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THE BET
Matt entered the girls' shared dorm room and promptly tripped over a mound of clothes. He righted himself and glared at the offending pile.
"Sorry, babe!" Dan called from her side of the room. She was in the middle of lacing up the intricate gladiator shoes that went to mid calf that Matt just adored on her.
"I thought you guys would be ready by now," he mumbled, stopping himself from doing something embarrassing, like drooling at the sight of his girl.
The upperclassmen were invited to join the "Monsters" on their weekly trip to Eden's. Matt and Allison had teamed up on Neil the past week to gain permission to join them. Matt thinks he did a great job of being nonchalant, but the exasperated looks Neil sent his way all week said otherwise.
Matt watched as Dan finally tied off her shoes and promptly lifted her from her seat so he could plop her into his own lap instead. She broke into a fit of giggles.
Allison walked in and mimed barfing, "Yeah, you're in love. We all get it." She rolled her eyes but sent them a grin all the same. She sat in the chair across from the couch Matt and Dan were occupying and continued, almost as an after thought, "Do you think Andrew ever carries or lifts Neil like you just did?" She nodded to Matt, "I mean he's buff as hell. It would be like lifting a wet kitten."
"I mean, surely, right?" Dan says, "I can't get enough of Matt carrying me. The lifted spins are my favorite." She says the last bit to Matt who blows her a kiss.
Matt hums, "Maybe Neil doesn't know how good it is?"
"Oh, well that's sad. Way to remind us he's a rescue." Allison mumbled.
Renee entered the room and sat on the arm of Allison's chair and said, "Andrew has carried Neil, but I will not say more."
Allison snapped and pointed at her, "I bet it was like a fireman's carry. Like to get Neil away from running his mouth to the wrong person."
"Oh, Oh!" Dan exclaimed, bouncing in Matt's lap. He had a pinched look on his face from the action, "I bet he gives him piggy back rides!"
Matt coughs and rights himself after Dan settles down in his lap, "Well I for one think it was definitely bridal style."
Allison laughed right in his face, "You're joking! You really think the 5 foot nothing guy built like a scary linebacker would bridal carry him?"
"Well I mean, they're in love right?" Matt pouted, ever the optimist.
"You might be on to something, babe, but I highly doubt it was a romantic bridal carry. He probably had to do it when he was hurt last year or something."
"Guys, I am going to need you to stop reminding me how tragic his backstory is." Allison complained as she leaned towards the bottle of tequila they were pre-gaming with.
"I think we should maybe respect their privacy." Renee said as she rubbed Allison's back after she shivered from downing the equivalent to 2 shots straight from the bottle.
"The jury has heard your plea and motioned to proceed anyways," Allison grumbled as she wiped her chin of excess liquid.
"I'm not really sure that is how the sayi-"
Matt was cut off by Dan jumping from his lap and exclaiming, "I see a bet forming!" She sing-songed.
"Guys, we really should stop betting on their private life." Renee signed and was promptly ignored.
"Are we all sticking to our original wagers?" Allison asked, bouncing with excitement.
"Yes," Matt said, matching her excitement, "I bet $50 on bridal carry."
Dan pumped her fist, "$20 on piggyback!"
"Alright and I have $80," She paused for effect, and to hear Dan mumbled a rich bitch under her breath, "on the fireman's carry!"
They all threw the cash on the table and Allison collected it and put it in the designated place for bet money. It was just an old shoebox she bedazzled to say 'drinking funds'.
"Lets go and see if we can end this bet tonight." She said as she grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
Dan looked at her incredulously, "I highly doubt he will just lift him at the bar."
"You never know!" Matt exclaimed, ever the optimist.
ONE
Matt sighed. He really thought they would end the bet the same night they made it. The bar was winding down, and he had yet to see Andrew and Neil even remotely look like they would be in a lifting mood.
