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Neil had a split second to see Kevin's pass up to Jack, and also to see that Aaron had seen it to. He veered back and ran up the court, angling for exactly where Aaron would be able to launch it his way if and when he — yes!
"Aaron!" he called.
Aaron intercepted Kevin's pass to Jack, out-stepped him, and sent the ball flying back up to Neil. Neil heard Jack swear as he was out-maneuvered by Aaron and grinned fiercely as he took Aaron's pass and launched it. Andrew lazily stretched out his racquet, and it was just enough to stop the shot, and Neil felt irritation flare that he wasn't even trying, though Neil had known he wouldn't. The trial was too close; Andrew was drained. Honestly, that he'd even stretched out his arm was surprising enough. Andrew passed the ball to Nicky, his team's backliner, and Neil reset, only to be distracted by Kevin snapping at Jack for mouthing off when he should be focusing on the scrimmage.
Neil ignored it for now. Jack had beef with everyone. Not even his beloved Kevin Day was safe from his attitude or his scorn, and he certainly didn't hold his attitude back from Neil, either, even though Neil was the one who scouted him. Neil could physically feel his jaw get tighter and tighter every day as practice wore on and Jack consistently disrespected him and ignored his instruction or direction. It was even worse when Jack ignored Neil's advice and lost the play because of it — nothing pissed Neil off faster than losing based on avoidable mistakes or ego.
Today, though, Jack's ire was apparently directed at Aaron, because Aaron was his mark, and Aaron was also better. He wouldn't be better than Jack for long — Aaron wasn't a bad player, but he kept the sport at a clinical distance, as it was clearly a means to an end for him rather than a passion — but for now, he was, and it pissed Jack off like no other.
"Let's run it again!" Neil called, and Dan nodded her agreement. Wymack took the cue from Neil and Dan and blew the whistle, and the team started to reset.
Or, most of them did.
"Bet that guy you killed last year thought the same thing, huh?"
The words echoed through the court, and there was a split second of silence before Aaron shoved Jack suddenly and hard enough to take his ass to the ground. Dan called out in alarmed anger, and Neil jogged over, more surprised than anything. Aside from the one time Aaron had socked Neil in the mouth over getting Katelyn involved in his and Andrew's business last year, Neil had never known Aaron to show any actual kind of aggression. Just before Neil reached them, Matt got between them. "Whoa, whoa, what's going on?" he asked, putting a hand out towards each of them when Jack stood up, spitting and swearing.
The team naturally started closing in and Neil heard Wymack's whistle as Aaron told Jack, "You need to keep your damn mouth shut."
"Or what, you'll kill me?" Jack taunted.
Neil blinked, and felt his father's temper rear its ugly head. He glanced over towards Andrew's goal — everyone except for Andrew was gathered around already — and saw Andrew was walking leisurely towards them.
"Hey," Matt barked, looking at Jack with surprised anger. "Shut up, now."
"Yeah, whoa, let's not talk about things you don't know about," Nicky piped up.
"What the hell's going on, here?" Wymack snapped.
Aaron's gaze snapped to Wymack and then look around, clearly not having realized everyone had surrounded them already. Neil clocked the way his frame tensed up and knew instinctively he was feeling caged in and stifled. He glanced down at Aaron's arms, noted the way they were balled into shaking fists, and stopped just out of his reach. Aaron took off his helmet and Wymack looked at him, probably assuming Aaron was about to talk, but Aaron just dropped his gaze and glared at the court floor in another direction.
"Don't make me repeat myself," Wymack growled. "If there's a big enough problem to interrupt my practice, let's hear it. Now."
"Sounds like Jack finally heard about the trial," Allison finally told him. Aaron lifted his gaze and glared at her, but Allison was already glaring at Jack. "And knowing him, he's running his mouth."
"What, and you're siding with him?" Jack scoffed.
"Let's get one thing clear, asshole," Allison snapped. Neil took off his helmet and set it on the floor, and started taking off his gloves and letting them drop to the court floor as she spoke. Next to him, Andrew took off his helmet, but kept everything else on. "You don't know anything, and if you know what's good for you, you'll stop talking while you're only a little behind. But for the record, yes, I do, and anyone with a fucking brain would."
"Reynolds." Andrew's tone brooked no argument and no warning, only a promise, and she wasn't so pissed off that she wouldn't heed it. Neil knew what he was telling her. Stop making it sound like something Jack will want to look into. She glanced at Andrew and then kissed her teeth, but fell silent.
"Are we done gossiping, or can we get back to practice?" Wymack bit out through gritted teeth. Neil set his racquet in front of him, butt-down, and started looking at the netting, testing its tightness.
"That's it?" Jack laughed incredulously. "He's on trial for killing someone, and you're just gonna give him another murder weapon and set him loose on the court with us?"
"I told you to shut your damn mouth," Aaron said, stepping forward again, and only Matt's hand going back up stopped him.
"I'll fucking drop you where you stand, bitch," Jack snapped back, and he took a single step forward.
That single step towards Aaron was a single step too far, and Neil opened his mouth. "I'm gonna say this one time and one time only, so you better listen to me."
Aaron's head whipped to Neil, and from Neil's peripheral vision, he looked surprised to see Neil there, so close to him. Neil kept his eyes on the head of his racquet as he fiddled with the lacing of it. He spoke quietly, but he didn't waste a single word, and he didn't take the time to choose them carefully, either.
