Chasing the Story
Aug. 13th, 2010 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fleurlbTitle: Chasing the Story
Fandom: Friday Night Lights
Rating: PG
Characters: Julie Taylor, Billy Riggins, Tim Riggins
Word Count: 1500
Spoilers: Yes, for the entire series including all of Season 4.
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: I own nothing here and am just doing this for fun.
Notes: Written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
meghan_84, as a result of a Guess the Fic meme. I’m not going to tell her prompt, since it gives away a spoiler from 413. Also, I've taken massive liberties with just about everything in this fic, so please don't let the facts get in the way of the story. :)
Julie stood in the cramped waiting area, which smelled like sweat and bleach. She wrapped her sweater around her more tightly and wondered if she was doing the right thing. Maybe she should just leave. She sighed and blamed her stupid car and Billy Riggins for the fact that she was standing in the last place on earth she’d ever expected to be.
A few days earlier, Julie had been driving to a discount t-shirt place to pick up the order for the academic smack-down team. One minute, everything was fine. The next, thick white smoke was pouring from the hood and her check engine light was flashing a dire warning. Looking around, trying not to panic, Julie spotted the sign for Riggins’ Rigs and coaxed her car to co-operate on the short drive.
When she got out of the car, an adorable black and tan dog greeted her like a long-lost friend. She paused to scratch his ears, then walked into the gloom of the garage, where she found Billy sitting at a desk, his head in his hands.
“Um, sorry, Billy, I don’t want to bother you, but there’s something seriously wrong with my car,” said Julie uncertainly, feeling like she was intruding on something monumentally private.
Billy startled and wiped his face on his sleeve, then stood slowly, visibly pulling himself together.
“No problem,” he said, his voice a bit gruff. “Let’s see what the problem is.”
Julie waited while Billy checked out her car, looking around the garage with undisguised curiosity. She’d heard about Tim, of course she had. The whole town had heard about his pleading guilty and how a new judge, eager to make an example, had sentenced him to the maximum: five years in prison.
If she were honest, her first reaction had been a little smug. Finally, a football player getting treated like a mere mortal. Everyone knew about Tim and his propensity to play a little fast and loose with the law. Like him and his brother suddenly coming up with money to buy Buddy Garrity’s house. It had always been a little suspicious and Julie doubted the chop shop had been Tim’s first illicit money-making venture.
In fact, the only thing that stopped her from writing a self-righteous editorial for the school’s newspaper had been overhearing a whispered conversation between her parents. Something about there having to be more to the story and how it was a damn shame, just when Tim finally seemed to be getting his life on the right track. Her mother had sighed and said something like “You think life was hard for him before, imagine what it’s going to be like as an ex-convict. Honestly, if it weren’t for bad luck, that boy’d have no luck at all.”
“Radiator ran out of water, that’s all,” said Billy, interrupting her thoughts. “Looks like you have a leak in the reservoir. I’ve patched it up for you, but that ain’t gonna hold long term. Car like that should still be under warranty, so take it to Buddy’s.”
“Thanks. What do I owe you?”
Billy held up his hands. “Nothing, don’t worry about it. Least I can do for you.”
Julie wanted to argue with him, but decided to channel her mother and thank him graciously instead. She turned to leave, but then turned back, biting her lip.
“Billy, how’s Tim doing?”
Billy struggled with the question for a minute. “I don’t know. OK, I guess.”
Julie felt horrible for asking and tried to smile her way out of the situation, but Billy seized on her kind smile, like a drowning man clinging to a life preserver. Suddenly, he was pouring out the whole story, how it was all his fault that Tim was in prison. How his little brother had done this amazing thing, had taken the rap so that Billy could be a father. How Tim had been gone for three months, but Billy hadn’t seen him but once, even though Colorado City was less than two hours away.
It was heartbreaking and excruciating and about twenty other things that Julie couldn’t identify. When she finally extracted herself from Billy’s self-imposed confessional, her chief feeling was relief. She’d gotten in her car and driven away, her mind soon flitting to mundane concerns, like the crooked silk-screening on the cheap t-shirts and the need to get her car fixed properly.
