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It was a widely accepted fact that most of the Foxes had thought the entire prospect was ridiculous, but none of them (sans a sarcastic comment provided by Andrew) had protested when Allison had affixed the almost pathetically small piece of mistletoe above the doorway to the locker room. She’d insisted it was a bit of fun; something to get them into the ‘holiday spirit’. And honestly? It had turned out better than any of them could have hoped. So much better.
To begin with, Neil had been as adverse as the rest of them. Naturally it had been awkward at first with everyone trying to work out boundaries but then… then it delved into chaos. Pure and utter chaos in flashes of moments that left Neil laughing harder than he thought he was capable of; that left smiles on his face so naturally he barely registered them to begin with. It was to be expected that amongst a group of sportsmen competitive ran freely, and this was certainly no exception. The mistletoe became the source of a game of one-upping each other at every given opportunity.
What had started with brief and tense kisses had turned into a show that would have put any theatre major to shame. Kisses were blown as if some sad wife were wishing her husband goodbye as he went off to war. Allison had pinned Renee to the wall and kissed her as if there was no tomorrow, an action that left them all stunned. Even Aaron had begrudgingly allowed himself to be dragged into on occasion, rolling his eyes as he indulged the tradition. Excluding the time Katelyn had stopped by the locker room to wish him luck before a game. That had been a kiss Aaron was more than happy about.
Matt had somehow found himself in the midst of a faux love triangle that could have rivalled most soap operas. On one hand we’re the countless times he indulged in kissing Dan, both of them sharing fond looks as their lips pressed together. Then came the times he was caught with Neil, the two growing more and more scandalous with each one whilst simultaneously trying to hold back their laughter. It escalated until Matt tried to dip Neil and almost dropped him onto the floor in the process - an action the latter would bring up constantly whenever the need arose for him to be petty (and that was certainly more often than most). Matt had even offered up his own ‘betrayed’ monologue when Neil and Adam had been caught together. With word choices that would have made Shakespeare weep, it was as impressive as it was awful.
The only one who seemed truly against the mistletoe was Andrew, seemingly gladly becoming the ‘Scrooge’ of the group rather than partaking in any of the so-called festive nonsense. Any attempts under the mistletoe had been met with glares sharper than any of the knives he carried with even Neil not being free from his disdain. The only exception seemed to be Renee who he would tolerate with a sour face whenever she pressed a kiss to his cheek. After all, every rule has its exceptions and Andrew was certainly less fond of sticking to any rules than most - not that anyone was ever surprised.
Though, as it turned out, Renee wasn’t the only exception.
To the surprise of no one that had spent longer than five minutes in his presence, Neil Josten and self-preservation were not two things that often went well together. He was reckless in a way that was useful on the Exy field but often detrimental to his own well-being. Case in point; staying late to practice by himself in the middle of winter. In his (weak) defence, he’d insist all the moving around meant he could hardly feel the cold to begin with. Though, after an hour or so, even Neil was willing to admit it hadn’t been one of his best ideas as he dragged himself back into the locker room.
Given that he was the only one staying late, he’d foolishly believed it to be empty. A belief quickly put to rest swiftly as he found himself shoved against the door frame. Neil tensed up for a moment, more than ready to lash out at whoever had him pinned. But the tension left him just as quickly as it had appeared. The features may not have belonged to him alone but the steely glare on the blonde’s face easily distinguished him from his twin. Andrew.
“You’re an idiot.”
Neil couldn’t help it. He laughed . A look of something between exasperation and amusement crossed his face whilst Andrew seemed to be once more fighting off any prospect that he was capable of showing any emotion other than contempt. “Hello to you too.” He arched an eyebrow.
If anything, Neil’s words made Andrew’s eye twitch. “Are you perhaps aware of how fucking cold it is outside? Practice ended hours ago.” The tone to his words would sound like anger to the uninitiated but Neil knew better. Because that was how Andrew Minyard showed affection. Sharp actions and even sharper words; a protective coldness compared to his regular coldness that came from the sheer irritation of human existence. “It’s a miracle Kevin didn’t show up to drag you back inside. An icicle can’t exactly play, can he?” All of which was Andrew’s way of saying I was worried .
In a way most people would never understand, it was endearing. There was no way Andrew had dragged himself back from Fox Tower for the hell of it. He’d been checking in on Neil. “It may have escaped your notice but I was heading back inside . Y’know, to warm up and go home.” Huh. When had Fox Tower become home? Or more specifically; when had the people there? But that was a question for later. For now… For now Neil had to be a little shit as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. “Besides, you might want to look up.”
Andrew’s gaze flickered up for a moment as the frown on his face depended. “Is this a joke?”
“I’d hardly joke about something like this.”
“No.”
“Scared, Minyard?”
“Fuck you, Josten.”
“Well, if you ins-“ The words were cut off as a pair of lips crashed against his. Aggressive and harsh like fire and ice but even more intoxicating. Andrew Minyard was never someone for gentleness and Neil was always glad to let himself become lost in it. He was glad to indulge in the moment and pray to every god he didn’t believe in that it would somehow last forever.
After what Neil was certain would never be long enough, Andrew pulled away, his face neutral enough not to give away any emotion. “I hate you.”
“I love you.”
And with that, Neil found himself pulled into the kiss once more. Huh. Maybe he should see if they could make the mistletoe a permanent feature of the locker room.