#aftg exchange 2021 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

aftgficrec · 6 months

Note

ah I'm so excited you're open!!! thank you for the ridiculous amount of work you all do 🙏ok, this might be too specific but any fics with an alternate take on Andrew and Neil's post-trk reunion? Andrew gets out of easthaven early, Neil leaves the Nest later, AU's, etc.? i think it's a really interesting point in their dynamic, and I'm a sucker for sober Andrew realizing someone was watching his back for once

Feeling a bit like a Bernie Sanders’ meme – ‘I am once again asking myself why I spent so much time on an ask,’ 😅 but it's because this is such an iconic and beloved scene for our fandom. For a super fun ‘live’ first-time reader reaction to this high drama, check out ‘The King’s Men, Chapter 1 – Hello Foxhole, My Old Friend’ by @nickireadstfc here. -A

also see

Andrew's POV of throwing keys off roof here

‘Come and Save Me From It’ here (completed)

‘Learning To Feel (When You've Forgotten How)’ and the fandom meta posts here

‘pipedream’ here

‘reaching for the heights’ here

‘Lost boy’ and ‘[Un]broken’ here

‘I Know You From A Nightmare,’ ‘The Marks We Make,’ and ‘Draw Me Out, Mark Me In’ here

‘Marked’ and ‘Soulmates who can feel each other’s pain’ here

‘Of Stars and Stories’ here

‘What’s normal now?’ here

long previous recs with reunion mention

‘No More Fucks To Give’ here (updated)

‘The Sphynx and the Hare’ here (completed)

‘corvus, vulpes, lupus’ here

‘never fallen (from quite this high)’ here

‘Not a Pipe Dream’ here

‘everything and nothing begins with you’ here

Andrew gets sober, Neil stays at Evermore

‘Oh Raven,’ ‘Jailbird,’ and ‘Take to the Wing’ here

‘Scared to Live (But I'm Scared to Die)’ here

‘Comeback’ here

you may also like

in the dream I don't tell anyone (you put your head in my lap) by Fortheloveofexy [Rated T, 1850 Words, Complete, 2022, Locked]

The real Neil would never allow this, would not let himself be this vulnerable. The real Neil can barely stand to be around him. Andrew knows this. But Dream Neil? Dream Neil is a different story.

Will you be there when I come back? by Shamman [Not Rated, 299 Words, Complete, 2017]

Andrew is trapped in Easthaven with an eidetic memory and tries to focus his thoughts on the confusing image of Neil Josten's face. -Because however terrible it may look, Andrew's current circumstances are much less pleasant. Furthermore Bee has been making him sing and play the guitar in a very therapeutic attempt to make him express some sort of actual emotion over the past year.

tw: violent imagery

You Gave Me A Key And Called It Home by glintchi [Rated T, Collection, Complete, 2019]

Chapter 19: Yes, I Admit It, You Were Right [460 Words] Renee was waiting for him in the basement, fingers already taped, hair pulled back into a tuft of a rainbow ponytail.

Foxhole Tidbits by SpangleBangle [Collection Rated T/M, Updated 2018]

Chapter 14: My Friend, O My Friend [M, 953 Words] Prompt for Renee's reaction after Drake/Easthaven and Andrew's return.

tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced csa, tw: canonical character death

Did You Miss Me? by Deathandcommas [Rated G, 555 Words, Complete, 2023, Locked]

Aaron and Andrew have a late night chat after Andrew gets back from Easthaven.

tfw spoons by StrawBerryRains [Rated G, 216 Words, Complete, 2021]

Nicky offers Andrew ice cream when they arrive home from Easthaven.

