Chapter Text
You are a fucking idiot.
Neil enjoyed kicking off his mornings with a little boost of positivity. Jean was pretty good at providing those uplifting gems.
But putting sarcasm aside, those harsh little jabs were a reminder that Jean was still alive and not rotting away somewhere in Evermore.
Still breathing I see. What a pleasant surprise.
Silence you uneducated peanut. When are you going to figure out that your words just make things worse with him?
I understand, I've been told before that my honesty isn't everyone's cup of tea.
Neil waited for a response, but after fifteen minutes of silence, he figured Jean was probably too worked up to string together a proper thought. He was probably onto something because his phone buzzed just as he set it down.
British Devil
Neil rolled his eyes at the weak comeback.
The bedroom door cracked open, and Neil turned to peek over the couch, ready to acknowledge whoever came in.
Wayre froze when he spotted Neil, his lips pressing into a thin line before he walked into the kitchen, completely ignoring the him.
Neil sank back into the cushions.
This was definitely not how he envisioned things going.
He had to admit, he totally lost his cool last night. He didn’t regret a thing, from the game to the interview, but he hadn’t expected Wayre to just brush him off like that. He would have preferred a more direct response. Silence just didn’t fit Wayre’s personality.
Neil was just starting to get lost in his thoughts when a knock echoed from the front door. He reluctantly got up from the cozy couch to check who it was. To his surprise, it was Nicky standing there.
"Hey Neil!" Nicky waved cheerfully, greeting him with a bright smile.
The usual crew hadn’t headed to Colombia after their game night like they typically did. Instead, they crashed at Abby's place with the other foxes. Neil had opted to return to the dorms, not wanting to deal with a crowd or the endless questions about his little stunt he pulled off during the game’s second half.
"Nicky," Neil said with a nod. "What can I do for you?"
Nicky's smile widened even more. "We’re going shopping, and you’re coming with us!"
Great, just what he needed.
-
This year, Halloween fell on a Tuesday, and it apparently meant that Neil needed to get himself a costume.
Neil wasn’t really into holidays like Halloween, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. He didn’t have many fond memories of those times, with the exception of the ones spent with the Towns.
"Eden's Twilight, you know that club we usually hit up in Colombia? They’re throwing a special event the Friday before Halloween," Nicky excitedly told Neil as they navigated through a sea of costumes. Well, more like Nicky and Aaron were diving into the costumes while Andrew and Kevin had vanished in one direction and Wayre in another. Neil was just hanging back, not really interested in finding a costume for himself.
"I still don’t get why I’m here," he said.
Aaron rolled his eyes loud enough for Neil to hear them. "Because you’re coming to Eden with us."
"Oh, am I?"
"Yes," Aaron replied simply.
"Why?" Neil wasn’t thrilled about the idea of being surrounded by a sea of masked strangers, it would make identifying threats a near impossible task, thus rendering him vulnerable.
"Because Andrew wants you there."
Simple yet effective justification.
"Okay."
For a regular person, the silence that followed would have been deafening. Neil was regular, but he excelled in the art of ignorance, so he decided to wander off on his own.
"Oh no, no, no," Nicky said, grabbing Neil’s shirt and pulling him back to them. "Where do you think you’re going?"
"Away?" Neil attempted, to no avail.
"What do you mean by 'okay'?" Aaron leaned in, searching Neil’s face for answers.
"Well, if Andrew wants me there, then okay."
"And that’s it? Just because he wants you there, you’re in?"
Neil shrugged and replied, "Yeah, pretty much."
Aaron’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, while Nicky was grinning so wide it looked painful.
"I had to practically beg you to help me revise my math lessons, and you said yes to Katelyn on the first ask! And Andrew just has to want something to get it from you?"
Neil raised a finger between them. "First off, Andrew ask me for things—"
"I did too!" Aaron cried indignantly.
Neil brushed off the interruption and lifted a second finger. "Second." He locked eyes with Aaron, letting the silence build the suspense for what he was about to say. "Messing with you is always certified fun."
Aaron swore under his breath while Nicky laughed. Just then, Andrew and Kevin returned, and Andrew's laughter paired with Kevin's disapproving shake of his head made it clear that Neil's words had been heard loud and clear.
