Little Daisy

Arnett-Mead

"You two are fighting, aren't you?" Julie asks as they watch the game. Rae looks at her.

"How can you tell?" She asks, slightly amused.

"Because you've got your arms all folded and you're doing that thing with your lip that you do." Julie points out.

"Yes, I'm annoyed." She admits. "But would you focus on the field? We have to win this game."

"Stop talking like you know football." Julie orders her and Rae shrugs.

"They did great!" Rae says, hugging Julie as they watch the team take a knee and the stands erupt into cheers. She follows Julie onto the field, pointedly ignoring Tim and congratulating Smash and Matt instead.

She leans against the car, watching as Tim talks to Scotty. Tim talks to him, nodding thoughtfully. Scotty clasps his shoulder and Tim jogs towards him.

"I'm going to get a pop with him." He says lowly and Rae simply raises an eyebrow at him.

"I'll have a beer ready at home. I might kill you, so pick your chances." She informs him.

"I like my odds." He says, then pecks her on the lips and walks back to Scotty. She watches him go, biting her lip.

"Whoa, that's a lot of vodka." Julie comments as Rae pours a glass for herself at the party. Matt's watching her with big eyes.

"It's the amount that it's gonna take for me to stop being mad at Tim." Rae informs them. "No, no, I might need a little more. Jules, go get that back for me." She orders, taking a long gulp.

"Are you sure it's that much? I mean, you've had a couple shots already." Julie reminds her and Rae narrows her eyes.

"Ok, I'll quit drinking the vodka if you go get me a beer." She bargains. Julie looks at Matt and he shrugs.

"Ok, that's a deal, but you stay by Matt ok? Ok? Stay by Matt." Julie says, looking pointedly at Matt. He nods, watching Rae as she makes faces at the photo of her and Tim that is her phone background.

"Can we take her home?" Julie asks quietly and Matt nods quickly, scooping
Rae up.

"C'mon Rae, time to go home." He tells her.

"Aww man, no!" Rae protests, moving her limbs groggily. "I didn't get to say hi to anybody!"

"That's for the best. Into Matt's car, let's go." Julie says, helping Matt shove her into the car.

"Wow Mais. Looking great." Carden comments when they carry her in.

"That's my brother." Rae proclaims as Matt sets her on the couch. "He's a little brat but he's a good kid." She slurs, slumping over.

"Thanks for getting her home. I got it from here." Carden tells them and Julie smiles, backing out.

"Carden, I love you. I love my little brother." She mumbles and he pats her head kindly.

She wakes up to bright sunlight. She squints, head pounding and rolls over. Tim is looking at her with big, amused eyes.

"Jesus Christ and all his disciples." She swears, nearly falling off the bed. "Tim, what are you doing?"

"Can you swear like that if you're not religious?" He asks thoughtfully and she stares at him, too bewildered to remember the pounding in her head.

"I do as I please, why are you in my bed?" She demands.

"Well I was under the impression that you liked me here." He tells her, hands snaking up around her waist.

"Tim." She hisses, smacking them away. "Quit it, what's going on?" She asks, still annoyed at him and the way he blew off the recruiter and even more annoyed that her head is pounding and he's smiling like he's complete unaffected by her terrible mood.

"I'm in." He says and she narrows her eyes, uncomprehending. "I'm in, in. College in, Rae. I'm in college. I'm going to college. I met with the recruiter, I filled out some paperwork and he said I'm in. Yeah there's more paperwork to be done but there's some half scholarship, maybe more, I don't know yet-" Rae cuts him off, kissing him soundly on the lips, all of her anger evaporated at the good news and idea of Tim in college.

"Wow." He says, drawing back. "Are you on a bender? I'm getting a buzz just kissing you." He teases and she shoves him.

"I got drunk last night because I was mad at you. It's your fault that I'm still drunk." She insists.

"It's fantastic." He says, laughing, kissing her some more. "You're the one still drunk in the morning, I love it." He says and she squirms away and folds her arms. He groans.

"I'm still angry." She states. "I am so proud of you but I am still so angry with you and this doesn't change that. I want to hug you and kiss you and jump up and down with you but I really, really want to kick you in the shins." His lips quirk up in amusement but he quickly sobers when he sees that she remains steadfastly angry with him.

"And I know that. And I'm sorry. For everything. For getting drunk with Billy. For not taking this seriously and being terrible. You deserve more and I tell you that all the time. I should not have yelled at you. I should not have called you Lyla. All that you do, you do for me." He tells and she nods.

"Keep going." She says quietly.

"You are the light of my life. You are the reason I am here. The only reason I got into college. And whether you come here to San Antonio State or not, I have you to thank. So thank you. For everything. I want to celebrate, but you are the only person worth celebrating with so please stop being mad at me." He begs and she ponders it for a second then opens her arms and he dives in.

"TIM RIGGINS IS GOING TO COLLEGE!" She yells as he laughs.

"What college took his sorry ass in?" Carden asks from the doorway, smiling at them as Rae beams.

"Watch it, you're talking to a college athlete." Tim warns him.

"Somehow I'm not scared." Carden says and Tim lunges for him.

"C'mon little man. Let's go make your sister breakfast so she can move from still drunk to hung over." Tim tells him and Rae groans.

"You should have seen her last night." Carden comments.

"Oh, please tell me all about it." Tim says, delighted.