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When Andrew graduated, he signed with the New York professional Exy team. The first time they asked he told them no. It took a long conversation with Neil, and by conversation, it meant more Neil talked, and Andrew listened to him with a bored look. In the end, Neil convinced Andrew that school was almost over for him and that he didn’t have an idea of what he wanted to do.
“Look. It’s not like you have another good option. You’re good at it and you need a job in the real world to survive.” Neil said while pacing in front of Andrew.
Andrew looked at him from where he was sitting near the window, smoking a cigarette. Neil stopped pacing and looked at Andrew with a hopeful look. He hoped for just a slight change in his expression. He sighed when he saw the same blank stare that he had at the beginning of the conversation. He sighed. What was he expecting? This wasn’t enough to keep Andrew’s attention.
“Whatever.” He said his shoulders slumping. “Do what you want.” Neil was about to exit their room. He needed some air after talking for so long without a reply from Andrew.
As he opened the door, he heard Andrew exhaled loudly. “Ok.” He said.
Neil knew better than to look back. Andrew wouldn’t say anything else anyway. But as he exited the room a faint smile tugged at his lips. He was just happy he got through to him.
***
Graduation came and went. Nicky moved back to Germany with Erik. Aaron entered medical school. Kevin, Matt and Andrew were the only ones who went on to play professionally. Matt and Andrew both for the New York team and Kevin for the Boston team. At their farewell party, Nicky complained that the three of them wouldn’t be on the same team.
“It’s better like that. I’m not sure I can handle Kevin’s nagging for another day.” Andrew said.
The remark earned him a glare from Kevin. As much as Neil was proud of all of them, yeah even Aaron, it was still sad to see them leave. Dan was leaving to coach a high school team in the next few weeks. Renee was starting a long journey as a peace ambassador for the red cross, and Allison had plans to launch her own sports clothing line. Andrew and Matt were leaving tomorrow morning to start their training with the New York team.
The foxes were all chattering away, and Neil was sitting next to the window, looking at all his teammates. Next year he would be captain. He still didn’t know if he could do a good job as Dan had done for them. He looked up as Andrew sat next to him. The blond gave him a glass and he had another one for himself. Neil nodded to thank him and took a sip. The burning of the alcohol was a nice distraction of what was to come.
“I know you probably don’t want to hear it, but I’ll say it anyway. I’m proud of you.” Neil said as he finished his drink.
Andrew shrugged at his words. Talking about exy was never his favourite subject. Andrew finished his glass and got up. He gestured for Neil to follow him. Neil put his glass on the counter and did as he was told.
Andrew made his way to the roof with Neil on his heels. They sat close to the edge. Andrew lighted up a cigarette and passed it to Neil before lighting another one for himself. Neil kept the cigarette between his fingers and watched it burn. Andrew took a long drag of his and let the smoke out slowly between his part lips.
“Go on. Say what’s on your mind.” Andrew said looking at the horizon.
Neil sighed. Of course, Andrew had picked up on his bad mood.
“It’s stupid.” He said.
“Of course, it is.” Andrew said. “It’s you.”
Neil smirk at Andrew’s reply. “I don’t know. I guess I’m already nostalgic. Next year won’t be the same.”
Andrew didn’t say anything. He kept smoking, but Neil knew he was listening. “I don’t feel ready to be the captain. And I’m going to miss you.” Neil added slowly. He was a bit apprehensive about Andrew’s reaction to his last sentence.
“You’re the one who annoyed me into accepting New York’s offer.” Andrew said turning his head to look at Neil.
“I know and I’m glad you did. It’s just… I still have some trouble with what happened a few years back. What’s going to happen if I dissociate again and you’re not there to ground me?” Neil asked. He didn’t really expect reassurance it wasn’t Andrew’s style, but he still needed him to hear it.
They both stayed silent for a few minutes. Long enough for Andrew to finish his cigarette and throw the butt over the edge. Neil had dropped his a few minutes earlier.
“I’m not going to tell you that everything is going to be fine.” Andrew finally said.
Neil rolled his eyes. He knew that. Andrew wasn’t a liar. “But even if you dissociate or you have some troubles, you’re never alone. Coach will still be there.” Andrew added. It wasn’t really reassurance, but it was better than nothing. “And next year, you’ll graduate, and you’ll be recruited by a professional team in no time and you’ll probably be so excited like the fucking junkie you are.”
Neil took a deep breath, letting Andrew’s words sink in.
“Yes or no?” Neil asked quietly after a moment. He looked intensely at Andrew and the later didn’t avert his gaze.
