Worth the Fight

Chapter 2: Starting New

"Julie, you can't be serious." JD said as he watched Julie stuff clothes into various suitcases. "Can't we just sit down and talk about this?" He pleaded, grabbing her arm to stop her from packing. Julie ripped her arm out of his grasp, though. She didn't want him to touch her ever again because, now, the only thing she felt when she looked at him was disgust.

"No we can't, JD. I don't want to talk about this, I want to finish packing my shit and I want to get the hell out of this house." Julie said as she continued her earlier task of throwing clothes into her suitcase, refusing to even look at her liar of a husband. He was supposed to be out of town today, that had been the whole reason she'd decided to come to the house today to get her things. Apparently, now that his little affairs were out in the open he didn't feel the need to stick to his usual schedule because he had nothing to hide from Julie anymore. She felt sick just thinking about it . . . about him.

"Come on, Julie, you're being ridiculous. We can work this out. Just stop and talk to me!" JD whined. He was seriously starting to piss Julie off. First he says she's being ridiculous, then he's asking her to talk to him? That's the last way you get a woman to talk to you. Honestly, if he treated all women the way he treated his wife, then Julie had no clue how he had ever managed to cheat on her in the first place. She guessed it was true . . . that women today really do like their men to be assholes. "Jules!" JD yelled slamming the dresser drawer closed before Julie could take the last of her clothes out.

"Fine, you want to talk? Let's talk. You were the one that asked me to marry you five years ago, not the other way around, so it's not like anyone forced you into this marriage. When we stood up at our wedding and swore to each other, in front of all our friends and family, to love each other for the rest of our lives, I meant every word. It seems quite clear that you didn't, and the fact that you thought you wouldn't get caught would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that this has been going on for months. I don't want to talk to you because I can't even stand to look at you right now. You make me sick! And you want me to just act like nothing's wrong and forgive you?" Julie said with a shake of her head. She just wanted to pack her stuff and leave; she didn't want to deal with a confrontation today. "Well, I can't, so if your plan was to try and make everything better, then you're wasting your time. I moving out and I want a divorce."

"Julie, please don't do this, we can work it out. I do still love you . . . I was just caught up in the fantasy." JD said. "Come on, what can I do to make you realize that. Please just stay. We can go see a marriage counselor if that's what it takes. I love you, Julie. How could you just be so willing to end a nine-year relationship just like that?" He asked. Julie sighed, deciding she had enough stuff packed already. She'd just have to get the other stuff later, when she was absolutely positive JD would be out of town.

"It's too late for all of that." She said zipping up the two suitcases she'd managed to get packed, she walked them down the stairs and to the front door, JD following closely behind her every step of the way. It wasn't until she had the suitcases loaded in her car that she finally spoke up again. "And the why I see it, you were the one so "willing" to end our relationship when you slept with another woman." And with that she got in her car and drove away, wishing that could be the last time she ever had to speak to the man she once loved, but knowing it wouldn't be.

A few months later . . .

Julie couldn't believe it; that today of all days the divorce papers came in. What had started off as an already shitty day when her car died on her, turned even shittier when she got chewed out by the owner of the local youth center for being ten minutes late for an art class she teaches – because her car died, she tried to tell him – she spilled over on her favorite shirt, and today marked the day she and JD would have had their first date nearly nine years ago. Julie sighed as she poured a very large glass of wine and opened the manila envelope containing the papers that will officially end her broken marriage.

"Here we go." She said aloud as she pulled the papers out and scanned through them to make sure everything in the papers were the same as all the things they had discussed with their lawyers. It was, almost everything would be split down the middle, JD wanted to keep the house and the furniture inside. Julie was fine with that, she never wanted to step foot into the place after what she saw anyway. She got the fine china her family gave to her and JD as a wedding present and all the artwork in the house, seeing as she picked out the majority of it anyway. She scanned through the list of paintings to make sure they were all there and frowned upon seeing one missing. An impressionist painting of a ballerina, it had the most beautiful shades of orange, bronze, blues, and yellows surrounding the dancer as she wrapped the ribbons of her pointe shoes around her ankles. It was Julie's favorite piece out of her small collection because of its simplistic beauty, that, and it reminded her of her own dancing days. Julie went over the list of all the paintings again, more carefully this time, in hopes that she'd just missed it the first time. She didn't see it. Julie let out an angry breath as she dialed a number into her phone.

