Friday Night Lights - "Upward Over The Mountain", Tim/Julie, R
Title: Upward Over The Mountain - 12/15
Author: lindentree
Rating: R
Character(s): Tim/Julie
Word Count: 5,688
Summary: AU after 3x13 "Tomorrow Blues", this story takes place in the summer of 2010 when Tim returns home from his first year away at college, Julie graduates from her last year of high school, and they find themselves meeting somewhere in the middle.
Thanks to ishie for as awesome as always. This chapter is long and mostly pure cheesecake, but we only have three or so chapters to go, so enjoy. ♥
It was one of the rare nights when Mindy was working and Billy had chosen to spend the evening drinking and watching her dance, rather than drinking and watching ESPN with Tim.
This meant that Tim and Julie could spend the evening together instead of Julie taking off before Billy got home. Ever since Tim had told her that Billy knew what was going on, Julie had avoided the older Riggins, feeling a little embarrassed about the whole situation.
“You want another beer?” Tim asked, his voice rumbling next to her head. They were stretched out on the couch watching baseball, of all things, but Julie was too hot and tired from a shift at Applebee’s followed by an afternoon with a cranky, teething Jordyn to bother objecting.
“Please,” Julie replied, sitting up. She stretched her bare legs out in front of her, resting her heels on the coffee table. She had a theory that Tim’s languid laziness was beginning to rub off on her.
“Here,” Tim said, appearing at her side and pressing a cold bottle of beer against her naked calf. She jumped at the contact and took it from him, glaring.
“Very mean,” she said, reclining back on the couch and keeping her feet on the table. Tim sat down next to her, staring intently at her foot.
“What?” she asked, glancing up at him.
"This is cute," he said, leaning forward and wrapping a warm hand around her ankle. Julie shivered. Tim was peering curiously down at her heart tattoo. Suddenly self-conscious, she gently tugged her foot away.
"It's not a big deal," she mumbled.
"When'd you get that?"
"Um, beginning of eleventh grade?" she replied.
"Bet your parents didn't like that," he mused.
"Not really, but they came around." She glanced over at him. "How come you don't have any? You seem like the tattoo type to me."
"Dunno," he said. "Never thought of anything that meant enough to bother, I guess."
"What about a little football?" Julie asked, teasing. "Or a number 33? Or a panther paw?"
"Kinda pathetic, tattooing your high school football stuff on yourself."
"Other people might see it that way, maybe,” Julie said, although she had just been teasing him. “But if it means something to you, that's what really matters, right? Who cares if other people don't get it?"
“Yeah. Maybe I’ll get one sometime when I have some extra cash,” he said. He glanced over at her. “Got any other tattoos in interesting places I oughta know about?”
“If I did, you probably would have seen them by now,” Julie scoffed.
Tim narrowed his eyes lasciviously at her. Julie giggled. “I’m really glad you haven’t noticed the little ‘I heart Tim Riggins’ banner over my heart. That could have been super embarrassing.”
“Only fair, since I’ve got your name tattooed on my ass,” Tim shrugged, taking a swig of his beer and turning back to the baseball game.
Silence fell between them and Julie leaned comfortably into his side, sipping her beer. Was it her fault that Tim was so surprisingly cuddly?
“Hey,” he said during the next commercial, not taking his eyes off the screen. “Stay the night, okay?”
Julie looked up at him, but he didn’t meet her eyes. It was such a quiet, direct request, Julie didn’t know how to refuse without making things awkward or perhaps hurting his feelings. What was the big deal, anyway? Why did her mind jump automatically to wanting to refuse? She bit her bottom lip.
“Okay,” she said finally. They grew quiet once again, drinking their beers and zoning out in companionable silence. Finally, Julie couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore, and the next thing she knew, the TV was off and Tim was nudging her gently.
“Jules, come on. I checked on Jordyn, she’s still sound asleep. Let’s hit the hay.” He left her, disappearing into his bedroom.
Groggily, Julie stood and looked around for her bag, spotting it on the kitchen counter. She went over and pulled her phone out, chewing anxiously on her bottom lip. There were already two missed calls, both from home. She didn’t have the heart to call her mother right now and lie to her. She flipped the phone open and began recklessly typing out a text message with her thumb: Babysitting emergency. Staying overnight. See you tomorrow!
Before she could think better of it, Julie hit “send” and then turned the phone off, tossing it back into her bag. She followed Tim into his bedroom, and closed the door behind her.
Julie stood awkwardly by his bed, unsure what to do with herself. They’d had sex in his room enough times, but somehow actually sleeping together was different. It was intimate.
“I don’t have anything to sleep in,” Julie said.
Tim glanced around, his eyes landing on a basket of clean laundry by his battered, mostly empty dresser. “Here,” he said, grabbing a worn old Panthers t-shirt, its grey fabric softened by numerous washings.
Tim began to strip off his clothes, and Julie hurriedly turned around to remove her own, pulling his shirt on over her head. It was big on her, but still didn’t cover as much as she might have liked. Embarrassed, she tugged at its hem, trying to pull it lower on her thighs.
She stopped when she caught Tim watching her, his eyes amused.
“Cute,” Tim said, climbing into bed. Julie raised an eyebrow at him. Apparently Tim’s idea of pyjamas was a pair of black boxer briefs and nothing else. He leaned back against the pillows and smirked at her. Ignoring his smug look, Julie climbed in next to him.
She had thought this was the point where sex would come in, but instead, Tim just settled back against his pillows and sighed, pulling her against his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder and felt his breathing slow, her own body tense.
“Relax,” Tim muttered, his arm wrapping around her back.
“Sorry,” she replied, closing her eyes and concentrating on relaxing.
“Don’t say sorry, just chill out and go to sleep, Jules,” Tim said. Julie heard rather than saw the smile that accompanied his words.
They fell silent, and a few minutes later, Julie heard Tim begin to snore softly. She opened her eyes and glanced up at him. Asleep, there was something terribly sweet about him; he looked a far cry from the boy once notorious in Dillon for hard hits and hard drinking. Smiling, she stretched her arm across his bare stomach and closed her eyes once more. She fell asleep.
Julie was awoken a few hours later by the familiar sound of Jordyn crying. Foggily, she listened for a moment before realising that no one was getting up. Billy and Mindy must not be home yet. She shifted, frowning at the heavy weight she felt across her waist. It was Tim’s arm. She glanced up to see that he was fast asleep, his face buried in his pillow.
Removing herself somewhat awkwardly from his grasp, Julie got out of the bed and tiptoed out of the room and into Billy and Mindy’s room, where Jordyn had been sleeping. She scooped the distressed baby up into her arms and, after checking her diaper, decided to go prepare a bottle and see if that would calm her.
Jordyn continued to fuss, throwing in the occasional wail, as Julie moved around the kitchen, warming a bottle of formula for her. When Julie held the bottle to her mouth, however, Jordyn latched on and went quiet.
Julie stood in the dark kitchen, feeding Jordyn and swaying her gently as she did so, just like she used to do with Gracie the few times she spared her parents the agony of getting up in the middle of the night to feed the crying baby. It was several minutes before she noticed Tim standing in the doorway of his bedroom watching her.
"Hey," she mouthed, not wanting to disturb Jordyn from her meal now that she was finally quiet.
