like ever

tortured? nope

kidnapped? either

you name it, he doesn’t

and neither does andrew

that is why andrew after his last game at palmetto didn’t know how to react

for the last match of the season all the upperclassmen went to watch the game and at the end after the foxes fourth consecutive, and for andrew last, victory they all rushed onto the field to celebrate

after the usual shaking hands with the opposite team, some celebration with the crowd and an unusual refusal from neil to do press duties, they all file back in the changing room to get ready for their night in columbia

at that moment they had already finished the game a good hour ago, they were all showered and ready but still in the stadium because neil still had to get out of the locker room

but since neil abram josten is famous for his fast plays, his smart mouth and a fucking gigantic red target on his back that says ‘hurt me’, and the last time he took too long to get ready he actually received a phone call informing him he was about to get kidnapped, andrew felt the urge to go check on him

it didn’t take long for andrew to notice no one in sight, it took him even less to hear the muffled sobs coming from the showers

and that was unexpected

they would have known if there was someone else other than neil in the changing room since they were waiting right outside the only existing entrance

so he quickly ruled out the option of neil being attacked

the only other option was that he got seriously hurt during the game and that for some absurd reason andrew didn’t notice, so when said that andrew bolted toward the sound it was not an understatement

he was there, fully clothed and washed, crunched on the floor, hands covering his face and at the same time trying to muffle the sounds

there was no blood in sight, which made andrew tick the first point off of his mental list

he called neils name to let him know he was there, since he gave no sign of noticing, and quickly crouched on the ground in front of him, hands trying to unfold all of neil’s limbs to tick all the other points, no blood, no bruises, no articulation twisted in opposite direction and no sign of pain when his hands grabbed

neil was a little taken aback by the sudden presence of somebody else, but quickly recovered when noticing what andrew was looking for

‘i’m fine’ the murderous glace andrew shot him made him elaborate further on his condition ‘i’m not hurt’

regardless andrew finished his inspection, he lied no trust in this man when talking about his well being

being satisfied with finding nothing he finally raised his eyes to meet neil’s stare, the ‘what’s going on’ was implied

‘I-‘ neil lost his words, he was not used to all this display of emotions, and the irrational reasoning behind it ‘I don’t want it to end’

all andrew could manage was a sigh, all the retorts about his exy hyperfixation dying in his throat. he didn’t need neil to further explain, if the end of university almost affected andrew, he could only imagine how hard it must have been on neil. he was the youngest of the original foxes, and although the new foxes were alright, the bond that the original nine had was incomparable

the foxes were neil’s first, and only, family, he agreed to die, instead of running away just to keep playing with them

andrews thumb gently brushed neil’s cheek to get all the tears streaming down, which apparently just had the least desired effect, because it just made neil cry harder

The second time Andrew sits out of one game is because he has a resentment in his left hand. And since that game was not a particularly exciting one, and because Neil was practically about to tear Kevin’s head off arguing how he was not risking causing Andrew any more pain, Wymack decided it would not be too big of a problem letting Andrew sit out.

Or Andrew finally gets to watch a match from the sides and realises Exy can be a dangerous sport

the first time he changes his piercings his ears are irritated per se, once he starts wearing his helmet for consecutive days on the already irritated ears, everything goes to shit

his ears are swollen

he decides to tackle this issue when it really starts to affect his sleep schedule, he tries to twist the earrings and wash with a solution his piercer gave him

he can’t

it’s too swollen, he tries again and again, and as small as they are, these holes are fucking painful. but then remembers he has a boyfriend. so he calls said boyfriend and just says ‘i need help’ and hangs up

now, neil was at the library, on the opposite side of campus when he gets the call. he panics. when was the last time andrew asked for help? never that’s when it was

so he panics

he is running across campus. the cross country team is trembling on the sides. neil is not even sure his feet are touching the ground

he barges into their room, his panicked voice calls for andrew, in response he gets half a ‘bathroom’ neil almost kicks this other door down

why there were so many doors between them?

he enters and his eyes scan andrews whole body and then the entire room, for blood or any sign of injury or a threat. he comes up with nothing, the only off thing is andrew holding his ear and pouting

andrew joseph minyard was pouting

‘i can’t twist it’ was all andrew said

neil managed a strangled ‘what’ his lungs were just now catching up with the marathon he just ran

and then andrew catches up with neil’s scared eyes and his almost non-existent breath ‘did you ran?’

