#myandreilfic

This is how Neil discovers his soulmate.

Soulmate’s AU based on the idea that you have a quote written on your body that is important to your relationship.

You can also read it on [AO3]

As always a huge thank you to @velvetnoodle for being an amazing beta <3<3

Neil follows Andrew and the others inside the stadium. As they get closer he can hear everyone in the locker room already chatting; they enter the room and take their usual seats while they wait for Wymack to arrive and start practice.

A few moments pass, and he hears Nicky call Allison to get her attention. He sees her look up from her phone and Nicky stretching his arm to show her something on his own phone, Allison snorts and nudges Renee at her side to look at it too.

“Did you buy it?” Renee asks him after she glances at the phone.

Nicky smirks before he answers. “Of course, I couldn’t leave that beauty at the store.”

Dan looks over Renee’s shoulder to see what they’re talking about and then adds, “I like it, Nicky.”

“Thanks Cap,” Nicky answers with a bright smile, clearly satisfied with their approval.

Neil, having been at the store with Nicky, already knows what picture he’s showing the others, so he lets his eyes trail off to follow Dan’s movement as she begins to lean against Matt. As she gets settled, he sees the fond look they share for a moment and then he sees Matt bring Dan’s hand to his mouth and kiss it; Neil immediately looks away, feeling like he’s intruding. Matt and Dan had figured out they're soulmates before Neil even joined the team, he's happy that they found each other but every time he sees them together he thinks about the quote written on his chest that indicates that he has a soulmate out there too.

Neil’s soulmate mark had appeared when he was about nine. Back then, he didn't understand the quote ingrained on his skin; he knew what it represented, but he couldn’t understand the meaning behind the words. He remembers waiting for his father to leave the house before showing it to his mother. He remembers questioning her about it’s meaning only to have his shirt immediately pulled down to cover it. Growing up, Neil quickly learned to always hide his soulmate mark; in his house it represented a weakness waiting to be exploited. A means to an end.

He had spent countless nights thinking about what the words written on his body could mean, and he still isn't sure what him or his soulmate could be referring to: was it about his family, or was it about something that had happened to his soulmate?

Up until he ran away with his mother, he used to imagine meeting his soulmate and all the ways that could change his life, but by that time he figured out that whoever his soulmate was, that person was far better off without him in their life.

So, he tried to stop thinking about his soulmate. Because finding his soulmate meant a life on the run and a death sentence extended to that person as well, and Neil couldn't bear the thought of that.

After practice, Neil's quiet in the drive back to the dorm, and once there he quietly follows Andrew to the roof. Andrew takes a long hard look at him before he passes him a cigarette, he doesn’t say a word so they sit down and stare at campus beneath them.

All this thinking about soulmates makes Neil feel like a mess. He can’t help but remember the warmth on his skin when his mark first appeared; just thinking about it gives him the sudden urge to scratch his chest where it is, but he clenches his fist and doesn’t do it. What he needs to do is to stop thinking about it, so Neil closes his eyes, counts to ten in three different languages, and tries to breathe in the smell of smoke in the air to calm down.

It’s only when Andrew finally turns to his side and kisses him hard that Neil stops thinking about his soulmate, he can only think about Andrew’s lips demanding his attention.

This thing with Andrew had started only a few weeks ago. And it surprised Neil to realize he wanted it, because he had never been interested in people this way before. But there was something about Andrew, something that drew Neil to him. And he thought that maybe it was just fine to experiment with whatever this was. And it was okay if Andrew hated him.

It was easier that way.

***

Weeks pass in a blur. And one night, Neil suddenly wakes up from a nightmare. He opens his eyes and scans the room to see where he is. Once he realizes that he’s in the Fox Tower, that it had been just another nightmare, he tries to calm down his breathing.

He reminds himself that the countdown on his phone has ended and he’s somehow still alive and Riko is not. That Nathaniel had died in Baltimore with his father and his real name now is Neil Abram Josten. He repeats it in his head over and over again until his breathing eventually calms down.

Neil can feel Andrew staring down at him, but he only looks in Andrew’s direction when the other starts to climb down his bunk bed. He watches as Andrew grabs a hoodie and then exits the bedroom leaving the door slightly ajar. Neil takes a deep breath, sits up, and runs a hand over his tousled hair before he gets up to follow Andrew into the living room, closing the door behind himself so that the light doesn’t disturb the others.

Andrew looks barely awake as he slowly walks around, puts on his shoes, and grabs a jacket on his way out. Neil does the same and follows Andrew outside. They climb the stairs to the rooftop and sit side by side in silence for hours like they’ve done countless times before.

Eventually, Neil begins to talk about nothing in particular to take his mind off things and when the sun starts to rise and he begins to feel the faintest warmth reaching him, he justs looks to the side to study Andrew. He doesn’t know how long he stays there, just watching Andrew staring ahead with his eyes barely open, but at some point Andrew slowly turns his head to the side to face him. They stare at each other for a moment, and then Andrew brings his hand to Neil’s chin and pulls him closer.

“Yes or no, Neil?”

Neil inches closer until he can feel Andrew’s warm breath on his face. “Yes,” he answers and closes the distance between them.

Neil loses track of time, it seems that time doesn’t move the same way whenever he’s with Andrew. He doesn’t know how long they’ve stayed there kissing, all he knows is that he can’t get enough of it. But next thing he knows, he’s lying down on the floor with Andrew on top of him and Andrew stills and shoves Neil’s hand away from the grip he had on his hair. “What--" Neil starts, unsure of what just happened as Andrew sits up.

For a brief second he sees a dark expression in Andrew's face that he can't quite understand, but then he goes back to a blank face just as fast. “I won't do this when you're like that,” Andrew tells him.

Neil sits up, and leaves a few inches separating them. “I was just thinking about--"

“I don't care,” Andrew interrupts him, “I need to hear your consent or I'm done.”

Fuck. Andrew had asked something and he was too lost in his head thinking about Andrew that he didn’t even register it. “I know--"

“We're done here,” Andrew declares and begins to walk away.

“Wait, Andrew--"

“I don’t want to hear it,” Andrew interrupts him again and turns around to face him. He clenches his fists and spits, “I-- I won't be like them. I won't let you let me be.”

And they both freeze. At that moment Neil feels like the world has just tilted. Had Andrew really just said this? He stares at the surprised expression on Andrew’s face that he knows it must be a mirror of his own. He opens his mouth but he doesn’t know what to say so he closes it and tries again, “What did you just say?”

“You heard me,” Andrew states and takes a step closer. “Let me see it.”

Neil freezes, staring at Andrew as he comes to a stop mere inches away from him. Could this be really happening? Had Andrew truly said the sentence that Neil has written on his chest, the sentence he knows by heart, and obsessed and analyzed for countless years? He hears his name being called and focuses back  on Andrew’s eyes searching his own. “Let me see it,” Andrew repeats, and Neil understands that he needs this reassurance, that they both need proof this is actually happening.

He takes a deep breath and pulls his hoodie up enough to show his chest. Neil feels exposed like this showing all his scars. Andrew had already seen and touched some of them before, but Neil has been careful not to let him, or anyone see most of his scars - especially his mark. But he puts those thoughts aside when he sees Andrew moving his hand up in the direction of the letters carved into his skin, pausing with a finger over it as if what he’s seeing could not be real.

“You can touch it, if you want," Neil tells him, and Andrew glances for a brief second to his face and then he returns his attention to the soulmate mark in front of him. Andrew runs a finger through it, following the words written above Neil's heart, the light touch leaving goosebumps on Neil's skin and making his heart beat a mile a minute that he's sure that Andrew can feel.

He studies Andrew's expression while he traces the letters on his skin but he can’t understand what is going on on his head at the moment. When Andrew’s hand slowly drops to his side, Neil lets his hoodie down. He can still feel the ghost of Andrew’s finger on his skin so he takes a deep breath to focus. “Where's yours?” Neil asks quietly.