Silently he came over and stood next to them, looking down at the baby. He glanced up at Julie, a strange expression on his face.
“What?” she whispered.
He shrugged and held out his arms, offering to take Jordyn. Julie shook her head.
“She’s fine,” she said softly. “I don’t mind.”
They stood in silence and watched Jordyn sate her hunger, the moment so quiet and tender that Julie didn’t want to disturb it by speaking. The peace they had unexpectedly forged was comforting, and very welcome.
***
Julie awoke the next morning to Tim amorously nuzzling her neck and sliding a hand under her t-shirt.
“Morning,” she said sleepily, her voice scratchy.
“Mmm,” Tim replied, his teeth scraping against her earlobe. Julie shivered as he kissed his way along her jaw, heading for her mouth. Julie pulled her face away and shook her head.
“Uh-uh,” she said, frowning at him. “Morning breath.”
“Don’t care.” He sucked on the skin of her neck while his hands crept up to the waistband of her underwear.
“You like doing it in the morning, I take it?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he mumbled, rolling them both so that she was on her back and he was resting on top of her. He tugged her underwear down her legs and tossed them over his shoulder. Julie giggled.
“If you’re happy doing all the work, I’m just going to lie here,” she said, languorously stretching her arms above her head.
Tim pushed her borrowed t-shirt up, pressing a kiss to her exposed bellybutton. Julie shivered, goose bumps breaking out over her stomach. She felt Tim smile against her skin.
He kissed his way back up to her face, pausing only to impatiently yank her shirt over her head. Julie kept her arms over her head, fighting the urge to cover herself up in the bright morning light. It was especially difficult given the way Tim was staring down at her, his eyes shining mischievously. He grinned, leaning down suddenly and pressing a kiss right on her lips.
“Ugh,” Julie said, a hand coming down to cover her mouth while she glared at him.
He didn’t reply, merely grinning at her as he leaned to the side and began groping next to his bed for a condom.
“Damn,” he swore, after a moment.
“What?”
“I’m all out,” he said, sitting back on his heels. His expression looked like he’d just watched someone kick a puppy.
“Oh,” Julie said. She looked up at his disappointed face, at war with herself. They could just go without, couldn’t they? She was on the pill, after all. “It’s okay.”
“Huh?”
“I’m on the pill; it’s fine.”
He frowned down at her. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I mean... Is there a reason I shouldn’t be sure?”
“No,” he said, smiling. “Clean bill of health. I promise.”
“So, if we do this, this is basically me trusting you and you trusting me, then,” Julie said, somewhat apprehensive.
Tim nodded, the amusement disappearing from his face. He leaned down, pressing another kiss on her lips. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, Jules,” he said seriously.
“Me neither,” Julie said. “I trust you.”
Tim blinked. After a breathless pause, he kissed her again, a hand sliding down over her hip and between her legs. Julie gasped, bringing her hands up to tangle in his hair.
“Mmm, I like you,” Tim mumbled against her lips as he kissed her. Julie snorted, her laugh dying on a moan as he brushed his thumb against her clit.
He eased his hips between her thighs, sliding into her with what was - at this point - practised ease.
“Jesus,” he breathed, hot and quick against her ear.
Julie gulped, gripping his hair harder and trying to draw a breath. Her skin tingled all over, and she tried not to overanalyse the fact that this was the barest, the closest she had ever been with another person. Tim shifted and Julie moved with him, gripping his hips tightly between her thighs.
He dropped his head to her shoulder and exhaled a shaky laugh.
“We’re gonna have to make this quick,” he said, his words mumbled low against her neck. He drew his hips back and thrust into her, the movement catching Julie’s breath in her throat. The feel of every inch of his bare skin against hers was intense.
“Yeah,” Julie replied shakily, trying to meet his thrusts.
He lifted his head and looked at her, his face flushed in the bright morning light. Julie met his eyes, shy but unable and unwilling to break his gaze.
Julie gasped when again his hand found its way between them to touch her, making her whole body shiver against his as she came.
“Jules,” Tim rumbled, his eyes squeezing shut in an expression that looked almost pained. He followed her right after, collapsing on her chest with a groan.
Julie stared up at the water-stained ceiling, trying to catch her breath and absently running her fingers through his sweaty hair.
“Never done that before,” Tim said, his voice muffled against her skin.
“What, without a...?”
“Yeah,” Tim replied, raising his head and quirking an eyebrow at Julie’s squeamishness.
“Oh,” she said simply, unsure how to take his admission.
“I gotta go to work,” Tim said reluctantly, kissing her bare shoulder. “Mindy doesn’t work today or tomorrow, so I guess I won’t see you for a couple days.”
“Guess not.”
“What are you gonna tell your parents?”
“Um,” Julie said blankly, shaking her head, “I really have no idea.”
“Tell ‘em I made you work overtime,” Tim said, kissing her on the lips with an audible smack before rolling off the bed and onto his feet, smirking all the while.
“Ew,” Julie replied as she sat up, trying not to laugh. Laughing only encouraged him.
“Shower?” he said, grabbing a towel off the back of his door and wrapping it around his waist.
“Was that a statement or a question?” Julie asked, although she knew perfectly well. Tim grinned at her. “You’re going to be late for work if you don’t hurry up.”
Tim stood there continuing to smile at her until she started to feel a little self-conscious. He took a step forward and bent to kiss her quickly before heading for the bathroom.
Julie shook her head and slowly began dressing. She folded the Panthers t-shirt she had borrowed and placed it on the corner of his unmade bed. She stood looking at it a moment longer before reaching out and grabbing it, shoving it into her bag.
Pulling her hair up into a haphazard ponytail, Julie threw her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door, ready to lock it behind her.
“Good morning,” came a voice from the living room. Julie stopped, turning around to find Mindy standing in the middle of the room, gently bouncing a fussy Jordyn. It had slipped her mind completely that they weren’t alone.
“Morning,” Julie replied cautiously, a little wary of the serious expression on Mindy’s face.
“You two have fun last night?”
“Um, sure,” Julie said. She and Mindy only ever really talked about Jordyn, and Mindy had never mentioned what was going on between her and Tim.
They stared at one another awkwardly for a beat before Mindy stomped one foot impatiently and rolled her eyes. “Look, Billy’s real worried about this whole thing.”
“What? Why?”
“He thinks that it’s just Garrity all over again, and Tim’s gonna fall apart when schools starts and you take off to do your college girl thing. He’s afraid Tim’s gonna screw up because of it. He usually does.”
“Maybe Billy should try having a little more faith in Tim,” Julie said, crossing her arms over her chest, briefly defensive. She looked down. “Anyway, it’s different. I’m hardly Lyla Garrity.”
Mindy gave her a disbelieving look.
“What? I’m not. It’s not like we’re in love. Summer fling,” Julie repeated emphatically, annoyed.
“Yeah, fine, whatever. Let me know how that works out,” Mindy said, turning and disappearing into the bedroom.
Julie stared after her for a moment before turning once more to leave, locking the front door behind her and heading out into the already scorching hot Texas morning.
Driving home, she shoved Mindy’s comments aside and set herself to worrying about more important things, like whether or not her mother had even remotely believed her lie about a babysitting emergency.
***
Julie leaned against a cardboard box of tomatoes and sighed, rubbing her arms against the chill of the walk-in cooler.
