Concept: I love the idea of in the aftermath of Baltimore that when all is said and done that the weight of what he’s done hits Andrew hard.
He had his reasons of course but it doesn’t change the fact that he went back on his word. That the hands Andrew used to protect his own with every fibre of being had been used to harm them.
The bruises on Kevin’s neck rattle him from the inside out. It makes him sick to see his fingerprints etched into skin. The reminder of panicked green eyes staring back at him.
A look Andrew only saw once aimed his way. “And why should I? What’s to stop me from calling up Coach Moriyama and handing you over?”
He remembered it like it was yesterday.
Green eyes shining with fear, a broken hand grabbing him like a lifeline in a desperate plea. “You can’t! I can’t! I can’t go back! I won’t survive! Not this time not again! Please don’t do this I’d rather die! I’ll do anything!”
It was the first truth Kevin gave him and with it their deal was born.
Then Andrew had put his hands around his neck and there was nothing. Kevin had defied him with his silence but not once had he tried to fight back.
There was fear in those eyes but they were out shadowed with acceptance and that Andrew hated most of all.
That Kevin thought this was all some kind of inevitably. That everyone he’d ever trusted and cared for would turn on him one day.
Kevin should never have been able to fathom that Andrew could ever hurt him but he hadn’t even looked surprised. Was it because he’d never truly believe that Andrew would protect him?
…Or was it because if Riko could crush him to pieces and ruin everything he’d ever built then anyone could?
Kevin hadn’t spoken a word of it and had simply carried on as per usual. He didn’t bother hiding the offending wounds nor did he draw attention to them. He applied the cream Abby had given him and did so in the bathroom alone.
In another life Andrew would’ve been the one tending to him. But now he stood out by the door counting the seconds down. If Kevin noticed him staring at his neck to assess the injury he didn’t say anything.
Andrew still drove him to night practice and dragged him out to Eden’s. Kevin was always by his side like a shadow and it was like nothing had changed but everything had.
It was eating Andrew up inside and the only one to really notice was Neil. He had understood Andrew’s actions but he’d also given him shit for it.
It said a lot that Andrew didn’t argue and was even relieved that someone was calling him out. He admitted, quietly on the rooftop, that he didn’t know what to do now.
“And he just keeps acting like everything’s fine.”
“Well yeah everything’s fine to him.”
“It’s simple really Kevin doesn’t think you were in the wrong. He thinks he fucked up and you corrected that. To him all is well with the world but obviously for you that’s not the case.”
“Obviously…he thinks he deserved to get choked out…?”
“You said it yourself he didn’t fight back, did he? Kevin grew up in a place where a mistake meant disobedience and in the Nest that equals death. Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if he thinks you went easy on him.”
“You talk to him, own up to what you did and apologise. Let him know you fucked up and meet him where he’s at.”
“You think that’ll work?”
“I dunno but it’s the only thing Kevin’s never got from anyone who’s ever hurt him. Now go, make up already you’re making me feel like a kid with divorced parents.”
