Work Text:
Neil thought the conversation went as well as it could have. He figured Andrew would adjust to his return and eventually make peace with Neil’s short stint at Evermore now that most of his questions about it were answered. That part out of the way, there was only Matt and his worry to ward off tonight, then hopefully he could sink into his bed and sleep.
Neil unlocked the door to his dorm room with his retrieved keys and found Matt on the couch, frowning at his phone. He looked up just as Neil latched the door and said, “Hey, by the way—”
Someone aggressively tried the doorknob then turned to knocking loudly when they realized it was locked.
Matt gave him an apologetic look and waved his phone at Neil like he was supposed to know what that meant. Instead of clarifying, Matt stood to his full height and crossed his arms, his face a stony mask now. Neil assumed the postering was more for whoever was on the other side of the door than for him.
Neil opened the door and wasn’t that surprised to see Aaron. His expression was as flat as he could make it, but Neil could tell he was forcing it for Matt’s sake. The tightness in his jaw gave away his irritation.
The last time he’d seen Aaron was two weeks ago, on his way out of Fox Tower to catch a ride to the airport with Matt. Where Matt and Nicky had been fondly exasperated with Neil for not telling them earlier about his fake family plans, Aaron had been more aloof. Still, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Neil, preemptively admonishing when he’d told him, “Don’t do anything stupid in Arizona.”
“I won’t do anything stupid in Arizona,” Neil had promised. Aaron had given him a sidelong glance full of mistrust, but he hadn’t said anything else. Aaron’s intuition hadn’t been wrong—Neil went on to vanish for those fourteen days, leaving all of Aaron’s questions about Arizona, his family, where the hell he was, why why why unanswered.
The next time they’d met again was today in the hallway, before they’d all left for Easthaven to discharge Andrew. Between Nicky’s shock upon seeing Neil’s bruises and Kevin’s unease with his new appearance, Aaron had been the easiest person to look at. He’d sported a curious frown as he’d scanned Neil from head to toe, which had turned into a hard line when he’d met Neil’s eyes again.
Neil nearly sighed and just barely resisted. Aaron hadn’t said anything then, and Neil knew he’d have to touch base with him at some point too. They didn’t have many chances to talk between Aaron’s arrival and their picking up Andrew—he’d just hoped he wouldn’t have to contend with both twins in one night.
Aaron didn’t speak first, so Neil did. “I didn’t do anything stupid in Arizona.”
Aaron took a step forward and snapped, “That’s seriously what you’re star—” but he stopped when he heard Matt move. Neil shot a glance over his shoulder and saw Matt had indeed walked towards them but quit some paces away. Neil waved a lazy hand at him as a request to stand down. Aaron wasn’t going to try to hurt him.
When he looked back at Aaron, he’d schooled his expression but kept his eyes on Matt.
Matt threw his hands up in front of him in surrender and said, “I know, I know.” He continued to the door and threw Neil a questioning glance before stepping around Aaron, who didn’t watch him leave. They must have hashed out an agreement for Matt to vacate and leave them the room while he was gone.
Matt shook his head when Neil ignored him and said to Aaron, “It’s in the bathroom if you need it.” Then he closed the door behind him, on his way to the girls’ room, Neil assumed.
Neil wondered what he meant but pushed it aside when Aaron locked the door. Aaron turned to fully face him and folded his arms across his chest. He probably meant to have a stare-off with Neil until one of them started talking, but he quickly uncrossed his arms and approached Neil, his palms raised in a silent demand. Neil laid his arm in Aaron’s waiting hands and watched as Aaron pushed Neil’s sleeve up to expose more of the bandage wrap covering his skin. He rotated his arm to one side, then back over, neither rough nor gentle, so Neil knew whatever anger had fueled Aaron on his way over had dissipated, but Aaron’s frown dipped so low, he was still at least extremely unhappy with Neil.
“I should’ve known you’d be trouble with no one to babysit you,” Aaron said, a touch derisive. “It’s what you do best.”
Neil shrugged. “You knew that from Day One.”
Aaron scowled, unamused by Neil’s comment. “Why did you come back like this?”
