This Started Out As A Silly Cute JereJean Idea I Had At Work And Now I Fear It Needs A Trigger Warning

I am rereading aftg and I got to Neil asking Andrew to get out of their deal and its got me thinking that that scene might be the most desperate we ever see Andrew (outside of the obvious lol)

"Im asking you to break it" Andrew heartrate spikes.

I can imagine whats going on in Andrews head.

.

.

This cant be happening. "No." Not like this.

"You said you'd stick with me if I kept Kevin south, but Kevin doesnt need me anymore-" Fuck Kevin, hes not the one I asked to stay "...theres nothing else I can give you in exchange for your protection." Im not a reason for you to stay, I never was , not really. I knew that.

"I dont want you to." He doesn't want me. "I need you to let me go" I'm losing him, hes going to run.

"I'll think of something." Dont leave, I can still protect you, it was never about Kevin, its you, you fucking idiot. Stay, stay, stay.

"Give me one good reason" I cant let you go yet, Ive only just gotten you.

"If I'm hiding behind you I'm still running" I'm begging you, stay.

"I want to stand on my own two feet. Let me do that. None of this means anything if I dont" stand next to me, dont run, dont disapear.

Neil sits back and relaxes into the beanbag, closing his eyes, letting Andrew think it over.

How can you do this? How can you be everything I need, everything I want and ask me to let you go? How can you respect every boundry, even my silence and say you have to walk away? You are all you need to give me, just stay.

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You cant comvince me Andrews "ill think of something" isn't his way of telling Neil 'i need you with me' because Andrew doesnt believe people are willing to stay without a deal or protection or some kind of benefit. He doesnt have friends, not really. Nicky is family, looking out for them, the deal with Aaron, Kevin's deal, even Renee gets stuff out of their relationship, though its less of a deal and more of just mutal benefit. He doesn't expect Neil to stay if he isnt protecting him, and hes scared of losing him, of the kisses stopping, of their game ending. At least that how I see this scene now that ive read it and i know more about them. This is Andrew clinging to Neil and he doesnt even know it. Because in Neils eyes, hes keeping him safe by ending the deal, Andrew wont get hurt trying to save him, but for Andrew, hes losing the one person who he wants to choose him and he didnt know if Neil would make that choice if there was other options.

You know whats sad to think about, when Andrew was searching the stadium for Neil after the riot, if he had tried calling him and thats how he found his bag/racket/phone, it would have been the ringtone on repeat of the lyrics "runaway train never going back" when he found out neil was kidnapped. I bet that haunted him, he was high when he made that ringtone, as a joke, Neil was a little rabbit always on the run, but he gave him the phone as a way to stay and that option was dropped, left in the dirt and blaring at him that Neil isn't coming back, and then theres kevin in his ear.

"Where is he?"

"Its too late. If his fathers men found him hes dead already."

"Where is he!"

"You were always going to lose him."

I bet it was the first time he ever regretted something. Letting him go. He promised to back down, to let him loose and now he's gone. Those words probably echoed in his head, "I need you to let me go." He had agreed, but never to this, never to him being taken. But Neil wasn't his, there was no 'this', Neil has no ties to Andrew, but he still wanted to tear the world apart to find him because losing him was not an option.

Peacefully listening to this while thinking of Laila whispering this song to Jeremy

Spoilers under the cut

I imagine he goes through moments of wanting to relapse and going to her and just letting her hold him as he tries to calm himself. Very much seeking peace in each other when the world is too heavy. All of her anger and protectiveness comes from her being worried about him and I can see her letting all of that fall away when he needs her. 🥲 I need more sibling moments from them.

"Honey dont worry nobodys angry at any of this"

"Its like when you're tired, you"re someone else"

"Its easy to break beneath the weight of the earth"

"Cause darling I get scared for you and I'm not busy anyway"

"All of your falling, has it got exhausting have you gotten sleep"

There are so many lyrics that just resonate with them, my poor babies

I have so many random ideas of Andreil being found out by the media in the strangest ways. My personal fav so far is them going pro and being on different teams. They end up playing against each other and everyone starts to think their rivals because Andrew keeps launching the ball at Neils helmet. After like 7 headshots from across the court Neil swears at him in german something along the lines of "I know you're doing that on purpose quit being a bitch for the sake of your entertainment or I swear I will empty your candy drawer" and of course Andrew's just there with his blank expression leaning on his racket, knowing Neil will forget all about it when they're home. However, all the fans see is Andrew targeting Neil over and over no matter where he is on the court so everyone thinks they hate each other until some weeks later an article is released with pictures of them grocery shopping together. Andrew is in the cart eating candy he hasn't even bought yet while Neil scans the aisle with a hand in Andrews hair. Another picture of them loading everything into the car, Andrew with a hand on Neils waist as he opens the backdoor. The article is titled something like "rivals or lovers : a deep dive into their history" and it brings up points like Andrew protecting Neil from Riko and Neil getting Andrew to shut down the goal with just a few words (ones no one knows), but also points of them shoving each other and getting in each others faces (tbh they were just flirting but from an outside prospective it was violence because they are never normal) all of the fan theories come to a head when Neil gets interviewed.

