He Was Never Mine

by Sunshine-M

Nearly ten years after leaving high school, Lyla reflects upon Tim and how he found his match in Julie. Told through Lyla’s POV, with some flashbacks. R&R!

2. The Dinner at The Taylors

Title: He was never mine chapter 2/?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I'm just playing with them
Author's Notes: I really need to thank Black Purple Roses for her help and patience. Apart from her beta skills, she also needs to be praised for giving me the courage to finally post that story I've been working on for so long.
Synopsis: Nearly ten years after leaving high school, Lyla reflects upon Tim and how he found his match in Julie. Told through Lyla's POV, with some flashbacks.

Flashback

"Come in! Come in" Tami exclaimed upon seeing them. "Eric is putting the final touch to his chili, but it won't take long. I made some garlic bread for starters with the sauce my momma used to make, you won't be disappointed.

Tim and Lyla both entered the house, right into the living room where Tami offered to take their coats. Lyla looked around her, she hadn't really been in the Taylors' household except during the few times the Coach had organized parties for the whole town, much to Tami's dismay. It felt homey enough, but she couldn't help but notice that it lacked her own house's air of grandeur. It shouldn't have mattered, since home was where the heart was and all that, but she would have thought that the town would have provided its beloved Coach with much better housing.

A squeal of delight could be heard, and Tim let go of her waist to move towards the baby in her bouncy seat.

" Hey there Gracie Bell!" He said, holding out his hand for her to grip.

She could barely hold two of his fingers in her small paw but that didn't take down her enthusiasm.

Looking at the baby, Lyla couldn't help but remember how her brother and sister had look like at the same age. She had been much younger herself back then and for some reason, she remembered them as little monkeys, but looking at Gracie, she thought it must have been the puberty speaking and dismay at not being an only child anymore. Little Gracie was a really cute baby, and she obviously was really fond of Tim, just as he seemed to be smitten with her. She was sporting this broad smile and his truly matched. He had lowered down a little to be to her eye-level.

"Somebody's got a crush," she said with a smile.

He blushed while the baby gurgled. "She just knows who I am," he tried to brush it off.

"Timmy!" The baby enunciated quite eloquently.

He grimaced briefly, then smiled brightly at the little girl.

"You know, Gracie, I liked it better when you were in your doubling phase."

"Tim-my!" she babbled again, raising one of her chubby hands to his face, resting it on his cheek.

"Her doubling phase? What was that?" Lyla asked, stepping back a little so as not to intrude on their bonding time.

"When she started talking, I don't know, I guess she noticed that a lot of pet names were the same 2 syllables, like Mama, and dadda, kinda… She would call Julie Ju-Ju, much to her dismay, and I was Tim-Tim. Silly, I know, but I liked Tim-Tim a lot better than Timmy."

"Look who got reunited with her favorite teddy bear again!" Julie exclaimed, emerging from her bedroom. "Timmy is here! Isn't it swell, Gracie?"

"Timmy's 'ere!" The baby mimicked, pulling the boy's hair.

"Hello Ju-Ju," Tim said with his trademark smirk. "By any chance, do you have anything to do with my new nickname?"

"You can lie to yourself but you can't lie to me, and I know that you secretly love being called Timmy, so yeah. I spent some time teaching Gracie your secret favorite pet name. Aren't you glad I did? Oh, hey Lyla", Julie exclaimed, blushing, as she finally noticed the girl was there.

Lyla was feeling completely out of the loop… Last she heard, Tami and Eric were fighting tooth and nails for Julie to take more responsibility and spend more time with her little sister. And now she was wasting time teaching her new ways to greet Tim? But she decided to keep it simple and said:

"Hey Julie, how are you?"

"Fine, fine". Are my folks in the kitchen?"

"Yeah, both of them," Tim answered. "Should we be worried?"

"I don't know… Have you been getting bad grades lately? Because Mom did swear that she would wring your neck if you went back to your previous devious ways… Since your neck is so thick, maybe she'll try and poison you instead."

Tim and Julie looked at each other very seriously for a few seconds, as if silently weighing if he deserved to be poisoned, and then burst out laughing.

"No, we shouldn't be worried", Julie finally said, "they are just trying to come up with a subtle way to ask you about the scholarship you may try to pursue. I heard them talking about it before you arrived."

