Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Neil was mucking out Papa's stall when he heard it.

Having put all the horses but Katana out to roam — because Katana picked on Dolly sometimes — Neil didn't expect much noise to be coming from inside the barn. He looked over to Katana, took in her flat-back ears, and continued on, scooping up hay and manure as casually as he pleased.

"Aw, come on, now, Katana, it's only me," Neil soothed her from her place a few stalls down. "You know I'll get over to you soon."

Katana nickered at him, stomped a hoof, and Neil continued on as if nothing was amiss. He finished mucking out Papa's, then Goliath's, stalls before moving all his equipment to sit in front of Wildflower's stall, across from the barn's only empty stall and next to Juniper's, whose stall was next to Katana's. Neil wasn't surprised in the least to find a grown — but short — man laying down in the empty stall, not with the way Katana was dancin' in her own. He was, however, surprised to see the man was naked as the day he was born, and brandishing a hoof pick like a knife out in front of him. Pallid and sweating, he looked like he done fell face-down in a sticker patch and run over by cows. Neil stared at him, unbothered, and the man said raggedly, "Back the hell up. I will hurt you."

Neil snorted. "Not like that, you won't," he answered, and turned and walked away. When he came back, the man was quick to put the hoof pick right back up, wielding it with a muscled but trembling arm. Neil ignored it and threw a stable blanket on top of him. The weight of the fabric shoved his arm down and the man shivered as he pulled it up over himself better. "You mean to cause any trouble?" Neil asked him, eyeing him critically. "Or you just need some hair'a the dog 'fore I call someone to come collect your sorry ass?"

The man glared up at Neil, but Neil didn't back down. "I could stab you right now," the man threatened, but his tone was sullen, almost chastened. Neil snorted again and the man shifted and winced. "Just give me a minute," he said eventually.

"Sure," Neil nodded. "You take your time. But touch any of my critters or my kids, and I'll shoot you dead, you hear me?" The man glared at him some more and bared his teeth at him like a feral animal, but when Neil rested his hand on his gun at his belt, he sighed and nodded. "Good," Neil said. "You rest up. I'll bring you a drink, soon as I finish seein' to my horses."

The man didn't thank him, but he didn't reject the offer, either, so Neil went to grab a lead for Katana and brought her out to the ring, far away from Dolly. He closed up the stables and whistled long and loud, then let out two high-pitched yips, warning the farmhands — his four teenaged kids — away from the barn for now. Usually, they used that call for stray animals or snakes until they could trap 'em and put 'em down, but it worked for this, too, so Neil didn't feel bad.

Neil went to the house and scrawled out a note, then folded it up and grabbed Cat, his youngest girl and gave it to her. "Need you to take Ducati and ride bareback up to that ol' house on the hill," he said, gesturing at the paper. "Give 'em this note and come right back. Don't wait on a response."

Cat looked at him, a little wide-eyed in her youth. "Coach's house?" She asked. "I thought you said we wasn't supposed to go up there, though," she breathed, looking over the distance.

"You ain't," Neil said firmly, "but I can't go right now; I got business to tend to here. You're the only one I know can ride up that hill bareback without being reckless. So go on up there, knock on the door all nice-like, and tell whoever answers to give that letter to Coach right away, from down at the horse stables. Then, I want you to get back on your horse and come right back. Don't you linger, even if they ask you to. They know the way, and they don't need your help, got it?"

"Yessir," Cat answered, and bit her lip. "But — but what if they —"

Neil took off his holster and handed it to her. "You shouldn't have no problems, since you're one of my kids, but you know what you're allowed to do, same as anyone: if they ain't takin' no for an answer, you fire a warnin' shot right near their feet, and ride like hell."

Cat gasped and her eyes flew from the gun to Neil's face rapidly, like she wasn't sure if she believed him or not. She nervously took the holster and put it on as she asked, "Why do I gotta ride bareback, though?"

"Barn's closed right now," Neil said flatly. "Copperhead."

If Cat realized it wasn't season for them to be active, she didn't voice it, already nodding and taking a deep, fortifying breath. "Okay," she said, mostly to herself. "I can do this."

"I'll expect you back in half an hour, tops," he told her, making sure his voice was pitched to be a warning. "Straight there, straight back, you hear me? Don't you make me send people out searching for you."

"I won't," she promised, and hurried off to go find her horse, a fast blue roan Quarter Horse named Ducati. A few minutes later, she was out on off, her fingers tangled in his black mane as she rode him fast, her braided pigtails flying behind her. Neil watched her go, checked his watch, and nodded before he went back inside. He filled up a bottle of water and poured a single shot of whiskey, then snagged a banana and headed back out to the barn.

When he entered, he called out, "Brought you a drink and a half-ass breakfast; if you try and take me out with that hoof pick, I'll be mighty pissed at you."

There was a huff and the man's voice called, still from the empty stall, "I won't."

Neil hummed and shut the barn back up, though he didn't lock it, and moved slow and assured towards the empty stall. The man was sitting up now, blanket pulled up tight around him like he was freezing even though it was March, and he was out of the breeze. Neil pulled the stall open and paused when the man tensed. "Only here to give you a shot of whiskey and some water," he said. "You look like you been rode hard and put away wet. I ain't gonna touch a hair on your head."

The man glared at him, though, so Neil set the drinks down slowly and slid them towards the man with the toe of his boot. The man had naturally picked an empty stall unoccupied by horses, but that also meant the floor was cold and hard underneath him, likely mighty uncomfortable to be on. But at least it enabled him to slide the shot glass and the cup over toward him without it tipping over. When both drinks were close enough for the man to reach them, Neil stepped back and shut the door to the stall, leaning his arms over top of them, watching him.

The man snatched up the shot glass, sniffed it, then threw it back, grimacing just a bit. He did the same with the water, and Neil's brow rose. "I could just bring the hose in here, if you're that thirsty," he offered with a smirk. "Or I s'pose I could haul you out into the paddock and toss you into the trough. Though, Princess might have a fit over it. She's still young, and she's quite sassy. Still thinks everything is hers."

The man's brows furrowed. "Princess?" He asked.

"Yes, dumplin'?" Neil asked back, and then laughed when the man glared. "I'm just teasing. You look more like a punkin', anyhow."

"Why aren't you afraid of me?" The man blurted out, looking angry.

Neil raised a single eyebrow as he leaned hard on the door. "Ought I be?" He asked mildly. "Way I see it, you're huddled up in a stranger's barn, naked as a babe, hungover, and prolly hurt. I, on the other hand, am upright, fresh as a daisy, and have a gun." He didn't, actually, have a gun at that moment, since he hadn't grabbed another one when he'd given the one on his belt — the one with special bullets — to Cat, but this man didn't need to know that. "I don't see a reason to fear a man's clearly down on his luck. I'd've told you that earlier, only I don't like to kick a man when he's down."

"You don't —" the man faltered, looking at him in confusion. Underneath that, though, was still the undercurrent of anger, maybe even hatred, that reminded Neil not to get too comfortable with him. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" Neil asked him. "What is there to know? You bringin' trouble my way?"

The man peered at Neil for a long time, confused, and he even wrinkled his nose and took a big sniff. Finally, he asked, "You know Wymack, though, right?"

Neil hummed and nodded. "I do," he said, then nodded to the side, to where Papa's stall was. "I take care of his horse." He took care of all of their horses, actually.

The man seemed to understand something, then. "Princess," he nodded. "The horse."

Neil hummed again. "What about her?"

"She's Nicky's horse," the man answered, like that explained everything.

He nodded. "She is."

"That's how you know them."

"Partly," Neil answered, just to be a shit. "We're mighty friendly folks, here in this neck of the woods." The man snorted. "I take it you know Coach Wymack?"

The man tensed up. "Why do you say that?"

Neil stared at him, and he was just about to answer when he heard a long whistle and a loud call. "I'll be back shortly," he answered. "Want me to bring more water?" The man clenched his jaw, and Neil huffed at him in amusement before he left, grabbing a lead and securing the door behind him to keep the kids out. They were responsible, and knew to mind 'im, but they were still kids, after all.

He rounded the barn just as Cat and Ducati came into view, the girl's brown skin flushed a dark color in the cheeks from the ride, hair escaping from her braid and flowing loose about her face from the wind. She caught sight of Neil and slowed Ducati as she steered him in his direction, and Neil held up a hand to steady the horse as she squeezed and pulled on his mane to get him to stop. Neil pulled the lead over Ducati and petted his snout and patted his neck as he breathed heavily, nostrils flarin'.

"How'd it go?" He asked Cat, who gave a dramatic groan and slumped over the horse like someone had just cut her puppet strings. Neil laughed and held out a hand to help her down, though he knew she didn't need it.

Cat slid down, hugged Ducati, and said, "I got 'em the letter," she said, unbuckling Neil's holster with only slightly shaking hands. "They said someone would be along shortly."

"Any trouble?" Neil asked, but Cat shook her head.

"No," she said, "they were real nice, actually. Just — just really hot," she breathed out a sigh that had Neil laughing all over again.

"You kids," he teased while she grimaced. "Nothin' but hormones. Better hope your sweetheart doesn't hear all that."

"Shut up," she groaned, her cheeks flushing even darker. "That girl who opened the door was really hot!"

"They're all adults, kid," Neil answered, though he had no idea who she could be talking about. It was still true; Neil didn't know if Wymack only accepted adults into that half-way house of his, or if they all just happened to be adults by coincidence. Either way, not one of those people in that mansion up the hill was young enough to catch Cat's fancy. "All around Coach Kevin's age, I do believe. Stick with Laila."

"I am," she insisted, and Neil grinned at her to show he was just teasing her, anyhow. She swatted half-heartedly at him, didn't even catch him, and moved to take the lead to pull Ducati back out to rest.

"Don't go in that barn," he still warned, and she turned and frowned.

