Chapter Text
It was Senior year. So Nicky kept telling him, at least. He was convinced that they would have a delightful time, that they’d have fun and build lasting relationships and move on to college. On the morning of their first day, Nicky kept up a running commentary on the sorts of things they would get to do, completely forgetting that both Andrew and Aaron knew all too well that Nicky hadn’t had a good time in high school.
That was one of the reasons why he had moved them to Sunnydale a few years ago, fleeing from his parents in case they got their claws into Andrew and Aaron.
Now, though, high school was ending. Nicky wanted to return to Germany. Aaron wanted to become a doctor and was trying to hide the fact that he had a cheerleader for a girlfriend that he’d promised not to have. Renee had told Andrew that she wanted to go to college to study something that would help her do charity work. The rest of the year seemed to have everything sorted out.
Andrew had nothing. He wanted nothing. If it wasn’t for Nicky’s annoying insistence that Andrew stay at school till the bitter end and the deal Andrew had made, he would have left already to work at Eden’s. Instead, he’d been forced to pick up weekend shifts at the café across the street from the nightclub, mainly so that Nicky was unaware that he was working. Working at The Bronze also meant that he could be nearby if Nicky needed defending when he came and went from his weekend work.
Even before he arrived at school, he could tell that the year would drag in.
As soon as he parked his car on that first day, Aaron leapt out of the car. He hadn’t seen his cheerleader all summer, after all. Andrew sent him a narrowed-eyed look and switched off the engine. By the time he got out of the parking lot and to the front of the building, his brother was out of sight. Renee, however, was leaning against one of the railings, books in her arms and obviously ready for the school day ahead. Andrew hadn’t even brought a bag; his memory would store the information he needed.
“Hello, Andrew,” said Renee, smiling at him. She was the only person except for Betsy and Nicky that did that. Andrew slid her a look in greeting. “Did you have a nice summer?”
She waited patiently for a response, so Andrew decided to give her something. “Same as usual.”
Renee nodded and left it at that. Then she accompanied Andrew to his locker where he leaned against it to glare at the people around them. As they walked, Renee regaled him with what her and her adoptive mother had been up to. Andrew absorbed it, but said nothing. It was typical family shit and he didn’t exactly relate.
The rest of the school passed them by. Andrew spotted Allison, surrounded by the popular girls. She utterly ignored Seth who was waiting for her, and he scowled after her. He turned to his own set of friends and, judging by the smirks and cackling, mocked her indifference. Clearly, they were on the outs again. Andrew knew that that meant that they were both going to be insufferable for weeks. His fingers twitched, tempted to draw out a cigarette so that he could choke the unnecessary drama out of his range.
“Hey!” exclaimed the overly large, energetic puppy that was Matt Boyd. He and his girlfriend appeared from nowhere, though they kept out of Andrew’s reach and kept close to Renee. “How was your summer?”
“It was good,” Renee replied with her usual smile. Again, she regaled them with snippets of what she had already told Andrew. “Did you get to go anywhere nice?” she asked once she was finished.
“No money,” Dan explained, shaking her head. “But I come bearing news.”
“Oh?”
“There’s a new kid starting here this year. Whoever it is, they’re transferring in from Columbia and I heard they burned down part of their school. The gym, I think.”
Andrew tried not to look too interested, but he definitely perked up at that. Someone who could potentially be dangerous was at their school. Sure, Sunnydale wasn’t the safest place, what with all the deaths that happened over the course of a year, but this was someone coming to their school. That put Aaron in the path of danger again. He would need to find out more about them. So, with a grunt, he shoved himself off his locker with his shoulder. Matt startled at his movement, but Andrew ignored him.
As he walked off, Renee called out after him. “See you later, Andrew.”
“Where’s he going?” Andrew heard Matt ask in confusion.
Of course, Andrew didn’t reply. Matt and Dan probably wouldn’t approve of his answer. After all, the only way to find out more about the kid was to read their transcript. He just had to break into the principal’s offices before anything happened to the idiot he called his brother.
Annoyingly, when he went to the school offices to do reconnaissance, he found not only the secretary but the principal himself were still in. And, with the fancy glass walls that had been installed recently, Andrew could also see that someone else was with the principal. They had short red hair and Andrew realised that it must be the new kid themselves. So he ducked back out of the office before the secretary could ask questions and propped himself up on the wall outside, uncaring that he was going to be late to his first class.
