Hunter Thomson

Well worth the wait. Gymnastics is one of the few sports I've never tried (for good reason), so it's interesting for me to read about exactly what is required to excel and perform in the sport. Like many of the football players, I caught myself thinking that many of the conditioning exercises are things that I would do in baseball or curling, so it's a nice little thought for me that there's so many things all sports have in common, at least with regards to fitness and preparation of the body. The cafeteria scene was a big moment. I didn't expect Declan to push Chris away the way he did there, and to explicitly include Bailey as part of his group of friends. I didn't miss how Declan only had eyes for Bailey either, and I think at least one of the two has figured out how the other feels. That's going to be interesting to watch, going forward. That worried me as well when Declan noticed the hip. I don't think Declan is going to figure it out right away though; he's still new to the idea of gymnastics and might think that it's a natural injury, especially the way everyone was so relaxed about Ian's broken arm earlier in the chapter.

Please televise this. All of the cattiness will attract great ratings!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! This was the scene I was hoping for. That was super cute and adorable. Both Declan and Bailey needed to have that kind of interaction, and I'm so glad to see that Bailey is receptive to this kind of attention. That's an interesting connection that was made between Bailey's need for it and his newfound connection with Declan. Very nice way of highlighting Bailey's increasingly obvious feelings for the other boy. The scene where the boys cleared the air between them was very well done, but I was surprised that Bailey was so quick and so ready to forgive Declan for his role in everything. I know that's Bailey's way of coping and it's part of his character, but given his other emotional issues surrounding Declan, I thought he'd have stayed mad for longer. Declan has changed. Watching him in his story and in this chapter, it's clear that the things he's heard are resonating with him and he's realizing that there are serious problems with the way he thinks. Or maybe he wants to be popular, and he's not changing the underlying views so much as how he expresses himself. Teenagers want to feel like they belong or are part of the popular crowd; Declan knows that he's catching a lot of flak for his comments from the people he respects, so by changing his views he can be one of the accepted, popular people again. I want to believe Declan is serious, but there's a lot that Declan himself admits is underlying and hidden about his beliefs that he needs to work through before he genuinely shifts his viewpoints.

I'm sorry to be late to the celebration, but Happy Birthday, Graeme!

It won't let me edit my last comment I re-read the Bailey chapters, and one thing that caught my attention was how much Bailey still loves his mother. It's obvious that they're in a stressful place and their relationship is strained nearly to the breaking point. Daniel isn't helpful in that regard, as Bailey sees it as a betrayal of his father by his mother, but he's sacrificing a lot for her right now. He comes home right away from school because he can't bring himself to take away family dinner from his mother, in spite of how the situation between them is being dealt with. He gave up rooming at school in order to spend time at home and make sure his mother is okay. Something will have to change, but there's a lot to be said about the way that Bailey is interacting with his mom, and that particularly unyielding brand of love changes how I perceive the other interactions between Bailey and his mother.

Bailey is such a complex character. Everything is building up and the stress is continuing to press against him. I was sad to see that he resorted to it again, but I can understand his need to find a release and not being able to trust his mother right now. His mother doesn't even realize what she's doing to him. She continually brings up his father as though it's no big deal and for her it seems that's her way of coping. Drinking, finding another man and thoroughly minimizing her husband is her way of coping, but it's killing Bailey, who can't replace him.

Bailey is continuously proving that he can overcome anything, and while there's something to be said about his strength of character, having to continually have your back up against a wall like that can be mentally exhausting. We've seen how Bailey copes, and it's not healthy. There's no refuge for him at home where he should be most safe, and like others have said he desperately needs someone he can open up to about what's going on so that he can get the care he needs. Right now, Bailey's whole life is about doing well in Gymnastics and in school. Both of those things are going to suffer if he doesn't start taking better care of himself emotionally and mentally, and it's only a matter of time before he snaps. Too bad the only two people trying to reach him are people he doesn't want reaching out.

Pretty sure Justin is totally into Bailey, which would explain the overprotectiveness that goes beyond a player sticking up for a teammate. Justin is always *there*. And it's not what Bailey needs. Justin has made it clear that he's going to always be there for Bailey, but continually hearing and seeing that can be suffocating as well.

