I used some lines from S1E16 for this chapter, specifically those from scenes involving Tim and the JV players, mainly because I don't know enough about football to accurately write some of the stuff about it. I know it's really not that big of a deal, but it needed to be mentioned that lines from that episode were used for this chapter, in case of possible copyright infringement issues.

Unexpected Changes

Chapter 8: Decisions and Leadership

Tim avoided his brother the rest of the weekend. He slept in the bed of his truck Saturday night, but got caught by a cop for being on private property. After staking out the house all day on Sunday waiting for Billy to leave, Tim went inside and packed a duffle bag full of clothes as well as any other necessities he needed and put the only home he'd ever known – and Billy – in his rearview mirror. Sunday evening, he found himself on the Taylor's doorstep, telling Mr. and Mrs. Coach what went down, leaving out the part where Billy basically told Tim that Julie should abort their child. Tami and Eric spent a lot of time talking and told Tim he could stay with them, in the guest room, for as long as he needed.

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Coach called all his seniors into his office Monday morning. Everybody knew what was coming, Eric's been doing this since he started coaching for the panthers three years ago, and it's what all the coaches before him did. He was going to assign all the seniors a couple freshmen to mentor throughout the season. That sentiment was confirmed when Coach Taylor handed a sheet of paper to each of his senior players. "Alright, you guys have seen this enough time's over the years to know the drill. The players listed on your paper are your responsibility for the season, I want you to mentor them, tell them what to expect out of being a panther. Y'all need to be an example for these boys, you hear me?" Eric asked, when he got a resounding yes, he continued. "Good. Defensive players, you can leave. I need to discuss a few things with my offensive seniors." Eric said and waited until all the other players left. Leaving just Tim, Smash, and Matt in the room.

"You boys may have noticed your lists are a bit longer than the other players . . . that's because we have a lot more up and coming offensive players than we do defensive, and we have less seniors in that area this year. But, I don't want you to let that get to your heads, I wouldn't have giving you this responsibility if I didn't think you could handle it. The whole point of this exercise is to build leadership. You three are my team captains and have shown excellent leadership skills on the field over the three years I've had the pleasure of coaching you. This will give y'all a chance to show those leadership skills off the field as well." Eric said making sure to look each of the three boys directly in the eye at some point throughout his speech, letting his eyes linger on Tim's just a moment longer when he mentioned the leadership bit. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, why do I have McCoy on my list? Isn't he a quarterback?" Tim spoke up looking down at his paper a confused expression on his face as his eyes landed on the player's name in question.

"He is." Eric replied casually.

"Then wouldn't it make more sense to put him with Seven?" Tim asked, not really understanding his coach's intentions by giving him the QB instead of Saracen.

"Probably . . . but I felt it best to put him with you. Is that gonna be a problem?" Eric asked with a raised eyebrow, almost as if daring the fullback to challenge him. He put JD with Tim because he's noticed that the boy has a bit of an attitude, something Tim had an issue with himself. Truthfully, he didn't think Matt could handle the younger quarterback, he hoped Tim could whip the boy into shape . . . Teach him that football is a team sport; that is takes more than just one player to win a game.

"No sir." Tim replied curtly.

"Good. You boys can go now, wouldn't want you to be late for class." Eric said glancing at the time on the clock. The three boys nodded and stood up, leaving the office, and heading in their separate directions toward their first class of the day. "One second, Tim." Eric called out before he left the office. Tim blew out a breath, worried about what coach wanted to talk about that he couldn't bring up in front of the rest of the players. He sat back down in front of his coach knowing this had to be about Julie and the baby, or Billy.

"What's up, Coach?" Tim asked, hoping he sounded casual and not like he was currently freaking out on the inside. He was hoping to avoid having a private conversation with his coach for as long as possible. Guess that time was up.

"I know how you feel about Julie's decision on what to do with the baby." Eric said looking across the desk at his player. Tim's eyes widened at that. That was not what he'd been expecting. He thought Eric was going to yell at him now that he had him alone, tell him that he really was the screw up that every claimed him to be, tell him that he was ruining his daughter's life. Anything that involved yelling, really.

"You do?" Tim asked equal parts shocked and confused because truth be told, he's not even completely sure what he's been feeling about Julie's decision to look into adoption. Some days he thinks it's the best choice, other days he thinks it's the worst choice and that there's no one better equipped to take care of their baby then them, they were the ones that made him or her, after all.

