Work Text:
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Number one party anthem
Come on, come on, come on
Before the moment's gone
Number one party anthem, yeah, yeah
The look of love, the rush of blood
The "She's with me" is the Gallic shrug
The shutterbugs, the Camera Plus
The black and white and the color dodge
The good time girls, the cubicles
The house of fun, the number one
Party anthem, oh
Eden’s Twilight was extra crowded that night. An influence of newcomers filtered into the club for some big concert in Colombia Neil didn’t remember.
“There are too many girls here,” Nicky complained. “All the hot men have been trampled by the hoard of fangirls.”
Aaron slid him a look but didn’t comment. His remarks on his cousin’s sexuality were getting sparser. Neil wondered if that had anything to do with Aaron’s knowledge of Andrew’s sexuality. The twins' relationship had slowly solidified from complete ignorance of the other’s company to rocky, occasional interactions. Yet both twins refrained from comments they used to say without a second thought, either unknowing or uncaring of the damage it caused the other.
“We need another round of shots,” Nicky said. “If I can’t get laid, at least I can get drunk.”
Kevin seconded that. He really should quit drinking if he knew what was good for him, but Neil said nothing. He’d let Kevin have this night before starting his next project, now that the twins' animosity had been mended. With Riko out of the picture, Kevin finally had a chance to let go of his indulgent drinking habits, but that would be another year of work for Neil at least.
Andrew turned away, presumably to get more drinks, and Neil turned to follow. With all the Foxes out tonight, Andrew could use a second hand with the drinks. The outing was supposed to be a start-of-year celebration, but the air was tinged with finality.
Delighted that they had multiple incoming freshmen, Abby had hosted a dinner orientation for the incoming Foxes. Neil winced at the image of the forced small-talk that resulted from five broken strangers forced into close proximity. He pushed it out of his mind. Tonight, he was here to focus on his Foxes, whom he had survived with, fought for, and played alongside all last year. It was their last night as a team of nine.
His gaze sought out the upperclassmen, who had rushed off to the dance floor as soon as they arrived. He caught sight of two blonde heads. Renee and Allison had practically intertwined as they danced. He had caught them at a slow part of the song, and Allison’s hands roamed over Renee’s waist while Renee kept her face tucked into the arching nape of Allison’s neck.
Neil, forever puzzled by the peculiar intimacy of female friendship, looked for the remaining upperclassmen but soon wished he hadn’t. For one, Dan and Matt were preoccupied trying to swallow each other’s faces in a corner of the dance floor. Two, it meant he missed the approach of a group of girls headed straight for him.
The girl in front had a sloppy smile on her face. Her words slurred as she said, “Hey cutie.”
Neil frowned in annoyance; they had intercepted his path behind Andrew. The gaggle of girls quickly obscured the short blonde head. He charted the quickest path to get around him.
“I’m looking for someone.” He didn’t wait for the girl’s response and moved to pass her.
“I can help,” the girl shrugged, a slight smirk on her face. “I bet you need some help seeing over this crowd.”
Neil stopped. Not because he had any interest in her offer but because she had looped an arm through his, tugging him closer.
The instinct to throw her off was inundating. He held himself still to avoid overreacting with violence. He took a second to remind himself that she was not working for his father or the Moriyamas. She was not trying to take him anywhere, except maybe in her bed.
Neil was figuring out how to extract himself from the situation when a hand wrapped around his neck. He looked to see a split in the group of girls where Andrew had presumably shouldered through.
The grip was firm, not painful. Andrew knew Neil had no interest in the girl, and his touch was of possession, not punishment.
“He’s with me,” Andrew drawled.
Warm surprise bubbled up inside Neil at Andrew’s interruption. Usually, he watched Neil fumble over an awkward rejection with borderline amusement. Neil attributed the shift to this admirer’s uninvited handiness but couldn’t complain if it got Andrew’s attention. He hoped for the woman’s sake that she knew when to step down.
The woman returned Andrew’s cold stare with one of her own. She wasn’t a complete fool, though, because she let go of Neil’s arm when he tugged out of her grip.
She turned to Neil, eyebrows arched in mocking. “Do you let him speak for you?”
Neil shrugged. “Only when someone’s not worth my time.”
