#neville is face now okay? and mustafa loves him

[timthatcher-archived]

mustafa cheering on neville the entire time.....listen they’re in love

[bastardnev]

Cheat Day

in which i inexplicably decided to write a fic about mustafa’s cereal-nutella-oreos breakfast combination

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: World Wrestling Entertainment, Professional Wrestling, All Elite Wrestling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Mustafa Ali/Pac | Adrian Neville Characters: Mustafa Ali, Pac | Adrian Neville Additional Tags: damn i guess i gotta start tagging aew in my nevstafa fics huh, Fluff, Silly, mischief involving nutella and oreos Series: Part 1 of Jess Has Too Many Fics In Her Notes Summary: Neville wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the scene in his kitchen that morning.

(ao3 link)

i ended up making a new tag list bc its been so long since i last posted a nevstafa fic + i didnt wanna tag ppl who might not be interested anymore -- im going off the likes/replies to the post i made abt this yesterday so if you’re not on the list and you wanna be added lemme know !! i’ll add you 🥰

tag list: @sailor-slam-dunk @residentjoth @riveliciousx @lambchopviking @storyranger

Neville wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the scene in his kitchen that morning.

He had heard Mustafa get out of bed earlier, but he figured he was just going to get breakfast started — it was his turn, after all. Technically, he still was, but not at all in the way that Neville anticipated. Rather than finding him cooking the pancakes they’d agreed upon the night before, Neville instead walked in on him preparing a bowl of cereal in a large serving dish he’d placed on the island. This in itself wouldn’t have been so odd (other than his choice of bowl) if he didn’t follow up his milk pouring with a big search around the kitchen. He was rummaging through the cabinets that lined the walls for... for something. Something that Neville couldn't quite figure out, especially since the only thing he could plausibly be looking for was a spoon. What a can of olives had to do with anything, Neville had absolutely no idea.

And so, he choose to ask him about it. “What the hell are you doing?”

Mustafa glanced over at Neville quickly before putting the can back and going right back to his hunt. “Oh, good morning. Where’s your snack stash?”

Neville blinked, confused. “My what?”

“Your snack stash. Y’know, where you keep the snacks?”

“I— I know what a snack stash is, Mustafa.”

“Then where’s yours? I know you have one — everyone does. Fess up.”

What was he trying to do? The fact that he still hadn't given Neville a clear answer was a bit concerning. “What does it matter where my snacks are? Wait, forget about that, aren’t you supposed to be cooking pancakes?”

"Who said anything about me making pancakes?"

"You did. Just last night."

"Ehh, that was just pillow talk."

"You told me about how badly you were craving them when we were eating dinner." Why would they be discussing pancakes during pillow talk, of all things?!

Mustafa scoffed, and he offered no further response other than continuing to push aside the items stacked up on the shelf. "Are you planning on answering my question at all?" Neville crossed his arms. "What are you doing?"

“You'll see!" Mustafa responded when he finally decided to speak again. "I’ve got something even better than pancakes in mind."

Mustafa placing a breakfast food above pancakes was almost enough for Neville to consider the idea that he'd been replaced with an imposter. Almost. “And, that is...?”

“A secret — until you tell me where your snack stash is, of course.”

Neville sighed, rolling his eyes. He knew there was no getting out of this no matter how hard he tried. “Oh for the love of God, it’s the one under the microwave,” he at last confessed.

“The only one I didn’t check!” Mustafa grinned, and he darted over to the appropriate cabinet, digging around excitedly. “Ooh, you’ve got a lot of good stuff in here!”

“No need for the commentary, just take what you need.”

“You’re pretty defensive over your candy, huh?”

“You’ve got the biggest sweet tooth out of anyone I know — how can I not?” Now that he thought about it, seeing as Mustafa now knew where he hid all of his sweets, Neville would probably have to find a new hiding spot once this visit was over...

“Hmm.” Mustafa pouted as he moved a variety pack of mini candy bars aside. “You bought the Oreos I asked for, right?”

“Of course.” Like Neville honestly wasn’t going to do so after Mustafa practically begged him to pick some up when he went on his most recent grocery run.

“You do love me!” The package of cookies in his hands, Mustafa triumphantly brought it over to the island, pulling back the seal.

“Can you tell me what you’re doing now?”

“Patience, Nev! Geez. You can’t rush these things, you know?”

Neville wanted to retort, but the distinctive crunch of Mustafa crushing a fistful of Oreos over the serving dish interrupted him, and all he could do was watch in silent awe (and confusion). Mustafa repeated this process over and over again, unblinking, until he’d gone through one of the sleeves. “There...” He muttered, sealing the pack back up and putting it aside. “Now for the last part...”

Last part? Neville found himself a little afraid to say this out loud. His question received an answer anyway, however, as Mustafa then returned to the cabinet, pulling out the large jar of Nutella that Neville was secretly hoping he wouldn’t notice. (Man goes through jars quicker than I can count.) "Not really much I can work with here..." Mustafa mumbled as he put the lid aside, looking at the jar's contents. "You ate it all on me. Naughty boy."

"I'm... sorry?"

"Better be." Mustafa then went to the silverware drawer and pulled out a big spoon, and before Neville could wrap his mind around what was happening he'd scooped out a healthy amount. "This'll work, though."

"What—"

Neville wasn't able to finish this sentence, as just as he was going to Mustafa let the Nutella drop right on top of his cereal. Neville looked back and forth between the bowl and Mustafa, who appeared to be debating what to do next with his messy spoon. Rather than put it in the sink like Neville assumed he would, however, he shrugged, dipping it into the bowl.

It was right as he was about to put a spoonful of cereal into his mouth that Neville decided to go through with asking his question. "Okay, what the hell?!"

Mustafa paused, spoon hanging in the air. "What?"

"What is this..." Neville gestured towards the bowl, trying to find the right words to describe what he was seeing. "This... concoction?"

"It's... my cheat day breakfast?" Mustafa said this as if it were the most obvious thing ever, like he couldn't understand why Neville so was baffled. "Duh?"

"How did you even come up with this?"

"Easy — I woke up one morning, couldn't decide what I wanted for breakfast, so I just mixed everything I wanted together. It's better than you think it is, really."

Neville pointed to the package of Oreos. "You wanted to eat those for breakfast?"

"You haven't thought about eating cookies for breakfast before? What are you, an amateur?"

"And— And the Nutella, what were you planning on doing with that if you hadn't thought to throw everything together?"

Mustafa didn't respond, instead choosing to avert his gaze. Suspicious, Neville followed up with, "You weren't seriously considering eating it straight from the jar, were you?"

Mustafa made eye contact with Neville again, and neither of them said anything for a solid few seconds. Eventually, though, Mustafa shot Neville a sheepish grin, and the latter brought his hand to his forehead, slowly shaking his head. "Oh, God..." He let out a breath. "All this, yet you still have those abs..."

"I sure do." Mustafa brought the spoon back to the cereal and mixed it up a bit. "Now, maybe instead of pickin' on me you can come give this a try. You might like it."

"I have no use for any of that."

"False — everyone needs this in their lives."

"Not everyone needs something loaded with sugar so early in the morning."

"What are you gonna have instead, then? Egg whites?" Mustafa shuddered at his own suggestion, and he held a spoonful out towards Neville, who leaned away. "You know you want toooo..."

Neville looked at the spoon with a narrowed gaze. He knew damn well that he gave in to Mustafa way too often (something about the look in his eyes, he figured). He'd told himself that he would stop being such a pushover when it came to him, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity for him to stick to his word for once. Mustafa wanted him to try some food combo that he swore was amazing, something that Neville thought was completely ridiculous. He would be lying if he said he found it to be anything but.

...But he would also be lying if he said that he wasn't at least a little curious as to what Mustafa saw in it. Not to mention that he was giving him the dreaded eyes...

Neville said nothing. Instead, he took a few steps closer to Mustafa, allowing him to put the spoon into his mouth. "There we go..." Mustafa took it out a moment later, giving Neville a second to chew and swallow before asking, "It's good, isn't it?"

It was. "It's fucking disgusting."

"Liar, liar..." Mustafa singsonged, and Neville huffed. There was no point in denying it.

"Maybe you're right..."

"Ha! I knew it."

"Why do I always agree to go along with your nonsense..." Neville lamented, and Mustafa chuckled, leaning over to give him a kiss.

"Because you love me," he replied as he pulled away, and Neville struggled to hide the little fond smile that forced its way onto his face.

"...Yes, I do."

[ariyadaivaris]

catsi replied to your post “i miss lucha chiropractic, and i miss mustafa’s teaming with gran and...”

oh i absolutely 100% know what you mean and agree

205 live has been putting a lot more emphasis on putting on incredible matches (with great success) but in the process i think it's lost a lot of the quirky upbeat fun attitude that made us all fall in love with it to begin with? i ALSO miss titus worldwide and seeing akira have friends, i miss seeing goofy interactions backstage like that box of flour that exploded in ariya's face that one time

and i LOVE drake, i do, but i miss the sort of open-ended free-roaming the boys had before? feuds felt a lot more personal before one person called all the shots. like the Drew vs Mustafa feud that was born out of Drew doing some dumbass shit and Mustafa being like "ahah no this will not do". like they drove their own feud and it had so much STORY. it was much more than just "grrr you were mean" "grrr yes i am fight me about it"

or the fucking Brian and Akira feud, jesus, that feud was one of my favourites in all of pro wrestling, i think? Brian teaching Akira these "lessons" via fucking with his matches and Akira finally snapping and parrotting every lesson back at Brian and then ending his whole shit with that senton thru a table. like i feel like the current 205 live would never allow that story-heavy of a feud to last as long as it did (it was like 2 months?)

this is a stupid analogy but bear with me - old 205 live felt like an open-world RPG where you can just go wherever and do whatever and in the process have wild interactions like Everything Alicia Fox Was A Part Of, or the trick or street fight, etc.. maybe the combat wasn't allowed to be as detailed as it could be to give the story room to breath but the story gave the combat DEPTH

and new 205 is like... an on-rails fps. the combat is good, it's so good, oh my god is it ever good, but there's so much focus on it that story feels lost and stuff just happens to make combat look cooler or last longer? and i still love 205 with all my heart but what made me fall in love with it to begin with and get obsessed with it was its thoughtful, deep, consistent storylines

SORRY THAT'S A LOT... i've just had the same thoughts as u of like... i love these boys SO MUCH i want their interactions to have more depth than "i have the title" "well I WANT THE TITLE..." "fight me for it!" like akira and neville's title feud wasn't akira going "i want that title!" it was titus going "YOU want that title. YOU CAN GET THAT TITLE. let me help you. let me be your friend" and neville being like "the power of friendship cannot defeat me!!"

CAT!!!!!!!!!! never ever apologize im gonna SING i love listening to you talk about 205 oh my god

you worded it PERFECTLY that analogy makes perfect sense? i absolutely feel that, it’s gotten so much more focused on technical work and, like you said, combat, but in the process it feels like...the heart of 205 has kind of gotten lost? it’s there but everything’s shut off from everything else that isn’t on the designated path and it’s so FRUSTRATING to have everything so CLOSE but so strictly separated

like....like you said, i LOVE drake, but i feel like he’s very very much Lawful Good and i love that character and i love how he interacts with the roster as a result, but he’s lawful good running 205 and 205 is very very VERY Chaotic Neutral/Good and fitting it into this alignment, things have gotten shaved off around the edges and it stings!!! there’s a thriving ecosystem of dynamics between everyone on this roster, take any two people and they’ll probably have an established dynamic (besides lince who has taken basically until now to be actually given a spotlight, and new dudes like buddy or lio) and knowing that, you can SEE them use that and weave it into their interactions and it feels so alive on such a foundational level!!!

like...talking abt mustafa v drew, you could see the story advance and you could see HOW that story changed their in-ring performances. like, the story wasn’t JUST in words, but as time went on, mustafa DID get grounded but it was exactly in the way he needed to be grounded to achieve his fullest potential! and you could SEE him learning that, you could see him incorporating technical pins into his matches, and waiting longer for risks that were more certain, instead of charging in blindly! you could see the story and characters evolve through JUST THE WAY THEY FOUGHT and its a level of storytelling that is so so so understated but its like. HOOOOLY SHIT like, it still blows me away thinking about it

like. LIKE!!! like you said, storylines lasting 2 months or more, that doesn’t feel...like something that could happen for just feuds between people who arent champions right now. the feuds that happen now are still good, but there’s a big fucking jumble of people involved in every one and that decreases the chance for individual feuds and also just...in lhp’s case it feels very much like a reason to not give lince or gran or kalisto individual character arcs which Yeah Okay Fucken Great You’re Not Sneaky, its

tony and drew having matches with gran and cedric? like, that rivalry, that was a team thing for a bit but it was enhanced because we’d seen the dynamics between these individual dudes already, and we saw that on display during matches. drew and cedric NOW, FUCK, its frustrating seeing it because on top of the FUCKING fandom shit happening lately, like, drew and cedric have a pretty significant title history already! like, its certainly been swept under the rug with the rat where he fucking belongs but cedric actually reached OUT to drew and told him that he COULD make a better 205 if he did the right thing. he was actively sympathetic towards drew and that was an interaction we never really got to see more of and that could add SUCH A DIMENSION TO THIS FEUD IF WE COULD ACKNOWLEDGE THE HISTORY 205 HAS INSTEAD OF ACTING LIKE THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF NEVER HAPPENED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

god my train of thought is all over the place im sorry fhdkjsd i agree with you wholeheartedly cat u worded it perfectly. christ i miss akira and titus worldwide. that arc was so good, akira trying to be alone and gradually learning to accept titus’s friendship and apollo’s concern for him, akira learning to tap when he couldn’t fight anymore instead of carrying on and breaking himself, that character arc is still the best in all of wrestling to be QUITE honest and now it feels like...akira’s alone again. akira is alone again after hideo, even, which is an arc im still a lil cross about! akira feels so...alone. and he wasn’t before. and it’s like...

akira’s support system he actively EARNED and WORKED FOR last summer, it’s all gone now. he doesn’t get to tag with mustafa or cedric or jack anymore, he doesn’t really have anyone looking out for him, he’s fighting his own battles again and it feels like everything’s just...been unravelled. and it HURTS! that story arc was EVERYTHING to me and its still my favorite an entire ass year later. and now it just...isnt there. 

i dont know. i love 205 with all my heart and it is my heart but i feel like...without matches on ppvs or on raw, their time is even more limited to prove what they can do, and its been streamlined and we dont see everyone’s antics backstage, we don’t see faces reaching out to heels, we don’t see noam and ariya bickering with lince, we don’t see akira and mustafa talking in passing before plot stuff kicks in, it just feels like...the fabric that made 205 feel like a living breathing creation and family is pulled out into just individual threads now? and i miss...when it wasn’t that

[face-turn]

Honey You

Pairing: Neville & Mustafa Ali Words: 900 Rating: G A/N: i really really want neville to be reluctant friends with every single person on earth because i love him deeply Tags: let me know if you want to be tagged in future cruiserweight things  @sleeplessandcynical​ @breadclubrising​

The ringing  echo of “King!” bouncing down the hallway made Neville pause in his grim march out to his car, one foot faltering. He felt off-balance; his shoulder felt bare without his title, no matter that he’d wrestled before without one and would wrestle again.

Would wrestle a lot without one, now, it seemed, that he had given up his title shot in order to pummel that little weasel Amore into the dirt. It burned that it was necessary. Enzo Amore’s dirty little fingerprints on his title, as if his crown belonged in someone else’s hands.

The pitter patter of little feet behind him sped up even as Neville slowed to let Mustafa catch up to him. It was because of the respect Ali offered, he told himself. Neville liked hearing ‘King’ out of Ali’s mouth, liked seeing his expression not falter but brighten when he saw Neville in passing. No one was ever happy to see him the way that Ali was. Neville wasn’t-- he hadn’t ever been-- he wasn’t friendly, was the thing. He needed nothing and no one, not anymore, and would show his teeth before his belly when it got down to it.

So it was-- strange. Even with the firm rebuffs, the glowering unfriendliness, Mustafa just came back and back and back. Always something to prove. He was like a pup begging to be taken to heel, have I not proven myself to you yet, asking for something the crowd would never be able to give him.

Neville realized, abruptly, in a bare hallway in another of a series of endless performance centers, that he wanted to give Mustafa what he needed. He rolled that over in his mind as Mustafa caught his elbow with one warm hand.

“King,” He said again, not out of breath but still sounding somewhat breathless.

“What,” Neville said flatly, twitching his elbow out of Mustafa’s grasp.

“I just wanted to say thanks,” Mustafa said, looking down at his feet bashfully. “I know that it’s-- you deserve the title, it’s-- I mean, I want it, but-- it’s yours. I’m glad that you stood up for us. As a division.”

Neville considered this, staring at Mustafa’s big soulful eyes and his long, long eyelashes. He could save face. He could say that it was just because he’d wanted to shatter Enzo into dust, wanted to grind him up into a billion pieces and scatter the remains. But. But.

“You’re welcome,” He said instead, crossing his arms over his chest. He felt more naked in a hoodie and jeans than he ever did in the ring. “Amore deserved what he got and more.”

Mustafa looked oddly disappointed at that answer. “Well, sure, but-- I mean. It’s not just him, you know? Our entire division is a joke.”

Neville made a wordless sound of contempt, baring his teeth at an invisible crowd. “That’s why. I don’t-- I couldn’t care less for the company or for the crowd or-- but you, or I, we have the talent of a thousand Amores and he’s the one who swans in here? ‘Fight smarter’, as if refs being idiotic is a strategy.” He made a noise in the back of his throat, flicking drying hair out of his face with a toss of his head.

Mustafa had glittery stars in his eyes. Neville eyeballed him suspiciously. He wanted to fidget with his too long shirt-sleeves, bunched around his wrists, but didn’t want to look weak in front of someone who was nominally a competitor. Even if Mustafa always looked like he was having fun in the ring. As if they were friends and it wasn’t a competition for superiority.

“What,” Neville snapped after a moment of being stared at like he’d personally spangled the entire night sky.

“Nothing!” Mustafa said, looking down and biting his lip. “Nothing, you just-- called me talented, wow.”

Neville reflected on what he’d just said, and had to admit that he had, indeed, just done that. It wasn’t like it wasn’t… true. He just generally hadn’t been planning on saying it.

“Well,” He murmured. Not being on T.V. with anyone worthwhile had really killed his comeback game. And the shoe fit, after all; Mustafa Ali was an objectively talented, if relatively annoying, man. Anyone with one working eye could see that.

Mustafa apparently had dimples when he smiled. Neville stared hard somewhere over his left shoulder.

