A/N: Hello, faithful readers! I'm so glad you're still with me on this one, because it's the beginning of the end. There's only going to be three more chapters, and then this story will be done! I'm so excited for you all to read them, and I hope you've enjoyed this story so far. Also, I'm pretty proud of how fast I finished this chapter, compared to how fast I usually write them. But, I'm talking a lot, so please read, review, and enjoy!

Chapter Twenty

Julie slipped out of bed the next morning, leaving a sleeping Tim behind her. She knew he'd be pissed that she left without saying goodbye, but she couldn't stand to say goodbye to him. Doing it once was hard enough. Doing it again might undo her. And besides, she had a few things to attend to before she got on the plane that night.

She tugged on her clothes. She'd spent much of the day before packing, and everything was already packed into her car. She was ready to go. She grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator on the way out, using it to brush her teeth in front of her car. She wasn't going to risk waking him up until she was in her car, speeding away.

Ten minutes later, she found herself in front of Lyla Garrity's house. She wasn't really sure if she had meant to drive there, or if it was just fate that had driven her there, but she wasn't about to turn around and leave. There were things she had to say to Lyla, and she might as well say them now. Working up her courage, she walked up to the front door and knocked as confidently as she could.

A moment later, a slightly groggy looking Lyla answered the door. She looked groggy, but she was still as gorgeous and put together as always. Julie couldn't find it in her heart to hate Lyla; the girl had gone through too much shit for that. But she could find it in her heart to tell her off for the things she said. And that was just what she planned to do.

"Julie?" Lyla asked, obviously confused. "What are you doing here? At nine A.M. On a Sunday?"

"I had something I wanted to say to you before I left. And I figured now was as good a time as any." Julie tried to look cool and calm, but her palms were sweating and she wasn't sure how to get her point across the best.

"Oh, okay. What did you want to say?"

Why is she so damn nice? Julie had essentially announced she wanted to tell her off and she just asked Julie what she'd done wrong. How could you be mad at a person like that? "I, um… I just wanted to say that you were wrong about Tim. He has changed. He's come a long way since I last saw him, and I think it's pretty damn impressive. He's turned his life around. And he deserves more credit from you. He loved you, and it still hurts him that you two aren't friends anymore. Underneath everything, he's happy that you're happy. And if Chris makes you happy, he's okay with that. But he's not okay with the distance between you two now. You should talk to him. I think he'd like to hear what you have to say."

"The last time I tried to talk to him, he cussed me out. I appreciate the effort, but he's the one who chose to end our friendship, not me. I wanted to stay and be friends, but he pushed me away when our relationship was over." She shook her head and glanced away. "It's up to him now."

"That was years ago, and he was more hurt than he is now. He's a good guy, and he wants everyone else to be happy, even if it means he himself is not happy. When he cussed you out, it was probably a defense mechanism. He knew you didn't want him anymore, so he decided to give you a reason to be sure that was the right choice. I know it's not smart or mature, but I used to be the same way, so I understand."

"Well, thank you for the insight." A genuine smile graced her face, and Julie wished for the umpteenth time that the two of them could be friends. "And if we're giving advice, I have some for you." That was a surprise. "Don't go."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, don't leave. Don't go back to New York. I don't know if you realize this or if you're just in denial, but this town is better with you in it. Tim is better with you in it. I know you don't think so, but you make him a better man."

"He's a better man all on his own. He's changed his own life, I had nothing to do with it."

"You had everything to do with it. You were the reason behind it. Tim has liked you since high school. He saw you and he saw himself and he realized you were never going to give him a chance with his old lifestyle. So he changed, always hoping you'd come back to town. But you never did. Until now. I don't think you know this, but he asked about you. A lot. He always made a point to check in with your parents about you whenever he saw them. He even came close to beating up with Matt when he said something bad about you. He's loved you for years, and he will wait for you forever. You are his one."

Julie had no response for that. She had been waiting to hear those words for a very long time, but had never thought she'd actually hear them. She had no words.

"Just think about it." Lyla smiled again. "And thank you for talking to me. I was wondering when you were going to make it here. I've always wished I could have been closer to you. So if you ever need to talk, I will listen. I need to go eat breakfast now, but I hope everything woks out for you. Good luck." She closed the door on Julie's stunned face, smiling slightly as she did. Julie wasn't really sure what to do next.

