I.
"...Contrary to popular opinion," Neil said exasperatedly on the phone and shot Matt a furious gaze as the other whistled innocently from inside the car, searching for a first aid kit. "I'm fine."
"Say that again, and I will kill you myself." He was sure Andrew's voice was meant to sound severe, but Neil definitely heard how worried he really was. "Pass me to Matt."
Neil rolled his eyes, keeping his voice lower against the microphone. "He's gonna exaggerate."
"Then be precise."
"Well, um-" Neil tried to think beyond the latent wound in his abdomen. This was the product of an unfortunate encounter with a Ravens fan - which started badly and ended even worse. In the heat of the discussion (which Neil didn't start, by the way) a small razor appeared, and then, a surprising pain in his stomach. It wasn't a losing battle though, Neil managed to give the guy a couple of bruises and a black eye. "He barely stabbed me. It's not that bad, though."
Andrew swore strongly on the other side of the line.
Neil tried to calm him down by saying, "The knife was actually mediocre..."
Apparently it didn't work: "Josten, I swear to fucking God..."
"I found it!" Matt yelled from somewhere in his truck, and Neil tried to relax from his place on the hood, "Did you hear that? He'll take care of it. Just a few stitches and I'll be back in court before you can say my name."
He observed Matt approach him but, to Neil's agony, he stopped to look at his wound. He cleared his throat and muttered, "Dude, that's bleeding more than before."
"I'm fucking done," Andrew announced, "Tell Matt to clean the wound, and I'll be right there with Aaron. Don't hang up."
"Okay, Andrew!" Matt chose to ignore Neil's snorts and follow Andrew's orders as he grabbed the supplies he needs. "Don't look at me like that, Neil. You can hate me later, now I need you to remove your shirt as far as you feel comfortable, pal. Yeah. That's fine."
Neil hissed humiliatingly as Matt began to clean the wound. "Are you really coming?" he asked the phone.
A long paused answered his question, which Neil thought Andrew had hung up, until he recognized Aaron's sounds of protest and Andrew's murmurs. "We are coming. Don't move."
He could hear Aaron saying: "It's not like he can, anyways."
"Hey, Aaron?"
"Mhm?"
"Fuck you."
Aaron's giggles were replaced by Andrew's voice: "We're getting closer to where you are. Don't die 'til then."
"Okay, I'll hang up. Drive safety, love you, bye."
A second later, and Andrew was gone.
Neil sighed heavily at Matt's thoughtful grimace at the gauze on his stomach. "On a scale of one to a hundred, how angry do you think Andrew is?"
"Don't even mention it, buddy. Angry Andrew makes me tremble." Neil knew Matt well enough to know he was saving an extra comment, so he asked him what else he wanted to add. Matt didn't even hesitate when he muttered, "He cares about you. I thought you weren't that serious."
Confused, Neil searched for fragments of his past conversation with Andrew to remember if there was anything out of the ordinary, but he couldn't find anything he didn't mean. "What are you suggesting with that? The 'that serious' thing, I mean."
"Well, the first person you mention when I found you bleeding in my car was Andrew..."
"Irrelevant. I had promised Andrew to go shopping together. Instead I got stabbed by some asshole."
"Then I make you call him, and he's worried as hell about you. Andrew ain't like that with anyone."
"He is!" Neil reminded him, "He literally saved Nicky from being hit."
"And," Matt made emphasis, "you get so defensive for him." He smirked at Neil's small blush, "It's so cute"
"I'm not."
"You– you literally told him that you loved him." Matt said incredulously.
"I did not," Neil lost all colour from his face when he remembered his own words. "Holy shit. I did it."
"Yes, you did! I need to tell this to Dan."
"Matt," Neil began to feel like his head was a drum in use, so he cut him off. "Believe me, if I had something going on with Andrew Minyard, I would know."
He sounded annoyed, but Matt smiled conceited like an adult talking to a little kid. "Dan used to be so oblivious to my love for her, and look at us now."
