Chapter 23

"Babe..." Dylan groaned from next to me.

"What?" I managed, rolling over to bury my head in his chest.

"We have practice." He sighed, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"You have practice." I replied, cracking open my eyes to look at him. His hair was a mess, and he was looking down at me with tired eyes.

"Don't make me do it alone..." Dylan whispered.

"I can't move." I groaned, closing my eyes again. "Can we just sleep?"

"Can I have some Advil?" Dylan asked.

"Yea... It's in the bathroom... Somewhere..." I sighed. Dylan nodded and got up from the bed.

I whined at the loss of his body heat, rolling over to cuddle up to the pillow that he'd been using.

"I miss you." I whined, cracking open my eyes.

Dylan was standing in the bathroom, his arms resting on the edge of the counter, wearing just a pair of jeans.

"Fuck I had way too much to drink." Dylan groaned.

"Tell me about it." I agreed, closing my eyes again. "What time is practice?" I asked.

"No idea... 10 or something..." Dylan shrugged.

I squinted to look at my clock. "Dylan, it's half past 12." I groaned.

Dylan gasped, stumbling out of the bathroom.

"Oh shit I have to go!" He exclaimed, reaching for his shirt that was on the ground.

"Why?" I whined, pushing myself up to a sitting position.

"Because we have weight training." Dylan sighed. "Sam, come on, get up."

"I'm not going." I shook my head.

"You have to..." Dylan said, sitting back down in bed next to me.

"I'd much rather just lay here with you." I whined.

"Come on." Dylan said, getting up and walking into my closet.

"How are you so awake?"

"It's called realization of responsibility." Dylan said, walking back to me with a pair of black athletic shorts, a pink sports bra, and a white t-shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"Get dressed. Now." Dylan told me, picking up his phone from my nightstand. "Yea, I've got like 20 missed calls from the team."

I lethargically pulled on the clothes he'd given to me, cursing under my breath at the splitting headache.

Dylan handed me a small cup of water and some Advil.

"You rock." I whispered, pulling some running shoes onto my feet. "I'll throw up if we work out."

"Please don't." Dylan shook his head, grabbing my hand as he pulled me upstairs.

"How'd we even get here?" I groaned.

"No idea." Dylan laughed.

I almost fell asleep again as he drove my car to school. But he picked me up and lifted me over his shoulder as he walked inside.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I groaned, weakly hitting his back as he walked towards the weight room.

"Getting you to practice." Dylan replied.

"I'm not on the team anymore." I whined, closing my eyes.

"Too bad." Dylan shrugged, walking through the doors to the weight room.

"Sofia and Susan are right... It does stink in here." I sighed.

I groaned as Dylan set me down on the floor at his feet.

"Turn off the lights." I whined, rolling over and burying my head in my arms.

"She's hungover." Dylan informed somebody.

"Yea no shit, man. What the hell is she doing here? Have you ever dealt with a hungover Sam?" Nate groaned. I assumed that it was his footsteps that neared me.

"I guess. She usually just sleeps it off." Dylan shrugged.

"Well be prepared for a Royal Bitch." Nate laughed.

"Fuck off." I groaned.

"Carson!" Coach's familiar voice boomed.

I let out a loud, audible groan as I curled my legs up to my chest.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled.

"Sleeping." I mumbled, not wanting to ever get up. I felt like my head was splitting in two. My stomach was churning unpleasantly.

"Get up!" Coach yelled.

"I'll pass." I sighed.

"I said, get up!"

"You're not my coach anymore."

"Carson!"

"Yea?"

"Get off of my floor!" Coach yelled.

I groaned, pulling myself to my feet.

"No need to yell." I grumbled, pushing my hair back from my face. "I can hear you perfectly fine without the unnecessary raise in your volume." I rolled my eyes, stumbling towards one of the weight benches.

"Carson!" Coach yelled as I sat down.

"What." I groaned, laying back so that I was staring up at the ceiling.

"Since you've so willingly joined us on this fine morning, you can start by giving me 2 miles on the exercise bike!" Coach yelled.

