Palmetto State Foxes - Blog Posts

Andreil sketch

When your bf wants to hold your hand <33

In England, in a town called Uckfield, there is a skate, surf and snowboard shop on the high street. It’s called pipedreams. Which automatically reminds me of Andreil.

Maybe Neil owns a extreme sports shop in the uk and Andrew is travelling with Kevin and they go to get equipment.

(I sort of think that Neil would be a kickass skater/snowboarder. Maybe Andrew is a skier? Or he surfs?)

But they meet and get all competitive and the story goes on from there?

Someone one expand this idea please!

Fancasting Luigi Mangione as Kevin Day

aftg floor plans pt.2

i know i said i would be making the homes in california next however that was actually just me pulling a neil josten so instead here are some more places from the first three books because i had their images in my head and moving chronologically called to me

perhaps most importantly is the monster's home in columbia. i am not sure if the books actually say this is a split level home but it makes sense to me and i have picked up on nora liking split level homes from multiple descriptions so that's what it is. we know nicky's room is on the first floor and so is the bathroom which means aaron and andrew are upstairs. andrew's room being second seemed right because its farther from the front door and because of the vague way my brain played out that scene of him coming downstairs before going to easthaven. not sure if i love that there's only one bathroom but we don't learn of a second one and i honestly don't think nicky could have afforded the jump in price a second bathroom would bring

okay. this one is painful. and for the record, i am sorry. but its mentioned so here it is. as you can tell i didn't want to or feel the need to fully fill in this house. i just added enough so that you can vaguely get the point and put labels for the rest. mainly i just did the kitchen, the back screened in porch where they ate, and that cursed bedroom. again, i am sorry. we're moving on to something more fun though don't worry

spring break cabin!!! this was so much fun, i cannot even begin to tell you. and okay, i know they were there for only a week so like what does it matter but it matters to me. this space is so cozy and caved out in my head that i just had to do it. the tan is the inside and the grey is the porch which we know to be in the back and on one of the sides. ignore how i didn't really put anything on the porch... i was kinda stuck beyond the hot tub. but this place is hugeeeee like oh my god. we have the large living room around the fireplace, the ginormous kitchen, the cute back room that is mentioned to have pool and foosball, and of course, our favorite, the bedroom neil and andrew stay in. ngl i struggled a bit with that bedroom's layout but this is what we ended up with

okay, second floor. according to neil, the four upstairs bedrooms are placed in each of the corners which made it a bit difficult and definitely interesting to do. because of this, i gave two of them a jack and jill style bathroom. in my mind, it makes sense for the two bedrooms sharing a bathroom to be given to nicky, kevin, and aaron. i think kevin being the drama queen he is would get his own and nicky and aaron would share but honestly aaron could be with either. and of course matt and dan are together and allison and renee are in the last one. each room has a door to the wrap around porch but it made sense to me for the open areas to have access too. and speaking of the open areas i made one a mini lounge because apparently there are multiple fire places and i had to put the second one somewhere and the other has desks because i didn't put them in any of the rooms. i mean it is a vacation home, why would they need desks in their rooms?

i swear i will actually do the cali homes next. i have sketches of them in my notebooks but haven't fully fleshed them out online like the rest. but they exist and i have already scoured the books to piece them together so hopefully it won't take ten years but then again, it is finals season and i have so so many essays to do so we will see.

oh and, i have about half of wymack's apartment done in the sims and while it's a struggle to be era accurate, it's very cute and fun

pt. 1 pt. 3 (cali)

aftg floor plans

not that anyone asked but the way my brain works means that any time i read anything, i am piecing together every room, every house, and every space. i need to create an image in my head so i can see the characters in it and see how they interact with the space. except it’s always vague and sometimes a throw-away line places a window or a wall where i didn’t think it was and i have to redo the entire space in my head…… it’s a struggle but after so many times rereading aftg, i have a pretty solid idea

this is just a long way of saying i have decided to take what’s in my head and make it into reality and i have made floor plans for aftg lol

so far, i have done the foxes’ dorm (both how i think the entire floor is laid out and each of their three rooms), wymack’s apartment, and abby’s house. i plan on doing the cali places later, don’t even worry

of course tumblr is corrupting the quality but in my head there are five rooms to each side of the hall and the stairs are right next to the monsters' room. that stray white box is an elevator supposedly.... i had no idea how or where the elevator should be so i just kinda threw it there, don't laugh. and we know the soccer kids live on their floor so they have the rooms across the hall

i placed everything based on descriptions gathered from the first four books (thank you jean for telling us they do in fact have stoves even if they are just two burners). i gave kevin's desk an extra monitor to watch games on lol and andrew has to be by a window to smoke out of it. also, the beds are bunked. i know this looks big but it was hard to get the spacing right..........

