[ Suddenly, Alan feels uncomfortable, put on the spot. Tim's never made him feel like that before, but he's becoming all too aware that this isn't where he's supposed to be. Beth thinks he's an outsider; Tim seems to think the same. Why am I here then? ]

I would love to answer that question, but I don't know why I'm here myself. [ He expects Tim to shoot that down, saying he doesn't believe him, but Alan really has no good answer to give as to what he's doing here and why. ]

So things are really that bad between them. A year or longer? [ Alan shakes his head. He's trying to avoid drawing too many comparisons between this and his relationships, but it's hard to steer clear of it. ]

Maybe that's what I'm here for. Maybe somehow, I can help Beth and Alan figure things out. I don't think this should be the end of them, even though it's kind of not my place to think much of anything. [ He shrugs. ] There must be a way for them to work out their differences and go back to being happy together.

[ Eventually, though, Alan just falls silent and listens to Tim's explanations. It sounds to him that Alan's books and the pressures associated with being a writer contributed to stress in their relationship. The adaptations of the books into movies didn't help either. As for Barry, somehow that doesn't surprise him that he wanted Alan to move away from Bright Falls. It's not difficult for him to imagine that Beth's Alan shot that down every time.

So why did they fall apart so hard? ]

I'd love to ask her about that, but I don't know if she'll even talk to me. Why should she, anyway? I don't belong here, right?