Work Text:
Andrew Minyard is usually the one to tell him he spends far too much time at the Foxhole Court as it is. Between daily afternoon practices, home games, team meetings, and night training with Kevin, he’s surprised it’s Andrew who brought him here. The same Andrew who has said on multiple occasions, he’d rather be anywhere else.
The other night they wandered around a gas station just off campus. Andrew had told him to pick out a bag of candy, but it had to be fruit flavored. Sweet or sour. Neil didn’t eat candy. Andrew knew Neil didn’t eat candy. Still, he picked out a box of Mike and Ike’s, all berries, and raised a brow when Andrew grabbed a second box. Then a large bag of Sour Patch Watermelons.
He didn’t question it. Andrew was odd, and this knowledge was not a revelation.
He didn’t question it when he was told not to eat said candy, but was mildly offended when Andrew snatched the box from his hands when he went to try it anyway. He didn’t question it when he overheard Andrew on the phone, telling whoever was on the other end that he had, in fact, ‘gotten the goods’. He didn’t even question it when Andrew grabbed the keys to the Mas Saturday afternoon, figuring they were going out for a drive to decompress after celebrating their win last night with a drunken party in the tower basement.
Neil should have questioned it.
Now, he sits between Andrew and Kevin on their regular couch in the lounge. Nicky is in his armchair, Aaron in his, with Kate sprawled over his lap, and most of the upperclassmen on their couch across from him.
With sudden clarity, Neil realizes this is too similar to the cake fuckery he pulled on Andrew last month to be a coincidence.
His… Andrew had played him.
While everyone but him and Andrew are chatting away, Allison walks in.
With a bowl.
Neil rolls his eyes as he crosses his arms over his chest, shuffling further down into the seat. He thinks he would find more pleasure in the way Andrew's eyes roamed over his biceps and shoulders if he hadn’t already seen this TikTok trend before.
And he had. This was the one where everyone took turns trauma dumping, while simultaneously dumping candy into a bowl. Aka. Trauma Salad.
So many things were unfortunate about this. These are the Foxes we’re talking about. Quite literally, the only positive to this was the freshmen were nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t sure why Andrew of all people agreed to be here voluntarily, but he figured it had to do with all the candy that would have to be eaten.
Allison places the large, glass bowl down on the coffee table in the center of the room, then moves on to her tripod. She sets up her phone, much the same as last time. Only now, Neil’s the one who’s been tricked into being here.
“Alright, who’s up first!?”
Kate shouts, “Nose goes!” as soon as Allison is done speaking, and Neil has never been more thankful for having Nicky in his life. He brings his middle finger to his nose and smirks when Andrew glares at him.
“Of all things, you know what Nose Goes means,” Andrew asks in his usual monotone, but there’s amusement swimming in those hazel eyes.
“Nicky’s good for something, it seems,” he snarks, earning an indignant, “Hey!” from a seat over.
Nicky’s smiling though, unconcerned with the taunt. He has a tanned finger on his nose, too. In fact, the only one who doesn’t is Aaron. The blonde is looking at everyone else around the room like they’ve grown a second head and he’s not the one singled out.
“What the fuck is nose goes?”
Everyone snickers as they watch Kate try to find pity for her boyfriend. “You lose,” is all she says in the end, making most everyone laugh out loud.
“Seriously!? You couldn’t have given me heads up?”
“I mean I pinched you in warning” she whisper yells, throwing her hands up incredulously. “How was I supposed to know you don’t know what it means?
“Anyway,” Nicky breaks in with a resounding clap. “Aaron, take your place at the bowl.”
“Fucking fine,” the blonde grumbles. “What now?”
Neil won’t lie and say this isn’t satisfying, watching Aaron expose himself first. Then he remembers Aaron’s trauma is Andrew's trauma. Then remembers he still has to reveal his trauma… Fucking fuck.
“Cameras rolling,” Allison says. “Just say your name, your trauma dump, and then what candy you brought. Oh, and then you dump it in the bowl, of course.”
“Of course, “ Aaron mumbles before ripping his bag of candy open. Once it’s open, he stares at the cellphone, looking bored as ever. “My names Aaron, and my mom got me hooked on pills when I was 13 so I would be out of the way while she brought random men home every night. Then when I was 13 I was mistaken for the twin brother I never knew about. Then my mom died. Oh, and I killed a man in self defense by proxy.” He then unceremoniously dumped a whole bag of candy into the bowl, and belatedly adds, “I brought Nerds Clusters.”