Andrew takes his eyes away from Neil’s chest to his face and for a moment they stare at each other. Then Andrew begins to pull off one of his armbands. And there it is, with the scars all around it, the exact same quote Neil has written on his chest on Andrew's arm, I won't be like them. I won't let you let me be. He's seeing it but it's still hard to believe that this is actually happening. But then he thinks about Andrew. He thinks about the keys, the trust, and the kisses. And he can’t help when a tentative smile begins to form.

This is loosely based on the prompt I saw from @exyprompts: “Neil puts on Aaron’s fox jersey/t-shirt, either by accident or for the drama.. Who would hate it more, Andrew or Aaron?”

They’re in Columbia when it happens.

It’s Nicky’s week to do the laundry and once he’s done he folds the clothes and separates everything into neat piles. Andrew grabs his pile of dark clothes and just stores it in his drawer without bothering to look at it.

On the following week, Neil quietly gets up early in the morning to go for a run. He opens his drawer only to find that he’s out of t-shirts so he just opens Andrew’s drawer and grabs one from the middle of the pile and puts it on. He gets out of the house without bothering to look in the mirror and goes on with his routine of running around the block.

When he arrives at the house everyone is still asleep so he proceeds to make breakfast. As if on cue, when breakfast is ready Nicky appears in the kitchen still looking half asleep, he grabs a mug of steaming coffee and a plate of pancakes and they both sit on the couch to eat.

They eat in comfortable silence looking at the tv in front of them. Neil is halfway through his breakfast when Andrew appears. Neil watches him go straight for the pancakes he had made, and fill a plate with them before moving to sit down with on the couch too.

“What the fuck are you wearing?” Andrew asks as soon as he sits at Neil’s side, looking straight at his chest.

“What?“ Neil asks frowning at the t-shirt. But he quickly remembers that he had taken one of Andrew’s t-shirts without asking. It’s been years since they started sharing clothes but it quickly dawns on him that maybe Andrew was having a bad day and he hadn’t realize it. “I should have asked--”

Andrew rolls his eyes.“That’s not mine,“ he says interrupting Neil, then he clenches his fist and adds, “that’s Aaron’s new t-shirt.“

They both startle at the sound of Nicky spitting his coffee so they turn to the side to look at him. They watch him try to control himself but then he starts to laugh so hard that he almost lets the mug spill the rest of the coffee all over himself, so Neil takes the mug out of his hands and puts it on the side table.

“This is your fault,“ Andrew states looking annoyed at his cousin, which makes Nicky start another fit of laughter.

Neil looks down at the t-shirt again, “I didn’t know--“ he starts, but the more he looks at it the more it begins to bother him. He likes wearing Andrew’s clothes because they’re Andrew. They make him feel secure and comfortable knowing he has something that belongs to Andrew with him.

Neil gets up and gives his mug to Andrew. “I’m going to take a shower,” he declares and starts to leave.

“Wait, don’t leave me alone with him!“ Nicky cries out when Neil starts to climb the stairs.

In Columbia, Neil has a nightmare and decides to go run in the middle of the night so Andrew waits for him to come back.

You can also read it on [AO3]

As always a big thank you to @velvetnoodle for being such an amazing beta<3

It’s the middle of the night and Neil’s jogging around the block. He’s completely drenched, his breathing is hard, and he doesn’t know how long has passed since he got out to run. While he’s used to running and ignoring the aching pain on his legs from the exercise, he has calmed down enough that he’s ready to run one last mile and get back to the house.

Neil freezes the moment he reaches the house and notices Andrew sitting in the corner of the porch staring right at him. He stays still for a few moments, watching Andrew take a long drag of his cigarette and let out the smoke into the air.

Neil lets out a long breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He had woken up in the middle of the night after a nightmare and the urge to get up and run, to clear his head of his nightmares, was all he could think about at that moment. But the sight of Andrew just waiting for him to come back, to make sure that he does come back, makes his heart skip a beat and he almost has the urge to smile. Almost.

He decides to sit right next to Andrew and steal the cigarette from his hand. He takes another deep breath to let the familiar scent of smoke and Andrew’s steady presence at his side calm him down. They silently stare at the pouring rain in front of them, and it reminds Neil of all the times they went to the roof together in the past years when one of them couldn’t sleep.

He doesn't know how long they've sat there but the shiver that runs through his whole body doesn’t go unnoticed by Andrew. “Fucking idiot,” he says to Neil. Then he grabs Neil’s hoodie and squeezes it almost as if to prove his point. The water that starts to drip on the porch only makes Andrew look at him more pissed. He then touches Neil’s hand with his own and Neil subconsciously turns his hand palm up in case Andrew wants to hold it but Andrew shoves his hand away. “Get in the shower now; if you get sick Kevin will make you regret it,” he says as he stands up.

Neil for once doesn’t complain and follows Andrew inside. He’s feeling too tired from the lack of sleep and the workout, and it’s only when he closes the door behind himself and the warm air from the house hits him that he realizes how cold he is. His body starts shivering uncontrollably from the temperature change and he curses while he discards his shoes. He goes to the bathroom and finds Andrew in there turning the shower on. Neil struggles a little to remove the damp hoodie clinging to his body, then he removes his t-shirt and another shiver runs through him.

“I don’t care if the water burns your skin,” Andrew starts and turns to look at Neil.”Just get in the shower.”

Neil rolls his eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

Andrew stares at him with a blank face until Neil begins to move towards the shower to check the water temperature. Then Andrew seeming satisfied closes the door when he exits the bathroom. Neil takes off the rest of his clothes with some effort and enters the shower. The water burns his skin but after a few moments, his whole body starts to heat up so he stays under the jet with his eyes closed just allowing his muscles to relax. He then quickly washes and rinses off. He towels off and puts the towel around his waist and sits in the border of the tub.

He feels drained now that his body has calmed down. Neil pulls at his hair to let the pain wake him up. Two years ago around this time he was locked up with the Ravens, and the nightmare that woke him up tonight had felt too real. The single knock at the door brings him back to the present. “Come in,” he tells Andrew.

Andrew opens the door and closes it behind himself, he slowly walks towards Neil and passes him a pile of clothes.

“Thanks,” Neil says once he grabs them and looks down at the pile of clothes feeling the soft fabric of Andrew’s shirt. “For everything.”

Andrew inches closer and brings his hand to Neil’s chin to guide him to look him in the eye. “Shut up.”

A weak grin starts to form on his face. “When do I ever shut up?”

“I can make you.”

The empty threat makes Neil grin wider and he gets up, setting the pile of clothes on top of the closed laundry basket. He inches closer to Andrew and stops just an inch away from his mouth. “Yes, or--”

Andrew moves closer and kisses Neil for just a moment. Then he moves his mouth slightly away from Neil to be able to speak. “It’s four am; just come to bed,” he says, sounding tired.

Neil opens his eyes and this close up he can see the dark circles Andrew’s have underneath his eyes. It’s a rough time of year for both of them. Neil nods and watches Andrew exit the bathroom once again.

Minutes later, Neil quietly steps into the room and lies down next to Andrew. He turns his head to the side and studies the outline of Andrew’s face that’s visible in the moonlight coming from the window.

He brings a hand to Andrew’s hair and stops just shy from touching it. “Can I?”

“Yes.”

In their second year a deal is made. Andrew wants to explore his boundaries and there’s really just one person he trusts around himself.

Set in a universe where everything is the same except that Andrew never kissed Neil on the rooftop that night. Instead, they just got closer and more comfortable around each other.

Read from the start if you haven’t yet! [Part 1]

You can also read it on [AO3]

As always a huge thank you to @velvetnoodle for being an amazing beta <3

Part 2

Neil walks out of the cafe and lets the door bang on its way out. He feels his cheeks start to flush when he glances at the free coffees he’s carrying. He tried to refuse but the guy insisted so he thanked him and rushed to get out. He mentally curses when he stops in front of Nicky and Matt and they immediately start laughing. “You should’ve seen the look on your face,” Nicky says once he calms down.