"Hello?" The person on the other end answered.

"Why isn't the ballerina impressionist painting on the list of pieces I was supposed to get in the divorce agreement." Julie asked, taking a large sip of her wine as she waited for a response from her soon to be ex-husband.

"Julie?" JD said questioningly into the phone. Julie rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Seriously, JD, who the hell else would be calling you about a divorce agreement? Do you have another wife out there I should know about?" Julie asked with another eye roll because, honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if he did, if it weren't for the fact that it's totally illegal.

"What? No . . . It's just I-I wasn't expecting you to call." JD said. Julie could hear another person in the background. It sounded like a woman. Once again, Julie wouldn't be surprised if that were to be true. That was, after all, part of the reason they were getting a divorce after almost five years of marriage and four years of dating before that. JD sure did like his women.

"Yeah, well, trust me, calling you is the last thing I wanted to be doing today," Julie said her voice betraying her as she was sure JD, or anyone listening, could hear the anger and hurt. "Just, answer the question, please. Don't drag this out for any longer than it needs to be. Why isn't the impressionist painting of the ballerina in the list of things I was entitled to." She heard JD scoff over the phone and help her breath, that was never a good sign.

"Well, the more I thought about it, the more I decided I liked that painting. Plus, we bought it together in New York while I was on a business trip that you insisted on coming to." JD said angrily. Julie didn't understand why he was angry, he was the one that cheated on her . . . multiple times . . . with multiple women. Where did he get off thinking he could act like the victim in this situation?

"Are you fucking serious right now JD?" Julie practically screamed, she was so annoyed that she wanted to drive over to his house and smack him silly. "You told me I should go on that trip because you said there were great museums and boutiques I could check out. That was about a year ago, though, around the time you started cheating on me with your little bimbos – if I remember correctly – so I can see how you might have confused me with one of them." Julie retorted.

"Why are you being such a bitch right now, Julie? It's just a fucking painting." JD spoke into the phone, his breathing labored, a sure sign he was trying to hold back his anger, Julie had been with him long enough to know that that was one of his biggest tells. "Get the fuck over it." He yelled into the phone.

"No!" Julie yelled back, then quickly took a deep breath to calm herself before she continued. "JD, you got the house and all the furniture in it, you get to keep all our wedding china, aside from the stuff my family gave us. You get to keep that fancy car you love so much, and you get to keep half the money in our joint account, despite the fact that the majority of it is my savings from over the years because you don't know how to manage your damn money . . . I guess that's one of the downsides of growing up rich." Julie said with a cold laugh. "The least you could do is give me the painting, you don't even like it." She said in an almost pleading voice, just wanting to be done with this, done with him.

"You know what, Julie, I think I'm just gonna hang on to this painting," JD said in that annoyingly condescending voice of his. Gone was his earlier anger and in its place, JD's truest form emerged, rude, childish, colossally condescending douchebag. Julie'd had enough, she wasn't going to sit here and continue to argue with him all night, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve anything from her, not anymore.

"Fine, have it your way for now, but just know I'm not signing these papers until that painting is included in my possessions. You'll be hearing from my lawyer within a few days." Julie said, ending the conversation by hanging up the phone. She sighed in frustration, downed the rest of her wine, and picked up the phone again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Julie left her spot on the couch when she heard a knock on her door. She opened the door to see Tyra on the other side holding up two very large bottles of wine and some movies.

"Alright, I brought wine and movies where the girl dumps loser boy for sexy man." Tyra said causing Julie to laugh for the first time in who knows how long. Julie held up her now empty wine glass as she let Tyra into her small apartment. The place was kind of a dump, her landlord was a jerk, and she'd been stuck taking cold showers for the last three days because he claimed he was "too busy" to fix it, but Julie just kept reminding herself it was only temporary, just until she found a place she liked enough to sign a long-term lease on. There were few places in Dillon that did month-to-moth leases like this place, and, unfortunately, some of the others are a bit out of her teacher's salary price range.

"I'm already about half a bottle ahead of you." She said as she went into the kitchen to grab a corkscrew and another wine glass for Tyra.

"Well, that's alright . . . I catch up quick." Tyra said with a small laugh as she poured two glasses of wine, handing one to Julie as she took a sip of her own. Tyra watched as Julie swirled the wine around in her glass, clearly lost in her thoughts. She sipped her wine again when Julie finally looked up, pretending as though she weren't just studying the younger woman sitting in front of her.

