Marty

What a lovely little story! I can really feel for Aiden's father. He knows what he should do, but hasn't really a clue how to go about it. Not to suggest for a moment that he's doing anything the wrong way. I've no kids of my own, but I have been in situations where I've been fairly convinced that some of my younger relatives, or children of friends, are gay and not been sure whether I should ask them about it. The following quote from the story shadows some of my worries: "Then again...what kind of father would I be if I made an effort to approach him and it ended up making Aiden paranoid and ashamed of who he is? What if he's simply not ready to have anyone else know yet...and I end up putting him on the offensive?" Very nicely written, @Comicality

A nice sweet story about first love. Made all the more enjoyable due to the love and acceptance shown by one of each of the two boys' parents/grandparents. Such accepting adults can really help younger people get over the worries they may feel when they first realise that they may be LGBT+ - especially if they happen to live in a society where not everyone would be accepting of such differences. Thanks for this, @TimmY92

Hi yourself, Gary! Not sure if I should ask who belongs in each of the above three categories...

What a cathartic experience that dinner date turned out to be for Chris. He finally told someone else about what really happened to him during his time with The Release Trust and about his attempted suicide; and only found love and concern, not the ridicule he was perhaps expecting. This could well turn out to be the turning point that will help him to leave the past where it belongs, and move forward in his life. I'm not sure that he and Ryan will end up becoming partners, but I'm sure they will become good friends. I reckon Ryan may well use Chris' story in his planned book exposing The Release Trust. I think I have suggested in some of my comments to earlier chapters that Kay could well be the friend that might be able to help Chris. And so she did - if only by the fact that she introduced him to her brother. One final chapter to read... It's late at night now. I'll read it tomorrow

Hey, Page! The day dried up slightly, so I managed to get out for a while in the evening and pot some small strawberry plants that I'd propagated from runners last year into larger pots. They were getting a little pot bound in their original pots. Made spag bol for dinner, followed by live blackcurrant yoghurt as dessert.

Interesting concept, and an enjoyable read. I was also half-expecting Pike might have brought Bungo and Drubbo back with him to the Intrepid. But I can see that that may have posed problems.

This is like some episode from a soap opera. Think I'll just make myself a cup of tea and sit back in the armchair and watch all the shenanigans.

Well, wherever it went to, it certainly hasn't found the West of Ireland yet. Miserable day here. Windy, cloudy, and bucketing rain. Temp only around 13°C. It's more like a March day than an almost the end of May one. One of my older neighbours said to me when I was out for a stroll this morning: "Today's a day for the high stool" (as in a day for sitting at the bar in the local public house.). And the weather forecast is suggesting we're not likely to see any settled, warm weather for at least another week yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the forecasters are just being overly cautious. Happy Monday, all! (I'll leave it to Gary to provide the picture to cheer us all up)

To be honest, I didn't really think that Chris screwed up the relationship with Will. He realised that the two of them weren't compatible. Will wants to spend his time going to clubs and bars ('they were the only places he wants to go to') whereas Chris says he 'hates' them. Chris reckoned that they had 'sex in common but nothing else.' A relationship has to have more than just sex to make it meaningful. In my opinion, Chris made the correct decision to end his relationship with Will. If it could be said that he screwed up at all in this relationship at all, maybe it was just that he took too long deciding to end it?

Reading this chapter actually leaves me feeling hopeful. I can understand Chris' need for companionship, for a "significant other" (and even his need just for sex on a somewhat regular basis). And I'm glad to see that he has joined a gay support group where, hopefully, he will meet a partner. I'm also glad to see that he is not that needy that he thinks he has to cling on to the first person from the group who had shown an interest in him; that he realises that Will is not what he is really looking for and dumps him. Okay it took him a few weeks to actually end the relationship, but he got there in the end. Hopefully he will continue looking, maybe continue attending the gay social group, and will eventually find the Mr Right. Will is probably a really nice guy, but it seems he just wasn't the one for Chris. I am a bit concerned about Chris' own self image problems ("I’m nothing appealing; there’s nothing special about me; I’m not handsome or clever or funny.") but I can understand how that may be related to his poor feelings of self worth that likely stem from his upbringing, and his experience with the Church, the ex-gay movement, and his failed suicide and subsequent rejection by his family. Hopefully, if nothing else, this experience with Will will help Chris realise that he is capable of entering a full time relationship sometime in the future. As Kay told him a few chapters ago: "It's about time you got yourself a proper boyfriend." I'm hoping that the short relationship with Will shows him that, even if Will was not the one for him, that it is possible, and that he doesn't give up completely.

I love it! I also like the repetition of the first two lines. I think it makes it all that more intense.

A somewhat belated hi back to you, Gary! Would love one! But he's got auburn hair (or chestnut?), definitely not a true redhead. But I'll take him off your hands if you don't want him. He'd do me just fine (after I've shaved his face, of course). I think it might have been more like a case of an unintended double entendre on Gary's part there, duggy Okay. I admit it. My attempts at jokes can get a bit feeble at times.

Hi, duggy! Have a good trip.

And a very good afternoon to everyone from me

I'm away to bed. Night, all.

I think clo has answered that question for us all.

Good night, Timothy. Sweet dreams

This conversation basically seemed to go very quickly from the sublime to the ridiculous...

And you both basically took the words right out of my mouth. (It must have been when you were kissing me... ) Well, it was a hot summer's night...

Page, my man! How ya doing, buddy?

Maybe you should just start wearing some clothes when you're driving....

And if it were to get much warmer than 25°C, I'd probably be complaining that it was just too damn hot!

Sounds perfect to me! Although I don't think you needed to say "and warm" at the end.... To my mind, 25°C is warm!

Hey duggie! Fairly sunny day here in the West of Ireland, although there were a few spots of rain around the middle of the day. Temperatures around 15°C, with little chance of them getting much higher over the next few days according to the weather forecast.

Seeing the way he is so obviously posing makes me think of these lines from one of the songs on the 2004 album A Grand Don't Come for Free by the British alternative hip hop band The Streets.... "Yeah, yeah, like I said, you are really fit But my gosh, don't you just know it?"