Shadow086

Great chapter as always, Com! I'm sorry but, Mack Franks? What kind of silly name is that? And it was funny to see Billy wanting to 'cockblock' his mother. Okay, this Jimmy LaPlane thing has got to stop! I guess Sam's too busy having sex with what's-her-name to take care of Jimmy like he said he would. I loved the way Brandon calmed Billy down, though, hehehe! I wonder what Jimmy will do next, hopefully he ends up getting therapy or something, because he needs it. I'm a bit worried about Brandon forgetting his phone in the car. Hopefully it doesn't lead to his dad seeing things he shouldn't.

So do I, but there are probably things that he didn't know. Like how Billy knew and let himself be bribed into keeping quiet. I can't imagine that going over well with him.

Looks like Billy earned a trip to Brett's ass! The minute the conversation turned to Jack, my first thought was that Brett wasn't asleep. And it's still not clear if he was asleep, when he woke up, and how much he heard, if he heard anything. That could get interesting later. I guess having a gay brother explains why Jack is so protective of Brett. But he doesn't care enough to tell him the truth. I wonder if he sees his brother in Brett somehow. "I think people will respect you more if you tell the truth. We all fuck up and hurt people we love. It’s what we do after we fuck up that defines us." That is very mature and wise, coming from Billy. And of course, she dismisses it. The return of the mysterious coin box! Does Brett really just want to look at them, or is there something more to it that Billy didn't see? You just know that something's going to happen to that coin collection, and Billy will be pissed off about it. It was nice to finally see Paula come around. Hopefully it'll last and Pastor Carl will lose his influence on her. I think Dave has a lot to do with her change in attitude too, since he seems to have a lot less respect for our good pastor. The April Fool: I'm 99.9% sure this is a Dustin chapter. I think it's going to be Sweet Little Dusty's birthday party, but I think his relationship with Emily needs to be explored as well.

This is just making me hungry...

From what he said in chapter 3, I didn't think he'd ever play again. It was, but you'd think Jack would jump at the chance to ship him off to military school and be done with him. And Dustin? Well, despite what he keeps saying, I don't think he's over Billy yet. I don't think he'll cause any real trouble, though.

"The only thing you've earned is a trip to my ass!" Billy just has the best comebacks. Brett's going to have a field day with that one. Dustin picked up baseball again? Interesting. He must be recovering a lot better than I thought. Joey: I'm surprised he even got to come back to school, I thought Jack would ship him off somewhere to avoid further embarrassment from his failure of a son. He deserved everything he got, but it always makes me sad to see a young man's life ruined by drugs. I'm also surprised he was still in the running, considering all the drugs he was taking. Sarah: the biggest fish in a tiny pond. Maybe Billy should give her the title and be left alone, but he had to screw that up and make it personal with her. And that comeback. That scene with Brett and Dustin was just great. I really hope Em can be Dustin's special someone. But it looks like part of him really wants what Sarah earned. The meeting is off to a rocky start, but it looks like Aiden is another Billy in the making. That school better watch out.

Joey doesn't have it nearly as bad as Dustin for sure, but in both cases the boys ended up feeling empty and worthless. And in some cases I'd argue that emotional abuse is more destructive than physical abuse.

I still don't see it. He didn't seem to do anything to stop the pastor from almost calling out Billy in his sermons, nor did he do anything to stop the rumours about Billy's mom having an affair with David. In fact, he could've made the whole thing up to drive a wedge between them and isolate Billy. The only thing I can give Jack credit for is getting Joey to leave Billy alone. So let's agree to disagree, because I don't see anything in the chapters that would indicate Jack defending Billy from other people. Of course, we only know what Billy knows, so you could be right, but from what we've seen of Jack's character, it doesn't sound like something he'd do. What Miss Winston said when Billy visited her makes me think that the pastor knows too and will use that to push Jack out of the way very soon.

Jack threatened to sue Billy and his family into bankruptcy if he didn't keep his mouth shut. He also threatened to out Billy to the entire town. That's not what I call 'being a supporter'. I also think that Joey saying Billy was a loser not good enough for Brett was a line fed to him by Jack. I guess we'll have to disagree, because I don't think Jack is supporting Billy at all. He's very manipulative, and he'll do whatever it takes to keep his secret safe, even if it means pretending to be nice to Billy.

Fair enough, but so is this part of what Jack said: "I’ve never rejected you, Billy. I’ve been your biggest supporter!" That's not the truth, it's not even an opinion, it's an outright lie. But the rest of what you quoted is the truth, though.

