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andreil having chocolate fondue with strawberries to satisfy neil’s love for fruit and andrew’s love for sweet things
so i'm going to be taking my last! ever! ap! test! in like 2 hours and i figured we might as well do part two of these studying hcs from last year. for tradition
andrew refuses to sit straight.
he'll be falling halfway off the couch with his book practically pressed to his nose or lying on their kitchen counter listening to a podcast or fully starfished on the floor reciting facts outloud — basically anything he can do to stay out of a chair
neil however knows he won't do shit if he's not in a chair and forced to study
buuuut he also is super hyperactive and sitting around and staring at a book is ineffective for him too
the solution? he bought himself a spinny chair, and whenever he wants to move around or feels himself getting distracted he justs... spins around in the chair for a few minutes
(the first time kevin walked in on him doing this, he was so confused he just backed out of the room)
andrew uses post-it notes religously
it's not even to remember or note stuff, he just likes adding commentary (he especially enjoys making crude remarks towards aaron's anatomy diagrams)
neil hoards notebooks like you wouldn't believe. he never uses them and yet every semester, he's forced to buy more. where do they go? nobody knows
both of them love using whiteboards. in the lounge area on their floor, every board is constantly filled with calculus theorems and obscure laws
they also write each other notes on the boards ("andrew i like your arms" "shut up josten") but they're always hidden within their work on the whiteboard so no one ever notices them
andrew doesn't give a shit what the weather is — if he's studying he will always have one specific blanket over him
he might be sweating, he might be freezing, but that blanket never moves or changes. the one time kevin tried to take it off to clean up their dorm, andrew fully kicked him at him until he walked away
whenever they both need a brain break but still want to be productive, they like making puzzles together. during finals and midterms, the two of them are always found at odd hours with textbooks next to them while they work on a 1,000 piece puzzle
(neil tried convincing andrew to get an exy puzzle. it didn't work)
for the aesthetic (and irony) andrew always has cans of Monster energy drinks at his desk. they just keep multiplying, until at the end of each semester, he builds a pyramid of the monster cans and topples it over by chucking his textbooks at it
he claims it's stress relief. neil just likes throwing textbooks
they decide to take one elective class together and instantly regret it
neither of them were able to pay attention in class with the other right there and then they never did their work because they (stupidly) "studied" for that class together and then they were constantly late because they walked to it together and consequently got slightly distracted every time
so overall, it was not a success. but neil still considers it his favorite class from all of college, just because of how fun the memories associated with it were
(andrew secretly thinks its his favorite too, but that's because of how happy neil looked every class to see andrew sitting next to him)
ok because AP tests are upon us and this is my only way of releasing all my stress, here's a short list of andreil study time hcs for your viewing pleasure
our boy andrew doesn't really have to study
neil on the other hand... actually needs to work to keep up his GPA
he's never really cared enough to study but now he has the foxes and exy and a future to lose so he might as well put in the effort to keep them
neil needs caffeine like he needs oxygen. the man cannot focus for shit without it
he'll down like three mugs of black coffee in the morning and be set for the day
andrew hates it but doesn't complain much as long as neil makes him some actually decent coffee too
(once, neil accidentally gave him the wrong mug and andrew didn't talk to him for the rest of the day)
when andrew does study or does homework, he hates studying in the library
he told nicky that it was because he's "allergic to books"
really, he just knows he'd get distracted and start reading william faulkner or jane austen instead of his textbooks
neil, however, loves the library
he can't study at all in the dorms; he needs to keep moving to new environments so he doesn't get bored by his surroundings
so neil and andrew don't study together half the time
which works out well considering the few times that they do, they tend to get more than a little... distracted
but if the library is closed or neil just doesn't have the energy to leave the dorm, he bullies andrew into helping him study instead of playing video games or reading
(neil gets a kiss for every question he gets right. andrew gets to look at a pretty guy for a few hours. it's a win-win situation)
mr. Neil draws-fox-paws-instead-of-doing-his-work Josten struggles with focusing on literally anything but exy and andrew
so he always ropes in one of the foxes as a "study-buddy" to hold him accountable while he's working
andrew and neil both like having noise-cancelling headphones on while they work, but this also means that people hold full-on conversations with them without realizing that they can't be heard
(also, because they're assholes, even when they can hear the other person, they just... don't respond.)
andrew is a pastel highlights guy. also he's weirdly possessive about his pens
neil just grabs the first mechanical pencil he sees (99% of the stationary he has isn't even his, he just found them laying around campus)
neil is also super disorganized. loose papers everywhere, he can never find anything. no matter how clean a place starts, it turns into a mess within 5 minutes of neil studying there
he also has food wrappers and crumbs everywhere because he constantly snacks while studying
andrew is surprisingly clean - he organizes everything by class and then color-codes everything (granted his memory helps so he doesn't have too many notes in the first place)
anyways, they both have their own methods of studying and it works for them
(aka andrew just vibes and neil frantically finishes all his work 3 hours before it's due)
ok yeah that's all i got right now, my brain is fried and i actually have to study now, pray for me 😔
Okay, I know I've already sent asks (and made sure to pick the most difficult ones 😂) but this time it's the other way around. 2, 3, 11 and 17? Two of those are literally canon with Andreil 😂.
No pressure, of course!
~ Nem
ayyo these prompts are mad cute i can't thank you enough for picking them
2: interlocking pinkies
3: smiling into a kiss
11: back hugs
17: tugging on the bottom of someone's shirt
~
2.
This was getting out of hand.
The flashing lights and pulsing bass did nothing to take Andrew's eyes off of Neil. Neil, who looked unbearably attractive in a tight black shirt at the bar. Neil, who's hair looked like a beacon in the middle of Eden's.
Neil, who was currently being flirted to death with by a stranger.
Said stranger was a little too Playboy-eque for Andrew's liking. Tall, curly black hair, muscular — he was basically the reverse-Exy version of Kevin (which made the hotness increase from the negatives to embarrassingly high).
Andrew gripped his glass so tightly he thought it might break. Actually, who care if it broke? He'd get glass shards in his hand, they'd have to call an ambulance, the club would clear out, Neil would come back, and Bar Bitch would get the hell away from Neil.
Maybe he was being a tad dramatic.
Taking a deep breath, Andrew tried to relax. This was fine. Neil could handle himself, and he knew Neil wouldn't act on any offers this guy made. Besides, Neil probably didn't even realize he was being flirted with; the man was incredibly oblivious. It would be fine. He was fine.
Andrew was just about calmed down — he was still staring at Neil just to make sure nothing happened, not at all because the lights were reflecting on the glitter on his cheek or anything — when his personal demon from Hell popped up.
"Watcha looking at?" Nicky plopped next to Andrew, his voice slurred from drinks. Andrew wrenched his neck away, but Nicky beamed when he saw the original target of Andrew's gaze. "OMG, so cute! Keeping an eye on your bae. That's so fetch."
"None of those words are in the Bible," Andrew grumbled. "Also, stop trying to make fetch happen, it's not going to happen."
