jkwsquirrel

Yeah, sorry about the cliffhanger. I don't use them often, this is one of the only true cliffhanger chapters in the story actually. (Which I think made it a much more impactful moment.) Billy is kind of myopic. He's a teenager, so that kind of comes with the territory. He only sees how events are going to impact himself. He notices things, but he doesn't think things through. His response to his troubles is to lash out when things seem unjust. Many times that impulsive nature gets him into trouble. He feels powerless. He doesn't know how to fix what's wrong so he says nothing rather than "make things worse." I hope it's becoming clear that the town itself is becoming so corrupt that the cops are essentially powerless to do much of anything. The park that was home to such happy moments for Billy and his grandma has become a den of drug dealers and prostitution, even in broad daylight. The school has one good teacher standing up for the students, and she is losing hope. The man who can fix anything is falling apart. The church is feeding people's worst intentions, corrupting the town further rather than calling it to repentance. Much of the conflict Billy faces is the continuation of a generations-long conflict.

Thanks Benji! You're on the right path with these thoughts. (Mostly!)

Everything about the situation will become clear in the next chapter. Dustin's confession of love for Billy came because he felt like he no longer had anything to lose. He was 'going away' one way or another, thinking it would be the last time he ever saw Billy. Be aware of someone whose life is falling to pieces and has been very depressed who suddenly becomes very calm and accepting of things. It's actually a really bad sign. When one of my characters starts smoking, it's a bad sign. They're under a lot of stress. Brett thought he was going to get destroyed. Dustin was pondering some very bad things. You did call the driving test! Hopefully the next chapter's title will become clear when the time comes.

Yeah. Sorry about the cliffhanger!

Thanks glennish! Indeed! Much of Brett and Dustin's animosity stems from their desire to have the same thing, and only one can have it. How I wish I were just making up Dustin's mom taking her husband back after everything that happened. Unfortunately that kind of thing happening is all too real. People in abusive relationships do things that make you so frustrated. There's no reason to it. It's very sad.

Thanks for sharing this, DQ. Everyone handles like differently, don't they? There is help available for those who seek it. No one needs to do life alone.

Thanks Israfil! Thanks for your take on the issues with Billy at school. Funny how we relate to each other. Billy just wants to be left alone, so we know he'll get dragged into things eventually. Dustin is a good kid who has had some terrible things happen to him and then he's made some bad choices on top of those bad things that have made the bad things even worse. It's a rolling snowball becoming an avalanche. But I've always thought that Billy and Dustin together would be bad for both of them. So you were expecting something bad to happen when things were going so good? Now why would you expect that? Mwahahahahahaaaa!!!!!!!

Dustin is in no condition to tell anyone anything at the moment. We'll find out more very soon.

Thanks Dahawk! Things are changing, some for better, some for worse!

Sorry about the cliffhanger. Or am I? Mwahahahahaha!!!!!!!!11

I slept in the guest room overnight. Brett insisted it was only because he hurt so much, but I think he was kind of mad at me that I’d let Dustin into not only his house but also his life. After I’d helped him up the stairs, he gingerly stripped down and I drew a bath for him. He just soaked there for a long time, and I gently cleaned up his wounds. His shirt and shorts were ruined with blood stains, and boxers were soaked with piss. He was really embarrassed about pissing himself and begge

From Dustin's point of view, it doesn't matter how it's all happening, it just is and he's losing his grip on everything he holds dear, including his sanity.

Yeah, but I'd answered a lot of your Dustin thoughts in other comments! lol. But yes, my goal is that if it's there, it means something, not just there to titillate. The first time, the boys were like, "Oh my god! We're having sex and it's the best thing EVER!!!!" Then it became a bit of a power struggle between the boys. Now the boys have moved to a place where they can joke around and play with each other as they've become more comfortable with their relationship. And it's Billy we're talking about, who made poor horny Brett wait a year before he was ready, so that is quite a bit of growth!

Brett's pretty tough. He did bounce off a Cadillac like a champ, after all. You are on the ball about Dustin's behavior. All he knows is violence and abuse. That he was able to maintain the facade of normality for so long is a testament to his willpower. But now that he's losing the last pieces of what he sees as his normal life; Mike, sports, the park, his parents, Billy, he's lashing out in the only way he knows. It's how he's been taught all his life. He's becoming everything he hates. And yes, he is taking out all of his frustration and anger on someone who is physically weaker. He's been taught that all his life too. Thankfully, Dustin's beating the crap out of Brett is not the end of their story, but a turning point.

