Chapter 6
"I think I know why."
That one sentence kept reverberating in her head. Tim had said that to her when he apologised for ignoring her. He thought he knew why he had chosen to ignore her, what was that supposed to mean? All she knew was that he had changed the way he interacted with her and it made her nervous. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. They were vastly different people with nothing in common. It would be nice to have an older brother, someone to depend on and protect her from the letches. He smelled nice too, there were many qualities that made Tim a great candidate for honorary big brother. He was being friendly. It could work.
The next morning Julie got up for the shower and bumped into Tim again. He had a towel wrapped around his hips and she watched a drip of water weave its way from his neck, over his pecs, across his six-pack and get absorbed by the towel. She took a deep breath and faced him. He was silently laughing at her. She cocked her head to the side and screwed her face up in indignation
"Tim, you better not have used all the hot water or I am seriously going to kill you. This hair," she tossed it with her hand and accidentally swiped him with a few strands "is a monumental challenge. It takes forever, and by that I mean FOREVER to look like I don't have a genetic link with the Coach and his crazy-ass hair." She stormed passed him, having to squish between him and the door frame and slammed the door in his face. Truthfully she wasn't annoyed about the hot water. She had just gotten busted perving and she was embarrassed beyond belief.
"So I guess I am officially your big bro now," a deep voice flowed through the door. With a huff she opened the door and stuck her head out
"If you were my brother I would have hit you,"
"Been there, done that, there's the stain," he chuckled pointing at the carpet. Julie groaned out loud in frustration, she stepped out of the bathroom and punched him squarely in the arm. Unfortunately the Coach was exiting his room at that moment
"Julie Taylor. Could you please cease your attempts to harm my fullback? He already has the stitches, he don't need no cast," he ruffled his hair as he pushed past both Julie and Tim to jump the shower queue. Coach closed the door behind him. Julie looked at the door in disbelief.
"Looks like you might look more like your dad today than you'd prefer," Tim suggested.
"Lucky me,' Julie groaned.
On the ride to school Julie decided to tackle her concerns head on. Sitting in Tim's truck on the way to school was a great way to ensure a captive audience.
"So Tim..." she started.
"So Jules..." he mimicked.
"What's with the new big brother act?" Julie asked "I preferred it when you ignored me," He didn't bother responding.
"O-kay then. What did you mean before I injured you?" she pursed her lips and stared at him with all the intent she could muster. He quickly removed his glance from the road to her and then back to the road.
"Oh before you broke my 'pretty boy face'?" he kidded. Julie quickly realised Tim wasn't going to discuss anything.
"Okay big bro, what's with the teasing?" she wasn't going to give up. Failure was not an option to a Taylor.
"Teasing? Who's teasing?" Julie let out a loud frustrated growl and felt like stomping her feet on the ground.
"So you've got the big brother routine down. I thought we had established that you," stabbing him in the arm with her finger "and me are not and never will be brother and sister. You can tease me and pull my hair and stuff but you are not a big brother type."
At this Tim looked at her and questioned
"Why not?" He was annoyed.
"I didn't grow up with you Tim. We haven't been on family vacations together. We don't have insulting nicknames for one another. We didn't share baths together when we were little. I don't confide in you and plot against my parents with you. Lastly we're friends not siblings. You are my friend."
"You confide in me."
"What?"
"About being ignored. The bath thing. We could do that," she whipped her head around to catch him grinning at her.
"See this is what I am talking about. There is teasing and then there is 'teasing'. A brother would not infer what you just did then," her words came out in a rush. She sat hard against the seat and crossed her arms against her chest. Julie could not ever remember being so frustrated with anyone, even when Matt was stuttering she'd never been this riled up.
"I really have no idea what you are yammering on about,"
"Tim, you tease me like I am a chick, not your sister. Who jokes about having a bath with their sister?" she questioned him. It was time to collect her thoughts and use the old standby, the silent treatment. Except that on Tim it didn't work. He was fine with a non-verbal truck ride. She humphed again, crossed her arms tighter and stared out the window at the houses they passed.
As they pulled into the car park, Julie decided she would get the last word.
"So what do I call you bro? How about Timikins or Riggioni? We need nicknames. Wait I have a perfect one," she hopped out of the truck and used the slam of the door for dramatic effect "how about Ass!" She stomped off not looking back at her victim. An arm reached around her shoulders and pulled her tightly towards a warm and hard body. It was Tim.
