Shadow086

It was probably easier to hide a dragon in the shed than to try to hide a dragon-boy inside the house. Let's see how long Torsten can keep him hidden this time. What I'm really looking forward to is seeing how he interacts with Torsten when he wakes up, and maybe finding out his name too.

It looks like Torsten won't be able to hide his 'guest' for much longer. I wonder what will happen when he wakes up. Things are about to get even more interesting if these two start to communicate. What part will Theo play in all this, and what will happen to the dragon now? Why did the dragon decide to go in Torsten's basement instead of the shed, and how did it get in there? Events are starting to come together, and thankfully there aren't a ton of new mysteries this time. Another great chapter, and I hope we won't have to wait as long for the next one, I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Remember Billy went on the hill promising an honest relationship with truth, then he lied about being with Sam and he lied about anything to do with AJ by not mentioning it when Brandon asked if there was anyone else he had sex with. I guess we'll find out how this turns out very soon.

Another great chapter Com! So we know what Brandon does on Mondays. I can't say I'm really surprised. Now, I do think the pictures are real, but it's not like what Billy's led to believe. Here's what I think really happened: Brandon hangs out with Stevie on Mondays to get him out of his house (remember Stevie thinks those bullies who attacked him are looking for revenge), and he still cares for Stevie as a friend. That explains the first two pictures Jimmy sent, since there's nothing really strange about two friends hugging each other. Then I think Stevie kissed Brandon, explaining the third picture. I think the kiss was part of Jimmy's scheming to break up Billy and Brandon. My guess is he told Stevie that Brandon would dump Billy and take him back if he did this. Either way, I'm sure Jimmy manipulated events to be able to get those pictures. And Brandon didn't want to tell Billy because he's worried about how he'd react if he found out Stevie was still making a move on him. I think this is a simple misunderstanding that's going to get blown out of proportion. Maybe I'm putting too much faith in Brandon, but I don't think he's the type to do revenge cheating, or to cheat on Billy. But I guess we'll find out once Billy confronts Brandon after letting Jimmy's BS get to him.

I hate you for what you did to Dustin overall, but not for what Brett said in particular. Everything in Part 4 was building up to this, and we all knew it was coming. It was also very in character for Brett, and by then we all knew he wasn't above doing this sort of thing. If he had just said that out of the blue without any previous animosity with Dustin, I'd be really angry about it, but in this case I can at least understand why he said that in the heat of the moment. It was still a dick move, but it's not like Dustin was any better either, and I'm not excusing either of them for the way they acted.

I love how this story keeps me guessing. Theo was probably sent to befriend Torsten in order to get to the dragon, and ended up falling in love with him. But what side is he on, and was that also an act? It's hard to say. And what about the dragon? Where did he go? To Darren, since he touched the sapphire? To Torsten? We don't know whose side the dragon is on either. Either way, the secret's out.

I'm not sure I'd say Dustin was just interested in getting laid, though. The way I see it, Dustin was guarded and defensive because of the walls he built around himself. He didn't really know how to express his feelings and, in his mind, he couldn't afford to make himself vulnerable by opening up to Billy, so he used sex to try to win Billy's affection. I read Dustin's aggressiveness as him being desperate to feel loved and wanted, and thinking that doing sexual things with Billy was the only way to get Billy to care for him. Based on what he kept telling Billy, he probably thought that Brett took Billy away from him with the promise of sex, and so it made sense to 'win Billy back' using sex. If Dustin hadn't been so emotionally scarred by his family, things might have turned out very differently indeed. I don't know if my explanation made any sense. Now that I had to go over everything that happened, I don't think I could stand reading about Dustin's life falling apart again. Jeff, I'll be really pissed off at you if Dustin doesn't get his happy ending.

Maybe Chris has been telling her things, and that's why she's suddenly paying more attention to what they do in Tanner's room.

Wow, that was HOT! Hehehe, looks like Derrick's gonna need some energy if he wants to make it through the night. I got a bad feeling about this though. Tanner's mom is getting suspicious, and it looks to me like she cares about what Tanner does more than he thinks. Either that, or Tanner's gonna slip up. One thing's for sure, it won't be pretty once she finds out about their relationship.

Do you really think Billy would settle for less than a legally recognised marriage, though? Like Jeff said, his sense of justice wouldn't allow it. I can see B&B become one of the first gay couples to legally marry in their state.

Well, you brought up marriage, so now I want to see it.