Lyla, who was getting more and more confused with the silent then vocal conversation tried to get back on train and said:

"If you need help with your grades…."

"Don't worry, it's being taken care of," Tim cut her off, raising his hand with authority.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed when Gracie tugged on his hair.

"Tim-my! Tim-my!"

"Oh come on!" Julie exclaimed smirking, "don't be shy. Just take her in your arms. Lyla won't be jealous, will you?"

Lyla hesitated a little then gestured for Tim to fetch the baby, before crossing her arms on her chest.

Gracie started cooing in delight when she got where she had wanted to be all along, in Tim's arms. She clapped her hands then put them both on his face. She even gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Look who finally got reunited with the love of her life!" Tami said, coming back in the living room. "I'm sorry if you didn't know," she said to Lyla, "but even if you are Tim's girlfriend, you will never be his number one fan!"

"Yeah, obviously Gracie is," Lyla said, trying to smile, shifting on her feet, wondering why she felt a little a little hurt by that comment. She wasn't Tim #1 fan, was she supposed to be? Was it wrong for her to be annoyed that a one-year old was claiming that title?

"Even I get jealous sometimes," Eric said showing up too. "Not of Gracie of course, but of Tim. Gracie is my daughter, shouldn't she be worshipping me instead?"

"It's the Riggins' charm," Tim smirked. "Sorry Coach."

"Everything is ready, we can start eating", Tami said.

The rest of the evening was even more surreal for Lyla who had trouble keeping up with what appeared to be casual conversation. For example, Tim and the Taylors had inside jokes, that Tami tried to explain every time. Lyla could feel that they were also trying to hold back some bits that would take too long to get her caught up on. They talked to her and asked her about her life as if she was a part of the family, but she knew she wasn't. She was a little sad that Tim was never the one to explain the inside jokes, and it reinforced her thinking that he hadn't really wanted her to come.

There was also an undeniable tension in the air between the two guest teenagers. At some point, Julie, who had been bickering with Tim all dinner long, had gone to her bedroom to fetch something. She handed Tim a check and a greeting card.

"Woah, Julie, you know you don't need to pay for my company," he had said.

"Dumbass," she commented, rolling her eyes with exasperation. " It's from Grandma Ruby. She always sends some cash around Thanksgiving time, and she sent you a check too this year. Read the card."

"What does it say?" Lyla asked.

"Grandma Ruby wishes me a happy holiday season and says that she wants me to cash in this check because of this one occasion when I saved Julie from something bad."

"Cryptic much?" Lyla thought. She could see that he was summing up the actual text so that she wouldn't know what it was really about.

She felt courage run through her veins, fuelled by her annoyance and asked: "What occasion?"

"Let's not talk about it now," Eric intervened. "You should take that check. If you don't, she will just start sending more until you give in."

"Okay, I guess. Can you thank her for me?"

"No problem," Julie said. "I was waiting until I had given you her note before calling to thank her, I figured you would want me to pass the message."

"Thanks Jules."

"Who's Grandma Ruby?" Lyla couldn't help but inquire.

"Sorry," Julie offered with a contrite face, "it must be a little weird for you. Ruby is Daddy's aunt. But she's always been more of a grandma than just a great-aunt to me. She came to visit some time ago, after Gracie's baptism. She took a liking to Tim, you know, the Riggins charm is always at work."

"How come we never saw her in town?" Lyla asked.

"Ruby's a wonderful woman, she practically raised me and I adore her," Eric said. "Don't get me wrong on that, but I felt like I would lose a lot of my Coach Charisma and Credibility if people saw me with Ruby."

"You should know that Ruby isn't afraid to speak her mind, and she often gives Daddy an earful. She was extremely pissed about the TMU thing, and she made it very clear, at more than just one occasion. Then she was annoyed about other things that either the three of us did. I mean, it seriously felt like she was only here to chastise us, though Daddy was the one who gets his ear pinched the most. The only one she was happy with when it came to adults was Tim. Dad didn't want his players to see him get scolded like a naughty schoolboy by Ruby, that's the reason we tried to get her to stay inside the house most of the time. Maybe, when she'll visit next, if we haven't been doing too much stupid things, the town will get to meet her."

"Though I have a feeling she would end up scolding a lot of people she's just not related to…," Tim said. "Remember when she got on Mrs. Flenderson's case? That was an earful, and a painful one."

