A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. This chapter gave me some issues. I hope you guys like it. Let me know please. I see a lot of people like this story, but not a lot of people review. I love reviews! They make me VERY happy :)
WEDNESDAY
I woke up bright and early feeling like it was going to be a great day. Telling Julie what had happened to me had taken the load off my shoulders and I felt so absolutely amazing. Deciding what to wear, I picked a skirt for the first time since the event and I knew I wouldn't care if people saw my scars.
When I walked into the kitchen for breakfast, all conversation stopped. I went over to Daddy and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Morning Daddy, morning Mama." My parents just looked at me, confusion on their faces. Jesse, however, was smiling; looking happier than if he'd won the lottery. Despite my parent's confusion, breakfast went on as normal and Jesse and I left for school.
At school, I held my head high and refused to listen to the rumors spreading. Although I knew the skirt would cause some drama because of my scars, I just let it go and ignored the stares.
"Hey," Julie said quietly when we met in class. I beamed and sat down next to her. "Well, you look happy."
Nodding, I looked down at my notebook. "I am," At her slightly puzzled look, I giggled. "Telling you helped me so much Julie. I just…it's great to have a friend who cares enough to listen and be there for you."
We did the girliest thing and hugged and giggled. Throughout the class, the teacher was shushing us and trying to get us to calm down to no avail. We were just too happy.
Going into the lunchroom was easier than I thought it would be. Almost the entire room was staring at me, but I couldn't care less as I made my way over to our usual table. I even sat down next to Tim, who looked slightly confused at mine and Julie's practically insane grins.
"It's so unfair how the cheerleader's don't have practice, but you guys do," Landry started saying. We all just rolled our eyes and gave each other looks. "It's true. It's gotta be like, some kind of discrimination. Athletic discrimination." He nodded enthusiastically, enjoying his point very much.
"Landry, shut up," Matt smiled at his friend and laughed when Landry's mouth dropped open.
"Now that is discrimination right there." I gave him a questioning look.
"How is that discrimination, Landry?" He shrugged and drank some milk. "Something tells me that you have no idea what you're talking about."
We all laughed again. Julie leaned over and tapped my arm. "Landry never knows what he's talking about." The table burst into laughter and got some looks from the rest of the lunchroom. I glanced over at Tim, who was smirking and looking at me. We shared a moment before Landry took the table's attention once again.
After the moment I had shared with Tim at lunch, I was actually feeling ok about seeing him at practice that afternoon. As Julie and I made our way to the bleachers, I could see him out of the corner of my eye warming up. Julie gave me a look, but said nothing.
"So, are we all gung-ho for some Tim Riggins now?" She asked once we were seated. Laughing when I glared at her, she put hand on my shoulder. "I guess yesterday was really good for you. You seem really happy."
Sighing, I watched the boys running down the field and smiled when I caught Tim's eye. "I am. And I think I'm ready to give Tim Riggins a run for his money," We both giggled and watched the rest of the practice.
As I waited outside the locker room, I went over my plan in my head. I was waiting for Tim to come through that door and I was going to mess with him the same way he had messed with me.
"Well if it ain't Miss Belle," He swaggered out of the locker rooms and over to wear I was sitting. I smiled at him and leaned against the wall. Tim came over to me and used his arm to prop himself up in front of me. "Have you thought about what I asked the other day?"
Giving him a smile, I leaned in towards him. "Well, Mr. Riggins, I've thought about it, but I must tell you that I don't remember you asking me anything." With that, I pushed his arm and laughed at him attempting to catch himself.
As I walked away, I could see Tim's confused expression. He obviously hadn't expected anything like that out of me. He moved to follow me as I went over to Jesse's truck. "Belle."
I turned to look at him and leaned back against Jesse's truck. Tim joined me and stared at me for a moment. We just stood there, him scrutinizing and me just watching.
"What are you doing?" He asked me. I gave him a confused look and shrugged. "You're acting so different. I just want to know what's going on."
