A/N: Third chapter! Sorry it took so long! I hope you guys enjoy it :)


THURSDAY

Waking up in my brother's bed for the first time in months was the most comforting thing about this entire week. I could here the shower in the bathroom running, so I just laid there and tried to fall asleep again. That didn't happen and I was forced to wake up when my brother grabbed the blankets and ripped them off me. I groaned and looked up at him, glaring with all my might.

"I already let you sleep through your first class. Now get up," He said before leaving the room. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand and it did, in fact, read 10:00. First period always ended at 9:30. I groaned again and practically rolled off the bed, heading to my room to shower and get ready.


It was always easy to come into school late when you were a coach's kid. No one ever cared if the note you had was real or if you actually had an excuse. They just gave you a pass and let you go. It was definitely something I loved.

As I made my way to my second period I could just imagine what Julie was going to say. First, she would ask me why I was late. Then she would question me about the bruises on my wrist that I had, unfortunately, forgotten to wrap with something. And, of course, by lunch, Matt and Landry would both know about it. Which also meant that the whole school would know by the time the last bell rang.

My teacher took the note and nodded, so I made my way to my seat next to a very curious looking Julie. I spared her a look that I would explain everything later. The rest of the class was so boring and I kind of wished that Jesse hadn't woken me up at all. It would have been a blessing to just have a day off.

"Ok, so why were you late today?" Julie asked, as I predicted, once the bell had rung.

"I just overslept. Nothing too crazy," I explained, making my way into the pandemonium that is the hallway. We worked our way to the end of the hallway and separated, promising to meet in the lunchroom fourth period. The next class passed by with absolutely nothing exciting, giving me a break as I wrote Julie a note about what exactly had happened and how there was no way she could tell Matt, or anyone for that matter. I was going to do everything possible to make sure what had happened yesterday didn't make its way around school.


As Julie and I sat down with Matt and Landry, I pulled my coat sleeve down over my right wrist. Julie gave me a look and then opened the note I had given her, shooing Matt away when he attempted to read it over her shoulder. Landry laughed as a brooding Matt refocused his attention on his watery mashed potatoes.

Tim, my brother, Jason and Lyla all sat down, Jason wondering what Landry was finding so funny. When Landry explained, Jason just patted Matt on the back and gave him a soothing nod. Guys with girlfriends and their problems.

Jesse looked at me from his position across the table as if to check how I was. I just nodded and looked back over at Lyla and Jason, who were feeding each other French fries…I looked away, only to find Tim glancing away after looking at me.

"So," Lyla said, sipping her water. "Belle. Are you and Jesse coming to the party at Smash's house after the game on Saturday?" Jesse just glanced at me and then shook his head.

"I don't know if we will yet. You know how Mom's are." He chuckled. "She may just make us stay home." Most everyone at the table nodded, excluding Tim and Matt. I would be sure to ask Julie about that later.

The one good thing that happened at lunch was that nobody (sans Julie and my brother, who both already knew) noticed the fact that I kept pulling my jacket sleeve down over my wrist in order to hide my bruises. The guys talked about the football and bumped fists when the upcoming game was mentioned and half the lunchroom shouted that we were going to crush the Wolves. Julie, Lyla and I played along, but all shared secret looks to communicate how everything always went right back to football.

When the bell rang, Julie, Matt, Landry and I grabbed our stuff and got up, heading to our Calculus class. As I walked out the cafeteria doors, someone called my name and reached out for my arm. I waved my friends on before turning back to look at Tim, who was leaning on the wall.

"What do you need, Tim?" I tried not too sound too harsh, but if Tim Riggins made me late just because he wanted to and knew he could, I might just kill him.

Tim glanced down the hallway before speaking. "What did you do to your arm?" I looked shocked for a split second before schooling my features.

"What are you talking about?" Tim just chuckled at my question, knowing very well that I knew exactly what he was talking about. He held out his hand, palm up, asking me to place my hand in his. I conceded, rolling my eyes. Tim's protectiveness was almost worse than my brother's.

