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According to the doctors it was a miracle Neil had survived the attempt, it still took him several months to recover and plenty of physical therapy, but he eventually got well enough to return to school. After he was discharged from the hospital, child services had deemed his father as unfit to raise him and moved him to a temporary foster home who thankfully allowed him to continue his studies at Welton and even pursue acting outside of school.
On his first day back at Welton, the poets all approached him with caution, occasionally checking in on him. Charlie of course, stayed glued to his side out of fear of losing him, whereas Todd had retreated to their room and cried in the comfort of his bed after seeing the scar on Neil’s head. Todd had refused to sleep in his own bed and instead opted to sleep in Neil’s bed throughout the duration of Neil’s recovery as a way to cling onto his remaining presence. Out of all the poets, Todd took the news of Neil’s attempt the hardest.
Neil’s teachers had dumped mounds of homework on him for all the school he had missed without a hint of remorse despite Neil having studied while he was in recovery in order to not fall behind when he eventually returned. The only teacher that exempted him from the excruciating pain that is homework was Mr. Keating who showed genuine care for Neil allowing him to take breaks when he needed them, making sure assignments and tests weren’t due too soon or didn’t overlap with other classes so Neil wouldn’t have to deal with too much stress after just returning.
Todd had returned to his dorm to find Neil hunched over his desk scribbling away at what appeared to be a mountain of homework and missed assignments. “Hey,” Todd said, walking over to Neil “you should take a break.” “Don’t tempt me, Anderson. I only have a week to get all of this done” Neil chuckled. “Alright, if you need anything just ask.” Todd planted a kiss on the top of Neil’s head before settling on Neil’s bed with the Complete Works of Walt Whitman Neil had gifted him.
At some point, Todd and Neil had fallen asleep allowing Todd to be greeted by the sight of Neil quite literally buried in books when he woke up. A soft smile made its way onto his face as he sat on the bed watching the light peeking through the cracks of the window dance across Neil’s face. The peaceful scene was shortly interrupted by Neil’s alarm signalling them to start getting ready for the day and head down for breakfast. Upon hearing the alarm, Neil sat up, a piece of paper comedically stuck to his face as he stretched. Todd quickly diverted his gaze to inspect the book still in his hands, but Neil had managed to catch him staring
“Am I really that irresistible?” He teased, causing Todd to go beet red and try to stammer out an explanation eliciting a small laugh from Neil. “Anyway, we should probably head down for breakfast” Neil said walking over to his wardrobe and pulling out his uniform, Todd mirroring him in hopes of saving himself from further embarrassment.