Little Daisy

Beatdown

He sees her again at the grocery store, but to his surprise, she's not alone. A teenaged boy, most likely only 13 or 14 tags alongside her, pulling candy and other things into their cart, while she scolds him to put them back.

"Rae." He says loudly, letting Billy disappear down the next aisle, still fighting on the phone. She turns and spots him.

"Hey Tim." She says softly.

"Who's he?" The boy demands, leaning on the cart and nearly tipping it over. Rae glares at him.

"Tim Riggins, who the hell are you?" Tim responds in kind. Rae gives him a furious look.

"Tim, this is my little brother Carden. Car, go get some soup." She orders. When he doesn't move, just keeps glaring at Tim, Rae kicks his shin. "Now!" He stomps off and she gives him a pissed look.

"He seems like a nice kid." He says, laughing. She grabs his collar, pulling him down to her level.

"Don't you ever fucking talk like that to my little brother or I swear to god I will end you. Next time don't even look at him. Understood?" She hisses. He looks down at her, unflinching. She lets him go and shakes her head in disgust.

She disappears and Tim follows Billy to the register. When he sees Tyra, he can hear Rae saying 'white trash' in his head, but that's mostly why he goes with Tyra, just trying to drown Rae's words out.

"Tim." She calls, in the halls. "Tim!" She yells, when he keeps walking. She chases after him and catches his arm. "Tim!" She insists, trying to pull him aside and failing miserably.

"What do you want, Maisie?" He spits, rounding on her. She recoils like she's been hit.

"I came to say sorry for what I said at the store the other day but- what happened to your eye?" Her tone switches instantly from accusing him to concern for him in the blink of an eye.

"Nothing," He mutters, trying to push past her, but she firmly stands in his way, unyielding.

"No, Tim, who hit you?" She demands, grabbing his chin and twisting it so she can see it better. He bats her arm away.

"Nobody so let it go." He orders her, not looking at her. She drops her hand but doesn't let him scoot by her.

"Well, I wanted to say sorry for what I said in the store. Carden has been having a shitty time fitting in here and I'm a bit protective of him." She explains quietly, still inspecting his eye.

"He's lucky to have a big sister like you." He says automatically, thinking of his own fight with him brother not that long ago.

"Yeah, tell him that. Let me go to the nurse so we can get ice on that." She coaxes, putting a hand on his arm.

"Why?" He asks, staring down at her. "It's not your problem so just forget about it, ok?" She removes her hand and stares up at him, eyes narrowed.

"Sorry for trying to make it mine by actually caring. Silly me." She says coolly, then folds her arms and walks away. He sighs and gingerly touches his eye, winching as he walks to class.

Tim sits in his truck for a long while, thinking long and hard about what has just happened- his own teammates attacking his truck as revenge for what he did to Jason. And he deserves it. Gingerly, he climbs out, sweeping aside broken glass. He's surveying the damage when another car parks on the side of the street. He stares into the darkness, expecting another teammate with a bat. Instead, Rae walks across the street and whistles.

"They must be pretty pissed at you." She says, walking around, admiring their handiwork. He stays silent, watching her. "I guess breaking up this towns golden couple is a pretty extreme offense."