for the girls, i mirrored the monsters' room because i know that piping tends to make apartments laid out so kitchens or bathrooms are back to back with your neighbors. they also get a fancy extra chair and a bigger tv bc allison is rich and you can't tell me their room wouldn't have the nicest furniture. i feel like dan would have the bottom bunk, renee the top, and allison the lone lofted bed but that's just me lol

we know matt and neil shoved their three desks by the windows and in my head, matt and neil's bunk is on the left while seth's lofted bed is on the right. and matt and neil have their dressers underneath seth's bed and his is by the window

this was actually interesting because we know that the front door is out of sight from the doorway of the study and that there are windows in the living room so i put in this turn to the hall. again, the space looks huge here but that's mainly because i didn't want to have to shrink and rearrange all the walls over and over again

abby's was the hardest by far. i went back and scoured the books for more information about her house because i was struggling and have struggled with it since my first read through. we know that there is a doorway to the kitchen (so i couldn't give her the open floor plan i wanted) and that the bedroom jean stayed in was just down the hall from the bathroom. i ended up giving abby her own master bath just because i felt like it but i have no idea if that is canon. and the hall bath seemed too large so i put in a laundry room randomly but whatever. we also know she has a two car driveway so i made the shape of the house a little funky. and in my head, during summer break aaron and nicky stay in one bedroom and andrew and kevin are in the other one. i put kandrew in the bedroom down the hall because it is farther from the front door and andrew would like that imo. that is also the bedroom jean is in after renee takes him from evermore. and of course she needed a huge dining room table to fit everyone

ANYWAY, if you made it this far i am surprised and thank you for entertaining this. i can also share all the passages i used to piece together these floor plans cause they are all bookmarked but that felt like too much to include here and i doubt anyone cares. feel free to debate wall placements in the comments, i would love to talk to you about it as you can probably tell

and if literally anyone is interested, i can and will make these in the sims and then they will be real cute and colorful floor plans. i will probably do it anyway for my own enjoyment but whether i post them is up in the air

pt. 2 pt. 3 (cali)

Daily reminder that there’s other sports teams at fox tower and they co-exist with our exy team

I pity them

Every day I start kinning this man more

Thinking about how badly Andrew must’ve wanted to be known. For someone to actually notice things about him and be curious and piece all these observations together. Like. The truth game was just as much about wanting to know things about Neil as him wanting Neil to know him. And even without the truth game being evoked, when he knows what answers Neil must be digging for, he gives in more often than not. I think about how when Neil started noticing Andrew’s odd memory, especially when Neil believed him not to be paying attention and when Neil started finally asking questions, and how quickly Andrew answered them, how he must’ve been thinking, finally.

How much he wanted to be known and by someone he knew by now he could trust. Someone he knew could understand him and the implications of things he’s told. Someone he could tell his own secrets and things he’s been keeping to himself. Everything he let other people assume or misunderstand about him. This little nobody runaway is paying attention, piecing it together, understanding in a way that no one has ever been willing to do, not even his own twin. And when Aaron and Nicky asks him when this happened or other variations of the questions Neil’s already solved himself, and Andrew tells them they should’ve figured them out himself.

The way Neil was the first person to take him at his word, especially about something that wasn’t violence. To look further into him and the things he says and does and actually try to understand him. Not just write him off as a violent psychopath who does things for his own pleasure. The way Andrew wanted him to see more of him and understand him. And I just. My mind is tangles. But I want to go on about this forever.

a question that hasn't let me go since finishing AFTG:

in a timeline where the perfect court worked out, would neil be a striker or a backliner?

while he was at the nest, riko made him play as a backliner but he performed rather poorly, and yet riko marked him #4 for his perfect court.

even though his special potential only showed when he played as a striker for the foxes.

but the perfect court was supposed to be riko (1) and kevin (2) for strikers, and jean called neil his partner that got away or something so we can assume that the planned backliners were jean (3) and neil (4)

did riko really gamble on neil's ability to adjust to being defense, or would he have been a striker sub??