Well, his life is falling apart and he feels out of control. The park and his family, for all the evil that they do to him, were part of his normal. What will happen now that they have been taken from him?

I'll never tell!

I kind of like that sex has just become part of the routine for the boys. It's become just part of who they are and what they do together. Now yeah, it's still really hot, but they've come a long way from where they started to where they are now. It's not a surprise to them anymore that they're getting laid, it's just part of who they are.

Thanks Onim! See my commentary up above concerning Billy's cowardly behavior, and trust that someone as perceptive as Brett will eventually call him on it.

Remember my promise. Even if it looks bleak, Dustin will live.

Thanks Benji! I think Dustin's story is a part of that script you described. Of course he was going to end up no good, right? His parents were trash, so he has to be trash too. Joey's dad said it best, Billy is discovering that people his parents age had lives before he was born, and it seems that the children are destined to keep living the script of the generations that preceded them. Part of Billy's journey is his awakening to what's going on in the world around him, and that he doesn't need to live the life that society seems to have laid out for him. For as cowardly as Billy can sometimes be, he does have a talent for challenging authority. His sense of justice won't allow him let things continue as they have always been.

Thanks Dahawk! It''s always darkest before the dawn. Dustin is at a crossroads. He doesn't know what normal looks like. He'll need some help. He may find that help from some unlikely places.

We come up with all manor of terms to talk about things we don't particularly want to talk about don't we? As far as concussions go, if someone is suddenly very tired after hitting their head, they should go get their head checked out. It could be a sign. However, sleep helps in the healing process of a concussion. Brett will be okay. He just needed to rest after getting throttled. He'll be good as new in no time.

Hi everyone! Thanks for all of the wonderful responses to this chapter. Not much time today, but I would like to comment on something that has been brought up by several folks, that is, Billy's just standing there doing nothing while Brett gets beat up. First, I will say that it was the intention all along that Brett vs. Dustin ended this way; with Dustin beating the tar out of Brett. It had to happen at this point in the story too. The fight went the way it did for all the reasons folks have listed. Even in his weakened condition, Dustin is still bigger and stronger than Brett. But also, Brett didn't once fight back. He wanted to avoid the fight altogether, but when it came down he tried to run away. In their war of words in Rehabilitation, Brett was the aggressor until Dustin struck back and Brett retaliated with the only thing he could to hurt Dustin as bad as possible, that Billy had chosen him over Dustin. That pretty much broke Dustin, but it hurt Billy in the process. Could Brett have fought back against Dustin in this fight? Sure. But at what cost? So Brett took one for the team, so to speak. A one-sided curb-stomp fight with a wounded animal. In the last book, when a lot of folks were upset with Brett for the way he used Billy to go after Dustin, I said Brett would pay for it, but when it happened you may not like it. This is that moment, when Brett is finally beginning to mature into a fine young man, getting his issues under control, taking his medication, growing into the boyfriend we all knew he could be... Now here comes his past to get him for all the rotten things he did to Dustin. I loved his response when he saw Dustin had come for him, not defiance, not anger, just resignation. "Oh shit..." As for Billy just standing there, two things. One, Billy is a coward. Billy has a big mouth, but he can't back it up physically. Remember when Billy would wrestle with Brett who always ended up on his back? Or in the one real fight he got into with Joey, Billy ended up on his back and would have gotten pummeled like Brett did in this chapter if not for Bobby saving him. So Billy uses his brain and his mouth to win his battles. He's not the physical type and he sucks at every sport he tries, baseball, bowling, basketball, driving... Billy just standing there is shock wondering what to do as Brett gets destroyed is in character for him, and when he does get involved physically he uses his head and clobbers Dustin with a weapon. But here's the second more behind-the-scenes thing; sometimes writing in the first-person sucks. Billy had to be there to witness the fight. The fight had to happen, Billy had to be there to see it, and he had to not get involved until the end. I think it's called "writing myself into a corner." Sometimes I struggle to have Billy believably be in places to witness things he needs to see. It's always my hope as a writer that you don't notice, of course, so that you're not taken out of the story to notice the duct tape, chewing gum, and wires holding the stage together. But yeah, even as I was writing this scene I was thinking, "for god's sake, Billy, do something!"

I called Brett the morning after my conversation with my dad and told him about dad being cool with us being together. Brett wasn’t surprised and reminded me that he had always thought my dad knew. He agreed with me though, that it wasn’t quite time for our mothers to know. “My mom won’t care. But your mom would probably freak out,” he said. “No, my mom would definitely freak out. She still thinks I’m in love with Emily.” “Yeah.” “Of course, Em

Thanks Dahawk! I appreciate it!