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The day he graduated from Welton was everything Neil expected. He finished at the top of his class, with Meeks right behind him. Neil didn’t care about being valedictorian, but seeing the pride on his father’s face turn into shock when Neil threw an arm around Todd and flipped him off, yeah that was pretty damn great. Todd’s parents hadn’t even bothered to come. Neil was always told that Jeffery was a good brother, but the asshole didn’t bother to show up either, so he had his doubts. Todd insisted he didn’t care and didn’t expect them to come, but Neil could still see how Todd had consistently searched the crowd throughout the graduation to this day.
The two boys moved into an apartment in New York City soon after. Both boys had gotten accepted into NYU, so they felt it made sense to live in the city that never sleeps. Their cozy apartment was expensive, with Todd working at a bookstore that doubled as a coffee shop and Neil as a waiter in some fancy restaurant he wasn’t a big fan of, they lived comfortably for the most part. When Neil was able to get cast in productions and bring in some extra money, neither boy complained.
Neil was beyond happy. He got to wake up next to the sweet face that belonged to his boyfriend, in the city he loved, going to the college he liked, shit-talking with the coworkers he would then shit-talk about to Todd, and acting. Neil Perry was the definition of someone living out their dreams. He had his moments, of course, but most of the time? He couldn’t be happier. Especially after the night he had answered a call from his mother, asking how he was and letting him know she loved him. He still had his mom by his side, even if it took her a while to realize she still wanted to be there.
Just because Neil was happy didn’t mean Todd was. Unlike Neil, none of Todd’s family had bothered to call, check up on him, or even write him a letter. He insisted day in and day out to Neil that he didn’t care, but when Neil would look in Todd’s notebook and read the newest poetry Todd had written, he knew better. Neil knew better when he and Todd were in bed late at night, and he’d wake up to a tear accidentally falling onto his chest (which he had mistaken for drool at first, because Todd always drooled in his sleep, until he heard almost silent sniffles). He knew better when he was cuddling on the couch with Todd, and Todd couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the picture he’d hung up of his family when he and Neil first moved in. Neil knew better than that. He wasn’t sure what he thought was going to happen when he brought it up one night. Neil had been getting dressed for an audition while Todd sat on the bed for moral support. “Todd, you’re not happy.”
His boyfriend tilted his head, then looked to the floor. When Neil Perry went shirtless, Todd Anderson usually did not like staring anywhere that wasn’t at his boyfriend’s chest. Not that Neil ever complained. This time, though? Todd kept his gaze on that stupid, somehow-more-interesting-than-Neil floor. “Wh- Of course I am. I get to be surrounded by poetry…and you. I love that I get to have that. That I get to have you.”
Neil smiled and approached Todd, bending down and quickly pecking him on the lips, “You know you’re adorable. You’re also not avoiding this conversation. Todd, you’re not happy, and I’d like to know why.” Neil quickly put on his shirt and sat next to Todd, stealing one of the hands Todd was using to fiddle with his sweater and holding onto it. “It’s not bad to be sad. Oh, that rhymed! Watch out, I’m comin’ for you and your poetry.”
Todd smiled, shaking his head at Neil’s stupidity. Hah! One point for Neil! “I know– I know I can be sad.” Neil nodded on, squeezing Todd’s hand. “I’m not, though.”
Neil sighed. Todd Anderson was a stubborn bitch. His stubborn bitch, but a stubborn bitch regardless. “Toddy, love of my life, you’re a liar. You’ve been sad, and that’s okay! What’s not okay is hiding it from me. I can’t help you if you keep everything all bottled up. At least tell me you’re talking to somebody?” Todd kept his gaze on anything but Neil. “Anybody?”
Todd sighed, leaning on Neil’s shoulder and shaking his head, “Even if I was sad, I’d be alright. You’re happy, and that’s what matters to me.” Neil laid his head on top of Todd’s.
He turned his head and pressed his lips to Todd’s temple, “Well, you being happy matters to me. I don’t want you to just be alright, I want you to be great! I want to see you smile with that light of life in your eyes.” Neil spoke softly, then waited for Todd to reply. After several long moments, Neil sighed and got up, “Alright, I’ve got to get going. I’ll see you when I get home, alright? Oh! I can stop by the deli on my way home and pick up something for dinner if you want.” Neil smiled and raised his eyebrow. That deli was Todd’s weakness. He’d once told Neil that if the shop owners ever offered him any deals for free meals, he’d have to do it, even if it was having a threesome with the old married couple.
