A Spine-Tingling Story - TDG Fanfic

The End of It All

Well, this is awkward ...

You know how I said in my A/N in the last chapter that I wasn't planning on abandoning this book?

Yeah, you can probably see where this is going.

To those of you who loved this story and wanted to see it play out to its end, I'm sorry, I really am. It's not just this story, however - I'm leaving the Dumping Ground fandom.

I've been part of this fandom for the last five years - I started watching the show when I first aired in 2013, stopped and then started again in 2015. I was 15 then; I'm 20 now. This show has been a massive part of my life for so long and I owe it and the fandom a lot. I met one of my best friends through TDG and I'm so thankful for that. Hell, I probably chose to go to university in Newcastle partially because of TDG (and I definitely saw Cole Wealleans-Watts, the actor that plays Jay, at least twice. Didn't approach him though).

But despite everything, people grow, people change, time passes. My special interest was TDG for a long time, but I think we all felt the blow when Ryan left. He was by far the best character this show has ever had and was a major factor to my being invested for so long. (Side note: my friend and I have concluded that he has/had Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that's what the email at the very start was referring to.)

Now, with my interest in the show waning and my developing new special interests, I just can't spark my old flame. That means I won't be continuing this story or finishing the last part of You Will Be Found. Who knows, maybe I'll be back again in a few years, but for now, I'll say farewell. Thank you all so much for following me, reading and reviewing. Hope y'all have enjoyed this ride as much as I have.

Also, since I'm not a complete monster, I'll try and give a summary of how I planned for the rest of this story to go, from where the last chapter ended:

So after their first date, Ryan and Finley are closer than ever. They're all but together already but neither want to admit exactly where they're at because they haven't gone further than hand-holding and flirting (and sharing a bed, but they don't talk about that).

Weeks pass, and it's coming up to the time for Ryan's surgery. Understandably, he's pretty freaked about the risk that he might not come out, and finally admits to Finley that he loves him in case he dies on the table. They kiss and Ryan goes in for the operation. When the chapter ends, we get this line:

When Ryan finally broke the surface, he could no longer feel his legs, and sadness and satisfaction passed through him at the same time.

The chapter with the surgery was also going to be called The Room Where It Happened by the way.

(I also wanted to add a scene of Ryan waking up from the anaesthesia high as a kite on the painkillers they gave him and is saying the most adorably dumb stuff that makes Finley both laugh and fall harder in love (while Rosemary stands to the side recording the whole thing). Don't know whether I would've pulled it off, but no matter.)

Anyway, he gets out and, of course, has to use a wheelchair, and it's not as easy as he anticipated it would be. Chloe does her best to help and be understanding, but Ryan is still breaking up over how his world has turned upside down for the second time in less than a year. Yet he bites his tongue and keeps a clamp on his frustrations because, after all, he put himself here, fought for it, got his now-boyfriend's lawyer father to put together a contract for it to happen. What right does he have to complain about the consequences of his decisions?

He's pretty much cracking like eggshell and just barely holding himself together with duct tape, so he lets his anger fester inside of him without daring to let it out. In turn, he also starts distancing himself more and more from Chloe and Mike and Finley and Rosemary, because he fears he might explode at them at any moment and he doesn't want to hurt them more. Naturally, this all reaches a breaking point eventually - I'm not sure how it would happen, he'd probably smash a mirror with a glass of water while a yell breaks out from him. I love that trope, yet I barely got to use it - I've killed Ryan more times than I've used that trope.

Eventually, they sit him down (not like they can stand him up ... okay, low blow) and explain that he did what he had to do to save himself and that it was his cancer that forced him into the operation, not himself. Ryan doesn't quite believe that, but he listens when they say that holding in his anger for so long was what caused him to lash out and hurt others before he got sick. He apologises and lets everything out, complaining about everything from the major to the petty.

After that, things start looking up for a little bit. Ryan and Finley get closer still, and much sappiness ensues, including opera singing and them making their house accessible for Ryan so he can visit more often. Only things don't stay that way for too long. Finley's condition is worsening until he finally goes into renal (kidney) failure and needs a transplant; only the waiting lists are from here to China.

Here, we find out Rosemary's deal (in her chapter "Rosemary and Time"). We find out her history, how she'd always been raised knowing that she'd have to help her brother out. This, however, is pretty big - if she's a tissue match for Finley, she'll have to donate her kidney. She'll be 14 in less than a month.

The plot points get muddier here since it would be simple to have Rosemary donate her kidney, only Ryan feels obligated to save Finley's life after Finley helped save his own. It's not uncommon for unrelated people to be tissue matches while family members aren't - it's why transplant waiting lists are a thing - but I can't find anything about whether people with spinal cord injuries can donate kidneys. SCI causes neurogenic bladder and bowels, which aren't great for the kidneys, so it would be doubtful as to whether Ryan could donate even if he were a match.

To further complicate things, this is the worst condition Finley's been in his whole life, which is saying something, and he's tired of it all. He hates the prospect of having to live many more years in and out of remission with questionable quality of life. At one point, he lashes out and begs his family, the doctors and his boyfriend just to let him die already and breaks all of their hearts.

Grieving and arguing ensue as they begin to wonder whether they should heed Finley's wishes, horrible as they are. Not quite sure how yet, but eventually Finley decides he wants to live after all. He gets his new kidney, recovers, and he and Ryan decide to celebrate by using Ryan's wish to take the entire dumping ground and Finley's family to Disneyland (and getting to skip all the queues.)

So, yeah, that's the rundown of it. Sorry once again that you won't be able to see it play out properly, but ... c'est la vie.

Stay safe out there, folks. I'll still be using this account, so if you want to get in contact with me via PMs, I'm always open.

Justice xxxxxx