Chapter Text
Kevin was used to fan encounters since he was little. His mom was one of the creators of Exy so people stopped to take pictures with her. Then people started calling him the son of Exy when he started his training at Evermore, and now people call him the queen of Exy and people ask for pictures with him.
He doesn't get stopped too much when he’s just out and about doing Exy unrelated things. Kevin really only gets stopped a couple times a month when he’s grocery shopping, at the mall or something else, and he doesn’t mind.
Of course, he’s had weird and uncomfortable encounters, but they rarely happen. Even then it mostly happens when they’re out at Eden’s. They frequent the club so much that most people are used to see him there, but once in a while someone gets some liquid courage and gets a little too handsy, or tries to pull him into a corner to get to know “the real Kevin Day” but one of his friends are usually there to diffuse the situation.
Kevin even likes some fans' posts on Instagram. When he’s bored, he’ll go through his tagged photos and enjoy seeing the fanart people make of him and the team.
It was a normal boring Sunday evening. Andrew and Aaron were yelling about a video game (mostly Aaron), while Neil was at Matt's dorm helping him with his math homework, and Nicky was on the phone with Erik. Kevin was just mindlessly scrolling through Instagram on the living room couch when he ran into a certain fan account.
This post in particular caught his attention because something about it was off. It was a picture of him with a fan in a grocery store but the side of the picture with the fan on it was weird. Some of the cereal boxes behind them were distorted, not much but enough to warrant attention.
Kevin tried to think back to when this was taken, trying to see what else could be off about it when it finally clicked. The fan he originally took the picture with had lavender hair. He remembered because he really liked the color, and the guy was cute. But the picture he was looking at was just a guy with brown hair and was also taller.
Now that Kevin knew the flaw, he could see that the fan's face is definitely not the person he met, but the body is the same. Out of curiosity Kevin looked through the rest of the person's account and found that it was a whole account of this guy's face photoshopped on people Kevin had taken pictures with. Some were with fans, but some were with the foxes or other Exy players. One picture was when Allison jumped on his back when they won championships in the girl’s final year. Another one was when he had lunch with Jean last summer.
The account had 83 photos, all of them photoshopped with this guy's face. Usually it took a lot for Kevin to be weirded out by a fan but something about this had sirens ringing in the back of his head. He fell a bit into a rabbit hole looking at the account when he felt a pillow slam into his head.
Kevin’s head snapped up in the direction it was thrown to see Andrew looking bored and Aaron looking at him like Kevin was missing something.
“What” Kevin huffed as he set the pillow aside “And who the fuck threw it so hard”
“I’ve been trying to get your attention and I didn’t feel like getting up” Aaron responded
“Take my turn” Andrew said, as he got up from the bean bag chair “I’m over it”
Andrew tossed him the controller on his way to the windowsill. Kevin caught it and glanced at his phone.
It’s probably nothing, Kevin thought. This isn't criminal minds.
Kevin locked his phone and tossed it on the couch, no need to stress about nothing, and took Andrew's spot in the bean bag chair to resume the game.
“Wait let me change my character, I can’t drive Dry Bones” Kevin protested as Aaron started a new race
“It's too late, we’re already starting”
“No, just start over-”
Aaron spoke over him “I’m already in driving”
—————————————————————
The first time something happened was the next day at Monday’s morning practice. Kevin, Neil, and Andrew walked in to see the team huddled around some basket.
“Who’s it for?” Kevin asked as he walked past them to his locker
“For you” Matt answered
“Someone’s got an admirer” Nicky sang
Kevin glanced back at the basket from looking for some socks in his locker. Once he found them, he made his way over to the basket.
“Kevin, what's it like being famous?” Nicky asked
“Alright I guess” Kevin answered distractedly as he read the card that was attached to it.
The card said “To the best Exy player in history, Kevin Day” with a heart next to his name. No indication of who sent it.
