Krista

I wouldn't want to be a fly on the wall.. lol. Not during that intervention for sure!

They may be good for one another, but Cindy most definitely wouldn't see it that way. Lol. Poor guys. I'm glad you think they compliment one another nicely and are good for one another - I wouldn't want people thinking that Jackson isn't good for Luke at this stage of the story, probably in the beginning.. but nah, not after all this changing.

Happy Birthday!

I thought about it, but no I haven't gotten anything planned for them to be honest. It is a bit of an older story for me, so I'd really really really have to concentrate on it before I'd be able to do anything with it because I've forgotten a lot of it.. lol.

No, it is completed. I'm glad you like this story!

Happy Birthday, Myr! Have a great one.

Happy Birthday, Graeme!

As the night went on, and well after we found out that paint balls could hurt and leave a mark, people started to leave. Even Tim looked relieved to finally see the crowds thinning. We were some of the last ones left and Welker, to his credit didn’t try to round us up and herd us out the door at a reasonable hour. Instead, as the clock ticked towards one in the morning and the food ran out I yawned and absently rubbed at a red lump forming just below my right elbow from one of the paint balls. T

Lol.. if you noticed, the boys aside from Jackson all ended up using the facilities at the same time as well. Which was unintentional until Steve pointed that fact out to me in editing. I thought it was cute, so I just left it... The Easter Egg is actually the small talk around Pizza about their biggest Football rivals. The Quarterback has a broken arm... he's apparently gay and has a boyfriend. The team was in a bit of turmoil that left the coach wanting to leave and take another job after the end of the season. Doesn't that sound like something that happened before?

It is.. until you find out that the Phenomenon STEVE happens after Taco Tuesdays..

Cindy is a control freak for sure. She definitely wants to know what is going on with Luke, probably Henry. I wonder what all Henry gave up just because he was... "blinded by love," they certainly do seem a bit mis-matched. At least Luke took after his Dad, could you imagine Luke-zilla? lol. High school girls.. seeing everyone else paired up, and wondering why their one friend is still single.. lol. Maybe that's the reason? They may not realize there is a completely different reason for Jackson's complete dismissal of the idea of dating. Luke and Jackson may start robbing stage coaches and trains headed out west after learning to ride horses. Yeah, Cindy is taking a very hard stance on Jackson and she's willing to lose a great friend in Grace by alienating Jackson like she has. Lol.. she-who-must-not-be-named.. Jackson being single isn't normal for them, for sure. He has been dating, Lily, Heather, and Ally.. I didn't really hint on how long those relationships where or if there were more girls in between them. It would be odd for "the future prom king.." to be so single right now, especially after Ally moved on a bit with a new boyfriend. What is Luke going to do? That would be an interesting question. I don't think Cindy would take that confrontation too easily either, it may have just told her that she needs to be more strict and less forgiving with Jackson and dealing with Luke. Yeah! Hmm - That would be a huge step for sure, probably out of all the writing I've done.. these two characters seem to be the ones that are the most shy about that particular thing. I just hope to handle that part of their relationship well, no matter what happens between them. I'd like to be a fly on the wall if Luke is pushed too far. He sure does have some things bottled up about the way Cindy is handling him right now. She made sure to talk to Jackson alone w/out Luke or Grace in earshot. She may get more than she bargained for if she pushes both boys too far. I like your explanation about the girls as well. They are good friends, have been for years. The fact that Jackson was able to keep them after dating them, especially Ally and how that relationship ended does hint at exactly how close they are. But they're also getting annoyed with Jackson's indifference and with the way he is acting strangely and altogether different from where he was at the beginning of the school year. Grace has decided to meet Jackson on his level instead of trying to push him up to her's. If only Cindy would learn how to do that... Ally is still a problem, yes, it is one that I think, Jackson would want to take on in private.. or at least on a one and one situation and he hasn't had that chance with her yet. Some of it is because of Luke, another reason is that she still doesn't seem to be all that comfortable around Jackson right now either. There are definitely a lot of small hail stones hitting Jackson's window... hopefully it won't turn into a full blown tornado. ---- Ahh! I totally forgot about the multi-quote it makes it soooo much easier to reply to y'all's comments.

Lol. That seems to be a popular sentiment.

