Might I Present The Newest Print Ready EXYLLENT-issue

Neil knows love exists because Andrew is full of it. He sees it when Andrew cooks two different batches of pancakes, one batch being regular and the other chocolate chip, because he knows Neil doesn’t like sweets.

He sees it when Andrew specifically puts sticky notes on the wall next to their front door because he knows Neil is likely to see them and be reminded of things he needs to do that day.

He sees it when he and Andrew drive hours to listen to Aaron give his valedictorian speech at his university graduation.

And he feels it when Andrew cradles his head in the dead of night and reminds him who he is. Saying:

“You are Neil Josten, a nuisance with a smart mouth. And you are home.”

It’s Aaron who accidentally outs andreil as married

Him and Katelyn had started to make videos, answering medical questions and explaining procedures to help people better understand their health and the heath system. (They also talk about old outdated practices from history just for fun).

They had grown quite popular, and in one video, as Katelyn is being brilliant and explaining some topic or the other, Aaron is sitting beside her, listening intently and nodding along.

And then he takes a sip from his favourite mug. The one that says ‘Okay-est Brother-in-Law’ and has the most unflattering photo of Neil Josten on it.

nathaniel, neil, nathaniel, neil. andrew flips the two names around in his head like tossing a coin. heads or tails, the coin always comes up abram. nathaniel and neil are two sides of the same coin; forged in a dark basement, in musty hotel rooms, on the exy court. both hate sweets, love to run, to talk back any chance they get.

some days, the coin lands on nathaniel. jack makes one too many comments at practice and neil - no, nathaniel - has him on the ground, raquet to his neck in an instant. he can't hear what the strikers are saying but through the grate of the helment, andrew sees nathaniel's smile.

others, it lands on neil. andrew finds neil and matt splayed out on the couch, three movies deep into a "pop culture lesson". neil motions for andrew to sit and absently cards his fingers through the blond's hair. matt hides his grin in his sleeve.

but abram; he runs to andrew after each winning game to tap sticks, he sits each friday in columbia, talking about escape routes for an alien invasion, he keeps ice cream in the freezer and cigarettes in his backpocket.

heads or tails, doe or minyard, doe or minyard.

doe was made and unmade in california. 13 homes, 13 film reels constantly playing in the back of his mind, each scene driving the cuts deeper and deeper. andrew doe learns the danger of wanting and vows to keep everyone out.

minyard went to juvie for his brother. he crashed the car to keep him safe. he spent years on medication that sent him up up up to protect his cousin. minyard guards himself with knives sharper than his glare; he protects those that are his and fuck anyone else.

heads or tails, the coin starts to come up drew.

it starts small; quick grins in columbia at neil; shared dinners with aaron that don't end in a fight; something like excitment in his stomach before an exy game. when neil is hanging out with the upperclassman, he stays.

heads or tails; the coin lands on growth

the biggest thing i took away from the short stories is how much andrew minyard cares about people. he signed onto the foxes to give aaron a chance at college. he went through with the kit to give aaron a legitimate chance at trial. he gave neil the armbands so that he wouldn’t have to look at his scars all the time. he constantly sacrifices himself for others so much so that he ends up harming himself sometimes. andrew minyard, who still gets called heartless when he has one of, if not the biggest, hearts in the series.

he told betsy to go ahead with using any information from their sessions if it made jean feel even slightly comfortable. he asked someone he hadn't spoken to properly in years to make space for jean to heal. he held jean's hand. he held jean's face. he left the room without argument when jean asked him to. he knew jean liked some of the trojans. he grounded jean's mind when he was slipping. he locked himself in a room in distress when he thought jean was dead. he agreed to do an interview with jean knowing the comments they would have to face. he asked if jean would teach him french when riko wasn't looking. he wrote jean messages at the back of postcards. he got jean a little bear magnet, among many others. he made jean promise not to take his life. he told jean he didn't want to lose him.

who the FUCK is out here doing it like david fucking wymack. bitch has a reputation for the most dysfunctional college team in the country and he wears that sticker with PRIDE. encourages his team by saying hey when we lose we can all get drunk and they win and get drunk anyway. signs some random kid from arizona because a national champion said he was a good idea, let said random kid crash on his couch whilst he proceeded to antagonize everybody he met and then simultaneously pulled the whole team together. fantastic news for wymack. but jokes on you brother that random is actually the son of a serial killer. no fucking reaction. drove to columbia because his national champion called him, didn't break a sweat when his pre-med backliner killed a guy, and at least 3 other people on his team are confirmed murderers. he drives them everywhere and breaks out the line 'fight because you don't know how to die quietly. win because you don't know how to lose'. who the fuck is doing it like david wymack

Kevin would not - could not - defend himself against Riko. Years of abuse and torture beat into him that he was to obey Riko.

But when Riko goes for Neil, Kevin tries to stop him. He catches Riko's arm, he lays a hand on him, he goes against him. Because protecting Neil, who at the time was just some random nobody Kevin was trying to mentor, was more important than his fear of Riko.

Neil kissed his survival instincts goodbye when he defended Kevin against Riko on TV, but Kevin also fought against his survival instincts to protect Neil from Riko just a few minutes later.

Is one of anyone else's favorite scenes in aftg that chapter in The Kings Men where the team is on the drive to Binghamton and Neil spends the entire second half of the trip talking to Andrew. Like:

Neil wanting to sit and talk exy with the rest of the team but that would mean Andrew would be left alone in the back of the bus.

Neil staring and not knowing what it was he found so interesting (beautiful) about Andrew's figure.

Neil calling Andrew just so Andrew would look at him and he'd be able to better study him. (And not being embarrassed or thinking anything of it because he is just admiring Andrew and he sees nothing wrong with that)

The whole "I knew I’d look out for only me when the world went to hell. I don’t want to be that person anymore. I want to go back for you.” conversation AND ANDREW GIVING IN

Neil talking about his life and all the places he's been and Andrew talking about his life after foster care (just the fact that they had this conversation with each other that they won't willingly have with anyone else)

ANDREW NEVER TAKING HIS EYES OR ATTENTION OFF NEIL AND LETTING HIM RAMBLE

I love something about Andrew being the one who tells Neil everyone is betting on his sexuality.

NEIL SAYING HE DOESNT SWING AND NEVER WILL BECAUSE THE ONLY PERSON HE WANTS IS ANDREW, followed by Andrew's "don't say stupid things", AND THEN FOLLOWED WITH NEIL'S "stop me" AND KISS (that he initiated)

Everything about this little portion of the chapter I love so much.

brat summer is over, let witch bitch autumn begin

Shhhhh the blorbos are sleepy