Neil was nursing a diet coke with his leg out stretched onto the bar stool across from him. He had sprained his ankle roughly during their practice scrimmage earlier that day. He was lucky, per Kevin's insistent reminder, that it was an off week with no games for the Easter holiday. Every time Kevin opened his mouth to remind him, Neil swiveled his bar stool around to face the complete opposite direction, regardless if someone was there to converse with. After the 5th time of this, Kevin huffed and stomped to the dancefloor.
It was just Matt, Andrew, and Neil at the table. Everyone else off doing their own nefarious nightclub rituals. Him and Neil have been engaging in a pretty heated battle of table football with the various napkins left from previous table tenants. Neil didn't really know the rules, just that he had to keep flicking the folded napkins at Matt. Andrew was, supposedly, keeping score. Matt was doubtful he was even paying attention.
They were interrupted by Nicky slamming into the table with a, "We gotta go, like, right now!" He was breathing heavy like he just sprinted from the other side of the club, which, from how scared he looked, he probably did.
"Explain." Andrew said as he got up. He had a hand on Neil's shoulder keeping him from also rising.
"Okay, so me and the girls were dancing and laughing and you know having fun like one does at a club, when all of a sudden this guy stalks up and grabs Ally by her forearm and tries to start dragging her to who knows where. Obviously we were all like 'bro the fuck?' and went after them. Renee was at the bar talking to the bartenders so she didn't see me and Dan doing everything we could to get this guy off her," He was breathing heavy and speaking so fast he had to stop to gulp in some air, "but he wouldn't let go! So obviously I did the only thing that would work and I kicked him in the balls! Apparently all his dude bro friends were there too and they freaked out, and by that time Aaron and Kevin showed up to try and get the dude to let go of Allison-"
"Nicky," Andrew interrupted, "Where is everyone?"
"That's what I am trying to get to! They had a new guy manning the floor and he threw everyone out! I got away to come run and tell you what was going on!"
By this point a large man in all black was almost at their table with a furious expression on his face,"You! Get out of here and take your little friends with you!"
Neil's face scrunched up at being called little before he tried to stand again, only to be stopped by Andrew shoving him back in his seat.
"Woah man, we were just going!" Matt placated, throwing an arm around Nicky's neck to drown out his furious cries of 'do you know who we are?'.
Andrew huffed and and wound an arm around Neil's waist, simultaneously grabbing the can of empty coke Neil had poised to throw at the bouncer and chucking it back on the table. He lifted him to the floor and sent a look to Matt to make sure he had Nicky before dragging Neil to the door. Matt watched, elated, as he watched Andrew use the arm around Neil's waist to lift him to his side so he didn't have to walk down the stairs out of the club.
'Why did none of them bet on such a small gesture?' he thought, giggling as he wrestled Nicky through the doors to the parking lot. Matt decided he wouldn't tell the girls about this one because, one it would forfeit the bet, and two it was actually really cute and he liked having the knowledge to himself.
TWO
It was the last game before their playoff season, and Dan was ecstatic. They were up 6 to 1 and there was only 5 minutes left in the game.She almost winced at how pathetically the other team was playing. She had two of their new freshman out on the court to cause psychological damage to the other team. What? She's a captain first, good person second.
Kevin and Neil were a force to be reckoned with. All their late night practices put the leagues above regular collegiate players, even some of the veterans on their team. Their passion and drive is why she had been giving more leeway to Neil as vice captain. His plays were legendary. The fact he was out there when sprained his ankle not even a week ago irked her, but she had long ago figured out where to choose her battles with him.
She was brought out of her thoughts by the buzzer going off and her teammates whooping around her. Right before they buried her in the winning dog pile, she saw something spectacular.
Neil had taken a running jump at Andrew. She at first thought he would just step out of they way. Neil often did this after winning games and every time he jumped into the space Andrew was occupying seconds before and landed straight on the ground. He always bounced right back up laughing and would sprint to their winning dog pile to join in. Only this time it didn't play out like that.