I always wondered how the foxes would react to finding out that it was andrew that "hit on" neil first (specially Kevin, since he was just standing right there while that happened)

(now, i don't think they would willing just talk about it but if one of them slip up...)

Btw: i absolutely adored the goodbye kisses series

AHHH sorry for being so MIA lately but i'm absolutely loving this! also i'm realizing that i'm very bad at actually getting to the point so enjoy a shit ton of irrelevant exposition :)

read it on ao3 here

— ··· —

Kevin didn't understand why they had to come to the zoo. It was smelly, there were kids screaming everywhere, and he'd nearly been stepped on three times in the past 10 minutes. He much rather preferred exy to this.

Team bonding sucked.

He trudged along beside Aaron as Dan, Matt, and Nicky actually tried socializing with the new Foxes. Normally, Kevin would jump at the chance to talk about exy with these recruits, but also, normally he didn't feel like he'd just just rolled through a flaming dumpster filled with screeching, pooping monkeys.

Kevin let out a sigh as they passed some sort of mildly interesting snake exhibit. He nudged Aaron, who was on his phone with a red face, which meant he was either texting lovey-dovey things to Katelyn or blasting an idiot in his Ochem class. You never really knew with him.

"Aaron."

Aaron just scowled at him. Kevin sighed again. Conversing was always so much more exhausting than he anticipated.

"Snakes."

"What."

"Do you want to... see the snakes?"

Aaron blinked in confusion. "Okay?"

Kevin led them to the snakes.

There, they shoved past some families and made it to the front of the glass enclosure.

"Well?" Aaron asked. "Now what do we do?"

Valid question, Kevin thought. He hadn't really considered what they were doing. He just wanted to see snakes.

He told Aaron as much, who rolled his eyes aggressively and went back to his phone.

Kevin felt a tap on his shoulder and twisted around, coming face-to-face (well, more like chest-to-face) with some sort of tour or information guide.

"Hi!" she smiled all too brightly. Kevin wanted to cover his eyes. "How are you enjoying the exhibition?"

"Um," Kevin gulped eloquently, then remembered his media training. "Oh yeah, it's great!"

"Awesome," she beamed. "You know, there's a snake feeding session in about 5 minutes if you and your son are interested."

Kevin's face contorted in confusion. He whirled around, assuming some tiny, lost child was latched near him, but when he turned back, the lady — Sandy — had her gaze intensely focused on the only other small person near him: Aaron.

Oh dear.

Aaron seemed to come to the same conclusion as Kevin did because his eyes widened comically and he hissed "I. am. not. his. son."

Sandy blinked owlishly. "Little brother then?"

Aaron threw his hands up. "I am 21! Leave me alone." He then proceeded to stomp out of the enclosure, dragging Kevin along and leaving a very flummoxed old lady behind them.

"I can't believe it," Aaron kept muttering. "Your son. Your son! I hate life."

Kevin was a bit miffed that he hadn't actually been able to see the snakes, but he figured Aaron's plight was slightly more significant than that.

After a few moments of silent walking (Kevin) and angry grumbing (Aaron), Kevin realized he couldn't see any of the Foxes anymore. He glanced around, instinctively searching for Andrew.

"Hey, do you know where Andrew and Neil went?" Kevin asked.

Aaron scoffed. "They're probably making out somewhere."

"Who's making out?"

Aaron and Kevin both gave unholy screeches as they turned around to find Nicky standing between them, a wide, innocent grin on his face.

"What the fuck," Aaron complained. "Don't do that again, you bitch."

Nicky waved him off. "Shut up. Who's making out? Might be able to close some bets."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "We just can't find Andrew and Neil anywhere. Aaron seems to believe they're off deflowering a zoo Port-A-Potty or something."

"Well then, we wouldn't want to interrupt them, right?" Nicky winked. "Anyways, we're all going to the butterfly exhibit right now so y'all have to join us. I'm not taking no for an answer."

It seemed that they had no choice, so after sharing a resigned glance, Kevin and Aaron trudged behind an overly enthusiastic Nicky while he babbled on about some parrots that he saw. It really didn't seem as interesting as Nicky was making it out to be, but Kevin didn't want to say anything lest he was expected to participate in the conversation too.

