Work Text:
Neil didn’t think it had bothered him.
Columbia had been a necessary evil. A way to get Andrew to trust him at the time and to keep him with the Foxes a little longer. He had suffered through a lot worse than a kiss. Well more than one kiss, quite a few to be honest.
Nicky had been forceful, Neil didn’t remember much but he had felt dirty. His mother had always made it seem like a disgusting act and Neil didn’t blame her. He thought he had moved on.
There had been so much to deal with, the Moriyamas, Riko, his uncle suddenly acting like family again. So Neil had moved on, forced himself to bury it down along with all the other things he kept locked away.
Except now it was all coming back.
Neil and Andrew had been invited to spend Christmas in London. When his uncle had proposed the invitation Neil didn’t think they would actually say yes. Except here they were, him, Andrew, Kevin and of course Nicky. Nicky wasn’t staying the full time, technically speaking this was his last day before he flew off to Germany to spend Christmas with Erik and his family.
Which meant Nicky had insisted on doing all the ‘London’ things, which included taking the tube. Which included taking the tube when it was crowded because when was it not crowded. Neil had offered Andrew the only seat they had found and made sure not to let anyone touch him but now he was reevaluating this whole journey as Nicky ‘accidentally’ leaned onto him again.
“You know I think the last time we were this close was your first time at Eden’s,” Nicky whispered against his ear. And Neil knew, he knew it was meant to be a joke. Something to laugh off and pretend it was funny.
But he couldn’t, he felt himself freeze, himself be pulled back into that moment. The loud noises of the tube replaced by loud music, the other people around them became dancers at the club.
If that wasn’t enough someone behind Nicky bumped them together at the next stop and Nicky jokingly put his arm around Neil’s waist. Before Neil even knew what he was doing he was flying out of the carriage and running through the station like a madman.
He heard the others shout after him but he couldn’t stop running.
The old instinct of run until you can’t stop came back and Neil couldn’t stop himself from running.
***
It felt like hours before he finally stopped in a park. Neil felt his breath rack through him as if desperate for his heart to get back to a normal speed. The blood rushing through his ears made it difficult for him to hear anything but eventually he felt his phone buzzing and answered it without looking.
“I know you’re not used to phones, but when you see my name on your screen you’re meant to answer it rabbit,” Andrew’s monotone voice seemed to ground him and for a while Neil just let himself listen to Andrew breathing.
“Sorry,” Neil said once he caught his breath
“I don’t want apologies I want a location,” Andrew said but Neil could hear the tense nature of his voice. He looked around and eventually found a street sign he could walk to. He rattled off the address to Andrew, neither of them said anything but Neil could hear the processes of Andrew coming to get him.
Neil wasn’t sure how long they stayed on the phone but eventually Andrew appeared in a car driven by his visibly worried uncle. Andrew got out of the car after seemingly telling his uncle to stay inside and met Neil without a second thought.
Andrew has his hand on Neil’s neck without either of them having to say anything. They had gotten better at that. Andrew knowing what comfort Neil needed and Neil being able to accept it.
“Truth for truth,” Andrew said without preamble “What was that about?”
“Memories,” Neil explained but that didn’t seem to be a sufficient answer for Andrew so he elaborated “Eden’s twilight the first night, Nicky and you know,”
“Spell it out for me,” Andrew said with gritted teeth
“I thought that was my thing,” Neil said with a smile but Andrew didn’t seem to be in the mood for jokes. Trying to alleviate his stress Neil explained the rest of the story.
“You told Nicky to give me the drugs remember, it was a bit much but I don’t really remember it most days anyway. It was just being that close and he mentioned at one point,” Neil concluded hoping that would be the end of it but Andrew had gone deadly silent.
His face didn’t change as he removed his hand from Neil and stepped back.
“And you thought I was okay with this?” Andrew asked, he seemed like he was trying to remain calm but Neil could feel the anger radiating off him.
“I mean he is your cousin and the others told me that it was your plan to take me there in the first place,” Neil explained avoiding answering the question.
He trusted Andrew with everything now, but back then he had just been a fake ID with better Exy ability than whoever else they sorted through. There had been no reason for Andrew to protect him.
“Besides, Nicky would have tried something sooner or later. You heard how he talked about me when I first got here,” Neil said trying to appease Andrew, to take the blame off him. Or at the very least calm him down but it may as well have been like Neil hadn’t spoken because Andrew only directed them both into the car without another word.
Stuart seemed to sense the atmosphere and didn’t say anything after briefly asking if Neil was okay.
***
When they got to the hotel they were staying at Andrew was the first out of the car.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Stuart asked, he wasn’t good at the whole emotions thing but neither was Neil. Maybe there was something to be said for nature over nurture.
“I’m sure, he just gets silent sometimes,” Neil said, trying to convey that everything was okay.
“If you’re sure,” Stuart mumbled while giving Neil a once over. Whatever he saw satisfied him because he nodded Neil out of the car a few seconds later.
Neil took his time getting to the hotel suite. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain away his running act but he honestly just wanted to go to bed and go back to forgetting anything had ever happened.
