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Wymack loved his Foxes, even if he hated to say it out loud. He loved them, even though they were all giant assholes. It was a known fact that he would (reluctantly) walk to the end of the world for them.
He also, for the most part, trusted them to do some good and not kill anyone unnecessarily. But Andrew Minyard calling him at eight am on a Sunday was not a large vote of confidence in Wymack’s book, nor was it all that good for his heart. Especially when he knew that Neil was visiting Andrew with Wymack’s permission after taking a bad hit during Friday’s game. It had been scary for a second and they had to take Neil to the hospital to get checked out and monitored for the night but Neil was fine, even if was going to be out for a few games with a concussion.
Wymack picked up the phone after only two rings. “What?”
“How quickly can you be at the house in Columbia?”
He frowned. “Is it an emergency? How’s Neil’s concussion?”
“Depends. How quickly can you be in Columbia?”
A quick glance at the clock just made Wymack frown more. “I have to finish this stack of paperwork and then I can leave. I can be there by noon.”
“Okay. Wear something nice.” And then that bastard hung up.
Wymack had a bad feeling.
*
The bad feeling only got worse when Wymack pulled up to the house and Andrew, Renee and Neil were all standing outside waiting for him. That in and of itself was strange but the thing that set warning bells off in his head was the fact that last time he checked, Renee was somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere doing charity work and all three of them were all dressed nicely.
Renee was wearing a dress, a pale yellow patterned with large red poppies. Andrew was wearing black pants and a black button up with an orange tie and Neil was wearing black pants and an aggressively orange dress shirt that did nothing to make the extensive bruising on his face look any better. Andrew glared when Wymack pulled up but Wymack that meant jackshit about what he was actually feeling. Renee gave him an open smile and Neil gave him a small wave. Despite Andrew’s usual glare, they all looked to be calm and in relatively good moods.
He got out of the car and narrowed his eyes at the group. “What is going on here?”
“I’m driving.” Is all Andrew said before climbing into the Maserati. Neil climbed into the passenger seat and Renee just gave Wymack a quick hug and a smile before climbing into the sports car, leaving no option but to follow.
Andrew drove just above the speed limit, easily maneuvering them through the streets of downtown Columbia, before pulling up right in front of a familiar courthouse. If they were going to a trail of some sort Wymack would know but they weren't so-
“Are you two fuckers getting married?”
Neil just laughed at him, the little fucker, before climbing out of the car.
“Why are you getting married when you,” Wymack pointed at Neil when he got out of the car. “have a fucking concussion and look like shit?”
“We’re getting married because of the concussion.” Neil said. Andrew nodded and began walking, leading the way into the courthouse.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“They wouldn’t let Andrew into the hospital room when Neil got hurt.” Renee explained, letting the soon to be newly-weds walk a way in front of each other. Wymack watched as Neil hooked their pinkies together and as Andrew adjusted it so he was just fully holding Neil’s hand. “They both play a highly competitive physical sport and both of them tend to be unlucky enough that they get hurt a lot, on and off the court. Especially Neil. They don’t ever want to be separated like that again.”
“Oh.” He remembered Andrew’s fury at ‘family only’ rule at the hospital. It was a sight to behold and the angriest he had seen Andrew in a longtime. It took a lot of meddling and work to be able to get Andrew in. “But that isn’t the only reason, right? Because if that’s their only reason I’m gonna kick both their asses.”
Renee had the grace to laugh. “It’s not the only reason but it is their current excuse.”
“Does anyone else know that this is happening?”
Renee shook her head.
“If you two are done gossiping like schoolgirls, can we get on with this?” Andrew was looking at them, his eyebrows raised is disapproval. Neil was grinning next to him.
Renee smiled and waved her hand. “Carry on, pleased.”
Andrew led them into a side courtroom where a judge sat. They were greeted by name and quickly ushered through the usual motions of a courthouse wedding. It was all so formal and Wymack felt like they strangely out of place until they got to the vows.
Neil was first, his vows written on plain white note cards that he barely looked at as he spoke.
“Andrew.” Neil smiled and a part of Wymack’s heart clenched. He thought about the skittish young man he met five years before. Neil wasn’t anything like that anymore and just seeing the way Neil looked at Andrew proved that a large part of that was because of Andrew.
“I think you might be one of the biggest assholes I’ve ever met.” Neil continued. “Our first meeting, you hit me with my own racquet and things honestly only went downhill from there. You threatened me, you drugged me once and every time you looked at me, you actually saw me for who I was. You’re the reason I’m still alive. You told me to stop running, to stop being a rabbit. You told me to stay and gave me a reason to.It was the answer to a question that I didn’t know I had. So I’m gonna stay. I’m going to stay with you for the rest of our lives. And you can fucking deal with it, you giant ass.”
Wymack’s eyes burned, just slightly. He was fine though.
Andrew was prompted by the judge. He looked at Neil and gave the most genuine smile Wymack had ever seen on the man’s face. It made him look younger, the age he was suppose to look.
Wymack remembered a younger Andrew too. He remembered the dead rage and the manic energy that devoured him from the inside out. He remembered the way he protected the people he cared about and fought anyone who dared to come near. He wouldn’t let a fly in but somehow, he let Neil in and let himself by changed by the boy who was just as damaged as he was. It amazed him.
They balanced each other out and it showed in every motion that they took together.
“I hate you 279% of the time.” Andrew said. “You’re a moron and don’t know when to shut up. You’ve provoked every person you have ever met and manage to get yourself hurt constantly. You’re addicted to a boring sport and that’s the only thing you ever talk about. It’s annoying.”
Neil laughed despite Andrew not saying a single kind thing to him. Wymack did not understand them.
“You also have an obsession with the color orange and a weird neck fetish, neither of which are attractive.” Andrew continued and Wymack wished he hadn’t heard that part. “I want to kill you most of the time. I hate you. Thank you for staying.”
Neil laughed again and gently stroked Andrew’s face. Wymack didn’t understand these two at all. His eyes still burned watching them.
The judge carried on despite hearing probably the weirdest vows in existence and prompted the two men to exchange rings. Wymack couldn’t see them in detail but he caught a glimpse of something engraved on the inside of the simple gold bands before they were on Andrew and Neil’s fingers.
It was strange, thinking about Andrew and Neil exactly how they were in front of him. Andrew as one of the best goalies in the US despite pretending not to care about the sport and Neil as the highest ranked striker currently in the NCAA and getting drafted to big name teams unrelentingly. Both of them were in good places, much better places than either of them had ever thought they would get to and they let Wymack watch the cumulative promise of how much they had grown with and because of each other. They were only destined to go up from here. Wymack couldn’t deny that he was touched and if any of the other three noticed the tear he finally let slip down his cheek, they were, for once, kind enough to not mention it.
“By the power invested in me by the state of South Carolina, I now pronounce you legally married.” The judge said. His eye twinkled kindly. “You may now kiss.”
Wymack had never seen the two kiss before but the kiss they shared was soft and tender, Andrew being careful with Neil’s bruised face and Neil being more tender with Andrew than Wymack had ever seen him be with anything. It lasted for only a moment, but Wymack got the feeling that it held more emotion in it than either of them would ever say out loud
“You know you're going to have to take the ring off during games, right?”
Neil and Andrew both glared at him but Renee gave a chuckle. It was a good, beautiful day. It was what Andrew and Neil deserved.