Ok Mr. JWolf, you never actually confessed to my question "Are you Corbin"? So I feel I have to tread carefully. I find Corbin smart, too smart for his own good. I can't believe spending the effort he did taking down Melanie, not your average college student can go that route and at the same time take on a Dean that had been somewhat a "Friend" if not an ally. That was risky and clearly the outcome of the meeting and the Dean's response was not something Corbin planned for. I'll be curious to see how you mend that relationship.
I'm also not sure how much I want to criticize Corbin if Corbin is really Jonathon Wolf, that would be bad form on my part. But come on really, did you really think "I wondered if I shouldn’t just call Mike back, explain that I’d followed his advice and that he had won out over the Brit"? He had won???? To me, I'm not sure how much respect that really shows for Mike. But its clear Mike knows he is 2nd choice and is okay with that slotting. In a way he has to be considering his own restrictions on committing to a relationship with Corbin. Each interaction with Mike, we are learning more about Mike and he is clearly starting to have feelings he was not prepared for and still has no idea how to deal with especially given his ambitions. If memory serves this was during the Don't Ask period and that was worse for gay service men/women than before the policy. But this whole area of I'll just settle for Mike bothers me. I just don't think in the matters of the heart you can "settle". Yes I know it happens daily, but do those situations last. I'm old school and I believe in a long-lasting relationship til "death do us part" level of commitment to each other. Of course, I tell the better half often, that that whole "death do us part" can be arranged! Also, please don't think I'm thinking bad of Corbin either, I think every situation is different and only that person can know their mind and heart and the actions that follow are based upon that specific situation.
I absolutely love this story and I'm so thankful you pointed me in the direction of the GA site where there is literally double the amount of chapters posted on Nifty. I've got a lot of catching up to do and knowing me, a few sleepless nights ahead as I know I can't just stop reading.