It's a game we play in his basement after sunday service. And sometimes on Wednesdays too. You only know about it if you know where to look. And who to ask. Us queer boys have to be careful like that, because this is the kind of town you don't walk out of alive unless you're hiding. But the truth is, I wanna marry a boy one day right out in the open. Right here near the ranches and the streams with the blessings of my momma and dad. But those are kids dreams. And if you try that you end up dead. Like that boy. But I. Still. Dream. I can't stop and how cruel can the world be to expect otherwise? To shame me for wanting more? So I play my games quietly. ______________________ Gabriel is an average, teenage boy in the south a little before the 2000's. He goes to school and then works part time at an old feed store. That's it. That's his life, except for the gay part. Stuck in a small town with even smaller minds long before the idea of gay marriage being legalized even existed, he finds ways to vent both his sexual frustration and internalized homophobia in the most unlikely place: the arms of the pastor's eldest son. But is a quick fix really what he's looking for? Or is there more for him, something deeper, across the hall with the pastor's younger son? (*NOTE: Not a love triangle, lol don't worry) _______________________ Author's Note: This was loosely inspired by a few stories I read on a website called Lakeweed At Arrow Head, particularly Beyond the Rain by Grasshopper. It dealt with a gay couple in the south coming to terms with not only themselves but each other. It simultaneously broke my heart with the isolation they faced, but also made me feel their love for each other and even themselves through every word. Every sentence. I hope those emotions are reflected in this, even just a little.

It's hard to believe that a boy who didn't believe in love and a boy who didn't believe he could love himself would have much to learn from each other. But it would turn out that way, of course; with everything to gain and even more to lose. As it turned out, both Liam and Jamie needed to learn not to trust the dim lights and neon nights. This is a backwards love story.

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION When Elliot Goldman meets his sweet and charming new lab partner, Jordan Hughes, suddenly high school doesn't seem so bad. For the first time ever, Elliot can't wait to get to chemistry class... ***** Smart, good looking and charismatic, Jordan opens Elliot's eyes to the possibilities around him and gives him butterflies like nobody else does. Jordan isn't exactly the kind of person Elliot's used to having as a lab partner, but when they start acing their assignments, life is suddenly about more than boring lectures, bad cafeteria nachos, or relentless bullying. And then one night, the butterflies start to make sense - the trouble is, now nothing else does. As Elliot begins to figure out how he really feels about Jordan, he realizes that sometimes the last thing you are expecting is the one thing you need the most. [[word count: 40,000-50,000 words]]

In which a human, seventeen year old high school girl named Mia meets the love... I mean, loves(?) of her life? The male triplets who seem to almost own the town she's moved to are obsessed with her, for reasons beyond her grasp. She's convinced that she'll have to choose, but like everything else in this strange town, that might not be the case.