Finally, the door opened and a boy came out. He was about Andrew’s age and height, though he seemed smaller with the way his shoulders slumped. There was a raggedy backpack over one shoulder and it bumped against the boy’s back as he straightened and took a deep breath. For some reason, the kid was wearing an overly baggy, grey t-shirt and a pair of jeans that looked as though the tears and rips were due to wear and not style. Under the t-shirt was a necklace of some sort; Andrew could see the chain hanging around the guy’s neck but the end of it was tucked out of sight. There was also something stuck into his waistband that made the t-shirt fall across his hips strangely and Andrew peered at the shape for a moment, wondering if he was carrying a weapon of some sort. His sneakers were scuffed and dirty; some of that dirt seemed fresh and Andrew wondered if he’d gone through the park to get to school.
Andrew pushed himself off the wall, ready to get the measure of the guy with a little intimidation. He had barely made a noise but, interestingly enough, the boy spun to face him, already on the defence. It stopped Andrew in his tracks when he got a good look at the boy’s face. His auburn hair was a mess, almost covering his eyes. But Andrew could still see them and he had to fight to keep his face blank. They were a very bright, piercing blue. Andrew had the fleeting thought that they were unnatural, but he dismissed that. It was bad enough that this kid was attractive without considering him as something otherworldly.
They both stared at each other for a few seconds before the kid relaxed. Andrew’s eyes narrowed. People shouldn’t be relaxing around him; that meant that they weren’t scared of him and they’d try to talk to or touch him. Before the redhead could turn away from him, Andrew spoke up. “People are very interested in you, new kid.”
That caused the tension to return to the guy’s shoulders and he frowned. “Including you?”
“No,” said Andrew, dismissively. “Though people are spreading rumours that suggest you might be a threat. Are you a threat?” Andrew took the opportunity to slide a knife out of his armband and show it to him.
The guy looked at it. He did not seem impressed, or concerned. “Right. Well, I’m real busy. Got more school buildings to burn down, things to kill, or whatever.” He turned from Andrew and began to walk off, looking down at a piece of paper that was in his hand.
Instead of taking that as the dismissal it clearly was, Andrew followed him. He felt that it was somewhat encouraging that the newcomer tensed up when he noticed what Andrew was doing. However, he didn’t stop or turn around. Instead, he sped up. Andrew’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t about to chase him across the school. An idea occurred to him and he reached out to grab the other arm strap of the backpack to make the boy stop. It took him a moment, but he did - which was good for him, since the bag seemed about to split apart.
“Where are you going?” Andrew asked.
“Why does it concern you?” the boy shot back.
“I’ll take you there.”
For a moment, the boy seemed suspicious. His face was blank, though, and was strangely neutral, something that would probably blend in with a crowd. Interesting, Andrew thought. Andrew merely stared back, giving nothing away. Then those unfairly pretty eyes darted across Andrew’s face, taking everything in, as if he was trying to decipher Andrew, just as Andrew was trying to decipher him. When the newbie’s eyes dropped down to consider Andrew’s body, Andrew snuffed out the small voice in his head that wondered if he was checking Andrew out. No, that wasn’t what he was doing; Andrew could tell that he was assessing whether he could fight Andrew or if he would be able to flee in the event that he needed to.
“Right. Fine. Here.” The kid showed Andrew the schedule he had. Andrew glanced over it and memorised it. In the corner, Andrew spotted something he had wanted to know and hadn’t wanted to ask.
“Neil Josten,” he said, sounding out the name in his head, wondering if any memories would be jostled free. But there was nothing; if he really had burned down a school building, Andrew hadn’t seen any news reports about it.
The kid in question frowned at him. “And?”
Andrew handed him back his schedule. “Follow me, Neil Josten.” He strode down the hall, not caring whether Neil followed him or not. Of course, he did follow Andrew; he could hear the pounding of his feet on the floor as he rushed to catch up.
“So…” Neil said. “Am I allowed to know your name?”
When he looked over, Andrew spotted amusement on Neil’s face. He narrowed his eyes. “Andrew Minyard.”
“Cool.” Neil didn’t bother with niceties.
“You burned down your last school?” Andrew asked once they had climbed a flight of stairs.
Behind him, Neil said, “So they say.” He didn’t sound contrite or embarrassed and, once again, Andrew thought he was interesting .