"I'll pass." I mumbled, resting my arms over my eyes.

"Now!"

"Nah." I shrugged, beginning to get pissed off at him.

"Dylan why the hell did you bring her here?" Nate groaned.

"Fuck off, Hart." I hissed to Nate.

"Royal bitch." Nate reminded Dylan.

"Carson get off of the bench!"

"Sorry man, you lost the right to boss me around the second you walked out of the locker room at Nationals." I said, sitting up. "Tell me, Coach. How'd you gain back the respect of all these guys?" I asked.

Most people in the room were now paying attention to me. I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Carson." Coach warned.

"No! Seriously tell me, how did you justify ditching us?"

"It was a family matter and-"

"A family matter? Oh dear, well I guess whenever someone's having a family issue, or a fight with their old man, then I guess football's out of question. Damn, I guess the past three years, I shouldn't have even been playing. I mean I don't even know my family." I said, trying to stop the room from spinning.

Maybe I was still a little bit drunk?

"Samantha!" Coach yelled. "You know nothing about family!"

I just looked at him. Was he really going there?

"Yea, I guess I don't, do I?" I sighed, standing up from the bench. I stumbled a little bit, catching myself on Dylan's arm. "Can you please take me home before I puke?" I managed, squeezing his forearm.

"Shit sorry I'm late." Andrew groaned, stumbling through the weight room door.

"Andrew Lowellson!" Coach yelled.

"Shit, hi dad." Andrew cursed, swaying a little bit as he walked towards his father.

"Oh shit's gonna go down." I whispered to Dylan.

"Were you drunk last night?!" Coach yelled.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Andrew grumbled, nearly losing his balance. "Can somebody turn off the fucking lights?"

"Andrew and Sam, why don't you show the team what happens if you drink the night before practice!" Coach yelled.

"Oh fucking hell." I groaned, pushing myself away from Dylan. "I'm warning you coach, I'll throw up."

"Carson!"

"Okay okay okay! Chill your balls." I mumbled, walking to the hard part of the floor and sitting down.

"50 sit ups! Andrew get down there!" Coach yelled.

By the 4th one, I knew I wasn't going to make it to 50.

I was hanging over the trash can by 38.

"Finish!" Coach yelled at me as I wiped my mouth.

I resisted the urge to flip him off as I lowered myself back down to the ground.

Andrew was hanging over the trash can just a few seconds later.

"50 push-ups!" Coach yelled once we'd both finished our sit ups.

By the end of our brutal practice, most of the work in the room was done by Andrew and myself, while the rest of the guys watched with amusement.

"Next time the two of you want to get drunk, think about the consequences!" Coach yelled at us.

"I'm not even on this team anymore, so technically I don't have to listen to you." I pointed out, sleepily resting my head against Andrew's shoulder.

"You will listen to me no matter what team you're on, Carson!" Coach yelled.

"First of all, my name is Samantha, not Carson. And second of all, Dylan had just as much as much as me to drink last night, and I can prove it to you, because he told me that he wanted to-"

"Sam!" Dylan said loudly, shutting me up.

"Sorry." I mumbled, feeling Andrew's head drop against my own.

"Oh for goodness sakes. The rest of you, warm up! Now!" Coach yelled.

I think I fell asleep on Andrew's shoulder.

"Oi, Sam, Andrew, get up." Nate said, nudging my side with a foot.

I groaned, sitting up.

"How are you feeling?" Coach asked both of us, standing in front of us.

I watched as the guys all collected their stuff. It must have been a tough practice, because all of them were sweating and still breathing heavily.

"My headache's gone, I just feel like crap." I groaned, leaning back against the mirrors.

"Andrew?" Coach asked.

"Go away..." Andrew groaned, closing his eyes.

I stretched out my arms, softly nodding my head along to the music. "So you actually let them listen to music now?" I asked, stretching my arms above my head.

Coach didn't even crack a smile as he glared down at the two of us.

"I'm very disappointed in the two of you." Coach said harshly.

