Your title is very fitting. I'm the biggest fan of Ryan, of Ryan and Sandy, of an insightful look at their special bonding and bond, and of how nothing is too minor to have a major impact on Ryan. He can't take anything or any minute for granted. Everything is significant. So much is confusing and overwhelming and everything is uncertain. It's like he's blindfolded, has his hands tied and is being forced to go through a maze by himself.

The more detail-oriented the better. The more reading non-verbally the better. Ryan doesn't ever demand attention, but he manages to command it silently and misses almost nothing while he observes everything. All the interactions between Ryan and Sandy are essential to watch closely to see what both learn about each other and to understand just how lost and hurt Ryan is.

A big thanks for this one too!

You are so right. This is quality time. For me, it's quality reading time. This is the kind of special story that takes me away and puts me right in Ryan's world in a magical way. Nothing's easy- far from it. That's what makes it so real.

Thanks so much for a golden start to the weekend in less than golden times.

I really like how you understand how important it is that nothing can be taken for granted when it comes to Ryan. A kid who has had his whole world torn apart and has been tossed out like trash after being treated like an unwanted burden and punching bag, someone everyone could hurt and then get rid of when they had the chance would be desperately trying to hold himself together. He'd be incredibly lost, insecure, uncertain, always wondering what gesture or word would continue the cycle. Every part of this new place would be foreign and a mine field ready to explode. He needs all the guidance and patience and concern that someone can give. He's never even been tolerated or wanted. The heart of it has to be how he sees any relationship with Sandy because without that link, Ryan would still be at the mercy of the streets with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. It makes every minute very valuable. Ryan's perceptions and observations are so revealing and Sandy's take on Ryan's body language and what his expressions might slip and show are essential.

This comes at a time when I really need an honest, touching portrait centering on an honest, touching character. Thanks for coming through with this wonderful look at Ryan, just one of the many challenges that would be daunting in a number of situations trying to carve a place and be tolerated day to day. Then there's figuring out what a relationship is with someone who isn't violent, abusive, manipulative and intimidating.

Excellent, insightful and very real. Thanks for writing again about my favorite character, the most important person to him, and doing it so well.

Thanks for giving me something special to read during troubling times. I always hated how the show's writers went for contrived stories and lost focus. You know how to write about what's important and real and make it very engaging and genuine. It's not easy to keep Ryan's perspective and be in his head so honestly. It's hard not to rush or to gloss over. Taking the time to get the details is everything, plus knowing how to express them they way that Ryan would, and Sandy too, makes this.

Please keep on writing!

I'm so happy to see another story from you. I really like your style and your focus on characters in quiet moments that are still very significant. You know how to draw me in, invest me, and hit the emotions every time.

Loved it

Quality Ryan time and Ryan and Sandy time is the best. This is quality from you. You make Ryan's perspective and feelings very vivid and real. This might be a short story, but I made sure to read it very slowly and picture each part. Of courses I'm looking forward to whatever you've got coming.

Thanks again and I hope that you're staying safe too!

This is a bright spot in a dreary and stressful day. You really have a way of staying in character, making me feel like I'm right there too, and making the ordinary extraordinary. That makes so much sense because nothing would be normal and ordinary for Ryan. Everything would be new and different and have extra meaning or the threat of consequences. There are so many times that I wished the writers on the show would have realized what was important and special like this.

I like the title and how it works on several levels. I also think that this is golden, as are all of the honest, shared moments between Ryan and Sandy.

Just like so many things would be overwhelming and troubling and scary for Ryan, nothing would be simple, from not just enough, but an abundance of food. There isn't just a house, but luxury. There's excess and he's used to having nothing, or almost nothing but the minimum. He's used to any attention being for all the wrong reasons, from abuse and being used or being blamed and targeted. He was supposed to be invisible, or finally just gone, never wanted. Having someone who might want him around, to have a voice if he chooses, to choose at all, would be a shock. No wonder he'd always have to test and be sure that he wasn't still a burden, still in the way, a problem. Fifteen years of being forced to live one way can't change in a day, week, month or a year.

I like how you approach with caution and care the same tentative way that Ryan does, so worried about overstepping and being hurt and rejected. Having Sandy aware and sensitive to find the right rhythm isn't easy, but he's finding his way. Ryan has to work so hard at every little thing because so much is on the line and there's so much pressure. He'll always be replaying how he's lived and planning what to say and do and the possible outcomes.

Thanks for the second story of the day- for me- and for a really insightful, connecting dynamic. This is something that I would have loved to have seen on the screen.

Stay safe!

Thanks! You have me tearing up, but in a good way. This is so genuine. The kinds of things that just about everyone would take for granted or not want to do would be important to Ryan. Being wanted at all and included would be a total turnaround. You know how to slow down and describe the way Ryan tries to talk and to trust, things that are foreign and risky, and the way that Sandy also teaches himself to stop and patiently not rush him.

Well done!