"Yeah. You think it's not the best choice. You want to keep the baby, but you also what to support Julie. As Julie's father, I appreciate that you care so much about what she wants . . . but, as a father in general . . . you've got to be willing to share your own opinions. Especially if you're serious about wanting this baby. It's a lot of work taking care of a child, it's not gonna be easy." Eric said looking at Tim to make sure he was really listening, that he was really hearing what Eric had to say and taking it to heart. "You and Julie needed to be a united front. That means figuring about what is best for this baby, but it also means figuring about what is best for you guys too. If that means giving the baby up for adoption, then you gotta get on board. If that means keeping the baby, you gotta talk to Julie, let her know why you feel that way. You understand what I'm saying, son?" Eric finished. Tim looked at his coach trying to process everything. He did understand what he was saying, but it didn't help him in figuring out what to do about this whole situation.

"Yes, sir." Tim said, deciding he would just have to think on it; on what really was best for the baby, for Julie, and for him.

"Alright." Eric said motioning to the door to let Tim know he was done speaking and to head to class. Tim stood and walked toward the door for the last time. He turned around to say thank you but saw Eric with his mouth open ready to say something else.

"Don't just stand by and watch it happen. You'll regret it if you do." Tim nodded, letting that play out in his head the rest of the day. He knew what he needed to do.

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"If you launch into an odd-gap, QB plays into an outlet play, what do you do? Go, Stager." Tim said, standing in line to get lunch with the four freshmen he'd been assigned to mentor. They were all damn scrawny, but showed potential. One more so than others, the one Coach specifically assigned to him. JD McCoy. He couldn't argue that the kid knew his football, but that didn't make him any less of a pain in the ass. He's a smartass that's way too cocky for his own good. But that's okay, Tim had no problem knocking down the freshman and giving him a little reminder that he wasn't as good as he thinks he is.

"Uh, okay . . . I know this one, you–" Stager started, but Tim quickly cut him off.

"Too late. Play's over. You waited too long to make a decision, now we lost the game because of you." Tim said as he continued to walk down the lunch line, picking up a brownie from the desert section along the way. "We're not going to State and the whole town of Dillon hates you. You're never gonna get laid in your entire life. Fact. How's that make you feel right now?" He asked paying for his lunch and turning back to look at the freshmen. Some were chuckling, others looked scared.

That was good.

He wanted them scared. He wanted them to know this wouldn't be easy. Every time they'd walk out onto that field on Friday night, they'd have the pressure of the whole town on them. He wanted them to fully comprehend that. He may be a little harsh in getting them to understand the pressure that will be placed upon their young shoulders, but that was how the seniors taught him during his freshman year . . . plus, he knew that Smash was just going to go on about how great it is to be a Panther, about the special treatment they'd get from rally girls, the high that comes from winning a game, that, as long as they kept winning they'd get treated like Gods . . . and Matt would just coddle his freshmen, he'd tell them about all the shit he went through as backup QB, he'd tell them to expect hazing, but not to let it get to their heads, or some crap like that. He didn't really care, but he had no intention of going the same route. He was going to give it to these boys straight, see if they could handle the pressure.

"You sound like you're speaking from experience there, Riggs." JD spoke up before Stager could say anything more, sending Tim a smirk that he wanted to smash his fist into.

"If I wanted you to speak, I would have spoken to you . . . and trust me, that's not an issue for me. Ask around if you'd like." Tim said flashing his own smirk at JD to cover up the fact that he'd rather be anywhere but here. Do not beat the shit out of smartass freshmen. Rise above. Tim thought, letting a deep sigh, before he continued, "You seem to think you have all the answers, McCoy. Let's hear it. Answer Stager's question, you get it right and you can get a reprieve today."

"You crack down your blocks. Look for the quick toss." JD said confidently, chest puffed out and all. Tim smiled when he heard that answer. Maybe the quarterback isn't as good as he thinks.

"That's completely wrong." Tim said, sufficiently wiping that cocky ass grin off JD's face. "All you do is check into your tight end. If you stopped thinking like a quarterback for one second, and tried to look at things from your teammates perspectives, you would know that." He saw a kid in the back, Burdette, laugh at McCoy's expense, he sent him and glare and pointed a finger in his face. "You, shut up." That seemed to do the trick because he immediately stopped his laughter and looked down at the ground. He let the freshmen finish getting their lunch then ushered them into the seating area of the cafeteria.

"I want you gentlemen to take a good, long, hard look at this." Tim said motioning with a wave of his hand around the cafeteria. "The varsity team sits in the center of the caf., always . . . and we always sit together, no matter what. It doesn't matter if you're offense or defense, if you hate one of your teammates, or God forbid, if you lost a game that week. We sit together because it shows team unity." All the freshmen's eyes lingered on the table in the middle of the room, glancing at all the varsity players eating their lunch and joking around with each other. All except one. Tim glanced over at JD and followed his gaze. He clenched his jaw when he saw where he was looking.

