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When Neil returned from his evening run to his temporary shelter, he did not expect to be greeted with shouting and a fist to the jaw. However, life liked to keep Neil on his toes, and Neil wanted to cut life off at the knees.
A large, scruffy homeless man had monopolized the house Neil had been squatting in these past couple of months, and it was pouring outside. It’s not that he couldn’t have beaten the man in a fight, it’s more that it wasn’t worth it. Plus, he was supposed to be keeping off people’s radars and that included the homeless community around here. He couldn’t afford to be making any extra enemies.
So, Neil found himself wandering the street in the kind of freezing, yet sticky rain you can only experience in the great season of autumn. The problem was, it wasn’t as easy as you might think to find a place to stay the night here. Oh sure, on another day rather than this one, he might have been able to claim a park bench, or something equally as cheap. However, the wet hell raining down on him, soaking through his clothes and making his duffel bag considerably heavier than before, suggested that he needed an actual building to reside in.
Despite what people may think, Neil was not reckless. He needed to canvas a place out thoroughly before using it. Find the exits, see who lived near it, and make sure it really was as abandoned as it seemed. He couldn’t do that in a single night.
It was already getting dark and he couldn’t afford to stumble around aimlessly for much longer. He had a brief idea of where to go, but he dismissed it just as quickly. However, when he looked up to check what street he was on, and found himself exactly where he told himself he wouldn’t go. Apparently, his body was a different being from his mind, and its only priority was rest. Rest in a dry place.
He cussed out his body colorfully in his mind, and grumbled mentally the whole walk up to his destination. This was stupid, he was stupid, this was gonna be a mistake, and he was going to regret this. He knocked anyway.
He stood with his hands in his hoodie pockets, duffel bag slung over his shoulder, huddled in on himself as if his drenched clothing could provide any warmth at all. He shook, mildly he’d like to say, and clenched his jaw as he stared stubbornly down at his feet. This was dumb.
The door opened. Neil winced slightly from the sudden onslaught of light flooding through the door. He opened his mouth to explain his situation, not with the truth, of course, but some kind of excuse. He was interrupted before he could begin.
“Neil? What are you- You’re soaked, get the fuck in here.” Warm hands grabbed his shoulders, pulling him through the doorway and shutting the door firmly behind them. Neil blinked at his toes, noticing how his wet clothes dripped onto the carpet, before finally lifting his head and meeting Aaron’s eyes.
“Oh.” He said dumbly. He’d been expecting Andrew to answer the door, which is part of the reason he wasn’t sure if he’d be let in so easily. He thought he’d have to give up some of the truth to convince him, but it was Aaron, so he was already in the house.
“‘Oh?’ Neil what were you doing out in the rain? You didn’t even have an umbrella! You’re gonna get sick, this-”
“Neil! What are you doing here?” Aaron’s worried rant was cut off when Nicky entered the room, greeting their unexpected guest. His grin was bright, even in the face of the gloom outdoors, and it relaxed Neil’s shoulders slightly.
“I uh...I couldn’t sleep. So, uhm...Do you think I could stay here for the night?” Neil glanced down at his soggy shoes and toed them off carefully in the doorway. His socks were just as wet, but he figured removing his shoes was the polite thing to do.
“Are you kidding me? You walked here just because you couldn’t sleep? I can’t- No, close your mouth, you’re staying here.” Aaron held up his hand when Neil started to apologize and Neil’s jaw clacked shut again.
“Uhm...Don’t you think we should ask Andrew first?” Nicky asked hesitantly, looking for all intents and purposes like he would beg Andrew to let Neil stay if he refused.
“Ask me what?” Andrew appeared from the hallway, reading glasses perched on his nose, and sporting a soft black hoodie that made Neil’s chest ache. He looked...Comfortable. In a way that Neil had never seen him in school. At spotting Neil, he wrenched the glasses off his face and stuffed them in his pocket. “Who let the wet dog in?”
Neil ran his tongue along his top teeth, weighing responses in his mind. Should he quip back? Give an excuse? Throw Aaron under the bus? All were sensible choices, but Aaron didn’t give him a chance to employ his limitless wit.
