Davide

Sex as a distraction isn't bad writing in this story, it's completely in character. Partially because they're horny 24/7 when they're around each other, but mostly because there's topics they really don't want to even think about and that's the only solution they can come up with to avoid a direct question about them. Interesting on the different versions, I hope you'll give us a vague idea of what the one you don't go with was in the comments of the final chapter. I'm not replying to everything, but the rest of your comment is also appreciated.

Happy Monday, I'm caught up for the first time, now that the story is ending. A general thought, not about this chapter, is things would have been a lot simpler between Percy and Fine if they actually talked about stuff. But the story would also be less interesting, so never mind that. The rare two or three times when they actually started to talk seriously about feelings or what will happen after these days, one of them distracted the other with sex to not reply about a topic they're trying to avoid. I'm curious about what the outcome will be, whether they'll be boyfriends or have some other arrangement, because there's no way they can go back to being just friends. Regarding the actual chapter, Michael is a dick, but that's not news. The rest of the crew is nice, especially Krista, and surely making her the coolest character of that group is totally not biased on your part. If I was in Percy or Five's place, I'd suggest continuing to sleep in the same bed, considering at least most of the group isn't homophobic. But maybe this arrangement is for the best, since they're probably incapable of only sleeping if they do it together. As for who will break first, my bet's on Five. I'll have thoughts about Ethan at some point, but I'll leave them for a chapter where he appears more.

I'm not fully sure what that number means, but thank you. (This isn't me asking, I'll find out by googling it.)

Connor still seems fishy with the way he doesn't want Ev to talk to Toby about this, probably because that conversation would reveal Connor has been lying. Ev finally told Nate, but I understand the wait, it's not aneasy topic.

I just got caught up on the story. I don't how the same person can write both this and Black Sun, especially when you were doing both at around the same time. This was a great chapter. I'm a bit late to be worth going into specifics, I'll start on the next one.

Now it sounds like it was probably Connor who did something to Ev while he was sleeping. He was the one who spent time sleeping alone with Ev, plus he wanted to know if he has a boyfriend, probably to know if he's taken. Plus he's been acting very defensive, while Toby acting like he doesn't know anything is probably genuine, after all.

Shit, someone definitely did something to Ev while he was sleeping, that's fucked up. It had to be either Toby or Connor, and the comment that Connor later claimed was a joke means he must know. So he's lying to protect either himself or Toby.

Ev and Nate are adorable together. It's nice that the friends at the end don't seem to be homophobic. Given Nolan's comment about a friend with a crush on Ev, I wonder if that's Toby. Because maybe asking about Nate with the assumption of him being Ev's boyfriend could be more than a joke, maybe he was trying to sound Ev out to try to figure if he's gay and he's taken.

I still think Ev should see a doctor, just to be safe. But I get why he feels it's embarrassing and he's feeling better, so it's probably not serious. Meanwhile, those friends seem nice. And Ev can relax, most people aren't remotely as perceptive as Jay.

And here it is, the proper introduction to Ryan. I can feel the easiness between him and Jamal, they already make a great pair and they barely know each other at this point. The way Jamal feels seen by him matters a lot and that's highlighted well in this chapter. The conversation about the food truck being halal is a standout example of that. Seeing how important being seen is for Jamal and how much better it makes him feel helps emphasize the strength of the hurt in the first chapter, which takes place chronologically later. But I'm getting ahead of myself, we'll talk about that when we catch up to that point. For now, I'll enjoy their happiness together.

Yes, I had a brain fart. Of course i meant Rowan, but I unfortunately can't edit the comment anymore. And I agree with your last paragraph, that makes it feel worse.

Most of the chapter was beautiful, the way the sex went shows how much they love each other, it wasn't just for physical pleasure. It was a moments that shows how good they are for each other, but this will sadly serve as a way to show us what they're both going to lose. But “Don’t ever leave me, Chris.” was sad knowing what will happen. And Christian's doubts at the end hit hard because we can see Rowan's manipulation driving a wedge between that. The thought "What if I needed you to ask?" made sense from Chris' perspective, but only because Rowan placed that doubt in him. If it weren't for that, he would have been fine with not being asked because he would know Henry would be ready to listen if he said he wanted to talk. This is what makes it all more frustrating, and me angrier at Rowan, he's too good at planting doubts that they won't question because they seem logical on the surface. It looks like now is the time when things will start to go downhill, with Henry's manipulation precipitating them towards the situation we saw in the prologue. I can only hope that, after we get through that over the course of some number of chapters, the story will have a second part that goes from the prologue and, through a probably frustrating and painful process, towards them getting back together. I expect that will be the case and, if it happens, their love will be stronger after all the pain.

“Ughh! N-Nate, what did you hit just now?” I always like to see characters discover what happens when you touch the prostate. I get his reasons, but hidding the bleading wasn't a good idea. Ev should have gone to the doctor today, at least he now agreed to do it tomorrow.

Yeison is alive! I'm glad my fear about what could happen after he left at night in the previous chapter didn't come to pass. So Hunter's father wants him to get close to the son of someone related to a drug cartel, that's confirmation, with additional information, of what the conversation Hunter overheard between his father and Juan Camilo a few chapters ago. Getting him involved with things related to catching a drug cartel, even in a small way that one involves someone's son, doesn't sound like a good way to safeguard his own son's safety. Speaking of safety, Hunter fears his cover may get blown by how protective his father and Juan Camilo are being after these attacks started. But I hope that maybe his friends will think his father is just being overprotective because, unlike Colombians, they're not used to these things happening. I like Hunter's thoughts about the impact of the lies he's being forced to tell to help the operation while keeping the cover. The lies are necessary for safety and there would normally not be more to it. But it's making him fall into the same kind of thing he feels bad for doing repeatedly to guys in the past and doing the same thing to his boyfriend will have some effect on Hunter's mental health. He's not doing it for the same selfish reasons as in his backstory, he has grown as a person in that aspect, but doing it even for a different reason brings back those memories. The reason being different, and even valid, won't magically make the repeat of what he swore to stop not affect him.

