Work Text:
Everyone kept acting like the relationship was new.
Even though it wasn’t.
After all, the headlines called Andrew Minyard the mystery boyfriend, as if he were some newly discovered phenomenon instead of a man who had been quietly orbiting Neil Josten for years, close enough to be constant but never loud enough to be noticed.
As if Neil Josten hadn’t been his boyfriend for years.
The Foxes knew better.
Or rather -
They thought they knew Andrew.
Turns out those were very different things.
1. The Lock Screen
It happened three days after the reveal.
Andrew left his phone on the coffee table while he went to get another cup of coffee, moving with that same unhurried precision he used for everything. The screen lay face-up, glowing faintly in the dim light of Fox Tower’s common room, like it had no idea it was about to ruin everyone’s understanding of reality.
A notification lit up the screen.
Neil ❤️
Not unusual.
Except the preview read:
Landing early. Miss you.
Matt frowned immediately, leaning forward so fast his knee bumped the table. He squinted like the words might rearrange themselves if he stared hard enough.
"...Miss you?"
Nicky was already halfway across the couch, practically climbing over Matt’s shoulder to get a better look.
"Wait- wait, wait, wait."
Another notification lit up immediately after, bright and casual, as if it wasn’t detonating emotional chaos in real time.
Don't buy groceries. I'm cooking.
Aaron went still in a way that suggested his brain had briefly stopped processing input.
"Cooking?"
Kevin looked personally betrayed by the concept, like Neil had violated some sacred rule of existence.
"Neil cooks?"
"He does now," Andrew said flatly as he returned, carrying his coffee like nothing in the universe had changed. He didn’t even glance at the screen when he picked up his phone, just slid it into his pocket with practiced ease.
The room went dead silent.
Every Fox stared at him like he’d just casually announced Neil was secretly a professional chef, astronaut, and arsonist all at once.
Andrew finally looked up.
"What?"
Dan blinked slowly, trying to recalibrate reality through sheer willpower.
"That's... domestic."
Andrew shrugged one shoulder, unbothered, like the word had no weight at all.
"So?"
Matt whispered, almost reverent, like he was afraid speaking louder would break the moment.
"They're domestic."
Nicky made a strangled sound that was half delight, half existential horror.
"That’s- that’s couple behavior. That’s married behavior."
Andrew’s expression didn’t change.
"It’s behavior."
2. The Closet
Neil was staying at Fox Tower while filming nearby, which in itself was already strange enough to the Foxes that they had stopped commenting on it out loud and started just… observing.
Nicky, as always, did not knock.
He walked into Andrew’s room like he owned the concept of boundaries, took one look inside, and immediately walked back out.
Closed the door.
Paused in the hallway.
Then opened it again, slower this time, like the room might have changed its mind in the last three seconds.
"...Andrew."
"Yes?"
Nicky pointed, his entire arm trembling with accusation, like he had just discovered a crime scene.
"Why are there" He gestured helplessly at the closet, which was half-open and quietly catastrophic in its implications. "designer suits in your closet?"
Andrew followed his gaze with mild interest.
"They’re Neil’s."
Nicky’s voice cracked.
"Those watches?"
"Neil’s."
"The skincare?"
"Neil’s."
"The expensive coffee machine that looks like it belongs in a magazine and costs more than my life?"
"Mine."
Nicky stared at him.
Andrew stared back.
Neither of them blinked.
The silence stretched so long it became uncomfortable.
"..."
"..."
"You’ve lived together."
"We have a long-term relationship," Andrew corrected, like it was a simple factual clarification, not a revelation that was actively breaking Nicky’s understanding of reality.
Nicky’s brain visibly stalled, like a loading icon had appeared behind his eyes.
"Then why does your room look like this?"
Before Andrew could answer, Neil wandered in carrying grocery bags, humming faintly under his breath like he belonged there more than anyone else in the building. He stopped when he saw Nicky frozen in the doorway.
"Oh."
He looked around the room with mild curiosity, as if noticing the chaos for the first time.
"I never unpacked after Christmas."
There was a long, horrifying silence.
Nicky made a sound that could only be described as a whale dying in slow motion.
Dan, down the hall, shouted, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN CHRISTMAS?!"
3. The Interview
Neil was doing a live interview.
The Foxes were watching because Nicky had insisted, claiming it would be “educational,” though no one was entirely sure what lesson they were supposed to be learning other than “reality is optional.”
The interviewer smiled brightly, unaware of the disaster she was about to step into.
"What's the sweetest gift you've ever received?"
Neil didn’t even hesitate.
"A knife."
The room went completely still.
Even the TV seemed louder in the silence that followed.
"...Excuse me?"
"A custom butterfly knife," Neil clarified, as if this was a normal answer people gave on daytime television.
The interviewer’s smile twitched slightly at the edges.
"...From...?"
"My boyfriend."
A beat of silence.
Somewhere in the studio audience, someone coughed like they were trying not to laugh or scream.
The interviewer looked like she was reconsidering her entire career path, life choices, and possibly the concept of love itself.
"That’s... very unique."
Neil tilted his head slightly, genuinely confused by the reaction, like he was missing a social cue everyone else had agreed on.
"It was handmade."
Somehow, that made it worse.
Matt slowly lowered the remote like it had become dangerous to hold.
