Chapter Text
In their family study, Neil's father glared indignantly, his mother offering little support while absently wiping her eyes, the silence suffocating.
Neil inhaled slowly, processing the full weight of what he was about to say, every single frustration he'd had pent up had reached it's boiling point, the camel's back was well and truly broken. There was no coming back from what he said next.
"Y'know what, sir, fuck you"
Neil's father looked like he'd been shot, shock and bewilderment painting the lines on his face, before the descent into a sneer that his son had grown all too used to.
"I'm sorry, would you care to repeat that?" He said slowly,
his eyes piercing daggers as he tilted his head in a condescending manner.
"You heard me father, I said fuck you" Neil's tone was one of absolute conviction,
"I'm tired of this...all of this controlling and puppeteering-"
"Puppeteering!?" his father interrupted angrily, his posture becoming more offensive with every growing second.
His mother shrieked out a weak "Stop!"
as she pressed her hands to her head and watched in horror as her family tore itself apart.
"Yes father! All you've done since I was a child was try to mould and manipulate me into a version of yourself that you could never be!" Neil bellowed, it was the first time he'd ever argued against his father so though he initially tried to keep his tone calm to avoid getting upset, years of repressed emotions and unaired frustrations came flooding into him in that instant.
Mr Perry's face darkened, he became the very definition of scorn, glaring at his son as if he'd committed a horrific crime against God and was facing divine retribution.
"You're being completely ridiculous Neil, look at yourself! You ought to be ashamed! Disrespecting me and your mother in our own home, not appreciating the lengths that we've gone to to even send you to Welton Academy, you have absolutely no appreciation for the sacrifices I have made!"
Neil's rage hit it's limit.
"I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO! You chose to make those sacrifices! And now you're trying to take me away from the one thing I was passionate about because you feel I owe you my life! I don't father, it's my life, I won't become another cookie cutter version of you!"
And just like that, everything he'd desperately kept buried deep inside was exposed for all to see.
"Get out."
This caught him completely off guard, he expected his father to ground him, to imprison him but he didn't expect him to turn his back on his only son.
"Father I-" Neil stammered all anger replaced by fear.
" I said get out. Go prance around with your acting club fairies and your Mr Keatings, lay down and rot for all I care, you're no son of mine, not anymore" Mr Perry said in a monotone voice, void of any human empathy.
The tears that had threatened Neil's eyes freed themselves as soon as he turned his back and stepped towards the door. Neil walked for what would be the last time into his bedroom, grabbed as much as he could carry and for the last time obeyed his father's orders.
He didn't even say goodbye to his mother, she'd just been sat on the couch in the study avoiding eye contact with everyone and crying. She didn't plead mercy for him to stay or offer support in any way. She just let him go.
And go he did, Neil with only a shoddily thrown together bag of essentials and the thick winter jacket off his back, began the multiple mile long walk towards the only home he'd really known.
The snow bit viciously at his face, chapped his lips and froze his hands but he had to keep on moving or he'd die out in the snow. Each step was both physically and emotionally taxing, his brain played every event from the past night in a jumble of awful flashbacks flickering along his minds eye. There was the play that had, up until what followed been one of his best memories at Welton, a time where he was truly free to be himself and express his more creative sides outside the confines of his father's iron grip.
To the growing pit of anxiety and disappointment from seeing his father in the audience, to the car ride back, unable to say goodbye to his real family. Before creeping back to what just transpired in the study, the worst moment of his life.
It was strange really, he felt free but only in the sense that a released bird with broken wings does,
No longer confined to a cage yet forced to fend for himself in a desperate bid to survive. He supposed it was this or offing himself, the latter of which has a guaranteed sad ending while the former although slim, just might end well for him.
The freezing air tossed his brown hair around and his ears pricked with a painful chill. His nose had began to run in a stream,but it didn't stop his slow progression to Welton.
That's the only positive he could focus his thoughts on really. Welton, Charlie his childhood best friend, Knox the lovestruck Romeo, Meeks the brains of their gaggle of misfits, Pitts the moral support, Mr Keating their mentor, their shepard in a sense. Finally his thoughts were drawn to Todd, his roommate. He couldn't really think of a set descriptor for him because his feelings towards the boy were so confused and conflicted so for the time being, Todd was Todd.