But the idea of Tim, alone in prison for a crime that he wasn’t solely responsible for, came back to her. Again and again. The tragic sacrifice... it was like something out of a classic novel. Julie found herself feeling sorry for Tim and also, feeling an overwhelming curiosity to learn more about the story.
Her mother called it plain old fashioned nosiness, but her newspaper faculty advisor called it a report’s instincts. And so Julie found herself standing in the cramped waiting room, regretting her decision but unable to back down now.
A loud metallic buzzing startled her and drew her attention to the heavy metal door, which pulled back with a scraping noise. A corrections officer beckoned for her to come in and she followed him into an even smaller room, where her bag was searched and she had to walk through a metal detector.
Another loud buzz and scraping door allowed her to enter into the visitors’ area, a large room with round tables scattered throughout. Julie’s eyes flickered over the inmates. Not seeing Tim, she sat down at the nearest table and waited.
“Julie Taylor...no offense, but you’re about the last person I ever expected to show up here,” said Tim as he sat down across from her.
Julie half-shrugged and smiled while her mind whirled through the descriptive phrases she’s use in her newspaper piece.
Haggard. Care-worn. Old beyond his years. Those were the adjectives she expected to be able to use.
But Tim didn’t look like that. He mostly looked like the Tim she’d always known. Maybe less cocky and less carefree, but he seemed to be handling prison better than anyone could have guessed.
“So, how are you doing?” asked Julie, pulling out her reporter’s notebook.
Tim shook his head. “Uh-huh. No stories.”
“Billy told me what you did.”
Tim sighed. “He shouldn’t’ve done that.”
“But don’t you want to the world to hear your side of the story.”
“No,” said Tim, stretching out his legs over the chair next to him. “A story like that would put Billy in a damn bad situation, anyway.”
“Oh.” Julie bit her lip. In her haste to get the big, exciting story, she hadn’t thought through the ramifications. Hadn’t considered what could happen to Billy. She’d only seen what she’d wanted to see.
“Jules, can we just talk? Tell me what’s going on with you. What’s going on in Dillon.”
She looked up, thinking that it had probably been at least two years since she and Tim had really talked. Since he was living in her house. He’d surprised her then, with his funny and wry observations about things.
Julie nodded, struggling awkwardly to come up with something to talk about. She settled on her early decision acceptance letter from Columbia but how now she was doubting whether she wanted to go so far away. The minutes flew past and soon a corrections officer was walking through, reminding inmates that they had five minutes left.
“Oh, before I forget,” said Julie. She opened her bag and took out a tin of homebaked chocolate chip cookies, a carton of cigarettes, and two books.
Tim looked at her. “I don’t smoke.”
“I know, I figured you could trade them for what you need,” said Julie, looking down to hide her blush.
“You watch too much TV,” said Tim, running a hand over the books. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
“And I know you don’t read either, but I figured you might enjoy those books anyway.”
“I just might. All I got is time, these days,” said Tim, his smile easy but somewhat bittersweet as he stood to leave. “Come back and see me again some time before you go away to college.”
“I will,” said Julie, watching as he left, wondering as she said the words how much she really meant them. She’d come here for her own purposes, chasing a story, but she was leaving with something else, something she wasn’t quite able to define. Not a friendship, exactly, but maybe the precious seeds for one. All they had was time to find out.
Fandom: Friday Night Lights
Rating: PG
Characters: Julie Taylor, Billy Riggins, Tim Riggins
Word Count: 1500
Spoilers: Yes, for the entire series including all of Season 4.
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: I own nothing here and am just doing this for fun.
Notes: Written for
meghan_84, as a result of a Guess the Fic meme. I’m not going to tell her prompt, since it gives away a spoiler from 413. Also, I've taken massive liberties with just about everything in this fic, so please don't let the facts get in the way of the story. :)Julie stood in the cramped waiting area, which smelled like sweat and bleach. She wrapped her sweater around her more tightly and wondered if she was doing the right thing. Maybe she should just leave. She sighed and blamed her stupid car and Billy Riggins for the fact that she was standing in the last place on earth she’d ever expected to be.