"...That's the most Andrew thing I've ever heard in my life."
Andrew didn’t deny it.
He didn’t even look away from the screen.
He just sat there, expression unreadable, like the entire exchange had confirmed something he already knew.
4. Bee Knew
The weekly check-in schedule hadn’t changed in years.
Neil just… started showing up.
No announcement. No explanation. Just a quiet addition to the routine, like he had always been part of it and everyone else had simply failed to notice.
The Foxes eventually stopped questioning it and started watching it instead.
Bee greeted Neil at the door with a warm hug, like this was the most normal thing in the world, like he wasn’t a professional athlete with a complicated history and a tendency to attract chaos.
"How was your flight?"
"Delayed."
"Andrew was annoyed."
"He complained for twenty minutes."
Andrew, sitting stiffly in the chair, scowled without heat.
"I complained twice."
Bee smiled faintly, like she was collecting data only she could see, filing it away in some mental archive of human behavior.
"You counted."
Neil laughed under his breath, soft and easy, like he wasn’t carrying the weight of anything at all in this room.
The Foxes watched the exchange like they were witnessing a private language they had never been taught.
Dan finally turned to Bee, suspicion and disbelief warring in her voice.
"You knew."
"Of course."
Nicky straightened immediately, scandalized.
"For how long?"
Bee considered it, tapping her pen against her clipboard in a slow, thoughtful rhythm.
"I attended their first anniversary dinner."
Silence dropped like a stone.
Nicky pointed at her, horrified.
"You never told us!"
Bee raised an eyebrow.
"You never asked."
5. Andrew Smiles
Neil had won another award.
The acceptance speech was short; barely two minutes, efficient and controlled, like everything Neil did when he was trying not to feel too much in public. The camera caught him from a flattering angle, lights softening the edges of his expression.
Near the end, he paused.
Looked directly into one of the cameras, as if he could see through it.
"There are a lot of people I'd like to thank."
Another pause.
The room in Fox Tower felt suddenly too small, too quiet.
"But one of them hates public attention."
A small smile tugged at his mouth, subtle but unmistakable, softening his entire face in a way that didn’t match the version of Neil the world thought it knew.
"So I'll just say..."
"Thank you for choosing me every day."
The broadcast cut briefly to the audience.
Andrew wasn’t there.
He had refused to attend, as expected, as always.
Instead -
Back at Fox Tower, the Foxes slowly turned toward the television room doorway like they had sensed a disturbance in the fabric of reality.
Andrew stood there.
Watching.
Still.
Quiet.
The smallest smile lingered on his face, not sharp, not guarded, not anything they were used to seeing.
Just real.
It vanished the second he noticed them staring.
"...What."
Matt spoke carefully, like approaching a wild animal that might bite or disappear.
"You smiled."
"No."
"You did."
"No."
Neil’s voice came through the phone Andrew had already answered without thinking, like muscle memory.
"Hi."
Andrew’s tone softened instantly, almost imperceptibly.
"Yes?"
The room exploded.
+1. The Bet Money
Nearly six months later, Matt finally asked the question that had been haunting him in quieter moments.
"What did you even do with the betting money?"
Andrew didn’t answer.
Neil did, walking in like he’d been part of the conversation the entire time, like he had always belonged in every room Andrew occupied.
"We used it."
Matt blinked.
"For what?"
Neil grinned, entirely unapologetic.
"Our vacation."
"Wait." Dan straightened immediately. "You spent our money?"
"Our winnings," Andrew corrected calmly, as if this distinction should have been obvious from the start.
Kevin let out a long, suffering sigh that carried the weight of every bad decision he had ever witnessed.
"I still can’t believe you let us make that bet."
Andrew looked around the room, expression unreadable in that way that usually meant he was about to say something devastatingly simple.
"You assumed."
Aaron groaned, dropping his head into his hands.
"Because you never said anything!"
"We’ve been together for years," Andrew said simply.
The room collectively wanted to scream.
Aaron lifted his head again, exhausted in a way that felt spiritual.
"You are impossible."
Neil slipped his hand into Andrew’s without even looking, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Andrew’s fingers curled around his automatically, like it had always been that way - no hesitation, no thought, just instinct refined over years of repetition.
It was so normal now that no one even reacted anymore.
Not because Andrew had suddenly become affectionate.
But because everyone had finally caught up to something they should’ve noticed ages ago.
Love, for Andrew, was never loud.
It wasn’t grand declarations or public displays or anything that demanded to be seen.
It was answering Neil’s calls on the first ring.
Remembering exactly how he took his coffee without ever being told twice.
Standing close enough that Neil never had to look for him in a crowd.
A hand reaching out without hesitation in the dark.
A seat left open like it was always meant to be filled.
A life that hadn’t changed so much as quietly, inevitably merged over time until separation stopped making sense.
The Foxes had spent weeks betting Andrew couldn’t possibly have a significant other.
The truth was almost humiliating in hindsight.
Andrew had loved Neil so quietly, so consistently, and so completely that they’d mistaken devotion for distance.
Nicky broke the silence first, voice hollow with realization.
"...We’re never betting on Andrew again."
Andrew glanced at Neil.
Neil smiled back at him, warm and certain, like he had never doubted any of this for a second.
"I think that’s a wise decision."
For once, every single Fox agreed.