“Shut up,” Neil says glaring. “Can we just go now?” and shoves the coffee cup holder into Matt’s chest.

“Oh man, I can’t believe that he actually offered you the coffees,” Matt says looking at the coffee holder in awe.

They watched the whole thing happening from the window and Neil feels exposed, all this attention is unwelcome and he’s just tired of all of it so he starts pulling his sleeves down out of reflex.

“You know what we should do?” Nicky asks, grinning at Matt. “We should send him in there every day, imagine all the free stuff we could get!”

“No,” Neil says immediately; he has had enough of this. He grabs the coffee holder from Matt’s hands and starts to walk away.

Nicky and Matt stare at his back confused until it becomes clear where he’s headed. “Wait, what are you doing?” Matt says once he realizes that Neil is walking in the direction of the bin.

“Is he— Neil this was just a joke!” Nicky says pleading, “Don’t do it!”  

“Go get your damn coffee from now on,” Neil says looking at them pissed and drops the container into the trash.

“Such a waste of good coffee,” Matt whines still not quite believing what he just witnessed.

Neil turns and starts to walk away, ignoring them calling his name and sets a quick pace that quickly turns into him running in the direction of the Fox Tower.

Running feels good — it allows him to clear his head. Once he reaches the dorms he jogs the stairs up to the roof. His breathing is uneven when he reaches the rooftop access door, the cold air welcome against his skin but Neil still feels the urge to get out of the building and run until there’s nothing else to focus on and his legs give out. The frustration he’s feeling must be visible on his face because Andrew spares him one look and asks, “What happened now?”

“Now I know why your cousin and Matt find it hilarious to send me to the coffee shop and order their stuff while they wait by the door,” Neil says bitterly while he sits down.

Andrew clenches his fists before he answers. “The guy with the piercings?”

“Yeah,” Neil replies, not really surprised that Andrew had figured it out. Just a few days ago he had been there with Andrew and the others, but on that day the guy on the counter hadn’t given him anything and didn’t try to ask him personal information like he had done today.

“I’ll deal with it,” Andrew says after a moment.

“Okay, but you don’t have to beat up everyone who annoys me.”

“Hm that’s an interesting idea,” Andrew says tilting his head to the side. “But we made a deal, and I think I just need to make the message clear enough for him to back off.”

“Okay, then,” Neil says, he isn’t sure what Andrew has in mind and he isn’t entirely sure if this deal was a good idea to begin with but he doesn’t put much more thought into it, trusting Andrew to deal with it without his knives.

***

The next day, Neil finishes his classes and finds Andrew outside of his building waiting for him, and as soon as he spots Neil he turns around and begins to walk away. Neil is quick to follow and as soon as Andrew doesn’t turn to go to the parking lot and continues straight in the direction of the coffee shop Neil sighs loudly and follows along.

Andrew stops near the entrance, looks inside and seems satisfied with what he finds when he turns to look at Neil. “Why don’t you go in and order something?”

“Fine,” Neil says rolling his eyes and walks inside towards the counter.

“Hi there, what can I get you today?” the guy — the same one from yesterday with a name tag indicating that his name is Liam — asks him smiling.

“A black coffee,” Neil tells him as he sees in the corner of his eye Andrew entering the shop and casually stopping in front of the display window as if he was another customer deciding on what to order. It’s still unclear what Andrew has in mind so Neil remains where he is waiting for his coffee.

“Can I get you anything else?” Liam asks when he returns with the coffee.

“No, thanks,” Neil answers, but he notices Andrew eyeing the donuts and thinks he might as well order something for him too. “Wait, give me one of those chocolate donuts,” he says pointing to the display.

“Sure thing,” Liam replies and when he places the small package containing the donut in the counter he adds, “it’s on the house.”

“Uhm, thanks,” Neil says immediately beginning to feel uncomfortable. It’s the second time Liam’s offered him products and Neil has to wonder how this guy makes a decent profit at the end of the day if he doesn’t charge his customers.

“Oh, isn’t he nice, giving you gifts,” Andrew says glaring at the guy while stepping closer to Neil.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” The guy says, but his smile starts to falter once he sees the murderous expression that is starting to form on Andrew’s face.

“He’s not available, so you can just fuck off,” Andrew tells him with a menacing tone straight to the point.

Neil almost feels bad for the guy when he sees him wincing from Andrew’s tone. Almost. But Andrew kept his word, of course he did, he had told Neil he only needed to make the message clearer and that’s exactly what he just did. Neil quickly grabs his wallet and puts a note on the counter to pay for his order, knowing that it’s time to leave and Andrew grabs the package with the donut and the coffee with one hand, and with the other he grabs Neil sleeve to pull him towards the door.

Once they step out of the coffee shop Andrew lets go of his sleeve, and they begin to walk in the direction of the car side by side. Andrew starts eyeing the coffee before passing it to Neil. “Pathetic,” he says with a bored tone.

Neil, curious, looks at the container and notices the phone number written on it. “What--” he starts to ask about what it means but he remembers Allison mentioning passing phone numbers as one way to try to talk more with someone you were interested in and closes his mouth. Damn it; if Allison was here she would never let this go.

***

Like most nights, Neil silently follows Andrew to the rooftop when they get back from night practice with Kevin. Once he finishes climbing the stairs and opens the access door, he finds Andrew already lighting two cigarettes for them. Neil walks to his side and sits only an inch away from him and accepts the cigarette Andrew passes over.

When Andrew finishes his cigarette, he turns to Neil with a calculated expression and motions for Neil to take his hand from his pocket. Neil, confused, turns to the side and sits with his legs crossed to face Andrew and puts his hand in front of them. After a moment, Andrew grabs his wrist and stares at their hands.

“We don't have to do this,” Neil says, realizing what this is about.

“No, we don't,” Andrew agrees and squeezes his wrist.

“But you want to,” Neil concludes.

Andrew doesn’t bother giving him an answer; instead, he brings Neil’s hand near his face. He stops just an inch away from his hair. “I don’t think you realize what this means.”

“I think I do,” Neil says looking him in the eyes. He’s been thinking about it ever since they made their deal, and he keeps thinking about what Andrew told him months ago at Eden’s Twilight that turned his world upside down. At the time it was a lot to process but now, the urge to reach out and discover how Andrew would feel under his touch is there, has been there for a while now. He was never curious about these things before but somehow Andrew is different, he makes him want to discover, to explore this.

Andrew gives his hand one final squeeze and places it on his hair. “Just here,” he says and lets go.

Neil nods, and slowly moves his hand through his hair, noticing that it’s thinner and smoother than his own. Andrew stays still, watching Neil, and neither of them says anything. Neil pays close attention to Andrew’s reactions, and once he sees his shoulders relaxing Neil lets his hand slowly travel from his side to where his short hair ends by his neck.

Suddenly Andrew grabs his wrist again and Neil immediately stills as he waits for Andrew's next move, thinking that this was enough for today. So he can't help but be surprised when Andrew slightly brings his arm down, bringing Neil’s hand to his neck. He lets it rest there for a few moments, and Neil lets himself enjoy the feeling of Andrew’s warm skin under his own until Andrew, who had kept his hand on Neil’s wrist, pulls it away.

Andrew without a word turns back to stare at the campus, lits a cigarette and takes a long drag. Neil stares at his hand resting on his lap, unsure about what to do now. Then the wind blows the smoke into Neil’s face and he takes a deep breath letting the smell of smoke ground him. He closes his hand that just moments ago was touching Andrew and looks up at Andrew’s profile in front of him. He tries to fight the urge to grin when the realization that he liked being able to touch Andrew hits him, and that Andrew had really trusted him to do this. Neil still isn’t sure how this could help Andrew in any way, but if Andrew wanted this, he was fine with it.

