Pee Wee Football and the Superbowl Chapter 13
Title: Pee Wee Football and the Superbowl
Pairing: Tim/Julie
Spoilers: Season 2
Summary: After the fiasco with Riley and another disastrous date, Julie decides that she has something she wants to lose. And Tim Riggins seems to be just the person to help with that. Tulie!
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit made - played with for fun only.
Chapter 13
Stretching with a sigh, Tim wrapped his towel about his waist and headed back to his locker for a clean change of clothes.
He rubbed at his lower back, feeling the knotted muscles grouped along there. His fingers picked out numerous raised scratches littered across the large expanse of skin.
The fullback smiled to himself as he remembered just how he’d gotten them earlier that afternoon before he dropped Julie home, who was now, officially between them at least, his girl.
His girl, he liked the sound of that. Liked knowing that she was his.
Pulling on his boxers, worn jeans, socks and the heavy boots that served a variety of purposes, he didn’t look up at first when Smash walked by.
His team mate let out a low whistle from between his teeth. “Guess you caught up with that rally girl after all then Riggs.” He chuckled.
“Huh?” Tim asked broken out of his musings by the comment.
“The Smash said you caught up with the rally girl after all then!” He repeated.
“Which rally girl would this be?” Asked Cortez, one of the defensive linebackers. “I wouldn’t mind having me a little wild cat after you’re through with her Thirty-Three.”
Tim’s eyes latched onto the cocky Mexican player, “What did you just say?”
“Come on Rigg’s, since when has it bothered you to share before?” Cortez joked. “You might have made her scratch, but I’ll teach her how to purr!”
Blood boiling beneath his skin, Tim clenched his fists and fought for control of his temper, if he gets hold of the boy, Cortez won‘t be in a fit state for next Fridays game. “You shut your mouth.” He warned the defensive linebacker.
“Owww! Did I hit a sore spot?” Cortez mocked licking his lips. “She obviously doesn’t have standards if she’s fucked you! Don‘t worry I‘ll give her back to you after she’s done screaming my name.”
Try as he might, Julie being trash talk, referred to as a slut in the locker rooms and the idea of her having sex with Cortez, even though he knows she would never do that, conspire against him.
The next thing he knows he’s got his hands on his helmet which is flying through the air at Cortez.
“Christ! You’re crazy Riggs!” Cortez exclaimed in shock dodging the object hurtling at him. “Keep the slut for all I care!”
Before any of his team-mates can react he launches himself at Cortez, catching the Mexican by surprise and body slamming him into the lockers. His right fist is flying towards Cortez’s jaw, the back of Cortez’s head connecting against one of the metal doors with a sickening crunch.
His left fist reached the defensive linebacker as a deadly hook knocking him to the floor and Tim followed him down, fists pounding into Cortez with no conscious direction from himself.
He doesn’t register any pain from his knuckles, it takes him a moment for the voices shouting about him to filter through to his brain. Hands are grabbing at his body as they try and pry him off of Cortez, but he doesn’t make it easy for them, resisting them every inch of the way.
His mind is still buzzing when they eventually pin him to another section of the lockers while several assistant coaches bend down next to Cortez fussing over the bastard.
His heart is pounding in his chest, and he was breathing harshly and a part of him relished the damage he’s inflicted on his team mate for the way he talked about his girl. She was not locker room conversation. She wasn’t any kind of conversation.
That, he thinks, is exactly what Matt should have done to Smash last year when his team mate was making cracks about Julie’s v-card.
Coach Taylor is in his face, yelling at him, but he can’t hear any of it as his eyes slip back to the bloodied player on the floor.
He hasn’t been released yet, and he can tell from the tension surrounding him that they’re all prepared to hold him and manhandle him away from Cortez if he lunges for the Mexican again.
Coach Taylor grabs at his shoulders, shaking him to focus his attention where, as far as he is concerned, it should be. On him.
“My office now.” Coach bellows at him.
