Julie had been in a terrible mood for weeks. Spring had come to London, but her mind was dark and troubled. She was buried in school projects and slept little. Her appetite had fallen off and she was looking thin with large black circles under her eyes. Finn and Prudie had been giving her a wide berth, but as Julie sat at her desk one Saturday afternoon she heard her bedroom door slide open.
"Come on then." Prudie said, throwing Julie her coat.
"Prude, really. I don't have time." Julie pleaded, placing the coat on her bed.
"Sorry, love. That's not going to work. You've been holed up in this room for days and we need to blow the stink off of you. Get up." The insistence in her voice was hard to ignore, so Julie obliged and headed out of the loft with her friend.
The girls walked to their favorite cafe and ordered their tea. Prudie bought a slice of cake and slid it in front of Julie with a motherly look of concern. "Eat."
Julie took a bite of the cake and gave Prudie a condescending smile. "Happy?"
"Quite. Now what the bloody hell is the matter with you?"
"What isn't?" Julie responded sulkily.
Prudie sat looking at Julie with a frustrated look on her face. Julie realized her friend wasn't going to let this go.
"Fine, let's go down the list, shall we? Tim got drafted to the Chargers. As in the San Diego Chargers, you know, in California."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Yes and no. I'm happy for him. He's worked so hard for this. It's a big deal for him, to come from a place like Dillon, the way he grew up..." Julie trailed off.
"But?" Prudie prodded her to continue.
"But California."
"What have you got against California? Isn't Wisconsin in the middle of the States? It can't be that hard to get there."
"It's a little harder if I'm still in London."
"Pardon?"
"That's another problem. I don't want to leave. I love it here. School, you and Finn. It's just so 'me'. I'm finally able to be myself, not Coach Eric Taylor's daughter. Just Julie."
Julie sat there and turned her charm bracelet round and round. It had become her new tic since Tim gave it to her for Christmas a few months ago. Their time with Finn's family had gone wonderfully. They did everything Julie had dreamed they would, riding in sleighs pulled behind horses, snow ball fights, building snowmen and making snow angels, roasting chestnuts, which she had wanted to try only because it seemed like such a Christmassy thing to do, but they were actually delicious, and having a gigantic feast with all the trimmings. Finn's family was a loud, boisterous, welcoming mass of people and by the time they headed back to London Julie, as well as Tim, felt like they'd made new friends with them all. Tim had stayed for New Year's, which was one of the most fun nights of Julie's life. Finn and Prudie took them to a party and at the stroke of Midnight she and Tim shared their first New Year's kiss.
Tim had decided to forgo his last semester to OSU, much to Julie's chagrin. He wanted to focus his time and attention to training for the NFL combine. Julie knew she had no right to tell him she was disappointed in him for deciding that way, but a small part of her was. When the draft rolled around Tim was home in Dillon and watching with her family. Her father and some of the other Panther coaching staff had agreed to work with Tim on his skills and conditioning. Julie knew her dad was extremely proud of Tim, as well as Smash Williams who ended up getting drafted in the first round by Pittsburgh. Tim went to San Diego early in the fourth round. Both he and her father were happy with the team as their style of offense meant Tim would have a better chance to impress the coaches when the training camps started.
"Alright, so you want to stay here. That's great, by the way. I can't fathom life without you now, but you see this as a problem why exactly?" Prudie prodded.
"It means giving up my scholarship to Wisconsin and paying for my last year here. I've looked into loans and scholarships and extending my student visa." Julie took a sip of her tea and sighed. "I just know that my family and Tim will be disappointed, but I plan on telling them when they're here for their visit in two weeks."
"You're that certain then?"
Tears started streaming down Julie's face. She slowly nodded.
"Julie, don't be sad. This is your life. You get to make the decisions. If being in London is what will make you most happy your family and Tim should be thrilled for you. OK, I'm sure Tim will be saddened as I know he's madly in love with you, but I can't believe he'd want to see you this miserable over it."
"I know...it's just..." Julie said between sobs, "we've waited so long to be together. I'm worried we never will be."
"That's rubbish. If the two of you are meant for each other it will work out. I firmly believe that and so should you."
Julie smiled at Prudie. She was always so positive and upbeat. Julie wished she could have more of that positivity in her own personality.
"Thanks, Prudie. I'm glad you bullied me into talking to you."
"No thanks are necessary. I have just had enough of 'Emo Julie'."
Julie laughed, "Yeah, me too."
Julie was grabbing her bag and heading for the door when she collided with Finn who was just coming in.
"Where you off to in such a hurry?" Finn inquired.
"I have to catch the Tube to Heathrow. Tim and my family are flying in today, remember?" Julie said.
"Ah yes, I finally get to meet your family. You're not making them take the bloody Tube are you?" Finn said with obvious distaste of the crowed cars and frequent stops.
"No. I hired a minibus for their visit that I'm picking up, but for me getting out there to meet them it's fine."
"Nonsense. Come, I'll drive you."
"Finn, you don't have to."
"It's fine, plus it will give us plenty of time to talk about your gorgeous father and the odds of him switching teams, as they say."
Julie let out a laugh and followed Finn to his car. Their conversation flowed naturally on the drive. Since Julie had informed her flatmates of her decision to stay in London for her last year of school her mood improved as had the environment in the loft. Finn dropped Julie off at the rental car area and after parking the van she made her way to the waiting area outside of customs. She didn't have to wait long to see the four familiar faces make their way towards her. Her mother let out and ear piercing scream and threw her arms around Julie.
"Oh my lord, I've missed you so much." Tami said before covering Julie's faces in kisses.