"What gave you the right to come and prattle to Eric about the Riggins boy visit? "Tami exclaimed in a high pitched voice, putting her clenched fists on her hips (much to Gracie's delight who clapped her chubby hands at her moms' performance), huffing exuberantly, clearly imitating Ruby's rant. "What make you think that he's was trying to get into Julie's pants? For all you know, since you're not an insider to our family, maybe I was the one smuggling the boy in, maybe it's my pants he's after, and now, thanks to you, I won't be getting any anymore. Really, woman, what happened to minding your own business? Just because you got a boring life and a lazy husband that doesn't give you the kind of loving you're craving, it doesn't make it alright for you to spy on your neighbours. And if you get so bored looking out the window is the only distraction you have, well, there's more than one Riggins boy. His brother may be able to quench your boredom. And maybe then people will be able to live their lives the way they want without worrying about your constant spying. Tim, when you get back home, tell your brother that Mrs I'm-the-all-knowing-eye-since-I-spy-all-the-time-Flenderson will be expecting a house call."

They all laughed while Lyla tried to chuckle convincingly.

"Billy later told me that whenever they would cross paths, Mrs Flenderson would look at him like he was a piece of meat. It still gives him the serious creep," Tim said.

"Why were you there in the first place?" she asked.

"My father was crashing at the Ranch and I just didn't feel like being there when he was. So the Coach offered me to stay on the couch here until my father went MIA again."

"So you were there when Grandma Ruby was visiting?"

"We came to an agreement," Eric offered, "as long as he didn't tell anyone in town about my relative visiting, he could hide from his own here. He held his end of the bargain, and more since you never told anybody about all those stories about my childhood you learnt from her stay.

"It never was an option to me. When I came to stay for the second time here, you said something about having each other's back around all those crazy women, and it still stands as far as I'm concerned," Tim said.

Eric beamed proudly at him while Tami slapped his arm and Julie got an outraged look on her face.

"Crazy women?" Tami said. "Thanks Honey, that's just… lovely. Come on Gracie."

"I'm so telling Grandma Ruby you called us that!" Julie said. "Both of you will have to deal with her!"

Both men got wide-eyes and started muttering explanations, trying to come up with a decent excuses or anything that would get them out of the heap of trouble they had unknowingly thrown themselves in, but Lyla wasn't really listening.

She couldn't get past the familiarity the scene was shining. Tim was completely comfortable there, sitting next to Mrs Taylor, bantering with Julie, joking with the Coach and making face at Lil' Gracie. She had never seen him that relaxed outside of his own bedroom or even on the field. It almost felt like he belonged there, at least for the night and she just didn't. She was willing to try to fit in harder, if it meant seeing Tim this free, careless and young.

After trying to mop the mess they had made insulting the Taylor women the best they could, both men offered to clean up the table and then headed to play some ping-pong. Gracie started fussing a little and Tami went to get her to bed, leaving Lyla and Julie to do the dishes. They worked in silence, efficiently.

"So, Julie," Lyla started, "I heard that Matt Saracen was trying to get back in your good graces. How do you feel about it?"

"Mostly like it's none of your business, quite frankly." Collecting herself for a moment, Julie spoke again with what sounded like a sincere apology. "I'm sorry, Lyla, I don't want to be rude, but just because you were invited to tag along with Tim doesn't make us best friends. It doesn't even make us friends. You did cry on my shoulder when Jason got injured, but you never talked to me afterwards. I don't resent you for that, I get it."

"I never meant to hurt your feelings…"

"You didn't. I'm just trying to make you see that you and I never connected, and if you tag along each time Tim is over, well that still won't make us friends. Besides, as you know, Tyra is my best girl."

"And Tyra hates me."

"Hate is a strong word, but you never will get along, not in foreseen-able future. The thing is, she will be annoyed to hear that we had dinner, and I'm afraid she'll feel a little jealous too. I don't want her to worry that she could lose our friendship each time you come over, so I'm putting down a line. I'm willing to be friendly, but don't you dare ask about my private life like we're pals. We just aren't."