She was hiding, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
The lunch rush was about half over, but Julie was exhausted and at the limit of her patience. Applebee’s was unusually busy that day, even for the lunch hour, and Julie had, it seemed, been saddled with all the pickiest, rudest, crankiest customers who had walked through the doors.
She managed to smile her way through most of it, but after the third time one particular guy sent his food back to the kitchen and muttered under his breath that hell would freeze over before he’d give her a tip, she ducked into the walk-in to hide.
Rubbing her face tiredly, Julie steeled her nerves and walked out, trying to keep her mind focused on the fact that in a few weeks, she would be quitting and leaving for Houston.
Heading back into the restaurant, Julie looked up and smiled at the sight of Tim sprawled carelessly in one of the booths in her section, perusing the menu. Grabbing her notepad, she walked over.
"Welcome to Applebee's," she said, standing next to the table. "What can I get for you this afternoon?"
Tim looked up at her and blinked slowly, a troubling, wicked gleam in his eyes. "I was kinda hoping you'd say 'how may I serve you?' or something," he said, just low enough to avoid being heard by the other restaurant-goers.
"Like I'd give you an opportunity that good," Julie replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Lunch," Tim said innocently, looking back down at his open menu. "I feel like chicken. I'm kind of a breast man. What do you recommend, Miss..." he squinted up at her nametag, taking much too long to read it. “Miss Julie.”
Julie clicked her pen in irritation, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you seriously want something to eat or are you just here to bug me?"
Tim looked up at her in surprise. "I was just messing with you.”
"Sorry," Julie sighed, rubbing her temples. "I'm having a crappy day. I'm not really up for having my ponytail pulled."
"What's up? Can you take a break?"
Julie glanced down at her wristwatch. "Actually, yes. Only I don't want to take it here."
Tim stood up, abandoning his menu. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her towards the back exit.
"I'm taking her," he said to Julie's manager as they passed him. "She'll be back in fifteen minutes. More or less."
As she was dragged out the back of the restaurant and across the parking lot to Tim's truck, Julie figured that she probably ought to protest being manhandled in this way, but given that she had already considered walking out of there herself, she figured it didn't much matter.
"Don't take me anywhere nice," Julie said as she hopped into the passenger seat of the truck. "I'll just want to stay and never go back to work, and as tempting as that sounds right now, it's probably not a good plan in the long run."
"Alamo Freeze it is," Tim replied, starting the engine and putting the truck into gear.
They sat at an out of the way table and Tim bought a soda for her and a meal for himself.
"You mind?" he asked, returning to the table with a plastic tray loaded down with food. "I have to eat and get back to work, eventually." He grimaced.
"Knock yourself out," Julie said, leaning forward to take a sip of her drink. "I've got a giant soda with lots of ice, and it's cool in here, and it's not work. I'm happy."
"So what's bugging you? Besides me," Tim asked, digging into his food.
"Nothing, really. Work stuff. I hate waitressing. People are jerks and I'm too sensitive."
"You're not too sensitive," Tim said.
"I'm definitely too sensitive, Tim. Everything hurts my feelings. I take stuff way too personally; my mom is always saying that about me. People complain about the food and I feel attacked. I didn’t even make it and Istill get my feelings hurt. It's pathetic."
Tim appeared to consider this as he devoured his burger. Julie was slowly learning to overlook his complete lack of table manners, but sometimes it was a struggle. Gracie could manage more poise over a meal, and she was notorious for spontaneously mashing handfuls of peas into her own hair.
"I dunno," he said, leaning back and taking a sip of his drink. "You put up with me, and I'm a jackass."
"You're not a jackass," Julie replied promptly, wondering if Tim could read her mind. "Or at least not the kind that gets to me. You're too quiet to hurt my feelings."
"Quiet, huh?"
"What, you haven't noticed?"
Tim merely shrugged in response. Julie laughed.
“Tell you what,” Tim said, “why don’t we go on a date tonight?”
“A date?”
“Yeah, a date. Maybe you’ve heard of ‘em, I don’t know. I pick you up, we go out someplace, get something to eat, end up making out in my truck,” he smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.
Julie smiled back at him and then looked down, her bad mood slowly disappearing.
“A date,” Julie said, playing along and pretending to mull the word over as though it was new to her. “Could be interesting. Did you have something specific in mind?”
“Fran’s?”
Julie wrinkled her nose.
“Hm... Applebee’s?”
Julie glowered.
“No? This is tough,” Tim frowned, teasing her. “How about the pita place up on Murphy Street and that new Tom Cruise movie?”
“Sure,” Julie replied. “Do you like pitas?”
“Never had one,” he admitted with a shrug.
“Feeling adventurous?”
“Always.”
“Pitas and Scientologists it is, then.”
They sat in silence as Tim finished his lunch, and then Tim drove her back to Applebee’s. He pulled into the parking lot and let the truck idle, but Julie didn’t get out. She didn’t really want to.
“They’re probably gonna get mad at you if you don’t come back,” Tim said, his voice sounding as reluctant as she felt.
“I know,” she said with a sigh.
“Pick you up around 7?”
“Sounds good,” Julie replied, smiling. “See you then.”
Julie hopped out of the truck and went back into the restaurant, smiling back over her shoulder as he pulled away. It wasn’t until she was clocking out to go home that she realised that when Tim picked her up later, she had no idea what she was going to tell her parents.
That was happening a lot lately.
***
“Seriously, you’ve never had falafel before?” Julie asked.
“No,” Tim said, dubious. “Sounds even worse than it looks.”
They were seated in a booth at the back of the pita restaurant, their food spread out on the table in front of them. Julie was about to bite into her falafel pita, and Tim was watching her closely, like he wasn’t quite sure she was serious about this, while his own pita - filled with every meat they had and topped with toasted cheese and mayo - cooled in front of him.
Julie laughed. “Fine, suit yourself. More falafel for me.”
Tim frowned at her. He reached over, grabbing her pita out of her hands.
“Hey!” she protested, watching in astonishment as he took a gigantic bite out of it.
“Mmm,” he said appreciatively after a moment, taking another bite.
“You’re gonna eat the whole thing!” Indignantly, she grabbed her pita back.
“Very good,” Tim grinned, his mouth full.
“You ate like half my pita!” Julie complained, glaring at him.
“I’ll buy you popcorn to make up for it,” he offered, eyes shining in amusement.
“You’d better,” she grumbled. She finished the rest of her pita in a defensive stance, ready to slap his hands if he tried to come near again. If Tim thought she hadn’t learned a thing or two about defending her food living in a house with her father, he had another thing coming.
Later, sitting in the darkness of the cool theatre and staring up at the bright movie screen, Julie had to wonder what she had been thinking, agreeing to go into a dark movie theatre with Tim Riggins.
They weren’t five minutes into the movie before Tim snuck his hand over and spread his fingers out above her bare knee, just to the inside. She jumped in her seat. His hand was incredibly warm on her chilled skin.
“Goose bumps?” Tim whispered, leaning his head over towards Julie’s without taking his eyes off the screen.
“Yeah, it’s freezing in here,” Julie replied.
“Shoulda said something,” he whispered back. “I coulda warmed you up.”