"So, I spoke with JD today, first time in months that we've spoken that hasn't been through our lawyers." Julie said with a sigh, finally ready to open up to someone about everything that happened with JD. She knew she had been keeping her friends and family in the dark about what's been going on, but she was just so embarrassed to admit that her relationship had failed. A part of her felt like it was her fault; that she'd done something wrong or that she hadn't kept JD interested enough and that was the reason why he strayed from their marriage. The other part just wanted to punch JD in his no good, lying, son-of-a-bitch, cheating face.

"How'd that go?" Tyra asked sarcastically in that thick southern drawl of hers, she'd been through enough breakups to know that taking to an ex sucked. It especially sucked when you've been in a relationship with the person as long as Julie and JD had been together. It's bound to make a conversion turn awkward very quickly.

"Worse than you'd think," Julie said with a snort before she continued, "he all the sudden decided he wants to keep my impressionist ballerina painting, even though I clearly specified it was one of the paintings that had to be included in my possessions during the divorce." Julie said, her eyes watery as she continued on, "I mean, he's already taken so much from me, half my life savings, my pride, my confidence, any chance of me being able to fully trust another man again. I gave him nine years of my life, nine years, and he cheats on me?" Julie said in tears now. "Am I really that horrible that he felt the need to go find other women to be with."

"He cheated on you?" Tyra asked wide-eyed. She knew they'd been having problems, but Tyra always just assumed it was because they spent so much time apart with JD traveling a lot for work. Julie never mentioned anything about him cheating. Oh, if she could get her hands on the son-of-a-bitch; she'd show him what happens when you mess with her family.

"Yeah, we were already fighting because he'd been traveling so much, I guess that made him think it was okay to sleep with other women. I started to notice some strange charges on our account, flower shops, jewelers, lingerie stores, places like that. I thought one of our credit cards had been stolen because I hadn't bought any of those thing and JD certainly hadn't given me anything of the sort." Julie said as she wiped away her tears, that anger from earlier returning again. "I told him about it and he was reluctant to report it, I told him we had to and that we couldn't keep letting someone steal our money, he just told me it was "fine" that's all he ever said "it's fine." That set off some red flags, so I went through his phone one night when he was asleep. He had texts from another girl. Pictures. I confronted him about it and he said it was just a one-time thing, that it would never happen again . . . that he loved me. And the idiot that I am, I believed every word of it. That was seven months ago." Julie said.

"I had no idea. Julie, I'm so sorry he did that, but you deserve better; you don't need a guy that's gonna treat you like that. You deserve someone that's gonna be there for you and love you, that's not gonna stray away to the first slut that glances his way." Tyra said, she could kill JD. She really could. How dare he hurt her sister-in-law like this? Who does he think he is? "He's an ass and you're better off without him." Tyra added, "You know, I could always kick his ass for you; I'm still taller than him, and I'm sure I'm a hell of a lot stronger."

"No that's okay," Julie said with a laugh, "He doesn't even deserve that." She sighed taking a sip of her wine before looking back up at Tyra. "There's more to the story, though."

"More than that?" Tyra asked, Julie nodded. "Good Lord, what else could the boy do?" By the look on Julie's face when Tyra asked, she guessed there was a lot more he could do, and again, Tyra found herself wanted to knock his lights out.

Julie, along with the rest of the Taylor clan made their way up to Austin for the weekend to visit her Aunt Shelley. She asked JD to come with her, but he had just got back from a trip in Seattle, and claimed he just wanted to veg out for a bit. Julie was disappointed but she told him it was okay. She missed him; so, she said goodbye to Shelley a day earlier than planned, she wanted to surprise JD. He ended up being the one to surprise her, though.

"JD?" Julie walked through the house, it was dark, but she knew he was home. She saw his stupid Maserati in the driveway.

She never did understand why guys would be willing to spend that much on a car. If a person was lucky, they could get away with keeping their car for maybe ten years before it finally bit the dust. That was the case with Julie's Toyota Celica, her little blueberry, as she fondly referred to it as. She had that car since she first got her driver's license, and she still had it to this day. But, unlike JD's, her car didn't cost nearly a hundred thousand dollars. But she wasn't about to complain seeing as they weren't the ones who paid for it. The McCoy's did. Julie never understood why, they rarely spoke to JD after he and Julie got married. Julie always felt like it might have been a bride, give JD a fancy car in hopes that he would leave Julie, they never liked her, or her family. Clearly it didn't work.

