Neil asks two questions that Alex honestly wasn't expecting. He's nearly flabbergasted, staring back at Neil in all of his misery. For a moment, Alex thinks to question. To wonder what the hell--where the hell this all came from. They're retarded questions, and completely unnecessary.
And for Neil, the answers aren't clear at all. Neil came home, to a trash heap that, thanks in part to Alex, he now knows isn't as good as his memories might have recalled. Some of the shit is downright worse, according to what the kid has said, and all of it can only be memories for a bad time, a bad dad, and a time period where Neil had to just have been waiting for things to end, one way or the other. He came home to all of that, and there was nothing waiting for him. And on top of that, he followed a hunch to a dumb park, which took way longer than was necessary--leaving his precious mutt and--likely--Neil's only friend.
And while he was there, he came into contact with a sociopath who apparently liked taking out parts of brains (Alex finds that weird, he has to say; at least take out the whole brain--he might be bias...). The kid showed his stuff, though, from the girl's bragging. Neil finished his shit, and Alex is proud of him. He did what he could. He finished what he was able to. And despite the weirdness of all of this, it's something that Alex feels that maybe he should say.
"Neil," he starts, reaching to touch his cheek again. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not as conditional as all of that. You got me; I'm here. And if I'm being a condescending prick, sorry for that, but I'm damn near proud of you. You took care of your shit and came back. You held it together until you got here, and kept yourself alive. I'm fucking glad for that. I really was worried about you."
He wants to kiss him again, but he knows he should wait. Knows he should focus on the wound in the kid's skull, but he's starting to catch on that there's more than a couple in his chest as well.
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And for Neil, the answers aren't clear at all. Neil came home, to a trash heap that, thanks in part to Alex, he now knows isn't as good as his memories might have recalled. Some of the shit is downright worse, according to what the kid has said, and all of it can only be memories for a bad time, a bad dad, and a time period where Neil had to just have been waiting for things to end, one way or the other. He came home to all of that, and there was nothing waiting for him. And on top of that, he followed a hunch to a dumb park, which took way longer than was necessary--leaving his precious mutt and--likely--Neil's only friend.
And while he was there, he came into contact with a sociopath who apparently liked taking out parts of brains (Alex finds that weird, he has to say; at least take out the whole brain--he might be bias...). The kid showed his stuff, though, from the girl's bragging. Neil finished his shit, and Alex is proud of him. He did what he could. He finished what he was able to. And despite the weirdness of all of this, it's something that Alex feels that maybe he should say.
"Neil," he starts, reaching to touch his cheek again. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not as conditional as all of that. You got me; I'm here. And if I'm being a condescending prick, sorry for that, but I'm damn near proud of you. You took care of your shit and came back. You held it together until you got here, and kept yourself alive. I'm fucking glad for that. I really was worried about you."
He wants to kiss him again, but he knows he should wait. Knows he should focus on the wound in the kid's skull, but he's starting to catch on that there's more than a couple in his chest as well.