FIC- Friday Night Lights (Santiago, Matt, Tim)
Aaaaand we're back...
Title: No Wisdom In Flying Under The Radar
Rating: r (Santiago swears a lot in this one)
Word Count: 1,247
Summary: It's not right, but sometimes it feels good to put a little fear in someone... (Part VI in the Permission To Exist series)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Monday after Gracie Belle Taylor’s christening, he stares daggers at Fucking Mr. Barnett all through class. For the first time, he’s not looking over at Julie Taylor every four seconds, and when he realizes this, he finally glances over to see that she’s watching him. But she blushes and ducks her head away quickly. After class, she hightails it out of there, shyly looking over her shoulder at him before darting down the hallway, already lost in the rush of kids. She’s so small, it’d be hard to spot her in a crowd if it weren’t for that hair.
The rest of the class is gathering up their books, and next to him, Matt Saracen is watching him a little too closely. “You comin’, Santiago?” He says his name just like Lyla does, and it comes out sounding like sandiego.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there, I got to talk to Fu- to Mr. Barnett,” Santiago says, almost under his breath.
Barnett’s sitting at his desk, almost looking like he’s got his hand on a panic button under his drawer, but Santiago isn’t letting anything stop him. This needs to be said, and it needs to be said now. When the very last person has filed out of the room, and he’s suitably fooled with his backpack at his desk long enough, he stands up to his full height- for a Mexican boy, he’s impressively tall- and swaggers up to Barnett’s desk, real slow.
Barnett glances at the classroom door and back to him. “I want you to know, you pull another stunt like you did the other week, I won’t just kick you out of class, I’ll have you thrown out of school,” He says it all in one breath, like he’s throwing up a wall between them.
Santiago grits his teeth, and leans over Barnett’s desk. His hands are curled into tight fists. “You don’t ever threaten me again. What have you heard about me?”
Barnett won’t even look at him, and Santiago can see his hands shaking. Fucking pussy. “I…I heard that you were in juvie, and-”
“Yeah, you don’t fuck with me. I know kids younger than me who would make you cry,” There’s something really perverse in scaring the shit out of someone like Noah Barnett. He’s scrawny and obviously weak and looks like he could be the same age as Santiago, but he can’t help it- it’s sort of fun. “And you never, ever so much as look at Julie Taylor again.”
“What has this school gone crazy,” Barnett’s on his feet, face crossed with righteous indignation, and Santiago rolls his eyes.
“Don’t fucking play that with me. I know all about you.”
“About what?” Barnett sneers at him, but Santiago sees a flicker of fear in his eyes. And he’s glad, because a tiny part of him was just a little bit afraid that Julie was lying to him. And that hurt more than he’d want to admit.
“I know you put your fu- you put your hands on her, and you…kissed her.” Barnett’s eyes are as wide as saucers, and Santiago’s pretty sure the man’s going to wet his pants or shit himself any second. “And I’m the only one who knows. And it’s going to stay that way.”
Barnett tries for a little more bravado. “Why would you keep that a secret, if you really thought it was true?”
“Because it’s never going to happen again.” Santiago feels pretty good about himself. Enough that he can turn around and leave the classroom.
“Oh, Mr. Herrera?” The hair on the back of Santiago’s neck stands on end. He doesn’t like that motherfucker’s tone. He turns back slowly. And Barnett is smiling. Psychopath. “Mr. Herrera,” he begins again. “Jealous?”
It’s an out-of-body experience, but he actually sees red, and almost feels outside of himself. He’s just rushing across the room, and has got Fucking Barnett by the throat and he’s going to squeeze the fucking life out of him. He’s getting joy out of watching this asshole turn purple. And then he’s being pulled back and off, and can make out the voice screaming at him.
“Santiago, Santiago, are you crazy?” It’s Saracen, and it takes him a minute to pry Santiago off Barnett, who’s totally blue by now.
“Man, are you nuts? If Coach catches wind of this-”
“Coach ain’t gonna find out,” Santiago’s breathing hard. He’s got fighting adrenaline running through him now and he better get out before he actually kills the fucker. “We got an understanding, ain’t that right?” He sneers back at Barnett who glares back but nods.
Saracen’s chasing him down the hallway. “Whoa man, slow down, are you gonna tell me what that was all about?”