Nicky giggled for long enough that it was weird. "Riiiiight, but currently you're literally too gay to function. So I win."
Andrew rolled his eyes and leaned back in the booth, deciding to ignore his highly drunk cousin. Nicky barely noticed, choosing to hum a random tune as he stared into the crowd. After what felt like hours of this, Andrew finally snapped. "Nicky. Shut the hell up."
"Nooooo," Nicky whined. "I'm like a siren. I'm luring your tiny little boyfriend here."
"He is not my— wait, what?"
"See?" Nicky waved in front of himself and slapped himself in the face. "He's right there!"
Andrew was a bit embarrassed at how fast his head turned.
Sure enough, there was Neil, in all his 5'3" glory. And there — there was Bar Bitch! Following Neil!
Andrew had just about had enough.
When Neil reached close enough to place the tray of drinks on the table, Andrew hooked his fingers in his belt loops and yanked Neil into the booth next to him. Resoutly ignoring Neil's startled intake of breath and Nicky's oddly hard kick to the leg, Andrew linked his pinky with Neil and delicately placed their hands on the table.
Subtle, yet effective.
Neil blinked at him in confusion, but Andrew only had eyes for Bar Bitch. He narrowed his eyes at the tall man, tightening his grip on Neil's finger, until the bitch threw his hands up and stumbled away.
Ha. Take that, asshole.
"What was that all about?" Neil nudged him softly.
"Nothing," Andrew ground out. "Absolutely nothing."
He didn't let go of Neil's pinky the rest of the night.
~
3.
Andrew was a sucker for roof time with Neil; he couldn't deny it. What he wasn't a sucker for was Neil bringing sheets of plays and team stats during said roof time with Neil.
He tried to subtly hint to Neil that he wanted the Exy gone. He laid down on the roof, letting his hair cover the papers (Neil very gently brushed his hair away but continued reading). He placed his head on Neil's legs (Neil rubbed a calloused finger across Andrew's cheek but continued reading). He wiggled up into Neil's lap (Neil wrapped him in a warm embrace but continued reading. Even worse, Neil moved the papers into his line of sight, as if Andrew was interested).
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He leaned forward and snatched the papers out of Neil's hand, throwing the sheets behind them. Neil blinked in surprise at his now-empty hand before looking over at Andrew. "What's wrong, Andrew?"
"Nothing," Andrew said, despite looking obviously annoyed. At Neil's unimpressed silence, Andrew sighed. "Stop ignoring me."
Andrew could practically hear Neil's eye roll.
"Yes or no, Drew?"
Just to be contrary, Andrew huffed out, "No. You can go back to your precious Exy."
He decided to ignore Neil's grumbles that suspiciously sounded like 'drama queen.' "I wasn't ignoring you. I wasn't," Neil insisted at Andrew's glare. "I was just... focusing on Exy at the moment."
"Make a choice, Neil. Exy... or me."
Neil looked a little too panicked at that for Andrew's comfort. "Uh... "
"The fact that you actually have to think about this is very telling," Andrew scowled.
"No, wait!" Neil shook his head frantically. "I mean... Exy is what got me to stop running, but you were what got me to stay. If I have Exy, I'll also always have you, and vice versa."
Andrew jammed a very fierce elbow into Neil's gut. He relished in the misery Neil was feeling. "That was more of a love letter to Exy than me."
"Oh, is that the problem?" the junkie annoyingly perked up. "I can definitely write a love letter to you. Where should I start? You have really pretty eyes, your hair is so soft, your arms are crazy strong, you— "
"Shut. Up."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"Fine. But you'll have to make me."
Andrew barely held back a sigh and tried to calm his treacherous heart. "What, did you become the lead in a romcom when I looked away? That was so cheesy."
Neil just shrugged. "Did it work?"
"No," Andrew scowled. "Maybe. Yes or no?"
"Yes, alwa— "
Andrew cut Neil off with a kiss (no matter how bruised his tough-guy reputation was becoming now). He could feel Neil trying to smother a soft smile against his lips, and if Andrew had any shame left in him, he would be a bit embarrassed at how fast his heart starting beating when he realized that.
Because humans unfortunately needed oxygen, Neil pulled back a few moments later but stayed close enough that Andrew could smell the minty gum he had been chewing before they came up on the roof. "See? If you weren't so damn stubborn, we could have been kissing when I first asked you."
Ignoring this logic, Andrew pulled his the junkie back in for another kiss. He wondered in Neil could feel the small upturn on Andrew's lips too.
~
11.
This was just about the worst fucking day of Kevin Day's life, and it all started the day before.
He had been up for hours, starting with Exy at sun-up and ending with Exy at sundown. Except it didn't end with Exy, because he realized humanity was incompetent and then he was forced to catch up on a History essay his groupmates were behind on (5 hours after his detailed schedule!) and then he became too invested in the ruins of Mesopotamia and then he didn't sleep on time and then he missed his pre-alarm for his actual morning alarm and then he wasn't awake enough for his actual morning alarm and then—
Well.
Point was that Kevin was simultaneously cranky, sleepy, and frantically late, which is a shitty combination for anyone but especially for a person named Kevin Day. Which is to say that his perfectionist tendencies were starting to show their negative sides.
And to add company to misery, his fucking roommates had to be the absolute worst.
Kevin stumbled out of the bathroom (and crashed into three walls but that's neither here nor there) with a sock on his arm and one eye shut to make half his face feel rested when he came across the one thing that could possibly make his morning worse. As he sluggishly walked into the kitchen to get at least 3 cups of well-needed, strong-as-shit black coffee, he saw his two roommates directly blocking his access to the coffee pot.
Andrew was fiddling with the pot handle while Neil had his arms wrapped around his back. He was practically leaning all his body weight on Andrew and whenever Andrew murmured something to him quietly, Neil would give him his "Andrew-laugh" and somehow press in even closer. To make matters even sappier, every few seconds he would kiss Andrew — on the shoulder, neck, cheek, even going as far as to bring his hands up and kiss his knuckles!
It was disgusting. Kevin had never been more horrified to have these horribly-in-love-even-though-they-won't-admit-it-yes-he's-happy-they're-together-no-he's-not-happy-he-has-to-witness-this roommates.
Andrew and Neil were fully engrossed in their weird back-hug position, fully disregarding Kevin's coffee withdrawal. Irritated that he was being ignored, Kevin let out a highly unattractive noise that was half-groan, half-shriek, causing the two most hypervigilant people he'd known to jump apart. Except that Andrew was facing the counter so his diaphragm got fully smushed against it, causing the blond to let out an "oof" and Neil had open space behind him so he flailed around until he eventually fell onto his butt on the floor with a groan.
Massaging his stomach, Andrew turned a terrifying glare towards Kevin, who was suddenly waking up enough to realize how bad of an idea this was. Kevin slowly backed away, his hands up in a placating manner.
"Don't mind me," Kevin said. "Keep hugging or whatever. I'll just... go to Matt's room and get coffee."
Stumbling out of his dorm, Kevin crashed his way into Matt, Nicky, and Aaron's room, where Nicky was sitting on the couch on his laptop.
