[Follows
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Since Sam had arrived at the pulsing Panthers party on the other side of Dillon, Tim had been quiet. He had been waiting in the drive for her, his hands shoved deeply in his jacket pocket as he kicked at a rock by the letterbox. He hadn't said anything when he got in her car, just tugging his jacket tigher around his torso to try and ward off the shivers wracking his body. He was feeling sick all over again. And tired. He had gone to that party with all intents of getting piss-blind drunk, but when he got there, everyones' words of the last few weeks came rushing back to him. Sam's, Billy's, Coach's, Mrs Taylor's, Lyla's, even Mac's and her mother's. He had reached for a beer but pulled back and locked himself in the bathroom for the next half hour while he tried to work things out in his confused mind. That's when the sick nausea and shivering had started to set in again, sending him to Jones' father's study where he logged onto the computer in hopes someone would be there he could talk to to distract him from grabbing the nearest six pack.
It had been Sam and although he was on the defense and coming across angry, he had been glad to see her. He expected her to be angry in return, hence his defensiveness, but he wasn't angry at her. He had been angry at himself, he just couldn't decide why. Now they were on their way home from the party and far away from the booze. That had to be a good thing, right?
"Ya' gotta pull over, S. I ain't feelin' real good," he warned her.