"You still ain't got that copperhead out?" She asked. "Hell, Neil, I could'a got it by now; you scared?"

Neil rolled his eyes. "I ain't scared of no snakes," he huffed, exasperated, "and it ain't no copperhead in that barn. Just stay outta there for now anyway, you hear?"

She gave him a grumpy face in response, but he knew she'd mind. Cat was a good kid. They all were, really. Neil filled up another cup of water and a pitcher of it and went back to the barn. The man was still there, to Neil's surprise; he seemed either fighty or flighty, but definitely not the type to stay where he felt endangered. He must be banged up real bad, to be there still.

"Got you some more water, since you didn't want the hose and I don't think you could fight off Princess for rights to the water trough," he joked.

"I could take that damn horse," the man muttered, but he still gulped down the water.

Neil rolled his eyes. "A mature Paso Fino? Sure, maybe you could," he reasoned. "But a young one? Nah, I reckon she'd just kick you right in the face. She's sweet, but she's a feisty girl." The man didn't respond, but Neil let him be for a while before he asked, "You in trouble with Wymack's lot?" When the man's eyes snapped over to him, he added, "You got real tense when I asked if you knew him, is all." He didn't answer, and Neil softened his tone like he did when the horses got a little spooked and said, "I'll be the first to admit, Coach intimidated the hell outta me when we first met." He still did, sometimes, but nobody needed to know that. "But I ain't never heard of him raisin' a hand to one of his. I don't know your story, that's true, but whatever you done, I can't imagine he'd put you out for it."

"I'm not his," the man muttered, then clamped his lips shut.

Neil harrumphed quietly. "Well, what about Nicky, then?"

The man's dangerous glare was back as he asked, "What about Nicky?"

Neil peered at him. "He's a good sort, that Nicky," he answered slowly. "You ain't Coach Wymack's, well, that's fine, but Nicky is. So if you know Nicky…" he tried to recall if Nicky had ever mentioned — Neil snapped his fingers. "Oh! You Nicky's fella?"

The man's face went slack. "What," he asked so quietly it was nearly a whisper.

But Neil slapped the top of the door in excitement. "You're Nicky's beau, ain't you? I — well, I admit, I never quite pictured you when he talked about you, but — what was that name…oh, Erik, right? You Erik?" The man's eyes widened and his face twisted all up, and Neil paused. "Say, you ain't runnin' around on him, right? What's a spoken-for man doing out here, sneakin' off to crash in a stranger's barn? I hope you ain't steppin' out on h—"

"Oh my god, shut up," the man blurted out, putting hands over his ears. "I am not Nicky's boyfriend!"

Neil deflated. "Aw," he muttered, having lost some excitement. "Well, my momma always said I couldn't make no detective," he joked. He saw the man's disgusted expression and shifted. "You — better not be givin' Nicky no hard time about that beau of his," Neil said sternly. "He's had enough of that on account of his daddy, and I won't hear it."

"Oh my god," the man muttered.

Neil gave up, apparently not hitting the head on any of his guesses. "Well, hell, man, if you gave me some answers, maybe I'd get some right," he snapped, and the man snorted.

"I don't give a shit about Nicky being a queer," he said flatly.

"Aw, come on," Neil cajoled, kicking the door lightly with his boot tip to make it rattle. "Don't talk like that. Nicky ain't queer just 'cause he prefers fellas. I got some kids like that on my farm, too. Ain't nothin' wrong with 'em; they don't mean no harm."

The man stared at Neil blankly before shaking his head, muttering quietly to himself, and draining another cup of water. Neil watched him until he heard a sharp whistle and a mourning dove call outside the barn.

Turning back to the man, he held a finger up and said, "Back in a jiffy," and stepped outside the barn.

Sure enough, Jeremy was calling for him, and when he saw Neil, he hurried out to meet him. "Neil, we have company," he said. He looked a little worried. "It's Nicky, and some other guy I don't know, here looking for you."

"Sure, where are they?" He asked, already curious because Jeremy'd been here long enough to know just about everybody who'd come this way.

Jeremy pointed towards the house, and Neil headed that way. "Y'all stay away from the barn still, got it?"

"Sure; what's in there?" He asked, but nodded even as he did.

Neil sighed, exasperated that his kids were acting like the calls meant nothing. "Rabid raccoon," he lied.

Jeremy blinked a few times, then squinted. "I think you're lying," he accused, and Neil laughed.

"I am. But stay away for a bit, anyhow. I'll let y'all know when it's safe to come in."

When Neil got to the porch, he saw Nicky and another man standing next to him, a foot shorter. "Nicky," Neil greeted, then blinked as he took in the other man, who had the exact same face and build as the man in his barn. This one looked healthy, and less ready to gut him, but Neil knew appearances could be deceiving and he wouldn't be letting his guard down around the version of this man who wasn't convalescing bare-assed in his barn.

"Neil!" Nicky rushed forward and took Neil's hand, shaking it in greeting — except, Nicky wasn't from around here, and he certainly didn't shake hands like it. He mostly just…grasped Neil's hand between both of his and pumped it a few times. "Oh, thank god, we got your message — you found Andrew?"

Neil glanced over at the other man before returning his gaze to Nicky and answered, "That depends. This Andrew fella look an awful lot like him?" He jerked his chin to the other man, who raised his own chin defensively.

"That's the one," Nicky joked weakly. "My cousins, they're twins — sorry, this is Aaron, I forgot to introduce you guys. Anyway, they're visiting, and we got to partying a little too hard last night, and I think Andrew may have gotten lost and wandered around. We were all a bit too hammered to notice," he lied sheepishly.

Neil didn't call him on it; he didn't tend to ask questions about Coach's group. Instead, he hummed and said, "Well, I reckon he could'a found a worse place to hole up from the chill last night, but he's in a sorry state. Come on; I'll take you to him."

Without another word, Neil turned around and started walking, and Aaron and Nicky followed him. Aaron didn't say a word, but Nicky chattered the whole way. When he got to the barn, Neil opened the doors, let them in, and shut it behind them. Aaron tensed, but Nicky put a hand on his chest. Neil raised a brow at the blond and he shot him back a dirty look.

"Brought you some guests," Neil called as he walked toward the empty stall. There was a groan and the moment Neil stopped in front of the stall, Aaron shoved past him and hurried in, kicking over the second cup in his haste and kneeling straight in the puddle as he neared Andrew. Neil watched, but Aaron didn't actually touch Andrew. His hands hovered over him, and the twins stared at each other with identical faces and angry expressions.

"The fuck were you thinking, Andrew," Aaron bit out finally, and Andrew sighed.

"I was thinking I stepped on a —" he cut himself off, glancing expectantly over at Neil, who simply rose a brow back at him.

"Oh, I'll not be leaving," he said mildly, "on account of this is my barn, you see. If y'all want some privacy, you helped yourself to the wrong man's barn. You'll have to leave my land to be rid of me, I'm afraid. But I've heard twins have that twin telepathy thing; y'all ought to give that a try. Maybe you'll get lucky."

Nicky laughed, and Andrew's lips twitched in the corner, but Aaron glared at him. "Don't you know who we are?" He demanded, and Neil sighed.

He stood, pulled his gun, cocked it, and aimed, right at Aaron. "Do you know who I am?" He asked calmly.

Aaron didn't so much as flinch, and neither did Andrew, until Nicky threw himself into the stall with his hands up, putting himself between Neil's gun and his cousins. "Neil! Neil, they don't mean anything by it, I swear, okay? They're just — they're just anxious. They don't like to be separated, but they won't be a problem anymore, okay? I swear. I mean it. Just don't — don't."

"Nicky," Aaron hissed, and Nicky looked back at him with a fierce scowl Neil had never seen him make, and snapped his fingers and pointed at him.

"You shut your damn mouth, Aaron, right now," he ordered through gritted teeth. "Shut up. Not another word."

Neil sighed and decocked the gun, and he put it back in his holster. He had no mind to shoot, but he still didn't like to have his gun pointed at Nicky. Aaron and Andrew stared at him with wide eyes, then, and kept looking back and forth between him and Nicky. "You ought to teach your boys not to start fights they can't win," he told Nicky. "This one asked me nearly the same damn thing. 'Don't you know who I am'." He glared at Nicky, which set both twins to sitting up and glaring back at Neil. Neil ignored it and accused Nicky, "Wymack gave me his word I wouldn't get no trouble from y'all when he moved y'all in." He nodded toward the twins, still on the ground, and elaborated, "This looks like trouble to me, Nicky. Two boys who think they're hot shit enough to break into my home, scare my critters, endanger my kids, and then pick a fight with me? They don't even know me."

"I know, Neil, I'm really sorry," Nicky apologized in a rush. "It won't happen again, okay? I swear. Just — let Andrew rest up a few more hours, and he should be good to go. We'll stay out of the way, or — me and Aaron can work while he rests." Aaron's head snapped up from where he'd been staring at Andrew to glare at Nicky in surprise, but Nicky's snapped fingers made him huff and turn back to his brother. "And we can clean up any mess Andrew made last night." He paused and swallowed, and asked, almost terrified of the answer, "Are — your animals and the kids are alright, right?"

Neil stared hard at him, wondering if Nicky was genuinely afraid that Andrew might've hurt someone — if he really thought Andrew was the sort who was capable of it — or if he was just more afraid of Neil's ire. "They're alright," he answered finally, and Nicky sighed. "And it don't look like Andrew made much mess last night, 'cept that panel back there," he jerked his head to where a single wood side panel had been torn off last night. Neil assumed that was how Andrew managed to get in there.

Nicky nodded rapidly. "Okay, we can fix that," he promised. "I — I really appreciate you looking after him, Neil, really. They're — well, they're practically my sons," he laughed, "mixed with little brothers. They're my kids, see."

