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This was going to be a disaster, just like last game night. And the one before that.
During Monopoly, Matt had denied taking rent from Neil when he’d landed on one of his properties because he had ‘Best Friend’ privileges, there was definitely some funny business with the bank and game night had ended with Allison flipping the board when Dan informed her she had gone bankrupt. Little plastic houses flew everywhere. Andrew had picked one from Neil’s hair later that night.
Truth and Dare had ended with Neil storming off when his foxes had taken it a little too far- demanding truth like it was an unregulated currency and pushing boundaries despite warnings because when did they not.
They were now gathered in the girls' room, sitting in an almost circle on the couch, floor, and armchairs. Empty pizza boxes piled on the table, except the leftover Hawaiian pizza from Neil that nobody else would touch. The disgusting things Andrew put up with, honestly.
Neil had asked and Andrew was bored and due some drama or maybe he was finding it increasingly hard to deny Neil anything when he didn’t have to. He didn't even make deals or trade truths for it. He’d just agreed to come.
Andrew sat with one both feet tucked under him on the couch corner, one fluffy pillow on his lap, nursing a full glass of expensive whiskey, waiting for everyone to get settled in.
He fought the urge to lean against Neil fully but shifted to the side so their shoulders touched and placed half his thigh on Neil’s where nobody could see under the blanket.
Neil pressed back, without breaking off his conversation with Dan, who sat opposite him in one of the armchairs. They were trying to make touch a more casual thing, on Bee’s suggestion. They'd discussed it too. It was something Andrew had been thinking about for a while. Gentleness didn't come naturally to either of them but they were trying.
Andrew conceded there were certainly worse places to be and the whisky wasn’t bad.
Nicky explained the rules to Neil and passed full cups to everyone.
"You take a drink when you have done something? And that's it?"
"Yes."
"How do you know who wins?"
Nicky shrugged and settled himself down on the carpet, "Nobody has to. It's more about having fun. And getting drunk."
Neil didn't grace that with an objection though the frown on his face said he wanted to. He nodded. "And those are the only rules?"
"Yes."
"Okay then.” He looked at Andrew and then the glass of vodka in his hand, at Andrew again. Whatever he saw in his face convinced him that Andrew would step in before Neil totally lost it. “Never have I ever played Never have I ever."
They all cheered and drank, starting the game.
“Never have I been kidnapped.” Neil took a shot and made a face.
“Never have I ever been kidnapped twice.” It would be amusing if it didn't still make Andrew’s insides writhe uncomfortably. He pressed his leg down on Neil’s- to ground Neil or himself, he didn't know. Neil gave Dan an unamused look and refilled his glass again.
The first two rounds were mellow enough, considering. They covered kidnappings and murder (both twins, Renee and Neil drank), and general petty crimes.
“Never have I ever hid a teammate’s assignment because he was being a dick,” Andrew said, looking right at Aaron. A lot of the foxes drank. The common target being Kevin. For all of them.
“Never have I ever 'accidentally' on purpose spilled something on Neil’s clothes so he’d finally throw them in the trash.”
Andrew and Allison both took a drink, each looking more unrepentant than the other.
“You’re welcome,” Allison said.
“HEY!” Neil said. He tugged on the very soft almond color T-shirt that he wore under his unzipped hoodie. It had a small logo on it that looked like a palm tree in an advertisement. “I like my clothes.”
“Why?” Aaron asked, voicing Andrew's thoughts exactly. He sounded both affronted and a little curious.
Neil flipped him off.
Andrew had no idea where Neil kept buying his hideous clothes from. Even though he had taken him shopping on multiple occasions- getting him to try on clothes that he actually seemed to like, Neil always found more generic ass t-shirts from who knew where. He suspected he did it only to deter Andrew from stealing and stretching out his T-shirts because Andrew would not be caught dead in them.
“Never have I ever kissed a girl,” Allison said and then took a drink, even though it wasn’t a confessional game.
Andrew just raised a brow as everyone started bombarding exclamations at Neil. He noticed Nicky take a small sip, staring intently at his empty cup, uncharacteristically silent for Nicky.
Aaron almost lost it when everybody in the team other than Renee drank, confessing to finding Neil attractive. Neil himself looked so uncomfortable and confused that Andrew scoffed. He’d accuse him of lying but Neil had probably never thought of himself as attractive. He still avoided looking in mirrors like his reflection would bite him.
“I can not believe any of you,” Aaron said, looking disgusted. “At least somebody here doesn’t have horrible taste,” he said to Renee.
Renee tilted her head slightly, rainbow hair spilling over one shoulder, and smiled at him. “I’m gay, Aaron.”
Aaron stared. Renee had come out to the rest of the team a few months ago. Aaron had clearly missed the memo, given his disbelieving mouth-open-like-a -fish expression.
He recovered fast, maybe because multiple people would have decked him if he didn't, “Congratulations?”
Idiot.
The game turned increasingly sexual from there.
"Never have I given my head." Generous bunch they were, everyone drank.
"Never have I ever tried to out drink Kevin,” from Neil.
And wasn't that a fool's errand? Nobody with an ounce of common sense would. Andrew took a shot. Everybody but Renee did.
"Never have I ever kissed a guy,” Nicky called himself out.
Nicky held his glass over his head for Andrew, and what the hell, Andrew obliged and knocked his own glass against it in a cheers motion.
Okay, he was definitely drunker than he thought.