A Taste of Your Own Medicine by caffeine_withdrawl [Rated M, 66454 Words, Incomplete, Updated March 2023]

Set after the infamous Thanksgiving, but then diverges from canon. Andrew and Bee decide it’s time for Andrew to come off the drugs, but works some magic so that he is allowed to do it in Columbia. Neil is tasked with helping him through it. They decide to do it the same way Andrew helped Aaron sober up, by locking him in a bathroom. Andrew doesn't react well, and switches between rage and panic. Andrew wonders if Neil is real or if he made him up because of the drugs.

tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: body horror, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced csa, tw: flashbacks, tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: drug addiction, tw: withdrawal, tw: vomit, tw: implied/referenced self harm, tw: ptsd, tw: emotional abuse, tw: hallucinations

making it harder to breathe by Azure_Allumiia [Rated T, 1643 Words, Complete, 2021]

Christmas Break with the Foxes, featuring Andrew at Easthaven and Neil in Evermore. Foxes celebrate New Years in NYC with the ball drop.

tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: rape/noncon, tw: medical abuse, tw: torture, tw: blood

Dead Birds by Noah98 [Rated G, 1601 Words, Complete, 2021, Locked]

Neil just got back from Evermore and Andrew has returned from Easthaven. Riko calls. He wants a rematch and oh boy does he get it.

tw: violence, tw: blood/gore

Art

NB: just a sampling of art for this scene

“Feel Again” original song by @whatbutandreil [Tumblr, 2020]

Picking up Andrew from Easthaven part 1, part 2 comic by @coldcigarettes

andreil keys off the roof scene: animation by @hahanken | comic by @rainbowd00dles | comic by @lunapiq | art by @esklinray

I hate you comic by @thematicallycoherent

I’m not a hallucination art by @clumsyartish

Stick around long enough to figure it out for yourself. edit by @m1nyards

You are a pipe dream art by @viennemort

“you spend all this time watching our backs” edit by @matthcwboyd

not a hallucination a pipe dream art by @kryptidfox

“you were supposed to be a side effect of the drugs.” art by @planetmontressor

"Go inside and leave me alone." art by @dimsunstuff

“No, you’re a pipe dream.” art by @starkingdraws

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lyndiscealin · 1 year

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I posted 393 times in 2022

32 posts created (8%)

361 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@paradoxolotl

@anfae

@imperfectcourt

@24-0z

@blogaboutyafavbirdboys

I tagged 66 of my posts in 2022

#aftg - 19 posts

#neil josten - 12 posts

#andreil - 11 posts

#andrew minyard - 10 posts

#all for the game - 6 posts

#writing - 5 posts

#vampire andrew - 3 posts

#fanfic writers - 3 posts

#writerscommunity - 3 posts

#writerscorner - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 100 characters

#andrew: tunnels neil. they will dig tunnels under important buildings. there won't be light. keep up

My Top Posts in 2022:

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Andrew Minyard, Jeremy Knox, Laila Dermott, Alvarez (All For The Game) Additional Tags: Trojans - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, AFTG Winter Exchange 2021, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Alternate Universe Summary:

Andrew never left California and ended up with the Trojans instead of the Foxes. This is just a peak at his life with them.

My @aftgexchange gift for the Winter Exchange 2021 for @ebbatriestowrite

I hope you like it

16 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

Belletristica

Hi!

Today I want to introduce you to my most treasured writing plattform! It just got it's proper integration for the english community (it's originally an Austrian plattform), so I am finally able to promote it!

Belletristica is different from anything you know so far. It's especially neither Wattpad nor AO3, it's something completely on it's own.

While a writing plattform, Belletristica is also a fictional world. You don't need to engage with the lore of that world, but I would lie if I'd say it isn't engaging and fascinating.

In this world you can collect Fairy Dust through posting stories, commenting them and engaging with the community in multiple chats and groups.

You can find treasures and crafting materials and after a long day of exploring you can sit down in the local Tavern to meet old and new friends.

One of the most precious things for me is the moderation of the site. Lead by the fearless Fairy Khaeli, the Order of Knights watches over the Kingdom to ban trolls and spamers and to help the good Belletristicans resolve their infighting. They are strict but fair. Every case is looked at individually and they are not afraid to ban someone, if they won't stop wreaking havoc in the community.

You are safe here.

See the full post

18 notes - Posted September 1, 2022

The most important plothole in AFTG:

Riko + Kevin are the perfect strikers

Neil + Jean were supposed to be the perfect backliners

Andrew would have been #5 as the perfect goalie.

Who was supposed to be the perfect Dealer??? And would there have been 2 of them? One Offensive and one Defensive dealer?