Neil understood, he thought, thinking of the kids he had. "I reckon I understand," he nodded. "But you ought to teach them better. My kids know what's what; yours should, too."

"I won't make that mistake again," Nicky promised, nodding. He hesitated and then said, "Wymack said he'd come up later, to apologize personally." Both twins looked up to Nicky again, in shock, but Nicky ignored them completely.

Neil nodded. "I'll have one of the kids make extras for supper," he responded. "You two can finish mucking out the stalls, since I was too busy with this one to finish it. Let me know when you're ready, and I can put you to work elsewhere." Aaron let out a strangled sound but Nicky hissed at him once again to shut up. Smirking, Neil added, "Either of you think to bring Andrew here some clothes?"

"Oh! I did," Aaron answered, and grabbed his bag. He pulled out clothes and handed them over to Andrew, who looked at Neil with a glare this time.

Neil snorted. "Don't you worry," he told him as he turned. "I know I said you didn't get privacy while you were in my barn, but I've no interest in seeing what ain't mine to look at." He moved toward the equipment, then, grabbing a pair of gloves for both Nicky and Aaron, who probably hadn't ever done this sort of work. He grabbed an extra pitchfork and broom while Andrew groaned as Nicky and Aaron helped him change. He set the things out against the first stall door, far enough away that he couldn't see Andrew as he changed, and moved around making plenty of noise so he didn't seem sneaky.

But he was still being sneaky. He listened as they worked.

"Why the fuck were you acting like that could've hurt us, Nicky? It's a bullet."

"Shh! Neil only doesn't know what he doesn't want to know, you morons," Nicky whisper shouted at them, and it sounded like he slapped both of them on the back of the heads. "But he carries, and I know for a fact that gun is loaded with our bullets."

"What?!"

"Why does he know about that?!"

"David told him," Nicky answered, and when the twins whisper-freaked out again, he snapped his fingers. "Shut! Up! Listen — Neil's been on this land for a long time, okay? Since before David moved back here. And his dad was — his dad was a really scary dude. Like —"

Neil stopped listening for a while, busying himself with menial tasks that he could easily have one of the kids doing. Eventually, he listened back in.

"…a nice guy but that does not mean he isn't able to hurt or kill us! We live peaceably together. He protects us; we protect him. So get it together!"

Neil wondered what exactly they thought he was protecting them from. His daddy was dead, as were the demons he used to run with. Neil's momma had taken him far from his daddy 'fore he learned many of his secrets, though too late to be spared from his cruelty. Neil traced one of the scars on his face and wondered errantly if his face had scared Andrew. Probably not, he decided as he remembered the way Andrew had looked nothing but defiant and tired. But it didn't stop him from wondering what he thought of them, all the same.

Neil kept Nicky and Aaron working 'til Coach arrived. They were sweaty, exhausted, the insides of Aaron's thumbs were bleeding, and they both smelled of shit. They knew Wymack was coming before Neil did, but Neil kept his head down and told them do to the same, Aaron collecting eggs from the coop and Nicky nervously filling the trough for a very angry meat steer who didn't like him being so close while Neil checked on the goats' water. Neil didn't even let them stop when Wymack called his name.

Coach David Wymack was a large man in just about every sense of the word. He was never Neil's coach; he was still a boy when his momma had taken off with him, and by the time he came back, alone, to kill his daddy, he was already a man. Back then — back when Neil had just come home, Wymack hadn't moved to town, yet. Neil killed his daddy, and it seemed Wymack was there not even a week later. He came alone, and he helped Neil pick up the pieces of the shell of a man he'd become in that time, between the grief of losin' his momma and the fight of killin' his daddy. He was just Wymack, then, and he took care of Neil like Neil was one of his own. It wasn't 'til years later, when Neil's first kid, Jeremy, popped up in his field, lookin' for any home to cling to, that Wymack became Coach Wymack, for Jeremy went to middle school and came back talking non-stop about Exy, and Wymack was the coach for both the middle and high school teams, and could he please play, Neil, please, he'd work extra hard around the farm, and do all the morning chores if Neil would please just let him play. Over the last five years, Wymack had taken on all four of Neil's kids onto his teams, and now it felt strange to call him anything but Coach.

"Evenin'," Neil greeted him, shaking his hand. At least Coach Wymack knew how to shake a man's hand.

"I'm sorry to hear one of my boys caused some ruckus up here today," he answered, not wasting time with pleasantries. Neil liked that about him. "I see you've got his brother and cousin pitching in to make up for lost time," he added with an amused grin as he watched Aaron swear as a chicken landed on his shoulder to roost and promptly shit on his shirt. Nicky laughed and then shrilly screamed as the steer angrily mooed and tossed his horns at the noise. "Good for them," Wymack added. "Hard work builds character."

"I agree," Neil nodded. "You want to see your wayward sheep, I presume?"

"I would ease my mind to put eyes on him," Coach admitted. "I trust your word, but…" he gestured towards Neil's farmhand kids, whom Neil had told to avoid Nicky and Aaron, as well as the barn and so were all clustered up making one- or two-person jobs into four-person jobs for lack of anything better to do. "You know how it is," the coach finally elaborated. "When they're yours…"

"Ain't nothin' to make you believe they're okay better than seein' it yourself," Neil nodded.

"Never imagined I'd be a father to so many," Wymack laughed, clapping Neil's shoulder as they walked toward the barn.

"Never imagined I'd be a father," Neil muttered back, making Wymack laugh even more.

"Ah, these kids love you," he said, but when they walked into the barn, his focus went straight to the stall where Andrew was still resting. "Andrew," he barked.

Andrew sighed. "Of course, they called the fun police," he muttered.

Neil wanted to hit Andrew a little bit for that, demand he show Wymack the respect he deserved. Most people didn't know why Wymack was so important to him, but of course Neil sure did, and it grated to let someone so flippantly disrespect his authority. Coach just walked to the stall and squatted down. "How're you feeling, kid?" He asked gruffly. "Sick, or hurt?"

"Come on, don't act like Aaron hasn't already tattled," Andrew sneered.

Wymack chuckled. "I'm sure he would, if I'd have stopped to talk to him first," he answered. "But he's not the one hurt, so I thought I'd check on you before I talked to him."

Neil saw the moment that hit Andrew, right in the gut, and he cleared his throat. "I'll step out so you can catch up. Supper's ready in ten, if Andrew's ready to get to the table. If not, we can bring it out to him."

"Thanks, Neil, I appreciate it. We'll be there shortly."

Neil nodded and left them in the barn. When he walked outside, he whistled at all the kids — and Nicky and Aaron — and waved them into the house.

"Surprised you're going to feed us after we inconvenienced you so badly," Aaron snarked. Nicky hissed at him, but he ignored his cousin's wisdom.

Neil paused on his trek into the house and turned around. "Nobody works on my farm and goes hungry," he said.

"And yet," Aaron laughed sarcastically, "we're only working on your farm to make up for Andrew."

"You could've slacked off," Neil acknowledged, "been more work than it was worth to keep you underfoot. But you didn't. You worked hard, kept yourselves away from my kids, and you done right by the animals. So you eat." Then he turned around and finished walking into the house. Neither of them seemed to know what to say to that, so they just followed.

"Wash your hands out here," Neil heard Laila murmur to Nicky and Aaron near the porch. "And you'll need to take off your shoes and hats before you go inside. Neil doesn't take to bad manners or too much mud tracked into his house."

Neil checked that Cat and Jean were nearly done with supper and nodded to himself as he saw there were more chairs added to the table. Everyone washed up and came inside, and they were just sitting down when Wymack opened the door and helped Andrew limp inside. Nicky and Aaron were out of their seats to swap places with Wymack in an instant, and Neil watched it all happen from the head of the table. He expected Coach to take the opposite end, but instead, he gave the seat to Andrew, who grunted as he sat down slowly.

"Everyone," he said to his kids, "y'all obviously know Coach." They nodded and greeted him with varying levels of curiosity, for he didn't often join them for supper. "Y'all know Nicky, of course; these are Nicky's cousins, Aaron and Andrew."

He didn't introduce his kids in turn to Aaron or Andrew, and Coach didn't seem to expect him to. He knew how fiercely Neil protected them and their privacy. "Thanks for having us for dinner," Coach thanked them all.

"Are you the reason we couldn't get the horses back into the barn all day?" Jean asked, irritated.

Andrew raised his eyes to Jean and stared, but Jean wasn't too easily cowed. "No," he said, then jerked his chin to Neil. "It's his fault."

"Neil ain't never done nothin' wrong," Cat defended Neil hotly enough to make Neil grin.

"He's the one who told you not to go into the barn," Andrew responded.

"Yeah, to keep us from you," she argued back.

"I wouldn't have hurt you," he answered.

When Cat opened her mouth to retort, Neil cleared his throat, and she shut her mouth so tight her jaw clicked. "I don't let my kids become prey," he announced as a warning to everyone at that table. He knew Coach knew it well, but Nicky bowed his head in guilt. Aaron looked at Neil, then Nicky, then Wymack in a circuit, not understanding why they would be beholden to Neil's word, probably. (Honestly, sometimes Neil didn't understand it either. Sure, he knew something was up with Wymack's crew, but he so adamantly insisted on Neil's authority being respected in a way that didn't always make sense to him. That didn't mean he wouldn't take advantage of it to keep his family safe, though.)

But Andrew leaned forward, smiling in a way that showed his teeth and made it look like a threat. "And you think we're predators, Neil?"

Neil stared at Andrew calmly even as his kids got pissed off for him. He finally said, "That's enough." When they settled down — angrily — he continued, "This is a friendly supper. We're not throwin' around accusations, or callin' names. Anyone who doesn't wanna follow those rules can be excused from the table and go without supper tonight."

