Tyra Collette hated jail cells. For her, jail always had been a place where her daddy would end up after a drunken binge that led to bruises across her mother's face. Keeping him away might have had a better connotation if it weren't for the tears and suffering that'd follow one of his stays. With her daddy, it always got worse when the police became involved. He got more depressed afterwards, drowning his sorrows in another bottle of liquor. Jail taught him nothing. Instead, it taught Tyra that people never change.
And yet, Tyra found herself sitting in a prison visiting room, waiting for another man who proved to her just how little people change. Somehow, she couldn't stay away.
The doors opened slowly, as Tim entered the part of the room on the other side of the glass. He strolled over leisurely. With a nod of his head, he greeted her. "Tyra," he drawled her name so familiarly.
The frustration exploded within her. Why did he have to end up here? Why couldn't he have made something of himself? After everything, she still expected more from him. "What the hell are ya doin in jail, Tim?"
He shrugged like she was overreacting. "I don't know, Tyra. Guess I thought I needed a vacation."
Tyra rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like I'm Lyla Garrity."
"Don't talk about Lyla like that," he responded protectively. She couldn't help but notice how his voice still softened a bit when he talked about Lyla. Like always.
Challenging him, Tyra sputtered, "Why not? She didn't go out and save you from this like she was supposed to do." She knew Lyla hadn't been around since Matt Saracen's father's funeral weekend. Mindy had told her.
"Save me? Give me a break, Tyra," he gruffly replied.
"Look I grew to like the girl decently enough, but that doesn't mean she isn't some uppity privileged thing. We aren't like Lyla, Tim. We never will be."
As if he might say something insightful, he hesitated for a moment. Then, he seemed to change his mind as he muttered, "Whatever."
It didn't matter to her if he denied the truth, what she said hadn't been arguable. "You don't need me to explain it to you. You know it as well as I do."
"Yup, you got me all right," he responded sarcastically. Back to the cocky Tim Riggins defense mechanism.
Her eyes narrowed. "You know what? I think it scares you how well I do."
"Shakes me to the core." He added a fake little shiver to stress his words. It pissed her off.
"I really don't know why I'm still wasting my time on you after all these years." How many times had she told herself that she'd stop falling into this absurd cycle? She let him go. She moved on with Landry without looking back at Tim. Then, she left to go to college. With college, she finally grew up and moved forward. In a world where people don't change, she thought she just might have defied the rules. And yet, her past with Tim Riggins reoccurred as the present again and again.
"I didn't ask you to come visit me." He responded dryly with a shrug.
"I didn't say you did."
"Well, kinda sounded like you implied it."
She couldn't stand the thought of him envisioning her cowering all over him. "I came for Mindy. Unlike you, I give a damn about that kid of theirs. Like it or not, you're Stevie's uncle."
"Don't say I don't care about that kid."
Tyra knew that one would strike a chord somewhere in there. Time to play rough. She continued, "Well, you obviously don't. You're missing the first eighteen months of your nephew's life because you can't stop making stupid decisions."
"You have no idea." Tim sounded genuinely offended.
"We might not have screwed for a few years but that doesn't mean I don't get you. You haven't changed, Tim. You never grow up."
"Right again. Sorry you never got over me." Avoiding the confrontation once more, he looked away from her.
"What's that supposed to mean? It's been almost four years since I gave up on you." She thought of herself completely separate from the girl that let her heart be ripped up for a Riggins boy. Now, she lived an independent life free of Dillon and any men holding her down. She certainly wasn't hung up on Tim.
"Yeah, I didn't say you like to give in- doesn't mean you stopped wanting to be with me."
"You're an idiot," she answered a bit too sharply. She couldn't quite look him in the eye. As well as she knew him, she had to admit that he could infiltrate parts of her that she herself had trouble figuring out.
"Oh right. You're here for Mindy. Since when do you give a damn about Mindy?"
There he went, taking it too far. He went out of his way to press her buttons. "Look, I don't agree with Mindy's choices. But she's my sister. And as messed up as they can be, I care about my family."
Silence. Tim stared at her for a moment without a retort with this stupid smirk on his face.
Silence freaked her out. She handled bantering so much better. Looking down, she picked at her nails to avoid his knowing expression. Finally, with a sigh, she gave-in, "Fine. I can admit that I'm not just here for Mindy and Stevie."
His smirk grew. "Who's next, Tyra? You here on behalf of Billy too?"
"Shut up."
"Just spit it out Collette. I don't have all day." He tapped on an imaginary watch.