In their second year a deal is made. Andrew wants to explore his boundaries and there’s really just one person he trusts around himself.

Set in a universe where everything is the same except that Andrew never kissed Neil on the rooftop that night. Instead, they just got closer and more comfortable around each other.

Read from the start if you haven’t yet! [Part 1]

You can also read it on [AO3]

As always a huge thank you to @velvetnoodle for being an amazing beta, without her this fic wouldn’t be the same <3<3

Part 8 - The final part

Neil feels ecstatic as he exits court, the loud sound of the crowd cheering behind him still buzzing in his ears. He feels exhausted but begins to grin; they’ve just won another game that pushes the Foxes further into the competition.

Wymack comes inside the locker room and takes a moment to look at his team. “Good game, everyone. We’ll go over it on Monday to see what we could have done better,” he pauses, “but for now get your asses in the shower and meet me at Abby's, I've stocked her house before the game.” He gets loud cheers after that and everyone starts to get up to head over to the showers with renewed strength.

Once they're ready, Andrew drives them all by Abby’s before going to Columbia. Neil watches curiously as Wymack signals for Andrew to follow him and when they reach the kitchen he hands over a bottle to Andrew without saying a word. Then Wymack walks away, leaving the two of them alone.

Andrew begins to open his bottle and leans against the counter and Neil decides to do the same. For a few moments, they stay in silence listening to everyone else laughing and talking loudly on the next room, then Andrew takes a sip and motions with the bottle in Neil’s direction. Neil shakes his head and after a moment, Andrew closes the bottle.

“I’m going to smoke,” Andrew states and shoves the bottle onto Neil’s arms before walking away. Neil watches him exit the kitchen and looks down at the bottle. Usually, he would have followed Andrew outside but the way Andrew said it makes him think that he doesn’t want to be followed for now, so Neil decides to join the rest of the team in the living room.

He pauses near Allison and Nicky, and looks around the room; he watches as bottles move around everyone to fill empty glasses. Until Allison notices him standing close to them and smiles up at him. “Neil, sit with us,” she tells him and moves slightly to the side so that Neil can sit on the arm of the couch without touching her.

“Oh, let me see that beauty!” Nicky says suddenly, looking at the bottle that Neil is still holding.

“You can have it,” Neil tells him and passes the bottle. He figures that if Andrew had wanted to keep drinking he wouldn’t have given him the bottle. And since Neil doesn’t plan on drinking it himself, he might as well get rid of it.

After pouring some into his and Allison’s glasses, Nicky continues the story he was telling before Neil got there. And soon, Matt turns to the side to listen in and steal the bottle from Nicky’s hands.

After a long while, Andrew appears and leans against the wall near where Neil is sitting and it doesn’t take long for Renee to come and stop at Andrew’s side. Neil can hear them talking but can’t really understand what they’re saying over all the noise in the room so he keeps listening to his drunk teammates.

In an instant, all his focus turns to Andrew when he sits down on the chair next to him where Nicky was until moments ago. They stare at each other until Andrew turns to look away and Neil blinks twice before he moves to look at Dan to try to follow what she’s talking about.

“Neil.”

“Huh?” Neil turns to the side to look at Andrew.

“It’s time to go,” Andrew explains; Neil nods in understanding and gets up at the same time Andrew does. They start to walk towards the door and Neil notices Aaron looking at his brother’s back for a moment. Then he calls Nicky over his shoulder and moves to follow them.

Neil and Andrew are already next to the car when Aaron steps outside and stops near the front steps. “I'm not going,” he claims.

Andrew gives him one hard look and leans back against the hood of the car. “Do whatever you want,” he tells his brother in a bored tone.

Nicky opens the door of the house and steps outside too. “Wait! I think we need to rethink this,” he stops for a moment and looks between his cousins that are staring at each other. ”Kevin is already completely wasted, and I'm not sure we can get to Eden’s in time for the last round of drinks,” he explains.

Aaron passes him by the door and comments. “Good thing I'm not going.”

“What, you're not going?” he asks confused, turning to stare at Aaron’s back as he walks inside. “I'm staying, too,” he says quickly turning to look over at Andrew. And seeming satisfied when Andrew doesn't say anything, he returns to the house too.

Once they’re both gone, Neil moves to stop in front of Andrew and watches him lit a cigarette. “Are we still going?”

Andrew takes a long drag and sends the smoke out into Neil's face. “Yes.”

“Good,” Neil says and leans back against the car near Andrew. “I didn't want to stay here the whole weekend.”

Once Andrew finishes his cigarette he goes to the driver seat and drives them to Columbia. The journey to the house is quiet. It’s the second time they’re going to Columbia alone, and it still feels strange to not come back with the others. The exhaustion from the game is starting to settle in, however, so Neil is glad that they’re just staying in, and as soon as they arrive they get ready for bed.

Once Neil is finished, he exits the bathroom. Seeing the open door to Andrew's bedroom, he stops near the entrance. He isn’t sure if Andrew wants him to sleep in his bedroom or on the couch, and he knows not to take offense if Andrew doesn't tell him to stay. “Where do you want me?”

“Here,” Andrew answers, not moving from his place on the bed.

Neil walks the small distance to the bed and lies sideways so he’s looking at Andrew. He tentatively moves his hand in the direction of Andrew’s chest. “Can I?

“Yes, Neil.”

Neil feels his heart rate accelerating with every inch he lets his hand travel. He moves from Andrew’s stomach to his neck. And when Andrew finally moves forward, the kiss is hungry, desperate; both are eager to close the distance between them and as Neil opens his mouth to allow Andrew to deepen the kiss, Andrew puts his hand on Neil’s waist and moves closer pushing Neil down so that Neil is lying on the bed.

Then Andrew starts to move to follow him but suddenly pauses so Neil opens his eyes to look at him. “It’s still a yes, Andrew,” Neil whispers, his voice sounds out of breath and he can’t help to blush when he looks at Andrew’s golden eyes staring at him with his swollen lips slightly parted.

“Shut up,” Andrew says right before he kisses him again. He moves to be on top of Neil, knees on each side of him and his hand starts to move under Neil’s shirt. Then Andrew stills, with one hand on the bed to keep some distance between them. “Let me see them,” Andrew says it like a question, not moving his hand from where it’s currently resting until Neil gives him his consent.

Neil doesn’t like people staring at his scars, but Andrew has already seen them, has already touched them, and he doesn’t mind the idea of Andrew touching his body. “Okay,” Neil answers him.

Andrew moves his hand to bring Neil’s t-shirt up and begins to let his hand wander around Neil naked torso. Neil thinks that this is nothing like last year when he let Andrew see and touch his scars for the first time. Andrew’s strong hands are now following every mark he has like he wants to memorize every inch of skin in Neil’s body. His touch leaves a trail of goosebumps and Neil loves the feeling of it.

Neil lets his hand move from Andrew’s arm to his shoulder and asks almost in a whisper, “How can you stand me touching you?” This question had remained in his head for the last few weeks. Andrew had implied that he felt comfortable with him but he never thought that Andrew would allow him this close, not after everything that had happened to him.

Andrew ignores him over tracing the scars in his abdomen. Then moments later, when Neil lets his hand travel to Andrew’s neck to pull him closer for a kiss, Andrew without taking his eyes from Neil’s chest tells him, “Don’t.”

Neil immediately freezes and takes his hand away. Andrew quickly grabs his wrist and looks up to meet Neil’s eyes. “This,” he says with a calm tone squeezing Neil’s wrist. “This is why.”

Then he pins Neil wrist up in the pillow and kisses him eagerly. Neil never pushed, he always respected Andrew and he stopped if Andrew asked him to, that wasn't much, but it was enough for Andrew.

***

The next morning, Neil wakes up and looks at Andrew sleeping at his side. He thinks about getting up and go run around the block but Andrew looks so peaceful sleeping, and the bed is warm and comfortable, so Neil closes his eyes and stays there just enjoying the moment until sleep takes over.

