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    craftingmom
  • craftingmom
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  • 03/09/2016
  • 1,108 Words
  • 4,841 Views
  • 46 Comments
Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
2016 - Spring - Crossing the Line Entry

Guarding the Line - 1. Chapter 1

Guarding the Line

 

He was in charge of holding the line. His comrades in arms were doing their best to hold off the offensive moves of the Raiders, but he was the last line of defense.

Brady's sharp eyes cut to his right for only a moment. Ryan. He knew exactly where he was. Waiting. Cheering. For him. His heart thundered in his chest.

Ryan. He didn't know what it was about the new kid, but Brady couldn't stop thinking about him. The shy teen had pushed every one of the desires Brady had kept carefully hidden behind the threshold of his virtual closet for the last few years. Desires he was sure his friends wouldn't approve of, would ridicule him for. He felt a pang of regret every time Ryan's eyes flickered with a moment of hope that Brady saw him as more than just a friend. But that was all they could ever be.

Because Brady knew another set of eyes was out there, watching as well. His father's. And those were eyes he could never bear to see distorted with disgust or disappointment.

The noise, loud and boisterous, was like minor buzzing in his ears compared to the thudding of his heart. His fists tightened on the stick in his hand, his eyes flicked back to the clashing of bodies—red slamming into silver. Then there was a breakaway. A streak of Raider silver flying towards him.

A second later the small black projectile was hurtled in his direction. Brady reacted on instinct, his thickly gloved hand striking out in the disk's path, stopping it dead, keeping it from crossing the line into his net. Silver swirled around him, hovering, swarming, waiting for another shot.

Brady dropped the puck back to the ice, slicing it neatly to his own defenseman Jake. A Raider tried to board him, but the puck was already gliding to the other side of the rink.

The game was nearly over. He'd managed once again to shut out the opposing team. He was good, and it showed every time he took to the ice. He'd even been offered scholarships at two schools, eliciting proud recitations from his father every time they were out to anyone who would listen. He lived for his father's praise, had grown up flourishing under the man's love for him. Brady couldn't risk losing that.

As the final buzzer sounded and his team flocked together in a mob of congratulatory bumps to the chest and thumps against their helmets, Brady chanced a long look at Ryan.

He had jumped up, pumping a celebratory fist in the air. Their eyes locked for a moment, even if Brady wasn't sure that Ryan could see his through his helmet's visor. God, how he'd miss seeing that smiling face after each game when he moved on to college.

Brady mindlessly went through the motions of the end-of-game rituals: handshaking the Raiders, thanking the refs, stripping and showering, a brief talk from the coach. Then he was pouring out of the locker room with his team to more cheers of waiting friends and family.

He caught the broad, proud smile of his father, standing tall over much of the crowd. He grinned and tipped his head at the man who'd raised him, nurtured his love of hockey. Edging his way through the crowd, Jake bumped his shoulder.

"Great game, man, as always!"

"Thanks, you too." Other teammates jostled by him, nudging their congratulations, and he returned them enthusiastically. His breath caught when he turned and found Ryan high-fiving Jake.

"Thanks, Ry!" Jake said, wrapping his arm around Ryan's slender shoulders. "But this is the man!" And Brady felt himself wrapped under Jake's other arm. "Brady is the best goaltender ever. Gonna miss you next year man."

Brady felt an irrational pang of jealousy at Jake's arm holding Ryan. His Ryan. His teeth clenched briefly before Ryan turned that amazing smile on him.

"He definitely is," Ryan agreed. "Congrats."

And suddenly Ryan's hand was there in front of him. Brady grasped it like a lifeline, yanking Ryan closer. His other arm slipped around Ryan's back, sliding over his shoulders. He managed to make it come across as a brotherly guy-clench, even though it lasted several seconds longer. "Thanks, Ryan."

Brady's eyes caught his father's over Ryan's shoulder, the grin faltering for a moment as a frown creased his forehead. Shit. Had his father noticed something? Had his face given away his desires? Had he hugged Ryan too long?

Brady quickly patted Ryan's shoulder as well as Jake's. He made sure he focused on Jake when he said his good-byes. "See you guys later."

"Bye, Brady. I'll catch you later?" Ryan's hand patted his bicep, lingering briefly. Brady tried to ignore the slight, hopeful squeeze Ryan gave him before Brady headed for his father.

"Uh, yeah, see ya," he called back, barely glancing over his shoulder.

