Short AnderPerry Fic (Ghost!Neil again~!)
I'm wondering who's holding Toddy now?
Based on Who's Holdin' Donna now - DeBarge
Neil's soundless footsteps finally made their way to Welton. He'd died not to long ago but he'd hope to have learned how to fly by now, he is a ghost after all. But he's been away from his friends for long enough to realize they weren't in Welton anymore.
How long has it been?
His soul was tied to Welton, unsurprisingly. He couldn't move on, especially for one simple fact: Todd Anderson.
There were one too many chances he' end up with Todd, so many times they've held each other, close enough to hear each other's heartbeats, close enough that you could tell what feelings lay underneath their flannel shirts.
Neil would hold him close when he was having one of those days. Days when he felt small, when he felt like a burden, days he couldn't sleep because of something that happened mere hours prior.
Todd always asked for Neil's embraces, it was anyone's bet if it was platonic or romantic. Everyone knew that Neil was the one who'd hold Todd without question. Laced with those moments were times he'd share nicknames with him. 'Toddy' he'd call him, 'Neily?' Todd replies unsurely yet playfully, saccharine moments filled with impractical word choices.
Sometimes Neil would need Todd's hugs too, to help him calm down when he had another spat with his Father, if he needed someone to keep him on Earth the same way he did for him.
Now, Neil doesn't feel the same pain- he was free from his father's choking hands after all. But he knew Todd was still out there, still probably blaming himself, still overthinking every word he has and has yet to say, still probably cold.
Neil wondered, as he sat on his empty bed, in his former dorm room:
"Who's holding Toddy now?"
