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It started, as most things do where the Foxes are involved, with a bet.
The world became a significantly more stressful place when Allison Reynolds and Nicky Hemmick became allies, and even worse, friends.
“I just don’t think you can do it,” Allison said. She said it with the perfect amount of indifference that any typical person wouldn’t be able to catch the challenge in her tone.
Andrew Minyard was not a typical person. He had an above average ability to sense when someone was trying to goad another person all the while pretending to be perfectly innocent.
“Oh, come on Allison. This is Neil we’re talking about. Of course he can do it!” Most people underestimated Nicky. He played the part of ditsy-side character very well but Andrew knew better. Nicky was smarter than he liked to let on. His words were chosen carefully to further instigate Allison’s previous challenge.
Sometimes Andrew longed for how things used to be. The divide between the upperclassmen and the monsters.
Andrew wouldn’t normally pay attention to any of the Foxes’ betting but this one was different. This one involved Neil, and well, Andrew couldn’t trust Neil to look after himself so someone had to.
Andrew turned his head to face the man in question. Neil was pouting and Andrew refused to find it endearing.
“This bet is stupid,” Neil said.
“Why? Because you know you’ll lose?” Allison asked sweetly.
“ No,” Neil said. Andrew could feel Neil’s annoyance from one seat over.
“Then take the bet, Neil. If it’s stupid and you know you’ll win then there’s no harm right?” Andrew could tell Neil was about to give in.
“Fine!” Andrew would have to write down ‘spine for Neil’ on his shopping list. “But there are rules,” Neil added. “I’m not doing it while I’m in class. If I don’t participate then I won't get graded well and then I can’t play exy.”
Junkie, Andrew thought fondly.
“Deal,” Allison said quickly. Like she thought if she didn’t seal the deal right away Neil would take his cooperation back.
“Then there we have it,” Nicky said. “Neil Josten, you can no longer speak English in any social settings. You must communicate using a different language each day for the next week. If you make it past five days then Allison and I will join you for your horrible morning runs until the end of the school year. If you break before then, we get to dress and style you until the end of the school year.”
“Deal,” Neil agreed.
Andrew picked up his phone and began looking for comfortable running sneakers in Nicky’s size.
DAY 1
When Kevin spoke French, it deeply irritated Andrew. The words were harsh and usually said very angrily.
Neil spoke the language differently. Neil’s pronunciations were softer. Lighter. It made Andrew realize why some may consider French the language of love.
Granted, Andrew had no idea what Neil was saying. Neil could be reciting an instruction manual for a washing machine and Andrew would be none the wiser. But the words coming out of Neil’s mouth sounded pretty so Andrew was content lying upside down on the couch while Neil ranted about who knows what.
“I have no idea what you're saying,” Andrew interrupted Neil mid sentence, “But I can probably guess.”
Neil’s eyes glinted in mischief and nodded his head at Andrew, indicating that he wanted to hear what Andrew had to say..
“I’m going to guess that someone in your class said something you disagreed with, and since you can’t seem to keep your mouth shut at any given moment, you started to argue with them. Your teacher probably tried their best to play mediator but even the strongest linguists are no match for Neil Josten’s tongue. The person you were arguing with either stormed out of the class or broke down in tears. Either way, you got in trouble.”
Neil’s grin was something fierce, “It was both. She broke down in tears and then stormed out of the classroom . ”
“So I was right? You’re a menace to society in each aspect of your life.” Andrew said.
Neil rolled his eyes, further proving Andrew’s guess to be correct.
Before Neil or Andrew could say another word, the door to their dorm was dramatically flung open.
“I hate calculus!” Nicky whined as he tossed his bag across the room. Kevin, who followed behind him, glared at the disarray of Nicky’s belongings. “I’m too attractive to be expected to know math!”
“Neil’s good at math,” Kevin said. Andrew pointedly ignored that the underlying implication of that statement was that Kevin found Neil attractive.
“Neil is good at math!” Nicky said excitedly. “Neil, Neil, Neil, Neil,” Nicky pestered until Neil turned his head toward Nicky and raised an eyebrow. “Will you help me with my calculus homework?”
Neil smiled, and Andrew made himself comfortable for the show. “ Of course, what do you need help with?”
Nicky’s right eye twitched. “Neil. I need math homework help.”
“I'm sure you do. How can I help?” Neil replied easily.
Nicky sighed, “Oh come on Neil! Just help me! I swear I won’t tell Allison if you break the bet!”
“That doesn’t seem fair.”
Nicky let out an exasperated groan. “Kevin? Help? Translate?”
“I’m not getting involved in your nonsense. Do your math homework, Nicky,” Kevin said as he settled himself on a beanbag with his laptop open and headphones in.