She found herself back in her car and on the road. She pulled up in front of Matt's house. He was the elephant in her proverbial room, the thing she'd known was there but she hadn't wanted to deal with the whole summer. But she couldn't run scared anymore. She, actually confident this time, strode through the yard to the front door. She knocked, then took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Julie?" Matt asked as he spotted her through the thin screen door.

"Hi, Matt." She smiled a small smile and hoped he'd be okay with her unannounced visit. "Do you mind if I come in?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." He yanked open the door and stood aside to let her step into the entryway. "Would you like something to eat or drink?"

"No, that's okay. I was just kinda hoping we could talk. If this is a bad time or something, I can give you a call in a couple of days-"

"No, no, that's okay. Now is fine. Here, have a seat." He pulled out a chair after leading her into the kitchen. "What did you want to talk about?"

"It really wasn't… I just wanted to let you know I don't blame you. I know I was really angry after everything fell apart between us, and I had a right to be, but I don't blame you. And I was hoping we could move on and maybe even be friends? I know that's a lot to ask after all these years, but I've finally realized that it's not helping me to hold grudges, and I need to start letting things go. And one of those things is my anger with you."

"Wow, that was… thank you. And I don't blame you either. For being angry, I mean. You absolutely had a right to be angry at me after everything that happened between the two of us, so I understand where it came from. I couldn't have expected you to be okay with it, but I'm glad that you are now. And I would really like to be friends. That would be nice."

She hadn't expected that to work entirely. She'd expected something like an "I'll think about it" or a "Can I get back to you?". But he surprised her. And she couldn't say that was such a bad thing. She really did hope they could be friends. Much like the situation between Tim and Lyla, she'd only ever wanted for Matt to be happy. And deep down, she knew that all he'd ever wanted was for her to be happy. "Okay, good. I'm glad."

"Are you going back to New York today?"

"Yep. I'm headed straight to the airport after I leave here."

"Wow. I have to say, I'm a little surprised."

"Why? It's not that early. My flight is at one o'clock this afternoon."

"No, not about that. I'm surprised you're going back at all. I would have thought after the summer you had with Tim that things would end differently. I expected you to stay here."

"What is up with everyone this morning? Tim and I are not meant to be. I don't have to stay."

"No, but don't you want to?" He leaned back in his own chair. "C'mon, Julie, you've never been a good liar. You and Tim have been meant for each other since you met. You two were meant for each other when we were engaged. I have to say, it was hard to constantly wait for the other shoe to drop. There were times I was certain you'd come home at night and tell me it was over because you and Tim had decided to elope."

"What? That's ridiculous."

"Maybe so, but it's not such a crazy idea. You may not have known each other all that well back then, but love doesn't really care about that, does it?"

"I, um…"

"Hey, you want to go back to New York, that's your business. I'm not going to tell you not to go. But just know you're leaving behind the best thing in your life. He's a damn good guy and he deserves more than you're giving him. But he loves you, and he's willing to wait for you. Just don't fuck with his mind. He's had a rough go of it for most of his life, and the last thing he needs is you leading him on."

"I really have to go." She turned around.

"Goodbye, Julie. I will always have your back." She lifted a hand in acknowledgement as she quickly made her way out of the house. She got herself safely into her car before breaking into tears. Her heart was ripping in two. On the one hand, everyone was telling her Tim was in love with her. On the other, Tim himself had never said that to her. And on top of all that, she had made peace with two people she'd carried anger against for years. It felt like a weight had been lifted. And she had a choice to make: New York or Dillon.

When Tim woke and found Julie gone, he wasn't extremely surprised. Disappointed, absolutely. Hurt, for sure. But he couldn't say he wasn't expecting it. But it did give him the time and motivation to go accomplish some things he'd wanted to do for a while. First, he stopped at Landry and Tyra's house. He was greeted by the whole family and with a warm welcome inside.

"Hey, Riggs, what brings you by?" Landry patted his ex-teammate on the back as he entered their house.

"I was hopin' to talk to the two of you." He looked at Landry and then at Tyra.

"Yeah, sure, come on in. Do you want some tea?" Tyra led the way into the kitchen.

"Um, yeah, that'd be good." If he could fiddle with something it might make spilling his guts a little bit easier. He'd never been good at speaking about his feelings, and this was not going to be any different.

"So, what bring you here on this fine Sunday afternoon?" Landry asked as Tyra pulled a cup down from a cabinet and poured Tim some sweet tea.

