Title: Someone Like You
AN: Well, here it is ladies - Tim joining the Taylor's for Sunday dinner and his little chat with Coach. I never could quite get this chapter exactly how I wanted it, and it's still not what I had planned...but here it is! I tried my best to keep them all in character the best I could. As always, thanks so much for all the feedback on the last chapter. I look forward to hearing what you ladies think about this one as well! Enjoy :D
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"Julie honey, will you please come cut up these tomatoes for the salad." Tami calls loudly, bouncing around the kitchen as she prepares Sunday dinner.
"Sure, mom." Julie says, abandoning her spot on the living room floor beside her sister. "Keep watching cartoons, Gracie Bell." Julie says with a grin.
Julie watches as her sister never takes her eyes off the television. The kid definitely loves her cartoons, she thinks with a grin.
Julie makes her way into the kitchen, grabbing a knife out of a drawer and beginning to dice the tomatoes her mother has sitting on the counter.
"Okay. Your father's grilling the chicken. I've got the potato casserole in the oven, and I'm steaming some vegetables." Tami says, naming off the dishes on her fingers. "Does Tim even like chicken? Or vegetables? I can't remember and I didn't even think to ask."
Julie chuckles. "Tim likes food period, mom. I have yet to see him turn his nose up at anything. Besides, he grew up with Billy's cooking and pretty much lives off of junk food now."
"Well, that's true." Tami says with a grin. "We'll probably be waiting on your father's chicken, but everything else should be done by the time he gets here."
"He should be here any minute." Julie says, glancing up at the clock. "So, is dad going to be good? Or is he going to embarrass me with his little 'talk'?"
Tami laughs lightly. "Well honey, I don't think he's gonna meet Tim at the door with a shotgun or anything. I had a little talk with him this morning after church, so I think he'll be fine."
"Good." Julie says with a sigh, giving her mother a quick smile before continuing to dice the tomatoes.
Julie grins a few minutes later as she hears the doorbell ring. She quickly rinses and dries her hands before making her way to the front door. "I'll get it." She says quickly.
"I figured you would." Julie hears her mother say with a laugh.
Julie opens the door to find Tim standing on the doorstep with a handful of lilies and a sexy grin.
"Hey." Julie says, her excitement at seeing him causing her to grin goofily.
"Hey." Tim says softly.
"You brought flowers." She says, trying not to laugh.
Tim shrugs, a smirk on his lips. "These are for your mom."
"That's so sweet." Julie says playfully, knowing he hates that word in reference to himself.
He shakes his head. "Well, I was gonna give you something too, but I don't know after that."
"What?" Julie says quickly, taking a step toward him. "What were you gonna give me?"
Tim smirks, leaning forward and placing his lips on hers for a quick kiss. The quick action just enough to leave Julie wanting more.
"I'd rather have that than flowers." Julie says with a smile.
"Thought so." Tim says cockily, causing to Julie to laugh and roll her eyes.
"Nervous?" Julie asks.
"Nah." He says quickly, watching Julie raise her eyebrows like she doesn't believe him. "Well, maybe a bit."
"It's gonna be okay." She says sweetly. "Come on." She says, taking his hand and leading him into the house and toward the kitchen.
"Hey Tim." Tami says sweetly as the pair walks into the kitchen.
"Hey Mrs. T. These are for you." Tim says with a small smile, holding the flowers out awkwardly.
"Oh hun, they're beautiful!" Tami says quickly, taking the offered flowers. "You shouldn't have, Tim. That's so sweet of you."
Tim shrugs. "No worries." He says, looking at Julie to find her holding back a laugh.
"Julie!" Gracie says from the living room floor, her name sounding more like 'Juwie' coming from the youngster's mouth.
"What, squirt?" Julie says, walking into the living room with Tim following behind her.
"No more cartoons." Gracie says sadly, her little lip sticking out in a pout as she looks up at her sister and then at Tim.
