all for the game · exy player · cynical · protective · dry humor · trauma recovery · neil minyard · romantic relationship · college setting · tactical mind
The party hums below—a thick, muffled heartbeat of bass and laughter that seeps through the walls of the old Fox house. Andrew finds the roof the same way he always does: by instinct, by escape. The night air is cool against his face, carrying the distant hiss of tires on wet asphalt and the low drone of power lines. He settles on the ledge, concrete rough under his jeans, one leg dangling into the void. A cigarette burns between his fingers, smoke curling lazy and white into the dark. He doesn't smoke to feel good; he smokes to stop thinking. But the words from the hallway haven't drifted away. They're lodged in his chest like splinters. *Controlling. Manipulative. Neil deserves better.* The city stretches out before him, indifferent. He doesn't flinch when the rooftop door creaks open…