Andreil And Goodbye Kisses (pt. 7) Ft. Allison

me: spends all my time immersing myself in the foxes' found family so i don't have to deal with my own dysfunctional family

also me: wonders why i don't have a good relationship with anyone in my house

reporter: ...right, but what do you do with the racquet?

andrew: hit

reporter: how do you keep the ball out of the goal during games it’s incredible

andrew: racquet

So I am once again reading through the extra content like one does and I found a little thing that send me to my knees okay

I’m reading about Abby and Wymack and how they move in together and how they’re just in love and stuff

And it says Abby makes him stop smoking because she doesn’t want the smell in her house

Andrew finds out when he visits Neil in his fifth year and he pulls out a cigarette to smoke, but Coach takes it, breaks it and throws it on the ground, super grumpy about it because he can’t smoke

After Neil explains it Andrew just takes one look at Wymack and states “Abby’s doing”

All of this is all good and fun right, however it’s the next part of it that kills me

“If Neil told me to stop smoking, I’d kick him out.”

However small that is, it just made me all tingly?

I honestly think that that’s one of most obvious times Andrew acknowledge that him and Neil are really together

He normally does it in very subtle, private ways and especially not in conversations with others

He actually refuses to mention Neil to others at all

Which also brings me to the next thing that makes me very happy

He casually says this joke about him and his partner’s relationship out loud, to someone that isn’t Neil himself, and not it private, but to Wymack

That is an insane amount of trust for Andrew to put in Wymack with such a little comment and that is another relation we brush over so much in the fandom

Damn man just… I love this line???

That’s also his immediate response to find out that Wymack and Abby are together and that she made him quit smoking

He just compared himself and Neil to Wymack and Abby

He also used Neil’s name in a way that isn’t condescending or mean spirited, which is also pretty rare for him at least in the books

Anyways I might be reading into it too much, but I just thought it was such a nice little comment with more meaning to it than you’d think

andrew in tkm after neil respects his boundaries, treats him like an actual person, and still shows interest in him: i used to be in love with neil as a joke. but bro... i don't think it's a joke anymore 👀

When I first saw your ask prompts out of excitement I was going to ask you to write every single one them .i was like "write every single one them ,I will be your sole reader" then I calmed down

So if you can could you plz write something with 10 and 7 .if it's about andrew and neil it will be much appreciated

KSDFJH no pls this made me laugh so hard i can't-

7: squishing their cheeks

10: lifting someone up out of excitement

~

7.

Andrew could tell it was one of those days.

Normally, he wouldn't say anything if Neil told him "no" or if he didn't want to take his shirt off; Andrew felt the same sometimes. But picking at his scars, scratching his cheeks, fidgeting with his armbands — something was up.

So, he asked.

"What is with you, Josten," Andrew sat down next to him. "Acting more rabbit-y than usual."

Neil rolled his eyes and slumped into the sofa cushions. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

“What did we say about lying?”

Andrew heard a huff from Neil as he shifted to rest his nose in the crook of Andrew’s neck. “It was just — I heard some kids today talking about how I looked so much like my- like Nathan, and that it was insane that they didn’t recognize me,” Neil mumbled. “I don’t want to look like him.”

Andrew of course was fully prepared to cut a bitch when he heard that, but decided that he could commit murder after making sure that Neil was in the right headspace to hear about his stabby plans.

“You are nothing like him,” Andrew told Neil. Hopefully it was somewhat reassuring.

Neil did not look reassured. Damn.

Andrew was sure that Neil was going to say some bullshit about how he’d be “fine,” and well, he would not be responsible for the combination of the roof and gravity that would likely be soon to follow it that occurred.

So instead, Andrew took initiative.

He got up and dragged Neil to the bathroom (and yes, Andrew was very calm about the fact that they were holding hands. This was not the time to have a gay panic). He fully ignored Neil’s sputters and questions until he kicked the bathroom door open.

Andrew whirled Neil around until they were facing the mirror. (He did have to go on his toes to see over Neil’s shoulder properly but thankfully Neil was standing in front and couldn’t see Andrew).

“Andrew,” Neil blinked. “What are you doing?”

“Proving to you that you don’t look like that asshole.”

“In the bathroom— ?”

Andrew proceeded to place his arms above Neil’s shoulder and promptly squished Neil’s cheeks.

”See?” Andrew said monotonously. “I bet Nathan never had his cheeks squished.”

Neil was silent for one moment. Two. Andrew was starting to think there may have been more effective ways of improving Neil’s mood, when he saw Neil bite back a smile.

“What?” Andrew demanded. “You really do not resemble a serial killer right now.”

It was true. Neil, with his rough scars and bunched up cheeks and a reddening face from holding back a laugh, couldn’t look less like his sperm donor father.

He looked like… Neil Josten. And Andrew would be a lying homosexual if he said it wasn’t the nicest sight he’d seen.

10.

Neil's legs were beginning to go numb.

There were very few things that Neil wouldn't do for Andrew, and so when Andrew called him over to the sofa, well, Neil couldn't exactly say no! He happily abandoned his essay (that he wasn’t putting too much effort into writing anyway) and climbed into the little opening Andrew made under his blanket, fully prepared to be used as a personal heater for a few minutes.

What he didn't expect, however, was for Andrew to yank him onto his lap and bury his (cold) nose in Neil's neck. Neil smothered a smile and crossed his legs around Andrew's back, running his fingers through Andrew's hair.

That had been 20 minutes ago.

It was a cozy position, sure, but Neil didn't exactly want to fail his classes (and then get kicked off the Exy team. and then die.), so he lightly nudged Andrew's back with a socked toe.

