Julie Taylor was sitting on her front porch, bored out of her mind. She had just finished the list of chores her mother had given her to do, and was now distraction-free. She wanted another distraction.
Just as she thought she would have to resort to watching game footage with her father, she heard it. Coming from just beyond the edge of her street was the all too familiar rumbling of a certain black pickup, driven by a certain football player, who was dating a certain coaches daughter. No, not Gracie Bell.
Tim Riggins and Julie Taylor had been dating for three months now, and she truly felt that the sun rose and set with Tim's arrivals and departures. The surprising thing was, Tim seemed to feel the same way about Julie. It was only natural for a teenage girl to fall for number 33, but Tim Riggins did not make emotional attachments. Until he met Julie Taylor.
As Tim pulled up outside the Taylor household, Julie gave him her most dazzling smile and a quick wave, before opening the front door and yelling to her parents the she and Tim would be back later. Once finished with that piece of parental appeasement, she began an all out sprint to the truck, jumping into the passenger seat when she got there.
Both teens were smiling wide as they drove away, not seeing anything outside of their own little world. Inside the Taylor house though, was a different story entirely.
"I don't like her datin' that Riggins boy, Tammie," Eric Taylor said, watching his baby girl drive away with his star player.
"I know, sweetheart," Tammie said calmly. She knew what her husband's feelings were towards Tim, much like her own, just amplified a few dozen times. But she also knew how Julie felt about him, so she was torn. However, when baby Gracie feel in love with Tim, that was when she knew. "But you know we have to give the boy a chance."
"I don't have to do a damn thing!" Eric said angrily. He paused to collect himself momentarily. "Riggins has no future, Tammie. He doesn't have the brains to work a good job, and he just doesn't have enough potential to support our girl." He took a seat on the couch and stared blankly at the football game on the TV.
Tammie sat down next to her husband and turned him so that they were face to face. "Honey, Tim is a good boy. He may not be the smartest man in the world, or the richest, or even the nicest, but he is good to Julie. And... she's in love with the boy."
"Love?!"
"Yes, Eric, love. Julie is in love with Tim Riggins."
At the Alamo Freeze, three hours later
Tim and Julie are sitting next to each other in a booth at the back corner of the restaurant. Julie is leaning into his side, while his finger absentmindedly play with the bracelet on her left wrist. Both teens smile lovingly at the other, content to just be together.
"So," Tim says, finally breaking the silence that had fallen over the pair since they left the movie theater. "How did you like the movie?"
Julie's smile got more mischievous and she teasingly ran her finger across Tim's bottom lip. "I don't remember any of the movie. Someone wouldn't take his lips off of mine long enough for me to watch it."
"I didn't ask what you remembered, Taylor," Tim fired back, grinning softly down at her. He now started playing with the ends of her hair. "I asked how you liked it."
"I loved it, Tim," she answered sweetly. "Tonight has been amazing."
The couple talked a little more throughout the meal, mostly about school, or common friends, or the latest tortures her father had inflicted upon him on the football field. They were happy just to have this time alone together. And, even though all the eyes of Dillon were on them every time they went out, they knew that the two of them were the only ones who mattered.
In the parking lot, after dinner, Tim gently grabbed Julie's left wrist, causing her to stop. When she looked back at him, he was surprisingly serious, and... nervous?
"I love you, Jules."
At that moment, Julie's smile was a hundred times brighter than any of the street lamps in that parking lot. This was the first time they'd used the word. It had just been implied before.
"I... I love you too, Tim."
The hand holding her wrist slowly slid down, until their hands were joined. Suddenly, Julie felt something heavy on her finger. She looked down, and there it was. Sitting on her left-hand ring finger was Tim's state championship ring.
Tim looked deeply into her questioning eyes, and simply said, "This will have to do until I can get you a real one."
And Julie could never remember being happier.
Needless to say, Eric Taylor was furious when he found out his baby girl was planning on marrying Tim Riggins. But, before he could blow up at the two of them, his wife stepped in, trying to keep everything calm. So, as the two teens sat in the living room, looking after Gracie Bell, the Taylor's were in their room, having a 'discussion'.
"Damn it, Tammie! Julie cannot marry Riggins!" Eric said quietly, so as not to be overheard.
"Eric..."
"The boy is no good. He ain't smart, he's got no future. He will never be able to take care of her." Eric was furious that his daughter could be making such a huge mistake.
"You know," Tammie started softly, hoping that if she was calm, her husband might calm down as well. "My daddy said the same thing about you when I told him we were getting married."
"What?"
"Yep. he said you wan't worth a lick, and when it came to brains, you got the short end of the stick. He was so angry, he actually started rhyming." She smiled sweetly at her husband. "But you proved him wrong, Eric. You have provided a wonderful life for me and our daughters. Now, you need to give Tim a chance to prove you wrong, honey. Because, it doesn't matter what we say, they are going to get married."
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do, Eric. I know that because I've seen the way Tim looks at Julie, like he'd do anything she asked, just because she asked him to. And I've seen the way Julie looks at Tim. It's the way I still look at you."
"There's no way around this, is there? Your parents coudn't stop us, and we can't stop them."
"No, we can't. Julie will follow Tim anywhere. She's too much in love with that boy."
