A/N: At last, the latest update is here!! Thank you to all of those that have reviewed, it made struggling through this chapter and the next (currently with my fantastic Beta) worth it.

As always a big thankyou to my beta Brophy, and if you haven't done so already, make sure you check out Altruistic Acquaintance! And shame on you if you haven't read BranBran's latest fic, For The Longest Time because the chemistry between the pair of them is seriously hot!

Hope you enjoy this update, let me know if it makes you laugh!

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Tyra snorted and shoveled another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth as she contemplated everything that Julie had just told her.

Julie copied her example, absently enjoying the taste of Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough ice cream as she studied her best friend.

"Man…" Tyra whistled after a quiet moment, "I knew Bradley was dumb, but I didn't think he was that dumb."

"Tell me about it." Julie agreed, her eyes flickering briefly to the TV and the film they were supposed to be watching before settling back on Tyra.

In front of them on the coffee table was an array of junk food and sodas that they'd picked up after the game that evening before heading straight back to Tyra's.

They had the place to themselves, Angela was out on a date with some Trucker who was passing through, which Tyra was less than thrilled about, while Mindy was out working.

Apparently she'd make good money tonight, or at least, that was what she'd informed the pair of them as she was leaving. Apparently the Panthers victory over Arnett Meade meant that the men that frequented the Landing Strip were far more generous with their cash.

Julie shuddered at the thought and pushed it away.

"So that was what Matt was going on about today?" Tyra clarified.

Nodding, Julie put off her answer by spooning some more ice cream into her mouth. Crunching down on a piece of the cookie dough, she idly wondered what Tim was doing at the moment, or rather who, she corrected herself before turning her attention back to the matter at hand. "Yep."

"And?" Tyra prompted.

"'And' what?" Julie replied rolling her eyes. "He was all, like, I would have said something if I'd known, and I'd have put an end to it, blah, blah, blah. He was only saying it to make himself feel better, probably feeling guilty for screwing his Grandma's nurse while I was being physically forced into the backseat of Bradley's car."

A bark of laughter burst out of Tyra at Julie's mini rant, despite the fact that there was very little heat behind Julie's words.

"Sorry," Julie apologized with a grin. "It's just, I get that he's moving on and stuff, and y'know what? That's fine. At the end of the day, I fucked up. And I'm cool with it. I've dealt with it. But I could do without his lovelorn glances and concern. I don't need him to take care of me. I never have.

Besides, can you really see Matt Saracen taking on half his football team? He might be their QB1 on the field, but he's hardly intimidating off of it." Julie snorted. "He's like, half the size of Tim." She said, thinking back to earlier that afternoon.

Tyra's laughter died down considerably at Julie's comment.

"Don't look at me like that!" Julie snapped defensively. "I'm not about to fall into the dark hole that is Tim Riggins! I thought that you said earlier that you'd let it go?" Julie reminded her referring to their conversation earlier that day at school.

"I didn't say anything." remarked Tyra, holding her hands up to show that she meant no harm.

"No, but you were thinking it."

"Yeah, well when people make comments like that they usually mean it in a completely different context, Julie."

Julie's face screwed up, suffused with heat, and she tried to direct the conversation away from an area that she felt uncomfortable with.

She didn't want to think about Tim like that.

There was no way that he would ever feel the same way about her, so it was better to cut her losses from the beginning than go down that route.

Besides, she had far more of him than any of his random flings did, and she was satisfied with that.

She really was.

"So, anyway," Julie started in an attempt to move the conversation away from Tim, "did you get everything sorted out with your English assignment?"

Leaning over to the coffee table, Tyra picked up her can of soda and took a lengthy drink. "Yeah, speaking of which, where were you during your free study period? I looked for you in the library."

Shifting awkwardly on the couch, Julie fastened her attention to the spoon she was repeatedly digging into the ice cream tub. "Oh?"

"Julie?" Tyra drawled warningly, "What haven't you told me?"

"Well, y'know how I didn't text you back last night?" She mumbled, not daring to glance up at her best friend.