"Well, I just wanted to… apologize really, for not being around much recently. I have had to put in a lot of extra time at work in the past year, but that's no reason for me to avoid you. And that was what I was doing. I was avoiding you because I thought I was in love with Tyra." That brought all the motion in the room to a halt.

"You aren't, though, right?" That came from Tyra, who was frozen to the ground in shock.

"No, I'm not. I'm in love with Julie."

"We were wondering when you were going to realize it."

"What?"

"C'mon, man, everybody knows. Yeah, it was surprising to see the two of you together at first. But that was mostly because we'd spent so many years seeing the two of you mooning over each other from afar that it was strange to see you together in real life."

"What do you mean, everybody knows?"

"Everybody knows, Timmy. Everyone knows you and Julie are meant to be. But you two both had your heads up your asses for so long, you couldn't see it. And why, for the love of God, why did you think you were in love with me?" Tyra sat down on Landry's leg, perched like a bird.

"I had his theory that everyone has one person that is their love in life. And you were the closest thing I ever had to love. I thought maybe I was still in love with you, and that's why none of my other relationships worked out. But really, it was because no one compared to Julie."

"Yeah, no shit. So what are you going to do about it?" Landry asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What are you going to do about Julie? You're not going to let her go back to New York, are you?"

"What else can I do? I can't make her stay here if she doesn't want to."

"She wants you, dumbass." Tyra rolled her eyes. "She doesn't know you love her. If she knew, she'd stay."

"I don't know. I can't take her away from a life she wants. And she's made it pretty clear that she wants her life in New York."

"Well, she's stupid. And I can say that, I'm her best friend."

"She's just stubborn."

"Believe me, I know. I'm trying to work on it with her."

"Yeah, well… There are a couple more things I have to do today, but I wanted to make sure I got here to apologize to you guys."

"Hey, man, we understand. We knew you'd always be there when it counted. And you have been. No harm, no foul."

"Yeah, let me walk you out." Tyra stood and led Tim back to the door, where she placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Good luck with everythin'. You deserve a good life."

He actually blushed as he headed to his car. He already felt better, but he wasn't done for the day yet. He drove back to his house and made his way out to the deck with the dog. He was going to be spending a lot of time with the friendly animal in the coming time, he better get used to it. Then he picked up his phone and dialed the number of someone he'd neglected to talk to recently.

"Tim? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Saracen, it's me."

"What… Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, I just kind of wanted to say sorry. I was a shitty person to you for a long time. I just couldn't get over the way you and Julie were, and I can't lie to you, about how I felt about Julie. I love her, I think I always have. And I couldn't be a good guy to you because the whole time I was thinking about what it would be like to be you, and I never measured up."

Matt was silent on the other end of the line, for a long enough time Tim thought he might have hung up. "Seven?"

"Yeah, I'm here." He paused again. "I didn't know you and Julie were that close, but I get it, man. I know the way I felt about her, and I know how I felt if she even talked to another guy. So I get it, and I don't blame you. Maybe we can finally get to know each other better. You are the new coach of the Panthers."

Tim chuckled in embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess I am. You know you were good for her in high school."

"Yeah, well, never as good as you."

"What do you mean?" Tim was genuinely confused.

"Even in high school, you two were special together. You had more of an effect on her in the little time that you two saw each other than I ever did. I gotta go, but don't be a stranger, Riggs. It's about time that changed."

Matt hung up without another word, and Tim let the phone drop from his ear. One call down, two to go. He dialed another number.

"Riggs? Why you callin' me?" Smash sounded just as belligerent as he was when he answered the phone.

"I wanted to make sure we're good. I know you were hoping for the coach's position, but I don't want this to change the fact that we've always been teammates and friends. That shouldn't be any different now."

"Nothin' will ever change The Smash and Riggins. The Smash is goin' to play another year in the NFL, if they'll take me back. I didn't get this job, but it wasn't meant for me, either. It was a job for you. Hell, I'll find a higher paying job when I retire than you'll make your entire time coachin' the Panthers." They both laughed, but it was true. Smash would end up commentating or sitting in a game booth somewhere, probably on TV. Tim would never make that much money. But for the first time in a while, he figured that was okay, because his happiness was no longer dependent on money.

"Well, good luck, man. I ain't ever seen a defense able to stop two-oh, and that ain't gonna end now. You're gonna play just fine with that knee." That may have been the nicest thing Tim had ever said to Smash, but damn was it true. They'd been friends since before high school, and they never stopped, not really. And it was about damn time Tim started actually being there for people. It had been a while since that had happened.