"Just a lovely reminder that she also said she didn't want to be in a relationship because "men are trash". Having that logic, which is based on a one-to-a-million situation, you can believe monkeys can fly."
Matt's face fell off. "You're so annoying."
"It's part of my natural charm. Oh, look, there's Andrew."
A fancy black car parked a couple of yards away from where Neil and Matt were. Two men got out of the car in one quick motion, leaving Neil barely able to enjoy Andrew's annoying grimance. Aaron walked calmly by his side, though his eyes were analytical.
Soon, Aaron was beside him pulling out a sewing kit for such wounds, and Andrew was stroking his forehead. "What exactly happened?" Aaron intervened as he analyzed the wound area. It wasn't serious enough, Aaron realized, but it required medical attention anyway.
"A Raven’s fan started teasing me after practice, so I gave the jerk what he deserved."
"Giving them what they deserve means not getting stabbed, dumbshit." Without further ado, seeing that the wound was perfectly clean, Aaron began suturing it without anesthesia, so he tried to get Neil to focus more on the conversation than the pain. "Do you know that?"
"In most of the-" Neil clenched his teeth trying to suppress a groan of pain, "cases." Rarely, he reconciled to the memory of his mother doing the same thing.
"How did you manage to call Matt?" Andrew wondered with a frown, carefully moving his fingers to the back of his head. “You told me that your phone is broken.”
"I didn't need it. I knew Matt was gonna show up soon: He always takes centuries to bathe, so not even five minutes had passed until he found me. And we were fighting like fifteen minutes. More or less. "
"It was a pleasant surprise," Matt tried to soften the tense atmosphere surrounding them. "I thought it was a prank, but then he's like 'no dude, I'm really bleeding. You can even touch it'"
"It's not funny." Andrew commented.
It didn't take long for Aaron to close the last suture. As soon as he finished he announced: "It's done, yet you need to rest." Neil wanted to protest, and got silenced by the blonde's hand on his mouth, "no buts."
Neil suddenly started to feel himself light. A dull sound also came over him as he tried to keep listening to Aaron: "You should take something for your blood pressure. You've lost blood."
"Without mention you'd been sutured in a fucking parking lot," Andrew pointed out. "Not the cleanest option."
"Oh sorry," Neil muttered tiredly, yet always prepared to verbally fight Andrew. "I normally schedule my fight time here after practice as a method of stress relief. Let me know if you desire to make an appointment, idiot. It's all courtesy of the Ravens."
"Do not provoke me, Josten."
Neil winked at him boldly, feeling the way Andrew's fingers tighten a little.
"Aw," Matt exclaimed as Aaron rolled his eyes, "you're like an old married couple."
Andrew was about to shut him up. Instead, he groans in surprise, noting that Neil practically leaned his body into his tiny grip, “Neil?”
"Yup, I think I'm having it." Neil could feel Andrew’s hands placing in his waist. "I'm gonna faint-"
"Last words?" A blurry voice said, probably Aaron's cynicism, before everything vanished.
II.
"Oh my God! Are you okay?"
He was pretty sure everyone in the cafeteria heard the question. Marissa, or Melissa, or whatever her name is, didn't seem to mind as she leaves her tray in the tray slide to cradle his face on her hands. "I heard you recently fainted."
"Yeah. A week ago," Neil rolled his eyes, saying more for himself than to her: "I hate Aaron."
She nodded comprehensively, "When he told to Katelyn's study group what had happened, he thought it was hilarious, but I haven't found it like that at all. Was your wound able to heal by now?" Marissa, Neil expected her name to be called, slid her hands from Neil's face to his shoulders, and they continued their path to his hands. Neil believed she was being friendly, so he tried not to pull her off abruptly.
An exaggerated snort came from behind them.
"Is this conversation going to last long?" Andrew asked, secretly pleased that they both were looking at him now. Marissa lowered her arms to her sides, paralyzed as Andrew addressed her. "You are occupying the place of my salad."
