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It was a surprisingly peaceful morning in the Fox Tower. No impending doom for anyone, no deadlines, and no talk of Exy in Andrew's vicinity. Andrew isn't entirely sure who or how they convinced the Foxes' two resident Exy addicts to not have morning practice. But was he complaining? Not in the slightest.
He didn't have to listen to the incessant BEEP BEEP BEEP of Neil's 4:35 alarm so he could go running before morning practice. It was so insanely annoying, but it was Neil after all when was he not annoying.
The 8:49 sunshine shone through the slightly ajar blinds of his Kevin's and Neil's shared room. Andrew looked up at the top bunk on the opposite side of the room. Neil was already awake, unsurprisingly, with a cigarette between his lips. His feet were kicked of the edge of his top bunk and the window latch next to his bed was unlocked, likely the reason for the slightly open blinds.
Andrew then looked down at the bunk below, where Kevin slept. He was still completely knocked out. Curled tightly into himself, on his right side, facing the wall. The wall - which Kevin would never admit - covered in photos of the team that he was withholding from the team's wall of photos at the court.
"Morning 'Drew." Neil beamed down at him. He wasn't wearing his armbands which wasn't unusual in the early mornings. Even if Neil was less self conscious about his scars around the team now, he still wore his armbands around them, because he knew even if they were used to the scars they unintentionally stared at them. But in the comfort of the suite with just himself, Andrew and Kevin, the people he trusted most, he wouldn't wear them.
He threw his cigarette out of the window before relatching it (Kevin would kill him if he found out he was smoking in the bedroom) before climbing down the ladder rungs as quietly as possible as to not wake Kevin.
He walked the short distance across the room to where Andrew was now finally kicking off the covers, stopping a few steps short of Andrew before asking, "Yes or no?"
"Yes." Andrew replied. Neil stepped closer to him and stood between Andrew's legs, looking down at the blond's face. He didn't touch just looked, until Andrew (anyone else would say begrudgingly, but to Neil it was tenderly) wrapped his arms around Neil's waist, pulling his closer and hugging him tight. Andrew would never admit it, but since Baltimore and the championship match he had been a tiny, little bit more possessive, and clingy towards Neil.
Kevin rolled over onto his back, hair sticking to his forehead, his arm hanging off the bed, and drool coming down from the corner of his mouth.
"He looks like an idiot." Andrew deadpans.
"He always does," Neil replies, "But thats just Kevin for you."
Andrew unwraps an arm from Neil to pull his armbands out from under his pillow and put them on.
"I'm hungry." Neil says randomly.
"I hate you Josten." Andrew says lightly pushing Neil away so he could stand and pull on Neil's hoodie on, and then pulled Neil by the wrist out the door and into the kitchen.
* * * * * * * * * *
As a no practice Saturday treat they had pancakes. The two sat at opposite ends of the wooden dinning table. Andrew at one end of the table with an abomination of a stack of pancakes, covered in icecream, whipped cream, strawberries and syrup, matching his hot chocolate covered in cream and marshmallows. While Neil's pancakes were more simple, with strawberries, blueberries and syrup, with a glass of half drank orange juice. In the counter beside the stove was a stack of 3 pancakes waiting for when Kevin wakes up.
And right on time Kevin walks out of the bedroom, wearing an oversized orange PSU hoodie and his ratty pajama shorts. His hair was stuck to his forehead, dried drool on his chin and red rimmed eyes.
Neil looked over his shoulder to look at Kevin, "There's pancakes on the counter for you, with fresh cut fruit in the fridge."
Kevin ignored the suggestion in favour of sitting at the table in between the two, pulling his hoodie collar up around his face, trying to avoid talking about what's wrong. His leg bouncing under the table insistently.
"What's the matter with you?" Andrew asks taking a sip of his hot chocolate.
"Nothin'. I'm fine." Kevin replies. The other two share a look, both knowing he's lying.
"Do you understand how fucking sick I am of hearing 'I'm fine' from you two." Andrew says setting his mug down. "What is wrong Day?"
Kevin took a breath before muttering quietly, "Thea broke up with me over text last night..." he hoped the others wouldn't push too much more.
Neil hoped that he had heard that wrong, "What?"
"Thea broke up with me over text last night. I woke up to the message this morning..." he said, rubbing his neck nervously.
"She what." Andrew's voice was steady but steaming with anger.
"That fucking bitch." Neil said, just as, if not more angry than Andrew.
"She said that we're too different as people and that our relationship would never work in the future. Like, what the fuck, 6 years meaning nothing..."
Neil and Andrew looked eachother dead in the eyes, Andrew's mind was racing, six years... that would mean Kevin was...
"Kevin, how old were you and Thea when you started dating?" Neil asks, before Andrew has a chance to speak.
"Um, I was 14 and she was 18." Kevin answers.
"I'll be back in a second." Neil says, standing, taking his now empty glass with him. He comes back a few minutes later with two glasses of orange juice and Kevin's pancakes. He places a glass down and Kevin's food before saying, "Eat." It wasn't a question or a request. He was telling Kevin to.
They sat there in silence, bar the scraping of Kevin's plate, for 15 agonisingly long minutes. Neil was holding his glass in his left hand to stop it from shaking with anger, while his right hand was on his lap curled into a fist under the table. Andrew was sat in complete silence sipping his hot chocolate, gripping the handle so hard it might break.
Kevin finished, and unrolled his sleeves. Neil was the first to speak. "Kev, go and sit in the living room, me and Andrew can sort this."
"Alright.." Kevin says, before walking into the living room to sit on the couch.
"Andrew you don't have to-" Neil begins before Andrew cuts him off.
