I feel like I’ve read a lot of hcs about andrew finding neil’s duffle bag and keys and realizing that he must have been taken because he would never leave his keys behind
but consider this: andrew finding the duffel bag and the keys and thinking that neil finally ran away, he finally did it, he left neil josten behind. andrew realizing all at once just how much he wanted neil to stay, how much he wanted neil to stay for him.
andrew remembering neil’s goodbye (thank you. you were amazing) and thinking neil was willingly leaving him with only a thank you, andrew being so fucking pissed and thinking maybe, just maybe, if he had actually acknowledged that they weren’t nothing maybe neil would have stayed.
andrew being pissed at himself for getting attached to this runaway boy. this con artist. this nobody. pissed at himself for believing that he would see andrew as a home.
andrew finding out neil actually didn’t leave him and in fact was kidnapped and tortured and having one tiny, tiny moment of relief before it’s just so much pain, knowing neil was hurt and andrew couldn’t fight whoever did it.
andrew never taking his eyes off neil in the hotel in baltimore and just thinking over and over that he was wrong, neil didn’t leave of his own volition, neil wanted him, neil wanted him. and then neil is faced with the option of going in witness protection – something nathaniel would have killed for, to be away from his father’s men for good and never having to worry again – and he chooses to stay, because andrew and the foxes are home.
andrew failing to correct neil on purpose when he says they’re something because he wants to make sure neil knows he has a reason to stay.
Neil: I wish I had the ability to make boys really nervous
Andrew: Holding a really sharp knife to their neck usually does the trick for me
Kevin: As a boy I can confirm that this makes me really nervous
Y’all John Mulaney didn’t die in Infinity War J.J. Bittenbinder taught him better than that
john mulaney when thanos arrives: you want this stone? go get it!
STREET SMARTS
Neil: you can’t spell andrew without ew
Andrew: you’re an absolute jos-TEN
Neil [choking]: you win
“Let Riko be King,“ Kevin said, with the exaggerated enunciation of the thoroughly sloshed. “Most coveted, most protected. He’ll sacrifice every piece he has to protect his throne. Whatever. Me?” Kevin gestured again, meaning to indicate himself but too drunk to get his hand higher than his waist. “I’m going to be the deadliest piece on the board.”
Nothing but My Aching Soul 