None of Neil's kids were willing to go without supper (even if they knew Neil would never actually make them go to bed hungry), so they reluctantly swallowed their anger and continued eating silently. Coach and Nicky seemed to want to repair things, so they chatted with Neil and tried to include some of the kids in conversation. Jeremy was the only one who allowed it.

When supper was over, Wymack, Neil, Nicky, Andrew, and Aaron all rose without clearing their plates, as the kids took over. Neil walked them outside to the front porch. After a few awkward farewells, Neil and Aaron helped Andrew walk up the drive where Neil guessed there was a car parked at the other end. Coach lit a cigarette, then lit another for Neil, who took a single drag and then simply held it close to his face. Wymack sat on the porch swing while Neil leaned against the railing.

"I'm sorry, kid." Coach's words broke the silence like a shot, and Neil took another breath of the acrid smoke from the cigarette.

"You gave your word, Coach," he reprimanded. He looked back at Wymack, who met his gaze and nodded. "You had us lock down last night, but it's s'posed to be over in the mornin'. We ain't s'posed to have no trouble from you and yours. You swore."

"I did," he acknowledged. "You're right. I didn't know they'd be…partying last night. I assumed they'd stay in for their first night here. I should've kept better watch."

Neil took another drag from the cigarette and blew it down, over his clothes. "What's the story there?" He asked. "Anything I ought to know?"

Wymack considered for a beat. "Not really, I don't think. They're Nicky's cousins, from California. When they were in high school, their mother died. It was either they go to Nicky, or they go to Nicky's parents." Neil and Wymack exchanged a significant look, and Wymack nodded. Neil remembered what Nicky had been like when he'd first joined Coach's house, fresh from his father's. Nobody had ever explained his sudden disappearance, and Neil had never properly cared to ask after it, but he supposed this was enough of an answer: leaving to raise his cousins.

"Exactly," Coach agreed. "So, Nicky left. Went and raised them. Got them through high school, got them through college, and when they didn't want to join him back here, they parted ways. No ill feelings, or anything — Nicky went and visited them all the time, while Aaron was going through med school."

Coach stopped there, and Neil waited while he smoked in silence. "But now Aaron's graduated, and he's wanting to know what it's like to…have a family, I guess. He got a job out here — well, in the city — and he wants to see if he likes this life before he starts."

"And Andrew?"

Coach sighed. "I don't know, kid," he admitted. "It seems like he's where Aaron is. I don't know much about him. Nicky doesn't really keep secrets, or anything, but he doesn't seem to understand Andrew much, himself. Just loves him."

Neil hummed. "Well, he's lucky it was me, findin' him, and not one of the kids. I'd've shot him on the spot if it'd been one of them to happen upon 'im. You better make sure he knows that 'fore he parties again. My kids have all come to me scared, and it's taken a long time for them to stop being scared out here. I respect the hell outta you, Coach, but I don't have no qualms about killin' anything that makes 'em scared again, yours or not."

"I hear you," Coach nodded. He finished his cigarette and stood with an old man grunt. "I'll talk with them tonight, and I'll make it clear that they're not to bother you or your kids."

"You do that."

"Good night, Neil."

"Good night, Coach.

Thankfully, Neil received no more disturbances for several weeks. He took care of the farm, made sure his kids did their homework, made sure Katana and Dolly didn't get too pissed off at each other. It occurred to him that Coach must've bought Katana and Osler for the brothers, since all the horses in this barn were specifically for Coach's family members. He wondered how long Coach had known they were coming, but ultimately, it didn't matter and it wasn't none of his business, anyhow.

But one early morning in April, Neil was running sheep back into their pen with the help of his herd dogs and Jean when he felt eyes on him. It continued for hours before he finally realized where it was coming from. Neil took his horse, Bunny, on a meandering route and came up behind Andrew, who was sitting up in a tree, watching Neil's land. There was no way Andrew didn't hear Neil get off Bunny, tie her to a neighboring tree, and climb up to sit on the branch next to his, but he didn't move or even acknowledge him as he did any of it.

Neil sat near Andrew, looking alongside him at his own land. He saw his kids, some laughing and playing, others working hard, and quietly said, "Hey, Andrew?"

Andrew grunted and lit a cigarette.

"You ever see a momma grizzly around her cubs?"

Andrew looked over at Neil, took a deep inhale, and blew smoke away from Neil's face. "Sure," he nodded. "I have the internet, so."

Neil nodded, humming. "You ever see one fight to protect her cubs, though? Get real aggressive?" Andrew nodded, frowning, and Neil reached over, plucked the cigarette from his hand, and took his own drag before giving it back. After a shocked delay, Andrew took the cigarette back, but he just stared at Neil as Neil blew smoke directly in his face. "I reckon they've told you who my daddy was, by now." When Andrew didn't answer, Neil took it as a yes and continued, "He made certain I learned his ways from a real young age, 'fore my momma took me away. But what Coach don't know is, my momma was damn near just as bad as Daddy ever was. So I never got a break from it. Not really."

Neil turned to look at Andrew full-on, leaning against his branch so he could survey him intently. "This is the second time I done seen you too close to my kids without my say or any reasonin' from you, Andrew. I catch you watchin' my kids a third time, and I'll make them angry grizzly mommas look like sweet little field-mice 'fore I'm finished cuttin' you to pieces. I won't even do you the favor of a bullet after. I'll let you die nice and slow. You hear me?"

Andrew stared at Neil in return incredulously. "You —" he screwed up his face in disgust. "You think I'm looking at your kids?"

Though Neil was satisfied by the revulsion in Andrew's tone, he still shrugged. "I don't know you from Adam," he reasoned, "and I ain't got no reason to. But I don't take kindly to danger of any sort waltzin' itself up to my front door with my kids at home."

"I'm not looking at your kids, and I'm not a threat," Andrew answered hotly, and Neil raised a brow at him.

"No?" He asked skeptically. "So what's got you hidin' in my trees on my land, watchin' my family? You a stalker or a sniper, Andrew?"

Andrew huffed at him, then brought his nearly-dead cigarette back to life with a long drag. "You pointed a gun at my brother," he answered, like that would make sense of his behavior.

"And I'll do it once more if he bows up to me again," Neil responded.

"Nicky's afraid of you," Andrew added.

"Don't see why," Neil shrugged. "He ain't got no reason to fear me. He ain't never done wrong by me."

"You're the threat," Andrew accused obstinately. "You're too dangerous, and you're out here by my p— family, and I don't like it."

Neil laughed. "You got a problem with me livin' out here? On my own land? Better take that one up with a time machine, pal; this land's been in my family since they got here and stole it from the Indians. Ain't nothin' you can do about it. I know for a fact Nicky told you we live peaceably; why're you tryin'a mess with that?"

Andrew growled in frustration and slid down the tree. Neil watched, sure he'd break an ankle, but Andrew landed on his feet perfectly fine and called up, "I'm not interested in those kids. I'm not like that. I was watching you, trying to understand you."

Neil stared down at him and shrugged. "Well, unfortunately for you, I happen to be around my kids a lot. So you best stop watching. You wanna see my daily doings, pull up to the farm and get to work."

Andrew huffed and stormed off, giving Bunny a wide berth as she snorted at him.

Two days later, there was an Exy game, and Neil hopped in his truck and drove down to the high school to watch his kids play. The Wolves were a great team, though Neil was probably a bit biased since his kids were all on it. Neil watched every bit of his kids dominating the court, missing the sport from the brief time he'd been allowed to play it as a kid. He'd loved it, and now he loved watching his kids love it.

But there were two quarters where none of his kids were on the court, and Neil found himself peering across the stands at Coach's family. They were all there. Or, well. Coach, his — wife? Girlfriend? Neil didn't know — Miss Abby, who was also the trainer for the school, and Kevin, Coach's actual biological son and his assistant coach, were all down in the box. The rest of his family, though, were all in the stands.

Dan and Renee were his first adoptees, followed by Allison and Nicky, then Matt, and now Andrew and Aaron. Of course, they weren't sitting that chronological order: Matt and Dan, who Neil knew were a couple, were sitting one in front of the other, with Dan on the row above Matt so he could rest back between her legs as she braced her forearms on his shoulders and watched avidly. Matt was his favorite of the bunch, a friendly and respectful guy who was impossible not to like, and Dan was probably his second-favorite, closely followed by Nicky. Next to Dan was Renee, with Allison sitting next to Matt but leaned forward as she, too, watched with fervor. Nicky sat next to Allison, with Aaron next to him, and Andrew above Aaron, next to Renee.

At the beginning of the game, Neil had cheered loudly when his kids' names were called as they entered the court for the lineup, and when he'd finished cheering, he dropped his hands from his mouth and felt eyes on him. He looked in the direction of the stare and to his surprise, saw every single one of Wymack's family members staring at him. He awkwardly nodded at them, since he knew them all to varying degrees, and then suddenly they all looked at Andrew, as if Andrew had said anything. But Neil knew he hadn't; Neil had been watching.

As one, they all — sans the twins — waved back at Neil, and then broke into giggles. If he weren't solidly in his thirties, Neil would get the impression that they were laughing at him — but he was, so he just focused back on his kids. When the game was over, he waited around on them to shower and leave, and the group all gravitated his way despite Andrew's unhappy expression.

"Neil!"

Neil looked over and accepted Matt's big hug. He laughed a little awkwardly — Matt was an actual friend to Neil, and he seemed to think of Neil like a strange little brother who always needed looking after, even though he was very aware of Neil's past. He nearly always tagged along if someone stopped by Neil's farm for any reason.

As the large, mismatched family all approached, Neil noticed Andrew watching Neil let himself be hugged with crossed arms and a hard stare. Neil didn't understand why just because he thought Neil was a threat meant nobody else was allowed to get along with Neil.

"Missed you a few weeks ago," Matt was saying, and Neil looked up at the tall man as he finally let go of him.

"You're the one didn't come down," Neil answered with a snort, and Matt sighed glumly.

