CassieQ

He'll need to be careful for sure. Thanks for commenting!

I like this as much reading it a second time as I did the first. These guys are so adorable.

Whoa, this takes me back!

Thank you. I need all the hugs I can get.

Thank you, that means a lot.

Unfortunately my Dad will not go to AA or any other group. He is the type who thinks he can tackle this problem on his own. I am considering Al-Anon on the advice of my therapist.

He will not go to AA.

It's starting again. The sobriety. I talked to my cousin over the weekend about what my Dad has been going through. And how my Dad is courting sobriety again. For the record, the longest my Dad has been sober has been two years, and that was when I was a child and my Mom threatened to leave him and take myself and sister with her. He threw out all the alcohol in the house. Another time was when I was living in Atlanta, out of college and working at a bookstore. My Dad went through some of his worst years in Atlanta and one day I noticed he wasn't acting like his usual drunk surly self. I remember being so concerned about his shift in personality that I told my Mom I was worried he was going to commit suicide. She laughed a little and told me he had quit drinking. I don't remember how long that one lasted, but it wasn't long. He quit temporarily when the tests for his heart came back. Once he saw that his heart issue remained despite not drinking, he started back up again. Now here we are again. He always stops when he has a consequence for drinking, but then he inevitably starts back. I wish I could be more supportive, but I just can't. I can't. It hurts too much. It hurts to see the man that my father could be. I love my Dad, my real Dad. He is charming, has a great sense of humor and is fun to talk to and hang around with. I can see the man my Mom fell in love with. I can see the man I would like to have in my life. But he never stays. Eventually the drink wins and the drunk comes back. The drunk is mean, stupid, surly and hard to get along with. I remember looking at the drunk and wondering how on Earth I can be related to him. My Dad came over this weekend to help me with some stuff around the house, hanging up some blinds, putting up some shelves, etc. It was...nice. But I need to keep my distance. Need to. Because I can't get close to him only to lose him to the drink again. I can't stand it. I can't.

I write a lot during my lunch breaks. I work a physically and mentally demanding job 8-7 so I'm usually too exhausted to write at nights, and I try to cram a lot of writing into my days off as well. I love doing it so I try to make it a priority.

But did you use the first line?

Thank you for reminding me how hot Jodie Foster is.

I like seeing how different people react differently to the events in this story. I am solidly on the side of cheating being a deal-breaker, but so is being emotionally unavailable to your partner. Eric should not have cheated and should have broken things off with Brian when he started falling for someone else, Brian should have been more attentive and loving towards the man he was planning to marry and listened to Eric's extremely valid frustrations. Both were in the wrong. Brian is trying to fix his own issues, and Eric did a very mature and generous thing in confronting Brian's clueless ass to make things work for him and Timothy. They are all moving in the right direction and I have hope for both of them. I appreciate your comments, they were very insightful.

Interesting point. I think both Eric and Brian were working from anger and disappointment when they say things they don't mean. Eric and Brian's relationship was definitely a mess, especially near the end, I hope his relationship with Timothy is healthier. I like that moment where he asks for another kiss too. Timothy is adorable. Thank you so much for commenting, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Gotta love a good zombie story!

I usually don't title my chapters until I am posting them on GA. Then I usually go with something significant that happened that chapter. However, I am bad about naming stories and occasionally chapters, after song titles, it's a habit I'm trying to break.

I'll have to check these out, though I think the Poetry anthology from 2011 will always be my favorite.

I hear I Will Always Love You at weddings all the time. It's a break-up song.

Very true. They both had problems that they weren't addressing and it lead to a lot of drama and heartache. Communication is key! I think it might take some time for Brian to get used to having Eric in his life in a very different way that how he was previously. I think Timothy can help with that.

I think Eric is over Brian, and Brian is getting there, but I do think family gatherings might be tricky at first. Lucky for him that he has Timothy to distract him. Thank you for commenting! (and Timothy is totally a sweetheart)!

One of my coworkers said she wanted that song for her father/daughter dance at her wedding. I told her exactly what the song was about and she was angry at me for days for "ruining" the song for her.

I assume you are talking about Brian feeling guilty. I don't think he is an idiot. Cheating is never acceptable, but Brian played a part in the relationship breakdown as well. I would feel guilty if my partner needed more love and attention from me and I was too engrossed in my own life/career to give it to them. None of it excuses cheating, but no one is blameless here. Thanks for commenting!

Interesting comments. Eric needed to end their relationship once he was ready to move on and Brian needed to pay more attention to what Eric needed. Mistakes were made by both of them and communication between the two of them was horrible...something that my editor pointed out. I think Brian and Timothy deserve a chance as well, as long as Brian can fix what went wrong in his last relationship. I think he is well on his way. Thank you for commenting!

Thank you. Eric was in a bad place and he made a poor choice, but Brian was being blind to the issues in their relationship too. It was sad that this had to be wake up call for both of them. I think Eric made some really bad choices, but he's not a totally bad guy. I think he was already over Brian by the time they finally broke up, and giving him a head's up about how to he needed to shape up for Timothy was pretty mature of him in my opinion. (I love Timothy too, he's adorable). Thanks for the comments.

Damn, I was not expecting this. I remember these guys from your previous stories. While Cyril's decision to go back is heart-breaking, it is unfortunately very common. I heard somewhere that it takes an abused partner seven times before they can leave an abusive relationship for good. Stuart was also very relatable here. It can be extremely frustrating to deal with a friend/loved one who is in an abusive relationship, especially when they are not willing to leave or seek help. I could tell that Stuart really wanted to help his friend, but wasn't sure how to do so. Well done.

Thank you for your insightful comments! I felt from the very beginning, even though what Eric did was reprehensible, he at least deserved to tell his side of the story. Cheating is horrible, but several readers pointed out that it takes two people to ruin a relationship and I think while what Eric did was wrong, it was also very understandable. Eric had a need for affection and attention that he wasn't getting from his fiancé and picked a very poor way of dealing with it. But on the other hand, Brian needed to clue in to what was happening and he ignored Eric trying to tell him what he needed. I'm glad you liked the story, and thank you for commenting!