Julie walked up the stairs, thinking he may be asleep already. Their bedroom door was closed, but she could see soft light pouring out the crack of the door. Maybe he's reading, she thought. She opened the door. What she saw was definitely not reading . . . JD was laying on his back, a thin redhead on top of him. The sheets were covering their lower halves and, thankfully, the women's back was facing Julie, so she did have to see anything she didn't want to. That didn't stop the fact that what they were doing was so blatantly obvious, however.

"J-Julie!" JD stuttered, noticing his wife's appearance. Julie shook herself of the shock and turned around, running down the stairs as quickly as she could. She needed to get out of there. JD practically threw the woman off him and threw on a pair of mesh shorts, running after his wife. By, the time he caught up to her, Julie had already made it outside.

"Julie, wait!" He shouted. "I can explain!" At that Julie scoffed and turned around, wiping her tears. She'd never been so hurt in her life. She couldn't breathe as she felt her heart breaking into a million tiny little pieces.

"Alright then explain." Julie choked out over a sob. JD stayed quiet for several moments, just looking down at his bare feet. "Explain!" Julie yelled. She couldn't take it, all she wanted to do was curl into a ball and sob. How could he do this to her? He assured her that whatever past relationship he had was over. Clearly, that had not been the case.

"I-I didn't think you would be home until tomorrow," JD started, "Madison texted me that she was in town. I was going to end things, I swear."

"Are you being serious right now, JD!" Julie couldn't believe what she was hearing. He really expects her to believe that he was going to end things when she just caught him underneath her? He must've lost his mind. "The fact that you expect me to believe that officially makes you the dumbest person I've ever met, and the fact that you thought it would be okay just because I was out of town makes you the cruelest person I've ever met." Julie said taking in a deep shaky breath.

"Julie I'm sorry, I just–" JD started, but Julie quickly cut him off, unable to listen to anymore of his lies.

"I'm sorry too, but I don't appreciate getting lied to." Julie said getting in her car, with the engine on and the window down, she had one last thing to say before she left, something that she hoped would sit in the back of his mind for years to come. "I hope she was worth it."

"I found out about a month after that, when we first started working out the terms of our divorce that she wasn't the only woman he'd been with during the duration of our marriage. Apparently, there were many." Julie said as she let out a bitter laugh. "I can't believe I'm only twenty-four years old and about to become a divorcee."

Tyra was at a loss for words. What did one say to someone after that? Simply expressing sympathy wouldn't suffice. Kicking JD's ass would certainly make Tyra feel a hell of a lot better, but she knew that's not what Julie needed right now. "You want to watch a movie?" Tyra asked somewhat awkwardly, causing Julie to laugh, a real laugh, not one of those fake ones she'd been giving out in spades lately. She loved the fact that even if Tyra didn't know what to do, she did understand that Julie didn't want to spend any more time on the previous discussion. It was part of the reason she and Tyra had become such good friends in the first place, despite the four, almost five, year age gap between the two.

"A movie sounds great."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tyra walked into her house a few hours later, careful to be quiet and not wake up the kids. There was a dull light coming from the living room, she assumed Jason and Tim were probably still going over game types, but what she saw instead was almost comical. The two were watching a rerun of Oprah, and both actually seemed genuinely interested in whatever was being said.

"So this is what you do when I'm not home?" Tyra asked with a laugh. Jason and Tim snapped their heads in the direction of Tyra's voice and Jason quickly flipped back to the game tapes they had been watching earlier. Both looked bashful at having been caught watching a show that was aimed more towards women than men. "Thank you for putting the kids to bed." Tyra said, letting them off the hook, but they knew there would be teasing in the future, and knowing Tyra, she'd wait until they were in a public setting to do so.

"How did things go with Jules? She doing alright?" Jason asked. He hoped she had talked to Tyra about what was going on. He'd love to know himself, but she seemed pretty intent on not talking to him at the moment, and he could live with that, as long as he knew that she was at least talking to someone.