“Was there anyone inside?” Andrew asked, getting to the reason he had been waiting for Neil in the first place.
“No-one important,” Neil mumbled.
Andrew stopped outside Neil’s classroom and turned to him. Neil stopped in his tracks: he was out of Andrew’s reach, which Andrew thought was smart of him, considering how stupid he seemed to be. “And how did you decide who was important?”
Neil stared at him for a moment, assessing Andrew. It was obvious that he was working through what he could tell Andrew, and what he shouldn’t. Once he’d come to a decision, he shook his head. “Relax. I don’t know who told the principal that I’d burned down a building, or who’s spreading it around, but they’re wrong. I didn’t burn anything.”
“Then what’s the truth?”
“Do you want to know because you think I’m dangerous or because you have someone you want to protect?”
Apparently, Neil was more perceptive than Andrew had expected. He surveyed Neil, his expression blank. Neil was just as guarded as Andrew, his expression neutral, though his gaze was sharp. Those eyes seemed to penetrate Andrew’s defences and he didn’t like it. Still, he decided to give the guy an inch. “Tell me the truth, and I’ll tell you mine.”
For a second, Neil’s eyes flickered, his thoughts clearly trying to be expressed. His mouth twitched, though Andrew wasn’t sure if Neil had been about to smile or frown. Finally, Neil said, “I was in one of the school buildings at night. It collapsed while I was inside, but I got out alive.”
Though that answered Andrew’s immediate query, it only raised more questions. However, Neil had kept up his end of the deal, so Andrew decided to give Neil the information he’d asked for. “I have a twin brother. He is not to be harmed.”
“Got it,” said Neil.
They stayed standing, watching each other for a while. Andrew took in his appearance one more time before he dismissed him as a threat - for now. He would need to be watched, Andrew decided. Finally, Andrew stepped aside and gestured at the door to the classroom. Neil nodded.
“Thanks,” he said. Andrew scoffed in response. Neil shrugged. “See you around, I guess.” And he slipped past Andrew - still wary - and entered the classroom.
Later, Andrew ended up with Renee at lunch. This meant enduring the wary glances of Matt and Dan who also sat with Renee at times, but Andrew was used to it. What he wasn’t used to, however, was Renee saying that she was going to the library. “There’s a book I’d like to check out for my Politics class,” she explained.
“I do not go to the library,” Andrew told her, firmly.
“That’s okay,” Renee said. “I can go on my own.”
“Isn’t that where the new kid was going?” asked Matt, tilting his head as he thought.
Dan pulled her spoon out of her mouth and licked her lips to get rid of any lingering yoghurt. “Yeah,” she agreed. “He said he doesn’t have a lot of the books for his classes.”
Andrew kept his face blank, but he couldn’t help but become interested once again. Sure, Neil hadn’t looked particularly rich and it was plausible that he would want to go to the library to look at them, but Andrew didn’t think he was the kind of person to be that enthusiastic about his education that he’d go to the library on his first day. In fact, so far, Andrew had seen that Neil was wary, didn’t live up to the rumours, was perceptive - and had actually given Andrew what he’d wanted without much protest. Throwing in his trip to the library only made him more interesting and Andrew fought not to sigh as he stood up when Renee did.
“I’ll come with you,” he said, giving Renee a look to make her keep quiet.
“Really?” said Matt, clearly perplexed.
Waving him off, Andrew left with Renee. Unfortunately, Renee knew how to make a silence pointed, even when she was only smiling serenely. Andrew ignored it for a while before he snapped his gaze over to her. “No.”
“I take it you did not get enough answers to satisfy you,” Renee replied, as if it was a conversation.
“He is a threat to someone,” Andrew told her. How much of a threat he was to Andrew and his brother remained to be seen.
“Well, I am going to enjoy meeting him. I don’t have any classes with him, which is unfortunate.” When Andrew’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, Renee explained, “Allison said that he’s wearing a cross, too.” She raised her hand up to fiddle with it, the metal flashing in the light.
Andrew scoffed. “He’s trying to be something he isn’t.”
“Perhaps. But he is trying.”
By that point, they had reached the library so Andrew only gave Renee an unamused look. She smiled and pushed open the door. Andrew followed her in and the door swung shut with a dull thump.