"What is your thoughts on the rumors about you and Minyard?"

"Rumors?"

"Yes, the ones about you two being teammates turned rivals turned lovers. Many fans are speculating what your relationship is and several articles have become very popular over it."

"We were never rivals??" Neil is absolutely lost at this idea, complete confusion.

"Really? Never once over the years?"

"No? And what articles? I don't understand how this has anything to do with Exy."

"Its about your career in the sense that Andrew Minyard has been a challenge for you." Neil smiles at the idea of Andrew being a challenge. "There was a really big article that shared some photos of you two together at a grocery store. It's rather unusal to see you two in a domestic setting, can you tell us about that? Many are wondering why you shop together." The first photo is pulled up on the big screen and Neil just stares for a moment, unsure of when it was taken.

"1. Its creepy that that was taken without us knowing. 2. I don't know what you want me to tell you, Andrew's not allowed out of the cart because he's a mence to shop with or maybe he refuses to let me go alone because I constantly forget things. Its just normal every day life, same as everyone else. 3. Because we live together?? I still don't see the relevance any this has to Exy. Many spouses go against each others teams, it's a part of being pro's."

"Spouses? So you are confirming you and Minyard are married?"

"Not on paper. Fundamentally yes. I thought this interview was supposed to be about how our season is going?" Neil sits back, baffled but also slightly smug from the look of shock on the interviewers face.

Meanwhile Andrew is at home with the cats eating a tub of ice cream while watching the interview thinking to himself 'yeah, fucking tell her. Noisy ass drama seeker.'

I wanted to see this so bad, I so desperately wanted Andrews pov because to him, suddenly Neil was telling him it was all worth it out of the blue. I expected anger and rage, we know he got violent (poor kevin 😅) but the fear was not expected, he spent so long denying it was anything at all then when he thought he lost him, he so desperately needed him back. 🥲

i’m finally finally reading the aftg extra content and

omg?? ive seen some people post about this before but reading it on my own is just another feeling like he was freaking out after neil got kidnapped and it hurts to read but also omg

I thought about this forever ago and no one has done it so I attempted to do it myself 😅

This just feels so them coded. For a 3 hour project I'm really proud of it :)

The original ⬇️

How I see it is that they do care for their son, they love him but they dont have a relationship with him. When he woke up from dying, his mother was panicking and he ignored her to check on Ashlyn, a girl hes know for what, 3 months if that. He was more concernedfor a friend he barely knows than he was about seeing his parents. Again at the hospital, she called for them to leave and he ignores her. Even when he wakes up after passing out, he doesn't reall pay attention to them, focused on Ashlyn blaming herself and bullying Tyler. I think he cares for his parents sure but how can you have a relationship with someone who is never around. Then his father seems barely present when he is there (in my opinion at least). The scene that really pisses me off is when they compare their son and other children being in life or death situations nightly to a mix up at work. Obviously they are privileged people, nothing wrong with that, but how can you be so sheltered from reality that all you can compare death to is extra paper prints? It hints that Aiden may have depression or at least felt incredibly lonely, they never noticed that. You cannot convince me they picked up on his emotional needs because they said things like "he used to be a quiet kid" and never questioned if he was okay. They may not be intentionally hurting him, but they are bad parents. That and Jessica just annoys me. I just think they are ignorant and believe that because Aiden has a "good" home that he doesnt have problems. They provide food and shelter and money, what else could a child need? One thing I think is important to keep in mind, why would Red write it out like this if it was not supposed to be delved into, there is no point in making them look bad if they are truly good parents. Why hint at these things if thats not whats going on in the background? Its obvious they have a rough relationship, and I think that comes from them probably not expecting to have had a child and being emotionally immature. I dont necessarily think its their fault or blame them, they are probably genuinely doing their best, but just dont stop to think of Aiden individually. 🤷‍♀️ I digress

am I the only one who thinks Aiden’s parents were nicer than people think?

Disclaimer: this probably makes no sense because I made this sleep-deprived but still wanted to post it

I’ve seen and read a lot of fics, posts, etc. about Aiden’s parents being neglectful, rude, or forcing etiquette onto Aiden but there’s no way I’m the only one who thinks otherwise.

In (S2) Ep. 61, we see a glimpse of Aiden’s ‘childhood’ of him as a child curled up on the bed in a messy room. This scene just made me think overall that Daniel and Jessica can try their best as parents but overall, they have horrible parenting skills.

