Finding Home
Chapter One: Dillon, Texas.
Warning! PLEASE READ! This story has mentions of rape and abuse (domestic violence) so if you have any triggers or would prefer not to read a story like that, then please don't read. Also this story will have mentions of underage drinking.
Author's Note: There are actually going to be a few changes with this story. Julie's not going to start off cold and mean like she did in the original, she'll have somewhat shy moments, like she does in the show (only not as shy, minus the stuttering and with a bit attitude), Shane hurt Julie before he raped her, and Jason was never paralyzed (he graduated).
I'm so glad all of you were so patient with me and getting these stories back up. I know most people do rewrites after they've finished the story, but going back seeing all the errors and mistakes both my stories had, I knew I had to change them.
Disclaimer: I do not own Friday Night Lights or these characters! If I did own the characters Julie and Tim would be together. This is purely for entertainment, no profit is gained.
A 17-year-old Julie Taylor just finished helping her parents unpack and decided to go for a walk to see what little the small town of Dillon, Texas had to offer. After Julie had finished getting dressed; she wore a tight turquoise bralette with a loose black Nike Dri-FIT Breeze tank top over it, showing off the bright turquoise along with a small section of her toned stomach, a pair of blue denim shorts, and black hightop Chuck Taylor's. She told her parents she was going to look around town and then she was out the door.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Julie walked by several houses and noticed all the Dillon Panther signs, from Matt Saracen #7 QB1 to Brian 'Smash' Williams #20 starting running-back to Tim Riggins #33 starting fullback. Julie mentally groaned as she wondered why her dad had to torture her by moving to the most football crazed town known to mankind, but then again anywhere was better then moving back to Austin. She kept walking before she saw a place called the Alamo Freeze with a sign that said "best shakes in town" and decided to go in, a milkshake sounded pretty good considering how hot it was that day. Julie opened the door and walked in just as someone was walking out; her face collided with what felt like a brick wall, 'obviously this guy works out,' Julie thought while she rubbed her now sore nose.
"Are you okay?" The guy asked huskily with a deep southern drawl as he looked down at Julie. She looked up and her warm brown eyes met the most gorgeous pair of green eyes, though she couldn't enjoy them completely as they were hidden behind his almost shoulder length brown hair. He was the kind of guy girls and women swoon for. He was seriously sex on legs with his smoldering eyes, gorgeous face, his 6'1" to 6'2" tall frame, and strong muscular build. 'This guy is too hot for his own good, I bet he drives the ladies crazy,' Julie thought. She realized she had been staring longer than she should have so she quickly looked away.
"Yeah I'm fine." Julie said quickly and walked past him. The guy turned around and watched her walk away before he left the Alamo Freeze, got into his black 1986 Chevy Silverado truck, and drove away. Julie walked up to the counter and saw a guy with dark blonde hair, he was of an average height, about 5'9", and he had a lean muscular figure.
"H-hey. W-what can I get ya?" He stuttered, Julie chuckled a little 'cute' she thought. She looked at his shirt and saw the name tag, Matt, that was his name.
"Um... Can I get a small chocolate milkshake and a small fry." Julie said while she looked at the list of foods behind his head. They served typical diner food, cheese burgers, shakes, spicy chicken sandwiches, onion rings and fries, etc. she knew it would become a place her dad would go to often.
"S-sure." Matt said before calling out her order to the cook. "So you new here?" He asked in an attempt to fill the awkward silence that took over.
"What gave it away?" Julie asked sarcastically. He didn't seem to pick up on her sarcasm.
"Well, we-we don't really get a lo-lot of new people here so when we do, it-it's..." Matt trailed off when he noticed Julie chuckling. "You were kidding. Ha, sorry, sometimes I-I don't always pick up on that." He said as he blushed a light shade of pink.
"It's okay." Julie said with a chuckle while she looked down at her beat up Chuck Taylor's. "Hey, any chance this town has a good library?" Julie asked and looked back up at the boy.
"Uh, the only library we have is at the high school, but there's a nice little used bookstore just a couple blocks from here." He said with a smile. 'She's a reader,' he thought, 'guess that's something we have in common.'
"Thanks, I'll have to check it out." Julie said and smiled at him. She saw her food being walked toward the small opening between the kitchen and the register, so she got out her wallet, ready to pay.