Later, when he wakes up again, Neil turns to the side and studies Andrew’s face. He thinks about how the deal they made weeks ago got to this point. But it didn’t feel like a deal, not anymore. This was something more, something real between them, and it didn’t matter what the others thought or knew about it. All Neil cared about was the man lying beside him with sleepy eyes looking back at him.

“I know, I’m staring,” Neil says slowly, and it’s muffled by the sheets.

“Go back to sleep,” Andrew tells him and closes his eyes once again.

In their second year a deal is made. Andrew wants to explore his boundaries and there’s really just one person he trusts around himself.

Set in a universe where everything is the same except that Andrew never kissed Neil on the rooftop that night. Instead, they just got closer and more comfortable around each other.

Read from the start if you haven’t yet! [Part 1]

You can also read it on [AO3]

As always a huge thank you to @velvetnoodle for being an amazing beta <3<3

Part 6

Neil follows Andrew to their usual spot at the end of the bus and sits down in front of him. Kevin had tried to go over what everyone had done wrong during the game as soon as the engine started running but Wymack had told him to shut up. So now, the bus was quiet as everyone settled down to rest during the journey back.

Neil has his forehead resting against the window to watch the blurry landscape as they travel but he finds himself keep coming back to stare at Andrew instead. He keeps thinking about the game they just lost against the Trojans — they’re a fierce team and the Foxes gave it their best against them but tonight it just wasn’t enough. Maybe they’ll play again against them at the finals; if there’s a team Neil would like most to face in the finals, it’s the Trojans.

Halfway into the journey back, Andrew slowly opens his eyes to look at Neil. “Staring,” he comments.

Neil averts his eyes again and takes a deep breath. He can feel the exhaustion setting in after the game but he’s too uncomfortable to try to properly rest the way he is. A few minutes later, Andrew nudges him with his feet so Neil looks curiously at him. To anyone else, Andrew would seem to be only staring back but Neil sees the unspoken question in Andrew’s face about what’s going on in his head.

“I was thinking about the Trojans,” Neil tells him, “and that I want to meet them in the finals this year.” Andrew rolls his eyes at that and Neil can almost hear him in his head calling him a junkie. But then after a moment, Neil continues almost in a whisper, “Jean seemed well with the team.”

Andrew visibly tenses at the mention of Jean and doesn’t say anything about it. “Try to rest,” he tells him instead.

“I can’t; not like this,” Neil explains, understanding that talking about Jean brings back too many memories from last year. He didn’t manage to talk to Jean after the game but in reality, he wouldn’t even know what to say to him after everything they’ve been through. Neil’s just glad that he found a good team to stay with after the Ravens.

Neil looks at Andrew and studies him for a moment. He has a foot resting between Neil and the window, and the other lazily stretched on the floor, looking as comfortable as he can be on the bus. After a moment, Neil decides to stand and sit next to Andrew to stretch his legs on the bench he was previously sitting on.

He tries to find a comfortable position to be in but doesn’t quite manage. He feels annoyed at himself; two years ago he would’ve fallen asleep anywhere he wanted, but now after getting used to sleeping in a decent bed every day that doesn’t happen anymore. He keeps moving around to get a into better position until Andrew speaks again.

“Stop moving,” Andrew tells him with his eyes closed. “Either that or move away.”

Their legs are touching so Neil tries to stay still to let Andrew rest but after a few minutes, he can no longer manage to do it. He shifts slightly again to find a better position to relax.

“Neil,” Andrew says it like a warning and opens his eyes to stare at Neil.

Nei looks sideways at Andrew, and notices the comfortable hoodie that he has on and begins to wonder if Andrew would allow him to lean against him. “Andrew, yes or no?” Neil asks tentatively motioning with his hand towards Andrew’s shoulder.

Andrew turns to stare outside through the window for so long that Neil thinks he’s not going to get an answer. “It’s a yes, as long as you stay still,” Andrew quietly replies.

For a moment Neil doesn’t move, too surprised that Andrew had just agreed to it. He blinks three times before he slowly moves to rest his head on Andrew’s shoulder to try to close his eyes for a few minutes. However, it doesn’t take long for his neck to start to ache from being bent in a weird angle.

Andrew, sensing his discomfort, sighs and shifts to put his arm that was resting on his lap around Neil, pulling him closer to his chest in the process. The hoodie feels soft against Neil’s face and there’s a faint smell of smoke on it from the cigarette Andrew had before they climbed onto the bus. The warmth from Andrew’s body reaches him making his body relax. Neil closes his eyes and grins, feeling safe where he is.

“One hundred and twenty-eight,” Andrew says as he squeezes his side in a warning. Neil tries and fails to stop the grin on his face. “Going on one hundred and twenty-nine.”

***

An hour later, Wymack parks the bus in their parking lot and rushes everyone to get out. Neil quietly exits the bus followed by Andrew, and they make a beeline for the Maserati to make the short drive back to the Fox Tower.

As soon as they park the car in the dorms and exit the vehicle, Kevin storms away into the building without waiting for them and Neil watches Aaron stop in front of Andrew with Nicky trailing behind him. He notices how Nicky is looking at his feet so Neil decides to start walking inside to give them some space to talk as a family. However, he almost curses when he finds himself walking behind Mike and Renee. He doesn’t want to be included in their conversation, so he slows down his pace to create some distance between them.

He’s about to enter the building when he hears Nicky call his name so he looks to the side and sees Nicky jogging to catch up with him.

“Hey,” Nicky says once he stops in front of Neil, “Andrew is asking for you.”

Neil nods slightly confused and wonders what they said to Andrew that made him call Neil back instead of meeting back in their dorm room. He walks back to the end of the parking lot where Andrew always parks and passes Aaron on the way. They glance at each other but neither one says a word. When Neil reaches the Maserati, Andrew is already inside with the engine on.

Andrew spares him a glance when Neil pauses near his open window. “Get in the car," he tells him.

“What about the others?” Neil asks, feeling even more confused after he steps into the car. Neil thought they were all going to Columbia like every other weekend, except Kevin, who had already told them before the game that he wanted to stay with Wymack in order to spend some time with his father. When his question is ignored he insists, “What about Aaron and Nicky?”

“Aaron wants to stay," Andrew explains, “so Nicky is going to stay too. The upperclassmen already invited him to go out.”

Neil stays quiet until they enter the highway as he tries to process this. It was going to be just the two of them going to Columbia this weekend. He didn't mind the idea; between practices, and classes, and sharing the dorm with Kevin they could never spend a lot of time together. The few moments they had alone were mostly on the rooftop.

“Are we going to Eden’s?” Neil asks once they reach their highway exit.

“No, let’s just stay in the house tonight,” Andrew answers him. Neil hums in acknowledgment and glances at Andrew; he feels exhausted and the idea of just going back to the house and not to the packed club sounds pretty good.

Once they're at the house, Neil is about to go to the bathroom after Andrew to get ready for the night when he remembers that he never went upstairs to get his travel bag. “Andrew?”

Andrew sees him hesitating near the bathroom door and comes to stop near his side and glance into the bathroom. When he doesn't see anything wrong he simply stares at Neil, waiting for him to continue.

“Is just that I didn’t go upstairs to get my bag and— ”

“There are some spare toothbrushes in the cabinet,” Andrew tells him and starts to walk towards his bedroom.

Neil nods; he can always go to the mall tomorrow and get a fresh pair of clothes for the weekend. Nicky would be happy to see him in new clothes as he keeps complaining about his old ones, but Neil grimaces at the waste of money that would be. He has a few new clothes already that Allison made him buy; there’s no point in buying more. It’s not like he’s just going to throw away all his old ones; those are still good to go to the gym.

When he steps outside the bathroom, Andrew points to his left at the top of the couch where a small pile of clothes is sitting and doesn’t bother explaining it.