The library was mostly open plan. To the right of the door was the desk for the librarian and a door into his office. On the left was a cage where they held the dangerous books, or whatever it was actually used for. Tables filled the space directly ahead of them and stairs wound around the edge of the room. The mezzanine level was where most of the books were stored, in tall stacks that people could be lost in. There were some more on shelves on the ground level, but not as many, as if the librarian had the desire to keep anything happening on one level separate to the other.
Speaking of the librarian, Wymack was standing in the middle of the room, right next to the new kid in question. There was a pile of books on the table beyond them, but Wymack quickly stepped in front of them. Beside him, Neil hurriedly put something behind his back, forcing his face into a blank state.
“What are you two doing here?” Wymack demanded, gruffly. Andrew raised an eyebrow. He had always been surprised that someone like Wymack had decided to become a high school librarian. The man was built big and had tribal tattoos that snaked down his arms when he was wearing tank tops or t-shirts, like he was now. His head was shaved and he constantly had a dusting of stubble. If Andrew had been asked on the street what it was Wymack did, he would have at least picked a sports coach of some sort.
“I came to get a book…” said Renee, her calm voice strained. She stepped closer to the two of them. Andrew knew that she was now reassessing both of the threats in the room, just like he was.
Wymack scowled. “Then what are you-?”
Neil cleared his throat, even as he brought his arms back around and folded his arms. Andrew looked him over, taking in the necklace he could now clearly see. Allison had been right; he was wearing a tiny little cross, with a white gem of some sort stuck into the centre. However, there was also something else on the chain which dangled beside the tiny piece of silver. It looked like a piece of amber with lines of gold which made what looked like a pentagram or a Star of David. With how small it was, Andrew wouldn’t be able to tell unless he got closer.
“Hm. Right. On you go,” said Wymack, gesturing to the stacks.
Renee smiled and nodded, but turned to Neil. “Did you need help to find something?” she asked.
Instead of answering, Neil gave her a scrutinising look, clearly wary. As he should be. Andrew knew that Renee wouldn’t change her expression under his gaze, that she would continue to patiently and serenely smile at him. Neil was clearly uncomfortable, but he merely shrugged. “No,” he said. “I was just leaving.”
“Josten,” said Wymack, warningly.
Neil turned to grab his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “It’s not any different than before,” Neil told Wymack. “I’m fine. Call Abby if you need me.” With that, Neil strode from the room, giving Andrew and Renee a wide berth. Andrew turned to watch him, noting how quickly he moved.
“Josten!” Wymack called.
Pushing through the door, Neil paused long enough to glance over his shoulder. He waved at Wymack, and then his gaze caught on Andrew. Raising his hand, Andrew gave him a two fingered salute. This kid was interesting; he was sure he would see more of him. Neil’s eyes narrowed, but he let the door swing closed behind him instead of confronting Andrew.
With him gone, Andrew turned to look at Wymack, wondering what he knew about Neil. The librarian sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face. “I should get paid for this,” he grumbled as he turned back to the desk. He scooped up the books and turned away from Andrew and Renee, clearly hiding them from his two students. “If you need me, give me a shout,” Wymack told them over his shoulder as he made his way to his office.
Despite Wymack’s best efforts, Andrew still caught a glimpse of one of the book’s titles: Vampyres; Their Names and Their Modus Operandi.
Nothing else of any particular note happened for the rest of the day. Andrew put up with the rest of his classes and, when the bell rang at the end of them, he collected his brother and drove him home. Nicky suggested that they go out for dinner, but Andrew didn’t want to interact with anyone else that day, so Nicky ordered in for them. Aaron shut himself in his room, probably so he could talk to the cheerleader, and Andrew ate some ice cream.
Everything was normal until the next day, when everyone was arriving at school.
Andrew had, regrettably, ended up entering the school with his brother. Since Aaron had been glaring at him, Andrew decided to follow him on his way to Renee’s locker. He was rewarded with Aaron’s paranoid glances over his shoulder. Andrew only looked blankly at him. Eventually, Aaron came to a stop near his own locker which happened to be near Marissa’s locker where she, Katelyn and Allison had evidently decided to meet this morning. While his brother yanked open his locker to arrange his books, Andrew leaned against the locker next to his with his arms crossed, waiting and watching.
Aaron was clever. Though he was clearly aware that Katelyn was nearby, he kept his eyes on his things and methodically rearranged his bag. Meanwhile, the cheerleader in question kept looking over, twirling her red hair around her finger. Beside her, Marissa was chattering away about nothing important as she slowly spun her combination into her locker. Just as she dissolved into giggles about whatever she had been talking about, Marissa pulled open the door, obviously too preoccupied to even do that quickly.