No, this time Andrew caught him around the thighs. Dan was close enough to her the 'oof' Neil let out at the contact, as if he wasn't expecting Andrew to catch him this time. Andrew didn't even stagger under the added weight. It was probably 10 seconds of Dan thinking about how cute it was before Andrew suddenly dumped Neil to the floor and walked towards the locker rooms.
She wildly looked around, but realized no one else saw.
Dammit.
THREE
Nicky knew about the bet and he was offended they didn't include him. He had months of dirt on Andrew and Neil. He was witness to many times Andrew carried Neil: From the car to the house, from the court to the dorms, and many other times that he was frankly appalled they wouldn't let him in on the free money and wondered at their observation skills.
It was late Saturday night and they were scattered throughout the living room in various positions of sleepy comfort. Kevin and Aaron were squeezed in together on the only recliner that they regularly refer to as their chair. Nickly was spread along the couch while Andrew and Neil shared the oversized beanbag on the floor. He almost cooed at the sight. Andrew had one arm under his head and the other slung low on Neil's hip. Neil, in turn, had his head pillowed on Andrew's bicep. They were curled around each other like sleepy cats. He mentally patted himself on the back for his self-preservation skill he was implementing by not taking a million pictures.
He kept his reactions to himself as well. Contrary to popular belief, he did know when to keep his mouth shut. Andrew has come such a long way in regards to these little forms of intimacy that any vocalization would send him right back into his shell. He often saw the two curled around each other when they were home for the weekend that at this point it wasn't a novelty like it would be in front of the others. They didn't often let their guard down like this around the upperclassmen, so to be included made Nicky's heart swell. The fact he stopped making a big deal of it was probably the biggest reason they continued to relax in his presence.
The movie that was playing ended and the boys all moved to get ready for bed.
Andrew grunted and rolled Neil off of him to stand. Nicky saw Neil pout and make grabby hands at him. Andrew snorted and swiftly swung him up onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry, ignoring Neil's yelp, as he made his way upstairs to their room.
"Andrew, what-" Nicky didn't here the rest as they disappeared into their room. He giggled at the absurdity of it. He had seen many instances of Andrew manhandling Neil, but this one was quite hilarious.
FOUR
"Alright, you're done." Andrew said, trying, and failing, to pull Neil to his feet from the mats.
Renee looked up from her phone. They had been sparing for about an hour and a half at this point. Sometime last semester, Neil started joining a few sparring sessions a month. Renee was elated; she loved sparring and knew since the moment she met Neil he would be a fierce opponent. He grew up practically on the streets with no training. He fought fast and dirty and it was fun.
She heard Neil sign then groan as he tried lifting himself to his feet. She must have missed the take down that caused him to be sprawled on the floor. She was pretty engrossed in the reels she was watching on her phone.
"Are you alright, Neil?" She asked, moving to her feet to see if he needed more help.
"Oh no, I'm fine. Just getting aquatinted with the floor." He said, mockingly petting the mat under him.
"He rolled his ankle trying to go for mine. It was pathetic." The words were harsh, but Renee noticed he was probing said ankle from where he knelt on the ground, "Do you know how to stay on your feet? This is the second time this month you have rolled this ankle."
Neil pouted, "It's still a little weak." He muttered.
Andrew huffed and sent him a glare as he stood, "You said you were good to spare."
"And I was! It doesn't hurt and Abby cleared me. It's just a little weak from not using it correctly for a couple weeks."
"perhaps we should call it a day, yes? It's getting close to dinner time anyways." Renee placated, moving to start packing up her bag. She often made comments that were open ended as if people had a choice. Then she would move as if the answer was obviously the one she posed. Andrew looked at her unimpressed, well aware at what she was doing.