He winced when he saw Kevin zombie-walk to the coffee machine. "Andrew and Neil sexile you?"
As the machine whirred, Kevin groaned. "Something like that. Honestly, the two of them are so affectionate in the morning, it makes me sick."
At that, Nicky's eyes widened. "They're what?! Tell me everything."
Kevin sighed. Maybe he should get a second cup of coffee going.
~
17.
Neil didn't notice the cats until Andrew pointed them out.
The two of them were on a walk walking back over the hill in front of the Fox Tower after their classes. Andrew had made it a habit to pick Neil up after his Spanish class and his own Sociology class every Thursday, and the two of them would drop their stuff off at the dorms and go out to lunch together.
It was very nice, to put it lightly.
Andrew's hand was warm where it was threaded with Neil's, swinging lightly between their bodies. The two were so close to each other that Neil could feel their shoulders brush every few steps, could practically count every faint freckle on Andrew's cheeks if he wanted to.
So he did just that.
"Staring," Andrew glared.
"Yeah," Neil said shamelessly. "You like it."
Andrew squeezed Neil's hand. It was probably more out of annoyance than adorance, but he'd take it.
"You know, in class today," Neil started, mainly so he could hear Andrew's voice when he responded. "This absolute bit— ow!"
Unexpectedly, Neil promptly fell down.
"Typical," Andrew grumbled. "He can come back alive after being tortured by a serial killer but can't walk straight."
"To be fair, it's not like you walk any straighter than me."
After an appraising moment, Andrew shrugged.
Neil finally moved himself into a sitting position while Andrew watched with sheer disappointment oozing out of him. He tied his undone shoelace and was just getting up when he felt a sharp tug on his shirt.
Neil looked at Andrew in confusion, but Andrew had his sights set on something in the distance. Naturally, instead of explaining, he began dragging Neil, who was still halfway bent-over from tying his shoe.
"Andrew!" Neil yelped. "Do you want to let me know where we're going?"
"No."
Fair enough. Neil should have expected that.
Finally, after his shoes untied yet again from the stumbling he did over the hill, Neil finally saw what had caught Andrew's attention. There was a sign advertising a nearby cat adoption, with the directions showing it to be only about 5 minutes away.
Andrew tugged on Neil's shirt again. "We're going."
Neil blinked. "We can't have pets in the dorm."
"We'll sneak them in, it's not like we've never broken the law before."
"Kevin is going to lose his shit."
"You just incentivized me even more."
Neil had to bite back a smile at that. "Fine, fine, we'll visit. But we are not adopting any animals until we can figure out the rules."
"Eh," Andrew turned around, twisting his fingers into Neil's shirt so he'd follow the blond. "I can be very convincing."
"Andrew."
"Neil."
"We are not getting a cat."
"Nah."
"You can't just— Andrew!"
part 1 of the andreil coming out thing here
ok, so andrew and neil aren't the most openly affectionate
there's no hints to the public that they could possibly be together, considering their little... rivalry
however, with andrew out now, a few people like to believe that andrew and neil could have an "enemies-to-lovers" situation
some people even think that they're already together
nevertheless, this is a very small population in the grand scheme of exy, and most of this is indulging in fantasies anyways — few people really believe in these theories
and as months pass after andrew's coming out, people stop pestering him every 0.2 seconds about who his boyfriend is
andrew and neil think they're finally free of all the annoying paparazzi and slightly overbearing fans
and it's under this false sense of security that shit hits the roof
it's a random september night when it happens, nothing terribly significant
but the whole week, andrew had been craving a closeness with neil, the kind that comes with not seeing your person for weeks
so he booked a flight to where neil was, realizing that had this occurred a few years back, andrew probably wouldn't have even acknowledged that he missed neil, let alone made steps to actually see him again
on a flight.
(he thinks bee would be proud)
anyway, he reached neil's apartment with minimal damage and proceeded to be drowned in kisses
it's a good few days.
and then, on that fateful september night, andrew is hit with the urge to take neil out
(not like murder. more like... a date?)
they don't usually go out on those, but it's not like they've never done so before
so andrew books a dinner reservation at a fancy restaurant, fully intending to take his man out on a nice. fancy. relaxing. drama-free. date.
of course, the universe has other plans
andrew and neil arrive at the restaurant (a little late but neil's lips were a good distraction for a few hours, okay? (they may have left the kitchen in disarray from lunch, but that's irrelevant))
their table is a secluded corner where they're pretty much hidden from view, save for one or two tables, and the seemingly solid privacy relaxes andrew and neil
their dinner goes by relatively uneventfully
(excluding when andrew gave a small smile to one of neil's dumb jokes, who proceeded to dump marinara sauce into his water instead of next to his garlic bread while staring dreamily at andrew, and then nearly choked when he took his next sip from the glass)
(also excluding when neil gave a not-so-innocent suck on his fork and andrew, frustrated over laws about public indecency, stabbed his brussel sprouts aggressively, causing one to fly up and hit and burn his eye)
(also also excluding— )
ok, so maybe it was more of a mess than andrew was ready to admit
but andrew dug into his panna cotta feeling lighter than he had in weeks as neil teased him about his sugar addiction and held his hand under the table
it was as andrew leaned over and kissed some cream off the side of neil's lips that he got the feeling of being watched
he whirled around, hair nearly hitting neil's face, as his gaze landed on a cell phone camera pointed at them
he caught the eye of a very guilty looking man, made even more errant when said man proceeded to leap out of his chair and run out of the restaurant
andrew was half-out of his chair to follow him when neil tugged on his shirt sleeve, an instigative glint in his eye
"neil. do you want to see this on every gossip magazine in the next few hours?"
"well no, but that fuckwad is always going to have those pictures. we, however, can make sure he doesn't get the headline he wants"
"... i'm listening"
about 40 minutes later, back at neil's apartment, neil posts a picture of his extremely messy kitchen on twitter
@neil_josten_official: well fuck me 🥴
@03andrewminyard: if you insist
~ 30 minutes later ~
@neil_josten_official: *image attached: andrew is laying his head in the crook of neil's neck as neil kisses him on the top of his head, andrew's fingers running through neil's hair. they both appear to be shirtless*
@neil_josten_official: BREAKING NEWS: just had sex with my (very hot) boyfriend to get revenge on unfulfilled gossip "journalists." life really couldn't be better :)
@neil_josten_official: ok but really, stop trying to out closeted celebrities (and people in general). it's not cool. it's not trendy. our lives aren't a scandal to report on. you're all just assholes and fuck you
@neil_josten_official: but not literally. a metaphorical fuck, if you will
@exykevinday.official: I'm proud of you for coming out and finally ending your ridiculous rivalry @neil_josten_official and @03andrewminyard, but was there really no other way you could have done so without informing me about your sex life?