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"I'm very disappointed in the two of you." A faceless figure said softly, standing above me.

I just giggled, gripping onto the arm of the kid sitting next to me. I knew I should feel guilty, but how can you feel guilty? It was hilarious.

"Tyler, honey, they're only three, don't get mad at them for such a harmless prank." A woman's soft voice sighed, walking up and wrapping her arms around the man's arm.

He sighed, reaching down. "Alex, Andy, go apologize to the neighbors." He said softly, pulling both of us up gently by the arms. The little boy and I exchanged knowing looks as we giggled and ran over to the stairs.

"Now!" The man called after us.

We guiltily walked to the door, our heads hung low.

"Tyler, they're just kids." The woman said, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"That doesn't mean they're allowed to cut off all the flower heads because they wanted to make their own garden!" The man exclaimed.

The boy and I ran outside, giggling.

******************************

I felt like I was going to be sick, and not just hangover sick. I'd had memories like that before, but I figured that boy was just a friend.

But right now, it felt like a lot more.

"Samantha? I asked you a question." Coach said harshly.

I shook my head quickly, pushing myself up to my feet. "I can't... I have to... I have to go." I mumbled, walking towards Dylan. "I need my keys."

"Where are you-"

I grabbed them from his hand and walked towards the door, tears filling my eyes.

I practically ran inside my house as I got home, desperate to talk to my parents.

My dad was in his old office, as usual. He was on a phone call, but I patiently waited near the door of his office.

"Okay, I'm going to have to call you right back." He said. "Absolutely sir, thank you so much for your time."

"Yes?" He asked me as I nervously walked forwards. "Why are you all sweaty?" My dad added quickly.

"What do you know about my family?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

My dad's eyes widened for a moment, an expression of pure shock crossed his face.

"Were you just at practice? Who said something to you?" My dad asked seriously, sitting forwards in his chair.

"What? No, nobody said anything to me, I just... Did I have a brother?" I asked, rubbing my hands across my knees.

My dad took a deep breath. "We'll discuss this when you're 18."

"That's just in a few months!" I exclaimed.

"Samantha. When you're 18." My dad sighed.

"But I-"

"We legally can't discuss anything until you're an independent adult. It's in the contract that we signed." My dad sighed, running his hands down his face. "Samantha, just a few months."

I stood up from the chair, my hands shaking.

"Where are you going?" He asked softly.

"Out." I mumbled, leaving his office.

"Samantha! Where are you going?" My mom asked happily as I practically ran to the front door.

I got into the car and drove to the farthest place I could think of, within 45 minutes of my home. There was this old rundown field that I always used to go to when I was 14 or 15. It was when I was new on the team, and I needed somewhere to practice.

I'd been so determined to prove myself to Coach. We'd had countless private practices here, repeated drills, over and over again, countless efforts to be the best I could be.

I didn't bring a football, but I just laid down in the middle of the field, with my arms and legs spread out like a starfish as I stared up at the clouds.

It was days like this that I wished nothing else mattered. It was days like this where I hated everything around me, where I just wanted to leave my brain for a day or two and live a life without any problems.

I closed my eyes, resting my arms over my head.

My headache had gone, and I wasn't anywhere near as nauseous as before, but I just still felt really crappy and gross. I needed a shower. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd showered.

Maybe after the pool party two days ago... It was hard to believe that that had only been the day before yesterday.

I pushed my hair back from my face as I took a deep breath. I knew that as much as I didn't want to go home and deal with my parents tonight, I had to.

I couldn't keep running from our family problems, especially since the past 6 months had been great for us. And I couldn't keep showing up at Dylan's unannounced, especially since tonight was the night before his brother's wedding. I could only imagine how insane their house was right now.

I heard a car door slam, causing me to sit up suddenly and look around.

I didn't even know people came here anymore.

"Oh, shit, sorry, I didn't know someone was here." Andrew frowned.

