A/N: I forgot to mention that the story takes place at the beginning of season 2, and it won't follow the season directly.
Harley reached down across the empty passenger seat of her car to pick up her water bottle when suddenly the car jolted and started wobbling slightly. Her windows were down and she could hear her tire flapping and slowly letting out air.
She just got a flat tire. When she was rushing home from her last practice of the whole week. So she could finally get ready and go to her first Dillon party since they moved.
Great timing.
She guided the car over to the side of the road and hopped out. Not only did people not really drive on this road that much, but it was around six in the afternoon on a Saturday in the end of the summer.
Most people would probably be getting ready to have a last summer dinner with their families or were already with their friends trying to make the most out of their precious August summer weekend days.
Which is what Harley would be on her way to doing if she had been looking at the road and would have seen the sharp piece of God knows what that snuck into her tire.
At least she knew how to change a flat.
She made her way over to her trunk as fast as possible to get the spare tire and the jack and other necessary tools.
She was tired, cranky, hungry, and so not in the mood to deal with this right now.
She also was in such a rush to get home from practice she hadn't showered and was still in her grey Dillon Panthers women's soccer practice t-shirt with her Dillon blue soccer shorts complete with her white cleats and soccer socks hastily pushed down half way on her calves. At least she had enough sense to take off her shin guards before she started driving.
She was pretty sure she smelled like sweat and her pony tail complete with Dillon blue pre-wrap was all messy from rushing out to her car, but oh well, it was very unlikely she was actually going to see someone while she was dealing with her tire.
"Let's get this over with," Harley muttered to herself while looking down at the tire with her hands on her hips.
She put the jack in place and started cranking, when she quickly realized how tired she was.
Not only did they have a hard practice today filled with scrimmaging and annoying conditioning, but they also had a lift session earlier in the day and her arms were more shaky then normal.
Again, great timing.
Harley kept thinking just power through it, when she heard a car in the distance.
Harley looked over her right shoulder and stopped pumping and said quietly, "you've got to be kidding me.."
She recognized the old pickup truck that was driving towards her to be Tim Riggins' since he had given her brother lifts to practice before.
She would be lying if she said Tim didn't make her a little nervous.
After meeting him in he parking lot with Jess and her brother earlier in the week, Jess was quick to tell the team about the encounter and how obviously Tim had been checking her out, which at the time wasn't so obvious to Harley.
They all had then proceeded to tell her every story they had heard about him and Harley had learned everything there was to know about drunken man whore Riggins. She wasn't really one to listen to rumors or judge people before she got to know them, but it was hard when all of her friends were so adamant about his reputation.
The one main thing she figured out from all of their news was stay away from 33.
She hoped maybe she would get lucky and he would just keep driving, but of course he slowed down and pulled up behind her car.
She was dumb to think that even if he might be your typical male chauvinistic football teenage pig he would just drive away. Of course he would recognize her car and stop to help or do whatever. It was a small southern town where everyone knows everyone and those southern boys have to be polite gentlemen and all.
He slowly got out of his car and shut the door strolling over to her. She noticed that he was wearing light wash worn out jeans that fit him nicely, cowboy boots, and a plaid flannel shirt. His hair looked like it was wet too. He probably had just come from their practice and actually showered like most people.
She quickly remembered how she was still in her gross practice clothes and probably smelled. Then she pushed the thought out of her head and tried to start taking care of the spare again.
Did she mention how great her timing was?
Then again why should she care if she wasn't looking so hot or smelled like B.O.? She didn't want to get involved with him and wasn't going to fall for his "Riggins' charm" as all of the soccer girls had called it.
When he made it over to the driver side of the door he stopped walking and leaned his shoulder against the window saying slowly in his southern twang, "what's going on Parker?"
"What does it look like is going on," she huffed out, still trying to pump the jack. She finally stopped and looked up at him, blowing some stray fly-away hairs out of her eyes.
If Tim wasn't Tim then he might think that she looked pretty adorable with her cheeks all flushed and her bottom lip out in a slight pout from frustration. It was clear that she had rushed out of practice, and her hair was messy from the action of fixing the spare, but it only added to her cute appearance. But Tim didn't think girls were adorable or cute.
That led to feelings. And feelings blew up in his face. Like with Lyla.
So instead of thinking about how Harley looked cute, he decided to ignore her sarcastic remark and kneeled down asking, "where'd you get the flat?"
Harley stumbled back a little at his closeness and the unease of being eye level with him and stuttered out, "Uh, uh – um, this road."
She shook her head as if to clear it out. She needed to get over this whole nervous feeling around him. She didn't like it at all. She never let guys intimidate her, if anything it was always the other way around.
Tim nodded and then looked over at her for a few moments in silence. Harley still wasn't sure how to act around him so she just uncomfortably waited for him to talk until finally he said with a little chuckle, "so are you gonna move over and let me help or what?"
Harley was surprised to say the least. He was so matter of fact about it and she wasn't used to people giving out favors this easy. Then again he was her brother's teammate and friend. Plus that whole southern hospitality thing again. She really needed to start getting used to that.
