Rainbow Connection, AFTG ✔️

2.16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
PORTER

Neil was gone for the whole weekend. His interrogation with the FBI felt endless, and the Foxes had to rent enough hotel rooms to compensate for everyone. In the chaos of it all, Porter sought out Kevin.

"Did you know about...Andrew and Neil?" Porter wasn't sure what to say about them. Did you know they were dating? No, that didn't seem to fit either of them. Hooking up seemed even less likely. But they were there, being they, and Porter wanted to know -- had Kevin known?

"I was never told," Kevin didn't answer the real question.

Porter might have asked if they knew about the two of them, but if he had, too many factors would pop up. The two of them had never acknowledged their relationship. Porter liked to think of Kevin as a boyfriend, but that had never really been said. If Porter asked about them, Kevin might just say that them wasn't a real thing.

Kevin could love him, yes, but Kevin still had many things to overcome. Porter did too, he knew that. Maybe saying words like boyfriend were too much.

Andrew probably didn't know, either way. In the Nest, Kevin had been clear -- no one could know. There were no relationships in the Nest, and no one knew that either of them was gay. If one person had known, just one, Kevin would have dropped Porter instantly; Porter knew that as fact.

They were so different now. Porter and Kevin had gotten so far away from Castle Evermore, and yet, they still had so many ties there. Vincent and Jean. Riko and the scars across their bodies. Porter could still feel Riko's hands on him, hear his cold, amused laugh; Kevin must handle the same burdens, he thought. Because of that, and because of other facts including Kevin's own relationship with homosexuality in general, Porter assumed the same rules applied.

Still, he liked the fantasy where Kevin loving him meant Kevin would keep him through the storm.

-

The Foxes were sitting one to a row. Usually, they left space between the upperclassmen and Andrew's group, but tonight, Nicky, Aaron, and Kevin had settled direction behind their older teammates. Neil arrived with Andrew in front of him, watching the scene.

Andrew moved past all of the Foxes and sat in his usual seat. Neil followed without words, sitting in front of Andrew and leaving a two-seat gap between him and the rest of the Foxes.

Most of the Foxes slept on the bus. It was a long drive, and the weekend was severely exhausting. Once, Wymack parked the bus outside a gas station. It took three Foxes to carry back enough coffees for everyone. A couple minutes later the Foxhole Court rolled into view outside their windows.

Porter's shoulders relaxed; home.

Wymack killed the engine, and the Foxes filed off the bus and divvied up their gear. Though Neil tried to help with his bad and the trays of coffee, Matt and Dan refused to let him use his wrecked hands on anything.

They trailed inside and settled down in the lounge. Dan, Renee, and Allison handed out drinks. Wymack had filled a plastic bag with snack foods, everything from powdered doughnuts to chips, and he upended it on the table for everyone to dig through. Nicky pulled a protein bar from the mix and passed it to Neil. Andrew had to open the foil wrapper for him — when Neil tried, he hissed through clenched teeth and tended at the pain.

Kevin leaned forward to look past Andrew at Neil. He spoke in low but urgent French. When Neil answered dismissively, Kevin emphasized and touched his tattoo. The burn, Porter thought.