Dodger

Precisely one week, one day, and fourteen hours after walking out of Nathan’s life, I received a surprise phone call from his sister Karen. She wanted to know if I was still coming to their house for Thanksgiving on Monday, but really it was an excuse to get the low down on what was going on. “I don’t think Nathan would appreciate me turning up for dinner tomorrow.” “He hasn’t talked to me, so I wouldn’t know,” she said. “But he hasn’t been himself lately. He’s been very down and miserab

I'm sure Don has something in his closet and it would be sweet revenge if Robbie could somehow stumble upon it and turn the tables on his torturer. Life is rarely that obliging, however, and too often people like Don get away with what is basically a crime. He's abusing his position and almost certainly causing problems that will shadow Robbie for years to come. You're right, he has to change, but it's difficult to see how or who will stop him at the moment. Thanks @Jeff1

Thank you @mg777 I'm pleased your day improved and I'm honored to have helped. Messages such as these keep me going. Thank you for your support.

As is often the case, Robbie laments all the things that Nathan brought to the table, which he now stands to lose. It's a pity but it's almost impossible to have them both. Maybe he can find a way of remaining friends with Nathan's sister but rarely would that be the case. He will find out now who his real friends are and unsurprisingly, Rory hasn't been slow to step up to the plate, even offering his friend the opportunity to escape the mayhem for a couple of nights. He's a good and loyal friend who does things because he cares, not because it gets him noticed. Although Robbie has recognized this and praised him on a number of occasions. In the absence of Tom, Rory is Robbie's best friend, without a doubt. It's likely though that anything naughty between these two, will be played out entirely in Robbie's head.

I wouldn't be very happy if a partner of mine wanted tom exclude me from such an important part of their life. I don't see any reason why someone as openly gay as Nathan would want to hide the fact that he has a boyfriend or deny himself the support that he would have offered. Unless of course there's some skulduggery going on.

Robbie is naive, which was another thing that Nicola rightly pointed out. She could be a very useful to him if only he would listen. Maybe he doesn't want to listen, just like he doesn't want to ask Tom what he overheard or question Alex. When he did get around to confronting Nathan he was happy to accept his explanation without hesitation. I think it's clear now that Robbie has some very serious issues which aren't going to go away without some help. His erratic and now violent behaviour at school should set the alarm bells ringing particularly when the principal find out. He hasn't got a history of violence, yet he has become increasingly confrontational. I'm not sure if he would be able to cope with the realization that Nathan was cheating on him, if that's what he was doing. Is it possible that he's bailing out before the plane goes down to avoid finding out something he already knows but doesn't want to be told? He hasn't actually given any reason for not wanting to be with Nathan anymore. As Nicola said. 'People don’t usually break up because they think their partners are gonna fool around'.

Don't panic. I definitely haven't got 70 chapters left in me!

Don is very consistent so Robbie should know what reaction he's going to get whenever they clash. The worrying thing is that Robbie seems like he may be losing the will to resist him, especially now he has lost his main ally. Nicola is playing an important role here by stepping up to fill the gaps left by a departed Nathan. Robbie needs encouragement and Nicola is a useful person to have on his side but Don will no doubt be encouraged by Robbie's split with his boyfriend.

Robbie has shown that he prefers to sweep things under the carpet rather than risk the possibility of finding something he doesn't want to know and having to act upon it. You're right though, he just may find discover something which will help him to see things a little clearer. It's there if he looks hard enough. Thanks @JayT for your canny insight, as usual.

Getting professional help is one thing but surely Don and Sue will have to change their outlook for it to have any real affect. I should imagine any professionally trained councilor will be quick to point the finger at Don and Sue's highly questionable parenting skills, particularly when it comes to dealing with Robbie's sexuality. Don must realize this may not be the best publicity for him, which is probably why he has avoided it up until now.

Is there some personal regret behind this? Perhaps some well-hidden skeleton deep in Don's closet which Robbie keeps reminding him of?

It's been up there for so long now, I doubt if anything's going to dislodge it. Maybe dynamite!

