Unbalanced – Chapter 21

Tim was amazed that someone's face could be so contorted in rage. He was fearful, he wouldn't lie, but the Coach couldn't kill him on the field, under the lights, in front of many interested supporters. Tim wanted Julie to know that he wasn't going anywhere. He kept looking at her with reassuring glances, squeezing her hand and being present in the moment. The Coach had started pacing and Tim knew this wasn't a good sign. Julie's gaze stayed firmly on her father.

"How long have you been disregarding my wishes?" The Coach's attention was fixed on Tim's face. He was really asking how long Tim had been taking advantage of his daughter, under his roof. Tim's was confused at what he should answer first, the actual question or the one that was being asked. "How long have you been..." he swallowed his anger down "...carrying on with my daughter?" The Coach had saved him the trouble of trying to work it out.

Tim took a deep breath "Sir, we've seen each other once since I have moved out." Tim stood there hoping that sincerity was enough as he apparently wasn't. The Coach didn't believe him, he waited for conformation from his daughter, his trust in #33 gone.

She stuttered "Daddddd, we've been apart since you said no. T-tttim made it clear that if you didn't give him permission, it was off." She looked at her father. He nodded acceptance at her then his head jerked.

"What about under my roof?" Tim heard Julie react and his heart raced at a whole new speed. "What were you doing beneath my roof?" each word was spat out with enormous amounts of force.

"Sir, we kissed once. That's the honest truth. I'm not here to take advantage of Julie. I want to be with her, Sir." Tim decided that he needed to be clear and strong. She looked at him with pride and it spurred him on, he was doing this for them. He noticed that the Coach was observing them carefully, his brow creased with concentration, anger restraint and thought

"How am I supposed to trust either one of you?" Coach walked up to them and moved his inquiring gaze from one to the other. Tim knew he had a point, the disappointment the Coach felt towards him was palpable. It hobbled him. "You've lied to me, disregarded my wishes and flaunted yourselves on my field. I don't think I can even look at you without wondering if you're lying to me." Tim knew this would happen, it didn't make the words easier to accept.

Tim was determined though and as they stood there together on the field he thought of their team's mantra. 'Clear hearts, full hearts, can't lose' surely that would apply here? He tried to convey it with his eyes and every muscle in his body.

"Sir, I understand your issues with trusting us but please know that we've kept a wide berth of one another these past few weeks. You caught us at a weak moment. We're real sorry you saw us like that and we get that this isn't a perfect way to be confronted. We really like one another, we really want to be with one another and we've done our best to stick to your wishes." Tim swallowed, the Coach was looking at him slightly amazed at the words coming from his mouth. He couldn't deny that the thought of approaching the Coach hadn't been subconsciously in his mind. He wanted another shot and this time the words poured out of him. Tim turned to his girl and she nodded at him support. She wiggled her pointer finger over the back of his hand where they were entwined. His heart swelled, she was proud of him. He had never really felt the power of that before.

"I understand that Tim but you spoke to me weeks ago and I voiced my concerns. I wasn't even all that convinced that Julie even liked you. The amount of blood shed in my house would suggest differently." The Coach had seemingly regained his sense of humour.

"Dad, we understand that. We just started talking. We haven't been together other than the times we said but I have feelings for him. We want you to give us a chance to prove that we can be good together. Give us that chance, please," Julie words were the truth and it felt good to have her back him up verbally.

"I can see that you have feelings for him Julie, that's what concerns me. Tim, you have a horrible reputation and that doesn't matter as your Coach but as a father, I just can't. She's my little girl. I cannot put her in that position no matter how much she wants it," Coach was apologetic and all Tim could do was nod understandingly. He needed to give it one last shot.

"I had hoped that living under your roof and being part of your family would have proved otherwise Sir," Tim looked her father in the eye. "I haven't acted with consideration much in my life but in my defence I haven't had the best role models. Jules makes me want to be better and I am a better person because of her. You haven't received one notification of grade concerns in the last two months, I have been to every training on time and I have not been sneaking around with your daughter. I respect you and your daughter too much to do that Sir." Tim glanced at the Coach, hoping that the honesty of his words shined through.

The Coach umm-ed and ahhhh-ed a little, shifting his feet and clearly conflicted.

"Okay this is how it is going to roll. You can see one another ..." Julie looked at Tim with utter happiness but Tim, the ever cynic, waited for the catch "...There will be absolutely no drinking, no inappropriate behaviour, both your grades will be maintained or higher, Julie is not to go to your house ever, and if you are at ours there will be a parent home. No hanky panky." So there would be no hot and sweaty truck rides anymore and he'd have to become a book worm. He could do that. "I have eyes everywhere so do not think that I don't know what is going on." Tim knew that this was the truth and the thought of being under so much scrutiny didn't make him feel all that terrific.

"One more," the Coach added, here comes the kicker Tim thought "on dates you will have your mother or myself as a chaperone," it hanged there in the air, Julie's gasp acting as a great verbal way of expressing the 'fuck' that flew into Tim's mind in that same moment.

Author's Note – I hope this is a nice morning surprise when you all get out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed. It's been a long day and I am hitting the hay after lmao at that Matt Damon/Sarah Silverman video on Youtube. Peace out!