Just wondering after reading the latest chapter, but

I agree with all of this. I don't think Brett ever believed his mom's explanation, but after a while he just got tired of the lies and let it drop. This quote from Billy sums things up perfectly: " As usual, things went better than I had expected when I finally got around to talking with my parents instead of just yelling at them like a child." I hope he remembers this for the next time With all this talk about borrowed time, I was expecting George to die by the end of this chapter, but I'm pleasantly surprised that he didn't. To wrap things up: things are looking up for Billy, he's more confident about being out (to total strangers he'll never see again, but that's still a good start), things are stable on the home front, his relationship reached a whole new level, and we get to see some great sex as a bonus. I'm satisfied with the way things turned out. Book Six: I'm not sure how to feel about that. The title would suggest that B&B are finally graduating from high school and leaving the valley behind, which I'm looking forward to seeing. But at the same time, that's a two year time jump, and there's just too many loose ends to be left alone during two whole years: the situation with Jack, Pastor Carl, and of course, Dustin, to name a few. I'm sure there are going to be a lot of changes in those situations that I'd rather see happen in real time instead of Billy mentioning it in passing after the fact. I'll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out. November... The wait is gonna be unbearable! Thanks again for this amazing story!

The anticipation is killing me!

Jack has more to lose from the affair coming out than Billy does, and he knows it. He can ruin Billy's family, but once the word is out the townspeople will start to look at Brett and Joey and go "Now that you mention it, they do look like brothers!", and then Jack is toast no matter what he does to Billy or his parents. The only things really keeping Billy in check right now are his fear of being outed and his not wanting to upset Brett. Once Brett knows (as I suspect he already does), and Billy comes out at school (as I suspect he might do soon based on what he told Brett about his argument with Paula) Jack will have a lot less power over him. Unless there's a lot we don't know, Jack is still a small-town lawyer, and I doubt he has the influence and connections to ruin Jen's career in addition to Billy's family. Either way, I think the key to Jack's downfall is Pastor Carl. I get the feeling he's doing some shady things and is in league with Jack, so exposing the pastor's corruption would take care of that immediate problem, and also possibly damage Jack's reputation by his association with the pastor, especially if it has legal ramifications. I'm speculating, of course, but this is one of the ways I see for Billy to get himself out of this mess.

It shouldn't be too long now. But we reached the end of the book, so that means a few weeks before the start of the next one. It's going to be hard to wait. I'm glad my rant entertained you, @droughtquake, I got myself quite angry while writing it and I was quite serious on my feelings about Paula.

You know, I almost feel bad for Paula after all this. It must hurt to find out that this is what your own child thinks of you. But I don't feel bad for her, because she had it coming for a long time now. Granted, we only see Billy's perspective, but she's been doing the "reputation" thing since book 1, and she never gave him a chance to defend or explain himself when he tried. In turn, that antagonised her to Billy and makes him confrontational when dealing with her. So she really brought it on herself. I still can't forgive her for throwing out Billy's CDs. To me, that's when she crossed the line from strict parent to despicable bitch. I hope Jack spreads rumours about her cheating so she's forced to admit Billy was right about him and his clique.

They have, and the fact that she's only figuring it out now shows what kind of mother she is. She still has that sanctimonious attitude, and it might be too late for her to fix things with Billy. He strikes me as the type to not forgive and forget that kind of thing very easily, and he typically doesn't want to listen to anyone when he gets like this. With these two's personalities, Paula's attemptes to reach out to Billy will probably make things worse between them.

This could hardly have turned out any better. Chris and Eric are gone, the school has Bailey's back, Declan made it clear Bailey wasn't the one who told. Heck, it even looks like Bailey might be beginning to accept Daniel's presence. Things are looking up. Now, the only major thing left is for Declan to find out about the cutting, and I don't think that's going to take very long if he keeps being so protective of Bailey.

I completely agree. Your stories have a level of polish I don't see from a lot of other authors. It's easy to see you really care about what you write, that's why I always come back to your stories. I'm looking forward to finding out more about this new story you're cooking up for us.

Happy to hear it. Take a break, you've earned it. And you'll get it right, don't worry. love ya, Comsie! *HUGZ*

Then he should want a maternity test instead. And Jeff, I figured he'd want a paternity test to protect himself if Jack followed through on his threat. There's a risk he'd go after Billy if any rumours started about him, even if Billy had nothing to do with it. But as I said before, it's not in Jack's interest to go ahead with a lawsuit, and I don't think he's that petty.

Well, I viewed it as Billy trying to use paternity as his line of defense, seeing as that would likely be the claim that prompted the lawsuit in the first place. He'd be trying to prove that what he said was true. The thing about the truth, though, is that it always finds its way out. Moving on, Carl Stevens is who Billy should go after at this point. Doing that would take away some of Jack's control over the church, and by extension, the community. Something tells me this isn't the last we've heard of Nate Stevens.

I will admit to getting carried away in my desire to see Jack brought down from his pedestal. The fact that Brett suddenly stopped asking about his father makes me suspect that he knows anyway. He probably doesn't care and is more upset at his mom for lying to him than wanting to know about his father in the first place. Hanging around Joey so much, he can't have missed the fact that they look so much alike and could pass off as brothers (which they are). It wouldn't surprise me if Brett just tells Billy he already knows and to drop it because it's not worth the trouble. Brett won't want this to keep eating away at Billy, and he knows Billy's the type to go nuclear again and ruin his own life in the process. And Billy's going to keep it shut if Brett tells him to. With Brett's help, Billy and Jack should be able to reach an agreement to stay out of each other's business.