"That's Julie Taylor, right? The coach's daughter?" JD asked, nodding his head toward the corner of the cafeteria where Julie was sitting at one of the smaller tables with Tyra. Tim wasn't sure why JD had to ask. Everyone knew who Julie was, between her mom being the counselor, her dad being the coach, her dating Matt her freshman year, and now dating Tim, everyone knew her, or at least of her.

"Yeah, why?" Tim asked sending JD a death glare. After being stuck with these kids for the past five periods, he knew McCoy well enough by now to know he was up to no good. The other freshmen glanced between Tim and JD, some shaking their heads at the fellow freshman, as if they knew what was about to come.

"She's so sexy! I would totally hit that if I had the chance. I heard she's a total tease, though. I know this guy in her grade, Riley something, he tried to hook up with her once. He told me it was going well too, he thought he bagged her, but turned out she was just leading him on . . . He came back from getting her something to drink and saw her leaving the party with another guy." JD said with a roll of his eyes. "I bet you he didn't get anything either. I doubt Virgin Mary's ever put out for anyone. But that's okay, I like a challenge." JD said with a wolfish smile as he looked away from Julie's table to his fellow teammates. They all looked at him with wide eyes, some glanced at Tim, worried by the murderous glint in his green eyes as he glared at JD.

"You idiot, that's Tim's girl." Burdette said with a shake of his head he looked down at the ground as if trying to will it to open and swallow him whole to avoid the outburst that's likely to occur.

"How could you not know that?" Stager added giving JD an incredulous look of his own. "They've been dating for, like half a year now, and it's still all people talk about." He added.

"Dumbass." Allspaugh muttered with a shake of his head.

If Tim weren't so damn annoyed, he would have laughed at the younger players' reactions, and told them the importance of having a player's back, on and off the field. But all he could think about was punching JD in his pretty boy face and about the satisfaction he would feel in hearing the sickening crunch of his fist jamming into the side of younger man's face. He wouldn't be a pretty boy after that.

"You have a girlfriend?" JD looked at Tim in surprise, at least having the decency to look a little guilty and slightly worried about his earlier words. "But all I ever heard people talk about was how you've been with practically every girl on campus. Everyone talked about how much of a player you were." JD added out in an attempt to defend himself.

"Were being the operative word. Things change." Tim said. It was true, everyone was shocked when they'd discovered Tim and Julie were dating, it was all anyone could talk about. People still talk about it now, after almost eight months of dating. He could only imagine the gossip they'll incur when people find out Julie's pregnant. Word will spread like a wildfire, quickly and abruptly, taking out anything in its path. "And you don't know anything about what happened that night. Julie was not coming on to that boneheaded sophomore. He was force feeding her shots by the time 'that guy' she left with stepped in and took her home . . . she could barely stand on her own two feet. That punk kid took advantage of that." Tim said, leaving out the fact that he was the one that took Julie home. It still makes Tim's blood boil to think about that night. If he hadn't intervened when he did . . . he didn't want to think about what would have happened. "Go take a seat, since it's my job to teach you all the ropes, you'll sit at my table today." Tim said and urged the freshmen to go to the table, grabbing JD by the collar of his polo shirt when he tried to, inconspicuously, walk past him.

"Not you." Tim said and pulled the scrawny kid closer to him, making sure he understood that Tim meant every word he was about to say. "You don't go near her, you don't talk to her, you don't even breath in her direction. If you so much as look at her funny, I'll end you. I don't even want her name to cross your lips. You got that, pretty boy?" Tim asked, a deadly edge to his voice, despite the eerily calmness in his gaze. He saw JD's Adam's apple bob up and down as he nodded nervously. He's seen Tim on the field and he's heard about some of the fights he been in off the field. Tim Riggins was definitely not someone you wanted pissed at you. "Good, let's go eat." Tim said walking away like nothing even happened, making him that much more intimidating to the freshman.

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Thursday seemed to take forever to come. Tim was glad when it finally did, excited even. Today was the day of Julie's first sonogram. He was at practice when coach called him over and told him it was time to leave. He noticed the weird looks some of the players sent his way as he walked off the field almost an hour before practice was over, but he didn't care. Now, he was sitting next to Julie and her mom, at the same clinic they went to when they first found out Julie was pregnant, waiting for her name to be called.

"Are you nervous?" Tami asked Julie, trying to break the somewhat uncomfortable silence that had fallen between the three. Julie hadn't spoken a word since she finished filling out the mandatory paperwork.