"Yes…"

"Bradley took my phone." Julie admitted in a rush. "I'd forgotten about it until you mentioned it in school today."

"You went to get it back?" Tyra asked incredulously. "By yourself? Julie! How could you be so stupid! He's hardly going to be in a pleasant mood at the moment! Did the fact that he essentially kidnapped you enter your mind at all?"

"I didn't go by myself." Julie muttered, knowing that the news wasn't going to go down well and feeling like an unruly child being scolded.

"What? Julie!" Tyra exclaimed, her brain instantly catching onto the outcome. "I can't believe you asked him to go with you!"

"I didn't ask him." Julie said scowling at Tyra for picking on her. "He was in the hall with some Rally Girl."

That was even worse! Tim Riggins wasn't known for putting himself out for anyone. Still not entirely satisfied with Julie's explanation, Tyra continued to push for more. "And?"

"'And' what? I didn't even say anything; he just blew the Rally Girl off and demanded to know what was wrong. That's all."

"Julie, I know where Bradley lives." Tyra informed her bluntly. "It doesn't take that long to get to his house and back."

Knowing that Tyra wasn't going to let the issue go, Julie caved. "We ran into Deputy Logan." She admitted.

Tyra sighed, having first hand knowledge of Tim's relationship with the Deputy Sheriff.

"Yeah," Julie agreed. "So we got caught up with him, and then headed over to the cliffs for awhile."

"The cliffs?"

"Yeah, Tim's cliffs."

"You went over to Tim's cliffs?" Tyra repeated having a hard time understanding what Julie was telling her.

No-one went out there.

Hell, she hadn't even been welcome there; even during the good times of her relationship with Tim. She certainly remembered those clearly; they were so few and far between.

"Yes!" Rolling her eyes, Julie stirred the slowly melting ice cream. "Logan had wound us both up and each of us needed a time out. So," she said blowing out a deep breath, "Tim drove out there so we could cool down a bit before we came back."

She could have said more. If she'd been hanging out with Tyra and they were talking about anyone but Tim, Julie would have. She'd have spilled her guts and they'd have analyzed every little detail.

But she couldn't do that when it came to Tim.

He'd talked to her.

He'd trusted her.

She didn't know how much Tyra knew about his parents. If she was honest Tyra probably knew far more than she did. But that afternoon, as much as Tim had tried to describe his parentage in a matter of fact way, she knew there was more to it.

She'd felt it in the stiffness of his shoulders. His erratic breathing. His rapid heart beat. She'd heard the pain in his voice.

He might have talked to Tyra about it in the past, but what had happened that afternoon; that had been between the pair of them and nobody else.

"So what?" Tyra said breaking into Julie's thought process. "You just hung out for awhile? Talking?"

"No. We didn't talk all the time." Julie replied, and then blushed realizing how her response could have been taken. "Just sat for awhile and enjoyed the quiet really." She elaborated. "It's nice, y'know? Not to have to make conversation all the time. To just be able to enjoy the silence."

Tyra said nothing. Instead she watched as Julie dug the spoon back into the ice cream tub for another scoop.

She felt her heart sinking as she listened to what her best friend was saying. She didn't want Julie to fall into the same trap that she had when it came to the handsome Fullback and his bad boy charm.

Julie deserved far more than that.

Despite the fact that she and Tim were long over, and she was never ever going there again, Tyra couldn't help the twinge of bitterness that she felt.

Her and Tim had been together for what had seemed like forever; a never ending vicious circle of breaking up and making up, of sleeping around behind each others backs and using each other to help heal the hurt that the people of Dillon caused.

She was labeled by her surname just as much as Tim was.

Some of their best sex had been after Tim had run into Deputy Logan.

But they'd never just hung out over at the cliffs. Silence would occur when he was in a snit with her and deliberately avoiding her questions or alternatively baiting her. There hadn't even been that much of it after sex either. They'd touch on this or that or dose off until one of them was horny again or they needed to be going.

Dating Landry as she was now made her realize how much she'd missed out on throughout her relationship with Tim. She and Landry might not have done the deed yet, but she still felt closer to him than she ever had been with Tim.

