#all the poets have suspicions of what is going on between neil and todd

[your-stranger-halfblood-things]

"Neil and Todd, they've gotten quite close, haven't they? Seems like nothing can keep them apart," all the Poets thought in unison.

Two weeks later: Neil found dead

"Welp, we were wrong-"

"Shut up, Cameron!"

[saint-starflicker]

I vote for the night of the truth like a blanket scene that Neil told Todd he liked him.

I imagine that Todd had to excuse himself to have a second and third cold shower and a lie-down hiding under his blanket and curled up in a protective huddle trying to pretend that Neil never told him that thing, which of course Neil would not stand for because Neil wants real clear answers and communication.

So then Todd had to admit that he didn't believe he (Todd) was a good enough person to be in any sort of relationship...as in, not good enough to be a brother or son or classmate or student or friend or romantic partner or interacting with any other human being on the planet...but that he can't help it that he likes Neil that way, too, and probably had since the introductory handshake. Really since one of the poetry meetings is more likely, but Todd's smitten so he thinks it was at first sight.

Anyway now that they both know, nobody has to do anything about it. Also because I think it was illegal in 1959 in Vermont? But I'm not sure. Executive Order 10450 was signed in 1952 that prohibited gay people from getting jobs in public office, but there were other more specific laws against specific sexual actions that law enforcers respect the privacy between consenting heterosexual adults who were doing those but do try to root out when consenting age-peers of the same gender might be doing that same thing. If Todd or Neil kissed or held hands in public, I'm pretty sure they could be arrested on suspicion of doing something else privately. This was an actual law.

Neil was crestfallen but had to accept that he was in a love triangle with Todd and Todd's Emotional Walls. Also that it was 1959 so he was lucky Todd wasn't going to tell on him to a priest or law enforcer or even other students. Gale Hansen said the Poets would have been all right with it, but who knows what Stick or Hopkins or any of their upperclassmen would have done with that information. To take a risk like that is very typical of Neil but also Neil must have really, really, really liked Todd.

Then I think that Todd's Emotional Walls dumped the both of them after the flying desk scene, at most a few days after which Todd initiated the first kiss with Neil. After that it was Neil being shown a few poems Todd wrote about him, Todd confiding to Neil about Papa Anderson's $5.98 speech, maybe Todd discovering Neil's self-injury scars (this is Deep Lore canon), and they shared Neil's bed to keep talking on weekend nights. Which was why after Neil got cast as Puck it was so easy for Todd to comfortably plop himself there.

And they lived happily ever after in NYC for a long, long time. One night in the year 2042 they both went comfortably to sleep while affectionately holding hands and then they simply didn't wake up.

Ok this is important;

in the canon timeline of dps, (ignoring all events after the play because they Don’t Exist) when do we think Neil and Todd get together?? When’s their first kiss???

i have some ideas but I want to know what you guys think