I've heard so much about this story, I just had to sit down and read it eventually. I knew I would, I just didn't know when. And I certainly didn't know that I would read the whole thing in one sitting! My verdict: Excellent. And ironically so, because it's one of the first Hanfics ever written, at least in my understanding. You have to be in the right frame of mind for this one though: it's very, very dark.

I feel like I shouldn't even say that much about the plot, just because so much is revealed so slowly - anything I say could be considered a spoiler. I'll just say that it involves drugs and domestic turbulence, and leave it at that. This is an area that's been explored more than once in the Hanfic domain, but I like this one a lot. One reason is the non-linear storyline; the plot shifts from present day, to six months previous, to two days previous, back to present day, and then three months previous, and so on. It could easily have been too jerky, pulling the reader around to so many different places in a short span, but somehow it works.

One thing that angsty fics like this tend to do is have lots and lots of crying. This gets on my nerves, usually. I feel like there should be some other, subtler way of getting the point across, besides just showing your characters bawling their eyes out continuously. I didn't feel that way here - I was bawling right along with them. And it's not really continuous - there's a lot of tears, make no mistake, but it's spaced out in all the right places. There's a slow burn in the earlier pieces of the plotline that make the barrage of tears later on make perfect sense.

 

 

**SPOILER! SCROLL DOWN IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS!**

There's just one more thing I have to mention because I thought it was done so well: The mind of a drug addict, while they're high, is something I haven't seen portrayed that often. And, not being a drug addict myself, I have no idea what it must be like. The insistence of others that addicts 'don't know what they're doing' when they're on their meds or whatever has always caused a little bit of suspicion in me, because I can't imagine honestly not knowing what was going on around me. Here, Taylor's mind is in such a complete fog you can't help but pity him. His POV is done perfectly - he has a revulsion to people touching him, he can't see straight, he doesn't recognize people - it's frightening, but very well-done. It certainly gives you a better understanding of what it must be like to go through something like that.

**END SPOILER**

 

All in all, this IS a classic - go read it if you haven't already done so. In fact, I'm a little surprised it hasn't been reviewed here already. I suppose it might just be taken for granted at this point that this story is a must-read for Hanfic readers everywhere - I'm a little late in this game, I know. But it is great, and I'm glad I finally sat down and got through it.