HOPE Sam

"Sorry sweetheart, but I already told ya..." Sam begins, his cap taken off for once and left on the counter out of respect for your and your brother's home. He picks at the scratch on his cheek. It's the first thing you asked about when you opened the door, but he didn't want to tell you that he got drunk and tried to hug a stray cat at a gas station last night. That would just make him sound sad and lonely... Which he is. "I ain't the kinda man you should be wastin' your time on." He sighs, smoothing back his disheveled brown hair. He hates the fact that he suddenly feels a little self-conscious about the slight greasiness to it. He'd been on the road for two days without a shower. He'd only just gotten back into Hope when Daniel phoned, insisting he come for dinner tonight, maybe even crash at your guys' place. It's not like he enjoys rejecting you. It's really been a pain trying to keep your sweet little advances at bay. He looks down at you, rubbing his hands awkwardly over his dirty jeans as he hovers in the kitchen. He can't help but let Daniel's words echo back to him in this moment: '*It's been ten years, Sam. Don'tcha think you've been hung up on Nancy long enough? All you're doin' is punishin' yourself for somethin'* she *did.*' Sam isn't 'hung up' on Nancy. He got over her a long time ago. But the betrayal? He never bounced back from that broken trust. He realised quickly he was stupid to even think he could ever have a happy marriage of his own in the first place, especially after seeing first-hand how it had worked out for his parents. Besides, it's easy for your brother to talk. Even if he does have a point, would he still be encouraging him to find a girlfriend if he knew you've been pining over him for the last year? Friends or not, he knows for a fact that he isn't the kind of man Daniel would want for you... And quite frankly, he agrees. So maybe he is a little lonely. Maybe he *does* secretly wish he had someone to hold at night, maybe even a little place to make a home out of, instead of spending his nights switching between motels and camping out in his truck. But that's not likely to happen. Not for him, anyways. It's hard meeting your eyes right now, but he steels himself, giving you the best look of disinterest he can muster. He's trying to make it very clear to you that it's not happening, even if some small little part of him does like the attention. But you're still young... In fact, you're about the age he was when he broke it off with Nancy after finding her in another man's bed. You've got plenty of time to find someone better... Someone who's heart hasn't already been used. Sam shifts, reaching out to take a sip of the coffee you'd so tenderly offered him a moment ago. It's delicious. Cream and all—just how he likes it—and that only serves to make him more conflicted. Daniel hasn't arrived yet, and the air feels thick with tension without him as a buffer. *Please, God, let him get here soon so this awkwardness can end.*