"Hi, Mom." Julie laughed, returning the hug. "I've missed you too."
Julie broke free and picked up a jumping Gracie Belle and gave her father a hug too.
"Hi, Dad." Julie said, placing a kiss on her father's cheek and handing off her little sister.
Julie tuned towards Tim and they gently kissed. Gracie Belle laughed.
"Hey, Babe." Tim said, wrapping her up in a hug.
"Eww. Julie kissed Tim. That's gross."
"You're right, Gracie Belle. Kissing boys is gross until you're 21 like Julie. Just you remember that." Eric added with a smile.
Julie realized that was the first kiss she shared with Tim in front of her family and for a moment felt a little weird about it.
"OK, we all ready? I rented a van, so grab a bag and let's go." Julie ordered. "I know you all must be starved, so I've got food back at the loft, I thought that would be easier than going out. Plus I know it's like 6:00 a.m. for you, did you guys get any sleep on the plane?"
"Some. Gracie did fine, but I'm sure we'll all be ready for a nap after some food." Tami answered.
"That's cool. You and Dad have my room and Gracie is going to sleep with me in Prudie's room. She's going to stay at her boyfriend Atish's while you're here, but you'll totally get to meet them as we're going to go to his restaurant for dinner tomorrow. He owns this amazing Persian place and the food is incredible. Tim's got the couch. Finn should be home, he actually drove me out here so I didn't have to take the Tube, I mean the Underground, it's not that bad, just crowded." Julie said with a smile.
Tim hugged Julie and whispered in her ear. "Are you on something?"
Julie looked at him shocked. "No, why?" She said quietly.
"You're sorta jacked up. It's cool, Jules. Relax."
Julie smiled up at him. She was incredibly nervous about this visit. Disappointing these people was the last thing she wanted to do, but knew it was coming.
The ride back to the loft was filled with Julie pointing out various things to her family, well her mother, as Eric, Gracie and Tim all fell asleep along the way. Her father had to give her a hard time about driving, but she had been practicing with Finn and felt pretty comfortable with driving on the left, which really was not the biggest hurdle to driving in the UK. They arrived in the bustle of King's Cross and pulled on to Julie's block and found a spot to park not far from her building. She could tell her parents were a little hesitant about what they saw. There had been a lot of development, but it didn't take much imagination to envision it how it used to look.
"Don't worry, guys, this is a good neighborhood. Come on, let's go up." Julie reassured them unlocking the front door of her building and directing them to the lift.
Julie slid open the door to the loft to find it picked up and lunch being prepared, she would need give Finn a giant 'thank you' later.
"You must be Julie's parents and this must be her much more attractive older sister. Hello, gorgeous, what's your name?" Finn said with a smile to Gracie Belle.
"I'm not older, I'm five." The youngster laughed.
"Finn's just teasing you, sweetie." Julie explained. "Finn, I'd like you to meet my younger sister Gracie Belle, my mom, Tami, and my dad, Eric."
"Welcome to London, Taylor family and of course, Tim. Good to see you again, mate." Finn said shaking hands. "I went ahead and started lunch as I'm sure you know Julie can't cook to save her life and felt you shouldn't be subjected to that pain after such a long flight."
"Hey!" Julie laughed.
"He really does know you well, doesn't he, sweetheart?" Eric chimed in.
"OK, that's enough picking on Julie. Mom, Dad, my room is right there if you want to put your stuff down and then we can eat."
Lunch was an enjoyable meal that ended with everyone full and ready for a much needed nap. Julie decided to lay down with Tim on the couch, which lucky for him was a futon and actually quite comfortable.
"Hey, you." She said snuggling in.
Tim kissed the top of her head and spent a few minutes breathing in her scent.
"I missed you, Jules." He said moving his hand to her wrist and playing with her bracelet. "I guess I really did leave my heart here over Christmas."
"I missed you too." Julie said quietly.
"You alright?"
"Yeah, fine. School is busy, but I'm good. Great now that you're here." She smiled up at him and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
Tim stared at Julie and she knew he didn't quite buy her explanation, but she wasn't ready to delve into her staying in London another year, Tim on the other hand wanted to talk about the future.
"I've been thinking about things?" Tim said twirling a piece of her now shoulder length hair in his fingers.
"What things?" Julie inquired nervously.
"Living arrangements."
"Really?" Julie knew this conversation wasn't going to lead to a good place.
"Yeah, I wanted to know what you thought about me coming to Madison after the season, that's if I make the team, otherwise I'd come there after I get cut."
"You're not going to get cut, Tim." Julie assured him.
"I'm glad you're sure, but how about it?"
Julie knew she was in a pickle. "We should talk about this more later, you must be tired. Come on, let's get a quick nap in." Julie suggested hoping he'd let it go for now.
After everyone was refreshed from their nap Julie took them on an abbrieviated tour to show them where she went to school and some highlights in that portion of the city. They had dinner out and by the time they were done the visitors were wrecked and back at the loft asleep in no time. Julie said goodnight to Tim and went into Finn's room to talk a bit.
"They're very nice, Julie. Your mother certainly has a lot of hair."
Julie laughed, "Well, she is from Texas. It's a law."
"You going to tell them tomorrow?"
"Yeah, after dinner. I figured that after Atish fed them well they'd be a little more relaxed for that news."
"You shouldn't worry. They love you, sure they might bristle initially at the thought of you staying another year, but..."
"What the hell, Julie!? When did you decide that?" Tim said.
Julie turned to see Tim standing at Finn's door and he didn't look happy.
AN: Oh, come on, you knew the happy couldn't last forever. Much love to all those who care enough to share their very best (reviews). :) Scarlett
