Title: Lonely No More
A/N: Lots of thanks for all the reviews, alerts, and favorites after only the first chapter. You ladies are awesome :D Enjoy!!!
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Tim pulled up to the Alamo Freeze, a scowl on his face.
He was tired. Tired of Coach riding his ass at pre-season practice for not being good at tailback. Tired of Billy bitching at him for not keeping the house clean enough. Tired of trying to convince Lyla that she belonged with him and not her little preacher boy. He was just plain tired.
He had pretty much decided to give up on the whole Lyla situation. He had tried his best all last school year to sway her attention away from Chris, but when summer arrived and he still hadn't made any progress, he had pretty much given up.
He hadn't been to church in almost two months, and he had only seen her a couple of times since summer began.
He was moving on. No more waiting around on Lyla Garrity. No sense in pining after someone who didn't care about him. Especially when there were plenty of women in Dillon more than willing to keep him company.
Lyla was probably better off without him anyway, he thought climbing out of his truck and making his way inside the building.
"Riggs." Smash said, smiling from his spot behind the counter as Tim walked in.
"Williams." Tim said, nodding his head in greeting.
"What's goin' on, man? What can I get yah?" Smash asked.
"Sundae. Extra chocolate."
Smash nodded, turning to prepare the sweet treat. "So, how's it goin' playing my old position?"
"You want the truth?" Tim asked, watching as Smash nodded his head. "I'd go back to fullback in a heartbeat. I got Coach, I got Seven, riding my ass. And you're gonna love this - I'm reminded every day that I'm no Smash Williams."
Smash grinned, handing the sundae over to Tim. "You'll get it, Riggs. You'll probably never be as good as the Smash, but you'll get it." He said with a cocky grin.
Tim shook his head, taking a bite of the sundae as he leans back on the railing, turning as he hears the ding of the door opening.
"Miss Julie Taylor." Smash drawled, a flashy smile on his face. "How's it goin'? What can the Smash get for you?"
Julie walked up to the counter, giving Tim a quick hello before placing her order.
"One chicken sandwich coming right up." Smash said, returning her change and heading to the back to prepare her order.
"So, um, how are you?" Julie asked after a few seconds.
Tim smirked. Julie definitely wasn't one for silences.
"Alright. You?"
"I'm good. Just stopped by to get something for lunch before heading to the pool." She said quickly, shifting from foot to foot, drawing Tim's gaze to her tanned legs.
Nice. Very nice, he thought to himself.
"How's practice goin'?" She asked, drawing his gaze back up to her face.
"It's goin'." He said shortly, shrugging his shoulders and taking another bite.
He immediately regretted the gruffness with which he had spoken, seeing her eyes dim slightly at his answer. Hell, it wasn't her fault that he was having a shitty day.
"Oh." Julie said quietly. "Um, well, if you need to talk about it or whatever…"
Tim nodded slightly. "Thanks, Taylor." He said quietly, a little surprised by her offer.
Though he wasn't sure why he was surprised. Julie was one of the few people that never seemed to judge him. And she was refreshingly straight up with him, unlike most of the girls he knew.
She seemed to actually care what he thought. Either she was one of the few people that did, or she was a damn good actress.
"Here yah go, Miss Julie." Smash said placing a paper bag on the counter and pushing it her way.
"Thanks." Julie said giving Smash a smile. "Well, um, I guess I'll see yah." She said, turning back to Tim.
"Yeah." Tim drawled, surprising himself with his next words. "There's a party at Bradley's house tonight. A lot of folks from school will be there. That is if you're not already partyin' with your parents." He said with a smirk.
Julie grinned, shaking her head slightly. "Um, no, I don't have any plans."
"You should come."
"Yeah. Yeah, I might do that." She said with a smile. "See yah."
"Later." He said, watching as she walked out the door. All the while wondering what had prompted him to ask her to the party.
