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“If Kevin asks me about how to connect with coach, father to son, again, I’m going to actually steal one of your knives and stab him” Neil plops down on the dorm bed Andrew had been up until now, at least been smoking peacefully on.
“After all the work we put into keeping him alive?” Andrew rasps out, as a sign that Neil can continue to complain even if they’ve had the same conversation 8 times this week.
“I said stab, not kill” Neil huffs,”I mean that’s how me and my father bonded, so it will be advice anyway”
Andrew's glare sharpens into something deadly at the mention of Nathan.
“Sorr-“
“Don’t apologize just don’t say that” Andrew's voice is brittle as he says it, but it’s a new thing they are trying taking trauma seriously, which Neil supposes he should have done from the beginning.
“How about I make it up to you?”
“Are you propositioning to me?” Andrew raises an eyebrow, but he can’t hide the darkness in his eyes quickly enough.
Neil blushes slightly, “No-uhh, I mean-yes, but not right now? I actually meant we could go get ice cream from that new place on the route I run, y’know cuz sweetie’s is far, but i you want to go to sweeties we can totally go, or not, if you don’t” He’s rambling at this point, but thankfully, Andrew shushes him with a look that on anyone else would be a grimace, but on Andrew was just a slight tilt of his mouth and narrowed eyes, “I didn’t think you were actually propositioning me”
“Oh, good, yes, well, um, do you want to go get ice cream?” Neil, seemingly recovered from his flustered state, tries to smile charmingly even if he’s sure it isn’t working at all.
“Fine, let’s go.” Andrew stubbed his cigarette against the wall leaving yet another stain for Kevin to complain about later.
Neil gets up to trail after him, until Andrew turns around and raises an eyebrow, “I’m not going to be seen with you if your dressed like that”
“What’s wrong with how I dress, it’s comfortable and will keep people from looking at me” Neil looks up and down at his t-shirt with 3 holes at the bottom and exy shorts, which are actually basketball shorts but Neil refuses to call them that out of some mistaken loyalty to exy. Andrew rolls his eyes at the idea that Neil wouldn’t turn heads no matter how he dresses, hell he looked homeless when Andrew met him and he still was super hot.
Neil continues walking forward, but Andrew sidesteps him until Neil at last decides to turn around and go to the closet. He takes out one of Andrew's fancy t-shirts because of some brand or whatever(the shirt was black with a bunch of gray roses to get back at Aaron for saying he didn’t dress gay enough) and some jorts which are quickly taken out his hand and thrown just as Nicky walks in and they slam him in the face.
“Thanks for the warm welcome, Andrew” and after picking up the jorts,”oh are we finally getting rid of neils jorts?”
“NO” Neil exclaims, god he had just wanted to get away from Kevin, not have to go through the whole ordeal of wearing nice clothes.
“Not today” Andrew dryly responds
Nicky makes a whipped motion that totally flys over Neils head, but Andrew death glares and then goes to get Neil a pair of loose ripped acid washed jeans which doesn’t do much to help his case. Neil quickly changes and comes back to the site of Nicky grinning evilly at Andrew and Andrew glaring back, but with pink tipped ears. Andrew grabs his arm without even looking at Neil and marches them towards the door.
“Have fun on your date” Nicky cackles and then rushes to his dorm, most likely to settle a bet with Matt and inadvertently piss Aaron off.
Neil throws Andrew a quizzical look, but for once decides to leave the interrogation for later. They get in the Maserati in silence until suddenly Neil can’t take it anymore, “What did Nicky mean by a date?”
Andrew shrugs”I don’t know half of what Nicky says in nonsense anyway”
“Judging by how you were glaring at him I would think it wasn’t nonsense, so what did he mean by a date”
“Well I assume by a date he meant a a social or romantic appointment or engagement, and it was nonsense”
“Don’t give me that bullshit, what do you think he meant? Is this a date?” Neil’s eyes widen at the realization that this is probably their first date, and they are just going to ice cream, aren’t first dates supposed to be special? He definitely remembers Allison sayin something like that once.
“Stop going down the rabbit hole. Yes, this is what a person would traditionally call a date, Neil” He sighs exasperated, but the blush on his cheeks gives him away.
“Oh my god, is this our first date, should I look nicer or something” Neil panics
“So, now he finally wants to look nice. Are you stupid, actually don’t answer that. We have been on dates before” Andrew might be speaking in bland monotone, but somehow the smugness he is feeling comes through.
“Wait, what, when?!”
“The knife shop and dinner after, the car convention, when we saw legally blonde in theatres” Neil could swear Andrew was laughing at him inside his head.
“Fuck”
“If only I could say that I can’t believe you had no idea what a date was”
”Well, maybe if you took me out on more I would know” Neil argues.
Andrew seemingly having had enough of this conversation or more likely the turn the conversation took, turns on the radio to some indie band he likes(not that he would admit it), for the rest of the drive.
When they get out of the car the lack of ac hits them like a truck and in the time it took to get from car to the Dreamery Creamery Neil has already sweat buckets.
They go inside and bicker and practice russian while waiting in the long line for homemade ice cream. Andrew argues that Neil should try something new, while Neil argues back that strawberry ice cream is a classic and he is trying a new store. At last they get to the country where neil quickly orders his plain strawberry ice cream in a waffle cone, and Andrew ruminates before announcing his order of, “2 scoops chocolate thunder, one scoop moose tracks, m&ms, marshmallows, chocolate chips, sour gummies, brownie bits, oreo crumble, and 6 cherries in a chocolate cake cone” The employee behind the counter looks shocked, but makes it and after paying Andrew and Neil head outside to benches outside the store.
“Having fun with your edible diabetes”
“Yeah, wanna bite? Might help to try something new”
“Only if you feed it to me” Neil cheekily replies, and then immediately starts to backtrack in case he came on too strong.
“Sure” Andrew surprisingly aquiesse spooning a huge amount of ice cream towards Neil's mouth.
Neil opens up his mouth and swallows it down.
“Yes or no?”Andrew asks.
“Yes”
Andrew kisses Neil, as soft as a summer night, and Neil can’t help but think the chocolate tastes better on Andrew’s tongue.
“Aren’t you supposed to leave the kissing to the second date”
“As I recall we have had other dates and went a lot further on our first date”
Neil’s eyes flick away from Andrews in embarrassment at the memory and smiles, ‘that smile’ at Andrew.
“Shut your face” Andrew says, but he looks peaceful too.