With that, he began sliding his hand slowly up her thigh, his skin warming hers as he did so. Julie’s face flushed. Was he really going to...? Julie clamped her thighs shut on his hand, trapping it just before he could get anywhere really dangerous.
Tim turned his head and smirked at her, his eyes shining in the reflected light of the movie screen.
“Can’t really do anything if you’re gonna do that, Jules,” he said softly.
“I-I have to go to the bathroom,” Julie blurted, standing up suddenly and knocking his hand out of her lap.
Julie walked as quickly as she could out of the theatre, turning the corner and ducking into the ladies’ washroom. Thankfully, it was empty. Julie went to the nearest sink and splashed a bit of water on her cheeks, trying to cool them down. She felt dizzy; one minute she was cold, the next she was way too hot.
The door to the bathroom swung open. Julie didn’t look up until she felt someone staring at her. Tim was standing two feet away from her, looking at her with a smug look on his face.
“What?” Julie asked, a little defensive at his expression. “I felt sick, okay? I’ll be back in a minute.”
Tim tilted his head slightly, still looking at her.
“Tim, this is the ladies’ washroom.”
“I know,” Tim replied, taking a couple of steps towards her. “We’d better be real quiet.”
“Quiet?”
“Yeah,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her hand. He tugged her into the end stall suddenly, locking it behind them just as the bathroom door swung open again to admit a group of chatting girls.
They stood there staring at each other in the fluorescent light as the girls flushed and washed their hands, laughing noisily. Julie barely heard them; all sound was drowned out by the rushing of blood in her ears. Tim just grinned at her, looking extremely pleased with himself.
He leaned in and kissed her, skipping straight to hot, dirty, ridiculous kisses without preamble. He pushed her against the painted concrete wall, lifting her against his body. Julie kissed him back, tangling her hands in his hair and propping a foot against the toilet tank.
Julie had never done anything like this before in her life. This was the kind of thing Tyra would do. No, not even. This was the kind of thing Tyra used to do. This was the kind of thing Julie should have turned her nose up at. But there was something about the way that Tim looked at her, his eyes heated and mischievous, which made her feel giddy instead.
Tim Riggins was apparently having a profound effect on her judgment.
Sliding his hands up under her skirt, he moved back only long enough to reach down and pull her underwear down her thighs. He hitched her up against the wall like there was nothing to it, fumbling with his belt buckle.
Kissing her, he eased a hand between her legs, and Julie jerked and sighed when he slid a finger inside her.
“You’re driving me crazy, Jul-” he began to say, but Julie cut him off, kissing him hard and scraping his bottom lip with her teeth. She reached down and yanked his jeans open, wrapping a hand around him. He smiled against her mouth, a wolfish sort of grin she could feel, and pushed up inside her in one smooth movement.
Julie tangled her fingers in his hair and held on tight, her foot her only brace against his hard thrusts. The fly of his jeans dug painfully into her thigh, his stubble scraped her face, his fingers pulled her hair, and her muscles ached with effort, but Julie did not care.
When Tim caught her eye and smiled at her like there was nothing she could possibly do wrong, she did not care about anything else at all.
The soft, blunt heat of his fingers against her, coaxing her roughly, made Julie shudder all over. Biting her lip to keep herself from shouting and announcing their presence, she moaned out a sharp, sudden burst of an orgasm.
She was only vaguely aware of him coming seconds later on a groan which sounded suspiciously like her name accompanied by several expletives. She sighed, trying to slow her racing heartbeat.
“Couldn’t wait, huh?” she asked, once she caught her breath.
He lifted his head from her chest and glared at her. The flush on his face was adorable, and Julie tugged his hair affectionately. She sighed again, looking around her. She wrinkled her nose. A bathroom stall at a movie theatre, really?
“We’re going to miss the rest of the movie,” she said, shifting as her position became uncomfortable.
“Hell with the rest of the movie,” Tim muttered sluggishly, pulling away. He set her down on her feet before turning away to zip up, his face still flushed. “We’re goin’ back to my place.”
Julie laughed. “Okay, fine. You go first, and I’ll meet you in the lobby. We have to be sneaky and covert.”
Tim smiled and leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “See you in two minutes.”
He ducked out of the stall, leaving Julie to try to relearn how to walk on her wobbly legs. She took a few deep breaths and tried to pull herself together. After readjusting her clothes and her hair, she left the stall and washed her hands, splashing some cold water on her face. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.
She didn’t look freaked or embarrassed or ashamed. She looked downright giddy.
Julie left the washroom and headed towards the lobby, her eyes scanning the crowd for Tim. She found him leaning casually against a pillar near the entrance, a small smile on his face. His smile widened when his gaze landed on her. He stood up straight, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Ready to go?” he asked. Julie didn’t have a chance to respond, however, for at that moment an obnoxiously loud voice boomed across the lobby, causing several people to turn their heads.
“Tim Riggins!” It was Buddy Garrity. He came bustling over, grabbing Tim’s hand in a firm handshake and clapping the other hand against Tim’s shoulder. Julie edged out of the way; Buddy seemed to have barely noticed her.
“Hey, Mr. Garrity,” Tim replied, clearing his throat and casting a panicked look at Julie. Or at least as panicked a look as Tim could muster - a slight raise of the eyebrows and downturn in his mouth as he looked at her.
“How’re you doin’, Tim Riggins?”
“I’m doing fine, Mr. Garrity.”
“How’s that garage you two boys got goin’?”
“It’s all right, sir.”
“Lookin’ forward to makin’ some tackles at San Antonio State this year?”
“Yes, sir,” Tim nodded.
“Great, that’s just great,” Buddy blustered. “Tell you what, Lyla is havin’ a ball up there in the Big Apple. An absolute ball.”
“Mm-hmm,” Tim nodded, shooting Julie another discomfited look. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.
“She’s working hard and making a lot of new friends, new connections, you know, dating and whatnot. She’s just havin’ a ball, Riggins,” Buddy mused, smiling to himself. He caught the stormy expression on Tim’s face. “I know you two were real close, but that’s how it goes when you’re young. Here today, gone tomorrow.”
Julie swallowed, torn between annoyance over Buddy’s interruption and empathy for Tim’s open wound of a broken heart, which Buddy was currently rubbing salt into, like talking about Lyla’s exciting dating life in New York was a remotely reasonable thing to do.
Buddy finally seemed to register her presence, then, turning and smiling brightly at her, eyebrows raised.
“Julie Taylor! Miss Julie Taylor. How’s your dad? Ain’t seen much of him lately.”
“He’s fine,” Julie replied tightly.
“You tell him I said hello,” he said, looking from Julie to Tim. Frowning, his eyes went back to Julie, then back to Tim again. “Are you two-?”
“We’re friends,” Tim said bluntly, before Buddy had the chance to finish his question. Julie glanced up at Tim. She’d been about to say the same thing, but still. It hurt a little, how easily he said it.
Buddy seemed to let it go, insisting again that Julie say hello to her parents for him before he finally left them alone, heading back to his own date, a middle-aged blonde who reminded Julie eerily of Tyra’s mother. Julie watched him go, then turned back to see Tim eyeing her somewhat warily. After a pause, she smiled tightly at him and they left, leaving the crowded movie theatre behind them. As they walked through the dark parking lot, Julie almost jumped in surprise when she felt Tim’s hand clasp hers.
Turning away to hide her smile, Julie laced her fingers with his.
