jkwsquirrel

It's the same job he had at the end of WAR, which just shows how his life has gone since then.

Who knew Brett would end up being the mature responsible adult he's become?

Thanks! You never know what Dustin will get himself into next!

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

Thanks! Our little boys are growing up!

Dustin didn’t sleep very well. His mind needed to process everything that had happened to him in the last month. He’d hoped meeting with Sarah would take some of the burden off his mind, but that had just made things even more complicated. He knew his father would come walking back into his life eventually. He’d hoped the old bastard would just drop off the planet or get killed, but since he hadn’t, he was bound to make an appearance. His eye still hurt and his ribs would ache for a c

We may learn a lot about Brett in the chapters to come. We've only ever had Billy's perspective on him. You may be on to something with Dustin's feelings on Emily.

Dustin's life has become one big swath of destroyed relationships. He can't see there are people who still care about him and love him.

You may be right!

The weird thing is that we'll finally see Billy from the outside. So strange...

I don't think Dustin is too happy about Mike's new boyfriend though! "Maybe once..." What a sad commentary on Dustin's life.

Thanks! We'll just have to see how this all plays out!

Dustin somehow made it back to his Charleroi apartment, soaked with sweat and blood and shivering from the chilly late summer air. He was thankful he had a place to call his own so he could escape the abuse of his past which had reared its ugly head once again. It’d been a few years since his father had beaten him up. Dustin couldn’t say he missed it. He limped into his apartment building and left a trail of blood drops behind him as he climbed the stairs and shuffled to his apartment door.

Interesting... I never thought about it like that. It makes sense!

Dustin in the last chapter: "I already feel like my life is an open book." 😁

I'm not sure she let him in as much as Frank kicked the door down and forced himself in. As for Brett, after everything that took place in WAR, Joey is the only family he's got. He had such a great role model for how to show love to your family, it's no wonder his compassion is being taken advantage of. Three chapters in and no sign of Billy. It's weird, isn't it?

This version of Dustin was forming all through WAR, now we are seeing the outcome of his upbringing. He's desperate for connection, but he's pushed the people closest to him away. The idea of random meaningless sex sounds good to some people, but in reality it's a hollow way to try to live. He was loyal to a fault all through his teenage years, always the first to defend his family. But then that loyalty was repaid with violence. Now Dustin has become bitter and cynical about all relationships. They've caused him nothing but pain. In Commencement, he was beginning to show the signs of becoming more isolated and pushing everyone away. But at his heart, Dustin is still that hopeful, trusting little boy who just wanted to be loved. He's buried under a lot of rubble, but he's still in there.

But wooden bats make a much better sound when they crack a skull. Not that I'd know though... 😎

The saddest thing is, he thinks he's doing the right thing.

Part of the story of life is that as much as we fight and try not to be like our parents, often times we become them. Part of this particular story is how the characters we met in WAR are trying not to become their parents. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't.

It's not clear that Frank was there when Carol called. Maybe he was or maybe he wasn't. It's also possible Frank forced her to make the call.

Yes, Dustin is still looking for someone to blame for his problems. You see it with Mike in the first chapter too. This is where Dustin's years of neglect and abuse have left him. His way of processing every bad thing that happens to him is to blame someone else. In his mind, Billy should have understood that he didn't really want to say goodbye, and he never thought that Billy would take him seriously. He feels like he messed up the best thing he had going in his life, which led him to the state he's in now. There had to be consequences for how WAR ended. Dustin is all alone, and pretends he likes it even though it's killing him.

Brett Reilly snuffed out a cigarette and leaned against the hood of his car, waiting in the parking lot of the local police station. He’d been there for quite a while, debating whether he wanted to go through with this one more time. He had already made the drive into town from Pittsburgh, so he figured he might as well do what he had come to do. He entered the building and signed his name on the form at the window. He’d done this enough times that he knew exactly what steps he had to

We might know about one!

I always saw Mr. Hartley as being too smart to have sex with a student. He was cold and calculating, always looking to advance his career. Billy's speech to Sarah in that very same diner was there in case I never wrote this story. Readers had to know that the bad guys may have won, but their bad deeds would eventually catch up to them.