"You make a move on him, and you'll be dead before you hit the ground. Do you understand me?" Neil lifted his gaze and looked at Jack, though his fingers kept checking the strings of his net. "For what it's worth, Aaron's not the only one on this team with a body count. Maybe you heard the news last year. Maybe you know who I used to be." Satisfied with the netting, Neil leaned his forearm on the head of his racquet, then, and let his father's smile spread across the lower half of his face. He rested his chin on his arm and peered up at Jack, only to see his face had gone pale. "Maybe the next time you think it's a good idea to threaten my family, you should take a second and remember exactly who raised me." Neil raised his other hand hand to wipe the smile off his face, and let his eyes bore into Jack's, angry and intense. He lifted his chin off his forearm and asked, "Do I make myself clear?"
The court was silent. Every body standing in that small space stared at Neil, and Neil was aware, vaguely, that each one of those faces held varying degrees of shock and fear, but he was focused on the only one who was causing a problem. Jack swallowed, and Neil grew impatient.
"I asked if I made myself clear, Jack," he repeated, tilting his head just enough to look eerie and unsettling.
"I've got it, Jesus, you fucking creep," Jack spat, and stumbled a step back.
Neil blinked, then blinked a few more times, and settled his face back into something a little more neutral, like putting on a new shirt. "Oh, good," he said, and nodded. "In that case, we can get back to our scrimmage. Everyone, back in your places. Let's run it again!"
Neil stood still and waited while everyone else got back to their places. After a moment, and with much furious whispering and murmuring that Neil ignored, Neil, Jack, Wymack, Andrew, and Aaron were the only ones still standing in the same spot. Andrew bent down and grabbed Neil's gloves and helmet, and handed them over, touched Neil's sweaty hair, and walked back to his goal. Jack backed away a moment later, following Kevin barking his name. Wymack cleared his throat and called out instructions for a few players to make small changes, and then it was just Neil and Aaron standing there while Neil put his gloves back on.
While he tightened his gloves with his teeth, Neil glanced over at Aaron, only to find he was already staring at Neil in surprise. "Did he put his hands on you?" Neil asked him in an emotionless voice.
Aaron blinked and swallowed. "No," he said.
Neil nodded. "Good. Check him hard the next time you get a legal chance." He put his helmet on and took a step back towards his place.
"Neil —"
Neil looked over at Aaron, but Aaron didn't seem to know what to say. Neil took off his helmet, took a few steps closer to Aaron, and said, "Don't let some asshole decide what he gets to call you. You know why you did it. You know what was happening. If you let yourself feel sorry over what you did, you're letting yourself be okay with what he was doing. And I know you aren't, and so do you. If you can't play, get off the court and go run laps or something. Otherwise, get back to your mark and the next chance you get, put him on the ground. Yes or no?"
When Aaron didn't answer for a second too long, Neil put his helmet on and started walking away, trusting Aaron to take himself out of practice. But then he heard Aaron mutter, "Fuck yes," and he felt himself smile as he jogged back to his mark.
Neil was already up on the roof when Andrew finished writing his paper and joined him. He sat down so close their thighs touched and their arms brushed, lit two cigarettes, and passed Neil's over to him. Neil took a single drag and held it close to his face, inhaling the second-hand smoke greedily as he looked out over Palmetto.
"Dead before he hits the ground," Andrew intoned, and Neil snorted.
"Yeah," he agreed with a smirk. "Sounded pretty bad-ass, though, didn't it?" Andrew cut his eyes over at Neil and kept them there, staring and assessing. Neil hummed. "Staring." When Andrew didn't answer, and didn't move his gaze, Neil left Palmetto's skyline behind him and turned to look at him fully. "What?"
"Since when is my doppelganger yours to protect?" he asked. It wasn't defensive, nor was it irritated, but Neil still sighed and looked away.
"Oh, come on, Andrew," he protested, but Andrew didn't give it up. "Look, I know your deal's off, but he's still important to you. And even if he weren't…he didn't do the wrong thing. Just because Jack's stupid enough to run his mouth when he doesn't know anything doesn't mean I have to let it happen. And I'm not gonna let anyone throw a punch at him, either."
"Except you."
Neil rolled his eyes. "In my defense, he really deserved that hit. And I'm still mad he did it when he knew I couldn't hit him hard enough." Andrew snorted, and Neil squinted at him. "I never told you about that, though," he realized.
"It came up in a session with Bee," Andrew shrugged, taking a long drag. Neil hummed. Andrew's ears were red. Finally, Andrew exhaled and said, "You're a regular prince charming, aren't you? Defending my honor then, and defending his today." He looked over at Neil curiously, then looked away. "I might've thought I was special until you jumped to my brother's rescue, too."
Neil hummed again, trying to find a way to explain that — neither had really been about anyone's honor, but they had both been about Neil, about what was his, and also about Andrew, too. Carefully, he said, "I've never had anything that felt like it was mine. I know you're your own person," he clarified when he saw Andrew's brows raise. "I know you don't belong to me. But…somehow, it still feels like you're mine. I don't know how to explain it, but." He shrugged. "And in a different way, so are the Foxes. Our team. The nine of us, I mean. Maybe the others will start to feel like that, too, but. For now, just us. Kevin, Nicky, Aaron, and you, especially. You feel like you're mine, and I won't — I won't let somebody try to take that away from me again. I won't let anyone hurt you, not if I can help it." He felt his cheeks burning and stared at his cigarette to avoid Andrew's full-on stare. "It wasn't about defending your honor, or Aaron's. It was…protecting what's mine, sort of."
Andrew was quiet for a long time until he said, "You said it at the court today. Your family."
Neil's breath hitched. He hadn't realized he said it, but as soon as he heard it, he knew it was true. "Yeah," he agreed, eyes drifting far off as he considered it. "My family. Yeah. You're — you're my family."
Andrew didn't say a word until he sucked down the last of his cigarette, then stubbed it out on the roof next to him and flicked it over the side. "Yes or no?" he asked.
Neil didn't know if he'd ever sacrificed the rest of a cigarette so quickly.