Modestly Grand

i’m a slut for neil with painted nails okay

giving manicures is one of the things allison does to help herself relax

but after painting her nails four times in one day she decides she needs to work on someone else’s

the first is matt because he’s always around

he and dan are chilling on the couch and allison just plops down next to him on the floor and takes his hand

matt is like “??” but he trusts allison not to hurt him so he just lets her mess with his hand

when allison motions for his other hand he gives it to her and surveys his nails

they look a lot nicer than before and allison just painted them with a clear coat (though honestly matt wouldn’t have cared if she painted them with colors) 

dan approves and tells allison she needs to work on matt’s hands all the time

allison just kind of shrugs because she’s off in her own little world

but after that day she starts ordering more stuff online

holo and nail stickers and a rainbow of different colors of polish

it’s a team movie night and allison is focusing her attention between the movie, the bottle of tequila in her lap, and doing renee’s nails when neil says “what are those?”

and allison realizes neil’s never seen nail stickers before

so of course she has to show him

neil is a fascinating creature to allison, sharp eyes and quick wit but so damn innocent too it makes her heart rage fiercely in her chest

at least once a week allison has to steal neil from andrew to have their own alone time

and during that time allison does neil’s nails and shows him how to do hers

he’s wide eyed and receptive to it all and they both preen under the attention

she paints his nails white and orange on friday nights to match hers

and sometimes neil will ask her over before he goes out to eden’s to do his nails all black and sometimes he’ll let her add glitter

she notices that the monster doesn’t disapprove and even lets his eyes linger longer on neil’s hands than usual

any time andrew has ever forced neil to his knees he’s always been right behind, quick to put himself down on neil’s level

and it’s been over two years, neil doesn’t think about evermore at all anymore

except one night andrew guides neil down to his knees and doesn’t go down with him, stays standing with his hand in neil’s hair and his other hand scrambling to unbuckle his belt

(they had talked about it before hand. neil had given his explicit consent before letting andrew push him gently to his knees)

neil had forgotten but now he remembers

remembers the panic and the fear and he’s not in their dorm a psu anymore he’s back in evermore surrounded by black

and neil’s eyes go wide with panic but he doesn’t struggle, his muscles remember too well the weight of jean holding him in place for him to even think about jerking away, but his body goes tense and andrew freezes.

he knows that look on neil’s face

recognizes it as one that has been on his own face far too often

he doesn’t ask his normal “yes or no?” because he knows neil would say “yes” even though he’s clearly panicking

andrew’s hand in neil’s hair clenches and neil winces, jaw clenching and andrew can’t see his hands but he knows they’re shaking

andrew drops down, thighs on either side of neil’s, bracketing him in

he uses his grip on neil’s hair to pull him flush up against andrew’s chest, angling neil’s head to rest in the crook of his neck and shoulder

(a good area. a safe area. it smells like andrew and cigarette smoke and home)

andrew’s other arm loops around neil’s back, clutching at his bare skin and refusing to let go

it’s good. it’s safe.

neil is safe.

“who?” is all andrew asks

neil is silent for a long time, long enough andrew is about to shake him when he says, “riko.”

andrew grunts, hand on neil’s bare skin gripping hard enough to bruise.

he can feel neil’s soft breaths against his neck and loosens his grip on neil’s hair just a little, just enough so neil can turn his head just slightly to press his nose against the curve of andrew’s neck

(a vulnerability for a vulnerability)

“it’s fine” neil says after a moment has passed “you could have- i wouldn’t have stopped you from-”

but neil freezes at the sound of andrew punching the wall just to the side of his head

the plaster cracks but doesn’t give way, just spider webs across the white wall

“shut up,” andrew says harshly. “you shut the fuck up.”

andrew releases his grip on neil’s hair long enough to grab neil’s hands in both of his, bringing them up to wrap around his torso, letting them rest on his back

when neil grips the material of his shirt in his hands andrew lets go, satisfied.

he brings his arms back around neil, one hand in his hair, the other around his back.

“shut up” he mumbles again, just because.

neil nods against his neck, breath shaky, and andrew presses his lips gently to neil’s forehead.

the girls spend a lot of time laying on top of each other. studying, watching movies, braiding what hair they can reach. the weight and warmth is comforting and they all love it.

matt takes pictures of dan when she’s not looking at the camera because he loves the naturalness of her when she’s not posing

neil gets used to casual touching and let’s allison kiss his cheek in greeting and as good-byes

katelyn’s mom Loves aaron and asks katelyn about him all the time and sends him christmas presents when they don’t visit and just basically adopts him

neil and andrew both have freckles. neil has freckles on his face and along the bridge of his nose, andrew has them very faintly on his cheeks and on his arms and shoulders. no one has seen andrew’s freckles but neil.

nicky is just short enough that he can bury in face in erik’s neck when they hug and he can press a soft little kiss to the skin there

andrew lets renee kiss his cheek the day his signs to his pro exy team and even tells her “thank you”. he doesn’t elaborate why. he doesn’t say “thank you for not abandoning me. thank you for being someone i could count on. thank you for not being afraid of me. thank you for being trustworthy. thank you loving me.” he doesn’t say that. she understands anyway.

matt and neil kiss a total of three times; once on accident, twice on purpose. dan and andrew think all three are entertaining. 