A few days earlier, Julie had been driving to a discount t-shirt place to pick up the order for the academic smack-down team. One minute, everything was fine. The next, thick white smoke was pouring from the hood and her check engine light was flashing a dire warning. Looking around, trying not to panic, Julie spotted the sign for Riggins’ Rigs and coaxed her car to co-operate on the short drive.
When she got out of the car, an adorable black and tan dog greeted her like a long-lost friend. She paused to scratch his ears, then walked into the gloom of the garage, where she found Billy sitting at a desk, his head in his hands.
“Um, sorry, Billy, I don’t want to bother you, but there’s something seriously wrong with my car,” said Julie uncertainly, feeling like she was intruding on something monumentally private.
Billy startled and wiped his face on his sleeve, then stood slowly, visibly pulling himself together.
“No problem,” he said, his voice a bit gruff. “Let’s see what the problem is.”
Julie waited while Billy checked out her car, looking around the garage with undisguised curiosity. She’d heard about Tim, of course she had. The whole town had heard about his pleading guilty and how a new judge, eager to make an example, had sentenced him to the maximum: five years in prison.
If she were honest, her first reaction had been a little smug. Finally, a football player getting treated like a mere mortal. Everyone knew about Tim and his propensity to play a little fast and loose with the law. Like him and his brother suddenly coming up with money to buy Buddy Garrity’s house. It had always been a little suspicious and Julie doubted the chop shop had been Tim’s first illicit money-making venture.
In fact, the only thing that stopped her from writing a self-righteous editorial for the school’s newspaper had been overhearing a whispered conversation between her parents. Something about there having to be more to the story and how it was a damn shame, just when Tim finally seemed to be getting his life on the right track. Her mother had sighed and said something like “You think life was hard for him before, imagine what it’s going to be like as an ex-convict. Honestly, if it weren’t for bad luck, that boy’d have no luck at all.”
“Radiator ran out of water, that’s all,” said Billy, interrupting her thoughts. “Looks like you have a leak in the reservoir. I’ve patched it up for you, but that ain’t gonna hold long term. Car like that should still be under warranty, so take it to Buddy’s.”
“Thanks. What do I owe you?”
Billy held up his hands. “Nothing, don’t worry about it. Least I can do for you.”
Julie wanted to argue with him, but decided to channel her mother and thank him graciously instead. She turned to leave, but then turned back, biting her lip.
“Billy, how’s Tim doing?”
Billy struggled with the question for a minute. “I don’t know. OK, I guess.”
Julie felt horrible for asking and tried to smile her way out of the situation, but Billy seized on her kind smile, like a drowning man clinging to a life preserver. Suddenly, he was pouring out the whole story, how it was all his fault that Tim was in prison. How his little brother had done this amazing thing, had taken the rap so that Billy could be a father. How Tim had been gone for three months, but Billy hadn’t seen him but once, even though Colorado City was less than two hours away.
It was heartbreaking and excruciating and about twenty other things that Julie couldn’t identify. When she finally extracted herself from Billy’s self-imposed confessional, her chief feeling was relief. She’d gotten in her car and driven away, her mind soon flitting to mundane concerns, like the crooked silk-screening on the cheap t-shirts and the need to get her car fixed properly.
But the idea of Tim, alone in prison for a crime that he wasn’t solely responsible for, came back to her. Again and again. The tragic sacrifice... it was like something out of a classic novel. Julie found herself feeling sorry for Tim and also, feeling an overwhelming curiosity to learn more about the story.
Her mother called it plain old fashioned nosiness, but her newspaper faculty advisor called it a report’s instincts. And so Julie found herself standing in the cramped waiting room, regretting her decision but unable to back down now.
A loud metallic buzzing startled her and drew her attention to the heavy metal door, which pulled back with a scraping noise. A corrections officer beckoned for her to come in and she followed him into an even smaller room, where her bag was searched and she had to walk through a metal detector.
Another loud buzz and scraping door allowed her to enter into the visitors’ area, a large room with round tables scattered throughout. Julie’s eyes flickered over the inmates. Not seeing Tim, she sat down at the nearest table and waited.
“Julie Taylor...no offense, but you’re about the last person I ever expected to show up here,” said Tim as he sat down across from her.
Julie half-shrugged and smiled while her mind whirled through the descriptive phrases she’s use in her newspaper piece.