Tyra fought with herself over warning Julie.

But she knew her best friend; the more someone told her not to, the more stubborn she was.

She had to let the issue go and hope that sooner or later Tim was going to show his true colors and show just how poisonous he was.

Maybe she'd strike it lucky and he'd do something over the weekend as he and the other players celebrated Dillon's win over the Arnett Meade Tigers.

Right now Julie saw him as infallible; he'd saved her from Bradley and kept her safe during the storm.

But the image had to shatter at some point.

She couldn't completely withhold her words of caution though. Catching Julie's eye, she stared seriously at her, "Be careful Julie, that's all I'm saying. Just…be careful," she whispered tiredly.

"Ty," Julie said quietly, her forehead creased worriedly at the concerned expression on her friends face. Removing the ice cream tub from her lap and onto the coffee table, she reached over and engulfed her best friend in a hug. "I swear to you," she said hoarsely, her voice filled with emotion, "there is nothing going on between us. Tim's been nothing but good to me."

Julie's words didn't soothe her as she'd intended. Instead, they increased her apprehension and she clutched at Julie tightly.

The better Tim was to someone in the beginning, the worse he fucked things up later on.

---------------

For the first time in the past three years Tim arrived home before one in the morning after a Friday night game.

Surprisingly it was only just past eleven thirty, and arriving back at the Taylor household, he found out that Julie was still out over at Tyra's for her 'girly evening', according to Coach Taylor.

Her lack of presence when he'd been expecting it, looking forward to it, was discomposing.

Keeping his face blank so as not to show any disappointment, he dropped down into the couch next to Coach Taylor, locking his eyes onto the local news channel that was running highlights of the local high school games and announcing the game results.

"You're back early, honey," Tami commented appearing from down the hall.

Offering a noncommittal smile, Tim shrugged. "Is it okay to take a shower?" He asked.

"Sure honey, you don't need to ask." Tami told him, dropping down on the couch next to her husband. "There's plenty of hot water."

"Thanks." Getting up, he dug around in his bag for a pair of shorts and t-shirt to sleep in and then headed down the hall to the bathroom.

His toothbrush, razor and shaving cream where already sitting on one of the bathroom shelves.

Standing beneath the hot spray of water, he felt the tension begin to leave his muscles. Scrubbing his body with the mint scented shower wash that Tami had picked up for him when she was last at the grocery store, he washed away the floral scent left behind by the Rally Girl earlier that evening.

Eventually dragging himself out of the shower, he grabbed one of the numerous clean towels hanging up and dried himself off, wasting no time in getting dressed again and tossing his dirty clothes into the hamper as Tami had instructed when he'd first started staying with them.

When he entered the front room, feeling significantly more relaxed, he caught sight of Julie sitting on the couch where he'd been earlier, a bowl of popcorn in her lap.

"Good, you're here!" She said grinning as she caught sight of him. "Hurry up and sit down! The movies about to start! 'Overboard,' again." Julie commented rolling her eyes and casting an un-amused expression in her parents' direction.

"What?" Asked Eric, "You used to love this film!"

"Dad, I was like, nine at the time!"

"It's a good movie!"

"Shush." Tami said, interrupting the pending argument.

Seeing that there wasn't much space left on the couch, Tim settled himself down on the floor and stretched his legs out in front of him. Julie's leg pressed against the side of his body, and her hair fell over his shoulder as she lent forward to press a cold can of soda into his hand.

The scent of her coconut shampoo wound its way up his nostrils, and he had a flashback to the incident earlier that evening.

"You okay?" She asked, a look of concern etched upon her face.

"Yeah." His hand wrapped around her ankle, briefly running up and down the length of her calf muscle in a gesture of reassurance.

Accepting his answer and his touch without a second thought, Julie sat back and switched her attention to the TV.

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Hissing and biting back a vicious curse, his fingers slipped on the screw he was tightening, causing his knuckles to smack painfully on the engine. Tim withdrew his hand and gave it a good shake to try and dispel some of the pain.

