Kileoli

They survived the fancy restaurant and its bill but not the kiss. I was almost expecting Justin or Tim receives a message with the kiss. Can the miller Family Just adopt Tim and Ben? Then they can all have a happy life. 😂

Nice reaction to the prompt and a totally different style , at least from what I read. The part with Bobb Lee was confusing , but it's just a quick fix. The boys were so hot, I didn't expect such a vivid story 😉

How many more people does Taine get on his team? And I felt a bit sorry for the real Charlie, but not that much. Now that they have money can Taine and Tyler go on a second date, just to come up with another deal? Maybe they can sell DS soul along with the debt.

Justin should be very proud of Tim and it doesn't look like Ben has any problem having Tim to himself. Now the question is if Justin and Ashley get to panic the pink archivist.

I saw this picture as I started the story and couldn't think of a connection at first, but in the end it was really great that Timmy could run again. Running is a really good therapy when things are too complicated and too much. Such a nice story from just a picture was pretty creative. Thanks for writing it.

A nice happy ending after so much suffering. Thanks for the epilogue too.

Very intriguing and sad.

ok, I re-read and did a quick fix. It should be more in character now. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered, tightening his grip on the seat. Beside him a seatbelt clicked open. Liam shifted closer, sliding into the seat next to him before Rick could react. His shoulder bumped lightly against Rick’s, and a moment later Liam took his hand. The grip was warm and steady. “You look like you’re about to die,” Liam said. The van swerved again. Rick swallowed. “I might.” Without letting go of his hand, Liam reached into his backpack, pulled out a small crumpled plastic bag, and pushed it into Rick’s free hand. “In case you decide to redecorate the van.” Rick stared at it. “Very reassuring.” Another violent turn threw them sideways. Liam’s grip tightened automatically as he steadied them both against the seat. Rick glanced at him. The sunburn across Liam’s nose had deepened, and scratches crossed the backs of his hands, but his expression was still the same calm, slightly amused one Rick knew from a hundred late-night calls. Liam followed his gaze. “What?” Rick shook his head. “Nothing.” Liam leaned back again, still holding Rick’s hand. “Good,” he said. Then, after a beat: “Try not to puke.” By the time they reached the hotel the city had already begun to quiet. The shuttle dropped them on a narrow street where the buildings leaned toward one another across the road, their upper floors nearly touching as if the architecture had gradually grown inward over centuries, and warm yellow light spilled from the restaurants further down the block, carrying with it the smell of grilled meat, coffee, and cigarette smoke into the cooling evening air while the distant noise of traffic drifted somewhere beyond the tight grid of streets. Rick stepped out first and pulled Liam’s duffel bag from the van, the driver already shifting impatiently in his seat while the engine idled. Liam climbed out a moment later and remained standing beside the curb for a few seconds, adjusting the strap of his backpack with a short irritated movement while his gaze moved slowly along the unfamiliar street, as if confirming that the city around him still existed outside the compressed logic of airports, delays, and transit lounges. “Are you good?” Rick asked. Liam dragged one hand slowly across his face before answering, the gesture somewhere between exhaustion and irritation. “I’ve been awake for forty hours,” he said, his voice low and flat with fatigue. “Define good.” Rick allowed himself a small smile and pushed open the hotel door. Inside, the lobby proved narrower than the photographs online had suggested, a long rectangular space in which the furniture seemed arranged more out of necessity than intention, with a reception desk standing beneath a low ceiling lamp whose warm light pooled across the polished wood and caught the brass hooks of the key board mounted behind it, while somewhere deeper in the building a television murmured in Turkish and the steady hum of an air conditioner drifted through the warm air. Rick stepped up to the counter. Liam followed a few paces behind and stopped near the wall, letting the backpack slide slightly down his shoulder while he rolled his neck once and exhaled through his nose, the accumulated stiffness of travel settling visibly across his posture while his attention drifted impatiently toward the receptionist. Rick placed his passport on the desk and tilted his head slightly toward Liam. “You, too.” Liam pushed himself off the wall, stepped forward, and pulled his passport from the outer pocket of his backpack, setting it beside Rick’s. The receptionist opened both passports beneath the desk lamp and began typing into the computer. For a moment the only sound in the lobby was the faint rhythm of the keyboard. Then the man stopped. He frowned slightly at the screen and scrolled through the reservation again. Rick noticed the pause. “Everything alright?” he asked. The receptionist hesitated. “There is… small mistake,” he said carefully. “Only one room confirmed.” Rick frowned immediately. “I booked two.” The receptionist nodded apologetically and pointed vaguely toward the monitor. “Yes, request for two is here,” he explained, “but system confirmed only one.” Rick glanced over his shoulder. Liam had straightened. “No,” Liam shifted the backpack higher on his shoulder and looked at him with the weary patience of someone whose tolerance for logistical surprises had already been exhausted several airports earlier. “No,” he repeated calmly. “I’m not sharing a room with you.” Rick rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s just for tonight.” Liam stared at him. “I’ve spent twelve hours in airports, another three sitting in a plane flying like a demolition derby, and I currently smell like rotten tomrrows and burned mushrooms,” he said, his tone still controlled but carrying the unmistakable on the