Chapter Text
It happened again.
By now, Neil was used to his friends constantly trying to set him up with strangers. He knew better than to agree to any one-on-one hangouts with one of their acquaintances, because there was an eleven out of ten chance that the other party had been told it was a blind date. After the first few times, he had retaliated by simply not showing up. It wasn’t his problem if their feelings were hurt; if his housemates didn’t want their friends to get stood up on, then they shouldn’t try to match them up with someone who clearly said that he was not interested in any of them.
Neil thought they’d gotten the message. It seemed he’d had too much faith in them. Because instead of taking Neil’s disinterest as exactly that, they seemed to think it was simply stubbornness, and that they could override it by tricking him. As if Neil wouldn’t take one look at whatever poor soul they put in front of him and walk straight out.
Allison had told him that the guy (Harry? Horace? Harley?) had an extra ticket to the upcoming Boston Bears game. Since the Chicago Coyotes were having an away game in Seattle this weekend, which was too far for Neil to realistically travel during the school year, he thought he may as well go watch his local team. She failed to mention that Howard or Hector or whoever the fuck was looking for a date to take with him.
His housemates were in the living room, curled on the couch, watching some movie. He glared at Allison. “Did you set me up on another date?”
Allison looked up, utterly unashamed. “Yeah! Henry’s cute, right? How’d it go?”
Neil already knew, but the confirmation of Allison so blatantly ignoring his preferences set his blood boiling. “I told you to stop setting me up.”
Allison rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you don’t swing. We’ve all seen the way you drool over Andrew Minyard whenever the Coyotes play a game.”
Neil opened his mouth to protest… what? Allison wasn’t exactly wrong; Neil did swing for Andrew, because Andrew was his boyfriend. But he couldn’t say that Andrew was the only person he swung for when as far as Allison knew, Andrew was just Neil’s favorite Exy player.
He could tell Allison that he was dating Andrew, of course. He and Andrew had never hidden their relationship back in college. But Andrew was now a professional athlete, and he hadn’t come out as gay to the general public yet. In college, they ran in the same circles, had the same general friend group. Andrew had never met Neil’s current roommates, and Neil wouldn’t expect him to trust them with his sexuality. He’d probably be okay with Neil telling them if Neil asked, but Neil wouldn’t put him in that position until Andrew himself said he was comfortable with it.
But Neil didn’t necessarily have to expose Andrew in order to say he was taken.
“You do,” Seth piped up. “And Henry’s also short, muscular, and blond. Exactly your type. And he likes Exy! How are you not interested?”
“I have a boyfriend,” Neil said.
Five pairs of eyes stared back at him. Allison was disbelieving, Seth’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, Matt looked to be in happy shock, Dan was grinning proudly, and Renee had a pleased smile.
Neil crossed his arms. “So if you could stop throwing every one of your acquaintances at me, that’d be-”
“So you do swing!” Allison crowed.
“I don’t,” Neil said. “I only swing for him.”
“That’s kinda cute,” Dan said. Matt’s smile grew wider.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” Allison demanded, a shark smelling blood in the water. “Since when ?”
“Since freshman year of college. So about… six years?” Neil said.
Seth scoffed. “Right. You’ve been living with us for over a year, and you’ve never invited anyone over, never hung out with anyone but us, never even mentioned a six-year relationship? Sure. Let me guess, he goes to a different school? He lives in Canada?”
“He lives in Chicago, actually,” Neil corrected.
Seth rolled his eyes. Allison said, “Yeah, that’s bullshit.”
“Why do you think I drive to Chicago every other weekend?” Neil asked.
“You go to all the Coyotes’ home games, don’t you?” Matt pointed out.
“Yes. And I visit my boyfriend,” Neil didn’t have class on Fridays, so he was usually the one driving to Andrew during the Exy season because that way, they got to spend a whole extra day together. Andrew visited Neil during the off season, but he usually got a hotel because Neil had five housemates. Neil wasn’t purposely hiding Andrew, that was just the most convenient way for them to spend time together.
Dan’s smile had slowly diminished throughout the conversation. Neil could tell she didn’t believe him, either. “Neil…If you want us to stop setting you up, you can just tell us.”
