A/N: Hey guys. Sorry this took so long. College is freaking crazy right now. This is the chapter where you guys will learn the truth about Belle and what happened. No flames please. Also, there's like 0 Tim in here, but I have my reasons. :)


TUESDAY

I had been in Dillon for one week. Well, one week and two days. It had only taken one week and two days for Tim Riggins to worm his charming way into my head.

That fact made me feel beyond sad and pathetic. Like some rally girl that he had smiled at in the hall. That fact made me feel even worse. Could my life in Dillon get anymore interesting?

Of course it could.


I slept through my alarm again. Jesse had to come and forcibly pull me out of the bed. Of course, all of this was my fault. My dreams of Tim had kept me awake all night for fear of having another one. Once I had finally fallen asleep, I did dream of the longhaired boy whose smile drove me absolutely insane (in a good way).

The drive to school was quiet, mostly because I was half asleep on the window of Jesse's truck. When Jesse woke me up and told me we were at school, I groaned loudly and pulled myself from his truck, not looking forward to the day with no sleep.


By the time lunch rolled around, I had gotten maybe ten minutes of sleep in my classes. Julie had kept me awake with questions about a certain fullback.

"So, Matt told me that he had to coax you out of the bathroom the other day," Julie hinted for answers as we went through the line. I glared at her. "He also said that it was Tim Riggins standing outside said bathroom who threatened him to get you out."

I sighed and pulled Julie over to a different table than our normal one with the guys. We sat down, noticing the looks Matt and the others were giving us. "Julie, can all of this wait? We're hanging out tonight. I'll tell you everything than. Everything." She nodded.

"Everything?" I smiled slightly and looked down.

"Everything."


The rest of the day passed without question from Julie or Matt, whom I assumed she had told to stay quiet. The rumors, however, didn't stop. Walking down the hall was hard, knowing that everyone was talking about the girl who had tamed Tim Riggins.

"I heard that Tim's turned down three rally girls in the past week..."

"Tim Riggins can't go that long with out sex…"

"She's obviously doing something right…"

"I don't know what's so special about her…"

"Did you hear about the scars on her legs?"

I shook my head and walked out of the building, towards the football field. I had only skipped class a few times, but today seemed like the perfect day to do so.

Making myself comfortable on the grass under the bleachers, I pulled out my iPod, hoping to get some much-needed sleep.


"Belle?" I heard distantly as I began to wake. "Honey, why are you sleeping on the football field?" Opening my eyes, I slowly focused on Mrs. Taylor's face in front of me.

Looking around, I was confused to see that I was under the bleachers by the football field. Then I remembered my ingenious plan to take a nap during school. I jumped up as quickly as I could.

"Sorry Mrs. Taylor. I just…"I had no idea what to tell her. 'I just needed to sleep because my mind was on Tim Riggins all night' did not seem like the best idea. "I just, uh…"

She smiled and pulled me towards her. "Honey, you're starting to sound like Matt." I looked away from her, laughing at her joke. "I'm not mad that you skipped class, I'd just like to know, as you're guidance counselor, why you needed a nap time."

"I was just tired Mrs. Taylor." I conceded slightly. It wasn't a total lie. It just wasn't the total truth. She gave me a look but let me go.

"Alright. Well, school's over so I suggest you go change into your cheerleading uniform. And I better not catch you doing this again." I nodded and made my way over to the locker rooms. Then I remembered that Miss Durr had canceled practice for today for some 'family thing' that we all knew was a date. So I backtracked and went to sit on the bleachers, hoping to be as invisible as possible during football practice.

Once the guys were on the field and had started to play, I was avoiding looking at them at all. I didn't want to see if Tim was looking over at me or if he was trying to catch my attention.

Closing my eyes, I leaned back against the bleacher row behind me. My mind wondered and I began to work out in my mind how to explain what had happened to me to Julie. That year and a half felt like centuries ago now and it felt as if it was going to be impossible for me to explain.

Feeling something grabbed my knee, I squealed and jumped up. It turned out to be Jesse in normal clothes, looking just a little bit sweaty. "Didn't mean to freak you out sis. Practice is over."

I glared up at him, but he just laughed lowly, knowing he had annoyed me.

"That was mean Jesse and you know it." He nodded, but said nothing as we walked to his truck. "You dropping me off at Julie's?" I questioned, trying to remember if I had told him about my girl's night.

"Yeah," He started the truck. "Mom said you have to be home by 11 though." I nodded and sat back, watching the scenery goes by.


"That was the best chili I've ever had, Coach Taylor." I smiled, putting down my spoon. Coach smiled and looked at me approvingly.

"I'm happy that someone finally appreciates it, Belle," He gazed at his wife and daughter. "Some people just don't understand my need for it to be so spicy. That's why I have to make the two batches." He chuckled when Mrs. Taylor reached out and swatted him on the arm.