They finally reached the butterfly exhibit where the other Foxes were waiting for them. They entered as a mass of loud, mildy buff, smelly athletes and got more than a few glares from the parents of young children who moved out of the way.

But in all this movement, the path cleared and Kevin found... Andrew and Neil? He was about to turn to Aaron and tell him that they evidently not making out, until he noticed how still Andrew was standing and the glee on Neil's face.

Nicky's gaze caught onto them a second later, because he squealed and grabbed Kevin's arm, jabbing his finger at the sight.

"Oh my God," he whispered. "Is that a butterfly on Andrew's nose? That is adorable."

Kevin squinted, and yes, that's exactly what it appeared to be. Nicky's outburst had caught Allison's attention, and she began marching over to Neil and Andrew, the rest of the Foxes in tow.

Kevin could already tell this was going to be a mess.

When they finally reached Andrew, Aaron was the first to speak. "What the fuck?" he asked flatly. Andrew glared at him. Slowly, as to not move the butterfly, he raised his hand to gently flip off his brother.

Nicky immediately started cooing. "Aww, don't worry Andrew! I think you look adorable."

Andrew began slipping out a knife.

On Allison's left, Kevin saw Dan practically shaking with laughter as she pulled out her camera and snapped a picture.

Neil opened his mouth, probably to tell off Dan but Nicky rushed in to talk to him.

"Soooo," he waggled his eyebrows. "I didn't know you could see the future, Neil."

Neil stared at him blankly and turned back to Andrew as he pulled out a map, but Nicky rallied on.

"Like, you must have been able to predict that one day Andrew was going to be this adorable. That's why you asked him out, right?"

"What?" Neil asked distractedly. "I never asked him out."

Kevin blinked in surprise. After a moment's consideration, he realized that considering how utterly oblivious Neil could be, it really was no shocker that Andrew had to ask him out first.

"Wait wait wait," Matt shook his head. "So Andrew asked you out?"

Neil waved them off as he continued squinting at the map he was holding. "Yes yes, just go ask Kevin, he was there."

All eyes turned to Kevin. Kevin was very lost.

"What the fuck," Aaron repeated. "I'm so confused."

"Me too," Kevin muttered. "Me too."

— ··· —

After their long day at the zoo was over, the Foxes finally began the trudge back up to their respective dorms. The younger Foxes dozed off immediately, but the older Foxes gathered in the girls' room to drop off the bags they had borrowed for the trip.

In all the commotion, no one really noticed Andrew and Neil leaving together. But right before they slipped out the door, Renee caught sight of them.

"Good night, you two!" she called. Neil turned around and gave her a tired wave, his body slumped on Andrew.

"Wait!" Nicky scrambled off the sofa. "Before I forget: Neil, how did Andrew ask you out?"

Neil blinked sleepily. "Well," he slurred. "He asked if he could blow me."

The room went silent.

Andrew heaved a sigh and dragged Neil out the door, leaving seven wide-eyed, very much awake athletes in their wake. Slowly, everyone turned to Kevin.

"You!" Allison weakly jabbed a finger in his direction. "You knew about this!"

Too late, Kevin realized what Neil's statement meant. Andrew had asked out Neil in front of Kevin. By offering sex. Nothing could have possibly ruined Kevin's night as much as this information had.

He met the Foxes' eyes slowly. Even Renee looked a bit surprised at Neil's admission, but she was clearly biting back a smile. "Trust me," Kevin groaned. "If I had known this had happened, I would have won myself so many bets."

"Damn," Nicky sighed. "I wish Erik and I had such an iconic story. Who knew the quiet, stabby cousin was such a horny gay bastard?"

"I," Aaron announced hotly. "have never wanted to forget a conversation more than this one."

"But Aaron. Andrew asked to blow him."

"Nicky, I swear— "

"OH MY GOD. They're probably having sex right now! Kevin, could you— "

Aaron put his head in his hands. "Please shut up now."

andreil and goodbye kisses (pt. 8) ft. wymack (+ a bonus)

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 !

andreil and goodbye kisses (pt. 7) ft. allison

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?

andreil and goodbye kisses (pt. 6) ft. aaron

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...

andreil and goodbye kisses (pt. 5) ft. dan

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!"

i had an idea i would love to see from your perspective (you're so good at andreil oh my god) if you wanted to write some stuff about it? i always wondered how andrew reacted when he first found neil missing after the binghampton game (starts pg 235 in the king's men). thoughts? (-- the ttyl blog <3)

omg i literally finished re-reading that scene before seeing your ask skjflsj ~ i hope you like this ! (i'm just realizing that i barely followed ur request and just rambled a lot but that's FINE 😬)

read it on ao3 here :)

«««———»»»

Andrew walked in line to the bus with the rest of the Foxes, mind going a million miles an hour behind his impassive expression. 