"She's doing about as well as could be expected." Tyra said, then with a huff and a shake of her head added, "That JD's a real piece of work, though. If I were her I'd make sure I got everything out of that divorce. She's too nice for her own good." Tyra hated that JD could just get away with cheating on Julie and still end up with so much more in the divorce, and here he was trying to keep something that held no meaning to himself – but meant so much to Julie – from her. And for what? What did he get out of doing this to her? Was he just trying to make her angry? Tyra didn't get it.

"What do you mean?" Jason asked, "What'd he do?"

"He didn't hurt her, did he?" Tim jumped in with his own question. He swore to God, if JD laid a hand on her . . . He'd show the asshole what hurt really meant.

"Physically? No . . . But, he's definitely done a number on her self-esteem." Tyra said. She felt wrong for even telling them as much as she had, Julie didn't ask her not to tell anyone about what happened, but she knew Julie would want to tell her brother on her own terms. "I really shouldn't say anything more. She'll tell you when she's ready." Tyra said, directing that last part as Jason. "Just give her some time."

"Yeah, but who knows how long it'll take for her to talk to me. She's managed to go three months without doing so, and not because of lack of effort on my part." Jason said. He just wanted to know what was going on with his baby sister. He deserved to know. "I'd also like to know if I need to kick a scrawny, wannabe, still thinks he's better than me, former QB's ass." He added, the annoyance at the younger man evident in his voice.

"I, for one, am with Six on this one." Tim said in that lazy drawl of his, but Tyra wasn't fooled, she could hear the slight edge in his voice. Which came as a surprise to her; that he would be so protective of Julie, even after all these years, when he hadn't seen, or even spoken to her in years. She didn't say anything though, that was another conversation for another time. "What did he do, and is it worthy of an ass beating?" He asked as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

"I'm sticking with my guns on letting Julie tell you herself. That being said, it's totally worthy of an ass beating." Tyra said with a sigh. She hated JD! "Honestly, I was tempted to leave and go kick his ass myself after she told me what happened."

Tim and Jason looked at each other. It was that bad? Jason made a mental note to talk to his sister as soon as possible, maybe now that she's told Tyra, she'll feel inclined to tell him as well.

All Tim could think about was that JD better have a good doctor, because once he and Jay were done with him, he'd need one. Tim had known Julie most of his life, in a way she was like a little sister to him too, so in a way, it was his job to protect her – at least, that's what he told himself.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A week later . . .

Julie sighed as she circled the big red D- on the top of the most recent quiz on "Of Mice and Men." She read the name on the top of the paper. Luke Cafferty. With a frown, she added it to the three other quizzes she had set aside earlier. After grading the last of the quizzes, she grabbed the small pile and made her way to the football field.

"Jay, could I talk to you for a second?" Julie asked once Jason had a free moment. He nodded and followed her over to the bleachers, out of earshot of the other coaches and players. "So, I was grading yesterday's quiz for my junior English class . . . Four of your players are officially failing my class now, Jay." Julie said handing the quizzes over to her brother so he could see for himself.

"Of course it just happens to be four of my best players." Jason said with a sigh as he read the names on the quizzes. Luke Cafferty, Vince Howard, Santiago Herrera, and Buddy Jr. This wasn't the first time he's had to talk to these players either, he dealt with a very similar situation last year. "I'll talk to them."

"I don't know that just talking to them is gonna cut it. Luke and Vince both need at least a B on the paper I'll be assigning next week if they want to play, Santiago and Buddy Jr. need a C." Julie said, she looked out at the field and saw the four players in question looking her way, they knew what was coming. And if this year was anything like last year, they'd manage to pass, but just barely. Julie didn't want that this year. She wanted them to learn something from her class. She didn't want them to constantly be worried about whether or not they'd be cut from the team because their grades were too poor. They were all such smart kids. They just needed to apply themselves more. Julie glanced out towards the field again and noticed another pair of eyes glancing her way, a pair of eyes that belonged to a now very famous fullback. He was still as ridiculously handsome as she remembered. He also still carried that "player" vibe and look all over his features. She guessed somethings just never changed. Although, something that did change was the way he was looking at her, almost as though he were leering. That was definitely something she'd never experienced, she'd seen him look at plenty of other women that way, but that look had never been directed at her before. And, oh god, he's making his way towards her . . .