“We should hang out sometime,” Mustafa decided, tapping Neville’s arm with his warm hand. “I think you’re pretty great, too.” He patted Neville a couple more times, then slipped past him on his way out to the parking lot.

Neville twisted to stare after him, mouth open a little. What? “What?”

Mustafa didn’t turn around, just waved over his shoulder, shouted, “I’ll text you, okay?” and disappeared out the door.

Neville took a moment to process this-- starting at Mustafa Ali has my phone number? and ending with He wants to use the phone number he probably got from Sami Zayn to hang out with me? Neville’s internal monologue had come to a screeching halt. He was suddenly out of his depth. 

His phone buzzed with a text that, when he text, just said Mustafa Ali. Neville stared at the screen like it held any sort of wisdom for him. Was it just that easy? No dancing around the issue, no dramatics? Just ‘we should hang out sometime’ and then actually doing it?

Neville touched the warm spot that Mustafa’s hand had left on his shoulder, then saved Mustafa’s number.

[atomicdrop]

WWE 205 Live (January 3, 2017)

We kick things off with a recap of Neville wrecking house on Rich Swann before we go live to somewhere in Florida for the most exciting hour of television that's not actually on television! The announcers let us know that because of Neville's heinous attack, Rich Swann is out of action this week, but we've got excitement nonetheless so let's get down to the ring for action!

Match 1: Sean Maluta vs. Tajiri

This is Tajiri's 205 Live debut and he comes out to a pretty big pop. Sean Maluta gets the jobber's entrance. Sorry Sean!

Maluta gets some scant offense in, but the match is more or less a Tajiri's Greatest Hits collection. We get the Tarantula, that handspring elbow thing, some kicks. It's a pretty short affair and Tajiri picks up the win after a buzzsaw kick.

Post match, THE Brian Kendrick comes down to the ring and is like, "Hey Tajiri remember when we were in 2003 Smackdown and how awesome it was? Let's do that with 205 Live!" He offers Tajiri his hand which the Japanese Buzzsaw takes before blowing Green Mist in THE Brian Kendrick's face.

Winner: Tajiri

This was a decent introduction to Tajiri for those who never saw him before and a good reintroduction for those of us who have seen him. I'm assuming that he and Kendrick will feud now which should be pretty good.

I liked him in the Cruiserweight Classic, so I’m glad that Sean Maluta’s sticking around, even if he is just 205 Live/NXT enhancement talent at this point.

Meanwhile Backstage...

Neville is pissed off that he’s been discriminated against for his nationality and the way that he sounds and because he has a butterface. He promises to end TJ Perkins in their match that night because he’s the king of the cruiserweights.

I like how pissed off Neville is here. He continues to surprise me with how good he is as a heel.

Video Package!

Tony Nese is one of the best, but got passed over by the WWE because he was small. He’s going to show why he’s one of the best. Video Package!

They recap Jack Gallagher and Ariya Daivari’s duel from the previous week. It was great the week before and it’s great to see it again here.

Match 2: Tony Nese (w/ Drew Gulak) vs. Jack Gallagher

Nese starts out strong, grappling with Gallagher, but Gallagher counters everything and outwrestles Nese. Nese switches to forearm strikes and forces Gallagher into the corner where he does his headstand spot and keeps Nese at bay. 

Gallagher gets in control but Ariya Daivari comes running out to the ring and chopblocks Gallagher in the knee and then puts him in the Tree of Woe and beats him down for awhile while yelling, “YOU EMBARRASSED ME!” Refs come out and Daivari eventually stops the attack.

Winner: Jack Gallagher

The brief bout Gallagher and Nese had before the Daivari run in was pretty good and I hope to see them wrestle an actual match sometime soon.

Meanwhile Backstage...

Cedric Alexander and Alicia Fox talk and she blames herself for Cedric’s recent string of losses. Cedric is like, “No, I’m responsible for what happens out there in the ring but please be more careful, okay?” She is like, “Okay I will,” and then they kiss.

Match 3: Mustafa Ali vs. Noam Dar 

Dar controls the early going of the match with a slow pace and strikes. He does the cowardly heel thing and screams for the ref to break a hold when he and Ali end up in the corner.

Ali starts to pick up the pace and gain momentum but Dar starts working the arm. Dar works the arm for a decent stretch before Ali makes a comeback, hitting a tornado DDT. He follows up with a kick to the face and a neck breaker that earns him a two count.

Ali is selling the injury to his arm as he goes off the ropes. Dar catches him in an arm bar further assaulting the injured arm. Ali is able to fight out of it and lays out Dar. He goes up to the top rope and hits an inverted 450 splash to pick up the win.

Post match Dar gets interviewed about his loss. He said that 2017 was going to be a big year for him and that Alicia Fox would always be welcome in his corner.

Winner: Mustafa Ali

This was a pretty good match. Ali looked like a million buck. Like Maluta he was another CWC guy that I like so I’m glad he’s getting another chance in the WWE. I thought he did a great job selling the injury to his arm during the match and am glad that he picked up the win in the end.

Noam Dar is a great weasely little fuck: the kind of guy you want to see a face wreck house on so kudos to him too.

Video Package!

Ceasaro talks about how good of a wrestleguy Akira Tozowa is. Tozowa is coming soon to 205 Live!

Meanwhile Backstage...

TJ Perkins is getting interviewed about his match with Neville. He says that no one was discriminating against him for how he talked or what he looked like or where he was from but because he acted like a douchelord. Perkins then amends it to say yes, some people probably discriminated against Neville for looking all goofy. Perkins calls him a bully and says that sometimes when dealing with a bully you have to kick them in the mouth. Words to live by kids...words to live by.

Match 4: Neville vs. TJ Perkins

Neville’s out first. He’s got a slower, heavier version of his theme song...the “I’m a Heel Remix” if you will. He walks down to the ring slowly and stops to stare someone in the audience down. I’m digging Neville’s commitment to being a heel, changing even the way he’s coming out to the ring.

Perkins comes out next, He’s apparently fighting for the honor of his friend, Rich Swann and so flat out refuses to shake Neville’s hand during the Ring of Honor prematch handshake thing.

The two start off the match pretty evenly matched going back and forth and countering one another. Perkins applies a head scissors but Neville escapes and blasts TJ Perkins in the gut. Perkins answers back with a bulldog that sends Neville rolling to the outside.

Neville heads back into the ring and aggressively works Perkins over before laying him out with a dropkick. He finally heads up to the top ropes and goes for a corkscrew 450, but misses. Perkins capitalizes on this and hits a neckbreaker that he follows up with a dive to the floor. Back in the ring Perkins hits a high cross and nearly scores a pinfall.

Neville hits Perkins with a right and tries for the dead lift superplex, but Perkins still has too much fight in him and escapes from Neville’s clutches and hits a rana off the ropes nearly scoring a pinfall.

Perkins goes for a kick but Neville avoids it and lands a kick of his own. Perkins goes for the rolling knee bar, but Neville catches him and destroys him with a sick looking wheelbarrow German suplex.

TJ Perkins goes up to the top, but gets crotched by Neville. Neville goes up top and sets up for the superplex. Perkins tries to fight him off to no avail. Neville hits the superplex and picks up the win and celebrates by screaming, “WHERE’S MY CROWN!!”

Winner: Neville

Neville is a great heel. I love that he doesn’t do flippy shit anymore because in 2017 WWE simply doing awesome looking moves is enough to get someone cheered. Seriously though, he’s such a good heel that I actually found myself hoping that TJ Perkins would pick up the win. I hate TJ Perkins...or at least did prior to this match.

Final Thoughts

This was a pretty good show. There were a couple good matches, all the main 205 storylines moved forward, Tajiri made his return, Mustafa Ali got a big win, and Sean Maluta got a WWE check which is all anyone could really ask for from an episode of 205 Live.

[bastardnev]

That Guy Next Door -- Ch. 14

MORNIN LADS we’ve only got a few more chapters left to go and im getting Emo

tagging: @tylerblacks @joonhobi @rivela @aliciasfox @sailor-slam-dunk @kidvoodoo @smolsammichu @simulated-heat @douglas-leon-michael @1dluver13xx -- and, just for this chapter since it’s got Her Boy in it, im gonna tag @cruisingforcruiserweights :3c (lemme know if you wanna be added to my tag list!!)

Prev.: Ch. 1 ♡ Ch. 2 ♡ Ch. 3 ♡ Ch. 4 ♡ Ch. 5 ♡ Ch. 6 ♡ Ch. 7 ♡ Ch. 8 ♡ Ch. 9 ♡ Ch. 10 ♡ Ch. 11 ♡ Ch. 12 ♡ Ch. 13 ♡

As Neville had learned over the years, the annual family vacation was always a chore, mainly because no one could ever agree on where they wanted to go. Jen wanted to go to Paris (“You got money to buy plane tickets?”), Daisy wanted a road trip across the country (“Only if you promise not to ask ‘Are we there yet?’ every ten seconds.”), and Wade mostly just wanted to stay home and sleep (“And you get annoyed when I call you Wade ‘Lazyass’ Barrett.”)

This year, however, Wade was singing a very different tune with regards to how he planned on spending the summer.

“So you’re telling me that Austin has this cabin?” Neville asked one night as the two of them relaxed in Wade’s basement apartment, taking a slow sip of his drink. “Somewhere in the mountains?”

“That’s what he told me. Apparently it used to be his grandparents’ or something.” Wade was switching from channel to channel, eventually settling on some random paranormal show. Neville tried not to look too interested (it was a guilty pleasure interest of his, though he didn’t want Wade to know that). “It’s got quite a bit of room in it. He says he wants to take me there sometime.”

“Hmm.” Neville started to think (all while ‘coincidentally’ staring at the television screen). He didn’t want to invite himself to someone else’s property, but there was a part of him that was tempted to ask if they could have their vacation there. If it had a good amount of room and could house the whole group (including Mustafa, assuming he was able to come), then it might not be a bad idea.

“What’re you thinkin’ about?”

“Well…” Neville pursed his lips. “Y’know what, forget it. I don’t wanna intrude on you guys’ private time.”

“What, you and Moose wanna come? That’s fine! Leave the girls with a sitter or someone, the four of us could spend some quality time together, y’knowwhatI’msayin’?” At that, Wade nudged him with his elbow, and Neville gave him a shove.

“I’m not travelling up to the mountains to have a foursome, Wade.”

“What-- So then why even bother going?!”

Neville couldn’t believe how incredulous he sounded. “Most people don’t go on mountain trips with the intent to fuck all their friends.” He rolled his eyes, ignoring Wade’s “Because most people are cowards…” that followed his response. “I was hoping, if Moose and I are even invited, I could bring the kids too. Make that our yearly vacation.”

“I can’t see why he’d mind. He’s been dying to meet you. I’m sure he’d like to meet your children, too.” He leaned in closer, smirking. “And the man you looooove…”

Neville’s face went red, and he looked back to the television, taking a big gulp of his drink. “U-Uh…”

“What? You okay?”

“I’m fine, I just didn’t expect you to say that, that’s all… You caught me off guard.”

“I’m not being all that serious. Don’t couples casually say that they love each other all the time? It’s no big deal.”

“Um… Yeah, let’s go with that!” Neville forced a smile, staring down into his cup.

Wade took notice of his odd behavior, and he cocked his head to the side. “Okay, tell me what’s going on,” he said with a sigh.

“What? There’s nothing going on.”

“You’re acting like that again,” Wade pointed out. “I can tell when you’re worrying about something, especially when it’s Mustafa related. Go on, tell me what’s bugging you.”

Neville blinked at him, but he resigned quickly, desperate to get what he was thinking about off of his chest. “Well… I’ll be totally honest, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about if what I feel for Mustafa is actually love.”

“Does it feel like it could be love?”

“I… think it does?” He scratched the back of his head. “We… had this conversation about a month or so ago about whether or not he sees himself as being Jen and Daze’s father, and he said that he did. And, well… he might have made a brief reference to marrying me that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since.”

“For real?” Wade’s tone was softer now, and it sounded like he was genuinely happy to hear Neville say that. “God, you’re so head-over-heels for him, it’s unreal. How can you still be doubting if you love him if this is how you’re getting after the mere mention of marrying each other?”

“I’m so unsure because we still haven’t actually said ‘I love you’ yet. Not even after such a serious conversation…” Neville figured that, since a conversation like that involved their long-term future together, and since it had gone so well, at least one of them would have been able to work up the nerve and finally say those three words.

And yet, it hadn’t happened.

Something about that bothered Neville far more than it probably should have.

“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t actually feel that way. One of you just has to say it.”

“It’s not that easy! I gotta do it at the right time, I gotta practice what I’m gonna say beforehand because you and I both know that I’m gonna stutter if I don’t, I gotta do it when I’m least likely to be interrupted--”

“Hey, how about this,” Wade interrupted, putting an arm around Neville’s shoulders. “I’ll talk to Austin about all of us going to his cabin over the summer. You bring Moose along with us, and you can tell him while we’re there. Nothing says ‘romance’ like professing your love in the middle of the woods miles away from civilization.”

“You have a very interesting definition of romance, you know that?”

“Damn right.”

“And this isn’t gonna end up like the time you wanted me to kiss him, is it?” Neville was wary. “I remember you making those weird faces at me during dinner.”

“Nev, let’s be real -- if Austin is near me, I will not be paying attention to what you two get up to. All I can do is hope that you’ll do what you’re supposed to be doing. That, of course, being that you’ll tell Moose you love him.”

Neville knew that Wade’s schemes were more trouble than they were worth, but this one wasn’t the worst he’d heard. He envisioned him and Mustafa awake one night, perhaps sitting by a fire pit, enjoying the night air. Such a romantic moment would surely be the perfect time to finally tell Mustafa about how deep his feelings for him were.

“Alright, Wade, you’ve got me,” Neville replied. “I’m in.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Wade reached for his phone. “I’ll text Austin and ask him what he thinks. I get the feeling that this is going to be a very interesting vacation.”

“I don’t doubt that at all…”

The few hours that it took to drive up to where the cabin was would have been a lot more bearable had Daisy not been asking “Are we there yet?” every few minutes (though Neville had fully expected this, so he couldn’t act like he was surprised), but in the end they still made it. It was bigger than Neville thought it would be, with two floors, and even a back deck. I can see why Austin would want to bring Wade up here. Neville mused to himself when he realized that there was also a hot tub. I’m sure they’d be spending lots of time in there if it were only the two of them. (He tried to ignore the look Wade gave him when Mustafa said something about wanting to go in it one night.)

Neville was admittedly a little off-put by the sheer amount of woods surrounding the cabin, but this was yet another thing that he expected, so he had no right to complain. Still, though, he and the rest of his family were farther away from civilization than he would like them to be.

Austin had warned him against worrying, however, saying that there was “nothing to be afraid of, kid.”

“Is there anything even in those woods? Chipmunks? Bunnies? Sasquatch?” Neville responded, not taking his eyes off of the trees.

“Yes, yes, and maybe. And, well, bears.” At this, Neville’s eyes widened, and Austin gave him a pat on the shoulder, shooting him a big grin. “But hey, they’re just like big raccoons. They won’t bug you if you don’t bug them.”

“But what if one of us runs into one? What do we do then?”

“Mind your own business, that’s what.” And with one last wink from Austin, their conversation ended, and Neville had made a mental note to have a talk with the girls about not wandering into the dense brush without adult supervision (though he wasn’t entirely sure if any of the adults on this vacation were adequately prepared to deal with wild bears, least of all the pipsqueak that owned the property).

There were three bedrooms in the cabin, each with only one bed in it -- which was a problem to no one except for Jen, who was complaining about having to share a bed with her sister (“She snores, daddy!” She had said, a statement Neville admittedly doubted). After being informed that her only other option was the couch, her tune changed, and she was suddenly on board with sharing. Let’s hope Daze doesn’t actually snore. For her sake.

“So, what’s on the agenda for the next couple of days?” Mustafa asked Neville that evening following dinner once the two of them had returned to their bedroom, plopping down on the bed. “Other than avoiding bears, of course,” he added with a playful grin.

“Hey, don’t act like I was wrong in bringing that up,” Neville responded, sitting at the edge of the bed. “Last thing I need is for someone to go wandering off. Six people came to this cabin, and six people are gonna leave this cabin at the end of the week. No less. Or more, for that matter.”

“Damn, there go my plans of sneaking a bear into the trunk. Now I gotta think of a new birthday gift idea for you.”

“Very funny.”

“Look, I get why you’re worried, but I really think you can trust what Austin says about bears not being a real threat. We just can’t go out after dark.”

“You say this now, but I know you’ll get scared if you come across one.”

“That depends, am I alone?”

“That’s up to you.”

“Well, if I’m alone, the I’d definitely be freaked out. But if you’re with me…” Mustafa’s hand snaked over to Neville’s, and he smirked and added, “Well, I’ll just push you towards the bear and make a run for it.”

Before Neville could say anything more, he heard the sound of Daisy squealing, as well as some giggling coming from the room next door. “Oh, God, are they jumping on the bed?” The next sound they both heard was that of a thump -- which meant that one of them had probably fallen off the bed -- followed by even more laughter. “Oh yeah, they definitely are.”

“You can’t let them have any fun, can you?” Mustafa chuckled as Neville knocked on the wall, hoping that his message came across clearly through that.

“How fun can it really be if they’re crashing to the floor? Nothing against Austin, but I don’t think Mr. Mountain Man is adequately prepared to deal with either one of those kids when they’re injured.” Neville barely was, and he was their own father.

“About what you said before, though,” Neville continued, “I think Austin mentioned something about heading into a nearby town tomorrow and getting some supplies that we’ll need for the next few days. We can look around and see what other stuff is in the area.” Knowing his daughters, they were going to want to check out every local attraction and gift shop. And he also knew that his wallet would be begging for mercy by the end of the trip.

“I was doing some research the other night, and I saw that there’s this zoo not too far away. Maybe one day we can go there?”

“That’s a possibility.”

“Oh, and I was also thinking…”

While Neville wanted to pay attention to the other suggestions Mustafa had for activities, he was primarily thinking about one of his main goals for that week -- to find a moment to finally tell Mustafa that he loved him. That played a big part in why he even agreed to go to this cabin in the first place. He needed to pick an appropriate time -- not tonight, but maybe tomorrow? Maybe if they found themselves alone in that hot tub, like Mustafa had suggested earlier…

“Nev?”

“Hmm?” All thoughts of a wet Mustafa were (unfortunately) driven from Neville’s mind when he spoke.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Of course I am!” He scoffed. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Mustafa didn’t seem convinced by this. “What did I just say?”

Neville pursed his lips. “‘Are you listening to me?’”