‘you said you needed help’ neil was still bending over himself, hands holding his weight on his knees

‘oh’ andrew took half a step towards him ‘wrong choice of words, it’s just my ears’ the most innocent voice neil ever heard coming out of andrew

now bear with me

its a few years after the kings men, kevin found a significant other (it’s aaron, don’t tell andrew) and this person is desperately trying to make kevin do something romantic for them

and i know we all depict neil as the oblivious one, but in a competition between the two, if someone kneeled in front of kevin with a blue velvet box in hand, homeboy would think he has his shoelaces untied

so kevin has no idea what is going on. this person is trying with all their might, their last resort is telling him ‘you know Matt always gets Dan flowers’, and at that kevin nods. they feel victory, kevin finally understood

or so they thought

two days later kevin enters the stadium with a bouquet of flowers and hands them to dan

and dan is so confused she doesn’t know what to do, and so she just stands there staring at kevin as if he just grew an extra head

and kevin goes ‘yeah i know i don’t get it either’

and neil who was following the whole scene tapped andrew’s shoulder as soon as he spotted kevin with the flowers

and they burst out laughing, like a real laugh, holding their stomach, tears coming out, hands slapping whatever is in reach, folded in half kind of laugh

and everyone goes from very confused to very very shocked in an instant, because they have never ever heard andrew and neil laugh, let alone laugh like they actually mean it

matt and dan unknowingly agreed to take turns, they knew they were safe but there still was that voice in the back of their minds whispering that anyone could barge into the room at any moment and hurt them

nicky and aaron spent the night staring at the inside of their eyelids replaying the last two days in loop. how did they go from playing a normal exy game to neil being kidnapped and tortured and everything that it unveiled

renee had her eyes closed, her arms wrapped around allison but her brain wouldn’t let her ignore a single sound or movement happening. her hands never stopped stroking allison’s shoulders that kept jerking awake at each movement or sound

kevin couldn’t stop staring at the ceiling, the deep need of having to drown himself into some sort of alcohol to try to forget everything that happened that night, everything that happened since neil arrived to palmetto, and everything that ever happened really

all of them were kept awake against their will by the awful memories that were starting to settle in their minds

andrew on the other hand, as long as his butt is on whatever surface his feet are not touching the ground anymore

no matter where, no matter when

either one of his pockets or his shirt, his belt, he is holding onto it

every body thinks is the cutest thing ever

except there is this little shift that happens when neil is not 100% comfortable with what is going on around them

and of course andrew is the only one who notices

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard Characters: Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten, Renee Walker (All For The Game), Kevin Day, Nicky Hemmick, Aaron Minyard Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Protective Neil Josten, Hurt Andrew Minyard, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Violence, Attempted Sexual Assault, Blood, Worried Neil Josten, Organized Crime, Abuse, Past Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drugs, POV Neil Josten Summary:

When Neil and Andrew have a long distant relationship for a couple years, they talk on the phone, FaceTime, messages, and they both know everything that goes on in the others life.

Even when it’s a day off Andrew still wants to hear Neil voice and feel him close, so he calls him but stays silent, Neil understands and lulls him to sleep by talking calmly into his ear.

can we acknowledge that his reactions are totally normal and that he was profoundly abused, physically and mentally, since he was a child? thanks

now this man has one single thing he lives for, exy, and riko (basically his brother who bribed him into thinking that he owed them his life) mutilated his playing hand, permanently preventing him from playing

but no this man thought himself how to play with his non-dominant hand, this men fights for what he loves

he knew that wymack was his dad for years but didn’t tell a single soul to protect him

if i shall continue, he made the last team in the league win the championship, and yes he had the fastest player and the best goalkeeper in his team, but should i remind you that none of them would’ve been in the team without kevin?

he, not only brought neil and andrew in the team, he gave them a reason and a way to live

neil who has been welcomed by the foxes, protected by wymack, healed by abby and loved by andrew