it had been a long month for Sal. he was lonely and desperately waiting for Larry to come home. see, his boyfriend had been taking on a trip with his class. they'd flown to Washington for a field trip, thankfully Larry managed to convince someone Travis had to go with them, but it left Sal bored and lonely. so when Lisa, Larry's mom, go the notice they were almost to the airport, she invited Sal to come with her and pick Larry up, knowing her sons boyfriend had missed him dearly. Sal had been ecstatic. that was two hours ago and he was still waiting, bouncing on the balls of his feet, since his feet were starting to hurt. he saw Lisa jump up from her chair as a plane landed.
"thats Larry's." Lisa said. Sal picked up the sign Lisa had made and held it up, until he saw him in the crowd. Larry hadn't spotted him and Lisa hadn't spotted Larry, but Sal had. he dropped the sign and took off running. Lisa was confused until she spotted Larry. in a flash, she pulled out her phone, she was going to get this on camera. whatever was going to happen, was going to be cute. Lisa could see Sal ducking around people, which wasn't hard considering his height. Sal ran as fast as he could, dodging out of people's way until he was almost to Larry. Larry looked up from his phone and paused in his walking. a grin broke out on his face and his bags were dropped carelessly. Sal jumped up and hugged Larry as tightly as he could, arms and legs wrapped around his taller boyfriend as if afraid he'd disappear. Larry was quick to hold him, even as Sal pushed his mask up slightly and kissed him. Larry chuckled and kissed him back. it lasted for a minute before Sal pulled back and Larry put him down.
"I fucking love you." Sal muttered. Larry chuckled resting his forehead against Sal's.
"I love you too Sally." Larry smiled. he looked around. "my mom here?" Larry ask.
"yeah she's over there." Sal replied, fixing his mask. he helped Larry grab his stuff and they made their way over to her. Larry hugged his mom tightly and chuckled softly.
"I missed you guys." Larry muttered, pulling Sal close with his free arm. Lisa was too busy holding Larry to notice. as the separated and headed to the car, none noticed the spectators watching them.
Larry had been home three day's when either of them had seen the video. it wasn't hard to notice it either. they had several different angles. it turned out, his mother hadn't been the only one to notice Sal and four other people had filmed it. it looked like they hadn't meant to film it at first but once they noticed something was going on, they turned their attention away from their own pick up and watched Sal and Larry. now the video had become viral, looking for the two boys who ignored the rest of the airport for each other. they had first seen Ashley watching it and Larry assumed his mother had posted the video, but Sal soon realized it was from the wrong angle. Larry's mother had been standing in front of them, not off to the side. by the time they got home, it was on the news as the fastest viral video in their town. Sal blushed darkly.
"I didn't realize anyone was recording!" Sal muttered. Larry grinned and pulled Sal to him.
"it's cute." Larry chuckled. Sal huffed.
"maybe for you, but not so much from this angle. everyone at school has seen that." Sal muttered.
"I'll deal with the people at school." Larry assured him. "we should go on tv." Larry said. Sal froze.
"what? no!" Sal shouted. just the thought was making his anxiety act up. Larry pulled him close and quickly soothed him.
"relax Sal. it would only be once. besides, look at those video's. the people who recorded them are probably curious about us now." Larry said.
"I get nervous enough at school." Sal muttered. Larry dropped the subject, but little did either of them know, that wouldn't be the last of it.
Sal swallowed nervously, his chest was tight and his hands were sweaty. Larry, of course, was doing everything he could to sooth him. they never even had another chance to discuss going on tv. apparently someone from the school called the news crew and said they were here.
"I can't go in there!" Sal hissed quietly.
"yes you can, it's just school." Larry said.
"that is fucking news crew, that is not school." Sal replied.
"look you're adorable and you have your mask on, no one can see your face. it'll be fine Sal. look they're walking over to us, we're gonna have walk by them at least." Larry said. Sal muttered quietly as Larry took his hand and they started walking. just as the news crew was seemingly ready to give up, they stepped up on the school property.
"I hate life. I hate school. I hate anxiety." Sal mumbled to himself.
"relax it's fine." Larry replied. Sal huffed.
"yeah maybe for you. I already told you I get bullied enough as is." Sal said.