Nicky sighed all the way to his bedroom, leaving Neil and Andrew.
“Like I said, menace to society in every aspect of your life,” Andrew addressed Neil.
Neil shrugged, “ You love me. ”
Andrew’s cheeks flushed.
Day 2
Andrew hadn’t decided how he was going to do this. His first option was to act immediately; he could grab the dinner knife that was resting on the right side of his plate and shove it into the waitress’ eye socket. His second option was to wait it out. Make the waitress think she was safe and then after he finished his meal, he could corner her during her break and give her a little scare.
“You’re looking a little green there, brother.”
Andrew glared at his twin. Aaron smugly took a sip of his beer.
Aaron shrugged. “What do you think they’re saying? Think they’re planning to run away together and live in a beach villa in Valencia?”
The Foxes thought it was a good idea to do weekly team dinners as a form of team bonding. Or, Dan thought it was a good idea, Andrew corrected. Andrew would much rather be in his room holed up on the top bunk with Neil watching a stupid television show but Neil enjoyed spending time with the Foxes so really, Andrew had no choice but to come.
The restaurant chosen this week was a tapas bar in downtown Palmetto. It was a family owned joint so the food was authentic Spanish cuisine and most of the staff were fluent in the language. Neil had surprised all the Foxes by also being fluent in the language.
Currently he was up at the order station settling the bill but the quick back and forth between him and the waitress could be heard from the table. As usual Andrew was awed by Neil’s tongue. If he didn’t know Neil, he would think that Spanish was his first language. Whatever he was saying had the waitress blushing and laughing and frankly, Andrew had enough.
He looked at Nicky, “What are they saying?”
“Who? Neil and the waitress?” Nicky asked.
“No, Neil and the wall,” Andrew rolled his eyes. “Yes, Neil and the waitress.”
“Oh, uh, hold on,” Nicky leaned back in his seat to focus on the conversation happening a few feet away. Aaron snorted.
“What?” Andrew asked.
“Don’t seem too eager. We might actually start to think you like Neil,” Aaron commented. Andrew glared again.
“No need to turn into the jealous green monster, Andrew,” Nicky said. “They’re talking about exy.”
“What.”
“Yup,” Nicky confirmed. “I just heard Neil go over different strategies for losing your mark on the court.”
Andrew sighed. Of course. Andrew couldn’t believe he bought into Aaron’s bait. Now it was Andrew’s turn to smirk at his brother. Aaron rolled his eyes and took another sip of his beer. Neil came back to the table and plopped in his seat next to Andrew.
“ What did I miss?” Neil asked.
“ Andrew was jealous because you were flirting with the waitress,” Nicky replied. Andrew frowned at the use of his name.
Neil laughed and put his arm around the back of Andrew’s chair, “ Andrew is the only one for me.”
Andrew didn’t know much Spanish but even he couldn’t stop the blush that slowly spread to his cheeks.
DAY 3
Neil had started off the day speaking German but Allison quickly put an end to that as she declared it was unfair because there were three people who could understand what he was saying. Andrew barely refrained from pointing out that Kevin had understood when Neil spoke French and Nicky understood when Neil spoke Spanish.
Andrew thought Allison just didn’t want him to be able to understand Neil. The peace between Andrew’s lot and the upperclassmen was something that was still very fragile. Their antagonism wasn’t so blunt anymore. It appeared in sly comments or group outings that were very clearly not for everyone. When they all did hang out together it was usually because of Neil. It was like two parents on the verge of divorce trying to make it work for the sake of their child. The only difference was that in this scenario the child was actually the son of a mobster and had a body count.
Today, Neil had conned them into all having dinner together after practice. Andrew thought this was unnecessary because they already had their weekly dinner the night before, but Neil was a sucker for everyone hanging out together. The only thing Andrew’s lot and the upperclassmen liked more than antagonizing each other was making Neil happy.
This was where the Foxes discovered that Neil was fluent in Italian. Allison and Kevin refused to eat on campus. Something about the quality of food being disgusting. Andrew didn’t really care about the quality of food as long as there was an adequate selection of desserts. Kevin and Allison had been hunched over a phone looking at places around Palmetto that would be fine with sitting nine adult college students. Nicky had commented that Andrew and Aaron could definitely pass as children which earned him a punch in the arm from Aaron. Andrew had saluted his brother in solidarity.
Eventually they had found this Italian restaurant but when they had called to see if there was seating available they were caught off guard by the woman on the phone who only spoke Italian. Allison and Kevin both made faces of distress.
“Nine people?” Allison tried. “Can you...No... Nine. Nine people for dinner.”
“Let me speak to them,” Kevin reached for the phone but was intercepted by Neil.