We will never know and it makes me very sad

56 notes - Posted July 22, 2022

Hey fandom Tumblr! We need your help over at twitter or by direct message over their site.

This is about The Storygraph. We got them to listen to us, but I think we need more voices here.

This is the tweet: https://twitter.com/thestorygraph/status/1518302585219956738?s=20&t=KFf3u_aA1-yAfp-sn3XPYg

Help us tell them that it is not okay to ignore the wishes of the author. Honestly it's also a very shitty thing to ignore published authors. Not taking Fanfiction down, though, is actively harming the fandom.

If you don't have a twitter account, you can also write them directly over their website https://app.thestorygraph.com/terms-of-service The 'Contact Us' Widget is in the bottom right corner.

Please reblog this so it can get some traction!

(resolved for now, thank you!)

61 notes - Posted April 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

One of the things I like about AFTG is that Neil is not portrayed as this super talented player who safes the day. He right out sucks at the beginning. Instead it is shown that he is working himself into the ground to get better. He lives and breathes Exy for the first half year in the books. He is the main character but he is not the best player on the team.

Instead he is the one who just brings the team to work together.

In the end he is not a bad Player anymore and I am not sure if his learning curve is realistic, I never played a sport even halfway professionally.

And though he isn't a bad player, he is still not the best on the field. Andrew is better than him, Kevin is better and Seth probably would have been better as well. Pretty sure Matt also has better stats than Neil has.

AND Kevin is the one who scores the winning goal against the Ravens. (and probably most of the other goals in that game).

I love this. Neil is the one who made this win possible, Neil is the one who learned the most inside of the year, but he isn't the best player on the field in the end. He might be in the future, he probably will (or at least he will be second to Kevin).

And Neil getting better is not some magical thing that just happens. It probably looks like 'he has so much talend' to the outside world, where in reality he is just overly dedicated and his life told him how to be perceptive as hell.

I just.. like that :D And wanted to share this with you. I like that at the end Kevin beats Riko and Neil beats him as well, just as a backliner. It's a very cool (and super dramatic and tbf a bit unrealistic) resolution of all the conflicts in the book.

133 notes - Posted July 22, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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rainbowd00dles · 3 years

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my Fall @aftgexchange piece for @lemonboyjosten who asked for Butcher!Neil and law enforcement!Andrew and my mind went to Killing Eve AU and I may be a little obsessed with it. I hope you Like it!

please do not use, edit or post my art to other sites

#despite this art ACAB #butcher!neil #aftg exchange #aftgexchange #aftg exchange 2021 #Andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #aftg #all for the game #cw knives #tfc #myart #killing eve au

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kevingayimeanday · 3 years

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Happy fall exchange!

This is for the fabulous @jeni182!

I hope you like it!

@aftgexchange

#all for the game #neil josten #foxes #aftg #andreil #andrew minyard #aftg exchange #aftg exchange 2021

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eloquent-apollo · 3 years

Link

This is my fic for @kevingayimeanday as part of the @aftgexchange !

The prompt I wrote was bedsharing for KevAaron! I hope u like the fic <3

Summary:

When the hotel makes a mistake scheduling rooms for the foxes, Aaron and Kevin end up having to share a bed together. When they wake up tangled up together, both of them would rather pretend this never happened, but when Kevin realises he can’t he takes matters into own hands.

And there was only one bed (oh my god there was only one bed)

#kevaaron #aftg exchange 2021

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lufwoodemilius · 3 years

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Hey everyone, I did this Pinch Hit for a Haunted House Andreil playlist for the AFTG Fall Exchange. I was totally inspired. Hopefully, it reflects the Haunted House and Halloween feel. This is for sambutwithbooks!!! I hope you love this Sam!! :) @aftgexchange https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj4t8aGZLva5Xo9jFrjtG49yAhjTm5WNY

#Halloween #AFTG #All for the Game #AFTG Halloween #AFTG Exchange 2021 #aftg fall exchange 2021 #Playlists #Andrew Minyard #Neil Josten #Andreil

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thatlosernoonelikes · 2 years

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Vacation-time up north, it is snowing, the streets are icy, and the power just went out. Great. It's getting cold!

This is for the @aftgexchange for @linecrosser , hope you enjoy it!!!!!

