Bio

andy was born in the south of england as an only child to middle-class parents Lilly and Richard. he and his family moved up 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 many friends. college (16 y.o.) would prove to not be much of an improvement.

meanwhile, andy was trying to make sense of his sexuality. he had not been in a relationship except for one short-lived, confusing thing with a boy in college.

when andy finished college, he got his first job at an independent supermarket. it was here that he would meet howard, who would eventually become his partner. he did most of andy's training with him. had they not been put in this circumstance they would have been unlikely to become close; on the surface howard was quite intimidating, and the least likely kind of person andy thought he might get along with. yet, before long, they were getting along fantastically well and would use any excuse to work together during their shifts.

it was always the plan to go to university after the summer, to study plant biology. plants have always been a major passion of his, and his dad wanted him to get a good job, and he thought something like a horticultural or environmental scientist would satisfy them both.

his mental health plummeted near-immediately after moving into student accommodation. he didn't make any friends, and was also struggling to keep up academically. he would later learn that he's autistic and has adhd. by a few months into the course, he would spend most days isolated inside his room, skipping as many classes as he could get away with, and his only relief was when he went to his part-time job and got to spend time with howard.

andy hadn't been taking care of himself, to the point where he fainted one day at work. howard offered him a place to stay, and it was here he would meet howard's mum ciara, and his younger brother stan. despite andy being half-dead at the time, ciara took an immediate liking to him. he stayed there from time to time after that.

eventually andy had to have some conversations with the university, and they agreed to let him repeat his first year. he moved back home, and his dad, predictably, did not take the news well. home was a very hostile environment, as it always had been, and andy started staying at howard's more and more to avoid his dad. it had been the final straw for his mum as well, who went to live with her sister, andy's auntie rosemary. andy would live between here and howard's house for the next several months.

coming up to the new university year, howard suggested that they rent someplace together close to andy's campus. they found a small terraced student house that fitted comfortably into their budget.

andy's second attempt at getting a degree went much better, and he met a lifelong friend called alessia. she got to know howard too, and although their relationship was as yet undefined at this point, she referred to them as an old married couple. having learned that howard was aromantic asexual, it slowly clicked for andy that he was the same, and they naturally settled into something of a QPR.

after university, they saved up for a deposit on a little terraced house. andy has a job at a garden centre while howard works as a chef in a restaurant on the same site. they have two dogs, a jack russell mix called basil and a staffy mix called... i'm not sure.