Chapter 13
Author: lindentree
Rating: R
Character(s): Tim/Julie
Word Count: 5,688
Summary: AU after 3x13 "Tomorrow Blues", this story takes place in the summer of 2010 when Tim returns home from his first year away at college, Julie graduates from her last year of high school, and they find themselves meeting somewhere in the middle.
Thanks to ishie for as awesome as always. This chapter is long and mostly pure cheesecake, but we only have three or so chapters to go, so enjoy. ♥
It was one of the rare nights when Mindy was working and Billy had chosen to spend the evening drinking and watching her dance, rather than drinking and watching ESPN with Tim.
This meant that Tim and Julie could spend the evening together instead of Julie taking off before Billy got home. Ever since Tim had told her that Billy knew what was going on, Julie had avoided the older Riggins, feeling a little embarrassed about the whole situation.
“You want another beer?” Tim asked, his voice rumbling next to her head. They were stretched out on the couch watching baseball, of all things, but Julie was too hot and tired from a shift at Applebee’s followed by an afternoon with a cranky, teething Jordyn to bother objecting.
“Please,” Julie replied, sitting up. She stretched her bare legs out in front of her, resting her heels on the coffee table. She had a theory that Tim’s languid laziness was beginning to rub off on her.
“Here,” Tim said, appearing at her side and pressing a cold bottle of beer against her naked calf. She jumped at the contact and took it from him, glaring.
“Very mean,” she said, reclining back on the couch and keeping her feet on the table. Tim sat down next to her, staring intently at her foot.
“What?” she asked, glancing up at him.
"This is cute," he said, leaning forward and wrapping a warm hand around her ankle. Julie shivered. Tim was peering curiously down at her heart tattoo. Suddenly self-conscious, she gently tugged her foot away.
"It's not a big deal," she mumbled.
"When'd you get that?"
"Um, beginning of eleventh grade?" she replied.
"Bet your parents didn't like that," he mused.
"Not really, but they came around." She glanced over at him. "How come you don't have any? You seem like the tattoo type to me."
"Dunno," he said. "Never thought of anything that meant enough to bother, I guess."
"What about a little football?" Julie asked, teasing. "Or a number 33? Or a panther paw?"
"Kinda pathetic, tattooing your high school football stuff on yourself."
"Other people might see it that way, maybe,” Julie said, although she had just been teasing him. “But if it means something to you, that's what really matters, right? Who cares if other people don't get it?"
“Yeah. Maybe I’ll get one sometime when I have some extra cash,” he said. He glanced over at her. “Got any other tattoos in interesting places I oughta know about?”
“If I did, you probably would have seen them by now,” Julie scoffed.
Tim narrowed his eyes lasciviously at her. Julie giggled. “I’m really glad you haven’t noticed the little ‘I heart Tim Riggins’ banner over my heart. That could have been super embarrassing.”
“Only fair, since I’ve got your name tattooed on my ass,” Tim shrugged, taking a swig of his beer and turning back to the baseball game.
Silence fell between them and Julie leaned comfortably into his side, sipping her beer. Was it her fault that Tim was so surprisingly cuddly?
“Hey,” he said during the next commercial, not taking his eyes off the screen. “Stay the night, okay?”
Julie looked up at him, but he didn’t meet her eyes. It was such a quiet, direct request, Julie didn’t know how to refuse without making things awkward or perhaps hurting his feelings. What was the big deal, anyway? Why did her mind jump automatically to wanting to refuse? She bit her bottom lip.
“Okay,” she said finally. They grew quiet once again, drinking their beers and zoning out in companionable silence. Finally, Julie couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore, and the next thing she knew, the TV was off and Tim was nudging her gently.
“Jules, come on. I checked on Jordyn, she’s still sound asleep. Let’s hit the hay.” He left her, disappearing into his bedroom.
Groggily, Julie stood and looked around for her bag, spotting it on the kitchen counter. She went over and pulled her phone out, chewing anxiously on her bottom lip. There were already two missed calls, both from home. She didn’t have the heart to call her mother right now and lie to her. She flipped the phone open and began recklessly typing out a text message with her thumb: Babysitting emergency. Staying overnight. See you tomorrow!
Before she could think better of it, Julie hit “send” and then turned the phone off, tossing it back into her bag. She followed Tim into his bedroom, and closed the door behind her.
Julie stood awkwardly by his bed, unsure what to do with herself. They’d had sex in his room enough times, but somehow actually sleeping together was different. It was intimate.
“I don’t have anything to sleep in,” Julie said.
Tim glanced around, his eyes landing on a basket of clean laundry by his battered, mostly empty dresser. “Here,” he said, grabbing a worn old Panthers t-shirt, its grey fabric softened by numerous washings.
Tim began to strip off his clothes, and Julie hurriedly turned around to remove her own, pulling his shirt on over her head. It was big on her, but still didn’t cover as much as she might have liked. Embarrassed, she tugged at its hem, trying to pull it lower on her thighs.
She stopped when she caught Tim watching her, his eyes amused.
“Cute,” Tim said, climbing into bed. Julie raised an eyebrow at him. Apparently Tim’s idea of pyjamas was a pair of black boxer briefs and nothing else. He leaned back against the pillows and smirked at her. Ignoring his smug look, Julie climbed in next to him.
She had thought this was the point where sex would come in, but instead, Tim just settled back against his pillows and sighed, pulling her against his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder and felt his breathing slow, her own body tense.
“Relax,” Tim muttered, his arm wrapping around her back.
“Sorry,” she replied, closing her eyes and concentrating on relaxing.
“Don’t say sorry, just chill out and go to sleep, Jules,” Tim said. Julie heard rather than saw the smile that accompanied his words.
They fell silent, and a few minutes later, Julie heard Tim begin to snore softly. She opened her eyes and glanced up at him. Asleep, there was something terribly sweet about him; he looked a far cry from the boy once notorious in Dillon for hard hits and hard drinking. Smiling, she stretched her arm across his bare stomach and closed her eyes once more. She fell asleep.
Julie was awoken a few hours later by the familiar sound of Jordyn crying. Foggily, she listened for a moment before realising that no one was getting up. Billy and Mindy must not be home yet. She shifted, frowning at the heavy weight she felt across her waist. It was Tim’s arm. She glanced up to see that he was fast asleep, his face buried in his pillow.
Removing herself somewhat awkwardly from his grasp, Julie got out of the bed and tiptoed out of the room and into Billy and Mindy’s room, where Jordyn had been sleeping. She scooped the distressed baby up into her arms and, after checking her diaper, decided to go prepare a bottle and see if that would calm her.
Jordyn continued to fuss, throwing in the occasional wail, as Julie moved around the kitchen, warming a bottle of formula for her. When Julie held the bottle to her mouth, however, Jordyn latched on and went quiet.
Julie stood in the dark kitchen, feeding Jordyn and swaying her gently as she did so, just like she used to do with Gracie the few times she spared her parents the agony of getting up in the middle of the night to feed the crying baby. It was several minutes before she noticed Tim standing in the doorway of his bedroom watching her.
"Hey," she mouthed, not wanting to disturb Jordyn from her meal now that she was finally quiet.
Silently he came over and stood next to them, looking down at the baby. He glanced up at Julie, a strange expression on his face.
“What?” she whispered.
