Chapter Text
Colors never mattered to me
It was all gray and dull
I was all black and blue
Until you arrived here
And life, I could finally see.
Day 10
In a way, being blind is fitting. Black clothes, black heart, black world.
Nicky is moaning more than Andrew has, for some reason. As if this changed anything.
Before the crash, Andrew and Aaron already lived with Nicky and Erik, because Tilda proved to be incapable of doing shit and ended up in rehab over and over. Aaron spent his every waking moment trying to earn a scholarship for college, Nicky and Erik worked comfortable 9 to 5, and Andrew spent his days writing poetry that he posted on a blog in between homeschooling and working out.
The only recent difference was Tilda’s funeral, Aaron’s mood swings, and Nicky taking time off from work to stay with Andrew, which he doesn’t need. He remembers the house up to the tiniest detail, so he can roam around as if nothing happened.
Andrew doesn’t need help. He knows where is everything he needs and he can move. He made sure to get as little injuries as possible and blindness isn’t something that bothers him much as long as it really is temporary.
One hundred days, the doctors said and Andrew believes them because he can work with a countback. In three months, he’s going to get his sight back and he will be able to post poetry again because if he’s being honest, that’s the only thing he would like to have now and he doesn’t feel like telling anyone about it to get help.
“Stop whispering. I'm blind, not deaf,” Andrew tells Nicky and Erik when he climbs down the stairs on his way to the living room.
Nicky clears his throat awkwardly and Erik goes quiet like a tomb. If Andrew was one for bets, he would place 10 bucks on Erik looking anywhere but where Andrew stands, crossing his arms.
“You were talking about me, keep going.”
It’s almost funny how losing his sight doesn’t make much of a difference when he can picture the scene in front of him perfectly. Nicky blushing because he came up with another stupid idea, Erik looking down, torn between taking Andrew’s side or Nicky’s. The silent discussion between them until Erik finally wins the staring contest and prompts Nicky to spill the beans.
“I posted an ad on the paper,” Nicky says at last. Andrew remains unmoving, hoping that his eyes are glued to Nicky so he keeps talking. His cousin elaborates, perhaps because Andrew nailed it or most likely because Erik is prompting him. “To find you an assistant.”
“I don’t need babysitting,” Andrew says, already tired of this conversation. He proved to be capable of independence days ago, he doesn’t need an obnoxious person babying him for no reason and Andrew knows damn well that Nicky and Erik are saving for a trip to Germany. They can save their money for that and stop giving him headaches. He can call Renee if he really, really feels like talking with a human, which he doesn’t. He has the cats.
“It’s not a nurse what Nicky requested,” Erik says.
Andrew adjusts his arms tighter over his chest.
“Is someone to help you write, okay?” Nicky says as fast as he can.
“You what.”
“I know you write! We all know! We can hear the taps of your keyboard all day and since you’re back we haven’t and you look... a bit down. You haven’t even talked to Renee, so I thought that maybe you’ll feel more confident with a stranger since you wouldn’t see if you’re being judged or not, but at least you could keep doing what you like. It’s out, now, if you walk ten steps in a straight line, you can murder me. I’m at the dining table.”
Andrew’s mind goes into Error 404 mode for a few seconds, trying to make sense of Nicky’s words.
His whole family knows he writes, they’ve known for who knows how long and they’ve also noticed he hasn’t talked with Renee, his only friend.
“Take it down.”
“But Drew!”
“Don’t Drew me. Take it down. I don’t need a babysitter or an assistant, or a typing slave.” Andrew says, giving half a turn to get back up into his room.
Verses start forming as he climbs the steps, but he pushes the words back down. No point in coming up with poems that he can’t put out into the world.
Knock, knock.
“Headache. Go away.”
“It’s Erik.”
“Still a headache, still go away.”
“We should’ve asked you about it, but Nicky only wants to help, you know? Both of you are so... closed off and now that you don’t write anymore, he just thought it was a good idea. What about asking Renee for help? I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”
“Renee has a life, and I have a headache. Take down the ad and leave me alone.”
If this was Nicky, the discussion would turn into a battle and morph into a tantrum. Thankfully, Erik has more brain cells and he leaves after a moment.
An assistant.
It’s just one hundred days like this, with another ninety to go. Andrew will look for Renee when he can see again so they can spar, but writing? No.
That part of Andrew belongs just to him and he will keep it that way.
☀☀☀
“No! No, I refuse to accept this. Let’s go again.” Matt complains even though he’s splattered on the running track. “You cheated.”
“It’s been three in a row. Just accept it and give me that free dinner, you know I always cheat.” Neil replies, taking off his bandana to shake his sweaty hair over Matt.
“Ugh, come on man!” Matt complains again without moving a muscle to wipe away the drops of sweat mixing with his own.
Neil laughs and walks over to where Matt lays, breathing heavily. “If you plan on staying there, just hand me the money, I’m starving.”
“I doubt I can move anything.”
“Shame. Just when I was about to tell you if four out of five wins.”
“Really?” Matt asks, lifting his head an inch.
Neil laughs again. “Of course not. Move it.” He says, extending his hand to help Matt get up.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to call a tow truck; I can’t move and we won’t win the next race.”
“What about calling Dan instead? She’s just getting out.”
In a heartbeat, Matt is up and searching for Dan like a meerkat. “Where is she?”
Neil can’t help but smile despite the distant sting of hurt. Matt always treats him like nothing happens, except when it comes to get up the floor. If it’s Neil, Matt will offer his hand without problem; however, when it’s Neil giving a hand, Matt will never take it, no matter how many times he’s seen Neil on his running blades doing a very unhealthy number of insane things like running in the snow or trying to skate on a frozen lake.
So, Neil has to get creative.