“maybe in another life we could have loved each other” matt says dramatically, feigning swooning. “you wish you could have me boyd.” neil replies.

kevin has given neil a piggy back ride when neil twisted his ankle while they were hiking

they agreed not to talk about it

nicky took pictures. everyone knows about it.

neil loves laying on the couch and laying his head on andrew’s chest. it takes a long time for them to get there, but when they do they both take comfort in it.

kevin is a horribly sore loser with video games and no one will play with him except for andrew because andrew is nonplussed by kevin’s temper tantrums

renee takes naps on the bus all the time and allison spends way too much time watching her sleep and dan definitely takes pictures

neil sometimes sings along to disney movies on movie nights, but only if no one points it out

nicky almost says something one time, but matt slaps a hand over his mouth to stop him

andrew has a habit of letting his reading glasses slip too far down his nose and neil will push them up for him when they’re laying in bed together

okay listen i know people think neil is super oblivious but my boy spent years and years on the run like i know he would keep super up to date on new trends and stuff. it’s canon he watches the news and reads the paper and there’s a billion articles about fidget spinning so that being said:

neil does his research

he looks up brands and reviews and finds and inexpensive but good quality fidget spinner to help him concentrate while he does homework because his grades have been slipping

and he knows matt has a fidget cube because matt leaves it out for andrew to use sometimes

so he thinks ‘what the hell no one will say anything’ and orders it

he keeps it under his desk during lectures so the professors don’t see it and takes better notes than he has since he started university

he uses it during homework and reading for history assignments that bore the hell out of him

it helps, a lot

so when nicky sees it and laughs neil just gives him a blank stare

because neil isn’t stupid, he knows what people think about fidget toys

and he knows about people who abuse them

case no. 1 being nicholas esteban hemmick who is a walking meme and has a cheap, dime store light up spinner he bought the day they hit the main stream market

a list of things andrew has overheard neil say to the cats:

- you’re so soft. just like andrew, but don’t tell him i said that.

- it’s nice having a home, isn’t it? remember that the next time you think about peeing on my gym bag.

- if you get on the bed and pretend to be asleep, andrew won’t make you sleep on the floor. [spoiler alert: andrew would and andrew did]

- [softly and with a hint of distress] you’re so small. you’re too small.

- you’re siblings. you’re supposed to love each other.

- [to king] nicky wanted to rename you queen after he found out you were a girl, but i told him kevin wouldn’t appreciate having to share his throne.

- you owe me your life, the least you can do is sit in my lap.

- [stacking multiple items on top of the cats while they nap] reverse jenga.

- the areas where the light touches are your kingdom sir, but considering the electricity is out that leaves a very small area for you.

- [draping king across his stomach and letting sir stretch out along his side] couture. 

- i will abandon you in a storm drain if you put your foot in my drink one more time.

- [after king knocked a glass off the table] i support your rebellious attitude but not at the cost of my glassware.

- it’s a cold cruel world out there but you don’t know that. you don’t know anything. you’re so stupid.

- [sir curls up in his lap for warmth] neither of us get any enjoyment out of this. 

- you are the second worst decision i’ve ever made in my life.

- you can get up on the bed but only if you shut the fuck up.

- [any time one of the cats meows loudly] fuck off.

- don’t look at me like that.

- [after giving one of them an extra treat after neil said no] don’t tell neil.

- i could crush your tiny throat with my hand. it would be so easy. [as he’s petting sir]

- care to weigh in on the situation sir? king? no? alright then.

- apologize to your sister. [after the cats get into a fight]

- listen, i hate you. you hate me. but we have a common enemy here. 

“You don’t have to stop,” Neil says, or starts to say but then thinks better of it. He takes a deep breath and pulls his hands down to his chest, clasping them prayer like in the way Andrew knows is Neil wanting to reach out but not. He’s almost thankful, almost angry, doesn’t know what or why he feels so he sits back and creates a pocket of distance between them.

“What’s wrong?” Andrew asks. They’re better at this now, talking instead of just hoping the other will understand. 

“It’s stupid,” Neil says, chewing on his lip.

Andrew raises an eyebrow and waits patiently for Neil to work it out.

