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Neil isn’t used to the way his heart beats so fast.
At first, he thought it was something bad and he would have to find out he survived so long only for his heart to give out at the most inconvenient time.
He quickly figures out it only happens around Andrew, and turns pink in embarrassment.
But Andrew is so handsome.
Neil buries his face into the pillow as his breathing speeds up. Andrew was doing nothing spectacular, sitting in the chair of Kevin’s desk with an open book and a small furrow between his brows as he focuses on the page.
Neil wants to reach out and smooth the furrow out his finger, wants to feel Andrew’s skin relax and soften. Wants Andrew to look at him with those warm brown eyes Neil loves so much.
Brown like coffee. Like old books, and his favorite sweater.
He would trail his finger up and twirl a blond strand of hair on his finger. Hair so soft and yellow it could’ve been spun gold, created by Arachne herself.
Neil liked Andrew’s hair. It smelled like cocoa butter and heat from the sun. It reminded him of when tropical heat lowered into colder, comforting warmth.
Neil's finger would follow the line down his nose, past the little bump to tap the button of it. Caressing the cheekbones with all his fingertips and making his way to the line of his jaw.
His jawline.
Andrew didn’t need knives when he had that sharpness just above his very appealing throat
Then down, and down and down he’d go…
“Neil?” Andrew’s tone is slightly annoyed, despite the blank look on his face. Gosh, did he have excellent control of his very handsome features.
“Yes?” Neil clears his throat after it comes out a little more high-pitched than he means to. “What?”
“Dinner.”
Neil nods in understanding. Dinner. He was too busy gushing over Andrew to remember something as silly as sustenance. “Do you want to go somewhere or order in?”
“In.” Andrew, confidence in Neil’s ability to provide, goes back to his book. Neil rolls over the couch so he can stand and goes to the cabinet where he keeps his phone.
An hour later they are eating across from each other, sitting on opposite sides of the coffee table as Andrew begins to summarize the book for Neil.
His voice is so deep. And husky. He wonders if it was like that before Andrew took up smoking.
“-then Peter died.”
“Oh no, not Peter.” Neil gasps, though he has no idea who Peter is.
“Yeah,” Andrew nods, slurping his noodles. “It was in the prophecy though, so it's not like he was going to make it.”
“Damn.”
Andrew brushes his teeth in little circles and doesn’t rinse his mouth because he says his teeth need all the help they can get. Neil thinks it's insane. But also very cute.
Andrew’s pajamas are Neil’s old joggers and his old Palmetto T-shirt he’s had since he was a freshman. He looks so domestic it makes Neil want to tear his hair out and keep him in a box. But that would be wrong. Also improbable. Andrew would surely stab him if he tried, and the refrigerator box he had found was much too thin for Andrew’s muscles.
Andrew doesn’t fall asleep quickly, instead of closing his eyes and letting Neil bore him to sleep by listing the stats of the 1998 Exy matches.
His breathing eventually stabilizes, and Neil finally shuts up, tilting his head at a slightly awkward angle to see if Andrew’s hair really does turn lighter with the moon shining down on him. He can’t quite tell, but he’s sure both the moon and the sun favor him.
Neil goes to sleep with a stupid smile on his face. It was a long weekend. And he had a lot of staring to catch up on.