nakasomethingkun:

On the first day of summer break, Andrew returns to the dorm and says, I want to break up.

Well, his exact words aren’t I want to break up, because they never really use terms that other couples use, like we’re a couple, or we’re dating.

What Andrew says is, I want to put an end to this.

It’s the end of Neil’s first year, a few months after Baltimore, after spring break, after the championship. When Andrew had gone out earlier that day, right before the sun had risen, Neil had gone out for his run. He had returned to the suite, which had been as empty as when he had left, so after taking a shower and eating some apples, he had pulled out the Russian textbook they bought together and studied it.

He is quiet for a while, thinking, staring at Andrew’s unmoving face. In the scalding afternoon light, the planes of Andrew’s face are stark; strong lines that look like they’re drawn in fine ink. His cheeks are a bristling pink against his usually pale skin. It’s because of the heat, Neil knows. Freckles are sprinkled across the bridge of his nose like cinnamon.

If that’s what you want, Neil says, then I’ll go with it. But just know that I don’t want this to end.

Andrew doesn’t say, everything ends, like he once did. Instead, he continues to be silent.

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