He shrugged and held out his arms, offering to take Jordyn. Julie shook her head.
“She’s fine,” she said softly. “I don’t mind.”
They stood in silence and watched Jordyn sate her hunger, the moment so quiet and tender that Julie didn’t want to disturb it by speaking. The peace they had unexpectedly forged was comforting, and very welcome.
***
Julie awoke the next morning to Tim amorously nuzzling her neck and sliding a hand under her t-shirt.
“Morning,” she said sleepily, her voice scratchy.
“Mmm,” Tim replied, his teeth scraping against her earlobe. Julie shivered as he kissed his way along her jaw, heading for her mouth. Julie pulled her face away and shook her head.
“Uh-uh,” she said, frowning at him. “Morning breath.”
“Don’t care.” He sucked on the skin of her neck while his hands crept up to the waistband of her underwear.
“You like doing it in the morning, I take it?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he mumbled, rolling them both so that she was on her back and he was resting on top of her. He tugged her underwear down her legs and tossed them over his shoulder. Julie giggled.
“If you’re happy doing all the work, I’m just going to lie here,” she said, languorously stretching her arms above her head.
Tim pushed her borrowed t-shirt up, pressing a kiss to her exposed bellybutton. Julie shivered, goose bumps breaking out over her stomach. She felt Tim smile against her skin.
He kissed his way back up to her face, pausing only to impatiently yank her shirt over her head. Julie kept her arms over her head, fighting the urge to cover herself up in the bright morning light. It was especially difficult given the way Tim was staring down at her, his eyes shining mischievously. He grinned, leaning down suddenly and pressing a kiss right on her lips.
“Ugh,” Julie said, a hand coming down to cover her mouth while she glared at him.
He didn’t reply, merely grinning at her as he leaned to the side and began groping next to his bed for a condom.
“Damn,” he swore, after a moment.
“What?”
“I’m all out,” he said, sitting back on his heels. His expression looked like he’d just watched someone kick a puppy.
“Oh,” Julie said. She looked up at his disappointed face, at war with herself. They could just go without, couldn’t they? She was on the pill, after all. “It’s okay.”
“Huh?”
“I’m on the pill; it’s fine.”
He frowned down at her. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I mean... Is there a reason I shouldn’t be sure?”
“No,” he said, smiling. “Clean bill of health. I promise.”
“So, if we do this, this is basically me trusting you and you trusting me, then,” Julie said, somewhat apprehensive.
Tim nodded, the amusement disappearing from his face. He leaned down, pressing another kiss on her lips. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, Jules,” he said seriously.
“Me neither,” Julie said. “I trust you.”
Tim blinked. After a breathless pause, he kissed her again, a hand sliding down over her hip and between her legs. Julie gasped, bringing her hands up to tangle in his hair.
“Mmm, I like you,” Tim mumbled against her lips as he kissed her. Julie snorted, her laugh dying on a moan as he brushed his thumb against her clit.
He eased his hips between her thighs, sliding into her with what was - at this point - practised ease.
“Jesus,” he breathed, hot and quick against her ear.
Julie gulped, gripping his hair harder and trying to draw a breath. Her skin tingled all over, and she tried not to overanalyse the fact that this was the barest, the closest she had ever been with another person. Tim shifted and Julie moved with him, gripping his hips tightly between her thighs.
He dropped his head to her shoulder and exhaled a shaky laugh.
“We’re gonna have to make this quick,” he said, his words mumbled low against her neck. He drew his hips back and thrust into her, the movement catching Julie’s breath in her throat. The feel of every inch of his bare skin against hers was intense.
“Yeah,” Julie replied shakily, trying to meet his thrusts.
He lifted his head and looked at her, his face flushed in the bright morning light. Julie met his eyes, shy but unable and unwilling to break his gaze.
Julie gasped when again his hand found its way between them to touch her, making her whole body shiver against his as she came.
“Jules,” Tim rumbled, his eyes squeezing shut in an expression that looked almost pained. He followed her right after, collapsing on her chest with a groan.
Julie stared up at the water-stained ceiling, trying to catch her breath and absently running her fingers through his sweaty hair.
“Never done that before,” Tim said, his voice muffled against her skin.
“What, without a...?”
“Yeah,” Tim replied, raising his head and quirking an eyebrow at Julie’s squeamishness.
“Oh,” she said simply, unsure how to take his admission.
“I gotta go to work,” Tim said reluctantly, kissing her bare shoulder. “Mindy doesn’t work today or tomorrow, so I guess I won’t see you for a couple days.”
“Guess not.”
“What are you gonna tell your parents?”
“Um,” Julie said blankly, shaking her head, “I really have no idea.”
“Tell ‘em I made you work overtime,” Tim said, kissing her on the lips with an audible smack before rolling off the bed and onto his feet, smirking all the while.
“Ew,” Julie replied as she sat up, trying not to laugh. Laughing only encouraged him.
“Shower?” he said, grabbing a towel off the back of his door and wrapping it around his waist.
“Was that a statement or a question?” Julie asked, although she knew perfectly well. Tim grinned at her. “You’re going to be late for work if you don’t hurry up.”
Tim stood there continuing to smile at her until she started to feel a little self-conscious. He took a step forward and bent to kiss her quickly before heading for the bathroom.
Julie shook her head and slowly began dressing. She folded the Panthers t-shirt she had borrowed and placed it on the corner of his unmade bed. She stood looking at it a moment longer before reaching out and grabbing it, shoving it into her bag.
Pulling her hair up into a haphazard ponytail, Julie threw her bag over her shoulder and headed for the door, ready to lock it behind her.
“Good morning,” came a voice from the living room. Julie stopped, turning around to find Mindy standing in the middle of the room, gently bouncing a fussy Jordyn. It had slipped her mind completely that they weren’t alone.
“Morning,” Julie replied cautiously, a little wary of the serious expression on Mindy’s face.
“You two have fun last night?”
“Um, sure,” Julie said. She and Mindy only ever really talked about Jordyn, and Mindy had never mentioned what was going on between her and Tim.
They stared at one another awkwardly for a beat before Mindy stomped one foot impatiently and rolled her eyes. “Look, Billy’s real worried about this whole thing.”
“What? Why?”
“He thinks that it’s just Garrity all over again, and Tim’s gonna fall apart when schools starts and you take off to do your college girl thing. He’s afraid Tim’s gonna screw up because of it. He usually does.”
“Maybe Billy should try having a little more faith in Tim,” Julie said, crossing her arms over her chest, briefly defensive. She looked down. “Anyway, it’s different. I’m hardly Lyla Garrity.”
Mindy gave her a disbelieving look.
“What? I’m not. It’s not like we’re in love. Summer fling,” Julie repeated emphatically, annoyed.
“Yeah, fine, whatever. Let me know how that works out,” Mindy said, turning and disappearing into the bedroom.
Julie stared after her for a moment before turning once more to leave, locking the front door behind her and heading out into the already scorching hot Texas morning.
Driving home, she shoved Mindy’s comments aside and set herself to worrying about more important things, like whether or not her mother had even remotely believed her lie about a babysitting emergency.
***
Julie leaned against a cardboard box of tomatoes and sighed, rubbing her arms against the chill of the walk-in cooler.