Captain Justin... I like his character, he's obviously the leader among the gymnasts, even if the term captain wouldn't be an appropriate one. He's looking out for Bailey, and while some of that is coming from a place of attraction, Justin sees it as his job to make sure all of his teammates are okay, especially Bailey because he's new and smaller, and because Justin likes him.

I've found that I enjoy Bailey's perspective far more than Declan. Not just because he's a more sympathetic character, though you've definitely taken the time to paint Bailey as more sympathetic than Declan and his bullying postures. Bailey is obviously more introspective and has a lot more going on in his head in terms of things that he *has* to think and worry about. He's more similar to me in that sense, and I appreciate a mind that fits inside an athlete's body. Thanks for letting us see both sides of the story, the seed of attraction that Bailey has for Declan is going to be important later in the story.

I can understand where Declan's thinking comes from. the idea that no one should be as good as him because he's from the school's favoured team and that it is more physical than the other sports. Every sport does that to a certain degree because the players of those sports know better than anyone what goes into their training. You saw it a bit with Justin in the first chapter, and again when running at the track with Declan. Athletes become very proud of the work they put into their training, and it does often lead to a bit of arrogance about what they're capable of. Declan and the Football team are taking it to an extreme, but it's a natural enough feeling. The problem of course being that they're using it to justify treating everyone else like crap, which Declan didn't even realize he was doing. After all, he was actually surprised that other people feel like they can't talk to him.

This was so worth the wait. The interplay between Aiden and Logan was cute.

Congratulations Tim! This is well deserved. This is fantastic news!

A very happy birthday to you Comsie! Enjoy it, you've deserved some time to relax!

I'm glad you're writing this, Mom. Being a gay athlete is something that speaks to me on a personal level, and seeing that world be shared in prose makes me happy. It... there's a lot of memories from my own sports days that get brought up when I read about other gay athletes, whether it's a coming out story or a piece of fiction like this. Stories like yours remind me that as much as I worried about how coming out would affect me, I had it better than a lot of other gay athletes in the world, even the fictional world. The interplay between the two different teams in a single high school is completely believable, and while it plays up the stereotypes we all know are there, it works because it sets the stage for the main conflict of the story so perfectly.

Well, my bracket didn't last long.

*watches you all cheering for Canadian teams from Vancouver.* We. Suck. So. Much. Sorry Canada, we let you down yet again. WEST Conference Round 1 1. Chicago Blackhawks vs Nashville Predators - Chicago in 6 2. Minnesota Wild vs St. Louis Blues - St. Louis in 5 3. Anaheim Ducks vs Calgary Flames - Anaheim in 5 4. Edmonton Oilers vs San Jose Sharks - SJ in 6 EAST Conference Round 1 5. Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Rangers - Montreal in 7 6. Ottawa Senators vs Boston Bruins - Boston in 5 7. Washington Capitals vs Toronto Maple Leafs - Caps in 5 8. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets - Pittsburgh sweeps it in 4 WEST Conference Round 2 1. Winner of 1 vs Winner of 2 - Chicago in 6 2. Winner of 3 vs Winner of 4 - Anaheim in 5 EAST Conference Round 2 3. Winner of 5 vs Winner of 6 - Boston in 6 4. Winner of 7 vs Winner of 8 - Pittsburgh in 7 WEST Final 1. Winner of 1 vs Winner of 2- Chicago in 6 EAST Final 2 Winner of 3 vs Winner of 4 - Pittsburgh in 5 STANLEY CUP FINALS Winner of 1 vs Winner of 2 - Pittsburgh in 6

Have faith, they had a bit of a tough off-season and people are still coming back. Lots of changes in the off-season as I recall. They'll get their groove soon, things are still being worked into place. Our jays won't let us down, it'll be another good year to be a Blue Jay's fan.

*pats baby Drew on the head*

You're called twink? Why on earth does Drought call you twink?

DREWY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

Fanks Drew

Dear <Redacted>, Congratulations on your admission to the University of Northern British Columbia. Please note a formal offer of admission will follow in the mail. It is now time to activate your UNBC student account. As a new student, a user name and email address has been generated for you. Your user name, <Redacted>, will be used to access electronic services on campus. This will also be used for all official communications from UNBC. I made it!

Well worth the wait. This scene is perfect and the characters are completely believable.