This is an amazing and ambitious story. It's the first part of a bigger tale, but it ended on a good stopping point. I don't really know how to review this without giving away spoilers, but I'll try. There are two sides to this story. One is about a teenager who doesn't remember anything after an accident and has to get used to a new life with a new family. The other side is something I can't even begin to talk about without giving away too much, that side takes makes the story unique and takes it in a direction I definitely didn't expect from the first chapters. If someone had told me what that second side before I read the story, I would have been sceptical of the ability of meshing those genres with the ones from the first side. But the authors pulls it off very well, integrating those two aspects to not make them feel part of the same story. I wish I could explain better, but this is the best I can do without revealing more than I should.

Of course I can't compare this story to what we would have gotten if you had writen it all in advance, but I liked this one a lot. We got to slowly peel on the mystery, while seeing the process of Josh getting used to his new family, without school taking time away from getting to know the family or rushing quickly through reveals regarding the Josh/Caleb situation. We can still get to that stuff in book 2, but only after the dynamics we've seen so far have been well established.

Great chapter and story, I'll post a review once I figure out how to even do that for this story without giving away spoilers. We got a bunch of answers, thank you for not making us wait for, presumably, months for book 2 to start. Of course we didn't get all the answers, but none of the characters has the remaining ones. We're left on an interesting book 2 hook of what will even happen to Josh and Caleb after the 90 days or long term. I don't want either of them to stop existing, but that's a possibility, or maybe they can merge in some way. It's scary stuff for them. But you didn't forget the other, equally important, side of the story. Josh isn't just an experiment, he's a teenager who lost his parents, is dealing with that loss now that he told Caleb he'd do it, and is leaving with a new family. We finish with Josh's sadness and Caleb's anger, but also Josh feeling truly accepted and supported by his new family. And it seems we'll get to the high school drama next time, adding yet another genre to the mix.

This is a very good story about two characters that are shaped by difficulties in their lives that affect their personalities in different ways from each other. The story gets us into their heads to explore why they act and think in certain ways, and the emotional impact that has on each other. They can be frustrating at times, but that makes the good moments feel more rewarding. (I'm late because I thought I reviewed it before, but I must have not clicked somewhere.)

Whoever it is that's attracted to Nate, I can't see any risk of him leave Ev. But it can be awkward for Nate and Ev might get jealous. In the meantime, they were very sweet to each other in this chapter, they're a good couple.

Got damnit. Rowan is too good at understanding the couple, figuring out the weakness to exploit and playing with them both. He placed doubts on both of their minds regarding opposite views of the same thing, setting off a ticking time bomb. Because of what Rowan said, when Christian and Henry don't talk about the difficulties of Christian's double shift like usual, the doubts will start playing. Christian wondering if Henry doesn't want to listen and why, Henry wondering if Christian doesn't want to talk and why.

No problem, I was only explaining why I'm one week late to commenting.

I didn't realize you replaced the wrong chapter, rather than delete it, until I was part of the way through the next one and wondering who some people were. The narration makes it obvious that Rowan is the person referenced in the synopsis. He seems very good at fooling people, but I'm curious to learn what's his motivation for what he's going to do. I interpreted something wrongly in an earlier chapter. I thought one family was homophobic and the other one was racist, but they're both racist. The effect on them is the same, but still, I stand corrected.

So that's confirmation of what we could glean from previous chapters, Nate already had feelings for Si, but he didn't express them out of fear of damaging their friendship. But it worked out, they're together now, and their couple banter is fun.

I loved this chapter and the story as a whole. It's a wild and unique premise, I don't know how you even come up with something like this. "Hello Caleb. I know what you are." That makes one of us. Jokes aside, Cerberus recognising Caleb is interesting and potentially worrying. I'm guessing that's the hook for the sequel story. I don't know if I trust Josh/Caleb's safety after this reaction from Cerberus, I worry it might try to do something to him. I don't know what to expect, but that's the just the norm with this story. I really liked the conversation in the void between Josh and Caleb (it's so nice to have a name). The way the void was reacting to Josh learning about all this was very cool. It's nice that they reached an understanding and are helping each other out. And it's interesting that the reenactment made Caleb also learn something new about that night. I mentioned the previous chapter touching on the mental health impact of all this on Josh, but that doesn't even compare to the impact on Caleb that this chapter touched on. Caleb has the memory of what he lost, which makes it a lot worse, but the bigger thing to me is spending most of the time as just a passenger inside a body being controlled by Josh. I hope you do write book 2, after a much deserved break from this story. Just as suggestion, it may be easier to write it in advance of posting, even though it would make it take longer for us to read it. With a story this complex, I imagine it would be helpful to have the ability to go to a past chapter to change things because of the needs of a later one, which you can do if you haven't already published it.

That ending was intense, I could feel the impact the awakening of memories was having on Josh. Plus he'll have new important information in the next chapter, but we'll see how much he actually remembers. There's also the mental health impact this whole thing is having on Josh, both being different and everything he doesn't know about himself. That was covered well in this chapter and I expect it to continue. At some point, the other Josh asked (almost ordered) our Josh to not reveal things about him (the other Josh) to anyone. I wonder if other people knowing too much is why he's silent, he could have decided he can't say anything else to our Josh because of that.