Chapter Text
Allison was in the middle of a conversation with Dan about Seth when the storm came in without even knocking on the door.
And it’s not a metaphor.
Neil pushed the door open so hard it slammed against the wall, and then kicked it closed. The sound made both girls jump slightly as they weren’t expecting it. Neil, as surprising as that might be, isn’t a very dramatic person (he’s the ‘I’m fine, there’s nothing going on’ kind of person) , not really, so she immediately knew that something was very wrong. Dan must’ve come to the very same conclusion, if the way she frowned in concern was any indication.
The intrude didn’t even bother telling them what the hell was going on. No, he simply paced around in circles in the middle of their room, as if he had forgotten about their existence altogether, and that much display of emotions was seriously starting to concern Allison — if it were a normal person, it would be okay, but this was Neil Josten.
She was 100% sure he was half robot, actually — as in ‘she’d bet on that’ kind of sure.
“Josten!” Allison shouted, interrupting the younger man’s train of thought. Neil slowly turned his head to look at her before raising an eyebrow in questioning. Allison snorted — as if he hadn’t fucking barged in and started pacing around like an anxious wreck. Or a bomb about to explode.
The latter is more likely.
“The fuck’s wrong with you?” Dan made a sound of protest at Allison’s choice words, but Allison’s sure Neil couldn’t care less about her politeness right then. She continued. “First you just — barge in like that, and then you start pacing around and ignoring our very presence in our own dorm and honestly, this little display of emotions of yours?” She wriggled a finger in his direction “It’s weird. It 's not normal. I don’t know how I’m supposed to deal with it. Stop it. Now.”
“You’re the ones always saying I should be more open with you about everything.” He argued, biting his thumb’s nail, and… okay, fair, but not the point.
“Yes, so we can help in our very unique way. So just tell us what your problem is, Neil.” Dan says, and Neil sucks his teeth before replying.
“Riko fucking Moriyama is my problem.” He says. Allison groans loudly before throwing herself on her bed dramatically.
Riko Moriyama has been a problem since eighth grade, when he first started obsessing over Neil.
At first, it could even be considered ‘cute’, because they (Allison, Dan and Matt) thought it was just a crush that would go away after some time (after Neil rudely turned him down one too many times), but it didn’t. Instead, that only grew stronger, to the point it was becoming creepy.
And then there was no other way to call it: Riko was completely obsessed.
“Oh my God. What did he do this time?”
“I came back from hockey practice to find out that the spoiled motherfucker broke into my room and left a note on my bed. And flowers. And some fancy clothes that are exactly my size. ” He said, exasperated. Allison thinks Dan’s eyes might bulge out if she keeps staring like that.
“Excuse me, he what?”
“Broke into my room!”
“Did he take anything?”
“No. I checked.”
“What was on the note?” Allison asked, incapable of holding back her curiosity, and Dan slapped her arm at that, before saying:
“Allison!” She said, then a second later: “but what was the note about?”
“It was a place, time and date! Fucker just asked me out on a date and he couldn’t even do it in my face, he had to be creepy and dramatic as fuck about it because- he's 'Riko fucking Moriyama' !”
Neil groaned.
“Well, fuck.” Allison said, sighing. Riko was creepy before, but this is a whole new level.
“I mean, maybe he didn’t do it personally because he’s tired of being completely humiliated by you.” Dan said. “That must mean something, right? It’s good, you’re tiring him out.”
“No, really, what’s up with Riko and that? Does he get off on being humiliated?” Allison agreed with her friend. “Like, you’d think that after the whole science class thing he would feel bad enough to never try again and then he just — did it again.”
Is it because he has no sense of self-worth or because he has an endless supply of self-esteem?
“What are you gonna do?” Dan asked, suspicious, looking Neil up and down, but he only raised a surprised eyebrow at her. “Don’t you even start. You’re always up to something. Share with the class, Josten, what are your plans for retaliation?”
Neil shrugged before looking away with a straight face, as if considering whether he should answer her question or not.
“Come on, Josten, we don’t have all day!” Allison protested, annoyed at the wait.
Neil turned his scrutinizing gaze on her. “We both know you would, in fact, wait a whole day to know what I am planning just for the sake of spreading gossip.”
That’s not a lie, but Allison didn’t need to vocally agree. He knew it already, anyway.
She simply snorted and rolled her eyes.
“Spill, Josten.”
Neil opened his mouth to speak, but Dan was quick to interrupt, waving her hands around and saying: “wait! If it includes murder and/or arson, please keep it to yourself because as much as I’d fully support the plan, I want to be able to say I didn't know anything about it when the cops knock on my door.”
Neil closed his mouth again and nodded.
“Wait, you’re joking.” Allison said when Neil didn't open his mouth to speak again and looked at them seriously. “Tell me you’re joking, Josten.”
Neil looked her in the eyes and blinked slowly, his emotionless expression not wavering for a second.
Dan’s eyebrows went up. “Wait, shit, you’re serious.”
*********
“Oh my GOD!” Matt exclaimed as he walked towards Allison, Seth, Neil and Dan, who were already sitting at a table in the cafeteria for dinner. He sat next to his girlfriend and kissed her on the cheek before trying to put an arm around Neil to hug him, but Neil froze for half a second and pushed Matt’s arm away from him before the older boy could properly hug him.
"What 's up?” Seth asked, clearly curious.