She stared at him blankly for a second then realized she was gaping at him, blushed and said, "Oh yeah sure, I mean, you don't have to or anything if you have somewhere to be."
Tim noticed the blush and smirked, "No worries. Plus the memories don't start on Saturday nights till I get to the parties," he said, a glint in his eyes.
Harley scoffed and moved over to let him use the jack. She still stood behind him close enough, just to make sure he wasn't screwing around. She was very protective of her automobiles after all.
He started pumping when he noticed how she was looking over her shoulder and stopped. He slowly glanced over amused and said, "I know what I'm doing."
She jumped back a little and blurted out, "Oh yeah sorry. Um, I ya know, just wanna make sure," gesturing her head toward the car wordlessly saying, "please don't screw up".
Tim looked down at the tire and laughed a little before he started pumping again and said, "You're pretty protective over your car."
She smirked watching him, now facing him and a reasonable distance away and said, "Yeah well you should see what I'm like with my motorcycle."
Tim got the car up to a good height and began going through the process of changing the tire. "Motorcycle?"
It was hard to hear any sort of emotion in Riggins' voice most of the time when he spoke, so when he sounded surprised she became a little wary. When most guys heard she rode a motorcycle they thought she was a joke or trying to be some tough girl.
"Uh yeah, It's an old black Ducati I fixed up," she replied still staring at him, her eyebrow furrowed.
Tim glanced up at her quick before he resumed what he was doing. "That's yours? Seen that in the parking lot before at school. It's a nice bike."
Harley was surprised to find that he wasn't mocking her, but rather sounded like he respected it. Maybe even a little jealous.
"Yeah, took a lot to save up for and even more to get it in the condition it is now, but it's worth it," Harley replied, her eyes flitting over the vast open area of Texas land next to the road then back down at Tim.
Tim grunted as he put the new tire on and gruffed out, "you're parents okay with their pretty daughter ridin' a motorcycle?"
Harley completely ignore the pretty compete and thought yeah sucker I'm not going to fall for your bait.
But she still had to deal with the sticky parents question. Did Curt tell him about their dad leaving and their mom always working?
He was a little more then bitter about their whole situation and tended to yap about it whenever, but that was back at home with kids they had grown up with their whole lives. What about now with all these new kids constantly judging them based of first impressions and quick small talk conversations?
Her silence from playing battleship in her head over the parents issue caused Tim to stop when he was doing at look up at her. Instead of answering Harley just decided to go with a noncommittal shrug. He stared at her a little longer, as if wondering what to make of that, but then slowly looked back down and continued dealing with the tire.
Harley let out a sigh of relief. Dodged that bullet.
It wasn't that she didn't want people to know about her parents, but it was a conversation she was more willing to have when people her knew her better.
Tim finally finished up and slowly stood, whipping his hands on the rag Harley had brought out earlier.
"There. All fixed up," He looked slowly over toward Harley again as she pushed her shoulder off the door and knelt down to inspect the job.
He gave her some room as she tried to look at the tire from all angles, switched her inquisitive gaze from the tire to him.
Tim began smirking and had to hold in laughter. She looked so serious and he thought she almost wanted to see a mistake or something. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her to finish being anal.
She finally stood up, sniffed, and quickly brushed her hand under her nose. She nodded her head and then even kicked the tire lightly for good measure.
He let out a chuckle at that and she whipped over at him with a completely innocent questioning look on her face. As if checking out a tire that closely was completely normal.
"You know I didn't do it wrong or nothing, I know how to change a spare, I am a mechanic after all," He said still laughing. Okay so that wasn't completely true, but he did know how to fix cars and fixed his and his friends car all the time.
Harley looked like she started to get embarrassed and looked down at the ground, kicking something invisible in the street. Tim heard her mutter something like "yeah well ya never know" and "don't want my tire flying out".
Tim laughed again and said, "don't worry, I only mess up changing spares, hoping their tires fly out with people I don't like."
Harley looked back up at him, realizing he was joking and took humor in the situation as well instead of getting embarrassed at her silly behavior.
She started laughing too and said, "Yeah yeah, well thanks so much for stopping and all," She nodded her head and brought her hands to her hips, "I owe ya one."
Tim started squinting at her from the now brutal setting Texas sun and said slowly and purposfully, "share a 6 pack with me tonight at the party, then we're even."
He wasn't really sure why he said it. He wasn't one to just hang out with girls, but it was out of his mouth before he could even think about it.
She brought her hand up to her eyes, shielding them from the sun and titled her head at him, "wouldn't drinking some of your beer only make me owe you more?"
"Who said anything about me buying it?" Tim said smirking. With that he turned around and lazily walked his way over to his truck.
Harley laughed and shook her head at his retreating form. She brought her hand back down to her hip and smirked at him when he turned around and was smiling at her as he got in his car.
She looked at the ground and shook her head, laughing to herself once more and wondered how she went from trying to avoid Tim Riggins to promising to share a 6 pack with him tonight.
She guessed Dillon had a way of surprising her.
