"I didn't have sex with Matt." Julie informs her as Rae carefully applies mascara. She looks over her shoulder.
"I think it goes without saying Jules that I'm happy." Rae says, smiling. "Matt's a great kid and so are you but you are a little baby." Julie makes a face at her and Rae turns over, tossing an arm around her.
"He told me he loved me." She reveals and Rae drops the makeup she was grabbing for, open mouthed.
"Do you love him?" Rae asks and Julie shrugs.
"I said it back, but I think I just kind of panicked." She admits and Rae struggles to hold back giggles.
"It's ok to love football players." She tells her.
"Is that a confession that you love Tim Riggins?" Julie points out and Rae splutters for a response and settles for pelting Julie with shoes she finds on the floor next to her.
"Let's go to the game, Julie Taylor. You and your ridiculous questions can wait." She proclaims and Julie follows her out of the house, still laughing.
After the win and the party, the week is blissfully quiet. The affair with Lyla's dad and Tyra's mom successfully puts her and Tim out of anyone's mind, so she enjoys relative peace. But much to her surprise and mild annoyance, she finds herself almost fitting in.
People know her name, from classes. People who don't know her name know her as Tim's girl, from her place at his side at the games and parties. The dance girls actively seek her out and invite her to things or walk through the halls, gossiping around her. Even the football players nod in acknowledgement or smile her way when they see her.
She walks up Tim's driveway, seeing him playing with a small blond boy, throwing the football. She smiles in surprise, remembering his not-so-long-ago protests about not being good with kids.
"Hi, I'm Bo. Who are you?" The little boy asks cheerfully, running up to her and offering his hand. Rae glances at Tim, grinning. He tries to hide his smile with an indifferent, aloof look. She grins and raises an eyebrow, letting him know that she saw the smile.
"Hi Bo, I'm Rae." She says, shaking it.
"Are you his girlfriend?" Bo asks, looking up at her and squinting. Rae laughs and Tim goes bright pink. She shakes her head and shrugs.
"You should ask him that." She teases, throwing a grin over her shoulder at the clearly embarrassed Tim.
"He's teaching me how to throw." Bo says proudly, tossing the football up in the air and nearly missing it on the way down.
"He taught my little brother to throw." Rae tells him, sitting on the tailgate of the truck, swinging her legs.
"Where's your brother?" Bo asks curiously.
"At a friend's house." Rae reveals, causing Tim to raise his eyebrows. She nods, smiling.
"Huh. The kid made a friend." Tim says proudly. "Next thing you know he'll be going out for football."
"Whoa, don't get ahead of yourself there, mister." She warns, laughing. He raises an eyebrow and grins at her. She watches them play football, throwing and tackling, chin on her knees, just plain happy. While Bo is rambling, drinking his soda, Tim comes over and wraps Rae in his arms.
"Hi." He mutters, kissing her head.
"Remember those days you said you weren't good with kids? You are a liar, Tim Riggins." She teases. He shakes his head, kissing her, pulling her closer to him. She laughs, trying to pull away but he pulls her back, nibbling on her lip a little. She pulls back, eyes wide.
"Was that wrong?" He asks lowly, worried. She shakes her head, smiling, pulling him back to her for more.
"This is gross." Bo says, causing them to break apart, laughing.
"I'm sorry Bo, you can have him back." Rae says, pecking Tim's cheek and patting his butt to scoot him back to Bo.
"Bo! Come here for dinner!" His mom calls.
"Speaking of that, I have stuff for spaghetti if you'd like to join me, Tim Riggins." Rae says sweetly. He glances at the garage.
"Well, Billy's not home, so I can forfeit a night of chips and beer for something homemade." He teases and she leans back, surprised that he's teasing her. He grins and a slow smile covers her face.
"Ok then." She says softly, leading him to her house.
"Carden!" Tim yells, storming into the house. Rae looks up from the couch, surprised that Tim feels comfortable enough to just enter when he wants.
"Tim!" Carden yells back, from his room.
"Come here." Tim says, pushing Bo in front of him.
"Hi Bo." Rae says, waving slowly whilst giving Tim a confused look. He ignores her and impatiently waits for Carden.
"Hi Rae." Bo says, looking up at Tim, unsure of what's going on. Carden walks out of his room, rubbing his eyes.
"Who's this?" He asks, gesturing to Bo.
"This is Bo. Bo Miller. He goes to your school and I need a favor." Tim says without preamble.