"Andrew," Neil said, voice a bit muffled in Andrew's sweater. "Can I get off now? I have homework."

Neil received no response other than Andrew squeezing him tighter.

It was another 10 minutes until anything changed, but suddenly there was a loud beeping noise. Startled, Neil nearly fell over, but Andrew grabbed him, lifted him up, and promptly walked over to the kitchen.

"Andrew, what— " Neil sputtered in confusion as he scrambled to hold onto something. He was dropped unceremoniously as Andrew grabbed a pair of oven mitts and yanked open the oven, a sweet smell wafting in the air.

Neil stumbled back as Andrew pulled out a few trays of monster sized cookies, placing them on a rack to cool down. After finishing up, Andrew slowly turned around to face Neil.

"Cookies," he said as way of explanation.

Neil didn't know whether to laugh or groan.

"You were so excited to get your cookies out of the oven that you carried me over to the kitchen instead of just telling me to get off your lap."

"Yes."

"Andrew."

"..."

"You better be this excited to go to tonight's night practice— "

"I cannot hear you over the sound of me eating this cookie. Crunch crunch."

"Andrew!"

sjfdhlwk i saw a little kid today and she was copying everything i was doing so i did the two-fingered salute thing at her and she did it back to me! it was the single cutest thing ever

now i can't get the image of andrew doing these salutes with aaron's young kids out of my head. and like. aaron wants to be annoyed because what the hell are you teaching my children, andrew but at the same time their chubby fingers trying to do a salute back to a full grown man is just adorable

i feel like neil is the type to make the most horrendous food combinations known to humanity that actually turn out to be good? like he's used to living off of scraps so he'll find leftovers or random snacks around the dorm and make absolutly monstrous mixtures

andrew and kevin refuse to touch them at first but matt's always there for his buddy, so he'll try it, cry to dan about how good it is, she'll eat it, and then eventually everyone jumps on the bandwagon. one day neil wakes up in the middle of the night and finds andrew and kevin sitting on the kitchen counter scarfing down his newest concoction with way too much gusto for people who claimed they'd never touch his shit food (but they'll deny it if you ask)

look this has no right being so accurate but i— the cucumber thing, i just had to expand on that

it comes to light in an interview with two other teammates

it’s supposed to be one of those chill “get to know about this celebrity” ones, so it’s more personal and less exy-oriented

so these athletes are reading tweets with questions that fans wanted to ask them

and one of them is “andrew, what are your three biggest fears?”

andrew: i fear nothing. you should fear me

his teammate: ok drama queen just answer the damn question

andrew pauses for a moment (for the dramatics of course)

“heights. bugs. cucumbers.”

“cucumbers??”

anyways, andrew doesn’t explain this answer any further and when the video drops, everyone is very confused

fans are tweeting and asking for answers

every comment section on instagram is full of questions

post-game interviews are buzzing with inquires about this very strange fear

and then one day, the internet finally solves the mystery

the video circulates around social media for days, with everyone cooing over it

there's a little kid, maybe 5 or 6 years old, with a Minyard jersey on who meets andrew in the streets and asks for a picture

(andrew, being an absolute kid-lover, complies)

so the kid puts her arms out demanding to be picked up, and while she's in andrew's arms, politely asks "mr. minyard, why are you afraid of cucumbers?"

andrew, very seriously, replies "too many shades of green. they're dark. medium. light. it's very disturbing"

the video ends with andrew ruffling the kid's hair and her running off camera

after the initial cuteness, people realize how absolutely hilarious it is that scary, buff andrew minyard is scared of cucumbers because of how colorful they are

and so it starts

at meet and greets, fans present him with cucumbers

people tweet cucumber pictures and facts to him

edits are made with andrew and cucumbers

his pr box is full of custom shirts with cucumbers on them to "brighten up his wardrobe"

numerous compilations are made about andrew's reactions to these cucumber gifts

one person even writes a multi-chapter andrew x cucumber enemies to lovers slow-burn

(one of the foxes (aka nicky) prints this whole thing out and gifts it to him for his birthday)

finally, finally, a 32 second video entitled "andrew minyard EATS A CUCUMBER ." gets uploaded on youtube on the account "jorts"

it's super grainy, vertical, and the camera is constantly shaking as the person filming laughs

but it appears to show andrew at his kitchen dunking a cucumber into a flute of champagne at 3 am

the video gets millions of views

nobody knows who's behind the account, but every few months it posts an absolutely feral video of andrew that just crashes the internet

(spoiler alert: it's all thanks to neil)

Andrew is like a cat

You can’t back him into a corner

You can’t touch without permission

Must feed him to earn his love/respect

Will fight you at any moment without warning

Stabby bits sticking out from his hands

Will get scared if you surprise him with a cucumber

Can nap anywhere at anytime

Will judge literally everything you do, but say nothing

Small

Would jump out a window to escape a situation

Thinks you’re stupid

Would probably give you a dead animal… for various reasons

Prefers cats over people

okay, maybe it's hard to know if you're not from the area, but andrew and aaron literally grew up so close to each other. like oakland (where andrew was) and san jose (where aaron was) are literally 40 minutes apart

i mean these are obvs two HUGE cities in the bay area, but the twins probably felt even more shitty when they realized that despite close together they grew up, they still couldn't have a childhood with one another

just thinking about how the foxes were probably studying for midterms while fighting the literal mafia

Classmate: hey Aaron, did you finish the study guide for chemistry?

Aaron: no sorry my teammate was almost tortured to death and I was locked in a room by the FBI