Disclaimer: I don't own anything here and am just doing this for fun and to pass the long months until Season 4.
Nothing much changed at work, either, when they returned when the garage re-opened on Wednesday. Billy had pulled Tim aside and tried to give him a small lecture about appropriate behavior in the workplace, but Tim cut him off with a laugh.
"What's so funny?" Billy had asked.
"Al already told me how things were going to be."
"Oh, well if Al's told you. Her standards of professionalism are probably even higher than mine."
"You think?" asked Tim, dodging his brother's playful slap.
In any event, they were too busy at the garage over the next few days for Tim to even think about flirting with Al while they were at work. Billy had messed up and made some double-bookings, but Tim and Al volunteered to work overtime so Billy would be able to go home. Nobody wanted to get on Mindy's bad side, which is what would happen if Billy were late getting home.
It suited Tim fine, since he and Al would get dinner delivered, play loud music, and work at a steady, relaxed pace. Billy had been stressed out the last couple of days, so Tim was nearly relieved when he wasn't at the garage.
The arrangement especially suited Tim on Friday. He'd never been a fan of Drown Your Sorrows in Scotch Nights at Al's house. Even though he understood why she did it, it still killed him to think of it. The passing-out outside part bothered him most, since anything could happen and it showed that her self-destructive tendencies could still get the upper hand.
But even though it bothered him, he didn't quite know how to stop it. He knew that Tyra would nominate him for the Hypocrite of the Year Award, if she ever found out that he was lecturing someone about problem drinking.
They didn't get home on Friday until past 10. Tim watched Al drop her backpack near the front door and head straight into the kitchen to feed Bruno. He waited, nearly holding his breath, to see what she did next, which was, predictably, to go to the cupboard and pull out the latest bottle of Scotch, some slightly milder stuff called Oban. She grabbed a few glasses and headed for the sliding glass door, pausing to look over her shoulder at Tim.
"How about we stay in tonight?" he suggested, sitting on the couch.
She looked like she was about to argue, but instead shrugged. She went over to the coffee table, poured a generous amount of Scotch into each glass, and then got up and walked around the room, adjusting the light switches so that the room was lit by only a single dim, soft bulb. She picked up her glass and then sat down next to Tim, tucking a leg underneath her so she could face him.
He waited until she'd had one drink and had poured her second before he spoke.
"You know I worry about you, right?" He kept his voice low and soft. He reached out a hand to trace patterns on her neck, in the spots that he knew were especially sensitive. If he'd learned a lot about Al's past and her state of mind over the weekend they were babysitting, then he'd learned even more about her body in the days since. It was a subject he loved studying and, unlike English Lit, a subject that he excelled in.
"Yeah, I know." She sighed. "And you might always be worried about me, because I might never be normal."
"No one's normal. Or everyone's normal. I haven't quite figured that one out yet, but normal is really irrelevant," he said.
"But you're worried about me, so what can I do to change that?"she asked.
"I'm not sure how to ask you this, or if I have any right to ask you, but, well, Crazy Drinking Scotch Outside Fridays have got to go."
She nodded slowly, but didn't say anything. He waited, wishing that he could read her mind.
"Would Moderate Drinking Scotch Inside Fridays work for you?"
He gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I think I can work with that."
"So what counts as moderate?"
"I don't know, Little Bit, but I would bet that for you, it's not much more than 1 or 2 shots. Tops."
She gave him a gentle elbow in the ribs. "You know, I'm going to be a lot more agreeable if you're not always teasing me about my size."
"I can't help it. You're so tease-able," he said, leaning over to tease her in a whole new way, both of their drinks left untouched on the coffee table.