He pulled my sleeve up and carefully rolled my wrist in his hands, looking at the bruises closely. The furrow in his brow increased as he inspected them closely. "You gonna tell anyone the truth about what happened?" He questioned, pulling the sleeve back down and letting go of me.

I opened my mouth, but had nothing to say. Tim just stared at me, silently prompting me to say something. So I did. "Why do you care anyway, Riggins?" I demanded, glaring harshly at him. Suddenly, Tim didn't look as nice as he had a second ago.

"You're right," He said calmly, although I could tell he was anything but. "Why do I care?" Tim shoved past me and made his way down the hall. Just before he turned down the next hall, he turned back and stomped towards me. "All I'm trying to do is be nice, and you ask me why I care? You're Coach Jackson's kid, Jesse's little sister and a good friend to the guys on the team. Those are the only reasons why I care." With that he finally left, stopping to punch a locker on his way.

"Um," I heard behind me. I whirled around to see Mrs. Taylor standing there. "I'm mighty confused as to what exactly just happened here, Belle." She came towards me and put her arm around my shoulders. "I think you should come with me."

I did as she wanted and let her lead me down the hall, towards her office. As I sat down in the plastic chair, she shut the door and sat in front of me. "Now, I'd really like to know why Tim Riggins just yelled at you in the middle of the school hallway. And also, why you both weren't in class. But I can let both of those go. Right now, I am not Mrs. Taylor. I am your friend." She held up her hands. "Talk." I just stared at Mrs. Taylor. Did she really expect for me to talk to her like she wasn't a guidance counselor? It was too hard to imagine.

"I'm sorry we weren't in class, ma'am. Tim said he wanted to talk to me, so that's what we were doing." I just shrugged, hoping that would get her off my back.

"It looked, and sounded, a little bit more like yelling, Belle." She shook her head and looked at me. "I just want to know what's going on. No one but you and I will ever know that you told me this." Again, I just stared at her. There was no way I was pouring my heart out to Mrs. Taylor, no matter how nice she was. "Alright. Then I'll just have to call Tim in here and bully it out of him." I knew the threat when I heard it and refused to be phased. She picked up the phone and pressed a button. "Audrey, would you please call Tim Riggins into my office? Thank you."

I sat there, not knowing exactly what to do. Tim was not going to be happy when he got to the office and I just didn't want to stick around to see that. "May I leave now?" Mrs. Taylor smiled, but shook her head.

"No, darling. I need both you and Tim to tell me about this and neither of you are leaving until you do." I slumped down in my seat when a knock on the door forced Mrs. Taylor out of her chair. She opened the door and ushered Tim in. "Come on in, honey and take a seat right next to Belle there."

I refused to look up as Tim sat, but I could feel him looking right at me. He cleared his throat when Mrs. Taylor didn't start talking. "What did you need me in here for ma'am?" He questioned, looking from her back at me.

"Well Tim, I got to witness part of you and Belle's conversation and I just wanted to know why exactly you found it necessary to tell at her." She gazed at him, waiting for his answer. Tim crossed his arms over his chest and looked over at me.

"Cause Belle wouldn't tell me what happened to her wrist." My eyes snapped up and met Tim's in a glare that could kill. He smirked slightly but Mrs. Taylor interrupted our staring contest.

"What happened to your wrist, sweetheart?" She asked me soothingly. I pulled my sleeves down more and averted my gaze.

"I just hit it on my door." I lied, fiddling with the end of my sleeve. Beside me, Tim snorted. "Shut up Riggins. It's not like you have any idea what happened." He glared at me and then looked back at Mrs. Taylor.

Leaning forward, he gave her a somewhat pleading look. "Can't you make her say what happened Mrs. Taylor?" He asked quietly, almost pretending that I wasn't there.

"I can't make Belle do anything she doesn't want to do, Tim." Mrs. Taylor looked at me. "Especially not just because you want to beat someone's face in. Which I can tell you do. I am married to a football coach Tim Riggins and I know all the tricks." Tim looked uncomfortable, but nodded as he sat back again. "Alright. Now I'd like you to apologize to Belle."