"You want me to join you in Colombia for Halloween?" Neil asked as Andrew approached.
"How else would I keep tabs on you?" Andrew replied, his medicated grin in place on his face.
"Hmm," Neil mused, weighing his next words carefully. He had a plan to bring the team together, but he wasn't sure if it was negotiable. But who doesn't try anything will never get anything.
"We should invite the others to join us."
Nicky spun around to look at Neil as if he had sprouted a second head. "What?"
Wayre, who had just come back, stayed quiet, and so did Kevin and Andrew.
"No—" Aaron began but stopped mid-sentence. Neil noticed the gears turning in Aaron's head before he reached the conclusion Neil was hoping for. "Yeah, that’s actually a solid idea."
Neil's mouth twitched at the corners, and Aaron caught it before turning away, ignoring Neil's raised eyebrow. He knew Aaron would seize any chance to be with Katelyn.
Neil then turned to Andrew, who was still grinning more than ever. "We need them," he said, locking eyes with the blond. "Just having talent won’t get us to the semifinals. If it were enough, you would have made it last year. You need to stop splitting the team apart."
"I don’t have to do anything," Andrew finally replied.
"I'm not asking you to be their friend. I'm just asking you to give an inch." Andrew didn’t say anything else, so Neil pressed on. "Kevin told Riko we’d see them again at the semifinals. I’d like us to get our act together before the rematch, don’t you? We can’t do that unless we respect each other. We might as well start now with this."
"I doubt they’d even want to join us if we invited them," Nicky interjected. "We kind of messed that up last year."
"You mean Matt?" Neil asked. Nicky looked taken aback before his gaze dropped. Neil wasn’t entirely sure about that, but he had his hunches, and it seemed he was right. Renee had mentioned that Andrew had taken her, Dan, and eventually Matt to Colombia. With the track marks on Matt's arms, Neil doubted it ended well.
He shifted his focus back to Andrew.
The blond had been quiet for a bit until he finally spoke up. "So, they spilled the beans, huh?"
"They didn’t," Neil replied, shaking his head. "Renee told me you took them to Colombia, and I saw the track marks on Matt's arms. I don’t know what went down, but I can guess it didn’t end well."
"Junky, rabbit, and now detective," Andrew teased. "Our little quota filler has quite the range of roles."
Neil squinted but kept quiet. Just when he thought Andrew would say no, the goalie surprised him. "Tell the busybodies to come if they dare to," he said.
Nicky's eyes went wide. "Wait, are you for real?"
It might have seemed like Nicky wasn't too happy about this twist, but Neil could see it was more bafflement than actual dread. There was a glimmer in Nicky's eyes at the thought of finally hanging out with Seth and the other foxes for the night that gave away his enthusiasm.
"It won't make a difference in the long run, but I'll let you find that one out for yourself," Andrew said, giving Neil a pointed look before wandering off again to find a costume.
Nicky turned to Neil, his grin now boyish and bigger than Neil had ever seen. Kevin gave a quick nod to Neil before following Andrew. Wayre stayed quiet, and Aaron approached Neil again.
"You better help me get Katelyn there," he said.
"And you better sort things out with your twin."
Before anyone could add anything, Nicky yanked Neil away by the arm. "You, my beautiful wild creature, are going to wear the most outrageous and sexy costume at the party because you’re the light of my life—after Erik, of course, no hard feelings."
Neil shook his head gently at Nicky's antics but didn’t want to ruin the boy's excitement, so he let himself be pulled through the shop, and be shoved costume after costume to try on.
-
In the end, Nicky had snagged something for Neil, claiming it would be a surprise but assuring him it would cover his body, even if he thought it was an absolute shame. Neil tried to brush it off, even though he felt a bit anxious when he heard Nicky video calling Seth and Allison for their thoughts on the costume. That little detail made Neil doubt anything good would come from it.
He told himself that if it turned out to be really bad, he could always sacrifice one of his star bed sheets and just cut two holes in it before calling it a day.
