DISCLAIMER: Not mine. If they were, would I really be stuck in the middle of Kansas working at a Wal-Mart?
SUMMARY: Tommy's talking to Tara at Jason's house. Can he forgive her for lying to him about Jason being her brother?
A/N: To those who have reviewed, thank you. I hope that this next chapter lives up to your expectations.
"Tommy?" Tara's soft voice almost didn't reach Tommy's ears.
"Yes, Tara?"
"I'm sorry I lied to you. I just couldn't take hearing someone else tell Jason about how crazy it was to let someone like me be a teacher's aide." Tommy felt a rage he hadn't known in a long time build inside of him. 'I'd really like to hurt the guy that called Jase to complain about Tara. Hurt him like he hurt her.'
"Jason explained it to me, Tara. I understand. That guy was wrong to do what he did. Hell, I think you did a pretty good job your first day. I'm sorry that you missed the rest of the week."
"Did those football players get into trouble?"
"They did. Principal Randall assigned them each four days in-school detention and they were pulled from the next game. The coach was real understanding when he found out how they'd been teasing you." He smiled. 'Boy was he understanding.'
"I didn't get to meet the Coach."
"You know him quite well." Tommy was smiling when Tara looked up at him. He pointed over toward the house where Jason stood at the grill.
"Jason's the coach? He never told me." Tara stood up and ran at her brother. Tommy just watched as Tara smacked her brother in the arm. He laughed as Jason just picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She shrieked as her brother started tickling her.
Kimberly was standing there laughing at Tara when Tommy lunged at her and threw her over his shoulder, tickling her.
"Thomas James Oliver!" Kim shrieked, pounding on his back.
"Switch!" Jason yelled. He went to set Tara down but, before Tommy could catch her she ran off. Tommy immediately gave chase.
"He'll never catch her," Kim said. When Jason just looked at her, she smiled up at him. "She's small and can get into places that he can't." Jason just nodded and turned back to the grill.
"I wonder what he said that made her come after me like that," the young man mused.
"Probably told her the one thing that you forgot to. That you're the football coach." Kim laughed as Jason blushed, realizing that she was probably right. He had forgotten to tell his little sister that he was coaching at the high school.
Tommy chased Tara through the woods. She looked behind her every now and again to see if he was still following her.
Breaking out of the woods, Tara found herself standing in the middle of the road with a truck bearing down on her. She froze.
Tommy kept running. He put on a burst of speed when he heard the horn. Bursting onto the road, he ran at Tara, grabbing her and flying the rest of the way across the road. The two of them landed in the ditch on the other side of the road.
Tommy pulled himself up off of Tara and looked down at her. "Tara?" Her eyes were closed and she lay still in his arms.
Tara's heart was pounding against his chest and he knew that she was still alive but she wasn't opening her eyes. "Tara, you're safe. I'm here."
He felt her start to shake. Then, the tears started flowing from her still-closed eyes. He sat up and pulled her into his lap, rocking her gently. He felt the shakes begin in himself then and just held her close.
"Jason, they've been gone a long time. Do you think…?"
"They're alright. They have to be." Jason didn't want to think about the fact that something might have happened to his friend and his baby sister. "Keep an eye on the grill. I'll see if I can find them."
"No need, Jase." Tommy's voice from behind them startled the two. They spun to see Tommy carrying Tara who seemed to be asleep. "We made it back."
"What happened?" Jason demanded, running to his friend to check on his sister.
"She almost got hit by a truck. She ran out into the road and I heard the horn blare. I picked up the pace and ran across the road, grabbing her. We fell into the ditch on the other side and that's where we sat until I got myself calmed down and she fell asleep in my lap. When I realized that she was asleep and it was starting to get dark, I managed to stand up and bring her back." He turned from his friends and started to walk into the house. That's when Kim and Jason noticed that he was limping.
"What happened to you, Tommy?"
"It's just my legs are still a little stiff from sitting for so long." He kept walking into the house and put the young woman down on the couch. When he went to step away from her, she reached out in her sleep and grabbed his hand. He sighed with a smile and sat down on the floor next to her.
Jason watched as Kim put a light sheet over Tara and then wrapped another one around Tommy's shoulders. Tommy put his head on the couch next to Tara and fell asleep almost immediately.
Jason wrapped an arm around Kim's shoulders as she came back to his side. "I guess we should bring everything back inside."
"I'll help clean up. We'll put the stuff in the fridge after we eat. That way, if they wake up later they can get something to eat." Kim and Jason turned and went outside to gather up the chicken and salads that they had prepared for this little cookout.
After eating, the two of them went to bed, leaving Tommy and Tara in the living room asleep.