"What's going on?" Tim asked walking up to the pair. The woman standing in front of him looked so familiar, he wished he could place a name to go with the face. The very beautiful face, he noticed. Tim looked at Jason who handed him the papers. Tim shrugged as he looked down at the papers. So, a few students got a bad grade on a quiz, what'd that have to do with Six?

"I was just being told that four of my players are failing her class and that they need at least a B on their next assignment to play." Jason filled Tim in on the details, gesturing towards Julie as he did. Tim looked confused as he looked between Jason and the teacher.

"So, what's the problem? Just give them the B." Tim said as he handed the papers back to the teacher, who scoffed as she took them from his hand.

"Of course you of all people would say that." Julie said with an eye roll. Somethings never changed, apparently. Tim always thought he was entitled to whatever he wanted back when he and Jason were in high school, just because he played football. If she had to guess, she'd say that entitlement's only grown since he went pro. And now he expects her to just give somebody a grade they didn't earn because they threw a ball around a field and knew how to tackle? Well, he had another thing coming. "I don't give students grades they haven't earned, I grade everyone fairly. If these boys want to continue to play football, they're going to have to earn a B on the upcoming essay on "Of Mice and Men" and they have to be the ones to do the work." Julie said sending Tim a pointed look. She remembered all the times he let rally girls do his homework; she also remembered all the teachers letting it slide, even though they knew he hadn't done the work. She would never be one of those teachers, she refused to stoop that low over a sport.

"Uh, I'm sorry, but where do you get off acting like you know me?" Tim asked as he looked at the feisty blonde in front of him. He loved a good argument, but who the hell did this chick think she was? She didn't know him. Maybe she'd read some stuff about him in the tabloids, but that didn't make it true.

"Seriously, Tim, I've known you since I was like, three years old." Julie said. Then she scoffed upon realizing he didn't even recognize her. She saw the moment Tim realized just who she was, his eyes got wider than she ever thought possible and the frown previously occupying his face was exchanged with a surprised smirk. Seems like the only thing he knew how to do was frown and smirk. In all the years Julie has known Tim, she hasn't seen him make any other facial expressions, at least not very often. She'd only ever seen him smile, like a real smile, maybe four times in her whole life. When he got accepted into UT Austin on a scholarship, when he graduated high school, when he got signed to the Cowboys, and in a picture of him and Jason at Jason and Tyra's wedding.

"What? Baby Taylor?" Tim looked at Jason for confirmation. He nodded. Tim couldn't believe this young woman standing in front of him was Julie Taylor. She seemed so different then he remembered. She wasn't the same bubbly, awkward girl that used to talk his ear off about anything and everything she could think of, tease him at any opportunity she got, or force him and Jason to take her and her friends out so she could show everyone that she had "the cool brother" with the hot friend – at least that's what he always remembered them all whispering about.

"It's actually McCoy now." Julie corrected, despite that fact that it stung just thinking about the last name and the day she took it. She and JD still hadn't worked out the agreements of their divorce; he was still refusing to give her the painting he had originally promised would be a part of her possessions. For the first time, she found herself wishing she hadn't opened her big mouth because she didn't want to be a McCoy, she wanted to go back to being a Taylor and act like this whole stupid marriage never happened.

"Not for much longer, I hear." Tim quipped. Jason looked over at his friend in absolute shock, he couldn't believe he'd just said that. Meanwhile, Julie looked at Jason equally shocked, only her eyes also held hurt in them.

"You told him?" She asked. How could he share the most private part of her life with someone, without discussing it with her first? She understood that Tim is his best friend, but that didn't give him the right to go around sharing intimate details of Julie's personal life. It wasn't any of Tim's business, and frankly, it wasn't Jason's either. "Did you tell him why we were getting the divorce too?" Julie asked angrily.

"He was there when Tyra got your phone call a couple weeks ago." Jason started. "And I don't even know why you two are getting a divorce, so how would I possibly tell him?" Jason retorted. He got that Julie was going through a lot right now, but that didn't make it okay for her to be angry and rude towards those around her, especially when they were just trying to help.

"Tyra didn't tell you?" Julie asked, surprised. Although, she doesn't know why, she knows Tyra would never share anything Julie didn't want her to, unless she thought it could be potentially harmful. But she had to admit, a part of her was hoping Tyra would tell Jason what happened just so she could avoid further embarrassment by telling her happily married, older brother that she's getting a divorce because her husband cheated on her.