"yeah and I already told you I'd take care of it. so stop it." Larry replied. Sal whined softly, holding tightly to his arm as the news crew seemed to get excited.
"Larry." Sal begged quietly. Larry looked at him and squeezed his hand.
"we don't have to talk to them as a matter of fact, they can't talk to you without an adults permission. you're only 17." Larry said.
"that doesn't help now. they're walking over." Sal whined.
"just relax. it'll be fine." Larry assured.
"you're the boys everyone has been looking for, from the airport." the woman said.
"that would be us." Larry replied.
"I'm Diana from the channel 3 news. can you tell us what was going on?" Diana ask. Larry shrugs.
"I mean what do you want to know? I just got home from a school trip. my boyfriend missed me," Larry said, a fond smile growing on his face. "nearly knocked me on my ass." Larry added. Sal muttered something at him quietly.
"so who are you boys?" Diana ask.
"well, I'm Larry. this is Sal. he's got anxiety, he's not going to say much." Larry replied.
"Sal, are aware that half the people watching these video's think you're a girl?" Diana ask. Sal's piercing blue eye's stared at her from under his mask.
"well I'm clearly fucking not." Sal hissed. the woman was suprised by his answer and stepped back, giggling. "he already told you I'm his boyfriend." Sal snapped.
"Sal stop it. she ask a question, don't rip her head off." Larry laughed. Sal huffed, glaring at him.
"s-so boy's, what's the mask for?" Diana ask. the question Sal knew was going to happen, it always happened.
"it's a prosthetic from a childhood accident." Larry said. Sal seemed surprised Larry answered for him. "and he doesn't like to talk about it." Larry added. there it was, Larry's defensive and protective attitude for Sal. Sal felt just a little calmer with that side of Larry out. he could breathe now.
"hey fag face!" Travis shouted shoving Sal over from behind and knocked him into the new's woman. Sal got up quickly, reaching a hand out to the women.
"sorry. thats Travis. our overly homophobic bully." Sal muttered. Larry hissed and turned around, punching the crap out of Travis, knocking the bully over into the grass. Sal snickered and went back over to Larry. Diana dusted her self off and glared at Travis.
"snot nosed brat." Diana huffed.
"yeah, he's actually secretly gay and is so insecure it picks on Sal because we're openly gay." Larry said.
"why doesn't he pick on you?" the camera man ask. Larry laughed and looked at Travis, who was laying on the ground still.
"he's afraid of me. he should be afraid of Sal at this point, I knock the shit out of Travis every time he does something like that to Sal, but he just keep coming back. I think he has gay crush on my boyfriend and I will destroy him." Larry glared.
"sorry I knocked you over." Sal muttered.
"what kind of principal allows a monster like that to continue to go to his school?" Diana ask.
"well... ours. he doesn't care I guess." Larry shrugged.
"well maybe he will when he realizes this broad cast is live." Diana said.
"live?" Sal squeaked.
"yup. we just caught him assaulting you on camera. you could press charges you know." Diana said.
"uh, I think I'm okay. he didn't really hurt me. just pushed me. it's preschool stuff. he's just too stupid to realize he doesn't bother me anymore." Sal shrugged. "I mean, all he has to do is sneeze in my general direction and Larry will knock his teeth out." Sal snickered.
"so you feel safer with your boyfriend around then?" Diana ask.
"I-I mean, well... ye-yeah kinda. he's stronger than he looks and would have no trouble putting anyone in the hospital, not that, that means I can't defend myself. trust me, I broke Travis' nose because he tripped Larry in the hall and made him bust his lip. we look out for each other. we have to. we look out for ourselves and our friends. we're just a bunch of teens, if we didn't look out for each other, no one would." Sal explained. "it's us against the world and we're doing whatever we can to win." Sal shrugged. Larry smiled and him and took his hand.
"even if it is just beating up a couple homophobic bullies." Larry added. "we're late for class." Larry said pulling Sal away. the news crew stood shocked at their previous words and watched them go. Larry pulled Sal to him and pushed his mask up enough to kiss him deeply. "you're cute when you get all sentimental." Larry chuckled. Sal blushed softly, fixing his mask.
"shut up. I'm not cute." Sal muttered. Larry chuckled and kept walking with him.