"That'll be $7.26." Matt said as he placed Julie's food in front of her. Julie paid him and started to walk away only to hear Matt again. "I-it was nice to meet you..." He trailed off not knowing her name.
"You too." She said not willing to throw him a bone as to what her name was.
Julie sat down at a table in the corner and looked around while she popped a fry into her mouth. Over by the windows the football players, cheerleaders, and rally girls sat in booths, talking and laughing obnoxiously loud. 'No matter where you live you can always spot the footballers and peppy girls a million miles away. Wonder why.' Julie thought. 'Maybe it's because you used to be one of those girls.' The little voice in her head screamed. In the middle the boosters sat, no doubt discussing the upcoming football season. On the other end of the room sat the 'wannabes,' the type of girls that the football players wouldn't give a second glance to, and the boys that would never be good enough to make the team. And on the side she was currently occupying sat varies adults and teens. Julie looked away when her phone buzzed, and pulled it out of her pocket while she sipped her milkshake. It was Jake, her best friend since second grade.
'Hey squirt, how are you? We haven't been able to talk since you left for Shelley's. Three months ago!' The text read and Julie couldn't help but smile at the nickname Jake used. He gave it to her in third grade because of their height difference, and it stuck seeing as how he's 6'0" and towers over her 5'4" frame.
'I'm fine, just finished unpacking. How are you? How's Lynn?' Julie texted back, and asked about his girlfriend, her other best friend, well former best friend. They had a falling out.
'I'm great, besides the fact that I miss you! And Lynn's good, she feels really bad though, she wishes you would talk to her.' Jake's text said, that made Julie frown a bit. Maybe she overreacted, and she should talk to Lynn. No. There was no overreacting what Lynn said was cruel and Julie was not willing to make amends with her anytime soon.
'I miss you too! But I have to go, mom's calling me for lunch.' Julie lied, she didn't really want to get into a fight with Jake about Lynn.
'Okay, I'll call you tomorrow.' The text said. Julie put her phone away and finished the last of her fries before she left.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Julie had just walked out of the bookstore and was on her way to check out a boutique she noticed earlier before she headed home. The bookstore had a nice selection, but it was nothing compared to the bookstore near her aunt Shelley's house. She walked into the boutique and smiled at the little bell that rang above the door, she didn't know why, but that sound always made her happy. She looked around and saw a few things she liked, one being a military jacket with a wool lining on the inside, something that would be great for winter, and another being a nice pair of charcoal grey skinny jeans.
"Hi, can I help you find anything." A tall blonde asked while she walked over to Julie, she sounded annoyed to Julie, like she wanted to be anywhere than where she currently was. Julie looked over and immediately felt intimidated. 'This girl is so tall, she could squash me,' she thought. She had a tough demeanor to her, Julie noticed, like if you ever crossed her she would fuck you up.
"Um, can I try these on?" Julie asked shyly motioning down to the clothes in her hands. Tyra smiled at the shorter blonde in front of her.
"Sure thing, just let me grab the dressing room keys." She said with a thick southern drawl, any trace of annoyance she had before completely disintegrated by Julie's presence. "So when'd ya get here?" She asked while she rummaged for the dressing room keys. She knew their would be a new girl in town; it was all the talk around the school.
"Two days ago." Julie said and looked down at her feet.
"I'm guessing you weren't thrilled?" The tall blonde asked looking at the other blonde wearing a slight frown on her pretty face.
"Well, not really." Julie said trying to find the right words. "I mean, I like football, but my whole life has revolved around football, so moving to a football crazy town wasn't in my plan. But my dad got a great offer." Julie said solemnly; she missed her friends in Austin... Jake, Rebecca, Lane, Sean, even Lynn, despite their falling out, but she couldn't go back, because of Shane and what he did to her.
"Yeah I know how you feel, I'm not really the biggest football fan myself, but this place is my home, always will be." She said continuing to look for the dressing room keys. "Ahh, found the keys. Follow me." She said and started walking toward the back corner of the store. She unlocked one of the doors, grabbed Julie's things out of her hands, and placed them on the small stool in the room.
"Thanks." Julie said before she walked into the room.