edge. “I’m not negotiating personal space tonight.” Rick exhaled slowly. “We could manage one night.” Liam adjusted the backpack again, the movement sharper now. “No,” he said, just as evenly. “If this place only has one room, I’ll find another hotel.” Rick glanced toward the receptionist. The man had already lifted the phone. “One moment,” he said quickly. “I call hotel next door.” Liam leaned his elbow against the counter and lowered his head briefly into his hand, closing his eyes for a second before letting out a long quiet breath. “Yes,” he muttered. “Please do that.” The receptionist spoke rapidly in Turkish into the phone, nodding several times while the conversation moved quickly on the other end of the line. Rick waited beside him. Liam remained leaning against the counter, rubbing the back of his neck slowly while his eyes drifted toward the hallway behind the desk. “If the next place has a couch,” he said after a moment without looking up, “I will happily take the couch.” “You’re being dramatic,” Rick said. “I’m being tired,” Liam replied. The receptionist ended the call and looked up again with visible relief. “They have one room available,” he said. “Queen bed and single bed. Breakfast included.” Liam lifted his head. “That works,” he said immediately. Rick nodded. “Perfect.” The receptionist slid both passports back across the counter. Rick picked them up automatically, folded them together without looking at the pages, and slipped them into his bag while the receptionist quickly scribbled an address on a small card and pushed it across the desk. “Two minutes walking,” he said, pointing down the street. Rick grabbed Liam’s duffel. “Come on.” They stepped back outside into the warm night air and crossed the narrow street. Inside the second hotel the lobby felt quieter and slightly brighter, the receptionist already expecting them and handing over the room key. Rick signed the form, retrieved both passports from his bag, handed them over briefly for verification, and slipped them back inside the bag. “Second floor,” the man said. They climbed the stairs in silence. By the time Rick unlocked the room door Liam’s pace had slowed slightly, though the stubborn energy that had carried him through the argument downstairs still lingered in the way he moved. Inside, the room revealed exactly what had been promised: a queen bed beneath the window and a narrow single bed beside the wall. Liam looked at the layout for a second and nodded once. “Good,” he said quietly. The backpack slid from his shoulders and landed beside the single bed. Rick dropped the duffel near the desk. “Happy now?” Liam was already pulling his shirt over his head as he crossed toward the bathroom. “Shower,” he said simply, the word carrying the exhausted finality of someone who had reached the end of his operational capacity for the day. For a few minutes the room filled with the steady sound of running water while Rick unpacked the small paper bag he had picked up earlier at the convenience shop near the terminal, setting bread wrapped in thin paper, a piece of fruit, and two bottles of water on the desk with the slow, absent movements of someone who had already finished thinking for the day. When the bathroom door opened again, Liam stepped out with damp hair and a towel draped loosely across his shoulders, the steam from the shower still clinging to the warmth of his skin. He crossed the room without saying anything, paused briefly beside the desk as if the act of stopping required consideration, and lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. “You want something to eat?” Rick asked. Liam dragged a hand slowly down his face, pressing his fingers across his eyes before letting them fall again. “Tomorrow,” he said quietly. The word barely reached the other side of the room. Rick studied him for a moment. “You sure?” Liam gave a vague wave of his hand that might have meant no, later, or simply stop asking, then leaned sideways and let himself fall onto the bed with the loose, uncoordinated movement. There was no attempt to straighten the sheets or adjust the pillows. Liam simply grabbed the blanket, dragged it up over himself, and disappeared underneath it in a single motion that ended with nothing visible except a long uneven mound. The lamp on the bedside table cast a warm circle of light across the room. For a moment nothing moved. Then the blanket shifted once. A few seconds later the unmistakable sound of quiet snoring emerged from somewhere inside the fabric. Rick leaned back in the chair and stared at the blanket. “Well,” he muttered softly to the empty room, “that was quick.” Rick watched the blanket rise and fall once more. Then his attention drifted to the desk. The passports lay there beside the fruit and unopened bottles of water, their dark covers stacked where he had dropped them earlier. Rick slid his own passport aside, picked up the second one, and turned it over in his hands. For a moment he hesitated, then opened it.

Ok, you're right. I didn't consider that and we have it good here when it comes to being ill and getting help.

They really have to figure out why Charlie owes D 400 pounds, what if D comes back later and blackmail Charlie for something? Tyler is the best, he is going to kick Manglers just by wearing his hat. @Topher Lydon something that really bothers me is the four hundred pounds debt. I mean Taine is the professor so he should have some kind of savings and I don't know about Leamington and rich politicians kids but even my 8 year old kid has more than 400£ on the account. Who would sell his BMW for so little money ? Or is it a model from 1987?

I join @drpaladin to break something. Luckily today is my lab day so I get to break something. The strategist is desperately down , they need new players.

Then they need an extra line of code to give them a 3 minute warning 😂 Talking about food porn....now I'm thinking of a follow up story. @CincyKrisif we go on like this, I have to start a new book and you get to be the co-author for giving ideas🤣

Thanks, and this one was purely imagination ( except Liam sitting on the countertop 😁)

So a little fun with the camera and oven idea @CincyKris.