“I have told you. Several times. After every failed date, in fact.” Neil had lost count of just how many. Andrew might remember; Neil had ranted to him over the phone about each one, and Andrew had an eidetic memory.
Allison was less gentle. “Well, excuse us for caring about you and wanting to make sure you don’t die alone! And no, a cat doesn’t count.”
“Two cats,” Neil countered. He’d shown them plenty of pictures of Sir and King, though he’d originally told them that his uncle was taking care of the cats. He supposed he could tell them that the cats were at his boyfriend’s house, but he doubted that admitting to a previous lie would make him more trustworthy now. Maybe he and Andrew should adopt a third. He could tell them that that one was staying with his boyfriend without contradicting what he said about his uncle. It probably wouldn’t work to convince his friends, but it might convince Andrew; Neil knew he secretly wanted another cat too.
“I don’t know,” Matt said. “Neil doesn’t talk about his life much. Just because he’s never mentioned a boyfriend doesn’t mean he’s lying.”
“There’s a difference between ‘forgetting to mention’ his favorite movie and hiding a six-year relationship,” Seth argued.
Matt gave Neil a sympathetic smile, but Neil could tell that even he was doubtful. Did none of his friends believe him? “Fine. I don’t care if you believe me. Just stop setting me up.”
With that, Neil stomped back toward his room (in boots he’d borrowed from his very real, very dramatic boyfriend, thank you very much. Maybe that could be proof; Neil would never buy such expensive shoes for himself. He couldn’t remember if he’d used the uncle excuse for these too, though).
Before he left, though, Renee told him, “Congratulations, Neil. I’m happy for you.”
Maybe one of his friends believed him.
. . .
The next weekend, Neil drove to Chicago. He and Andrew had a lazy weekend in. They put on some popular TV show and ignored most of it in favor of making out on the couch and having slow, lazy sex all over the apartment. Neil tried to surprise Andrew with a home cooked dinner and ended up burning the pasta and accidentally pouring sugar into the sauce instead of salt. Andrew, to his credit, only laughed at Neil’s misfortune for a few minutes before throwing out Neil’s failed attempt at sustenance and whipping up a stir fry. Neil helped cut the carrots, so at least he contributed somewhat. They slept in past noon, and Neil woke up in Andrew’s arms, wishing he could stay forever.
The bliss of forty-eight hours with Andrew quickly dissipated when Neil opened the front door and was bombarded with Seth’s crowing voice. “So, Neil, how’s the boyfriend?”
The word boyfriend was dripping with condescension. Neil pretended not to notice. “He’s good, thanks.”
“What does he think of your obsession with Minyard?” Seth said, pointing at Neil’s shirt.
Neil looked down, realizing he was still wearing one of Andrew’s jerseys. He smiled softly. “He pretends to find it annoying, but he secretly loves it.”
Allison was lounging on the couch. She looked up from her phone at Neil’s entrance for only a second, then looked back down. “What’s he like?”
“He’s…” Allison didn’t believe him, Neil knew that. She was probably teasing him, expecting him to shrug her off. But Neil wanted to prove her wrong. And, still feeling the phantom warmth of Andrew’s hands and lips, maybe Neil wanted to gush a little bit. “He’s strong. Solid. Safe. When I feel like my world is collapsing around me, he gives me an anchor to hold on to. When I want to run away, he gives me something to run to. He hates people and loves animals. He’s an absolute asshole in the best way possible. He has the worst sense of humor and makes me laugh like no one else. He has the most disgusting sweet tooth - he’ll probably give himself diabetes one day. And he hates healthy foods, but he always keeps fruit and protein bars in his kitchen for when I come to visit. He…” Neil trailed off, realizing everyone was watching him. “What?”
Seth and Matt had paused their video game. Dan had set down her cereal bowl in favor of staring at Neil. Allison’s phone lay on a cushion, forgotten. She waved her hands for Neil to continue. Only Renee was still chopping vegetables in the kitchen, though she was making the face that told Neil she was pretending not to listen.
Neil sighed and plopped onto the couch. Realizing he was done, Allison opened her mouth to comment, but Matt got there first. “You deserve that, Neil.”
“I hope you find it,” Seth added in a rare moment of support.