She never really had a good reason for the way she handles Brett anyway. The kids are also at that age where they want to become their own person and make their own decisions instead of following the path their parents laid out for them. And with the parents these kids have, I can't say I blame them.

I'm not surprised that Dr. Reilly hasn't taken Jack to task, since she's doing pretty much the same thing with her own son. She's not exactly Mother of the Year material.

You forget this: "Anyone could see that he was reacting as a father, not like an ambulance chasing lawyer. Have you seen Brett and Joey side-by-side lately? They look more alike now than they did before. You can’t keep this charade up for much longer." and this: "Your power is a joke. You’re just a smalltime lawyer in a smalltime little town."

You forget where Brett gets his charisma from. Jack's a smooth talker, and I can't really blame Billy for not wanting to cause a scene, especially with Joey there. Billy was holding his own until Jack showed up, then he let Jack manipulate him just like before. Besides, he basically told Brett what he needed to tell him the night before, since I'm very certain that Brett knew what he was saying when he mentioned his dad. Just wait until they're alone, though. Joey's years of sexual assault, misconduct, and harassment are swept under the rug with a "Daddy doesn't love me, so I started doing drugs and treating you like shit so I don't feel so worthless." That still doesn't excuse what he did, though. I don't think what Joey did was right, and I don't think he deserves a free pass on it either. But I don't think we should completely dismiss his explanations and circumstances either. Joey's still an insufferable asshole, but at least now we know why he's an insufferable asshole.

The people who care the most about their good reputation and standing in the community are usually the people who least deserve to have them.

Billy Roberts caved under the slightest bit of pressure? I did not see that one coming! Jack and Jen played him for a fool, and Billy knows it. He didn't just say these things about Brett out of the blue, Jen probably told him that the only way to keep Billy quiet is to make him think that Brett would hate him if he didn't. On the other hand, he did already tell him when he thought Brett was out of it (I think he wasn't). And I don't think Brett bought that story about an internship either. Wow, Joey's even more fucked up than I thought. He's probably second only to Dustin in the messed-up life department. I also thinks he knows his father's secret and wouldn't mind seeing him out of the picture. This chapter puts a lot of Joey's actions in perspective. The way I see it, Joey hated the fact that Brett is obviously Jack's favourite son. He might have come to resent Billy because of how he and Brett are happy together, yet another thing Joey doesn't have. As well, of course, as the way he thinks Billy has everything handed to him while he tried his best for years and never got any recognition. Joey feels unwanted and lashes out at the people who have their parents' love the way he never had, and in his circle of friends that's Billy. Joey has me feeling the same way I did about Dustin in Rehabilitation. I can't forgive or excuse the things he did, but I now that I understand why he acts that way, I have some sympathy for him. Joey and Dustin are similar in that way. Maybe Joey's dad didn't physically beat him (I think he did hit him at one point, though), the emotional damage he did is just as bad. Joey just turned to drugs instead of prostitution as his escape. The Kids Aren't Alright: such an appropriate title for a chapter at this point. I think this is where all the lies start blowing up in people's faces, though we'll mostly see about Billy's lies. Brett's got a lot of time on his hands to think and confront Billy about things. Sure, he'll be mad at Billy for a while, but I think they love each other too much to let this come between them for long. PS: I'm really starting to hate Jen and how spineless she is. Everything she did since Billy told her he knew proved to me that she's selfish and chose her friend over her own son at every opportunity. Now I understand why Brett treats her the way he does, and I think Billy's also starting to see her for the selfish, lying snake that she is.

Great story, @Comicality, I loved how Jason didn't take advantage of the situation and gave Blake a chance to experience things with the right guy.

But really, Billy? The guy spent years being obsessed with finding his dad, and one day, out of the blue, he just drops it and moves on, and you think that's normal? Come on. How can a guy be so smart and so stupid at the same time?

There's always a fight coming in this story, it's just a matter of seeing if it's going to be Billy or Brett that does the fighting. And you're right. I think Dave acts the most Christian out of all the known members of that church, including Paula.

I've always thought that Brett knew Jack was his father, ever since he stopped talking about his dad. I don't think he knew that Billy knows, though, and he's going to be really pissed that Billy lied to him about it all this time. Brett said so himself, he doesn't care who his dad is, he's just tired of everyone lying to him about it, and now he finds out the person he trusts the most was lying to him as well.