Haggard. Care-worn. Old beyond his years. Those were the adjectives she expected to be able to use.
But Tim didn’t look like that. He mostly looked like the Tim she’d always known. Maybe less cocky and less carefree, but he seemed to be handling prison better than anyone could have guessed.
“So, how are you doing?” asked Julie, pulling out her reporter’s notebook.
Tim shook his head. “Uh-huh. No stories.”
“Billy told me what you did.”
Tim sighed. “He shouldn’t’ve done that.”
“But don’t you want to the world to hear your side of the story.”
“No,” said Tim, stretching out his legs over the chair next to him. “A story like that would put Billy in a damn bad situation, anyway.”
“Oh.” Julie bit her lip. In her haste to get the big, exciting story, she hadn’t thought through the ramifications. Hadn’t considered what could happen to Billy. She’d only seen what she’d wanted to see.
“Jules, can we just talk? Tell me what’s going on with you. What’s going on in Dillon.”
She looked up, thinking that it had probably been at least two years since she and Tim had really talked. Since he was living in her house. He’d surprised her then, with his funny and wry observations about things.
Julie nodded, struggling awkwardly to come up with something to talk about. She settled on her early decision acceptance letter from Columbia but how now she was doubting whether she wanted to go so far away. The minutes flew past and soon a corrections officer was walking through, reminding inmates that they had five minutes left.
“Oh, before I forget,” said Julie. She opened her bag and took out a tin of homebaked chocolate chip cookies, a carton of cigarettes, and two books.
Tim looked at her. “I don’t smoke.”
“I know, I figured you could trade them for what you need,” said Julie, looking down to hide her blush.
“You watch too much TV,” said Tim, running a hand over the books. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
“And I know you don’t read either, but I figured you might enjoy those books anyway.”
“I just might. All I got is time, these days,” said Tim, his smile easy but somewhat bittersweet as he stood to leave. “Come back and see me again some time before you go away to college.”
“I will,” said Julie, watching as he left, wondering as she said the words how much she really meant them. She’d come here for her own purposes, chasing a story, but she was leaving with something else, something she wasn’t quite able to define. Not a friendship, exactly, but maybe the precious seeds for one. All they had was time to find out.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-08-13 10:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 05:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-13 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 05:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 12:42 am (UTC)Honestly, if it weren’t for bad luck, that boy’d have no luck at all.
Oh, Tami Taylor. Truer words were never spoken.
I also love the idea of Tim being all Tim-like and nonchalant about jail. To be honest, he's probably seen worse.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 05:45 am (UTC)I'm sure the first few weeks were rough for Tim, but I think he has the personality to be able to weather just about anything.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 12:48 am (UTC)“You watch too much TV,” said Tim, running a hand over the books. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
This bit made me giggle snort and blink back the tears all at the same time. Tim's oh so dry humor, plus, the choice of books that Julie bought for him, both of which are about the journey from Boy to Man.
A lovely little collection of moments. I only hope the next season is this sensitive and tender.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 05:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 08:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 04:57 pm (UTC)I had to laugh, too, because I'm working on a post-S4 futurefic that deals with Tim having been in prison, and is Tim/Julie as well. There were a few things in here that made it obvious that we're totally on the same wavelength! LOL. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 06:04 pm (UTC)Will have to remember to keep an eye out for your post-S4 fic. I haven't been as good a reader lately as I should be. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-08-15 05:46 pm (UTC)Ugh, it's probably going to be a bit of a wait. I'm having a hard time seeing clearly where the characters might be a few years from now, and balancing realism with my constant urge to see things through Tim/Julie-tinted goggles.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-15 06:28 pm (UTC)But I *am* signing up for Yuletide, so maybe I'll get matched with someone who wants FNL Tim/Julie futurefic. :)
Good luck with yours - I know how that is, the realism vs the ship.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-15 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-14 11:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-15 02:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-16 01:17 pm (UTC)Eager to see how they tackle this situation in S5. I hope they address the issue early on with a Billy scene at least (not sure how I'll cope with being ignorant of what's going on with Tim).
no subject
Date: 2010-08-16 04:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-20 08:01 pm (UTC)