Author's note: Thank you to everyone for leaving me wonderful reviews and comments. I can't begin to tell you all how much it's appreciated. I have finally finished writing this and it ends at 14 chapters. Not bad for something that started as a one page fragment.
I'm not sure I can top the last chapter. Chapter 8 was the first one I wrote and the easiest to write. All I had to do was bring my fingers to the keys. However, I shall do my best. I will continue my meticulous revising process until it's all posted. Again, thanks to everyone for commenting and for those who are reading.
Kaze-Chan
Chapter 9
Billy 26, Tim 15
Part 1
Billy made his way through the garbage that covered the floor, doing his best not to knock over any of the empty beer bottles that littered all counter top surfaces. Slightly hung over, he managed to make it to Tim's room without tripping over his own feet.
"Tim, come on get up." Tim buried is head under his pillow, no doubt also slightly hung over. "You have to get to school." Billy trudged back towards the kitchen. The cupboards were bear but he managed to find a stale box of cereal and some milk. He divided it equally between two bowls.
Tim finally made his way to the kitchen and slouched down on the stool, his long legs sticking out on either side. Billy pushed the second bowl closer to his younger brother. The Riggins boys were not morning people, especially not after having consumed the amount of alcohol they normally did the night before. A lot had changed since their parents left. Billy had everything under control for the first few months but started falling behind on bills. He had trouble keeping a steady job and trying to have a normal home for his brother. He hadn't realised how much of a responsibility it all was. He had instantly inherited a house with a mortgage, bills for food and electricity, payments on a breaking down car and most importantly, a dependent minor.
Billy had never wanted this and often found it easier to drink himself into a stupor. This slowly became the routine of his life, opting to buy beer instead of proper food. Unwittingly, Tim had adopted his older brother's attitude and habits. His grades slowly declined in consequence and his homework was generally never done. His teachers hardly noticed and by the end of the year, Tim had lost all interest in his academic studies. The only thing that kept his interest in school at all was football. Billy also sometimes wondered when his brother had stopped talking the way he did before. A usual answer from Tim now a days was a monosyllable word at best. These thoughts would usually send Billy looking for another beer bottle.
Tim never asked about their mother and Billy never brought it up. In fact, neither one had ever spoken about their mother since that night when Billy returned. Their father, however, was a completely different story. Two years after his abrupt departure, they received a letter and a cheque from him in the mail. Their father went on and on about how he was sorry for what he had done, to both boys, and that he wanted to make it up to them. Billy was far from ready to let that man back onto the property let alone back into his life. Tim however, much to Billy's frustrations, seemed eager to reconnect. Billy finished his cereal, frowning at the few postcards hanging on the fridge. If it was up to him, they would be in the trashcan.
About half an hour after Tim left for school on his bike, Billy waited anxiously on the front step. In five months it was Tim's birthday and Billy had already found him the perfect present. It was Tim's sweet sixteen and Billy knew all to well that the kid had never gotten a descent birthday present in his life. Hopefully, this would make up for that.
Minutes later, he stood facing a fairly new black pick up truck as the tow truck pulled away. The thing needed a lot of mechanical work but it was nothing the Riggins boys couldn't fix. He quickly covered it with a tarp and sped off to his own job before he got fired yet again.
Part 2
Tim's smile was the widest Billy had seen in a long time. He watched from the passenger seat as his little brother expertly took a left turn off the main road. The two had just returned from the licensing office and Tim now had his drivers permit. But not just that, he also had is own truck and couldn't wait to take it to school the next day, to show his girlfriend no doubt. This was the best present he had ever gotten by a landslide. But most of all, he had enjoyed spending the time with Billy fixing it, giving him a small taste of what he considered a normal life. This was definitely a step forward for the boys.
It was dark by the time the two made it back home. To celebrate, they had a few beers and watched some football on TV. By midnight, Tim was ready to turn in seeing as tomorrow was Friday. Tim paused in the doorway, his eyes mostly focused on his socks; Tim's usual habit of averting his gaze. "Hey Billy," the words came out strained "thanks man." Tim finally looked up to meet his older brother's eyes, "for everything, thanks." Billy smiled and nodded his head, lifting his beer as a toast.
"No problem buddy. Happy belated Birthday." Tim smiled his patented crooked grin and continued down the hall. Moments like this made it worth having given it all up. He shuttered to think of how things would have been if he hadn't come back. With no one here, Tim would have surely ended up in foster care. He finished his beer and headed off to bed as well. Tomorrow night Tim would be playing his first high school football game as Fullback; a very important position and his older brother wouldn't miss it for the world.
In a matter of weeks, Tim Riggins had gone from rookie to star fullback for the Dillon Panthers. He had a talent for the position and no one seemed to be able to bring him to the ground. Billy was proud of his brother and made sure to go to each and every game. He would be there to cheer him on like his brother had been there for him. And he didn't care if everyone knew about their parents, it didn't matter anymore. Tim would be alright, Billy would make sure of that even if it meant giving it all up again.