"She told me it was something you needed to tell me yourself." Jason said, as though it were obvious, and to Julie, it was. It sounded exactly like something Tyra would say. She looked at Tim as though to shoo him. He didn't get the memo and stayed rooted in place.

"Can I have a moment alone with my brother?" Julie asked slowly, since clearly looks weren't enough to get rid of the jerk fullback, maybe her words would be. Tim appeared to ignore her and looked over at Jason, who nodded. She scoffed when he finally started to walk away. "What was that all about, he needs your permission before he can do anything now?"

"He was just making sure he didn't need to get me out of anything." Jason said, upon Julie's confused look he continued, "It's guy code, you basically gave me the equivalency of "we need to talk" and you're a woman, it doesn't matter what our relation is, it's the best friend's job to make sure that he got me out of the situation if I didn't want to talk to you." Jason said casually, once again, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. This time, it was not.

"That's probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard . . . no offense." Julie said with a slight chuckle. As much as guys complain about how they'll never understand women, it's clear to her today that that's a two-way street, because she is quite positive she'll never understand men either.

"None taken." Jason said. "So what's so important that you couldn't say it in front of Tim?" He asked.

"I want to tell you why JD and I are getting a divorce, and I really don't want to share those details in front of Tim. He may be your friend, but he certainly isn't mine." Julie said, but then a thought occurred to her. "Just, promise me you would go all "overprotective big brother" on me." She added in a pleading tone.

"I promise."

"The reason JD and I are getting a divorce is because–" Julie took a deep breath. She knew it would be hard to tell him, but she didn't realize it would be this hard. How is she supposed to tell her parents if she can't even tell her brother? Hell, they don't even know she and JD are getting a divorce, yet. "We're getting a divorce because I caught JD cheating on me." There, she said it. It was hard, and she had to do it in one quick breath because she knew if she stopped to breathe again she'd never tell him, but she did it. That was all that mattered. She looked up at Jason, he had a very unreadable expression on his face, it almost looked blank, but Julie knew there was something going on underneath the surface.

"He what?" Jason finally asked through gritted teeth. Oh, god, this was what she was hoping to avoid, he had his uncanny "Coach T" voice on, he sounded so much like their dad in that moment it was scary. Julie didn't respond to his question, she knew he had heard her the first time, but that didn't stop him from asking the question again. "He what?"

"Please don't make me say it again, Jason. It was hard enough the first time." Julie pleaded, using his full name instead of his nickname, letting him know she wasn't playing around.

"Hey, Coach, you planning to do your job anytime soon, or should we just call it quits for today?" One of the players yelled in his direction.

"Hey. Shut the hell up and back on the field, kid." Jason heard Tim yell a moment later. "He's busy."

"I should get back to practice." Jason said, his voice like steel as he spoke. "But, don't think we're done talking about this, there's a lot that needs to be explained." He added as he made his way towards the field, ready to grill whichever asshole decided to interrupt his conversation.

Julie sighed as she watched her brother return to the field and yell at the player that gave him a hard time, making him run a few laps around the field while the other players ran through drills. She really didn't want to talk to Jason about this; she didn't want to talk to anyone about it. She just wanted to wallow for a bit and then go back to pretending like nothing happened. Why couldn't everyone just let her do that? Why does she have to deal with her feelings? Would it really accomplish anything? She looked back out onto the field and, once again, noticed the eyes of a certain fullback looking in her direction. Only this time, his soulful eyes held confusion as he squinted at her, almost as though he were trying to read her. Good luck, she thought. She's about as closed off as they come these days.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

You made it to the end of chapter two! I know this one was pretty angst filled, but I just wanted you all to get an insight on what was going on with Julie and how she's been feeling. It'll get better, she'll start to feel less depressed, but you'll continue to see that anger for a while, though. I'm sorry the Julie and Tim exchange was fairly brief. I wanted to start off with him being a jerk because, for some reason, I just felt like that's what he would do. It's going to take a long while for the Tim/Julie relationship to blossom, so just stick with me on that. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, be sure to tell me your thoughts in a review or pm about what you liked and didn't like, as well as anything you'd like to see in upcoming chapters. Next chapter we'll finally get to see Eric and Tami, as well as Tim's first PeeWee practice. And of course, as always, don't forget to review, follow, and favorite!