Update 2014: If you are coming here for the first time, I should warn you that this story has not been published in its completed form. At a certain point I realized that I wouldn't be finishing this piece. Instead of abandoning it, I figured I owed it to my readers to let them know what would have happened if I had come at this project with the stamina my readers deserved from me. After the first 14 chapters or so, the rest is an extended post of my outline and the various scenes that would have been included. If any of this is a turn-off for you (as I know it would be for me), then I urge you to stop reading before you get started. No sense in the disappointment that awaits you at the end of that fourteenth chapter.

If you're willing to suffer through a raw, half-formed story outline, then tread with caution. I hope you can enjoy at least those pieces that are provided.

Got bored, so I decided to rewrite the author's note. No, you don't have to reread it. There's nothing worthwhile in it anyway. Go on, close out of this window. You know if you don't, you'll end up wasting two to five minutes of your life - depending on how slowly you read. Don't burn your minutes; they're too precious for that.

(Also, the rest of this authors note is from years ago, and probably largely unnecessary to read. Feel free to skip to the next chapter now for the actual story.)

All right, folks, after much agonizing over this story, we finally begin the reposting experience. For those of you who told me you rarely like rewrites better than the originals, I hope this one will be an exception. Mostly because if you liked the first version (and this is, of course, my own humble opinion), you have bad taste in writers. Although that's not to say your taste has improved, perhaps, if you're still reading - though I do like to think I've improved considerably since my start on this website. This will be my last story on fanfiction. All previous stories have already been deleted, and I'm considering removing this one a few months after its completion. That's still up for grabs, though.

A few things I should say before the coming chapters:

1. For the sake of keeping confusion to a minimum, I'll keep the old title of the story for the first couple of chapters (Second Chances Don't Come Easy). Afterwards, the new title will replace it. Come on, none of you can say you prefer "Second Chances Don't Come Easy" to "Behind Locked Doors." While the latter might not be a display of brilliance, at least it doesn't sound like... well, what it was.

2. Reviews are a lost art. I'm not posting stories to fish for compliments. Telling me it was a "great chappie!" leans a bit toward the useless side of things (though I guess I'm glad you thought so). What I want to hear is the criticism. If you've got that for me, share it! Real reviews are golden. I promise I won't get defensive. I love writing too much to let my ego get in the way of improvement. I want to know the bad more than the good. My favorite reviews are most often the ones that come from people trying their very best to insult me. :) I respond personally to all reviews that I think were given personally. (Whenever someone displays a modicum of thought for my effort, I like to show my appreciation for the feedback.)

3. Quotes. At the top of each chapter, I try to include a quote that pertains to that chapter below. Points to anyone who guesses how the quotes pertain to their respective chapters. I like to hear people's opinions. Many of them, while not what I myself had intended, open up windows that I never noticed in my own story.

4. Someone (if I could remember who, I'd share) told me he wished I would expound a bit on the relationship between Chris and his best friend Jason (renamed Dwight Ryder in the updated version). Actually, I think it's pretty rude of me not to remember who said it because whoever did, I owe that person a lot. That is a key reason that I decided to rewrite this story. In the revamp, I'll be focused a lot more on relationships and people in general. And yes—Dwight now plays a larger role than originally intended. Be prepared to see quite a bit more development of all characters, not just Chris and Dwight. Siblings, cousins, teachers, friends, etc.

Thank you so much for your patience. Now, without further ado, I present to you Behind Locked Doors…