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Aaron’s trial started and nobody was ready for it. Aaron’s lawyer had prepared everyone who might be called to testify, but nobody knew until a day before that the trial would be televised.

Andrew immediately thought of refusing to testify, but he knows just how bad that could be for Aaron, and even though their deal wasn’t on anymore, he swore to protect him. Neil immediately tried to fight it, but Aaron’s lawyer, Mr. Waterhouse, said that there was nothing that could be done since they were all public figures.

They were told how exactly the trial would go when it is the state versus Aaron instead of the typical person versus person. Aaron was scared shitless, white-faced, hands shaking, and hardly eating in the days leading up to the trial. Andrew was similarly affected. He didn’t show it, but Neil could see that his hands would shake, he’d been having nightmares with increasing frequency, and he had practically stopped talking completely. Neil was more concerned for Andrew then Aaron. He knew how hard it would have been for Andrew to tell his story about Drake to just the judge, lawyer, prosecutor, and whatever foxes he’d allow, but now that it was being televised, Neil worried more.

The day that the trial started, none of the foxes talked beforehand. Renee and Kevin stayed close to Neil and Andrew, and Katelyn and Nicky stayed close to Aaron. Wymack watched from afar, but he was ready to jump in if anyone needed anything.

They also spotted Luther and Maria in the courtroom, and there was a woman who nobody knew, but Andrew looked at her briefly before muttering to Neil, “Cass.”

Andrew asked Bee to be there during the trial, because he silently knew that he wasn’t getting out of this without at least a bad panic attack.

When the courtroom was settled and the judge said the obligatory “The state of South Carolina versus Aaron Minyard in regards to the death of Drake Spear…” to the court reporter, Mr. Waterhouse called Aaron to the stand. All of the foxes sat in the audience today, knowing that it was mostly opening statements.

“Please state your full name for the record,” He started.

“Aaron Michael Minyard.” Aaron said, his voice already shaking.

“Thank you, Mr. Minyard. Can you tell the court what happened on the afternoon of November fourth?” Waterhouse asked, and Neil wanted to grab Andrew’s hand, but he knew that Andrew hasn’t been able to handle touch in the last few days.

“We were at my aunt and uncle’s house. Um.. we were eating and Luther went inside to talk to Andrew.” Aaron started, but Waterhouse interrupted him quickly.

“What are Luther and Andrew’s relationship to you?” Waterhouse asks.

“Luther is my uncle, Andrew is my brother.” Aaron replied, and Waterhouse nods.

“Continue.” He says.

“Okay, uh… I don’t really know what happened inside, but Luther came back to the porch and said that Drake was there to talk to Andrew, and they had gone upstairs.” Aaron says, glancing at Andrew, obviously worried.

“And did you know who Drake was before that day?” Waterhouse asks.

“I knew that Andrew was in the Spear home when he was in the system, and I knew that Andrew didn’t like Drake, but I didn’t know much else. I had never met him.” Aaron replies. Waterhouse nods, and Aaron takes that as signal to keep talking. “When Luther said that Drake was there, Neil recognized the name and got up from the table.”

“And your relationship to Neil?” Waterhouse asked.

“Teammate.” Aaron said quickly. Waterhouse nodded. “I followed Neil from the table and he grabbed his exy racquet and went upstairs. When we got up there, he handed me the racquet because the door was locked. Neil kicked it in and…” Aaron stutters, looking at Andrew. Andrew isn’t looking at Aaron, he’s staring at the back of Waterhouse’s head, unable to look up.

“And what, Mr. Minyard?” Waterhouse asks, prompting Aaron to clear his throat and nod.

“And we saw Drake on top of Andrew. I still had the racquet in my hand and got there before Neil did. I hit Drake across his head, and he hit the ground. Neil covered Andrew up and I… I think I was in shock.”  Aaron admits, his voice faltering, obviously not okay.

“What was Drake doing on top of Andrew?” Waterhouse asks, and Aaron tenses, along with all of the foxes.

“He was… he was raping Andrew.” Aaron says, his face going white.

“Thank you. Is there anything else you would like to tell me about that day?” Waterhouse asks.

