disclaimer: i own nothing.
Sequel to Take Care.
chapter one
ran off in the night
four and a half years later...
The sun was high in the Louisiana sky this Tuesday afternoon. There was a light breeze drifting through the last month of summer as the leaves were already starting to fall. It felt like any other day but with what happened last night, it definitely wasn't.
"C'mon, Mindy... why are you doing this?" Tyra paced back and fourth in her small two bedroom apartment. She didn't want her sister to leave because she knew she'd be leaving, too.
Mindy was in her room packing her stuff after another fight with Tyra. She just couldn't take it anymore, not after last night, and the fact that she was miles away from home didn't help. It wasn't their average sisterly fight either. Tyra fucked up big time in Mindy's book. "I just want to go home, Tyra! I thought this was a good idea at first... but not anymore. You're crazy, I can't believe this shit!"
When Mindy mentioned 'home' she almost didn't think about Texas at first. Of course, Dillon was home but she spent the last couple of years in Baton Rouge, La. After she found all the money Tim left her, she left herself. The things he was involved in... she didn't even want to know the full extent of. She was scared at first and when she saw a way out with the money, she took it. Now though, she recently found herself in some trouble of her own, which was why Mindy was leaving.
About a year ago, she started dating this guy and of course, with her rap sheet, he wasn't the best of guys. Hell, he made Tim Riggins look like a stand up guy. He was a twenty-five year old named Brandon Pulido and his father owned a casino and hotel in the heart of downtown. She was taken by his status and the fact that he seemed legit, unlike the things Tim as doing. They hit if off pretty well in the beginning. Brandon was even patient with her during the first months they didn't sleep together. Eventually they did and that was what seemed to be the turning point for Brandon's behavior toward her. He started treating her different, like he wasn't chasing after her anymore. She didn't really mind because when it came down to it, he was a support system for her and her child.
Tyra looked down at her son. He was going to be four years old in a few weeks. She couldn't believe her little boy had already grown so much. It felt like just yesterday that she was in labor with him at the hospital. When the thought of hospitals came up, she cringed at what caused her to dump Brandon without hesitation. He hit her. It wasn't just a slap either. He straight up punched her in the face like he would another guy after a heated argument. Even though he was drunk, she didn't care. She took Tate and left him a week ago.
Tate. That's what she named the little Riggins boy. She also graced him with his father's last name. She didn't know exactly why she wrote that on his birth certificate. Maybe it was the drugs she was on or maybe she thought it wouldn't weigh as heavy on him as it did on his father. He was Tim's son after all and regardless of his last name, she would always know where he came from.
"Well... ugh, I had to do something. He's a prick." Tyra defended her decision to steal from Brandon. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror by the front door. Her black eye had healed already but it had been bad.
During her relationship with him, she had access to his bank accounts. There were never any questions about anything she bought or why. At least until she decided to clear one of them out last week. Now her phone was blowing up and what was scaring her sister off was that somebody tried to break in last night. It scared the shit out of her as well, but she figured it was Brandon.
"You're being so selfish!" Mindy yelled as she finally came out of her room with her things. "You have a kid to think about, Tyra. This isn't high school anymore... grow up!" She pulled Tyra's luggage from the corner and opened them. "Now, get the money and let's go home... please." Mindy did not approve of what Tyra did but she already had the money, might as well take it.
She stared at her sister who never looked as desperate as she did right now. Tyra had always known Mindy to be the head strong, loud mouth of the family and loved her so. Without words, she went into her room and starting gathering things for her and Tate. Realizations of what Mindy was trying to get through to her happened as she gathered some of his clothes. She was being selfish by putting her wants and needs before her sons. She was supposed to be living her life for him but she really wasn't.
She still had a little bit of her own money still, but Brandon had helped her a lot over the last year. A little regret made itself present in her stomach but there wasn't anything she could do about it now. She had over a hundred grand stuffed into a bag that she was packing in next to Tate's belongings. After she packed everything she could and got Tate a bag ready for the long drive, the Collette sisters set out on their trip back to Dillon, Texas.
"Dude, I'm serious... stop." Landry said firmly, after Tim nudged him while stepping over him. He opened his eyes to see that he passed out on the floor from the party they had last night.
"Dude... get up." It was already almost noon and Tim was itching to get the place cleaned up. He threw an empty beer can at him. "C'mon, man. Go take a shower then help me clean this place up. I'll start on the kitchen." He chuckled as Landry pulled himself up off the floor like we weighed a thousand pounds. Oh, how well he knew that feeling. "Hey, and if you're gonna get sick... tub or toilet, man."