"You know it. I'll hit you up when we win the Superbowl."

There was the Smash he knew. "Alright, man. I'll talk to you later."

"See ya 'round, Riggs. Good luck this fall."

Tim didn't know he had it in him to do this, but it was going well so far. No one had slapped him across the face or cussed him out, so it was a start. Now for the hardest part. He dialed one final number and held the phone against his ear, nearly shaking with nervousness.

"Well, I'll be damned," Jason said when he answered the call. "I thought you forgot about me."

"Nah, I couldn't do that," Tim said, but he felt the guilt rise up inside him, causing his pulse to beat harder and sweat to bead on his hands.

"So, why are you callin'?" Street might be living in Chicago, but he hadn't ever lost his drawl.

"I wanted to apologize. I'm kinda doing this purgin' thing where I own up to what I'm doing wrong."

"Right. And are you also doing a juice cleanse and attending weekly yoga classes?"

"Street. I'm trying to say I'm sorry. I know I haven't been the best friend recently, which is wrong because you've always been there for me. But you've had it all together for the longest time, and I'm just now realizin' that I have to sort my shit out and be an adult."

"And this has absolutely nothing to do with a perky blonde who just came back to town?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because Julie Taylor has been the only person to ever make you look at the things you're doing and realize what you're doing wrong. I'm not sayin' she told you to do this, but it sure as hell wasn't because you suddenly got a coaching position and realized life was changing. It's football. You've always had football, nothing's different there. The difference is, now you have Julie."

"I don't have Julie."

"What do you mean?"

"She left. She's goin' back to New York."

"So stop her."

"I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because if New York is where she's happy, she needs to be there. I need her happy."

"You're a dumbass, Riggins."

"Hey!"

"No, man, you had no problem with being with Lyla, even when she was with me. You know why?"

"Damn it, man, I've said sorry so many times!"

"Dude, I'm not upset about that anymore. It was way to long ago to keep me holdin' a grudge against my best friend. But it did mean somethin'. Do you know why that was so easy for you?"

"Because I was an asshole and Lyla was hot?"

"Well, you're half right. You were definitely an asshole. But you put yourself first. You didn't care about what it meant for me, because you wanted yourself to be happy. And yeah, that was selfish and it pissed me off, but it was also right. You should be happy, Timmy, and the only reason it was a bad idea back then was because she was with me. But Julie Taylor doesn't have any boyfriend other than you. So make yourself happy, Tim. I haven't seen you happy in a long assed time."

"I hear ya, but I can't take her away from her life. She's made one there, and she doesn't deserve to be trapped here any more."

"Don't say I didn't warn you. But for the record, Timmy, I'm glad you've decided to do this. You've carried a lot on your shoulders. Every once in a while, you have to lighten the load."

"Since when have you become the wise old man handing out advice?"

"Since I had a kid who's old enough to ask questions."

He knew it was crazy, but Tim couldn't help but wish it was him. He wanted a family of his own. And he wanted to love the woman that he was with unconditionally, because he never wanted his kids to have to go through what he did.

"Look, Riggins, I'm happy you did this. And in case you didn't get it, we will always be friends, whether you're around or not. But for the record, my kids miss their Uncle Tim. Don't be a stranger." With that, Jason disconnected the call.

That was the second time that morning someone had told him he shouldn't be a stranger. If that wasn't an indication of how absent he'd been, there was nothing else to show it. He placed the phone on the coffee table on the deck and sat down in one of the chairs. He stared out at the yard, absently petting the dog's head. After a moment of two, a wet nose pushed against his hand and he looked down at the animal. Dogs really were man's best friend. He began scratching him in earnest, letting the innate happiness of the dog seep into him as much as possible.

To his surprise, his phone rang. Confused, he reached over and picked it up one-handed, still scratching the dog behind the ears. "Hello?"

"Tim?" A female voiced asked. It was female, but it wasn't Julie's.

"Yeah, uh, who is this?"

"Hey, it's Lyla."

Well that was new. "Oh, uh, hi. What do you need?"

"I was hoping you might want to do something together sometime."

"Oh, Lyla, I'm actually with someone-"

"No, no, no, not like that. Sorry, I meant I was hoping you'd want to hang out sometime. As friends."

Tim felt a smile slowly start to stretch across his face. It had been a while since he and Lyla had been friends, but she still meant a lot to him. He'd never been able to totally cut her out. And now, if she was the one extending the olive branch, he couldn't turn her down. "Yeah, I'd like that."