The Anthemic: "Just Like Driving On An Open Highway"
Just Like Driving On An Open Highway
Fandom: The Anthemic
Pairing: Neal Tiemann/Andy Skib
Word count: 3,178
Beta: anathema64
Rating: PG13
Summary: A misunderstanding leads to broken bones, and maybe more…
Disclaimer: These characters own themselves, since they're real people and all. I doubt this ever happened.
Author's Note: Title taken from Our Kind of Love by Lady Antebellum. Written for 100_prompts, #86 - Bone.
“It’s broken, Skib, broken! Now what the hell am I supposed to do?” Neal said, pacing the room in hopes of relieving some of the pain.
“You need to calm down and tell me what happened, that’s what,” Andy said, and Neal thought he sounded far too calm for the situation. Neal himself started to feel panic building in his chest. Fuck, why did he have to go and fuck this shit up, again?
“You don’t get it, do you? It’s broken, not sprained, broken,” Neal emphasized the last word again, he needed to make Andy understand the seriousness here.
“I heard you the first time.” Andy still sounded just as calm, and Neal couldn’t help it, he glared at him. Granted, it probably would’ve worked better if there weren’t tears in the corners of his eyes threatening to fall. Fuck, he couldn’t remember it hurting hurt this much the last time. It had been ten years since the first time it happened, wasn’t he supposed to be able to handle pain better over the years?
“You know, it might hurt less if you sit down,” Andy suggested. “The less you jostle your arm, the better… and you can tell me what the hell happened.”
As much as Neal hated to be given orders, even by Andy, he obeyed. Andy probably did have a point, after all. Neal wasn’t ready to tell Andy what had happened though, because whenever he thought about it, he could feel the anger surfacing again. If what that girl had told him was true, he didn’t know what he would do, and he already had one broken hand because of it. Avoiding eye contact, he sat down next to Andy.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, before Andy finally lost his patience. “Well, are you going to tell me what happened?” Neal knew it had been too much to hope for that Andy would just let it go. “Look, I’ll tell you what I know…”
Neal couldn’t help but look at Andy at that. There was no way he could know the full story, right? He’d been at the other end of the room for most of the night, and Neal had been sure he hadn’t even been in the room at all when it all went down.
“I know that you were talking to a girl for the better part of an hour, I know that it looked like you were in a pretty intense conversation at one point. I just figured it was about music or something.” Andy shrugged at that, arching an eyebrow at Neal. “Kyle and I went out on the balcony to get some air for a few minutes, and when we came back you were clutching a broken hand.”
“We weren’t talking about music,” Neal said, just to fill the silence he could feel coming. It wasn’t what Andy wanted to hear, and he knew it, but there wasn’t anything else he was willing to say at that point.
Andy snorted, rolling his eyes. “I figured. See, here is what I think happened next. I think this girl got a little too close, or did something you didn’t like, and you hit the wall. Or a table, or something.”
Neal just shrugged. Andy had gotten it right, except the more important details. “That not exactly what happened…”
“Then what did happen?” Andy was getting frustrated by now, that much was obvious. “Because the last time this happened, it was because you found out my sister had cheated on you. And as far as I know, you’ve never seen that girl before in your life, so there’s no way in hell she could’ve cheated on you. Unless there’s something you’ve been hiding from me…”
Neal hated that those last few words were filled with uncertainty, because he had no idea what that meant. No idea how to read into what was going on. Fuck it if Andy thought he’d been cheating on him, when Neal was the one with the broken hand because he’d thought it was Andy who was cheating on him.
“I haven’t been hiding anything, but apparently you have,” Neal said, the words coming out low and maybe a little harsher than he’d intended.
“I… I… I what?” Andy stood up, and if looks could kill, Neal probably would’ve died on the spot. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Just that if you wanted to get back with Jennie, at least you could have told me,” Neal had to take a few deep breaths before he could continue. Now that it was all out in the open, Neal just felt worse. He really couldn’t believe this was happening. “I had to find out from a fan that you were back together with her, that’s low Andy.”
When Andy didn’t say anything, Neal looked over at him. Were those tears in his eyes? Was Andy crying? Neal’s head started pounding in tandem with his hand; clearly he was missing something important here.
Before Neal could register what was happening, Andy had slammed the door to the common area of the bus behind him. Neal had at the very least expected Andy to say something, anything, not that he would storm out, in tears. If Neal had been that wrong, shouldn’t he at least have yelled at him? Even a punch in the face had been better than this, because this meant that Neal was wrong, and that hurt.