This prompted Mustafa to give him a light smack on the arm, and he rolled his eyes. “Smartass.”

“Only for you.”

Neville had told himself to expect the unexpected when it came to this trip. As such, he wasn’t surprised by Daisy’s whining during the ride to the mountains, nor was he too surprised by how deep in the woods the cabin was.

And yet, somehow he was surprised by how difficult it was to find a moment alone with Mustafa.

As planned, on their first day they went into the local town and browsed the stores. Neville knew that he wasn’t going to get a chance to tell Mustafa anything important during this trip, especially since Mustafa was far too preoccupied with finding little knick knacks that had the name ‘Adrian’ on it to pay attention. (“Moose, what am I going to do with a light-up keychain?” “It has your name on it! The possibilities are endless!”)

The following day saw them going to the zoo that Mustafa mentioned. All in all it was a lovely day, and after finding themselves sitting on a bench for a few moments while the others were petting the rabbits, Neville thought he had a chance. Then a nosy peacock had showed up behind him, and Neville was too on edge from the way it was staring it him to work up the nerve to say ‘I love you’. I can’t escape my feud with fucking birds even when I’m on vacation.

Then they had gone on a nature walk through a park not too far from the cabin -- one that was still surrounded by a forest, but was supposedly bear free. If it were only the two of them on this vacation, then the little bridge that hung over the creek would have been the perfect spot. With the water gently flowing below and the sounds of nature surrounding them, Neville couldn’t think of a better moment.

It wasn’t just the two of them, however, which meant that this was another excursion where Neville wasn’t able to do what he wanted to do (especially not while Daisy was chasing Jen around with the various bugs she was finding in the mud).

He couldn’t even blame Wade’s meddling for his lack of alone time opportunities -- he had stuck to his word and left Neville to his own devices, instead preoccupying himself with whatever it was that Austin was doing. Though it pained him to admit it, Neville regretted letting him do this. If anything, having Wade around would be helpful -- he knew that he’d be easily able to clear out a room and give Neville and Mustafa some time to themselves. Why is it that no matter what I try to do with this man, somehow it ends up biting me in the ass in the end?

Neville toyed with the idea of asking him for some help, but he knew that would be difficult. He couldn’t even find a few minutes alone with his own boyfriend (other than the time they spent in their bedroom, which was not the place he planned on telling him something so important -- especially not with the strict ‘no sexual intercourse’ rule that Austin insisted on enforcing), let alone Wade.

Regardless of Neville’s plans, the fact was that at that moment Wade wasn’t helping him, and now there he was, resting on the living room couch with Mustafa, Wade, and Austin on their final evening at the cabin. It was getting late, both Jen and Daisy having ‘gone off to bed’ (Neville was fully convinced that they were planning on staying up for the rest of the night), and it looked like the four of them would be doing the same soon.

“What time is it?” Neville asked, looking through the nearby glass doors that led to the outside deck. He could barely see a thing in the darkness.

Mustafa lazily lifted his head off his shoulder, checking the time on his phone. “Almost midnight. Way too late to be up, since we’ve got a long drive home tomorrow,” he replied.

“Ugh, I almost forgot about that…” Wade complained.

“Nothing’s stopping you from staying here for a few more days, y’know…” Austin muttered. “I wouldn’t mind having you.”

“A fantastic idea!” Neville grinned, clapping his hands together. “Go on, Wade, stay here for another day. Or twenty.”

“Nice try. You’re not getting away from me that easily.”

“Damn.”

Austin sat up, stretching. “We should be getting to bed soon, though. Last thing we all need is someone falling asleep behind the wheel.” He stood up, looking to Wade. “You coming?”

“Shouldn’t we wait until the fire burns out completely?” Wade gestured to the fireplace in the corner of the room. The fire wasn’t out completely, though it looked like it wouldn’t be lit for much longer. “Don’t get me wrong, I love you all, but I don’t wanna die in a blazing inferno with you. I’d rather my final moments be something a little cooler.”

Neville snorted. “Like what, dare I ask?”

“I dunno… Shot to death via laser beam?”

As Neville raised an eyebrow at this response, Austin asked, “So the three of you’ll stay up ‘till the fire goes out, then?”

“I guess so.”

Right as Wade said that, Neville realized something, and he snapped to attention. Austin was going to bed, and Wade was debating going with him. He and Mustafa would be left alone.

This was his chance.

“Moose and I can stay up,” he quickly said. “You guys can go to bed now. We don’t mind -- right, Moose?”

Mustafa shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”

“See? Don’t worry about it. Go to bed.” He shot Wade a look, silently praying that he understood what he was trying to say with that glare. Wade frowned, but he didn’t ask anymore questions -- and why would he want to, seeing as Neville and Mustafa staying awake meant that he could finally go and rest?

“Whatever you say.” Wade got up, putting an arm around Austin. “Night, lads.”

Once everyone had said their good nights, Austin and Wade left the room, Neville waiting until their footsteps had faded away completely before pulling Mustafa closer to him. “Thank God, they’re finally gone…”

Mustafa rested his head back down on Neville’s shoulder, grinning. “They’re probably about to go break some rules, if you catch my drift.”

“‘No fucking unless I’m the one doing the fucking’ was more or less what I got out of Austin’s little ‘adults only’ rules presentation from the other night.”

“Mm, I wish we didn’t have to leave tomorrow…” Mustafa whined. “I love it up here. I don’t wanna leave.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun.” Neville kissed the top of his head. “All I want is to see you happy.”

“Did you have fun, too?”

“Of course. Mostly because I had you with me, though.”

“Good thing I have summers off, huh?”

Only a few embers remained in the fireplace, and the room was growing dark, only a faint glow illuminating the two of them. The scene was romantic -- just romantic enough for Neville to finally say what was on his mind.

Just as he was about to, however, Mustafa interrupted him. “Wanna turn a light on or something? I can barely see.”

“You afraid of the dark, Moose? Aww… Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” He wrapped both arms around Mustafa, holding him tightly.

“I don’t need protection.” Mustafa wriggled his way out of Neville’s grasp. “I just don’t wanna hurt my eyes. Otherwise I’ll need glasses like your dorky ass.”

“Gee, thanks.” Neville nodded towards the glass sliding door. “Turn on the light for the deck, that should be bright enough.”

Mustafa stood up from the couch, walking over to the light switch on the wall. “Which one was it again?”

“Uh…” Neville vaguely remembered Austin mentioning which one it was, but he’d be damned if he could recall what he said. “Try the one on the far left.”

Mustafa did as he was told, and he turned it on, instead switching on the overhead living room light. It surprised Neville, who covered his eyes, which were hurting from the sudden brightness. “Turn that off!” He hissed, trying to keep his voice down so as to not wake the others with their stupidity.

“Sorry, sorry!” Mustafa replied, hurriedly shutting the light off and trying the next switch. “Ah.” Neville still had his eyes covered, but he assumed from this comment that Mustafa had finally found the right light.

“It’s about time.” Neville was giving his eyes one last rub when he heard Mustafa say something under his breath.

“B… Bear?”

“Hmm?” Was that supposed to be a new pet name for Neville or something? “What is it?”

“Bear.”

“What?”

“Bear!!” Before Neville could properly register what was going on, Mustafa was off and running, and he dived on top of him, nearly crushing Neville in the process.

“What do you mean?” Neville managed to shove him off, but Mustafa still held his arm tightly.

“Bear…” He once again said, pointing towards the glass door. Neville followed his gaze, and his jaw dropped when he saw what he was talking about.

There was a large black bear staring at them.

Well, fuck.

“Jesus!!” Neville gasped, and Mustafa held him even tighter. The bear seemed just as surprised as they were, and without hesitation it turned around and ran towards the treeline, footsteps booming on the wood of the deck, disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared. Neville quickly got off of the couch, running towards the door.

“What are you doing?!” Mustafa’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

“Checking to make sure the door is locked, obviously!” He replied.

“What, do you think it’s gonna try opening it?! Like a bear’s gonna see the door is locked and think ‘Well, shit, not gonna get in there any time soon!’?!”

“Shush!”

The latch on the door was secure, and after taking a quick look at the front door in the other room Neville was able to determine that they were in the clear. No bears would be breaking in that night (hopefully).

He returned back to the living room, finding a very visibly shaken Mustafa curled up on the couch. “Moose?” Neville asked, concerned, sitting next to him. Mustafa latched on to him almost immediately. “He’s gone, don’t worry about it.”

“I-I wasn’t expecting that…” Mustafa breathed out, swallowing. “He scared the shit out of me.”

“I can tell.” Neville started to stroke his hair, gently. “It’s alright, though. We scared him off. He’s not gonna come back.”

“Did you hear those footsteps? That was a really big bear. Imagine the damage he can do with those paws?” Slowly, a smirk had begun to work its way across Mustafa’s face. “I can’t bear the thought.”

Neville blinked at him, and he let out a deep sigh through his nose, shaking his head. “You really just said that, didn’t you?”

“Oh, I did. Hey, if my puns are so unbearable, then you shouldn’t have invited me on this vacation.”

“Stop that!”

“I’m being bear-y annoying, aren’t I?”

“Weren’t you afraid only a few seconds ago? Can we go back to that time? So that I don’t have to listen to your silly jokes anymore?”

“Bear with me for a little bit, Nev, and let me have some fun!”

“Only I would fall in love with a man obsessed with puns.”

Mustafa’s giggles came to a stop, and he looked at him, Neville’s stomach clenching once he realized that he finally told Mustafa that he loved him. It came out so easily, so naturally, that he hadn’t even noticed at first.

Something else that came about very naturally was the fear that Neville suddenly felt.

“You love me?” Mustafa asked, sounding oddly unsure.

“I-- Well… Yes, I do. I love you.” It sounded even more genuine now that he’d said it a second time. “Why are you so shocked?”

“It’s just…” He clicked his tongue. “No guy’s ever told me that and meant it before. I’ve never been in a serious relationship like this. Wasn’t sure I’d ever be in one.”

“Oh…” Neville thought back to when Mustafa had first told him about the last boyfriend he’d had -- the one who cheated on him. He had mentioned something about their relationship being serious, and Neville had assumed there was talk of loving each other. Knowing how it all ended, Neville knew that clearly this ex didn’t mean a damn word he said, and he’d broken Mustafa’s heart.

And suddenly, Neville was overwhelmed with the urge to punch something.

“I truly do mean it when I say that I love you, Mustafa,” Neville said, intertwining their fingers. “You mean so much to me, and to the kids, and I… don’t know what I’d do without you. You’ve made my life so much better.”

“Nev…” Mustafa looked lost for words. “You mean a lot to me, too. I can’t even begin to imagine not being with you. And both the kids and Wade have been so welcoming of me, I really feel like I’m apart of your little family.”

“Because you are, Moose.”

“I…” He seemed stuck again, but the words that he did manage to say were the ones that Neville had been waiting so long to hear.

“I love you, too.”

[bastardnev]

That Guy Next Door -- Chapter 2

this chapter was supposed to be up Hours Ago why am i only able to post it now, i think im gonna start posting each chapter on here in the mornings before i go out because this is getting Ridiculous

ANYWAYS here’s the second chapter!! hope y’all enjoy it

tagging @tylerblacks @joonhobi @rivela @aliciasfox @sailor-slam-dunk @kidvoodoo @smolsammich @simulated-heat @douglas-leon-michael (lemme kno if you wanna be on my nev/moose tag list!!)

(link to ao3)

Prev.: Ch. 1 ♡

At first, Neville didn’t even realize what he was doing.

It had all started while he was sitting at his desk in the office, making a phone call to one of the higher ups and informing him of the meeting he was having later in the week. He dreaded whenever he would have to call this specific person. There was always something wrong with whatever Neville did for him — Neville would have some paperwork on his desk at 8:33 instead of 8:30 and that would be worth a lecture, he would complain that the day for a certain meeting didn’t work even though he had told Neville that it was the best time. No matter what he did or how hard he worked, nothing was ever right.

Once Neville had gotten an earful and hung up the phone twenty minutes later, he went to work correcting his latest ‘mistake’, searching for a more appropriate time. This time he was told to put the meeting on a Wednesday instead of a Thursday — God only knows what mysterious circumstances will force these plans to once again fall through. Unfortunately, that upcoming Wednesday was already full, so it was going to be put off even further. All for what? So this guy can cut out early again? Neville wished he was high enough in standing so that he could constantly leave early without any sort of punishment.

It was right as Neville was about to schedule the meeting for the following week that he found himself lost in thought. It wasn’t unusual for him to start daydreaming during work, especially when the task he was saddled with was as ridiculous as the one he was currently dealing with was, but this time was different. The subject wasn’t as typical as it usually was, not about something Wade said or what the girls did or what happened on a show he’d been watching the night before.

What does Mustafa do for a living?

Neville didn’t see anything wrong with wondering something as simple as that. Mustafa had been home a few days prior when Neville had gone to retrieve the girls’ ball, so clearly he didn’t work on Fridays. Maybe he’s a secreta-- administrative assistant too? That would explain the day off on a Friday. If this were the case, then did this mean that Mustafa worked in the same office building as him? He never recalled seeing him anywhere — perhaps he was on one of the lower floors?

No, that couldn’t be right. Mustafa had offhandedly mentioned working with children during their conversation. Neville’s job didn’t involve any children (unless you want to count his co-workers whenever the coffee machine was broken), so that theory was out.

Could he be a teacher, maybe? That seemed like a logical answer — it was a job that involved children, and since it was summertime it would explain why he wasn’t working. What school did he work for? Neville definitely would have remembered seeing him at dismissal when he went to pick Jen and Daisy up. He made a mental note to talk to the girls later that evening once he got home and see if either of them recognized him from their school.

Just as he finished that thought, however, he suddenly remembered that he had a job of his own that he needed to do. Neville hurriedly went back to working, making the almighty meeting official for next Wednesday and preparing himself for the next round of complaints that he was sure to get.

Neville pulled into the driveway of his home with a broad grin on his face. He was quite proud of himself for actually managing to avoid the rush hour traffic. He didn’t even have to leave a few minutes early — the roads were unusually clear despite the time of day. Chances are he wasn’t going to get that lucky again for quite awhile (if ever again), so he savored the moment while it lasted. And Wade didn’t think it was possible for me to actually get home at a decent time… Neville mused to himself. God, I love proving him wrong.

This moment of pride turned out to be short lived once he remembered that being home earlier meant that he was able to cook dinner that night. Son of a bitch…

It had become a running joke in the house that he was a mediocre chef at best, so he wasn’t looking forward to the teasing that he was bound to receive once he set foot in the kitchen. What should it be tonight? Neville tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he contemplated his options. Whatever he made, it had to be something so simple that not even he could mess it up (which would prove to be quite the challenge seeing as he was completely inept when it come to cooking). Wonder if I’ll be able to use the microwave without it blowing up in my face.

As he went to remove the keys from the ignition, he saw that the lights were on in Mustafa’s house. Seeing as it was around dinner time, he figured that his neighbor was probably right in the middle of cooking, and his mind began to wander again.

I wonder how good of a cook he is. He wondered if Mustafa struggled in the kitchen as much as he did. Or perhaps he was actually quite skilled? Then again, Neville was exceptionally bad — the kind of person who would burn cereal if it were possible, so someone making a halfway decent meal was still better than whatever Neville made on his best night.

Either way, Neville didn’t have time to be dwelling on what Mustafa was getting up to, and he exited the car, already planning what he would get when he and the rest of his family would inevitably end up ordering takeout.

Neville had a perfectly good backyard, so why did Daisy and Jen insist on playing out in the front of the house?

They had both assured him that they would be fine, that they would run back inside the moment they thought they saw someone acting suspicious, but Neville still wasn’t completely sold, protective parent that he was. As such, on that Friday he set up his laptop in the living room so that he could keep an eye on them.

Work was proving to be the same nonsense as always — disagreements about times, pointless conversations where the participants forgot to remove Neville from their email exchanges, the usual. Doesn’t anybody have a job that they need to do? Neville thought, taking a pretzel out of the bowl that was sitting next to his laptop on the coffee table and popping it in his mouth. Or literally anything else besides distracting me?

At one point he had gotten up to go into the kitchen to refill his glass of water. As Neville was returning to the living room, he paused in front of the window to check on the kids. Before he even realized what he was doing, his gaze shifted to the house next door, where he noticed that Mustafa was standing outside on his porch. He was looking at the mail he had gotten that day, his brow furrowing. Even from his home Neville could still clearly make out the bright colors of the tacky junk mail that he received all the time. Not even he’s safe from that bullshit, huh?

Neville watched as Mustafa’s tongue poked out from between his lips as he focused on the envelopes in his hands, a slight breeze causing a strand of his hair to fall in his face. Neville couldn’t help but find himself staring at him, wondering if he was going to fix his hair or just let it hang. He had to admit that he did look good like that…

He received another email at that moment, his laptop making the all too familiar notification sound and snapping Neville out of his little daze. What the hell am I doing? Neville shook his head, scurrying back over to the couch. There wasn’t much time left in his shift, but he still couldn’t afford to be dawdling. He had work to do and pointless office gossip to read about. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about his neighbor’s hair.

“Nev, could you do me a favor and grab me something from the grocery bag that I left by the front door?” Wade asked, standing at the stove and putting on a pot of water as he worked on that night’s dinner.

“Okay. Why didn’t you bring the bag in earlier, though?” Neville asked, standing up from the kitchen table.

“Because that was the bag that had the candy I bought for the girls in it. Jen insisted on looking through it right then and there. I never actually went back to get it.” Wade looked over his shoulder at him. “It’s got the box of spaghetti that I need.”

“Hope she wasn’t eating too many sweets before dinner… She’ll spoil her appetite.”

“God, Nev, you’re so boring sometimes.”

“Hush.”

Neville sauntered out into the hallway and spotted the brown paper bag sitting next to the front door, which was left partially open. Approaching it revealed that Jen and Daisy had once again decided on playing out on the front lawn. Neville wanted to be annoyed that they hadn’t asked for permission, but he decided to let it go and focus on what he’d been sent there to do.

He crouched down and began to dig around inside of the bag. Sure enough, there were many candy wrappers sitting inside of it. She’ll probably be too full for dinner now… Neville noted as he took one of the shiny wrappers in his hands. He shook his head and pushed them aside, finding the box of spaghetti sitting at the bottom and tugging it out.

“Whole wheat pasta?” Neville muttered under his breath as he read the label on the box. And Wade has the nerve to call me “boring”.

Neville turned to walk back to the kitchen when he suddenly stopped short in front of the window. Mustafa was in the middle of taking his garbage out to the curb. What’s he been up to all day? Neville didn’t recall seeing him leave his house at all that afternoon. Could he still be unpacking?