“Wasn’t in any condition to say no.”
“No, I mean—” Aaron paused to give Neil a flat look for that, then flicked his eyes up. “Your hair.”
Neil expected questions, had been dealing with them since he came back, but he hadn’t anticipated Aaron asking about his appearance. He should have known Wymack warning them off from asking wouldn’t work on Aaron. Aaron hadn’t been interested in Neil at all when he’d picked him up in May, not really until his first scuffle with Kevin, but he’d always had an intuition for asking the questions Neil didn’t want to answer, or couldn’t answer.
Neil had just closed his car door and turned to see that Aaron hadn’t climbed into the driver’s seat yet. He had been peering in through the door, one hand twirling his keyring and the other shoved into his coat pocket. “Are you sure about this?” he’d said, somehow sympathetic and judgemental all at once. He’d meant are you sure about joining the team? a decision Aaron had made sure to highlight was a poor one. It shouldn’t have rocked Neil but it had, and for a moment, he’d wondered if he could tell he’d been making a dangerous choice.
There had been along Neil’s road nosey authorities and over-worried high school teachers, but he’d still found ways to lay low thanks to his mother’s instructions. It had been his intention coming to Palmetto, but the trouble with Aaron was that he refused to let Neil get away with things the way the other Foxes did—he asked and dug and pried until he got an answer he was satisfied with and didn’t share it.
Neil said, “Riko’s stupid idea of a prank.”
“Do you feed Andrew the same bullshit answers?” Aaron glowered at Neil as he crowded him and forced Neil to take a step back, but he didn’t leave space for Neil to respond. Aaron thrust his hand towards the desks and instructed Neil to sit, then he turned away from him to stomp to the bathroom. Aaron came back a moment later carrying the small first aid kit they kept under the sink. When he found Neil still standing by the door, he waved his hand impatiently. Neil sat at his desk finally while Aaron set the kit down on one of the textbooks. Aaron took a seat and pulled his chair towards Neil until their knees slotted together. Aaron considered Neil for a second before he grabbed a small tube of hand sanitizer and squeezed a dollop into his palm. “Maybe Andrew gets the truth because he’s worth more to you, right?”
Neil squeezed Aaron’s knee between his thighs—or he tried to, but he was rudely reminded of the cuts there too. He sucked in a breath between his teeth. Aaron was unsympathetic since that was self-inflicted, so Neil kicked at Aaron’s foot the best he could sitting like this. “It’s not about that,” snarled.
“Isn’t it?”
“Did you only kill Drake so Andrew would finally look at you?”
“What?” Aaron scraped his chair back to distance himself from Neil but only went an inch away, too stunned by Neil’s question. “That’s not the same thing at all.”
“Isn’t it?” Neil would pull Aaron’s chair back towards him to add a bit of dramatic flair if he thought his bruises wouldn’t burn from the effort. He settled for laying his palms flat on Aaron’s knees and leaning into his space. “You did what you had to do just like I did what I had to do. I’d still have gone if it were you.”
“Shut up,” Aaron said, but there was no bite to it. “I didn’t ask you that.”
“I don’t care. That’s the truth.” It sat between them for a long moment while Aaron searched Neil’s face for something. Neil wasn’t sure if he found it, but Aaron expelled a sharp breath when Neil moved his right hand to Aaron’s shoulder and dug his index into his jaw to get Aaron to focus on what he was saying: “I would have. I’m serious.”
”I know.” Aaron pinched his lips together and furrowed his brows, then gently slid Neil’s arm off of his shoulder. Aaron pinched his lips together then gently slid Neil’s arm off of his shoulder. He held onto it and placed it in his lap to fidget with one of the fasteners for the wrap around his wrist. “Why didn’t you tell me about Andrew?”
“What would you have done?”
“Detoxed him myself. I’m sure he’d have advice to spare,” Aaron grumbled, returning the fastener to its place and reaching for the square of gauze near Neil’s elbows. It was likely always Aaron’s intention to check his bruises, but Neil also thought he was cruising for things to look at other than Neil’s face.
“He was already gone. I had to go.”