Gingerly his team mates let him go, and Tim stepped away from them, snatching up his shirt as he went.
Julie was going to be pissed at him. Most other girls, they’d be flattered at having him defend their honour, which was a better way of saying that he beat the crap out of Cortez ‘cause he remarked that he wanted to fuck her. Either way he tries to say it though, he knows that she won’t be happy.
--
The front door slammed shut, the clink of keys following as they hit the side table by the door.
“I was beginning to think that you weren’t coming home tonight Honey,” Tami remarked from the kitchen beginning to pull out the jacket potatoes from the oven which were looking a little dry and shrivelled. Not surprising as they’d been in the oven for far too long.
“Sorry I didn’t call.” Eric apologised kissing his wife on the cheek while heading straight to the fridge for a cold beer. Exhaustion and strain lined his face and he slumped back against the counter closing his eyes.
“Something wrong?” Tami asked.
He sighed. “I just got off the phone with Mac. Cortez is out of the next two games.”
Tami gasped a concerned look crossing his face. “How? What happened?”
“Riggins.” Eric growled out his fullback’s name.
“I don’t understand.”
“Well you ain’t the only one.” Eric remarked popping off the cap of his beer and taking a long drink.
“What happened?” Julie asked speaking for the first time since her dad had entered the house from her place on the couch.
“Well since by now the whole of Dillon probably already knows, I might as well tell you.” Eric said resignedly. “I wasn’t there, but apparently, going by what Smash and Saracen said, Cortez was winding up Riggins about some rally girl he’d hooked up with that afternoon. Cortez didn’t listen when Riggins told him to shut up. That should be warning enough for anyone, right?” Her dad asked. “If Tim Riggins warns you to shut up about a girl he’s involved with, common sense says shut up. Evidently Cortez is just another dumb jock cause he didn’t, instead he thought it would be a good idea to say that he‘d give the girl back after he‘d done with her.”
Julie’s stomach clenched at the though of being trash talk in the locker room. Even if it was just as some random girl. Especially as some random girl that Tim had hooked up with.
Tiredly Eric rubbed at his eyes. “Five guys, Tami. It took five guys to pull him off Cortez.” He told his wife. “If I didn’t know the kid better I’d say he had an anger management problem and not just as attitude one.”
“Did you speak to him about it?” Tami asked stepping in front of her husband and rubbing his shoulders.
“Yeah. How much of that got through to him I don’t know.” He answered honestly. “He didn’t regret it at all. I could see it in his face.”
Swallowing the bitter taste building in her mouth, Julie glanced away from her parents, averting her face to the TV in case they picked up on the fact that something was wrong.
She felt responsible.
Not only because of the fact that Tim got into a fight with Cortez because of her, but also because she was the one that had told Smash that she’d interrupted Tim with a rally girl.
Unwittingly she’d fanned the flames both times.
“Riggins just did what he always does.” Her dad told her mom. “Just gave me that blank stare he’s perfected and refused to say a word. That boy is as stubborn as a mule, just digs his feet into the ground and won’t budge an inch, not for hell or high water.”
Tami eyed her husband with concern. “What did you end up doing?”
“Laps. I got the story out of Saracen and Smash and had Riggins start running laps. I didn’t know what else to do.” Her dad admitted. “He wasn’t hearing what I was saying. Hell,” he cursed, “he wasn’t even conscious of the fact that I was in the locker room till I was in his face, shaking him, yelling and trying to get his attention.”
“Have you spoken to Billy?”
Eric nodded. “Yeah, before I left. He’s going to have a word with him later on this evening. See if he can find out what’s going on with Tim. Don’t suppose he’ll have much more luck that I will though.”
“Sit down.” Tami said. “Have some dinner. You’ll feel better for it. You too Julie.” She called out motioning to the set table.
Trying to appear as unaffected as possible, Julie made her way over to the table and wondered how she was even going to force even one bite of food down her throat when she felt as sick to her stomach as she did at that moment in time.