Surprisingly, Aaron nods, “I remember that Andrew was furious with Luther.” He says, and nobody knew that he’d bring Luther into this. “Apparently, Luther knew that Drake had done this before, and he let Drake into the house alone with Andrew anyways.” Aaron says, more angrily now, staring at Luther.

“Thank you.” Waterhouse nods. “So, you acted in your brother’s defense, to stop the attack on him and protect Andrew.” Waterhouse says, and Aaron immediately nods.

“Yes.” Aaron says simply, knowing that it’s the truth.

The district attorney was next to ask Aaron questions, and he was more brutal than Waterhouse. He introduced himself as Lincoln before trying to tear into Aaron. “Mr. Minyard, prior to you hitting Mr. Spear with the racquet, how could you tell that he was raping your brother?” He asks, and Neil is automatically furious.

“Andrew doesn’t like being touched. He was face down in the bed and… and Drake was holding him down. There was blood on Andrew’s head and the sheets.” Aaron says, obviously getting angry at the implication that Drake wasn’t raping Andrew.

“And you had the wherewithal to confirm that before you swung the racquet at Mr. Spear?” Lincoln asks, and Aaron nods immediately.

“Yes. It was very obvious that it was not consensual.” Aaron says, obviously still pissed.

“Did you hear your brother saying no or see him fighting back?” Lincoln asks, and Neil is pissed, practically fucking ears smoking pissed.

“His face was pushed down into the bed so hard I don’t know how he was breathing. He couldn’t have said no or fought back. Drake was in the military, he was bigger than Andrew and could hold him down. There was no way for Andrew to fight back.”  Aaron says, obviously losing his cool more and more by the second.

“Say that’s true,” Lincoln starts, but Aaron interrupts him.

“It is!” Aaron says, and the judge bangs the gavel, telling him to calm down.

“So, you took the racquet to Mr. Spear’s head, then.” Lincoln starts. “Did you intend for the hit to kill him?” Lincoln asks.

“I didn’t indent on anything. I was reacting to seeing my brother being raped. My only thought was to get Drake off of Andrew.” Aaron says, and Lincoln has a small grin on his face.

“So, let me get this straight, you swung a heavy racquet at a man’s head without any thought or care for his life? You did it because you weren’t thinking about what harm it could bring Mr. Spear?” Lincoln accuses, and Neil watches at Waterhouse stiffens.

“I was thinking that my brother was being raped, and it needed to stop. I wasn’t thinking about how hurt Drake would be.” Aaron says, obviously pissed.

“So, you were acting on rage, then? You were mad that you saw your brother engaged in a sexual act, that you could not identify as rape, as you stated that Mr. Andrew Minyard wasn’t saying no or fighting back, and that is the reason you swung the racquet.” Lincoln says, and every single fox is fuming.

“No! Drake was raping Andrew, that’s why I swung the racquet!” Aaron says, but Lincoln just shrugs and rests his case.

The rest of the day, the foxes had a hard time listening. Officers and crime scene technicians were called to the stand to testify. Obviously, they weren’t there during the crime, but they did see the aftermath. They saw that there was a struggle, that there was a broken liquor bottle near the bed, that there were two types of blood on the bed, both Andrew’s and Drakes, and that Drake’s autopsy supported the current story, that Aaron came into the room, delivered one blow to his head with the exy racquet, and that he fell from the bed onto the floor.

To say that day one of the trial was a shitshow would be an understatement. Everyone splits off from each other immediately, needing space, but Neil stayed close to Andrew and Nicky and Katelyn stayed close to Aaron.

Neil was more worried than he’d ever been. He knew how hard it was going to be for Andrew to have this aired out to everyone, but for the district attorney to suggest that Drake wasn’t raping Andrew, it made it a hell of a lot worse.

Andrew didn’t speak for the rest of the day.

Day two started out with a meeting between Waterhouse and the foxes. Today’s plan was to call up witnesses, both of the incident and the characters of them. They were all briefed on how he thought yesterday went, and how he expected today to go.

“Don’t say more than necessary to the DA. He will try to lead you down a route that makes it look like however the hell he’s trying to spin this.” They were warned.

