Day 5: Gifts

--

It was the last night of the holiday break and Kevin was going to have to go back to his apartment by his team in Dallas. Neil had transferred from Denver to Chicago to be on Andrew’s team the year before, so they lived together permanently, but Kevin wasn’t able to transfer until the next year because of his contract. He knew it was only practicality and that it didn’t mean anything about how they felt about him, but it still made leaving hard nonetheless.

Looking at his bags stacked by the door only made the lump in his throat even bigger. The sight just reminds him that life since the Nest has been nothing but transient. Rationally, he knows that his life is so much better than it was, but there’s something about living perpetually out of bags that makes him aware of how impermanent he is. He doesn’t know how Neil did it for as long as he did.

But now Neil has a home with Andrew and a team and cats and Kevin just-popped in sometimes. He sighs and sinks onto the couch, watching the snow and secretly hoping for a storm so that he could put off leaving for another day.

“Hey,” he hears from behind him and it pulls him out of his reverie. “Catch.”

Kevin feels it hit his hand before he sees it. He looks down to see a key sitting in the palm of his good hand, the ridges digging into his palm from the impact of Andrew’s hard throw. He only barely registers Neil settling onto the couch next to him, their knees brushing the same way they do when they watch games together.

“For when you want to come home.”

Kevin’s heart relocates to somewhere near his spleen and he has to take a minute before shakily replying, “Home?”

Neil just raises an eyebrow and says, “Yeah, dumbass. Home. With us. Aren’t you the smart one?”

Kevin snorts at that. “We all know Andrew’s the smart one.”

Andrew finds the couch at that point and says, “I know better than to think that’s a compliment.”

Neil perks up and says, “But you don’t know better than to keep us around?”

Andrew waves his hand in dismissal and says, “Strays are always more trouble to get rid of than they’re worth.”

Kevin smiles then and says, “Not a stray. Keys,” and Neil shakes them at Andrew in agreement. Andrew pushes Neil’s hand away from his face, but Kevin notes the gentleness hidden there.

“Thank you,” Kevin says.

Andrew responds, “You’re here anyway. I figured breaking and entering was a hassle I didn’t want to deal with.”

“Because you already have your hands full with two hassles you don’t want to deal with?”

“Exactly.”

--

-The Foxes had been trying to get Kevin, Andrew and Neil all under the mistletoe at the same time for the past three Christmases to no avail.

-It had worked with varying levels of success, but snaring all three of them was more difficult than anyone had thought.

-Kevin and Neil were the easiest, since they were surly, but loving and wanted to kiss each other all the time anyway.

-Dan and Matt had won that year, with Matt talking to Neil in the living room and Dan talking to Kevin in the kitchen.

-They both gradually moved them towards the doorway and pulled away when they met in the middle. Neil and Kevin had stared at each other for a moment before shrugging and having Neil jump up for Kevin to catch instead of forcing Kevin to crane his neck down.

-The second year, Renee had gently suggested to Andrew the idea of kissing Neil under the mistletoe. It had seemed all night like he wouldn’t do it, but near the end of the evening when they were saying their goodbyes for the night and putting their coats on when Andrew looked up at the offensive greenery, rolled his eyes and pulled Neil in by the collar while Kevin huffed in the background.

-Against all odds, Nicky was the one to catch Kevin and Andrew, by holding it above their heads while they were bickering before dinner. No one expected them to go for it, until Neil smirked and said, “Kiss and make up?”

-They glared at him, but drew each other in for the most violent kiss the Foxes had seen, but it was a win for Nicky.

-Predictably, it was Allison who got the big win.

-They were sitting around, fairly tipsy, watching classic Christmas movies. The three of them had managed to all sit together on the loveseat, mostly because of how small Neil and Andrew were.

-Allison came in from grabbing more popcorn and basically threw the plant on top of them. “You know the rules.”

-Despite the fact that they were the three biggest assholes they had ever met, it was actually kind of adorable to watch them all meet in the middle to peck each other’s lips.

-At least, it was until Kevin pulled back scowling and said, “Did you have to punch me in the lips?” followed by Neil smirking and saying, “Yes. I thought you liked it rough.”

-Andrew pushed them both away and stalked off to the kitchen for another drink.

--

-No one expected them to have a tree

-The Foxes rotated which house they went to for team Christmas every year between Dan and Matt’s, Renee and Allison’s and Aaron and Katelyn’s and four years after Neil’s graduation it was finally (or unfortunately) Kandreil’s turn.

-Neil’s talking on the phone to Matt, who jokingly says, “We’re just gonna buy you a Charlie Brown tree, since you probably haven’t even decorated.”

-”You think we haven’t?” The fact that they hadn’t was irrelevant.