Should he follow Andy? Obviously, he had been very wrong, and deep down he knew that before he even said anything. Before he even hit that wall, but he was drunk, and it hurt to hear. He wasn’t really in the right frame of mind right then to make the best decisions.
Neal let a few minutes pass, hoping that Andy would come back. It felt like hours passed, but really it was only minutes, Neal knew that, and Andy still didn’t come back. After he’d searched through the bus, and come up empty, Neal ventured outside.
He found Andy sitting on a low wall a few feet away, his back to the bus. As he approached, Neal cleared his throat so that Andy would hear him coming. Andy’s head shot up, and there was a sadness in his eyes as he looked at Neal.
Sitting down next to Andy, Neal winced as it jostled his arm. “Hi,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“Hi.” Andy looked at his hands. “I think maybe we should talk.”
Neal nodded, looking out over the lawn. “Yeah.”
Andy didn’t offer anything more though, and the silence made Neal twitchy. “So…”
“You really think I’m cheating on you with Jennie?” Andy asked, sounding sad and disappointed. “You really think I would do that after everything? You really trust a fan enough on something like that, so much so that you would break your hand over it?”
“Andy, no…” Neal started, looking down at his hands. “That’s not what…” Out of the corner of his eye he could see Andy fiddling with something. “What’s that?” Before Andy had the chance to say anything, Neal got a better look. “Is that… is that a…”
“Oh…” Andy said. “I didn’t realize I was even holding it.” He took a deep breath, looking over at Neal. “It’s a ring, for you. It’s an engagement ring.” Andy handed it over, putting it in Neal’s lap before getting up and heading in the opposite direction of the bus.
“Hey!” Neal called after him, trying to get up. “Where are you going? Andy?”
“I’ll be back,” Andy called, backing away from him. “I just need some time to myself.”
***
Neal sat on the wall, with the tiny velvet box in his hand, thinking. He didn’t open it, didn’t want to do that until Andy was there by his side again. He wanted Andy to be the one to open it for him, if that’s what Andy still wanted.
He went over everything that had happened in his head. From the time the concert ended until just now. When he thought about it, he realized how stupid the whole situation was. All of this could’ve been avoided if he was just better at communicating. Who listens to what a fan tells you anyway?
“Hey, what are you doing out here?” Dave asked behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. Settling down next to him, Dave’s eyes drifted to Neal’s hand. “Is that what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s a ring, then yes,” Neal said. “It is what you think it is.”
David was silent for a few seconds. “Where’s Andy?”
Neal shrugged. “Don’t know, he said he needed some time alone to think.”
“And the ring?” David asked.
“It’s for me,” Neal kept his voice low, it hurt just saying the words. “Fuck, Dave. It’s an engagement ring, and I accused him of cheating on me!”
The reaction didn’t wait. “What the hell, Doc? Why would you think that? Andy would never do that to you, you know that!”
Neal sighed, feeling the air leaving him. “Fuck, I really screwed up, didn’t I? I just… it’s happened to me before, you know that. And then when that girl said she was happy Andy was back together with Jennie, I just lost it.”
“You’re a stupid fucker sometimes, you know that?” Dave slapped the back of his head. “You need to fucking fix this. And apparently I need to go call Nick and see if he can fill in for a few weeks.” Looking at him, Dave got up. “Call him.”
Neal watched as Dave headed back to the bus. He didn’t want to call Andy, afraid that it would be the wrong thing to do. But what if he didn’t call, and Andy didn’t get back because he was expecting him to?
He fingered the velvet box, going over all possible scenarios in his head. He shifted the box over to his borken hand and took out his phone, using speed dial to call Andy.
‘Andy here. Can’t come to the phone right now, but leave me a message and I’ll call you back.’
Neal waited for the beep, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Come back, please? We need to talk.”
Before he knew it, Neal could feel tears prickling down his cheeks. He told himself that it was because of the pain in his hand, furiously wiping them away.
Neal had no idea how long he’d been sitting there when someone sat down next to him. He was on the verge of telling whoever it was to fuck the hell off when they spoke.
“I got your message.” Neal’s breath caught in his throat at the sound of Andy’s voice.
“I’m so fucking sorry,” Neal said, desperation making itself known in his voice. “You have no idea how sorry I am, I don’t know what came over me. Fuck, I’ve ruined everything, haven’t I?”