The first person to be called up was Katelyn. Katelyn testified that she was Aaron’s girlfriend, that he had never been violent before towards her or anyone else other than during a game when necessary. She talked about how easy it is to trust Aaron, how she knew that Aaron, no matter how close their relationship, would always try and want to protect Andrew. The DA tried to spin her in a way that would have probably twisted her words, asking how long they had been together and if she really knew him, but she stayed strong.

Next, they called up Nicky. Nicky was still technically Andrew and Aaron’s guardian, and he testified as such. He was asked questions about how Aaron and Andrew came to be in his care, how close they were, and his impressions of Aaron as he’d grown older. The DA, once again, tried to spin it as if Nicky didn’t know Aaron well enough to say because kids are never their truest self with their parents/guardians. Nicky shut it down quick, and was surprisingly good at it.

Then they called up Andrew. Neil was fidgeting constantly, terrified for Andrew to talk about what happened to him to the people in the courtroom, who outnumbered who was there the day before, and in front of the cameras. Matt saw that he was fidgeting and switches seats with Dan to sit directly next to Neil. Matt immediately took Neil’s hand in his and squeezed it, not saying anything, just being there.

“Please state your full name for the record.” Waterhouse says, as he had for every person so far.

“Andrew Minyard.” Andrew says, but Waterhouse shook his head.

“Your full, legal name, please.” Waterhouse asked, and Andrew glanced at Neil.

Neil nods, knowing what’s coming, and Andrew speaks again. “Andrew Joseph Minyard-Josten.” Andrew says, and all of the foxes look over at Neil. Neil shakes his head, unwilling to talk about this right now.

“Later.” He mutters, terrified for Andrew. They didn’t tell anyone. They’d gotten legally married in a courthouse a few months prior, they made the decision to hyphenate their names, Bee as their witness, and didn’t speak of it again. Neither of them wore their rings on their finger, it was always around their necks, so nobody knew. That wasn’t the point though, that wasn’t important right now.

“Thank you. Will you describe what happened from the moment that you left the table to go inside and talk to your uncle?” Waterhouse asks, and Neil’s grip on Matt’s hand tightens.

“Luther came inside. We argued, he told me that he had a bottle of alcohol waiting for me upstairs.” Andrew says, trying to get this over with as fast as possible.

“What were you and Luther arguing about?” Waterhouse interrupted.

“Luther is a bigot. He invited Nicky, my cousin, his son, over for Thanksgiving, so we went under the assumption that he wanted to repair their relationship. He made comments about Nicky’s sexuality, about his fiancé, and I called him out on it. He hates that his son is in a relationship with a man, he’s always hated it.” Andrew says, and Waterhouse nods. Neil’s shocked with just how much Andrew is saying, but he assumes it is an attempt in stalling the inevitable.

“Thank you, continue.”  Waterhouse says.

“I went upstairs to get the bottle, and when I walked in the room…” Andrew says, but he hesitates over his next words. “But Drake was there. He hit me over the head with the bottle. I didn’t have time to fight back before he’d shoved me into the bed.” Andrew says, making eye contact with Bee now, needing to feel like he’s talking to her. “He pulled off my clothes and started… started raping me.” Andrew says, and Neil’s grip on Matt’s hand has to hurt, but Matt isn’t protesting it, squeezing back.

“Had he done this to you before?” Waterhouse asks, and Andrew nods.

“When I was in foster care in the Spear’s house.” Andrew says, nodding.

“For how long, would you estimate?” Waterhouse asked.

“As much as he could from the time that I was twelve until I was fourteen.” Andrew answers, and Neil feels like he’s going to be sick. He knew how long it lasted, he knew that Drake wasn’t the first one, but knowing that and hearing Andrew admit it to a room full of people with cameras on him are two different things.

“Did you tell anybody during this time?” Waterhouse asks.

“Yes. Luther.” Andrew says.

“And what was his response?” Waterhouse asks, and Andrew glares at Luther.

“That I was ‘misunderstanding brotherly love.’” Andrew says, using air quotes.

“Why didn’t you go to the police or your foster mother, Cass Spear?” Waterhouse asks.

“I was twelve. I didn’t think the cops would believe me. Cass wanted to keep me, and Drake was going into the military. He wasn’t supposed to be around, but he deferred his enlistment when he found out I had a twin.” Andrew says, and Neil tenses again, knowing this part of the story, and knowing that nobody else knew it.

