(Complete) When Tim Burke meets Julie at a party, she isn't impressed. When they see each other again, Julie decides to give him a chance. As Julie faces burdens and sorrow in her own life, Tim and his family provide the support and love she needs...
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Julie entered her apartment and smiled weakly at Kate. It surprised her Arthur wasn't there. She was exhausted and hadn't slept through the night since before the visit home.
"Were you with Tim?"
"No."
"Jules, what's wrong? Is something wrong with you and Tim? It's because he met your father, right?"
"No, everything's fine." She almost told Kate they were in love but wanted to keep it private. "I met up with Kevin for dinner. You know to debrief from the visit with the family."
"You never told me how it went?"
"The typical visit to the Dempsey's... boiled rubber dogs, the old man accusing Tim of stealing my virtue. Nothing special really."
Kate snorted. "Well, you haven't been yourself since."
"I'm just tired. I'm going to call Tim and go to sleep."
They had an extra long phone cord so she could talk in her room with the door shut.
He answered on the first ring. "How was your talk?"
"I cried, he cried. It was awful. He said he knew he was different in high school. He dated a lot of girls. He was hoping it was just a phase. His freshman year of college, he had his first relationship and knew he would not change. No one knew about safe sex back then."
"No, if he was the age of the twins, he would have known more when it mattered."
"Tim, he doesn't want my parents to know."
"Can you blame him? Your father has no tolerance for homosexuality. Did you hear the names he called me not knowing he was insulting his own son?"
"I know and my mother always backs him up."
"Jules, don't worry about what you can't control. Now you know the truth we can spend time with Kevin and Dan."
"Do you think he was staying away from me on purpose?"
"I just think they've been spending a long time hiding their true selves and they don't need to with us."
Julie felt better after seeing Kevin and talking to Tim and slept. She felt guilty keeping the truth from Kate, but it was Kevin's secret.
She only had one more week before vacation. Tim's friends were meeting up at a bar on Saturday night.
"Are we going to be the only girls?"
"Does it matter? You'll be with me." He leaned into her.
He smelled good. As she reached up to feel his smooth check, he smiled. She bit her tongue, because she wanted to say she loved him, but Tim hadn't said it again. She wondered if he had even meant it.
They grabbed a table in the corner and the boys went to the bar. Tim brought a glass of wine for her and beer for him. Kate was drinking a bright colored mixed drink. Julie didn't like those.
