"Yeah...yeah, I know." He'd be welcome there, so long as the slug stayed out. There was always a catch.

He swallowed, tensing his hands on his lap, not sure what to say while they discussed things. What could he say? Nothing he said would make any difference.

He looked up, just for a moment, trying to catch Sam's eye. "Can we go? I-Can we just...go home?"

He didn't want to talk about this right now. If he ignored the problem, maybe it would go away.