Though she felt a little disheartened by Julie's speech, Lyla had to admit that it made sense. They weren't friends. Julie was Tyra's best friend. She might hang out with Lois from time to time, but when it came to friendship, Tyra and Julie were as close as soul mates could get. She decided that she would try her best not to do anything that might cause trouble between the two girls. Julie had been a positive influence on Tyra, helping her realize that she had a great potential. She also had tampered down the girl most of the time (except during the Powderpuff season when Tyra had been legitimate in her violence, so that didn't count). They had a good thing going on. Lyla just had never thought that she could be putting Julie in a bad situation, between a rock and a hard place.

"I understand," she finally said. "I'm sorry I intruded on your private life. I guess I was just trying to make conversation."

"Wait for my mom to come back. She'll try and chat you up 'til you find yourself begging for mercy."

And that's what they did. They finished the dishes in silence until Lyla said: "Thank you for taking the time to explain a few of your private jokes to me. I learned a lot of things about Tim tonight."

Julie looked a little surprised, especially after having given the girl such a stern lecture on their non-friendship, but she got over it.

"You're welcome; If Mom doesn't do it, I will chastise him for not taking the time to explain those things. I may not be Grandma Ruby but I still could give him hell for his manners," she winked.

Lyla laughed a little, glad to be in on at least that one private joke.

"Besides, being Tyra's best friend, I'm sure you've seen her telling people off. You could draw inspiration from her technique", Lyla offered.

"Definitely. I could come up with a combined technique, inspired by Ruby and Tyra."

"It will be nothing short of a deadly weapon", Lyla agreed.

"What would be?" Tami asked, joining the girls in the kitchen.

"We were comparing Ruby's and Tyra's styles for giving hell", Julie explained.

"Would Tyra have any reason to give you hell?" Tami asked cautiously.

"Not really. She just saw Matt make his way to me after lunch, to talk to me, and she was not okay with that," Julie shrugged it off.

"Were you okay with that?"

"He has a girlfriend, Mom, so don't be like that. I think he just misses our friendship. I'm just not sure I miss as much as he does. Is Dad grilling Tim about the A&M scholarship as we speak?" she abruptly changed subject.

"Yeah. We figures there was no point talking about it during dinner, putting him on the spot like that. When the boys are playing ping-pong, they're more relaxed; Eric will listen to Tim's thoughts on the subject and he will be able to give him advices without sounding like the Dillon's Panthers Coach."

"Ah, the magic of Ping-pong…." Julie sing-songed. "Oh, wait, Gracie's forgotten her blue thingy... I'll bring it to her."

"Thanks Honey," Tami said while the blonde disappeared. "I don't know if your siblings were the same at the same age, but if she wakes up without that toy, there'll be hell to pay tomorrow."

Lyla chuckled. Tami started inquiring about her college plans and about her family. It was easy to talk to her because she was always so supportive. Forty minutes later, Eric and Tim emerged from the garage, a little sweaty but with an accomplished look on both of their faces.

"Good game?"Tami asked with a smile.

"We ended it on a tie. The boy should get some sleep if he wants to be any good on the field tomorrow."

"Do you mind if I freshen up before we go?" Tim asked.

"Sure Honey. You know where everything is."

"I'll be just a minute," he told Lyla. "I just want to splash on some water before we leave."

He kissed her briefly then flew to the bathroom. Eric started asking about Buddy's and Santiago's cohabitation.

"I'm kinda afraid ten years from now they'll still be re-enacting 'the Odd Couple'", Lyla said. "They get along so well in the end, Dad seems to have gotten used to all the things that are changing, like Mom's upcoming nuptials, so it's great."

Tami asked about her feelings toward her future-stepfather, and the girl had to sigh. She then proceeded to confide in the Taylors about the up and down of her own cohabitation. Time flew by as she opened her heart, and when the clock rang 11 PM, she jumped: "Oh my, here I am keeping you up. Tomorrow is a big day, we should let you get some sleep! What happened to Tim, I thought he was just freshening up…"

"He's probably in Julie's room, "Eric said.

Lyla felt amazed by how relaxed the Coach was describing what had to be most Dillon's fathers worst nightmare.

"It's okay." Tami explained when she saw her startled expression. "They have the same English teacher, and sometimes, they like to discuss their respective assignments. At first, I thought I was hallucinating too, but when Tim came to live with us, they kinda bonded. Since Julie was freaking about the literature paper she has due tomorrow, I'm guessing she asked him for his opinion. You can go check for yourself."

"I believe you, I really do, but I think that's something I have to see with my own eyes," Lyla said.