Lowering my gaze, I decided to find my shoes very interesting. "I thought this would be what you'd want." He chuckled and leaned towards me, causing my eyes to widen and find his.
"Don't get me wrong, darling," He drawled, casting his eyes down at my lips. "I love what you're doing. I just know that it isn't you." He definitely had me there. This persona I had developed today wasn't me; but it was someone I had kind of wanted to be before. "So," I turned my attention back to him. "What would you say if I asked right now?"
We stood in silence for a moment as he waited for my answer. Finally, I caught his eye and smiled. "I'd say you'd have to take me on a date."
Tim laughed and leaned down to kiss my forehead. "That I can do. Friday?" I nodded; smiling wider if that was possible. "See you then, Miss Belle."
As he was leaving, Jesse walked over. They nodded at each other before Tim got into his truck and drove off. Jesse walked over to me and gave me a confused look as I continued to smile widely in the direction of Tim's truck.
"It's a girl thing, isn't it?" He chuckled when I nodded. "Tell Julie tomorrow. I don't think I can sit through your 'girl stuff'." We both laughed and I punched his arm as we got into the truck. "Especially when it's about Tim Riggins."
That night, I lay in bed thinking about Tim. As I was about to fall asleep, my eyes popped open and I slowly rolled onto my back.
What was my dad going to think about this?
THURSDAY
I woke up feeling a somewhat sense of dread. I knew I was going to have to inform my father that Tim Riggins would be taking me out on Friday, but I really didn't want to.
At the breakfast table, Dad and Jesse discussed football (nothing new) while I tried to find a way to tell my dad without upsetting him too much.
"So," I started, clearing my throat. "Would it be ok if…I spent the night at Julie's house on Friday?" The lie came out so quickly that I couldn't stop it. MY parents smiled at me.
"Of course you can, sweetheart," My mother nodded and patted me on the shoulder as she walked past. "As long as it's alright with the Taylors."
Jesse gave me a look as we walked out of the house and towards his truck. "What?" I finally asked, glaring at him. He smiled and shrugged, starting the car.
When we finally arrived at school, I stopped glaring at Jesse, who was singing along loudly to the radio, and got out of the car. I sped into the building and made my way through the halls to find Julie. I gasped when a hand grabbed my arm and gave a relieved sigh when I realized that it was just Tim.
"Where you going so fast, little Jackson?" He questioned, smirking his usual smirk. Once my breathing had slowed, I looked up at him.
"Going to find Julie, Riggins," He raised his eyebrow at the last name. "Got a problem with that?"
We were in some kind of faceoff as we stood in the crowded hallway. Finally, he grabbed my hand, less roughly this time, and guided me to a deserted classroom down the hall. Once inside, Tim leaned against the teacher's deck and pulled me forward to stand in front of him.
It was silent for a few moments before he took my books out of my hands and laid them on the desk behind him. He took my hands in his and gazed at my face. "Are you ok?" My eyebrows rose, as I wasn't expecting that question. "It's just been, a…busy couple of weeks and you just got here and…I don't know. I feel like I'm taking advantage of you and I don't want to do that—" I silenced Tim by placing my hand over his mouth.
"Tim, if I didn't want this, it wouldn't happen. Ok?" He nodded and looked down at our hands. "Besides, I'm kind of ok with the idea of you taking advantage of me." We both smiled slyly before sharing a soft kiss.
"Mr. Riggins," We turned around to see an older woman standing in the doorway. "I should have expected this. I haven't seen you in this classroom yet this year."
I blushed heatedly while Tim just laughed and grabbed our books. "Sorry, Mrs. Hill. Sometimes, I just can't help myself." We exited the classroom, but not before Tim gave the older women a wink.
Tim escorted me to class, carrying my books and holding my hand. I have to say, I felt really special. But then, I remembered what Mrs. Hill had said. Was that classroom one that Tim used a lot? As I said goodbye and stole my books back, I made a mental note to discuss all of this with Julie. And maybe Lyla.