Rick pushed the apartment door open with his shoulder, the familiar weight of late afternoon air slipping in behind him together with the distant, uneven murmur of traffic drifting up from the street. For a moment he remained just inside the threshold, one hand still resting on the doorframe while his eyes adjusted to the softer interior light that pooled across the kitchen. The apartment carried the faint warmth of something recently cooked and the quieter domestic sounds of the building settli

Good point. That's something I realized when I was done writing, too long, too many repetitions and a too devoted character. Thinking about it, I sorta messed up the story . I should probably go through the chapters and fix it. Im too lazy right now but I added it to my to do list before the next update. Honestly at that point we were still just friends. Rick had already met a bunch of online gaming friends so meeting me was just another one of them, maybe with just a little, very little interest. In reality, Rick was indeed way too drunk when he decided to meet in istanbul. However, drunk or not, hes very stubborn so he just did it because he said he would plan the whole thing. I thought if I picture him as the drunk partying guy all the time, one might think I hold a grudge against him. I should probably stay close to reality not to turn things into melodramatic soap opera

Metaphorically speaking." Ellis waved a hand. "You're a very entertaining subject, but even entertainment needs to progress. We've established the tension. Now we need the release. It's basic narrative structure." "I am not a *narrative*." “The readers disagree,” the old demon looked up, as if addressing the eyes on a page. “Yes you, you dirty bastards, I see you out there. Making comments and betting on how long till the prudish professor gets nailed by the Wrestler. Soon, darlings, soon. He’s working up to it.” So thanks, a bit forward. When is Saturday again? I was hoping Miky make out a bit with Taine but no. Then thinking about it, it would have been uncomfortably weird. Now Taine pays the debt and ask Charlie where the drug is so he can get high with Tyler, right?😂

Do we get the whole rainbow colors? We got 4 pieces and two colors.... Tic tac tic tac

It ended well to my surprise, it can be that I'm not that sensitive to these sort of news anymore but I have a feeling such shootings have decreased or they don't attract that much attention considering the changes in the last 5 years. The world politics is a crazy thing, sometimes the solutions so easy and still so out of reach. With all due respect, I see the American politics so twisted and wrong that it hurts looking at. I'm not saying Europe is doing better but drowned in our bureaucratic labyrinth we still have some sense of democracy and collective well being in an individual way. The US politicians are too selfish but then one can blame the people for choosing them. A trend that makes me real mad is the humiliated, underestimated ignored layers of the society are those going for the most messed up people to rule them. And I really don't understand why weapons are legal in the States. It's not somewhere I really want to travel to. Thanks for the great story.

Ist the Chloe here Charlie's sister? Can they team up with Mr. Professor and his sexy wrestler boyfriend?!🤔 It's so creepy how they are being watched and being heard, soon there will be pictures of Tim in Justin's room. But how can Tim simply stay at Justin's? Won't his dad become suspicious? And I thought for while Ben was the archivist.😁

You're a better man😂 we all know how grumpy he is.

I forgot 5. Rick found Liam at the airport and told him they had to run or the shuttle guy leave without them. 2 minutes later in the car, Liam almost sleeping. Rick staring. Liam: stop staring. Rick:sorry. 5 minutes later, the car has finally left the airport. Liam: Seriously, stop staring. It's weird. ( Struggling to hide his bitchy side.) Rick: You look so different. I didn't expect it. Liam sits straight and stares back ( glares): Different? Rick: You're so....so ...small. Liam throws daggers: no, I'm not." he absentmindedly adjust stuff in his jeans Rick continues starting:" That was not what I meant." Liam did not say a word to Rick the remaining ride, but at some point unbuckled himself, flew over the seats to sit next to Rick and held his hand offering a bag in case Rick wanted to puke. That was the moment Rick realized how much he admired Liam and wanted to have him for the rest of his life. "Ende" Ok but honestly, Liam complained a bit then seeing how afraid Rick looked during the ride, he took pity on him. He did bitch about a few things the following days but then the story wouldnt be romantic.

Behind the scenes: 1.Liam: Dude you borrowed 500€? Don't you have any savings? Rick lit his cigarette, took a look at Liam, felt guilty but just nodded. Liam thought of the new rope he had bought and the 300€ in his wallet...he wasn't any better 😅 2. Receptionist:"Sorry. We just have one room with a single bed." Rick:" We take it." Liam:" No fucking way. I'm gonna find something.' grabs his backpack and wants to leave realizing he needs his passport. Rick looked like a lost puppy which didn't work. Receptionist made a call in the background. Receptionist:"The hotel next door has a room with a queen sized bed and a single bed including breakfast." Liam:" ok, that should work for a night I'll take the single bed.' So yea, they did check the other hotel but they never looked for another hotel later. And Liam did not stay on the single bed the other nights, it was as hard as a stone. So 4 points for @drsawzall I don't know the answer to 3 either.

I will. I mean it can't get worse, right?

BTW Babushka is Russian, we don't use it. Instead we say бабуся.