She was hiding, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
The lunch rush was about half over, but Julie was exhausted and at the limit of her patience. Applebee’s was unusually busy that day, even for the lunch hour, and Julie had, it seemed, been saddled with all the pickiest, rudest, crankiest customers who had walked through the doors.
She managed to smile her way through most of it, but after the third time one particular guy sent his food back to the kitchen and muttered under his breath that hell would freeze over before he’d give her a tip, she ducked into the walk-in to hide.
Rubbing her face tiredly, Julie steeled her nerves and walked out, trying to keep her mind focused on the fact that in a few weeks, she would be quitting and leaving for Houston.
Heading back into the restaurant, Julie looked up and smiled at the sight of Tim sprawled carelessly in one of the booths in her section, perusing the menu. Grabbing her notepad, she walked over.
"Welcome to Applebee's," she said, standing next to the table. "What can I get for you this afternoon?"
Tim looked up at her and blinked slowly, a troubling, wicked gleam in his eyes. "I was kinda hoping you'd say 'how may I serve you?' or something," he said, just low enough to avoid being heard by the other restaurant-goers.
"Like I'd give you an opportunity that good," Julie replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Lunch," Tim said innocently, looking back down at his open menu. "I feel like chicken. I'm kind of a breast man. What do you recommend, Miss..." he squinted up at her nametag, taking much too long to read it. “Miss Julie.”
Julie clicked her pen in irritation, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you seriously want something to eat or are you just here to bug me?"
Tim looked up at her in surprise. "I was just messing with you.”
"Sorry," Julie sighed, rubbing her temples. "I'm having a crappy day. I'm not really up for having my ponytail pulled."
"What's up? Can you take a break?"
Julie glanced down at her wristwatch. "Actually, yes. Only I don't want to take it here."
Tim stood up, abandoning his menu. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her towards the back exit.
"I'm taking her," he said to Julie's manager as they passed him. "She'll be back in fifteen minutes. More or less."
As she was dragged out the back of the restaurant and across the parking lot to Tim's truck, Julie figured that she probably ought to protest being manhandled in this way, but given that she had already considered walking out of there herself, she figured it didn't much matter.
"Don't take me anywhere nice," Julie said as she hopped into the passenger seat of the truck. "I'll just want to stay and never go back to work, and as tempting as that sounds right now, it's probably not a good plan in the long run."
"Alamo Freeze it is," Tim replied, starting the engine and putting the truck into gear.
They sat at an out of the way table and Tim bought a soda for her and a meal for himself.
"You mind?" he asked, returning to the table with a plastic tray loaded down with food. "I have to eat and get back to work, eventually." He grimaced.
"Knock yourself out," Julie said, leaning forward to take a sip of her drink. "I've got a giant soda with lots of ice, and it's cool in here, and it's not work. I'm happy."
"So what's bugging you? Besides me," Tim asked, digging into his food.
"Nothing, really. Work stuff. I hate waitressing. People are jerks and I'm too sensitive."
"You're not too sensitive," Tim said.
"I'm definitely too sensitive, Tim. Everything hurts my feelings. I take stuff way too personally; my mom is always saying that about me. People complain about the food and I feel attacked. I didn’t even make it and Istill get my feelings hurt. It's pathetic."
Tim appeared to consider this as he devoured his burger. Julie was slowly learning to overlook his complete lack of table manners, but sometimes it was a struggle. Gracie could manage more poise over a meal, and she was notorious for spontaneously mashing handfuls of peas into her own hair.
"I dunno," he said, leaning back and taking a sip of his drink. "You put up with me, and I'm a jackass."
"You're not a jackass," Julie replied promptly, wondering if Tim could read her mind. "Or at least not the kind that gets to me. You're too quiet to hurt my feelings."
"Quiet, huh?"
"What, you haven't noticed?"
Tim merely shrugged in response. Julie laughed.
“Tell you what,” Tim said, “why don’t we go on a date tonight?”
“A date?”
“Yeah, a date. Maybe you’ve heard of ‘em, I don’t know. I pick you up, we go out someplace, get something to eat, end up making out in my truck,” he smiled at her, his eyes twinkling.
Julie smiled back at him and then looked down, her bad mood slowly disappearing.
“A date,” Julie said, playing along and pretending to mull the word over as though it was new to her. “Could be interesting. Did you have something specific in mind?”
“Fran’s?”
Julie wrinkled her nose.
“Hm... Applebee’s?”
Julie glowered.
“No? This is tough,” Tim frowned, teasing her. “How about the pita place up on Murphy Street and that new Tom Cruise movie?”
“Sure,” Julie replied. “Do you like pitas?”
“Never had one,” he admitted with a shrug.
“Feeling adventurous?”
“Always.”
“Pitas and Scientologists it is, then.”
They sat in silence as Tim finished his lunch, and then Tim drove her back to Applebee’s. He pulled into the parking lot and let the truck idle, but Julie didn’t get out. She didn’t really want to.
“They’re probably gonna get mad at you if you don’t come back,” Tim said, his voice sounding as reluctant as she felt.
“I know,” she said with a sigh.
“Pick you up around 7?”
“Sounds good,” Julie replied, smiling. “See you then.”
Julie hopped out of the truck and went back into the restaurant, smiling back over her shoulder as he pulled away. It wasn’t until she was clocking out to go home that she realised that when Tim picked her up later, she had no idea what she was going to tell her parents.
That was happening a lot lately.
***
“Seriously, you’ve never had falafel before?” Julie asked.
“No,” Tim said, dubious. “Sounds even worse than it looks.”
They were seated in a booth at the back of the pita restaurant, their food spread out on the table in front of them. Julie was about to bite into her falafel pita, and Tim was watching her closely, like he wasn’t quite sure she was serious about this, while his own pita - filled with every meat they had and topped with toasted cheese and mayo - cooled in front of him.
Julie laughed. “Fine, suit yourself. More falafel for me.”
Tim frowned at her. He reached over, grabbing her pita out of her hands.
“Hey!” she protested, watching in astonishment as he took a gigantic bite out of it.
“Mmm,” he said appreciatively after a moment, taking another bite.
“You’re gonna eat the whole thing!” Indignantly, she grabbed her pita back.
“Very good,” Tim grinned, his mouth full.
“You ate like half my pita!” Julie complained, glaring at him.
“I’ll buy you popcorn to make up for it,” he offered, eyes shining in amusement.
“You’d better,” she grumbled. She finished the rest of her pita in a defensive stance, ready to slap his hands if he tried to come near again. If Tim thought she hadn’t learned a thing or two about defending her food living in a house with her father, he had another thing coming.
Later, sitting in the darkness of the cool theatre and staring up at the bright movie screen, Julie had to wonder what she had been thinking, agreeing to go into a dark movie theatre with Tim Riggins.
They weren’t five minutes into the movie before Tim snuck his hand over and spread his fingers out above her bare knee, just to the inside. She jumped in her seat. His hand was incredibly warm on her chilled skin.
“Goose bumps?” Tim whispered, leaning his head over towards Julie’s without taking his eyes off the screen.
“Yeah, it’s freezing in here,” Julie replied.
“Shoulda said something,” he whispered back. “I coulda warmed you up.”
With that, he began sliding his hand slowly up her thigh, his skin warming hers as he did so. Julie’s face flushed. Was he really going to...? Julie clamped her thighs shut on his hand, trapping it just before he could get anywhere really dangerous.
