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It all started a random Friday night, Neil just got back from his practice. No matches for his team this week. Still, his coach didn’t know the meaning of rest, he probably learned that from Kevin. Not that Neil was complaining, he preferred going to bed after an exhausting practice, rather than spending all his afternoon on the couch.
He made it to his apartment after practice. With the salary of a professional exy team, it was possible for him to afford his place, without the burden of having to share with someone. So, thankfully, after a full day of practices, he had all the couch for himself.
No Kevin Day reminding him to go to sleep early otherwise he would be tired the next morning.
No Nicky ranting for hours about literally everything going on in the world.
And no Aaron complaining about every single one of the above.
He was only missing one thing. Andrew.
And he knew what it meant when they had been recruited to two different teams. He was, and still is, ready to wait until the three years contract ends, and finally being transferred to the same team.
But still. He missed him.
And he didn’t know what to do with this new type of feelings.
They talked on the phone every night, text messages went back and forth every hour of the day.
But still. He missed him.
But there he was, like a Swiss watch, Andrew’s name popped up on Neil’s phone.
Andrew is not the type of person to flood you with words, he was the more silent one. But this time, there were no words coming from the other side of the phone. Just heavy and panicked breaths.
“Andrew” Neil tries to call him but with no success
“Andrew, I’m here” and this time he can hear Andrew faintly calling his name
“I’m on my way” Neil is already running down the stairs, just his phone and car keys in his hands.
Neil Josten who never left his things unsupervised, left everything as it is because Andrew, his Andrew, needed him. And when Andrew needs him nothing else matters.
And so, in a matter of minutes he is sliding down the highway as fast as the other cars allow him.
And then he gets a phone call, “Renee walker” says his phone
“Renee” is the only thing he needs to say
“Have you heard from Andrew?”
“I’m in the car, I’ll be there in a few hours, but I don’t know what happened”
“We are at my house now; he is in the shower”
“Renee, talk”
“Andrew’s team had a game tonight. They won.” That for sure would not spark that reaction in Andrew
“Renee, i need to know now”
“The team was walking out to the bus” another pause, he was about to tell her to cut the shit because he did not need her to sugar coat whatever happened, but it was not needed since she kept talking on her own “two men, drunk, probably drugged”
Neil’s blood was practically boiling, he knew where this was going, and he didn’t like it
“They grabbed him” a long sigh “I don’t know what intentions they had, they grabbed him and started pulling him away, the team noticed and blocked them, but…”
But they still touched him.
They still violated him.
They still dared do the only thing Neil could not forgive, hurt his Andrew.
“Names” was the only thing Neil managed to get out of his mouth
“Neil come here, so we can talk”
“Renee, names, now”
“The police filed a report, their names should be on there, I’ll let you know as soon as I know”
“Don’t tell Andrew” he knew she understood what to omit.
-
It should have taken him almost 7 hours to arrive, it only took him 4 and a half. Speed limits and a potential ticket were not a top priority for Neil at that moment.
At some point, Neil can’t really tell when exactly, Renee texted him the police report that Andrew’s coach filed which contained the name of the piece of shit that dared lay a finger on Andrew.
Apparently the only one accused of assault, was a certain Josh Davis, 38 years old. According to the police the other guy was trying to get him off of Andrew too.
He knew the only possibility he had to actually arrive at this dude throat was by calling some favours in.
The obvious choice was his uncle.
Neil was lucky he answered at the first phone number he tried. He got screamed at because his uncle was asleep but overall managed to gather what he needed fast enough. It was not difficult, being the piece of shit already kept in custody by the local police, he only needed a desk officer to let him in and leave him alone for some time.
It demonstrated to be as easy as he thought it to be. A middle-aged man met him outside the back door, and quickly but discretely guided him toward the cell.
Neil managed to get in without waking him up, even though he thought it to be impossible given the smell of alcohol in that room. Neil waited for the officer to turn around the corner, slipped his knife from his pocket and slowly climbed on top of the bed, one foot at either side of the man shoulders, he crouched down to place his knife on the man’s throat, and woke him up.
The violent reaction was not a surprise, he expected it to be a little more violent, but he had the alcohol to thank for it.
He shushed the man like people do with scared dogs, his father’s smile reached his eyes, making him look like a madman.
“Don’t be so scared” his knife going up and up to the man face “you don’t know who I am, do you?” The knife was now pressing a long line across the man’s chick, almost the same as Neil himself had.
“What do you want? How you got in here?” After that the man tried to scream for a guard to help him, Neil couldn’t help it, he laughed.
“You think someone will help you?” Neil pushed a piece of cloth into the men’s mouth to keep him silent. He only liked chaos when he was on a court, now he needed peace and concentration “a fucking rat’s life is worth more than you are”
He slowly climbed down the bed and got the man to follow him, thankfully the only place where you could not run out of handcuffs is a police station. He cuffed him to the bars of the cell, hands, and feet. And then proceeded to cut off all pieces of clothes he got on, and if the blade of his knife cut more than clothes, Neil didn’t mind.
“So, Josh, is that your name, right? explain it to me, cause I’m really trying to understand here, did you really think you could touch my things and got away with it? Just a few nights in jail and then back to normal?” Neil knew the combination of his mad smile and knifes where not making Josh think straight, but he was not really seeking an explanation, there was no feasible excuse for molesting someone.
“No comment then? You know I agree, let’s get this over with, I have somewhere to be” Neil got his knife closer and closer to the man’s groin, apparently that made Josh more aware of the situation.
“Wait! Wait!”
“Oh, now you talk” Neil scoffed. He was serious when he said he had somewhere to be “you know what, it’s too late” Neil proceeded with what he got there for in the first place, a quick cut.
Neil was sure he would not use what was left for quite some time.
-
On the way back Neil made a quick detour to a Target, got himself wipes to disinfect his hands and knife, and new clothes. The last thing he wanted was for Andrew to see him covered in blood. He would tell him what he did, but not tonight.
After that it took him just a few minutes to reach Renee’s apartment. He phoned her to let him in, in case Andrew was asleep, which he doubted.
Neil didn’t even make it fully into the apartment entrance, a second later Andrew’s body was clenched around him. Neil didn’t spare any second, it didn’t matter that Renee was right there, Andrew needed comfort, Andrew needed Neil’s presence. He quickly closed his arms around him and started whispering reassuring and calming words at his ears.