A/N: So, I finally have some time, so here is the new chapter. I was happy with the response I got from the last chapter, and I hope this one gets just as much.


Without further ado from my ranting, the next chapter. And again, I am really sorry that this took so long to get up. Thankfully, I only have 5 more weeks of classes and then I can update almost every day!

"Belle," I grumbled and snuggled into the warm blanket htat was attempting to wake me up. "You gotta wake up baby." Groaning, I slowly opened my eyes and stretched away from the warmth. Looking up, I found that the warmth was from Tim, who had thought to be my blanket.

I shot up quickly and moved to the other side of the truck, looking around the dark, sleepily trying to figure out where I was. I ascertained that we were still parked by the cliff and reached down to find my phone.

25 Missed Calls

18 Text Messages

I laid my head in my hands and and groaned louder. Sparing Tim a glance, I saw him looking sleepy and wild. Hair mussed from moving around in the cab, shirt wrinkled (and probably drooled on, knowing me). If I wasn't so freaked out about the fact that it was 12:20 in the morning, I would have been turned on by the hot cowboy next to be.

I groaned loudly and leaned forward, bracing my hands in front of me, and began banging my head on the dashboard. Tim gave me a frightened look and grabbed my shoulders before I could do it again.

"Belle," He stroked my now throbbing forehead. "Can I ask why you've decided to bludgeon yourself to death?" I laughed humorlessly and shook my head.

"My parents are going to kill me. Julie's parents are going to kill me." Shrugging, I practically collapsed into the seat. "I might as well kill myself and skip the punishments."

Tim laughed and shook his head, starting the car. My eyes shot to him and I glared. "What is so funny, Mr. Riggins?" I figured the last name would get his attention more than anything else. He ignored me, and drove. "Tim, you had better tell me what is going on."

When I got no answer for the second time, I reached over and pulled on a lock of his long hair. "Hey!" He swiped at me as we stopped at a red light. "Don't get violent. I'm taking you to Julie's. She called me. Apparently, by the time she got home, her parents were already passed out on the couch and she sent them to bed under the impression that you were already getting ready to sleep. Now, you just have to be really quiet when you go inside." My eyebrows rose. "Genius, right?"

I nodded and moved my focus to the road as we pulled onto Julie's street. I glared at Tim, but sighed and turned my attention to my hands in my lap as the silence in the cab grew. "So…" Tim laughed at my attempt to break the silence and pulled on my elbow to get me to look at him.

"Did you at least have fun? Despite the fact that we spent most of the date sleeping?" I grinned and rolled my eyes. Tim drew me closer and kissed my forehead, smoothing back my hair in an uncommonly sweet gesture. I held on for a few more seconds before relenting and letting him go.


As I made my way up the street to Julie's, Tim stayed at the corner, lights on to guide me. When I was on the Taylor's driveway, I turned and waved smally, smiling when he flashed his lights. It wasn't until I was inside the house that I heard the distinct sound of Tim's truck moving down the road.

I tip-toed down the hall and opened Julie's door as quietly as possible. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't what I found. Julie was sprawled on the bed reading a magazine and looked up with a huge grin as I came inside.

"So," She laid her magazine on the floor and sat up. "What exactly have you and Tim Riggins been doing for this long?" I glared at her as I changed and wiped off my make-up.

Shaking my head, I turned to look at her. "I don't know if you'd believe me." She said nothing, just sat there smiling, so I scoffed and walked over to sit on the corner of the bed. "Sleeping."

Julie's brow furrowed. "Sleeping." She said the word slowly, almost trying to decide if it was real. "Like, nap time sleeping, or 'sleeping' sleeping." I giggled and threw the wipe I was using at her.

"Nap time sleeping. It was great. We went bowling and talked, and then we just went somewhere, parked and fell asleep." I smiled dreamily and remembered Tim and I singing along loudly to the radio in the bowling alley. "Tim was…so awesome."

We both giggled some more, but finally decided to go to sleep seeing as we were already supposed to be. As I laid on the cot by Julie's bed, I smiled to myself, and fell asleep with Tim on my mind.


"Alright ladies," I heard Mrs. Taylor's voice through my sleepy haze. "We let you sleep till noon. It's time to get up now." Once the door was closed, I reached over and hit Julie with my pillow, knowing it might take a minute or two to get her up.

"Mmphf," Her words were muffled by her pillow. I rolled my eyes and hit her again before getting up from my bed.

When I reached the bathroom, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked at myself. My late night had produced bags under my eyes, but I didn't feel the need to care when I thought of Tim. Suddenly, my thoughts turned to Tim and Lyla, and I scowled dangerously at my reflection.

Standing there, I realized that I would have to talk to Tim about Lyla eventually, but what if that just made his feelings for her, whatever they were, grow even more? I shook my head quickly and went to the restroom before going back into Julie's room to make sure she got up.


Three hours later, Julie and I were on our way to the Alamo Freeze with Matt and Landry. Not my ideal afternoon, but anything was better than being at home knowing that Jesse was going to ask about Tim.