His bed had been calling his name for a while, so when they got back to the dorms, Neil decided to answer that call and slept through the rest of the morning. When he finally woke up, it was to the soft clattering of cabinets being opened and then closed in the kitchen.
Feeling like he had slept enough, he got up and shuffled over to the kitchen. Wayre glanced at him for a moment before returning to whatever he was doing.
"Where are the others?" Neil asked as he headed to the cabinets to grab a mug, hoping to get some coffee soon.
When Wayre didn’t respond, Neil sighed and turned to face him. Wayre was now sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through his phone while munching on the food he had made. That reminded Neil he hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday; maybe he should grab an apple.
"Are you really going to give me the silent treatment?" Taking the silence as a clear answer, Neil looked up at the ceiling and then out the window, searching for some patience. "Look," he started, not waiting for Wayre to look at him since he already knew he had his attention. "I know you don’t like me. You never have, not back then, and definitely not now. But we’re on the same team—"
"Oh, are we really?" Wayre cut in, his glare now fixed on Neil.
Well, at least he was finally talking to Neil again; that’s had to mean something, right?
"What do you mean by that?"
"You clearly have more going on than you let on. You’re better on the court than almost anyone on this miserable team, but you keep it hidden."
Wayre bit his lip in frustration. "God damn it ! You don’t get this good after just a few months of training! You must have had that skill level before, and you just let us lose." Neil could hear the bitterness in Wayre's voice as he added, "You could have been captain. Kevin would have come for you instead of picking me."
For the first time since meeting Oliver Wayre, Neil felt like he could finally understand the boy sitting in front of him, looking so defeated.
"Wayre—"
"Forget it," Wayre interrupted, pushing his chair back. "Let’s just act like this conversation never happened and—"
Before he could finish, there was a firm knock on the door.
Neil stifled an annoyed groan and went to answer it. Standing there was a man in jeans and a casual button-up shirt. Neil froze; there was no mistaking it—this guy was a cop.
"Hey there," the man said in a friendly tone. Neil noticed Wayre inching closer, curious about the visitor. "I’m Officer Higgins from the Oakland PD."
"Oakland?" Wayre replied, eyeing him warily. Neil could sense the distrust; he understood where it came from, the police hadn’t been much help to Wayre in the past. "Aren't you a little bit far from your jurisdiction?"
Higgins gave a half-smile that didn’t ease the tension. "I’m not here on official business. Not yet, anyway. I just need to talk to Andrew Minyard where he can’t hang up on me. It’s important. Is he here?"
Neil definitely remembered Higgins. His name popped up in the file about the twins, and Andrew had mentioned him a couple of times: once when Higgins called him at the court, and again outside the dorms during their game of truths. Neil had a pretty good idea of why Higgins was here, and he was sure Andrew wouldn’t want to chat with him.
"I'm sorry, we don't know any Andrews," Neil said calmly, keeping his lie under wraps. He just hoped Wayre would go along with it.
"Really?" the cop replied, glancing from Neil to Wayre. "And you? Do you know any Andrew?"
Wayre, unfazed by Neil's fib, simply shrugged. "It's a big campus. Have you tried your luck with the dorms near the faculty building?"
Higgins' smile faded, and he sighed. "Look, guys. I know Andrew plays Exy. I know he’s registered at this university and is somewhere in those dorms. So, just tell me where I can find him and save me the trouble of searching the campus, alright?"
If there was anything worse than a cop being here, it was a cop who could roam around campus freely while Neil couldn’t keep an eye on him.
Stepping aside, Neil motioned for Officer Higgins to come in, which he did, before turning to Wayre. "Can you go get Andrew?"
Wayre shot one last cautious glance at the man standing in their living room before nodding at Neil and heading off to find the blond.
"You really don’t like me, do you?" Higgins said, a playful tone in his voice. Good, he was used to that kind of attitude. Neil’s reaction wouldn’t seem out of place then.
"Nothing personal, I dislike cops on principle," Neil replied.
That made Higgins chuckle, but he stopped when the door swung open a few seconds later.
Andrew stood alone in the doorway, his smile stiff and his grip on the door handle too tight.
"Oh, I must be imagining things. Pig Higgins, you are a very, very long way from home."