@03andrewminyard: haha. no.
needless to say, the internet erupts in shock at neil's tweets
theories emerge left and right about how, when, why andrew and neil got together
the two of them get requests for so many interviews, talk shows, panels, magazines, all of which they turn down
of course, there's the occasional question in a post-game or team interview that's hard to avoid, and for the most part, these rare moments provide the only things the public knows about what they affectionately call "andreil"
but apparently when you're in a very public relationship, there are certain expectations fans have about how much of it you disclose
and while andrew doesn't necessarily want to divulge their private life to millions of people, he also can't help but be reminded of how seeing nicky and erik's comfortable relationship in his late teenage years solidified to him that him liking guys wasn't a bad thing
and it's with that in mind that he posts a picture on his instagram from earlier in june of him and neil curled up on the sofa, a massive rainbow flag draped around them with neil kissing his cheek
it's one of the few pictures he posts of the two of them (photos are more of neil's thing (when the hell did he take such model-esque photos of andrew?))
but andrew constantly @'s neil on twitter for literally anything
@03andrewminyard: don't forget the cat food the spoiled idiots take the most expensive stuff @neil_josten_official
@03andrewminyard: hey @neil_josten_official get me the mega stuff oreos from the store ok bye
@03andrewminyard: i- @neil_josten_official. why. is. there. neon. orange. paint. all. over. my. socks.
needless to say, neil's retaliation of posting gorgeous photos of andrew always flusters andrew
and if andrew needs to press soft kisses to his lips to stop neil's gleeful laughter and his own flightful smile, well, that's no one's business
part 2 here <3
andrew is very loud about being gay.
he doesn't really "flaunt it" that much in college
but it gets to the point where he just wants to prove to kevin that yes, he can be successful and gay
so really, it all starts with a bet
anyway. neil has so many videos of andrew getting drunk in front of him and waxing poetic about boys (one in particular)
"neil. neil. this guy has such nice eyes. and ass"
*sigh* "andrew that's a picture of me"
"woahhhh"
but these are (mostly) all private moments
andrew isn't super open in front of others, considering how reserved he is in public
that all changes four years after going pro.
there are some days where queer people just feel exceptionally us and we just want to tell everyone we know
(but being closeted kinda... makes that hard. ahem.)
andrew isn't exempt from these feelings
and one day, the morning of a major interview, he's just hit with the sudden urge to tell someone that he's gay
it's bursting inside him, a physical feeling he can't push down behind the apathy
he tries to ignore it as best as he can and goes to the interview with his team
it's pretty chill. the team is playing a game called "Truth or Drink", where if you don't say truth... you drink?
so everyone's getting tipsy while andrew sits quietly in the corner of the sofa
eventually, one of his teammates realizes that no one had asked andrew anything yet, so when it's her turn, she turns to andrew
"andrew! truth or drink?"
andrew blinks slowly, a bit surprised that the question was directed to him
he considers his options. that weird feeling is still bubbling up inside his stomach and he figures alcohol will probably make things feel worse
so after a moment, he glances up at her and says quietly "truth"
she looks gleeful
after a bit of drunk conferring with some other teammates, she faces andrew with a glint in her eyes
"so," his teammates lean forward. "do you have a girlfriend?"
andrew groaned internally. of course this is the one thing they'd ask their most private, closed-off teammate
"no," he scowled. he was going to leave it at that, really, but his mouth moved faster than his mind and before he could stop himself, he blurted out "i do have a boyfriend though"
there was a moment of silence
then everyone started talking over each other, asking questions and demanding to learn more. andrew slumped in his seat, mentally preparing for the next 30 minutes
a few days later, the interview drops
predictably, the internet goes wild
fans speculate wildly about which guy andrew minyard could possibly be dating
it ranges to other exy players to celebrities to random students from PSU
neil and andrew don't come out for a while though
but in that gap, between andrew being out as gay and actually revealing that he's dating neil abram josten, andrew is pretty vocal about his sexuality
it starts with donations to LGBTQ+ groups and messages of support on social media
lots of sports fans (and people in general) understand how revolutionary it is to have an out athlete of this caliber
so they're constantly putting out encouraging messages
and after all this support, andrew eventually becomes a bit more... lax about what he posts
it starts with this on twitter:
yeah... andrew breaks the internet again
nicky tweets out an unholy amount of keyboard smashes
and andrew just... keeps posting gay memes
you can't go a single interview without andrew randomly interjecting the fact that he's gay
there are compilations on youtube like "andrew minyard being a gay icon for 17 minutes" or "20 minutes of andrew minyard being fruity af"
(andrew finds these far too funny — every time he comes across one of these, he just has to share it on social media)
andrew ends up on the face of so many queer magazines and pride events and such
of course, there are some shitty homophobic people
but every time a kid comes up to him and tells him how he inspired them to come out, those people become easier and easier to forget about
needless to say, by the time he and neil come out, andrew's already pretty comfortable with sharing his sexuality on the internet
being out as a couple, though? well, that's just a whole other story
LOOK OUT FOR PART 2 IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS it's abt andrew and neil coming out istg it's a mess but a very fun one lmao
part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 || i'm actually feeling kinda sad that this is the last part but also my brain can't come up with more ideas lmao
wymack stands by the fact that he doesn't get paid enough to deal with andrew and neil's shit (both as separate idiots and together)
but he does care for all his foxes, despite all the... difficulties that surround them
and honestly? one of the biggest struggles he faces is how absolutely thick-headed and oblivious the foxes can be regarding andrew and neil's relationship
truly, the heart-eyes neil constantly gave andrew were so obvious, he's not sure how everyone missed them before
but because he's so observant, he doesn't fail to notice how the older foxes keep giving strange looks to neil whenever he leaves andrew's side now
wymack doesn't get in the way of his foxes' personal lives. but if they start causing disturbances on the court, it's his job as coach to get to the bottom of these issues
(okay, maybe he and dan catch up on the so-called "drama" in the team every few weeks but it's for completely exy-related business. ahem. of course)
one day, wymack corners neil and lets him know that he and dan were to meet in his office after practice to talk through some logistics for the winter banquet
neil agrees, and practice goes smoothly (or, as smoothly as it can go with the foxes)
but after practice is... interesting
wymack swears he had no ulterior motives planned with the meeting; it really was supposed to be a genuine discussion
but the outcome of it was certainly unexpected
he and dan both know to wait for neil, that he doesn't like changing in front of anyone
so they wait. and wait. and wait.
it gets to the point where it's nearly 45 minutes after practice and surely neil should be done at this point, no?
wymack gets up, fully prepared to break down the door to make sure neil is okay when suddenly it slams open
neil tumbles out hand-in-hand with andrew, with matching flushed faces and ruffled hair
wymack sighs
dan outright snorts, and neil's head jerks up and his eyes widen when he notices dan and wymack
but before he can say anything, dan stands up and grins at andrew
"fucking neil again, huh?"
neil chokes on a cough and wymack turns to dan with a groan when he notices the mischievous glint in her eye, almost like that was an... inside joke?
with minyard?
wymack is very confused
andrew just scowls at dan. "i will knife you and make it look like an accident"
neil is still recovering from his coughing bout, so wymack turns back to the stabby midget ready to reprimand him
"i'm not scared of you anymore, remember andrew?" dan's eyes are still bright as she tries not to laugh
"shut up, both of you" wymack interrupts their weird jokes conversation whatever gruffly. "neil, do you remember why we're here?"
