1.
Let it be said, the Foxes knew how to party. Or at least most of them did. The majority of them were good partiers, and the rest were batshit crazy, so they tended to lean towards the extreme end of the spectrum. Matt, Dan, Allison, and Nicky were all fairly good at holding their liquor, and had plenty of experience at the other various and sundry ragers that were thrown on campus. Aaron and Kevin were pretty much exclusive attendees of clubs, or, in Aaron’s case, the occasional frat party he attended with his girlfriend. This meant that they tended to be both heavy drinkers and worse at holding their alcohol. They rarely attended on-campus parties, but when they did, shit got wild.
So a party that all the Foxes were attending was bound to get crazy. And it did. It might have gotten worse if they hadn’t all been exhausted from the game they had just played. They’d all found their ways back to each other at some point, Kevin and Aaron both half falling off their seats, Dan in Matt’s lap, Nicky sprawled out on the floor, and Renee and Allison sitting, leaning against each other on the couch.
Nicky, reaching up to place his cup on the low table haphazardly, spoke up first, rubbing at his eyes blearily. “Has anyone seen Neil?”
Matt frowned from where he was sitting, jostling Dan slightly as he readjusted. “Yeah, he should be here celebrating.” He looked comically upset by the absence of his best friend.
Renee, delicately holding her soda, interjected carefully, “I think he went upstairs a little while ago.”
Allison nodded sagely. “Mmm, makes sense. This isn’t exactly his scene.”
Nicky frowned more deeply, accidentally thumping his head against the floor in the process. “What about Andrew? I haven’t seen him in ages either. Plus, he doesn’t usually leave Kevin alone like this.”
Kevin finally spoke up, adding a ghastly moan from his corner.
Dan nodded. “Yeah, what he said.”
Aaron, coming around slightly, muttered “He left ages ago. He hates this shit.”
Allison sat up, suddenly incredibly alert. “Holy shit.” She shoved Matt’s arm overzealously. “Matt, dude, holy shit.”
“What,” he grumbled.
“What was it you told him about taking advantage of an empty dorm room?”
Matt’s eyes widened. “No way. You don’t think…?” He broke off, mouth hanging open in drunken wonder. “No way.”
Dan rolled her eyes, resting her head against Matt’s shoulder. “That’s totally not it. Andrew probably went to smoke and Neil is probably watching SportsCenter reruns on the TV.”
Allison grinned evilly. “Only one way to find out.”
Nicky shook his head, looking horrified. “No way in hell are we doing that.”
Allison frowned. “Why not?”
“Why not?” Nicky practically shrieked, “Because if we’re right then Andrew will kill us for interrupting, and if not, then…” He frowned. “Then we just left a great party for nothing.” He slumped backwards onto the floor again. “Plus, who would be stupid enough to agree to take that particular bullet?”
One by one, they all turned to look straight at him.
“No fucking way.”
Allison pursed her lips. “I’ll give you twenty bucks.”
He stopped, considering. His brow furrowed intensely in drunken concentration. “Fifty.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
“Okay,” he groaned, rising slowly from the floor, “but if I die doing this, promise to remember me.”
They all waved him off as he stumbled his way upstairs.
The next morning Allison, despite her impressive hangover, visibly deflated at Nicky’s report: nothing new on the Andrew and Neil front. At least she didn’t care about the fifty bucks.
2.
Neil stood in the doorway of a cheap motel, looking back at his family standing gathered before him. His whole body ached, and his face felt like someone had run over it with a truck. Having Andrew at his side almost made up for it, though. He could still feel Andrew’s hands resting lightly against his jaw, peeling off his bandages with uncharacteristic caution. He glanced to his right, and felt something savage in him settle and go still at the sight of Andrew staring back. Andrew, out of sight of the rest of the team, brushed his arm lightly against Neil’s. Stifling a wince, Neil relaxed into the touch. He took a deep breath and turned to look back at his Foxes.
He smiled slightly, seeing them all looking up at him, as if they thought he’d disappear if they took their eyes off of him for even a second. “I’ll see you all soon.”
Allison gave him a half feral grin. “You’d better.”
He turned to leave, Andrew at his heels, when Allison called out after them, “And by the way, I appreciate all the money you two just made me. I’ve been betting on that,” she gave a hand gesture, “becoming a thing for months.”
Neil blinked at her. He hadn’t realized he and Andrew had done anything that would give them away. Certainly nothing that fit under public displays of affection as far as he was aware.