My early classes had been quite busy. Julie and I had had no chance to talk and were both so tired of all the work we had been given. I really wanted to talk to Julie about the new information I had learned about Tim, but every time we tried to talk, we either got in trouble or were simply told to be quiet.
When we were making our to the lunchroom, I was finally able to say something.
"Would it be ok if I spent the night tomorrow?" Julie looked surprised and nodded slowly.
"I'm going out with Matt, but you can come over after if you want." Nodding, I looked away and then back at her as we picked up some food (if you could call it that).
"Would it be ok if, I…um, if I came over and got ready then went out and then we could do the sleepover thing?" She gave me a questioning look and I sighed. "I'm going on a date and I lied and told my parents I was spending the night with you."
Julie's eyes narrowed as we reached the table. When she spotted Tim, she glared. "Are you going out with Tim?" She grunted when I refused to meet her gaze. "Fine. You can come over at about 6 if you want and we'll pretend we're going to see a movie so that my dad doesn't see you with Tim."
"Yeah," I nodded thankfully. "Cause coaches tell other coaches everything. It's like some kind of stupid code."
When I sat down next to Tim, he casually stretched his arm out behind my chair, but continued to keep up a conversation with Landry and Jason. I found it absolutely amazing that he could make me know that he was there without actually really doing anything.
What I didn't realize was that one person did notice. And that one person had a lot to say on my relationship with Tim.
"Ok, girls, we're good." Miss Durr called out as we formed the final formation. All of us exhaled happily and made our way towards the locker rooms.
Once I was changed and a lot less sweaty, I pulled my bag out my locker and made my way towards the door. "Belle." I turned and gave Lyla my attention. "I was hoping we could talk for a little bit."
I nodded and she followed me out to the bleachers. Once we had sat down, I turned to her expectantly, but she was watching the football team.
"You know," She started. "After Jason had his accident, everything changed. I spent all of my time with him at the hospital and the rehab center. It was…really hard on me." She stared down at her fingers, linking them together. "That time in my life…I did a lot of things I'm not proud of Belle. I hurt a lot of people who didn't deserve it." I had no idea where all of this was going, but I was very intrigued. "A week or so after the accident, I…Tim and I…a lot of stuff happened. Stuff that I'm not proud of." My heart raced as I realized what she was saying. "I nearly lost the only man I'd ever loved and broke the heart of a man who claimed to love me."
I looked out onto the field and found Tim, who was standing next to Jason drinking water. Jason said something, and Tim laughed loudly before returning to the practice.
"So, do you think he's still in love with you?" Lyla didn't respond immediately and I figured she didn't know what to say.
She sighed loudly and brushed imaginary dirt off of her jeans. "I really have no idea how Tim feels. What happened between us…it changed him." My gaze found Tim again as he ran down the field to catch the ball. "I wish I could give you some kind of hope that Tim's over me, but I can't. That's something you'd have to ask him for yourself."
Lyla finally bade me goodbye and left me alone with my thoughts. When practice ended, I waited by Tim's truck, wanting to just see him.
He came out and smiled seeing me leaning against his truck. "You know, I could most definitely get used to this." He kissed me soundly and threw his stuff through the window. "So, I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7?"
I nodded and smiled. "Yeah. About that. Can we meet at like, the Alamo Freeze or something?" He looked confused, but nodded. "I'm staying over at Julie's tomorrow and she's got a date with Matt. We just figured it would be easier." Yet another lie rolled off my tongue so easily.
Tim and I said goodbye and I walked over to Jesse, who was waiting by his truck. We said nothing and once we were home, I went upstairs to work on my homework.
I spent the rest of the night thinking about what Lyla had told me.
A/N: Alright! That it's. Soon will be the big date and a conversation that Belle wants to have with Tim. Please let me know what you guys think. Reviews make Taylor Kitsch pull off his shirt and flex. :)