Todd took a deep breath, then nodded, returning Neil’s smile with his own softer one. “You are an angel, Neil Perry.” Even when he was depressed in bed, stubborn as hell and refusing to talk about the feelings he was clearly struggling with, Todd proved Neil wrong every time Neil thought he couldn’t love the blonde anymore.
He couldn’t help but let his grin grow at Todd’s voice and ran over, quickly pecking Todd’s lips and grabbing his backpack as he ran back to the bedroom door, “Nah, I’m just looking at one.” And with that, Neil slammed the bedroom door shut and ran out of the apartment. Not even the neighbor's angry banging on the wall in response to his loud recklessness could wipe that grin away.
After a successful audition, Neil walked out of Todd’s personal heaven that normal people called the deli with a bag containing two sandwiches inside. He was maybe three steps out of the door when he heard a noise. He paused for a moment and listened, but all he heard was cursing from a person who walked around him, pissed that Neil had stopped walking. Neil shrugged it off; he was probably hearing things, but before he started walking again, he heard the noise once more and saw rustling in the dumpster of the alley by the deli.
Now, Neil had a few options: check the dumpster and get attacked and mauled by an angry raccoon, walk away, or check the dumpster and find something that wasn’t an angry raccoon. There was a clear answer there. He held onto his bag of sandwiches tightly and walked towards the dumpster. He took a big breath, held it, and looked inside. There was an immediately wet feeling on his face, and he screamed, backing away and clutching his sandwiches to his chest. Neil paused. Raccoons don’t lick people…right? Back to the dumpster.
Upon looking into the dumpster again, Neil’s heart melted at the sight of a blonde puppy. He didn’t really know what kind; he didn’t study dog breeds, but he knew it was cute. He laughed, quickly put the bag of sandwiches into his backpack, and hurried to pick up the dog, laughing again as it excitedly licked all over his face. He looked at the blonde hair and big blue puppy eyes, “Aw! You look just like Todd!”
The puppy barked and turned its head, licking its face. Neil laughed, then gasped in excited realization. “You’re just what he needs! Nobody can be sad when they own a puppy! Oh, Todd is going to love you!” The puppy barked again as Neil walked out of the alley, back on the path home. “Okay, we just need to find a good name for you. How about… Walt?” The puppy blinked at him.
“Okay… not a big fan. Trust me, once you’ve heard some Walt Whitman, you’ll regret not wanting his name. How about Oscar?” Nothing.
“Henry?” Blink.
“Oh! I’ve got it! Shakespeare!” Blink. Blink. “Well jeez. If you hated it that much, you could’ve just said something.” Neil sighed, “Well I’ve got to name you before we get home to Todd–” The puppy barked and Neil’s eyes widened. “No! No, no, no! You can’t be named Todd! Somebody already has that name! I get it, it’s a wonderful name! But no! What about Keating! Trust me, he’s a great man to be named after!” The puppy stared at him, Neil had never felt so judged in his life. “Fine! We can name you Todd.” The puppy barked once more and Neil groaned. “Todd is going think that I’m the idiot here. You better take the blame for the name, it wasn’t my choice.” The puppy continued to smile at him.
Neil nodded to himself, thinking a few things over, “Now listen, I’ve got this bag here…I think you can fit. The way home isn’t that long so you could probably walk, but this feels more cliche. You learn quickly that human Todd and I like the cliche shit. Oh! Go potty before you get in my bag. I don’t want any accidents.” Neil stood there as the dog I led up at him. “Well go on! Go potty! We don’t have all day! I’m already running late.”
The dog continued to stare at him and Neil groaned, “I don’t know what you want me to say! I’m not showing you what I mean when I tell you to go potty! I’ll do a lot of things, but that’s not one. Don’t think I won’t just stand here and wait either.” To prove his point to the stubborn dog, Neil leaned against the wall of a building and crossed his arms.