“ Hello?” Andrew got chills. “Do you have seating available tonight for nine? ...Yes, nine...Preferably in the back with at least one side against a wall if possible...Oh, perfect. Yes. Yes. Thank you. See you then.”
Eight pairs of eyes were transfixed on Neil.
“Well?” Kevin huffed.
“ They can seat us in an hour. They have a secluded upstairs area that they’ll hold for us. We’d be the only ones up there,” Neil said, completely unbothered by the fact that it was not understood by anyone.
“Someone pull up google translate,” Allison ordered. Renee happily obliged while Matt and Kevin made Neil repeat himself one word per minute. Andrew sighed and headed to his car to wait for everyone else to get their shit together. He pulled up the menu for the restaurant and browsed their desserts, hoping that everyone would get the memo at some point this century.
DAY 4
Today was not a good day. Andrew had woken up because of a nightmare that he didn’t care to reflect upon. He felt on edge and every little thing was setting him off. Neil was doing his best to keep the Foxes away from him, but it seemed as though they were all being purposely dense because Neil was shooing them off in what sort of sounded like Greek but Andrew wasn’t focused enough to confirm.
It was far too noisy in the dorm. The sounds of shooting from the video game Nicky and Kevin were playing was grating on his nerves. Every time Aaron wrote in his notebook with his stupid mechanical pencil and turned a page in his textbook it sounded like nails on a chalkboard.
Andrew was never a fan of showing weakness. He didn’t want his family to know how bad he was struggling right now so he forced himself to stay put in the beanbag despite the pounding headache that was growing. He forgot that while he may not always be the kindest to himself, there was someone who put Andrew’s well being above everyone else.
Neil walked into the room holding a legal pad and thick blue sharpie. He strode to a stop in front of the television much to the annoyance of Kevin and Nicky. If Andrew were feeling better he would have smirked. Neil wrote something out on the pad and then ripped the piece off, tossing it on the table.
TURN THAT SHIT DOWN.
Nicky and Kevin shared a confused look but eventually folded under Neil’s glare and turned the volume down until it was almost silent. Neil nodded in approval and then moved on to where Aaron was hunched over his school work. He took the pencil right out of Aaron’s hand who let out a string of curses at Neil which only cut off when Neil replaced the pencil with a soft ball point pen. Aaron was confused but similarly to Nicky and Kevin didn’t question Neil’s actions, just quietly went back to doing his work.
Again, Neil nodded in approval and then made his way toward Andrew. He held out his hand for Andrew, which Andrew took because, well, now he was curious. Neil led him to the bedroom where an attempt at a blanket fort was waiting on Neil’s bottom bunk.
It was a sad excuse for a blanket fort. A blanket fort made by someone who so very clearly had never made one in his entire life. Andrew loved it. While Andrew assessed the sturdiness of the fort (which didn’t look too good), Neil was writing something out on his pad.
Andrew poked his head past the blanket that was hanging down from the top bunk to act as a curtain for the blanket fort. At the rifling of pages, Andrew turned to find Neil with the pad held out. Written on the page was: THOUGHT YOU COULD USE SOME QUIET. DO YOU WANT ME TO STAY?
Did Andrew want Neil to stay? More than anything in the world. Andrew didn’t think that was what Neil was referring to in his note. Regardless, Andrew nodded his head toward the fort in confirmation. Neil followed Andrew’s lead, because he was always so attentive toward Andrew’s needs, into the fort. With the curtain closed, they were in complete darkness.
Andrew could hear Neil rummaging around for something. There was a brief clicking sound and then little tiny lights turned on. Neil had moved the string lights that hung across Nicky’s bed into the fort, creating a soft glow on all the sheets and pillows. Andrew was enamored.
Neil smiled shyly at Andrew, and Andrew reached a pinky out to interlock it with Neil’s to show his appreciation. It had been a bad day, but Neil somehow always made it just a little better.
Andrew pulled Neil so that they were lying down and facing one another with their pinkies still connected. Andrew fell asleep in an instant, and this time he dreamed of auburn hair and icy blue eyes.
DAY 5
“ You are the most wondrous person I have ever met.”
Andrew didn’t know why he was blushing. He didn’t even know what Neil said. While Neil was disorganized in their joint learning of the Russian language, skipping chapters, and specifically looking up the words he wanted to know, Andrew was going at a much slower pace. He was orderly, going unit by unit in the textbook he had gotten from the library. While Neil was spewing nonsense, Andrew was simply becoming acquainted with Russian translations of animals.
Today was the last day of Neil’s ridiculous bet with Nicky and Allison, and Andrew had mixed feelings. On one hand it would be nice to hear Neil’s voice again in a language he could understand outside of him yelling drills on the exy court, but he’d grown quite fond of seeing how truly talented Neil’s tongue was.