"Go ahead."

Lyla ventured in the corridor, as quietly as possible when she had to pass Gracie's room, then silently popped her head in Julie's room. Tami had been right, they both were installed on the girl's bed, in front of her laptop, and they were surrounded by what had to be Julie's notes. Though, they seemed to be done with the English paper: Julie was telling a story in hushed tones, with laughter in her eyes, making lots of hand gestures. Tim was smirking, in a content way. When Julie got to the punch line of her story, he chuckled lightly.

"Don't laugh!" She exclaimed. "It was so embarrassing. You never want to be in the same room as Matt and Tyra, she looked like she could have murdered him with her bare hands, and he was painfully aware of that. He kept throwing me glances like I could do something, but I'm not her leash holder, I'm just her friend."

"You're not just her friend, you know. You're probably the closest thing she's had to a BFF" Tim raised his hands to motion quotes "as you girls say. She would do anything to protect you, even if it meant killing Dillon's beloved QB1. Besides, he was being an obnoxious ass. I would have kicked him if I had witnessed that kind of shitty behavior."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Twice. Once on my behalf and once on yours."

"Thank you," Julie whispered before dropping her head on his shoulder.

He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before wrapping his arm around her.

Feeling like she had intruded enough on their privacy, Lyla took a step back and called out: "Have you seen Tim?" before pushing the bedroom's door open a few seconds later.

"Hey Lyla," Tim said with both his hands on his knees. "Sorry I kept you waiting. I was just comparing with Julie the English paper we have due tomorrow."

"It's okay. I was chatting with the Taylors and didn't notice you were gone. Shouldn't we be heading back?"

"Yes, we should. Thank you for discussing that paper with me Jules," he said, jumping off her bed.

"No problem, have a good night Lyla."

"Yeah, you too."

"Don't let stupid asses get you down," Tim said when on the bedroom's step. "Remember, clear eyes, full hearts, …"

"Shut up Tim-my."

"Night Ju-ju."

They said their goodbyes rapidly and then found themselves riding his truck back to her place. After a while, she said: "That was an interesting evening."

"Most evenings at the Taylors' are," he commented.

She could feel uneasiness pouring out of him and said:

"It's okay, Tim, I get it. I'm not mad you didn't bring me over sooner. I get that the Taylors' is the place you can find peace of mind. They love you and you love them. You fit there, and I'm glad. It's a little sad you're not closer to your own family but I'm glad you found a second one where you feel good."

He was watching her very seriously.

"I … love the Taylors", he finally said. "They took me in when nobody else would, and they keep taking me in whenever I need it. When Billy threw me out, everybody else was looking the other way, not caring about what was going to happen to me. You did too." She blushed because he was right. "But like Jay. The Coach didn't."

She could hear the devotion and admiration in his voice.

"I get that," she said. "And it's fine with me. You bonded with them as a whole and you found a place where you truly belong. That's really great. And because I love you, too, I will not tag along with you to these dinners. Maybe, sometime in the future, you'll ask me to come with you because you want me there, but right now, I get that it's a part of you that needs to be just that, yours."

"Thank you", he whispered, pulling his arm around her neck and getting her to rest her head against his shoulder.

It kind of hurt to let him keep this huge part of him secret, but Lyla knew she was making the right decision if they wanted their relationship to last. She comforted herself by breathing him in: his masculine scent always cheered her up. Except this time: he smelled like baby powder and raspberries? She pondered bringing it up but just couldn't hold it back anymore:

"Hem, Tim? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but did you change shampoo or something? Because I'm pretty sure you don't usually smell like that."

"Like what? " He asked, before sniffing his shoulder. "Oh. The Baby powder is Gracie's."

"And the fruity perfume?"

"I don't know. Maybe Mrs T.'s, or Julie's. Probably Julie's. No big deal. I hugged a lot of people tonight. But have no worries, I'll be back to my manly perfume soon enough."

"Yeah, Mrs Taylor told me you have bonded with her too. Was the Saracen business making her miserable? I know he wants her back," Lyla said.

"You can't always get what you want. Besides, I thought you were above gossiping."

She kept her mouth shut for the remainder of the trip back home. He was obviously devoted to all the Taylors, no exception. She could only hope and pray that one day he would be as devoted to her as he was to them.

End flashback