I was sitting in the back yard, working on my homework, glancing at the man next to me every now and then.

Tim Riggins wasn't a man of words, and that was even more true ever since her girlfriend left him a few weeks ago. I tried to cheer him up but nothing seemed to work. He shut me down, saying he needed peace, so I decided to just be there in case he wanted to talk to somebody.

I was lost in my thoughts when somebody knocked on the door. Tim didn't even seem to notice the noise. I put down my notebook, standing up, sighing and headed to the door.

A blond girl stood there. The first thing that came into my mind was that she kind of looked sad. She wore a shabby sweater and jeans, her hair falling into her face, her eyes red like she stopped crying only earlier.

"Hi, I'm looking for Tim," she said, glancing at me from behind her bangs.

"He's at the back," I said, stepping aside, letting her inside.

I closed the door, following her but stopped a few feet away when I saw Tim glancing up at her. There was something in the way he looked at her that made me think I'd rather not disturb them.

"Hey, Taylor," Tim smirked.

I couldn't help but eavesdrop. I was curious who this girl was. Maybe another girlfriend, I thought.

"Dad needs you on the field tomorrow," the girl said shortly.

Oh, so she's Coach Taylor's daughter, I realized. I thought she would leave but she stayed still, staring far ahead.

"How is Seven?" Tim asked after a few moments of silence, glancing up at her.

"How is Lyla?" the girl snapped back, glaring at him, her arms crossing on her chest defensively.

I didn't like the way she talked to him. Didn't she realized how hurt Tim was because Lyla left him? I felt even worse when I saw a hint of hurt in his eyes as he glanced away.

"You want a beer?" Tim asked, moving his gaze back at the girl, offering a bottle to her. She took it without a word, sitting next to Tim where I had sat before.

I was surprised Tim asked her to stay. He could barely stand my presence even if I didn't say a word.

I watched them sitting there, neither of them saying a word. A feeling started to grow inside of me that there was something between them, an invisible bond, maybe the pain that radiated from them, the same hurt they were going through. Or, I thought, maybe I'm imagining things.

It turned out I wasn't imagining. The Coach's daughter, Julie, or Jules as Tim called her ,slowly became a regular guest at Tim's trailer. They came and went together everyday. Sometimes Tim went for dinner at the Taylors' or they went to games together. But mostly they were here, talking quietly like there was none else in the world or they sat outside, drinking beer, staring in the distance, silently.

And of course there were the mysterious Wednesdays when Julie stayed longer than the usual, or Tim came home later than the usual, sneaking around in the middle of the night, hiding in the dark, probably thinking there was no one around to see them and after a short time it wasn't only the nights anymore, it was Wednesday. I couldn't be sure what was going on but I started to love Wednesdays because both Tim and Julie were kind of happy. It was good to see they could laugh.

An outsider could see that they seemed to be two friends but if you watched them more closely, you could see there was more between them. Maybe not even they realized it. But it was obvious by the way Tim let his hand rest on the small of her back just a little longer than necessary, that Julie blushed everytime his gaze lingered on her, or that they had their own inside jokes that only they could understand, laughing like nothing else mattered.

I knew better. I saw the hurt, the agony in their eyes when Julie's ex came back to take her with him. I saw how it tore them apart, waiting for what Tim would do about it, waiting for what Julie would decide.

Yes, Julie Taylor and Tim Riggins were in love even if they didn't know it.