It took a good five minutes, but Neil sighed in relief when Todd the puppy finally did his business by the dumpster he’d previously been trapped in. “See? That wasn’t so hard! Alright, in the bag.” Neil spoke gently as he opened the bag and placed it onto the ground. Todd climbed right in and Neil smiled, zipping the bag most of the way, leaving some unzipped for air, and picking it back up. Finally, Neil was back on track to getting home.
Neil walked into the apartment, seeing a body on the couch, with his favorite mop of blonde hair facing away from him, out the window the couch sat against. Neil set his bag down by the door as gently as he could, shushing Todd the puppy as quietly as he could without Todd the human hearing. He then walked over to the couch, draping himself over Todd’s back and setting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder, looking at Todd instead of out the window and kissing his cheek. “Is it that pretty of a day outside?”
Todd shook his head, “‘m just thinking.” He leaned his head against Neil’s and sighed. His day must’ve not been as great as Neil hoped it’d be for him. “My parents called today. Mom.”
Neil looked over, his eyes widened in surprise. “Oh yeah? They haven’t called since…graduation? Maybe? What’d they call for?”
Todd went to speak, the shook his head. He looked down at the city below and wet his bottom lip. Sometimes when Todd was nervous or upset, he’d suck on part of his bottom lip, and when he was really stressed he’d bite into that same part for as long as he could before he would finally let it go. Usually then he’d rebite it later. It would always leave a visible mark that let Neil know it was sore, torn up lip making itself known. He looked to the spot and saw a bit of white along with a harsher red that might’ve been from earlier bleeding.
So maybe it was a bigger thing than Neil originally thought. He stayed quiet though, Todd would talk when he wanted to. Luckily Neil didn’t have to wait long for Todd’s voice to cut through, “I guess Jeff got a promotion a few months ago. They wanted to know why I hadn’t called and congratulated him. They also asked about me not calling for their birthdays or anniversary. I mean it’s not like they tried to call for ours. I- I guess I didn’t realize- I mean I did realize their birthdays and stuff. I didn’t think they wanted me to call. I didn’t know I was supposed to be the one to make the effort.”
Neil’s heart broke. Todd's parents were grade-A assholes. That wasn’t his fault! How was poor Todd supposed to know to call the parents who’d neglected him his whole life?!? How was he supposed to know they cared what he did when they never showed him they felt that way? Todd shook his head, “I wished I’d known. I wish I’d called when I was supposed to.”
Neil swallowed and wrapped his arms around Todd, “oh, baby, no. No, don't let them do this to you. Even if you had known, what have they done to deserve you? I think the fact you even picked up the phone today shows how wonderful you are. Your parents have done nothing to deserve to talk to you, and yet you gave them the chance. I’m sorry they used their chance to be such asses.” Neil hugged Todd close to him, feeling horrible about the situation he knew he could change. His heart did still speed up a bit when Todd hugged his just as tight back before relaxing into his arms. There really wasn’t anything like the feeling of holding the boy he loved most in this world.
“Uhm..Neil? Your bag is moving?”
“Hm?” Neil looked over just in time to watch as his bag bumped into their coffee table. “Oh! Right! Your sandwich!”
Todd looked over, a small grin fighting its way to his face. “My sandwich? Neil- How is my sandwich making your bag move?” Todd placed his hand over his mouth and giggled a little bit. Neil grabbed the bag, avoiding the puppy and pulling out Todd’s sandwich. He went to hand it over, but paused. Todd’s smile fell a bit too, looking betrayed. “You ate my sandwich?”
Neil shook his head as fast as he could without getting whiplash! “Not me! Todd ate it!”
Todd’s eyebrows furrowed as he shook his head, “Todd did not eat it. Todd sat right here and cried about his family. Neil, you could’ve gotten your own sandwich!”
Neil shook his head, exasperated. “Yeah. I did. Todd ate the one too.” Todd just looked more confused, but before he could deny any more claims, Neil grabbed his bag again. “Oh, for context, I got you a surprise.” He finally pulled the puppy out of his bag and set him onto the ground. The puppy ran to jump onto the couch, but instead jumped face first into the couch. “Meet Todd!”
Human Todd’s eyes widened, slowly picking up the excited puppy and placing it on his lap. Todd the puppy immediately climbed up and gave Todd as many kisses as he could. Then human Todd paused, “wait…you got me a dog? And you named it after me?”