"huh? OH. oh shit. drew, i'm supposed to be talking with them about some winter banquet stuff"
andrew considers this. "how long?" wymack tells him about an hour, and andrew nods and turns to neil. "i'll stay"
neil just rolls his eyes. "you have a paper due tomorrow that you haven't even started yet. go do that, i'll be fine"
wymack sighs. he's been doing a lot of that lately. "minyard, go finish your homework or i swear to god, i'll make you run three marathons next week"
andrew glares but mutters out a "fine." he goes to leave but neil tugs him back by the wrist
neil then proceeds to kiss andrew on the nose and gives him the most bashful smile wymack has ever seen on the kid's face
neil's happy. it's a christmas miracle! and it's not even christmas yet!
and that kiss... really, it was the last thing he expected out of neil and andrew but he's happy at how comfortable they've grown around each other
and okay, it was a little adorable
(not that he'd ever say that to their faces, of course)
andrew ends up stumbling out of the court with the reddest face wymack's seen as neil turns back to him and dan
"right" he says sheepishly. "banquet?"
BONUS:
abby doesn't believe it when david tells her about the nose kiss
she knows that neil has a heart of gold, she knows that andrew has so much capacity to feel
but a nose kiss? she doesn't think andrew would agree to that
so when her older foxes come over one night after a tiring, but successful, game, she decides she needs to see this for herself
after a hearty dinner, all the kids are sitting in the living room, with andrew and neil talking quietly in the back corner of the room.
perfect.
"neil!" abby calls, and everyone in the room quiets to look at her. "sweetheart, could you help me bring out the dessert?"
nicky immediately jumps up from beside her, saying how he could help if she needed it
"no no, it's alright, i was hoping to talk to neil, if that's okay? it might take a little while"
neil looks extremely worried at this and abby almost feels guilty.
almost
he glances at andrew and then he leans down so quickly that abby nearly misses it
neil kisses andrew on the nose.
abby barely notices andrew's bright blush, nor does she register neil moving towards her
she just feels so proud of her foxes for coming so far in a world that keeps trying to beat them down
it's a sentimental moment, which is completely ruined by kevin's woop and nicky's yell of glee
"YES BITCH THEY DID IT THEY DID THE KISS GIVE ME YOUR MONEY ALLISON"
"fuck you hemmick. fuck you"
neil looks at them wildly. "you guys were betting on us? i didn't think you would..."
matt sighs and slings an arm around his friend. "oh neil, do you still really think that low of us? we bet on everything"
JSKHKKSJ OK IT'S FINALLY DONE i already miss this series but it has been a fun time :) my asks are always open if y'all have anything specific you want me to write !
parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 good lord why have i stretched this one concept out for so long skdflskj || part 8
allison thinks — nay, knows — that neil josten is just the cutest human being alive. certainly a badass. very threatening. will bite when provoked.
but still very cute. adorable. squish, if you will.
(also, have you seen those eyes??)
she likes to believe she is the mother hen of the newborn chick — the startled bambi — that is neil josten
and so, as an experienced, highly intellectual person, she... questions neil's taste in men
allison worries that andrew is just stringing neil along, ready to drop him whenever he pleases
(renee insists this is not the case, but what does renee know?)
anyways, allison concludes that andrew must be put to the test to confirm that he is good enough for her precious (and slightly rude) child
now, allison isn't one to perpetuate stereotypes, but andrew is a well-dressed gay man with plenty of experience in dressing up neil nicely
and, as the self-crowned queen of fashion, she knows that clothes can tell a lot about an individual
(for example, her clothes are wonderful, which means that she is flawless)
so allison decides that going clothes shopping with andreil (she cannot thank nicky enough for coming up with that ship name) is the only way to truly see if andrew is good enough for neil
so she plans. and one thursday evening, she corners andrew and neil and tells them what's going down
"neil. you and your boy— " "he's not my boy" "you and your boy will join me this saturday to go shopping at the mall. any questions?" "yes, actually— " "great, i'll see you then!"
to her surprise, andrew actually shows up with neil on saturday, twirling his car keys with a bored expression
"minyard. you are not driving"
"alright then. neil, let's go back to to bed"
"okay okay fine you can drive"
allison, with great dignity, regales herself to backseat passenger. at least this way she has a perfect view of the heart eyes transpiring between andrew and neil
(and if she sneaks in a couple of pictures of them — well, no one needs to know)
they finally reach the mall and allison is ready to start her sneaky observations
first: she spots a cute pink sweater in an egregiously bright shop window and drags neil inside, checking conspicuously if andrew follows him
he does
pleased, allison browses through the store, plucking the sweater she originally saw to try on later
after a little more looking, she emerges from the dressing room to show off the sweater to neil
"well neil? how do i look?"
"oh uh. pretty? andrew, how does she look?"
andrew sweeps an impassive gaze over her and promptly turns around without a word
allison is outraged. how dare he simply ignore neil! does he not think neil is important enough to respond to? does he not care at all? how can he just— oh
andrew returns with a pale blue sweater she had seemingly missed and throws it at her face
she goes back in to try it with a huff. surprisingly (and annoyingly), this one looks even better than the pink one did
she buys the blue one. but andrew's still on thin fucking ice
second: after the sweater fiasco, she leads andreil over to a shoe store. allison * very deliberately * walks through the men's footwear, hoping andrew will take notice of something he likes there for neil, before making her way to the women's section
she tries on a few sandals, showing them off to neil, and andrew wanders off in the middle of her runway strut
(she can't understand why. he might be gay, but surely he can still appreciate her legs, right?)
her questions are answered after andrew emerges from an aisle carrying a navy blue box, placing it in front of neil
neil stares at it. andrew kicks him in the shin
"oh am i supposed to wear it?"
andrew rolls his eyes and bends down, switching neil's old sneakers for a new pair of running shoes he found
allison nearly coos at the sight of the terrifying andrew minyard tying his boyfriend's shoelaces with such a focused look
neil loves the shoes. allison buys them for him. and maybe she approves of andrew just a little bit more
third: after a few more stores, allison is at the final stop of her experiment — clothes shopping for neil
she spends an agonizingly long hour searching for clothes neil might actually wear, but when she goes to give it to him, he's nowhere to be found
frantically, she combs through the store again, already thinking of private investigators to hire to find him
suddenly, allison spots his bright hair against the wall in the far corner of the store
she races over there, ready to give neil a piece of her mind for worrying her, until she sees what he's up to
he's kissing andrew. but it's not heavy making-out, it's not anything too explicit. it's just very adorable kissing
(allison has to bite back a laugh when she notices that andrew has to go on his toes to reach neil)
she goes to pull out her phone, but the clothes in her hand rustle, causing neil to glance her way
he winces at the massive pile of clothes, but presses a kiss to andrew's lips, then nose, before gingerly taking the clothes to try on
allison squints at andrew upon seeing the nose kiss. he scowls at her and promptly walks away in the direction neil left to
allison considers the sight she just saw. surely andrew wouldn't be willing to be so openly soft if he was just playing neil, right? right.