“Yes.”
Neil leaned in Andrew’s space and kissed him, his fingers intertwining in his hair to keep him close. Andrew answered to the kiss with as much fervour. Letting his body tell everything he couldn’t put into words. Even if he didn’t say anything, he also wasn’t thrilled with the fact that he would be away from Neil for an extended period of time.
They spent almost all-night kissing on the roof without a word except for the occasional “Yes or no?” to make sure they weren’t crossing any boundaries.
***
Neil had been recruited by the Boston team after his graduation. He had gotten through the year with a few hiccups, but it was mostly fine. He had done a better job than anticipated as captain. Andrew and he were speaking almost every night on Facetime and they tried to see each other in person at least once a month. Now Neil was going to be playing with Kevin again and he was a little closer to Andrew.
Almost as soon as Neil and Andrew played against each other the exy fans went crazy. Not only were they aware that they used to play in the same team, but Neil and Andrew couldn’t help but be little shits to each other. No one outside of their circle of friends knew they were partners. As soon as they stepped on court to play against each other, Andrew flipped Neil off and Neil responded with a cocky smile. Matt and Kevin looked between the two of them and shook their heads.
Since that match, every reporter was eager to have a word about the Minyard Josten rivalry.
One night after a game in Boston, Matt, Kevin, Andrew and Neil were all out in a quiet bar. Boston had won by only two points, so it was on Neil and Kevin to pay the drinks. Kevin finally asked them about the rivalry.
“Seriously, why don’t you correct them?” Kevin asked as Matt nodded in agreement.
“Yeah like Dan would be angry if I kept our relationship a secret.” Matt said with a smile at the thought of his girlfriend.
“That’s because even with your relationship status in the open you get at least three wedding proposals per game.” Neil said as he took a sip of his drink.
“You also both have a lot of fangirls and fanboys. You’ll cause quite the commotion if you actually told your relationship status.” Matt said.
“It’s not as entertaining.” Andrew said finally participating in the conversation.
Kevin rolled his eyes at Andrew’s answer and he was even more exasperated with Neil amused smirk.
***
The next time they played against each other, it was almost the end of the season. The tension in the stadium was palpable. Neil and his teammates were changing in the away locker room. This time they were playing in New York.
“Do you think we have a chance to beat them again.” Their captain asked Neil and Kevin.
“Why are you asking us?” Kevin asked.
“Because you played with two of them back in college. And I don’t know Josten must be eager to win against Minyard.”
Kevin and Neil looked briefly at each other.
“We don’t have time for this kind of chit chat. Keep your head in the game.” Kevin replied.
They finished gearing up and went on the court for their warmup. The New York team was already on their side of the court. Neil took a quick look at the crowd and finally spotted familiar faces. Since it was the last game of the season they would play against each other, all the old foxes came to New York to watch them. Nicky and Erik went as far as flying from Germany. Even coach Wymack and Abby were there. Dan was the first to see that he was looking at them. She elbowed Allison in the ribs to get her attention and they waved at him. Neil smiled and he waved back. Kevin looked at him with a scowl ready to argue about the fact that he wasn’t warming up. But then he also caught their friends’ eyes and he had no choice but to also wave at them.
Neil looked at Matt as he was sending flying kisses to Dan. Even Andrew nodded at Aaron and Katelyn. Andrew then stared at him. Neil smirked at him and brought two fingers to his temple. Saluting him the same way he did all those years during college. Andrew kept a blank expression, but he held up his middle finger to Neil.
That small interaction caught the eye of the cameraman and it was shown on the big screen across the stadium. The fans from both teams went nuts. Everyone cheering for their favourites in the Minyard Josten rivalry.
Matt looked back at his goalie with a smile and Kevin looked at Neil with another scowl. Neil simply shrugged. Then buzzer went off to warn the teams that there was only a minute before the beginning of the game. Both teams surrounded their coaches for last-minute pointers. Then they were all back on the court and took their position.
It was a tight game. It was now 3-2 for New York. As much as Boston had a good defence and good strikers, but Andrew was just that good of a goalie. If he had decided that no balls were entering his goal, then that was that. Neil and Kevin only scored twice because they both knew Andrew better than anyone as they used to practice together every night in college.
After the first half, the score was still the same. But Andrew wasn’t in the goal during the second part of the match. The other guy wasn’t as good. Which gave Neil and Kevin plenty of time to bring the score to 4-3 for Boston. The backliner who was marking Neil was growing impatient with every goal he scored, which amused Neil immensely. He didn’t respond to what the man was shouting at him. He was more focused on trying to win the game.