She had just finished packing up and looked to the other two men in time to see Andrew swing Neil up onto his back. Neil let out an elated bark of laughter as he wound his arms around Andrew's neck. The trek back to the dorms was up six flights of stairs from the basement, and Andrew staunchly refused to use the elevator after it got stuck one too many times between floors.
They made their way from the room, Renee holding the door open for them. She suddenly remembered the bet that the others had made, against her better judgment, and vindictively smiled when she remembered they had gone out to a social event at the campus quad and wouldn't witness this. She wasn't often vindictive in her thoughts, too aware it was not her job to pass judgment on others, but she couldn't help the satisfaction that built knowing the others almost never got to see this side of Andrew, or even noticed this side of him. As more and more days went by, Andrew was opening up more, but she figured the others didn't realize or choose to even see it. they had never made the effort to get to know him like she did.
They reached their floor and she wished them a good night as they parted ways to their respective dorms. She let out a giggle when right before their door closed, she saw Andrew unceremoniously dump Neil onto one of the beanbags that littered their floors.
FIVE
"Never have I ever been to over 10 countries." Allison smirked. They were all lounging around the girls' dorm, a rare sight with all the original foxes in attendance. It was the Friday before classes let out for the holidays and she had demanded bonding time before they all split ways for the break.
Neil groaned, "I am feeling targeted." He conceded, almost slurring his words, by taking a sip of his vodka soda.
"That is because you are being targeted, babes." Nicky said, taking a swig of his drink even though he has definitely not been to over 10 countries.
Allison snorted and took a swig as well, also not having been to over 10 countries. She just liked to drink. They had been going around in circles trying to see how often they could get Neil to drink. So far he has had to drink to faking his age to get into bars (as did the rest of the foxes), running from cops (only a few of the foxes), and surprisingly, wearing a dress multiple time.
"What?" He had huffed, "My dad was looking for a son and not a girl with brown hair and 3 inches taller due to platform boots. It was a good disguise." He muttered into his cup.
"No, it's like, perfect Neil. That's genius and I cant believe you didn't do it more often." Matt said, nodding furiously through Neil's explanation.
"It was fun," Neil replied, "Running in a dress is freeing."
Renee and Allison nodded along in agreement.
They all groaned as they heard the telltale sounds of morning birds chirping, bar Aaron, who was asleep across Kevin and Renee's laps, and Andrew who doesn't groan.
"We should call it a night. I have a flight at 10am tomorrow and I am already tired just thinking about waking up for it." Allison said.
She watched the others all drag themselves to their feet. Nicky bumped into the stack of White Claws he had steadily been erecting a tower out of, the resounding crash waking Aaron with a start. Nicky just giggled and made his way out of the room, leaving the mess for someone else. Aaron grumbled and followed, leading a relatively drunk Kevin out of the room by his collar. She rolled her eyes and glanced at Renee with a pout. She grinned triumphantly when she nodded, letting her know she would handle the mess left by the others.
She turned just in time to see, to her amazement, Andrew manhandle Neil to his feet and to the door. Manhandle was the only word for it. He had one hand at Neil's waist and the other around his shoulders as he marched them to the door. Neil was pliant and giggly, not helping at all in their journey out of the room. She didn't see Neil's feet hit the floor once.
She turned quickly and flapped her hand at the door after it slammed shut behind them, addressing the others left in the room, "Did you see that?" She hissed.
"Huh?" Matt said, coming up for air where he was kissing Dan.
"You were sucking face while Andrew carried Neil out of the room?" She practically screeched.
"What!" They both exclaimed together.
She gestured to the door again, "He practically manhandled him out of the room. Like a mother carrying a rowdy toddler to bed."
"Wait, wait" Matt said, obviously feeling groggy from the wine coolers him and Dan had been sipping on all night, "So who won?"
Allison almost shrieked in anger, "None of us! No one bet on that!"
"Shame." Renee said from her perch on the couch, a sly smile on her face.