“Why did he defer his enlistment?” Waterhouse asks.

Neil sees Andrew’s eyes find Aaron’s. “He said that he wanted to get me and Aaron in a room together with him. Said that we’d look good and that he’d enjoy having two of me.” Andrew admits, and Aaron looks sick.

The DA’s questions were much harsher, but Neil saw the approach that he was taking, and knew that it was one that Andrew could handle. “You stated that Mr. Spear supposedly raped you from ages twelve to fourteen. How old are you now, Mr. Minyard-Josten?” Lincoln asks, and Neil is a little shocked that he used their hyphenated name. Nobody has called either of them by that name before.

“Twenty.” Andrew replies easily.

“Do you recall the first time that you claim Mr. Spear raped you?” Lincoln asks.

“Yes.” Andrew says, nodding.

“This was eight years ago, if you remember it so well, what was the date?” Lincoln asks, and Neil nods, liking the way this is going.

“March 9^th, 1998.” Andrew replies easily.

Lincoln looks smug. “You expect the court to believe that you remember the exact date from eight years ago?” He asks, and Andrew nods.

“Yes.” Andrew says simply. “I have an eidetic memory.” He says, and Lincoln’s eyes narrow, trying to find the lie in the statement.

“Are you willing to be tested on that here in the courtroom?” Lincoln asks, obviously not believing Andrew.

“Yes.” Andrew says, nodding. Waterhouse glances back at the foxes, and Neil nods quickly, realizing that he’s trying to figure out if this is the truth.

“How many collegiate exy games has your played since you have been on the team?” Lincoln asks, looking at his records, testing Andrew’s memory.

“Twenty-seven.” Andrew says easily.

“Lucky guess. How many wins has the team had since you joined the team?”

“Eighteen wins, nine losses. Four games went into a shootout, two of which we lost. I have blocked 254 shots, I’ve allowed 24 points, and I have played in eight games. Nicky speaks German, English, and a little bit of Spanish. Renee speaks Spanish and English, I speak German, English, and Russian, Aaron speaks German and English, Neil speaks German, English, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish, and bits of Japanese, Kevin speaks French, English, and Japanese. I was in 12 foster homes total, none of which were good, I learned that Aaron existed on February 12^th, 2000… Should I go on?” Andrew says, quickly, obviously getting tired of these questions.

“No, that is enough.” Lincoln says, eyes wide as he checks out all of the info that he can.

“Mr. Lincoln, does that satisfy your curiosity?” The judge asks, speaking up for the first time in a while, obviously shocked by Andrew’s memory.

“Yes.” Lincoln says, but he sounds disappointed.

“Let the record show that Mr. Minyard-Josten has proven his claim about possessing eidetic memory.” The judge says, and Neil can tell that most of the foxes are shocked, but he’s not at all.

They take a five minute recess after that, Lincoln obviously needing to prepare other arguments since his plan of questioning Andrew’s memory didn’t exactly work in his favor.

Andrew immediately goes to the bathroom, and Neil urges the foxes not to follow him. Neil waits a minute or two and then walks into the bathroom, seeing Andrew staring at himself in the mirror with a hand wrapped tight around his own wrist under his suit jacket. “Hey,” Neil says, shutting and locking the bathroom door behind him, walking up to Andrew, but not getting too close. “You’re doing good, Drew.” Neil says, but Andrew shuts him down quickly.

“Shut up.” Andrew says, and his voice is quiet. Neil knows that he isn’t up for talking.

“Okay.” Neil agrees, easier than usual, but he knows that Andrew’s mind is probably way too loud right now. Neil hops up onto the counter, sitting with his back against the mirror, looking at Andrew. Andrew doesn’t look back at him, but his shoulders drop a fraction of an inch.

When they’re back in the courtroom, Lincoln begins to ask why Andrew didn’t report the “alleged abuse” to the police or his caseworker or anyone other than Luther. Andrew tells him the same thing that he told Waterhouse, that he didn’t trust the cops to take him seriously and that he was going to stick it out to keep Cass.