Landry had been Tim's newest roommate since the beginning of summer, when he became an official police officer for Travis County. Tim didn't share what he did for a living with just anybody, but Landry had already known about it from an encounter in high school. So, with knowing that, one would think that he would never even consider the idea of living with Tim Riggins. One would think, but one would also be wrong. When Tyra left, Landry felt a little lost, too. Tim happened to be around and could relate even more to what he was feeling. She left while she was still pregnant with his kid. They didn't even know if it was a girl or a boy... or if she even had it. It was fucked up what she did and nobody could or would deny that.
Tim was doing well for himself, though. Maybe that's what attracted Landry to join him in the drug dealing business. Before he started renting this decent three bedroom house in south Austin, Tim was living with Jason in a small apartment downtown. Jason stayed at his place while Tim moved last year. It was just Tim in the house at first, so Landry planned to move in with him after he went through the Police Academy. While he stayed back in Dillon training, Tim started growing his own plants. Landry helped push his stuff through town and it worked pretty well. Since, Julie wasn't in the picture anymore, he pretty much stepped in as Tim's partner. The growing and tending of plants was left to Tim and now Becky, the other roommate, he mainly helped out with selling.
Now that he was a cop, though, he sometimes wondered about what his father would think about what he was doing. He sometimes questioned his own actions but in the end, he just continued doing it. The money was good.
Julie got accepted in to college in the middle of her senior year and ended things with Tim pretty abruptly. She left after graduation last year and what was left of his heart after Tyra took off, she broke. Tim didn't blame her, though. She must have finally realized how bad the shit he did actually was. The cops, the cartel... it wasn't a good combination of people to be working for. She was lucky to have an opportunity to get out of Dillon and start an actual future, which was something Tim couldn't even do for himself. Sure, he got out of the town he hated so much, but he missed it. So much in fact that he took trips with Landry on the occasion just to catch some familiar scenery. Hell, he missed Julie, too. Lately, though, his thoughts were occupied by someone else.
Becky was from Dillon, too, but graduated in Austin last year after moving with her mom. Her mother worked at one of the main bars back home and moved up here two years ago to open her own bar downtown. At first, Tim kept his relationship with Becky platonic because her mother frowned upon it. She knew him and his reputation from back home. But with as much as he'd been hanging around the bar, he was destined to fail. It didn't last long at all since they've been together almost six months now. She also helped Tim out with his little attic operation.
There were dozens and dozens of plants in various stages of growth up there. Ones that were just about ready were disassembled and hung to dry out. After a few days, the buds would be dry enough to trim up and break down into smaller buds. That's usually what Tim let her help with. The nurturing of each plant was left to him, from germinating the seeds to pulling the males and letting the female plants sprout to their full potential. It's been proven that female plants are the stronger than males. Males produced the seeds, though, so some are necessary but not all.
After finally getting dressed and rejoining his roommate downstairs, Landry plopped down on the couch. "Hey, so, I'm going down to visit my folks on Saturday and I got a couple guys looking to re-up."
"Do you know how much?" Tim was standing in the kitchen washing the last of the dirty dishes.
"Not exactly but I know I can get rid of at least a pound. I'll just take two in case, alright?"
Tim nodded and carried on his cleaning. He had one headphone in an ear and the other one dangling down his chest. There was some dumb stuff Julie had put on his iPod over the years and one in particular just happened to come on.
I'm on my own, I'm on my own,
And I just wanna be me, gotta be free.
The music played on as he wondered how free Julie felt. Now that she was living the college life down on the Gulf Coast, free of his bullshit. He still wondered about her day to day life sometimes. They spent so much time with each other, that it sometimes still felt weird when she wasn't around. He shook his thoughts of her by switching songs on his shuffled playlist. It's been over a year without any word from her. He needed to move on and he had.
Becky was a great girl and he cared for her. She was freshly nineteen while he was two years her senior. He smiled at the thought of her as he shut off the running water. She was upstairs right now, trimming up this new strain he was growing. It was called Strawberry Cough. He wiped his hands on his jeans before making his way up the pull down ladder that led upstairs.
"Hey, babe."
She smiled when his head popped up from the floor. "Hey, whatcha doing?"
"Just finished cleaning the kitchen, now I just gotta get Landry to help me with the living room and we're all set." He sat down on the edge of the table she was working at. There was a wooden rig Tim built himself set in the corner that had quite a few plants hanging out to dry. "So, how'd the new shit turn out."