Neil closes his eyes and they both wait until their breathing evens back out. Neil reaches for his shirt Andrew had tossed to the floor and Andrew gets it for him. Neil shrugs into the soft cotton like armor and twists his hands into the hems. “Sometimes when you get me laid out like that, it’s like you want to hear me beg,” Neil says. He won’t quite make eye contact and Andrew hates it but he won’t touch Neil right now.

Andrew pushes out a harsh breath through his nose. Truth for truth, words laid open and bare. “I like to hear you ask for it,” Andrew says. It’s like confirmation that Neil wants him, that his yes is genuine and consent is still there. 

“I can’t do that for you,” Neil says and his jaw clenches.

Andrew reaches out a hand, palm inches away from Neil’s cheek in askance but doesn’t touch. Neil breathes out, relieved and exasperated all at once, and leans into the hand. Andrew’s thumb strokes over rough skin gently and he guides Neil into looking at him.

“Why?” Andrew asks, because there’s more that Neil isn’t saying. Things he needs to know so he doesn’t trigger accidental panic like this again. Andrew has always been careful about not breaking his toys.

“In Baltimore,” Neil says, grimacing around the words like they hurt coming out, “Lola made me beg in that car. She made me ask her not to hurt me, not to hurt you. It’s not the same, but…”

But it is, and it’s something Andrew is intimately familiar with. “Okay,” Andrew says, sliding his hand back to cup the back of Neil’s neck.

“Just like that?” Neil asks, but he already knows the answer. Here, in this bed in Columbia, two years and 500 miles away from Baltimore, Neil is safe.

Wymack picks Neil up from the airport, or, someone he thinks is Neil but can’t tell for all the bandages and newly dyed hair and ice blue eyes that had been brown just two weeks ago. He picks Neil up and he takes him and home and he carries him up to his apartment and lets this boy sleep on his couch. He redresses his bandages and clenches his jaw through his own anger but let’s it spill over just a little at a dark inked 4 on his striker’s cheek. And Neil tries cut it off with a knife, god, but Wymack is right there like he’s been right there for months and Neil bites out “help me” because he’s drowning he’s suffocating he’s dying and Wymack just says “let me”.

I’m here for nsfw dan/neil/matt hcs

[pretends these weren’t from like a week ago]

Neil is super vocal and Dan and Matt both loveit so much like they will do anything to make Neil cry out

Including but not limited to edging, nippleplay, and sensory play

Neil can’t be tied up but he does okay withblind folding as long as Matt and Dan keep their hands on him at all times

Matt likes having his ass played with

Dan likes pegging Matt

There’s an image for you: Matt on all fours withDan thrusting into him with a strap on and Matt sucking Neil off

Oh boy

But also may I include how much Matt enjoysgiving oral

To Neil or Dan he’s not choosy

He just really likes getting them both off withhis mouth okay

Neil’s nipples are super sensitive and he hascome before just having his nipples played with

Neil can come just from having his prostatestimulated

He’s a treasure, honestly

Sometimes Neil doesn’t want to be touched but helikes being close when Dan and Matt have sex

Another image for you: Dan on her back with Mattslowly thrusting into her and Neil kissing her gently, the only point ofcontact between them are their lips and Dan’s hand on Neil’s cheek

Neil likes sleepy, slow, morning sex the mostbecause it’s so unrushed and gentle

And let’s face it, Neil needs a little bit ofgentleness in his life

Dan likes riding either Matt or Neil and thefaces they make when she rocks her hips

Matt just loves being with the two people headores so much, any way that they’ll have him

Another image to think of: Neil, whining, on hisstomach with Matt draped over his back kissing little pecks down his spine,gently rocking into him. Dan on her back, propped upright by pillows with herhands in Neil’s hair, his fingers moving slowly inside her. Dan urging himquietly to put his mouth on her.

Fuck okay damn

Shower sex is totally a thing but mostly betweenNeil and Dan

Matt enjoys picking Neil up and pressing himinto walls

Neil likes when Matt takes him from behind andwraps his arms around him making him feel small and safe

Dan likes leaving hickeys on her boys to provethey’re hers

Neil and Matt are fierce cuddlers after sex andwill wrap up in each other

Dan usually needs a few moments without contactto wind down so it actually works really well for them

Matt and Neil pressed close together, tradingsoft kisses and touches, and eventually Dan will curl up beside them and placea hand on one of their chests

Matt loves giving forehead kisses during sex

Body worship happens extremely often because Danand Matt hate watching Neil be so unsure about being naked in front of them

Also Neil totally kisses Matt’s track marks onhis arms, eyes closed and touch reverent and it makes Matt go a little tearyeyed

Okay okay just one more thing and then I’ll stop

Neil totally wears panties and he’s theprettiest

ok so most of the shelves in their kitchen cabinets and pantry that are high up are empty bc..they’re both too smol to reach them..wEEPS my tiny sons…so they have to cram everything onto the lower shelves and its honestly a mess 

when matt comes to visit their apartment for the first time and sees he laughs for a year and then like a little shit he moves stuff around to the higher shelves 

andrew is not amused

andrew nearly punches him in the face for it

neil manages to stop him 

“its just groceries andrew chillax” 