Suddenly, the locker burst open and something dropped to Marissa’s feet.
Marissa screamed. People darted out of the way in alarm. Allison backed off, eyes wide. Katelyn pressed her hands to her mouth. Someone from the crowd murmured something about a teacher and darted off. Aaron abandoned his locker to take hold of Katelyn’s elbow, pulling her back. Andrew stared at the body instead, noting the green shirt and red shorts.
His memory told him that this was Rob, one of Seth’s friends, and he’d been wearing that the day before. Somehow, his clothes were clean. There wasn’t any blood, save for a thin layer smeared over his neck which had long since dried on his cold skin. Andrew’s eyes zeroed in on that, and the two holes that had been pierced into the smooth expanse of creamy skin. The expression on Rob’s face was one of surprise, his eyes wide and glazed over.
A crowd began to gather, blocking them all into the narrow space. Andrew watched as Aaron comforted Katelyn while Allison tried to get Marissa to pull herself together. A couple of teachers and the campus security turned up and started to send students away. Someone chased Aaron away and he reappeared at Andrew’s side, glaring at Andrew as if he had something to do with it. Andrew returned his suspicious look with a blank one of his own. Then he glanced at Katelyn and looked back. Aaron scowled, grabbed his bag and slammed his locker shut. He didn’t leave, though, hovering around the scene as he waited for Katelyn to be allowed to leave.
Something changed suddenly and Andrew looked up. Among all the people panicking and moving and talking, there was one person who was utterly still. Neil had appeared at one point and had pushed himself to the front of the crowd so that he could see the scene. His eyes were fixed on the body, his jaw clenched. What he was looking at specifically, Andrew couldn’t tell, but he would place bets on it being the wounds on the boy’s neck. The wounds that Andrew was beginning to suspect had something to do with vampires. Not that he believed in those sorts of monsters - there were enough monsters hidden within humanity already.
Without warning, Neil’s eyes snapped up to Andrew’s. While Neil looked tense, almost daring Andrew to say something, Andrew merely blinked, daring the boy to explain himself. He was rewarded with a scowl as Neil’s hands clenched into fists. Andrew stared at him, wondering what he would do now.
Then a couple of cops turned up, announcing themselves loudly and shooing the students away from the scene. One of them passed between Andrew and Neil, blocking Andrew’s view. By the time the idiot got out of his way, Neil was gone, his small body blocked by the masses.
The day wore on and Andrew spotted Neil a few times. Matt and Dan seemed to have gotten their claws into him as he was often walking with them between classes and ended up at lunch with them as well. Interestingly, he left halfway through and Andrew later saw him coming out of the library. He even noticed that Neil seemed to run between places a lot; at one point, Neil sped past him while Andrew was waiting for Aaron at his locker, staring at the crime scene tape that cordoned off a tiny section of the corridor.
Eventually, Aaron turned up and they returned home. Nicky, again, insisted on going to Eden’s. Andrew decided that he had been thinking about Neil and vampires too much, so he agreed. Maybe he could find someone to drag into the back room when none of the bartenders were watching. Of course, there was the danger of Aaron seeing the cheerleader again, but it was unlikely that they’d be there on a Tuesday - unless Aaron texted Katelyn while he wasn’t looking.
Andrew drove them across town, trying to ignore Nicky. Unfortunately, his cousin was loud enough to be heard over the radio. “I heard about that poor boy!” Nicky was saying as Andrew pulled over and parked. “That… Bob or whatever. If you need time off school-”
“We didn’t know him,” Aaron cut in, tapping at his phone in the backseat.
“Really?” Nicky paused and then shrugged. “Poor thing. I wonder how his family’s coping.”
“Who cares,” Aaron said, putting his phone in his pocket and ignoring Andrew’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “I heard from some kids in my class that he was an asshole.”
“But he didn’t need to die!” Nicky exclaimed, aghast. “That’s… That’s horrifying!”
That was the point that Andrew decided he couldn’t stay in the car any longer and got out. The other two quickly followed him and they made their way into the club, bypassing the line. Andrew supposed that was the benefit of having Nicky work there, as well as their lenient entry requirements. Of course, the downside was that everyone except Roland was aware of the twins’ ages and refused them alcohol.