Julie and I shared a look. Her parents were cute. It was great that they were still so in love after all these years. That was what I wanted for my future.

"Well, pardon me for being pregnant and not really enjoying the extra indigestion I get on top of what I already have." She scolded, but you could tell that she was that she was smiling and enjoying the banter with her husband.

"Yeah, yeah," Coach Taylor earned another whack before he finally conceded and got up.

Julie and I stood and took our bowls into the kitchen. I offered to help clean, but Coach and Mrs. Taylor were going to hear nothing of it. Julie finally led me back to her room and we sat on her bed and turned up some music to drown out the laughter from the living room.

"Parents are so embarrassing," She finally said, sagging into her pillows. I just shook my head and laughed. "Do your parents act like that?"

I shook my head and looked over at the window. "No. Mom and Dad tend to be more private than other people. All of their affection comes from little things and looks and stuff like that."

We both sighed and starting flipping through some magazines for some make-up and clothes ideas. It wasn't until we had girled ourselves out that Julie finally asked.

"So, you said you'd tell me everything." She said hopefully, eyes shining with question. I set my magazine down and moved to get more comfortable on the bed.

Sighing, I decided to start with the Tim thing and lead up to everything else. "Tim kind of…kissed me the other day." The last part rushed out as my cheeks burned and I avoided Julie's eyes.

"What?" She yell-whispered. "Tim Riggins kissed you? But, why?" I glared at her, not sure how to take that. "I just mean that he's Tim Riggins. It just doesn't really seem like him."

"I dunno," I shrugged and laid my head on my hands. "I just have no idea what to do. Tim confuses me so much and absolutely scares the crap out of me." Julie looked confused and motioned for me to continue. "I've never felt this way Julie. Good Lord, it's only been a week and I can say that I have never felt this way. Not even when…"

I trailed off, knowing this was what I didn't want to talk about. Julie laid her hand on mine and gave me an encouraging look.

"What I'm about to tell you, Julie, it…changed me. Forever. And I love Matt, but you cannot tell him or anybody what I am about to tell you." She nodded. Sticking my pinky out, I smiled smally at her. "Pinky swear."

She swore and I took a moment to breathe.

"Last year, Daddy was coaching at UT and Jesse and I were going to a school not so far from there. I went to almost all of the practices. I liked helping to and being the water girl sometimes." I breathed again. Slowly. In, out, in, out. "About 6 months into the job, one of the freshman on the team got an…interest in me. He was sweet. Flirting and complimenting me. I knew Daddy would never approve, so I went out with him in secret, claiming to be at friend's houses and stuff like that. We went on like that for about 4 months and then, one day, everything changed. He seemed angry about everything. Any time I couldn't do anything, he'd get so upset and I just didn't understand what was going on. Soon after that, it got kind of physical. We'd be hanging out and kind of making out and then he'd get more forceful about it. He's a football player. It's not like I could fight him. One day, I tried to fight him." Julie was avidly listening and I could tell she was trying to figure out what happened next. "He beat me up pretty bad. I had four broken and three bruised ribs, but he wasn't done. He tried to…" By now, I was almost hyperventilating. I reminded myself to breathe and just sat there for a second. Julie was beside me now and had her arm on my shoulders. I looked up at her, trying to keep my tears at bay while hers spilled out "I kicked him really good. Made sure he'd never want to do that to someone ever again." We both let out watery and sad laughs at that. "We took him to court and he's been in jail since. Daddy pulled out a major restraining order and he's not even allowed to live in Texas anymore really."

Julie and I shared a hug and just sat there for a minute. Then she lifted her head. "Can I ask one thing?" At my nod, she looked down. "What about the scars on your legs?"

"Despite the fact that it was over, it still haunted me. I just couldn't get what he wanted to do out of my mind. I spent a lot of time in my bathroom with a razor." She gasped quietly and I gave her a small smile. "I went to a lot of therapy and I'm better now. Now, all that's left are the scars. And I like them. They're reminders." I smiled wider. "They help me stay strong."

Julie and I spent the next couple of hours just hanging out and being girls. IT was an amazing feeling to be able to tell someone about what had happened. I felt so relieved and like I could breathe again. When Jesse picked me up, I smiled at him and just told him to drive. By the time we got home, I was crying very happy tears and we spent ten minutes in his truck, him letting me cry into his shirt.

That was when I realized that it was over. What had happened would never affect me like that again.


A/N: I hope you guys liked it. Nothing like that has ever happened to me, so I hope I made it as real as possible. I feel that abuse is a real problem and that no one should ever have to go through that. Just thought I'd make a stand at the end of this chapter. Let me know what you think.

Also, just thought I'd give a list of characters and actors who would portray them as a little present. Links to pictures are on my profile page.

Mrs. Jackson—Ashley Judd

Jesse—Mark Salling

I haven't fully decided on Belle or Coach Jackson, but let me know what you think.

I love you all! Thanks for sticking with this.