I like 'how' Jackson stood up to her. He did it in a way that wouldn't get Luke into more trouble than he already would be for taking in the entire day with Jackson. I think maybe... Derek and Toby just want things to go back to normal.. in a way where they're all on the same page with one another. The reaction the girls had about finding out the news about other gays out in the world may have given Derek hope for Jackson to just get it over with.

Hmm.. UFC in Sunday dresses? Could be fun.

Sure did! I'm about to post the section on the forum and explain it a bit.

Probably wouldn't have warmed her heart towards him any if he had.... but maybe after that talking to she gave him he'd like to toss a few for sure.

Lol. Yeah, it surprised Luke for sure that he didn't get pushed away.

By the time we finished the ride and after we tossed the ruined sandwiches, we were late for homecoming. Luke didn’t seem to mind though and if I had my way we would be on our way back to my house for more privacy that a conveniently empty house provided. Not that I was brave enough to do anything, and the ride and the carelessness of us being alone was addicting. It wasn’t a stolen moment out beside my house, but something together and without the fear of prying eyes that we would have to answe

Happpyyyyy Birthday!

Congratulations!

Bring me Joey Votto in his baseball uniform, please.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading! Sometimes it is very difficult for me to see the entire growth of characters throughout the story. I don't plan for them in such a way that I know where I want them to be at parts of the story over all. So I'm always worried that maybe the growth or transitions happens awkwardly, too fast, too easily, etc. I keep telling y'all how much I appreciate comments specifically about my characters they help comfort my worries a lot. So thank you and to everyone for that.

Thank you for reading the story and enjoying it so far! Thanks for reading! I'm glad that you feel Jackson has grown up a bit as the story progressed. Although, I think he may need to relapse a bit if Cindzilla keeps rampaging through. lol. Thanks for reading! Luke and Jackson did give her the slip, for sure. So I doubt she'll take that in stride, you'll definitely see her response to that in the next chapter. Thanks for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. Thanks for reading! Olivia is a very pushy character in a way, but it was nice that she was able to open Jackson's eyes a bit. I know! 24 chapters in and this was their first real date, lol.. and it was something that was on Luke's list of things he wanted to do, so that's nice. Thanks for reading! We did get to see a braver more settled Luke in this chapter. I think they are finally meeting one another on the same level, if that makes sense. They can definitely do a bit more growing as people and together, I think. Cindy definitely won't be happy. Thank you for reading! It is nice hearing that Jackson is a realistic character. I feared that maybe his transition would be a bit too... lackluster and easily done? Which I think would take away some realism, definitely. I like thinking that all these characters could be out strolling along in real life, that they aren't too fictitious to exist. That is the type of writing I like to do, so I'm glad you like reading about them as well. Me too. I think there would be quite the line waiting to get her after she stormed through their party knocking on tents and all that. lol. Yes, I agree. Although, their kiss was still in a secluded area, but at least it was during the day.. baby steps, I guess. They are calmer around people that Luke doesn't have to, what's the word.... I guess explain himself with? Adhere to? The word completely left me mid-thought, oh well.. hopefully that makes sense. I would hope, maybe that if Cindy saw Luke's growth as positive in the first place that she would enjoy seeing the carefree and easy smiles her son really has.. there's such life in that, I would hate to think I was somehow stifling that in my own children, so we'll see what kind of parent Cindy really is, I think. So pretty. Thanks for reading! Yeah, I think the story needed Luke to be fearless and capable/confident, while Jackson was scared to death and out of his element. I liked writing the scenes where they got to see different sides of the other. It had quite the effect on Luke. lol. Thanks for reading and enjoying the story so far!

I totally thought I already responded to this comment?! Wow, sorry I missed it and thank you for reading! Yes, I don't think she wanted to admit to knowing, not in front of Luke just yet, because maybe she wasn't completely comfortable in speaking to her best friend's son about something like that. I guess, I could have played it off with Luke being more shaken up/nervous in his confrontation so she did it in a way to spare his feelings and hopefully let Luke settle down a bit and calm down. Cindzilla fits her and yes, she went there knowing Luke was attending. lol. Sigh... Cindy. Yep, he dated all three girls in the group. lol. I guess it is a way to represent how immature, maybe, his relationships were up until maybe Ally and most definitely Luke. You may see some explanation in that via conversations he has with some of the girls as well. I'm so glad you liked the chapter though!