Besides languages, Andrew was finding Neil’s tongue to be very talented in other areas.
“Shut up,” Andrew said. Because even if he didn’t know what Neil said, he could guarantee his own response was warranted.
Neil just laughed and continued on his path from sucking marks into Andrew’s neck and then down his chest. This was not new. Letting Neil take him apart was one of Andrew’s favorite pastimes. It had started off cautious with stilted whispers and constant reaffirmations but they were at a point now where Andrew trusted Neil with utter completion.
Neil didn’t have to ask yes or no between every touch. Neil was so in tune with Andrew’s body and his pleasure that oftentimes if Andrew needed to stop, Neil already anticipated it. If Andrew said no, either verbally or physically, Neil didn’t hesitate to stop.
Andrew couldn’t do this with just anyone. He would cling on to every last thread of control in any other situation even if it killed him. But with Neil on top of him, and their hands intertwined? Control was the furthest thing from his mind. He was too enraptured by Neil’s mouth and its slow progression down to the waistband of his sweatpants.
Neil looked up at Andrew from his spot in between Andrew’s legs. “ I love you.”
So maybe Andrew had lied before. For the most part he was going through the Russian textbook in order. But , he had looked up one particular phrase.
It had started off as just something to curb his curiosity. He hadn’t planned on using it but he thought that if he wanted to, he wanted it to be something private between him and the man of his affections. Something that was just for them, that couldn’t be understood or picked apart by anyone else.
The language was not yet familiar on Andrew’s tongue, so he knew he had probably butchered the phrase but regardless, he let out a breathless, “ I love you, too.”
Neil paused, his fingers gently tickling Andrew’s sides. Andrew lifted his eyebrow to wait out Neil. It wasn’t the first time Andrew had thrown around the word and Neil’s name, he had casually mentioned to Neil that he loved his bedhead or how he looked in Andrew’s hoodie, but it was the first time he’d ever said it so explicitly.
Andrew didn’t typically care for his genetics but when Neil smiled at him, he was immensely grateful that he would always remember what it looked like.
“I love you,” Andrew said again, this time in English for emphasis.
“I love you, too,” Neil replied, then smirked, “It’s been five days.”
Andrew turned to look at the clock and sure enough it was exactly midnight. Meaning that Neil was now free to speak in any language he wanted. Meaning, that for the rest of night Neil was free to whisper words of endearment onto Andrew’s skin and there would be no confusion as to what was being said.
“Neil, come on, don’t do this to us,” Allison pleaded. She stood in hot pink running shorts and a matching hot pink tank top, looking at the track with what could only be described as complete and utter disgust. “Don’t do this to me ,” she added, “Remember that time I bought you all those clothes even though they were totally unstylish? You owe me.”
Neil pointedly ignored Allison and it made Andrew proud. Andrew was lounging on the grass, readying himself for the entertainment that was going to be Nicky and Allison trying to keep up with Neil as he ran. They didn’t stand a fucking chance.
“Neil,” Nicky started. “We’re going to be in-laws some day. I really think it’s in your best interest for future shared holidays that you let me out of this.”
Neil raised an eyebrow, “Nicky, are you threatening me?”
“No! Of course not! I’m just saying that if you make me run, I’m going to make sure your Christmas gifts suck until the end of time.”
“Being able to spend Christmas with you is the best gift of all,” Neil said cheekily.
“Neil!” Nicky exclaimed. “You can’t say shit like that! You know it makes me emotional and now I feel bad and want to do whatever you ask!”
Neil smirked at Andrew, indicating that he said what he had for that exact reason. Andrew rolled his eyes, his mind still stuck on Nicky calling Neil his future in-law. Andrew didn’t hate the thought.
“Alright, when Andrew snaps the party popper, we run,” Neil said, ignoring all of Allison and Nicky’s sad looks. “We’ll start off easy with four laps--”
“Four laps is not easy.”
“--and then tomorrow we’ll pick it up,” Neil finished.
Allison and Nicky looked like they were about to complain again so Andrew snapped the cap and let the confetti blow out of the popper.
“Go, go, go!” Neil cheered. Allison and Nicky reluctantly started to run. They were doing more of a jog and Neil was doing laps around them, telling them to pick up the pace. Andrew was very satisfied with their current misery.
Andrew laid back in the grass and put his arms behind his head. He might as well get comfortable, he had no doubt that this mile run was going to be at Nicky’s pace rather than Neil’s. Andrew didn’t mind. Having some time to himself gave him the opportunity to think about all the ways he was going to make Neil put his tongue to use again tonight.