+Bonus Jerejean having a snowball fight

#aftg exchange #aftg winter exchange 2021 #aftg #tfc #andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #jerejean #jeremy knox #jean moreau #i really hope u enjoy this!!!!!!!

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wolfgangwithoutgang · 2 years

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best au?

tattoo artist! Andrew

cop! Andrew / butcher(retired)! Neil

cop! Andrew / butcherCop! Neil

firefighter! Neil

im ready to fight thats literally the best shit n i dont have enough of it

#aftg trilogy #all for the game #aftg shitpost #andreil #aftg hc #aftg headcanon #andrew minyard #neil josten #aftg neil #aftg incorrect quotes #aftg fic #aftg andrew #aftg kevin #aftg fandom #the foxhole court #kevin day #aftg fanfic #aftg fall exchange 2021

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fuzzballsheltiepants · 3 years

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Betsy Dobson & Andrew Minyard, Kevin Day & Andrew Minyard Characters: Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten, Kevin Day, Betsy Dobson, Mary Hatford Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - No Exy (All For The Game), Alternate Universe - College/University, Road Trips, friends to strangers to lovers, an inordinate amount of ducks, Fluff and Light Angst, just a smidgeon, Kissing, slightly softer background, AFTG Fall Exchange 2021, Andrew & Aaron were adopted by Bee in middle school, AFTG Exchange Summary:

Andrew Minyard had it all planned out. He'd drive home to New Hampshire for fall break, stopping to check out some law schools along the way and having his existential crisis in private. Except somehow Neil Josten ends up tagging along, and nothing ever goes quite as planned, does it?

My gift for @theicequeenwrites for the @aftgexchange! Sorry I'm so last minute but I hope you enjoy it! Read it here!

#aftg #all for the game #tfc #the foxhole court #andrew minyard #neil josten #andreil #no exy au #college au #road trip #fall aesthetic #is this a little bit of a love letter to fall in new england?#maybe #maybe so #mild existential crisis #and a whole lot of ducks #my writing #aftg exchange #aftg fall exchange 2021

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doodlingstuff · 3 years

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My @aftgexchange Fall gift for @linecrosser is here! Hope you like how all your prompts were thrown into the blender and poured into one fic 😁

---

Soulmates existed for as long as anyone could remember.

A mark on the inside of the wrist, made by tiny black blocks that shifted to reveal a name when the soulmate was close enough.

However, there was a downside that no one liked to speak of.

Every twenty years, those who hadn’t found their soulmate yet, would be turned into monsters lead by someone who wasn’t meant to have another half.

The army of monsters made of humans longing for something as simple as love would hunt down their Soulmate until one of them was dead.

But we all know that love is anything but simple and sometimes, it’s not so easy to find it when the leader of the group is seeking revenge. Even if such a pure love was meant to be from the very beginning.

This is a story among many. A story of true love found in the strangest of holidays: Halloween.

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curvedyellowfruit · 3 years

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My giftfic for Tansie for the Fall 2021 @aftgexchange. My prompts were Astronomy AU, Kandreil and Epistolary fic. I hope this is what you had in mind! Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kevin Day/Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Kevin Day/Neil Josten Characters: Kevin Day, Neil Josten, Andrew Minyard Additional Tags: Astronomy, Alternate Universe - No Exy (All For The Game), Long-Distance Relationship, Epistolary, Established KevNeil, Eventual kandreil, Polyamory Negotiations Summary:

Neil and Kevin are long-term boyfriends, living in Washington DC and working at NASA as research astronomers. Kevin encourages Neil to take up a year-long secondment opportunity at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. They keep their spark alive by exchanging regular emails, but to their surprise, a certain new colleague (Andrew) starts to take up more and more space in their correspondence, and their lives…

#aftg #tfc #kandreil #aftg fic #aftg exchange #aftg exchange fall 2021 #my writing #andrew minyard #kevin day #neil josten

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intangibel · 2 years

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Forehead kisses by Intangibel (duskbutterfly)

Summary:

“Either pine more quietly or ask him,” Andrew says abruptly, pushing off the wall and strolling across to survey the frankly obscene array of cut fruit Matt is laying out on a platter as they wait for Neil to join them for their weekly sparring practice. He’s tired of watching this train wreck. It ceased to be interesting when he realised Boyd didn’t have the guts to ever do anything about his Eiffel tower sized crush on Andrew’s boyfriend but was also in deep enough that he wasn’t about to get over it in this lifetime without assistance.

