"Andrew had too much invested in Matt's success to let him fail," Renee said, speaking slowly like she was choosing her words with great care. Neil guessed she knew Andrew's reasons better than anyone else did, given her friendship with him. "I don't know if they've talked to you about Aaron's history, but you understand Andrew's, don't you? He's not allowed to fight his addiction. Watching Matt struggle was very hard on them both."

Her reference to Aaron didn't make sense at first, but then Neil remembered. On his second trip out to Eden's Twilight he asked Andrew why he bothered with cracker dust. Andrew said they'd picked the habit up for Aaron's sake. Just the other week Nicky mentioned that Aaron used his mother's drugs, though he hadn't specified what all she'd been into. Chances were cracker dust was a paltry substitute. Watching Matt crumble under temptation would have wrecked hell on Aaron's own sobriety.

Neil was starting to rethink how apathetic Andrew was about Aaron's life.

Matt misinterpreted Neil's silence. "You're a year too late to get mad on my behalf, Neil. Trust me: I'm okay. I'm more than okay, really. I thought rehab was bad the first time through. The second time almost killed me. It definitely killed any chance of me being tempted ever again. I'm clean for good and I feel better than ever."

Neil needed more time to figure out how to feel about this, but it wasn't his life, so he said only, "It's your fight."

Matt smiled in gratitude for Neil's understanding. "Guess we'll have to pick up some costumes this week if we're going with you. We wait much longer and all the good ones will be taken. What'd you guys get, so we don't double up on anything?"
"I'll ask."

"You don't know?" Dan asked, bemused.

"I'm hoping Nicky was joking," Neil said, getting to his feet. "I'll be back."

It turned out Nicky wasn't joking, but at least a zombie cowboy was better than a milk carton or a cow.

-

Having nine people along on a Friday night meant Andrew had to make an actual reservation at Sweetie's, no matter that they got there at half-past ten. A small crowd of people was waiting at the hostess stand, but the L-shaped corner booth was marked with a RESERVED placard. The booth was technically intended for eight people, not nine in costumes, but it helped that Aaron and Andrew were pint-sized. The Foxes squished thigh-to-thigh and pored over menus.

Usually Andrew's lot settled for ice cream and cracker dust, but it'd been six hours since any of them ate and they had a long night ahead of them. Dinner was also the safest icebreaker any of them could think of. The Foxes had never socialized en masse outside of team events and practices. They weren't really sure what to do with each other when Exy wasn't involved.