"Couldn't," he responded. "I was recovering from the night before, and David said we shouldn't all come bother you when you were probably on edge, already."

"Not a bad point," Neil acknowledged with a head bob, "but you can always swing by and holler if you feel like it, long as I know you're there. You know the rules."

The rest of the family all took their turns greeting Neil with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Allison liked to pretend she didn't like Neil much, but he knew she just despised that he wouldn't wear chaps unless he was riding just because she thought they were fashionable and "hot". As a result, Allison gave Neil a one-armed hug that squished her chest against the side of Neil's face (Neil was certain she did it on purpose because she knew he didn't know how to react to it). Renee was very nice but still sometimes made Neil uncomfortable, and she seemed to know it, so she simply gave him a verbal greeting, which he responded to in kind. Nicky, ever enthusiastic, gave Neil his weird handshake and reached for a hug, still more subdued than he usually gave. Neil assumed it was because of the whole pulling a gun on his cousins thing a few weeks back, and let it be. He didn't have any issues with Nicky. Dan gave Neil a hug that was soft enough not to feel constricting and solid enough not to set his nerves alight. It had taken her some years to discover that sweet spot and how to achieve it so he would actually hug back, and hers was probably the only hug he didn't feel like he needed to brace himself for.

But the whole time the rest of the family was greeting Neil, Neil kept an eye on the twins, who were silently conversing. Maybe there really was something to twin telepathy. When everyone else had been greeted, Neil looked over to the brothers and nodded. "Aaron, Andrew," he greeted.

Aaron nodded back. "Neil." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but kept his mouth shut. Instead of responding to Neil, Andrew nudged Aaron, who glared at him. Andrew glared back, and when Aaron shook his head slightly, Andrew reached for the black compression bands resting on his forearms. Aaron sighed and asked, "What are the rules?"

Neil blinked. "Come again?"

Aaron shifted uncomfortably. "You said…that Matt could come whenever, because he knows the rules. What are the rules?"

Neil glanced at the rest of the family, but none of them seemed to expect this line of questioning, either. Neil looked back at Aaron, and next to him, Andrew, and asked, "Why, Aaron, is this your way of asking if you can come pay me a visit?"

Andrew moved forward in an aborted step, but froze himself quickly. If Neil hadn't been looking in his direction, he wouldn't have even noticed it. However, he had been, and he did. Neil raised a brow at it, but said nothing. To Aaron, who was giving him a sour expression, he said, "Most of my rules ought to be obvious to anyone with manners, but just in case you aren't that sort: you announce yourself — to me, not to the kids. If you can't find me, you ask one of the kids where I am, and come do it yourself. You don't talk to my kids unless I say, not 'til I decide I can trust you. You don't touch any of my critters unless you're under supervision. You don't go in my house unless I invite you in. And while you're there, you do as I say." Neil looked over at Andrew for a moment before he looked back at Aaron again and finished, "And when I tire of your company and tell you to leave, you leave."

"And Matt's the only one who knows those rules?"

When Andrew spoke up, his voice was deeper than Neil remembered, more gravelly. Matt shifted uncomfortably, and he wasn't the only one. Neil glanced around at them all again, but like last time, nobody seemed ready to talk about the twins' strangeness. "Naw," he answered, shaking his head. "They all know 'em. Been here long enough, after all."

"Those are pretty easy rules," Aaron pointed out. "But Matt's the only one allowed to come over any time?"

Neil shrugged. "He follows 'em the best."

"And I'm his favorite," Matt bragged. "And the handsomest." He looked down at Neil and playfully nudged him with his elbow, snagging Neil's upper arm. "Tell 'em, bestie," he prodded.

"Matt's my favorite," Neil answered obediently, but with a flatness to his voice that made everyone else crack up. "Oh, and the handsomest." He looked up at Matt, who mouthed to him, and then added, sure to make his eyes look dead as well, "Oh — and he's my…bestie."

Dan sighed and batted her lashes in a pretend dreamy expression. "One of these days I hope to find a man who looks at me the way Matt looks at Neil," she breathed, making Matt snort and abandon his post by Neil to wrap an arm around her shoulders and kiss her temple.

"Right here, baby," he told her. "I have room in my heart for you both."

"Touching," Andrew sneered.

Neil raised a brow. "Problem?" He asked.

Andrew scowled. "No," he bit out.

Neil snorted. "Right," he drawled, not believing him for a second. "Well, anyhow. Anyone I like who follows the rules is welcome just about any time. Anyone who doesn't…well." He shrugged, leaving the threat unmade. They could probably come up with better ways to finish it than he could, after all.

"Can't follow rules if I don't know they're there in the first place," Andrew responded, sounding just as frustrated as he looked behind that stone mask.

Everyone else's faces flicked between Andrew's and Neil's, clearly unaware of what had passed between them just a few days ago. Neil challenged, "So I ought to just come on up to your house any time I want and waltz in through your window unannounced? Should I stop by Nicky's room first? Go hang out with your brother while he works?"

"What the fuck?" Aaron muttered, clearly asking Andrew, but Andrew shook his head the barest of an inch, silencing him.

"I get it," Andrew gritted out between his teeth. He turned, then, and walked away. Aaron followed him immediately, but Nicky looked between his retreating cousins, the rest of Coach's family, and Neil a few times before he followed, giving Neil a hasty goodbye.

"What the hell was that all about?" Allison asked, smelling blood in the water.

Neil glanced at her. "I'm sure I have no idea," he lied. And he danced around the topic until Renee intervened and brought up his kids' performance during the game. Dan latched onto the topic with vigor, and Allison quickly got pulled in along with Matt, and by the time Neil's kids came out, Andrew had been completely forgotten about.

(He hadn't been, but Neil wasn't about to bring it up.)

Neil should've expected that only a few days later, he'd hear a sharp whistle and the call of a mourning dove. It was early — the kids hadn't even left for school yet — so the call had Neil outside with a gun in hand within seconds. When he saw who their visitor was, though, Neil quickly put the gun away, not wanting to make the kids nervous. They knew he was a jumpy son of a bitch — there was no way to hide that much, at least — and they knew it was more his raising that made him that way than any real worry for the present, but he still tried to keep his paranoia away from them. A home ought not to be the thing that made them afraid.

Andrew walked down the driveway, hands in the pockets of loose-legged denim jeans. His shirt was short-sleeved, but he was wearing those arm compression bands again, as well as a black ball cap. He walked nice and relaxed, and when he caught sight of Neil on the porch, he made his way over there. Neil waited where he stood, and when Andrew stepped up onto the first step, Neil crossed his arms. "Mornin'," he greeted.

"Morning," Andrew responded.

When he said nothing else, Neil raised a brow. "What can I do for you, Andrew?"

Andrew clenched his jaw for a moment and then said, "Your rules said I had to announce myself if I wanted to come here."

Neil hummed. "What you wanna be out here for? Sun-up was only a few minutes ago. I didn't take you for an early riser."

"I don't sleep much," Andrew responded, then clenched his jaw like he didn't mean to let that slip. Neil didn't have anything to say to that, and Andrew finally snapped, "Can I be here, or not?"

"You didn't answer my question," Neil shrugged. "What brings you out here? You just missin' the smell of horse shit?"

"And if I am?" Andrew asked, tilting his chin up.

Neil laughed. "I already warned you off my kids; don't make me have to warn a man off my horses." He laughed harder when Andrew gave him a disgusted look.

"You don't have to warn me off either," he answered, and Neil nodded.

"I believe that," he admitted. It seemed to surprise Andrew, but he didn't voice it. At last, Neil said, "You cain't be here right now, though." Andrew grinded his teeth, but he nodded and stepped back down. Neil was so surprised by his easy acceptance that he added, "I gotta take the kids to school, and I gotta grab some groceries. It ain't safe to be out on a farm all by your lonesome if the critters don't know you. But if you're just itchin' to do some farm chores, you can come back around ten. I'll be here."

Andrew nodded again, and then he turned and walked back down the drive, only nodding when Laila curiously bade him good morning as he passed her. Neil hummed as he watched him go, curious as to what drove that man.

When he loaded the kids up in the truck, Cat was the one, of course, to ask. "Was that that Andrew fella of Coach's? What was he doin' down here so early?"

"Beats me," Neil answered.

"I reckon he's sweet on Neil," Jean smirked to himself. Everyone else, including Neil, laughed and snorted. "I do," he insisted.

"I don't know'f he's that sort," Neil chuckled, only to be spoken over by Cat again.

"Wait, wait! Neil, are you that sort?"

The truck was quiet for a minute as Neil blinked. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "I don't know that I ever considered it either way."

"You ain't never had a sweetheart?" Laila asked quietly. She sounded sad, and Neil caught her squeezing Cat's hand in the backseat.

"Naw," Neil laughed. "My momma weren't the sort to allow it. One time, she caught me noticin' a girl makin' eyes at me and liked to tan my hide for it."

"Ain't she been dead for a long time, though?" In the silence of the cab following Cat's question, Jeremy turned around slowly and gave her a wide-eyed look. "What?" She asked, not nearly quiet enough to be discreet.

"We ain't supposed to talk about his momma!" Jeremy scolded her.

"Oh!" She remembered, and looked at Neil in the rear view mirror. "Oh, Neil, I'm sorry!"

"It's alright, Cat," he told her. "I'm still sore about it, is all. I know you weren't tryin'a be ugly."

"I weren't," she promised, and reached forward to squeeze his arm briefly. "I just — I don't like thinkin' of you all by your lonesome all this time, is all. You ain't gotta be lonely anymore, you know?"

"Aw, I ain't lonely," Neil told her, putting a smile on his face. "I got you kids, don't I? And all the critters."

"But that ain't enough," Laila began softly.