Robbie is being made a scapegoat but without Nathan to reassure him there's a real danger of him developing a defeatist attitude and accepting the blame. Even believing that it's his fault. Don and Sue would wear anyone down over time and there are rewards for conforming. They may not ever turn Robbie straight but they could keep the lid on it by knocking the fight out of him so he doesn't bring attention to himself. I don't think Don cares what Robbie gets up to as long as it's kept quiet. I doubt if a conversion camp is high on Don's list of possible solutions, unless it's far away. I suppose he could send him off to a camp down in the States for a few months. A no nonsense, religious, Trump-esque, military style, boot camp, somewhere in Alabama should straighten him out!

I arrived home to the sound of screaming kids. Luke, unsurprisingly, was the main culprit, but Amy was his willing accomplice. She had become increasingly unruly since the arrival of Alex’s mischievous and often uncontrollable younger sibling. Luke had recently been moved upstairs to the tiny spare room to ease the burden on Alex, but his proximity to Amy’s bedroom was detrimental to my little sister. Don and Sue would never admit it, but it was clear they had bitten off more than they coul

Brilliant article with some compelling examples in video. The only movie I hadn't seen was the 'The Rock' and I had to watch that scene twice. 'Seven', I agree, is another great example, and Al Pacino's speech in 'Scent of a Woman' is a worthy addition to the list. Talk about tension. I was calm before I read this piece, now I'm climbing the walls!

Thank you @Bft Robbie has issues which need to be resolved but his bad behavior won't help his situation. He has been in constant conflict with his new parents since coming out. Unfortunately, Robbie and Tom have an ocean between them. Things could have been very different.

I think I might pull off an unsurprising surprise victory.

Thank you for reading @Dahawk I'm pleased that you're enjoying the story. Most readers seem to be convinced that Nathan hasn't been faithful to Robbie, we shall find out very soon.

The rsw topic. It's interesting and I've been forced to break my silence. Of all the characters introduced in this story, it seems like none have had a bigger impact than dear old Walter the retired social worker. A man with his experience and knowledge of the law and how the system works would undoubtedly be of great benefit to Robbie. He has already offered his help and as Robbie's life spirals out of control, I cannot think of anyone who would be better equipped to deal with Don and Sue. This kind and softly spoken gentleman may no longer have the authority to oppose Robbie's new parents but he will have enough contacts who do. Whether or not we see him again depends on Robbie. If he is smart or desperate enough to ask for help and whether Walter is willing to give up his flower beds for one last gig!. Still no answers here but at least I've addressed the topic.

Sorry.

Thanks Steve. This is one of the reasons I enjoy writing in the first person. The story is entirely Robbie's perception of people and events him at the time. He's sixteen-years-old, still relatively inexperienced at most aspects of life and sometimes not the best judge of character. There's a good chance that his descriptions of the people he meets are not entirely accurate. He was infatuated by Nathan from the very beginning and lavishes praise on him. In some of the early comments I was accused of making him too perfect and therefore not very realistic. He wasn't perfect, of course, but according to Robbie he was. Gradually as some of the gloss wears off, he realizes that Nathan isn't super human after all, and in fact he has some quite serious flaws. In the last chapter Robbie wonders what happened to the real Nathan but it's possible his boyfriend hasn't actually changed that much at all. Most people seem to think that he will need to control his temper and will need professional help to do this. There are a lot of unresolved issues which are still causing problems. He is approaching a critical period in his life and needs to think about the consequences of his decisions. A period without having a boyfriend would probably do him good but try telling that to a sixteen-year-old.

Thanks @Okiegrad very soon, I promise.

Maybe Robbie should have talked to Nathan about this before. He did allow it to happen and judging by his reaction, Nathan wasn't aware of the problem. However, there are other factors behind the arguments that are not so easy to fix. Maybe they are just incompatible. Thanks @Butcher56

Thank you @joebuck Robbie has seen a lot of changes in his life in a very short space of time and it's beginning to take its toll. Without Nathan he will be even more vulnerable and Don may well see this as an opportunity to step up his campaign and lure Robbie back into the fold.

Nathan does seem to be a little forward, shall we say, or maybe he's just a super quick learner. We shall see. Either way Robbie is screwed! Thanks @mg777