"So," Landry slyly shifted his gaze to me. "Did you have a good night, Miss Belle?" I stared at him for a moment, scowling before turning to glare at Julie.

"You told!" Julie cringed slightly , but shook her head.

"I told Matt. Just Matt." She and I both turned to glare at Matt, who avoided our gazes to watch the road. Julie hissed and smacked him in the back of the head. "Just because Landry is your best friend, doesn't mean you tell him everything." Matt stuttered, bobbing his head up and down trying to appease his girlfriend.

I glared at the back of Matt's head, then reached forward to pinch Julie's arm. "And just because Matt is your boyfriend doesn't mean you tell him everything."

She rubbed her sore arm, but shrugged. "Matt's so quiet, I figured he wouldn't say anything. Especially not to someone with a big mouth like Landry."

"I resent that," Landry pouted, looking indignant. "I do not have a big mouth."

I giggled and glanced over at him. His eyes shot to me and my giggles grew into full on laughter. Julie joined in, and Matt chuckled awkwardly, seemingly not sure if he was allowed. "You have to admit," I reasoned, stilling laughing under my breath. "Your mouth is abnormally large."

Landry huffed and crossed his arms childishly. Julie, Matt and I continued laughing until he finally joined in.

When we pulled up to the Alamo Freeze, I could see Smash and his friends outside, music blaring as they goofed off.

"Yo, Saracen!" Smash yelled as Matt parked the car. The two football players did a sort of handshake and I rolled my eyes at Julie. "Landry, Julie, Little Jackson." I nodded my head, but grabbed Julie's arm to head inside.

"I wonder what it feels like to not be the Coach's daughter." I complained, ordering a vanilla cone. Julie just shook her head and ordered a coke.

"Please," She sighed. "Life would probably be much more boring. Where would we get our entertainment?" She nodded to the windows, where we could see Smash wrestling with one of his friends. We both chuckled and found ourselves a booth. "Besides, this place may be crazy, but it could definitely be worse. And if you weren't a Coach's daughter, you might not have ever met Tim."

She laughed loudly when I banged my head on the table. When I looked back up, Matt and Landry were standing there looking confused and amused.


I opened my front door slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible. If I could just get to my room without running into Jesse, I'd be fine. I knew he'd have a lot of questions, some I definitely wouldn't want to answer and he was just too stubborn. He's pretty much the master of annoying secrets out of people.

I practically tiptoed past the kitchen, noticing that neither of my parents was anywhere to be seen. I could hear the TV in the living room, so I snuck a glance and my jaw dropped.

My brother was sitting on the couch, playing another of his ridiculous video games…with Tim. They obviously hadn't seen me; they were so engrossed in the game in front of them. I scoffed quietly and moved to make my way to my room.

"You're horrible at sneaking, you know that?" Tim's voice laughed at me from the couch. I winced and turned, noticing that they were both looking at me.

I dropped my bag and walked cautiously into the room. "I guess my dreams of becoming a spy are ruined." Jesse grunted and stood, giving me a kiss on the orehead before heading to the kitchen. Tim and I stared after him before meeting each other's eyes. "Did he just…?"

"Leave us alone together? I think so." Tim smiled and motioned me over to the couch. Glancing behind me to make sure Jesse wasn't around, I dropped down next to him, smiling when he grabbed my hand.

"So," I said, watching his thumb rub the back of my hand soothingly. "Did you have fun last night?" I glanced up at him, and he nodded. "Good." We sat in silence for a few moments.

Tim reached out and pushed a piece of hair off my face, forcing me to look up at him. "So, you think it'd be possible for me to take you out again? Maybe this Friday after the game?"

"Tim, this is a qualifying game. Don't you think you'll want to party after the win?"

He just shook his head and scoffed. "I already know we're going to win. I'd much rather hang out with you then go watch Smash rap all night." That made me laugh and nod. "I'll take that as a yes."

I nodded more enthusiastically and he kissed my palm. All of this seemed so uncharacteristic for the Tim Riggins I thought I had figured out. That made me think of what Lyla had said. How did I know who the real Tim Riggins was? I could feel the shift in the room and I'm sure Tim noticed it too. "Tim…" I trailed off, unsure of where to start.

"Sis!" I heard Jesse's booming voice and jumped to the other end of the couch just before he entered the room. Tim looked extremely nonchalant as we sat there, like what had been happening hadn't. "You want to play winner?"

Glancing at Tim, I could see the question in his eyes, but I let it go and shook my head. "You know how bad I am at these games. I'll just let you boys get back to it.


I've got homework."

With that, I left the room, feeling Tim's eyes on me and refusing to look back.

As I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind raced. Where was all of this going? Tim and me. And how bumpy was the road going to be getting there?

Guys, I apologize profusely for abandoning this story as long as I did. I got so busy with school and work and I just didn't even really think about it. Now, I've got some more time and I promise I'm going to keep up with it. Chapters might be less frequent then they were at the beginning, but I'm going to try for every other week. So, Happy New Year and I hope all of you liked the chapter. As an extremely belated gift, I'm going to at least do three chapters this week. Promise. Reviews are welcomed and encouraged! :)

May this year be the best one yet!