Chapter Text
Neil arrived without fanfare in the fall. He was much less imposing out of the crisp uniform of whatever school for rich kids he had gone to, and in his ordinary day clothes, he was barely recognizable or worth attention, at least until he lifted his eyes from his shoes, at which point any onlooker would be pinned in place by a pale blue gaze on a sharp face. He stood on the curb with a suitcase, outside the fox tower where he was supposed to be living. According to an email from the coach, which he hadn't bothered to reply to, he was supposed to meet with Matt Boyd in order to discuss rooming. Being early, Neil was at a bit of a loss for what to do.
Neil jolted when a sudden and unwanted arm was thrown around his shoulder by Andrew Minyard, who had come up behind him suddenly.
"Ah, the little criminal boy is here," hummed Andrew in his ear, while Neil shrugged him off aggressively.
"Who let you off your leash, Minyard," snarled Neil, attempting not to show how uncomfortable the sudden arm had made him. Andrew's smug look told him that he'd failed.
An apathetic mirror image to Andrew appeared in the form of Aaron Minyard, along with the brightly smiling Nicky Hemmick. Kevin Day, however, remained absent.
"Wow, he's even cuter than the file picture! That scar really adds character. Hey, what's the story behind it?" Nicky said, chattering fast enough that Neil couldn't have responded even if he'd wanted to. "You're Neil Josten, right?" He asked, the only even semi friendly face in the group. He seemed to take Neil's silent nod as an excuse to continue talking, and the three of them herded Neil into the building, alarms going off in his head as he was separated from his back, but he refused to glance back at it, or to indicate that there was more there than some crinkled clothes. Even if it was padlocked, the suitcase held all of his lifelines.
Neil was apprehensive, considering this wasn't his territory, and he was hopelessly outnumbered. He knew that at the very least Andrew, but maybe more of them, carried weapons. He was ushered into the hallway, and towards a room that he did not recognize as the number given to him. When he entered, Andrew shut the door with a sudden thunk, and placed himself between Neil and the door.
"It looks like we have some time, how about a friendly conversation to break the ice?" Asked Andrew, prowling towards Neil. Neil stepped back, his hand twitching towards his knife. Andrew's eyes followed the movement, and his smile somehow grew wider.
"Sit down Josten."
"Just do it, the sooner he gets what he wants the sooner you can leave," advised Nicky. He was probably right, but Neil was also annoyed and feeling confrontational, so he remained standing.
"I don't see why we can't just talk like this," he said, stepping closer to Andrew, enough to use his slight height advantage, and giving him a savage smile that Neil knew from experience would have scared a lesser man. Andrew was unfazed.
"Fine, I'll accommodate our newest dear teammate. That is if Kevin doesn't manage to get you kicked out." Said Andrew, studying Neil. He moved faster than Neil had expected, though Neil reacted just as fast. When Andrew slammed him against the wall, he felt his breath leave his body on impact, but he also braced one hand on his chest, the other placing a knife at Andrew's neck. Andrew leaned close to Neil, unperturbed when the knife pressed into his skin, cutting a fine line.
"Why is Kevin so scared of you, little criminal?" He hissed, uncaring of the thin rivulet of blood running down his neck.
"Aha-" Neil choked out a strained laugh as the pressure on his throat increased, "how should I know? Ask him yourself," he croaked. Silence followed, crackling as each waited for the other to break it. The tension was ultimately broken by the loud ringing of a phone.
Andrew stepped away just as suddenly as he had attacked, looking to Neil's pocket where the obnoxious sound was emanating from. Neil stumbled forward, coughing at the sudden rush of oxygen to his lungs.
"Maybe I will. Go get your phone, Josten. We aren't finished though," said Andrew, gesturing at the door. Neil glared as he exited, tucking his knife away only once the door was closed and locked behind him.
Walking down the hall after hanging up, Neil was preoccupied enough by his abandoned bag to not to notice the tall figure of Matt Boyd, until he called out to Neil.
"Hey! Hey there! You're Neil right? Sorry I'm running late-" Matt stuttered for a second, catching site of the harsh red marks left on his neck, but ultimately deciding not to pursue that. "I'm gonna be one of your roommates. You've, um. Probably met the monsters already." His eyes lingered on the bruises already, and Neil assumed that Kevin had been as vocal about his signing as he was about everything else.