His father's arms widened as he approached, a welcoming hug that Brady dove into. "Hey, buddy. Great game."

"Thanks, Dad."

His father gave him a tight squeeze and a quick kiss on his damp head, before they turned to head for the car. "I'm so proud of you."

Brady knew that. It was part of what ate him up inside. Would his father still love him, still be proud of him, if he knew he liked guys, liked Ryan?

"Yeah, I know, Dad." Why did he sound wistful, bitter? Because he knew his father's pride wouldn't extend to his son being gay?

"Hey, I'll always be proud of you, no matter what, okay?"

Brady glanced up. And for a moment it was as if his father had flung open the door to his virtual closet and silently invited him to step over the threshold from the darkness into the bright light of freedom.

"No matter what school you choose or what you decide to do in your life," his father continued.

But Brady was sure that didn't extend to being gay. His father wouldn't understand that, wouldn't see him as a man anymore. And the light was suddenly blinding, forcing him to retreat. Much like an opponent's shot at his goal, that was a line, a threshold, that he could never cross.

"Thanks, Dad." He mentally slammed the door shut on the light, focusing briefly on the beckoning line shimmering at the bottom, daring him to be brave enough to cross it.

He smiled briefly up at his father, turning deeper into the darkness, hiding, protecting what he had, sacrificing what could be. Sacrificing Ryan.

"Come on. I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat."

Copyright © 2016 craftingmom; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
2016 - Spring - Crossing the Line Entry
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Chapter Comments



Parker Owens

This is so much the experience of so many boys, about to become men. And it makes me so very sad. You have written it beautifully, and with perfectly balanced description and emotion. It may be up to Ryan to push Brady over the line in the end.

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Robert Rex

Well done! Ryan as the unobtainable object of...what? Lust? Freedom? And Brady, the self-confident jock burying his feelings to play a role? You've shown both characters perfectly in the direct style we appreciate.
Can't wait for the next chapter!

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drpaladin
  • Site Moderator

You've expertly crafted tragedy in the midst of victory. There's sadness and regret, but perhaps still a touch of hope on both sides. Maybe...

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Renee Stevens

Powerful story. I feel bad for both Brady and Ryan and hopefully down the line something will change and Brady will be able to be who he truly is, not who he thinks his father wants him to be.

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flamingo136

Crossing that line is probably the most important yet difficult thing for any gay person to do. We all know that life will change after doing so...but what will we lose?Been there, done that,,,and it's still hard to think back on that painful and agonizing time of my life....All my prayers to every Brady who now faces the line.
Great writing, the characters are so realistic..hope Brady (and all Bradys out there) are able to cross that line and live THEIR life........:)Mike

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  • Site Administrator
Cia
  • Site Administrator

Great burst of action hooking the reader before it leads to a story that is really more about the mental line Brady struggles to protect. There's his father on one side, the boy he likes on the other, and a life he has no idea how to live without hurting someone, especially himself.

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LitLover

This made me so sad for Brady. Yes, I feel badly for Ryan, but I suspect he's not stuck in a prison of his own making like Brady is. It can be so hard for teenagers to know when and if they should come out. I just want to give Brady a hug. There are no easy answers for him.

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Puppilull

A sad story since unfortunately all too many people live their lives afraid of what others might say.

 

I hope we get a follow up to this story. What happens when Brady goes to college? Maybe the line is shifted?

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Cole Matthews

You captured the instance of when we become comfortable with it. Perfectly. Very well done. It is a final line to be crossed and you've rendered it exactly. Thanks and fantastic job.

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Emi GS

Guarding their line is what we get to see from most of Bradys around the world. Even me. I just hop and wish every Brady get to cross that line with no offense bing as a result.

 

Nice story and hope to see more... :)

 

~Emi.

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Headstall

This was very sad, but oh so real. Well done, CM. In a thousand words you drew me in, and now I'm left wondering and hoping Brady finds his way. And, by the way... I love hockey... I'm Canadian, eh :) . Cheers... Gary....

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Aditus

So he didn't cross the line. Yet. We gauge, we assess, and someday we jump. You captured this part of life perfectly. It will repeat itself again and again. I'd like to see him jump. Next time.
Thank you, CM! Great story.

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  • Site Administrator
Valkyrie
  • Site Administrator

How sad, but so real. Brady's dad gave him an opening, but he didn't have the courage to cross that line. Hopefully one day he will. Like another reviewer said, maybe Ryan will be able to push Brady over that line. Great story. Very well done.

