#falafels

As mentioned in TGR neil gets absolutely bullied by the incoming freshmen, and I think Angel is the only one to take his side early on (perks of moving in early in the summer and getting scared shitless by Andrew Minyard ig). As I’ve said before he never yells, and I mean it, but he frequently pulls his fellow freshmen aside during practice to tell them that he will slam them into the court wall so hard they’ll see stars if they don’t get it the fuck together. He is not letting them antagonizing the upperclassmen and the monsters get in the way of him having court time

He and Robin bond. Eventually. She was Neil’s pick and he was Kevin’s and when they both get roped in with the monsters they don’t have much of a choice other than getting to know each other

His first few months at PSU he hightails it out of the dorms and away from any of his teammates the second that Harper’s free. They know about his father which means they know too much about him, even without the details of the abuse or the foster homes, and he doesn’t want to be friends. He looks at Harper like she’s leading him to his grave when she suggests giving them a chance. Mentions one of her friends on the cheer squad is dating a fox and that’s how the double dates get started.

Angel and Aaron keep it pretty impersonal despite that, Aaron’s better friends with Harper and Angel’s better friends with Katelyn and they’re happy to keep it that way. Of all the foxes it’s obnoxious, eyes only for the court, Kevin that gets himself past some of Angel’s walls and it’s all because Angel is five seconds away from failing his history class.

Angel is laughably bad at balancing parenthood, exy, and school during his first semester and he obviously picks his daughter first and exy second. Which leaves school on the back burner until he’s absolutely fucked. Kevin just happens to be the only one also in the kitchen while he’s having a not quite argument over the phone about how he needs to get his grades up. It gets mentioned that history is his lowest grade and Angel’s struck gold with the way Kevin’s stopped pretending he can’t overhear them. Joining Kevin for study sessions leads to joining Kevin for midnight practices, leads to the two watching games together usually when the dorm is empty, and somehow starting with history class has finally gotten Kevin’s eyes off the court for the first time. Whatever lies in the subtext of Kevin’s passionate rants about history or quiet confessions given to only each other about the past remains ignored in favor of the season ahead them.

Allison worms her way into Angel’s heart next on a night where Harper has Phoebe instead. The monsters are out for the night, Angel hardly talks to his fellow freshmen, Matt is out with some friends from the soccer team, and Angel was planning on using the time to study but his eyes keep glazing over three sentences in. So Allison knocks on his door, informs him of their plans, and invites him to pregame in their room if he’d like to join. They’re making out on her bed before they’re even ready to leave. Dan and Renee tell them they’re heading out and Allison and Angel make it to the party about two hours later. Allison had to fix her makeup and cover the hickeys, Angel has no shame about them until he has to look Harper in the eye the next days. Harper just laughs at him. It becomes easy enough to fall into bed with Allison everytime there’s a night like that and easier to talk to her from there. He’ll call himself a drunk idiot for it later, but every-time Allison lets him fall asleep curled around her in bed and lets him kiss her forehead as he brings her coffee before slipping out. Allison reminds him of Harper just a little. Brilliant, beautiful, and underestimated by everyone around. It’s not love, it’s just sex, but there’s undeniable fondness he holds for her as a friend.

And for awhile those are the only three that know anything about Angel beyond the scattered remains of his past. Neil weasels his way in next with his loud mouth and lack of self preservation. The duty to protect him on court as defense shifts to a need to keep this dumbass motherfucker alive off of it. Neil doesn’t talk about his past, but everyone already knows and what remains unknown about his time with the ravens is something Angel can be piece together through conversations with Kevin. Angel gradually gives Neil bits and pieces of his own past until they stop noticing their fathers features in each other and Angel comes to the horrifying realization that he trusts this idiot who’s gonna get them all killed.

Nicky’s friendship follows quickly once he realizes there’s an opening and Angel is actually talking to people. They rarely talk about the difficult things but Angel ends up wrapped in one of Nicky’s hugs after bad days and nightmares far more easily than the either of the twins have ever accepted the affection.

Angel doesn’t know when he started trusting Andrew but he does remember the day the watchful eyes on his back started to feel like those of a guard dog rather than a threat. It wasn’t anymore comforting, having Andrew watching out for him didn’t make the goalkeeper less unsettling to be around, but he accepts it. Accepts the hand that will inevitably tangle in his jersey, yanking him back if he tries to leave the court before the rest of the monster and therefore leave Andrew’s sight. Accepts his place during team meetings is on the floor in front of the couch, perfectly in reach for Andrew to grab his hair and tug till his head tilts back and his gaze lands on Andrew rather than the spot on the wall that had been allowing him to drift to memories he’d rather not have. Accepts Andrew’s inevitable company when Angel goes to the roof to smoke after getting P to bed. And he’d prefer to not trust Andrew as far as he can throw him but it sneaks up on him anyway.