"Nah it's cool. Uh, were you coming here to practice?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Yea, my dad was getting all mad for being out last night, so I just came here to throw the ball around a bit, but uh, I can go if you're-"

"Oh don't worry. I can pass with you?" I raised my eyebrows, standing to my feet.

Andrew grinned. "Wow! I get to practice with the former QB of the three time national champ team?" Andrew teased, dropping his phone and keys to the ground.

"Oi, I should be the excited one here. You're the current QB of the three time national champ team." I laughed, backing up a bit as he threw the ball to me.

"We're both lucky I guess." Andrew laughed, watching the ball in the air as I launched it out to him.

"What are your weak points?" I asked, still backing up a bit so we could get a decent length pass going between us.

"I launch it out without thinking. I forget to make sure someone's on the other end of the pass." Andrew replied, tossing the ball back to me.

"Same! I always forget that I'm not the only one on the field, and that other people are depending on me to hit a target." I replied with a laugh.

"My dad's not too fun to be around when my head's not 100% in the game." Andrew shrugged.

"Oh God, your dad is insane when it comes to perfection. God, it's tough enough dealing with him as a coach. I couldn't imagine if he was my dad." I laughed shaking my head.

"So what's your story? I know that's a weird question, but I mean, you're kind of a sore subject around the guys, especially Dylan. And dad always gets mad when I ask about you because he says I'd be better off if you came back anyways." Andrew laughed, nearly fumbling the ball as he caught it. "I mean, I know you're an excellent QB, that your dad's the president, that you were adopted from Italy, and that you and Dylan had a thing."

"I didn't know I had a 'story' per say. I'm just... Sam?" I shrugged.

"What part of Italy are you from?" Andrew asked.

"I have absolutely no idea. All I know is that I was adopted from there." I replied, quickly stepping to my right to get the ball.

"I used to live in Italy. That's where I'm from. I don't really know much about it, but I know that something happened that made my parents go absolutely insane, and they split up and both moved here, coincidentally like 45 minutes away from each other. I grew up with my mom, and we kind of rekindled things with my dad like 3 or 4 years ago." Andrew replied, running his hands through his curly hair before I threw the ball back to him.

"Yea, all I know is that my parents adopted me from there when I was 5 or whatever." I shrugged. "I sometimes remember these really weird things, but I think they're from too long ago to like, piece anything together."

"Do you have any siblings?" Andrew asked.

"Yep, 4 sisters. What about you?"

"Nah, I'm an only child. I think I used to have a sister or something, or like a really close cousin or whatever, my mom's got like a ton of pictures of this other little girl hidden away in the back of her closet."

"Ah lucky, I've always wanted a really close sibling or friend you know? But my sisters are into all that artistic crap, and then there's me with the football. The closest I've ever gotten to that was Nate, we practically grew up together from the moment we met." I shrugged. "But I always get these weird feelings that I used to have someone super close."

"Exactly! Yea that's the same way with me. I always get the feeling that I used to have a best friend when I was super young that I don't know anymore. And my mom sometimes, when telling me about a story from when I was a baby, refers to me as if there was another one of me, and I'm pretty sure I've heard her and my dad refer to me as 'double trouble'." Andrew laughed.

"I think I might have had a brother before I was adopted, but I guess something happened to my own family, because obviously my family is filled with blonde girls." I shrugged, catching the football easily with one hand.

"I've always wanted a sister." Andrew replied.

"Well you can have one of mine. I've always wanted a brother too. I mean, sure, the girls are great when I need to get ready for an event and my lack of fashion instinct obscures my thoughts on what to wear. But they're too into pink and girly chick flicks. I'm more of a green and action movie kind of gal." I laughed.

"Green fucking rocks man!" Andrew teased, making me laugh.

"It's not a very common favorite color anymore. I feel like most people are all chill with pink, red, blue, maybe even purple or yellow, but I rarely see someone with the favorite color of green!"

"I know right! Green is such an underrated color." Andrew agreed.

I laughed, shaking my head. "We're having a conversation about green, how lame is that?" I rolled my eyes.

"Oi, don't insult the power of lame conversations." Andrew teased, making me laugh.

