Day: Saturday, April 27th / 28th*
Time: 3:10 AM EST
Neil waits off to one side while the others file out, knowing Andrew will be the last to leave. Wymack knows better than to stick around and follows his Foxes down the hall. Andrew brings Neil's duffel to him. Neil takes it but drops it off to one side. Andrew studies it for a moment, then shrugs out of his own bag and puts a hand to the wall near Neil's head.
"Your close calls are getting old," Andrew says. "I thought you knew how to run."
Neil affects confusion. "I thought you told me to stop running."
"Survival tip: no one likes a smart mouth."
"Except you," Neil reminds him.
A year ago Neil had been a scared nobody, hating himself for signing the Foxes' contract and counting down days until he moved in with Wymack. Tonight he is the starting striker for the first-ranked team in the NCAA. In two years he'll be captain, and in four he'll graduate from Palmetto State. Neil will find a professional team first and then fight tooth and nail to make the cut for Court. Neil can already imagine the weight of an Olympics medal around his neck. He doesn't even care what color it is so long as it is his.
Better than that bright future is what he already has: a court that will always be home, a family who'll never give up on him, and Andrew, who for once hasn't wasted their time denying that this thing between them might actually mean something to both of them. Neil didn't even notice the silence at first, too distracted by his dizzying thoughts. Now he can't help but smile and pull Andrew in.
This is everything he wanted, everything he needed, and Neil is
never letting go.
END OF ALL FOR THE GAME SERIES.
Art commissioned and used with permission by the incredible @hamrikaa!
*Due to the Leap Year, I have opted to highlight the day rather than the date to keep the events in occurrence to the 2007 year. I will continue to mark both days accordingly.
Will never not laugh how Neil threw a glass at Aaron after Edens and Aaron just slapped it on the ground - and his "that's mature"😭god both him and Neil contain same brand of salt just different amounts- aarons humor is underrated; him and Andrew are twins after all;
Reminder that when Neil learned how Renne and Wymack lost their biological parents to prison fights/murder and he was jealous that no one would just kill his dad while in prison.
Okay I love the new rwrb movie but it was kind of funny to me how much they toned it down. Like in the movie you have Alex gently tell Henry "we need to talk" when he confronts him, meanwhile, in the book:
sometimes when it’s a good day for Andrew but Neil has a nightmare they will just lay awake holding each other.
To Neil it’s like Andrew is holding him back from running. A physical weight reminding him that he doesn’t need to book it the second he feels to comfortable.
Andrew knows doing this is grounding for Neil. He also knows that Neil would never ask for this if Andrew wasn’t completely comfortable with it. That makes it safe. If Andrew says no they could go for a drive or out for a cigarette or literally anything but this but he knows how much Neil likes this and Andrew would gladly sacrifice a sleepless night in exchange for Neil’s happiness.
Anyway this got a little out of my control so basically they find comfort in each other and that makes me feel feelings.