In the same episode, we see how much they care for Aiden. Daniel and Jessica begin to panic when Aiden starts seizing and you can see it plain on their faces.

They’re both reaching out to him and maybe it’s because they’re his son so their brain automatically creates this worry but they wouldn’t be like this if they didn’t care.

But in the next episode, we can see that Daniel is sitting on the couch while watching over Aiden who is sleeping. He’s clearly worried for his son and no one can make me think otherwise, that one panel is everything to me.

Even at the hospital, once Taylor starts shouting at them and they see the phantoms out the window, Jessica wants to leave with Aiden. Might be a small detail but I’m gonna use it for my argument (I don’t know if that’s the right word).

When we see younger Aiden who seems expressionless in the family photo, I think it would be safe to assume he was forced into that position, right? In my opinion, it could’ve just been him wanting to make his parents proud rather than being forced, or I think this case would be half-forced.

In episode 78, Daniel and Jessica’s first concern is the state of their son who is passed out and is aware that he died in the phantom dimension (which they are in), they would be pretty worried. They rather hear an explanation for Aiden’s state than how or why they are also stuck in the dimension.

Looking further into Daniel and Jessica’s parenting skills or issues, they probably haven’t seen the issue or fault in their parenting. They allowed Aiden freedom by giving him allowance, letting him dye his hair at a young age (guessing around grade 7 or 8), and letting him get red eye contacts.

But at the same time, they’re barely there. I think parents assume kids are fine or overreacting when seeing them in a state of deep sadness and they must’ve gone through the same thinking process.

In the end, I think Jessica and Daniel love Aiden very much. No one can change my mind.

No one can tell me they abuse him, insult him—he literally has the same eyes as his father— or I don’t know what anyone else has said.

Daniel and Jessica love Aiden they just need to up their parenting skills or needed to.

What I would give for a scene with Jean and Renee where she finally gets to see him up closed and healed. She'd walk up to him with a big smile and offer a hug, maybe he would hesitate, but its Renee so of course he hugs her, but not some simple side hug or a quick one. Instead he melts into her, letting her pull him down with arms around his shoulders and smile buried into his neck. And he is just, completely relaxed, full body relief. Renee is all warm smiles and soft words and Jean has that heartbreak love in his eyes. Then theres Jeremy with a jelaous understanding that Jean needs this, that he needs her. She cradles his face after he pulls away and looks at his scars, traces where the bruises were before telling him "you look good." And Jean's response is honest "I am"

Later that night Jeremy doesn't mean to ask about her but its been on his mind, Jean can tell something is eating at him.

"Spill it." Jean demands without looking up.

"What." Jeremy startles out of his thoughts, not following the conversation.

"Whats wrong?"Jeremy hesitates, unsure of how to say it.

"You care about her." It only takes Jean a moment to understand who he means.

"She saved my life." Its not exactly an answer, but its true.

"You told Cat you had been a in love before. Was it Renee?" Jeremy regrets the question the second he sees Jeans pained scowl. "We dont have to talk-"

"No. Maybe in another life, but it wasn't Renee I fell in love with. I dont think I was capable of loving someone when I was with her."

"Not capable?" Jeremy echos confused, trying to ignore his phrasing.

"It was against the rules." Jean looks away "I'm trying to change them now."

"The ravens rules. They wouldn't let you love someone?"

"No. It was a distraction. But now I have someone worth breaking them for." Jean shrugs, getting up before Jeremy can question 'who'.

Don't think about Aaron Minyard

Don't think about Aaron Minyard at the Foxes and Ravens match

Don't think about how he had to watch his brother be attacked

Don't think about how he only had enough time to shout

Don't think about how he wasn't fast enough

Don't think about him seeing someone swing a racquet at Andrew

Don't think about how he knows damn well that a racquet swung with enough force can kill a man

Don't think about how he remembers the weight of that racquet in his hands as he swung

Don't think about how he fought for his brother

Don't think about Aaron Minyard

I was rereading SBG and in chapter 39, Aiden says "you seem like the type of person to only get close to those who are special to you, and I dont know how to go about that" (paraphrased)

This man is literally telling her, TO HER FACE that he wants to be someone special to her. He is so clueless when it comes to emotional interactions and just relationships in general. He doesnt know what it is to truly have a friend, and he seems scared of messing it up. He blames himself for her getting hurt and he admits he was the problem and apologizes. He basically tells her 'I care about you and I want us to be close but I have no idea what Im doing, help me to be someone to you, help me learn how to be someone for you'

AHHHH Im probably reading too much into this but as someone who didnt have friends until I was like 14, I know how easy it is to desperately cling to someone and hope with everything in your heart that they care as much as you do. He definitely seems to be doing that here and it makes my heart hurt 😭