Marissa gave him a silly laugh. "Sorry. I was asking Neil how he was doing."
"He is breathing, as you can see. Now move."
Marissa put up no resistance at Andrew's order. Neil smiled at her amiably thinking that she would leave, but it wasn't his case. After an awkward silence, with Andrew between them (who seemed to be reflecting too much on whether he wanted a tomato or cheese salad), Marissa asked directly, "Sorry – are you two together?"
"Of course we are together," Andrew snorted before Neil could comment on, "We are right here, sharing space and time together."
Marissa didn't find it funny. Instead, she decided to ignore Andrew’s reluctant gaze by telling Neil: "What are you doing on Friday night?"
"I'll be in the Court."
Marissa smirked, curling her hair with her finger. "I know, I'm gonna be there, but later?"
Neil shrugged, briefly distracted by Andrew's profile. "I'll probably watch a replay of Exy with Kevin."
"Don't you want to do anything else?"
"Uhm, I think I'm fine."
"Okay." She took a piece of paper out of her wallet and handed it to Neil, "If you want to do something else, call me."
Neil watched her go with an eyebrow raised.
"You're such an idiot." Andrew said with the sides of his mouth barely raised, which could be taken as a smile. "You haven't noticed, have you?"
Neil scratched his head, feeling his face getting warmer. "What?"
"She asked you out."
"Oh," Neil muttered, suddenly shy, "that's unfortunate."
"Is it?"
Neil shrugged, "It wouldn't be fair to her, when I'm interested to someone else." Andrew seemed momentarily bewildered, which filled his stomach with hypothetical butterflies. Or perhaps he forgot to take his pain pills; if that's the case, Wymack will hang him. Neil continued: "You know, Aaron drives me crazy and–"
"You are a fucking idiot." Andrew declared, now knowing that Neil exposed a half truth. He's gotten good at reading Neil, and he can't decide if it's something to be proud of, or a curse.
"I love him," Neil said, his purposes turning serious this time. Realizing that he is admitting his indirect love for Andrew in a cafeteria, in front of everyone, in an environment that smells like fried food, may not be the best option since Andrew deserves more than that. Neil clears his throat, abandoning his tray to grab an apple. "See you later? I forgot I must go to Abby's office; maybe she'll let me play the next game."
"Junkie," Andrew calls out to him, a warm touch sliding into his tone. "Try not to get killed on the way. Remember that if you die at the hands of a Raven's fan, we won't attend your funeral."
Neil laughed falsely, "Who lied to you so much that made you believe you're actually funny?"
"You wish I was joking." Andrew breathed, staring back at Neil with false disgust. "Don't look at me like that," he whispered as a goodbye.
III.
Judging by the slight birdsong and the soft light hitting his face, Neil assumed that he had woken up between six or seven in the morning. He stretched out on his Columbia sofa, then sat down straight. Luckily, the apartment remains peacefully silence after a long night of partying. He checked on his phone, and finds a couple of messages from Dan and a few from Allison's. Normally, his friends should wake up in a couple of hours, so Neil took advantage of the intimacy to search in the internet the issue that has been chasing him lately.
An hour had passed by the time he received a text from Nicky:
Nicky
hey sweetcheeks
I gotta ask
Neil
wtf
We are in the same apartment
Can't you just come and ask me in person
Nicky
:( stop booing me bitch
Neil
what
Nicky
why are you googling 'twenty effective ways to tell someone you love them?'
Neil turned to where Nicky was standing behind him, and quickly smashed him in the face with the nearest pillow he could reach. "I thought we had gotten over the thing about invading my privacy."
Nicky squeezed his hair back and kicked the pillow away with his foot, "Shut up! I can't resist a good gossip. It's my nature, Neil, do you want to go against my nature?"
"All the time," Neil mumbled, smiling widely at the pained gesture of his friend.