The place wasn’t as packed as a Friday or Saturday night, but it was still pretty busy. With the town being so small, Eden’s was the main place for people to gather once the sun went down. Sometimes, The Bronze became their rivals when a particularly good music act came along, but Eden’s was bigger and could fit more people. As such, it was very popular, and Andrew could see that a good portion of the school had already gathered. There were college students as well, not to mention the adults who were stuck in the town due to circumstance. Music pumped through the speakers with a heavy bass and people were already on the dance floor. Wrapping around the filled space was a raised platform where there were both tables and pool tables. The bar was at one end of the building and the DJ’s booth was at the other with a stage for the rare musical act.
“We’ll get a table!” Nicky informed Andrew over the noise. Andrew waved him and Aaron away, well aware that they were going to hover around a pool table until someone finished their game. When Andrew wandered over to them, he would keep hold of it, hustling anyone who attempted to claim it from him. For now, though, he headed to the bar and muscled his way to the counter.
Both bartenders were preoccupied, so Andrew knew he would have to wait. While he did, he turned and leaned on the counter, letting his gaze wander. Beside him, a woman moved away, and he could suddenly see the man who had been standing on her other side. He was tall, his face grim. His black hair was artfully ruffled and his green eyes were watching the door. Despite being dressed fashionably, his shirt and skinny jeans tastefully black, he was also wearing a long coat. It looked to Andrew as if he had stepped out of some sort of noir movie - all he was missing was a hat and a cigarette. He did, however, have a tumbler of whiskey cradled between his hands that he nervously fiddled with, spinning it around and around.
Andrew gave him a once over and realised that he wasn’t so much a man as a college student trying too hard to look older. And, now that he looked closer, he could just make out a tiny tattoo of the number 2 under his left eye. It made him look ridiculous, if you weren’t fooled into believing it was a beauty mark from a distance. He intrigued Andrew enough that he decided that this would be the best person to take his mind off Neil - for a few minutes, at least.
“Hey,” he said, just loud enough for the man to hear.
Blinking, the man looked over, and Andrew found himself wondering why all these attractive new guys had to have such striking eyes. After a second, the man frowned. “Yes?” he asked, his tone falsely polite.
“On your own?” Andrew asked, since there was no other way to continue the conversation short of asking if he could blow him. Then again…
Before he could extend the offer, the man waved him off, almost dismissively. “I’m waiting for someone.”
Eyes narrowed, Andrew said, “Are you sure you’ve not been stood up?”
“He doesn’t know I’m here,” the man answered. “But this is more important than a high schooler.”
Andrew felt a sharp stab of mild annoyance that quickly petered out. He decided that the man wasn’t worth his time, especially if he was acting so high and mighty. Probably a college student, thought Andrew. “Your loss,” he said, trying to catch the attention of a free bartender.
The man scoffed. “Of course it is. I have more import-”
When he abruptly cut off, Andrew looked up at him to make sure there wasn’t a threat. Instead, the man seemed to be staring at someone who had just entered. His eyes were wide and his lips parted, clearly in awe. Curiosity won out and Andrew looked over, wondering just who it was who had clearly caused the stranger to fall hard. He stilled when he noticed the group who were excitedly making their way from the door to the pool tables.
In the middle of them, his nose scrunched up as he looked around, was Neil. And not just any Neil. Allison was with the group on one of her rare outings without the cool kids - the rest of the popularity group must be elsewhere tonight - and she must have taken care of Neil’s outfit. His shirt was black and fitted him better, though still a little loose. There was the suggestion of muscle underneath the patterned material, the swirls probably exaggerating them if Andrew were closer. His jeans had no rips or tears and seemed to be stuck to his thighs - which, Andrew now noticed, were very thick. A runner’s thighs. His hair had been styled into effortless curls and Andrew spotted him smiling at Matt when he said something.
There was movement beside Andrew and he turned to watch as the stranger left his drink on the bar and began to make his way through the crowd. Andrew looked over at Neil who nodded at whatever Matt was saying - before his gaze suddenly sliced through the crowd and unerringly found the man’s. He stopped and looked at Neil, neither of them moving. Then Matt interrupted the moment and Neil turned to glance at him. He waved Matt off as the man suddenly changed direction and began to head towards the toilets, faster than Andrew thought a human could move. Andrew had the sense that he was going to use the emergency exit that had long since had its alarm removed. Neil looked back and scanned the crowd when he noticed that the stranger was gone.
