Chapter Text
The regret started the second they were sent off the stage.
Neil walks with his back to Riko, between him and Kevin, and tries to look like it doesn’t bother him.
Neil turns to say something, but he’s pushed to the wall with his mouth still half open.
"I do not approve, Kevin," Riko says, too close to Neil’s face, still pinning him to the wall. "You should get rid of him as soon as possible."
"You saw our game last night.” Kevin shocks Neil with his response, though it doesn’t come without timidness coating Kevin’s voice. "He has potential."
"Potential." Riko spits.
He moves away from Neil, attention fully focused on Kevin, which gives Neil enough room to see Kevin’s face. He stands stiff, blood draining from his face, eyes darting around the room, anywhere but Riko’s eyes.
"You said that goalkeeper had potential and then wrote him off as useless when I offered him to you. You'll get bored of this one just as quickly. Believe me."
Neil remembers the day the two of them recruited Andrew. He never learned what had happened that day other than Andrew had rejected him. But he did know that Kevin had not gotten bored of Andrew any more than Neil had gotten bored of him.
Without even needing to think, Neil once again takes his place between Kevin and Riko. He had made his choice up on the stage. He would hold Kevin here when Andrew couldn’t.
“Like he got bored of you?”
Kevin makes some desperate, painful noise behind him. Riko looks at him like he wants to watch Neil bleed. Neil smiles back at him, hoping he doesn’t look as scared as he feels.
Riko shoves Neil again, almost knocking him back into Kevin.
“You must be a slow learner,” Riko says with the same forced smile he had worn on stage. “I think I will have fun teaching you the cost of opening your mouth.”
“Riko.”
Their conversation is cut off by Andrew walking in to view. Neil releases a deep breath. He hadn’t meant to start rely on Andrew, but he realizes now he had been waiting for Andrew to show up and help them.
Riko’s entire demeanor changes when he sees Andrew. Like he’s on the attack, compared to just playing with his toys.
“Looks like there is more than one slow learner.” Andrew keeps talking. “I’m pretty sure Neil already mentioned his attitude problem.” He shrugs, walks up to Riko, and grabs at his wrist. “But you can’t fight it with your fists. Didn’t mommy and daddy teach you violence doesn’t solve your problems?”
Andrew is smiling wide, a perfect opposite to Riko, who is burning with rage. Neil knows he needs to get Kevin out of here. He turns away from Riko before Neil can see how he will react.
“Don’t touch my things, Riko. I don’t share.”
And then Neil directs Kevin into the audience and Andrew’s voice is lost to the sound of the crowd.
The first thing Wymack does when he sees Neil and Kevin walking towards him is give them a once over, looking for injuries, and ending with a relieved look in his eyes.
The second thing Wymack does is yell. “What were you thinking up there?”
“Leave him alone David.”
Neil doesn’t realize till Abby talks that Kevin has caught onto her, both of them crushing each other as if, if they just squeeze hard enough, they can erase what has already happened. He takes a minute to think about what it must feel like, to have someone who would hold you like that. Then Wymack is talking again.
"When I said Abby and I would look out for you, I didn't mean you should pick a fight with Riko on national television. Should I have spelled that out beforehand?"
"Probably," Neil replies.
"It's fine, Coach.” Again Andrew breaks through the crowd behind Neil, coming to his rescue.
Andrew’s fingers brush Neil’s back as he walks by, light enough that if it had been anyone else, Neil might not have felt it. Then it’s gone and Andrew is prying Kevin out of Abby’s grip.
"Kevin, we're going. Right now, okay?"
Once Kevin and Abby are separated, Andrew and Kevin make their way to the bus. Andrew doesn’t look back as he goes, and Neil stays with the rest of the team, fending off all of their questions.
He sat with the upperclassmen on the bus and didn’t try to talk to Andrew on the long drive back to Palmetto, but he knew a conversation would come eventually.