Glancing down at his grazed knuckles he could see the blood seeping out of the cuts and merging with the grease and oil.

Tim flexed his fingers to be sure that they were fully functional again and quickly finished tightening the screw before closing up the hood and heading inside.

Knowing from experience that the cut would heal faster and far more quickly if it was cleaned, he headed into the bathroom and scrubbed the grease off of his hands, sucking in a sharp breath as the soap hit the open wound.

"Ouch." Julie commented peering round his shoulder. "You should put some antiseptic cream on that as well." She advised. Kneeling down by his feet, she opened the small cupboard underneath the sink, catching him in the shin with the wooden door as she did so. "Sorry." She apologized as she rifled around in the cupboard, pulling out various products and then tossing them haphazardly back in. "I can't find the spare hair dryer. Have you seen it by any chance?"

"No." He replied, struggling to keep his eyes fixed on his hands and not down the v-neck of her top which gaped quite nicely from this angle.

"Crap." Julie muttered, slamming the cupboard closed. "Oh well," she sighed, resigned to scraping her hair back into a messy bun for the day. This was one of those times that short hair would have actually been a blessing.

She just didn't think her parents would go for it. Or that she could pull it off. Short hair just looked weird on her.

Standing, she turned and head for the door.

"I'm heading into town in a moment." Tim mumbled before he could get his mouth under control.

"Yeah? You don't mind if I catch a ride?" Julie checked as she turned back round to face him. "I need to stop off at the Library too, if that's okay."

"That's fine."

Smiling brightly, Julie ran her hand through her hair. "Great, I shouldn't be more than a couple minutes," she informed him, dashing out of the bathroom and down the hall.

A couple of seconds later and he heard her bedroom door slam shut.

Shaking his head in bewilderment, Tim wiped his hands dry and headed out into the living room to wait for Julie.

Gracie was fast asleep in rocker, her feet twitching occasionally in her sleep.

"Are you heading into town Tim?" Tami asked from the kitchen.

His eyes flickered to the list she was making. "Yeah."

"Would you be a sweetheart and stop off at the grocery store for me? Julie promised Eric that she would cook fried chicken and cornbread tonight for dinner and I'm short a couple of ingredients."

"Julie's cooking?"

"Yeah," Tami chuckled seeing his surprise. "Today happens to be one of the rare days that she has been persuaded to use the kitchen. Personally I think it's because she's trying to soften Eric up for something, but it's a sad fact that if Julie promises fried chicken and cornbread made just like his Momma that he's putty in her hands."

Unfortunately, Tim just couldn't picture Coach Taylor as being putty in anyone's hands, let alone his daughters.

"If you write down what you need, me and Jules'll swing by and pick it up."

"Julie's going with you?" Tami questioned, slightly surprised. She'd known that the friendship between the pair of them had grown at an astonishing rate and the pair of them were thick as thieves, but her daughter had never been one for following someone around.

"Yeah, she said something about the Library." He said vaguely. Then, as an after thought, "and a hair dryer, too."

"Ready?" Julie asked, appearing from round the corner, her bag slung over her shoulder.

"One sec," Tami told them. "Just let me get the pair of you some cash for the groceries." Searching through her bag for her purse, she finally located it and pulled out several bills and folded them up with the grocery list.

She held it out waiting for one of them to take it. Taking hold of it, Tim passed it across to Julie who tucked it away safely.

"We'll see you in a bit, okay?"

"Sure, honey," Tami smiled at her daughter.

Looking expectantly at Tim, who smirked back at her, Julie rolled her eyes. "C'mon." She said over her shoulder as she headed for the door.

"Bye, Mrs. Coach." Tim said, following Julie out of the door.

Hearing the front door shut behind the pair of them, Tami curiously headed over to the front window to watch them go.

She watched Tim as he boosted Julie up into the truck, as her daughter made a teasing comment, a broad grin on her face as she shuffled over into the middle seat so Tim could climb in behind her.

She was pretty sure that the Fullback didn't treat many girls like he did Julie.

Which privately, Tami thought was just as worrying.

He was a good boy, he had a good heart, but he had a pennant for getting into trouble and getting involved with the wrong women.