“You didn’t tell me,” Aaron said, taking Neil’s other arm and lifting the sleeve. “Not unusual to not hear from you—you’re allergic to your phone. But I didn’t know. I never know until it’s too late to do anything.” Aaron traced the bruises he could see with his finger. “I’m not helpless.”
“You’re not.” Neil suspected for a long time that this feeling was at the center of all of Aaron’s grievances, and he always had trouble coming to grips with it especially because he couldn’t fight Andrew, and now he couldn’t fight for Andrew or keep Riko from clawing at his team, kept in the dark. He complained about it and he was used to it from Andrew, who guarded his secrets next to his knives and only let them spill in enigmatic increments, but not from Neil. “It’s not about that either.”
Aaron flicked his eyes towards Neil. He clicked his tongue, annoyed, then said, “Do you even have an uncle?”
That was another unexpected question from Aaron. Instead of answering it, Neil said, “I needed you here.” Neil knew his attempt at sidestepping the question was too blatant even if it was honest, and the glare he received meant Aaron thought so too. It didn’t matter. “Look. It’s done. I’m back like I said I would be. Andrew’s where we can reach him. We can only get back at Riko by winning.”
“Exy,” Aaron said, more a question than a statement.
Neil nodded. “All of it.”
Aaron hummed his acknowledgement, but he didn’t say anything else to that. He pulled at the sides of Neil’s sweatshirt to lift it, and Neil straightened to let his shirt come away for Aaron’s inspection. Aaron didn’t flinch when he saw the collection welts on his skin, bigger and darker than the bruises on his arms. He fingered at one of the band-aids on Neil’s stomach that was peeling off then ripped it off without warning. Neil hissed at him, but Aaron didn’t even look at him while he reached into the kit to replace it. “Self-treated?”
“Wymack.”
Aaron touched a hand to another plaster on Neil’s waist, smoothing down its fraying edges. Aaron pressed a thumb to the bruised skin around it. It didn’t hurt, but Neil involuntarily sucked in his stomach, sensitive, and stared squarely at Aaron’s jaw.
“Shoddy work,” Aaron said seriously, barely above a whisper. He cleared his throat and released the shirt. Neil flatten the fabric against his stomach. He thought about defending Wymack’s work, because he didn’t think it was that bad, but Aaron pointed a warning finger at him before he could find his voice. “Abby tomorrow—and don’t even think about not going to see her first thing in the morning.”
Neil was sure someone was going to force him to see her, even if it wasn’t Aaron himself. “I thought you fixed everything that needed fixing.”
Aaron shot him a nasty look before he snapped the lid shut closed the lid of the first aid box. “You should be fine for tonight. Is your hair staying like this?”
Aaron stared and waited expectantly for an answer about it. Neil would find it funny because it wasn’t the most important question he sidestepped tonight—but it was the first, so it must have stuck with Aaron—except Aaron’s inability to let things go is always bothersome.
“I look just like him,” he said. The truth brought with it a wave of nausea Neil tried to avoid by speeding past mirrors so he wouldn’t accidentally glance at his reflection. He twirled a finger in the air like it might dispel it, gesturing vaguely at himself. “My father. That’s why Riko did this to me.”
Aaron softly ran his hands through Neil’s bangs, inspecting for any possible injuries there, and when he moved them back and away from Neil’s forehead, he looked him right in the eyes. Neil wondered if he saw his father too, like Riko intended. “You look like Neil,” he said, with a knowing expression on his face that said he understood it wasn’t that simple. It wasn’t, but Neil swallowed down relief anyway.
Neil tugged at Aaron’s sleeve even though Aaron was already looking at him. “Tell me about New York. I’ve never been.”
“Ugh,” Aaron intoned, but the corner of his mouth quirked up like he was remembering his time more fondly than he wanted to let on. Aaron stood up and pulled Neil by the collar so he’d stand up too. “It was good.” Aaron folded his lips together like he did when he worked hard not blurt out his every thought. Whatever he’d wanted to say, Neil thought he’d tamped it down, and said instead, “Let’s figure out dinner first.”