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He had done the stupid thing again. He had ran. He hadn't meant to, but the blood was pumping too fast in his veins. Adrenaline screaming. Death was coming. He had grown far too accustomed to Andrew’s presence in his room if not in his bed. His graduation and departure to his new team had hit Neil harder than he could have predicted.
He needed Andrew.
Needed Andrew on the court to have his back.
Needed him in bed to guard him while he was sleeping.
Needed him to remind him that eating, and sleeping are necessities.
Needed him hours ago to stop him from running out again.
He tried tugging on his own hoodie at the neck, wrapping his hand around the back of his skull. Pushing his head between his knees, but his own hands didn't fit right.
No one was there telling him to 'breathe'
And now he was stuck in the middle of nowhere. His cell phone still plugged in beside his bed. Probably full of messages and at least one missed call from Andrew. They never talked about it, but whenever Neil woke up, he always called Andrew, and Andrew always called at night to make sure Neil 'had kept his junkie self-alive that day. Did he at least eat something?'
He had started running at 4:35am. It was now well past 8 in the morning, and beyond his normal time for calling Andrew. He was also late for morning drills with the new foxes. He should have stuck to his normal path, but the roads had felt too exposed for his nightmare drenched brain to deal with. So, he had headed into the woods. Where he had quickly become lost in the dark and had completely ran out of any luck, he may have had an hour ago when he had tripped and rolled his ankle.
In his stubbornness he had convinced himself the road was not that far, his ankle did not hurt that badly, and continued at a slow jog. His left ankle had now swelled up to three times its original size and could hold no weight at all, leaving him stranded.
“Neiiiiiiilllll. Neil.” Wymack's voice echoed faintly. Neil responded, “I'm here” and they essentially played Marco Polo (the inane game Nicky and the foxes had forced him to play at the hotel pool over the summer) until Wymack stepped out from the brush finally finding Neil and sighed.
“Come on. Abby is already waiting in your room.”
The walk back was mercifully short. Neil somehow having made a circle back towards the dorms. They took the elevator and the doors opened to the dorm’s hallway filled with worried/annoyed foxes depending on where you looked. Neil's internal clock had been thrown off by the canopy of trees, and it was close to 11 by the time he and Wymack limped in. Neil was almost immediately distracted by a wall of thick dark hair as Robin tackled him in a hug. Before he could react, she had released him only to punch him in the arm.
“I promised Andrew to tell you what an idiot you are if you ran again. The punch was from me” before moving back towards the room. She no longer bothered asking him if he was hurt, knowing Neil's response would be 'I'm fine' to almost anything. Some habits are harder to break than others. Neil walked into his room expecting to find Abby's frequently overbearingly worried expression. What he didn't expect was the glowering face of one Andrew Minyard.
“I thought you had stopped running.”
“I went on a run. I didn't mean to not come back.”
Andrews disinterested eyes widened slightly at the sight of his ankle. He moved allowing Abby to walk around him, who was already fussing before even seeing Neil's ankle. Her examination was short for once. Andrew breathing down your neck is a sensation you do not grow accustomed to feeling.
“You rolled your ankle. You need to ice it and stay off it for at least two days.” She looked at Robin and Andrew as she said the instructions. Neil was not consulted. He had attempted to mumble “I'm fine” once at the beginning of her examination until collectively around the room sounds of frustration had erupted. Andrew had simply intensified his glare and added 3% onto his already ridiculous percentage.
Both Robin and Andrew nodded as Abby and Wymack walked out of the dorm. “I will take over Neil sitting duties when you leave.” And with that Robin offered Andrew a fist pump he completed without taking his eyes off Neil. “Later Cap'n O'Neil” ah the dreaded nickname. She was definitely annoyed with him for sneaking out without telling her and for leaving his phone. Again.
Neil begins to stand up to take off his sweaty clothes, so he can shower before going back to sleep. When he hears “seriously are you this stupid all the time, or just I am around to witness it?” As Andrew pushes himself off the wall and shoves Neil back down on the bed as he kneels to pull of Neil's shoes and socks. “Stay.”
Andrew walks to the kitchen, grabs a chair and then drags it into the bathroom. Neil is baffled. He hears the water cut on as Andrew walks back out of the bathroom with his shirt stripped off. “Yes or no?”
The yes comes out without hesitation as Andrew reaches for Neil's clothes, stripping them off quickly and efficiently. “Put your arm around my shoulder. Lean on me.” As Andrew lifts him off the bed to limp to the bathroom, setting Neil on the chair.
“Don't you have practice tomorrow?” Neil suddenly becomes worried over Andrew being here. "The last thing I want is to cause problems for you.”
Andrew scoffs and pointedly looks down at Neil's swollen ankle. “You are my problem. I can't force you on anyone else.” Seeing Neil's still worried expression Andrew rolls his eyes and continues with “I will leave tomorrow morning. You apparently have no problem waking up at 3am right?” With that he switched off the water and began drying Neil before heading back to the room.
“So what do you want to do for the rest of the day” Neil asked and was met with a glare of pure ice from Andrew as if Neil were the stupidest person alive before he dryly stating “keep you off your feet I guess.” As Andrew began removing his own jeans and lying down beside Neil. His yes or- was quickly cut off by Neil's mouth.
Maybe running this morning had not been such a bad idea after all.