Neil had almost forgotten why they’d asked in the first place, so wrapped up in his memories of Andrew. He wanted to say I already have it, but he wasn’t going to change anyone’s mind.
. . .
A few days later, they all went to the mall. Neil let the others shove clothes at him with the promise that afterwards, they could go to Exites.
Neil pored over the racks of gear. He felt an odd mix of comfort and despair. When his father had kidnapped him, he’d cut a tendon in Neil’s leg. Uncle Stuart had gotten there before he could finish the job, and Neil had eventually regained his ability to walk, but he’d never be able to run for long enough to play Exy again. Neil hadn’t even had the chance to play his first game with the Foxes before he had to resign from the team.
Though it wasn’t all bad. He’d met Andrew and Kevin during those first months of practice, and he now had a boyfriend and a best friend.
His new friends knew about his obsession with Exy and his injury. They didn’t know that he was almost one of the Foxes. They didn’t know how close he’d been to achieving everything he’d ever dreamt of, that he spent one glorious summer training with the Foxes and lost it all two days before he was set to be publicly revealed as a member of the team. But they must’ve seen the wistful expression on his face, because Renee dragged him to the other side of the store and situated him in front of all the merchandise from the professional teams.
Neil, of course, went straight for the Coyotes section. He found a shelf of figurines and… oh, this was perfect.
Neil grabbed two Andrew Minyard action figures and walked to the checkout counter. Dan grinned when she saw his haul. “Two?”
“One is for my boyfriend,” Neil said.
Matt coughed. “Um. Would he want a figurine of your celebrity crush?”
“Oh, no,” Neil grinned. “He’ll hate it.”
. . .
Allison burst into Neil’s room and threw a small piece of paper onto his lap. Neil looked up at her. “What’s this?”
Allison was wearing a smug grin. “Go on. Read it.”
Neil picked it up and read: Coyotes Meet-and-Greet. Ticket for One. Player: Andrew Minyard. He looked up at Allison. “Why?”
Allison threw her hair over her shoulder. “What are friends for? Go shoot your shot.”
Was it kind of weird to go to your partner’s meet-and-greet? Yes, yes it was, which was exactly why Neil wanted to do it. He grinned at Allison. “Thanks!”
Allison probably assumed Neil was thanking her for the opportunity to meet his celebrity crush. Neil, of course, was thanking her for giving him an excuse to pester his boyfriend, but at least he was putting her gift to good use.
A few days later, Neil dressed up in all his Minyard merchandise to go to the meet-and-greet. He was wearing Andrew’s jersey, a pair of Coyotes 13 sweatpants, a Minyard letterman jacket, tacky off-brand Coyotes socks, and a Minyard bucket hat. He finished the look off with an ugly custom tote he’d ordered off Etsy with Andrew’s face plastered all over it. The whole outfit was positively hideous. Neil loved it.
Andrew had been methodically signing autographs with a blank expression, occasionally looking up for a photo or tossing out a monotone, “Thank you for coming.” When Neil reached the front of the line, Andrew narrowed his eyes in disgust and gritted out, “What. Are. You. Wearing.”
Neil plastered on his largest, most innocent smile. “I’m supporting my favorite athlete.”
“You look like a fucking idiot,” Andrew said. His publicist shot him a withering look, and Andrew gave her the middle finger.
Neil laughed. “You’re such an asshole. I love you.”
Andrew grabbed Neil’s autograph sheet out of his hands and hid his face behind it. Neil knew that Andrew was turning pink behind it. Andrew’s publicist looked between them and gave Neil an apologetic grimace. “I have no idea what’s wrong with him today. How can we make it up to you?” She looked like she was about to wave him away and call up the next fan.
Neil had just wanted to annoy Andrew. He didn’t want to force a vulnerable, blushing Andrew into performing public fan interactions.
Neil looked down, feigning disappointment. “I wanted to get a poster signed, but I left it at home. If you could bring me one from the gift shop…”
The publicist nodded and sent a staff member to collect it. By the time the poster was in Neil’s hands, Andrew had regained his composure. Andrew signed Neil’s autograph sheet with a Never come to one of these again you little shit and the poster with an I love you too - your asshole.