"Thank you," Neil had said, eyes truer than Andrew had ever seen them. "You were amazing."

Andrew wasn't such a fool for Neil Josten that he couldn't figure out there was something more happening under the surface, something bigger than just an Exy shutout, that he wasn't telling anyone. Something forcing truth out of him.

Neil looked scared.

Apparently, no one else received the memo, because behind him, Matt Boyd kept kicking at Andrew's heels and Andrew could nearly see the nosy smile on Reynold's face. Boyd's voice was drowned out by the cacophony of both jeers and shouts of approval coming from all around them, but he had no doubts that Boyd was fishing for information surrounding his and Neil's "not this" to settle a bet of some sort.

Andrew didn't really care. He was more focused on leaving Binghamton, getting some answers out of Neil, and then kissing him senseless.

Of course, Andrew had no plans to tell Neil of that last item on the list, but he was sure he (and everyone else, apparently) knew anyway.

Maybe not Nicky, though. For all his cousin boasted about having an "incredible gaydar," he tended to be a bit clueless about Andrew.

Andrew's eyes were unfocused, gazing at the bounce of Neil's red curls while his thoughts wandered around nothing at all.

Nothing? his mind mused unhelpfully. Or Neil? Or is that one in the same now?

Shut up, he huffed internally. I hate him.

Lost in his head, it was only until he heard a pained curse from Aaron that he jerked straight and saw the world burning around him.

«««———»»»

Andrew's vision went red. 

He nearly would have broken out of line and straight into the tidal wave of rioters had he not noticed the police trying to push back the crowd. He had never trusted the pigs, but Andrew supposed he could let them handle the mess until he'd gotten a chance to check on Aaron at the bus.

He had nearly fooled himself with that thought when an ice cooler sailed through the air and missed Danielle's face by an inch. An enraged shout came from Andrew's right, and he could feel the familiar heat of adrenaline in his stomach that always came when he and Renee sparred.

There was going to be a fight.

No sooner than he had that thought, the crowd around him exploded into madness, nearly running the Foxes over. Andrew may have been ready to throw some punches, but he was not at all prepared for the onslaught of unfamiliar bodies piling on him. Moving around him. Touching him. 

Andrew couldn't breathe.

He lost sight of Neil's head in the mess, hoping one of the security guards would bring Neil to safety while Andrew tried to ground himself. What had Bee taught him? 

What is your name? Andrew Minyard.

How old are you? 20 years old.

What is upsetting you? Hands. Everywhere.

Can you do something about it? Yes. I can move now.

He felt the glancing blow of someone's elbow on his face, nearly hitting his eye. It was sure to bruise later, but for now, the sharp pain mixed with Bee's words were enough to shake Andrew out of his stupor.

He ducked to the left, neatly missing a thrown shoe and was grateful to his limited stature for once. He kept an eye out for a flash of red, the glint of blue eyes, but seeing that Neil was nearly as short as Andrew himself, the effort was futile.

He'll be fine, Andrew thought. Find Nicky, Aaron, and Kevin, and get to the bus.

To his surprise (or maybe not), Andrew found Reynolds trading fierce blows with someone twice her size, Renee at her back. He caught Renee's glance and she gave him a firm nod of reassurance.

He nodded back, already swiveling to find the rest of his group. 

After a few minutes, he spotted Nicky and Kevin huddled together, slowly moving to the edge of the crowd. He caught up and grabbed Nicky's wrist, who jerked away and reared his hand back for a punch before realizing it was Andrew.

Despite it all, Andrew felt a thrum of satisfaction. A few years ago, Nicky had let people beat him down over and over again. At least now he was learning to fight back.

"Oh thank god," Nicky cried, catching Kevin's attention, before his eyes widened. He reached out, remembering himself at the last second. "Andrew... your face, what happened?"

Andrew shrugged. He'd been through worse. 

Nicky looked like he wanted to say something, but Kevin cursed loudly and began pushing out of the sea of bodies with renowned vigor.

