Davide

For the past couple of weeks, he only posted the chapter and didn't comment on anything. So my guess is he's just very busy, let's hope it's nothing more than that.

I like the secret father theory because, while an inheritance sounded like a logical guess, I couldn't understand why Martin's sister wouldn't have been called too, and that theory about a different father would explain why.

Kitt and Matt must realize deep down that they have romantic feelings for each other, but it seems they're trying hard to not acknowledge they feel that way towards a guy. The ending suggests this pretending won't last much long. Kitt's father noticed that to, probably more clearly than the boys themselves. "There are influences that can lead you astray." smells like homophobia, like maybe he think Matt may 'turn' Kitt gay. This will probably be a problem soon.

Just like Martin and Simon, I'm intrigued by what this could all be about, and especially about the other guys spending that much money on them, apparently just so that they can do the meeting in person.

Although the author appears to have stopped posting on GA, he continued to post this and other stories on Nifty. I thought I'd say it for anyone who doesn't want to stop in the middle.

Kitt's father suspects there's something between him and Matt and he doesn't approve. While that could be him not wanting his son in a relationship because it could distract him from studying, him being religious means it's more likely to be homophobia. Kitt and Matt have noticed their own feelings for each other, although they can't yet name them. And, at least after that talk on the lake, they probably have feeling thr other guy has them too. They're trying to run away from them because Matt has a girlfriend, but not acknowledging could make things increasingly awkward between them.

That was a very sweet chapter. Ryan was thoughtful in the way he never pushed, he let Jamal go at his own pace. And Jamal found a guy who sees him, someone around whom he can fully relax. Which makes me intrigued about what led to the events of the first chapter, because that feels different from the Ryan we've met. I know it will make sense once we catch up to that point, but it makes me curious to learn how.

Kitt's father is so demanding that it probably has the opposite effect, I bet Kitt would do better at school and life in general if his father didn't suffocate him. Meanwhile, Kitt is afraid Lindsay will replace him in Matt's life, but there's space for both a best friend and a girlfriend if Matt juggles things well. Matt says he doesn't want Lindsay to change things between them, but I don't know if Kitt fully internalised that, he seems too used to stepping away when he feels even a slight hint of people needing more space.

I like the way you captured what Kitt and Matt were feeling without simply flat out saying it. Kitt seemed afraid of being replaced, probably because he may not have any friends at school besides Matt. But he ended up distancing himself, probably as a defense mechanism, which is very realistic, despite it risking contributing to the exact thing he didn't want. Matt didn't like that they were getting more distant, but it's hard to fix that when he had no idea what the causes were. Thankfully, he managed to sort things out at the end and hopefully they're getting closer to being ready to go beyond friends.

Kitt's father being very strict and religious makes me worried about his reactions to things to come, especially Kitt eventually dating Matt. But, for now, Matt's friendship love is more important to Kitt than a relationship, it feels like he really needed someone like that. I think the reason it feels so important to Kitt is it fills the void left by not having enough family love at home, with it being replaced by strictness.

When you move somewhere you don't know anyone, especially as a teenager, someone taking the initiative to get to know you and become friends is a big help.

Jesus! A restaurant in the same city as the stadium and very close to it, plus the perfect food for a sports game. I'm tired just from imagining it. Well, there's the matter of a whole main house no one is using, besides the pool, and Percy had no reasons to check those cameras. Strangely, that could work as a hiding spot. I won't quote the other paragraph, but I agree that forcing them to stop having sex was a good idea. They would have otherwise not talked about feelings until maybe 5 minutes before leaving and even that's not guaranteed.

I can imagine how busy a restaurant in the US may get around this time. But, even if that wasn't the reason, it wouldn't be reasonable for me to complain about the time it took you when I'm reading your work for free. Regarding "someone had stayed a long time in this particular spot [...] you could see right into the living room window, and most of his body was hidden below the ridgeline", this stinks of Ethan. I remember, a few chapters ago, someone sharing the theory that Ethan stole Five's code. I don't know what he could be planning, but I think he's been spying on them from that spot. Michael is still an asshole, but at least he apologised and it sounded genuine. And he took one step towards not being homophobic, so that's something. But we're free from him now. Percy and Five actually talked about the important topic they've been avoiding, did hell freeze over? But yeah, it's hard to stay in denial about being in love with someone when you think that person is dying. The conversation didn't lead to any decision, but they both finally admitted to their love, which is a big step. Percy needing to not have sex for the rest of their time here will also make it harder for them to use the physical side to avoid confronting the emotional one, although there's still Five's solo show. With the way Percy said “we won’t know if what we are feeling is real or if its because we’ve been stuck in each other’s back pocket for three weeks”, I'd bet on the change to more than two chapters left is to accommodate chapters taking place after they return home. With apologies to Bethany, fingers crossed that Percy and Five will be boyfriends for real by the end of the story.

Regarding Miguel and Yeison hooking up, Zack should have either told Hunter before he dumped Yeison or never said it and Miguel should have told him because it was a relationship with the guy Hunter dumped to date him, but neither of these are big deals. Maybe Hunter was making a big thing out of it as a subconscious excuse to not get closer as part of his fear of commitment, resulting from wondering if he'd end up cheating again. Miguel knew exactly what to say to snap him out of it, his confrontational words did the trick. Meanwhile, Yeison is such a great guy, him genuinely wishing the guy he loves good luck in his relationship with another guy is a lot. I'll be very sad if he doesn't get a happy ending. During dinner with Hunter's father, Miguel was very articulate for a sixteen a year about a serious topic, which makes me wonder is sone of what he said actually comes from his father. But not all of it, his passion in wishing Colombia was known for more than drug cartels feels very real, which means what he says about how to achieve this must be something he cares about. Which puts him in a strange position if real, he appears to genuinely hate what drug cartels did to his country, while his own father seems to be working with one. That would explain why he wants to leave so much, he can't be in Colombia without being tied to that world in some way through his father. Finally, I have a thought the dynamic between Hunter, Miguel and their respective fathers. Hunter's father asked Hunter to get close to Miguel because he knows Miguel's father is tied to the cartel he's pursuing. And that's something he's obviously not telling Miguel, but that doesn't change that he really is in love with him. Similarly, there's a possibility of Miguel's father knowing Hunter's father works for the DEA and wanting Miguel to get close to Hunter for that reason. But, even if that's the case, which it may not be and Miguel obviously can't reveal it if it is, it doesn't change that Miguel seems to genuinely be in love with Hunter too.

