Disclaimer: Neither FNL nor the characters that I have used in this story belong to me. Story title from a song by Explosions in the Sky.
A/N: I'm loving Friday Night Lights and I just couldn't resist writing this short piece about my (right now) favourite TV couple. On another note,you will notice that I have played a bit with the tenses - present tense is.. well, the present, while past tense is -- yeah, the past.
First Breath after Coma
i.
He is holding a beer, watching some random show on TV (like he usually does when he is bored but still not in the mood to cruise around Dillon in Smash's car), when there's a knock on his door.
It's a night in the beginning of July; the sun has been shining all day long and parties and barbecues are held and people are simply enjoying life, so Tim is surprised when that knock rings throughout the house.
It comes again, more persistent this time and Tim calls out, a lazy Yeah, and heads for the door (his head a bit heavy) and opens it.
He opens the door and there, after months since last standing there, in front of him, at his threshold, there she is.
There she is.
ii.
She can't understand, can't fathom, how of all places in Dillon – heck, in the entire world – she is standing outside his door, fist in the air, ready to knock.
Lyla can't understand how she has come to be there, why she just can't stay away. What is it that makes it so hard to simply move on? It should be easy, it should always have been easy, but it suddenly isn't and she can't understand it.
Tim Riggins is like gravity; and you simply can't fight gravity.
iii.
Going to church had never been his thing, but still, he went every Sunday, and he took calls for his on air sports show and that's the way things went for a while.
He would relish the apparent amusement on Lyla's features, her amusement at his attempts, but he knew that showing up and participating (no matter how lame it was), meant something to her, made some kind of impact. He was trying.
For once in his life, he was actually trying.
iv.
They had gone out to celebrate Santiago making the team. They went to Applebee's (like that wasn't unusual), the place pretty much empty. Lyla had realized that their friendship wasn't the most common of the bunch, but Santiago was, albeit lost and a bit troubled, a truly good person who hadn't gotten a chance to succeed in life.
They had ordered their beverages and the silence being a bit too tangible for her liking, she had said, "So, what did Coach say? What happened?"
Santiago had taken a swig of his Coke and had then said, "Well, you know. We were working out and he just walked by and said that I should come by to practice tomorrow."
Lyla had faltered, that one pronoun making her brain cells work like crazy. "We?"
She'd expected to hear Saracen, or even Smash, but not him.
"Yeah, me and that Riggins kid."
Her heart had literally stopped beating. Tim Riggins would just never stop surprising her.
v.
Lyla Garrity had always loved, and would always love, him – his best friend.
Tim hated to admit it to himself. But it was the truth.
vi.
He was right. Tim had never asked anything of her, never pushed her, had never complained about being second string.
But being called in the middle of the night, asked to come to Mexico of all places – by Tim Riggins no less – just wasn't all that appealing.
When they hung up and she turned off her lamp, Lyla could not go back to sleep.
His voice echoed in her head, literally giving her a massive headache, while her chest grew heavy and a lump appeared unexpectedly inside her chest, a feeling that wound around her ribs and settled in the pit of her stomach . It took a while to realize it was guilt that was brewing in her heart.
Groaning in complete exasperation, she kicked off her covers, turned on the light and grabbed her suitcase out of her closet.
She couldn't believe she was doing this – but she was going to Mexico.
vii.
It was Tyra who had opened his eyes, laid out the truth, plain as it was, in front of him. Tim had always forced himself not to go there, not to think of what it was that he kept feeling whenever he saw her, because Lyla had always belonged by Jason's side.
He remembered that first time he had noticed her as the beautiful girl that she was: they had been ten years old, which in many ways was crazy, because they were young, simply kids, and what does a ten year old know about beauty? But it was that year that things kind of just changed forever, when his father left (not long after his mother had split) and he might as well had been all alone in the world, because his brother was miserable and didn't pay any attention to him.
In truth, Tim wasn't alone – they were with him, went through mainly everything with him, because Tim, however stubborn and resentful, needed them more than he would ever say and they knew that.
It had been a hot summer's day, in the middle of July, and the three of them had been playing by the lake. Jason and Tim had been in the water, playing with a football, passing between each other and laughing, while Lyla had kept to the shore, picking stones that either shimmered or were of odd colors. Tim had, from out of nowhere, looked in her direction and seen an expression of utter determination on her face, doe-eyes sparking, while the sun brought out the red and gold in her long brown hair.
And without being able to understand it, Tim Riggins just knew that this girl was worth walking through fire for.
viii.
Lyla can't remember why she kissed him back that night. She knew better than that, but something, something inexplicable, happened and suddenly fire was coursing through her veins. Lyla had never felt that feeling with Jason (perhaps a reason – though not a valid one – for why she had allowed whatever sheand Tim had shared to continue), although she would never, ever, admit it to herself.
Lyla can't remember why, when he had sneaked into her room, she hadn't demanded him to leave on the spot, especially since she knew what was going to happen. Was it his piercing eyes that had done the trick? the vulnerability in his voice that had ensnared her? She doesn't know.
Does she regret it?
She did. But she doesn't now.
Now, she finally accepts it for what it is.
The inevitable.
ix.
"Lyla? What are you doin' here?" he asks when the shock of seeing her there after God knows how long has subsided.
She looks uncertain, almost guilty, but Tim has never before found her more beautiful than she looks at that point.
"I don't know," is her reply, and Tim frowns, not entirely sure of what to say or do.
"Alright… D'you wanna come in?"
She hesitates (of course she does, Tim thinks and hates that fact), but then she nods and walks past him. He isn't sure what to make of this situation – it's awkward, and it unsettles him. He hasn't been to church since Christmas and with the season ending abruptly, his on air show seemed pointless, so they decided to cancel it, and since then things just fell back into place, back into square one.
Tim hasn't seen Lyla in a while, not a lot since school ended and even then, they hadn't shared much of a conversation. Just a glimpse of her walking down the corridor or standing in the school parking lot, but other than that, nothing.
Closing the door and turning, he says nothing, just observes her, standing there with her arms crossed across her chest, with a look that says she has no idea what she is doing there.
"So… What's up?"
She waits before giving him an answer (and it's not much of an answer). "I just… I don't know. I guess I just wanted to see how you were doing."
He smiles – because what else can he do?
Then he says: "I'm doin' fine, I'm fine. How are you doin'? Still dating the Christian with the awesome hair?"
Tim grins and Lyla scoffs, but there are still signs of amusement noticeable in her features. Tim has to sigh in relief.
"No, I'm not, actually. We broke up a while back. We didn't even make it to Easter," she says in an attempt at a joke.
Tim just nods because he has no idea what to respond to that.
"I just wanted to drop by, check in, see how you were doing… But seeing as it's getting late, I really should go. Um, take care," she says hastily and heads for the door before the words even sink in.
"Garrity, wait," he says as soon as he gathers himself and steps in front of her, preventing her from getting anywhere.
Lyla says nothing, simply turns her gaze away from him. Tim has grabbed hold of her upper arms and he's waiting for her to draw back, but they both remain there, still, breathing heavy and with hearts that are pounding quickly.
"Lyla…"
She's so close and he wants to kiss her desperately.
"Tim, I just…"
"Then why are you here, Lyla? What's going on? What do you want?"
He's not sure he wants to hear whatever it is she's going to say; perhaps this was doomed to end before it had even begun.
But then, from out of nowhere, she kisses him.
And that's it. That's the beginning.
The day Lyla finally chose Tim.
Fin