He caught a pass from Kevin and tried to make his way to the goal. His backliner wasn’t making things easy for him, elbowing him hard with every chance he had. Neil was getting annoyed. He tried to speed up and lose the guy, but he had to face the fact that it wasn’t happening. Neil turned sharply on his heels and threw the ball at one of his backliner who had a better chance to pass it back to someone else on their offence. The ball barely left the net of his racquet, that Neil felt a body slammed hard against him. He was crushed between the plexiglass wall and the opposite team’s backliner. The impact had been violent, and his ears were buzzing. He knew the audience was screaming, but he couldn’t hear them.
Matt was the first to react. He was still on the game and he reached his teammate in a few strides. He caught said teammate by the shoulder and threw him off Neil. The moved hadn’t been fair anyway and there was no way he was letting the guy hurt Neil even more. Teammate or not.
As soon as the weight of the backliner was off of him, Neil slid to the ground not able to keep himself up. Kevin was the next one to approach. He and Matt kneeled to be levelled with Neil.
“Hey Neil, buddy. Can you get up?” Matt asked with concern.
“Yeah.” Neil let out after he found his breath again. He had to help himself with the wall, but he was able to get up. “I can still play give me a few seconds.” He tried to take a step forward, but he almost fell back.
Kevin gripped his arm to keep him on his feet. “You’re not finishing the game. Go back to the locker room.” He said. He motioned to their coach and he made his way to them.
He grabbed his player and with a nod to Kevin he took Neil off the court. “Come on Josten take a shower and wait for the rest of us.” The coach told him. There was barely 5 minutes left anyway.
Neil did as he was told. He went to the showers and grimaced as even water was too much pressure on his skin. He looked down at his chest and groaned. He would have bruises on his ribs and chest for sure. Nothing was broken luckily. It didn’t mean that it wouldn’t hurt like a bitch for the next few days.
He just came out of the shower and sat back on the bench in the locker room when his team entered back. Most of them asked him how he was doing, and Neil didn’t answer him.
“Who won?” He asked instead.
Most of his teammates rolled their eyes at his demand. Finally, someone told him they had won 5-4. Neil sighed in relief. At least he hadn’t cost his team the victory. Someone was about to say something else when a commotion was heard at the entrance of their locker room. One of Neil’s teammate was arguing with someone. Neil couldn’t see who it was since he was sitting and everyone else around him was standing. Kevin looked up and sighed deeply.
“Let him in.” He finally said.
The others were trying to argue. Saying that they couldn’t let the enemy in. Neil thought it was Matt trying to check on in.
“You either move or you see what he does to you.” Kevin added. “I don’t really care what you choose, it’s your funeral.”
The people blocking the door stepped aside with mumbles. Neil still couldn’t see who it was since some people were still crowding him. One of the subs next to him gasped.
“Minyard get out of here. It’s not the time to taunt him.” Someone said with anger.
Neil smiled at that. Of course, it was Andrew. Neil saw Amelia, the girl who spoke up, shudder. His smile went wider as he could imagine the glare Andrew sent her. The players finally moved and let Andrew reach Neil. Most of them stayed close, they wanted to see what happen next. Kevin took a stand between Andrew and the rest of his team. Making sure that they weren’t too close. They could still hear their every word, but they couldn’t see them well. Which was at least that.
Neil looked up at Andrew. The blond was looking at him with his blank stare. Only Neil’s trained eyes could see the squint of his eyes and see he was actually worried.
“Hey.” Neil said with a tired smile.
“Don’t you dare “Hey.” me.” Andrew said his voice had an edge.
He was angry sure, but he wasn’t angry at Neil. His anger was rarely directed at Neil.
Andrew kneeled slowly in front of Neil. His fingers hovering his sides. “You idiot.” He muttered. He looked at Neil, his eyes asking a silent question.
“Yes.” Neil simply said.
Andrew lifted his shirt just enough for him to see, but not enough for the rest of his team. Andrew cursed at the sight of the redness and the bruises already starting to form.
“I’m going to murder Peterson.” He said as he let go of Neil’s shirt.
“Hey. Drew.” Neil said to bring Andrew’s eyes on him. “I’ve been worse. I’ll be fi…” Neil shut up at the glare Andrew sent him. Even Kevin turned to look at him with an angry look. Neil huffed but still changed his words. I’m fine wasn’t an expression he was allowed to use anymore. “I’ll be ok.” He finally said. “Nothing’s broken.”
“You probably have a concussion.” Kevin said flatly.
