Neil Josten: Hero Or Villain?

Sometimes Andrew believed Neil Josten was more self-destructive than he was.
No, maybe not as self-destructive. Andrew doubted that.
What was Neil, then?
Neil was a coward. He was always running, always hiding, always lying. It surprised Andrew that that tactic had worked for Neil for so long. Running and hiding had never helped Andrew.
Neil was a snarky little shit. Every other word out of his mouth was smart-assery or sass. Or both.
Neil was an idiot. For having spent such copious amounts of time on the run as he had, he acted like he had no sense of self-preservation whatsoever. He seemed to have almost as much of a death wish as Andrew did.
Overall, Andrew’s first impression of Neil was far from the best. Neil seemed to have a total
He half wanted to cry, but his drugged mania made him laugh instead. Drake did not care. Andrew hadn’t thought he would.
When he refocused, it was quiet and Drake’s weight was no longer pinning him to the mattress. He ached from head to toe, but that was normal. Slowly, Andrew unclenched his fingers from where they clutched the headboard, flexed them once to work the stiffness out of them, and shifted to plant his palms against the mattress. The sheet slid from his shoulders, then gentle hands tugged it back up. Andrew wasn’t sure who had covered him, but he was also not quite certain he wouldn’t vomit if he tried to find out. Instead, he pushed himself up, pausing at the sharp pain that shot up his spine. He started laughing again.
“Oh, oh, that’s unpleasant. I am not a fan of this at all.” Andrew found himself saying. Damn his medication for obliterating his brain-to-mouth
He turned to see Aaron, shell-shocked and covered in blood. His face was almost as white as Neil’s.
Fear bolted through Andrew, white hot and terrible. He beckoned his brother over, hoping and praying to any god that might’ve still been listening that Drake had not touched Aaron. He had done everything he physically could to keep Drake and Aaron apart – he had given up Cass to keep Drake and Aaron apart. He would kill Luther for putting Drake in the same place as Aaron.
Thankfully Aaron hadn’t gotten injured. Neil said Drake was dead. Andrew hoped so, but doubted it. Drake wouldn’t die. He would pretend and then he would come back to fuck Andrew up again. He always did, apparently.
For a moment, a fleeting, barely-there moment, just after Luther left and the police arrived, Andrew felt almost safe. Neil was at his back and the rest of his group – not family, never family, family was dangerous – surrounded him. They wouldn’t let anyone else hurt him.
For a moment, Andrew thought that maybe family wasn’t such a dangerous concept after all.

“We’re taking you off your