And wouldn't Julie just be the icing on the cake?

It was as she'd tried to warn her daughter before; the fact that she wasn't like the other girls would be an attraction in itself.

Tami just had to hope that Tim would act like a typical male, continue to have his head turned by Rally Girls and Cheerleaders and not become aware of the fascination that Julie held for him.

The one small comfort she had at the moment was that Julie wasn't treating him any differently to anyone else she knew.

There hadn't been any sneak peeks, or longing looks either while one of them wasn't looking.

Tami sighed and brushed the thoughts away.

She was just being paranoid.

That was all it was.

She'd sat for so long in the counselor chair at Dillon High that she was having difficulty being objective and seeing Tim as something other than the local high school womanizer.

She just had to trust Julie.

That was what it all came down too.

Trusting her daughter to make the right decisions, and as much as she'd like to make the decision for Julie herself, she couldn't.

Trust, she thought, gritting her teeth. Trust.

----------

They headed out to the scrap yard first.

Julie wasn't entirely sure what Tim was looking for. She had shown an interest and asked, and he had told her with an amused smirk coloring his face and a raised eyebrow, but she'd forgotten whatever it was within the next few minutes.

They'd parked the truck, and out of boredom and a lack of desire to sit inside the sweltering cab of Tim's truck, she'd trailed along after him.

She stood around idly as he tinkered with various engines, assessing the parts he'd dismantled to ensure they were in a decent condition.

Or at least, that was what she believed he was doing.

Out of boredom and curiosity, Julie peered under various bonnets and surveyed the multiple cars and trucks that had been dumped. Some of them were clearly written off due to accidents, while others, to her untrained eye, appeared to be fine.

Wrinkling her nose, she stepped around a puddle of oil to stand closer to Tim and watch what he was doing.

His fingers worked quickly and confidently, and he twisted his head to the side so he was able to offer her an amused grin, his hands still toiling despite the fact that he wasn't paying any attention to their motions as they unscrewed a nut he'd just loosened.

"What's wrong with it?" Julie heard herself asking. The truck, although well worn, certainly didn't appear to have any major faults that she could see to attribute it to ending up in the scrap yard.

"Head gasket." Tim replied, tossing her another amused smile before turning his attention back to the engine he was dismantling. "Truck's not worth the cost of repairing it. Cheaper to buy a new vehicle than shell out for the parts needed."

"Oh." Another few minutes went by and Julie was bored out of her mind. Obviously there was a good reason that she'd never been to a scrap yard before. But she wasn't going to bitch about it like she would have done if she'd been stuck there with her Dad. After all, Tim had been nice enough to offer her a lift into town in the first place, and he'd warned her that he needed to stop off at the junk yard.

Besides, she'd get him back later when she agonized over the choice of a new hairdryer.

"Ready?" He questioned her with a grin as he wiped his hands clean on the worn pair of jeans he had on.

Rolling her eyes at him, Julie replied with a smirk, "Oh, I don't know." She teased, "I reckon you might have to drag me away."

"Please," Tim snorted. "Like that's going to take any effort."

Julie watched as he grabbed…whatever it was he'd been dismantling and felt slightly surprised as he swung his arm across her shoulder as they headed back to his truck.

Her body tensed at the unexpected contact and she tried to play off the effect he had on her, making a dismissive sound as she rolled her eyes again and fought back the burning in her cheeks.

She was being ridiculous.

Here was Tim, teasing her like a little sister; like a friend, and she was acting like some air headed Rally Girl.

Besides, she still liked Matt… Didn't she?

Trying to ignore the urge to pull Julie closer to him, Tim glanced down at his little blonde and caught the look of deep thought spread across her face. "You alright, Jules?"

Startled out her deliberation, Julie smiled up at him, determined to push the thoughts of Matt far, far away. "Yeah, sure. Just got caught up thinking, that's all. Nothing important." She continued, pre-empting any further question that he asked. Which, thinking about it, probably wasn't necessary. Tim wasn't like Matt. He didn't ask everything that came to mind; he didn't poke and pry and want to know everything about her.

