Israfil

Well that’s a tad judgmental (heh, I’m one to talk). Jake turned him down - when you’re turned down by your “soulmate” [snickers] one might be inclined to seek comfort elsewhere. I know that’s what I did.

So...I was completely wrong. Well played, @jkwsquirrel! I hate that a small, romantic part of me was thinking that Jake and Danny would get together down the line - during/after college or something - despite several clear indicators that was out of the running some time ago. Guess for all my cynicism about these kinds of stories I still want things to end up the way they never do in real life Still, I do love the realism here - life isn’t broken up into love triangles, interesting people suddenly pop up on your radar in unexpected places and times and those you thought you had figured out drop off. Though while I’m kind of like Kyle in that I’m a loner, I’d definitely find his little speech on phones kind of annoying and pretentious. The fact that he’s right just makes it worse. I sort of see Danny’s point XD

Who says we're working together? Maybe we're two competing factions of Sith - I can't speak for @jkwsquirrel but I am the master in my pair.

Just too weird. Yeah, I know they were best friends but that forgiveness is way too quick. Especially when Jimmy said he didn't mean for Jack to get hurt - then what was he planning when he caught him? Give him a cookie? Probably what I would have said in Jack's place but then again, we've established I'm not a nice person XD

Yes, but the question is - do we care? XD Seriously, a little bit of that kind of trauma could be good for them.

Heh, would Jimmy have been crying and saying how sorry he was if he had caught Jack and caused him to fall into the road while he and Tyler were beating him up? Unlikely. Or if he did it would have been just pathetic.

*Dons black robe* Yes....embrace your anger. Strike them down with all of your hatred...*cackles* A high five if you guess the line.

So....I know this won't be popular but it seems Tracy is being kind of obtuse. "Are you okay?" "Are you depressed?" Finally the "are you okay" in his room. Take a guess.... Jack is going through the same thing Tracy did and he seems to be willfully not seeing it or accepting how tough it is. Just expecting him to come out and face the reaction like he did. Some guys expect everyone to be as brave as they are and that's just not fair. I mean, it's possible I'm seeing it from the perspective of a reader who has access to Jack's inner turmoil but he's told Tracy he's gay, so he should be able to figure out some of what his friend's angst is about....

Or at least an open one....

They really are the exception - people tend to forget that. Or choose to, since this is fiction and the prospect of a fairy tale ending is a tad more likely than pesky reality. Teenagers generally don't find soul mates - you're not a fully formed person in many ways till at least your mid-twenties. So this goes for Ryan/Jake as well as Jake/Danny - if we take this comment at face value, then anything's possible and that makes me happy >:)

How's the view from that high horse of yours? 😜

I don’t know why but my first instinct was to press the “laugh” reaction. It felt quite real in a sense and life is funny sometimes so you just have to laugh. XD Plus the running laps was a nice lighthearted scene and now it taught them to play better, plus Brett giving Jake a little perspective. It hurts now but they’re basically children. What ever happens in this particular situation will sort itself out - nowhere near as crazy as the issues with the original WAR gang. Oh, Danny... He does love Jake but I think he was right when he said he couldn’t see them together years from now like Brett and Billy. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have a nice relationship for a time though cause really, teenagers having that feeling is incredibly rare. Rarer still for them to be correct XD

Eh...not surprised. The Phantom of the Opera reference kind of hit us over the head with what was coming. That being said I’m fairly sure I know how this will end since Ryan is clearly Roul, Jake is Christine and Danny is the phantom. There will be tears and heartbreak and in the end Jake and Ryan will still be together (or get back together) and Danny and Jake will be friends again. This is the culmination of all the sexual tension between J and D and their getting it out of their systems. At least, that’s my prediction seeing as you, @jkwsquirrel are a self proclaimed romantic. Seeing as how you’ve built up Ryan and Jake I’m not sure I can see this going any other way. Then again maybe that’s just what you want us to think and are going to fake us out XD