Or Matt has what he thinks is the most ill advised unrequited crush on his two best friends in the history of ever. It’s a good thing Andrew’s used to dealing with idiots.

For @autumnalpalmetto & @aftgexchange

#aftg #aftg winter exchange 2021 #Mandriel #Matt/Neil/Andrew #Neil/Andrew/Matt #polyamory #ot3 #Matt boyd #andrew minyard #Neil josten #the foxhole court #all for the game

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imperfectcourt · 3 years

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It's exchange fic time!

#aftg #andrew minyard #neil josten #andreil #all for the game #my writing #aftg fall exchange 2021

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mystrana · 2 years

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For @sagelovesyellow for the @aftgexchange winter exchange!

Teen And Up Audiences Kevin Day/Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard Childhood Friends AU, High School AU, Not Canon Compliant, Humor, guidance counselor wymack

Today happens to be Neil's first day at high school, and after a year without his best friends/boyfriends, he's happy to be back to causing chaos with them.

#sagelovesyellow #aftgexchange #aftg winter exchange 2021 #kandreil

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patroklosandachilles · 3 years

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hello from the void, I have come to post my gift for the @aftgexchange!! it’s for @cinnamonfoxjosten who requested a time travel fic so how could i not make andreil meet patrochilles? hope you enjoy it!!

#aftg exchange #aftg fall 2021 exchange #aftg #andreil #aftg fic

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abraxos-is-toothless · 3 years

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white lights and tiny blonde angels

This is my @aftgexchange Fall 2021 piece for @lyndiscealin

I’ve been at work all week so I had to wait to post this today and then tumblr wouldn’t let me. This is all from an edit in my drafts, but a moment ago, tumblr let me post half of the fic. This is a new post with that first half and then the second will hopefully go up sometime tomorrow.

I am so sorry for this delay but work is work I’m afraid. I loved your long prompt so I’ve made a note of that one to fingers crossed, try and write as a gift for you. I went with this time Neil getting hurt though you won’t have a proper ending yet. Hope you like it!!!

Neil thought going for his run an hour or so before sunset on Halloween was a brilliant idea.

How wrong he was.

The streets were clear of kids at this time of the day, the sky not yet dark enough to create that added fear factor of walking around in creepy costumes and asking strangers for sweets. Neil frowned as he slowed his pace to side step an old lady walking her yappy dog. She gave him a little smile which he returned politely before picking back up some speed. He and Kevin, his adoptive brother, had not long moved to Palmetto and he was still unsure of the areas surrounding their apartment. Their dad, David Wymack, had moved out here years ago after they had both finished high school and were going to college in Boston. He’d only stayed out near Baltimore to not upend either Kevin or Neil’s lives, but once his boys were no longer at home, he took up a coaching position at PSU. Neil couldn’t blame him for wanting to move away; he suspected living in a place that no longer housed his deceased wife was hard. But he’d done it for them. Because he loved them.

He was happier out here now, loving his job, his new house with quiet neighbours, and he was in a new relationship with his team’s nurse, Abigail Winfield. They’d been together for a few years now, but Neil hadn't been able to meet her in person until they'd moved here. He remembered the video call coming through while he was in his college dorm room one day, his roommate Matt Boyd had not been in the room at the time. His dad had looked nervous, and it was weird for Neil not to see him,as his usual stoic self. When he’d asked Neil if it was okay for him to start seeing another woman, he had been confused. He and Kayleigh had only adopted a year before cancer had quickly taken his adoptive mother away from him. Still, his dad refused to let Abby into their lives unless both he and Kevin were fine with it. Neil had laughed as if someone had told him a joke, because of course it was fine. Since then, the woman would call them every week, fretting and fussing as any mother would. She was very excited to have them living so close now, and Neil smiled at the memory of her excitement a month or so back when he and Kevin said they were moving out to Palmetto. Kevin to work alongside their dad as an assistant coach, and Neil to join PSU as one on one Math tutor.

