Road Trip, Chapter Two

[fleurlb]

 Author’s Note: I’m sure I’m bending all kinds of rules and fudging all sorts of canon to bring these two worlds together. Any mistakes are my own. Calendar wise, it’s July/August. Timing-wise for FNL, it’s the summer after Julie’s graduation from high school. Timing-wise for SPN, it’s some time during the middle of the first season.

 

Disclaimer:  SPN and FNL are copyright of their respective copyright holders. I don't own anything here and am just doing this for fun.

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Chapter Two

 

Tim pulled open the back door of Julie’s car and dropped his duffel bag in the backseat. After shutting the door, he looked up at the window, where Herc was waving and making silly faces. Tim grinned and waved goodbye, then climbed into the front seat. “Herc says if we’re going to New Orleans and Key West that we’re going to need fake IDs,” said Tim. 

 

“Is that so?” asked Julie, her eyes on the rearview mirror as she backed slowly out of the driveway.

 

“Yep. We passing through Shreveport?” 

 

“Yeah. Day Two.”

 

“Good. Herc knows a guy there that makes good IDs and owes him a favor.”

 

“Wait a minute, what happened to Sergeant Riggins?”

 

“Oh,” said Tim with the faint smile of one remembering an old friend. “Sergeant Riggins was captured in a bar in San Antonio. Been MIA ever since.”

 

“For real?”

 

“Yeah. What are the chances that a bartender’s gonna actually know the battalion you say you served in?”

 

Julie laughed and eased the car to a stop at a red light. She looked over at Tim. “So, hey, you didn’t tell me what Billy said. Is he okay with you being gone for a month?”

 

“Sure. He said to have a good time.” Tim looked out the window. It was so much easier to lie to Julie when he wasn’t looking at her. Billy had said a lot of things, but none of it had been about having a good time. In fact, Tim was 90% certain that he no longer had a job to come back to at all. 

 

He thought that the fight with his brother and losing his job would bother him, but right now, he just felt free. Well, nearly free. There was still the little matter of clearing this with Coach and Mrs. Taylor.

 

“So, Taylor, you got a game plan for dealing with your parents?”

 

“Of course,” said Julie. “Just let me do all the talking.”

 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Tim leaned back in the seat and tried to stretch his legs out. He wished they were taking his truck instead of Julie’s tiny tin can of a car.

 

Julie pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. Tim grabbed his bag from the backseat and then joined her on the front step. She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly.

 

“Well, here goes nothing,” said Julie as she pushed open the door and stepped into the house. Tim followed her in, surprised as always by the homey bustle inside.

 

“Hey Jules, you and Lois ready for your big adventure?” called Mrs. Taylor from the kitchen. Gracie toddled around the corner, laughing and yelling as she caught sight of her big sister. 

 

“Where’s Dad?” asked Julie as she and Tim rounded the corner. Mrs. Taylor looked up from the salad she was making. Her eyes widened by a fraction when she saw Tim and her mouth slipped open slightly before she pasted on a smile.

 

“Hi, Tim....Jules, is everything okay?” 

 

Julie nodded quickly. “Yeah. I just need to talk to you both.” 

 

Julie sat down a stools at the counter and Tim did the same. Mrs. Taylor wiped her hands on a dish towel before stepping out into the kitchen area. She pulled open the garage door.

 

“Hon, can you come here for a second, please?”

 

Tim heard a grumble followed by a mumbled complaint. He watched as Mrs. Taylor gave Coach a look that resulted in him coming into the house without further argument. 

 

“You’re not Lois,” said Coach as he spotted Tim. 

 

“No, sir,” replied Tim, trying not to grimace when Julie’s sharp elbow caught him in the ribs. 

 

“Mom and Dad, Lois bailed on me so Tim is going to come on the trip with me instead,” said Julie, opting to rip off the bandaid as quickly as possible.

 

“Come again?” asked Coach as he ran a hand through his hair.

 

“Lois called me and said she didn’t want to do the road trip anymore. She’d rather spend the time with her stupid boyfriend. I knew you wouldn’t let me go alone, so Tim is going with me.”

 

Tim watched as the muscles in Coach’s jaw clenched and he wondered what was going to happen next. 

 

“Jules, I’m not too sure about this,” began Mrs. Taylor, moving carefully through the words like a woman who was crossing a fast-moving stream by stepping from one slippery rock to the next. 

 

“I’ve been planning and working toward this trip for the last year. You said I could go as long as I could pay for it myself and I had someone to go with me.”

 

“Someone we trusted,” said Coach. 

 

“Eric, I think we need to talk about this for a minute,” said Mrs. Taylor as she caught Coach’s hand and pulled him down the hallway toward their bedroom.