(damn, maybe renee did know some things after all)
allison gives a pleased smile — maybe andrew really is okay for neil — before suddenly remembering the bet that she's probably going to lose soon
but she doesn't mind losing some money anymore; she has plenty of it
all allison wants is for neil to be happy. and if andrew brings him happiness— well, she doesn't really understand neil's taste, but she supports it anyway
fuck. when did she get so soft?
parts 1, 2, 3, 4, aaaand 5 you wonderful human beings || part 7, 8
so aaron isn't the biggest fan of neil's relationship with his brother
he has made that very clear. to everyone
is he glad that andrew is a bit less murderous now? yes, of course
is he upset that andrew's dating the guy who brought a mob war upon the foxes? just a smidge
despite all his... reservations, aaron can tell that whatever andrew and neil have, it isn't just "hate sex"
(granted, aaron doesn't want to spend much time considering his brother's sex life in the first place, but that's beside the point)
but no matter how annoying josten may be, he does want to have a decent relationship with his brother by the end of college
and unfortunately, that includes moderately tolerating his brother's loudmouth boyfriend
the very boyfriend who forced andrew and aaron to have joint therapy sessions
and look, aaron isn't as stubborn as he acts, he can acknowledge that the therapy sessions are helping
he would just... never admit it to josten's face. the man has enough of an ego as it is
anyways, dobson had told him weeks ago that in order to start understanding the whole of his brother, he had to be willing to accept all the different parts of andrew
and that entails spending time with the people andrew is close with
aaron likes renee enough. she's a bit too happy for his taste, but she's not too bad
aaron wants to kick kevin in the balls whenever he lays his eyes on him, which he is forced to do far too often in his humble opinion
and then there's neil, who aaron should probably start making amends with
dobson (unfortunately) agrees with that idea
so aaron starts spending more time with neil —walking to classes, studying, teaching neil how to play video games (for someone with such solid reflexes on court, neil is shockingly bad at figuring out game controllers)
(he's also 90% sure andrew told josten why aaron was hanging out with him all of a sudden, considering the slightly limited snark neil speaks to him with now)
and much to his chagrin, aaron actually kinda... enjoys hanging out with neil
he's sarcastic. annoying. moderately threatening. neil would be the ideal bro if he wasn't literally dating aaron's brother
(oh, and the mob war thing. can't forget about the mob war thing)
but maybe aaron is being the slightest bit presumptuous
because that week, dobson has to push back their appointment to thursday evening instead of wednesday afternoon
neil offers to drive aaron and andrew over to Reddin, saying that he was going over to the nearby cafe to work on some project anyways
so neil and andrew have their weird eye-contact conversation thing at every stoplight. aaron sticks to just texting katelyn.
he's so engrossed in his phone he barely realizes when they've stopped, and then wonders why andrew hadn't told him to get out yet
he glances up, ready to scramble out of the car, when he witnesses the single craziest moment of his life
neil and andrew, oblivious to aaron, are staring at each other. very intensely. it's a bit disconcerting how long they can keep their eyes open for
(maybe aaron should go into optometry, for his brother's sake)
anyway.
so aaron slowly holds onto the door handle, about to leave the car, when neil goddamn josten kisses his brother. ON THE NOSE
and his brother is blushing. BLUSHING
aaron's mind comes to a halt. what. is. happening.
he practically leaps out of the car, trying to pull his jaw back up from where it dropped as andrew emerges from the car and walks towards dobson's office, ears pink
(oh god. does aaron look like that when katelyn is around? that's embarrassing as hell)
shit. aaron had betted against andrew and neil on the kiss bet. nicky must have known something he didn't, considering how excited he looked that day...
bastard, he texts nicky with no explanation, hoping it leaves his cousin floundering in confusion
and fine. maybe josten isn't that bad for his brother
but he's also the reason why aaron is going to be in crippling debt soon
but. if he and neil become closer, surely he'd have the insider information on his brother's relationship
hmm. if he plays his cards right, this new, tolerable almost-friendship with josten might actually help him to win some money in the future...
ok because AP tests are upon us and this is my only way of releasing all my stress, here's a short list of andreil study time hcs for your viewing pleasure
our boy andrew doesn't really have to study
neil on the other hand... actually needs to work to keep up his GPA
he's never really cared enough to study but now he has the foxes and exy and a future to lose so he might as well put in the effort to keep them
neil needs caffeine like he needs oxygen. the man cannot focus for shit without it
he'll down like three mugs of black coffee in the morning and be set for the day
andrew hates it but doesn't complain much as long as neil makes him some actually decent coffee too
(once, neil accidentally gave him the wrong mug and andrew didn't talk to him for the rest of the day)
when andrew does study or does homework, he hates studying in the library
he told nicky that it was because he's "allergic to books"
really, he just knows he'd get distracted and start reading william faulkner or jane austen instead of his textbooks
neil, however, loves the library
he can't study at all in the dorms; he needs to keep moving to new environments so he doesn't get bored by his surroundings
so neil and andrew don't study together half the time
which works out well considering the few times that they do, they tend to get more than a little... distracted
but if the library is closed or neil just doesn't have the energy to leave the dorm, he bullies andrew into helping him study instead of playing video games or reading
(neil gets a kiss for every question he gets right. andrew gets to look at a pretty guy for a few hours. it's a win-win situation)
mr. Neil draws-fox-paws-instead-of-doing-his-work Josten struggles with focusing on literally anything but exy and andrew
so he always ropes in one of the foxes as a "study-buddy" to hold him accountable while he's working
andrew and neil both like having noise-cancelling headphones on while they work, but this also means that people hold full-on conversations with them without realizing that they can't be heard
(also, because they're assholes, even when they can hear the other person, they just... don't respond.)