"What are you doing?" she gasped. The arm that had wrapped around her shoulders tightened slightly while his other hand rose. He was going to kiss her, she was sure of it. The hand made a loose fist and kept an upward movement until her head. He moved his hand back and forth across the top of her head, effectively destroying any efforts she had made on her hair. She squealed and pushed him away.
"You are an ass,"
"Nope. I'm your brother."
She stormed away with a trail of people watching intently at their little public display. When she realised just how many people were watching she slowed. She turned around and looked back at Tim. He had a victory smile spread across his face.
He was waiting for her in his truck after school. She hopped in and chose to ignore him. He started up the car, reversed out of the car park and began whistling along with the country tune on the radio. She shifted so that her body was facing the window. She didn't dare give him the satisfaction of looking at him or anywhere near him. It was a warm day and the air was heavy with the chance of rain. They were both slightly damp with the mixture of humidity and perspiration.
"How about an ice cream?" he suggested lazily.
"Fine," she responded tartly.
They pulled up at the Alamo Freeze. Matt just happened to be working. The little hat of his sitting precariously on his head. He wasn't shocked to see Julie and Tim together. Tim had been living at the Taylor's over a month now and it was common to see them together. They ordered, Julie slightly awkward, and sat down in a booth to eat. She looked towards Matt, still puzzled that he was with a cheerleader. She never would have thought that for him but then again he was a footballer. She turned her head towards the footballer she was sharing the booth with. He was looking at her intently, his gaze momentarily breaking from hers to look behind the booth at Matt.
"Regrets?" he asked quietly.
"Huh?" she broke out of her thoughts when hearing his voice. "Tim I am not going to confide in you. But for your information, no. Matt and I were good together but we want different things."
"Like what?"
"Landry."
"You want Landry?" he choked on his mouthful of vanilla ice cream. A spot of it rested immediately above his top lip.
"No. I like the guy but seriously they are with each other 24/7. It was always the three of us. You know what they said about 'two's company, three's a crowd'." She tried to put it into context for him but it wasn't the reason why she had broken up with Matt.
"I don't believe you."
"What? "
"Landry doesn't even hang out with Matt that much anymore. He's always off somewhere, probably rehearsing with that bizarre band of his," he reasoned.
"Fine. My family was apart and I looked at us, Matt and me, and realised we were going to be like my parents."
"What is so bad about that? Your parents are great."
"I know but it just felt like I needed to explore more and have some adventures. I wasn't ever going to do that with Matt, he's got enough on his plate as it is," she said sadly. She looked again at Matt, noticing he was watching her. He raised his hand in a casual wave and went back to work. Julie sighed; she'd been such a bitch.
"Jules," Tim broke the silence "I really think I am getting the big brother thing here," She couldn't believe he was trying that crap again.
"Tim you are a really good friend. Thank you for listening to me go on," perhaps ignoring him was the key.
"Don't you mean confide? Big brothers do that," he said with a grin, leaning his elbows on the table. He looked so smug. She hated smug, she wanted to burst his bubble. That spot of ice cream was teasing her too, moving as he spoke. Summoning a vast amount of courage she didn't know she possessed, Julie struck. With a huge whoosh of air, she rose forward and kissed him. Initially the force and speed in which she'd moved in made the kiss a little awkward and smooshy but she adjusted immediately. She lifted her other hand and held his head in them. No response. It wasn't her best effort sure but he was leaving her hanging. She broke the kiss off, it wasn't working and the humiliation was painful.
"Little sisters don't do that," she murmured. She licked the spot of ice cream from above his lip and added "or that," She grabbed her bag and ran out of the store. Behind her she left a completely stunned Tim Riggins and a perturbed Matt Saracen.
Author's Note - Apologies if anyone is having issues with the flow, this week is tiring me out. For those wondering why the spelling may be different – I am an Aussie and we spell using UK English not American English. Big apologies for the lines that infested Chapter 4, I have no explanation. Thanks so much for the reviews. You are all so lovely and it has definitely sped up my production. I am glad so many of you are enjoying it. It's a pity this hasn't happened. The teaser for next week with the Tim/Lyla hints doesn't give me all that much hope either. Cheers!
