i love this story so much! its nice to see rosas side of it all! i hope you write a follow up!:D

When I see your name on a story I know I'm in for a well constructed story. The language in your stories is always an easy read and very natural. I'm not saying that your stories are easy just that the language is clear and flows from one paragraph to the other. I love the Atwood brothers and the glimpses you give of their life pre-Cohens. And I agree the gum is a nice idea but doesn't work! I loved that it was Rosa who left it and no I didn't see that one coming. And I liked the way you worked in Rosa's backstory with Gus. In short I loved this story.

Oh, I loved everything about this fic.

I guess we all idealize the relationship between Ryan and the Cohens in fanfic, but your take on it was very realistic - I especially loved this line : "Oh, they were his guardians. Sure. At least for now. But, that could always change. A trip to social services—the stroke of a pen—and as easily as it had been granted—the guardianship could be terminated. But, family? Family was forever. He had a family. As shitty as they were. He had a mother, a father and a brother. And they weren’t Kirsten, Sandy or Seth. As much as he wished otherwise."

I liked the relationship between Ryan and Trey - the way Trey taught what he knew to his brother, Ryan's certainty that Trey would have had his back during OliverGate... And Trey pointing at the ugliest woman in sight, and asking Ryan "isn't she your ex?" was such a big brotherly thing to do, in a strange way. :D

"He’d talked to all of them—Sandy, Kirsten, Seth, Marissa, Dr. Kim, even Julie Fucking Cooper" - hee, when I was watching The Truth, I remember thinking, "Wait, Ryan is talking to *Julie Cooper*, Queen of Darkness, Kirsten sees it, and she doesn't think that Ryan must indeed be desperate and that she should listen to him? Huh."

Anyway, great fic - incredibly well-written, well thought, and nice twist with Rosa, at the end :D

This was really good character story that encompased all sorts of points of Ryan. i enjoyed it greatly.

this a very very very good writen chapter or story. the way you wrote the bound between rayn and trey was ...

and that the last part of your story, that was a nice twist. nice that raosa joins in the story.

keep writing and post a other story or write a other chapter.

bye bye

Wow! Wonderful! What an unexpected twist. Oh Rosa, how we've missed ye.

I especially liked this line:

he didn’t know the right combination of words to adequately convey his conviction that there was something terribly “off” about Oliver.

I loved the days when Ryan could barely express himself and one could only read his emotions in his eyes. As we all know, season 2 Ryan is a veritable chatterbox.

Also I loved everything about his relationship with Trey and the tells and the hustling and family reminisces and ... just all of it. Thanks.

A great one parter! I loved the point where Ryan kept coming home to Sandy shaking his head, and holding a pack of ciagrettes.

I also really like the backstory you put into Ryan and Trey, there are not too many authors who delve into Trey on a postive note, so this was really refreshing, and the end was a bit of a surprise.

Well Written! Good Work!

Beautiful, sweet, and moving.

I love the mention of The Backpack. :)

My eyes were closing, I'm so so tired, and I just couldn't stop reading, even though the sensible side of my head said put it aside for later. Ryan's memories of lying to his father and how you connected it to your other story was all very carefully crafted. I loved that it was Rosa that kept finding his cigarettes. It made me smile. And loved the twist on how Rosa viewed Ryan in the family. All arond a great story. Just a note: I thought that Kavalier and Clay were cartoon characters, and now they are, but actually they were originally characters in Michael Chabon's novel Kavalier and Clay. (I had assumed it was a GN.) Anyway, just thought I'd share that. From your story, I wasn't sure if you knew that. (Not that you necessarily care!)

Very good. I loved the "tell". And you fooled me. I had no idea. But I can me slow on the uptake. Heh.

I just loved the interweaving of scenes, the differences between Trey and Seth, the explanations for so many things. Well done, I say.

Rosa is alive! It is nice to see someone finally paying close attention to Ryan. Great job on the story.

This was so well crafted. I honestly didn't want to reach the end, as much as I wanted to read it in its entirety. I rationed! You convey Ryan's frustrations, insecurities, confusion and doubt- his whole struggle- so sympathetically and realistically. I was invested from line one. His fears about the guardianship being eliminated with "the stroke of a pen" are so telling in terms of his sense of fragility within the very revealingly termed "Cohen home." His isolation is so palpable and his loss as to how to define and live with family is expressed perfectly. I really like the inclusion of Rosa. I've always thought there should be a tangible connection and that her ruminations would be very interesting where Ryan was concerned. Great inclusion of the details from the pilot with Kirsten's barely masked distrust and overt nervous resignation. I loved the burdened backpack analogy. I wish you would do another piece to explore Rosa's interactions with Ryan more fully. I saw the moment where she appreciated his manners and I'm glad you captured that here.

What a beautiful insight into Ryan's past. His relationship with Trey isn't often explored in fan fiction, and you did a wonderful job with it. I especially liked how you used Rosa in the story, and the relationship between her and Ryan. Simply lovely.

Connell, That was marvelous

Wow. Great story. You had my rapt attention. The internal feelings and thoughts of Ryan, his yearning for Trey, his definition of 'brother' especially got me. And then Rosa's the one finding his smokes...

Beautiful. Great job.