He just let her be when she needed it.

The silences between them, when they did occur, were comforting in a way she'd never experienced before.

"So…" Tim started, "What do we need to do in town?"

"Uh, grocery store for Mom, obviously." Julie said. "I need to pop over to the library and pick up a hairdryer from the appliance store since Shelley appears to have managed to break both mine and the spare. Lunch, maybe, if you want? Unless you need to head back?"

"Nah, I've not got to be anywhere anytime soon." Tim replied as they arrived at his truck and he boosted Julie up into the cab as had become their routine.

"So we'll pick up the hairdryer and hit the library before getting lunch? Best get the groceries on the way back afterwards, otherwise some of the frozen stuff on the list will melt."

Within ten minutes of riding along back to town Julie was getting ready to pull her hair out. There might have only been a few minutes left until they reached the library but she'd had enough of the Charlie Daniels tape that was playing.

Was that all Tim ever listened to?

He was fine in moderation, but a girl needed a little variety every now and then and that same tape, with the same tracks was the only thing she'd every heard playing while she was driving along with Tim.

Enough was enough.

"Do you not have any other music?" She questioned, determined to take the bull by the horns.

"What's wrong with Charlie Daniels?" Tim asked with a frown.

"Nothing." Julie assured him. "But it's all we've listened too for the past three weeks, Tim. You shouldn't be scared of change."

"I'm not afraid of change!" Tim retorted defending himself. "But if it's not broke, don't fix it."

"You've got to be the only person I know who still has a tape machine in their truck." Julie couldn't help commenting.

Smirking Tim said, "Yeah, but I figure it might take away some of the ambience if I got rid of it!"

"Ohhhhhhh!" Julie exclaimed. "Look at you! Mister Hot-Shot Football player using big words! Your English teacher would be proud!"

Throwing another smirk in Julie's direction, Tim laughed. "There should be a few other tapes in the glove box." He said. "Pot luck with what you find, though."

Sliding across the seat, Julie reached forward and popped open the compartment and thrust her hand inside to grab at the several cassette tapes in there.

Neither one of them was prepared for what happened next…

"AHHHHHHHH!" She screamed, startling Tim so violently that the truck swerved to the side of the road before he could help it. "Get it off! Get it off!" Julie shrieked, flapping her hands around trying to shake it off.

Her actions proved successful, and the object, a lacy purple thong, flew across the cab of the truck to collide with Tim's face.

"Ew! Ew! Ewwww!" Julie exclaimed.

"Shit, Taylor!" Tim exclaimed, trying to get his racing heart under control and have his vision no longer obscured by the panties. "It's just a pair of fucking panties!" He grabbed the lace creation and chucked it back at Julie.

"No!" Julie cried, plastering herself against the passenger side door in an attempt to dodge out of the way of the panties. "It's gross! I need to wash my hands! Oh my god! I've just touched worn rally girl panties! Who knows where they've been! Gross, gross, gross gross! I feel dirty just touching them! You could have warned me!" Julie hollered at Tim. "Why didn't you?" She exclaimed in such a high pitch tone that his ear drums hurt. Not satisfied with that, she reached over and smacked his arm.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tim said loudly. "I didn't know they were in there!" He informed her, trying to defend himself. Although why he was trying to do that, he didn't know. It wasn't like he had to explain himself to her.

"You had sex with her in the truck!" Julie shrieked. "I need a new tetanus shot! I could be sitting on the combined bodily excretions of you and some rally girl right now! Hell, I could have touched it! I need to wash my hands! I can't believe you never told me you had sex with rally girls in you truck!" Julie continued, slapping his arm once again. "I ate lunch with you at practice after riding in your truck and I never washed my hands! I could have ingested it! I think I'm going to be sick." Julie said flatly, her face and tone clearly horrified.

"I've never had sex in my truck." Tim pronounced clearly, glancing across at Julie before fixing his eyes back on the road.

"Tim, I might be a virgin, but I'm not a fool." Julie snapped, her hands still held out in front of her as though they might contaminate the rest of her body by coming into close contact.