“So, for eight years, remembering the date February 12^th, you were silent, the alleged crime against you went unreported to any legal channels until now. Until your brother needed an excuse to kill somebody.” Lincoln asks, and Neil tenses, worried about how Andrew will react to that question. Thankfully, he’s more levelheaded than Neil could ever be. 

“Once again, I did not believe that the cops would take me seriously. Yes, it went unreported for eight years, but just because it was unreported doesn’t mean that I did not tell anyone about it. Aaron killing Drake was not ‘convenient’ timing for me to tell anyone. If he were still alive today, I still wouldn’t have reported it to the police. I am talking about it now because Aaron was protecting me, he should not be sent to jail for stopping a rape.” Andrew says. Thankfully, after that, Andrew is off the stand, and sits far away from everybody else with Bee at his side.

Neil is called up next.

“Please state your full name for the record.” Waterhouse says again.

“Neil Abram Minyard-Josten.” Neil says, and it’s still a shock to hear his new last name being spoken out loud.

“Aaron stated yesterday that when you heard the name Drake Spear, you went up the stairs, knowing that something was wrong, is that correct?” Waterhouse asks, and Neil nods.

“Yes.” Neil says.

“How did you know that something was wrong? Did you have prior knowledge of what Drake did to Andrew when they lived in the same home?” Waterhouse asks.

“The cops came to talk to Andrew about charging somebody in the Spear household. Andrew refused to give a name, but when I suggested that Cass hurt him, he shut me down. I made my assumptions, but I did not know for sure what happened.” Neil says honestly, and Waterhouse nods.

“Why did you grab your racquet when you went up the stairs? Did you intend to hurt somebody?” Waterhouse asks, and Neil shrugs.

“I had a bad feeling about Drake being there after hearing that Andrew never had a decent foster home, I grabbed it because if there was a possibility of Drake coming after me, I knew I wouldn’t be able to defend myself. He was in the military, he fought for a living, I am five foot three, a hundred and forty pounds, and play exy, I knew I couldn’t have fought him off if I needed to. It’s the same reason that when somebody hears something in their house at night, they might grab a gun.” Neil explains.

Waterhouse nods, “and you handed the racquet off to Aaron. Why?” He asks.

“I tried opening the door, but it was locked. I needed as much momentum as possible to get it open, so I handed it to him to hold for me while I kicked the door open.” Neil responds easily, liking the easier questions while they last.

“And what did you see when you got the door open?” Waterhouse asks, and Neil sees Andrew tense up, watching him closely.

“I saw Andrew being pushed down. There was glass on the floor and blood on Andrew. Like Aaron said, he doesn’t like being touched, so when I saw Drake on him, pushing him down, I knew it was not Andrew’s choice.” Neil says, and Waterhouse nods.

“Aaron got to him first; he said that you went to Andrew. Walk the courtroom through your thought process in that moment.” Waterhouse said.

“When Drake was off of Andrew, Andrew was exposed. I knew that after being raped and then seen like that, he would not have wanted to be seen anymore, so I pulled the sheets over him to cover him up. I was shocked that… that Andrew had been through that before, and I was angry and worried.” Neil says, shaking his head, not looking at Andrew, unwilling to see his reaction to this.

“Thank you.” Waterhouse said. The DA stood up next.

“Mr. Neil Minyard-Josten, what is your relationship with Mr. Andrew Minyard-Josten?” Lincoln asks, and Neil rolls his eyes.

“He is my husband.” Neil says, and to admit that out loud feels like a secret that he hoped to keep has been let out.

“At the time of the alleged rape, what was your relationship to him?” Lincoln asks, and Neil tries to think of a way to explain.

“Nothing. We were just teammates.” Neil says, and Lincoln looks a little surprised.

“And now that he is your husband, do you expect the court to believe that you have no bias towards him or your brother-in-law? How can we believe that you aren’t lying to protect your husband and brother-in-law?” Lincoln asks, and Neil almost flinches at Aaron being called his brother-in-law.

“I am under strict instructions not to lie.” Neil says simply.

“By whom? Mr. Minyard’s lawyer?” Lincoln asks, and Neil shakes his head.

“By Agent Browning of the FBI.” Neil says, not answering in any detail, unwilling to have his words twisted.

“Why are you involved with the FBI?” Lincoln asks.