So that’s what those are…
Neil wonders, again, why people do this to themselves. Speak their deepest truths and secrets, only to post them online for anyone to see. But then Aaron huffs a dry laugh, Kate’s giggle follows, and suddenly Matt’s booming laugh fills the room as he stands to bump fists with Aaron. And then everyone’s smiling and laughing quietly.
Maybe they were taking comfort in finding common ground.
Matt took Aaron’s place easily, falling to his knees and opening a yellow and red box.
“My names Matt, and my dad introduced drugs as a way for us to bond when I was 14. I was hooked on and off until a team mate offered me speedballs with my mom’s permission. I brought Swedish Fish!”
He sounded so happy about it that Neil had to stifle a snort, knowing it wasn’t really funny but had the reaction anyway. Matt dumped his candy into the bowl, little red gummies in the shape of fish by the looks of them. When he stood to return to the couch, Dan switched places with him, going up on her toes to kiss his cheek. Once at the coffee table, she smiled sweetly into the camera.
“Hi! I’m Dan, and I started Stripping in high school to pay the bills and I almost gave up on Exy when my high school coach said I had no chance at playing at collegiate level. I brought gummy bears.”
Dan smiled triumphantly, and a similar expression was worn by Matt, Renee, Allison and Kate. Neil smiled too, remembering the knee she delivered to a Raven during the winter banquet last year for calling her a prostitute.
Maybe this was all so they could prove just how far they’ve come.
Renee was up next, pulling out a bag of candy from her oversized hoodie.
“Hello, I’m Renee. I was forced to join a gang when I was 10 as a drug runner. Then I killed a man, got away with it, but was sent to juvie for a gang affiliation charge. I was adopted out and given a new name, and now I’m a born-again. I brought sour gummy worms.”
Nicky choked, loudly, and started coughing up the soda he had been trying to drink. He always thought Renee was an angel, serves him right to think Renee wouldn’t have her own shit to spill. Allison joins Renee at the coffee table and kisses her on the head, taking her place. Renee looks at Andrew once she was seated back on the couch, and nods. A gesture that’s returned.
They had another understanding, then.
“Hi, I’m Allison, and I became anorexic in high school so I wouldn’t look bigger once I started gaining muscle while playing. It didn’t matter, though,” she says, waving her hand and rolling her eyes. “My parents hated that I no longer looked and acted like their posh princess and disowned me anyway when I joined a collegiate team. I brought Sweet tarts, the perfect blend of sweet and tart, just like me.”
Laughs rang out around the room, but Neil watched as Kate nodded to Allison, a look of understanding on her face. She stood next, patting Aaron on his hand to let her up from their embrace. Neil could admit he didn’t know much about her past. The foxes had shared pieces of their history with him before, during movie nights or late night heart to hearts, but she was still a mystery to him.
“Hi, I’m Kate. I’m not a fox, but I am a vixen, and I’m allowed to be here, I swear,” she giggles along with everyone else, effectively lightening the mood further. “Uhm, I was raised in a religious cult, and I’m only here because my Dad smuggled me and my sister out in the middle of the night when my mom refused to believe the leader wasn’t assaulting us and every other child in the village. I bring you Wild Berry Skittles as sacrifice.”
Neil feels… Holy fucking shit.
He glances at Andrew at his side and presses his thigh more firmly into his, offering silent support. Aaron didn’t know Andrew's history when he and Kate had gotten close, but he had always said they’d get along if his twin would ever give her a chance. Andrew's eyes were locked in on her, following as she returned to Aaron’s lap, staying there until they were met by her own. Andrew nodded, once again a gesture that’s returned. Aaron’s arms returned around his girlfriend's waist, tighter than before.
Maybe this was a reminder that they were free now. That they could speak these truths without judgment.
Nicky stood slowly after that, taking a deep breath before his smile was painted back on. He knelt behind the coffee table and placed a bag on the table beside the bowl. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table next, folding his hands under his chin like he was settling in for some good gossip. Honestly, that’s probably how Nicky was getting through this without crying.