Andrew nodded sharply in agreement with Kevin. Neil knew there was no way arguing if Andrew thought Kevin was right.
“Ok, ok. I won’t play until I’m clear of concussion. I promise.” Neil gave up. “But don’t murder your teammate.”
“Why not? He’s average at best.” Andrew said flatly.
The rest of Neil’s team gasped. Andrew’s tone was serious, but Neil knew his boyfriend really wasn’t.
“And your promise isn’t enough. You’re still a liar at heart. I’m keeping you home until you recover.” Andrew said.
“Did I miss something?” Murphy asked. “As if we’ll let you take him away.”
Andrew got up and made his way to Murphy. Seeing Murphy look nervously around him as Andrew got all in his space was almost funny. Murphy was a good 7 inches taller than Andrew, but he knew better than not being afraid.
“And how do you plan to stop me?” He asked slowly.
Neil rolled his eyes and got up also. He went to take his bag, but the movement made him groaned in pain. Andrew’s stare flicked back on him and he went to pick his bag up for him. No one was daring to make a move.
“Now, I’ll take my boyfriend back home. Does anyone have something against that?” He said looking around the room to each player.
Most of the players’ eyes widen in surprise, but they weren’t dumb enough to actually say something.
“I’ll send him back to you when he’s better.” Andrew said his stare back to Kevin.
Kevin nodded and the two men left the locker room. They walked side by side, wanting to reach the car as fast as possible. Which was a little difficult with Neil walking two times slower. They got to Andrew’s car and the blond put their bags in the trunk as Neil was getting settled on the passenger side. He turned his phone on. He had a bunch of notifications on the Foxes’ group chat. Half of them asking if he was ok and the other half already betting on what Andrew would do to Peterson. He also received a message, but it was a private one from what. He went to their conversation and saw it was a video. He clicked on it, wondering what it was.
As the video started Andrew climbed in the driver seat. He glanced and Neil and then at his phone. Neil noticed Andrew’s eye rolled but didn’t acknowledge it.
The video started with a shot of the New York team in their locker room. As soon as Peterson entered the room, Andrew was on him. He grabbed the man by the collar and tightened his grip. Peterson tried to push him off, but he wasn’t strong enough. Neil was almost proud of Andrew’s strength even if he was using it against his teammate.
“Boyd!” Peterson screamed. “Get him off of me!” He screamed. Sure, Andrew respected Matt and would listen to him most of the time now, but not today. Matt was well aware of that.
“There’s nothing I can do for you. In fact, I kind of wanted to do the same.” Matt replied with a shrug.
“Exy is a contact sport! Even if Josten is your friend he’s still the opposite team!” The man tried to defend himself.
Andrew pushed Peterson roughly against a wall. “Don’t even try. He didn’t have the ball anymore. You wanted to hurt him on purpose.” Andrew spat through clenched teeth.
“As if you care! You hate Josten!”
Before Andrew could do something, like punch his teammate his coach grabbed him and pulled him off Peterson.
“That’s enough. Minyard don’t hurt my backliner or you’re replacing him on the court. Peterson, you’re bench for the next game. I don’t want to see you play dirty like that anymore.” The coach let Andrew go while Peterson was whining about unfairness.
“How could be unfair? Neil won’t play at least the next two games because of you.” The stricker of their team said.
Andrew was still glaring at Peterson, daring him to reply something. “Next time you pounce on my boyfriend like that, I’ll kill you.” He spat with anger. With that, he left leaving his whole team staring at the door in confusion. The video cut with Matt’s laugh.
They stayed silent for a few seconds. Neil put his phone in his pocket and looked at Andrew. Andrew was staring straight in front of him, his face a mask of blankness.
“Staring.” He said with a sighed.
“Can you blame me? You almost killed your backliner and came out to our two teams under 10 minutes.” Neil replied with a smirk.
“Whip that smile from your face.” Andrew said turning to Neil.
“I guess after tonight the Minyard Josten rivalry is officially over.”
Andrew shrugged at that. He lifted his hand to Neil’s face. “Yes or no?”
“Yes.” Neil said.
Andrew brought him in for a kiss and Neil noticed his boyfriend finally relaxing. He wouldn’t say it out loud because Andrew would stop just to spite him, but he liked that he was protective. It made him feel safe.
“Let’s go home.” Andrew said when they let go of each other.
Even if it meant not playing, Neil couldn’t wait to spend at least the next week waking up next to Andrew. And if in the morning, the Minyard Josten couple was the only thing the Exy world wanted to talk about, they didn’t notice.