"No. I . . . I just want to get this over with." Julie said quietly looking down at her hands. "And, I have to pee." She added frustratingly, annoyed at her overly full bladder. She was told she needed to drink lots of water because it puts the uterus in a better position for the scan, but she was starting to think she drank too much. Tami looked at her daughter sadly and then shot an apologetic glance in Tim's direction. She knew he wanted to keep the baby, Eric had told her, she even helped give Tim tips on how to approach Julie on the subject. They've had a few conversations on the matter, but so far Julie hasn't changed her mind about wanting to stick with adoption and Tim hasn't changed his mind on wanting to keep the baby. In fact, his decision has only seemed to get stronger. He knows them keeping their baby is the best choice, he just needs to convince Julie of it.

"Julie Taylor?" One of the nurses called. The trio looked over and all stood, following the nurse into one of the private ultrasound rooms. "I'm Vanessa, I'll be giving you your sonogram while Dr. Daniels is with another patient. Unfortunately, while I'm able to give you an ultrasound, I'm not qualified to discuss any results, so we'll have to wait for Dr. Daniels for that portion, is that going to be alright with you?" Vanessa asked. She was young, maybe mid-twenties, with beautifully tanned skin and long, sleek, black hair thrown into a ponytail. Julie wasn't sure why she wouldn't be allowed to give them any results from the sonogram, but she didn't really care, by the time they finished with the ultrasound the doctor would proabably be one with their other patient.

"That's fine." Julie said as she sat down on the exam table, suddenly feeling very nervous. She looked at Vanessa, silently asking what she needed to do.

"Have you ever had a sonogram before?" The nurse asked, almost as if sensing Julie's nervousness. She smiled warmly at the blonde sitting on the exam table, she noticed the way she was gripping the cushioned seat, but didn't point it out. She could tell the woman sitting in front of her was young, and the fact that her boyfriend was wearing a Dillon Panthers football shirt confirmed that suspicion. She wanted to set the girl at ease, make her feel better about the whole situation.

"No." Julie said with a shake of her head as she glanced down at the floor.

"Alright, well it's not too bad. I'm gonna need you to lay down and lift your shirt over your stomach." Vanessa said and waited until Julie did as directed. "Ok, now I'm gonna need to put some gel on your stomach . . . it might be a little cold, but don't worry, that's the worst part." She said with a smile, earning a little chuckle from Julie which made her feel better know she could provide at least a little comfort to the young woman. She placed some of the ultrasound gel on Julie's stomach, letting out a little smile when Tim grabbed Julie's hand and sat down next to her. Tami hovered near the back, not wanting to interrupt the moment between the two. Maybe this was what Julie needed to finally get on board with them keeping the baby. Tami wasn't sure, but she didn't miss the way Julie grabbed Tim's hand just a little tighter when Vanessa ran the ultrasound transducer along her stomach.

"How far along are you?" Vanessa asked, making small talk as she moved the transducer around trying to get the best possible angle of the baby.

"Almost eleven weeks." Julie answered looking at the transducer moving around on her belly.

"Oh wow, so this is your dating scan. That's a pretty big deal." Vanessa said excitedly. Julie looked at her with a confused expression. Right, first baby. Vanessa remembered. "It's the first scan where you actually get to see the baby, make sure he or she is healthy growing in the right place, all that good stuff. Dr. Daniels will also most likely want to run a screening test for any possible signs of Down Syndrome." At the worried looks on Tim and Julie's face, she added, "It's nothing to be concerned about, everyone goes through this process." Julie and Tim both nodded at that, a little relieved.

"Oh, there's the little guy . . . or girl. He or she sure likes to move around." Vanessa said, taking some measurements and screenshots on the monitor of their baby. If you'd like I can print out some pictures for you take with you."

"That'd be nice, thank you." Tim said. He looked away from the monitor to Julie, she was still looking at the transducer, now stationary on the lower corner of her stomach. "Don't you want to look at the monitor, Jules, to see our baby?" He asked trying to get Julie to make eye contact with him. She closed her eyes and shook her head. If she looked, it would make it too real, which would make it harder to walk away when all was said and done. Tim sighed sadly. He let out a deep breath and looked at the nurse. "Would it be alright if we had a minute alone?" He asked hoping it wouldn't be too much of an imposition.

"Of course, I should go print these screenshots out anyway. I'll let Dr. Daniels know you guys are in here, but it might be a while before she's done with her other patient, I hope that's, okay." Vanessa said, turning the ultrasound tech off and handing Julie a few wipes to clean of her stomach. Tim nodded his thanks as she and Mrs. Taylor left the room.

"Tim . . . please, don't do this here." Julie said softly putting her shirt back down and sitting up once she had all the ultrasound goo off her belly.