Jeremy spoke over them. "Neil's got us," he insisted, "and we got him. If he says it's enough for him, it's enough for him. Y'all know he don't like us to worry about grown folks' business, and this counts as grown folks' business. Let's just focus on our school day, alright?"

The girls quietly agreed, and Neil blew out a big breath. It hadn't ever occurred to him that his kids would be worried about him being lonely. And for the first time ever, he realized that even with his kids and his critters all around him, he just might be.

When Andrew came back around later that mornin', Neil was hooking Pepper up to the milker. He heard a whistle, distinct and not one he used with his kids, and looked around curiously, seeing Andrew walking his way and realizing he'd been the one to make the sound to announce himself. Surprised, Neil walked around the goat stand to slowly walk towards him.

"You came back," he observed rather uselessly. He felt a little embarrassed after saying it; obviously Andrew had come back, he was standing right there. At the same time, though, he couldn't help it. He really hadn't expected Andrew back after he'd turned him away earlier.

"You said I could at ten," Andrew responded slowly, almost defensively.

Neil nodded. "I did," he agreed. He checked his watch and hummed. 10:08. "You're late, though."

Andrew stared at him, clearly unsure if he was serious or not, and huffed when Neil grinned at him. "I'm sure your goats care if they're not milked right on time," he muttered.

"Pepper don't mind bein' a little late," Neil acquiesced. "You're lucky it's not Za'atar's day. She gets pretty spicy." He said it with a straight face, waiting to see if Andrew appreciated the joke.

"Guess I better be on thyme when it's her day," Andrew responded with a nod after a moment of silence.

Neil sighed and then paused. "Did you…?" Did he just make a joke back? Thyme, instead of time?

Andrew rolled his eyes. "Yes, I understood your stupid joke," he answered. "Are all your goats named after seasonings?"

Nail laughed and checked on Pepper's milking — nearly done — and nodded. "Yeah. It was Jeremy's idea. I already had Cinnamon, Clove, and Ginger at the time, but hadn't thought much about the fact that they were all spices — that was just their coat color. Sweet little Jeremy thought it was a spice thing, and when Cinnamon and Ginger had their kids, Jeremy saw fit to name 'em all after spices. I didn't have the heart to tell 'im, so they all became spices."

Andrew hummed and Neil took Pepper off the machine, cleaned her off, and let her go. She bleated at him in indignation and scurried off. "Look at all that," Neil celebrated quietly as he checked how much milk he'd gotten. "Good stuff."

"If you say so," Andrew responded doubtfully, and Neil sniggered at him.

"We used goat milk to make supper that first night," he argued.

Andrew looked a little grossed out at the thought, but said nothing about it. "What now?"

"Well, now we gotta clean everything up," Neil gestured to the equipment, "and then we can move on to the rabbits."

"You have rabbits over here, too?" Andrew asked, looking around for them. Neil suppressed his smile, knowing he wouldn't find them from here.

"Come on," he urged. "These attachments twist off like this, see? And you can hold 'em for me so I can get the rest of this put up."

"I can carry that machine," he offered.

Neil paused and smiled. "Oh, I'm sure you could, stud," he said, making Andrew's ears redden. "But it's more fun to watch you try not to lose your breakfast over drops of goat milk touchin' you." He hefted the machine up, then, and walked it over to the equipment barn, leaving Andrew standing where he was, attachments and hoses dripping all over him.

Andrew followed Neil around, doing chores and whatever Neil asked of him. At one point, he asked Neil when he normally stopped to have lunch, and he hadn't even finished the question when Neil's stomach started to rumble. "Right about now, I s'pose," Neil laughed, glancing at his watch. "What time you gotta get back home?"

Andrew furrowed his brows and blinked at him. "Neil, I'm a grown man," he stressed. "I don't have a curfew."

Neil snorted and continued walking, Andrew just a step behind him. "I guess you don't got a job, either, then?" He didn't mean it rudely, but he knew it sounded that way when it came out. "I mean, you ain't gotta watch a clock, make sure you get there on time?"

Andrew scoffed. "I work on my own time; I don't have to clock in."

"Oh." Andrew didn't respond, and Neil stopped and turned around. His breath caught when they were suddenly standing closer than they'd ever been, yet, and a buzzing seemed to move between their bodies. Andrew didn't seem to feel it, or else he didn't seem to mind. Neil cleared his throat and took a step back. "Um, well, I've got some leftovers from last night's supper, if you want 'em."

Andrew seemed to stare right into his eyes, maybe even through them into his brain. "Well, that depends," he mused. "Did you use goat milk in it?"

Neil snorted and continued walking up the steps to the porch, toeing off his boot and removing his hat soon as he got inside. "Tell you what," he offered with a grin, "if you can tell me what milk I used, you can decide what chore we do after eatin'."

"And if I'm wrong?"

Neil hummed. "If you guess it wrong, you can help me with tomorrow's chores, too." He smirked at the man, who was absolutely filthy and looked exhausted as he shot Neil a glare. "What can I say? You're damn near useless, but you're not completely useless, and chores get done faster with four hands than with two."

Andrew snorted. "Fine," he agreed, "but I won't get it wrong."

Forty minutes later, Neil put a hand on his belly and sighed. "Well?" He prompted Andrew with an amused brow.

Andrew didn't even hesitate. "You used goat milk in this one, too; I could taste it for sure."

Neil cackled, slapping his thighs. "There ain't no milk in there at all, Andrew! It was tomato soup and grilled cheese!"

"Yeah, probably goat cheese!" Andrew insisted, but Neil kept laughing.

"You tasted it for sure, huh?" He teased, still laughing as he stood and grabbed their bowls and saucers. "Guess you'll be learnin' to muck out some stalls tomorrow," he teased over his shoulder. Andrew stood after him, helping to clear off the table, and it wasn't until they were side by side at the sink, washing and drying dishes, that Neil realized Andrew had a smile so little it barely curled his lips up at the side. It made him wonder if Andrew knew there hadn't been no goat milk in that meal, after all.

Neil had Andrew helping him push the chicken tractor (he didn't need to push it; they usually hooked it to the four-wheeler and pulled it, but when Andrew started pushing before Neil could tell him that, Neil found himself unable to look away from the way his shoulder and arm muscles shifted under that shirt of his, which was stuck to his body from sweating under the hot sun) when he finally asked again.

"What's got you out here, anyhow?"

Andrew pushed nice and slow, so none of the chickens got trapped or hurt, and only when Neil told him that was far enough did he stop, panting a bit. He wiped his forehead with his armband and turned to look at Neil. "Like I said," he shrugged. "I work on my own time. I don't sleep much, so I usually work when everyone else is asleep so I'm not bothered." He looked down at his hands as he added, "It leaves a lot of free time during the day. Might as well…do something useful."

Neil hummed. "I don't believe that's the whole reason," he stated. Andrew looked up at him with furrowed brows and Neil put his hands up in a whoa, there gesture. "I'm not sayin' you're lyin', and I won't ask you for the whole truth, but I don't think you gave me it. You don't owe me your deep, dark secrets. Long as they don't affect my kids or my critters, I don't mind 'em. Everyone's got things they don't care to share."

"You, too?" Andrew asked quietly.

Neil swallowed as he sorted through all of his. Firing a gun nearly as long as he was tall as he rode across the plains and his breath catching when he hit someone. Running through streets with a hand pressed to his side to staunch the bleeding, more so he didn't leave a trail than so he didn't die. A burning car on a shoreline as he screamed from the sand. Being strapped down to a bed while his daddy made him watch as he gutted a huge wolf, still alive somehow. Daddy's mistress pressing cigarettes up and down his arms and chest while begged her to stop. His shaking hand as he fired a gun on his daddy, straight in the back of the head like a coward, and not caring about it one bit. Seeing a young boy's body in his field and approaching it with a gun in his hand, only for that boy to groan and look up at him and smile like sunshine come to life.

"I reckon me especially," Neil admitted.

Andrew left before Neil had to leave to grab the kids from practice. Neil wondered if he thought Neil actually suspected him of being too interested in his kids, or if he was simply tired from a long day and didn't feel up to dealing with someone else's teens, but either way, he nodded and trudged back up the long driveway before Neil could even offer to drive him up. When the kids got home and saw all their chores but the nighttime feeds were done, they whooped and hollered loud enough to raise the dead, and Jean promised a real good dinner since he'd have more free time. Neil offered to take over so they could have more time to relax, but Jean shot him a disgusted look and Neil figured that was that.

Andrew came by the next four days in a row. He worked hard, didn't complain too much, and he sweated profusely. At first, Neil didn't say nothing about it, on account of he kinda liked how it looked on him, but on the fourth day it kept getting in his eyes and his armbands sure didn't seem to absorb much sweat. "You ought to stop wearin' clothes like that," Neil finally advised him.

Andrew glared at him, but with the one eye still squinted under the sting of sweat, it wasn't very intimidating. "These are the clothes I have," he said flatly. "Driving all the way to town for a Walmart shopping trip isn't exactly ideal."

Neil snorted. "It would be if you wore clothes for the work you're doin'," he answered. "Come on, you can borrow somethin' of mine." He expected Andrew to argue, but he wordlessly followed. "It won't be nothin' you're used to wearin', but it'll keep you cooler than all that thick black shit you got on."

"Fuck you, I look good in black," Andrew mumbled sullenly as he toed off his shoes.

"Aw, don't get sore with me," Neil laughed. "I ain't said you look bad in 'em; I said they don't keep you cool enough to work in 'em."

Andrew didn't say anything else as he followed Neil to his bedroom, the only room downstairs. When he unlocked it with the key around his neck, Andrew drawled, "Better be careful saying things like that; Matt might get jealous."

Neil laughed as he opened the door and headed to his closet. "I don't figure him for the jealous type, on account of how he has a whole fiancee." He opened the door and walked right into it, while Andrew stood awkwardly in the room. Neil liked that he wasn't the type to snoop around, at least not while Neil was right there. "I'm guessin' you'd rather be caught dead in color, right?"