Well, a lot happened. Jack might want to ease up on the Father Hen act, unless he wants to reveal certain secrets. Paula's absolutely right, as a "friend of the family", he doesn't get to decide who can and can't see Brett. In any case, I won't feel bad if he ends up giving away the fact that he's Brett's father. Jen: I get where she's coming from, and that she's angry at Billy for getting Brett on that dirtbike. But I wonder if she also isn't upset in a small part because she had to get Jack involved. Now we know where Billy got his obliviousness from, huh? It was good to see Dave finally have a nice talk with Billy to clear the air about some things. And having him defend Billy in the argument with Paula was great to see as well. It's interesting that Dave seems to have lost at least some respect for Carl after the incident with Nate, I like the vanilla douche more and more. And I was right about him deciding his hands-off approach wasn't working To Paula's credit, she now accepts at least part of B&B's relationship. But as usual with the Christian moral police, she's obsessed with the sex part. I'm sure it would be the same if Billy had a girlfriend, despite what he said. Brett mentioning his dad spells trouble for Billy. Billy still hasn't learned that Brett is more observant than he lets on. I think Brett's known about his father for a while and stopped bringing it up because he knows Jack is a dick. I don't think Brett really cared much about his dad, and his main problem with the situation was that he knew Jen was lying to him about it. And since Billy basically admitted that he knew because he's so sure that Brett won't remember that conversation, I think there's a very good chance that Brett will remember it, and that Billy kept it secret from him. Liars' Club: I think that's the club for people who lied to Brett about his father. Brett's going to be angry at Billy over this, at least for a little while. I also think we're going to hear about what went on at church, that should be interesting. I'm half expecting Carl to start spreading rumours about the dirt bike incident that Paula knows aren't true, maybe that will open her eyes to the kind of lying hypocrites she's trying to fit in with.

Having a very good reason for doing what he did doesn't make it less disappointing. But the urgency in Theo's actions make me think it's too late to avoid the alternative anyway, so he may have broken Torsten's trust for nothing. Considering he can do something very similar to teleportation, he could be watching distractedly. But when I think about it, he did a lot of watching Theo, so he could very well be running interference on Darren's plans instead.

Well, Araziah did casually admit he plans to take over the world here: "if there is to be a new dominion, then I am the architect." He squeezed my shoulder, again. "Yes, that is what we will be doing." He's definitely not one for using tact and diplomacy to get what he wants, but I'm sure he'd learn quickly if he thinks it would be of use to him. Theo meant well, but I think 'Theosten' is done at this point. We also don't know if Torsten was able to resist the attack or not. I don't think he's that weak-minded, and that he'll be able to hold out long enough for someone to come help him.

Well, Theo is dead meat... I get why Theo did what he did, but it's still disappointing. I wish he'd tried to find another way instead of breaking Torsten's trust. And now he better hope he can get somewhere safe before Araziah gets to him, because I'm fairly certain that the offer has expired. I'd be very surprised if Araziah didn't see this whole thing. His section implies that the only reason he's out of the house so much is to spy on Theo, so I'm sure he's nearby, waiting to pounce if Theo ever betrayed Torsten like he did just now. What he does next remains to be seen, but I'm sure it will involve hurting Theo. I'm not sure why I should hate Araziah. I mean, sure, he's an asshole and he treats Torsten like he owns him, but that's nothing new for him. Maybe it's not for the right reasons, but he does seem to have a level of fondness for Torsten, and he's being very protective of him. And he didn't compel Torsten to bend to his will, so that's another thing in his favour for now. Surprisingly, I think I like Araziah more after this chapter. He feels more authentic to me now. Araziah doesn't try to put on a mask and pretend to be something he's not, he's a condescending asshole and he embraces it. I like that about him. The contrast between Theo and Araziah in this chapter was very interesting. On one hand you have Araziah being very condescending to Torsten yet giving him another chance to change his mind, and on the other hand you have Theo being loving and affectionate yet taking what he wants by force. It's like each of them did what you'd expect from the other. I expect Araziah to have a bit of an 'I told you so' moment when this is over, but does Torsten still have that chance to change his mind? And if so, will he? It would be funny if Araziah just showed up one day with another boy and said "Torsten, this is your new boyfriend." Another great chapter, well worth the wait! PS: Would I be mistaken in assuming that Araziah is his true name? Because he certainly fits the second reason for sharing it, maybe even both in Torsten's case.

"This is all your fault, Roberts! You stay the fuck away from him!"