"Okay seriously you're hilarious! I wish Coach would've introduced you to us earlier." I said honestly.

"Uh no? Because then you'd have still been on the team and I wouldn't be first string!" Andrew replied loudly.

"But still, you could've been like, our team mascot or something!" I laughed, catching the ball. I was laughing too hard to throw it back.

"A mascot?!" Andrew laughed, raising his eyebrows. "Yea no thanks I'll pass on that one! I've so been turned off of mascots since that Hannah Montana episode."

"Oh my God the one where Miley and Lily try out for the cheer team but Miley ends up being the mascot? She's like a pirate or something." I laughed, lazily throwing the football back at Andrew.

"That show was boss." Andrew laughed.

"But now Miley's gone all insane or whatever." I added, shaking my head. "That was my absolute favorite show. I honestly think I cried when Hannah Montana Forever ended."

"Are you crazy? I got teared up when they sold the house at the end of the regular Hannah Montana episode before they moved to the ranch!" Andrew replied.

"I've never met a guy who openly admits to loving Hannah Montana." I told him. "I like you Andrew, you'll fit in great with this team."

"Yea as long as you don't plan on coming back to steal my spot." Andrew teased.

"Oh God. If I could, I would. I'm turning 18 in October, and if the circumstances were any different, I'd totally move back here and stay with Dylan's family or something." I sighed. "But my dad's president... So..."

"Oh yea, totally sucks doesn't it. Your dad's the president, no big deal. Not like you're the most important family in the country." Andrew teased, rolling his eyes.

"Oh shush." I laughed, nearly dropping the ball as I caught it. "Man, I'm just not on my game today."

"Well I mean, I heard you've kind of been slacking off you know, skipping team practices for like, the past 6 months." Andrew said sarcastically.

"You know me, the little rebel." I teased, throwing the ball back at him with as much force as I could.

"Shit, Sam!" Andrew exclaimed, unable to catch the ball.

"Who lost their practice again?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes, bending down to pick up the ball. "So you said your birthday is in October?" Andrew asked, lightly tossing the ball back to me.

I nodded. "Yep, the 22nd." I nodded with a smile, quickly throwing the ball back.

"No way! Me too!" Andrew replied with wide eyes.

"Seriously?! Dude that's awesome!" I laughed.

"We're twins!" Andrew laughed, launching the ball out to me.

I rolled my eyes, catching the ball securely in my hands.

"Do you know what time you were born?" He asked.

"Nah." I shook my head. "I don't think my parents know that many details about me." I shrugged.

Andrew nodded, catching the ball. He didn't throw it back to me.

"You okay?" I asked as he rested his hands on his hips, taking a deep breath.

"Yea, just still a bit tired from last night." Andrew sighed.

"We can stop here if you'd like." I suggested, beginning to walk towards him.

"You wanna come back to my place, maybe watch a movie or something? The guys usually hang out at Dylan's, and I'm sure nobody's really gonna be there considering it's his brother's wedding tomorrow." Andrew said as we both walked over to where his stuff was.

"Yea sure! Although I should probably stop by Dylan's later. I haven't seen his mom since like, December, and I'm sure his little brother will love to see me." I added, pulling my phone out of the waistband of my shorts to check.

No missed called. No texts.

"Oh yea, didn't you stay with them for a bit?" Andrew asked.

I nodded.

"Yea. They're basically my second family." I nodded with a smile.

"Awesome, I love the Peters."

"Who doesn't? They're just like, a perfect family." I laughed, walking through the gate after him.

"That's your car?" I asked in shock, raising my eyebrows.

"Whoa, shit." Andrew laughed as we looked at our identical cars sitting side by side. "I didn't even notice that."

"I mean, I guess a white Jeep is a pretty common car." I shrugged, unlocking my car.

"I guess." Andrew nodded.

"So I'll just follow you to your house?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Yea, sure." Andrew smiled, getting into his car as I got into mine.

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I got home earlier than I expected so here's an update.

Update: Monday (tomorrow)

-Panda