Neil nodded with a proud grin, “I named it after what I love most.”
Todd slowly nodded. “And how are we supposed to tell the difference between Todd,” he pointed at himself, “and Todd?” The dog barked on Todd’s lap to prove a point.
Neil glared at the dog, “I told you he’d blame me! Listen, When I found Todd, I was talking about you! I guess he liked the name. I kept trying to give out other name ideas, but he didn’t like them! He only liked Todd! I mean, who wouldn’t? But it’s okay! I can just call you things like ‘baby’ and ‘sweetheart’ and I’ll call Todd…well Todd.”
Human Todd nodded slowly, “So I had the name first, but he gets to keep it? That’s not fair. Why can’t he just be Todd Two? It’s got both the T’s so it flows nice.”
Neil thought for a moment, then smiled, “I think that’s perfect.” He couldn’t help but notice how Todd Two was calmer with Todd. He was leaning against Todd’s chest and letting Todd pet him as slowly as he wanted. Neil also noticed that Todd was more relaxed. It seemed like the boy’s head was always swimming with thoughts and ideas, and usually they weren’t very good ones. But right now? Right now he looked calm enough to fall asleep right there with the dog on his chest. Neil couldn’t help feeling proud of himself, a dog was already helping Todd.
Suddenly, Todd sat up, knocking Todd Two over (luckily he got right back up) “Neil?! How are we going to afford a dog?”
Neil sat beside him and wrapped an arm over his boyfriend’s shoulders. “Well, we have the extra money. It’s just a few extra expenses. If I need to, I’ll act more. Maybe someday my career will take off or you’ll publish a book, and then we’ll be totally in the clear.”
Todd nodded, “right but- I mean- can we afford to keep him now?” He felt Todd’s head lean onto his shoulder.
“We’ll make it work sweetheart. Don’t worry about it. We’ve got some extra money, it’ll be just fine.”
“Okay, wait- Charlie slow down. Are you here or not?” Neil was rushing around the house, holding the phone to his ear as he talked. Charlie Dalton was the best of best friends; He was also an unclear asshole.
“No. I’m coming next week. I’m saying get groceries now so I don’t have to starve when I get there. If I don’t harass you about it now, you won’t do it ever.”
Neil groaned as he ran to his shoes, putting one foot in dry, and pulling it back out with a yell, wet. “Goddamn it! Todd pissed in my shoe again!”
“He did what?!? Again?!?”
Todd ran into the living room, where Neil stood, “Do not tell Charlie I pissed in your shoe! I didn’t do it this time or last time! It was Todd Two!”
Neil rolled his eyes, “No shit it was Todd Two. You would piss a lot more than this.” Neil and Todd stared at each other for a moment, both cringing at the thought of human Todd doing that.
“Who the fuck is Todd Two? Why is your boyfriend pissing in your shoe?!? Can I do that too when I get there?”
Neil put his attention back to the phone quickly, “Charlie if you piss in my good shoes, I will make sure you never piss again. The dog pissed in my shoes.” The line went quiet for all of two seconds.
“The dog? Like Todd turned into a dog? Neil I don’t want to know if you’re into stuff like this. I’m your best friend, I tell you when I get laid, you tell me when you and Todd have sex, and we don’t go into detail unless we’re in person. That’s the deal, man.”
Neil shook his head, “what? No! Charlie it’s not a kink! We have a dog named Todd, who is a real dog. Todd is still a full time human. We have a household with two Todds: Todd and Todd Two.”
Charlie stayed quiet for another good minute, “Neil?”
“Yeah?”
“Go grocery shopping. And tell your boyfriend to stop pissing in your shoes. I’ll be there Wednesday.”
Neil laughed and hung up the phone. He grabbed his work shoes (put on a high shelf for safe keeping) and quickly put them on. He then walked over to Todd and gave him a quick kiss goodbye, “I’m getting snacks for Charlie’s visit. I’ll see you later. Oh and Charlie says stop pissing in my shoes.”
“Did you seriously not tell Charlie about the dog?!? Does he actually think I pissed in your shoe?” Neil shrugged with a grin as he walked out the door. “Neil! Neil, you have to tell him it wasn’t me! It was Todd Two! Neil tell him it wasn’t me!”