As he dug around for something Andrew could wear and wouldn't want to die in, he heard Andrew's voice distantly ask, "What about you?"

Neil laughed and looked over to Andrew, whose back was to Neil as he looked out Neil's window. "Well, Allison says I look best in rich, warm, earthy tones, so —"

"No, I meant — Matt doesn't get jealous about you seeing other people?" Andrew asked impatiently. He didn't turn around, but his entire body was tense even from the back view Neil had of him.

Neil frowned and opened his mouth, then paused, and shut it again. After a moment, Andrew turned his face to the side, looking at him peripherally, and when he noticed Neil was already looking, he straightened his face back to the window. Still, Neil said nothing, and Andrew huffed and turned around to face him head-on. "What?" He demanded.

Neil chewed on the inside of his cheek. Finally, he said, "You…do know me and Matt ain't actually…" He laughed a little awkwardly. "What I mean to say is — Matt and I ain't no sweethearts for real. He just likes to joke about it, is all. I don't think he ever looked anywhere past Dan, once he seen her the first time."

Andrew's nostrils flared as he exhaled deeply. "I know," he said.

"Oh," Neil answered dumbly. "Then why —"

"You said he couldn't get jealous since he had a fiancee," Andrew shrugged, but it looked…edgy. Jerky. "I wondered if he ever got jealous of your partners."

Neil blinked, and then laughed. "Partners," he echoed. Andrew's jaw clenched. Something about Andrew's stare was…arresting. Made Neil feel like he couldn't quite breathe all the way, like someone lassoed his lungs and pulled tight at the halfway mark. "I ain't never had anyone to make him jealous with, I don't guess," Neil finally admitted.

Andrew looked relieved, and then he scowled, turning away again and folding his arms over his chest. "Why not?" He asked the window.

Neil sucked in a breath, blew it out, and then shook himself, resuming his search. "Aw, come on," he laughed quietly, trying to keep from sounding too affected. "I look like I know what to do with a sweetheart?" He huffed at the notion, ignoring the part of him that insisted it wanted company. "What about me says I'm a ridin' off into the sunset kinda guy?" He grabbed a dark brown VentTEK shirt with some lightweight jeans. He couldn't do much about Andrew's shoes, so he didn't bother, but he did grab some different socks because he'd noticed Andrew walking funny and knew he probably had blisters the size of Dallas on his feet.

"Wear these," he told him as he left the closet. "Guest bathroom's right across the hall, there."

"I have socks," Andrew argued as he took the bundle anyway.

"I bet you do, and I bet those blisters hate 'em, don't they?" Andrew didn't answer, and Neil nodded in satisfaction. "Thought so. There's a first aid kit under the sink in there. Don't pop 'em. Just wipe 'em down with the alcohol, let 'em dry, then put some antibiotic cream over 'em, and there's some moleskin in there, too. Cover 'em with that 'fore you put on the socks."

When Andrew came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Neil nearly choked on his lemonade. He looked huge. The shirt pulled across his shoulders and biceps like those muscles didn't wanna be covered up that way, but the shirt would keep the sweat from bothering him, at least. The pants were tight, too; Andrew was certainly thicker than him. The waistband dug into his hips a little, probably not as comfortable as Neil would've hoped, and they were a little long on him, bunched up at the ankles above his shoes, but they'd keep him cool, and that was enough.

Neil grabbed a cotton rag and tossed it at him. "Keep that in your back pocket," he told him. "That'll mop up your sweat."

"Thanks," Andrew said. "Your pants suck."

"They'd be better if they were your size, I reckon," Neil said blandly, "but I didn't plan on sharin' my closet, now, did I? You'll have to get you some of those next time you plan your shoppin' trip to the Walmart, after all. You'll see. They'll keep you cooler, and you'll be beggin' to stay in 'em long as you can."

"Not typically what people mean when they say they want to get into your pants, I assume," Andrew responded dryly.

Neil's face flushed, and he laughed in surprise. "I — well, I — shut up," he finished when Andrew snorted at him. "Get outside; I ain't payin' you to stand around and make stupid jokes."

"You're not paying me anything," Andrew reminded him, pulling out a cigarette from his pack. "And I'm n—"

"Not in the house," Neil cut in immediately. "The kids don't care for it."

Andrew said nothing, just nodded with his cigarette between his lips. They went out and got back to work.

Before Neil left to pick up the kids, and Andrew left to go back to his house, Andrew was pushing manure-filled hay past Neil toward the compost when he said, "I think you could go off into the sunset with someone if you wanted, you know." But he didn't stop, so Neil didn't have the chance — or pressure — of thinking of what to say in response.

Andrew didn't show the next day. Neil worked through chores on his own, stewing in his feelings all by his lonesome, and felt ridiculous for it. It had been all of five days that Andrew came to work with him; it weren't forever, and it sure wasn't a commitment. He swallowed down the concern, the irritation, and worst of all, the loneliness which, since it'd been acknowledged, seemed to be there whenever he was alone or un-distracted now.

When Neil picked up the kids, they each had a note with them from Coach and a request to lock up the critters for the night. Neil sighed. These lockdown nights happened often, every few weeks or so, so by now, the kids knew the drill. When they got home, they all worked together to make sure the stalls and pens were all mucked out, the dogs rested and fed well earlier than usual to ensure they were ready to protect their charges should the need arise. They put everyone up and locked all the barns and pens. Neil didn't have enough dogs to put a pair with every barn, so he kept them with the most vulnerable — the horses had to fend for themselves.

"Got Tikka and Colt with the sheep," Laila called.

"Sig and Sauer are set up with the chickens and the rabbits," Jeremy reassured.

"Smith and Wesson are with the heifers and the calf," Jean checked in uncertainly when Neil moved to help him haul hay into the cows' lean-to. "I thought to put Remi in there with 'em so they can show her the ropes… or you want her with Kimber and 'Retta?"

Neil hummed as they worked. "She's young yet, but I reckon she's ready to start learnin', and she ought to start with someone she can't bully. Put her in there with Smith and Wes. Good call, Jean."

Jean blushed and didn't respond, and Neil smiled to himself. Jean was the newest of his kids, only here about two years, and he was by far the most reserved, but Neil saw how far casual encouragement took him in his confidence around the farm and family.

"Kimber and Beretta are settlin' in with the goats," Cat hollered as she set up their feed buckets, "but I ain't seen Remi and she ain't answerin' when I call. Any idea where she is?"

Neil glanced over at the goats' enclosures to make sure they were all secure and that the males were separate from the females and kids. Nodding to himself, he told her, "Jean reckons she's ready to start in with Smith and Wes, so she's already locked up in there for the night."

Cat whistled. "Already? We ain't started anyone so young on overnights."

Neil shrugged. "Remi's his pup," he reasoned. "He works her a lot. If he thinks she's ready, I ain't seen no reason to override that decision. You?"

Cat considered for a moment and then shrugged. "Naw, I guess not. Hope she does good."

"Me, too," Neil confided. "But I think he put her with a good pair to teach her up, and startin' her with the cows is good thinkin'." He glanced at the horizon, noting the soon-to-be setting sun, and whistled sharply. "Y'all get on inside," he told Cat. "I'll take the four-wheeler around and double check the fences and gates. We can start on dinner when I get back."

They weathered the night just fine, like they always did. Prepping for these nights always felt akin to prepping for a big storm, though nothing ever happened. It especially unnerved Jean, who didn't quite settle 'til he fell asleep, usually in his bed curled around Cat while Laila slept in Jeremy's bed, because having them all together with Neil holding the line downstairs settled Jean's nerves. Every time, he asked Neil what they locked the animals and themselves inside from, and every time, Neil told him he didn't know. It was mostly true: he didn't know what they were keeping locked out, but he knew Coach knew. That he'd told Neil, all those years ago, to keep everyone locked up, and gave him special bullets to keep loaded in his guns, was enough to tell Neil he didn't want to know. So he never asked, and Wymack never told.

When Neil woke the next morning well before sun-up as usual, Neil yawned and padded out to start the coffee pot. He was grabbing the eggs to start up a scramble when he looked out the window and noticed a huge heap lying in front of the steps like a blockade to the porch. Neil paused and turned off the water, peering closer. He reached and put two fingers between the blinds and pulled one down to get an unobstructed view and his breath caught. A wolf.

If not for its sheer mass, Neil would've thought it a coyote due to its coloring. A mostly gray-creamy kind of color, there were bits of russet blended in to its coat. Pretty standard coloring for a coyote. But this beast was huge, well over the size of even his livestock dogs, and maybe — Neil couldn't be sure, since it was laying down, after all — nearly as big as Neil. Just…massive. Neil took a breath at last and the wolf's ear twitched. It lazily moved its head back and met Neil's gaze, its amber eyes startlingly bright in the pre-dawn darkness.

Time froze. They stared at one another, Neil's blue eyes meeting this bright yellow-gold, and the world stopped.

And then Neil ran to the front door, grabbed the gun next to it, and threw it open, already cocking. The tread of his feet must've alerted the wolf, though, because it was already off the porch and running, making a wide berth around any of his barns. Neil yelled up to the kids to stay their asses inside and fired a shot into the air, just to scare the wolf off further, and then he ran to his truck.

Wymack was his only neighbor for miles, and he had a few pet cats and a small flock of chickens that he often let run around free range in his yard. All of them had names and were taken care of like family, and Neil would want the same notice if the shoe were on the other foot. He flew up the road and, gun still in hand, pounded on the door, keeping his back to the porch to keep an eye on the woods behind him. That wolf hadn't seemed rabid, but they also weren't native to the area and he wasn't about to take a chance. He pounded on the door again.

"What in the hell? Wymack, it's Neil!"