Santiago stops and turns to face Saracen. They’re almost the same size, and Santiago mentally calculates whether or not he could take him. Old habits die hard. Saracen takes a hit pretty good on the field, and Santiago knows he’s fearless, but he just ain’t got that killer instinct in him. “I can’t tell you, Saracen, just you got to trust me, it’s fine.”
He heads off down the hallway to lunch, but then Saracen stops him again. “Is this…does this have anything to do with Julie?”
It stops him short, but then Santiago turns around, and Goddammit, but sometimes when Saracen don’t have that kicked puppy look in his eyes, he looks pretty tough. Santiago swallows hard. “Nah, homey. I ain’t got nothing to do with Julie Taylor and she ain’t never gonna have nothing to do with me.”
* * *
Tim Riggins is living with the Taylors now. There was a lot of talk in the locker room when everyone found out, that Riggs was going to be putting the make on “Saracen’s girl” behind closed doors late at night, but anyone can see at school that it’s not like that, so all the talk died down pretty quick. They’re straight up insta-siblings. In a way, Santiago’s kind of jealous. Buddy’s trying to get him to bond with Buddy Junior, but they just don’t get each other. And Lyla still treats him like she’s his kindergarten teacher.
And the message has been put out there- any guy wants to get with Julie Taylor, you got to go through Riggins first.
And he even let Saracen know what was up. “I don’t care what was history- you don’t mess with Little Jules now, you hear?” He says it at the lunch table, in public, drawing a line in the sand.
“Man, whatever,” Matt’s too preoccupied with his fries, and doesn’t look like he particularly cares.
Riggins catches Santiago’s eye from down the table and smirks a little. “Got that, Five-Nine?”
He just rolls his eyes. “Whatever you say, Riggins.”
He leans back in his chair and it’s like he physically senses when Julie Taylor is looking at him. She’s wearing something sort of low cut- how the hell does Coach let her out of the house like that- and she’s got some sort of lip gloss stuff on. It makes him stare at her mouth, and that’s already getting him in trouble. She smiles at him, and his stomach does a little flip and he just turns back to the boys at the table.
But that didn’t go unnoticed. “I mean it, Five-Nine,” Riggins says, all joking aside.
Saracen’s staring at him good and hard. If he wasn’t paying attention before, he sure is now.
Title: No Wisdom In Flying Under The Radar
Rating: r (Santiago swears a lot in this one)
Word Count: 1,247
Summary: It's not right, but sometimes it feels good to put a little fear in someone... (Part VI in the Permission To Exist series)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Monday after Gracie Belle Taylor’s christening, he stares daggers at Fucking Mr. Barnett all through class. For the first time, he’s not looking over at Julie Taylor every four seconds, and when he realizes this, he finally glances over to see that she’s watching him. But she blushes and ducks her head away quickly. After class, she hightails it out of there, shyly looking over her shoulder at him before darting down the hallway, already lost in the rush of kids. She’s so small, it’d be hard to spot her in a crowd if it weren’t for that hair.
The rest of the class is gathering up their books, and next to him, Matt Saracen is watching him a little too closely. “You comin’, Santiago?” He says his name just like Lyla does, and it comes out sounding like sandiego.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there, I got to talk to Fu- to Mr. Barnett,” Santiago says, almost under his breath.
Barnett’s sitting at his desk, almost looking like he’s got his hand on a panic button under his drawer, but Santiago isn’t letting anything stop him. This needs to be said, and it needs to be said now. When the very last person has filed out of the room, and he’s suitably fooled with his backpack at his desk long enough, he stands up to his full height- for a Mexican boy, he’s impressively tall- and swaggers up to Barnett’s desk, real slow.
Barnett glances at the classroom door and back to him. “I want you to know, you pull another stunt like you did the other week, I won’t just kick you out of class, I’ll have you thrown out of school,” He says it all in one breath, like he’s throwing up a wall between them.
Santiago grits his teeth, and leans over Barnett’s desk. His hands are curled into tight fists. “You don’t ever threaten me again. What have you heard about me?”
Barnett won’t even look at him, and Santiago can see his hands shaking. Fucking pussy. “I…I heard that you were in juvie, and-”
“Yeah, you don’t fuck with me. I know kids younger than me who would make you cry,” There’s something really perverse in scaring the shit out of someone like Noah Barnett. He’s scrawny and obviously weak and looks like he could be the same age as Santiago, but he can’t help it- it’s sort of fun. “And you never, ever so much as look at Julie Taylor again.”