"So?" Nicky insisted. "Don't you wanna ask me about the time I told the sexiest man on earth that I loved him?"
"I'm not mentally prepared for the details."
Nicky breathed out exaggerated and dropped onto the sofa next to him. "It wasn't very pornographic, but hey, I'm an open minded person if you need some tips to improve the-"
"Nicky."
"Yikes. Okay. I spent the whole day baking muffins for him just because he likes them.” He did a bomb impression with his hand and his mouth, "Boom, there you have it.”
"So, you haven't told him you love him." Neil said slowly.
"Neil," Nicky sighed as Neil sank on the sofa. “Love is best expressed through actions rather than words, but contrary to my beliefs, there are many ways to tell someone you love them. Where does this impulse come from?”
“I don’t know.”
"I thought you guys weren't dating."
"We are not," he recognises. "Somehow, I want to tell him – I just don't know why."
"You don't have to." Nicky tried, clearly wanting to not push Neil into pressure.
It's humiliating, Neil acknowledges, the fact that he was speechless. His sharply mouth shouldn't be his best quality since that ability have gotten him into trouble more than he could count, but Neil's always proud to have a comeback reply – and it's incredibly annoying that he doesn't find an answer to the source of that need.
His mother taught him that feeling meant being weak, and if he wanted the guarantee of successful survival, then he couldn't be weak. She taught him how to manipulate his own feelings to use them like a switch in his head. If it's hard to get rid of old habits anymore, now Neil must face burying his entire past to live in the present and have something he never thought he would have: a future.
He needs to get used to being comfortable with his own feelings in order to subsistence as a fucking normal person – and that implied love people, including Andrew.
He loves Andrew. He likes even the most trivial thing of his; he wants every good and bad day; he wants to listen to his heartbeat until he falls asleep, and in an even stranger context for him, he wants to have a relationship with Andrew because he is in love with Andrew. It's as simple as that, but took long time for Neil to understand it.
Loss of control over his own feelings would have been distressing, though it felt like breathing again after drowning.
“Fuck,” Neil mutters absent-minded, “I really love him.” Nicky made some weird noises, so Neil quickly clarified, “Still not dating.”
"I'm aware, love killer! Although the forecast claims otherwise…"
"And I claim you're all sick fucks and need to stop betting on us."
"Jeez, I was trying to cheer you up," he commented in a disappointed tone, and Neil couldn't help but hit softly his shoulder. "Wait a minute. Was it a nice gesture? Did it hurt?"
"Shut up."
"Are you going to tell him then?"
"Mhm," he confessed sightly terrified, "Should I be romantic?"
"Have you considered that we are talking about Andrew?"
Neil remembered when Andrew placed a key in his hands that allowed him to stay, or the way he held him protectively in the parking lot the other day. Those long trips in his car with no apparent destination, and their hands clenched tightly during a flight.
"Hey, where’s the French toasts?" Kevin came up to them and demanded, holding a bowl full of water. He seemed to have woken up a long time ago, and somehow he went unnoticed.
According to Neil, Kevin's best and only quality is that he's not interested in his friends' love lives as Nicky is, so Neil received no reaction from him if he had heard the conversation between them previously.
"Get some by yourself." Neil responded whilst Kevin drank from the bowl.
Nicky glanced at Neil horrified. "Drunk Kevin was literally raised by wolves." Then, he directed to Kevin: "How are you still drunk?"
Kevin shrugged from his – now – place in the floor. “Actually, I’m waiting to puke.”
"Damn, Kevin."
Neil sniggered, "Drew's gonna stick your head on a bucket if you want to go back in his car."
Kevin's moans were muffled as Andrew emerged from his room, still sleepy.
The absence of something or someone in the room seems to have bothered him since a frown began to paint his face. He quickly found Neil just to send him a furious look, who only shrugs at the gesture. "We can go," he tried, under Andrew's disapproving gaze.