Everyone but Renee drank. Kevin drank (surprising to some) and then Aaron Aaron took a sip.
Matt wolf whistled. Well, he tried. And Nicky started, agape, at Aaron.
"It was a spin-the-bottle game and I'm not a coward." Aaron blabbed, turning crimson before anybody could ask.
Well so much for hyper heterosexuality. Andrew was almost impressed.
"Never have I ever force-fed my friend disgusting kale smoothies under false pretenses!" Neil waved an accusing finger in Kevin's face,
This again. Andrew’s dorm saw at least a few domestics a week and Andrew was not a part of any of them. This one had gone on for a full 12 days.
Kevin threw up his hands like he couldn't believe Neil would bring that up again. "It wasn't 'false pretenses!” He screamed, just as enthused, speech slurred, “What did you think made the smoothie green?"
"It wasn't good sportsmanship, Kevin, Jeremy would be ashamed of you."
"No he wouldn't!" Kevin said, too fast, and then took a drink anyway to hide the embarrassment on his face.
This led to another round of hooting. Honestly, now Kevin was just wasting everybody's time sitting in the closet.
Kevin didn't wait till his turn to recover and cut in before Dan's. He said something really fast in French, obviously aimed at Neil, looking smug. Although Andrew couldn't really tell. Maybe that was just a French-speaking face.
When Neil spoke French, Andrew could admit, it felt like an indulgence just to witness it much less be on the receiving end of it. His stupid soft lips, with that stupid candy flavored chapstick, moving fast and low with each enunciation.
But when spoken conversationally, as Kevin and Neil did with each other, it always reminded Andrew of the sound Jell-o made when you wiggled it. Even with his memory, Andrew could never make out full words to look up later.
Which, he suspected, was the point right now.
Neil glared at Kevin, face flush (maybe from the alcohol) and narrowed his eyes at him, and slowly took a drink.
Neither of them responded to Allison’s demands for an explanation.
As everyone got plastered, they also lost all sense of self-preservation. Questions became more and more invasive, mostly aimed at Neil, until:
"Never have I ever pried into someone else’s relationship because I have no shame," Neil said, making all Upperclassmen drink.
Nicky said, "So it is a relationship," at the same time Aaron made an indignant squawk and informed Neil he had to take a shot too.
Neil didn't argue, although his prying into the Foxes' business was not even remotely inspired by a need for gossip like the rest of the busybodies. He couldn't argue; Andrew and Aaron had had a session with Bee just the day before.
Money exchanged hands multiple times during the night, and everyone using the game to settle bets.
Andrew counted at least thrice that Neil lied during the game. Andrew gauged his body language, the straight face, lying without even blinking. And when Andrew raised a questioning eyebrow, Neil just smiled, almost in challenge, waiting for Andrew to call him on it. But they both knew Andrew was no snitch.
Neil lying unabashedly and blatantly gaslighting the people he called family without a single tell should probably not have been as hot as it was.
He got called on it the fourth time.
“Never have I ever been late in returning a library book,” Neil came up with, making everyone groan. Nobody returned library books on time, including Neil.
“Wait, yes you fucking have,” Aaron accused, “I literally have seen you paying the fine.”
Neil shook his head, “Must be mistaking me for Andrew.”
“He’s my twin, asshole, not yours. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Neil didn't even pause, "Can you prove it?”
“What?” Aaron made an incredulous face, “That’s not how the fucking game works?!”
“It’s your word against mine,” Neil shrugged.
Aaron looked at the rest of the foxes for any supporting voice, none were forthcoming. “He’s a compulsive liar," Aaron presented as both hir argument and general observation with a scowl that- Andrew knew from therapy, he reserved for everything Neil related.
“And you’re,” Neil paused, searching for an adequate insult in his vodka-addled brain, and then settled for the best one, “Aaron.”
Attaboy. Andrew hid a small smile behind his cup, taking a sip.
It went downhill from there. Reynolds upended her drink on Matt when he took his turn: “Have I ever lied about my natural hair color.” An Atlantic blue puddle, like the color of Neil’s eyes, now sat unattended on the carpet.
By the time midnight struck, Nicky was face planted on the floor, mumbling nonsense into his phone, Aaron was complaining about something or the other, fighting over some bet with Renee and Dan had kicked Neil in the ribs as she climbed into Matt’s lap.
Neil shifted more towards Andrew. “Can I lean on you?”
Andrew pulled his head down on his shoulder where Neil burrowed his nose in the crook of his neck.
“This is a very violent game,” he whispered, and Andrew could hear the smile in his voice.
Everybody who was still able to swing had now broken into fight, arguing over who had won the game. Renee calmly took the bottle from Kevin who was using it to ward off any wayward pillows launched his way, the closest Kevin would ever come to playing basketball.
“This is game night, You’re not here to romance your boy, Josten,” Reynolds pointed threateningly at Neil and was immediately hit over the head with a flying pillow courtesy of Dan. More shrieking ensued. So predictable, all of them.
Andrew looked over the scene while Neil mumbled more nonsense into his neck, his hair tickling Andrew’s jaw. He giggled at something he’d just said, looking up at Andrew with big big blue eyes, seeing if Andrew got the joke. He looked so young like that, drunk and loopy, playing games and giggling, looking at Andrew like he was about to say something really stupid.
Andrew finished the last of his drink, warmth settling from his throat to his stomach, picked up the blanket and escorted him back to their room.