"No problem, come and get me if you need anything." The blonde said and walked back to the counter.
Julie quickly tried on the clothes and was glad to see everything fit. After putting her own clothes on and folding the clothes she tried on back into a neat pile she walk out of the dressing room and over to the counter.
"Find everything you need?" The tall blonde asked sweetly while she rang up Julie's clothes.
"Yeah, thanks for your help." Julie said and looked around the store, it was a nice little place, she assumed it was a family run store, but she didn't ask. She looked back down at the register and noticed the paper with "Help Wanted" written in big red letters.
"What type of job are you trying to fill?" Julie asked, thinking it would be a great way to earn a little extra cash.
"A part-time job, we need another person working behind the counter, and you'll have to do some inventory here and there." The blonde said as she rang up the last of Julie's clothes. "You want it?" She asked.
"That'd be great. Do I have to fill out some sort of application?" Julie asked. 'It couldn't be that easy, could it?' Julie thought. People don't just hand you a job like that.
"Have you ever worked in retail before?" She asked.
"I haven't, but I've worked in a few restaurants, and I'm a fast learner." Julie said and hoped that her lack of experience wouldn't make her lose the opportunity.
"I'll show you the ropes, it actually a really easy job." The blonde said as Julie let out a relieved breath. "Can you start on Monday?" She asked, she figured she should give the girl a weekend before she put her to work, after all, she did just move here.
"Yeah, that sounds great. Thank you so much!" Julie said ecstatically, she was grateful she got the weekend off, there was still a lot she had to do before she started school on Monday.
"No problem. I'm Tyra, by the way. Tyra Collette." The girl introduced herself and stuck her hand out.
"I'm Julie." Julie said as she shook Tyra's hand. She was sure to leave her last name out, even though she knew everyone would know she was a Taylor by Monday, but until then she was just a new girl.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"How was your day, sweetie?" Coach Taylor asked Julie on the car ride over to the school for practice, she had to tag along to get enrolled, and since she didn't have her license yet, she can't just bail and go home right after. Which meant she would be stuck in 106 degree weather until six. 'Do most football teams have three hour practices? Or is that just part of being the best football team in Texas?' Julie thought before she looked over to her dad.
"It was fine. I saw a couple places you'll probably like one was a barbecue type place called the Panther Pit, and the other one was a burger joint type place called the Alamo Freeze. Oh, and I got a job." Julie said and looked away from her dad and back out the window.
"Oh I'll keep that in mind." Eric said referring to the restaurants. "What type of job did you get?" He asked in an attempt to make conversation. Julie hasn't really talked much to her parents since she left to stay with her aunt Shelley over the summer; they only got a few short odd calls over the span of three and a half months. Eric didn't know what happened, but something shifted in her personality even before she left for her aunt Shelley's. Anytime he or Tami tried to bring up the subject, Julie would completely shut down, so at some point they stopped asking, leading to where they are now; in a car, trying to make awkward conversation.
"It's at this little boutique just a few stores down from the Alamo Freeze, running the resister, doing inventory, checking prices, things like that." Julie said while she toyed with a lose thread she found on her messenger bag.
"That's great Jules. But who'll be my equipment manager now?" Eric asked with a chuckle, keeping his eyes on the road. Julie rolled her eyes at his lame attempt at humor, but cracked a smile while she looked out the window at the passing houses. "So are you ready for school on Monday?" Eric asked when Julie didn't respond. Julie just shrugged her shoulders. She was nervous as all hell. What if they didn't like her? What if they judged her because of her parents? What if they were mean? What if they looked at her like some sort of zoo animal? What if no one talked to her? She had several concerns, but she wasn't going to voice any of them to her dad.
Julie was glad that he didn't say anything else until they got back to the school and even then all he told her to do was sit at the bleachers until he came back with her schedule. She did as she was told and sat on the bottom of the bleachers. After about five minutes she took out her phone for music and sprawled out across the bleachers, using her elbows for support, and closed her eyes. She soaked up the sun as some pop song on pandora played through her headphones. It was the most at peace she's been in a very long time, since Shane. That was until someone stood in front of her and blocked the sun.
"Hey, I'm Smash." He said with a cocky grin as he looked Julie up and down twice. Julie rolled her eyes as she took her headphones out. 'I guess there's one in every town,' she thought. You know, that one jackass player that thinks he's the star just because he's a little more talented the other players; the one with the ego too big for his head.