Nicky looked them back and forth, and concluded that he would never understand their relationship – how the fuck they went from hate sex to talking telepathically was a mystery. Nicky sometimes laments his lack of wit: even from the very beginning of their relationship, observe them was like being excluded from an inside joke.
"Junkie," Andrew said, "Forget it. I have no money".
"I'll pay. I can't stand you without your usual dose of sugar."
Andrew rolled his eyes at Kevin's "that's favoritism" comment that everyone preferred to ignore. "I'll get dressed. Consider doing it too."
"What's wrong with my outfit? You liked it last night," Neil yelled simultaneously as Andrew left.
"Neil," Nicky whispered to him when Neil stood up to reach some clean clothes. "What just happened?"
"Haven't you heard? I'm taking Andrew to have a proper breakfast."
"Not that! You just demonstrated him that you love him by considering what he wants and even paying for it." Nicky argued, trying to level his voice so that his cousin wouldn't hear him and sounding elated at the same time. "That's what I meant the whole damn time!"
Neil glanced at him as if he was stupid on purpose.
"I believe the technical term for that is financial advantage," Kevin muttered sleepily.
“...Or another way of expressing love without saying the words! Go on, tiger, I’m rooting for you."
IV.
A distant voice called him in the middle of the night, hauling him off from his sleep.
"What?" Neil mumbled to absolute darkness, unconsciously seeking for the ghost of a knife under his pillow.
"Nightmare," the voice replied, which Neil recognised as Andrew, "I can't sleep."
It wasn't the first time it happened. Andrew often has these kinds of nightmares that must be terrible enough to wake him up. Nicky confessed Neil that he spoke to Bee about it, but she said that she had already insisted on the subject, and that Andrew himself had dismissed it. Bee knew that there was no alternative to follow, distinguishing what her limits remain to access Andrew: It was not something she was willing to risk.
Neil came on the scene, of course, and made Andrew promise to call him when this happened. It took quite a few tries but the result was successful.
"Drew," Neil said lowly, focusing on the shadow, "Roof?"
Andrew didn't reply, but Neil knew that he agreed.
Once there, they sat down, and Andrew lit a cigarette. Neil watched him consume it for a couple of minutes in silence."You know," he began, drawing his companion's gaze next to him. "You're getting good at sneaking into my room."
"Your chances of survival were down twenty percent, I imagine." Andrew added, as if it were a secret: "It is not my fault that the lock is broken."
"Shut up," Neil hissed at him, "Matt still doesn't realise I broke it."
"He'll be disappointed, considering that you are his protégé."
"Curious way of saying 'best friend'," Neil rolled his eyes, "how was I supposed to know there'd be consequences for my actions?"
Andrew smirked for a second, before saying: "Naturally, you don't."
Neil lost the thread of his next comment for admiring Andrew. He couldn't help but focus on the smoke that hit his face; his hazel eyes gleamed dark against the city lights in front of them. His hair seemed particularly soft, which prompted Neil's thoughts to want to tangle and pull it.
"Neil," Andrew warned, "staring."
Neil apologized, then asked, "Do you want to talk about the nightmare? I read that doing so, helps to get them out of consciousness."
Andrew pretended to be surprised. "Do you know how to read?"
"Unlike you, yes."
That left Andrew tragically unanswered, so he considered his next words. "I was at my uncle's house with, you know..."
"Those genetic errors," Neil clarified.
"Yes. Tilda and Drake included." Neil kept an eye on him as his knuckles turned white, "They were all there, and the house was on fire. I looked out the window and you all were there: Aaron, Nicky, Kevin, Bee, Wymack and you, but I couldn't escape, no matter what I did. I woke up at the flames consuming my body."
Neil swallowed his disgust to get closer to the blonde but cautious of not touch him. “I'm sorry.”
"It's not your fault."