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Lisa

Great story, Mom! I loved how you used the theme 'Crossing the Line' in your story -- for the hockey game they played, and for the hopes of opening Brady's virtual closet and having him cross that line. Hopefully his father will give him another opening where Brady can tell him and leave that closet forever.

 

Like your other readers, it left me very sad for all the Bradys out there in the world, and I am sure there are too many to count.

 

I would love to see this continued...(hint, hint! :P)

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jfalkon

Great story! I love the imagary of the dark closet and the light. Hopefuly he will eventualy shade his eyes and peak out.

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comicfan

You can't help feel for him. Trapped between his real self and the image of the football player. You just hope he eventually finds the strength to cross the line. Great story, Mom.

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Ron

The story does raise a question. Ryan is attracted to Brady, that much is clear, but a young gay man is not likely going to be that clear about his intentions with a jock figure unless given some hint of mutual interest. Yes, I've read deeper into the story than is mentioned, but the question remains: What is it about Brady that gives Ryan reason to believe something's there?

 

I like your story, Craftingmom. I think you've captured what it is like to place someone you look up to, in this case a father, so high that you fear to do anything that will disappoint, even if that means not being true to who you are. Being the one looking up puts you in a very difficult position and I'm glad there was no easy answer for Brady in this short tale.

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Defiance19

That Brady could not allow himself to give in to whatever it is with Ryan, because he was scared of disappointing or being a disappointment makes me sad for all the Brady's who go through this. Hopefully they find the strength, courage and support to just be able to take that small step.

 

Very well done CM...

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craftingmom
On 03/10/2016 01:44 AM, Parker Owens said:

This is so much the experience of so many boys, about to become men. And it makes me so very sad. You have written it beautifully, and with perfectly balanced description and emotion. It may be up to Ryan to push Brady over the line in the end.

It is sad, and unfortunately true. I am thinking of more pieces, maybe a series with the anthologies, continuing Brady and Ryan's story. Thanks for reading and reviewing.

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craftingmom
On 03/13/2016 05:21 PM, Defiance19 said:

That Brady could not allow himself to give in to whatever it is with Ryan, because he was scared of disappointing or being a disappointment makes me sad for all the Brady's who go through this. Hopefully they find the strength, courage and support to just be able to take that small step.

 

Very well done CM...

Thank you. This is such an internal struggle for all the Brady's of the world. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

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craftingmom
On 03/13/2016 05:06 PM, Ron said:

The story does raise a question. Ryan is attracted to Brady, that much is clear, but a young gay man is not likely going to be that clear about his intentions with a jock figure unless given some hint of mutual interest. Yes, I've read deeper into the story than is mentioned, but the question remains: What is it about Brady that gives Ryan reason to believe something's there?

 

I like your story, Craftingmom. I think you've captured what it is like to place someone you look up to, in this case a father, so high that you fear to do anything that will disappoint, even if that means not being true to who you are. Being the one looking up puts you in a very difficult position and I'm glad there was no easy answer for Brady in this short tale.

:) I'm glad you noticed that. There is more to their story. I 'plan' to continue it through the anthologies. You've actually briefly met Ryan in another anthology (but not his POV yet).

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craftingmom
On 03/13/2016 12:47 PM, comicfan said:

You can't help feel for him. Trapped between his real self and the image of the football player. You just hope he eventually finds the strength to cross the line. Great story, Mom.

Thank you. So glad you liked it. I do have plans to continue Ryan and Brady's story, so we'll see!

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craftingmom
On 03/13/2016 06:50 AM, jfalkon said:

Great story! I love the imagary of the dark closet and the light. Hopefuly he will eventualy shade his eyes and peak out.

:) I like that imagery too of being in the dark, wanting to come into the light... Glad you liked it!

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craftingmom
On 03/12/2016 07:43 AM, Lisa said:

Great story, Mom! I loved how you used the theme 'Crossing the Line' in your story -- for the hockey game they played, and for the hopes of opening Brady's virtual closet and having him cross that line. Hopefully his father will give him another opening where Brady can tell him and leave that closet forever.

 

Like your other readers, it left me very sad for all the Bradys out there in the world, and I am sure there are too many to count.

 

I would love to see this continued...(hint, hint! :P)

Thank you! I do actually have thoughts of continuing it, most likely through a series of the anthologies. Here's a hint: you've met Ryan before in another anthology, but not his POV yet. :)

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