Lydia's reasons for breaking up with Danny are a bit strange - a bit of homophobia perhaps, dressed up as "oh, I can't give him what he needs," perhaps? It's pretty clear there was no "competition" as she viewed it with Jake, seeing as Danny chose her. Not sure what her issue was aside from just being uncomfortable with the fact he hooked up with a guy. OR she just thinks he's in the closet and thought he would inevitably dump her so she wanted to break up with him first. I can even forgive the accidentally outing him to Justin - seeing as it's 2015 in the story, I can imagine that an ambiguous statement about someone being not completely straight might seem harmless - if you're the naive sort. And I suspect the most Justin is guilty of is being a fool. Which, let's face it, most teens are. Speaking of telling, why the hell did even Danny tell her? Despite claiming it wasn't going to be a long term relationship, did he just feel that close to her to share this? Because he "loves" her? *that remark is dripping with scorn, by the way* While he's proven himself to be a decent enough guy, I find it difficult to take seriously kids who throw around the word "love" so easily in high school relationships, which are honestly about the same level as elementary school playground romances in terms of importance. Excitement, novelty and infatuation are more accurate descriptions.

Sigh... Glad they're friends again and they both had some culpability. Yes, Jake took it a tad far - a week or so of distance and then sort of trying to be friends would be more appropriate. But as the "Grudgemaster" as I've been called, I have no room to talk about that haha. I'm really glad that Jake called Danny out on the hook ups. I was hoping he'd throw the "play with fire" comment back in his face. While Jake's apology was warranted.... I wish he'd commented one more time that Danny shouldn't have done what he did. Just saying "hey let's hook up but btw I'm not gay and this can't go anywhere" doesn't magically prevent emotional pain as he seemed to think. When he said he deserved Jake's anger for falling all over himself for a girl, personally I think that's completely normal - he deserved the anger for the super mixed signals and not holding back. Yes, I'm not a forgiving sort - sometimes to my detriment. That scene with his mum was straight out of my childhood though - had similar conversations with my own mother. Mum: "No, don't do [insert petty move here], it won't do anyone any good." Me: "But they totally have it coming, you have no idea!" Of course, I'd still do it anyways... My friend's girlfriend reached out to me too in a similar fashion - I told her to fuck off and not stick her large nose into things she didn't understand (that's the one thing I do regret about that interaction - bringing up her appearance was uncalled for). Dammit man, why did your story have to hit me in the feels. This brought up college all over again and now I have to go hug my dog!

It’s not so bad. A wise man once said “not all who wander are lost.”

I totally get that - the problem is Danny’s still going after what he wants (hooking up with Jake), consequences be damned. He may not mean to hurt him, but he’s not letting that stop him. If he indeed knows he can’t return Jake’s feelings, then the sensible thing (which I know kids rarely do but this seems pretty basic) is to not act on his attraction, since it’s clear Danny realizes that to to his friend, this is more than “fooling around.” This might have struck a little close to home for me >_> In my case I finally lashed out at the guy for trying to have his cake and eat it too. He didn’t take it well (but honestly neither did I).

Normally I’m a cynic but everyone here talking about Danny’s repressed feelings may have a point.... If only because wanting to have sex despite believing he can’t reciprocate Jake’s feelings is either: a) supremely stupid/insensitive even by teenage boy standards Or b) quite cruel I don’t believe Danny is either of those based on the ending conversation.... So that leaves a third option - caught up in the moment. Unfortunately, that still doesn’t mean he secretly wants to be with Jake. You can still be attracted to someone and know they’re not a good fit romantically - repeatedly calling Jake “hot” yet being so sure “it can’t last” implies he knows something but doesn’t quite have the words to express it. Oh just occurred to me - though this may be reaching. What if Danny is aromantic and doesn’t realize it yet? Could be why all his relationships fizzle out fairly quickly. Dammit, @jkwsquirrel, you wrote such an interesting story that I’ve used a chunk of my sleep time to analyze it. I hope you’re happy...