Maybe it was remembering her comments from last week about being bored. Or maybe it was because he just wanted to spend more time with her.
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Julie walked around the crowded house wondering why in the world she had decided to come to Bradley's party.
She had said hello to a few people, but for the most part she had walked around in circles, looking for someone – anyone – that she was somewhat acquaintances with, but so far she wasn't having much luck.
She wished like hell that Tyra was there. But when Julie had called to ask her about going, Tyra said that she had to work the closing shift at Applebee's.
And Julie had yet to see Tim. She knew that he had probably just invited her because he felt sorry for her for having no social life, but at least she could talk to him.
She smiled at a couple of girls as she made her way out the back door, hoping to find somewhere a little less crowded as she stepped onto the back porch.
This is really sad, she thought to herself. I came to a party to get out of the house and have fun, and now here I am trying to get away from the party and be by myself.
"Pathetic, Taylor." She muttered to herself, shutting the door behind her.
Hearing giggling to her side, she turned to see Tim and a couple of females sitting on a porch swing. Well, Tim was sitting on the swing while the girls were practically sitting in his lap.
Her gaze met his, and Julie was sure she was blushing all the way to her toes. She just hoped the dim porch light wasn't bright enough for him and his little playthings to see her embarrassment.
"Um, sorry. I didn't know anyone was out here. I'll just..." She stammered quickly, motioning back toward the door as she turned to head back inside.
"Hold up, Taylor." He called deeply, causing Julie to pause and slowly turn back to him.
She watched as Tim quietly said something to the girls, who Julie now recognized as the Stratton sisters.
She watched as they each gave him a little pout before getting up and heading toward the door, both sneering at Julie as they passed her to head inside.
Julie stood their awkwardly for a few seconds wringing her hands together. "Um, you didn't have to send them inside."
Tim shrugged nonchalantly. "Been there, done that." He said simply.
Julie looked at him, trying to figure out if he was kidding or being honest. From the look on his face he was telling the truth, which really shouldn't have surprised her at all considering his reputation.
"Beer?" He asked, pulling a couple of bottles out of a six pack sitting on the porch.
"Uh, sure." She responded, walking toward him.
She watched as he popped the top off for her before handing the bottle over. "Thanks."
Tim nodded, motioning his head toward the empty spot on the porch swing beside him.
Julie hesitated slightly before finally sitting down gently. Tim gave the ground a little kick with his foot, sending them swinging slowly back and forth.
"Wasn't sure you'd come." He drawled, taking a drink of his beer.
"Yeah, I probably shouldn't have." She stated, noticing his questioning look. "I'm not really friends with any of these people. I've pretty much been walking around in circles lookin' for someone to talk to."
"You're friends with me."
Julie looked at him closely, again trying to figure out if he was kidding or being honest. No trademark Riggins smirk – he must be telling the truth.
"Um, yeah, I guess." She said slowly. "But I didn't see you around because you were too busy making out with not one, but two different girls." She said with a smirk.
Tim grinned, taking another long drink of his beer and rocking the swing back and forth.
"So…" Julie said after a few minutes. She knew Tim could sit there all night and not say a damn word, but she couldn't handle the silence.
"So…" He answered mockingly, a smirk on his lips.
"Do you, um, want to talk about the football stuff? You seemed pretty upset about it earlier today when I asked." She said hesitantly.
She didn't want to seem like she was prying into his business, but she wanted him to at least have someone to talk to if he needed to.
Tim sighed deeply, fiddling with the label on his bottle of beer.
"I didn't mean to pry." She said after a few moments of silence, worried that she may have made him mad.
"I just thought you might need someone to talk to. But you don't have to. We can talk about something else, anything else." Julie rambled, trying to think of some other topic that might be better to get Tim talking.
The only things she could think of were beer and women – and Julie didn't particularly want to discuss either of those.
"Nah, it's okay." He said quietly, turning to meet her gaze. "I'm playin' tailback now. Don't know if you knew that or not, but I am."