“Hi, I’m Nicky,” he announced, full of life and spunk. “I'm a gay man who was raised in an extremely religious household. So religious that my dad is a pastor and sent me to conversion camp to ‘pray the gay away.’ Except, they’re method of praying involved an electroshock machine and manual labor, and that’s not including the sexual desires tests where they would send in hot men and ask if I still experienced the devils pull towards them. Of course I did, they were hot. Anyway, then I was sent to Germany because that didn’t work, but I met my fiancé there, so I guess it all turned out alright. Oh! But then I had to leave him there to come back and raise my two cousins who hated me because I refused to let them live with my parents. But it’s all good now, and I could never regret that, so still. It all turned out alright! And I brought Jolly Rancher Gummies!”
Andrew was tense at his side, and Neil had a feeling he didn’t know half of what his cousin revealed. Aaron even less so by the look of pure horror on his face. Matt had tears in his eyes and was gripping Dan's hand, while she looked something fierce and protective. They all knew Luther was terrible, but Nicky only ever talked about getting sent to Germany. To Neil’s knowledge, only he knew about the camp.
Andrew stood suddenly and embraced his cousin after getting an eager nod of consent. Nicky had been better about that lately, boundaries. He didn’t hug Andrew back, but closed his eyes, in relief maybe. Tears streamed down his face, but he didn’t move to rub them away until Andrew retreated and returned to the couch. Nicky fell back into his seat, but Andrew didn’t. He grabbed his bag of candy and fell into a squat behind the bowl.
“Andrew,” he said curtly. He raised a fist and started raising fingers as he listed off: “Abandoned, foster care, CSA, secret twin, juvie, returned to the abandoner, wrongfully ordered to take experimental drugs, SA, rehab, SA, my junkie got kidnapped and I thought he was dead for 12 hours. Sour patch watermelons.”
The room was tense, and silent, but Neil still stood. He met Andrew half way and offered his hand, which Andrew squeezed once before letting go and returning to the couch. Neil didn’t want to see everyone’s reaction to Andrew's past, and was sure Andrew didn’t want it either, which was why he jumped in so fast. Neil was surprised he had even participated. Looking back at the couch though, he could see that Andrew wasn’t fighting to stay present. He was relaxed even, if not holding some tension in his shoulders.
Neil had to remind himself that Andrew didn’t do anything he didn’t want to.
“Uhm, I’m Neil. I was raised by a serial killer and sold to-“ Well, he couldn’t very well mention the yakuza on the internet, could he? “Uh, yeah, sold. But my mom took me when I was 10 and we were on the run for 6 years until she died. I was on my own for a year after that.” He was going to stop there, but Andrew sent him a silent warning look so he rolled his eyes. “And I went to the Nest last Christmas break to be tortured so my not-boyfriend would be spared and then my fathers men finally found me and kidnapped me and tortured me for hours. I brought these things.”
He dumps the Mike and Ike’s into the bowl, then looks at Andrew to snark, “Happy now?” He knew Andrew would give him shit over the not-boyfriend taunt but is relieved when he only receives a smirk.
Maybe this was just free therapy because they all knew Neil would never say any of that to Betsy and he needed it off his chest.
Kevin was last. He dropped to the floor sitting criss-cross applesauce.
“My name's Kevin, and I watched my mom die in front of me. Then I was raised in an Exy cult until my brother smashed my dominant hand in with a racquet and I had no choice but to run away and leave my- my best friend behind. And then that brother came after me and my team, and suddenly our new recruit was actually my first childhood friend, and then my brother went after him, and then he died. My brother, not Neil. Obviously. And then I felt bad about him dying. I brought organic Starburst.”
A beat passed before laughs came from everyone but Andrew.
“Fucking organic candy, Kev? Really?”
And maybe this was for no reason at all and they all just had a sick sense of humor.
Renee retrieved the cell phone, and stared at the screen with a furrowed brow. She clicked a few things but ultimately announced, “Allison, love, the video didn’t record.”
Allison squawked as she stood, stomping over to her girlfriend.
Renee looked up subtly and winked in their direction. Andrews directed.
She deleted it.
“Fuck it, I’m not doing that again.”
Neil didn’t know who said it. He was too busy following the trail of organic starburst Andrew was steadily picking out of the huge bowl of candy, dropping them to the ground on his way out of the building.