Tim's POV:

The Riggins' house was empty, which didn't serve as a surprise to Tim. Billy was off doing one of his random jobs to earn a little bit of cash. The thing that did surprise Tim was the fact that the Riggins' house was clean. It didn't stink and there weren't beer cans everywhere, like usual.

He shook his head and continued to his room. He grabbed his duffel and started gathering a few of his belongings. Tim's bag was filled with various plaid shirts and a blanket, and decided that would have to suffice. Just as his hand reached for the door, he noticed a little boy's football shirt sitting on the couch.

The shirt had the number 33 on the back. It was Bo's shirt.

Tim smirked a little as he remembered Bo's incessant pleadings that he spend time with him. That seemed like such a long time ago. The young boy was a bit of a hassle at first; just an obnoxious neighbor that had nothing better to do than cling to Tim as if he was some sort of hero. But as time progressed, Tim had grown fond of Bo, and enjoyed spending time with him. Picking up Bo from school and teaching him how to defend himself wasn't a chore. It gave Tim a sense of pride that he had never experienced before.

It had only gotten more complicated when Jackie came into the mix. Playing with the child and sleeping with the mother had turned into a pattern that Tim was surprisingly comfortable with. It felt like being a part of a real family. But as he had grown to realize, nothing good in Tim Riggins' life lasted for long.

He once again surveyed the living room and something clicked. The combination of the little boy's shirt and the lack of beer started to make sense. It seemed as if Billy had taken over Tim's role of the step-in "father". He scoffed at the idea. His brother couldn't be as good with Bo as he was. And he damn sure wasn't better than Tim when it came to pleasing Jackie.

"Fuck you, Billy!" Tim yelled.

His cursing was met with silence. There wasn't anybody to respond to him. He swallowed, and tried to bury the loneliness that was threatening to bubble up from the pit of his stomach. Tim looked at his living room one more time, threw his bag over his broad shoulder, and slammed the door. As he started up his truck he began to think of somewhere, anywhere, that he could go.

~~**~~~

Julie's POV:

Julie sat lazily in her desk, pretending to take notes while her English Lit teacher drawled on about Emerson and some pond. Or was it Thoreau? Julie didn't know because she wasn't listening. She usually enjoyed this class, but today she couldn't seem to focus. Instead, she was creating a list in her head of the imperfections of Matt's latest rally girl; Her eyes were too close together, and she wore her hair too tight, making her features seem severe, rather than pretty.

Julie shook her head. What was she doing? She shouldn't care who Matt was dating, and she certainly shouldn't be worrying about a rally girl's physical attributes. She looked at the clock and realized she had only been in class for ten minutes, and had a solid forty-three left. Just as she was about to raise her hand for the bathroom pass, she, along with the rest of her classmates, was startled by an abrupt bang of the door opening.

Tim Riggins sauntered in, looking slightly more disheveled than usual. Mr. Hunter immediately stopped his lecture and raised his eyes at the arrival of Dillion's most notorious truant.

"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Riggins. What do we owe the pleasure of your sudden interest in actually attending my class?"

Tim continued to the empty seat next to Julie, and without hesitating, replied with, "I'm out of beer and I had nowhere else to go."

A few kids laughed, but Julie noticed that there wasn't a hint of a smile on Tim's face. Normally a response like that would have ended up in a detention, but Mr. Hunter was at a loss for words. He rolled his eyes and continued on with his lecture.

Lyla Garrity peered over at Tim from her seat, and whispered, "Or maybe the fact that you're no longer such a big football star has made you realize you actually need some sort of education after all."

Julie watched as Tim turned to Lyla with a look of anger and resentment. He pursed his lips, simply shrugged, and stared off in another direction.

Julie was aware of the football situation, being that her father was head coach. Apparently Tim had went on a random vacation, missing a game and several practices without letting anybody know. She didn't blame her dad for the decision, but judging by Tim's current appearance, he was not coping well.

She began tapping her pencil again, and looked outside the now ajar door. It was just her luck. At that very moment, a certain gangly blonde happened to be walking by with a beautiful brunette in tow. Julie bit her lip.

"Fuck narrow eyes. The girl is perfect"

As Mr. Hunter's words continued to pass right over Julie's head, the rest of class period was simply forty minutes of failed attempts to avoid thinking about Matt Saracen.

Finally the bell rang, and Julie gathered her things. She was walking out the door when she heard someone say, "Wait".

She turned around and noticed Tim Riggins staring at the back of Lyla's head as Lyla proceeded into the hallway without a glance back. Julie and Tim awkwardly made eye contact, and Tim simply shrugged, once again, and in a defeated voice mumbled, "Well, shit, right?"

Julie didn't say anything. Though she didn't find herself binge drinking, not showering, or arriving to class late, she felt like she could relate to the former fullback right then and there. Being rejected was a hurtful blow to anyone's pride, especially someone like Tim Riggins. He ran his fingers through his hair and dragged himself out of his desk and left the classroom. He showed no signs of embarrassment and carried himself in a casual way as he strutted to his next class. Forcing emotion away and putting up a façade was a feeling that Julie Taylor was beginning to know all too well.