"Um, is that a good thing?"
"No." He replied quickly. "I hate it. I'm a fullback. A damn good one too. But Coach has swapped me over saying this is what's best for the team. And I'm sure he's right, but it sure as hell don't feel like it."
The dejected sound of his voice was a little worrisome to Julie. She had never heard him be down and out about football. Tim lived for football.
"Well, I'm sure that the more you practice, the better you'll get. I mean, that's true with everything, yah know?" She said hopefully.
Tim nodded. "Yeah. It's just the gettin' there that's tough right now. Everybody's ridin' my ass like I gotta be perfect or something."
"Yeah." Julie whispered, not sure what else to say to encourage him.
"But, I'll get it eventually like you said. Sure as hell can't get any worse." He said with a smirk. "Coach know you were coming to this party?"
"Yeah, though I was pretty sure he was going to say I couldn't come after the argument we had earlier."
"Arguing about what?"
"Me getting a job once school starts. Tyra's like ninety-nine percent sure she can get me a job with her at Applebee's. And if I want a car anytime this century, I need a job." She said dramatically.
"Don't most parents want their kids to work?" He asked, giving her a slightly confused look.
"That's what I said!" Julie huffed. "But not my parents. My mom's on this whole 'your grades are the most important thing' kick right now, even though I keep telling her that I can work and keep my grades up. They just never really stop to look at things from my perspective. It makes me so mad that I just want to scream sometimes."
Tim nodded slowly, not saying anything as he continued drinking his beer.
"Do I sound like a whiny brat?" She asked after a few seconds, biting her lip as she looked at him.
"No." Tim said. "Not the brat part anyway." He smirked.
Julie laughed quietly, taking a sip from her own bottle. "I'm sorry. And I know they mean well. It's just frustrating sometimes living in a house with two 'perfect' people."
"You're lucky though, Jules. At least they worry about yah and try and do right by you." He said quietly, once again fiddling with the label on his bottle.
Julie was quickly learning that Tim had a tendency to fiddle with the label on his bottle when he was talking about something important, almost as if he needed those moments to gather his thoughts before actually putting them into words.
"Yeah, you're right." Julie said, truly feeling like a spoiled brat when she thought about her family compared to Tim's.
"You know, livin' with your family last year was about the closest I ever got to seein' what a real family was like." He said softly. "It was nice." He said with a soft smile, meeting Julie's gaze briefly before looking away, obviously a little embarrassed to be sharing something so personal.
Julie wasn't sure how their whole conversation had gotten so deep. She hadn't expected it, but she felt almost somewhat honored to see this side of Tim that she was sure the majority of people in Dillon never got to see.
But at the same time, she didn't want to depress the guy. It was apparent that he had enough on his plate thanks to her dad changing his position. He came to the party to relax and have fun, not to bare his soul.
"Yeah, it was nice until I had to go and mess it all up, right?" Julie said playfully, trying to lighten the mood.
Tim grinned, looking back up at her. "You and your drunk ass got me kicked out on mine."
"Hey, I apologized!" Julie said indignantly. "I can't help it that I don't handle liquor very well." She said with a grin.
"I'm not even sure you should be havin' that beer." He drawled, reaching over to try and grab her bottle out of her hand.
She pulled it back out of his reach, laughing as she placed her other hand on his chest, trying to push him away.
"Stop." She said playfully, giggling all the while.
"Coach scared the shit out of me the last time I took you home drunk. I don't think I could live through it a second time." He said with a smirk, settling back onto his side of the swing.
"One beer's not gonna send me over the edge, Tim."
"Hope not."
"No worries." She said mockingly, throwing him a fake smile.
Tim smirked, kicking his foot on the ground and causing the swing to rock faster and higher.
Julie smiled, enjoying the rocking motion and enjoying the company.
Maybe coming to the party had been a good idea after all.