"She's gotten so big." Tim says quietly, grinning down at the little girl.
Cuter too, Tim thinks to himself. He had always thought she was a little funny looking when he had lived with the Taylor's. Not that he would ever tell anyone else that.
"Hey Gracie, this is Tim. You don't remember it, but you used to be crazy about him." Julie says with a smile, glancing at Tim. "Say hey to Tim."
"Hey Tim." Gracie says quickly, giving Tim a toothy grin.
"Hey Gracie." Tim responds, chuckling at the outgoing little girl. Tim wondered if Julie was the same at her age.
"How old is she now?" He asks.
Julie grins. "How old are you, Gracie Bell?"
"I three." Gracie says proudly, holding up three of her little fingers.
"Wow. That big huh?" Tim says with a smile.
"Yep." Gracie says, nodding her head up and down dramatically, causing both Tim and Julie to laugh.
They glance up as they hear the sliding glass door opening, seeing Eric stick his head inside the house.
"About ten more minutes on the chicken, honey." He calls out, glancing over at them. "Well hey son. I didn't know you were here already."
Tim nods. "Just got here a few minutes ago, Coach."
"Well how 'bout that." Eric says with a grin. "You wanna come out here and help me man the grill?"
"Uh, sure Coach." Tim says slowly.
Tim glances at Julie, receiving an encouraging smile before heading outside, sliding the door closed behind him.
Tim stands to the side, sliding his hands in his pockets as he watches Coach turning the chicken on the grill. Tim remains quiet, trying to prepare himself for the upcoming conversation.
"Smells good doesn't it?" Coach asks.
"Yes sir, it does." Tim says truthfully, shifting his weight from foot to foot nervously.
Coach closes the grill lid, turning toward Tim as he wipes his hand on a towel. "Well son, like I mentioned the other night, I think we need to have ourselves a little talk."
Tim swallows. Here it comes. "Okay."
"Now it's pretty obvious that you and my daughter got something goin' on. Datin' or goin' out, or whatever the hell it is you kids are calling it these days." Eric says, shaking his head.
"Yes sir." Tim says quietly.
"Now I'm not sayin' that I disapprove. It's just that, well, you got yourself a little bit of a reputation of bein' a love 'em and leave 'em kind of guy to put it nicely." Eric says matter of fact.
Tim nods slightly, not sure how to respond to that – or if he's even supposed to.
"And Julie may be grown, but she's still my little girl. Always will be." Eric says, rubbing his chin slowly. "You hear what I'm sayin', son?"
"Yes sir." Tim says. "You don't want her getting hurt."
"That's it exactly." Eric says with a grin. "And you know, I like you son. We've been through a lot together, and you've grown into a good man. A real good man."
"Thank you, sir." Tim says with a small smile.
"You're welcome." Eric says quickly. "Now, that bein' said – you hurt my daughter and it ain't gonna make me real happy, if you understand what I'm sayin'."
"Yes, sir. I understand." Tim says, nodding to emphasize his words. "I have no intention of hurtin' Julie though, sir. I'm gonna try my best to make her happy, not the other way around."
Eric smirks. "That's good. That's real good." He drawls, turning back to the grill. "Now what do you say we get this chicken off the grill, and have us some dinner."
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"That was delicious, Mrs. T." Tim says, leaning back from the table. "The chicken too, Coach."
"Well, thank you honey. Glad you enjoyed it." Tami says with a smile. "Hope you saved room for dessert. There are brownies in the kitchen."
Tim grins. "Maybe in a bit." He says, smiling at Tami before meeting Julie's gaze across the table.
She smiles, and he feels himself smiling back. So far, so good, he thinks to himself.
The talk with Coach had gone much better than he had been expecting. Coach had been a little firm, but not nearly as scary as Tim had anticipated. After getting the dreaded talk out of the way, dinner had gone smoothly with Tim joining in with the family's quick banter.