"Good to know." Julie said sarcastically with a fake smile hoping he would go away. He didn't.
"Normally this is the part where the fine lady tells me her name." Smash said as he sat down next to her, the old bleaches letting out a whine at the extra weight.
"It's Julie." She said. "Are we done now?" She asked with a glare. It was the first time in months her brain wasn't spinning with what-ifs over her idiotic relationship with Shane, so it was safe to say she was a little pissed her peace came to a screeching halt.
"Well, don't we have a little attitude." Smash said with a grin before he quickly looked down Julie's shirt. 'Man she has a nice rack,' he thought. "Tim Riggins' is having a party at his place tonight… you should come." He said smiling, as if he thought the idea of him inviting Julie would have her eating out of the palm of his hand.
"Sorry but I don't spend my time with egotistical dickheads that think they're God's gift to society." Julie said. She was glad to see that smile instantly fade from his face, he needed to be knocked down a step or two.
"Such dirty language coming from such a sweet mouth." Smash said, biting his lip as he looked down at her's own lips, so lush and soft looking, they were the kind of lips guys would spend hours thinking about. His gaze quickly traveled away from her lips and back down to her chest, and this time, Julie saw him looking. When Julie caught him staring at her chest she saw red. She didn't know why, but it set her off. This guy didn't even know her and yet he had the audacity to openly stare at her boobs.
"God you know it's pigs like you that really make me mad, grow the fuck up! There's more to a girl then her boobs. She may be the next fucking Einstein, but would you care about that? No! You would fuck her and dump her; not caring what that did to her pride and self esteem. None of you care about how what you do will affect the girl. It's always about what you want! And I'm fucking sick of it. There so many girls that have been hurt by the likes of you." Julie ranted, her face red and hot with the anger boiling inside her. Smash's teammates stood in the background, completely stunned. Not very many people had the balls to speak up to Smash on his sometimes pigheaded ways; he was after all the starting running back. Smash was just about to retort only to hear a voice that froze him in his place.
"Smash quit fraternizing with my daughter and get your ass on the field!" Eric shouted as he walked across the field, pissed, because practice started ten minutes ago and nobody had even warmed up.
"Yes sir." Smash spoke up stunned when he realized Julie was the coach's daughter, and jogged out to the field, ready to take the lead on warmups, the other players quickly followed suit and joined Smash in warming up.
"Here's your schedule. I was able to get all the classes you wanted, except for art, the class was full." Eric said handing Julie a piece of paper, with her schedule printed on it, along with her locker number and combination.
"Thanks dad." Julie said with a genuine smile as she looked up at him, partially for dealing with her schedule, but mainly for making the players start practice, and getting Smash away from her.
"No problem, sweetie."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Julie glanced up from the book she was reading and saw the team practicing trick plays. She watched as the quarterback dropped back and looked down field for a receiver before he handed the ball off to to Smash, who quickly ran toward the end zone, dodging any players that attempted to take him down. Smash made it into the end zone with ease and raised his hands in the air triumphantly as if it were actually a game and not practice. The sight brought a painful flashback to Julie.
***flashback***
The crowed cheered and screamed as Shane ran the ball to the end zone, it was the touchdown they needed to win the game. Julie smiled as she watched her boyfriend raise his hands in the air and shout something she couldn't hear from her spot with the other cheerleaders. Shane's teammates all jumped and shouted and patted him on the back when they passed him; while Julie quickly made her way over to congratulate him herself. She smiled when she finally caught his eye and laughed when he opened his arms out to her, she ran into his arms and giggled when he lifted her off her feet and spun her around a few times. They looked like the perfect couple, the star cornerback and the co-captain (a very rare thing for a sophomore) of the cheer team. He place her back on her feet and gave her an earth shattering kiss.
"You were amazing." Julie said after they broke the kiss and she looked up at Shane with a twinkle in her eyes.
"I love you Jules." Shane said with a smile as he held Julie closer to him. She froze for a second not expecting those words to come out of his mouth; they had only been dating for a few months. Did she love him? One would say she did by the way she looks at him, but was she really ready to commit to something like that..