"Yes. Yes I do. I promised to protect him, and this I didn't know about him. I have to." Andrew says, voice still steaming.
Neil nods and stands up walking over to Andrew. Andrew then asks, "Yes or no?"
Neil's reply is instant, "Yes." He says and Andrew pulls him closer, wrapping arms around Neil's waist and burying his face into Neil's shirt. Neil wraps his arms around Andrew's head.
* * * * * * * * * *
The two finish the dishes at about 9:54, and walk into the living room to find Kevin sat cross legged on the couch watching some Discovery Channel documentary about jellyfish.
"What the fuck are you watching?" Neil asks.
"Oh its a documentary about ancient jellyfish." Kevin replies, tapping his knees.
"Kevin you heathen. Its not even 10 in the morning and you're already nerding out about history." Andrew says with distain as he sits beside Kevin on the couch. Neil sits on the coffee table infront of Kevin blocking his view.
Kevin starts wringing his hands, knowing that this was gonna be a long conversation. "Kev, so you were 14 and Thea was 18 when you two started dating, right?" Neil asks, taking hold of one of Kevin's hands.
"Yeah... I was 14 and Thea was 18 nearly 19.. why?" Kevin replies looking kind of nervous.
"Do you have a more specific date of when you two got together?" This time it was Andrew, who had turned his body so he could look straight at Kevin.
"Um... I think it was February 28th or March 1st. I can't really remember." Kevin answers, leg now bouncing.
"So you were barely 14 when she was nearly 19 and you two were dating? Kevin, that not ok..." Neil says squeezing his hand.
"But I said yes when she asked me..."
"We know Kevin. But she was an adult, and you were barely 14... which that alone is an insane maturity difference... you were just finishing middle school. She will have known that was wrong." Andrew adds.
"But... but we didn't do that until I was 16..." Kevin tried to defend.
"Meaning she was 20, while you were a child." Andrew says trying to keep his voice steady to not freak out Kevin, "An adult and a minor. You legally could not consent to having sex with her. Her being an adult and you being a child."
"But... but I agreed, I said yes.." he says pulling his hand away from Neil and wringing his hands.
"Kev, calm down. You haven't done anything wrong. She has. Even if it doesn't seem like it, she assaulted you. Because she was an adult and you could not legally consent to her, and to doing that with her." Neil says, trying to reassure Kevin.
"Kevin. As much as it may have been fun, and might not seem like it, what she did is rape. Because you as a child could not legally consent to her, an adult, having sex with you." Andrew says, his voice still steady but bleeding with rage.
"But- but I said yes... I-I agreed. So... so she lied to me... she said that I was just being stupid for being apprehensive about it... for not wanting to originally.." Kevin says realisation hitting him like a tonne of bricks, "Six years of lies..."
Kevin had pulled his knees to his chest, feeling completely betrayed by Thea. She was the only person he'd ever dated. And for six years at that. And now he was having his best friends, the people he trusted most, explain it to him, at 20, the age Thea was when they had first- he couldn't even imagine wanting to do that with a 16 year old, with a child. God he felt sick, now beginning to understand just what their relationship was to Thea. He wanted to scream or cry or be sick or all of the above. He was a victim. Thea had lied to him for 6 years. Their entire relationship built on lies.
"Fuck..." Kevin muttered, eyes welling with tears, "fuck... oh fuck..."
"Kev...?" Neil says, more a question than statement.
"Fuck-" Kevin finally answers, coming more like a choked out sob. The tears finally dropping from his eyes.
"Hey, hey-" Neil starts, but Andrew cuts him off for the second time that morning.
"Kevin, look at me." Andrew near demands, trying to get his voice to cut through everything bubbling in Kevin's head, "You're ok. Breathe. You're ok. It's just us. You, Neil and I. You can breathe."
Kevin sucks in a shaky breath, and another, until his breathing and heart rate started to calm. "S-sorry..." he sniffles.
"Don't apologise. Kevin this is a lot to take in. You do not have to apologise for being shocked, or angry or upset or anything about this. Because this has happened to you. And you have not done anything wrong." Neil states, knowing fully well what's going on inside Kevin's head.
Kevin nods, not entirely trusting his voice. Really just focusing on keeping his breaths steady.
"Do you need anything?" Neil asks.
"A hug...?" Kevin supplies quietly.
Neil nods and pulls Kevin into a hug. "It's ok. We're here."
* * * * * * * * * *
Later that afternoon, around 4:59 Kevin is asleep on the couch, his head on Neil's shoulder. The three of them sharing one of the huge, fluffy blankets they had for winter. They had been watching some weird 70s movie about aliens when Kevin had fallen asleep leaning against Neil. Andrew had even - ever so surprisingly - let Kevin have his legs over his lap.
It was a while before he woke up, the sound of the door shutting, and Andrew no where in sight. "What-?" He mutters.
"Welcome to the land of the living." Neil says, "it's 6:24, we ordered pizza, calm down." He shoves Kevin off him.
"You're such a dick." Kevin mutters
"I don't give a fuck, you fell asleep on me, and now my arm is numb!"
"God, you two are children." Andrew remarks, holding two large pizza boxes, and a 2 litre bottle of coke.
"You love us really." Neil teases.
Andrew deadpans, "I hate you both."
"Sure you do." Kevin joins the teasing.
"Yes. I do. I'm pretty certain of it."
The other two laugh, as Andrew puts the food down. The three of them then spend the night, eating, laughing, and poking fun at eachother. And Andrew thinks he was definitely right about being happy about practice being cancelled this morning. This was much better than early morning or late night Exy nonsense.