Andy didn’t say anything, and Neal felt the desperation morph into dread. He didn’t know if he could get through this if Andy said it was over. Andy had been a part of his life for so long that Neal almost didn’t remember what life had been like without him. He really didn’t want to find out.
“It doesn’t have to be,” Andy offered. He didn’t sound very reassuring. “I just don’t get it, you know? What did I ever do to make you doubt me? Since when do you take what some fangirl said seriously?”
“I don’t know,” Neal said, immediately realizing that it was the wrong thing to say. “I got all these images in my head from the last time it happened, when it really happened… I just snapped.” He looked up, facing Andy. “I don’t know what I would have done if it had been true. I can’t remember what my life was like without you. I don’t want to remember. You’ve disappeared so often lately without an explanation to where you were going that I just jumped to conclusions.”
Andy took the velvet box from Neal’s hand. “I just wanted to talk to her about it, you know? We were together for so long, I thought she deserved to know from me. She even helped me pick out the ring.” He flipped the lid open, showing Neal what was inside. “I know we still have some shit to work through, but I want to spend forever with you. So, Neal Andrew Tiemann, will you spend your life with me? Officially.”
As the question came, Neal realized that he actually hadn’t expected Andy to ask him after everything that happened. There wasn’t a doubt about what he would answer, never had been really. The last day and a half didn’t count, okay? “Neal?” Andy’s voice and his hand on Neal’s knee startled him out of his thoughts. “You with me, man?”
Neal opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t get his words out. He settled on nodding, before pulling Andy close with his good hand and kissing him. “Yes,” he mumbled against Andy’s lips. “Yes. Fuck yes. I love you.”
Andy laughed. “I love you too, you fucker.” He kissed Neal quickly, before he pulled back and slid the ring on Neal’s left ring finger. “Let’s go inside, okay? Don’t want you to get a cold on top of this, you’d be unbearable.”
“I would not,” Neal protested as he let Andy pull him up.
“Oh, you so would,” Andy said, not letting go of Neal’s hand as they went to the bus. “Wouldn’t have it any other way though.”
“Hey, wait,” Neal said, stopping Andy in his tracks as he was about to pull open the door. Andy looked over his shoulder at him, questioningly. “This means we’re coming out and all that, right? Because I don’t want to hide this anymore, but I don’t want to make a big deal out of it either…”
“We’ll talk about that later, okay?” Andy smiled, tugging him closer. “Let’s just enjoy this for a while. Besides, once we get on the bus we’ll have to deal with the guys. That should be fun.”
When they stepped on the bus, it was quiet. Too quiet, like the calm before the storm. It made Neal wonder what the other guys were up to. Something that would either scare them, or embarrass them, no doubt.
“Should we just stay here?” Neal suggested. “I kinda like having you to myself for a while. It should happen way more often.” He hugged Andy close, breathing in the scent of his shampoo. He almost couldn’t believe that he would have this forever now. He would not let anything happen that could screw that up.
The door connecting the front of the bus to the back of the bus suddenly opened, Dave and Kyle tumbling out, Monty leaning against the wall a few feet behind them. Dave groaned as Kyle landed mostly on top of him, elbowing him in the ribs.
“Hi guys,” Andy said, sounding amused. “Comfortable?”
“Very,” Kyle replied, settling down on top of Dave, all but snuggling close.
“Did you want something?” Neal asked. He really just wanted some time alone with Andy, was that too much to ask for?
“Get off me, Peek,” Dave said, pushing Kyle off him so that he could get off the floor. “We heard you come in and then it turned too quiet out here. Guess this means you finally got your shit together. So, show us your hand, Tiemann.”
When Neal didn’t offer his hand up fast enough, Dave walked over, grabbing it none too gently in his own. He let out an impressed whistle. “Wow, you really went all out, Andy, that’s an impressive ring.”
Neal pulled his hand back. He couldn’t help feeling offended on Andy’s behalf, and maybe a little on his own, too. Why wouldn’t Andy buy him an impressive ring? “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Come on, Neal,” Andy said. “I’m sure that’s not what he meant. Right, Dave?”
“It’s a really nice ring, guys,” Dave said, smiling at them. “I’m really happy for you. Congratulations.” He hugged them both close at the same time, kissing their cheeks in turn, making Neal yelp and pull away. Andy just laughed.