By now despite his thick coat, the wind and snow was really starting to get to him, his hair was drenched and clinging to his forehead from the melted shards of ice, his jacket gradually became damp as parts of it that gripped the fabric did the same and he was definitely going to be afflicted with a cold by the time he got there, but his determination to see his real family drove each tired step he made. Until finally, he saw it in the distance. The decorated square that led to Welton Academy.
He traced everywhere he'd been with his eyes, the field where the poets had followed Keating, the forest leading to the cave where they'd revelled in their Walt Whitman and Charlie's saxophone, the archways where Keating had done his walking demonstration. Everything. His eyes felt like lead, his fingers chilled to the bone and every single muscle in his body screamed from sheer exhaustion but finally he had made it, and as he looked up smiling to his bedroom window with the light on, a figure staring out at him stood on the courtyard, everything faded to black. Neil's unconscious body crumbling into the snow.
It was dark outside still, Neil was passed out and without a second thought Todd sprinted out. He disregarded every night watchman and dorm rule, there were no thoughts in his head other than "save Neil" and do that he did. The boy's breathing began to pick up as the panic filled him completely seeing his roommate near dead in the snow, he had no idea what transpired between Mr Perry and his son but he saw his friend in danger and that was all that mattered.
Finally reaching the exit Todd bolted towards the unconscious boy and with much struggle due to Neil being considerably taller, picked him up over his shoulder. The real trouble came with getting him up the stairs once he'd brought Neil into the warmer downstairs common room so Todd tried to shake him awake enough to at least get his legs moving.
"N-Neil hey! W-wake up, we gotta-we gotta get you upstairs it'll be warmer up there, come on please wake up!" Todd tried to keep his voice low as to not rouse the suspicion of the night guard within their dorm. Neil moved but didn't respond, causing Todd's heart to surge in panic.
He eventually resorted to shaking the other boy desperately trying to get him to cooperate.
"Neil please, we've gotta get you to bed, c-come on now, I c-can't carry you upstairs, we'll wake everyone up" finally he got some form of response with a,
"Hhnn" before Todd leaned him on his shoulder slightly and together they moved up the stairs.
Halfway up Neil half-consciously pressed his head into the crook of Todd's neck and breathed lightly, the sensation of it sent a chill down the other's spine but he shook himself free of any thoughts that could worsen it, his primary focus was getting his friend safe in a warm bed where he could ensure he was going to be okay.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of climbing old wooden stairs, they reached their shared room, Todd pushing to door slowly as to avoid any further creaking waking up the rest of their floor.
Out of basic human respect for his friend's boundaries, he asked before taking off Neil's shoes and jacket, both of which were soaked through and would've only worsened his state had he left them on in bed. Neil couldn't utter much of a response but he gave a heavy nod and moved his arms to help get his jacket off. Todd then laid him down properly, ensuring everything was as warm and dry as he could possibly manage. He then had an idea that may have helped the sleeping boy warm up a little.
Todd grabbed a hot water bottle he'd brought from home because he was prone to colds in winter, rushed downstairs as quietly as possible, snuck out a pan from the dorm building kitchen and began to boil some water on the hob. He was absolutely terrified that Neil was going to develop frostbite or something awful by the time he reached him, slightly more fortunately it seemed it was just going to be a mild spot of hypothermia and a cold rather than a loss of fingers or toes, much to Todd's relief. And as he waited for the water to boil on the gas hob, he couldn't help but wonder what had prompted Neil to travel so far in such cold in the first place. His mind instantly assumed that his friend had fought with Mr Perry and thus he lacked access to the car his father had taken him away in, that was surely it.
He didn't know whether it'd be impolite to ask about it in the morning so he made a mental note not
to bring it up unless Neil did.
The water reached a boil and he poured it into the rubber bottle, capped it and then felt it to see if it was too warm before returning back to Neil's side.
Neil was rolled over on his side so Todd lifted the blanket slightly and placed the water bottle under his arm.
Two brown eyes opened half lidded and drowsy and Neil in his half awake, half asleep state grabbed ahold of Todd's hand before he could remove it. Todd's eyes widened in surprise at the gesture.
Neil smiled sleepily before closing his eyes, still gripping Todd's hand, and he uttered a,
"Warm" in a lower and slightly raspy tone before drifting back to sleep.
Todd had taken this gesture as an appreciation of the gift, before unpicking his hand free and lying down on his own bed. He smiled to himself thinking about how cute Neil's little smile was before cursing himself mentally and reminding himself that if he kept thinking like that he'd sound like a queer, before turning away and facing the wall.