"I love you too." Julie said after a pause, deciding to throw caution to the wind. For some reason though she had a very unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach when she said the words, but she chose to ignore it. Shane grinned down at her like he knew she was truly his now, but she didn't know that was a bad thing until a couple months later.
***end flashback***
Julie tried to shake the overwhelming need to cry by taking a few deep breaths. When she realized it wasn't working, she walked up to her dad and told him she had to go to the bathroom. He nodded and gave her the keys to the girls locker room. Julie thanked him and quickly made her way, only allowing one tear to fall before she was in the privacy of the locker room.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Dad, is it okay if I go a friend's house tonight?" Julie asked later on the drive home after practice, planning on going to that party. Yes, she lied, but she knew if she just asked, "Hey can I go to a party?" he would have said no.
"What friend?" Eric asked suspiciously. 'How has she already made a friend in one day?' He thought.
"Tyra. She's the one that gave me the job today." Julie said with a small pout as she looked at her dad, hoping that would make him give in.
"Well, I guess that's fine, but lets wait until after dinner." Eric said; Tami had made all of Julie's favorite foods, and he knew she wouldn't want to miss that.
"Okay." Julie said and stared out the window.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Julie walked into the party and laughed when the first person she saw was Tyra. She walked over to the tall blonde with a smile.
"Hey." Julie said.
"Hey Julie. What are you doin' here?" Tyra shouted over the music. To Tyra parties didn't really seemed like Julie's thing, she seemed more like a quiet night in kind of girl to her, so she was a little shocked to see Julie walk up to her.
"I got invited." Julie said nonchalantly. She knew what Tyra was thinking, everybody always asked her the same thing. Normally she didn't go to parties, but after everything with Shane... It was a just great way to let loose and forget for a while.
"By Tim?" Tyra asked loudly looking at Julie with big eyes. "Tim's only after on thing Julie, so if he invited you, it might be best to leave. I don't want you getting hurt." Tyra assumed it was Tim, seeing as it was his party and all. She didn't know why, but she felt the sudden urge to protect Julie, she had a feeling about the tiny blonde that wasn't sitting right with her. She felt like Julie had been hurt by a guy before, but not your typical broken-heart hurt.
"No it wasn't Tim, I haven't even met Tim, it was Smash, but I'm not here with him, I just wanted to let off some steam." Julie said. "Will you come with me to get a drink?" Julie asked wanted to change the subject.
"Sure." Tyra said and led the way to the kitchen.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tyra left after a while, she said something about needing to pick up her sister from "the women's low self esteem palace," to which Julie gave her an odd look and with a smile Tyra said she would explain later. So here Julie was, alone, in the kitchen of some random guy's house, taking shots of whiskey.
"Might wanna slow down, you look like a lightweight." A guy said huskily from behind her with a deep southern drawl. The same guy she ran into from the Alamo Freeze, she recognized by the voice, she could pinpoint that deep voice anywhere now.
"No offense, but you don't know the first thing about me. I could drink half the people in here under this table." Julie said motioning to the table that held all the alcohol; she took one more shot before deciding to switch over to beer.
"Well then good because I don't want to have to drive home any drunk girls... 'specially a girl that happens to be my coach's daughter." He said and sat on the kitchen counter as he stared at Julie; she was something else, not like any of the other girls in town. There was something different about her, he just couldn't place is finger on what it was.
"Ah you're on my dad's team." Julie said, she didn't recognize him at first without his football gear on, but now she knew, he was number 33, her dad's fullback, and the host of this party. "You're the infamous Tim Riggins I've been hearing so much about."
"That I am." He said getting up and leaning over Julie's shoulder to grab a beer, when he did the draft sent her smell up his nose. She smelt really good, like coconut and strawberries.
Tim chuckled to himself, never in his life has he thought about a girl's smell, normally it was only their bodies he thought about. Which was something else Tim noticed; she had an amazing hourglass figure. The sliver of skin showing between her shorts and crop top looked soft and smooth, and had him itching to run his fingers up and down her skin. Despite her being only about 5'4" or 5'5" she had long, lean, tan looking silky legs. She had amazing hips and a rack most girls dream of. And her neck... He would love to trail soft kisses along the smooth skin of her neck and leave a hickey there to stake his claim. He finally brought his attention to her face, which was just as amazing as the rest of her, if not more. She had beautiful warm brown eyes that you could stare into for hours, and a nice dusting of freckles on her little nose, full and soft looking light pink lips that he knew would make an entry into his dreams at some point, and long, silky, blonde locks that he was dying to run his fingers through.
