Title: The World through the Eyes of a Basket Case
Author: TWBasketcase
A/N: This one goes out to everyone who reviewed the last chapter; you all took away the self consciousness I had…so this for you since I am in a giving mood:)

Chapter 32 – the Boy's a Time Bomb

I jerked my eyes back open as we hit a bump in the road; the clock in the dash board read 12:38, which meant we had been driving aimlessly around Chicago's suburbs for three hours. And during those three hours not one word has been said. Each passing street light shone brightly into my face every two seconds or so and it has become some repetitive illustration hazing my thoughts. The streets were completely dark and deserted and if it wasn't for Andy sitting next to me I probably would have been feeling a little more vulnerable than usual.

I turned to look at him; he seemed to be etched in stone. His eyes glazed over with sadness and worry – maybe even a little trauma, worry lines were evident in his forehead; his chin rested in his hand and his shoulders were tensed. The one thing I noticed was the way he breathed; it was different than usual with a long breath, then short, long, short, long, short, and so on. It seemed as though he was so upset he couldn't even control his own lung capacity even if it was three hours later. He looked a lot older than eighteen at that moment; kinda as if his whole life had already flashed him by and he was left as a shell of a stressed out, hurt old man. And through it all I did not have one word to say to him…I couldn't exactly figure out just what to say to him.

I tried as best I could to stay awake through it all but through the day's school, work, and shopping my body was exhausted and I wanted nothing more than to be in my own comfortable bed, warm, cozy and asleep. But at the same time I had to be there for Andrew…during whatever it was he was going through right now. With my messed up relationship with my dad I had no idea what it was like to let someone down or defy them; I was always able to do whatever I wanted.

He sighed tiredly and pulled into a Denny's Restaurant parking lot. There was only two other cars around and the only real movements inside the building I could see from the outside was of swirling ceiling fans and a waitress wiping down soiled tables. For being a family restaurant Denny's was kind of a dump.

"You want something to drink?" Andy asked monotonously.

The sound of his voice startled me and it sounded hoarse as though he hadn't spoken for days. I gave him a short nod and blew my hair out of my face, "Um, no thank you."

He nodded briefly looking down at the change in his hands, "Okay I'll be right back…lock your door." I said nothing in return and watched him as he climbed out his door and headed slowly into the restaurant. I watched him through the window as he reached his hand up to rake his fingers through his hair and down over his face; it caused his hair to stick up funny and his eyes to look tired. He spoke slowly and didn't look like he was in the mood for any small talk whatsoever – which he wasn't.

I looked around the station wagon with curiosity; he seemed to be pretty organized and neat for an energetic jock. There were a few empty coffee cups in various cup holders and just a few loose papers on the floor…the small mess being topped off with his gym bag lying on the back seat. The sight of the car itself made me want to chuckle; he tried very hard to come across as a neat, respectable, and calm person…when really he was a disheveled time bomb waiting to happen. He is the kinda person who gets so angry but doesn't often take the time to let people see just how angry he really is, until he blows. He showed that to us in our last detention, he showed that to Larry Lester, he showed that to his dad tonight…I think it is a matter of time before he goes off the handle.

I watched as the small bell on the top corner of the door clanged against the glass as he stepped through the exit. He had two coffees in a cardboard tray and his keys in the other hand. He looked even more irritated than he did when he stepped out of the car. He opened the driver's door slowly and sat down in his seat; he looked at me solemnly, "Here," he handed me the second cup and returned his gaze to his lap.

"I didn't need anything…"

He sighed and shook his head, "Yeah you did you just didn't wanna say anything."

I sat back in my seat and looked at him coolly, "fine…thank you." He nodded his head quietly and momentarily sat in his seat leaving the car off. He had been driving for hours and it surprised me that his body wasn't aching him at all. Maybe he is just too pissed off to notice anything.

He took a long sip off his cup and winced slightly as he swallowed the hot liquid; he reached back and grabbed his seat belt and turned the key in the ignition, "I can drop you off at home if you want."

I looked at him confused, "Just go wherever you want to go."

He smirked and shrugged his shoulders, "Right now the only place I wanna go is straight to hell."

I sighed, "Andy…"

"No don't 'Andy' me…I'm pissed…I am beyond pissed off and I have every right to feel the way I do."

"I know that you do I never said that you didn't. But what are you going to do about it? Surely we can't just drive and drive all night."

He shrugged, "Sure we could."

I sighed again, "No…we would run out of gas. And we are a little far from either of our houses to be pushing your car back."

He let out an amused snort; it wasn't much but it was enough to make me smile, "I don't know if I wanna go back home anyways."

I nodded and looked back out the window; we were on a long stretch of road that was pretty dead. There weren't very many houses in sight nor were there any cars…it was almost like a rural road, "Where are we anyways?"

He looked at me with confusion etched on his face and then he took a double take on our surroundings, "I have no idea."

I let out a laugh; I tried to bite it back but soon enough I was laughing out loud full force. I don't know exactly what came over me at that moment but I just laughed until I had tears coming down my face. Andy's face went from hard, to unintelligible, to amused, to grinning until he started laughing as well. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and we just laughed together until we were gasping for air. Andy wiped at his eyes and took a deep breath, "You are really weird, you know that?"