+ ONE
Neil had come to terms with the fact that no one would ever understand his relationship with Andrew, and that was okay. He didn't care what others thought about it. The only one that came close was Renee, and that was only because of her deep respect of Andrew. He knew they were the center of countless bets between the foxes. The others wanted to put them into a box of every relationship they had ever seen, but they would never fit. It would be like putting a round block into a square hole; it would fit, but not quite right.
They didn't do PDA or grand gestures to profess their love to one and other. Neither of them liked having their personal lives aired for the world to see. They weren't ashamed or hiding that they were together, they just didn't feel the need to broadcast it. Both of them had layer upon layers of issues wrapped in a tattered bow. They wanted this for themselves, not for other's approval.
Currently, they were seated at the dock of the lake house they rented for the holidays. It was cold, but the air was crisp and fresh. Winters in the south didn't get too harsh until the new year, so it was pleasant with just a few blankets and the firepit to their left. Neil was situated on the ground, leaning back between Andrew's spread thighs in the chair behind him. They had been lazily passing a cigarette between them and enjoying the quiet of the secluded site they were at.
"Look, it's you." Neil said, holding up the little stick figure he had been wheedling with one of Andrew's knives. It was vaguely person shaped.
Andrew looked up. He was lazily pushing his fingers through Neil's hair, reading a book with the other. The unimpressed look he gave him made Neil laugh.
"Okay, it's someone." He said, tossing the little guy into the fire, "Not you though. Guess it's my mom now, though, that it's in the fire."
"Neil." Andrew said, unimpressed with Neil's morbid humor.
Neil laughed and leaned his head on Andrew's thigh and changed the sunject. He could joke, but it still hurt, "I'm tired, Drew." He wined.
"Go inside if you're tired."
"But I want us to go inside." He said, wagging his eyebrows.
Andrew closed his book and stared at Neil, "You just want to watch trashy reality TV."
Neil let out a surprised snort at Andrew reading him like a book, but he should stop being surprised that Andrew knew him so well at this point, "Okay yeah, I wanna watch Love Island. I can't get over the shitshow if it all. Do people really act that way when they trying to get into relationships? It seems counter productive." He said the last part almost to him self as if it was some big revelation.
"Do I look like I know what people do for some trivial romance?"
"No, but I like hearing your trash talk. It's profound." He grinned at Andrew.
Andrew hummed and stood up, deciding they were both going inside then. Neil was almost to his feet before he was lifted into the air. He squeaked and wrapped his arms around his neck. Andrews arms were situated under his knees an around his back.
It was a thing. Andrew often would grab Neil and hoist him into the air to carry him places. It was surprising the first time he did it, as Neil was not expecting it. It was after he got back from Baltimore, hurt and scared. Andrew would carefully lift him from place to place to keep him from overexerting himself. And once Neil was better, he never stopped.
Andrew often lifted him from his chair or from their bed. Sometimes, hands around his waist, he would lift him over the lip of the bathtub after a shower or lift him from his spot in the car once they were home after a long night at Eden's. The novelty of it almost wore off from the sheer number of times it happened, however, Neil would never stop thinking about everything Andrew did, conscious or not. He thought his world revolved around exy, but it actually revolved around his life with this enigmatic blond. For so long he was just living to survive and now he was surviving to live. Exy was now just a byproduct of his relationship with Andrew.
Nicky had told him about the bet when he found out, obviously too perturbed to not be included to follow the sanctity of bet secrecy. Neil had laughed at how unaware the other foxes were. Andrew carried Neil all the time. He was dumbfounded that they hadn't noticed it. Then again, their bets were on probably some of the least used ways to carry someone that Andrew used. He was subtle with it, normally just wrapping an arm around Neil's waist to lift him slightly from the ground when around the others. The more obvious ways were done in private or only within the vicinity of their family. They had long ago gotten used to the novelty of Andrew carrying Neil around.
Neil giggled, "God, I love your arms." Neil said, relaxing into his hold.