Dan whipped her head around, looking surprisingly furious at her. “Are you fucking serious? Look at him. No one is making any money right now, let alone you. We don’t make cash from the vulnerability of our teammates. That’s bullshit and you know it.”
Matt, sensing the rising tension, rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and piped up from Dan’s side, “Yeah. Plus, I’d need more evidence. There’s no way I’m coughing up that much cash over Andrew’s weird mother-bear routine.”
Nicky snorted out a laugh, looking borderline hysterical. He sat down heavily, dropping his head into his hands. “God, I’ve never thought of it like that.” He flopped back on the bed, tossing an arm over his eyes.
Neil couldn’t blame him. He knew a shitty day when he saw one.
Andrew just threw them all a passive look over his half-turned shoulder. He swiveled his head back to face Neil.
Neil softened slightly looking at him. “Ready?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Waiting on you.”
3.
Allison frowned at her computer screen. Renee, sitting on the couch near her, looked over. “Something wrong?”
Allison sighed. “Not really. I found the perfect place, but the rooming situation isn’t quite right. It’s got one king, one queen, and five singles. The singles work fine, and so does the queen, but I don’t know who’s going to take the king.”
Renee hummed. “We could share.”
Allison felt her heart skip a bit. She started to sweat slightly. It was bad enough sharing a dorm room with Renee, sharing a bed might just tip her over the edge. It wasn’t exactly something you brought up easily, like, hey, I know we’ve been friends for years, but I think I’m falling in love with you. Surprise!
She furrowed her brow. “Um, actually how about…” she stopped. A grin split her face. This would be perfect. If she played it right, she and Renee wouldn’t have to share, and she could finally settle that bet. She could keep her growing feelings a secret for a little longer. “I think I figured it out, actually.”
Renee gave her a skeptical look, but didn’t ask any further questions, turning back to the novel in her hands.
Two weeks later, they arrived at the cabin. She stood in the living room in front of her teammates, matching luggage set thrown over her shoulder and at her feet. The rest of the team, exhausted from travel, filed in and waited for their room assignments.
She pulled out the floor plan she’d printed out. Contrary to public opinion, she was actually incredibly organized. At least when it came to important things. And team vacation/bonding time was very important. S he was the type to print out a color coded schedule for international vacations and give everyone an inventory, neatly filed into their own folders. But given that this was a more laid back trip, and that Dan would give her endless shit, she’d skimped slightly on the graphic organizers.'
She unfolded the paper in front of her. “Okay, Matt and Dan, you’re upstairs, last door on the right with the queen. Renee and I are next door, so keep it down, for fucks sake.” She threw them an unimpressed look, which Dan responded to with a pointedly explicit gesture. “Aaron, Kevin, and Nicky, you’re off the first floor over here. And Andrew and Neil are sharing downstairs.”
Nicky groaned. “I have to share with these idiots, even on vacation? God is cruel.”
Allison pointed sharply at him. “Well, you could’ve left Aaron and Kevin to share a bed but I figure they would’ve killed each other.”
Matt paused, clearly picking up on the hint she’d dropped. “Wait, Neil and Andrew are sharing a bed?”
Allison grinned, looking far too pleased with herself. “Yup. I figured since they’re so clearly boning they might as well get stuck together as the only other couple.”
Neil rolled his eyes. “Really? Are we still on this.”
Allison nodded. “Absolutely. Just say the word. Think about it Neil, you have the power to simultaneously earn me hundreds of dollars and shoot to the top of my favorite person list. That could go really well for you.”
Neil dropped his duffel at his feet, stretching his right arm absentmindedly. “Nah, I’d rather not give you the satisfaction.”
“Aha!” she cried, “That sounded like confirmation.”
Picking up his bag, Neil turned towards the stairs to the basement. “I plead the fifth.”
4.
The initial celebration had been uproarious. It had taken them all a moment to realize that Neil wasn’t there. Despite the guilt he felt about that, Matt couldn’t say he entirely blamed them: Neil was a fairly short guy, and in the chaos of the final buzzer, even he couldn’t really say exactly where everyone was.
Apparently that wasn’t the case for Andrew. Matt had barely registered that Neil was talking to Riko, on his knees in front of him, when he saw Andrew sprinting in their direction. He moved so fast that Matt had just started to make a hasty dash towards Neil when Andrew lifted his racquet, smashing it down on Riko’s raised arm.
By this point, the whole team had turned, their jubilation quickly turning to shock and horror. Matt had finally reached Neil, hauling him up from the floor. He could tell by the way Neil was lying there that he probably couldn’t walk properly, not that he could blame him, given the way he’d just finished playing.