“My father was the butcher of Baltimore, I assisted them in their case against his people, and they assisted me in becoming Neil Josten.” Neil says, shrugging like it’s no big deal.

“And you want the court to trust that you, the son of the butcher of Baltimore, the husband of Andrew Minyard-Josten, and the brother-in-law to Aaron Minyard, are telling the truth?” Lincoln asks, his arguments getting weaker and weaker.

“Yes.” Neil says simply, not willing to argue any further and give Lincoln anything else to spin.

The rest of the day, Bee was called to the stand to testify that Andrew had talked to her about his past abuse, that Aaron had nightmares and felt guilty after killing Drake even though he knew that he did it to protect Andrew, and that Andrew was of sound mind to remember the event despite his medication. Lincoln asked her why, if Andrew was being raped, didn’t Aaron try to pull him off or call for help before going to such extreme measures, and Bee gave her professional opinion.

They called doctors to the stand who examined Andrew in the hospital, and they said that they did believe it was non-consensual based on the struggle.

They even called Wymack to the stand to testify to his player’s mental states and aggressive behavior on and off the court.

When they left the courthouse that day, Andrew didn’t speak again. Neil stayed close, but never too close, and wanted more than anything for this to be over.

On the third day, which Waterhouse said would be the last day, they delivered their closing statements, and nobody else had to testify. This was both a relief and terrifying since nobody had to talk about it anymore, but because the verdict was so close.

In Waterhouse’s closing statement, he says “I would like to remind the court of all of the evidence that we have supporting Mr. Minyard’s plea of not guilty by defense of others. There were witnesses present, professional testimony from both medical doctors and the team psychiatrist Betsy Dobson, signs of a struggle, and the evidence left at the scene. Aaron Minyard was acting fully in defense of his brother who was being raped, and should not be punished for protecting somebody from such an awful crime.” Waterhouse says, going into a bit more detail about all of the evidence supporting Aaron’s plea.

Lincoln was unconvinced. “Mr. Minyard claims to have acted in defense of his brother, but admitted that he was not thinking about the consequences of his actions. Mr. Andrew Minyard-Josten was not visually nor auditorily showing signs that he and Mr. Spear were doing anything non-consensual, whether that’s true or not, Mr. Minyard did not care enough to check. He swung a heavy exy racquet at Mr. Spear’s head, causing his death, and believes that he should not be punished. All of the testimony that they have provided has a bias, Mr. Minyard’s brother-in-law, his coach, his psychiatrist, none of whom have showed anything but unwavering dedication, no matter the fact that somebody’s life was taken from them.” Lincoln says, going on and on about how Aaron’s team didn’t provide sufficient enough evidence and how everyone was biased. It sounded like a losing argument, but the judge seemed invested in whatever he was saying, which worried the foxes.

The judge said that he will deliberate and look over his notes and then call back everyone for the verdict.

That night, everyone was tense. Aaron was sick the second he stepped out of the courtroom, terrified of the verdict. Surprisingly, Andrew, who hadn’t spoken out of the courtroom in three days, went off with Aaron that evening and didn’t return until well after midnight.

Neil was worried sick for both Andrew and Aaron. He isn’t the fondest of Aaron, but he knows that Aaron did nothing wrong, and that Andrew would not willingly let Aaron go to prison.

When Andrew returned, he laid down in bed facing Neil. He’d hardly looked at Neil after leaving the courthouse for the last three days, so Neil looked right back, wondering what was going on in Andrew’s mind. He was worried. None of the foxes had any social media access throughout the trial, so they had no idea if the trial was something that lots of people were talking about or not. Neil hopes it isn’t. He doesn’t want Andrew’s business to be told to every exy fan who tuned into the trial.

Neil’s exhausted, and he’s sure that Andrew is too, but Neil finds himself falling asleep before Andrew.

When he wakes up, Andrew’s in the same position he was in when Neil went to sleep. His eyes have dark, heavy circles underneath them, and he is still looking at Neil. “Did you sleep?” Neil asks quietly, wanting to reach out and touch Andrew.

Andrew doesn’t reply, he has no voice to reply, but Neil can tell he didn’t. “Can I touch you? Just your head?” Neil asks, and Andrew thinks about it for a minute. He hasn’t been able to let Neil touch him in days.