"I met Andrew and his posse, if that's what you mean." Said Neil, offering a hand to shake, which Matt took easily. "I'm Neil, nice to meet you."
"Matt Boyd. Let's grab your stuff, I still have to unpack all my crap from the truck, so uh..."
"I left my luggage on the curb. Andrew was eager to get introduced," Neil said, following Matt towards the stairwell.
"If he does anything too out of line, just let me or the upperclassmen know, we can handle it," he said, grinning in what was probably a reassuring manner. Nail wasn't reassured, but he responded anyways.
"Sure. I'll be fine though, I can handle it." Matt looked at him dubiously, before shrugging.
"You might change your mind. Keep my offer in mind. Anyways! Dan and the girls will be arriving later, so you can meet them! Seth'll turn up too. Don't let him get to you he can be a tool."
With that said, they went down to the ground floor where Matt had parked his truck, and Neil had abandoned his suitcase. True to what he had said, Matt did have a ridiculous amount of belongings piled in the bed of his truck, as opposed to the clothes and necessities that Neil had stuffed in a suitcase. It wasn't like he was unused to uprooting himself.
It took the better part of two hours of sweaty work to situate the room with all of Matt's furniture, and the room was both less private and accommodating than the dormitories of the private school Neil had attended. It was clear that the essentials that Neil had packed would not be enough. He resolved to go to the store while Matt picked some of his other teammates from the airport. While at the store, Neil picked up a small fireproof safe alongside his school supplies and sheets.
When he returned, Neil went first to his bag. The main compartment was undisturbed, probably not by lack of trying, but everything was in place, and all of his indicators were in place. The front pockets were not so. It was subtle, but Neil knew what to look for, and they had all been gone through. He seethed silently at the attempt, but decided that he didn't need to invite a deeper investigation. Neil checked the lock on the room, before hurriedly digging through his bag to the back, tugging open the hidden slit in the lining and pulling out the binder there.
He stuffed the binder full of contact numbers for everyone from the Moriyamas to the Stuarts, to dirty FBI members all encoded, pilfered files and photos that could condemn him, or anyone involved, and money, as well as multiple phones, into the safe. If any of that was found, he would be inviting incarceration if he was lucky, or torture and death if not, from all sides. There was enough money in the form of vouchers, accounts and cash, in there for him to cut and run if he had to.
As soon as the binder was stashed in the drawer, Matt walked into the room.
"Getting unpacked? The girls are here, they wanna meet you," said Matt cordially, either not noticing or ignoring Neils jolt at his sudden entry. They exited the room, and Neil caught his first sight of Kevin Day in person, in about ten years.
Kevin blanched, cutting off whatever he had been saying to one of the twins in order to stare.
"Who let you here Wes-" his outraged exclamation was cut off by Neil appearing in front of him, a hand pressed over his mouth, and a knife barely visible between their bodies, pressed to his abdomen.
"I dare you to finish that sentence, Kevin. It's nice to see you again." Murmured Neil, dangerously sharp. Matt was startled for a moment, before running up and wrestling them apart.
"Hey, hey wait- Neil is that a knife?!" Matt said, once Neil let himself be separated from Kevin. Neil tucked it away, but continued to glare at Kevin.
"Kevin and I were just catching up." He said dismissively.
"Wes? Westly? Is that your secret, that you have a dumb name?" Chattered Andrew, and Neil winced at what information had been given away. He didn't know how much Kevin knew, or how much he told the cousins.
The appearance of the girls, attracted by the noise, managed to distract the group from what had happened. A short haired, commanding girl appeared first, took one look at Neil, and asked.
"Are we fighting already? Give it a rest andrew."
"I didn't start this one Dan. That was all Kevin and Neil over there." Announced andrew.
"There no problem," announced Neil, returned to his innocuous persona, looking as innocently as he could at who he had realized was Dan Wilds, his new captain. Dan huffed, and ushered him into the room. Matt followed warily, keeping himself between Neil and the monsters.