Krista

Aha! I read your mind, or you read my mind, and you confirmed that I read yours? Makes sense, yes? About the POV I mean. And it sucks that Trace and those like him are more fiction than not. But, I am glad your Trace was just delayed in the finding of you and you them.

Also, I see I've not been as good with the comments as I thought I've been with this story, as I've missed a lot of these. I can't remember what or why that would be aside from work drama going on around that time, but that's no excuse. Woops. Sorry.

Oh gosh... I don't know, I'm a little scared, as it is firmly in 1st person... lol. 😮

and, it would look really nice on a uniform, mind you. Just not in Maroon, apparently.

I have no interest in Star Trek what so ever. Apparently there's a lot of Slash fiction around some of the characters. But the craze missed me by a decade or so. *whistles* and I never got into the show. But! What television show hasn't been a disappointment of late? Bridgerton - Season One was okay. You have to overlook all the historical inaccuracies though. Some people can't, I'm not a true purist, because the show never set out to be that in any form. If it did, it would have made it more of a failure. Every season after the first though, gets progressively worse and I'm not even sure I'll watch the next one. Especially since they're not touching Benedict's apparent Bisexuality they crafted throughout seasons 1 - 3. Or I've not seen evidence of it anyway. The Summer I Turned Pretty - Season 2 and 3 were awful. Sorry, they were. A lot of unnecessary writing and stupidity in both seasons. A lot of scenes that didn't give anything to it. I know a lot of that was in the source material, but them amplified to higher importance for the sake of screen time, but i wanted to skip ahead to the parts of the episodes that progressed the writing. A lot of the character acting fell apart in the later seasons as well. It is like they knew they had a "hit" and didn't feel like they still needed to handle it all with care like they did the first season. Overcompensating - Ick. The final two episodes of the season were decent at best. I've done a review on that in a different topic, but the characters weren't believable and they were so base-level written that they get lost in the chaos of the writing. They weren't likeable in the least. I couldn't care less about them or what the story is attempting to entertain me with. Heartstoppers - Don't get angry with me. If you liked the cute little coming out and coming of age series, then fine. I liked the first season. It needed to end with that though. The other seasons just bogged down and detracted from the first. Sometimes you can mess up a good thing by not letting it sit and breathe a little. This series needed to be left alone instead of attempting continuing past where season one ended. Young Royals - Same as Heartstoppers. It was fine for a season one show. After that, it got progressively worse. It sort of redeemed itself towards the end of the last season, but it did a lot of character assassinations along the way that didn't need to happen. It made too many of the characters insufferable and I couldn't stick with it. ---- The list goes on, but I'll stop complaining.

I knew about 0, but I did not know about the others, strange. 17 is too common a number not to be used at the college level and the MLB. If he took it farther than Tempton baseball, he'd realistically have to change it. Logical sometimes doesn't align well with emotional though. Why Pie though? just an interesting number that would turn heads, or what's your reasoning behind that?

Would Davin get over his fear of riding a horse, just to get Joel up on one, just to get the chance of a happy ending.... oops.... full body massage? I know men are motivated when it comes to that, but....

I hope it goes as smoothly as it can, because it is never a simple thing.

I can see where his words could be taken there. But, I think the meat of what he said was that Joel could relax and be himself more, and if that led to him being brave enough to take that step, that he'd be there to help with whatever came afterwards. It is a lovely sentiment. One he obviously hasn't ever heard anyone in his life ever tell him. Team Javin wooo! Still can't talk boys with you all and it stinks. But I want to... so so bad.

My goodness that's a horrid picture. It is very unsettling as a Reds fan that's, to be fair only been a Reds fan because of Joey Votto, but still. Horrendous, my goodness.

Yeah, Trace has said Joel is a miracle, but I don't think Joel felt that he was one to them. Now I think, after seeing that much conviction and what that night and having Joel there meant to Trace, it can sink it. Surely it will. The boy is hurting, but he's not completely blind to the world around him. Davin and Joel felt one another out a bit more when they had that argument. They didn't leave it to fester, even after Davin left and came back, they still allowed for the conversation to happen instead of separating and letting all of that fall back into their minds to bottle up. Lacey did show maturity. She wants so much to be involved, and maybe she doesn't understand the purpose of the ride being more than just a tour, but she took it with more grace than I've seen a lot of kids these days her age would have taken it. And she got over it and didn't hold it against her father or Joel. But Joel has to feel guilty, I do wonder if he is feeling guilty enough to get back on a horse though? Choices, allowing choices that you know you shouldn't put weight on, still have their weight can be very cumbersome. He's still looking back, but most of him is telling him that he shouldn't be.