-Matt snorted. “You live with the two scrooges.”

-Neil hums in agreement, but the second he hangs up, he’s grabbing his coat and heading for the door, throwing the keys at Andrew in passing.

-”Field trip?” Andrew quips passively.

-Resolutely, Neil answers, “We’re getting a Christmas tree.”

-Kevin, who had been ignoring this whole exchange until now, shut his laptop and quirked an eyebrow haughtily. “Where the fuck are we going to fit a tree in here?”

-Neil didn’t respond other than to flip him off and throw his coat at him.

-Andrew blasted the heat in the car as they drove, but apparently wasn’t in too bad a mood since he didn’t turn off Christmas music in the car, since he knew Neil liked it.

-They opted for a fake tree, since five minutes at the tree farm made Kevin’s pine allergy abundantly clear. Still, it was big enough. They found some cheap lights, a garland and a few sparse ornaments and headed home.

-Putting the thing up was an ordeal, since Kevin and Neil still couldn’t work together without bickering and Andrew still found it amusing to withhold help from Kevin.

-They finished eventually and ended up collapsing asleep under the light of the tree.

-They wake to find that Andrew had dropped a blanket on them at some point in the night and Neil smiles to himself at the thought of Andrew rolling his eyes at them before heading off to sleep with the cats.

-He decided to make hot chocolate as a thank you, disentangling himself from Kevin’s snoring form.

-Before moving, he takes a Snapchat of the tree with the caption, “How’s that for a tree? (Star has yet to be moved)

--

Kevin loved snow.

He hadn’t grown up around it in his childhood, but traveling with his mother for work had led to quite a few good memories of it. He remembered his mother once showing him how to catch snowflakes on his tongue and telling him about how each one was unique and beautiful, even if not everyone could see it.

Now, so many years later he looked out the window of his, Neil and Andrew’s apartment and watched the snow fall down. They had eventually settled down in Chicago, arranging themselves around Andrew’s team. He and Neil played on the same team, but Kevin still played for Denver, which meant he wasn’t around quite as much. Still, they all had the holiday season off, so he was able to enjoy some time with his boyfriends.

His peace was interrupted by the sound of the door closing and the sight of Neil, wrapped in his coat and a huge orange scarf, pouting at the doorway.

“It’s cold,” he announced, unceremoniously.

That drew Andrew out of the bedroom with a huff. “No shit, sherlock.”

Neil smirked at that and drew closer to Andrew. Kevin turned back to the window, assuming they were going to go into the kitchen to talk, when he felt freezing hands on his neck.

“What the FUCK, Josten?!” Kevin yelled.

Neil was cackling on the couch and Andrew was leaning against the doorway, face characteristically expressionless, but posture relaxed.

“You were so focused on watching the snow. It was the perfect opportunity.”

Kevin drew his mouth into an annoyed line, but was already planning his revenge. He walked over to where Neil lay distracted before scooping him up over his shoulder. He ignored his protests as they walked out the door, up to a snow drift, where Kevin unceremoniously dropped him in.

Neil balled up a bit of snow and threw it at Kevin’s face as he stood. He was cold, but he was having too much fun to care and laughed at Neil’s furious protests all the way back up to their apartment. When they came in, Andrew was actively ignoring them on the couch in favor of hot chocolate and some memory game on his phone that he was obnoxiously good at.

Neil made a show of shaking his wet hair out on Kevin, who just laughed and brushed the snow off his shoulders before kissing him softly.

“Idiots,” Andrew murmured without looking up.

“But we’re your idiots,” Neil threw back.

Andrew didn’t dignify that with a response, but Neil grabbed a blanket and sat heavily next to him and Andrew didn’t complain. Kevin started to head back to the window, but Neil motioned for him to join them, so he sat in the last spot on the couch. Neil ended up laying across them with his head on Andrew’s lap and his feet in Kevin’s.

“Gonna fall asleep?”

“No,” Neil answered, but he was yawning and sure enough minutes later he was out.

Read on AO3 here.

As far as asses go, Kevin Day’s is the best. Neil long since decided that if there were ever a museum of great asses, Kevin’s would be the main attraction. Not only is his ass big, it’s round, perfect for slapping, biting, grabbing.

The problem is that Kevin’s ass is driving Neil to distraction. He can barely focus on practice when the way Kevin’s shorts cling is sinful--he’s 100% sure Andrew nailed him with the ball on purpose because he wouldn’t stop staring. It isn’t any better in the locker room, when Kevin is wearing boxer briefs and Neil has to bite his lips to stay silent.

Somehow, Kevin remains in utter bliss about Neil’s obsession. Kevin might not even realize how great his ass is. But Neil knows, and Andrew knows, and Neil thinks Kevin needs to know.