Neil grabs the clothes and glances at Andrew. “Thanks,” he tells him, Andrew doesn’t acknowledge it other than glancing in his direction and returning to look at the TV screen, so Neil returns to the bathroom to put on the clothes. Both the sweatpants and the sweater are black. The sweater feels comfortable and loose on him since Andrew has broader shoulders and the clothes look very similar to the ones Andrew has dressed just now. Once Neil’s done changing he sits on the couch right next to Andrew.

They begin to watch an old movie but Neil is not really focusing on it. He feels exhausted from the day so not even halfway through the movie he makes himself more comfortable on the couch to try to rest by sliding down on the cushions.

Andrew turns his head to the side to study Neil. After a few moments, his hand comes to rest on Neil’s neck, guiding Neil’s head to his lap. Neil gets the idea and follows along, stretching his legs on the couch. Then he feels Andrew’s hand resting on his hair, and one of his fingers starts to make slow patterns on Neil’s scalp, making his eyes feel heavy.

Neil closes his eyes feeling content where he is. He starts to wonder what it would like to sleep next to Andrew. He's expecting Andrew to get up to go to his bedroom at any moment but when it doesn't happen Neil eventually turns his head to look up and finds Andrew with his eyes barely open.

“Are you going to sleep here?” Neil asks quietly. They’ve slept near each other before but not this close, not when they were close enough to be touching.

“No,” Andrew says. “It's not a good idea, you know how I can wake up.”

“I know, and it doesn't matter.”

“Don't be stupid,” Andrew tells him.

“I'm not. All I'm saying is that I don't care.” When Andrew doesn't say anything else Neil continues, “If you lash out you'll stop as soon as you understand what's happening.”

Neil gives Andrew some time to think about it and when the hand in his head starts moving again, he presses on insistently,“ Yes or no?”

Andrew lets out a frustrated breath. “Yes, but not here. I'm not going to sleep on this damn couch,” Andrew finally tells him and removes his hand. “Now, move.”

Neil sits up on the couch and watches Andrew get up and start to walk in the direction of his bedroom. Neil blinks twice, wondering if he had heard right, that Andrew had just agreed to this. “Come on,” Andrew says to Neil once he opens the door and notices that Neil hasn’t moved from his spot on the couch.

When Neil enters the bedroom, Andrew is already on the bed with his back to the wall. “Are you going to just keep staring?” Andrew asks him when Neil doesn’t move from the door.

“No,” Neil answers, closing the door before walking to the bed. He climbs in and leaves as much space as he can between them. ”Tell me if you need me to leave, okay?”

“Yeah, or I can just push you off the bed,” Andrew points out. Neil rolls his eyes and watches curiously as Andrew moves closer to him, holding himself up with his arm. “Yes or no?” Andrew asks him, staring at his lips.

Neil licks his own lips subconsciously. “Yes,” he answers right away; he’s been waiting the whole damn day for this. They kiss until Neil feels his mouth sore and he’s too sleepy to move at all. And eventually, they fall asleep.

In their second year a deal is made. Andrew wants to explore his boundaries and there’s really just one person he trusts around himself.

Set in a universe where everything is the same except that Andrew never kissed Neil on the rooftop that night. Instead, they just got closer and more comfortable around each other.

Read from the start if you haven’t yet! [Part 1]

You can also read it on [AO3]

As always a huge thank you to @velvetnoodle for being an amazing beta <3

Part 3

Neil throws the ball at Kevin, but Andrew intercepts the ball easily and throws it to the other side of the court — almost catching Mike’s feet in the process. Neil furrows his brow and runs to the middle of the court. He knows that Andrew has been making Mike a target at practice since yesterday he just hasn’t figured out the why yet.

Minutes later, Neil winces as he watches Mike get successfully hit on the head, making him stumble and lose the grip on his racket which drops to the floor. The whole team stops at the sound of it echoing through the walls and Allison snorts at the whole situation; Neil sees some of the others trying to hide their grins, while others don’t hide them at all. Mike finally done, takes off his helmet, throws it to the floor, and begins to walk in the direction of Andrew. Neil curses under his breath and runs to try to stop him, but Matt, who’s right behind Mike, immediately grabs him.

Once Neil reaches them, he tells them all to take a break, and it’s only when Matt pushes Mike out of the court and closes the door behind them that Neil jogs to where Andrew is and stops right in front of him to catch his attention. “We can't play if you injure him," he points out.

Andrew looks bored and rests his racket on his shoulders. “Maybe he should focus more on learning how to play, instead of on your ass."

Embarrassed, Neil starts to blush and takes his helmet off. Mike isn’t completely stupid, Kevin had picked him for the team because he had potential so the dumb questions about Exy in the last couple of practices weren’t making any sense. Until now. He runs his hand through the hair that Allison hadn’t shaved at the top unsure of what to think about this. “Can we just focus on the real problem here?”

“You are the problem," Andrew points out. “You don't shut them down clearly enough.”

“I can't just ignore him; I'm vice-captain,” Neil replies, ignoring the fact that Andrew is not just talking about Mike.

“I'm getting tired of people not getting the message,” Andrew says in a bored tone, but the message is clear as water to Neil. They made a deal and Andrew is going to hold his part of it no matter what.

Neil grimaces and wonders if this will become a problem for the team. He just wants to be left alone. “Just don't injure him,” he says firmly before he starts to jog to the middle of the court again.

Once practice is over and they’re about to head off from the locker rooms, Nicky comes to talk to Neil excitedly about the trip to Columbia they’re going to make as soon as they leave the stadium. Neil distracted by Nicky, takes his bag from the locker and without noticing knocks his empty bottle to the floor. Mike who was in the lockers in front of them rushes to catch it from the floor and when it’s clear that Neil hadn’t even noticed him picking it up, he grabs Neil arm to catch his attention and give it to him.

Immediately, Neil jumps back at the unexpected touch and one second later Andrew is pushing Mike against the lockers with a knife to his throat.

“What the f—” Mike starts.

“I’ll only say this once,” Andrew interrupts him. “Don’t touch him again unless he tells you to.”

Matt is about to reach Andrew and Neil puts himself on the way. “Don’t,” he tells him, and Matt looks between Andrew and Neil, and stops just a few inches away from them.

“I just wanted—” Mike stops talking mid-sentence when Andrew presses the knife closer to his throat making him wince.

Matt steps closer almost touching Neil, so Neil tries to take a step back but feels Andrew’s arm against his back. He puts his arm in Matt’s path in a last attempt for Matt not get involved. “Let them talk,” he insists and receives a warning look from Matt but Neil doesn’t back down so Matt remains where he is.

After seeing from the corner of his eye that Matt has stopped coming his way, Andrew turns his attention to Mike once again. “Let me make myself clear, he’s not interested so leave him alone. Got it? Or next time I won’t play nice,” he warns him in a low tone that Neil struggles to hear.

“Okay, I just didn’t know—”

“What the fuck is going on here?” Wymack interrupts Mike when he enters the locker room and takes in what’s happening. “Let him go now, Minyard.”

Andrew steps back and turns to face Wymack over Neil. “Don’t worry coach, our little chat is done now,” Andrew says and turns his attention back to Mike’s terrified face while he puts his knife away.

No one moves until Andrew steps around Neil and grabs his bag. Then he starts to walk in the direction of the entrance.“ Let’s go,” he says without looking back.

Neil immediately moves to grab his own bag and follow Andrew outside but when he’s about to pass Wymack by the door, he’s stopped by a hand in front of him.

“Do we have a problem here?” Wymack asks, studying Neil.

“No, Coach,” Neil tells him, and when Wymack doesn’t remove his hand he adds, “Andrew gave him a fair warning, there won’t be a problem unless Mike doesn’t listen.”

Nicky stops right behind Neil, wanting to leave the locker room as soon as possible after what happened. He looks curiously between Neil and the coach to see what’s the hold-up, but Wymack removes his hand and nods at Neil understanding the implications of what could happen if Mike kept pushing Andrew’s patience. “I’ll talk to him,” he says to Neil, then he turns to the others. “Now, get out of my sight!”