Tim had always enjoyed spending time with the Taylor's. Living with them for that short week in high school had shown him what a real family was like – a lot of sarcasm and poking fun at one another, but mostly love and acceptance.
"Well Tim, how are you boys looking for this week's game?" Eric asks, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his hand over his full belly.
"Dad…" Julie says with a groan. "I was really starting to believe we were going to make it through dinner without talking about football."
Tami laughs lightly. "Well Jules, you should know better than that."
Eric shakes his head. "How did I end up with a daughter who doesn't like to talk about football?" He asks playfully.
"I like football. I even like talking about football – sometimes, just not all the time." Julie says with a smirk.
"Sad ain't it, son?" Eric asks with a grin, looking at Tim.
Tim chuckles. "A shame." Tim says with a nod, grinning at Julie.
Julie sticks her tongue out at him playfully. "Seriously though. It would be like me and mom talking about, I don't know – shoes. It would be like me and mom talking about shoes all the time."
"We can talk about shoes. I like shoes." Eric says quickly, resting his elbows on the table. "You like shoes, son?"
"Yes sir." Tim says with a smirk, trying not to laugh.
"Running shoes, cowboy boots, bowling shoes…" Eric drawls. "Hell, I even like high heels…on your mother." He says, giving Tami a slow wink.
Tami laughs, shaking her head. "Jules honey, you might as well give up. Your father will be talkin' football 'til the day he dies."
"Damn right." Eric responds, with a grin.
"Damn wight." Gracie says loudly from her high chair, drawing everyone's eyes to her.
Julie starts to laugh, quickly followed by Tim. "Way to go, dad."
"Eric! I told you to start watchin' your mouth." Tami says, swatting at Eric with her napkin. "Frankly, I don't want her saying any more curse words at church. The first time was embarrassing enough."
"Aw honey, I've been doin' better." Eric says, standing up to lift Gracie out of her seat. "And you Miss Gracie, don't need to listen to your father."
Tim grins, taking the whole scene in – enjoying himself more and more as the time passes.
"Jules honey, help me clean up the kitchen?" Tami asks, starting to gather the dishes from the table.
"Sure, mom." Julie says as she stands up from her seat.
Tim quickly stands, gathering his plate and glass.
"Tim honey, leave that there. Julie and I'll get it." Tami says quickly, motioning for him to leave the dishes alone.
"It's no problem." Tim says, following behind them into the kitchen and placing his dishes on the counter with the other dirty items.
"Now, a guest is not gonna be doin' the dishes in my house." Tami says in her stubborn voice. "Go in the living room with Eric. Watch some TV or something." She says, shooing him out with her hands.
"Yes, mam." Tim says with a smirk. He was now surer than ever where Julie got her bossiness from.
"Tim, come on son." Eric calls from the living room. "There should be an NFL game on. We'll talk about football while the women folk stay in there and talk about shoes."
"Alright." Tim says, glancing at Julie and giving her a grin before heading in the living room to watch some football with Coach.
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Tim was still grinning much later that evening as he and Julie made their way back to Austin. Dinner with the Taylor's had ended up being pretty great. They had even ended up staying much longer than they had planned. Tim had gotten caught up in watching football with Coach, but he knew that Julie had enjoyed spending the extra time with her family as well.
The sun had long since gone down, and darkness had settled on the Texas landscape as Tim drove slowly down the road. He was in no hurry to get back, especially not with Julie feeling so good curled up beside him.
He wasn't sure if she was asleep or just resting her eyes, but she had been quiet for a while. She was snuggled up against his side, her fingers entwined with his own, and her head resting on his shoulder.
Something about the situation just felt right. Like this was exactly where he was supposed to be. Exactly who he was supposed to be with.
He grins, thinking about the events of the past weekend. From the Homecoming game to the run in with Mr. Clarke, from dinner with the Taylor's to spending time with Billy and his family – it had all been fun, and Tim found himself looking forward to another trip back to Dillon.
Especially if Julie was going to be by his side.