Neville noticed that he was wearing a hoodie — a dark green one that was entirely too big on him, no less. He couldn’t help but smile at how baggy it was on him, how he had to keep pulling up the sleeves to keep it from covering his hands. Why wouldn’t he wear something that was actually his size? And why’s he wearing a hoodie in the middle of August? It was oddly charming.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh—” Neville gasped, spinning around and finding that Wade was now standing directly behind him. “Jesus, Wade, don’t scare me like that!”

“You mean to tell me that you didn’t hear me coming? I was calling your name. You were taking an eternity, so I had to come find you.” Wade smirked. “Though now I understand why you were taking so long. You were just so lost in thought looking at the cutie next door that you didn’t even notice me.”

“Oh, wipe that look off your face, would you?” On the list of things that Neville wasn’t interested in looking at at that moment, it was the cocky expression that Wade always had on his face whenever he felt he’d been proven right. Neville turned away and went back to looking outside, focusing his attention back on what Mustafa was doing.

“And there you go again!”

“What? What am I doing that’s so wrong?”

“You keep gawking at him.”

“So?” Neville turned back around to face Wade if only to get him to shut up about his staring. “I’m just curious about Mustafa. I barely know him.”

“So why don’t you go talk to him then? Learn some more about him.”

“You know I can’t just do that. Do you have any idea how weird it would be if I randomly went over to his house and started asking him questions about his personal life? I’d rather speculate than do that. It’s less awkward that way.”

“Oh, Neville…” Wade sighed. “You’re impossible sometimes, you know that?”

“I do.” Neville handed over the box that he was still holding, pressing it against Wade’s chest. “Don’t you have cooking that you should be doing?”

Wade looked down at the box for a moment before slowly taking it from him, his gaze now focused on something outside. “So…” He began. “Let’s just say that the perfect opportunity for you and — Mustafa, you said his name was? — to talk arises. Would you take advantage of it?”

“I mean…” Neville crossed his arms, shrugging. “Yes, I suppose I would. But that won’t happen.”

“Are you sure about that? Because I think you might have a chance right now.”

“What makes you say that?”

“See for yourself.” Wade gestured to the window.

Neville furrowed his brow before turning back around, eyes widening. He was so distracted with Wade that he hadn’t been keeping an eye on the girls — they were both smiling and giggling as they shared a conversation with Mustafa about God knows what. “How long-- How long have they been talking?” Neville asked, transfixed by what he was looking at.

“Only a few minutes. They look like they’re having a pretty good time too.” Wade rested his chin on top of Neville’s head. “Maybe you should go see what’s up? Go see what they’re talking about.”

Neville chewed on his lip. He hadn’t expected that his excuse to talk to Mustafa again would sneak up on him so suddenly. What does he even say? Does he just ask what’s going on and then leave? Or does he stop to talk for a few more minutes? If he did the latter, then what would they talk about?

“Well?” Wade asked after a moment. “They look about ready to part ways. What do you say? You gonna do it or what?”

“I…” Neville said, nodding. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to go see what they’re up to.

Wade chuckled, patting his shoulder. “Go get ‘em, kid.”

Neville was left by himself in the hallway after that, Wade having retreated back into the kitchen, and he sighed. There wasn’t any backing out now, otherwise Wade would never let him hear the end of it. Well, here goes nothing…

He opened the door and went outside, heading over towards Mustafa and the kids and beginning to listen as parts of their conversation became clearer. “And she was the one who threw it!” Daisy said with a smile, pointing to her sister.

“And you were the one who made it go over the fence!” Jen insisted. “Trust me, it was all her fault.”

“Girls, are you still talking about this?” Neville asked, prompting the three of them to look at him. Neville couldn’t help but notice that the smile on Mustafa’s face had grown wider upon his arrival, and he smiled back before saying, “That was over a week ago.”

“But Mr. Mustafa should know about what Daisy did!”

“It’s your fault for throwing it!” Daisy said.

“It’s your fault for hitting it so hard!” Jen argued right back.

“Neither one of you are to blame,” Neville interrupted.

“So who’s fault is it then?”

“It’s, uh…” Neville clicked his tongue, thinking for a moment before continuing with, “My fault. I should have bought a house with a higher fence. Sorry ‘bout that.”

Both girls looked at him with frowns on their faces, though perhaps the reaction that had the biggest impact on Neville was Mustafa’s little snort. He couldn’t help but feel oddly proud knowing that he’d amused him.

“But Daddy,” Daisy said, “if you’d bought a bigger fence then you wouldn’t be able to see over it! You’re so short.”

Neville’s face went red, the sound of Mustafa laughing again causing him to grow even more embarrassed. “I’d find a way. Anyways, why don’t you two head inside and wash up? Wade’s getting dinner ready.”

“I’m not hungry,” Jen protested.

“He’s making spaghetti and meatballs.”

“...Actually? I changed my mind. I’m hungry now.” She skipped off towards the house, Daisy following close behind her.

Neville watched them go before looking at Mustafa, who was still smiling. “Uh… Kids, amiright?” He laughed a little nervously. “They just say the darndest things.”

“They’re cute, though,” Mustafa replied. “Jen looks a lot like you.”

“You think so? Everyone always says she looks more like her mother.”

“Well, I haven’t met your wife yet, so I can’t really compare.”

Neville felt himself tense up. “Actually, I’m… not married.” He scratched the back of his head, laughing a little nervously. “Not anymore, at least. We, erm, separated a few years ago.”

“Oh.” Mustafa’s eyebrows raised. “I’m sorry, I just assumed you were still together. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Don’t worry about it, you had no way of knowing.” Christ, why did Neville even bring that up in the first place? Mustafa wasn’t interested in hearing about his love life. He shouldn’t be dumping his relationship baggage on someone who was essentially a stranger.

They both fell silent. Neville was beginning to think that maybe he’d made a mistake sticking around for so long -- the conversation had become awkward, as he’d predicted. He had been given the opportunity to speak with Mustafa again, and he royally screwed it up. Way to go, Neville… You’ve really outdone yourself this time.

Mustafa cut him off his train of thought by saying, “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think you’re all that short.”

Neville laughed at that. “Gee, thanks. I don’t know why Daisy even said that.”

“I think she just likes to mess with you. It’s what kids do. I deal with kids like that all the time.”

“Oh? Do you have any of your own?”

“No, no. I work with them. I’m a teacher. First grade.”

“First grade? Oof.” Neville involuntarily shuddered. “I only have to deal with one first grader around here. I can’t imagine a whole class full of ‘em.”

“It’s fun, though. They, uh, always keep me on my toes.” Mustafa smiled a little sheepishly. “Never know what they’re gonna get up to next.”

“That’s pretty much what it’s like in my house. Just last week they were fighting over chicken tenders.” Neville clicked his tongue. “I didn’t realize that food could be so controversial.”

“Oh it definitely can be. Just this past spring two kids got into a fight over a pack of fruit snacks. In Noah’s defense they were his, but… he did say he would share them.” Mustafa shrugged. “It was a big mess.”

“Sounds like it. Y’know, I wanna say that fighting over food is a kid thing, but now that I think about it I’ve seen people in the office bust out some pretty brutal insults if it means getting the last donut.” Neville smirked. “Little did they know that while they were all fighting I snuck in and took it.”

“Ooh, sneaky!” Mustafa playfully nudged his arm. “You don’t strike me as being the type. You seem too good natured for that.”

“Pardon my language, but I can be a real bastard sometimes. Just ask Wade. He knows all about it.”

Mustafa’s brow furrowed. “Wade is…?”

“My friend. He lives downstairs, helps me with the girls sometimes. He’s a bit of a loser, but he’s a nice guy all things considered. He’s helped me through some rough times.”

“Okay, so he’s your friend.” There was a weird look on Mustafa’s face -- relief? Neville wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. “Just wanted to make sure.”

“Why? Is there something wrong with him being my friend?”

“No, definitely not! I just wanted to be one hundred percent sure that he was only your friend before… Well…”

“Well what?” Neville quirked up an eyebrow. Where’s he going with this…?

“I was just wondering… Are you free--”

“Nev!” Right before Mustafa could finish talking, Wade suddenly appeared in the front door, and both men looked at him. “I need you for a second.”

“For what?” Neville couldn’t quite place why, but he was suddenly filled with the urge to punch Wade in the face.

“I need help with dinner. Daisy keeps offering to help, but I don’t trust a six year old around a stove. Then again, you’re not much better, are you?”

“Wade!” Neville was expecting Mustafa to laugh at his expense again, but when he looked over at him he realized that he was actually staring down towards the ground, his face flushed. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

“Don’t take too long. You know I’m not good at fending off small children.” Wade hurried back inside, leaving Mustafa and Neville alone again.

Neville looked back at his neighbor, clearing his throat. “I’m… I’m sorry for him. He has poor timing.”

“Yeeeeah.” Mustafa laughed, though it didn’t sound like a very happy laugh. “He really does.”

“What were you going to say?”

“Uh… nothing. It’s not important.” He shook his head. “Now’s not the best time to talk about it anyway. You should probably go help Wade out before the girls beat him up.”

Neville swallowed, inexplicably sad, his mouth dry. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll, uh, see you around?”

“Yeah.” He grinned. “I’ll see you, Adrian.”

Neville nodded at him before walking back towards his house. No matter how much he tried to will it away, this unusual feeling of dissatisfaction sat heavily in his stomach like a rock.

[bastardnev]

That Guy Next Door -- Ch. 7

one more week till we officially reach the halfway point!! damn that went by so fast dfkjgdfgdf

tagging: @tylerblacks @joonhobi @rivela @aliciasfox @sailor-slam-dunk @kidvoodoo @smolsammichu @simulated-heat @douglas-leon-michael @1dluver13xx (lemme know if you ever wanna be added to my tag list!!)

Prev.: Ch. 1 ♡ Ch. 2 ♡ Ch. 3 ♡ Ch. 4 ♡ Ch. 5 ♡ Ch. 6 ♡

The first month of Neville and Mustafa’s relationship went by quickly. They maintained their usual routine, going about their work and family-related business during the week and finding time to hang out (or, at the very least, talk on the phone) during the weekend. To Neville, it seemed like only yesterday that Mustafa first moved into the neighborhood and they became acquainted with one another. Time really does fly, he mused whenever he thought about it.

Neville wanted to do something different for their next date, however. Up until that point, it had been the two of them going out someplace to eat or shop. This wasn’t a bad thing, but he felt that it was time to do something new, and this was exactly what he told Mustafa the next time they had a chance to talk.

“I was thinking that maybe you can come over to my house for dinner,” Neville told Mustafa over the phone as he walked across the parking lot to his car, just having finished yet another long day of work. “On Saturday. Would that be okay?”

“Sounds good to me,” Mustafa replied.

“Good.” Neville sat down in the driver’s seat and shut the door, tapping his fingers in the steering wheel. “Wasn’t sure if you’d be up for it or not.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” “I thought you might say that it’s too soon for you to be meeting my family.”

“Come on, Nev.” Neville didn’t have to see Mustafa’s face to know that he was rolling his eyes. “You know I don’t have a problem with hanging out with the girls.”

“It’s not just them. It’ll be Wade, too. Y’know, the guy that is hellbent on interrupting every single moment we have together? I love him to death, but he can be a bit of a handful at times…”

“I’m pretty sure I can handle him. Today I had to break up a damn war between a group of six year olds.” Mustafa chuckled. “Dealing with Wade will be child's play compared to that.”

“You don’t know Wade like I know him,” Neville sighed, but he smiled. “But hey, if you think you’ll be fine, then alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though, Moose.”

Neville knew that in order for this dinner date to go smoothly, he needed to take measures so as to avoid any possible issues.

More specifically, he had to make sure Wade knew to not act like a complete nuisance (and to not convince the Jen and Daisy to go along with whatever scheme he came up with).

“I assume you all know why I’ve called you here,” Neville began, slowly pacing back and forth in front of the couch. Seated on that couch were a confused Jen and Daisy as well as an incredibly bored-looking Wade. “I have an important announcement to make.”

“Moose is moving in with us?” Jen suggested.

“You’re finally getting married?!” Daisy asked, beaming.

“You’re pregnant?” Wade shrugged.

“No, no, and no,” Neville replied. “But it is Mustafa related. Tonight, as I’m sure you’re all aware, is Saturday night. Not just any Saturday night, though -- it’s the night where Mustafa comes over for dinner.”

Wade put on a look of mock surprise. “Is he? Really? This is the first time I’m hearing about this. It’s not like you’ve been talking about that all week or anything.”

“I’ve been talking about it all week because you keep asking me about it, Wade.” Neville put on his best fake smile.

“So what are we having tonight?” Jen asked as she put her feet up on the coffee table. (“Oh, so it’s okay when she does it…” Wade complained.)

“I’m thinking we’ll probably order pizza, just to keep it simple.”

“Also because you can’t cook to save your life!”

“Wade, if you keep this up, I’m locking you in the basement.”

“You say this as if you haven’t trapped me in your basement ever since I moved in! I’ve spent close to 10 years down there!”

Daisy looked back and forth between the two of them before finally settling on Neville. “Daddy, have you and Wade known each other for that long?” She asked.

“Longer,” Neville said, shaking his head slowly. “Unfortunately.”

“Wow! You’re old!”

Silence. Neville sighed, and he clapped his hands together. “Okay, back on topic, please. You know I love all three of you dearly, but I need you all to be on your best behavior tonight. Not that any of you are ever bad--”

“Not even me?” Wade asked.

Neville rolled his eyes. “There doesn’t exist a word in the English language that describes your particular kind of annoying, Wade,” he said.

“I’m sure if you search hard enough you’ll find one.”

“As I was saying, you’re all lovely, and I need you to be your usual lovely selves tonight when we have company. This means I don’t wanna see any fighting from you, girls. And I also don’t want any rude jokes.” He shot a glare at Wade as he said this. “Alright?”

“Okay!” Daisy and Jen both affirmed, while Wade gave a half-hearted shrug and an, “I guess…,” which was easily more of a response than Neville thought he would get from him. Despite this, the question still remained: Would Wade actually take Neville’s request to heart?

No. No, he would not.

“So, what makes you think you’re good enough to be dating my little Neville, huh?” Wade asked, eyes narrowed at Mustafa, who had been interrupted right as he was about to take a bite out of his pizza.

He slowly put his slice down, looking to Neville (whose red, burning face was on the table) for a moment, and cleared his throat. “Uh…” He said with a little chuckle. “Well, I like to think I’m a pretty good person.”

“You think you’re a good person. But are you actually one?” Wade took a sip of his water, staring him down from over the rim of the glass. “There’s a big difference between thinking and knowing, you know…”

“Wade…” Neville’s muffled voice could be heard. “Cut it out. Please.”

“I’m asking important questions here, Nev! Can’t blame me for wanting the best for you,” he said with a little smirk. “Tell me, Mustafa -- if that even is your real name--”

“It is.”

“--what’s your life like? You got a job?”

“Yes, I’m a teacher. First grade.”

“You got a good home?”

“Well, you live right next door to it.” Mustafa shrugged. “You can just look out the window and see for yourself.”

Wade’s mouth formed into a line. He nodded. “...Okay, fair point.”

“Yep, he’s right.” Neville’s voice came again. “Let’s leave it at that please--”

“Can I ask a question?” Daisy, after having been watching this whole scene in silence, suddenly asked in a sweet voice that sent shivers down Neville’s spine. He was all too familiar with that tone of voice -- it meant she was about to ask something she wasn’t supposed to.

“Go right ahead!” Before Neville could object, Wade had already given her permission to speak, as if he were waiting for her. This bastard.

The next sound they all heard was the sound of Daisy’s hands smacking the table, surprising Neville and making his head shoot up. “When are you getting married?!”

Neville’s face grew bright red due to the embarrassment of the question, the giggles from Jen and Wade, and the shocked look on Mustafa’s face. “Lord help me…” He groaned as he put his head back down.

“Well…” Mustafa scratched the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. “We’ve only been together for about a month…”

“And?” Daisy still looked confused.

“Life isn’t like a Disney movie, Daze,” Neville said, propping his head up on his elbows. (“No elbows on the table, Daddy!” Jen quipped, much to Neville’s humiliation.) “People don’t normally get married immediately after meeting each other.”

“Why?”

“Because they need to get to know each other first.”

“Why?”

“So that they know they want to marry them.”

“Why?”

Neville shut his eyes and took in a deep breath through his nose, slowly letting it out through his mouth and opening his eyes again. He knew he was going to lose this argument. “...Just eat your pizza, kid.”

Neville dried his hands with a towel, having just finished with the dishes. Mustafa and the others had gone into the living room to “talk” -- or, as Neville liked to call it, “continue the interrogation”. He knew that it was probably a bad idea to leave Mustafa alone with them, but he was in charge of the dinner cleanup (and Wade had dragged Mustafa out of the room before Neville had a chance to intervene).

Now, however, Neville was finished, which meant he could join them. He walked out of the kitchen and entered the living room. He spotted Mustafa sitting on the couch, and he sat down on the arm of it, prompting Mustafa to look over and smile at him. “What’d I miss?” He asked.

“Not much, actually,” Mustafa replied. “I’ve just been sitting here watching them trying to get the DVD player working.”

“Why do we even still have this?” Wade asked, crouched down by it. Daisy and Jen were on either side of him. “Haven’t we upgraded to Netflix yet?” “Uh, we have,” Neville replied, frowning. “You’re the one who’s living in the past.”

“The basement doesn’t have those types of luxuries…” Wade complained. “Well, I already went through all this trouble to set this damn thing up, we may as well use it-- Jen, no, don’t give me that look. ‘Damn’ is not a swear.”

“Wait, wait,” Neville interrupted. “I’m lost here. Why are you setting it up in the first place?”

“Family movie night, duh!” Wade said it as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

Neville tensed up. “What?”

“Wade told me about how you guys always do a movie night on Saturdays,” Mustafa said. “It’s a family bonding activity.”

“Yeah, Nev. Don’t tell me you forgot...” Wade was wearing a shit-eating grin on his face.

There were many things that Neville wanted to say to Wade at that moment, but he knew that this wasn’t the right place to do it. “...Wade, can I speak with you for a minute? Out in the hallway.” He asked with a big (forced) smile.

“Why, certainly, my friend! Lead the way.” Wade got to his feet, doing finger guns at Mustafa before following Neville out of the room.

It was once they were out of sight that Neville’s expression turned to one of confusion and annoyance. “Family movie night?!” He hissed, keeping his voice down.

“Isn’t it great?!” Wade replied, clearly ecstatic and proud of what he’d done. “I thought of it at the last second. This is gonna be awesome.”