As Dave stepped back, Kyle stepped forward. Looking from one to the other he smiled. “Congrats guys. It’s about time.”
Monty was the last to congratulate them. Giving them each a friendly thump on the back, he asked, “So, what date did you set?”
“We’ve been engaged for less than half an hour,” Andy said. “I think that can wait. Don’t you, Neal?”
Neal agreed wholeheartedly. “Yes, that can definitely wait. I think I might have to get used to the fact that I’m engaged, first. And take you out in public, tell my mom, buy you a ring. You know, things like that.”
“You’re coming out?” Kyle asked, and Neal didn’t have to look at him to know his eyes were comically wide. “You’re sure about this?”
“Yes, we are.” Neal glared at Kyle. “Why wouldn’t we be? Anyone who doesn’t approve can go screw themselves, I don’t give a damn. We should be allowed to be happy just like everyone else.”
“I never said-” Kyle started.
Neal interrupted him. “I know what you said. It’s just… it’s frustrating, you know?” He sat down, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “It shouldn’t matter that we’re both men. It’s the 21st century for fuck’s sake.”
He felt someone sit down next to him. “Hey, Neal, calm down, okay?” Andy said, resting his hand on Neal’s back. “We’ll get through this. Together. Everyone who loves us supports us, that’s what’s important. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Okay?”
Neal nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He took Andy’s left hand in his right one, kissing the back of it. “I love you.”
“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Dave said, amusement in his voice. “We’ll be back in a few hours.”
Neal waved over his shoulder as he leaned in close to kiss his fiancé again. Hell, he hadn’t ever thought he would get to use that word. It was a really nice feeling. He vaguely heard the way the other guys laughed as the door to the bus closed behind them.
“My fiancé.” Neal smiled, liking the way the words rolled off his tongue. “It’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
Andy grinned. “It sure does.” He lowered his voice as he said the next part, “So, we’ve got the bus to ourselves, what do you say we take advantage of it?”
“Sounds good,” Neal said, but it was ruined by the yawn he couldn’t stop. “Though, how do you feel about a nap? Fuck, I’m exhausted.”
Andy stroked his fingers through Neal’s hair. “Let’s get you to bed. We’ve got the rest of our lives for all this other stuff.”
The rest of their lives. Neal liked the sound of that.
Fandom: The Anthemic
Pairing: Neal Tiemann/Andy Skib
Word count: 3,178
Beta: anathema64
Rating: PG13
Summary: A misunderstanding leads to broken bones, and maybe more…
Disclaimer: These characters own themselves, since they're real people and all. I doubt this ever happened.
Author's Note: Title taken from Our Kind of Love by Lady Antebellum. Written for 100_prompts, #86 - Bone.
“It’s broken, Skib, broken! Now what the hell am I supposed to do?” Neal said, pacing the room in hopes of relieving some of the pain.
“You need to calm down and tell me what happened, that’s what,” Andy said, and Neal thought he sounded far too calm for the situation. Neal himself started to feel panic building in his chest. Fuck, why did he have to go and fuck this shit up, again?
“You don’t get it, do you? It’s broken, not sprained, broken,” Neal emphasized the last word again, he needed to make Andy understand the seriousness here.
“I heard you the first time.” Andy still sounded just as calm, and Neal couldn’t help it, he glared at him. Granted, it probably would’ve worked better if there weren’t tears in the corners of his eyes threatening to fall. Fuck, he couldn’t remember it hurting hurt this much the last time. It had been ten years since the first time it happened, wasn’t he supposed to be able to handle pain better over the years?
“You know, it might hurt less if you sit down,” Andy suggested. “The less you jostle your arm, the better… and you can tell me what the hell happened.”
As much as Neal hated to be given orders, even by Andy, he obeyed. Andy probably did have a point, after all. Neal wasn’t ready to tell Andy what had happened though, because whenever he thought about it, he could feel the anger surfacing again. If what that girl had told him was true, he didn’t know what he would do, and he already had one broken hand because of it. Avoiding eye contact, he sat down next to Andy.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, before Andy finally lost his patience. “Well, are you going to tell me what happened?” Neal knew it had been too much to hope for that Andy would just let it go. “Look, I’ll tell you what I know…”
Neal couldn’t help but look at Andy at that. There was no way he could know the full story, right? He’d been at the other end of the room for most of the night, and Neal had been sure he hadn’t even been in the room at all when it all went down.