“He says he couldn’t sleep. Is-...?” Aaron eyed the bruise already darkening on his jaw. “Are your parents home, or…?”
Were his-? Why would he guess that? He’d told them his excuse of his absentee parents multiple times, it was an odd conclusion to immediately jump to. Why did Aaron-...?
Oh. Neil's eyes widened fractionally as he took in Aaron’s glances at his jaw. Andrew’s eyes seemed to be fixed there as well.
“Oh, uh, no they-...” Fuck. If he denies that cause, what excuse is he gonna give for the bruise? He decides to avoid the topic entirely. “Andrew, can I stay here? Just for tonight?”
Andrew’s narrowed eyes showed he definitely did not miss the not so subtle avoidance, but he didn’t press. For now. “You’re gonna have to change.”
Neil nodded quickly. He was already unzipping the bag on his hip. “I will, I have clothes, they’re-...”
His hand was met with wet fabric. His bag was wet, so his clothes were wet as well. He mentally, emotionally, and physically berated himself for his stupidity, biting the inside of his cheek. He dug through his outfits to find that only his underwear, tucked at the very bottom of his bag with his binder, had survived mostly unscathed.
“Do you need clothes? I have clothes you can borrow. Oh, tell me your clothes are all soaked.” Nicky was far too excited by the prospect of dressing him, especially considering he would just need pajamas.
Aaron scoffed. “Your stuff will be too big on him, tallass. I’ll get him some of my shit.”
Andrew, on the other hand, was already retreating back to his bedroom, presumably grabbing his own garments. Neil was a bit overwhelmed.
When he finally made it to the bathroom for a hot shower, his arms were loaded with one of Andrew’s sweatshirts, a pair of Aaron’s pajama bottoms, and two ridiculously bright rainbow colored fuzzy socks from Nicky. He wasn’t quite sure what all the fuss was about what he wore, but the clothes were warm when he dressed after drying off, and that was what mattered.
He had brought his duffel in with him, but when he exited, Nicky was already reaching for it.
Neil hugged the drenched canvas close to himself protectively. “What are you doing?”
Nicky’s hands flailed a bit, eyes fixed on where the fabric met Neil's chest. “Don’t do that! You’ll get those clothes wet too! I’m just gonna put all your stuff in the dryer, so you have things to wear tomorrow.”
Neil loosened his grip, seeing the logic in Nicky’s suggestion. He unzipped his bag once again and withdrew his binder gingerly. He handed off the bag to Nicky hesitantly, clutching the binder to his chest as a replacement. “...Thank you.”
Nicky handled the bag with as much care as Neil put into it, sensing the importance of being trusted with it. His eyes crinkled kindly when he smiled. “It’s no problem, Neil.”
Neil retreated to the living room, still not sure where he was sleeping yet, and walked in on an argument about just that.
“Yes, you have the bigger bed, but what if he doesn’t want to sleep on the bed with you? My room is carpeted, it’ll be more comfortable. He’s not gonna sleep on the wood floors, Andrew.” Aaron had his arms crossed and he was facing Andrew, who was resting with his hip propped against the arm of the couch.
Andrew spotted him first, facing the entrance of the hallway. “Well, why don’t we ask him?”
Aaron spun to face him, ears pinking slightly when he realized what Neil overheard. Neil shifted a bit, uncomfortable with the attention. “I thought I’d just sleep on the couch…”
“Declined.” The twins rejected at once, then immediately turned to glare at one another for the alleged stolen word.
Neil blinked. Then shuffled his socked feet on the living room floor.
“Then I’ll, uh...I’ll sleep with- in!” He coughed. “Andrew’s room. If that’s okay.”
Aaron wasn’t aware that Andrew and Neil were...Far more comfortable with each other than it looked on the outside. They were...Well, Neil didn’t exactly know what they were, but he definitely knew the taste of Andrew’s lips and the heavy, comforting feeling of his calloused hand covering the back of his neck. They would be okay in a room together if that’s what the choice came down to.