Neil looked over just before the door opened and saw Matt peering out at him. He looked like shit, but he also looked alert, scanning the area and putting his hands up. "Uh, Neil, you okay, there, buddy?"

"Wolf," Neil bit out, not ashamed to be seen looking terrified out of his mind.

Matt's brown skin turned ashen and sick-looking as his eyes widened. He looked at the gun and took a step back. "W-what? Neil —"

"Put the gun down, kid."

Neil shivered as Wymack appeared behind Matt, in shorts with no shirt on. Beneath his hairy torso, Neil saw raised red lines — scratches, Neil realized, and blushed despite himself. He looked back up at Wymack's face and his fingers tightened on the barrel of his shotgun as he looked behind him. So much love lived in this house, just the same as his, and the thought of some giant, mutant fucking wolf coming around —

"Neil," Wymack repeated softly, easily maneuvering Matt out of the doorway. He stepped out onto the porch and shut the door behind him. "Breathe. Put the damn gun down." Neil tried to listen to Wymack as he heard frantic movement around inside. "What's going on?"

"There was a wolf," Neil stressed, but he lowered the gun. "It was — a giant fuckin' wolf. I never seen one so big, not even — I just came to tell you to lock everyone up, is all. Your cats and the chickens. It was — it's gotta be hungry, Coach; it was on my porch." He looked in the direction of his home even though he couldn't see it from there, and hoped to god those damn kids listened to him and stayed inside.

"Is that right," Wymack responded thoughtfully as he lit a cigarette, and Neil had to stop himself from snapping. He knew what he seen.

"Yes," he answered firmly. "If it weren't so huge, I'd've just thought it was a desperate coyote, but it was huge."

"You afraid of a wolf?" Wymack asked, rubbing his chin. "I'm not making fun of you, kid," he defended when Neil scowled at him. He handed Neil a second cigarette and watched him inhale a deep drag with a concerned gaze. "I've just never seen you so worked up before."

Neil opened his mouth, then shut it, and weighed his options. He normally knew better than to tell someone else's secrets, but his daddy was long dead and not around to beat him for it, so he said, "Wolves was the only thing my daddy was ever afraid of." He didn't add that he'd watched his daddy kill 'em before, as a boy, watched a few try to run away, heard them whine and whimper and snarl. He didn't add that he'd always wanted to look away but hadn't been allowed. He didn't add that he'd never understood why his daddy liked killin' the wolves or why they was always so big. He didn't add anything, but it still felt like Wymack heard it.

Wymack was quiet for a moment before he suggested, "Why don't you come in for a cup of coffee, son? Sounds like a scare before you even got a cup in you has you a little shaken."

But Neil shook his head and took a step back. "Thanks, but I gotta be gettin' back to the kids, make sure they stayed inside."

Wymack nodded. "Okay," he agreed. "I'll have Dan call it in and they'll send a team out, so just be aware. You might have some folks in your trees looking for it for the next few days."

Dan, Neil knew, worked with animal and wildlife control for the county, and he nodded, shoulders dropping with relief. "Okay," he agreed. "Sorry. I — I came to warn you about your critters; I ain't meant to scare nobody. I forgot what time it was."

"That's alright," Coach told him. He squeezed Neil's shoulder briefly. "We appreciate it. I'm sure Matt's out looking for the cats now. Lord knows Nicky'll have the chickens locked in the coop before you get back home." Neil laughed a little shakily, and Wymack hummed to himself. "It go after you or your animals?"

Neil took a steadying breath and realized he was being ridiculous. Yes, it was a big-ass wolf, but it was just a wolf at the end of the day. They were scared of people, and the way it had run off had proved it. "Naw, it run off when I opened the door. Stayed clear of my barns, and all. I only thought to come up here 'cause it went this way."

"I thought I heard a gunshot," Coach asked. "That you?"

"Yeah," Neil nodded, "but just up in the air. It ain't done nothin' so it didn't feel right to try killin' it. Only now, I wish I'd've just done it, 'cause now we gotta be on the lookout."

"Don't worry about it," Coach reassured him. "You know Dan can catch just about anything. Just keep your kids out of the woods 'til you hear from us to be safe, okay?"

"Yeah." Neil nodded and swallowed. "Yeah. You're right. Okay." He took a look at Wymack again and bit his lip. "Um, thanks, Coach. Sorry again for…" He waved at the just-now rising sun, his gun, the house.

"It's okay, Neil. Thanks for letting us know. We'll have someone call about the wolf when it's caught."

Neil nodded and turned around, and he heard the door shut as he walked to his truck. He put the gun in the cab next to him and was just getting into it when he saw movement in the trees from the corner of his eye.

Quick as a blink, he had the gun pointed…at Andrew as he emerged from the treeline. The man stopped, watching Neil warily for a moment until Neil sighed and out the gun back down, rolling his eyes at himself. "Sorry," he muttered.

Andrew walked towards him and shrugged. "You seem jumpy," he observed in a raw, scratchy voice.

Neil eyed him up and down critically. "You ought to be careful out in them woods," he answered softly. "I just seen a big ol' wolf out there this mornin'."

Andrew swallowed and looked him over again, sticking his hands in his pockets. "You alright?" He asked.

It took Neil by surprise, the way he asked it. Like he…like he wanted to know, but was mad about it. Like he needed the answer, but couldn't stand that it mattered to him either way. Still, Neil gave him the truth with a barked out laugh. "Hell, no. Thing was huge, liked to scare the shit outta me. Thought I was a goner for a second."

Andrew nodded, peering up at him. "Wolves don't usually attack people, you know."

Neil snorted. "They don't usually sleep on my porch like a hound dog, either, I reckon', but this one sure seemed different."

The corner of Andrew's lips lifted and he looked away. "That's fair," he nodded. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, though. Wolves are usually pretty shy. Nocturnal, too."

Neil nodded. "Yeah," he responded, and then didn't know what else to say. Andrew was closer than normal, and it was…so distracting. "Didn't see you yesterday," he blurted eventually, because for some reason he wasn't ready to leave Andrew's presence. Something about it was so calming, and he felt…settled. Safe. Neil hadn't realized he was still shaking like a leaf til he stopped.

Andrew hummed. "I wasn't feeling well," he answered.

Neil looked him over, then. Really looked. Andrew's hair was a wreck, and there was a bit of a dead leaf in it by his ear. He was dirty-looking, even in the dark of the early morning, and the bags under his eyes were big and dark. His eyes were a dark gold color in the present murky lighting, and they stole Neil's breath for a moment before he wrenched them away. His clothes were wrinkled, his lips chapped, and there were several little scratches on the few bits of bare skin visible — his neck, the slice of skin between the tops of his arm bands and the hem of his short sleeves, the back of his hands. One on his cheek.

"Yeah, I believe that," he said weakly. "You look like hell."

Andrew snorted. "Thanks," he answered dryly. "Though I think your chances at Mister America might be pretty low, too."

Neil looked down at himself and abruptly laughed when he realized he was still in his ratty sleep clothes — house shoes and all. He'd only paused to grab his coat on the way out. He drew a hand over his unshaven face, over his scars, and smirked wryly. "I reckon my chances've been low for a while now, though."

Andrew raised a brow. "What, the scars?" He asked, and met Neil's eyes when Neil nodded. "They make you look rugged. Daring. Clean yourself up and I'd say your chances might just increase."

Neil felt himself go hot all over and there was a twist to his gut as he processed Andrew's words. He swallowed and forced himself to push onward. "You ought to go rest up," he bossed. "And — drink some honey lemon tea. Your throat sounds scratched to shit. I don't include sick days in your wages."

A puff of air passed through Andrew's nose. Amusement. His ears reddened and he shifted on his feet. "I won't be down today," he said, and watched as Neil tried to pretend he didn't care. "But I'll probably be fine by Monday."

Neil nodded slowly. "Alright," he said. "Well, then… You feel better. I can drop off some soup, if you want." A second later, he blushed and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck sheepishly. "Or, well, you got Miss Abby, don't you, so…I reckon you'll be right as rain in no time."

Andrew made a quiet noise of agreement, but then casually rested an elbow on the bed of Neil's truck and shrugged. "I'd eat it, though."

Neil bit his lip. "Yeah?"

He nodded, just a small bob of his head as he amended, "But save it for Monday. We can have it for lunch at your place. If you drop it off here, Matt would just swear it's for him and he'd talk about how much you love each other all day long, and I'd have to kill him just to get any soup or peace."

Neil's lips curved into a smile. "Sounds to me like Matt ain't the only one jealous over my attention," he teased.

Andrew flicked him on the forehead, though he looked amused. "Go home, Mr. America," he droned. "Don't you have to drive your kids to school? Actually, why don't they have a license by now? Surely at least one of them is sixteen by now."

Neil snorted but he opened the door to the truck and climbed in. "Two of 'em are, and they got licenses, but the car broke down and I don't know nothin' about cars."

Andrew frowned, but said nothing, and Neil started up the truck. He watched as Neil drove away, and the last Neil saw of him was a flash of those eyes lighting up amber as the sun rose over the hill and hit them.

The rest of the morning was stressful and Neil felt so terrible for how much he'd worried the kids that he didn't make them go to school. He called the office, told them their goats were kidding, and he needed them home to help, and got them excused for the day.

Neil told them about the wolf and how it had gone off into the woods, and made them swear not to go anywhere near it, and also to keep a gun on them around the farm. He accepted their nervous affection (Cat) and angry scolding (Laila) and the silent treatment (Jean) and attempts to make light of their fear for him (Jeremy) with understanding chagrin, and apologized several times over.

They did the immediately-necessary chores for the day together, then stayed in, watching movies and cooking and hanging out. By the time they all went to bed that night, Neil was forgiven and the matter moved on from. But he was still thinking about Andrew's closeness and the way he'd calmed Neil with barely any words.