Andrew nods, and Neil smiles softly, pressing his thumbs under Andrew’s eyes. Andrew relaxes a bit, but his eyes stay open, alert. Neil knows that Andrew’s on edge right now, so he isn’t shocked that he’s looking at Neil like that. Neil lets one hand trail up into Andrew’s hair, letting his fingers run through the blonde mess, and he smiles softly. “I bet people will focus more on the fact that we’re married.” Neil says softly, reaching for the chain around his own neck that holds his ring. It’s not anything crazy, a gold band with the word ‘Ничего’ inscribed on the inside. Neil smiled so widely when he read it for the first time. 

Andrew doesn’t react, but it’s clear that he doesn’t believe Neil. Neil nods in understanding, letting his hand lay flat on the side of Andrew’s cheek. “I need to shower. Will you be alright out here?” Neil asks, and Andrew shakes his head, standing up with Neil. “Do you want to sit in there with me?” Neil asks, worried over the fact that Andrew admitted he won’t be okay.

Andrew nods, so Neil does too, leading them into the bathroom. Andrew sits on the counter while Neil showers, neither saying anything, but Neil pulls the shower curtain back enough so that Andrew could see him. Andrew nods his thanks when he notices, and Neil just smiles.

They switch out after, Neil sitting on the countertop with a towel wrapped around his waist as Andrew showers. Neil gets a text while Andrew’s in the shower, and he jumps, having forgot that his phone was even in the bathroom. He checks it, and sees that it’s a group message from Aaron to all of the foxes.

[From: Aaron]

Judge says be back by 10.  

Andrew pulls the shower curtain back enough to see Neil and looks with a question in his eyes. “Aaron said that the judge says to be at the courthouse by 10.” Neil says, seeing that it’s 9am now. They have time.

Andrew tenses, but nods, turning off the shower. Neil hands him a towel so that he doesn’t have to get out completely naked, and Andrew wraps it around his waist before they leave the bathroom.

By 9:30, they head to the courthouse, both scared for the verdict, but by yesterday’s closing argument, Neil thinks that Aaron should win the case. Lincoln’s arguments broke down right in front of him as the days went on.  

Once they were all seated in the courtroom, the judge comes in and delivers the verdict. “After careful consideration of both the testimony of witnesses and professionals, I have come to a verdict. In the case of Aaron Minyard versus the State of South Carolina, the court declares that Aaron Minyard is not guilty and is free to go.” The judge says, and all of the foxes cheer louder than expected. The DA looks pissed, Katelyn breaks down into tears and rushes to Aaron to hug and kiss him, and the tension in Andrew’s shoulders releases more than Neil had expected.  

The team goes out for a celebratory lunch. Aaron thanks everybody, even Neil, surprisingly. Wymack decides that they’re all going to go to Abby’s house tonight and get drunk, and Neil smiles along. Andrew seems like he’s crashing, so they leave a little earlier than the rest of them, but not before Andrew pulls Aaron to the side. Neil isn’t close enough to hear what he says, but Aaron nods and smiles and looks like he’s about to hug Andrew, but is smart enough to refrain.  

The drive back to campus was a long one. The foxes were set up in a hotel room for the trial, and Neil is ready to get back in familiar territory. They don’t talk on the way back, and when they get into the dorm, Andrew immediately heads for the bedroom. Neil follows silently and stands at the foot of their double bed, waiting for Andrew to make a decision about whether Neil should join him or not.  

Andrew decides pretty quickly, surprisingly, pointing to Neil’s side of the bed and glaring at Neil. Neil smiles and lays down, feeling more at ease than he has in the last few days, but he knows that Andrew’s still thinking about the fact that everybody knows now.  “Hey,” Neil says quietly before Andrew shuts his eyes. Andrew looks at him, obviously exhausted. “I’m proud of you.” Neil says, and he knows it’s a stretch and that Andrew may not want to hear it, but it’s the truth.  

Andrew doesn’t say anything, but he scoots a little closer to Neil, surprisingly. Neil smiles and nods, so Andrew puts a hand on the middle of Neil’s chest, feeling his heartbeat and the rise and fall of his breathing. It isn’t long after that Andrew’s asleep.  

