Graeme

Neil and Liam were smiling and holding hands as they entered the kitchen. Both were in the Brandon Street house’s usual weekend-morning dress code of T-shirts and underwear. Paul glanced across at them before returning his attention to the stove. “Morning, guys.” Liam grinned. “G’day, Paul. See, Neil, I told you I could smell pancakes.” “Okay, I didn’t believe you, but you were right.” Neil gave Liam a quick kiss before turning to Paul. “The others are still in bed?” “Ollie and Helena are, b

Insight comes from being able to relate to others, to have an appreciation for what they're thinking/feeling. This, more than anything, demonstrates Toph's development since the start of the story. He still comes over as naive in many ways, but he's losing the (unconscious) standoffish approach he had at the start of the story.

:heart: Happy Birthday, Renee! :heart:

I like Leo In only one chapter, we can see how complex he is. He supports Dorian and he supports Dorian's father, and he's working hard to try the bridge the gap between the two of them. He's honest (at least he appears to be) about how Dorian's father has treated him, and the impact Dorian is having on his father's campaign. He also pleaded with Dorian to attend the conference, rather than demand it like his father would have done. One really good thing is that hopefully Dorian's constant fears about being pulled out of school have been addressed. There's still a chance he'll be pulled out in the future if things change, but he doesn't have to worry about being part of Campus Pride. Dr. Avery has been told to back off, so hopefully that will also alleviate some of Dorian's concerns. Overall, a very positive chapter

:joe: Happy Birthday, Dave! :joe: :wizard: :wizard:

I disagree with droughtquake (but then I'm read the entire story already). Dorian's life is out of control, but how he and his friends react to that makes this an interesting story. We've all been in situations where we're not in control, and that's what Dorian's experiencing. It's not pleasant to read, because most people hate not having some control over their life, but it's very real. One thing Dorian has to get over is his constant fear that his father is going to take him out of school. It's a realistic fear, but he needs to learn to accept it and move on. He has no control over what his father does, so worrying about it isn't helping. He's not going to learn to do that by himself, but with Seth, Sydney, and Jade by his side, there's a chance he'll be able to stand on his own two feet. He's like a toddler learning to walk. Up until now, he's never had a chance to stand up by himself. It's going to take a lot of effort for him to learn to stand and then to walk. That's the bit that too many people don't see. They've already learn to stand, walk, run, but he hasn't. He's spent his life being told to sit and be still. Standing up and making his own decisions is something he's never learnt.

He is still around. As I said above, he's one of the beta-readers for my current novel and we exchange emails every few weeks. I don't know where he is with writing, but he's still avoiding cliffs

Thanks as always for such a wide-ranging review, Tim! Let's see, where should I start with my reply... Warwick and Kevin definitely have feelings for each other. Kevin's impulsive and not-well-thought-out offer to be Warwick's boyfriend for 3 to 4 weeks shows that. However, those feelings aren't aligned. As Kevin said, he prefers girls, even if he's currently got a fascination on other things, too. Will their feelings come into alignment sufficiently to allow them to be truly boyfriends? We'll have to wait and see We don't get to see exactly why Wu is upset, but his closing comment was in relation to Ross lying to him. It wasn't even (from Wu's perspective) a big thing to lie about. He could've told Wu that he had been invited to a different party, but he didn't. He told Wu he was staying home and studying. Is Wu upset because Ross didn't tell him about going to the party, or is he upset because Ross lied to him? Wu can't see a good reason for Ross to have lied, and that may be why he's upset. Of course, as Lauren said, Ross may have a good reason, but Wu's not seeing one and Lauren's not offering one, so Wu is stewing about how Ross seems to have drifted away from him, and appears to no longer consider Wu to be his best friend. Hopefully, Stuart is now out of the picture. Whether he remains out of the picture is not clear, but Dave has certainly intimidated him. The price was Ross being outed, even if not explicitly. As you've said, let's see how people's attitudes towards Ross change as a consequence

Thank you! While in many ways Kevin is a straight-forward and open person, he hides some complexity. Even he's not sure what he's looking for in a partner. I think you've described it perfectly -- he's got an itch he needs to scratch. What that means for him and Warwick remains to be seen. Yes, Ross's partway out of the closet. Whether Stuart does anything will depend on how badly Dave scared him. If he's not scared off completely, at least Ross can hope that he's been scared off for a period of time.