“HES TOUCHING OUR /STUFF/” 

in the middle of the night andrew drags a chair over from the dining room and climbs up to get the stuff down from the higher shelves. he feels ridiculous and he hates it and he swears he WILL punch matt in his tall stupid face the next time he sees him

when he gets back into bed neil is up and he totally heard andrew drag the chair into the kitchen and he’s trying so hard not to laugh at the visuals of andrew ON HIS TIP TOES ON THE CHAIR getting their cereal boxes down from the top shelf 

andrew glares at him. “whats so fucking funny?” 

“nothing..” 

andrew grumbles and gets into bed and neil is still fighting back laughter. andrew punches his arm. “stop it” 

neil does not stop it. 

“i hate you. 1000 percent.” 

“is someone so tiny even capable of that much hate??” 

“neil josten shut ur little fucking smartass mouth.” 

“make me.” 

*they proceed to make out furiously for hours* 

another alternative, andrew insists on them using the top shelves no matter how smol they are. and so that means they’re both constantly hopping onto the counter and climbing on shit to get what they need.

sometimes when they’re feeling silly one of them will get on the other’s shoulders

neil is horrible at balancing andrew and andrew is a little shit who’s always wiggling around. 

it usually ends up with them stumbling around the kitchen, andrew holding onto neil’s hands so tight, telling him to “watch where you’re fucking going loser” 

they bump into walls like a dozen times at least 

its in these rare moments that andrew cracks a smile or lets out a shout of laughter as they trip and go tumbling onto the floor. 

they then roll around on the linoleum tiles, and andrew usually ends up straddling neil and pinning his hands up over his head and they never end up getting their fucking cereal what a surprise 

on the other hand, when its neil on andrew’s shoulders, andrew’s got him no problem. he usually just holds onto neil’s legs and they don’t need to hold hands or anything but neil still grabs for them and andrew still lets him hold them bc neil has a Thing for andrew’s hands 

they always end up getting their cereal from the shelf when neil’s on andrew’s shoulders but that usually means no making out on the kitchen floor and thats boring and not very exciting or interesting so they rarely do that 

Also, they always wear each others clothes??? It just gets all mixed together after they end up having to share a bed and like really who cares right….. 

okay, but. what if they kinda make it a tradition to make out in the locker room after they win a game? yeah. 

sharing drinks. it freaks the others out. they don’t know why. 

They fell asleep on the bus together once and Nicky risked his life for a picture. He doesn’t show Neil until 5 years later. 

*angry exy arguments* *angry sex* *more angry exy arguments* 

Neil patches Andrew up after his weekly fights with Renee. it’s quite. and nice. 

So this one time they had the room to themselves and you know, took a shower and some time later came out of the shower together when someone came into the room and Aaron froze and Andrew stilled and Neil stopped and blinked and Aaron unfroze but got real angry real quick and he def looked like he was going to try to punch Neil and well Neil noticed the hand clench obviously and he narrowed his eyes like ‘bitch try me. i’ll fight you in this towel i dont a give a fuck’ and Andrew sort of stood there like??? I hate you both tbh and walked straight past Aaron to his room to change and well how else does one take that? so Aaron huffs off and slams the door and no lie Neil’s kinda annoyed he didnt get to fight but I mean it still feels like a win for him.

Listen. I don’t care what anyone says. These losers take at least half of their scheduled classes together and meet for lunch always. 

Movie night comes back with all the foxes. Only because Neil and Andrew have a silent fight about it for 3 weeks until Andrew shows up last the night of because he’s a sucker and if Neil and Kevin are going to do this then FINE. he will be there. But he knows Neil doesn’t really care for movies, he’s doing it because of the others so he always gets up and leaves exactly an hour into any movie and Neil is weak af so he gets up after an hour and 15 minutes and they make out and do stuff on the roof because why break a long standing date ammiright

face touching. neck touching. fingers grazing jaws. fingers pressing into lips. hands cupping necks. hot breath on cheeks. in the late still hours of night. 

For some reason Coach is the only one who can tell when Andrew has *heart eyes*??? This of course infuriates Andrew. He keeps things locked up tight, especially at practice but sometimes Coach will throw him a Look and Andrew will ignore him and then Coach starts laughing and so Andrew throws the ball at someones body part. 

Sometimes Neil is just really tired and ready to pass out so they go to bed and Andrew makes sure they’re both good and Neil will be staring at him and he’s half way to sleep so he forgets to hid his soft smile and then he passes out and Andrew wants to punch something or maybe hangout over the edge of the roof because that is a bit Too Much and this feeling in his chest is freaking him out.