“How is it gonna be awesome? God, I didn’t plan this far ahead…” Neville ran his hands through his hair. “Mustafa was supposed to leave not too long after dinner, not stick around for a damn movie!” “You want him to leave this early? Come on, Nev, it’s only seven! You can’t kick him out this soon. Don’t you want to spend more time with him?”

“I mean, I do, but…” Neville was the type of person to always stick to a routine-- this sudden development went against that night’s plan. “I wasn’t expecting this. I wasn’t expecting you to do anything that you’ve done tonight.”

“How can you say that? You should know that the moment you tell me not to do something, I’m already planning out how I’m gonna do it.”

“I’m gonna get you back for this one of these days…” Neville shook his head, sighing. “Okay, fine. I’ll go along with this under two conditions: first, you’re in charge of getting the snacks together. And second, I am not watching Frozen again. I’ll never get those damn songs out of my head.”

“The first part is easy, the second one…” Wade made a vague hand gesture. “Well, you’ll have to have that conversation with your daughters.”

“I can do that. Easily.” Neville turned and started to walk back to the living room, taking one last glance at Wade over his shoulder. “I’m a persuasive person, Wade.”

“I swear, I hear Elsa in my nightmares,” Neville complained as he walked Mustafa back to his house, causing Mustafa to chuckle. “You laugh, but I’m being serious. I must have seen that movie close to a hundred times.”

“My poor, poor Nev,” he replied, putting an arm around him and giving Neville a pat on the shoulder. “It’s not easy being you, is it?”

“It really isn’t.” The two of them reached Mustafa’s porch, and Neville sighed, rubbing at his temples. Mustafa was about to say something, but Neville interrupted him, saying, “I… am so sorry.”

Mustafa looked at him, brow furrowed. “What are you sorry for?

“For how everyone acted tonight. Daisy kept asking weird questions, Jen kept making comments, Wade was being… himself--”

“Neville, you don’t have to apologize at all. I loved it!”

“You-- You loved it?” He was shocked.

“Of course! If I were ever uncomfortable, I would have left, believe me. You have such a cute family.”

“But Wade literally interrogated you like some overprotective father! You didn’t think that was weird at all?”

“I mean…” He shrugged. “It was unexpected, yeah, but it wasn’t bad or anything. I knew he was only teasing you and trying to make the girls laugh. If anything, that made me wanna stay even more.”

“And Daisy’s repeated performances of ‘Let It Go’ didn’t bother you?”

“Neville, I teach first graders. You think I don’t hear that song all day anyway? I’m used to it.”

“I… damn.” Neville was impressed. “I was so sure you were gonna hate me after this.”

“What? No, never! I can’t hate you.” He ruffled up Neville’s hair. “I really did enjoy myself tonight, Nev. Don’t worry.”

“Good.” Neville breathed a sigh of relief, and before he knew it he felt Mustafa’s lips on his cheek and his face go hot. He made a mental note to start getting used to that kind of thing.

“Thanks again for dinner. I’ll text you tomorrow, alright?”

“Alright.”

With that, they went their separate ways, Neville returning back to his own house. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Wade waiting for him in the hallway, bouncing on his heels. “Dear God, what now?”

“Oh, you’re back,” he replied with a coy smile. “I was so sure you’d end up staying at his house for ‘dessert’.”

Neville sighed for what had to be the millionth time that day. “The moment you get a boyfriend, I’m going to bug the shit out of you about it. Mark my words.”

[bastardnev]

That Guy Next Door -- Ch. 5

SORRY this is so late!! i meant to post it this morning but i didn’t have enough time, i was in a Rush

anyways who wants some fuckin FIRST DATE FLUFF on this fine friday

tagging: @tylerblacks​ @joonhobi​ @sailor-slam-dunk​ @rivela​ @aliciasfox @kidvoodoo​ @smolsammichu​ @simulated-heat​ @douglas-leon-michael​ @1dluver13xx (lemme know if you want to be added to my nev/moose taglist!!)

(link to ao3)

Prev.: Ch. 1 ♡ Ch. 2 ♡ Ch. 3 ♡ Ch. 4 ♡

Neville had been so eager to inform Mustafa that he was willing to go on a date with him that he hadn’t even realized one glaring problem with the whole thing: he had absolutely no clue what he was doing.

It had been years since the last time he went on an actual date with somebody, and as such he was a little rusty when it came to the basics. For starters, what was he supposed to wear? Seeing as this was only a trip to a coffee shop, he knew that whatever he wore would have to be casual, but not too casual. He didn’t want Mustafa to think that he was a slob who didn’t care about his appearance -- maybe a t-shirt and jeans?

Then he remembered something unfortunate as he was digging around in his closet -- he didn’t own anything casual. Most of his wardrobe consisted of button-down shirts and dress pants. All things that he normally wore to work. Nothing that screamed “coffee date”.

Not only that, but how was he supposed to act? Should he act like he normally did? Or should he try to change things up a little bit and act more romantic, maybe throw in a few pick-up lines? The latter seemed like the right way to go, but would Mustafa appreciate it? How would he react if Neville wasn’t acting like his true self? Would he even be able to tell? So many questions were flitting through Neville’s mind, but not a single answer arose.

He was staring down at a few shirts that he had laid out on his bed. After going through everything that he had in his closet, he was down to the final two options -- a plain black polo and a dark purple dress shirt. On one hand, purple was his favorite color, so he was tempted to pick that one. On the other hand, he felt like a dress shirt was too formal, and the polo seemed like the better option. “Why is this so complicated?” He grumbled aloud, crossing his arms.

“Why is what so complicated?” Neville jumped and spun to face the doorway, spotting Wade standing there, looking confused.

“Nothing, nothing!” He assured, forcing a smile to his face. “Don’t worry about it.” Christ, he’d completely forgotten to mention the date to him. He knew that the moment he admitted to Wade that he was seeing Mustafa, he would be teased to the high heavens. Under absolutely no circumstances could he find out about it.

“You were staring pretty intently down at those shirts.” He sauntered into the room. “Why?”

“U-Uh… yeah! Yeah, I was! That’s because I… was debating which of the two to give away! Y’know, to charity! I figured I already had so many of these damn things that someone else could use them more than me.”

Wade looked impressed. “Well that’s awfully nice of you. I probably have some old stuff that I can give away too.”

“We’re a very charitable household, aren’t we? Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He tried to usher Wade out of the room.

“Woah, woah, what’s the rush? You’re acting like you’re hiding something.”

“Me? Hiding something? No, no, I would never hide anything from you!”

“If you’re not hiding anything, then why are you trying to get rid of me? At least let me see something before you kick me out.” Wade shooed him away and picked up the purple shirt, looking at the tag. “If you’re gonna give one of these two away, it should be this one. It’s definitely too small on you now.”

“You think?”

“Mm. It’d be way too tight on you. Keep the black one, you look good in it.” He made to toss the shirt in Neville’s direction. “Maybe you can give it to Mustafa when you go on your date.”

Neville suddenly became rigid, and as a result made no attempt to catch the shirt, which landed on his head. “...Excuse me?” His voice was small and a little muffled.

“You know, your date. The one you guys are going on. When is it, by the way? I’m a little foggy on the details.”

“Wait, wait, how do you know we’re going on a date?! We’re not!” Neville snatched the shirt off of his head, dropping it to the floor. “Who told you that?!”

“Daisy.” Wade shrugged, as if it were obvious. “I asked her and Jen why you hadn’t come home with them and she told me that you went to Mustafa’s house for a little while. I gotta admit, Nev, you were over there for quite some time...” He pursed his lips at him.

“Was it really that long?”

“Close to an hour. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you two were getting… up to something.” He smirked. “If you catch my drift.”

Neville’s face grew bright red, and he took a deep breath. “We were just talking, no big deal. Nothing you need to worry about.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you were talking about? Since it’s not a big deal.”

“The weather,” Neville answered a little quickly, but it was the best that he could come up with.

“It took you that long to talk about the weather?”

“Well,… We had a long talk about… climate change…” This is getting worse before it gets better. “That kinda stuff takes longer than just a few minutes to talk about, y’know? Mustafa can be very wordy when he gets on a subject he’s really passionate about.”

Wade blinked at him, clearly not convinced. Still, he sighed, and he started to back out of the room, keeping his gaze locked on Neville. “Fine, whatever. Don’t tell me. I get it. Whatever you guys discussed was a secret. I won’t pry--” As he said this, Neville’s phone vibrated on top of his dresser, and Wade grabbed it before Neville could even react.

“Hey, give me that!!” Neville lunged at him, only to be held back effortlessly by one of Wade’s arms.

“‘Moose’?!” Wade laughed, holding the phone high above Neville’s head as he read the preview of the text. “That’s the name you gave him in your phone? Seriously?”

“Stop!”

“‘Does Saturday at two work for you?’ Well, does it work, Nev? Better let him know before he gets mad and cancels your little date.” Wade was smirking now, his tongue darting out of his mouth and running along his lower lip. He handed over the phone at long last. “Oh, God , I love being right about things.”

After snatching the device from his hands, Neville made another attempt to shove him out of the room. “This is why I was so hesitant to tell you, because I knew you would pull this bullshit!”

Wade stood rooted in place, looking down at Neville with surprise written on his face. He would normally make some comment about how Neville owed yet another dollar to Jen’s swear jar, but something about the tone in his voice kept him from doing so. “Wait, what are you talking about?”

“I didn’t want to tell you about the date because I knew all you were going to do was tease me -- like you’ve been doing all this time! God, I can’t even breath in the direction of Mustafa’s house without you making some sort of comment about when our wedding date was going to be.” Neville huffed, sitting down on the edge of the bed and unlocking his phone.

Wade remained silent during the minute that it took Neville to confirm the time and day, and he finally spoke again once Neville had tucked his phone safely in his pocket. “Did my teasing really bother you that much, Nev? You don’t usually get this upset.”

“I was fine with it in the beginning, but you ran it into the damn ground. A few lighthearted comments here and there is fine, but that’s not what you did. I couldn’t even mention him without you saying something. I went over to his house not too long ago and you spammed me with ridiculous texts. And then there’s what you just did! You kept my phone from me all so you could tease me over the texts he sent me. That’s not just simple teasing.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner? If it really bothered you, then I definitely would’ve stopped.”

“Except I did tell you! I told you the very first time you did it. I said that I wasn’t interested in getting with Mustafa and was under the impression that you were going to stop -- y’know, like you said you were going to . Clearly, I was wrong.” He sighed. “I’ve known he’s wanted to take me out for awhile now, you know.”

“Did he?”

“Yeah, he asked me a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you were never going to let me hear the end of it.”

Wade looked like he wasn’t sure what to say. “Damn…” He clicked his tongue. “I didn’t realize you were this hurt.”

“It’s not that I’m hurt , just frustrated.” Neville felt his phone vibrate again, and he took a quick look, smiling when he saw Mustafa’s excited response (and feeling his heart skip a beat at the purple heart emoji at the end of the text).

“...Hey, Nev…” Wade started, sitting down next to him. “I’m sorry.”

“Do you mean it? Or are you just saying it because you know I’m mad at you?”

“Of course I meant it. Listen, I never would have said anything if I’d known just how much this was bugging you.”

“But you did know.”

“I know, and I feel bad for not listening. We tease each other all the time, so I figured that you’d be okay with it.” After a beat, Wade spoke again, snapping his fingers. “Hey, I have an idea.”

“Oh God.” Neville rolled his eyes. “What now ?”

“Let me make it up to you.”

“How?”

“I’ll help you get ready for your date!”

“You-- Excuse me?” Neville’s eyes were wide. “You’re going to help me?”

“Of course! That’s what friends do, right?” Wade put an arm around Neville’s shoulders, squeezing him tightly. “And you and I are friends, right? Right ? You’re not gonna kick me out or anything?”

Neville sighed. “No, not yet ,” he replied. Wade was a jackass, but he was Neville’s jackass. “As long as you don’t keep beating a dead horse with this Mustafa thing, I won’t have to give you the boot. A joke now and again is fine, but don’t make a huge deal about it.”

“Can I still tease you about other stuff?”

“...Fine.”

“Thank God .”

Saturday came too quickly.

In the end, Neville had decided on wearing the polo. He was looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, buttoning the shirt right up to his neck. “Does this look good?” He asked, slicking back his hair with his hand and looking at Wade’s reflection.

Wade was behind him, leaning against the doorframe and looking unimpressed. “You do realize that you don’t have to button it up like that, don’t you?” He pointed out. “Mustafa’s gonna think you’re a geek.”

“But I can’t just walk around with it unbuttoned! It’ll feel… weird.”

“Not as weird as Mustafa laughing at you over your choice of fashion. Here, lemme fix it.” Before Neville could retort, Wade approached him, reaching over and quickly undoing the top button. “Heh, been awhile since I did that. I’m still an expert at unbuttoning your shirts.”

“Shut up!” Neville looked away in an attempt to hide his red face. “God, of all days you could have chosen to fuck with me, you choose today ?”

“I’m not fucking with you! I’m showing support for my best friend as he goes out on a date . His first one in ages!” Wade gave him a pat on the back. “My little boy’s all grown up now…”

“Shut up …” Neville grumbled again, pushing past Wade and exiting out into the hallway. He felt his phone vibrate as he was going down the stairs, and he checked once he was at the bottom. “Mustafa’s waiting for me in his car.” He breathed out. “I should probably head over now.”

“You nervous?”

“Of course. I can’t even remember the last time I was this nervous for something.” Neville felt like he was back in high school, about to make a big presentation in front of the entire class. His stomach was doing backflips.

“Just remember the expert advice I gave you the other day,” Wade said as he guided him over to the door.

“You mean the advice you stole from Google?”

“No, WikiHow.” Wade began to count on his fingers as he said, “Be yourself, compliment him when appropriate, don’t act like a dork -- I know you’ll have a lot of trouble with that one--”

“Wade…”

“--wear a condom--”

“ Wade .”

“Sorry, couldn’t help it!” Wade snorted, opening the door up for Neville. “Your reaction was priceless .”

“Of all the people I could’ve befriended, I just had to choose you…” Right as Neville was about to walk out, he suddenly stopped. “Oh, and be sure to tell the girls that I’m just out running an errand if they ask where I am,” he said.

Wade frowned. “Fine, but… why don’t you want to tell them the truth?”

“Because I don’t want them to get their hopes up. I mean, there’s no guarantee that this date will even go well. If I tell them where I’m going, they might get excited. I don’t want them to be crushed.”

Wade shook his head, an amused look on his face. “You’re overthinking this, you know that? You and I both know that this date is going to go fine.”

“Can you say that for sure? Or are you just speculating?”

“The only one speculating here is you , Nev. I personally think you should tell them.”

“Fine, then how about this?” Neville started. “If by some chance there is a second date -- and that’s a big if -- then I’ll tell them.”

“Sounds good to me.” Wade chuckled when he saw Neville reach for his phone again, having received another text from Mustafa. “Don’t keep your boy waiting any longer. Have fun, and remember what I said about the condom.”

“I’d kill you if I wasn’t running late.”

Neville waited until after the door had shut behind him to hastily redo his top button, throwing a glare back at the house even though he knew Wade couldn’t see him. He made his way to the sidewalk and caught sight of Mustafa’s car, sitting in his driveway next door. Taking a deep breath, Neville walked towards it, approaching the passenger’s side door and giving the window a little knock to get Mustafa’s attention.

“There you are!” Mustafa grinned at Neville once he was inside. “I was beginning to wonder where you were. Everything good, Adrian?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Neville replied with a grin of his own. “I just got held up by Wade for a little bit. Sorry about that.”

“No worries! We’re not in any real rush or anything.” He assured as he began to back the car up. “I’m just glad I get to hang out with you.”

“Aww…” Neville turned away to look out of the window, hoping to hide his rosy cheeks. “...Could I ask you for a possibly weird favor?”

“Oh boy.” He chuckled. “What’s up?”

“Do you think you could just call me ‘Neville’?”

“What for?”

“I’ve never been big on ‘Adrian’, to be honest. I usually ask my friends to call me by my last name. And, well… we’re definitely friends now, so…”

“I get where you’re coming from. If that’s what you want, then I’d be happy to do it, Nevy .” He gave Neville a little pat on the shoulder. ‘Nevy’? And I thought Wade just calling me ‘Nev’ was silly.

For a few minutes, neither of them spoke. Neville finally looked over at him again, taking in all of his features. Now that he had decided to give dating another chance, it was like he was looking at Mustafa a whole new way. Everything about him, from his soft hair to his entrancing eyes, was suddenly even more attractive.

Neville hadn’t even noticed that they’d stopped at a red light until Mustafa looked back at him, the little snort he let out bringing him back to reality. “What?”

“U-Uh, what?” Smooth. Real smooth.

“You’re staring at me.”

“Am I? Huh. I didn’t notice.” Neville took a deep breath. “You… You look really good today, you know that?”

Mustafa’s eyebrows raised, and he smiled again. “Thanks!” The light changed, and he continued to drive. “You look nice, too. I love the shirt.”

“Do you?” Neville was a little surprised. “I personally think it’s too… dressy. I don’t own any casual clothes, honestly.” He noticed that Mustafa was wearing jeans and a t-shirt -- clothes that were actually fitting for the occasion.

“What are you talking about? You look great. The only thing about your look that I’ll criticize is the top button.”

“Come on, you too?!” Neville groaned. “Wade was giving me hell for this button earlier. Kept saying that I should unbutton it or else I’ll look like a geek.”

“I mean, you kinda do…”

“Hey!”

“A cute geek, though!” Mustafa continued. “A very, very cute geek.”

He just said that I’m cute… “Your flattery is noted. And appreciated,” he added as they pulled up to the coffee shop.

“Well, if you want more casual clothes, maybe I can take you out shopping one day.” He turned the car off. “Let’s hope this place lives up to the hype. One of the other teachers was raving about it the other day.”

Just as Neville was about to get out of the car, Mustafa suddenly grabbed his arm, and he froze up. He only grew even more tense as Mustafa leaned in, his other hand reaching towards Neville’s face…

...And moving down to his top button.

“How can you breathe with it like that?” He teased as he undid it. Neville wanted to retort, but he was too distracted by how close their faces were, the hint of mint on Mustafa’s breath causing his heart to skip a beat. “There we go. Much better.”

“T-Thanks for making me look like less of a geek.”

“Oh, you still look like one. But, like I said before, you’re also cute. Adorable, even.” He winked. “Come on, let’s get inside.”

After panicking for a few more seconds, Neville followed Mustafa out of the car, grinning at him as he held the door open for him and walking into the shop. It was as busy as Neville expected, most of the tables taken already. He was able to spot a free one in the very back. “Should I go grab that one?” He asked.