“I– fuck.” Matt ran a hand through his hair, breathless from running and Dan chuckled.
“Take a deep breath, babe.”
“Right.” Matt said and did what he was told. Allison’s curiosity was piqued, she arched an eyebrow as she waited for Boyd to spill about whatever got him so surprised. “Okay. Um… Riko’s dorm. It’s like, on fire.”
“Wait, What?” Dan blinked
“I— someone set his dorm on fire.”
Allison was, for once, too stunned to speak. It didn’t surprise her that someone would want to set the little plague’s dorm on fire, it surprised her that someone actually did it, considering the circumstances they found themselves in and how high on the school’s little “hierarchy” Riko found himself in.
Who could’ve— Neil snorted loudly.
Oh. Right. Of fucking course the little devil did it.
She doesn’t know if she wants to hit him for being so stupid or congratulate him for giving that asshole what he deserves.
“The people are exaggerating. No one set his dorm on fire.”
“ You did it!?” Seth yelled as he turned his head to stare incredulously at Neil, before shaking his head. “No, what am I talking about, of course you would, you stupid fuck.”
“Fuck.” Dan groaned and ran a hand through her hair. “You’re kidding.” Neil simply stared at her. “You’re not. Okay. Why the fuck would you set the dorm on fire? Tell me you didn’t set Riko Moriyama’s dorm on fire.” She was barely containing her anger and incredulity anymore.
“I did not set Riko Moriyama’s dorm on fire.” Neil said monotonously.
“Good. Now say it like you mean it.”
Neil took a deep breath through his nose before repeating himself.
“I thought you had stopped lying so much.” Matt said, Neil shrugged.
“I’m not lying.”
“Oh, you’re not? Then why is everyone talking about Riko’s dorm being set on fire!?” Matt almost yelled, but restrained himself. Neil sighed as if he was dealing with a group of morons.
“I don’t know. Probably because Riko is an attention whore that will dramatize any and everything to have some attention since his father didn’t give him any.” Neil said.
“Oh my…” Dan sighed and rested her forehead on the table.
“Fuck’s sake. What did you do, then?” Seth asked.
“Why do you think I have anything to do with this?” Neil arched an eyebrow, Seth simply snorted.
“I don’t ‘think’, I know you have everything to do with this. So just spill.”
Neil considered him for a few seconds, pursing his lips slightly, before rolling his eyes and saying: “I didn’t set his entire dorm on fire.”
“So you’re saying you did set something on fire?” Matt asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, I did. Not the whole dorm, though.” Neil said. “Just like Riko broke into my dorm earlier, I broke into his an hour ago, while he was in class, and threw the clothes and the note on his trash can, then I set that on fire. If the trash can fell off and set the rest of his bed on fire, that’s on him, not me.” Neil shrugged, Matt and Dan gaped at him. Allison still doesn’t know whether to slap him or kiss him. Seth pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes like Neil is giving him a headache. “I also snapped the flowers in half and left him a note saying it would be his neck in no time if he kept up with the creepy shit.” He added, because he hadn’t done enough already.
“You left a note saying what?” Dan said, then took a few deep breaths, trying to control herself. Neil didn’t reply, of course, because he knew she had heard him loud and clear.
“You…” Allison began, but she didn’t know what to say, only that Riko deserved it, so she just said “Fuck, yeah.”
“Allison!” Matt chastised, she shrugged.
They argued about it for a few more minutes, while Neil either ignored them or asked “what was I supposed to do? Nothing I’ve tried so far has worked, so maybe this will.”, and that’s when an idea popped into Allison's mind.
" What am I supposed to do?"
He’s tried everything, and nothing works… nothing works because Riko still thinks Neil is in love with him, but in denial.
Allison’s eyebrows shot up, she had the perfect idea.
“You need a boyfriend.” She said, interrupting the conversation. Everyone on the table stopped and looked at her, varying degrees of incredulity on their facial expressions.
“I’m sorry?” Matt said.
“Neil needs a boyfriend.” Allison repeated. “Like— follow me. Nothing Neil has ever tried to make Riko go away has ever worked before, because Riko still thinks Neil is hopelessly in love with him, he’s fucking delusional. He thinks Neil’s in denial. So, if Neil shows up dating someone else, maybe the brat will finally realize that no, Neil is not in denial because he doesn’t know how to express his feelings, because he’s dating someone so clearly his problem isn’t about what he feels — but if he dates a girl, the idiot may think he’s in denial about being in love with a boy and dating a girl to prove a point — no, he needs a boy friend.”
Matt, Seth and Dan were looking at her like she was the smartest person they’ve ever met. Neil was looking at her like she was the stupidest.
Before Neil could say anything, Dan cut in. “Right, but there’s one problem.”
“There are a lot of—” Neil started to protest, but Allison ignored him.
“What’s the problem?”
“There is no one in this building with the guts to antagonize Riko.” She said. “No one that would be up to the whole fake dating thing, at least.”
Allison frowned slightly as she considered that. Then she remembered.
“Oh, I assure you there is.” She smiled slowly, already architecting a plan in her mind, when of course, Neil ruined all her fun by saying:
“There will be no fake dating.”
“Oh, yes, there will.”
Neil stared at Allison with those cold eyes of his. Allison stared back, looking right into his eyes.
Oh, yes, there would, indeed.