I restarted the Heartland series last week and remembered how much I love Tim's character. Apparently, no one writes sweet Tim and Amy hurt/comfort oneshots, so I decided to write a few. Please Read and Review! 3
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"You're kidding!"
"No, Dad. I'm not kidding."
"Lou! This is kids' stuff!"
"Apparently it's not, Dad. Just go to the school, talk to the principal, and bring Amy home."
"Jack can't do it?"
"He's up at the cabin with Lisa, and I'm-" Lou paused, glancing around before hissing, "at a serious meeting!"
"Fine, fine…"
"Thanks, Dad."
"You owe me, Lou."
"She's your kid, Dad. I'm only her sister."
Lou hung up and Tim sighed, putting his phone away.
"Adam!" he called over to the other cattle herder, "Can you cover it for the rest of the day?"
"Sure, Tim! Something wrong?"
"Yeah…" Tim rolled his eyes. "Gotta go get my daughter from school. Sounds like she's in some kind of trouble."
Adam laughed.
"Kids these days…"
Yeah, Tim thought to himself, unamused. Kids….
He pulled up to the school fifteen minutes later and shut off the truck, taking a deep breath in and letting it out. Amy was sensitive. Getting angry at her right away would not help their situation in the slightest.
He finally got out of the truck and walked up to the school building to enter. The place was packed with teenagers, but Tim ignored everything except the sign directing him to the principal.
The receptionist sat behind her desk, and off to the side on a bench, her chin propped up on the palms of her hands, was Amy.
Tim entered and knocked twice on the doorframe, clearing his throat. He removed his hat and turned it aimlessly in his hands as Amy's head shot up and her eyes widened.
"Hey, Dad."
"Hey, Miss."
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Amy chewed on her lip, clearly nervous, and Tim stared at her, fighting the urge to yell at her for a misdeed he had yet to find out. Finally, he sighed and shifted his hat to his left hand, opening his right arm to his daughter. Amy pushed herself off the bench and accepted the side-hug, noting the partial distance he was keeping. He wasn't happy.
"You wanna tell me what you did, or…"
"I'd rather not," Amy told him shyly.
"So…" Tim sighed. "I guess the principal's gonna tell me…"
The receptionist paged the principal and Tim was told he could go through, but just as he reached for the door, Amy stopped him.
"Hey, Dad?"
He paused and turned around.
"Yeah, Amy?"
She smiled timidly.
"I punched Jesse Stanton in the face," Amy admitted. Tim's eyebrows shot up.
"Did you, indeed…"
"I did," she confirmed.
"Well, then…" Tim opened the door to the office and stepped inside. Amy visibly cringed as her father disappeared through the door. The receptionist scowled at her as she sat back down on the bench and resumed her previous position. A few minutes later, Tim opened the office door and gestured for her to come in.
She took the seat beside Tim and stared down at her lap, picking at her fingernails.
"Why don't you tell us what happened, Amy," Principal Lee suggested. "You're not a violent girl, and you've never been in trouble at this school before. What happened?"
"Jesse was teasing me," Amy started. Tim rolled his eyes. "He insulted Ty, too…"
"You should have ignored him," Tim told her.
"-and he tried to kiss me…"
Tim's mouth opened and remained that way until Amy finished, "three times…"
"Where is he?" Tim demanded, standing from his chair as though prepared to attack Jesse Stanton. Amy reached up to grab his wrist and jerked him back down into his chair.
"Did you make it clear you weren't comfortable with that?" the principal questioned.
Amy nodded.
"The first time I said 'no' and stepped away. The second time I pushed him away. The third time I…"
"Broke his nose?" Tim suggested.
"Yeah," Amy agreed sheepishly.
The was fidgeting more and more until Tim reached over and grabbed her hand gently, enclosing it in both of his own. He turned to the principal.
"Now what?" He asked. "This kid was obviously harassing my girl, and she defended herself. She's not in trouble, right?"