"Andrew," Higgins said. "We need to talk."
"We talked, remember?" Andrew replied. "I told you not to bother me."
Neil took that as his cue to leave. But just as he was about to slip past Andrew, the boy yanked him back by his collar, holding him in place.
"You said not to call you," Higgins pressed on, ignoring Neil's struggle to escape. The striker wanted no part in this, whatever ‘this’ was, he already knew too much as it was. "Just give me a few minutes, won’t you, for old times' sake? I came all the way out here to see you. Doesn’t that get me any sort of consideration?"
Andrew tightened his grip on Neil by placing his hand on the boy's neck and shook his head with a laugh. "You didn’t come out here for me. You came on a witch hunt I already told you I wouldn’t help you with. Give me one good reason to not cut your throat, would you?”
Thankfully, Higgins seemed unfazed by the threat. "I was wrong. I know that now. The investigation on him turned up nothing."
Neil figured he was talking about Richard Spear. Andrew had called him boring and harmless.
"I warned you," Andrew said, showing no sympathy.
"We were looking at the wrong person, weren’t we?" The grip on Neil’s neck tightened. "I think I’ve got it right this time, but I can’t do anything without a complaining witness. The other kids won’t speak up. They don’t trust me. You’re all I’ve got."
"Kids? Kids, plural. You only mentioned one last time, Pig. How many are you talking about?" Andrew’s tone turned dangerous. "How many has she had?"
Higgins seemed to notice the shift in Andrew’s mood. "You wouldn’t care about the number unless there really was something there for me to find," Higgins said, his voice low and accusatory. "Just yes or no, Andrew. That’s all I want. That’s all I need right now. I’ll give you a name, you give me an answer, and I promise I’ll go away."
"You promise." Andrew said, sounding highly entertained by the notion. "You'll break that promise inside a week, Pig. Don’t pretend otherwise. Do I have to walk you out to make sure you leave or will you—"
"Drake."
Neil frowned. Drake ?
Andrew shut up at the mention of the name. He fell silent, and when Neil looked up at the goalie's face from where he was held in place, he could see that Andrew wasn’t really here. But he wasn't for long, though, his drugs wouldn't let him keep still for more than a few seconds.
"How many kids, Pig?"
"Six, since you," was the reply.
"Leave," Neil said, catching Higgins off guard. He shot a wary look back at Andrew. Gently tugging at the hem of his shirt, he pulled it twice until those molten golden eyes met his dull brown ones. Once he had Andrew’s attention, Neil turned his gaze back to Higgins and repeated, "Leave. I’m not in the mood to clean blood off the rug today. I’ve got better things to do."
Higgins opened his mouth to protest, but Andrew cut him off. "You better do what he just said."
After weighing his options, the officer finally opted for the safer route and exited through the door from which Neil had gently but firmly tugged Andrew away.
The door clicked shut behind the man, leaving Andrew and Neil alone in the room.
Andrew shot a glance at Neil, who held his gaze steady.
"I don’t need you to ‘save’ me," Andrew said mockingly.
"And I didn’t," he replied with a casual shrug. "Like I said, I wasn’t up for cleaning blood today."
"And you clean blood often?"
"Are we playing again?" Neil countered.
Andrew just gave him his medicated smile before heading to the door and swinging it open. He paused. "Is this a welcoming party or an inquisition?" he remarked, spotting the upperclassmen in the hallway.
"What did a cop want with—" Dan began, but Andrew brushed past her, walking to his dorm and slamming the door shut.
Their captain stayed silent for a second or two before turning to Neil, a question lingering unspoken. Neil responded with a shrug, and Dan sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be able to get anything from him, her eyes going toward the ceiling in a motion Neil recognized all too well.
"Oh, and by the way," Neil said as he was about to close the door behind him, "Andrew mentioned I could invite you to the Halloween party at Eden's Twilight on the twenty-seventh."
Neil noticed Matt drop his sandwich in shock. "Bullshit."
"Nope," Neil said, stressing the 'p'.
Just before the door shut completely, he heard Seth's voice. "How the hell does he manage to do those things? That’s some serious dark magic."