When I got the screen asking me to fill my preferences, all three would have been left as Action/Adventure if I had just clicked next without reading. That's probably the only reason it's so high, it's the first one alphabetically. But it seems they fixed it after a few minutes, based on a comment above.

I see I caught up to the story (about a month ago) on the precise timing to end up on a long wait for another chapter. Although this was essentially the ending of the first part of the story, so it's actually a good time for a break. But please don't take this as a complaint, I'd be out of line to complain about how long it takes you to give us something write do for free. It's just about how much I like this story.

I sometimes click on a story, follow it if it seems interesting, but only come back another day to actually read it. (This specifically happens when I only found it after a few chapters are already out, which was the case with Frosted Hearts, and it's a result of me prioritising stories I can still comment on in real time.) That means my first hit on the story page doesn't continue into a chapter, even though the story didn't lose me as a reader. This works against your calculations of views to only the story page always being readers you lost.

I think Hunter can simply trust them to tell the truth, considering both of them love him.

I always think about each chapter with the first one in mind, as we learn more about Ryan. He's always thoughtful of saying the right things about Jamal and, more importantly, not saying the wrong ones. This contrasts with the events of what we know will make Jamal break things up, which makes me curious about it. Whatever the details of what will happen later are, I think it's clear that Ryan wouldn't have made the joke he laughed at. He must have known it was the kind of thing people shouldn't say, but he still laughed. Like Jamal says in that chapter, this may be worse than not realizing it's harmful. I hope the story will continue past the events of the first chapter, I'd like to see how Jamal handles seeing Ryan at work later. And part of me hopes Ryan can redeem himself in Jamal's eyes, although it's a lot harder to regain trust after losing it.

I'm sorry to be pedantic, but Columbia is a US cite, the country's name is Colombia with a second o. I saw a couple people use the wrong one. I believe Miguel is genuine about his attraction to Hunter, regardless of whether his father is the reason he initially approached him. From a narrative point of view, Miguel's father eventually learning the truth about Hunter seems inevitable and then things will be bad for him and Miguel.

I'm questioning more Miguel not saying anything because the specifics of the circumstances. Miguel knows Hunter broke up with Yeison to be with him, which makes his own past history with Yeison more relevant. But he's still under no obligation of saying it when they barely started dating. Unrelated to that, something I forgot to say, I feel so bad for Yeison. This sentence shows how painful this is for him: "Yeison showed up looking wrecked – red eyes, bruised circles, a smile that didn’t land." But, at the same time, I do think Hunter needs to be with who he wants and that's Miguel.

The part with Brayan and Miguel Ángel was very sad because it's not just a story, you're clearly depicting something a situation that happens too much in reality, with people being forced into it because they need the money to survive. Hunter was very nice by giving them money, and I also appreciate the way he didn't treat them any differently from guys he met at school when he talked about maybe becoming friends. But he should be careful about where he goes and what he tells people. I don't think those guys will do anything with their guess that Hunter may be the son of a DEA agent but, if they considered that option, other people could do it too. Miguel having had sex with girls or women, while being gay, to keep appearances is rough, especially with a prostitute at such a young age. It also makes me wonder about what else he must do to keep appearances, maybe that's the reason for how differently he acts in public and in private with Hunter. With his father being tied to a cartel in some way, maybe they way Miguel acts in public is simply what he's expected to be like. Him wanting to leave Colombia could hint at him being tired of that stuff. Hunter, in internal monologue, says that Miguel and Yeison dating ended before he arrived in Colombia. But Zack's actual words were that they "were kind of a thing – right before you got here" and "Miguel ended it when you showed up". They way I read this, the actual ending it part happened after Hunter arrived. I went to look at old chapters and saw that Miguel first mentioned Yeison among a list of his football friends and him being kicked out of that group happened the first school day after Yeison spent a night in Hunter's place. Maybe Miguel broke up with Yeison because he was interested in Hunter and no longer wanted to hang out with Yeison when he saw him seemingly go after the same guy. I don't know what to think about neither of them mentioning dating, I'll need more information from, presumably, the next chapter.

They're very sweet to each other, they're great together. Ryan noticing and caring about things like the halal food is great. And they both have supportive families. Just like Jamal was afraid to tell his family and it ended up going very well, I bet the same will probably be happen if he tells Ryan he fell in love. But he's insecure about it and that's normal. As for the prologue, what will happen later doesn't erase that Jamal is getting to spend some time being happy with a boyfriend. It will suck later, but the good times are still good.

Interesting premise. That's some really difficult stuff for Adam to move past. Thankfully, he has Adam's support, which he's probably really going to need as he finally goes back to places that bring more memories. I should have probably read In My Mind first, but I want to read while I can comment in real time. I might just read both stories at the same time, no matter how weird that may end up being.

I have a question for @ChromedOutCortex. This appears to be the same character from In My Mind. But can I understand this story without reading the previous one? I'll read it at some point, but I'd prefer to not wait until after that to read this one. And don't mind if I get spoilers for In My Mind.