“Yes, Coach!” Neil and Nicky half shout before exiting with Kevin and Aaron right behind them.

As soon as Andrew sees them stepping out of the doors, he takes a long drag of his cigarette, lets it drop to the floor, and steps on it before he enters the vehicle. The others don’t take long to enter the car. They make a short stop at the dorms to change clothes and grab their stuff for the weekend and then they head out to Columbia.

***

They pull up into the parking lot at Sweetie’s to eat dessert for dinner like they’ve done many times before. After they’re done eating they head off to Eden’s Twilight and by the time they reach the club, it’s fully packed and it takes them a while to find an empty table. Once they find one, Neil follows Andrew to the bar to pick up the drinks while the others stay at the table.

Neil stops right behind Andrew when he manages to reach the counter. It doesn’t take long for Andrew to see Roland looking up in their general direction and signal to them. Neil curses when he feels himself being slightly pushed towards Andrew by the crowd. He turns toward the person that bumped into him to give him an annoyed look, but the guy behind him immediately starts to smile apologetically. “Oh, hey sorry about that,” the guy starts, “how about I pay you—”

“How about no,” Andrew interrupts him annoyed, turning his head around to look at the guy. “Just go.”

The guy puts his hands in the air and turns around,looking unbothered. They both watch him leave and Neil is about to speak when Roland’s voice comes right behind them. “I’d appreciate if you don’t scare the customers away,” he says, but when Neil turns to look back at the counter he finds him only smirking at them.

“Piss off,” Andrew tells him.

“Relax, that was fun to watch,” Roland says looking between the two of them. “So, the usual?” He asks, placing two shots in front of them.

Andrew drinks the shot and answers, “Yeah.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back,” Roland says moving to the end of the counter to prepare their drinks.

Andrew then looks at Neil and when Neil shakes his head, he grabs the other shot and drinks it too in a quick motion.

Not long after, Rolland appears in front of them with a tray full of drinks, so Neil makes a path for Andrew to follow him with the tray towards the others. Once they get to the table Kevin and Aaron start to drink so fast that one would think they were in a competition to see who can get completely wasted first, and soon they head off towards the dance floor with Nicky, leaving Neil and Andrew behind as usual.

***

The next day they’re all in the living room watching a movie when Andrew silently gets up. At the movement, Neil looks up and meets his eyes for a second, and Andrew motions with his head for him to follow.

They go outside and sit on the steps. Andrew lights a cigarette takes a long drag and passes it to Neil, who lets it burn down between his fingers. They keep sharing it in silence until it’s done, then Andrew extends his arm as if waiting for something. It takes a moment for Neil to understand what, but then he copies the movement and extends his arm too.

Andrew puts his hand palm up to Neil and keeps staring in front of them. “Go on, if you want,” Andrew tells him quietly. Neil slowly reaches for it and pulls Andrew’s hand towards him barely touching him. Andrew says nothing about it so Neil takes it as a good sign and inspects his hand. He can feel the warmth of his skin and the callous in his hands just like the ones he has. He turns Andrew’s hand and traces every small scar with his finger. Then he moves his hand under Andrew’s and grabs it for a moment.

Neil studies their hands together wondering what exactly they’re doing; what it all means to them. All he knows is that he doesn’t want to stop it, he wants to memorize every inch of Andrew.

The sound of footsteps coming towards them snaps Neil out of his thoughts and he lets go of Andrew’s hand the moment Kevin opens the door. Neil turns his head to face him wanting to know the reason he’s interrupting them and Andrew doesn’t move at all.

“Tomorrow can we go back to campus sooner?” Kevin asks, looking at Andrew’s back.

“If you’re going to ask me to go back earlier on a Sunday because you want to practice think again,” Andrew responds without moving to look at Kevin.

“We need to practice there’s a game coming up,” Kevin insists, now choosing to look at Neil in search of support.

“We can practice Monday,” Neil tells him, he loves playing Exy but right now he’s annoyed at Kevin for interrupting them and he just wants him to leave them alone.

Kevin glares at him for siding with Andrew. “Monday night we’re going to practice until later,” he tells them pissed.

“Fuck off,” Andrew says, clearly done with the conversation and Kevin turns to leave slamming the door behind himself.

In their second year a deal is made. Andrew wants to explore his boundaries and there’s really just one person he trusts around himself.

Set in a universe where everything is the same except that Andrew never kissed Neil on the rooftop that night. Instead, they just got closer and more comfortable around each other.

Read from the start if you haven’t yet! [Part 1]

You can also read it on [AO3]

As always a huge thank you to @velvetnoodle for being an amazing beta <3<3

Part 7

It's Sunday afternoon when Andrew parks the Maserati at the Fox Tower. They step out of the vehicle and climb the stairs into the building. Once they reach the third floor, Neil opens the door and steps into the corridor. He immediately notices Dan and Allison talking near their dorm entrance, and at the sound of the door opening, they both turn.

“Hey Neil, did you get my message?” Dan asks when they get closer and once she notices the confused look on Neil’s face she continues, “About the movie session I planned once everyone was back at campus?”

Neil puts his hand in his back pocket in search of his phone but it isn’t there. He begins to frown, trying to think of where he could possibly have left it until Andrew interrupts his train of thought.

“You left it at the house, didn’t you?” Andrew asks looking sideways at him.

“Yeah,” Neil says turning to look back at him, suddenly remembering that the last time he touched his phone was the previous night when he placed it on the side table when he and Andrew were in the living room eating pizza.

“Fucking idiot,” Andrew comments, then he turns to Dan and asks, “Renee?”

“She’s inside,” Dan tells him and steps out of the door frame to allow him to pass. As soon as she’s out of the way, Andrew moves to enter the girl’s dorm room in search of Renee.

After a moment, Dan turns to share a look with Allison and then she grabs the doorknob to almost close the door behind herself.

“What?” Neil asks when they both turn to look at him.

“What's up with you and the monster?” Allison asks straight to the point.

“What do you mean?” Neil replies “And I told you already: stop calling him that.”

“I mean what I heard the freshman talking about,” she starts. “I thought they were just making it up but--” she pauses when they hear the sound of elevator doors opening and she looks over her shoulder to see who’s arrived before continuing in a lower tone, ”but they aren't, aren't they?”

Neil freezes for a second not entirely sure on what to answer. He moves to the side to be able to see who just arrived and sees Matt stepping out of the elevator and walking towards them.

“Hey guys, am I the last one to arrive?” Matt half shouts from the other side of the corridor when he notices them all staring.

“No, go get your roommates,” Dan tells him; Matt gives her a nod and walks towards his room three doors down from where they currently are.

As soon as Matt opens his door and steps in, both girls turn to focus on Neil again. He sees Allison about to open her mouth but he speaks first. “Just mind your own business,” Neil tells them sharply and steps into their room to find Andrew.

***

Days later, once Neil is done with classes he waits for Nicky so they can go to the library together. Once there, they find Renee and Allison at a table and decide to join them. Neil has a Spanish paper due in two days so he pulls his laptop to work on it.

After what feels like an hour, Allison puts her manicured hand in front of his screen to break his concentration. Neil looks up and finds the others all looking at him. “What?” he asks.

“We were just making plans to go out for dinner tomorrow, and we thought that it would make Dan happy if we could gather the whole team for it,” Renee explains.

“You know, to unite the team like Dan keeps nagging us about,” Nicky adds.

“Okay?” Neil says unsure. He knows that not everyone will appreciate the idea. The twins won’t like it; Kevin won’t want to go unless he actually thinks it could help the team, and Mike still keeps his distance from everyone on their group after Andrew gave him that warning a few weeks ago.

“Can you talk to Andrew about it?” Allison asks him, almost as if knowing what he was just thinking about.

