andrew and neil may not be soft but they do know devotion, and I feel like weâve got a fair bit to back that up with canon:
itâs in andrew taking neilâs weight time and time again, holding him up.
itâs in neil rushing to cover andrew with the bedsheets after thanksgiving.
itâs in neil asking betsy to put andrew off his drugs, because he was the only one who hated them & what they did to andrew as much as andrew did.
itâs in neil offering himself to rikoâs torture for two weeks to protect andrew.
itâs in andrew driving back from the interstate just to get neil from the stadium.
itâs in andrew calling all the hospitals over and over again, because he refused to stop looking for neil.
itâs in neil gently brushing his fingers against andrewâs temple and, âthey couldâve blinded you. all this time fighting, and you never learned how to duck?â
itâs in neil framing andrewâs face with his hands instead of touching him.
itâs in andrew refusing to let anyone near neil in his injured state, itâs in his firm âget away from us.â
itâs in neilâs âandrew, they want to take me away. they want to insert me in the witness protection program, I donât want toââ no, that wasnât fair. âif you tell me to go, Iâll go.â
itâs in andrew sitting in on neilâs interrogation with the fbi because, âI donât trust them to give you back.â
itâs in andrew sleeping in a room full of people just to keep neil in his line of sight after he was kidnapped.
itâs in neilâs quiet âheyâ when he noticed andrew hadnât spoken since they left baltimore.
itâs in andrew covering neilâs injuries with trash bags so that the bandages wouldnât get wet.
itâs in neil humming encouragement in andrewâs mouth when andrew was getting himself off, knowing how big of a step that was for him.
itâs in andrew showering him & carefully scrubbing away the horrors of baltimore.
itâs in neil saving the towel for andrew afterwards and choosing to air dry.
itâs in andrew buying a pair of matching armbands for neil to cover his scars, after he saw neil having a panic attack over them.
itâs in neil crossing the court in seconds the moment a player launched himself at andrew to knock the breath out of him & itâs in neil grabbing that same player (that was double his size) and throwing him away from andrew.
itâs in andrew dragging himself to neil, crumpled and unresponsive on the court floor, with a broken collarbone and limp hand & itâs in andrew somehow managing to choke his attacker before she could reach him again.
devotion is in both neil and andrew, and they wordlessly taught it to each other without expecting anything back. they found each other, realized that no, they werenât willing to lose each other, and gave their complete devotion to the other.
and I think thatâs far more special than softness or an half-assed âI love youâ.