Matt could feel Andrew’s eyes on him, but disregarded him almost immediately, propping Neil up and leading him back towards the locker room. The team fell into formation around him, and Matt got Neil as far as the benches in the sitting area, at which point he was swarmed by Abby, checking him all over as if he could have somehow gotten some kind of new injury between the court and the locker room. Once he’d double checked that Neil was alright, Matt made his way to get changed out. He noticed that Andrew wasn’t following the rest of them, instead standing, arms crossed, next to Abby, watching her every move.
Matt shook his head, pushing open the door to the guys locker room. Kevin, Nicky, and Aaron all turned to look at him as he entered. He paused, at a loss for words.
It was Nicky who spoke first. “Holy shit. Did that just happen?”
Kevin frowned. “No need to sound so surprised.” Matt thought that was pretty rich coming from someone who had spent all season, even up to the last twenty four hours, telling them all how incredibly inadequate and unprepared they were.
Nicky rolled his eyes. “I was talking about one of our teammates almost getting murdered on live television, Kevin. Funnily enough, that’s taking precedence at the moment.”
Kevin shook his head, muttering something to himself and turning back to untying his shoes.
Nicky let out a long breath. “I mean, thank god Andrew was there. At least he was paying attention.”
Aaron snorted. “He’s always paying attention to Neil.”
Nicky’s eyes widened. “Oh shit, yeah. We probably all owe Allison some money, don’t we?” He groaned. “Damn. How is it fair that she still gets to bet? She’s the rich one. She shouldn’t get to win money off the rest of us.”
Matt shook his head. “No, I don’t think we do.”
Nicky tilted his head to the side. “Don’t what?”
“Owe her money. I’d have done the same thing if I had been faster.”
Nicky paused at that. “It’s not your fault Matt.”
Matt shook his head, more firmly this time. “No, it’s not. But we all owe Andrew big time.”
Aaron laughed derisively from where he was peeling off his gear. “Loathe as you are to admit it.”
Matt snorted. “Yeah, and you’re so grateful.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
Nicky rolled his eyes. “Sure Aaron, be a buzzkill. But we shouldn’t dwell on it too long. Kevin’s right, actually. You realize we just won the fucking championship, right?” He laughed breathlessly, running his hands roughly through his hair. “I mean goddamn.”
Matt rubbed at his forehead. “I’ll be more excited once I’m less exhausted.”
And with that, he headed to shower, trying to block the image of Neil, helpless at Riko’s feet out of his mind as he went.
+1
Neil had been up early that morning. He’d woken up at five with a nightmare that left him shaking and sweaty and feeling loose in his own skin. He’d shot out of bed, and was pulling on his running shoes and sweatshirt so quickly that he almost didn’t register it.
Andrew did though, as Neil could see from how he bolted upright in bed, eyes flashing for a moment before they settled on Neil.
Neil, half-dressed and bent over tying his shoes, turned to look at him. “I’m fine,” he whispered, answering the unasked question hanging in the air. “Go back to sleep.”
Andrew narrowed his eyes. Neil should have gotten used to the fact that Andrew seldom believed him when he said things like that. He was also incredibly unlikely to follow orders, or even give in to requests. So it really shouldn’t have been a surprise when Andrew sat up further, grabbing his sweatpants and slides and leading Neil out the door to the kitchen area, where he snatched his keys from the bowl before pushing Neil towards the car downstairs.
They drove for close to an hour, heading in no particular direction, before Neil felt himself slide back into place. He let out a long breath, finally refocusing on the setting before him. At that point, he turned back to Andrew, who was pointedly watching the road in front of them.
“Sorry,” he said, voice croaking from lack of use.
Andrew scowled. “For what.”
Neil rolled his eyes. “It’s still ass o’clock in the morning. You don’t get up a minute earlier than you have to. I know an inconvenience when I see one.”
“Yes. I do not get up earlier than I have to. Today, the time I had to wake up was earlier. So stop it.”
Neil stifled a grin. He knew what Andrew was really trying to say. He felt like helping Neil through his nightmares was an equal commitment as having to go to class or practice, and was therefore an anticipated and agreed to occurrence, even though Neil knew it really wasn’t. He glanced back over at Andrew.
“Can we head to the Court.”
Andrew glowered from the driver’s seat.
“I have to…” Neil paused, collecting his thoughts. “I have to move, or I’m going to go insane.”