andrew is a pastel highlights guy. also he's weirdly possessive about his pens
neil just grabs the first mechanical pencil he sees (99% of the stationary he has isn't even his, he just found them laying around campus)
neil is also super disorganized. loose papers everywhere, he can never find anything. no matter how clean a place starts, it turns into a mess within 5 minutes of neil studying there
he also has food wrappers and crumbs everywhere because he constantly snacks while studying
andrew is surprisingly clean - he organizes everything by class and then color-codes everything (granted his memory helps so he doesn't have too many notes in the first place)
anyways, they both have their own methods of studying and it works for them
(aka andrew just vibes and neil frantically finishes all his work 3 hours before it's due)
ok yeah that's all i got right now, my brain is fried and i actually have to study now, pray for me 😔
part 1, 2, 3, 4 besties || part 6, 7, 8
dan has never claimed to understand andrew. or neil. especially not andrew and neil together
but she likes to have an eye on any changing behaviors on her team
because she's captain. not at all because she likes the gossip. dan's better than that
(she's really not)
so when matt starts acting jumpy around andrew and neil, she makes it a point to ask him if something's wrong
"i mean... i want to talk to neil about something i saw but there's like a 50/50 chance of murder"
"matt—"
needless to say, dan doesn't want to let neil or andrew out of her sight for a while
but she's dealing with a lot of stress: her last year of college, captaining the Foxes, dealing with rookie freshman, training neil on how to be captain, being a good girlfriend, all while job scouting and looking for housing for next year
so she has to trust that neil and andrew like matt enough to let him live
one fall night, dan is up late figuring out some plays, but there's something about the offensive line that just isn't working out
she quietly steps out of her dorm, noticing that the light is still on in kevin's room, and she heads over there to see if he has any ideas
binders in her hands, dan kicks at the door until kevin yanks it open with a grumble
she walks in and blinks when she realizes that kevin is dressed to go outside, and she realizes he must have been getting ready to go for a night practice
dan asks kevin for a confirmation, to which he lets out a loud groan and collapses on the couch
"we were supposed to go an HOUR ago but someone — ahem NEIL” he shoots a pointed glare to the bedrooms “keeps making out with his boyfriend. what do they even do for that long?! i guess when he's finally done, we'll go”
dan blinks. of course the one thing that could distract neil from exy was andrew
kevin quiets for a moment, and as dan strains her ears, she hears neil’s giggles — giggles! — coming through the door
(dan decides to ignore the more... explicit sounds)
she gives a consoling pat to the top of kevin’s head and drops her binders next to him
kevin rolls over reluctantly and starts flipping through dan's notes, and the two of them immerse themselves in plays and stats
about 30 minutes later, dan gets up for a stretch break and notices that she can't hear any noises coming from the bedroom anymore
she takes a few cautious steps in that direction, but when she's a few feet away, the door slams open and neil stumbles out, dragging andrew forward with a very wet laughing kiss
truly, they look like two lovestruck teenagers. it's very cute. also a little gross
dan coughs
the two of them leap apart (well, neil leaps. andrew steps back calmly, fixing his hair, but dan doesn't miss the glare he sends her)
"uh, neil. kevin's been waiting for you for night practice"
"oh shit. how long's it been?"
"i've been here for 30 minutes. kevin says he'd been waiting for an hour before i showed up"
"... oops"
dan steps back and opens her mouth to call for kevin when neil leans in towards andrew again
she lets out an exasperated sigh. "neil— "
neil cups andrew's face in his palms and presses a peck to his nose, giving him a fleeting, but bright, smile before noisily pushing past dan and yelling at kevin to hurry up, he's so behind schedule, what's been keeping him up for so long?
dan decides to ignore the crash and screech behind her as kevin shoves neil out the dorm
instead, she focuses on andrew
he gives her a cool, impassive glance, completely at odds with the bright red tips his ears were sporting and his blown-out pupils
"hey"
"..."
"so uh. you're not going to night practice with them?"
"paper"
"ah i see, i see"
they were silent for a moment
"why are you still here?"
"yep good point, going right now"
"wilds." dan turns around to see andrew's glare. "if you mention this to anyone i'll kill you"
ah. so this was the murder that matt was talking about
nevertheless, dan rolls her eyes at that. "andrew. i just saw neil kiss you on the nose. your threats are no longer effective on me"
"... fucking josten"
"yes, i imagine that's what you were doing— "
"wilds."
"leaving leaving, BYE ANDREW!"
part 1, part 2, part 3 ~ this is your daily reminder to go drink some water ~ part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8
renee tends to be perceptive about any changes with any of her foxes
but she's especially known for having the insider information on andrew (and by extent, his relationship with neil)
she doesn't do anything too special though. she just treats andrew with kindness and recognizes that they are both hurt people trying to heal, even if that healing looks different on both of them
but one of the best methods they can agree on is sparring
renee knows she's strategically a better fighter than andrew, considering her training and specific past
andrew is more... emotions-based — he acts with his heart rather than his head (although she's sure everyone would laugh in disbelief if she told them that)
andrew's aggression and ferocity is largely dependent on his current state of mind, which makes him a rather formidable opponent
he has a lot of pent-up anger. renee knows this. so imagine her surprise when after getting off his drugs, andrew starts throwing slightly weaker punches, moving just a hair slower than usual
(she thought it was the apathy. of course, it later came out that this was the work of one neil josten and his many kisses)
renee is certainly getting used to this newer, calmer andrew
and she's immensely happy that her friend is becoming more comfortable in his skin
but it still takes her by surprise to see how much he lets his guard down around neil, how much softer he is
andrew's certainly no romantic chick-flick lead, but renee sees how his eyes constantly flick over to neil, how andrew seems to lean into him, how it's not "andrew" and "neil" but rather "andrew and neil"
(or as nicky calls them, "andreil." renee would never tell andrew, but she thinks the ship name is extremely cute)
no matter what, though, renee can count on andrew not stopping their sparring sessions
it's less of an outlet for him now, but she likes to think that he enjoys her company, even if he would never admit it
so. it's a Wednesday evening, when andrew and renee usually spar
she's at the door of the gym, texting allison on her phone as she waits for andrew
(no allison, i don't think the twins would appreciate Prada sunglasses for their birthdays. and do you really want to spend hundreds of dollars on a gag gift?)
a few minutes later, the maserati pulls up, with neil in the driver's seat
andrew gets out of the car, walking around the hood to reach renee
but as he passes the driver's seat, renee sees the door open and neil gets out, grabbing andrew's fingers lightly as he pulls him around so andrew's back is touching the car
renee knows she should look away. really, she does
but what kind of a fox would she be if she didn't have something to tease her friend about?
(and besides, she justifies, it happened so quick she didn't even get a chance to look away)
neil and andrew have their eyes on each other and neil gently brings up his hands to caress andrew's check
he leans down and kisses him on the nose, and renee doesn't miss the way andrew's shoulders relax
nor does she miss the faint blush on andrew's cheek that he seems to be desperately keeping at bay
a few moments later, neil gets in the car and drives off as andrew walks to renee, a fake nonchalance in his step
she just smiles at him
andrew scowls
later that evening, nicky unexpectedly opens a new bet, stating that he thinks andreil are "totally the type to give each other cute kisses"
surprisingly, matt and kevin join in on that bet
after a moment of consideration, renee quietly adds that she's betting on nicky's side
there's a moment of surprised silence, before allison scoffs
"when have you turned into such an optimist? i won't ever believe that those two are anything but two tiny assholes"
renee wants to believe there's some affection lacing her words
"okay," nicky claps. "if they do a cute kiss in front of 3 or more of us in the next 2 months, we win the bet"
allison narrows her eyes. "deal"
they shake on it. renee can't wait to win some money
part 1, part 2 <3 ||| part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8
contrary to popular belief, nicky is actually a relatively observant guy, especially when it comes to his cousins
andrew is a bit more closed off than aaron, but even before nicky found out about andrew and neil, he noticed that andrew was a bit... lighter. happier, almost
so it comes as no surprise that he would be the next one to catch neil and andrew
the cousins, kevin, and neil all head over to Columbia one weekend after a stressful few weeks at school
and it's nice. relaxing. minimal chaos occurs
(ok sure, nicky realized that he forgot about a Marketing project and maybe kevin kept muttering about a "PDA draft" of some sort and yes, aaron nearly flushed his anatomy flashcards down the toilet but that's beside the point)
the five of them had originally planned to come back to PSU on sunday morning so everyone could catch up on their work
but kevin and aaron had gotten weirdly competitive over dance dance revolution the previous night
so everyone was severely lacking in the sleep department
(there was a collective decision to forget about school and instead stay in bed until 1 pm)
nicky ends up waking up around noon though, feeling more rested than usual
and of course, being the oldest person there, nicky decides to check in on everyone, make sure all his "children" were doing okay
he peeps into aaron's room. he finds aaron half off the bed and goes in to quietly fix his cousin's blanket
he peeps into kevin's room. he finds kevin sleeping perfectly straight and wrinkles his nose at the sheer strangeness of sleeping like a literal rod
he peeps into andreil's room. he find them... not there?