"Um, hi Bo." Carden says, glancing at Rae. She shrugs and gestures for him to go with it. "Ok, what is it?" He asks curiously.
"Bo is new. I thought you could keep an eye out for him. I'm teaching him how to fight, but he might need backup." Tim says. Rae shakes her head, rubbing her temples.
"Or we could just work on the power of words and not fists." She suggests casually, tilting her head and looking up at them.
"C'mon, both of you, front yard, we're gonna work on this." Tim orders, like he never even heard Rae. Both boys excitedly follow him and Rae rolls her eyes, throwing a pillow at the closing door.
"How about ignoring the bully until the bully goes away?" She calls through the open screen of the window. When she gets no answer she stands up and walks outside, hands on hips. "Bo, what grade are you in?" She asks as Tim holds up his hands and gestures for Bo to punch them.
"4th grade." He informs her.
"That means if he ignores the bullies in 4th grade all he's going to be is a punching bag, Rae." Tim tells her and she narrows her eyes.
"And what, you were bullied?" She sasses and he looks at her over the top of Bo's head.
"No, I was the bully." He says and Rae stares at him then throws her hands up and goes to get her book.
"Jules, what's wrong?" Rae asks at lunch, watching her push her food around her tray listlessly.
"Nothing." Julie mutters, not even looking up. Rae raises an eyebrow.
"I have a younger brother missy, I know what's going on." She says sternly. Julie still doesn't look at her. "Please tell me." She coaxes.
"My parents want to move to Austin. So my dad can coach at TMU." Julie announces, finally looking at her. Rae drops her fork, looking at her.
"Julie…" She says quietly.
"I know Rae. Trust me I don't wanna leave." She says, shaking her head and biting her lip angrily.
"What about Matt?" Rae asks, not wanting to make it about her. Julie shrugs, trying not to cry.
"He doesn't know. I haven't told anyone." She tells her, miserable. Rae hugs her, unsure of what else to do.
"I think I'm in love with my tutor." Tim says, standing on the middle of the field, with Smash, Matt, and Jason. They all stare at him, shocked.
"Tim Riggins doesn't fall in love." Jason says finally, eyes not leaving his face. Tim shrugs helplessly.
"Na, Street, you ain't seen her." Smash says, the first one to recover. "She's got these long ass legs and she's a dancer, just like Matt's girl over here. And she don't take Riggins' shit."
"Ok, so what possessed you to decide you love her?" Jason asks curiously. Tim shakes his head, taking a long drink from his beer.
"If I'm not at school or practice I'm with her. She's the only reason I'm passing so I can keep playing. And she makes me… makes me feel ok with everything and myself. She's not afraid to lay my ass out or tell me that I'm wrong. She just… Makes me work." Tim says, struggling to put it in words.
"Ooh man, you fell deep." Smash says, laughing. Tim takes another swig, while Jason and Matt exchange stunned looks.
"Yeah, I know."
Rae looks up when there's a knock on the door. She opens the door and smiles slightly when she sees Tim. She can smell the beer and smoke on him but that's his smell.
"What are you doing here?" She asks quietly.
"What are you doing here?" He answers, only slightly slurred, and she raises an eyebrow, letting him in.
"I live here, friendly reminder." She says and he shakes his head.
"I meant, why aren't you at the dance?" He asks and she gives a short bark of laughter.
"Yeah, my daddy took a night off at the bar so that he can come over. Put a suit and tie on. I've got a nice expensive dress that he got me, I'm gonna curl my hair real nice, maybe even put on some heels." She says sarcastically and Tim doesn't sass back but pulls her into his chest.
"I'm sorry." He mummers into her hair.
"We both want our dads to be so much than they are, don't we?" She says softly, swaying with Tim. "We want our dads to love us and protect us and be there. And they aren't. And they never will be." She says spitefully, struggling and losing against the tears.
"Hey." He says gently, leaning back. "We protect each other." He says and she gives him a watery smile.
"Are you dancing with me, Tim Riggins?" She teases and he's silent for a long moment then kisses her head.
"You tell anyone, I'll deny it." He swears and she giggles, stretching up on her toes to kiss him.
AN: To everyone who reviews, wow I adore you. To everyone else, hey, there's a thing below where you type words and things, and then I read your words and things, and then I smile and get the warm fuzzies in my heart, so write the things so I can get the warm fuzzies please?