“What has this school gone crazy,” Barnett’s on his feet, face crossed with righteous indignation, and Santiago rolls his eyes.
“Don’t fucking play that with me. I know all about you.”
“About what?” Barnett sneers at him, but Santiago sees a flicker of fear in his eyes. And he’s glad, because a tiny part of him was just a little bit afraid that Julie was lying to him. And that hurt more than he’d want to admit.
“I know you put your fu- you put your hands on her, and you…kissed her.” Barnett’s eyes are as wide as saucers, and Santiago’s pretty sure the man’s going to wet his pants or shit himself any second. “And I’m the only one who knows. And it’s going to stay that way.”
Barnett tries for a little more bravado. “Why would you keep that a secret, if you really thought it was true?”
“Because it’s never going to happen again.” Santiago feels pretty good about himself. Enough that he can turn around and leave the classroom.
“Oh, Mr. Herrera?” The hair on the back of Santiago’s neck stands on end. He doesn’t like that motherfucker’s tone. He turns back slowly. And Barnett is smiling. Psychopath. “Mr. Herrera,” he begins again. “Jealous?”
It’s an out-of-body experience, but he actually sees red, and almost feels outside of himself. He’s just rushing across the room, and has got Fucking Barnett by the throat and he’s going to squeeze the fucking life out of him. He’s getting joy out of watching this asshole turn purple. And then he’s being pulled back and off, and can make out the voice screaming at him.
“Santiago, Santiago, are you crazy?” It’s Saracen, and it takes him a minute to pry Santiago off Barnett, who’s totally blue by now.
“Man, are you nuts? If Coach catches wind of this-”
“Coach ain’t gonna find out,” Santiago’s breathing hard. He’s got fighting adrenaline running through him now and he better get out before he actually kills the fucker. “We got an understanding, ain’t that right?” He sneers back at Barnett who glares back but nods.
Saracen’s chasing him down the hallway. “Whoa man, slow down, are you gonna tell me what that was all about?”
Santiago stops and turns to face Saracen. They’re almost the same size, and Santiago mentally calculates whether or not he could take him. Old habits die hard. Saracen takes a hit pretty good on the field, and Santiago knows he’s fearless, but he just ain’t got that killer instinct in him. “I can’t tell you, Saracen, just you got to trust me, it’s fine.”
He heads off down the hallway to lunch, but then Saracen stops him again. “Is this…does this have anything to do with Julie?”
It stops him short, but then Santiago turns around, and Goddammit, but sometimes when Saracen don’t have that kicked puppy look in his eyes, he looks pretty tough. Santiago swallows hard. “Nah, homey. I ain’t got nothing to do with Julie Taylor and she ain’t never gonna have nothing to do with me.”
* * *
Tim Riggins is living with the Taylors now. There was a lot of talk in the locker room when everyone found out, that Riggs was going to be putting the make on “Saracen’s girl” behind closed doors late at night, but anyone can see at school that it’s not like that, so all the talk died down pretty quick. They’re straight up insta-siblings. In a way, Santiago’s kind of jealous. Buddy’s trying to get him to bond with Buddy Junior, but they just don’t get each other. And Lyla still treats him like she’s his kindergarten teacher.
And the message has been put out there- any guy wants to get with Julie Taylor, you got to go through Riggins first.
And he even let Saracen know what was up. “I don’t care what was history- you don’t mess with Little Jules now, you hear?” He says it at the lunch table, in public, drawing a line in the sand.
“Man, whatever,” Matt’s too preoccupied with his fries, and doesn’t look like he particularly cares.
Riggins catches Santiago’s eye from down the table and smirks a little. “Got that, Five-Nine?”
He just rolls his eyes. “Whatever you say, Riggins.”
He leans back in his chair and it’s like he physically senses when Julie Taylor is looking at him. She’s wearing something sort of low cut- how the hell does Coach let her out of the house like that- and she’s got some sort of lip gloss stuff on. It makes him stare at her mouth, and that’s already getting him in trouble. She smiles at him, and his stomach does a little flip and he just turns back to the boys at the table.
But that didn’t go unnoticed. “I mean it, Five-Nine,” Riggins says, all joking aside.
Saracen’s staring at him good and hard. If he wasn’t paying attention before, he sure is now.