“What about Mike? I don’t think he’ll accept the invitation,” Neil asks instead.

“He’ll go,” Renee answers. “I’ll talk to him.”

“So? Will you talk to Andrew or not?” Nicky asks excitedly.

“Fine, I can ask but I can’t guarantee that he’ll agree to it.” After last year, Andrew hasn’t completely shut down the others but there’s only so much of everyone’s presence that he can handle at a time.

“Oh Neil, you’re so adorable when you say things like that,” Allison says with a smile.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Neil asks.

“Oh, nothing,” she tells him with a dismissive wave of her hand and goes back to look at her laptop.

Neil begins to frown, he doesn’t get what Allison means by that. But there’s really no point in trying to understand it at the moment, so he decides not to care and focus instead on finishing his paper.

***

It’s only when the floor is filled with empty takeout boxes from their dinner later that day that Neil decides to bring up the subject of dinner with the team. He looks at his roommates unsure about how to ask this. Andrew is sitting on his desk reading a book while Kevin watches the sports channel on the TV, so he gets up from his own desk to stand near Andrew. “How about tomorrow we go to dinner at the Italian place just outside of campus?”

“We can order in from that place, so why bother?” Andrew replies, not taking his eyes off his book.

Neil gives him an unimpressed look and adds, ”The whole team is going.”

Kevin mutes the TV. “Why?”

“To see if it helps to bring us together,” Neil answers glancing at Kevin. And judging by the thoughtful expression on Kevin’s face, he seems to be considering if it’s worth going or not.

“I think you’re spending too much time with Dan and Renee,” Andrew comments.

Neil rolls his eyes. “I didn’t say I believed a dinner could do that... but I’m willing to give it a try.” Neil’s not actually looking forward to the dinner but he’s not going to say anything, even if Andrew can read it in his face.

“Why tomorrow?” Kevin asks. “We won’t be able to practice at night if we go and we have a game in a few days.”

Andrew seems to consider what Kevin just said, then he closes his book and looks up to meet Neil’s eyes. “Fine, we’re going.”

Neil can’t help but roll his eyes again when he sees the look Kevin sends his way after hearing Andrew’s answer. He stares back at him and after a moment Kevin turns the TV off. “Take me to practice,” Kevin says to no one in particular and gets up, putting on his shoes and not pausing to see if they’re following him out of the room.

Neil puts on his shoes almost amused. Thanks to Kevin, convincing Andrew to come along had been way easier than he’d expected. He watches as Andrew walks in his direction to put on his own shoes. “Stop staring,” Andrew tells him without looking up from tying his laces.

“I wasn’t,” he lies and quickly looks away from Andrew’s back. Once Andrew is ready, Neil starts to walk towards the door. “Let’s go,” he tells Andrew and without looking back he starts to open the door.

Andrew puts his hand on the door to stop Neil from opening it.“One hundred and thirty-four,” Andrew states. Neil slowly looks to his side to face Andrew and begins to grin.

Andrew looks at him unimpressed. “Stop with that stupid grin,” he tells him and removes his hand from the door. “Kevin’s waiting,” he reminds Neil.

Neil takes a deep breath and looks away from Andrew. “I know,” he says and fights the urge to keep grinning.

***

The next day, after the Foxes finish practice they all go to the cars and make the short drive to the restaurant. Once in there, the waitress directs them to a big table reserved by Allison.

When they're all seated, Nicky, Allison, and Dan start to make small talk in an attempt to fill the silence. Andrew, who is sitting at Neil’s side, has decided to glare at his brother sitting in front of him texting while they wait for the food, so Neil looks around the table to study his teammates. He knew this would be awkward, and he doesn’t really feel like joining in their conversations so he starts to listen to Kevin’s conversation with Caroline, a freshman that idolizes Kevin and is always eager to listen to him talk about anything Exy related.

Soon the food comes and everyone is busy eating. Neil half listens to the conversations around the table, and by the number of drinks already ordered he starts to wonder if he and Renee will have to drive everyone back to campus. He looks to Andrew’s side to see how much Kevin is drinking and he’s surprised to find him still with his glass half full and the bottle in front of him untouched. He seems to be too invested in talking about Exy to pay attention to the food. Neil notices, however, that Andrew’s currently holding his empty glass with his knuckles turning white from how tightly he’s holding it, and his expression indicates to Neil that he’s becoming annoyed.

Neil frowns, unsure on what is pissing Andrew off, until suddenly he remembers Andrew asking him last year if he could talk about anything else besides Exy. So Neil begins to talk to Andrew in a quiet tone by his side; about his school work, about Columbia, and as they eat he sees Andrew relaxing slightly by his side.

When they’re almost done with the food he notices that Andrew’s looking at the end of the table where Mike is sitting beside Renee.

“He has stayed as far away as he can,” Neil points out. “Just like you told him to.”

“Yes, he has.” Andrew agrees. “Renee must be teaching him some things,” he says in a bored tone and returns his attention back to his plate to take a bite of his remaining pasta. “He is her problem after all; we’ll see if she can keep him in line.”

Neil shoves some food into his mouth and thinks back to what happened with Mike. It’s been a few quiet weeks since he’s had people bothering him and he’s just glad for the peace. “Speaking of Renee, any predictions about that last book she let you borrow? The one about the maze?” Neil asks to try to change the subject away from Mike.

Andrew takes a sip of his drink before answering. “The girl is going to be a pain in the ass until the end.”

“Is she going to die?”

Andrew seems to consider it. “Probably,” he says, then he adds, “Renee is on the last book if you want to ask her.”

Neil hums in acknowledgment. “I’ll just wait for your summary of the book.”

“Why don’t you read it yourself?” Andrew asks him. Neil glances to his side and notices the corners of Andrew’s mouth turning upward, indicating that he’s amused, so Neil ignores him until dessert comes.

He’s already full so he only eats half of his ice cream. He sees Andrew eyeing his plate when he finishes his own so Neil pushes his plate to the side closer to Andrew as an offer. And after a moment, Andrew pushes his plate away in order to make room and brings Neil’s plate over to finish.

Not a moment later, Neil feels someone’s eyes on him so he looks up to scan the table. He finds Matt leaning towards Dan at the end of the table whispering while they're both looking at him. Neil frowns at them until they realize he’s onto them and immediately they look away.

Soon they leave the restaurant and Neil drives the Maserati back to the building. When they park the cars at the Fox Tower, Matt calls after him so Neil walks towards his truck instead. They stay quiet as the others go inside and when Andrew is about to enter the building he pauses to stare at Neil. When he sees that he has Neil’s attention he taps the cigarette box he’s holding with one finger. Neil gives him a small nod to indicate that he got the message, that Andrew will be waiting for him in their usual spot on the roof, and turns to lean against Matt’s truck.

Once the parking lot is empty, Matt turns to look at him. “You know that you can talk to us, right? About anything?”

“Okay,” Neil says unsure where the conversation is going.

“Even if it’s about Andrew.” Matt looks down at his feet and shoves his hands in his pockets before he continues, “I mean, even I’ve started to notice some things.”

“Please stop.” Neil closes his eyes wondering how this is happening right now.

“Come on, I don’t know what’s going on with you too but you’re clearly hiding something,” Matt points out and they stay quiet for a minute. “I know you don’t like to talk about things but if one day you want to, we’re here,” Matt adds more quietly.

Neil takes a deep breath. “Are we done here?” he asks, and Matt starts to grin apologetically. “And we’re not hiding anything,” Neil clarifies before he begins to walk away. They’re not; whatever is happening is between him and Andrew.

Neil comes to a stop and runs his hand through his hair. “Thanks Matt,” he says after a moment and without looking back he starts to walk again towards the building. He knows that Matt means well, but things are complicated and he doesn’t have to explain anything to anyone, not until he’s ready to do it. He’s suddenly craving the familiar smell of smoke in the air so he rushes up the stairs to where he knows that Andrew is waiting for him with a cigarette ready.