Frustrated at her disbelief, Tim felt his temper rising. "I haven't!" He snarled back.

There was a beat of silence.

"You haven't?" Julie questioned rather quietly. "Promise?"

Rolling his eyes at her, Tim nodded. "I promise. You have not touched or ingested any bodily fluids from either myself or any rally girl or cheerleader. You have no reason to have another tetanus shot or disinfect your hands or any part of your body that may have touched this truck."

"You might not have had sex in the truck," Julie snarked, "but I've still been contaminated by dirty panties left in you glove box."

"They're clean." Tim assured her. "I promise." He said, catching sight of Julie's doubtful glare being shot in his direction.

"Well…" Julie said at a loss for words. "I would never have thought you were one for wearing women's underwear, Tim." She commented, knowing full well that that wasn't the case, but determined to make him pay for her discovery of female panties left in the glove box.

Despite knowing what she was up to, Tim couldn't let Julie's comment go without a retort. "Ha ha, very funny Taylor. But you know full well they're not mine. They were given to me as a good luck charm."

"Classy. But not very patriotic." Julie commented. "Especially considering the Panthers colors are blue and gold."

"Well maybe you can't buy them in blue."

"I wonder what else is in here." She commented digging down further into the glove box. "Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Junior." Julie said as she pulled out various cassettes.

"What? No-"

"Oh, look what we have here!" Julie crowed, determined to get her own back after the embarrassment of having someone else's thong wrapped around her hand. Boldly, she stuck her hand back in the glove box and pulled out the small foil packets she'd discovered there. "Trojans 'Twisted Pleasure' and Durex's 'High Sensation.' Ribbed for her pleasure," Julie teased, mimicking the TV adverts while flicking the packets at the Fullback. "Very considerate of you, Tim."

"Jules!"

"Lifestyles 'Very Strawberry' and 'Kiss of Mint,'" she continued, grinning at Tim's embarrassment. Served the jerk right! "Might want to check the expiry date on that one." She said offhandedly, flicking the aforementioned condom at his head.

"And last but not least!" She announced with relish, "Crown! 'The skinless skin,'" read Julie, quoting the slogan off the foil packet of the super thin and sensitive condom.

"I'll get you back for this, Jules!" Tim threatened her, never having felt so confounded before. He couldn't believe that Julie Taylor, Julie Taylor, was sat in his truck, flicking condoms at him. Julie frickin Taylor!

Coach Taylor's daughter!

Matt Saracen's virginal ex-girlfriend!

"So whose are they?" Julie asked with a grin, picking the panties up and swinging them back and forth on her index finger with no problem now that she knew they were clean. "I know they're not Tyra's."

"You do?" Tim questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure. She'd rather go commando than wear a pair of butt flossing panties." Julie informed him with a knowing look. "They look a little too saucy to be Lyla's." A little too young to be Jackie's, she thought, but refrained from announcing the bitchy comment aloud, knowing how sensitive the subject was for Tim. "So, blonde, brunette or redhead?"

"I have no idea." Tim replied, maneuvering the truck into a free parking space outside the front of the library. Not entirely comfortable with the thought of the Dillon Community witnessing Julie Taylor waving around a purple lace thong she'd found in his truck, Tim reached over to grab the item from her hand.

With a cheeky grin, Julie snatched the item out of his reach and opened the passenger side door. "If you're not sure, Tim, maybe I should ask around? If these came as a matching set with a bra, I'm sure their owner would be more than happy to have them back. They certainly would've cost a bit."

"Jules." Tim growled menacingly.

"Tim." Julie drawled back before hopping out of the truck.

Jumping out of the truck, Tim darted round towards Julie and grabbed hold of her, wrestling the item out of her grasp with a desperation he didn't think was possible. Of course, Julie thought it was hilarious and was howling with laughter and attracting attention from both sides of the sidewalk.

Pinning her arms to her sides and managing to hold her body tight against his own, he pried the pair of panties out her grasp and hid them in the fist his hand.

Screeching with laughter, Julie pulled at his fingers one by one, trying to get him to loosen his hold but with no success.

