Just a writing exercise of headcanons.
Neil mourned for the kid he knew from Little League, the one who always had a smile on his face and dreamed of being a star. He hadn’t known much about Kevin when they were kids, but that wasn’t necessary for him to be able to know they were friends. It was shown in the way that Kevin would run over as soon as Neil entered the court, immediately bombarding the auburn-haired boy with new play ideas. It was shown in the way that Kevin would cheer when Neil blocked a striker from the goal. It was shown in the way that Kevin had clung to Neil during breaks before he had Jean to use as a buffer between himself and Riko.
Sometimes, Neil missed the way that friendship was so easy when they were kids.
Childhood friendship was like a warm dream, comforting and all-consuming at once. Kevin and Neil weren’t innocent of the world around them as kids; they had each seen their own horrors. But it was as if those horrors didn’t matter as long as a racquet was in their hands and there was a game to be played.
And that’s what held them together now, the easy and familiar game that meant so much to two little boys who deserved better childhoods than the world had afforded them. What is different now is that Neil knows things about Kevin. Neil knows that Kevin’s favorite color is red. He had mumbled the truth while they were watching an old match from the University of Southern California. When Neil asked why, Kevin explained that it was his mother’s favorite color, that he could remember their red kitchen in Ireland, and that Kayleigh always kept her nails painted to match the deep color.
Neil knows that Kevin is a secret Queen fan. He recognized a familiar tune humming from the striker’s lips during one of their night practices. Kevin looked surprised that he knew the song, but Neil explained that it was his mother’s favorite band. That the one splurge she would allow herself was to buy CDs of the band to play during long car rides. That she would hum the same tune as she tried to get his younger self to fall asleep in ratty motel beds or as she stitched up his side with dental floss.
Kevin took Neil’s truths the same way he took Kevin’s, with acceptance and without question.
There are other things he now knows. Like how Kevin loves everything history-related and never misses a chance to tell someone a quick fact. That he prefers to listen to classical music when studying, or that he used to play the piano with his mother as a boy. When Neil asked if he still knew how to play, the older man said no.
Neil knows that Kevin loves cardio but hates weights, and that he prefers to swim than run. That his favorite vegetable is broccoli, and he loves to add spice to every meal since it wasn’t allowed in the nest.
These facts seemed inconsequential on paper, but Neil hoards these truths like prized possessions. He had never given up following Kevin’s story in the media when he was on the run, unable to forget his first friend. But now he actually knew the man in the pictures he had kept, the boy within the player, the friend behind the teammate.
He didn’t realize that he finally knew Kevin until the day that he had to let him go.
Kevin’s graduation had crept on Neil like a bad virus, slowly and with a sudden onslaught of pain. Not only was Neil losing Kevin, but he was also losing Matt. Matt, who had accepted Neil before anyone else, had tried to make him feel at home before he knew what home was. But Neil wasn’t worried about Matt. The tall backliner had Dan to look after him when he graduated. Matt signed with the New York Knights, happy to be in the same state where Dan was currently coaching at the high school level and where his mother lived. But Kevin would be alone.
Being the top Class 1 Exy striker meant that Kevin had offers the second that his senior season started. He had kept them waiting, wanting to see who all would offer before he made his decision in March, right after the Foxes won the championships for the second time in a row. He decided to play for the Seattle Seahawks. To move across the entire country.
He couldn’t be upset with Kevin’s decision. The Seahawks always ended up making it into the finals, but they have never been able to reach the championships. Kevin was confident that he would take them all the way, and Neil was happy for him. But it still felt like he was choking on a hot iron when he thought about Kevin leaving.
He knows that Kevin is pushy about the team’s health, but that it was from a place of love. That the elder striker would nag Andrew about his diet choices, but it was because he wanted to play Exy with the goalie for as long as he could. He knows that Kevin had the team’s dietary restrictions memorized, that Kevin knew Renee was vegan, and sent her articles about how to keep her protein levels up.
Kevin is pushy, Kevin is rude, and Kevin could be a lot. But Neil had grown to find comfort in the pushy way that Kevin loved someone, and he doesn’t know how he will go on without that level of care.
2087
jacobvanloon
dededos
kianamaiart
annaxmalina