I nodded and laughed a little more before grinning at him like an idiot, "It's nice to see you smile again tonight."

He nodded with a small smile as he turned his gaze to his lap, "Look…I'm sorry about everything that happened tonight."

I cleared my throat and raked my fingers through my hair, "Its okay…I guess it was a little unavoidable. Maybe I shouldn't have gone in the house with you; none of it would have happened."

He let out a low sigh, "It's not your fault…not at all; he is just a prick and no one at my house has the balls to stand up to him. I almost wasn't going to stand up to him but as soon as he started saying it was all your fault I was acting that way something inside of me just snapped. I kinda get the impression that he thinks I am incapable of making my own decisions and that really pisses me off."

I nodded my head, "Why do you think he feels that way about you?"

Andy looked out to the road ahead of him and paused, "…I don't know. It's like he thinks that I am this mindless specimen and he is my puppeteer – or something."

I nodded, "Maybe he is scared."

He shot me a look and raised his eyebrows, "Of what?"

I swallowed taking in his defensive stance, "I don't know maybe he is just making sure you are doing something good for yourself…"

He gave me a wide eyed stare and rubbed his hands over his face, "Come again?"

My heart rate picked up, "Look all I am saying is that maybe there is a reason behind all of this and the main problem here is the lack of communication between the two of you…"

"If I didn't know any better you're sticking up for him."

I raised my eyebrows and scoffed, "It's not at all like that!"

His arms fell in his lap and he had a disbelieving smirk on his face, "That's rich Allison! I just get into a fight with the guy and tell him that you are worth losing him over and here you are taking his side! He is being a total insensitive asshole and you can't even see that?"

I shook my head, "I can see that okay…forgive me for trying to make you feel better. Let's just pretend I said nothing, okay?"

He nodded wildly and glared, "Good…I don't wanna even believe that you said what you said."

I rolled my eyes as I stared out the window, "Whatever."

I heard him sigh irritably as he started the car back up and made a u-turn to head back in the direction that we came from – wherever that was. Maybe I should have told him I wanted to go home after all; he is being bitchier than a female dog in heat…whether he has a right to feel that way or not there is no reason to be taking it out on me. He looked harder and colder than he has all night and his eyes looked so far away that I didn't even recognize them right now. Those deep blue, penetrating eyes were foreign to me – that scared me. He was gripping the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were turning white and that little vein in his neck was protruding.

He pushed his foot a little further down on the pedal and I felt the car take off a little faster; we were probably doing well over fifty now…thankfully the road was deserted. I grabbed the small bar over top of my window and put my hand on the dash as he continued to accelerate, "Andy, slow down."

He just blinked a few times; I glared at him, "Slow down before you kill us!"

I felt the car ease up and begin to slow down a bit, all with an amused smirk spread over his features. I stared at him disbelievingly, "Take me home, now."

He said nothing, just went back to holding his face with his hand. Surprisingly enough we were only about twenty minutes out from Shermer and he was darting straight back towards our small suburb – doing the speed limit.

I shook my head at his antics and folded my arms over my chest; the clock on the dash now read 2:09 am. I guess I'm not going to school tomorrow; I rolled my eyes at the thought. School should be the last thing on my mind even though surprisingly enough it was the one thing – well prom, to be more specific – that was on our minds just hours ago when we were out with the others at the mall. Funny how one minute you can be laughing and having a great time – in Andy's case being hit with shopping carts – and then the next crying, kicking, and screaming because of some stupid shit that had to come along and ruin your day. It was strange how fate, or the gods, or whatever it is you choose to believe in, works. Everything in life is just so damn unpredictable…but then again if it wasn't it would be pretty boring wouldn't it?

I looked back out to the road ahead of us and noticed the fog trailing in as we weaved through the streets of Shermer. The sky was a strange shade of dark red and the trees were lashing around feverishly. When we finally got into the less appealing side of Shermer I could sense Andy beginning to relax. His face was just tired now but somehow I still couldn't help but be a little angry for his outburst back there.

He pulled up to my complex and shut the car off; he sat there silently and I waited impatiently for him to say something…say anything.

"So are you gonna get out?" He asked quietly.

I raised my eyebrows and scowled, "Good fucking night, Andrew." I gathered my bag and pulled myself out of the station wagon, slamming the door hard behind me. He had a lot of nerve tonight that is for sure!

I stormed up to the front steps of the building to go settle in our crowded apartment; it was when I stuck my keys in the door that I realized maybe I was being a little misunderstanding. I turned around and noticed that Andy's car was still sitting in the parking lot under an old street lamp; the light shone off the hood of the car and I could clearly see him holding his face tiredly in his hands; he hadn't even started the car yet.

I sighed and made my way back down towards the car in a huff; I'm usually pretty stubborn and am the one pushing him away but I guess there is a time and a place for roles to be acceptably reversed. And besides he never let me push him away, why should I let him push me away?

I approached his window and gave it a small tap; he looked up at me with tired, dull, and sad eyes. The worst combination of looks that Andrew Clark could possibly muster; he rolled down his window and waited for me to speak.

"Let's go."

He nodded his head simply and locked up his car to follow me up to my humble abode. It's not like he had anywhere else to go…and it's not like I would want him to be anywhere else; no matter how much of an asshole he was I know that it is because he is hurting. The boy is a time bomb.

TBC