'd give to still have you alive, was all he could think, frowning sadly. If you had never died, this wouldn't be happening to me….
He didn't ponder over his thoughts too much; thinking excessively about his dead husband often only made him feel worse and he often reminded himself to stay positive and just keep moving forward. But that didn't mean he never stopped remembering Michael; him he could never forget.
Travis sat down to watch a little TV and eat some dinner, relaxed as he was content and comfortable, soon getting ready to go to bed.
When he was upstairs, he heard a knock at his door, making him stop.
It was late, nobody 'generally' would be coming to visit him at this hour. He immediately knew who it was.
Trying to remain calm, already feeling anxiousness build up in his stomach, slowly he went to the window, looking out, the knocking at his door still audible from downstairs.
Looking out, he couldn't see Zack, but he could faintly hear his voice, as if he was yelling from the outside.
Tense and a little frightened, Travis glanced over at his phone, seeing it was lighting up with new messages.
Hand shaking a little, Travis focused on taking deep breaths, remaining where he was, telling himself, 'He'll go away after awhile, he'll go away.'
Several minutes later, the knocking and yelling stopped and Zack was gone.
Running a hand over his face, Travis very slowly and unsteadily went over to his bed, feeling wobbly, stepping with one foot at a time, exhaling when he finally sat down, squeezing his eyes shut tight.
He was grateful Zack hadn't been able to get inside or hurt him, but he was still freaked out and troubled, uncomfortable with Zack's always lurking presence seemingly surrounding him. It was a kind of scared feeling of knowing you can't get yourself away from the problem and Travis had no idea what to do.
Every time he thought of Zack, all he could think of was 'If I tell, Vic will get hurt, don't let Vic get hurt.'
So with that, Travis just laid down and tried his hardest not to think of Zack the rest of the night before he drifted off into sleep.
It was nice getting to spend the next day with Vic and Travis was honestly glad, feeling a lot better about himself, as if Zack wasn't even a concern now. He was smiling when Vic pulled up at his house that evening to drop him off and it was such a good feeling for him to be smiling again.
Vic was talking happily about Ripley and Travis was happily conversing with her, about to get out of the car, glancing over at his porch naturally, going frozen mid-unbuckling, mouth dropping open, immediately shaken.
"Oh my god!" He blurted out, not meaning to interrupt Vic, who jumped, not having seen. "What, what, what is it?" She asked in alarm, trying to see past Travis's shoulder to see for herself.
Travis quickly turned back, eyebrows furrowing, knowing he couldn't let Vic know about Zack, who was upon his front porch. "Nothing, I just uh," He was stuttering, fidgeting as he scrambled to buckle his seatbelt again.
"I just don't feel well all of a sudden, maybe I shouldn't be by myself and we should go to your place instead…." He lied, cringing mid-sentence, hating the feeling of it.
Vic frowned at him, suddenly very concerned with his words, worried of it being a health or medical issue, not aware of course of what was really going on. "Are-are you okay? Do you need a doctor?" She asked, placing a gentle hand on his thigh.
"N-No, no, nothing like that," Travis shook his head no with a frown, eyes big, talking fast. "I think I just need some water or something, can-can we go to your house?"
Vic eyed him with concern and suspicion, but only 'cause she was worried about him. "Yeah, yeah, sure." She started up the ignition and drove away, Travis immediately relaxing, letting out a deep breath as he slouched in his seat, placing both hands over his face as he tried to calm down his breathing.
Vic was watching him with obvious concern, looking at him in a way she never had before, as if she didn't understand him. "Travis, what is wrong?" She enunciated her words, voice firm and loud.
Travis lifted his head and dropped his hands, looking at her wide-eyed. "What?"
Vic shook her head. "You were fine all day, now what's the matter? The past few days you've been acting weird. Talk to me."
Travis felt his hands start to shake. "I-I-I haven't been acting weird, nothing's wrong." He avoided looking at her, stuttering.
"Then why have you been showing up to work with all those bruises?"
Travis felt his body tense up and he visibly jolted a little in his seat, quickly turning away, wringing his hands together. "C-Can we just get to your place, I-I don't think we should be talking about this now, please Vic, I-I-I just need some water or advil or-or-" Again, another lie.
"Okay, okay," Luckily Vic stated softly, sensing his distress, knowing he was avoiding the subject, choosing to go along with it for his sake, fearing he might actually be feeling ill. "Just relax, I'll get you there."
They didn't speak the rest of the way, nor did Vic again ask him about what was wrong that night and Travis was so grateful.
'Vic can't get hurt, If I don't say anything, Vic won't get hurt….' was all Travis could think, even after they had both laid down to go to sleep, knowing no one else could get involved because even if he keeps getting hurt, he could never let his best friend get hurt from something his fault.
A/N: Okay, well I hope you enjoyed this! I actually thought of a new storyline/conclusion entirely that's so much better than what I had planned, which will come into play soon enough which will really make the story that much better and engaging. I'm going to warn you now, it's going to get very dark, with some more very serious and dark issues. But I think you will all (hopefully) enjoy it and I can't wait to see what you guys will have to say about it. But for now, yes I am back and have big things planned mwuha ha ha...! Heh, sorry :P
Please feel free to review as I would love feedback. Thanks all. Stay Gold.