 

Julie waited until the door clicked shut behind them, then she went over to the wall. She fiddled with an air vent and then cocked her head, listening carefully. Tim sighed and pushed his stool away from the counter. Reluctantly, he joined Julie near the wall.

 

He could just make out snippets of their conversation. Honey, she’s not a little girl anymore.....Anything could happen......Do you trust him?.....Forget reputation for a second.

 

It didn’t sound good to Tim and he really didn’t want to get caught listening. He went over and flopped down on the couch. The next few minutes felt like an eternity. Finally, Coach appeared in the kitchen.

 

“Tim, come with me,” he said. It was clearly an order. Tim jumped up and followed Coach outside. He guessed this was where he was told to leave and never come back. 

 

“You’re driving,” said Coach, tossing Tim the keys to Julie’s car. He nearly fumbled them but recovered nicely. 

 

Tim started the car and edged out of the driveway slowly. He felt more nervous than he had when he took his driver’s test. He stopped at the stop sign and looked both ways, checking more closely than he ordinarily would have. He realized that he had no idea where they were going.

 

“Uh, Coach, which way?” asked Tim.

 

“The gas station, on 385,” said Coach.

 

It was the longest drive of his life, with Coach sitting stone-faced in the passenger seat. Tim glanced over at him once, when they were stopped at a red light.  Coach was rubbing his jaw and half-smiling to himself. It was the dangerous sort of smile that Tim had seen before, usually when someone talked back at football practice. It was a smile that promised wind sprints, bleacher running, and other forms of sadistic exercise.

 

Tim pulled into the gas station and Coach pointed him toward a pump. He put the car in park and turned it off, then looked over at Coach.

 

“Riggins, it ain’t going to fill itself,” barked Coach.


Tim jumped out of the car and grabbed the nozzle, then realized he had forgotten to pop the release for the gas tank. He fumbled for the lever, relieved when his fingers closed around it. He unscrewed the cap, put the nozzle in and took a deep breath. Tim watched the numbers spin up and tried to forget that he was nervous. 

 

When the tank was full, Tim returned the nozzle to the pump. Before he could say anything, Coach stepped out of the car.

 

“Go on and pull over by the air tank. I want you to check the tire pressure, take care anything that needs taking care of, and then check the oil,” said Coach before he went to pay for the gas.

 

Tim did as he was told, relaxing with every minute. It was clear they were getting the car ready for Julie’s road trip. And unless Coach had decided he was going to go along himself, Julie had gotten her way. 

 

Tim was closing the hood of the car when Coach returned. Tim was about to get back into the car when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

 

“Hold up. I want to talk to you,” said Coach.

 

Tim leaned against the car, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. He knew how much this trip meant to Julie and just hoped that she would be able to go. 

 

“I want something to be crystal clear here. If it were up to me, I’d be dropping you off at home and then locking my daughter in her bedroom for the month. But my wife....my wife says that we can trust you. Can we trust you, Tim?”

 

“Well, you do say that your wife is always right,” said Tim, regretting the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. Coach’s eyes flashed and he rubbed his jaw.

 

“Yes, I do say that. But there’s an exception to every rule, isn’t there?”

 

Tim looked down and kept his mouth shut. Julie would kill him if he ruined everything at the last minute by saying the wrong thing.

 

“My wife might be right about you. Or she might be wrong. I really don’t know. But what I do know is that she’s right when she says that we have to trust Julie. My wife is right when she says that this is like a practice run for Julie going off to college in California. Those things.....she’s absolutely right about,” said Coach, his voice trailing off.

 

Tim looked up and found a pair of intense eyes looking right through him. 

 

“We’re going to trust you. We’re going to trust the both of you. But you better not let us down,” said Coach, punctuating each word with a firm tap on Tim’s shoulder.

 

“Yes, sir. I mean, no, no sir, we won’t let you down, Coach,” said Tim, tripping over the words.

 

“Here’s how it’s going to be....you listening?”

 

Tim nodded.

“Julie’s at home right now, making sure that every motel booking y’all have is for two rooms. She’s leaving us the list and we’ll be checking to make sure y’all are using those separate rooms. We also expect Julie to check in with us every three days. You got that?”

 

Tim nodded and looked down.

 

“I can’t hear you,” said Coach.

 

“Yes, sir. I got it,” said Tim.

 

Coach walked around the car to the passenger side. Tim let himself have a moment of relief before getting back into the car for another nerve-wracking drive. He didn’t mind it though. Coach and Mrs. Taylor were going to trust him and Julie was still going to be able to have her trip. That was all that mattered. 

 

Comments

[fleurlb.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Sometimes, that Coach voice just gets inside my head. :)