Neil appreciates that the entire campus is asleep. These intimate moments barely happen between their studies and Exy's practices, and Neil tried to squeeze them out every time he could. Andrew's closeness was driving him crazy, he felt warm when it was cold and his heartbeat unfairly fast. Andrew didn't take his eyes off him either, noticing even the smallest freckle on his face.
“Staring again, junkie.”
“What a double standard you are. You’re not staring away too.”
“Maybe I don’t want to.”
A bit later, Neil realized, "Are you flirting with me?"
Andrew didn't see the point of lying. "Until he finally noticed..."
"You like me?"
"It was quite obvious."
"And I don't like you."
Andrew's voice sounded small when he said: "I kno–"
"I love you."
Andrew gasped, "What the fuck?"
Neil’s words came up all together in a rush, so he avoided Andrew’s glance as if it was poison: "I love you. I was literally raised to hide my feelings, but everything seems right when I'm with you. And I’m sorry if that’s weird for you to hear, but I need you to know it. I love you so much. Oh, that sounded intense." he sighed, then said: "I love every inch of you. Fuck. ”
Neil may have been kidnapped, tortured, or even stabbed in a public space, but at no time he did suffer the time slowdown as much as right now. There he was, looking at a bright spot in front of him and thinking about the next season he has to win just to avoid jumping into the void. Andrew, on the other hand, was impassive.
Neil imagined it'd be better to leave him alone, so he quickly got up quietly. He almost suffered a cardiac arrest when Andrew stopped him as he passed through the door. "Wait," it sounded like a question and an order at the same time. “I like you, but I don't know if I have the ability to offer you anything else than an 'I trust you’."
Neil blinked at him twice, three times just in case. “The only thing I genuinely need from you is that you want this as much as me.”
“By 'this' you mean…”
“Me and you. Yes or not?”
Andrew took one step closer, “Yes.”
The sigh of relief died on his lips at the moment Andrew closed the distance to kiss him. Neil understood his mother's desperate purpose: This was everything and nothing at once, an odd union mixed with hope and danger; He had never been so happy with his own doom. And he will be damned if Andrew represented all of that, because he will make sure to make sure he explored through each and every one of those emotions.
"Stop thinking," Andrew said to him on his lips, and Neil agreed.
V.
It took the Foxes about a month and a half to find out.
With a few minor exceptions, of course, there was Kevin (who was internally happy that Andrew decided to accompany them on some of their late night practices, only to find his friends making out in the locker room. He was also quite furious at being called 'the third wheel' by Neil.), Renee and Bee. None of them made any fuss about.
The peace didn’t last longer though.
The day dawned fresh and clear, perfect for practicing. On a normal day, everyone would meet at court very early in the morning and Wymack would threaten them with marathons to silence the sleeping whines of most of the players. Today, everyone can agree that something extraordinary happened.
Apparently Andrew did not want to cooperate in the least. He did not oppose the shots thrown, and if he did, he bounced the balls at the feet of his teammates. Kevin had already gone yelling at him, but he only received a middle finger as a valid answer (according to Andrew) from where he was now sitting. When Kevin's screaming don't work, Neil systematically knows he must talk to Andrew. On a normal day, they would talk, and within minutes Andrew'd be defending the goal as if his life depended on it.It didn't happen today. Neil did go to meet him on the floor to start a negotiation between furious whispers, and when it seemed to be over, he stood victoriously.
What was out of the ordinary was the way she looked at him for a couple of seconds and then kissed him on the forehead.
Nicky turned to his friends and the coach, who were watching the scene the entire time at the distance. "Am I on drugs or did that really happen?"
"Were we drugged collectively?" Matt asked, moving his hands just to check, then frowned. "I think I'm fine, which is even weirder."
Dan pursed her lips. "Don't be stupid, nobody takes drugs so early in the morning. That, I believe, was a magical event."
"Does anyone believe in the Mandela effect theory? Something we all saw but never have happened?" Allison proposed, to which Aaron replied, "I prefer to believe in that alternative than Neil turning to be my broth-" he choked at the fact, "See? I can't even say it."