"It's looking good. Really good. It's just so sticky that most of it is still too wet to handle. Just a few more days and we'll have most of this batch trimmed up and ready to sell."
"Cool. Landry's going to town this weekend and can get rid of a few pounds. I'll probably just give him two bricks of what's already ready. I really wanna save some of this for us."
Becky set down her scissors and looked up at her boyfriend. "You're not going, are you?"
"No... not this time." Becky gave him a devilish grin. He chuckled at her look. "Well, damn... let's just kick him out if this is how you get at the thought of him leaving."
She pushed him playfully. "Shut up, slut."
He leaned down and gave her a kiss before leaving her to go back downstairs. "Oh my God, dude." He said, when he reached the bottom. Landry was passed out again.
"I'm just chilling with my eyes closed. Relax." Landry rubbed his face and stood up. "Let's get his place spotless."
Texas had a way with a beautiful sky. July was a beautiful summer month that was for sure. After they passed the state line, Tyra fell in love with Texas all over again. She knew why she left but now, after more than four years went by, she finally regretted doing so. She regretted leaving her mother behind but most of all her biggest regret was not letting Tate know his father. Tyra knew she was going to pay for that someway, somehow.
She stayed on the I-10 until they hit Houston and broke off onto a smaller highway that led straight to Austin. The closer she got to central Texas the more closed in she started feeling. It got to where she needed to pull over and catch her own breath.
"I can't do this... I can't." She told herself out loud, as she came to a stop.
"Tyra..." Mindy paused as Tyra jerked on the breaks. "Jesus. Are you okay?"
Tyra kept herself from crying but still got emotional. "I just... God, Mindy, it's just been so long." She looked in the back and through the darkness, she could see her son sleeping soundly. Trips in the car would always soothe Tate, he could fall asleep before she'd even get to the grocery store from her apartment.
Pain and regret filled her body as she continued to stare at him. It was ridiculous how much he looked like his daddy. Tim didn't deserve what she did to him. He was actually coming around to the idea of being a father to their child towards the end. Their relationship and even hers with Julie finally seemed like they weren't strained for a moment, until that day she went to his apartment. She had nightmares about Jordan and what his face looked like for months afterward. He had that cold, blank stare of a lifeless body that still made her shiver to this day.
Mindy agreed with her younger sister. "It sure has... but now you have to face the decision you made." They sat in silence for a few moments as Tyra gathered herself. "C'mon, let's stop at a motel and let you sleep on it."
"Okay. Yeah, let's stop for the night." She took a deep breath before driving off the shoulder and back onto the road. A motel sign came into view a few more miles down the deserted highway and Tyra pulled in. She got them a room and the first level and drove around to the other side of the building.
"You get him, I'll get the stuff." Mindy said as she opened the passenger side door.
Tyra hopped out and carefully maneuvered Tate out of his car seat. "C'mon, baby." She walked to the door and followed in after Mindy. She laid him down on the bed and he started to whine. "I know, baby, I know. Let me just take of your shoes and you can go right back to sleep."
Mindy watched from afar as her sister handled her nephew with care. Over the last four years she watched Tyra become a different person. She was a good mother. At times, a little selfish but she was young. Normal twenty-one years olds were out partying and drinking. She was glad that wasn't her sister's life because it easily could have been.
Mindy smiled when she looked at Tate. His long blonde hair was curling at the ends. He was seriously the cutest thing she'd ever seen. Tim and Tyra did good. Her smiled turned to a frown as she thought about Tim. As time went by and the sisters were watching the baby boy grow into a toddler, she started realizing all the things Tim wouldn't get to witness. Tate's first words, first steps. So many more small things passed through her mind as she thought. He would never get the last four years back with his child. Hell, he didn't even know that he had a son. They didn't find out the sex until after the big move.
Tyra looked over at her sister after making sure Tate got back to sleep. "Uh, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna crash."
Tim was up before the sun the next morning tending to some things in the attic before rejoining Becky in their bed. He didn't have a pressing job and neither did she. He made a lot of money these days, enough to have a nice place and then some. What had started off so small and casual soon spun out of control and consumed his life. He wouldn't ever say this lifestyle was something he wanted but he wasn't complaining right now either.
Yes, it got him mixed up in some serious shade that was still involved in his life until recently, but he wasn't messing with the cartel anymore and they weren't messing with him. Neither were Mars and Danni. It was about a year into their dealings that the partners were offered a bigger and better opportunity in a city out west. They took it and the heap of money he made for them. He was thankful that they received whatever promotion they got, because they were off his back. Even after they left, he still worked with Manny until they were both working for someone else.