"It's getting more violent and more people are joining," Kevin said, voice strained. "We need to get out and regroup at the bus."

"Aaron?" Andrew asked. Nicky glanced around a few moments before pointing to his right.

"There!" he exclaimed, and motioned to Kevin to go in that direction. Kevin nodded and they made their way over to Aaron, who was ducking under beer bottles and was nearly smacked in the face by a PSU banner.

"Aaron!" Kevin called, and Aaron's shoulders dropped with relief as he swerved a growing fight and made his way over to them.

Andrew scanned his brother quickly and, after seeing no visible injuries, motioned to start back towards the parking lot. They made their way over to the bus and found Boyd and Danielle standing, the former looking like he'd just lost a fight with a mountain lion.

Danielle was gripping his arm as Abby tended to his wounds, but Andrew heard her say he might need to go to the hospital for the more serious injuries. Boyd looked pained at the thought, but when he glanced up and caught Andrew's eye, he smiled and waved them over.

"Andrew, here," Abby said, noticing his injury. He took an ice pack from her and glanced around.

"Where's Neil?" he asked, choosing to ignore the suggestive look between Boyd and Danielle. Abby shrugged and opened her mouth before her eyes caught on something behind Andrew and she waved.

Andrew turned around to find Renee and Reynolds walking proudly towards them. Reynolds had a mosaic of bruises all over her, and Renee was holding her wrist precariously.

Abby sighed and began treating them as Wymack rounded the front of the bus and finally found his team.

Not the whole team, a ringing voice said in Andrew's head. Neil isn't here yet.

Which was odd, no? He had a security guard in front of him, surely he would have made it here first? Perhaps Wymack had seen him and taken him somewhere. Maybe he was already safe in the bus and Abby hadn’t noticed him.

Andrew pushed past Danielle and boarded the bus, walking the length of it but not finding a loudmouthed striker in its shadows. His stomach became knotted with a curious feeling he slowly identified as dread.

Andrew was at the door of the bus again. He looked at Wymack.

"Where. Is. Neil." he demanded. He saw Wymack's confused expression and before he even said anything, Andrew felt his heart stop.

"I don't know. I thought he was with you."

Reynold's knowing smirk gave way to uncertainty as the rest of the Foxes quieted. There was silence for a moment. Two.

Then Andrew threw his ice pack on the floor and raced back into the heart of the riot.

«««———»»»

He ignored the shouts coming from behind him, his mind an endless loop of Neil, Neil, Neil, is he safe, has he been hurt, he was supposed to be nothing, NEIL

After a few minutes of searching and more than a few near punches, the police finally regained some control over the situation and Andrew was able to scour the grounds for any hint of where Neil might be.

He saw the racquet first. The duffle bag was a few meters away from it.

Numbly, Andrew picked up both items, grabbing Neil's phone as it fell from the netted side pocket.

0, it said. 

Andrew felt a piercing emptiness when he saw Neil's things without their rightful owner beside them.

He slowly walked back to the Foxes' bus, head pounding but unable to really register the dwindling fight behind him. And when the Foxes finally came in view, he saw the confusion on their faces when they saw no Neil walking with him.

Andrew mentally ran through everything that he knew. Neil was scared. He was running from someone, someone Kevin knew about? A zero on his phone from an unnamed number — a countdown, perhaps. He would never leave his things unattended, so maybe he wanted to tell Andrew he had been taken unwillingly, knowing that Andrew would never leave without him.

There was something he was missing, some vital piece of information that Neil hadn't told him that was causing this mess.

The guilty look on Kevin's face told Andrew everything he needed to know. He knew something.

He dumped Neil's things on the ground by Wymack's feet, mentally assessing himself. His cheek throbbed, each breath he took was sticky with sweat, his heart was pounding.

Neil was gone.

Andrew felt such a blind hot rage at that, the likes of which he hadn't felt in so long, the type where he felt like laughing at how cruel the world could be.

And before he could tell his body to stop, Andrew's hands were around Kevin's throat.

«««———»»»

"Shit Andrew! You're hurting— " "Andrew, stop— " "Get off of— "

«««———»»»

Andrew couldn't remember what happened after that, not immediately at least. It was a bit disorienting, going from a perfect recollection to being so overrun by anger that his mind went blank. Was this how everyone else felt all the time? He felt like someone just took out a Jenga piece from his mind, like it was close to collapsing.

