Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or the song used in this fic.
I was driving to the bookstore when that song came on.I sighed.
It was the song that reminded me of all those years ago. The one that reminded me of McGee.
There was a guy at my school when I was in high school
We'd ride side by side in the morning on our bicycles
Never even spoken or faced each other
But on the last hill we'd race each other
When we reached the racks we'd each go our own way
I wasn't in his classes, I didn't know his name
When we finally got to speak he just stared at his feet
And mumbled a sentence that ended with 'James'
That was pretty much how I met Tim McGee. Riding to school on our bikes. Racing each other that last stretch.
Darn was I competitive! I hated losing to him! I almost died of shock when he actually talked to me.
Gee he was so shy and awkward, I felt a little embarrassed for him.
I was young and caught in the crowd
I didn't know then what I know now
I was dumb, and I was proud
And I'm sorry
If I could go back do it again
I'd be someone you could call friend
Please please believe that I'm sorry
Well he was quite a big guy, kinda shy and quiet
When the kids called him weird he didn't try to deny it
Every lunchtime he'd spend walking by himself
Round the boundary of the grounds til he heard the bell ring
Well one day I found him, joined him on his walk
We were silent for a while until we started to talk
I told him my family were fighting in court
He said his step-dad and him always fought
We talked about music, he was into punk
Told me all the bands that I liked were junk
I said I'd never heard the songs the sex pistols sang
I laughed back at him and then the bell rang
Well, close, but not quite. He sat alone at lunch – when he wasn't being bullied, that is – and just read,
books about computers I think. I felt sorry for him so I went and sat with him and after a while we talked about things.
I told him about my family, he told me about his. He made a point about telling me what Janis Joplin could do to my ears,
let alone Van Halen and all the rest of the music I listened to. I couldn't help laughing when he said he listened to classical music.
C'mon, it was the nineties! Only old farts listened to classical music back then!
I was young and caught in the crowd
I didn't know then what I know now
I was dumb, and I was proud
And I'm sorry
If I could go back do it again
I'd be someone you could call friend
Please please believe that I'm sorry
It was after school in the afternoon
The corridors were crowded as we came out of the rooms
Three guys I knew pushed him into the cement
Threw away his bag and said he had no friends
Oh no, Todd, Rick and Garret, on a 'Let's get the geek' mission. Those three! By themselves they were ok,
I even dated Rick once or twice. But together, they were bullying personified. And they always tormented McGee.
Usually they slammed him into his locker and/or gave him a wedgie, but today it looked like they were trying something new.
He yelled that he did and he looked around
Tried getting up but they pushed him on down
That's when he saw me, called out my name
And I turned my back, and just walked away
Yeah I turned my back, and just walked away
I froze when he called out my name. Rick looked at me in shock. 'Surely not,' I read in his eyes, 'no girl who dated me would be friends with the geek.'
All my other friends were looking at me too, some in shock, some in disbelief. Some of them started to walk away and I just turned and went with them.
Tim's gasp sent a knife through my heart but I kept walking.
I was young and caught in the crowd
I didn't know then what I know now
I was dumb, and I was proud
And I'm sorry
If I could go back, do it again
I'd be someone you could call friend
Please please, believe that I'm sorry.
God I wish that I had stood up to them, stood up for McGee. I never used to think about it till that song came out.
First time I heard it I felt the knife right in my heart again. I wish I knew how to get in touch with Tim, let him know how sorry I am.
But he went away to college, MIT I heard, while I went to UCLA. Now I live in Washington, I'm an aide to a Senator.
It's funny how I've changed. When I need to relax I always put Mozart, Bach or Vivaldi on the CD player.
Stuff Tim used to listen to, though I never made the connection until that song reminded me of him.
Anyway, I've arrived at the bookstore now. I get out of my Mazda, lock the doors and head inside. Oh wow, there's a signing happening today.
Thom E. Gemcity, the guy who wrote Deep Six and Rock Hollow. Oh darn, looks like I missed it, everything's being packed away.
Pity, I liked those books, they felt so real. I feel someone bump into me and hear an "Excuse me, Ma'am" in an eerily familiar voice.
I spin around and there he is, Thom E. Gemcity himself. Then I look closer. My heart pounds as I open my mouth to speak.
"Tim?"
Author's note: The song is "Caught in the crowd" by Kate Miller-Heidke. I never thought I'd do a songfic but when I heard it I was reminded of my high school experience and I thought that it could also relate to Tim McGee's.
I have a few ideas for a second chapter, which would not be a songfic, if you would like me to write it please say so and feel free to pass on any ideas you have. All reviews welcome, even the negative ones.