"I don't think so, Mr. Fleming," Principal Lee assured him. "It's a minor situation, as long as neither parties press charges."
"Val might," Amy cut in.
"But she probably won't," Tim told her consolingly. "Mr. Stanton was in the wrong. She's a…" he chose his words wisely, "Jerk… but she's not stupid."
The principal smiled slightly.
"Amy, why don't you go on back out," he suggested. "I'll finish talking to your dad and then he can take you home."
She looked at Tim and he nodded encouragingly, so she stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Mr. Fleming," the principal started, "I am sorry that you had to come down. I expected Mr. Bartlett, or Lou Fleming. Are you involved, now?"
"Yes, I am," Tim responded, and that was all.
The principal nodded.
"We're trying to be delicate with Amy's situation. We really are."
"The situation being that her mother died right in front of her?"
The principal winced.
"Yeah, that one."
Tim stood to leave, but then he paused, placing his hat on his head.
"Principal Lee, I want something done about that Stanton boy. He's upset my Amy for the last time."
Without waiting for a response, Tim nodded sharply and left, closing the door behind him. He turned immediately to Amy who had refused the bench in favor of pacing, much to the obvious annoyance of the receptionist.
Amy paused when he stepped out and closed the door, gauging his response. He walked right past her and she followed him, keeping a reasonable distance behind him. They walked through the entrance doors and Tim still hadn't spoken a word. Amy felt the fear building in her chest. She closed her eyes and said, "Dad, I'm really sorry for causing trouble. I'm sorry it interrupted your day."
She ran into his back and her eyes snapped open in surprise. Tim turned around and watched her step backward three times, widening the gap between them.
"What did you say?" he questioned.
She was playing with her fingers again as she repeated her apology.
"That's what I thought you said," Tim told her quietly. "Amy, I am so, so proud of you. You don't let anyone make you do something you don't want to. You hear me?"
Amy stared at him, shocked. She automatically nodded, still mute, and then came forward, wrapping her arms around him. She felt both his arms embracing her in turn, pulling her close. She turned her face out of his jacket to ask, "So, you're not angry at me?"
"No, I'm not," Tim assured her. "I'm not taking you home because you're in trouble or because you've been suspended, or anything like that. I just figured you were too upset to make it through the other half of the day. The principal agreed with me."
"Thanks, Dad," Amy murmured.
Tim smiled into her hair.
"Silly Girl. Of course I'm not angry with you for defending yourself. That boy was lucky I wasn't there."
Amy smiled softly.
"We used to date... and then he got intoxicated, and Ty beat him up because he tried to kiss me... the end."
"Nice story. Does he know you have a dad who hits first and asks questions later?"
Amy let out a breathy laugh into his chest.
"Thanks, Dad."
"No problem, Amy."
His phone rang and Tim released Amy to get it, flipping it open.
"Hey, Lou... Yeah, I got her... About to head home... Give her a break, Lou. It actually wasn't her fault... Yeah..." he walked away from Amy, gesturing toward his truck as he murmured to Lou over the phone, "She was really, really upset that you and I were mad at her. She was only protecting herself, and she was pretty upset about the whole thing... Yeah, I'll see you later... Love you, Lou... Bye."
He hung up and got into the truck, Amy already waiting for him. He started the car and backed out before removing one hand from the steering wheel and offering it to Amy. She took it gratefully, comforted by the warmth of his palm. In another life, those hands had held her up as she had taken her first steps. They had brushed her off after she had fallen from her pony. They were the hands that had tucked her into bed, and wiped the tears from her face, and braided her hair.
As the truck pulled up to a red light, Amy pulled her hand out of Tim's and wrapped her arms around him. He placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. This was something he'd only dreamed of. He had both his girls back, and they loved him... he just wished Marion was still there...
"I love you, Amy," he told her, just to tell her aloud... but she was asleep in the seat beside him.