Of course his famous bad luck meant nothing ever went exactly to plan.
When he entered the suite he was met with an interesting sight.
Kevin was pressed against the wall and fiddling with his hands desperately. A nervous habit he had developed ever since Neil had convinced him to stop drinking. He looked terrified and also mildly confused considering the only words currently being said were in German, which he still hadn’t learned.
Nicky was being held up against the other wall and was currently pleading and begging for forgiveness in the aforementioned German. Although it was somewhat difficult to tell as he was speaking fast due to his fear.
Andrew being the cause of said fear considering he was currently holding a knife to Nicky’s neck. Neil couldn’t be sure but he was definitely sure there was a bit of blood coming out of Nicky’s neck.
“I warned you,” Andrew responded in German, his voice deadly as he put the knife even deeper into Nicky’s neck. “ I warned you what would happen if you touched him”
“ It was just a kiss,” Neil watched as Nicky pleaded “ Neil tell him,”
Everyone in the room turned at the sound of his name and Andrew watched him as Neil slowly approached the scene in front of him.
“ Andrew, put him down,” Neil said calmly in Russian, he did not need the others in their conversation. Thankfully Andrew seemed focused enough to respond to Neil.
“He deserves it,” Andrew seemed to believe that and Neil wasn’t going to disagree with his beliefs but he also knew that a dead Nicky would not be a good Christmas present for anyone.
“It’s forgotten, it doesn’t matter,” Neil insisted “ I almost never think about it, ”
Andrew sent him a look to remind him he had thought about it that very same day but Neil pushed forward. He gently raised his hands and used them to block Andrew’s view of Nicky. Andrew allowed himself to be turned to face Neil directly.
“ This saviour act isn’t cute,” Andrew commented, still keeping the others out of the conversation with Russian.
“It’s not saving, but you wouldn’t want to spend Christmas in prison,” Neil explained
“ Not the first one I’ve spent there,” Andrew argued “He shouldn’t have thought that was okay,”
Neil could hear the unspoken ‘You shouldn’t have thought, I would think that was okay’. Which he hadn’t properly thought about before. He had had much worse happen to him in the past by people far worse than Andrew. To Neil at the time Andrew had only been the same person he initially promised to be.
“I do not believe it will happen again,” Neil said, looking Andrew in the eyes. There was an unspoken, ‘I know you will not let this happen again,’. Andrew seemed to hold his gaze for what seemed like ages but whatever he saw seemed to calm him down.
Eventually he dropped Nicky who promptly collapsed to the ground. Nicky seemed a bit confused but moved to hug Neil in thanks. Neil was moving out of reach at the same time Andrew was kicking him in the crotch.
“I am going to say this once,” Andrew said in English this time, his foot pressing down on Nicky’s arm. “I see you touch him again, I kill you. I see you alone with him again, I kill you. You even think about forcing yourself on him or anyone else ever again and I will slice you open choke you to death with your own insides,”
Kevin gasped at the threat but Nicky just seemed frozen in place. Eventually he nodded and Andrew stepped back enough to allow Nicky to stand up.
“Sleep somewhere else tonight, I cannot stand the sight of you,” Andrew said. Nicky rushed out of the room and Andrew left shortly after.
He didn’t ask Neil to follow but Neil couldn’t find it in himself to leave Andrew alone. He followed behind Andrew in silence even though Andrew knew he was there. Still he didn’t tell Neil to go so Neil kept behind him with enough distance.
Sooner rather than later they found themselves on the roof of the hotel, although Andrew did break the lock to get there.
The two of them sat near the edge but not as close as they usually did. The smell of smoke filled the air, calming them for different reasons. Nothing was said and Neil assumed they would stay that way for the rest of the night but it seemed Andrew had other plans.
“I would not have allowed it to happen,” Andrew explained.
“I was nothing then,” Neil stressed “I would not have expected you to stop it,”
“You have never been nothing,” Andrew said with such ferocity that Neil found himself inclined to look at him. “I would have stopped him,”
“I believe you,” Neil breathed out, “I believe you Andrew,”
Andrew seemed to accept this, it was two cigarettes before he spoke again. “You will not always be there to stop me killing him,”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Neil insisted, he didn’t want Andrew to think he was going anywhere just because it was all out in the open. “You asked me to stay and I said yes, I’m with you,”
“I will not ask you to stay while he is still there,” Andrew responded
“You don’t have to,” Neil explained
“He should die either way,” Andrew reasoned
“Make me a deal then,” Neil offered “Don’t kill him, just leave him be, he got the message I think,”
“What do I get out of it?” Andrew asked, Neil felt himself sigh in relief.
“Anything you want,” He responded with ease. He knew Andrew would not ask him anything he was not willing to give.
“If it happens again, with anyone, you will not hold me back,” Andrew explained, Neil thought about it for a second. He couldn't imagine Nicky doing anything like that again, and Neil didn’t care about strangers anyway.
“Deal,” Neil held his hand out “Yes or no?”
Andrew didn’t reply, instead he shook Neil’s hand back and didn’t let go until they made it into bed that night.