Renee and Kevin shared an extended look.
"You guys know something we don’t!?" Nicky exclaimed, causing everyone to look at them expectantly. "I have so many questions..."
Wymack interrupted them. "I hope you all put that same effort to win a match. Go practice or face up to the consequences.”
[Nicky created a group]
[Nicky changed the name to "spill the tea 🍵 🍵 🍵"]
Aaron
That makes no sense.
Nicky
Y'know for someone who hates Neil, you're quite like him
Aaron
Nicky's going to take a while to respond.
Just threw his cell phone into the sink.
Oops
Allison
HELL YEAH! I want 2 know everything
renee give us a hint
Renee
Can't do, sorry :(
Matt
I love and respect women and I'm not agree with this method
but
Ally, show her your boobs
Allison
On it
Renee
No, babe
Nicky
It's not necessary
I know KEVIN knows something
Dan
I doubt it :/
Allison
50 bucks he knows
Aaron
Count me in against it.
Matt
I'm on Nicky's side
Nicky
Finally someone wise!
[Nicky added Kevin]
Nicky
We know you know
Kevin
You know that I know what.
Nicky
Neil and Andrew
Kevin
...What?
Aaron
Please don't.
Nicky
about their mutual exchanging of fluids
OFFICIALLY
Aaron
I'm gonna kill you.
get out of the bathroom I just wanna talk.
Matt
Duuuuude
Kevin
It's not my business to talk about.
Allison
Booooooring!
[Allison removed Kevin]
Allison
So... Renee?
[Renee just left the chat]
Allison
Coward
Aaron
Can't believe that of all people, Andrew had to fall in love with the mafia kid
Matt
If Neil gets to be the mafia kid, then what am I
Allison
The mom friend
Nicky
Matt's literally the DAD friend
Matt
when did I leave you guys
Nicky
[gay screaming]
Dan
Andrew's the mom friend
Matt
Wait... that's actually accurate
Dan
We are really fuck up
They decided to leave the subject for the moment when the couple is ready to tell them, although Andrew and Neil perceived the suspicious looks that their friends were sending them. As for the team, they began to notice details, like Andrew wearing shirts that were not his, friction that lasted longer than normal, and persistent glances on each other. In addition, the bets were more interesting than ever, but that was as far as their intrusion went.
The big revelation, however, came casually on a Saturday night. Also known as 'Movie night'.
Nicky and Dan were cutting the pizza while Allison and Aaron were in the midst of a heated debate over who was the greatest director of all time, their arguments about Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese could echo through the whole building. Matt, on the other hand, watched them entertained beside Neil, who seemed not to care in the least, in the sofa. His attention was only caught as Andrew, Kevin and Renee entered the room with some snacks and ice cream.
Andrew scanned the room until he found Neil’s blue eyes already on him, and went to sit down next to him."I brought you vanilla." He announced to Neil, "Boring taste for a boring person - what a coincidence."
"You said I was interesting," Neil pointed out, smirking. "Too bad you can't take it back now."
Andrew grunted, intertwining his fingers with his. "I hate you."
“I love you too,” Neil casually said.
Matt, who was listening to everything, choked on his own saliva. Andrew frowned while Neil asked him if he was okay. "Yes," he exclaimed as best he could, "Neil, can you go with me to the bedroom? I need to talk to you."
Neil shrugged, "okay."
When they arrived, Matt sough for a bottle of water from the minibar to soothe his itchy throat. Once he drank it, he began: "Neil, I don't want to intrude. I swear I tried, but I want you to be honest with me. No more lies, remember?"
"I do."
"So, can you answer me one question?"
"You already asked one."
"Come on, you idiot." Matt exclaimed with amusement.
Neil laughed in surprise, "What's up?"
"Are you dating Andrew?"
Matt thought he was going to deny it, or at least a half-lie. He even imagined one of those cryptic comments he makes when he's looking for trouble, but no. Neil just affirmed it, confused, "Yeah. Didn't you know?"