"Do what?" Tim asked nonchalantly. He knew what she was talking about, but he didn't understand why she wouldn't just hear him out about keeping the baby, when clearly there's a part of her that wants the same thing.

"I told you I think adoption is the best option. I don't understand why you can't see my side." Julie said blowing out a frustrated breath.

"Seriously? I don't understand why you can't admit that you want this too. The fact that you can't even look at that monitor right now," Tim paused, pointing at the offending object in question as Julie looked down at her hands. "Tells me a part of you wants this baby, too . . . because if you didn't you wouldn't need to distance yourself this much." Tim continued running his hands through his hair in frustration. "Just talk to me, Jules, tell me what's going on in that pretty little head of yours."

Julie looked up, sparing a glance at Tim before she looked back down at her hands, trying to find the right words to say to him that wouldn't set him off. Telling him that they were just too young, irresponsible, and unprepared to care for a child didn't seem like the right way to go. So, she went with another thought that's been plaguing her mind lately.

"We both have dreams." Julie said sadly as she looked back up at Tim, a single tear falling down her cheek as she did. She wiped it away and continued upon seeing his confused expression. "We both want to go to college. You love football . . . you've even talked about if you'd go pro, given the chance. The only way to get that chance is to play college ball, which is about twenty times more demanding than high school football. You won't have time to take care of a baby." She added hoping to clear up the confusion.

"You can't pin this all on me." Tim said angrily. He knew she probably didn't mean it, but it sounded like she was trying to say she didn't want the baby so he could achieve his goals . . . but Tim didn't care about any of that stuff, not really. His original plan — the one he never told her about — the one he and Jason had planned before that fateful game that left him paralyzed and in a wheelchair, was to get a job, maybe as a mechanic or a football coach and eventually save up enough money to buy his own land, build his own home. He never really dreamed of going pro because, back then, he wasn't good enough, not like Jason was. He may not have been serious about him and Jason starting up a hunting ranch, but he was serious about Texas forever, and that he could stay in Dillon his whole life. He loves football, but he doesn't need it to make him feel whole any more. He hasn't in a long time, not since the Taylor's welcomed him into their lives, made him feel like part of the family. Even now, after he got their only daughter pregnant at seventeen, they didn't kick him to the curb, they didn't tell him he was trash like everyone else in Dillon, they may be disappointed with him and Julie, but they didn't let it show. They were being supportive in every way they could be.

"That's not what I'm trying to do, Tim. I'm just trying to get you to realize that we had plans before this and those pla—" Julie started but Tim cut her off.

"I don't care about football— I mean, I do. But, not as much as I care about you, or the wellbeing of that baby, for that matter." Tim said, once again pointing at the monitor frozen on their baby in question. "If you really think that adoption is the best thing for him or her, then I'll hear you out, I'll meet with potential parents. I'll pretend it's what I want even though it's the farthest thing from it. But . . . if you're just doing this because you think you have too . . . or because your scared." Tim said, giving her a knowing look. "Then I'll fight you on it with everything I have." He said seriously.

Julie looked up at him in shock. She didn't realize just how much he wanted this baby. She thought adoption was what he would want, she thought it was what her parents would want her to do, she knew it was what Billy would want them to do, based on what Tim said about their conversation. She just figured she and Tim would be able to go on with their lives and accomplish everything they wanted. Never did she think that he would want to be tied down to kid — and to her — the rest of his life. They'd never talked about their futures, at least not beyond what they wanted to do for college, and they certainly never talked about how the other would fit into their future plans. They lived in the now for the most part, taking their relationship one day at a time. She honestly hadn't been planning for a happily ever after with Tim because as much as she knows he's changed, a part of her still thinks that once he's gone off to college he'll forget all about her and find someone better. Because as much as she loves him, he still hasn't said those words to her. It made her unsure of how serious they really were. The fact that they hadn't added each other into their future plans just confirmed those feelings.

"Can I have some time to think about it?" Julie asked quietly, again looking back down at her hands. She had a lot to think about now. And she had a lot she needed to talk to Tim about because if they were going to keep this baby, they needed to clear up some things.

"Yeah . . . yeah, take all the time you need." Tim said, just glad she was finally considering things.

So that's the end of Chapter eight, it was kind of a filler chapter, despite being the longest chapter yet, but I was able to give you guys that first sonogram you've been waiting for and build a couple arcs for the story, so hopefully that made it worth it. I just wanted to say thank you to those of you that continue to read and review this story despite the infrequent updates. It means so much to know that you all enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it. So now, as always, thank you so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review, follow, and favorite.