Thank you! The timing with Dave isn't as coincidental as it might appear. Ty effectively forced a confrontation with Stuart -- Stuart knew who he was and could be expected to react when Ty joined them -- but he waited until Dave was there. However, you're right. Ross needs to do something about Wu and Lauren if he wants to keep Wu as a friend. He just doesn't know it yet...

Thank you! Neither Kevin nor Warwick are perfect. Warwick fell for Kevin too quickly, despite knowing that they lived in different cities, while Kevin didn't realise how selfish he was being. He thought Warwick would be fine with what he was asking. Happily, both of them have realised in time and are working to remain as friends. There may be possibilities in the future for them, but for now, they are trying to hold onto what they can, and not go for what they feel is unachievable. There will be more the same time next week

Thank you! Yes, Dave is scary enough on a football field when the opponents know he's not going to do anything too violent. I can't imagine what it would be like when you don't know how far he'll go...

Charlie and Dave were approaching home when Dave suddenly commanded, “Sprint!” The two put on a burst of speed, but it was clearly Charlie who had the edge, finishing up outside their house several paces in front of Dave. Dave gave him a wry smile as the two started to do their cool down in the brisk, early-morning air. “I don’t think that pushed you enough. We need to make tomorrow’s run either longer or faster.” Charlie shrugged. “It was still a good warmup.” He grinned. “It’s also great fo

There's so much in this chapter, I'm going to have to pick and choose. I, too, like the Efrain's introspection at the end. It shows how much he's changed and how he and Cory are dealing with the fact that they have to stay in the closet, at least to a degree. I love the idea that their room is where they can be themselves, not only sexually (not that they've limited themselves to just their room!), but also as a couple. On a more sombre note, I noticed that Indie still has some recovering to do. Preston is helping, but Indie hasn't allowed himself to take the next step. He 'loved' Jameson, but he's not letting himself feel the same towards Preston. Preston is, to him, still something temporary. I'm hoping the later books (I'm definitely looking for more than one!) will show Indie's continued healing from the emotional hurt that Jameson imposed. As for my favourite line, I'm not going to quote it. I'll just say the entire first part of the scene when JJ, Denholm, and Paul arrived was hilarious. The way all the action was taking place off-camera, but very visible (okay, verbal) was delightful. Not only well written, but truly inspired.

Dorian keeps swinging from being optimistic to being pessimistic. He's happy that he's staying with Seth, but worried that being the treasurer of Campus Pride will mean that his father will take him out of school. It's sad -- he's really struggling to find any balance in his life. He keeps going from one extreme to the other. Then we finish up the chapter with an encounter with Travis and Raleigh...

Recovering independence, one nerve at a time The story of a young man who was paralysed after a diving accident, but is regaining his independence one nerve at a time.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! I appreciate how life can get crazy, so don't worry about that. Best wishes for your special day and all the days after that!

Seth is good value. Making Dorian drink beer in public was probably not the smartest of moves, but I got the distinct impression that Seth is scared for Dorian, so he's doing what he did with Adam. Dorian is not Adam, but Seth still hasn't worked out the best way to break through the wall Dorian tries to put up between him and others. As for the person who forced himself into Dorian's room at the end, the less said the better. Just like Dorian, it was one time I was glad to see Travis. Having said that, I think Dorian's comment to Travis the night before was unwise. Travis had sounded almost human when he initially spoke to Dorian. We don't get to see the tone he used when he asked if it was okay for the girl to stay the night, so we don't know if it was a rhetorical question or if Travis was really asking, but I had the impression that if Dorian had handled things differently, there was a small chance for him and his roommate to reach an understanding (at least when it was just the two of them -- when Travis was with his posse, all bets would be off, since he couldn't afford to be seen to be nice to Dorian in front of them).

Thank you for a beautiful story I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Epilogues are not supposed to have cliffhangers!

I love a happy ending Thank you!

Running away can take a lot of forms. I can see from the other reviews that I am not the only one to see what Jerry is doing.

Long distance relationships are tough. You go from no contact to living in each other's pockets. It's a really odd experience. It's not surprising that they have problems as a consequence. Jerry should have trusted Rob, but Rob has also overreacted. Time to see what happens next:)

A fun chapter. Lana is good value; I loved how she pretended to be heartbroken. She really stands out amongst the minor characters.

Rob's family seem nice. I can appreciate Al's point of view when it comes to Rob being so independent, but learning when to ask for help isn't always easy. Hopefully, Rob has learnt that lesson.