Matt blinked. "Have you ever heard about communication?"
"I'm sorry." Neil said honestly. "I think we forgot."
"Forgot," Matt repeated, sounding perplexed. "How do you forget something like that? And if I may ask, by how much?"
Neil didn't answer, instead he seemed to be more interested in the color of his shoes.
"A week?" Matt offered to fill his silence, "Two?"
"Two months."
"Two months?! God, you're lucky I love you."
Neil smiled at him in shame. “I love you too, I guess.”
Matt must have been speechless for a long time because Andrew came into the room, looking upset as usual. "What's taking so long? Kevin is bitching about starting the movie without you."
"I told Matt we're together." Neil answered. "Turns out we forgot to tell them."
Andrew snorted, "You did it. I just wanted to prolong Nicky's despair at not knowing if he's the only gay cousin."
"That's hilariously evil," Matt said.
"Thank you."
"We have to tell them, ‘Drew."
Andrew mumbled, heading into the living room, "It was nice while it lasted."
"There they are," mumbled Kevin at his teammates, looking at the three boys from his particular sofa, then he directed to Neil: "you just missed Aaron's victory. We're watching 'Taxi Driver'."
"This is a scam," whispered Allison in the arms of an understanding Renee.
"We have an announcement to make," shouted Neil still standing in the same place with the two boys at his side. "We are together."
"Matt and you?" Aaron deeply hoped.
Andrew turned purple while Matt burst into laughter. "Bad news, dude. I'm madly in love with Dan."
"Josten and I," Andrew clarified under everyone's not-so-surprising gaze. "We'll answer any questions for five minutes. Starting from when we got out of the room until now, which leaves you..." he looked apathetically at his watch, "ten miserable seconds."
"Is Neil a good kisser?" Allison asked, shranking at the weird gaze of everyone: "don't judge me! I've always wanted to know."
"Yeah," was all Andrew said. "Now let's watch the movie."
Everyone took their places as usual. This time, after being accessed by Andrew, Neil placed his head on Andrew's shoulder, and let himself be carried away by the characteristic smell of cinnamon that he possessed. He didn't realize he had fallen asleep, snuggling his boyfriend in the process, so he woke up at the credits while their friends stretched or yawned. Neil tried to stir up, but Andrew pressed him harder.
"Stay?" Neil asked him.
Andrew nodded numbly, causing Neil to smile fondly, "Want me to bring you some ice cream?"
Andrew ran his fingers down Neil's cheekbones, wondering if he really deserved this . Neil ruffled his hair softly which made Andrew focused on him again. Maybe he doesn't, but he can get used to the feeling of believing it.
Their moment was cut by Matt's distant voice, "Guys, I'm going to the girls' room. Don't break anything."
Nicky yelled at them too, "if you need condoms, you can go to my room. To get them, not to have..."
"Thanks, Nicky. Get the fuck out of there." Neil interrupted him, and the door slammed, indicating that everyone was out.
Neil kissed his knuckles, then broke away to go into the bedroom and reach for the minibar where the ice cream is. Andrew took a deep breath, "Neil?"
"Yes?" he replied from the bedroom.
"I love you too." Andrew heard the sound of spoons hitting the floor, and prayed that the idiot hadn't passed out again. "Are you still conscious?"
"Barely," he stated in a weak voice. Moments later, he handed Andrew the ice cream on the couch. "Really?"
"Being specific is not your strength."
"Are you serious about saying that you love me?” Andrew’d have laughed if Neil hadn't sounded so distressed. “You don't have to say it because you feel obligated."
Andrew rolled his eyes, mixed between being fun and serious. "I meant it."
After that statement, Neil stood up and offered him a hand, trying to hide his smile. "Let's go back to the bedroom, I want to sleep."
"Fine, because I can't stand you anymore."
"I'll take that as a compliment."