Tris

Why do I feel such affection for Todd ... and Barrett, for that matter? As for Anthony, well, I'm not impressed, but then, I have no siblings, so maybe I'm incapable of "getting it."

I was horrible when I let one of the kids next door color in my coloring book. Said neighbor NEVER colored in the lines. That was the last time I ever let anyone else color in my coloring books! One has friends, but one has to uphold Artistic Standards. And sometimes Standards outrank Friendship, at least among the immature LOL.

Not as good as buckwheat, I'd reckon...

Woof!

"Daunting" kinda says it all, @D.K. Daniels. Been there too many times myself. Come to think of it, I'm still kinda there right now. "Lucky me" (sarcasm, anyone?). So glad to hear that someone else "gets it," having also passed this way before.

That could be one of the themes of my own life. Maybe it applies to an awful lot of us. La vie est compliquee, as they say.

Ah, that (literal) mountain-top feeling! Been there myself - though we didn't end up holding hands, no matter how briefly. We were, though, at a higher elevation, hiking through the Massif Central. In the end, William was not interested in me "that way." My loss. Still, when it dawned on him that I was sweet on him, he just smiled. Maybe he was flattered? I'll never know. We remained friends, but ending up as we did on different continents (story of my life), this particular friendship did not survive the distancing.

This line is PRICELESS!!! Thank you, @Summerabbacat!

Ross not knowing where he belongs is, in many ways, a metaphor for the story of my own life which is both bilingual and bicultural. Nothing like having @D.K. Daniels cutting REALLY close to home, eh? But maybe that's part of what makes DKD so compelling 🙂

Another coupla thoughts about Ross' seeming ambivalence: on the one hand, he knows his time in Ireland is short, and the temporary nature of his stay may give him caution about starting anything which has no chance of turning into something long term. Of, Ross may have put our hero on some sort of pedestal, and the tnought of doing The Nasty might smack too much of defilement. Of course, I might be ascribing too much maturity to Ross to even think such things. But I've been "guilty" of both behaviors: once I chickened out of something because I was about to go overseas for three years, and I was loathe to get involved too deeply with much of anyone. On the other hand, my current Crush and I have been "crab dancing" around what will become of "us" (and yes, there is definitely an "us"). It has been 6+ years now, not even having gotten beyond hand-holding because, well, as the song says, he's "so high above me" ... though maybe I'm just a wuss.

A lot of memories for me, here. I grew up in a fairly rural area that was slowly being "developed." Although I didn't live on a farm, neighbors on both sides of me were truck farmers. Across the way were wetlands, so not much farming going on there. Anyways, I had taken a shine to Richard, a new kid in the area, but my best friend put a stop to that pronto, since boys being with other boys just wasn't "done" back then. I suspect my best friend thought he was doing us a favor, shielding us from "iniquity." Being too shy to force the issue, I gave up on having a physical relationship with Richard, even though he was clearly interested in taking things in that direction. I still think about him (he has since moved abroad), and what we missed out on still weighs on me. It's tough, though, at that age. It was tough for me, anyways.

This brought back a memory or two. I bought my first record album because it was Daniel's favorite. Since it was my money, my parents really had no say, but my mother was clearly disappointed that "all that money" could have bought a roast instead of music. Even then, I realized that my mother's objection was more about what buying Daniel's favorite album for myself REALLY meant - that I had a crush on him. Daniel and I are still in touch after all these years, even though we're on separate continents. He's still hot as Hades, and still makes me swoon. And he's still hopelessly straight, but friendships often transcend sexuality, because some things are more important than others.

@drsawzall is right - others have already said what needed to have been said, for which I add my grateful thanks. No sense reinventing the wheel. While my path hasn't been the same as Phil's, there is a lot in my life that has imitated @Ronyx's art. I have a few years left (those words from my lips are meant for God's ears, of course!) and I hope my tale turns out half as well as Phil's. May the Almighty grant each one of us the peace that passes all understanding as our pilgrimage wends its way, leading us to our final safe harbor.

My sentiments exactly!

That is exactly what crossed my mind as well. So glad this tale took a different turn...

Words fail me. Thank heavens for those who, like @Secret Author, can speak for us.

Amazing writing @Secret Author. Usually I have difficulty keeping characters sorted when there's a "cast of thousands." But this time I was able to keep track of everyone (well, most of everyone), despite my less than stellar memory. I'd love some further chapters. Any guy named "Owen" is automatically a favorite of mine - and no, don't ask why 😉 . But there's more that begs for follow-up story lines. Love this!

Mommy??!? Gawd (pardon my French lol)

At the beginning of the chapter I thought Blue was doing far too much talking to himself. In fact, I was wondering if that was (at least partially) the reason for his therapy sessions - that, and his parents' bickering. It finally occurred to me that Blue could be straight. I guess I was a bit slow on the uptake, eh? Third guess? Three's the charm? Like @Gary L, the "secret garden" motif also occurred to me, though my memory being what it is (or rather, is not) I couldn't remember a thing about the original story. No matter: Behind the Walls works perfectly well on its own, not having to rely on the inspiration of the original's title. Nice job, @Secret Author.

Just binged on this! Time beautifully well spent - I was rooting for Chris and Andre, but I'm never very good at guessing ahead. Much more fun to allow the author to take me along for the ride 🙂

I should have been so lucky *sigh* Too bad life doesn't always imitate art...

So many of us have a weakness - or maybe I should say, a fondness - for bad men <evil grin>

To my (mis-educated?) mind, this definitely has a stream of consciousness feel to it. We are given a slice of life (as it were) with the implication that there very well could be more to come, although this vignette seems to have some finality to it.

Binged on this today in one fell swoop. Time well spent! And since I might have some extra time on my hands as a result, maybe I'll have to poke around The Butler to see whether that would be to my liking as well 🙂

Kudos to our author @chris191070 who "allowed" altruism to prevail instead of having a spirit of vengefulness carry the day, though that would have been welcomed by so many others, I suspect. For me, there's enough negativity in Real Life - why import it into our fantasy world? And though some might call me a Wuss, I warn y'all that would be enough to get dumped as potential Boyfriend material for me. Only I get to call me a Wuss LOL Looking forward to the next chapter!