The next few days are pure chaos. The media keeps trying to get statements out of the foxes, everyone who has social media (everyone except Neil and Andrew), say that their feed is all about the case, and that so many people were supporting Aaron. The Trojans put out a statement saying that they stand with the foxes and congratulate Aaron.  

Some of the feedback, at least from what Neil has heard from the others, has been about Andrew’s abuse. Unlike what Neil thought it would be, it is generally people empathizing and sharing their own stories. He thought it would be curiosity and suspicion, but it isn’t.  

Allison shows Neil her twitter a few days after the trial and sees the tag “Minyard-Josten marriage” as the number one tag under the trending tab. She asks him when the hell that happened and when they were going to tell the foxes. They all want details, but Neil won’t give any until Andrew’s willing to share.  

Andrew still hasn’t spoken much, but Neil can tell he’s slowly coming back. He doesn’t need Neil to stay so close every day anymore, but he does allow them to be close at night in bed. Andrew’s been putting a hand on Neil’s chest to feel his breathing and heartbeat every night since the verdict was delivered, and in the past two nights, Andrew has managed to get closer and closer until their legs were pressed against each other.  

Andrew’s never been a cuddly person, that’s known to everyone, but on occasion, he’d do this before the trial. Now, it seems to be getting more and more common every day, and Neil quite likes it.  

About a week after the trial, Andrew’s speaking mostly normally again. It makes Neil extremely happy to see Andrew opening back up and hearing his voice again.  

Two weeks out from the trial, everyone seems back to normal. That’s when Nicky brings up them being married. Neil sighs and looks at Andrew. Andrew shrugs, so they let the questions come and they answer whatever they feel like.  

“When did it happen?”  

“Four months ago.”  

“Who knew?”  

“Us and Bee.”  

“Were you going to tell us?”  

“Eventually.”  

“Are you happy?”  That one throws everyone for a loop. Aaron asked it, looking at Andrew. Andrew is hard to read, so obviously the foxes would have no clue if Andrew didn’t say it out loud.  

“Yes.” Andrew replies, nodding.  Neil smiles and links their hands together.

“Do you guys have rings?” Was the next question.  

Neil pulls his chain out from under his shirt, showing the gold band hanging around it. Andrew does the same, showing his silver band.  

When they Andrew downloads twitter, he sees that they’re still talking about the Minyard-Josten wedding, people coming up with theories and arguments ensuing.  

Andrew, once his account is verified and he has a few thousand followers, posts a photo of him and Neil that Nicky took at Eden’s one night a while ago. There’s commotion all around them, people talking and dancing and too many colorful lights, but Neil and Andrew are staring at each other, Neil smiling like an idiot.   

The post gets a million likes in no time, hundreds of thousands of comments following, and Andrew makes Neil download twitter next.  

Neil smiles as he posts a photo he took of the two, Neil smiling and kissing Andrew's cheek, Andrew glaring at him. The photo was taken the day after they got married, and Neil loves it. He puts a caption on the photo, unlike Andrew.  

He doesn’t say those three words often, and Andrew never has, but they both know it’s true. Andrew’s getting better about hearing those words from Neil, and Neil likes saying them when his feelings are particularly strong.  

“Idiot.” Andrew says as he sees and likes Neil’s post.  

“You like it.” Neil says, grinning.  

Andrew rolls his eyes but pulls Neil into a kiss. Neil grins even wider into Andrew’s mouth, both of their phones becoming irrelevant to them.  

Thankfully, when the season starts, no reporters are dumb enough to mention Andrew’s abuse to him or any of the other foxes. They do bring up the trial, focusing on Aaron, and Neil and Andrew’s relationship.  

Wymack is asked about Neil and Andrew’s relationship the most. “I’ve known those two idiots wanted each other before they knew that. It doesn’t surprise me that they got married in secret. Yes, the foxes have known about their relationship for a while now. No, I have no issues with it whatsoever, and they will not be putting their hyphenated name on their jerseys, it’s too long.” Wymack tells a reporter, anticipating her questions.  

Neil smiles from behind Wymack, hearing his words, hearing that he speaks them as if they were stupid questions.  

Surprisingly, as much as the trial was horrible to go through, it all worked out in the end.