Ever since Matt set his eyes on Danielle Wilds, from the volleyball team, things had been much easier for Neil though. Just a mention of her, and Matt is up and running.
“Nowhere, I’m just starving,” Neil replies, walking back to get his things and change the running blades for the normal prosthetic legs.
“You are evil, did you know that?”
“Okay, I didn’t lie and Dan was actually nearby, would you talk to her and finally ask her out?” Suddenly, the water bottle is a thousand times more interesting, and Matt drinks as if he hadn’t tried water in ten years. “That’s what I thought.”
Being an instigator at heart, Neil is ready to keep pestering Matt for his lack of courage, when his phone chimes.
“Renee asks if we can pick her up from Stephanie’s office.” Right on sync with a grumble from Neil’s stomach.
Neil is tempted to reply to her No. He’s hungry, he needs a shower that he won’t take at school and he doesn’t like Stephanie’s office but 1) Renee is Dan’s friend, so she can help Matt, 2) Renee can kill Neil in his sleep without batting an eye and he’ll never know what happened, and 3) Renee is his adoptive sister, so point two is way easier to achieve.
“Sure. Let’s go. But I’m not paying for her dinner. You eat too much for my poor pockets already.”
“Fine.”
Neil taps a quick answer for Renee to also bring Dan along if they’re together and braces for the mess that is the newspaper office.
Don’t misunderstand him; Neil is grateful for Stephanie Walker to find him and taking him in instead of making the documentary that would’ve put her in the eye of the best journalists worldwide, but that doesn’t mean that he enjoys being surrounded by papers and hurried workers when he can be outside with Matt running or skating or doing any other thing but writing inside four walls.
Neil enters the building first and heads directly to Stephanie’s office. Renee must be with the printers and Neil won’t go in there unless it’s absolutely necessary. It's been years since the kidnapping, but he still can’t cope with closed windowless spaces.
“Hey, Steph. Can you call Renee?” Neil says as soon as he’s inside the office.
“Hi, Neil. Oh God, you both smell worse than a rotten farm.” Steph replies, making a face and running to open the window.
“It’s Neil’s fault.” Matt rushes to say.
“It’s your fault for not accepting your loss on the first try.”
“What did you bet on now?”
“Free dinner for the winner of a race in the full track,” Matt says, shoulders hunched.
“And you lost three times, so technically, I have three free dinners.”
Stephanie laughs. Neil probably would never admit it, but the sound of Stephanie’s laughs is one of his absolute favorites. She can always smile, no matter what the world throws at her, and it’s thanks to that capacity that Neil and Renee both can laugh after the rollercoasters they both lived.
“Three years of meeting this one and you still thought you could beat him? When free food was on the line? Oh, Matty.”
“Told him,” Neil says, half absentmindedly, looking around the scattered papers.
A gush of wind from the window sends flying a small stack near Neil, so walks over to help put it back on. He's already restless because this space is too tight and Renee is taking too long.
He grabs the papers and places them back at the desk. The note at the top has a big Cancelled stamp and Neil grabs to read it. It’s fairly rare that anyone cancels anything from the newspaper when it’s such a small town with a great elderly population.
Typing assistant needed.
From five to ten hours a week.
$10 USD per hour. Patience is a must.
Below is the phone and address of Nicholas Hemmick.
“Isn’t this the guy related to that car crash like a week ago?” Matt asks over Neil's shoulder.
“Yes, he is, and you shouldn’t be peering into my papers,” Stephanie says, taking the note from Neil’s hands.
“Why do they need a typing assistant?”
“The cousin of his who was in the crash has temporal blindness and apparently, he was a writer, so Nicky wanted to get him some help, but seems like the boy refused. Hence the canceled ad.”
“Ready?” Renee picks that precise moment to appear.
“Jesus! Make some noise!” Matt exclaims, holding a hand to his chest. “I swear the two of you are gonna be the death of me.”
“No one said parenthood was easy,” Stephanie says with a playful smile. “Now get out of my office, before it smells of stinky boy for a month. Don’t get back too late!”
“We won’t. See you at home.”
The three leave Stephanie’s office together after waving goodbye and walking to Matt’s monstrous truck.
Neil is really starving, and he’s waited too long to see what Matt will do when he’s finally close to Dan and forced to talk but the ad can’t stop bugging him. All the people he cares about knew him after , which means, they all went through what Neil calls The Process.
First, they do a double-take. Yes, it’s me, the kidnapped boy of the Butcher. Then, their eyes fill with pity. Yes, he really took my legs to stop me from running. After, they get awkward pretending that they don’t want to stare at Neil’s fake legs. Plot twist! I still run, and a bit faster than before. And finally, they forget about it and start treating him like a normal human being.
It’s sort of cruel, Neil knows this, but meeting someone blind is his one chance of being treated like a normal human being from the beginning, and the sole perspective of having that at least once in his life is making Neil buzz with anxious energy.
“Ugh, Kevin wants to meet.” Neil lies, making out his phone after Renee and Matt are on the truck.
“Can’t it wait?” Renee asks.
“Shush, woman. Let him go. That way, I save a fortune.”
“You know how Kevin gets before a race. I’ll go back to meet him.”
“Don’t you want a ride at least?”
It would be nice, but the school is in the opposite direction from Nicholas’ house. “Nah, I’m alright. See you tomorrow.”
“See you.”
Neil waves goodbye and is almost tempted to switch back to his running blades so he can get faster to meet Blind Boy.
Stephanie would smack Neil in the head for calling him that...
In the end, he guesses that arriving unprompted, legless, and sweaty isn’t exactly the best first impression, so he settles for a walk and a few sprays of the deodorant he keeps in his backpack before knocking on the door, ready for what should be the best first meeting of his life.