“I know that you were talking to a girl for the better part of an hour, I know that it looked like you were in a pretty intense conversation at one point. I just figured it was about music or something.” Andy shrugged at that, arching an eyebrow at Neal. “Kyle and I went out on the balcony to get some air for a few minutes, and when we came back you were clutching a broken hand.”
“We weren’t talking about music,” Neal said, just to fill the silence he could feel coming. It wasn’t what Andy wanted to hear, and he knew it, but there wasn’t anything else he was willing to say at that point.
Andy snorted, rolling his eyes. “I figured. See, here is what I think happened next. I think this girl got a little too close, or did something you didn’t like, and you hit the wall. Or a table, or something.”
Neal just shrugged. Andy had gotten it right, except the more important details. “That not exactly what happened…”
“Then what did happen?” Andy was getting frustrated by now, that much was obvious. “Because the last time this happened, it was because you found out my sister had cheated on you. And as far as I know, you’ve never seen that girl before in your life, so there’s no way in hell she could’ve cheated on you. Unless there’s something you’ve been hiding from me…”
Neal hated that those last few words were filled with uncertainty, because he had no idea what that meant. No idea how to read into what was going on. Fuck it if Andy thought he’d been cheating on him, when Neal was the one with the broken hand because he’d thought it was Andy who was cheating on him.
“I haven’t been hiding anything, but apparently you have,” Neal said, the words coming out low and maybe a little harsher than he’d intended.
“I… I… I what?” Andy stood up, and if looks could kill, Neal probably would’ve died on the spot. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Just that if you wanted to get back with Jennie, at least you could have told me,” Neal had to take a few deep breaths before he could continue. Now that it was all out in the open, Neal just felt worse. He really couldn’t believe this was happening. “I had to find out from a fan that you were back together with her, that’s low Andy.”
When Andy didn’t say anything, Neal looked over at him. Were those tears in his eyes? Was Andy crying? Neal’s head started pounding in tandem with his hand; clearly he was missing something important here.
Before Neal could register what was happening, Andy had slammed the door to the common area of the bus behind him. Neal had at the very least expected Andy to say something, anything, not that he would storm out, in tears. If Neal had been that wrong, shouldn’t he at least have yelled at him? Even a punch in the face had been better than this, because this meant that Neal was wrong, and that hurt.
Should he follow Andy? Obviously, he had been very wrong, and deep down he knew that before he even said anything. Before he even hit that wall, but he was drunk, and it hurt to hear. He wasn’t really in the right frame of mind right then to make the best decisions.
Neal let a few minutes pass, hoping that Andy would come back. It felt like hours passed, but really it was only minutes, Neal knew that, and Andy still didn’t come back. After he’d searched through the bus, and come up empty, Neal ventured outside.
He found Andy sitting on a low wall a few feet away, his back to the bus. As he approached, Neal cleared his throat so that Andy would hear him coming. Andy’s head shot up, and there was a sadness in his eyes as he looked at Neal.
Sitting down next to Andy, Neal winced as it jostled his arm. “Hi,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“Hi.” Andy looked at his hands. “I think maybe we should talk.”
Neal nodded, looking out over the lawn. “Yeah.”
Andy didn’t offer anything more though, and the silence made Neal twitchy. “So…”
“You really think I’m cheating on you with Jennie?” Andy asked, sounding sad and disappointed. “You really think I would do that after everything? You really trust a fan enough on something like that, so much so that you would break your hand over it?”
“Andy, no…” Neal started, looking down at his hands. “That’s not what…” Out of the corner of his eye he could see Andy fiddling with something. “What’s that?” Before Andy had the chance to say anything, Neal got a better look. “Is that… is that a…”
“Oh…” Andy said. “I didn’t realize I was even holding it.” He took a deep breath, looking over at Neal. “It’s a ring, for you. It’s an engagement ring.” Andy handed it over, putting it in Neal’s lap before getting up and heading in the opposite direction of the bus.
“Hey!” Neal called after him, trying to get up. “Where are you going? Andy?”
“I’ll be back,” Andy called, backing away from him. “I just need some time to myself.”
***
Neal sat on the wall, with the tiny velvet box in his hand, thinking. He didn’t open it, didn’t want to do that until Andy was there by his side again. He wanted Andy to be the one to open it for him, if that’s what Andy still wanted.
He went over everything that had happened in his head. From the time the concert ended until just now. When he thought about it, he realized how stupid the whole situation was. All of this could’ve been avoided if he was just better at communicating. Who listens to what a fan tells you anyway?
