Anderperry Oneshots Collection

Hazel

Neil presented Todd with the box of chocolates with a huge smile on his face.

"What's all this for?" Todd asked bashfully.

"I just wanted to do something nice for you." Neil had been doing that lately. Something about Todd made Neil feel like he was melting.

Todd smiled pure sunshine and accepted the box graciously. Neil quickly kissed him on the cheek before plopping down his bag and kicking off his shoes. Unlike Todd, who wore his ratty white sneakers almost everywhere, Neil would rather die than wear his shoes on the bed.

He began to unpack his rehearsal bag, tucking his costume in the back of his closet while Todd ate his candy. 

Neil settled in, unwinding in his usual way: setting up his spot on the radiator, grabbing his script and a highlighter. Neil liked to annotate, write notes in the margins. It helped him define his character, and only made it easier when he ran lines by the dock. 

Todd cleared his throat, and flipped a page of his book. 

Neil popped the cap of his highlighter and it fell to the ground. He reached down, patting around the floor, but couldn't find it. 

Todd coughed, catching it in his elbow. Neil looked over at him. Todd had a confused look on his face and a hand hovering over his throat. 

"Are you okay, Toddy?"

Neil's heart began to beat very quickly. Was something the matter? 

Todd looked as though he was being broken out of some trance. "Yeah, yeah, I'm...um, actually I..." He began to breathe very roughly, Neil could see him break out in a sweat. 

"What's wrong?" Neil stood up, his blanket falling at his feet. "How can I help?"

Something was wrong.

Todd was wheezing now. "Desk drawer..." he managed to say. 

Something was wrong. Something was wrong.

Neil sprung into action. He didn't know what was happening, but it scared him. He rooted through Todd's desk, and found one drawer that was empty, save for a clear tube with a yellow label. 

That was it, it had to be. Neil grabbed the strange tube and handed it to Todd, who snatched it out of his hand. 

Todd fumbled with it for a second. He wasn't breathing at all now, but was keeping his cool. He had been here before, every motion was mechanical.

Neil wasn't. He knelt beside Todd, holding his free hand with pure fear in his eyes. He could feel the pulse on Todd's wrist, calm and collected unlike the frantic drumming inside his own chest, like a toddler banging on pots and pans.

Then, in a swift, practiced move, Todd plunged the needle of the Epipen into his thigh. He grit his teeth in pain, squeezing Neil's hand as he held it there, then almost scornfully cast it aside. 

 A second passed, then he took a deep, gasping breath in. 

"Todd? What's going on?"

Was it over?

Todd leaned back against the bedframe, closing his eyes as he caught his breath. This sent Neil spiraling once again. 

"Todd? Darling, wake up. What can I do, how can I help?"

Todd flicked open his eyes. "I need to," he raised his hand back to his throat, "I need to go to the hospital."

"Alright," Neil said gently. "Okay, I'll go call an ambulance."