Tim looked shocked, as if she'd asked him to strip right then and there (which would be ok with me). "What? She's keeping a secret for someone who hurt her. I refuse to apologize for caring." He almost growled.

"Caring and antagonizing are two completely different things, Tim. Now apologize." It was no longer a request, but now a demand. I focused on my shoes, not wanting to be a part of this. "Tim Riggins, if you don't apologize I will just have to have a conversation with the Coach."

Tim didn't look too phased by the threat, but I knew that if Mrs. Taylor wanted Tim Riggins to do 50 extra wind sprints, he would be doing 50 extra wind sprints. He glanced at her and then at me before sighing loudly. "I'm sorry that I yelled."

He didn't sound sorry, but I really just didn't want to be in the room anymore, so I nodded in his general direction.

"Alright," Mrs. Taylor said, clapping her hands. "Now, Mr. Riggins, please escort our Ms. Jackson to class. I don't want to see either of you in my office again. Have a nice day."

Tim held the door open for me as we exited her office. I tried to out-walk him, but being a fullback, Tim's legs could carry him a lot further than mine. I stopped abruptly and turned to him. "You don't have to walk me back. I'll be fine on my own." I turned back to stalk off when he grabbed my arm. "What is your problem?" I seethed, getting up in his face.

"My problem is that someone hurt you and you're going to let them get away with it." Tim said harshly, keeping a tight grip on my arm.

"The only person hurting me is you," I wrestled my arm in his grasp, but he refused to let go. "Let go, Tim." I said calmly, staring up at him. He finally released, mumbling an apology. "Look, Tim," I sighed. "What happened; it's done, it's over. My brother knows and that's all that matters."

With that, I left Tim standing in the middle of the hallway.


Unbeknownst to me at the time, my comment about Jesse knowing what had happened to my wrist sent Tim on a mission. He rushed out of his last class of the day and was very early for football practice. Once he had changed, he found Jesse and asked to talk to him in private.

"Who did that to your sister?" Tim asked gruffly as they walked to the end of the field. Jesse contemplated whether or not Tim should know.

"Dude, you tell her I told you this," He poked Tim's chest. "And I will personally rip your nuts off and force-feed them to you."

Tim nodded and waited for Jesse to reveal the truth.

"It was Smash."


As I sat on the bleachers to watch practice, I noticed Tim and Jesse off the side a bit, talking seriously about something. Tim said something to Jesse, who burst out into wild laughter and clapped Tim's shoulder. Coach Taylor blew his whistle and the two were forced to get ready for the play. Matt threw the ball to Smash, who made it ten yards before Tim mowed him into the ground.

Throughout the practice, Tim and my brother would practically run over Smash with their bodies. By the time the final whistle was blown, Smash looked like he was in a lot of pain. Jesse put his arm over Smash's shoulder, causing him to wince, and whispered something in his ear.

Although Smash looked angry as hell, he nodded and looked up towards me. I glared over at Jesse and Tim, knowing exactly what was going on.


I sat outside the locker room, waiting on my brother and Tim to both show their faces to me. They were obviously stalling because most of the guys had gone and were probably already at home. Finally, the door opened and they both stepped out. Jesse looked apprehensive while Tim just looked downright pleased.

"Don't you dare smirk like that, Tim Riggins," He continued to do so. "What you two did was stupid. How dare you both think you can take charge like that just because you're men."

They both just stood there and waited for their scolding to be over. I watched them for a moment before rushing forward and enveloping Jesse and then Tim in my arms. Jesse laughed and crushed me, dropping a kiss on my hair while Tim just stiffened and then returned the hug awkwardly. I stretched to plant a kiss on his cheek and then retreated, my cheeks heating at what I had done.

"Thanks," I said simply before grabbing my bag and Jesse's arm and rushing to the car. When I looked back, Tim was still standing there, watching me go with a slight smile on his face.


I hope you guys enjoyed it! The new chapter will be up no later than Friday! Reviews make Tim all hot and sweaty and he has to take off his shirt :)