Gavin is about as subtle as a neon sign. But yeah, he tried that method, didn't he? To be 100% honest, that comment about stepping in shit when he overheard their attitudes about being interrupted mid-conversation, I was like... Oh crap, he said that. So yeah, even with me Gavin's mouth runs away for a bit. Davin has hinted as the possibility of Gavin knowing a few times. One time he says, "he probably does know about me, or has a clue..." or something along those lines. It may just be Davin working through his own thought processes about his own sexuality and how he wants people to know. But yeah, that response from Gavin should have opened their eyes a bit. That's something you don't say to friends who are caught bickering. You'd say something like, "Fucking hell dudes, come on and get over your bullshit." Not awkwardly saying, "Damn, did I step in shit?" That's what guys would say if they walked in and saw their poor friend getting scolded by his woman. And yeah... New phone. Ick. New truck. Ick. Sigh. He must really feel like he's been a burden on these people...

He needs to take more than baby steps, he's walking through this like a toddler or if Trace was talking, like a foal learning where its legs are. He takes tentative steps forward, then stumbles off balance backwards. So bold steps need to happen only after he finds his feet. But with anything, if you make a bold decision, it will be loud. He ran from a team that were welcoming to him, seemingly. He has to know what that's going to look like.

Yeah, Joel venting did open the door to better understanding him and what he needs from them. Although, they were on the right track already it seems, it was Joel not being open to accepting what they are offering. It might be because he's still too scared to reach for it as well. He's had it ripped out from under him once already, there has to be a part of him waiting for that shoe to drop again. Maybe after this talk, he will understand just how committed they all are to him. Yes... even Colt... maybe? It is a heavy thought. It's one that's not easily overcome either. He thinks he wants safe, different, and easy. The same, "I'm just quiet, but straight, don't look at me..." sort of lie that's been the foundation of his whole life since he figured himself out... is upsetting him a little now. He's 'tired' of the lies, but he's the one that placed them there. We just don't know if he's willing to start leaving them behind. An only Joel and Davin is invited camping trip... hmm.

hmm... I don't know if that would fly with the league requirements, but it would be interesting. And embodying his personality.. 😮

Yes, but we're talking about a kid that's having to step into the clothes of his rivals, and in high school where that decision is probably only made 'after' it is forced on them. Which in Joel's case we know that it is. Still, it is something that will happen many times over, just hopefully not so abruptly and with a lot of trauma and baggage attached.

Them not giving up on him is a good thing. Yes. But, I do have an answer on how much of the writing is still left to be posted as I finally did the math. It is less than 60k. Which is a Yikes and a half. A bigger yikes knowing that the last chapter is 25k of that. Didn't think we were in the home stretch, did we?

Yes, a good lesson. But it is still one learned just a little bit too early. I don't know how good I've made him really. I might have underestimated the batting averages some of these high school guys have going for them in the writing. I did a little bit of a research after it was brought to my attention that they were a bit low. Then I sneakily went back in and changed that rating to a lot higher... but now I'm thinking I've put him far too high up with that average that 'any' college in the country would drool over him. Sneaky as I am clueless, would I be a mouse that never makes it down the tunnel to where the cheese is, I'm thinking it is rather possible.

Yeah, they're talking. There were a lot of things brought to the table and fleshed out a bit. A lot was still left in the air too. But, at least they came to the table. Are they good for one another? They both seem to not know what they're doing, but they do enjoy the kissing...

Yes, Trace let him get it out the way Joel wanted. He didn't stop the tide of things by telling him to check his language. Sometimes the release is better than the words they used in doing so. When all you want to do is wash their mouths out with soap afterwards. They both seem a bit loose with small swear words here and there. Celia corrects them more, and yeah, if Celia was on her horse beside them, Trace would maybe cough and nod in her direction, or Joel would know better and not use some of his words of choice. And Trace didn't allow him to settle into old thoughts either, that would make the conversation more circular. He told him to calm down and move forward, it was so gentle that it might have actually worked this time? And, we don't know how stubborn Davin is... maybe he is a bit stubborn. Joel is too, though.

Yes, maybe in fiction. Anything done on your own terms, you have to be able to live through the consequences. Trace has promised to 'fight like hell' but a lot of what Trace would want to do, would be out of his hands. He can support him and accept him through it all, fight battles alongside him, but he can't protect him from everything. That's what I struggle with as a parent. The... "I can't take all the punches..." I would if I could. It doesn't do people any good to be sheltered either, though. Not knowing how the world works is a whole other set of struggles and hiding that from them doesn't do them any favors. It hurts either way.

Yeah, Gavin already shot that word right at him, didn't he? Although coming from him, it's not going to sting. The start of the conversation was circular, but that might be expected as the same frustrations were still needling away at Joel. They might still. Feeling like a burden doesn't really go away just because nice people say you're not a trouble. I say that just to be polite, when it was a bit of a bother. But at least what Joel has going for him, is that he had no other choice in the matter. He's a 'burden' because Trace couldn't live with himself if he left him standing on the bridge. There's still a disconnect there. But, maybe this talk put a lot of that to bed. Sometimes knowing you have people standing behind you, it might give you all the strength you need. Joel has to believe it though, that's the only way it will work.

The coach would probably get into a lot of trouble spending the budget funds for an unknown of that nature. And what number would he put on the damn thing? Joel gave him nothing, but his sizes. And...