“What’s it like living in people's minds rent free” Abel, one of his teammates, teased
“Right,” Nicky agreed. “Getting asked for pictures, getting fan mail, people making accounts about you, and now people are sending you food. Tell me your secrets, how can I get people to send me food”
“Just play Exy well” Kevin said as he tossed the fruit basket in the trash
“Wait! I’ll eat it if you don’t want it” Matt said
“You don’t know if the person put something in the fruit, better be safe than sorry” Neil said as Kevin nodded in agreement
“But it looked so good” Matt answered dejectedly, staring longingly at the fruit basket.
“I’ll buy you some mangoes next time I go to Walmart” Neil said as he walked past Matt towards the court.
“Promise” Matt called after him
“Of course,” Neil called over his shoulder
—————————————————————
The second time something happened it was Thursday afternoon. Kevin was walking into his eastern religions class when the professor, Dr. Hark, called him up to his desk.
“Found this on my desk when I walked in” Dr. Hark said as he handed Kevin an envelope with his name on it “Don’t know who left it so I’m just here to pass the message along”
“Ok,” Kevin nodded “Thank you” and walked to his desk.
He still had five minutes until class started so he opened the letter.
Dear Kevin,
I hope this letter finds you well. I wanted to let you know I’ve been thinking about you lately and that I can't wait to see you play tomorrow night. I’ll be cheering you on in support! <3 Also, I hope you enjoyed my fruit basket, since you’re such a health nut (very cute, by the way) I thought fruit would be the best choice. Good luck tomorrow!
With Love,
N
Kevin reread the letter just to make sure his eyes weren't playing some weird trick on him. How did this letter even get here? How did this person know his schedule?
Kevin felt a shiver run up his spine. He glanced around the classroom looking at his classmates walk in and settle down. No one was looking at him or acting weird, they were used to having class with him. So, it's probably not someone from this class, but then it could be anyone.
“Alright guys let's get started” The professor said, breaking him out of his thoughts.
Kevin quickly folded the letter back into the envelope and stuffed it in his backpack to think more about later and pulled out his notebook for notes.
The rest of class went surprisingly fast, probably because he was distracted thinking about who this mystery N could be. Why did he send him a basket? How did N know that he was strict about his nutrition? Should he tell Wymack about this?
Well I guess it wouldn't be hard to guess about the nutrient thing considering I’m a D1 athlete Kevin thought, But still weird…. Right?
By the time classes ended he realized he had barely taken any notes and made a mental note that he’ll have to pay extra attention to this week's readings. He was on his way back to the dorms when someone stepped into his path. He looked up to see it was Robin.
“Hey” Robin said as a small crease formed in between her eyebrows “You good?”
“Yeah, of course” Kevin respond “Why”
“Cause I called your name like twice when I was walking towards you and you didn't respond”
“Oh” Kevin sighed “Just, you know, thinking” he answered lamely
“Ok” Robin conceded “Well you wanna come with me to get a smoothie”
“Yeah,” Kevin answered as he stepped in line with Robin on their walk to Smoothie King.
He listened to Robin talk about her classes on the way there. Really only halfway into the conversation as his mind kept drifting back to the letter.
He decided to not bring it up to anyone for now. It's probably nothing. It's usually nothing.
—————————————————————
The third time something happened was the next week’s Monday in his ancient humanities class. This time he had gotten to class before the professor and had class as usual. It wasn’t until he was putting his notebook away once class ended that the professor called him.
“I got here short on time so I couldn't give it to you before but there was a letter on this desk when I got here” His professor said as she handed him another envelope.
Kevin felt his stomach drop. Maybe this is just a coincidence, maybe someone is pranking him, probably some stupid joke.
“Kevin?” The professor asked, breaking him out of his thoughts “Are you ok, you look a little pale”
“Yeah” Kevin cleared his throat “Sorry just been having trouble sleeping and just remembered I forgot to do an assignment for my next class” He tried to laugh it off
The professor gave him a concerned look.
“Yes, well don’t forget to take care of yourself okay” she smiled warmly
“Yeah, I’ll try” Kevin responded distractedly as he took the letter “Have a nice day” he said as he headed for the door.
Once he passed the doorway, he slipped into another classroom he knew would be empty for the next hour, so he could read the letter in private.
