It’s So Fine And Yet So Terrible...

aaron sees them one night in edens when there aren’t enough chairs, so andrew just pokes neils shoulder and points to his lap. they settle together, neil hooking an arm around andrews neck and andrew holding on to neils waist so easily that aaron knows they’ve done it before. andrew would stab anyone else who tried what neil is pulling, and it seems like andrew asked for it, so it’s not aaron’s place to shovel talk neil. plus, they’re giving each other bedroom eyes and he needs a lot of alcohol to process that thought.

allison sees them holding hands walking to class one day, snaps a pic, and sends it to nicky, who promptly freaks out. allison doesn’t care because andrews gotten a lot less stabby with her and neil actually seems happier, more bubbly, freer. why he went for andrew when kevin, his exy soulmate, is right there, she doesn’t know, but it isn’t her place.

matt’s the only one who hears about their relationship directly from neil. he normally gets his insight when they’re hanging out and he’s talking about how dan is his rock (sue him, he’s in love) and she makes him feel safe and known, and neil says “yeah, when andrew holds me everything else kinda drops away” and matt gets it. he really, really gets it. and he sees their gestures a little differently after that. andrew pokes neil when they hear news about the ravens, gets him riled up at practice after a long day, elbows him and tells him to go sleep in the back of the bus after long games. they talk without ever speaking, and matt gets it.

dan doesn’t really get how neil chose andrew (like allison, she thinks kevin would be better for neil but she keeps her mouth shut), but one day she texts neil asking if he wants to meet up for lunch and he sends a picture back. andrew’s napping on his chest and takes up about seventy percent of the picture, with neils apologetic, shit eating grin tucked into the corner of the pic. andrew looks so relaxed, so calm, and neil looks sleepy too. if dan didn’t know how dangerous they both were, she’d text back “cute!” but instead she just sends off a thumbs up emoji and seeks out allison.

renee is the only one they’re ever truly comfortable with being coupley around, because she shuts her fucking mouth. andrew helps her dye the tips of her hair every two months, and while they wait for the dye to set, they watch cooking shows and neil lays his head in andrews lap. when andrew thinks renee isn’t looking (she is), he plays with neils hair, twisting and braiding it, scratching at his scalp. neil stretches like a cat, almost asleep. andrew looks fond, though he’d never admit it. renees just happy for them, happy that they’ve found each other and can start navigating normalcy together. she had stephanie to help her learn to be human, but andrew and neil need each other.

wymacks walked in on them making out in the locker room one too many times, so he’s taken to whistling incredibly loudly as he walks to his office now. sure, he’d rather not see two of his star players sucking face on a couch at the court, but it’s better than andrew threatening to stab him or steal his whiskey, and neil isn’t wound up like a spring anymore, so he’ll let it slide. they’ve been getting more discreet lately, which ends in very long showers that everyone pointedly ignores.

abby has roughly a million pictures of neil sleeping on top of andrew on the bus in an album on her phone. some of them are sent to her by other foxes, some are ones she’s taken herself. for two people who refuse to confirm or deny their relationship status, andrew sure is fine with neil using him as a pillow. he falls asleep too, sometimes, and recently there hasn’t been a thump and a pained whine from the back of the bus when he wakes up. so abbys happy.