“Yeah. You get get a table, and I’ll get our stuff. What do you want?”

“Um…” Neville remembered back to Wade’s advice from before, when he said that Neville should just be himself. “Just a plain black coffee is fine.” Whatever Wade tells you to do, always do the opposite.

Mustafa smiled confusedly. “Are you sure? No sugar or milk or anything?”

“No, just black.”

“If you say so.” He gave Neville a pat on the shoulder. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Neville hurried over to the table and sat down, looking around at the other faces in the cafe. From what he could tell, most of the patrons appeared to be college students, the majority of them hunched over a laptop and typing away. The semester had only just started, and yet it already looked as if they were swamped with assignments. Neville remembered those days, and he didn’t miss them one bit.

Now that Neville gave it some thought, if someone had told his college-aged self that this was where he would be in ten years time, he would laugh in their face. While he was still in school, Neville had big plans for his future. He was pursuing a Psychology degree, planning on possibly even becoming a school psychologist one day. He even had a lovely girlfriend, who he was dreaming of marrying once they both graduated.

Fast forward to the present. Neville didn’t have an established career -- he was working an office job. That girlfriend who he was so sure he loved wasn’t even in his life anymore. Not only that, but he’d been entirely wrong about his sexuality. It was certainly… interesting how things turned out for him.

He couldn’t dwell on these thoughts for much longer, however, as Mustafa had suddenly approached his table, sitting across from him. “I still think you’re a bit nuts for getting plain black, by the way,” he teased as he handed over Neville’s drink.

“Oh, hush,” Neville replied. “I’m more than capable of handling this.” He took a sip, trying with all his might not to make a face at the taste. He knew it was going to be bitter, but this was far more than he was expecting. Maybe I should’ve gone with tea instead...

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Neville waved his hand, clearing his throat. “Let’s talk about something else now, shall we?”

“Hmm, like what?”

“Like…” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Why’d you move? Something wrong with your old neighborhood?”

“Not at all,” Mustafa said, taking a sip of his own drink -- a chai latte. “I had a lot of great neighbors. It was a great place to live, but I really needed to move. The commute to work was becoming a real pain in the ass.”

“Why?”

“I was almost always late. It was like no matter what time I left the house, I could never get to the school on time.”

“And things are easier for you now?”

“Mm.” He nodded. “Definitely. It only takes me a few minutes to get there.”

“Good to hear.” Silence fell, and Neville suddenly felt awkward. Is he waiting for me to ask something else? Or is he just thinking of something to ask me? “Is teaching hard?” He decided to say.

“It can be. Like, for the most part the kids are well behaved, so that’s not the issue. I’m more worried that I’m not doing a good job.”

“Why would you say that?”

“I dunno.” He tapped his fingers on the side of his cup. “I’ll see that one of my students got a bad grade on a test, and I’ll feel like it’s my fault somehow. I should have done a better job teaching them, y’know?” He stared down at the table.

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it, mate.” Neville reached over and patted him on the arm. “Sometimes, people get bad grades. It’s part of life. Doesn’t mean that it’s your fault or anything -- maybe the kid just didn’t study enough.”

“I guess… Still, I feel like I could always do better. I’m far from perfect.” He rested his arms on the table, leaning forward. “Tell me a little about your job, now!”

Neville snorted. “What do you wanna know?”

“Literally anything.”

“Well, it’s boring as hell,” he explained with a shrug. “Only so many ways you can make writing emails exciting. Probably the most exciting thing to ever happen to me during a shift was when Wade texted me that he was planning on going in for a job interview soon. He didn’t get the job, by the way.”

“He’s struggling to get one, huh?”

“Sadly, yeah. It’s tough finding a job in this day and age.”

“True…”

Yet again they both went quiet, and Neville started to once more feel awkward. What else should I ask him about? He had already asked about his old neighborhood and his job. Should he even ask any more questions? Was Mustafa going to ask him something first?

He didn’t have to fret for very long, however, as he received his answer a moment later. “So, speaking of Wade… There was something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” Mustafa wore a coy smile. “I hope you don’t think it’s a weird question, but I’m super curious.”

“Oh boy.” Neville laughed. “Well, go on. Ask away.”

“So… About you and Wade…” Mustafa sipped at his drink again, peering at Nev from over the rim of the cup. “What’s the deal with you two?”

“Well, he’s my friend.”

“Okay.”

“And he’s living with me.”

“Okay.”

“And he helps take care of the girls sometimes.”

“Okay.”

Neville shrugged. “Um… I feel like I’m missing something here.”

“I was just under the impression that there was a little more going on there. You told me before that you two were only friends now, but…” He smirked. “Is that all you’ve ever been?”

Neville grew pink. “You saying that you think Wade and I have dated before?”

“I’m just curious! I don’t have a problem with it or anything. Listen, Wade is hot .”

“Should you really be saying this while you’re on a date with me ?”

“It’s a fact, Neville. I wouldn’t blame you at all if you two have dated -- or if you’ve kissed at the very least.”

Neville took a long sip of his coffee, his grip tightening on the cup both out of embarrassment and due to the bitterness. Was this a real conversation that he was having? He figured that there were a few people who questioned the nature of his and Wade’s relationship, but he didn’t think he would ever actually be called out on it. “Well… I guess there’s no harm in telling you.”

Mustafa beamed at him, clasping his hands together and leaning forward. “Tell me, tell me!”

“...Yes, we dated,” he admitted.

“I knew it!”

“But very briefly. I would say two months tops. We both knew that it wasn’t going to work out in the long run.”

“Why didn’t you guys stay together?”

“It’s like I told you the other day -- while he loves Jen and Daisy, he’s not interested in being a dad. Our relationship was a casual fling at most. Though if you ask him, we were soulmates. So many nights of passion… He’s full of it.” Neville rolled his eyes, forcing another sip of coffee into his mouth.

“Not to change the subject, but… Are you sure you’re enjoying that coffee?” Mustafa chuckled. “You look like you’re being tortured.”

“What? I’m fine! See, look!” Neville brought the cup to his lips again, this time gagging a little as more coffee than he anticipated spilled out and dribbled down his chin. “Dammit…”

Mustafa smiled fondly, grabbing a napkin and starting to gently wipe at Neville’s face. “You’re a mess, you know that?”

“Unfortunately…” Not even halfway through this date, and Neville had already lost track of how many times he’d embarrassed himself. So much more humiliation is yet to come…

“I am not looking forward to going back to work on Monday…” Neville groaned as he leaned his head back against the seat of the car, shutting his eyes. “I always have to get up so early… I miss being able to get a decent night’s sleep.”

“That makes two of us,” Mustafa replied as he pulled into his driveway. “I’ve got too much stuff to grade.”

“Even though it’s only first grade? How many tests you giving these poor kids, Moose?” Neville tensed. “Ah, you don’t mind if I call you that, do you?”

“No, not at all! I love it,” He assured. “But seriously, I don’t give them too much work. It only feels like a lot of work because I haven’t fully adjusted to working again, since school only just started.”

“I wish I got summers off. You teachers don’t realize just how good you’ve got it.”

“It can get a little boring sometimes. For the most part, I’m sitting at home doing nothing. Well, maybe next summer won’t be so boring, since I’ll have you…”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Neville laughed self-derisively. “I’m pretty dull.”

“Don’t say that!”

“It’s true, though! The only difference between me in the summer and me the rest of the year is that the former is more sunburnt.”

“Except it’s not true.”

“How would you know that?”

“Because I just spent the afternoon with you and had a really nice time. And if you were boring, then I wouldn’t be asking you out on a second date right now.” He quirked his eyebrows up at him. “If you’re up for it, that is.”

“Absolutely!” Neville answered perhaps a little too quickly, and he smiled sheepishly. “I mean, sure.”

“Excellent. I’ll text you later and we can work out the details.” He smiled.

They both exited the car, Neville waiting until Mustafa had come around to him before saying, “Thanks a lot for today. I enjoyed myself.”

“Even though you looked like you were suffering for the most part?”

“I’m telling you, I regularly drink black coffee.”

“I’m sure you do, Nevs. I’m sure you do.” Before Neville had a chance to retort, Mustafa suddenly leaned in, placing a quick smooch on Neville’s cheek. “I’ll catch you later, ‘mkay?”

“’K…’Kay.�� Neville blinked, watching as Mustafa walked towards his house before hurrying off in the direction of his own home.

Neville wasn’t sure when exactly the next date would be, but he knew that it couldn’t come soon enough.

[bastardnev]

Grinch

the first of two fics that i’ll be posting today!!

(link to ao3)

tagging: @heelneville @tyedillinger @rivela @aliciasfox @oh-baby-a-triple-oh-yeah @kidvoodoo @smolsammich @saml-zayn @simulated-heat (lemme kno if you wanna be added to my tag list!!)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: World Wrestling Entertainment, Professional Wrestling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Mustafa Ali/Pac | Adrian Neville Characters: Mustafa Ali, Pac | Adrian Neville Additional Tags: Holidays, nev really hates holiday lights and lawn ornaments, mustafa just likes the aesthetic Summary: Neville wouldn’t go as far as to call himself “205 Live’s Resident Grinch” or anything, but it was no secret that he wasn’t very big on holiday cheer.

Neville wouldn’t go as far as to call himself “205 Live’s Resident Grinch” or anything, but it was no secret that he wasn’t very big on holiday cheer. Sure, having a few days off to spend with Mustafa at their home was nice, but other than that the whole time of year seemed very overrated to him. It was too damn cold out, the music was tacky and overplayed -- it was everything that Neville hated rolled into one supposedly “wonderful time of year”.

So naturally he was the one hosting the annual holiday party.

The easy route was to blame Mustafa, so that was exactly what he did. Hosting Thanksgiving simply wasn’t enough for him, and he just had to host the holiday party too (despite the fact that he didn’t even celebrate). Neville had tried to tell him that if there was going to be a party then it was only fair that someone else be the host since they hosted the last event, but he insisted that that “someone” should be the two of them. As such, they needed to make their house look appropriate before the date arrived.

Which meant it was time to go shopping for decorations.

Add ‘stores around the holidays’ to the list of things I hate about this time of year… Neville pouted, glaring down towards the white tiles of the store’s floor as the loud sounds of people chattering and kids complaining to their mothers filled his ears.

“Nev, which ones do you think we should get for the front of the house?” The next sound that he heard was that of Mustafa talking. He was currently holding up two different boxes of string lights -- one with white lights and one with multiple colors -- his gaze shifting between them.

“I really don’t care. Go with whatever you want.” Neville leaned forward and rested his arms on the cart handle, looking bored out of his damn mind. He loved Mustafa to death, but there were so many things he would rather be doing at that moment besides shopping for lights of all things.

“But it’s our house. It’s not fair if I have all the say. Come on, just pick one.”

“I don’t know!”

“Pick one at random, then!”

“Oh my God, Moose, why do you make me do these things…” Neville rolled his eyes before tapping the box of the multi-color lights. “This one.”

“Great choice!” Mustafa grinned that one grin of his that never failed to make Neville’s heart skip a beat (even in harrowing circumstances such as these), and he dropped the box into the cart before returning the other one to the shelf. After a moment of consideration, he took it back off, grabbing a few more boxes of the multi-color lights and dropping them all into the cart as well.

“Moose, seriously? What was the point in making me choose if you were going to get both kinds anyway?” He was met with a shrug. “Do we really need this many?”

“There’s no such thing as too many!”

“Ever hear of something called ‘overkill’, lad?” Neville counted the boxes -- six . Did they even have enough space on their home to fit all of these? “God, can we go now?”

“Are you serious? We’re just getting started! We still need to get lights to hang in the windows.” Mustafa looked down towards the end of the aisle. “I can see this really cool big snowflake over there. Let’s go look at it.” He motioned for Neville to follow as he started to walk off.

“Let’s not …” Neville said this, but he still followed along behind him, pushing the cart and grumbling the whole way.

“Moose, what the hell is the point of this thing?” Neville was standing on their snow covered lawn, hands shoved in his coat pocket as he glared at the inflatable snowman standing in front of him. “Something about its smile creeps me the fuck out.”

Mustafa had been in the middle of stringing some of the lights they had bought around the railing of the front steps when he stopped and frowned at him. “It only has to stay up until after the holidays.”

“Define ‘holidays’, please.”

“Hmm… New Year’s?”

“Oh God, this thing is gonna be on my lawn for that long?!”

“You two can co-exist for a couple of weeks.” He looked back down at the lights, continuing his work and saying, “Oh, and don’t kick it, please. You did the same thing with the inflatable pumpkin on Halloween and destroyed it. Remind me to pick up a new one for next year.”

“I’ll be sure to not do that.” Neville believed that the lights were a hassle, but these giant inflatable… things were arguably even more annoying. What in the world was even the point of them? All they did was take up space on the lawn and look ugly as hell. Whenever they would be on the road and would pass by a house with one of them outside, he would judge them. Never once did he think he would become one of those people.

Neville looked over into the front yard of their neighbors, noticing that they also had one of these accursed decorations. All that time spent laughing behind their backs was for naught. This one featured elves -- three elves to be exact, all sitting gleefully around a bright red cannon that just so happened to be pointing directly towards him. What the fuck is that supposed to be? He thought as his eyebrows scrunched together.

“Moose, does that look weird to you at all?” Neville marched up to the stairs, thumb pointing in the direction of the cannon.

Mustafa took a look over his shoulder at it, only to turn back to Neville a moment later and shrug. “Not really. Why, should it?”

“Those damn elves have a weapon! Lord only knows what they plan on firing out of that thing.”

“Maybe… gee, I dunno… presents?”

“Okay, but what kind of presents, huh? Cute toys? Or something potentially harmful?”

“You’re looking too deep into this, love.” Mustafa shook his head, patting Neville’s cheek. “Maybe you should go inside and have hot chocolate or something. I think the cold is starting to get to you.”

“You say that now, but don’t come crying to me when those little fuckers start firing shit at our house.”

Neville plopped down heavily on the couch, letting out a sigh and leaning back into the cushion. After a long day of holiday bullshit, this was the only place he wanted to be.  “Please tell me that we’re done now,” he whined as he rubbed his face with one of his hands. “I’m hungry.”

“Well…” Mustafa crossed his arms as he thought. “There is one last decoration I think we need to put up before we’re officially done.”

“Dear God, what?” Neville threw back his head shutting his eyes. He just wanted to eat dinner… “What could possibly be left?”

“You’ll see!” Mustafa’s voice was farther away now, and Neville opened his eyes, realizing that he’d left the room while he wasn’t looking. He resigned himself to his fate and shut his eyes again, wondering where it was that his lover had run off to.

Don’t even tell me that it’s more lights … Their house was so brightly lit that his family over in England could probably see it. Or is it another one of those freaky lawn things? Neville recalled the way that those elves were looking at him and was hoping to God that nothing like that was to be infiltrating their home for the holidays. Or maybe it’s--

“Oof!” Neville’s thoughts were suddenly cut off when he felt a weight on his lap, and he opened his eyes to find that Mustafa was now sitting on him. “What the hell are you doing?”

Mustafa didn’t reply and only batted his eyelashes, slowly raising one of his arms above Neville’s head. He was holding something, though Neville couldn’t see what it was. He eventually took the bait and decided to look up, and his mouth dropped open when he saw that Mustafa was holding a mistletoe. “You’re joking,” he said.

“I’m not,” Mustafa replied, giving it a little shake.

“So I’m guessing you want me to kiss you now?”

“No, I want you to break up with me. Of course I want you to kiss me!”

Neville sighed, pursing his lips. He gave Mustafa kisses all the time, why in the world did they need this silly little plant to tell them when they should kiss? It was so silly — too silly, for that matter.

...Then again, Neville had been acting like a pain in the ass for the entire day. He’d done nothing but whine about decorating. The least he could do was play along and give him a kiss.

“Alright, you win,” Neville replied with a little shrug before leaning in, planting a quick kiss on Mustafa’s lips.

Mustafa blinked at him, looking almost disappointed. “Is that it?” He asked.

“What?”

“I expected a little more from the King…”

“Am I not good enough for you?”

“You’re excellent!” Mustafa cupped Neville’s cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb. “I just thought that the King was capable of more than a little peck…”

“Is that so?” Neville raised an eyebrow, encouraged by his goading, a small smirk beginning to work its way across his face. “Well then…”

Before Mustafa could do anything more, he was suddenly pushed down onto the couch, and he yelped at the sudden movement. “If ‘more’ is what my Prince wants,” Neville started as he straddled his hips, “then I guess I’ll just have to give it to him…”

Dinner could wait a little longer.

Mustafa had always told Neville that if he went into something with a negative attitude, then naturally he wasn’t going to have a good time. It was better to have a positive outlook on things so that he would actually enjoy himself for once.

Then again, Neville was pretty sure that even if he’d been the most positive man on the planet, he still wouldn’t have been any less miserable at that godforsaken party.

“I think you’re being just a little bit dramatic,” Mustafa said as entered their bedroom, moving over to the dresser and digging around inside of one of the drawers as he searched for something to change into.

“I am not,” Neville replied from the bed.

“Aren’t you, though? This really isn’t that big of a deal.”

“Tozawa is currently sleeping in our guest room, and you made me tuck him in! It was one of the most painful experiences of my life.”

From the mirror that was hanging above the dresser, Neville could see that Mustafa had rolled his eyes. It was more or less as Neville so eloquently put it -- Tozawa had stumbled into their guest room and passed out on the bed. Neville had wanted to wake him up and kick him out like he’d done with the other guests that evening, but Mustafa insisted on leaving him be and letting him sleep. “I did not make you tuck him in. I suggested that it would be nice of you if you did.”

“Yeah, and then you gave me that goddamn look. I knew damn well you weren’t gonna let me leave that damn room unless I tucked him in first.” Neville grimaced. “Now he’s spending the night here. Do you have any idea how weird this is? The man who once beat me for the Cruiserweight title is currently sleeping in my damn house.”

“Yes, and the man who you used to call ‘the ultimate thorn in your side’ is currently your damn boyfriend.” It appeared as if Mustafa finally found something to change into, and he began to undress, tugging his shirt over his head.

“And thank God for that.” Neville smirked as he watched Mustafa closely. “I never get tired of looking at your body, you know that?”

“Oh, stop that.”

“It’s the truth.” Neville put his arms behind his head, shutting his eyes as he waited for Mustafa to finish getting dressed and join him. “Hurry up, I’m cold.”

“There’s a blanket literally right there that you can use to warm up.”

“Why use that when I have a perfectly good Prince at my disposal?”

