"We're gonna lose the house," Tim told me.

We were walking around the football field because we wanted to. School was done for the day along with practices. Neither of us was ready to go home.

"Did Billy lose his job again?" He nodded. "How much?"

"$2,000. We have to get it by next week."

I took his hand. "Let me help you guys. Please. I don't want either of you out on the streets."

He sighed. "I don't want your money, Catherine. People will think I'm using your family name as a cushion."

"Who cares? We'll know the truth. I'm not lettin' you find some questionable way to get the money – I know Billy. I'm willin' to help, so let me."

I squeaked when Tim wrapped me up in a hug. "You're too good for this town, Barton."

"Never."

Dillon High was still crowded with Laraby kids, but things were calming down after the game. Their school renovations were nearing completion, so it was only a little bit longer before we were free.

A couple of Larby boys looked at me and snickered just as one of the yearbook girls came up to my locker. I scowled at the boys before smiling at Samantha. She handed me an envelope with my name on it.

"We took these forever ago and forgot to give them to you. There're two copies of each photo"

"Subject?"

She smiled. "You and Tim Riggins."

"Are you serious? Please tell me they won't make it into the yearbook."

"That's up to the editor." Samantha said bye and left me alone again.

With shaking hands, I opened the envelope. A smile came on my face followed by a blush.

The first photo on the stack was me at State. Mrs. Taylor and Julie were in the shot with me, but it was clear I was the main subject. The 33 on my cheek was where my eyes went first.

Tim and I were standing in front of some lockers in the second shot. He was talking and I was listening wholeheartedly, a bright smile on my lips.

The next was at the powderpuff game when Tim high-fived me after a touchdown. There was a shot of me showing Tim how to use my camera, which I didn't know they had another person there taking photos. The last few photos were various moments of me and Tim throughout the last year. I hadn't realized what a spectacle we were in Dillon.

My favorite photo was me in his beat-up ball cap from a few weeks prior. I was laughing hard about something Tim said and he was watching me. My heart raced. I'd never seen him look at me like that and it was a look. The look.

"How cute," Julie said as she sidled up beside me to peer over my shoulder. "Who took those?"

"Yearbook. It's the first time I've seen them."

She eyed the one I was still staring at. "That's a really cute picture. Tim looks totally in love with you."

My stomach flipped. "Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"Um..." I took a deep breath. "Do you really think he loves me?"

Julie made an 'o' with her mouth and smiled. "Definitely. It's pretty clear every time he looks at you, not just in this photo."

I nodded slowly, making a neat stack with the photos.

"Oh, and he's on his way over. I'll see you later, Cat." Julie left just as Tim came up behind me.

His arms went around my shoulders and he kissed the top of my head. "What's that?"

I turned to face him and hand the photos over. "Yearbook as been stalkin' us."

Tim's eyes lit up with each one he saw. I loved it.

"You're pretty cute, Catherine Barton."

"They gave me two copies of all of them."

"Smart idea." He immediately started gathering his pile of images.

I took my stack when he finished and made him bend over to kiss me. He pushed our hips together to deepen the kiss long enough before a teacher came and scolded us.

I laughed and rested my forehead on his chest. "My parents are leavin' today. You're welcome to come back over once they do. We've got a pool now."

"You sure you want me to have that invitation again?"

I nodded against him. "I miss you bein' around. I'm a lot happier when you're there."

"I'll see you tonight then." Tim kissed my lips before showing me the picture from State. "This one's my favorite." He kissed me again.

I skipped up to Tim's truck when he pulled into the drive. My parents left a few hours before, so I called his house. He said he would be over after he got the things he left at Guy Raston's house.

"You get your stuff?" I asked, circling his waist with my arms.

He nodded, looking guilty. "I did something, Cat."

"Please don't say something like that when you come over. I feel like I'm about to have a breakdown and you haven't told me anything."

"I found $3,000." He rubbed his face. "No, I stole $3,000... from Guy."

I stepped away from him. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"Billy was with me and I accidentally knocked over one of Guy's guns. I went to pick it up and found money under his table. I wasn't thinking, so I took it. Billy used it to pay for the mortgage."

"Tim Riggins," I started, "I told you I was gonna help and you thought stealin' from a drug dealer was a better idea? What the fuck? He's gonna come after you."

"I know. I'm an idiot. I understand if you want to send me back home." He reached for his truck handle.

I grabbed his arm to keep him from climbing in the truck cab. "I don't want you to go home, Tim, and you're not an idiot. You made a bad choice. That doesn't mean you're stupid. I'm pissed you stole cash when I was ready to help because you Riggins boys are important to me. And you're not goin' anywhere except this house, all right? You're stayin' right here with me."

He stared down at me. I could see him struggling with his head. When he started looking everywhere except me, dread gathered in the pit of my stomach.

"I don't deserve you."

I grabbed his face and made him look at me. "Don't you dare do what you're thinkin', Tim. Please." I started tearing up before I realized it. "Please please please please don't."

Tim still tried to avoid looking at me, making my tears fall faster. "You're too good for me. I'm just gonna keep bringin' you into all my shit and I can't do that to you. You've got a future."

"You have one, too! Just because you're a troublemaker and prefer drinkin' over school, that doesn't mean you have nothin' waitin' for you in the future, Tim." I grasped his hand. "Don't sell yourself short... I'm not too good for you..."

He didn't say anything, didn't step away. He couldn't look at me.

My breath shook and I pressed the top of my head against his chest. "Please, believe me, Tim. I-I... I love you."

The stillness that followed had me hold down a sob. I was afraid to look up at him, but I needed him to do something. Preferably something that didn't end in him breaking up with me to be a hero.

Timidly, I stepped closer and repositioned my head to listen to his heart. It was a mess. I hugged him. "I love you, Tim. Please, don't... don't go."

The air in my lungs whooshed out when Tim captured my mouth with his. He pushed me back against his truck and angled my head to deepen our kiss. Goosebump rose on my neck when his hands brushed against the flesh of my back.

The second my fingers wound their way into his hair, he picked me up and laid me across the seat of his truck. He crawled on top of me and kissed me more. Tim's lips touched my jaw just as his knee brushed against a hyperaware area, making me gasp.

"Tim," I breathed. It was my attempt to get him to slow down.

Tim's head fell on my shoulder, his hands still firm on my hips. I felt his lips connect to the skin on my neck a few times. He sighed and looked down at me.

"You mean it, Barton?" There was so much uncertainty in his voice.

My lips turned up. "I love you, Tim Riggins."

Suddenly, he pressed short kisses all over my face and neck, ridding me of the fear I had earlier. He finished with a long and slow kiss to my lips that left me in a dream-like state.

"I love you, too." His lips connected with mine a few more times, filling the truck with the sound.

I had to catch my breath when his lips lingered on my collarbone. "D-Don't leave me because you wanna be a hero. I want to be with-th you through everything." Tim lifted my shirt to expose my stomach and my world spun. His lips trailing along the newly revealed area wasn't helping. "I-I can't focus with you... you doin' that."

"Then quit talkin' and let me kiss you."

My laugh was airy. "I feel like your truck isn't the best place for this."

"All right."

Tim got off of me and pulled me to the end of the seat by my ankles. He put me over my shoulder, kicked his door shut, and brought me into my house. We were barely on the couch when he started kissing my skin again.

He kissed me again and again until the early hours of the morning when he was falling asleep in my hold. His lips still touched my flesh.

Neither of us made it to school and he almost missed practice. I could hardly bring myself to get off of the couch from the tingling of my skin. I was afraid it would go away if I moved too much. I was more than willing to lie there and wait for my Panther to come home.