Tim turned his head and smirked at her, his eyes shining in the reflected light of the movie screen.
“Can’t really do anything if you’re gonna do that, Jules,” he said softly.
“I-I have to go to the bathroom,” Julie blurted, standing up suddenly and knocking his hand out of her lap.
Julie walked as quickly as she could out of the theatre, turning the corner and ducking into the ladies’ washroom. Thankfully, it was empty. Julie went to the nearest sink and splashed a bit of water on her cheeks, trying to cool them down. She felt dizzy; one minute she was cold, the next she was way too hot.
The door to the bathroom swung open. Julie didn’t look up until she felt someone staring at her. Tim was standing two feet away from her, looking at her with a smug look on his face.
“What?” Julie asked, a little defensive at his expression. “I felt sick, okay? I’ll be back in a minute.”
Tim tilted his head slightly, still looking at her.
“Tim, this is the ladies’ washroom.”
“I know,” Tim replied, taking a couple of steps towards her. “We’d better be real quiet.”
“Quiet?”
“Yeah,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her hand. He tugged her into the end stall suddenly, locking it behind them just as the bathroom door swung open again to admit a group of chatting girls.
They stood there staring at each other in the fluorescent light as the girls flushed and washed their hands, laughing noisily. Julie barely heard them; all sound was drowned out by the rushing of blood in her ears. Tim just grinned at her, looking extremely pleased with himself.
He leaned in and kissed her, skipping straight to hot, dirty, ridiculous kisses without preamble. He pushed her against the painted concrete wall, lifting her against his body. Julie kissed him back, tangling her hands in his hair and propping a foot against the toilet tank.
Julie had never done anything like this before in her life. This was the kind of thing Tyra would do. No, not even. This was the kind of thing Tyra used to do. This was the kind of thing Julie should have turned her nose up at. But there was something about the way that Tim looked at her, his eyes heated and mischievous, which made her feel giddy instead.
Tim Riggins was apparently having a profound effect on her judgment.
Sliding his hands up under her skirt, he moved back only long enough to reach down and pull her underwear down her thighs. He hitched her up against the wall like there was nothing to it, fumbling with his belt buckle.
Kissing her, he eased a hand between her legs, and Julie jerked and sighed when he slid a finger inside her.
“You’re driving me crazy, Jul-” he began to say, but Julie cut him off, kissing him hard and scraping his bottom lip with her teeth. She reached down and yanked his jeans open, wrapping a hand around him. He smiled against her mouth, a wolfish sort of grin she could feel, and pushed up inside her in one smooth movement.
Julie tangled her fingers in his hair and held on tight, her foot her only brace against his hard thrusts. The fly of his jeans dug painfully into her thigh, his stubble scraped her face, his fingers pulled her hair, and her muscles ached with effort, but Julie did not care.
When Tim caught her eye and smiled at her like there was nothing she could possibly do wrong, she did not care about anything else at all.
The soft, blunt heat of his fingers against her, coaxing her roughly, made Julie shudder all over. Biting her lip to keep herself from shouting and announcing their presence, she moaned out a sharp, sudden burst of an orgasm.
She was only vaguely aware of him coming seconds later on a groan which sounded suspiciously like her name accompanied by several expletives. She sighed, trying to slow her racing heartbeat.
“Couldn’t wait, huh?” she asked, once she caught her breath.
He lifted his head from her chest and glared at her. The flush on his face was adorable, and Julie tugged his hair affectionately. She sighed again, looking around her. She wrinkled her nose. A bathroom stall at a movie theatre, really?
“We’re going to miss the rest of the movie,” she said, shifting as her position became uncomfortable.
“Hell with the rest of the movie,” Tim muttered sluggishly, pulling away. He set her down on her feet before turning away to zip up, his face still flushed. “We’re goin’ back to my place.”
Julie laughed. “Okay, fine. You go first, and I’ll meet you in the lobby. We have to be sneaky and covert.”
Tim smiled and leaned in, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “See you in two minutes.”
He ducked out of the stall, leaving Julie to try to relearn how to walk on her wobbly legs. She took a few deep breaths and tried to pull herself together. After readjusting her clothes and her hair, she left the stall and washed her hands, splashing some cold water on her face. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.
She didn’t look freaked or embarrassed or ashamed. She looked downright giddy.
Julie left the washroom and headed towards the lobby, her eyes scanning the crowd for Tim. She found him leaning casually against a pillar near the entrance, a small smile on his face. His smile widened when his gaze landed on her. He stood up straight, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Ready to go?” he asked. Julie didn’t have a chance to respond, however, for at that moment an obnoxiously loud voice boomed across the lobby, causing several people to turn their heads.
“Tim Riggins!” It was Buddy Garrity. He came bustling over, grabbing Tim’s hand in a firm handshake and clapping the other hand against Tim’s shoulder. Julie edged out of the way; Buddy seemed to have barely noticed her.
“Hey, Mr. Garrity,” Tim replied, clearing his throat and casting a panicked look at Julie. Or at least as panicked a look as Tim could muster - a slight raise of the eyebrows and downturn in his mouth as he looked at her.
“How’re you doin’, Tim Riggins?”
“I’m doing fine, Mr. Garrity.”
“How’s that garage you two boys got goin’?”
“It’s all right, sir.”
“Lookin’ forward to makin’ some tackles at San Antonio State this year?”
“Yes, sir,” Tim nodded.
“Great, that’s just great,” Buddy blustered. “Tell you what, Lyla is havin’ a ball up there in the Big Apple. An absolute ball.”
“Mm-hmm,” Tim nodded, shooting Julie another discomfited look. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.
“She’s working hard and making a lot of new friends, new connections, you know, dating and whatnot. She’s just havin’ a ball, Riggins,” Buddy mused, smiling to himself. He caught the stormy expression on Tim’s face. “I know you two were real close, but that’s how it goes when you’re young. Here today, gone tomorrow.”
Julie swallowed, torn between annoyance over Buddy’s interruption and empathy for Tim’s open wound of a broken heart, which Buddy was currently rubbing salt into, like talking about Lyla’s exciting dating life in New York was a remotely reasonable thing to do.
Buddy finally seemed to register her presence, then, turning and smiling brightly at her, eyebrows raised.
“Julie Taylor! Miss Julie Taylor. How’s your dad? Ain’t seen much of him lately.”
“He’s fine,” Julie replied tightly.
“You tell him I said hello,” he said, looking from Julie to Tim. Frowning, his eyes went back to Julie, then back to Tim again. “Are you two-?”
“We’re friends,” Tim said bluntly, before Buddy had the chance to finish his question. Julie glanced up at Tim. She’d been about to say the same thing, but still. It hurt a little, how easily he said it.
Buddy seemed to let it go, insisting again that Julie say hello to her parents for him before he finally left them alone, heading back to his own date, a middle-aged blonde who reminded Julie eerily of Tyra’s mother. Julie watched him go, then turned back to see Tim eyeing her somewhat warily. After a pause, she smiled tightly at him and they left, leaving the crowded movie theatre behind them. As they walked through the dark parking lot, Julie almost jumped in surprise when she felt Tim’s hand clasp hers.
Turning away to hide her smile, Julie laced her fingers with his.
Chapter 13