Mustafa joined him on the bed a moment later, and Neville felt as something was placed down on his lap. He opened one of his eyes and saw that it was a medium-sized box, poorly wrapped in dark purple paper. “Moose, what’s this?” He asked, sitting up and holding the box in his hands.

“A horribly wrapped present.” He chuckled self-derisively.

“I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t be exchanging gifts.”

“I know, but… I just wanted to give you something. After having such an amazing year career-wise, you deserve it.”

Neville looked between him and the present, chewing his lip. “Should I be afraid? Because I feel like I should be.”

“Nothing to be afraid of. Just open it!” Mustafa gave him a little shove, wearing an encouraging smile. “I think you’re really gonna like it.”

Neville looked down at the box again before finally shrugging and beginning to tear away the paper. He could feel Mustafa’s eyes on him, watching his every move closely. “Must you stare? You’re making me anxious.”

“I’m excited to see how you’ll react! Is that a crime?”

“Well, no… But it just makes me worry about whatever this gift is. Is this one of those pranks where a boxing glove bursts out and hits me in the face?”

“Would you just open the damn thing already?”

Neville ripped away the last few bits of paper, and he took the top of the box off. Whatever was inside was black -- and very soft, too, as he’d discovered once he’d touched it. Taking it out revealed that it was an over-sized sweater, the word “KING” written in bold white letters across the front.

“It took me forever to make, but I think it came out pretty good,” Mustafa said. After a beat of silence, he said, “Well…?”

Neville was still just staring at it, clutching the soft fabric in his hands. He couldn’t even remember the last time someone had actually given him a present, especially one as nice as this. “I…” He started. “I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Do you like it?”

Neville swallowed and brought the sweater up close to himself, burying his face in it. He took a shaky breath. “Y-Yeah… I do… Thank you.”

“Nev, are you… are you crying?”

“No,” he snapped with a sniffle, keeping his face hidden. “I’m not. I never cry.”

“Are you sure? It sounds to me like you are.” Mustafa rested a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

“I-I just…” Neville finally looked at him, his cheeks still a little damp. “I love you. So much.”

Mustafa smiled, and he gave him a kiss, pressing their foreheads together. “I love you too, King.”

[bastardnev]

Until He Met The King

fic #2!! this one is a gift for @cruisingforcruiserweights, hope you like it!!

(link to ao3)

tagging: @rivela @oh-baby-a-triple-oh-yeah @kidvoodoo

i wasn’t sure if anybody else on my tag list wanted to be tagged since this is a fic for a ship that isn’t nev/mustafa?? if you’re on my nevstafa tag list and wanna be tagged in anything else then plz lemme kno!! (and ofc if you’re not on either list and still wanna be tagged then just message me!!)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: World Wrestling Entertainment, Professional Wrestling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Austin Aries/Pac | Adrian Neville Characters: Austin Aries, Pac | Adrian Neville Additional Tags: Shopping, nev may be a little shit but he's AUSTIN'S little shit and that's all that really matters in the end Summary: Austin had never been the type to believe in that cliche “love at first sight” bullshit that everyone else seemed to cling to so desperately. How could you fall in love with someone that you’d only just met? Unlike some people that he knew, he was never a goddamn softie.

...That is, until he met the King.

Austin Aries had always been his own person. He knew exactly what it was that he wanted and wasn’t afraid to go out and take it. He had a smart mouth and strong opinions, and he wasn’t afraid to let others know about them, even if he knew that they weren’t going to like what he had to say. This may have earned him a bad reputation, but he didn’t care. He cared more about standing up for what he believed in and demanding respect than going along with what everyone else was saying and blending in with the crowd.

Naturally, this behavior carried over to his dating life. He had never been the type to believe in that cliche “love at first sight” bullshit that everyone else seemed to cling to so desperately. How could you fall in love with someone that you’d only just met? Unlike some people that he knew, he was never a goddamn softie.

...That is, until he met the King.

Austin was leaning back against the bricks that made up the store he was standing outside of, his arms crossed as he tried to protect himself from the cold. He heard the little jingle of the bell hanging above the door, and he watched as Neville bounded out of the building, carrying some brightly colored bags on each of his arms. “How-- How much stuff did you buy?” He gaped.

“Not much.” Neville shrugged. “Just a few things.”

“This is more than just a few, King.” Austin looked inside one of the bags, spotting numerous little trinkets that he knew upon questioning Neville was going to swear that he needed (he really didn’t).

Neville huffed, his pale cheeks growing rosy now that he was faced with the mid-December chilliness. “Here.” He stuck out both of his arms, bags dangling and swinging a little from the movement.

“What am I supposed to do with them?”

“...Take them from me?”

“Oh my God…” Austin rolled his eyes, though he did as he was told without further complaint, holding them by the handles in one hand and propping the free one on his hip. “Are you sure you really need all this stuff?” He asked once he realized how heavy a few of the bags were.

“Of course. What, do you think I just buy random shit for the hell of it? Everything I do has a purpose, Aries.” Neville waggled his finger at him.

Right. That response was about what Austin expected. He sighed and decided to drop the subject, resigning himself to his fate. “So where to next, King? What’s the next place you plan on spending all my money in?”

“Excuse you, I’m only using some of your money,” Neville corrected him. He shoved his hands into the pockets on his hoodie and began looking up and down the street, standing on his toes and trying to look over the crowds of people as he searched for their next destination (Austin considered making a smart comment about his height once he saw this, though he stopped himself once he realized that he, too, could not see unless he stood on his toes).

“Any day now, King.” Austin shifted on his feet after a few moments of silence. The cold air was beginning to get to him -- maybe choosing to stand outside while Neville shopped when it was this frigid out was a bad idea after all…

“Oh give me a minute, would you?” Neville frowned at him. “I’m still thinking.”

“Think any longer and I’m gonna freeze to death.”

Neville let out a breath, Austin watching as it escaped his lips and faded away, and he nodded, “Okay, so how about this: Since you’re so cold, we should go to Starbucks and warm up. I know there’s one not too far from here.”

“Do you actually care about me being warm, or do you just want coffee?”

“That’s for me to know and you to never find out. Come along.” Neville took hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly as he dragged him up the street. “Christ, your hands are cold.”

“Did you expect anything different?” Austin replied, gripping his hand back as if his life depended on it. He usually wasn’t big on holding hands in public, but Neville’s hand was so warm…

Neville led him to a street corner and paused, looking to the left and right. “Which way was it again…?” He thought aloud.

“You don’t even know which way it is?”

“I do know, I just… momentarily forgot, that’s all. I’ll remember, just hold on a sec.”

As he waited, Austin took a look over at the shop they just so happened to stop outside of -- a jewelry shop. All sorts of products were displayed in the window, glittering in the sunlight, though there was one item in particular that had caught his eye, sitting front and center for all who passed by to see.

An engagement ring.

Yet another thing that Austin had previously not been a very big fan of was the idea of getting married. It wasn’t that he hated it or anything -- quite the opposite, in fact -- it was just that he personally could never see himself doing it. He had loved people before, yes, but never once did he ever feel close enough to them to even consider spending the rest of his life with them.

But this was all before he had gotten with the King.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Neville had truly made a major impact on his life. This little date that they were currently on -- freezing their asses off as they wandered aimlessly from store to store -- was something that Austin would never even consider with any of his previous partners. Something about the look in Neville’s eyes when he proposed this idea, about how much he truly wanted to do it, made Austin go along with it. No matter how hard he tried to resist, he was hopelessly wrapped around Neville’s finger.

And he loved it.

The longer that he stared at the ring, the more Austin began to wonder about what married life with Neville would consist of. Would he change at all? Would he still be the grumpy yet charming man he’d grown to love? Or maybe he would be sweeter and more affectionate? While there was still a part of Austin that was unsure if marriage was the right thing for him, he couldn’t deny that the thought of being with Neville forever was certainly enticing…

“Would you pay attention to me?” Austin felt himself being lightly shoved all of a sudden, and he noticed that Neville was speaking to him, looking impatient. “I know where we have to go.”

“My bad,” Austin replied. “Just got distracted for a second.”

“Clearly. I’ve been trying to talk to you for the last half hour.”

“Oh it has not been that long. It's been a minute at most. You’re being dramatic.”

“You know damn well that I’m not the type of person to be dramatic, Aries.”

“Is that so? Then why do you want everyone to call you ‘King’? You have a perfectly good name that people could use instead.”

Neville blinked at him, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he attempted to come up with a rebuttal. “Can we go now, please?” He finally said, clearly not wanting to continue the discussion.

Austin smirked, satisfied that he’d won that little argument. “We may.”

With that, Neville gripped his hand tighter and began to lead him in the direction of the Starbucks. Austin took one last look over his shoulder at the jewelry display, the smirk still on his face.

Whether or not there was a wedding in Austin’s future remained unclear, though one thing was for certain -- he planned on being with Neville for a very long time.

[ariyadaivaris]

HEY here's smth i've been thinking about lately: who on 205 Live would u like to see turn face and how would u like to see them do it? i been thinking about this and it's hard because the heel boys are all so close to each other and i don't wanna see em split up...

now–okay. 1) im sorry i took forever to read this im very shy and 2) im gonna be THEEEEEEeeEEEEEEeeeeEEEeeE most biased person on earth about this but this is SUCH A COOL QUESTION and i’m living for it, thank you cat for my life

and like. i mean the answer that’s easiest is OBVIOUSLY ariya. i mean. like. let’s be real here, especially if i’m the one answering, like, who else could it be, but ariya? he’s never had a face run in his career, iirc, and i want to see it, with my eyes, and live it forever. 

and YEAH splitting up those sweet terrible heel boys is a bad time, and that’s something that always gets me when i’m thinking about turns, because ideally everyone remains friends, face or heel, but like…i think that with ariya that’s something that could be accomplished WHILE the rest of the heel boys stay heels. and i know this is a topic i am on about a lot, or at least it feels like it, but i think it would work if you had ariya turn face against brian, specifically. 

jack’s not involved in this yet, i know that’s like, HI HELLO IT’S ME BUZZ INTERNET, but this turn doesn’t have anything to do with jack. okay it might have a BIT to do with jack but that’s not the most important part of it. it’s a subplot and not like, the main conflict driving this turn. the main conflict driving this turn is VERY much between ariya and brian, and there are a few points of interest here: 

brian betraying tony in the contendership elimination match, which is a relatively small insignificant betrayal, but still a betrayal of one of ariya’s friends

brian outright allying himself with enzo and ariya, but not to convince enzo to leave wwe entirely (which, until proven otherwise, has to be ariya’s goal here because jesus christ) and instead either for manipulation reasons or because he sincerely relates to everyone being jealous of the cruiserweight champion. because he’s brian kendrick

brian not only fucking with jack but fucking with him to the point jack is ALLYING with him; ariya might be a bastard but he’s really loyal to the allies and friends he has, even noam, who ariya was never EXACTLY FOND OF but to whom ariya’s remained loyal and is pretty straightforward with

and just like…ariya’s a brutal guy and he takes pleasure in fighting people in the ring, and he’s pragmatic and not afraid to bend the rules to win, but as a person, he’s fundamentally…pretty genuine? genuine isn’t the right word, but. he’s blunt and what you see is what you get with him for the most part. he’s sneaky and tricky, but he’s also a pretty bad liar beyond playing a wounded gazelle gambit in the ring! like, his alliance with enzo? he’s of course a very sweet boy but he’s got a reputation as well and he’s very VERY much just…pretending it doesn’t exist and hoping that’s convincing. ariya is…pretty sincere, at heart. he doesn’t Perform unless it’s for the greater good, he doesn’t try to be anything he’s not, and who he is MIGHT be a pretty rude and sharp person but that’s who he is. and he’s fine with that. 

brian kendrick kinda spits on every single idea of that! 

ariya believes he’s an honorable person, but like, ariya will back down and admit he’s outmatched when necessary (that’s kind of a running thing he does, with neville, with braun, etc), where brian is just a dirty coward who cheats and lies and plays dirty all the goddamn time. he’s the man with a plan and his plan is despicable from the beginning! and ariya doesn’t trust that, no one trusts brian, obviously, and i think that they could butt heads in a way that easily transitions into a face turn for ariya. 

i think that could happen in a tag team match? not one where they’re pitted against each other, but put on a team. brian’s usually paired up with jack but jack’s got his own shit going on this particular night, so brian needed a new partner, and he came to ariya. and ariya doesn’t trust him for a goddamn second but he doesn’t have anything to do tonight, so he agrees. and then he discusses it with the rest of the gold standard, and tony’s clearly Not Happy that brian would even consider coming to one of them, even if this IS what ariya’s gotta do, and that definitely stays with ariya. because ariya is a dick but he loves tony and drew a lot and he isn’t the most forgiving person of slights against the two. 

but brian and ariya team up for the night, they’re taking on, who knows…OH no wait i know, they’re taking on mustafa and akira, ding ding ding! ariya and brian both have past rivalries with akira, but ariya’s got a weird frenemies thing happening with mustafa over twitter at the VERY least, and ariya’s still thinking about how much of a manipulative lying motherfucker brian is. and while they’re in the match, brian pulls some SKETCHY SHIT that results in akira getting pretty fucked up on the turnbuckle, and ariya’s no akira fan but he knows that was fucked up. akira recovers and tags mustafa in and the match moves on, and ariya is stuck on this moment, and he looks back at brian in the corner and thinks, man, i fucking hate this guy

and he makes a decision, to get back at brian for tony’s sake at least and now for akira’s sake as well, because if brian can play dirty, ariya can too, and maybe it’ll teach him something about not being a HUGE SHITHEAD ALL THE TIME. he tags brian in for a double team move and makes a surprise transition; instead of whipping brian into mustafa, he catches brian up in the hammerlock lariat he does! and he takes a moment to kind of process “oh shit, oh SHIT this is happening”, before coming back into focus. and he just shakes it off, nudges brian towards mustafa and gestures to the top rope like “hey i set up your dumb flip for you, you’re welcome”, and just rolls out of the ring. before he starts up the ramp, he catches akira’s eye and nods, and then he’s just Outie, and then it’s just. okay! it’s an ambiguous move and he doesn’t break apart from his heel faction, of course, but it’s a start. it’s at LEAST a move from “allies with monster heels” to “allies with goofass heels and tweeners” territory, and it’s a start. 

another opportunity for an ariya face turn, and like, if we’re following this same thread, a CERTAIN, CONFIRMED face turn, is ariya turning on enzo! i will die on the hill of “ariya is trying to get enzo out of here”, but if it happened for real after the above moment, that would be a pretty clear turn into face territory. it’s like…to expand more on ariya’s previous rivalries, it’s like a smaller scale version of what neville did. it’s no secret that drew and tony don’t get along with enzo, but ariya’s working with him because GOD everyone wants enzo to leave wwe. not even just 205, but wwe. please god. and ariya’s thinking that at any rate this COULD mean he gets a friendly title shot opportunity. it won’t. he knows it won’t. enzo’s a cruel stingy son of a bitch he’s never gonna give anyone a title opportunity if he can help it, but ariya thinks he could break ground if he just tries hard enough. 

and then that hope is buried for good, because enzo goes after drew, like he’s wont to do. tony starts shit with enzo, and drew steps in to get a match with enzo and finish it, because Of Course He Does, it’s very noble even though tony and drew are both the worst. drew gets a match with enzo, and tony chills on commentary and ariya’s sitting in the back watching and ariya’s just fuming silently, but tolerating it. and then enzo cheats to win, because of course he does. and then for no good reason, he grabs a steel chair to attack drew, because he’s a dick! and tony comes after him, and enzo’s not afraid to attack him, too. 

ariya comes out as soon as the steel chairs get involved. it looks for a second like he could be out here to back enzo up. tony and drew get fucken worried for a second that the plan’s gone wrong. but ariya wouldn’t dream of betraying either of them. not ever. if he’s got beef with them, he settles it, he talks through it, that’s how they’re good friends STILL. he doesn’t let things stew, he doesn’t fume over imagined slights silently. ariya’s a lot of things, but he likes to think he’s an honorable person. and there’s no one he’d honor more willingly than these two. 

he convinces enzo to give him the chair, and at the last second, he turns it on enzo instead. he chases the rat out of the ring, back up the ramp, and barely spares him a final look before going to check and make sure drew and tony are alright. it doesn’t lead to those two chucklefucks getting a face turn, they’re still VERY embroiled in their own heelish pursuits, but ariya’s given up his pursuit of the title and his attempt to earn enzo’s trust, because he cares about his friends. and he really does consider the tactics he uses that he can see enzo using, too, and he actively starts working to stop using them. he’s not like enzo! he isn’t. he’ll never be like enzo. 

and in that, ariya earns his face turn. 

also, this isn’t the best argument for it, but ariya’s pretty well learned in high flying, which is a style he hasn’t gotten to use as much as a heel, and the style change from heel to face could be a good factor in that turn? that sentence was worded like DOGSHIT but i hope it made sense haha

also HOOOOOLY SHIT THIS GOT LONGER THAN I EVER WOULD HAVE EXPECTED I KIND OF THINK ABOUT FACE ARIYA A LOT IM SORRY

[bastardnev]

Trick

im F I N A L L Y getting around to posting my second halloween fic

tagging @heelneville​ and @tyedillinger​!!

link to ao3

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: World Wrestling Entertainment, Professional Wrestling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Mustafa Ali/Pac | Adrian Neville Characters: Mustafa Ali, Pac | Adrian Neville, Tony Nese | Maverick Additional Tags: Halloween, Drunken Shenanigans, nev is such a little shit, mustafa is so Tired of his nonsense Series: Part 2 of Neville vs. the Holidays Summary: Mustafa should have known better than to assume that Neville would be able to behave himself at Rich's Halloween party.

Mustafa assumed that Neville would be on his best behavior that night. He had told him right as they pulled up in front of Rich’s house that he wasn’t to pull any kinds of shenanigans for the duration of the party. That wasn’t to say that he couldn’t have fun, of course, but he needed to do it without scaring anyone too badly or causing a big scene. Surely Neville was capable of being good just for a few hours, right?

In hindsight, Mustafa should have known better than to make outrageous assumptions such as that.

“Hey, I’m gonna go check on Neville,” he had told Cedric. The two of them were standing on the deck out in the backyard, talking about this and that, when Mustafa remembered that he hadn’t heard anything from Neville in a little while. He had been oddly quiet, which as Mustafa had learned in the last six months that they’d been dating was never a good thing.

The first thing he noticed when he walked through the sliding glass doors into the kitchen was what was left of the sign that Gulak had brought with him that night. Drew was apparently very much against being scared, so he made up a sign that read ‘Show you care, do not scare!’ and had it propped up in the corner of whatever room he was in. I’m not surprised it got destroyed. Mustafa thought. He guessed that it was going to be ripped up by someone, as Drew was essentially asking to be screwed with, and the fact that it was lying in two on the ground was proof that it had finally happened.