And then his gaze locked on Andrew.
For a moment, Neil merely stared at him. Andrew noticed the tightness around his eyes, the way his jaw clenched, the tense set of his shoulders. He looked like he was about to run, probably because Andrew was watching him. It seemed like Neil didn’t like attention being on him, despite breaking into school buildings at the exact moment they collapsed. Almost sarcastically, Andrew gave him a two-fingered salute. He didn’t intend to help Neil, but it seemed like it did; he scoffed and turned away from Andrew, his shoulders relaxing. Just as Andrew had expected, Neil followed the stranger across the club and into the little corridor that would lead him outside.
Andrew turned back to the bar and told himself that he wasn’t intrigued by the entire situation.
A few days passed and nothing interesting happened. Andrew went to school, stared at Aaron as he skirted close to breaking their deal, and allowed Renee in his presence occasionally. She tried to talk to him about the new kid, but Andrew shut her down with a look. Thankfully, Matt and Dan had definitely taken Neil under their wing and he spent lunch with them, sometimes even disappearing with him, leaving Andrew to sit quietly with Renee.
Unfortunately, that did mean another trip to the library with Renee. She had to return the book she’d borrowed at the start of the week, and Andrew found himself wandering through the halls in her wake. Renee didn’t engage him in conversation as they made their way past others, though Andrew could tell that she was pleased that he was spending time with her.
When they reached their destination, Renee went first and Andrew followed her in, his hands in his pockets. Somewhere ahead of them, there were noises as if someone was scrambling to get away. Or hide something. Andrew looked up and found what he expected - Neil and Wymack. He didn’t expect, however, Matt and Dan standing in front of the table, grinning too widely at them as the door swung shut behind them.
“Oh, hey!” Matt exclaimed, voice higher than normal. “What’re you two doing here?”
Andrew stared at them before he glanced at Renee out of the corner of his eye. She looked perplexed and even looked at Andrew for a moment as if for clarification. When both of them realised that they didn’t know what was going on, they turned back to the group in front of them. Renee slipped her hand into her bag and pulled out the book she was returning. “I came to return this,” she explained when none of them seemed to know what she meant with a gesture alone.
“Here?” asked Matt. Dan sighed and nudged him, giving him a look.
“It’s a library,” said Neil, rolling his eyes at them. “The best place for private conversations.”
Wymack sighed. “Let me get that for you,” he grumbled to Renee.
Despite how sure Wymack was as he strode to the desk, Renee took a moment to look at her friends. Then she left Andrew’s side to go through the process with the librarian. Andrew gazed at the remaining members of their strange little group, still valiantly trying to hide the heavy, old books that were scattered across the table. Matt and Dan were still attempting to appear happily normal, but Neil was only staring at Andrew.
“You hang out here now?” Andrew said to Matt and Dan.
“Ahahaha, yeah,” said Matt.
Dan rolled her eyes. “We’re helping Neil out with something.”
“Even though I’m fine,” Neil insisted.
“Sure, kid,” said Dan, as if she was any older than Neil.
“What are you helping him with?” Renee asked. Andrew could tell by her tone that she would help them if she could.
“Ah, um…” Matt glanced at Dan. “A school project?”
“We’ve only been at school for less than five days,” Andrew pointed out, looking at Neil again. Neil gazed back, face neutral, much more calm than in Eden’s.
“It’s an ongoing project,” Neil lied. Or was it more like he was stretching the truth? Andrew narrowed his eyes; Neil smirked at him.
“Is there anything we can do?” Renee piped up.
“No,” said Andrew, unwilling to help them until he knew everything.
“No,” Neil agreed. There was a brief pause. “Thanks, though,” he added. He wasn’t looking at Renee. Andrew realised that that was because he was uncomfortable with Renee’s presence, which was made obvious by the subtle shifting he did in his chair.
Renee nodded. “Well, let us-”
“Renee,” Andrew said in warning.
“-me know.”
“Right,” said Neil.
There was an awkward silence. Andrew ignored the others and stared at Neil, sure that there was something strange about him. He seemed dangerous, but also didn’t make Andrew want to threaten him. And that stranger at Eden’s. Despite wanting to know more, Andrew told himself he definitely didn’t. He turned on his heel and let Renee say their goodbyes as he stalked from the library, intent on never acknowledging Neil’s presence again.