“Hey, what are you doing out here?” Dave asked behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. Settling down next to him, Dave’s eyes drifted to Neal’s hand. “Is that what I think it is?”
“If you think it’s a ring, then yes,” Neal said. “It is what you think it is.”
David was silent for a few seconds. “Where’s Andy?”
Neal shrugged. “Don’t know, he said he needed some time alone to think.”
“And the ring?” David asked.
“It’s for me,” Neal kept his voice low, it hurt just saying the words. “Fuck, Dave. It’s an engagement ring, and I accused him of cheating on me!”
The reaction didn’t wait. “What the hell, Doc? Why would you think that? Andy would never do that to you, you know that!”
Neal sighed, feeling the air leaving him. “Fuck, I really screwed up, didn’t I? I just… it’s happened to me before, you know that. And then when that girl said she was happy Andy was back together with Jennie, I just lost it.”
“You’re a stupid fucker sometimes, you know that?” Dave slapped the back of his head. “You need to fucking fix this. And apparently I need to go call Nick and see if he can fill in for a few weeks.” Looking at him, Dave got up. “Call him.”
Neal watched as Dave headed back to the bus. He didn’t want to call Andy, afraid that it would be the wrong thing to do. But what if he didn’t call, and Andy didn’t get back because he was expecting him to?
He fingered the velvet box, going over all possible scenarios in his head. He shifted the box over to his borken hand and took out his phone, using speed dial to call Andy.
‘Andy here. Can’t come to the phone right now, but leave me a message and I’ll call you back.’
Neal waited for the beep, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Come back, please? We need to talk.”
Before he knew it, Neal could feel tears prickling down his cheeks. He told himself that it was because of the pain in his hand, furiously wiping them away.
Neal had no idea how long he’d been sitting there when someone sat down next to him. He was on the verge of telling whoever it was to fuck the hell off when they spoke.
“I got your message.” Neal’s breath caught in his throat at the sound of Andy’s voice.
“I’m so fucking sorry,” Neal said, desperation making itself known in his voice. “You have no idea how sorry I am, I don’t know what came over me. Fuck, I’ve ruined everything, haven’t I?”
Andy didn’t say anything, and Neal felt the desperation morph into dread. He didn’t know if he could get through this if Andy said it was over. Andy had been a part of his life for so long that Neal almost didn’t remember what life had been like without him. He really didn’t want to find out.
“It doesn’t have to be,” Andy offered. He didn’t sound very reassuring. “I just don’t get it, you know? What did I ever do to make you doubt me? Since when do you take what some fangirl said seriously?”
“I don’t know,” Neal said, immediately realizing that it was the wrong thing to say. “I got all these images in my head from the last time it happened, when it really happened… I just snapped.” He looked up, facing Andy. “I don’t know what I would have done if it had been true. I can’t remember what my life was like without you. I don’t want to remember. You’ve disappeared so often lately without an explanation to where you were going that I just jumped to conclusions.”
Andy took the velvet box from Neal’s hand. “I just wanted to talk to her about it, you know? We were together for so long, I thought she deserved to know from me. She even helped me pick out the ring.” He flipped the lid open, showing Neal what was inside. “I know we still have some shit to work through, but I want to spend forever with you. So, Neal Andrew Tiemann, will you spend your life with me? Officially.”
As the question came, Neal realized that he actually hadn’t expected Andy to ask him after everything that happened. There wasn’t a doubt about what he would answer, never had been really. The last day and a half didn’t count, okay? “Neal?” Andy’s voice and his hand on Neal’s knee startled him out of his thoughts. “You with me, man?”
Neal opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t get his words out. He settled on nodding, before pulling Andy close with his good hand and kissing him. “Yes,” he mumbled against Andy’s lips. “Yes. Fuck yes. I love you.”
Andy laughed. “I love you too, you fucker.” He kissed Neal quickly, before he pulled back and slid the ring on Neal’s left ring finger. “Let’s go inside, okay? Don’t want you to get a cold on top of this, you’d be unbearable.”
“I would not,” Neal protested as he let Andy pull him up.
“Oh, you so would,” Andy said, not letting go of Neal’s hand as they went to the bus. “Wouldn’t have it any other way though.”
