Little Daisy

Senior Year

School starts and it's back to the rally girls and cheerleaders and the daily struggle to get Tim to classes and have him care. The party at the ranch along with Julie and Matt's breakup gives people something to talk about. Rae wisely doesn't bring up Tim stopping Buddy at the party and he doesn't mention it either. But at school, Lyla catches her arm.

"Hey, Rae." She says softly.

"Lyla." Rae says shortly.

"Thanks for letting Tim help me with my dad. I know that you know about our past, but I still mean what I said, about you being good for him." She explains. Rae gives her an odd look.

"The past is the past Lyla. And Tim's pretty great at handling drunk dads, if that's what your pretty nose is looking down at." She says, crossing her arms defensively and not breaking eye contact.

"That's not at all what I meant." Lyla says, mortified. "I just wanted to say thank you." Rae looks at her for a long time then smiles slightly.

"You're welcome Lyla." She says softly then walks away.

"I wish Coach Taylor was back." Tim mutters, leaning against her locker. She looks at him in surprise.

"There are words I never thought I'd hear come out of your mouth." She teases him. He shakes his head.

"I mean it Rae." He says, grabbing her books and walking with her. "Our coach now's an asshole. One of these days he's going to put us in the hospital." He mutters and Rae looks up at him, confused, but doesn't question it.

She walks past the field after dance with Julie. They're complaining about the relentless heat when Julie suddenly stops walking, looking in the direction of the football field.

"Is that an ambulance?" She asks, squinting. Rae glances over dismissively then does a double take.

"Julie, that's on the football field." She says slowly. Rae takes off and Julie, despite herself, isn't far behind. Rae stands at the railing, fist in mouth, to stop her screaming. It's Tim on the stretcher and she remembers his words earlier today about the hospital.

"JASON!" Julie's yell startles her. Jason sees them and wheels frantically over. "What happened?" She demands.

"Riggins collapsed, I don't know how or why but they're taking him to the hospital." He says quickly.

"I'm going to kill that coach." Rae threatens, murderously. She spins and bee lines for her car. When she gets to the hospital, she makes straight for Tim's room, ignoring any nurse that tells her no.

"Rae." Tim says hastily when he sees the fire in her eyes, but she's already grabbed the doctor's arm and yanked him over to face her.

"What did he do?" She asks, pointing to Tim, not even looking at him. The doctor glances at Tim and opens his mouth, unsure. He sees the flinty look in her eyes and decides to talk.

"Severely dehydrated, but we've got him on fluids now, so he's going to recover in no time." He says quickly, looking back and forth between them. Rae nods and lets him go. He quickly hurries away.

"Tim Riggins, I am going to kill you." She says quietly, still not turning around to look at him.

"Rae, I'm fine." He insists quietly. She takes a couple deep breaths and with a sinking heart he realizes she's trying not to cry. "Rae, come here." He coaxes her to walk to his side. "C'mere." He says softly. Gently, she crawls onto his bed and curls up tightly next to him.

"I was so worried about you." She whispers, more to his shoulder than his face. He strokes her hair.

"I know. I'm sorry." He apologies.

"You said this would happen." She rambles.

"I know. I'm sorry." He repeats.

"I hate hospitals. They remind me of my mom." She says miserably.

"I know. I'm sorry." He says, drawing her in close.

"I love you." She says quietly but without hesitation.

"I know. I'm- what?" He asks, startled.

"I love you Tim Riggins." She says, tilting her head back to look him in his eyes.

"That's all I could think about when I saw that ambulance drive off the field with you in the back. And if you can't say it back, so be it, but I just need you to know it before you kill yourself or that damn coach does it for you." She says. He doesn't say anything, emotions all over the place. He draws her close and kisses her head as she closes her eyes.

He knows he loves her. He just can't say it.

There's a knock on the door and Rae sits straight up in bed. Tim, next to her, groans in protest.

"Tim, someone's at the door." She hisses.

"Nu-uh, you're hearing stuff, come lay back down." He mutters, patting the bed until he finds her hand. He tugs on it, attempting to get her to lie back down. She pulls it from his grasp.

"Tim!" She says sternly. He sighs, grumbles incoherently, and sits up. "What if it's a killer?" She demands, one hand on his shoulder.

"Why would they knock?" He points out and she smacks him.

"Because that's how they get you to open the door!" She tells him and he groans. He reaches under the bed and grabs a baseball bat.

"Lessgo." He says tiredly, rubbing his eye with one hand and gesturing for her to go with the bat. Carefully, she gets up and makes her way to the living room. Tim stumbles behind her, still not awake. She opens the door slowly, fully expecting a masked murderer. Instead, she gets a crying Julie.

"Julie?" She asks, quickly opening the door and ushering her inside.

"Hey look Rae, it's not a killer, just Coach's daughter. Hallelujah, I'm going back to bed." Tim says cheerfully, kissing her forehead, tossing the bat aside, and shutting her door. Julie watches him go, with a mixture of impressed and confused on her face.

"Jules, what happened? What's wrong?" Rae demands, pulling on her arm to make her sit down on the couch.

"Did he just have a bat? Are you living with Tim Riggins?" Julie asks, still looking at her bedroom door.

"Technically, he's living with me, but it's 3 in the morning Julie, what are you doing on my couch?" Rae probes. Julie looks at her, tears reemerging in her eyes now that the focus is off of Tim.

"My mom slapped me, Rae. She caught me making out with the Swede and I refused to get out of the car, so she pulled me out and we got in a fight and..." It all spills out in a rush and she turns so Rae can see the red mark on her cheek. Rae covers her mouth then pulls Julie in for a tight hug.

"Sleep on my couch tonight. You can wear some of my clothes tomorrow. It's going to be ok." She promises, rocking her back and forth.

In the morning, she and Tim stand in her doorway, looking at Julie sleeping peacefully on the couch.

"What are the odds that she won't tell everyone in the school that I'm shacking up with you?" Rae questions aloud.

"So bad you don't even wanna know." Tim says, amused. Rae sighs and shakes her head. "I don't mind them all knowing. They know you're my girl anyways." Tim says, kissing her head.

"The types of 'I love you' that I get from you are so sweet." Rae teases, ducking under his arm to start making breakfast. He just grins and follows suit.