The look on Andrew’s face told him all he needed to know about what Andrew thought about his current sanity, but he turned around nonetheless.
They got back to the stadium about half an hour before practice was supposed to start, and Neil felt his exhaustion start to kick in. Even though he had asked to come, he suddenly didn’t really feel like changing out and heading to the Court. He turned to Andrew, who was standing, arms crossed, in the lounge area. He waved a hand, seeming to tell him to go ahead, but Neil instead walked back over in his direction, stopping so close that their feet were almost touching.
“Thank you.”
Andrew reached up two fingers, pushing Neil’s face away from him. “No.”
Neil smirked. “No? I haven’t even asked anything yet.”
Andrew glared. “No to your guilt complex.”
Neil shrugged. “Fine. How about to this?” He leaned in, stopping with a healthy distance between their mouths.
“Yes.” Andrew leaned in the rest of the way, catching Neil’s mouth with his own. What started as a breathless, heady kiss quickly turned heated. Andrew’s arms snaked around his waist, gripping at the fabric of his hoodie and pulling him forcibly towards the couch behind them.
In one swift motion, Andrew had him laying down on the couch and was propped up above him, only their lips touching. Neil sighed into his mouth, a sound which Andrew quickly kissed away.
They spent so long caught up in each other, Neil’s hands tangled in Andrew’s hair, Andrew mapping out the skin beneath Neil’s shirt, that they didn’t even seem to register how much time was passing.
Before they even knew to be worried, the rest of the team was tromping through the lounge area. Nicky, at the front of the group, stopped dead in his tracks, causing a back up behind him as the rest of the Foxes collided with him.
At his loud gasp. Andrew sprung up and off of Neil, a hand going for his armbands. Neil, still recovering, reached out a warning hand in the space between them.
He cleared his throat self-consciously. “Uh, hey guys.”
Matt was barely picking his jaw up off the floor. “Holy shit.”
Kevin had his arms crossed. “This is what dorm rooms are for.”
Neil raised an eyebrow. “Yeah Kevin, that would work great if you ever left yours.”
Dan looked aghast. “How did we fucking miss this.”
Allison, pushed past her, looking unfairly triumphant. “We didn’t. You did. Pay up motherfuckers. I take cash or check.”
There was some grumbling, some quick handing over of money, a few muttered IOU’s, and a general dark mood seemed to settle on the rest of the Foxes, more focused on their lost money than what they’d just walked in on.
Aaron, unfortunately, did not feel the same.
“You two are not having sex on the fucking couch right now. I sit there! With my actual human body, which I only have one of and cannot replace. Jesus Christ, I need to bleach my eyes. And my everything.”
Nicky rolled his eyes. “Hey, at least one of us is getting some.”
Andrew made a movement that had Neil standing up quickly. “Okay, maybe we should all just move on. As quickly as possible.”
Matt shook his head, looking gleeful. “Fuck no dude. How long has this been going on?”
At the expectant looks on the rest of the team’s faces, Neil sighed. Seeing where this was going, Andrew just straight up walked out, making a beeline for the locker room. Neil stifled a grin, suspecting it might have had more to do with the careful position Andrew had been standing in just then than the situation with his teammates. He turned back to the Foxes.
“Fine. Since January.”
Nicky’s eyes widened. “Neil, buddy, that’s fucking ages! Why didn’t you tell any of us?”
Neil shrugged. “There wasn’t anything to tell.”
Dan stepped forward. “No, sorry, I think ‘I’m hooking up with a teammate’ is actually a big fucking thing to tell.”
Neil snorted. “You’re one to talk.”
Renee, piping up for the first time, quickly added, “I think Dan meant to say that we’re all very happy for you two Neil, but given how close we all are, we had hoped you might feel comfortable sharing this with us.”
Neil waved a hand. “It’s not about my comfort, it’s about his. And I don’t think either of us really wanted to make this the newest team gossip.”
Matt nodded. “I get it man. But seriously, you could’ve told us.”
Neil dipped his chin. “I know.”
Dan shook her head. “I guess that’s the best we could’ve hoped for.” She checked her watch. “Shit, we’re already behind. Let’s go, guys.”
As a whole grumbling mass, the Foxes collected their stuff and started for the locker rooms.
Nicky stopped in his tracks. “Shit.”
Everyone else paused to look back at him.
“What?” asked Matt.
“Who’s gonna tell Coach?”
Seven fingers darted towards seven noses, leaving Neil standing, confused, at the center.
Everyone turned to look at him.
“What?”