"Your taste in music sucks." Julie remarked, slapping him out of his impure thoughts. " I mean don't get me wrong, I'm a big advocate of country music, but its not exactly "hey let me shake my ass against you dick" kinda music." Julie said referring to how people normally dance at parties, which usually seemed to played rap music.
"Alright let's see what ya got." Tim said motioning his hand over to the iPod deck. Julie plugged in her phone and played a song from her 'party playlist' and laughed triumphantly as people got up and started dancing. "You win." Tim said with a laugh while Julie hopped up and sat next to him on the kitchen counter.
"And don't you forget it." She said with a smile.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Julie ignored all the rumors and warnings from people about Tim Riggins… and she was glad she did. He actually wasn't half bad, he was pretty serious, she only got him to crack a smile or make a joke a few times, but she considered that a win. He wasn't much of a talker, so she did most of the talking, but he listened and asked questions every once in a while. And that was how they ended up sitting on the porch, each drinking a beer, in silence, the only noise coming from the music playing in the background.
"Ooh, come dance with me." Julie said getting up when she heard one of her favorite songs come on.
"I don't really dance." Tim said as he looked up at the petite blonde in front of him. Her eyes were slightly glazed over, her cheeks flushed, indicating that she was at least a little drunk, and she had a smile equivalent to the size of a kid's on Christmas morning. And it was in that moment he decided she was maybe more than a little drunk.
"Oh, come on. You can't be that bad." Julie said. She grabbed a hand that was resting on his knee and attempted to pull him up. "You're gonna have to put in at least a little effort here." She said with a chuckle. Tim smirked and got up.
"Fine, but jus' one dance." He said. 'What is this girl doing to me?' He thought. Tim Riggins did not dance.
Julie laughed and walked into the living room— where furniture and been moved to make it seem like a dance floor— while she pulled Tim with her. She turned around so her back was facing Tim and began to move her hips to the beat of the music, Tim picked up pretty quickly and grabbed her hips, pulling her flush against himself, as his hands moved with her hips.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
One song turned into four and at this point, Tim and Julie were both drunk, and on cloud nine. Julie turned around and looked up at Tim as a slow song came on. She thought for a moment about whether she should give into her feelings and kiss him, and in the end she gave in.
Julie threw caution to the wind and pressed her lips to his with her hands on his shoulders. He responded immediately and placed one hand on the back of her neck to pull her closer to him, while his other hand found its way to her lower back, where it absently drew small patterns. Meanwhile, Julie's hands roamed up and down Tim's chest. The kiss started off slow and smooth, but soon turned rough and passionate when Tim slip his tongue into Julie's mouth. Julie responded quickly and pushed her tongue against his, both forgetting about all the other people around them. Right now all they cared about was exploring each other's bodies and mouths.
They begrudgingly broke the kiss to breathe. 'Stupid need for oxygen,' Julie thought. However, she realized this was her opportunity to really have some fun.
"Let's go to your room." Julie said as she looked up at him with wide bloodshot eyes. She just wanted to let loose and sleeping with someone she hardly knew seemed like a great idea in her drunken state of mind.
"You sure?" Tim asked, even though he wanted nothing more than to take her into his bedroom and have his wicked way with her, he wanted to make sure it was something she wouldn't regret. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' Tim thought, 'since when do I ask willing girls if they're sure? Idiot.'
"I'm positive." Julie said seductively. That was all the reassurance Tim needed to lead her to his room.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I know this took longer than planned, but hopefully you can see all the work I put into this chapter and understand why it took so long. Be sure to let me know what you think. Was it better? About the same? Is there anything you would like to see happening in the upcoming chapters? If so tell me in a review or PM. From now on I will be posting one chapter of "Finding Home" and one chapter of "Unexpected Changes" together, so updates may be sporadic with school and work going on in the midst of writing these stories. As always please leave a review and let me know your thoughts. And don't forget to follow and favorite.