He was brought out of his reverie to the loud scuffling of shoes over gravel, loud enough to be heard over the music coming through his ear phones. He halted to a stop, pulling them out. Getting lost in his own head had caused him to go off of his usual route around the block. It was down a slightly darker, more rougher looking street, a few shifty looking people making their way into a run down apartment building. He suspected it was one of the small drug outlets for a town like this. The scuffling happened again but louder this time, and more importantly, it was closer. He turned on his heel looking behind him but he couldn’t see anything other than the flicker of street lights kicking in. He pulled out his phone, intent on calling Kevin, seeing as his brother was going to be on his way home from their dad’s place when he felt hot breath at his neck, and words whispered in his ear that he had not heard since he was a child.

“Hello there Junior.”

Neil spun away only to be gripped tightly on his biceps by strong hands and pushed further into a dark alley between two buildings, stumbling over his own feet and falling face first, He barely had time to use his hands to break the fall, pain spiking as the ground tore at the skin of his palms. “Now Nathaniel, is that any way to greet old friends? By trying to run away?” Romero Malcom’s low drawl made him freeze up, twisting to face both of his attackers slowly. The other man’s face was an angry sneer, seeming satisfied with the sight of Neil laying at his feet. Lola, however, was manic and almost feral looking. There was a knife in one of her hands, the fingers of her other running across the blade.

“You helped put Nathan in that hell hole, and a few days ago, someone from the inside did him in. They killed him and now you’re going to pay for a life that shouldn’t have been taken so soon.”

Neil laughed at that information, that Nathan was dead and gone, finally, and he didn’t stop laughing even as the two advanced on him.

He stuttered, when a cold blade met the skin of his cheek, cutting deep but he still laughed.

He laughed still when they dragged him deeper into the alley by his hair.

And he laughed through broken screams when Lola took a lighter to his face and arms, and Romero buried a knife in his abdomen.

He laughed and laughed and laughed as the world went dark.

oOoOo

Neil came around again, lying flat on his back and staring at the stars, stones digging into his sling. His body was on fire, pain radiating everywhere. He lifted a shaking and brutalised hand, pressing it to his lower stomach. Blood seeped through between his fingers, and his shirt was soaked through from more than just sweat. He was pretty sure he’d been lying in a pool of his own blood for a while.

He turned his head, finding his phone smashed to pieces a few feet away. Neil cursed under his breath. He tried opening his mouth to call out for help, but stopped instantly when he pulled at the wounds on his face, feeling blood run down his cheeks. His other hand shifted, fingers twitching against something rough. When Neil managed to look down again, there was a much larger rock next to him. He grabbed at it, ignoring the way the burns on his knuckles screamed in protest. With all the strength he could muster, he banged that rock against a trash can that had fallen over to his left.

He didn’t stop even when his eyes started to close.

He was just so tired.

oOoOo

There was a murmuring of voices, calling out to him. He told his dad that he just wanted five more minutes. He didn’t have school, it was the weekend.

“Come on, open your eyes dude. I’m not your dad, you’ve been hurt. Can you tell me your name?” Neil blinked slowly against a bright light. Oh, he knew this light, that light you saw right at the end. He didn’t want to die yet.

“You’re not going to die. An ambulance is on the way, but you gotta keep those eyes open.” He blinked again and realised he was seeing double. Two tiny blonde people hovering over him. The light gave them halos. How lovely. “Your vision is fine, and we’re not your angels. My brother is currently keeping pressure on that stab wound.”

Right. Lola. Romero.

Oh god Kevin was probably losing his damn mind. His dad and Abby too. He always called at the same time every day, always. “My dad, he…” he tried to move but screamed in agony. Neil relented to the hand pushing him back down. “I want my dad. Phone broke.”

He heard sirens getting closer, and the tiny blonde bear his head disappeared. The one with his hands on Neil’s stomach shifted so Neil could see him. “Whoever did this, they did quite the number in your face.” Neil flinched, because he just knew Abby was going to have a meltdown when she saw him. “Hey. You’re still attractive there, under all this grime. If I’d met you under different circumstances, I might have tried to bring you home with me.” Neil coughed, it wet and made him ache so much worse.

