aftg

protective Andrew

Jack was neck and neck with Neil, as he fought to get around him to the goal. Jack could keep up with Neil's dodges, but the other boy was just faster. Kevin shouted at him from the other end of the court, but Jack was tired of Neil always winning, and quite honestly, he didn't care anymore. He was pretty sure no one noticed it was intentional that he dropped his racquet right in front of Neil and 'accidentally' tripped him up. Dan immediately rushed over to help him up, but the damage had been done. None of the foxes trusted Neil to give them an accurate description of how much pain he was in, so, an arm around Matt and Dan, he hobbled off to the bench. The whistle blew.

While the other foxes made their way to the bench, Jack and Sheena headed to the edge of the court. "That'll teach him not to be so cocky." Sheena laughed but fell silent as Jack was pushed to the ground. Neither of them had noticed him come up behind them, and it was a bit late now as he stared down on Jack, racquet poised to stop him getting up and hazel eyes turned molten grey. He didn't speak. Jack finally broke the silence, "A-Andrew?" His voice shook in a way that made Andrew clench his fist to stop from punching him. He didn't answer, which appeared to make Jack even more nervous. Jack flicked his eyes to Sheena, hoping she could help, and she shrugged, before seemingly changing her mind and mouthing 'he hates Josten'. Jack understood, and his voice trembled far less when he spoke again, "We were just talking about our wonderful captain." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, everyone had heard of the famous Josten-Minyard rivalry.

Neil's pov:

"Dan, I said it a hundred times, I'm fine. Abby says it's just a twisted ankle, I'll be back on the court tomorrow."

Abby interrupted "Neil, which part of 'no strenuous exercise for a week' do you not understand?" but she was laughing, so Dan relaxed a bit. "Honestly, you lot will be the death of me." Abby went on, but she was smiling fondly. Allison sat beside Neil on the bench. From her position as dealer she would have had the best chance of seeing what happened, and Neil sighed as she said, "He did that on purpose didn't he." He turned to her, but didn't answer. "Neil, you could have been seriously injured! What if you had landed badly and broken something? We're playing the Trojans next week." She took a breath, "This is getting out of hand." Neil opened his mouth, but thought better of it, and stayed silent. Allison didn't push, but the look on her face said this conversation was not over. "Where's Andrew?" Neil changed the subject. Allison looked around, but Neil found him first. "Shit." He whispered, before dropping his racquet and sprinting towards where Jack lay on the ground. "Neil Abram Josten!" Abby shouted, then sighed exasperatedly, shaking her head. "It just goes in one ear and out the other."

Back in Andrew's pov:

Andrew's racquet came down, and Sheena screamed, but Neil was there. Andrew stopped a hair's breadth away from hitting him, and growled annoyedly. "Move."

"No."

Andrew snarled again, and went to push Neil out the way, raising his racquet again. Neil lifted his arms to frame Andrew's face, as close as he could get without touching him. "Andrew," Neil said, then stopped himself, he knew better than to say he was fine. "Stop."

"He hurt you." Andrew went to brush past him, but Neil didn't move.

"This doesn't fix it."

Andrew was still for a minute, then grumbled, but settled down, and Neil finally lowered his hands. "Home?" he asked, and Andrew nodded, but didn't follow Neil as he turned away. Instead he leant down to Jack and whispered too quietly for Neil to hear, "Touch him again and I will kill you." before turning and walking after Neil.

There was a quick 'yes or no', before Neil took Andrew's hand, while Jack and Sheena gazed on in disbelief. "Am I hallucinating or did that just happen?" Sheena whispered, as she went to help Jack up.

"But..." the boy answered, "they hate each other?"

It was Robin, who had snuck up behind them, that answered. "You two really are blind." Sheena looked from her to Neil and Andrew, then back again, before stuttering, "But... Neil's married. We saw his ring." 

Robin just laughed, "Who do you think put it there?"

vote/comment if you liked it xxxxx