Distantly, he recalled being yanked off of Kevin as he gasped some explanation about a mob boss, Kengo's right hand man, Nathaniel Wesninski. But none of it mattered. Andrew had broken his promise. He had hurt the person he had vowed to protect, just like so many had done to him.

And he still didn't have Neil.

«««———»»»

Neil used to make the emptiness a bit fuller, a bit easier to manage, Andrew thought. It felt so impossible to navigate himself now without Neil by Andrew's side.

«««———»»»

There was a hospital. A hotel. There were FBI agents. The news turned on. Off. On. There was another hotel. Handcuffs. Taken away.

«««———»»»

There was Nathaniel Neil. Standing in front of him. Blue eyes, wild hair, bandages unable to hide how irresistible he was, unable to stop the jolt in Andrew's heart.

There was Neil. And everything felt right again.

andreil and goodbye kisses (pt. 4) ft. renee

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

andreil and goodbye kisses (pt 3) ft. nicky

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?”)

andreil and goodbye kisses (pt 2) ft. kevin

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)

me: spends all my time immersing myself in the foxes' found family so i don't have to deal with my own dysfunctional family

also me: wonders why i don't have a good relationship with anyone in my house

Story time, bc guys??!?, I don’t think y’all get it. Last night I had a nightmare, but not the kind you think!!

I was at Palmetto State (for some reason) but I WASNT ME I WAS AARON MINYARD. And yeah, fine. I can handle that, I love Aaron, but I was walking up some stairs outside on campus passing Andrew, and he looked weird. Like something was off, and that made me alert and worried (despite me being Aaron) bc Andre’s face is always so stoic, but for SOME REASON, something was off and so as he passed I turned back and was like “Hey, is everything okay?”

Cause ig I have nothing better to say, y’know? And he turns to me- we are both STILL on the stairs- and he RUSHES AT ME BUT NOT TO ATTACK ME?!???!?!

AND HE HUGS ME??????

AND THEN I PULL BACK A BIT AND ANDREW FUCKING MINYARD IS SOBBING HIS EYES OUT

And I woke up in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT my heart was FUCKING RACING???? LIKE???? WHAT??? MY HANDS WERE SHAKING AND EVERYTHING????

AND I THINK ITS TOTALLY VALID BC ANDREW MINYARD- THE ONE WE KNOW- DOES. NOT. CRY.

AND WOULD CERTAINLY NEVER INITIATE THAT KIND OF PHYSICAL CONTACT LIKE THAT WITH AARON

So, yeah. That’s how my night went. And then after waking up at like 4 in the morning and finally falling back to sleep, I had to wake up at 6am regardless for work at 7 ✌️😋

guys the brainrot has manifested 😳😏🫢

Look Neil even has the matching armbands (sniff their everywhere)

*Mic drop

Neil “Dan I said please I tried to be nice” Josten.

He did in fact say please not once but twice Dan.

The Raven King, Chapter 6, Page 83 is my favorite page in the whole series.

Renee and Andrew being the best of friends is everything to me. Same as Neil and Matt being homies.

Champagne coast was definitely playing in that one scene on the bus where Neil noticed how Andrew’s eyes went gold at a certain angle.

Headcanon Neil josten will never run out of insults to spit at someone. He knows like 5 different languages, so if he runs out of curse words in one language he’ll switch to another and start all over when he’s chewing someone out. For any particular reason.

Me with the entirety of the AFTG series

you know how it is

He said don’t touch with his “ThingS” Riko fuck face 😒

Omg stop 🤭🫣

Andrew collecting his things and most definitely his percentage for Neil climbing it’s way up

We love a self aware king

P.S Get in line Neil

This whole interaction:

Nicky:please be gay

Aaron: please don’t bother me (please be straight)

Kevin: please be Exy

Andrew:

The fact Aaron even said anything meant he was desperate for Neil to be straight…..sucks to be you Aaron but your brothers got the Medal.

Kevin Day 100% has smile lines. Just think he’s the face of Exy which obviously means people will know him. He definitely Smiles his camera practiced smile in front of people in his college classes and obviously the Press ….he just definitely has Smile lines . Maybe sometimes when he becomes drunk and forgets to do his facial care, he wakes up looking a little puffy and with deep smile lines looking like a grandpa… just a head canon