My love,
You did so well at your game Friday, I’m so proud of you. I know you worked so hard to get to where you’re at. Just know that I’m watching over you and I won’t let anything happen to you. You are my other half; I love you with all my heart. Hopefully one day we can meet once and for all.
Yours,
N
Kevin felt like he was stuck at the top of a roller coaster. Like he was just at the precipice of the tallest drop, but he was glued to the edge, forced to look down the steep slope.
His fingers were tingling as he reread the letter. He felt like something had pulled himself taut, like someone was pulling his strings tight.
I should tell someone. I should tell Wymack. This isn’t normal.
Kevin shoved the letter into his backpack and headed for his dorm. He should pick up the first letter from his dorm to show Wymack too. Just show everything at once, get it over with.
When Kevin finally made it to the stadium, he noticed how fast his heart was beating in the silence of the locker room as he made his way to Wymack’s office. He stood in front of his office door about to knock.
What if I’m overreacting? This could be nothing, right?
“Open the damn door. I can feel your anxiety through the cement” Wymack said from inside.
Kevin finally opened the door and stepped inside. Wymack looked a bit surprised to see it was him, he knew it was one of the foxes but not which one. Kevin took a seat and cleared his throat.
“So” Kevin trailed off “How’s your day been”
“Kevin get the point I have a meeting in 10 minutes” Wymack said “Unless this can wait”
“No, ok, so” Kevin stammered as he reached into his backpack “I’ve gotten these letters recently and uh, maybe it’d be easier if you just read them” passing them to Wymack.
Wymack grabbed the letters and leaned back in his chair to start reading them. Kevin played with the fringe of his ripped jeans, too anxious to look at Wymack’s live reaction. After a couple minutes Wymack finally said something.
“Kevin” Wymack sighed “What the fuck is this”
“I don't know, that's the thing” Kevin responded “Someone, N I guess, left them at two of my classes. Two different classes and it's freaking me out.”
“So, you have no idea who this is”
“No”
“And these letters were already there when you got to class?”
“Yeah”
“So, it's the same person who sent the fruit basket and they know your schedule”
Kevin hummed in agreement.
“Do you think this is really something cause I can’t tell if I’m overreacting” Kevin said
“No this is definitely weird” Wymack responded “Do you want to go to the police?”
Kevin paused in confusion “What, why?”
“Because it looks like you have a stalker. Kevin, this is serious” Wymack said
Kevin inhaled sharply at the word stalker. He thought this seemed like one but to have someone else think so too just confirmed his nightmare.
“Do you think the police could get the guy” Kevin asked
“Honestly” Wymack sighed “The police can’t do much with just two letters”. He set the letters down on his desk.
“I had a player years ago who had a stalker too, we went to the police because she wanted to, and they couldn’t do shit. Just told her to be aware of her surroundings and don't give him attention, that he’d probably go away.” Wymack said “And eventually he did but the police were fucking useless”
Kevin slid down in his seat, feeling the weight of the situation increase.
“But if you want to go, I’m with you. Maybe things have changed in the past 6 years” Wymack added
Kevin was silent for a minute as he thought about his options. He didn't really want to involve the police. It might just make things messier and the press might find out about it. That would just bring more attention to N.
“Have you told anyone else yet” Wymack asked “Andrew? Neil?”
“No, didn't want to worry anyone prematurely”
“Well maybe you should tell them, so they can keep an eye out. They’d probably want to know that something like this is happening to you” Wymack said
“I doubt it” Kevin muttered.
He’s not sure how much more they would care if it happened to anyone else on the team. Kevin and Andrew don't have a deal anymore and Kevin and Neil are just friends. Well maybe he’s a bit closer to them than just friends, maybe close friends? Nevertheless, he still didn't want to bother them.
“I’ll tell them if something else happens” Kevin relented
“Ok but try not to go anywhere by yourself for a while” Wymack said
“Dad I’m 22” Kevin deadpanned
“Yeah you’re 22 with a potential stalker, I think my worry is warranted” Wymack retorted
Kevin nodded in agreement.
“Yeah I’ll try” Kevin said as he grabbed the letters, putting them back in his backpack.
“I’m serious” Wymack said
“I know,” Kevin said as he got up and left his office.