Chicago (a Friday Night Lights fanfiction)

Longer

Monday morning Matt was folding up the blankets from the couch, waiting for Julie to get out of the bathroom, knowing she had to leave today, kind of wishing she would so he could stop wondering why she was here, kind of wishing she wouldn't. These two days had been just what he'd always thought they could be—they had explored, they had laughed, she had been infinitely curious about the city and the way it worked. If she stayed longer, he would have the chance to share with her everything he had become, living here on his own, and everything he hoped to be in the future. And he wanted that, more than he had known he wanted it. But he wasn't sure he could, or should, have it.

Julie came out of the bathroom, her hair damp from the shower. "You all good in there?" Matt asked, not looking at her so he could try to avoid thinking about her hair and her skin and how good she smelled and how much he wanted to kiss her.

"Yeah."

"All right."

"I, um ... just wanted to let you know, I had a really good weekend."

He smiled. He'd known, of course, but it was nice to hear. "Uh, me, too."

"And I know that I was supposed to leave today, but ... I'd really love to see more of the city, and ... I don't really have anything I have to ... urgently be back for."

Much as he had wanted to hear just this, Matt felt frozen. The way she was talking made it sound more like she was putting off leaving than like she really wanted to stay. "Okay," he said at last. "Um, so you—you want to stay longer, then."

"Yeah! If that's okay."

"Well, that's good, that's fine, that'd be fine." What was he going to say, no? Matt couldn't have said no to any wounded bird that landed on his doorstep ... and that went double, triple, for Julie Taylor. Even beyond how much he wanted her to stay, despite the disquiet that filled him. "I've, uh, I've got class, but afterward we can go to dinner, and—" He hesitated, not sure if he wanted to introduce her to his friends. But he couldn't avoid his life here indefinitely. "And tonight there's an art show some of my friends are putting on, I promised I'd go. You mind? Or I can go alone ..."

"No! No, I'd love to go and see your friends' art. It's a d—it's a plan."

"Great."

"I'll just take a walk, explore the city a little bit."

"Don't get lost."

Julie laughed. "I'll try not to."

*****

He hadn't been at all worried about how Julie would get along with his friends. She could talk to anyone, and really listen. It was one of the things he had always liked about her. What his friends might think of his ex-girlfriend from Texas, who looked like a cheerleader, all blonde and pretty, was another question.

As they walked into the gallery, he looked around shyly. Julie looked beautiful and mature, poised, and she approached the art seriously. Matt was proud to have her here with him, even as he wondered how his friends were going to react to her.

They stopped in front of a piece that Matt's friend Ryan had done, a mix of photo-realistic drawing and bold, colorful splashes of paint. Julie tilted her head a little bit to the side to study it. "So, he's basically saying here that we hide our most precious details behind bright colors, so that no one sees who we truly are?"

"Yeah, but more than that. It's ..." Matt wasn't sure how to explain the way the painting called to him to show off what he could do, to make a statement to the world, to open up. "It's a challenge, to stop hiding and be seen."

He heard someone clear his throat behind him and turned to see Ryan standing there, grinning. "Nice to see someone gets it."

"Well, we talked about this while you were working on it. It came out great, man." They shook hands, and then Matt introduced Julie.

"Are you an artist, Julie?"

"Me? No. I'm—well, I'm not really sure what I am, to be honest with you, but, this ..." She gestured at the painting. "I don't have this in me."

"It's okay. Not everyone feels it. He does, though." Ryan nudged Matt, who had lost himself in the painting again.

"I know. I'm glad he's here."

"So are we." Ryan shook Julie's hand. "It was nice to meet you. Maybe we'll see you around again?"

"Maybe."

Matt said good-bye, making hasty plans to get together for coffee after their class later in the week, and he and Julie moved on to the next piece.

"He seemed nice."

"Yeah. He is."

"I'm glad you have good friends here." There was something wistful in her voice that made Matt want to ask if she had good friends back home ... but if she didn't, and she was here because he was the only friend she had left, he didn't really want to know.

They stopped in front of another piece, a sculpture, and talked about that for a minute, and then on to a delicate blown-glass pendant hanging from the ceiling that Matt's friend Telani had made, chatting briefly with both the artists. Julie was relaxed and respectful, thoughtful and responsive, and Matt felt a tension easing within himself as he saw that she could fit into this new life he had made ... and a new tension coiling, as he wondered if she was in his life to stay, or if he was just a pit stop on her way to somewhere else.