She balked at the insult but covered it up with a sneer. “Whatever. Now that I think about it, I don’t want a man who lets his friend dictate his life.”
Andrew slanted her an unimpressed look for her assumption. Neil expected to be pulled away any second; Andrew viewed all interactions with strangers as a waste of time and didn’t bother to correct people.
His gaze slid off of her like she was too boring to look at any longer and returned to Neil. There was a question there. Neil didn’t realize what until Andrew stepped closer. As they shared the same space, Andrew's guiding hand tilted Neil’s jaw upwards.
Neil complied easily. Whatever Andrew decided to do, Neil would let him. He wasn’t interested in flashing their relationship to the greedy public, but he was tired of hiding. He wanted to be free to exist, just for once.
Andrew captured his mouthed yes with a kiss. Neil’s airflow cut off but a new life force sent energy pulsing through his body. His heartbeat synched with the loud music pounding overhead as his mouth melted into Andrew’s.
He kept his hands tucked neatly behind him, unsure of the limits of this foreign kiss. Andrew’s hand remained on his jaw, the other on his waist. The moment Andrew’s hand dropped from his face, he knew the stolen moment was up. He pulled his mouth away and breathed in the thick air of the club.
Andrew didn’t spare Neil or the girl another glance. He pushed back through the crowd, frame tense from the bodies brushing against him.
The last glimpse of the blond head disappeared below the glowing red letters of the Exit sign. Neil wanted to follow, but that would draw more attention to their relationship. He couldn't see the lines of this unknown territory and wasn't sure if that would be crossing them.
Instead, he looked for familiarity in the rest of the foxes, but it did little to help his daze. Nicky’s jaw had dropped all the way to the dancefloor. Next to him, Allison’s smile was victorious. She rubbed her thumb and fingers together in the universal sign for money like she had just won a lucrative bet off the spectacle. Renee had turned away out of politeness, so she was a bit safer to look at it, but the attention from the rest was still too much. He could foresee incoming questions he didn’t really have the answer to.
His hands reached up to his warming face to cover the sure flush of his cheeks. In the end, it was Kevin’s tired expression that snapped him back to himself. Neil knew he was thinking of the night’s effect on his career. Defiance straightened his spine. Whatever pro team chose him after college, he wanted it to be for his skill. If his relationship factored into that decision, they weren’t worth his time.
He stared Kevin down to communicate the thought. After a moment, Kevin accepted it with a nod. Good. That meant one less lecture Neil would have to withstand.
Aaron rolled his eyes at the exchange, and the gesture tipped the scales toward following Andrew. It would at least piss Aaron off, and he counted on Renee to stop anyone from following them out.
When Neil exited the building, Andrew didn’t look up from his position on the curb. Neil stopped a couple of feet from him. He knew Andrew recognized his footsteps, but wasn’t sure if the cold shoulder was a dismissal.
Andrew lifted a hand in a gesture Neil took to mean come closer. A thin wisp of smoke followed the motion from the cigarette wedged between his fingers. Andrew rarely lit up around Neil, given his godawful experience with Lola’s lighter, but Neil didn’t mind him smoking. The clinging smell of smoke merely reminded him of Andrew’s unmoving presence. Both were equally unshakeable.
He sat down next to him, and Andrew turned his head to breathe smoke into the air between them. Neil leaned closer to breathe in the smoke. No matter how awful it was for his lungs, the smell of home was worth it.
Andrew tilted his head on other side of the gray cloud. Neil realized how his motion might be interpreted. Well. If Andrew decided to kiss him now, he wouldn’t complain.
Andrew spoke instead. “Your propensity for backtalking celebrities on TV makes you quite recognizable. If we continue to make a spectacle out of ourselves, someone will talk.”
Neil heard the question Andrew didn’t ask. He also heard the suggestion of a next time. “I don’t care what the world thinks of me. I only care about—”
Andrew interrupted his you by blowing smoke in his face, but he fused their mouths together before Neil could suffocate on the inhale. Neil pliantly let himself be kissed senseless. The heavy force of Andrew’s mouth on his was too passionate to be merely about shutting him up, and Neil smiled against his lips. Andrew knew his answer, even if he didn’t let Neil finish. The world’s opinion would always be inconsequential to the life they shared.
By the time Andrew pulled away for air, the smoke between them had long been dissipated.