“I’m not, not…”

“Don’t talk anymore. You’ll hurt yourself. You can shut me down later. Name is Andrew. Do you want to tell me yours now, so I can give something to the paramedics who are coming over?”

“Neil. Is Neil.” His head spun and there were the heavy sounds of people running towards him.

And then he was out again.

oOoOo

Everything was white. Oh so very white. Machines were beeping and there was something attached to his hand. It was itchy. Out. He should take it out and the bad itchy itch would go away. Before he could pull on the offending item, a warm strong hand wrapped around his own. “That’s there for a reason, you know.”

He wanted to explain to the stranger about the big bad itch, but his mouth was as dry as a goddamn desert. “Wa…” the words cut off when bandages pulled at sore skin and he hissed.

“You can have ice chips.” Neil tried to force himself to sit up at the other voice, eyes running around the room. “Stop that, you’ll pull your stitches. Do you want to start bleeding out again?”

“Aaron, stop. Go see if his family has turned up yet.” The tiny blonde by the door, Aaron, huffed and disappeared from the room. Neil looked around again, realising he was in a hospital room. He turned his head to the other tiny blonde who had come closer, gently trying to feed him a tiny piece of ice. After one or two pieces, he waved one of his hands about, and the other man retreated. He sat in a chair by Neil’s bed.

“Wha’ ‘appened?” His words were a little slurred, but at least his tongue was no longer stuck to the roof of his mouth.

“My brother and I were on our way to meet our cousin when we could hear banging. Thought it was just some kids messing around for Halloween, but it was a constant sound, a repetitive tone. We followed it and found you lying there nearly dead.”

Ah yes. It was assaulted with an onslaught of images then. Lola and her lighter, Romero breaking his phone so he couldn’t call for help. They’d intended to let him bleed out and die, right there in that alley, alone. Neil’s breath hitched and one of the monitors started beeping rapidly. Kevin and his dad and Abby, they wouldn’t have known. They would have had some cop knock on the door to say he wasn’t coming home. The blonde man beside him, who Neil remembered had said his name was Andrew, went to press a button by his bed when a group of people stormed into the room.

His panic dissipated at the sight of his family standing there, looking haggard but so full of relief. “Jesus Christ. What the hell have they done to you?” It was Kevin who spoke but his dad was the first to the side of his bed. David Wymack was not a man who liked when his kids were put into harm's way.

“You didn’t call. You scared the hell out of us, kiddo.”

Neil smiled as much as he could. “I’m okay.” There was some more shuffling and Neil could see the two blondes who’d helped him trying to slip out of the room as his family crowded around him. “Wait.” The two meant stopped, both a mirror of the other with the way they had their hands in their pockets, and Neil also realised they were in blue scrubs. Probably Neil’s fault from all the blood he’d lost. They turned, Aaron flicking his eyes between everyone in the room but Andrew, the one who thought him attractive for some reason, only had eyes for Neil. “Thanks for saving my life.” Aaron simply nodded and turned to walk out of the door but Andrew didn’t follow immediately. He smiled at Neil, just a little one but a smile nonetheless.

“You can thank me with coffee when you’re all healed up. Number is on the table. You never did get to shut me down.” He winked and gave a two finger salute before disappearing to follow his brother.

“Only you, son, could say you had your first dating experience by almost dying.”

“What?”

Abby came over to run her fingers through his hair checking him over. “Ignore your father. You don’t need to worry about anything right now. We’ll talk about the birds and the bees later.”

Kevin laughed, but not as loud and hearty as he would usually, when Neil frowned. He gripped Neil’s knee under his blankets tightly, the only part of him that didn’t feel like it was on fire. “So oblivious, baby bro. It’ll make sense soon enough.”

Underneath all of their relief and happiness, Neil felt like they were all a bit too smug. As if they knew some secret that he didn’t.

He pushed it all aside to figure it out at a later date.

Right now, he was just glad to be alive and kicking.

#neil josten #andrew minyard #kevin day #aaron minyard #abby winfield #david wymack #aftg exchange #aftg fic #aftg #all for the game #aftg fall exchange 2021

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