Good for Jake on holding off on going further. The follow-up conversation would have been exponentially more painful. I know it’s tempting to say that Danny is full of BS but sexuality is complicated. I think he’s trying to be honest as best he knows how and that is something to be respected. Of course, that being said, he’s also selfish as hell for doing this in the first place for his own gratification, knowing how Jake feels and that 99% of the time he won’t say no >_>

So....while Hutch certainly did partly want to check in on his best friend, I do think it's not just Corbin's paranoia (to be fair, quite a few people are out to get him in one way or another so he has a right to be...?). He did go behind Corbin's back to conspire with Dom but it may not be quite about "betraying" Corbin. Hutch clearly has a certain respect for authority which Corbin doesn't (and honestly, neither do I when it's people my own age haha) and so may feel obligated on some level to help Dom as their frat's president. Plus, that's the office he aims to hold next year so he's invested in maintaining its influence, so he can't be pleased to see Corbin walk all over it - not out of concern for Dom really but that he's all about the system and Corbin's going outside that undermines him, to Hutch's way of thinking. Corbin has built his sphere of influence outside of the official hierarchy while Hutch seems to be all about going by the book. So while he does consider Corbin his friend, I wouldn't be surprised if Hutch was indeed trying to undercut him a little - likely telling himself it's for Corbin's own good and that of the fraternity.

Yeah so the internalized homophobia is strong with Danny - good friend though he is. We got a whiff of that in chapter one when he talks about stereotypical gay traits - which he assumes are the norm. I think he’s categorized Jake as an “exception.” The same way someone with ingrained racism could consider a close minority friend “one of the good ones.” Then there’s the conversation where they make up - he’s attracted to Jake and talks about it like it’s a problem to be dealt with, discussing ways to put it behind them and avoid a repeat by “triggering” each other. It sounded like he was talking about alcohol, drugs or some other kind of toxic habit when it’s nothing of the kind. Of course, some relationships are toxic and you have to take these kinds of measures (been there done that bought the t-shirt) but I’m not inclined to label this one that way just yet. And lastly - Brett’s showing his age lol. In 2005, committing words about same sex encounter to text or paper was too dangerous in high school. Now it could still suck but wouldn’t be quite as bad...

To be fair, and I may have mentioned this elsewhere - this is why we read this story. Corb's not nice but he's smart and the people he's screwing over aren't exactly shining examples of humanity either. So it's fun. Plus, it's a college frat, man. No one's really getting hurt - it's not like he's putting poison in people's drinks or hiring assassins. At worst, his victims will be a little sad - which, as fratty jocks in the south, could probably do them a little good. Take them down a peg or two and not think so highly of themselves

Ouch, been there.... The feels. Pete's not wrong...but I can still be pissed on Corbin's behalf. So many straight/bi/questioning or just plain closeted guys fall back on the "but you don't know how hard it's been for me" line. And they're right...but the "I didn't come here for you" line was bothering me - as beautiful as it was. Everyone ends up where they are following the paths of their own lives - it's kind of like a sky is blue statement. So he wants Corbin to have someone who came here for him? The hell does that even mean? While Corbin did operate on his own timeline - like we all do - and not consider Pete's - which he should have as the other part of this equation - if Pete had communicated this all just a little earlier, Corbin may have given him the space to think it through. And referencing Corbin's exs was just too sanctimonious. What business is it of his? He didn't acknowledge how he was different from those other guys in the fact that Corbin feels so strongly for him. And...poor Lee. Oh well. Eighteen year olds are always a mess. I know I was - I hated everything and everyone 🤣 Though the question on everyone's mind is...why did Pete show up to Chi Beta's party of all places to experiment with guys? PS Amazing story - and I'm glad you took the time off. Personally, I think the break helped you maintain the level of quality that drew us all in. I know stories - and chapters - like this can be incredibly draining to produce >_>

Makes sense...though I’m surprised she sought him out for a confrontation like that, especially when it’s clear her friends are okay with him. I would have thought she’d be smoother than that.

Ah yes...men aren’t used to feeling small and powerless so Hutch and Dom will be furious - irrationally so, for a while and it will show up in unexpected ways. I guess Hutch was coming up to tell him pretty much what he said on the stairs though, albeit in a calmer fashion. As someone who absolutely loves putting the screws to people like this, I was cheering Corbin on during that whole meeting with Hutch and Dom. But honestly, neither of them have much of a leg to stand on - they tried to manipulate Corbin and he turned the tables. They gambled...and lost. The only thing hurting them is their egos, but that’s what a lot of fraternity politics boil down to in the end anyways. Though I expect better from Corbin - forgetting to lock the door is ridiculously careless on his part