Despite his previous desperation and embarrassment, Tim couldn't help the victorious grin spreading across his face as Julie's frustration mounted.

He let her go, and swung around, the trash can in sight a few yards away.

"No!" Julie yelled out in denial, leaping onto his back in an attempt to delay him.

Laughing, Tim threw the panties away even as Julie hung onto him from behind, her arms wrapped tightly about his neck.

"Tim!" She complained, dropping down off him when she realized he'd beaten her in their little competition and giving him another thwack on the arm. "Spoil all my fun!" She pouted up at him.

"Not at my expense."

"Definitely at your expense," Julie retorted, poking him in the chest. "Especially after the panic attack I had which was completely your fault. Are you absolutely sure that the purple thong is the only garment of underwear that I might find in your truck?"

"God, I hope so." Tim muttered beneath his breath. He'd never felt so embarrassed in his life…First with the panties…and then the condoms…and he thought he'd seen it all…

They'd had a good laugh about it…but still…the girl he'd had a very hard time not checking out earlier that morning, whose face he'd imagined while fucking someone else, had found another girls panties in his truck.

It was official. There was no god.

He'd had no hope where Julie Taylor was concerned in the first place, since acknowledging that he'd hit rock bottom and started to dig.

"I don't know what you're moaning about, Taylor. We nearly crashed because of all your screaming!"

"I had a right to scream! I found dirty panties on your truck! I thought I had ingested the bodily fluids belonging to you and some girl!"

"Except you didn't, and they were clean." Tim pointed out, unable to keep the smirk from his face.

Rolling her eyes, Julie scowled up at him briefly. "Well I didn't know that at the time, did I?"

With the filter between his brain and his mouth not working, Tim remarked, "I'll have you know some girls like my 'bodily fluids!'"

"Tim!" Julie screeched once again catching the attention of the Dillon community, "I can't believe you just said that! It's beyond gross!" Her face scrunched up, she took a step back from him.

"Ah, don't be like that, Jules." Tim chuckled, wrapping an arm about her waist and pulling her back towards him. Chuckling again as she half heartedly tried to squirm out of his grasp, he leant down and whispered in her ear, "I know you're just jealous."

The words were barely out his mouth before he yelped, his right hand coming up to rub at the left side of his chest where Julie had twisted his nipple.

"Please!" She scoffed loudly.

"Everything alright here?" Mrs Patterson, Dillons own busy body asked.

"Yes Ma'am." The pair of them replied in synch.

Her squinting eyes surveyed them, lips pursed as she decided on what her next comment would be.

Knowing from past experience that if he didn't make a move soon that they'd be stuck with the woman for the next half hour, Tim reached over and wrapped his arm about Julie's shoulders, drawing her towards him.

The little blonde tucked under his armwas unusually quiet, especially considering the fireworks that had been coming out of her only a few minutes earlier.

But then, he realized, Mrs. Patterson had been one of her harshest critics for breaking up with Matt Saracen. He'd heard rumors that she'd publicly blamed Julie for the loss of their games at the beginning of the season, that she was the reason Saracen was off his game. Never mind the fact that the team was grieving for the loss of Coach Taylor.

Tucking Julie beneath his shoulder in a protective gesture, he gave curt nod towards the older women before steering Julie out of her way and up the front steps towards the library.

Julie's stiff form gradually relaxed with each step they took, her body leaning into his and her head dropping down onto his shoulder. "Thanks." She whispered, her eyes glued to the ground.

"Don't worry about it." Tim assured her, spontaneously dropping a kiss to the top her head and giving her a squeeze. "Ain't no-one gonna be messing with you but me."

"By the way, y'know, you can get those panties in Dillon blue." She announced in a cheeky tone before darting off, "I've bought them."

The words brought Tim to a sudden halt in surprise, his eyes gleaming as he imagined that particular picture. Damn, he thought starting to amble along in Julie's wake and admired the view, Julie Taylor never ceased to amaze him.

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A/N: So I was going for a bit of a humorous chapter this time around, did I achieve my goal?!