[He lets her tug him over until he's sitting in the chair and he swallows hard, leaning into her touch as their eyes meet. He chews his lower lip and then exhales slowly.]

It's not just that. [His voice is still quiet. He hesitates.] He's been the one constant. After my mom -- [He looks down for a second, uncertain.] My dad drank a lot. Like -- a lot. [He lays a hand on her arm.] I pretty much lived with the McCall's for awhile after the funeral. [And he'd clung to Scott and to Melissa like his own life depended on it.] And my dad was eventually kind of okay again and then he was okay, but...

[But he'd always been afraid to lean on his dad too much, afraid he'd drive him over that edge again. So he'd leaned on Scott instead.]