spookyaisling:

hc’s for @boydsten, who wanted mistletoe // @aftgexchange

– it’s all nicky’s doing

– he pins mistletoe to every doorway he can access in fox tower

• – (yes even the door to the roof)

– and he wears a hat with mistletoe hanging off it so everyone kisses his rosy cheeks constantly

– he even put some above the webcam on his laptop and kisses the screen constantly when skyping with erik

– neil has (obviously) never been kissed under the mistletoe

– doesn’t really thinks he wants to be, if it means everyone will stare at him and andrew (he doesn’t think andrew will like it)

– so he watches the others kiss

– matt picks dan up and twirls her around before smacking an obnoxiously loud kiss on her smiling face

– he tries to do the same to kevin

– and aaron

– dan kisses matt’s two black eyes under the mistletoe over the door to the lounge

– allison says the whole thing is cheesy and overrated

-neil catches her blushing when renee brushes a light kiss against her cheek

– suddenly Allison is very in favour of mistletoe

– most of the foxes can be seen sporting red lipstick stains on their faces at least once in the run up to Christmas

– dan kisses wymack on the cheek and he grumbles

– says he’s signing her up for a Christmas marathon

– is spotted kissing abby and blames the mistletoe

• – SPOILER ALERT
• – they’re nowhere near any mistletoe

– neil begins to relax into the idea of mistletoe, knowing he and andrew will never partake

– (no one has even attempted to kiss andrew under the mistletoe)

– (nicky made a joke about it once and almost lost his spleen)

– once neil (finally) gets on his tiptoes to give allison a kiss on the cheek… all hell breaks lose

– matt goes back to his tactic of picking people up and smacking kisses on their cheeks

– neil gets more spins than dan did and dan Understands

– dan… also picks neil up and spins him round before squishing his cheeks into a fishy face and kissing his nose

– renee knows she and neil aren’t That Close

– she gives him one of those cheek-to-cheek air kisses and squeezes his hand

– neil squeezes back

– kevin and aaron Do Not kiss neil

– (kevin kinda looks like he wants to)

– nicky SQUEALS and presses a million tiny kisses all over neil’s face, til neil is giggling and pushing him away

– andrew just watches it all with his usual disinterested expression

– neil asks him about it one night

• – “have you ever had a mistletoe kiss?”
• – “no”
• – “do you want to?”
• – “no”

– neil leaves it alone. he and andrew got to where they are by knowing and listening to each other’s limits

– the kissing continues. the foxes have never kissed so much

– one night after sharing cigarettes and watching each other’s lips turn blue from the cold

– neil and andrew make their way to the door back inside

– andrew stops at the door and turns to neil

• – “ask me again”
• – “what?” neil is an idiot and andrew Suffers because of it
• – he sighs and lazily gestures upwards to the (slightly shrivelled) mistletoe nicky stuck up weeks before
• – “ask. me. again.”

– neil smiles so wide andrew is worried for the structural integrity of his face. starts calculating the likelihood that it might actually split in half

• – “yes or no?”
• – “yes”

– andrew leans in and neil leans in and they’ve done this a hundred, a thousand times before

– but this feels different

– it’s more tender

– andrew’s hand rises to cup his cheek

– he can feel neil’s eyelashes brushing against his own cheeks

– it’s slow and soft and their lips are chapped and freezing

– but it’s so nice

– andrew pulls away and neil’s smile is slow and steady and real

– they go back inside

– andrew still refuses to participate in front of the other foxes

– neil never questions him about it

– he doesn’t need everyone to see what andrew can be like in private

– because he gets to see him

– he gets to have him

– and that’s enough