You decide Buck has had enough. And you've certainly had more than enough.
You pay off the tab and then help Buck into your rental car.
"All right, Buck, tell me which way to go. How do you get home?"
Buck squints at you. Shakes his head and lets out a belch.
"Where am I?" he asks you.
You sigh, start up the engine, and head to the open IHOP across the street to get some coffee.
Over the intermining hour it takes for Buck to recollect himself, he continues to talk about his marital problems. He becomes steadily more understandable as the night goes on.
"So you don't think the kid is yours?" you ask Buck.
He shakes his head. Stares into his third cup of coffee.
"Hell, any man I know would be a fool not to want Heather. I've always known that. That's why we started going out in high school. I always wanted what other people wanted just because they wanted it."
"And what do you really want?" you ask him.
Buck doesn't immediately answer you. Then he answers something you didn't ask at all.
"I'm sorry. For the way I treated you back in high school. I just...I didn't know how to handle my feelings. Not in a town like this. Not where I'm the home town, all-American hero."
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