Rolling her eyes, she gave him her best "Oh really?" look. "Ah sorry. I'd hate to interrupt all your fun prison happenings."
"Gotta lift those weights. Bulk myself up." Clinching a fist, he showed off his biceps.
Another eye roll, but then she softened her voice. "Tim."
"Tyra," he mocked with his voice lifting at the edges and a smile creeping onto his face.
"I don't want you to end up in jail. Even if you're an ass," she admitted. She couldn't stop herself from smiling a little bit back at him.
"What's it to you?" He questioned, sounding truly uncertain.
"I loved you." There. She finally admitted it out loud. To Tim.
He didn't say anything for a minute again. "Jay couldn't walk," he replied as if it answered everything.
"You were too scared to even visit Jason." Even though it was the truth, she added it for sting value. As much as she liked Jason Street, she resented how everything in Tim Riggins life always went back to him or Lyla. He never had made her a priority.
"Exactly," he casually replied like it truly explained it all.
"If I remember correctly, you fell in love with Lyla just fine." It had hurt her then, even when she knew leaving him behind was the best decision.
"Well, you did your little dance with Landry. Whatever that was," he argued, as if him sleeping with Lyla first was somewhat equatable.
She felt protective of Landry. Besides being ridiculously sweet to her, he made her laugh. He changed her, made her more than that girl who would fall for Tim Riggins. He believed in her and told her silly jokes. "He's ten times the man you'll ever be."
Tim laughed. "Look I don't have anything against Landry. He's smart and all. Not exactly the no 'grets type though, you know what I mean. Not a fair comparison."
Of course, he was right. Tim and Landry were far from similar. "Okay then. I'll never be Lyla Garrity," she stated, rather proudly.
He shook his head. Simply, he reaffirmed her words, "No. You won't."
The answer stung her. "Has Lyla come to visit you Tim?" She stared at him deeply, the type of stare you couldn't avoid.
He looked directly back at her for a moment. "I told her she couldn't come."
"And she just didn't? Doesn't really seem like the Lyla thing to do." She wasn't lying. Lyla didn't exactly give up on her projects easily. Not at least until they weren't her problem-of-the-month anymore. Just look at Jason Street.
No answer.
"I'm no Lyla Garrity, Tim. You don't disappoint me anymore. You can't." Not drawing her eyes away, she peered straight into his eyes. "And I'm here."
"Oh wow." He lightly clapped his hands together. "I'd give you a gold medal if I could."
"I don't need any credit from you. I'd rather do without Riggins awards these days." His antics really didn't faze her anymore. She knew that he heard what she had said whether he was too much of a coward to face it or not.
Apparently, the feeling was mutual. He broke the sarcasm to build it into changing the subject, "You hear about that picture of Stevie? Winning the Dillon Panthers Beautiful Baby contest? Who'd ever have thought that, huh?" He had begun to play nice again.
"Yeah, Mindy was bragging about it. I guess the universe was thinking something when they shoved Billy and Mindy together."
A mischievous look appeared in his eyes. "Riggins & Collette genes mixing well, Tyra."
"Don't even think about it, Tim."
"Eleven more months and I'm outta here…" He teased.
"Never going to happen," she shut him down in an extra sweet tone.
With a familiar glint in his eyes, Tim smirked. "We'll see about that."
"You had your chance. You lost it," she smiled her prettiest smile, flaunting it a bit in his face.
"So I was stupid. Big surprise."
"Yeah, yeah." It was as much as an apology as she'd ever get from him. A part of her just wanted to take it. "Well you take care of yourself, okay?" She murmured, intending to leave on a good note.
"Okay."
She nodded with a smile. With one more glance, she started to walk away but he interrupted her before she got far, "Hey Tyra?" Tim asked, still sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the window.
Turning around, she answered, "Yeah?"
Either pressing to look casual or just being Tim, he slid his hand through his hair. He didn't quite look up at her. "I wouldn't hate if you came back again sometime."
"Since you put it like that, how could I resist." She answered playfully, rolling her eyes a little bit.
He smiled, knowing as well as her that she meant yes. "Thanks."
Tyra peered at him for a moment, taking in every ounce of Tim Riggins. Before heading to the door once more, she nodded just a little. As much as Tyra Collette hated jail cells, she knew she'd be back again soon. After all, she learned a long time ago that people don't change, at least not that much. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't distance herself too far from Tim. Similarly, he couldn't completely pull away from her before coming back again. They pushed and pushed each other away, but somehow their dance never quite ended.