Neil is there to protect the one who protects them all.
Andrew always knew how to protect. He sure has his own ways that many fail to understand but the bottom line stays the same.
With Neil coming into his life he gets to be something else than just the protector - which I want to talk about here.
The exy obsessed junkie who claims to only care about his own survival is the first one who sees beyond Andrews play - who sees that Andrew doesnāt take care of himself at all. Too busy keeping an eye on everyone to care about what happens to his own self. And Neil hates it furiously.
So Neil puts Andrew first.
Starting with his health. Exy is important to Neil but he knows Andrew needs to get off the drugs first. The foxes found it easier to deal with Andrew while heās on drugs, so they didnāt put much effort into changing that - Neil though. Neil saw what the drugs did to Andrew. So they had to get rid off it as fast as possible.
So he makes a deal. He gives up a piece of a truth, gives a promise and makes him go take care of himself.
He punches Riko because he couldnāt stop himself.
He agrees to go to Evermore - he agrees to torture just to keep Andrew save.
Afterwards he refuses to back down his care after being explicitly told to. āIf it means loosing you then noā.
After being brutally tortured, one of the first things he does is inspecting Andrews bruises. Inspecting Andrews bruises the same way Andrew inspects his. āAll that time fighting and you never learned how to duck?ā
He told the cops off when they indicated getting Andrew off him āyouāll what, asshole?ā
He was there in a heartbeat the second Andrew got pushed in the final game. And only backed off after checking Andrew was really alright.
For the first time Andrew has someone who has his back the same way he had the backs of everyone else for years. Andrew is fiercely protective and for the first time he is fiercely protected too.
āYou are a pipe dream.ā