now, for all of nicky's good qualities, it cannot be said that he's always the most rational person
so he races over to aaron's room, ready to break down the door screaming that his favorite couple has gone missing
just as he's about to fling open the bedroom door, he hears a quiet laugh coming from downstairs
he freezes
"right. there's another half to the house. i remembered that"
nicky quietly drops his hand and moves away from aaron's room, tiptoeing down the stairs
he moves around the house, unable to find the source of the laugh until he finally reaches the kitchen
there, he finds andrew sitting atop the counter, his legs wrapped around neil, their noses nearly touching
nicky can't see neil's face, but he does notice neil playing with his and andrew's hands, occasionally bringing them up to press a kiss to andrew's knuckles in the middle of conversation
andrew says something quietly to neil, causing him to laugh again and lean up to kiss andrew
(it does not escape nicky's notice that this is the first time andrew has been taller than neil, but really, the adorableness of his two stabby children takes greater precedence over that)
nicky wants to keep looking, wants the reassurance that his cousin is safe and happy and loved
but he also knows that andrew is a private person and nicky should respect his wishes
nicky trusts his cousin. really, he does. it's just— andrew has been through so much, and getting like 5 more seconds of confirmation that andrew's doing okay wouldn't hurt anyone, right?
the beeping of the coffee pot jerks nicky out from his thoughts
he decides to leave, that andreil will be going fine and strong even without his intervention
but in the few seconds it takes to make his decision, something so adorable happens that nicky's poor heart stops functioning for a moment
andrew pouts — pouts! — and tightens his grip on neil, not uncrossing his legs
neil rolls his eyes and brings his hands up to andrew’s face, caressing his cheeks
neil kisses andrew on the nose
andrew hums and begrudgingly lets go of neil
nicky is internally hyperventilating
he’s frozen to the spot as neil pours the coffee into mugs and brings them back to the counter
andrew takes his mug and promptly wraps his legs around neil’s waist again, burying a hand in neil’s hair
he runs a hand through it slowly, bringing it down until his hand is resting on the back of neil’s neck, their foreheads nearly touching
nicky suddenly turns away, feeling raw and surprised by the amount of intimacy he just saw
he lets out a breath. they’ll be okay. andrew’s going to be okay.
he goes back up to his room and lies in his bed, mind running a million miles an hour
after a few seconds of staring up at the ceiling, he turns over, burying his face in his pillow, and screams a muffled proclamation that andreil is the cutest ship to have ever sailed
(a few hours later when they’re on the road back to PSU, aaron turns and asks nicky why he heard screaming coming from his room. nicky shrugs.
“i was just really hoping that the titanic situation doesn’t occur again. wouldn’t want my favorite ship to sink, you know?”)
you can find part 1 here :) you probs need to read that to understand this one!
part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8
neil tries to kiss andrew out of sight of the other foxes, but it's not always easy
matt knows already, of course, about neil's newfound way of saying goodbye
but keeping the others away proves to be slightly... impossible
kevin catches them first
the three of them are at night practice, but andrew was refusing to participate
"this is homophobia, you can't force me to play, kevin"
"what the fu-"
anyway. so neil and kevin are practicing. they do their thing
(andrew is most definitely not staring at neil's shorts, of course not surely he has more self-control than that)
(spoiler alert: he does not, it turns out, have that much self-control)
about an hour in, kevin and neil go on a short water break because hydration
neil jogs up to the bleachers where andrew is sitting and quietly speaks to him, out of kevin's sight
kevin leans against the wall of the court, drinking water and scrolling through his East Asian Studies group chat (no Jackson, the Chinese were not "blazing it" during the Opium Crisis)
he gets so caught up in his rant that he realizes the time is now 10 minutes after their break was supposed to end
and that's certainly unusual isn't it? because neil is just as obsessed with exy as kevin is, and it's really weird that he hasn't come to tell kevin to start practice again, oh god what if something's wrong, what if kevin wasn't paying enough attention and something bad happened shit shit SHIT
so kevin runs over to the bleachers where he remembers andrew and neil usually sit and finds... them in a very heated make-out session
and yes, kevin can admit that he feels some relief that everything's okay. it's mostly just annoyance though. what did he ever do to be cursed to see this much PDA from his roommates?
"ahem. neil. josten. get off of andrew's lap right now, we're supposed to be practicing"
neil quickly twists around at kevin's voice, nearly toppling off of andrew. he regards kevin with a sheepish look
"ah right yes i just got a bit, um, distracted"
"evidently"
so kevin thinks neil will go about disentangling himself and starts to turn away
but of course, neil lives to surprise him
instead of getting off of andrew immediately he leans in once more
kevin is resigning himself to have to physically break the two apart at this point
but instead of going in for another long kiss, neil brushes his lips on andrew's nose and gives him a softer smile than kevin is used to seeing on the striker's face
kevin cannot believe his eyes
but the pink on andrew's cheeks is certainly real. so he couldn't have imagined that
quite frankly, kevin doesn't think he has the brain capacity to come with something like that in the first place
but he doesn't say anything. yet. he and neil practice as usual, and after some cool-down stretches and a quick shower, andrew drives the three of them back to the tower
andrew shoves neil into the their room and emerges again outside to where kevin is waiting
"spit it out day, why are you acting weird?"
"nothing really. you're just... a lot softer these days. with neil at least"
"what, do you want me to start kissing you too? i thought it was easier to remain heterosexual"
kevin rolls his eyes at this
"shut up. ugh. i guess i'm just glad he's making you a bit happier"
andrew gives him an appraising look (it's not as intense as he thinks it is considering the height different but kevin decides not to bring that up)
"and if i told you i'm never happy? that i may never be happy?"
kevin shrugs. "then i'll be glad that he's helping you feel safe enough to tell me that"
andrew is quiet for a moment. then—
"don't go around giving josten all the credit for that. he already has a big enough ego"
andrew turns on his heel and walks into the bedroom, leaving kevin to realize what andrew just implied
kevin lets himself smile for a moment. no matter what he says, he really is happy for his friends. even if what he saw today was horribly sappy
he goes to bed with the knowledge that andrew and neil are in good hands with each other
(but really, he's already drafting plans on banning PDA in the court because he desperately does not want to walk in on neil and andrew again)