But was Neville the one that did it? Mustafa crouched down and picked up one of the pieces, looking it over before placing it back down. Part of him wanted to have faith that Neville was innocent and that it was actually someone else such as Kendrick or Dar, but he knew how Neville could be sometimes. He couldn’t rule him out completely.

Leaving the kitchen and exiting out into the hallway, Mustafa then found Tony -- otherwise known as the self-proclaimed ‘world’s sexiest doctor’ -- in the corner, looking unnerved by something. Mustafa knew that it was pointless to try and start a conversation with him as the subject almost always became Tony’s abs somehow (he was constantly opening up his doctor’s coat just to show them off whenever he could), but he had to admit that he was curious to hear about why he looked so upset.

“What’s gotten into you?” He asked, causing Tony to snap to attention. “It looks like something’s on your mind.”

“Things have just…” He ran both of his hands through his hair, messing it up. “...been wild since you went outside.”

“Wild how?”

“You haven’t heard? Kendrick died!”

“He-- I’m sorry, what?” Mustafa’s brow furrowed. Was he hearing that correctly? In the time he’d been sitting outside, did one of his co-workers actually manage to drop dead? He found that hard to believe. “Okay, start from the beginning. Tell me what happened.”

“I… I was talking to Drew. He went in the living room to go get something when he found Kendrick lying face down on the couch. Tozawa confirmed that he’s dead, and now people are freaking out trying to figure out who killed him.”

“How did he even die without anyone noticing?”

“Listen, I don’t know, okay? I just don’t know anymore. God, what if the killer ends up getting Drew? Christ, where did he even go anyway? He hasn’t been the same since his sign got ripped up…”

Mustafa watched as Tony panicked in front of him, trying to make sense of the whole situation. He didn’t buy this story one bit. Whatever had happened to Brian clearly wasn’t a murder -- in fact, chances are he wasn’t even dead to begin with. He would hope that if someone actually did drop dead, then an ambulance would have been called. His co-workers know better than to just let someone die.

…Then again, they were currently all drunk and convinced that there was a killer among them, so he couldn’t say for sure that they were smart enough to make important phone calls like that.

It was then that Mustafa had a sudden thought. “Have you seen Neville?” He asked. There was only one person that he knew that would take advantage of the rest of the division while they were in a drunken stupor and convince them that one of them had been killed, and that person was conspicuously absent.

“I thought he said he was going to hide up in Rich’s room… God, do you think the killer might have gotten him too?” Tony put his hands on Mustafa’s shoulders. “What if he’s in the middle of being attacked now? Are you gonna let your man just fucking die?”

“He’ll be fine,” Mustafa replied calmly as he slipped out of Tony’s grip. “I’m gonna go look for him. You take care of yourself now.”

Before Tony could say anything further, Mustafa escaped down the hallway, passing through the living room as he made his way to the stairs. Sure enough, there was Kendrick, lying down on the couch. He was lying on his back now, and Mustafa was able to make out the words ‘I’m dead’ hastily scrawled across his forehead in black marker. In what he was sure was unrelated, Tozawa was holding a marker. Mustafa let out a sigh through his nose.

Mustafa made his way up the stairs to the second floor, and he walked down the hallway and stopped in front of what appeared to be Rich’s room. The door was shut and locked tight, so he knocked. “Neville, you in there?”

No response. Mustafa rolled his eyes, knocking again. “Neville, come on. It’s me. Open the damn door.”

After once again receiving no reply, he was about to knock for the third time, but the door suddenly opened, and he was grabbed by his collar and pulled into the room. He heard the door lock again, and turning around revealed that it was Neville who’d pulled him in. “Nev, what are you doing?” He asked, crossing his arms.

“Protecting you. Don’t you realize there’s a killer out there? I can’t let him get my little gold power ranger now, can I?” Neville leaned back against the door, a smirk on his face as he took in the sight of Mustafa in his costume.

“You’re the one who started this whole murder mystery thing, aren’t you? And you ripped Drew’s sign, too.”

“What? Me? Causing trouble? Ali, how could you make such a rash assumption?” Neville put a hand over his heart, wearing a look of mock-offense. “I’m so hurt.”

“Can I ask why you did it? And, more importantly, why you dragged Tozawa into it?”

“Because the party was boring. Everyone else seemed to be having fun, but I was bored out of my mind. I needed to do something to liven things up.” His brow furrowed. "And I didn't ask Tozawa to do anything. Whatever he did, he did on his own."

"So he just randomly decided to write 'I'm dead' across Kendrick's forehead?"

"Is that what he did? Huh. I guess I have an accomplice now."

“Why not just come hang out with me and Cedric outside? Why cause all this trouble?”

“This is way more fun. I mean, have you seen the way Nese is acting? He looks like he’s just seen a damn ghost. Come on, you have to admit that seeing him rattled is far more fun than whatever random shit you two were talking about. And besides, you know I don’t have anything in common with Alexander. I have nothing to contribute to your conversation.”

“What am I going to do with you…” Mustafa rubbed at one of his eyes. “You’d better go tell everyone that it was all a joke.”

“I could… But I don’t think they’re in any state to listen to me. I’ll let them figure it out in the morning. In the meantime, though…” Neville took a few steps forward, wrapping his arms around Mustafa’s neck. “I’ve thought of something we could do.”

“What?”

“Something way more fun than hanging out with those guys, that’s for damn sure.” Neville leaned in and began placing kisses along his neck.

“N-Nev, wait.” Mustafa pulled back. “You do realize where we are, right? And you realize that I actually like Rich and value him as a friend? How do you think he would react if he walked in and found us doing it on his bed?”

Neville shrugged, looking back at the door for a moment. “I locked us in. So long as we keep quiet no one will notice.”

“And you also realize that by targeting where I’m most sensitive that’s going to be difficult for me to keep it down, don’t you?”

“Here I was thinking that you liked a good challenge. I know I certainly do…” Neville licked his lips. “Now, what do you say, love? I personally think we can get away with it if we’re fast enough. It’s up to you.”

Mustafa chewed on his lip. He knew damn well that no one would come looking for them because of the mess going on downstairs, but there was still a risk involved.

...Though he took risks all the time in the ring, didn’t he? What was one more?

“...We’d better make this quick,” he finally said.

Neville smirked again. “That’s my boy.”

[ariyadaivaris]

draw, feud, and finish

it’s not too much at all omg don’t worry babe!

Draw ~ List 5-10 qualities about your favorite wrestler(s) that caused you to be fan of them?

I.....THIS IS........GONNA BE CORNY I’M SORRY IN ADVANCE but. okay. i’m gonna do this one for mustafa because he’s my favorite and it’s probably gonna be dorky

one of the first things we heard from him as a face, out of kayfabe, but still in character (AND out of character, really), was that he’s willing to break himself to do good in the world. and that always resonated really deeply with me. doing what’s right at all costs, in the hopes that it’ll change things for the better, is. it’s just...really heroic. it’s really good. it’s nice knowing there’s someone like that out there, yknow? 

he interrupted neville’s “king of the cruiserweights” thing a FEW times and just stared neville down without even a trace of fear in his face and it’s still the coolest thing that has EVER happened. he and neville were just SO COOL anytime they interacted. GODDD

his MOVESET!!!!!!!!! IS SO!!!!!!!! COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! he’s so smooth and flippy and fluid and he’s constantly working to get even better and that shows! he’s constantly working to be even smoother and to innovate and to thread moves and moments into sequences, he sells so beautifully and so brutally and maintains the selling of injuries SO WELL

he’s so smiley!!! he loves what he does and it shines through every single match. he’s so intense and focused and constantly demands his opponents respect him, but he loves to have fun and wave and goof off, even with people like drew who he DOES dislike but has a respect and understanding of. it’s SO GOOD!!! he’s so happy and i love seeing him happy!!!

everything he does is so powerful and his character resonates in all of it! the way he emotes is SO MUCH, he’s so expressive and so open, his nonverbals are truly something else. his expressions, and his constant reminder to his opponents to ENGAGE with him, dammit. the way he calculates the move to use next, and how he stumbles excitedly into a move he’s thrilled to pull off! how he supports his partners and his friends, cheering them on in their quests for vengeance, or checking on them to make sure they’re alright. he’s like a folk hero in everything he does and it’s the best. god im going to CRY im SO IN LOVE

Feud ~ Your favorite rivalries?

im gonna go with favorite current rivalries bc there are a lot of good rivalries in wrestling! titus worldwide v elias is really cool just because titus worldwide is my heart! drew v akira is EXTREMELY good. tony and cedric aren’t officially feuding but they’ve got a really deep-rooted rivalry and you can feel it in the air every time they’re together and it’s BADASS!!! 

aleister v velveteen im shaky on just because i haven’t caught up with nxt in awhile but i LOVE that gay shit. in the same vein: hiromu v ospreay?? GOOD shit. its so progressive how many furries there are in wrestling right now

Finish ~ Top 5 favorite finishing moves?

TOP FIVE........THIS IS GONNA BE TRICKY OKAY JUST...GIMME A MOMENT TO THINK. alright. okay in no particular order some of my favorite finishers are!!!: 

the salida del sol!!! it’s SO COOL and every variation of it never EVER fails to make me lose my entire goddamn mind!!!

mia yim’s eat defeat! it’s such a unique move and it looks absolutely BRUTAL and i love it!!!!!!!!!! i love her!!!!!!! she’s SO COOL and talented always i love her so m

naito’s destino is so cool and every time he ever pulls it off i just SCREAM about how cool he is. i am FREQUENTLY screaming about how cool naito is god i just love him

the lumbar check is OBVIOUSLY the coolest finisher anyone’s ever done, the way its sold, the way its done, the fucking HYPE cedric builds for it every single time??? poetry in MOTION!!!

OBVIOUSLY THE 054 LIKE LETS BE REAL YOU KNOW THE ANSWER. RED ARROW WHO? I--no that was mean i DO love the red arrow but IT’S NO 054!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[bastardnev]

Not So Different

part 3!! the next one is the final one 👀👀👀

tagging @champnatalya and @gulakattack!!

(link to ao3)

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: World Wrestling Entertainment, Professional Wrestling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Mustafa Ali/Pac | Adrian Neville Characters: Mustafa Ali, Pac | Adrian Neville Additional Tags: Jealousy, and much to nev's utter horror, Bonding Series: Part 3 of The King and the Prince Summary: Neville and Mustafa discover that they have something in common: they're both going to miss Austin Aries.

For awhile, it seemed like Neville was on top of the world. Things had been going swimmingly for him over the last few weeks -- he had just recently retained over Tozawa at Great Balls of Fire and once again proved how much of a dominant champion he was. Sure, the way he'd won had been a bit... unsavory, but it got the job done. He was still the King. That was what mattered in the end, wasn't it?

And when he showed up to San Antonio for the 205 Live taping, his head was held high, even though he wasn't scheduled to compete that evening. Normally he would have complained, storming over to whoever put the night's card together and demanding that the show's resident monarch be featured in some capacity, but he refrained from doing so this time. He had been in too much of a good mood since Sunday to complain and decided to make the most of the situation -- if he was going to be spending the next few hours backstage, maybe he could set aside some time to mess with him...

Neville's plans were slowly crushed, however, when he arrived to the locker room only to find that the one person that he wanted to speak with was not there. His grip on his bag tightened as the memories of what had happened a few days ago returned to him.

That's right... He thought with a sigh, haphazardly tossing his bag down on a bench and plopping down next to it. Aries is... gone.

He remembered how just a few days before the pay-per-view, Austin had been officially released. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened or why Austin felt the need to leave all of a sudden, but if he knew Aries as well as he thought he did then there must be a reasonable explanation. This appeared to be a spur of the moment thing, but Austin was meticulous, never doing anything just for the hell of it.

Neville's relationship with Austin had been... strange, to say the least, ever since he had beaten him for the third time at Extreme Rules. The two of them were at each others' throats in the months prior, Austin's wit clashing with Neville's rage on a weekly basis.

After their submission match however, and after Tozawa landed himself in the Cruiserweight title picture, things had changed. Neville still didn't like him, as made evident by their interactions (he was still angry about Austin's little antics from the cruiserweight bar outing from a few weeks ago...) but his hatred had definitely cooled a bit. If he was being honest, Neville actually found himself looking forward to their weekly bickering. Not having Austin around anymore meant that Neville needed to find someone new to focus all of his attention on.

He looked up towards the door when he heard it open, his eyebrows raising when he saw that Mustafa was the one who entered, because of course it fucking was. This isn't exactly who I had in mind for who I wanted to focus on...

Neville had been so caught up with Tozawa in the last few weeks that he hadn't even had time to worry about Mustafa and whatever the fuck was going on between them. Now that they were alone together, however, it was all that he could think of. That period where Neville wasn't constantly doubting himself was lovely while it lasted.

He kept his gaze focused on the floor, not looking up until he was sure that Mustafa had passed him. He found himself relieved (and oddly offended) that he hadn't been greeted, but he let it go. He wasn't in any mood to start up a conversation.

"You seem a little out of sorts today, King." And of course, like clockwork, just as Neville was thinking that he didn't want to talk, Mustafa opens his mouth and speaks. "Trouble in the kingdom?"

"Hush," Neville replied curtly, avoiding eye contact as Mustafa turned to face him.

"'Hush'?" He repeated. "Not 'shut up'? Okay, something's really messing with you." He chuckled.

"I don't believe it's any of your concern now, is it?" Neville fired back. "Leave me alone."

"Alright, alright." Mustafa turned his attention towards his bag, unzipping it and digging around for something. Neville wasn't sure what, though -- he wasn't scheduled to compete either. Whatever his reasons, Neville didn't care enough to ask.

Then he caught sight of a familiar shade of bright blue coming from inside the bag. Neville's eyes widened once he realized what he was looking at. Mustafa had brought an Aries shirt with him on the road.

"Why do you have that?" Neville asked, quickly standing up from the bench and marching over.

"Have what?"

"This." Neville grabbed the shirt out of the bag, holding it up. He noticed that it had the sleeves cut off. "Why is this in your bag?"

"Austin gave it to me last week."

"He... gave it to you? And you kept it?" Neville bit down on his lower lip, glaring at him. Why did... Why did he keep it? How important is Aries to him? What does he see in him? What does Aries have that I... Neville's thoughts trailed off.

"Of course I did. I've been wearing it to the gym. But, uh..." Mustafa slowly took it back. "Why do you care so much about it?"

Neville sighed and shook his head.  "Just forget it, Ali." He started to walk away only to be grabbed by the arm. He shook free of Mustafa's grip. "What do you want?"

"Is that why you're so off today?" He asked. "Because of Austin?"

"No!" That was a lie. "I don't give a shit about what he does." Another lie.

"Then why does the fact that I own one of his shirts bother you so much?"

"I--" Neville's words got caught in his throat. How the hell does he even go about talking about the shit going on in his head? "I really don't care that you have it. I just found it to be... weird. I can't see why he would want to give one of his shirts to a peasant like you." And I can't see why you would choose him...

Mustafa's brow furrowed, as if something that Neville said confused him. There was a look in his eyes that asked 'are you seriously still acting like this?'. Neville hated it. "Quit looking at me like that, would you? You're freaking me out."

"Sorry," he apologized. Silence fell in the room for a moment before Mustafa asked, "... Austin was important to you, wasn't he?"

"What? Absolutely not. I couldn't stand him." Neville frowned, crossing his arms. "It was like he lived to spite me. He managed to figure out exactly what he needed to say to get me mad and exploited that knowledge whenever he could." Even when I'm drunk... "Good riddance."

"I see." Mustafa pressed his lips together into a line. "Well, you might not care about him, but I do. I'm personally gonna miss him."

"Aww, well isn't that sweet. You're gonna miss your little boyfriend..." Neville's fists clenched once he reached the end of his sentence.

"Boyfriend?" He grinned. "King, no. Our relationship isn't like that."

"...Ah," Neville replied, feeling like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. Thank Christ. "Well, either way, I still don't care."

"You know you're gonna miss him, too. I think you already do."

Neville took in a breath through his nose, staring up at the ceiling for a second before looking back at him. "I'll admit that it's certainly unusual not having The Greatest Douche That Ever Lived constantly up my ass, but I'll get over it soon enough."

"You two were always fighting whenever I saw you. Austin is the only other guy around here that was willing to give you a good fight whenever you wanted one. I bet you're gonna miss that."

"It'll take some getting used to, yes, but I'll find someone else to bicker with. There's plenty of guys here that I can hurl insults at."

"...Hey, can I tell you something real quick? You have to promise me you won't tell Austin."

"You know damn well that I'm going to do whatever it takes to avoid that man for the rest of my life."

"That's a good point... The truth is, I think that you were the real winner of some of your arguments."

"Oh?" Neville raised an eyebrow.

"You had some really clever comebacks. I'm jealous that you're able to come up with them so easily. You'll have to teach me how you do it sometime."

"The Prince wants the King to take him under his wing, eh?" Neville smirked, trying to ignore how hard his heart was pounding at the thought. His expression grew neutral again. "No."

"Well, I can't say I was expecting a different answer." Mustafa's phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out, reading the text he was just sent. "I gotta go meet up with Swann in catering."

"Is he gonna share one of his pathetic match strategies with you?" Neville remembered reading that Rich was set to have a match against a local competitor later on that evening. God only knows what nonsense he was planning this time.

"Probably. You, uh... You can come hang with us, if you want."

"You're inviting me along?" He swallowed.

"Yeah. I'm sure Rich won't mind."

"Well, I'd rather dive headfirst into an active volcano than hang out with the likes of you two."

"There's another one of those comebacks that I love. Keep it up." Mustafa patted Neville on the arm before heading towards the exit. He stopped right as he reached the door, turning to look back at Neville. "Hey, I think this is the first time that you and I have actually talked without fighting."

"Is it? Well, I wouldn't get used to it if I were you, Ali."

"I won't. But..." He grinned. "You're really nice to talk to when you're not angry." With that, he opened the door to leave.

The moment that the door closed, Neville let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding, and he slumped down on a bench. Okay, what the fuck was that? Had that really just happened? Did they actually have a casual conversation as if-- as if they were friends? And did Neville really enjoy it?

And what was that towards the end? Mustafa used the word 'love' to describe how he felt about one of Neville's little quirks. He loved his retorts. Love.

This isn't good. Neville ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. This is bad. This is so, so fucking bad. He shouldn't be enjoying Mustafa's company this much. He shouldn't be getting so excited at the prospect of the two of them hanging out more. This wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to feel this way, especially not towards him.

He wasn't supposed to like him.