Andy

Early life

Andy was born in southern England as an only child to middle-class parents Lilly and Richard Bestwick. He and his family moved further north when he was about to start secondary school (around 11 y.o.) and he enrolled in a new school where he did not make any meaningful friendships.

Story

At the age of 18, having just finished college (UK college takes place at age 16-18), Andy got his first job as a supermarket assistant. Here, he was trained by Howard, who was the same age but had been working at the supermarket for the past 2 years. They slowly got to know each other and Andy made the first proper friend he'd had since he moved up north.

Meanwhile, Andy was struggling with his sexuality -- he had not been in a relationship except for one confusing, short-lived debacle with a boy in college that never materialised into anything concrete. His identity eluded him, as the idea of finding someone to be with appealed to him but he seemed to possess a lack of interest in any gender when it came to any sort of romantic or sexual interactions. And yet, having made a close friend in Howard only added to the confusion, as he found that he'd never enjoyed anyone's company like he does Howard's.

When Howard and Andy first met, Howard had not long since broken up with a girlfriend that he had been with for around a year. One day, a few months into his friendship with Andy, he opened up about the reason it didn't work out between them -- he had realised he was aromantic asexual. Andy had only vaguely heard of such terms before, but it planted a seed in his head. After much self reflection and research, he realised he must be the same way. Andy didn't readily adopt this identity, but over time, he and Howard continued to learn about themselves and each other. It seemed obvious that they would settle into some sort of a companionship, but it didn't stop Andy dancing around the subject for a while first.

The turning point came when Andy started university. He hadn't really wanted to spend another three years in education, but succumbed to the pressure from his dad. He at least was able to pick a degree that both interested him and satisfied his dad, and so he went off to study plant biology. He moved into student accommodation but continued to work part-time at the supermarket, and thank god. As he once again struggled to make connections with his peers, his mental health suffered, as did his studies, and his job became the only thing that he really wanted to do anymore.

He was finding it harder and harder to justify showing up for class just to sit at the back and pretend that he would be able to concentrate anyway, and around two-thirds into his first year, he had gotten to a point where he was failing his course and was terrified but refused to do anything about it. He had been taking on extra shifts at work to feel like he was doing something worthwhile in lieu of going to class. His depression had all but diminished his appetite and his standards of self-care, which culminated in one day at work where he passed out from low blood sugar. Howard had expressed his concerns about Andy's wellbeing several times already, but at this point it was undeniable that something had to change.

Howard offered him his own place to stay that night (he lives with his mum Ciara and brother Stan) as he was so distraught by the idea of going home to his own family or staying on his own in the student flat. This is his introduction to the Levitt family. He would stay there occasionally from this point. Ciara thinks he is delightful despite his rocky first impression.

He has some conversations with the university and ends up repeating his first year. Meanwhile, he has to move back home, but spends more and more time at Howard's to get a break from his difficult relationship with his dad.

Howard offered him his own place to stay that night (he lives with his mum Ciara and brother Stan) as he was so distraught by the idea of going home to his own family or staying on his own in the student flat. This is his introduction to the Levitt family. He would stay there occasionally from this point. Ciara thinks he is delightful despite his rocky first impression.

He has some conversations with the university and ends up repeating his first year. Meanwhile, he has to move back home, but spends more and more time at Howard's to get a break from his dad, who did not take the news of Andy repeating a year for mental health reasons very well.

With Andy being a full-grown adult with a job by now, his mum finally feels able to separate from his dad and goes to live with her sister, Rosemary. She reaches her breaking point when she sees how he responds to Andy when he needs their support the most. Andy moves with her, and so in the break before he goes back to uni, he lives between Rose's house and Howard's – Rose's is a little far away from work, so often when Andy's working multiple days in a row he'll stay over at Howard’s. Over time he comes to feel more at home there than at Rose's.

As the new university year gets closer, Howard proposes that they rent someplace together so they're closer to his campus and he doesn't have to go through living with a whole new bunch of strangers again. They find a small terraced student house that fits nicely in their budget.

Andy's second attempt at getting a degree goes much better, and he meets a friend this time around called Alessia. She hangs out at their place sometimes and thus gets to know Howard too. At this point, Andy and Howard's relationship is still undefined but Alessia refers to them as an old married couple, which seems to fit them very well.

When Andy graduates, and in the breaks between uni terms, he goes back to living between Lilly and Rose's house and Howard's family home. Over the next several years, they save enough money to buy a house together.

This is kind of where the story becomes unclear but I will continue to add to it over time... if anyone read all of this god bless you!