*Hey this is set a year before my post "Running Regrets" so it can be read separately. It is also posted on AO3!* Neil was worried, which was not an unusual emotion for him. After captaining the Foxes for two years and proving his continued worth to the Moriyamas every game; worry was a constant companion. Neil was exceptionally worried this year though, because Andrew had agreed to go pro. If, for nothing else, to keep a close eye on Kevin and Neil. Neil was not anxious about Andrew getting offers. No one could deny Andrew as the best goal keeper in the league. Neil stressed over Andrew being alone. Andrew might never admit it out loud but Neil knew how important having his family close was to the man. He knew by the way Andrew's shoulders tensed whenever Nicky began excitedly chattering about Germany. Never noticing how Nicky always looks over at him hopefully, wanting support when he mentions breaks and vacations together. And whenever Aaron mentioned med school, Andrew simply left the room. He blamed it on 'the cheerleader breathing making him reach for his knives' but Neil knew the truth. Andrew was not ready to let his family go. Which of course was further complicated by losing so many people all at once. Kevin had signed with the L.A. Jets (ranked 4th nationally, seemed to Neil that Kevin also had an affinity for the underdogs((a comment he had of course made to the press at Kevin's official signing causing Kevin to throw the pen at him, Andrew to smirk, and Wymack to noticeably not lecture Neil on appropriate things to tell the press))). When Kevin had moved out of the dorm and firmly shook Andrew's hand on the promise of seeing him on the court again next year, it seemed to be the first moment Andrew had realized Kevin was no longer going to be in choking distance. It was no longer going to be Andrew's responsibility to pull Kevin off the floor when he has one of his 'Raven moments' and dump him in his bed. There would be no one to watch history documentaries and then lecture on what they had gotten wrong. No one to yell about Andrew's diet... Neil had found Andrew on the roof during Kevin's going away party holding a cigarette with a bottle a vodka resting by his leg. When Neil had dared to say "it's okay to miss him." Andrew had stubbed the cigarette out and calmly told Neil that he only regretted not having someone for Neil to blather on about exy with, because 'who will compete with you for greatest exy junkie ever' before pulling on Neil's shirt and distracting him with 'yes or no.' But Neil had not been able to forget Andrew's expression, and how he sometimes glared at their wall calendar as if it was to blame for time continuing to run away from him. For time taking his family away from him. Andrew had finally found a family that wanted him, flaws and all, and their lives were now getting in the way of that. And soon time would be the cause of something Andrew had never experienced before. Andrew being the one to leave. There are many things that Neil and Andrew each have as off limits topics. After Aaron's court case Neil would never ask about the moment she (Neil never says her name) touched Andrew's arm and opened her mouth as if to say something, before her face crumpled and she turned around and walked away. ((And when Neil was particularly obsessive with marking Andrew's neck that night he knew Andrew was not okay until he looked in the dorms mirror three day later and said 'if you want to pretend to be a vampire at least finish the damn job' before throwing on a scarf and leaving for class.)) And Andrew knew to never comment on why Neil flinches just a little too hard whenever a female comments on their relationship. Especially the one time Dan had yelled at them to stop flirting and get back to practice. But nothing quite compared to both of their resistance to mention the looming May graduation date in a years time. The day Andrew would be leaving Neil. It was easy to say they were going to stay together. That 'this' was it for both of them, but it was harder to admit that being apart was an ordeal neither wanted to face. Since Baltimore the longest time they had spent apart was a week (5 nights 6 days to be exact) and it was fur to another event neither of them spoke about. Beyond that incident there was the occasional weekend where Neil went to visit one of the girls when Andrew was feeling particularly anti-outsiders and that was it. They were very rarely out of each other's line of sight ((outside of classes and Andrew's appointments with Bee)) much less across the country from one another. Which compounded onto Neil's other worry, because Andrew was not great at making friends. And Neil could not imagine being okay with Andrew being on a team full of people who didn't understand him. He didn't want Andrew to exist in a place where everyone only saw him as 'monster' again. Andrew may have protected Neil his first year, but they had protected each other ever since. "Uh... Captain? Neil? Dude? You alive in there?" Neil was shaken out of his own thoughts by the woman standing in front of him. She was 5'6, muscular, and with a thick mane of unruly dark hair. Robin Thompson, their new freshman goalkeeper. Neil had been put in charge of picking her up from the airport. This was perhaps the friendliest greeting he had ever received from a freshmen recruit. "You can call me Neil. No one calls me Captain." A wicked smirk turned up the left corner of her mouth, matching a nose that had clearly been broken at least once ((from reading her file Neil knew it had been broken three times)) and freckles that crossed the bridge of her nose across her cheeks. "How about Cap'n O'Neil?!" "... that's not my name." Neil was sure it was a reference he was supposed to understand, but so far Robin had proven to be the most disarming recruit he had met. From reading her file he was expecting a sullen, angsty, angry teen and instead was sent to meet with the equivalent of a firecracker. "Hmm slow on jokes. We will work on that." Before tossing her carry on at Neil's face and lifting her other bag on top of her shoulder, wheeling a midsize suitcase behind her and heading towards the exit. "You coming" was thrown over a shoulder and Neil was hard pressed to know whether or not it was a question or just merely a statement.

Something that should have gone in my thesis book but couldn’t find space.