Andrew doesn’t ever respond, but doesn’t block them or ask to leave the chat either
He just straight up doesn’t acknowledge the chat
Everyone in it assumes Andrew is just ignoring them in the chat and carries on, pretty much forgetting he’s even in it
At one point they decide to have a competition to see who can get the cutest picture of Neil
They give it a week and whoever sends the cutest picture by the end of Thursday gets 10 bucks each from the others
Andrew of course doesn’t acknowledge that, just like he doesn’t acknowledge anything else they send him
But he watches the pictures coming in even more than usual all week
The one of Neil smiling after Matt called him one of his best friends
The selfie Dan took of her hugging Neil with their cheeks smushed together
The one Allison secretly took from the back of Matt’s truck of Neil staring dreamily at Andrew while he’s sitting on the trunk of his car smoking
The one Renee takes of him sitting between Dan and Matt on the couch in the girls’ room, all wrapped in a blanket
The one Nicky sends of Neil standing in the kitchen, yawning and stretching, two minutes after getting up
The one Dan sends of Matt standing behind Neil, grinning as he slouches with his forearms resting across Neil’s shoulders while Neil scowls at the camera
The one Allison takes of Neil looking super confused after she purposely referenced a movie he hasn’t even heard of
Late Thursday they’re all arguing over which picture is cutest and asking how they’re supposed to pick a winner and questioning if there was any way they could convince Andrew to judge or if they should all just have to vote for one that isn’t theirs to be cutest and see what wins that way
Andrew sends a message to the group chat for the first time ever at 11:59 pm on Thursday
It’s a picture of Neil being so cute that it physically pains Andrew and he 500% wants to kill him for daring to make him feel like this
Neil’s curled up in the fetal position asleep cradled in one of the bean bag chairs and his hair is sticking out in every fucking direction and his arm’s reaching out so that he’s still holding Andrew’s hand in his sleep and there’s the faintest hint of a smile on his lips
Neil’s curled up facing where his and Andrew’s hand are intertwined, resting on the edge of the beanbag chair, because he definitely fell asleep staring at Andrew so that he wouldn’t miss one extra second of Andrew’s beautiful face
With the picture Andrew sends “I win, fuckers.”
None of them argue and Andrew doesn’t respond to the group chat again, but they know he’s watching it
Neil looks super confused when the next morning at practice Matt, Dan, Renee, Allison, and Nicky each cough up ten bucks to Andrew without even being asked
Nothing but My Aching Soul 