--
“Julie! Phone!” Her mom called.
Closing her book, Julie rolled off of her bed and headed into the living room to collect the phone from her mom wanting to just be left alone and mope.
“Thanks.”
“Hello?” She asked.
“Julie!” Lois squealed down the phone. “You’ll never guess what! Well, maybe you will, but only because your Dad’s already told you!”
“What’s happened?” Julie asked reluctantly, knowing she already knew the answer but willing to let her friend prattle on and explain it so that she didn’t have to.
“Well, you already know that Tim Riggins got into a fight with Jose Cortez in the locker room right?”
“Right.”
“You’ll never guess who it was over!”
“Who?” Julie asked prompted into asking her stomach churning.
“Paige Foster!”
Resting one hand on her stomach to settle the nauseous feeling, Julie glanced over at her bedroom door, thankful that it was closed and she was having this conversation on the phone with Lois and not face to face.
A picture came to mind of a tall, athletic girl with blonde hair, tanned skin, big boobs and long legs. She also happened to have been one of the rally girls that Matt had been in the hot tub with before they went official.
Older, prettier and far more sophisticated and experienced than little Julie Taylor the coaches daughter who knew each and every play of the Dillon Panthers and could recite the NFL Rules Handbook from cover to cover.
“I heard it from Amanda, who heard it from Kiera, who heard it from Shelley who was in the bathroom at Applebee’s when Paige Foster was boasting to Meg Laurens.
I can’t believe you interrupted them and never told me! Anyway, after dropping you home, Tim turned up at her house while her parents happened to be out, and one thing lead to another and they ended up just going at it right there. Her words not mine.” Lois continued while Julie’s hand clenched convulsively at the phone and her teeth bit into her bottom lip.
“She was saying that it was because of her that Tim Riggins got into a fight with Cortez, and although she feels bad that Cortez is out of the next two games, she still feels honoured that Tim would defend her like that.”
Disbelief wormed it’s way through Julie’s body, Paige was lying, she knew that but even if she had slept with Tim and he had gotten into a fight over her in the locker rooms, did she not realise how much trouble it could cause him?
He’d only just got back onto the team, and while high school coaches like her father were likely to overlook the fight, college recruiters weren’t. They had boys all over America fighting for a place on their football team, boys not only with talent, but academic records and dedication and commitment as well.
Tim might give his all on the pitch, but he was hardly a straight A student with a spotless attendance record and he’s spent the majority of the last few years turning up to games and practice sporting a hangover or drunk.
College recruiters weren’t that willing to take a chance on a wild card when they had a sure thing lined up.
“Apparently he like, threatened to take apart any guy who touches her because he wants her all to himself. Can you believe that?”
“No.” Julie said weakly.
“I know!” Her friend shrieked.
“Look Lois, I gotta go.” Julie said not wanting to hear anymore. Just the thought of Tim fooling around with any girl in the same way he’d touched her hurt.
This was why she should have ended things before there had even been anything to end!
“I’ll speak to you in the morning at school, ok?”
“Yeah.” Lois replied, sounding slightly disappointed that Julie hadn't shown as much enthusiasm over the gossip as she was feeling. “I’m going to call Kathy and see if she’s heard anything.”
“Ok. Night.”
“Night.”
The dial tone sounded, and lethargically Julie pressed the red button to cut off her end of the call.
Feeling weary beyond belief she changed into her pyjamas and crawled into bed to hide from reality beneath her covers.
“Julie?” Her mom asked sticking her head round the door.
“Mmm?”
“You ok?”
“Yeah. Just tired. I’ll feel better in the morning.” She promised.
“Ok.” Tami said, tucking the covers in around her a little tighter and pressing a kiss to her forehead. She picked up the cordless phone from Julie’s bedside table. “Call if you need anything ok Honey?” She said quietly beginning to leave the room.
“Ok. Night Mom.”