“Hey, wait,” Neal said, stopping Andy in his tracks as he was about to pull open the door. Andy looked over his shoulder at him, questioningly. “This means we’re coming out and all that, right? Because I don’t want to hide this anymore, but I don’t want to make a big deal out of it either…”
“We’ll talk about that later, okay?” Andy smiled, tugging him closer. “Let’s just enjoy this for a while. Besides, once we get on the bus we’ll have to deal with the guys. That should be fun.”
When they stepped on the bus, it was quiet. Too quiet, like the calm before the storm. It made Neal wonder what the other guys were up to. Something that would either scare them, or embarrass them, no doubt.
“Should we just stay here?” Neal suggested. “I kinda like having you to myself for a while. It should happen way more often.” He hugged Andy close, breathing in the scent of his shampoo. He almost couldn’t believe that he would have this forever now. He would not let anything happen that could screw that up.
The door connecting the front of the bus to the back of the bus suddenly opened, Dave and Kyle tumbling out, Monty leaning against the wall a few feet behind them. Dave groaned as Kyle landed mostly on top of him, elbowing him in the ribs.
“Hi guys,” Andy said, sounding amused. “Comfortable?”
“Very,” Kyle replied, settling down on top of Dave, all but snuggling close.
“Did you want something?” Neal asked. He really just wanted some time alone with Andy, was that too much to ask for?
“Get off me, Peek,” Dave said, pushing Kyle off him so that he could get off the floor. “We heard you come in and then it turned too quiet out here. Guess this means you finally got your shit together. So, show us your hand, Tiemann.”
When Neal didn’t offer his hand up fast enough, Dave walked over, grabbing it none too gently in his own. He let out an impressed whistle. “Wow, you really went all out, Andy, that’s an impressive ring.”
Neal pulled his hand back. He couldn’t help feeling offended on Andy’s behalf, and maybe a little on his own, too. Why wouldn’t Andy buy him an impressive ring? “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Come on, Neal,” Andy said. “I’m sure that’s not what he meant. Right, Dave?”
“It’s a really nice ring, guys,” Dave said, smiling at them. “I’m really happy for you. Congratulations.” He hugged them both close at the same time, kissing their cheeks in turn, making Neal yelp and pull away. Andy just laughed.
As Dave stepped back, Kyle stepped forward. Looking from one to the other he smiled. “Congrats guys. It’s about time.”
Monty was the last to congratulate them. Giving them each a friendly thump on the back, he asked, “So, what date did you set?”
“We’ve been engaged for less than half an hour,” Andy said. “I think that can wait. Don’t you, Neal?”
Neal agreed wholeheartedly. “Yes, that can definitely wait. I think I might have to get used to the fact that I’m engaged, first. And take you out in public, tell my mom, buy you a ring. You know, things like that.”
“You’re coming out?” Kyle asked, and Neal didn’t have to look at him to know his eyes were comically wide. “You’re sure about this?”
“Yes, we are.” Neal glared at Kyle. “Why wouldn’t we be? Anyone who doesn’t approve can go screw themselves, I don’t give a damn. We should be allowed to be happy just like everyone else.”
“I never said-” Kyle started.
Neal interrupted him. “I know what you said. It’s just… it’s frustrating, you know?” He sat down, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “It shouldn’t matter that we’re both men. It’s the 21st century for fuck’s sake.”
He felt someone sit down next to him. “Hey, Neal, calm down, okay?” Andy said, resting his hand on Neal’s back. “We’ll get through this. Together. Everyone who loves us supports us, that’s what’s important. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Okay?”
Neal nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He took Andy’s left hand in his right one, kissing the back of it. “I love you.”
“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Dave said, amusement in his voice. “We’ll be back in a few hours.”
Neal waved over his shoulder as he leaned in close to kiss his fiancé again. Hell, he hadn’t ever thought he would get to use that word. It was a really nice feeling. He vaguely heard the way the other guys laughed as the door to the bus closed behind them.
“My fiancé.” Neal smiled, liking the way the words rolled off his tongue. “It’s got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
Andy grinned. “It sure does.” He lowered his voice as he said the next part, “So, we’ve got the bus to ourselves, what do you say we take advantage of it?”
“Sounds good,” Neal said, but it was ruined by the yawn he couldn’t stop. “Though, how do you feel about a nap? Fuck, I’m exhausted.”
Andy stroked his fingers through Neal’s hair. “Let’s get you to bed. We’ve got the rest of our lives for all this other stuff.”
The rest of their lives. Neal liked the sound of that.