Andrew was already walking to his room, the matter settled and his side the victor. Neil supposed that meant he was the prize, but he found he didn’t quite mind. He was about to follow when he spared a look at Aaron. His eyebrows were furrowed and his gaze stubbornly cast to the side. He was biting the inside of his cheek.
Neil faltered. “Thank you though... For...For offering. I didn’t expect you to let me stay here at all, much less sleep in one of your rooms.”
Aaron’s eyes flickered to his. He grumbled, “Don’t be an idiot, of course we’d let you stay.”
Neil felt his chest warm in gratitude, and he managed a small smile to convey that to Aaron before following after Andrew. He found Andrew sitting cross legged on one side of the bed with his phone in his hand. He set it down when Neil entered the room, closing the door behind him and Neil, in turn, set his binder on the floor next to the bed.
Andrew pointedly looked at the nightstand Neil had completely bypassed when setting down his binder. Neil merely shrugged. Out of sight, out of mind. He didn’t want the thing hovering over him while he tried to sleep. He climbed onto the bed next to Andrew, mirrored his position, and opened his mouth to start a conversation when Andrew’s hand reached toward him.
Neil flicked his eyes to the hand, its progress slow enough that Neil could tell its exact trajectory and could reject its advances at any time. He let it take its course and it landed gently, but firmly on his jaw, thumb overtop the bruise. Neil swallowed carefully, eyes moving to Andrew’s.
“What happened.” It was a question Neil had been contemplating how to answer since he arrived here. He could see Andrew’s eyes searching his face, thumb tracing the broken blood vessels, and he found it hard to lie.
“I was punched.” Neil settled his hands in his lap, biting his lip when Andrew’s gaze stayed steady, despite the vague answer.
“By your father?” Andrew’s grip tightened almost indistinguishably.
Neil went to shake his head, but stopped just short of it, not wanting to brush off Andrew’s touch. “I don’t know who it was…”
Andrew’s eyes scanned his face, expression unreadable. “Why couldn’t you sleep at home tonight?”
That was Andrew for you, he didn’t dance around topics or beat around bushes. If he wanted answers, he’d get answers. Neil sighed lightly, tilting his head the tiniest bit into Andrew’s hand. He could tell Andrew noticed, by the way his eyes widened fractionally and his thumb stilled. “I don’t...Because I don’t have a home.”
Andrew didn’t react to this new piece of information with anything but another question. “Where are you living?”
Neil couldn’t meet his eyes anymore. “A house...It’s not anybody’s though. Tonight it’s somebody else’s.”
Neil gestured to his bruised face as if it explained everything. He thought it did. Andrew seemed to understand as well.
Andrew stood up to turn out the lights and got under the covers as soon as he returned. Neil moved to get off the bed, ready to set up to sleep on the floor, but Andrew’s voice halted his movements. “Bed’s fine.”
Those words were all he needed. It took a few moments, but eventually Neil laid down next to Andrew. Sharing a bed with someone was not new, but Andrew was not his mother (thank God for that). This was different. This was a completely different sign of trust Andrew was displaying for him. It felt nice, and Neil smiled to the darkness surrounding them.
“If you steal the blankets, I’m putting my cold feet on you.” Andrew grumbled, shifting a bit closer to Neil so they would have more blanket around them. Neil let out a puff of air that constituted as a laugh in this quiet blackness around them.
He slept better than he had in years, that night.
--
The next morning, Neil slept late. Thus, when he woke up, he could smell breakfast cooking already, and his now dry duffel bag sat beside the bed, binder untouched and tucked safely beneath it. His clothes smelled fresh and were folded neatly in the confines of the bag, but what caught his attention was the shiny tool laid atop the clothes.
The tiny thing might have been overlooked at first glance to someone who wasn’t used to cataloging details in small amounts of time. To Neil though, it stood out precisely because it was so out of place among his belongings.
It was a key. And nestled under the object was a note. It simply read, “Stay.”
Neil felt his chest tighten and his eyes burn. He gripped the key tightly in his hand and breathed. A key meant permission. A key meant permanence.
Neil sat with that key in his hand for a long while, memorizing every ridge of the extraordinary gift he’d been given.
And for the first time, Neil felt he belonged.