When did he let his life become so Grand Theft Auto? They robbed people. Plain and simple. They would hold other dealers hostage while robbing them. The cartel was brutal, they didn't care about anything but drugs and money. A few guys got themselves killed because they didn't give Tim and Manny another choice except for dying themselves. Since that wasn't an option, they did what they had to do. It only happened twice over their two year span of continued work when Mars and Danni left the picture. It wasn't like Tim was pure or anything, either. He killed those two guys back in Dillon and got away with it. He got shot and healed, wasn't able to play ball after that but he was alive. The luck he was starting to think he had was going to eventually run out.
Tim cuddled up to Becky's warm body and fell back asleep for another few hours. He was alone when he woke up the second time. "Babe?" He called as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He found himself alone in the house since Landry got up and ready for work while he was in the attic.
He jumped into some basketball shorts then grabbed his iPod before heading for the front where he kept his running shoes. He laced them up and locked up the house then headed out. Austin was a really cool city. Small and spread out but it was still the capital of Texas. It was also the Live Music Capital of the world. Some pretty cool bands and celebs came to Austin all the time.
Down the road a ways, a song came on from this band he knew Julie liked. They were small and based out of LA but were good. It was surprising since most LA based things were shitty.
We walk, we walk, we just keep walking,
We move, we move, we just keep moving on,
We sing, we sing, we sing at the top of our lungs,
We walk, we walk , we walk like nothing's wrong.
He listened to the words play and felt it resonate somewhere inside. Life goes on. You move on and act like nothing's wrong, even when everything might be.
"Dammit!" Tim hissed to himself after changing the song. He needed to get a new iPod or at least delete everything and start again. It took him a long time to get to a point where he didn't think about her every single day. She'd been gone a long time but things, even the smallest of things, would remind him of the Julie he used to know. The music definitely wasn't helping and the next song was even worse.
I'm nothing more than a bag of bones,
With a pair of shoes and an overcoat.
Those lyrics took things to another level. That level was named Tyra. He felt something worse then heart-break after she left. He felt empty, like a bag of bones. She made him feel like nothing and really damaged his psyche for a while. He flicked over the song quickly but it was too late. Her face burned behind his eyes and the same thing flashed through his mind again. Why? Why did she fucking leave? It was something he wasn't sure he even wanted the answer to.
He slowed himself to a walk and turned to head back to the house. He wanted to clear his head by taking a nice, long jog but it was only clouding it further. Back at home he shed his clothes and got into the shower. With the water so hot it burned, he cringed. His skin got used to it after a few moments. When it started feeling good, everything from his mind dispersed.
Tim listened to the pouring water until he heard the bathroom door open. He turned his head and saw Becky through the blurred glass. He watched as she took off her shirt and shorts before joining him in the mist.
She smiled when her eyes met his. She bit her lip as his eyes then moved over her curves. The way he made her feel, even just by looking at her was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. The act of just looking could be powerful and she learned that after being with Tim.
Tim reached out and pulled her under the water. He watched her tight curls melt around her face as they got drenched. He smiled before kissing her hard. Their lips pressed together with a hungry passion. It was as if they we're starved from each other for days and now finally reconnecting. Her warm hands made trails up and down his slick back as he held her against him.
After a few intense moments, Becky pulled away to catch her breath. She smiled as she rested her head against his chest and let the water pour down her back. She already knew she loved this rugged boy of hers. He was a good, loyal guy underneath it all. What he's shared with her of his past seemed rough as hell. He'd been bending his entire life and something finally broke him, he had yet to share exactly what, though.
She knew he went through a bad break up about a year ago, but there had to be more to it then that. Unless he still loved that girl. Her heart muscles felt like the were aching as she thought of him having feelings for another girl. He was with her for over three solid years. That was a huge relationship for kids of their age. She'd only been with Tim about half a year and she would already go crazy if she lost the long haired boy. Becky ducked her head back under the water and washed away the negativity.
Tyra woke the next day without knowing exactly where she was at first. It seemed like a normal morning in her apartment until she didn't recognize her surroundings. She took a deep breath of air and realized where she was. She looked over at Mindy who was still asleep in the other bed. Then she turned to Tate who was awake and staring back at her.
"Hey, Tate. You hungry, baby?" She looked at the clock and saw that it was already nine.
"Yeah." He nodded and rolled over onto his belly.
"Okay, go wake up Mindy." She watched him scoot to the edge of the bed and hop down. She laughed at his laugh.
"Come on! Wake up, Aunt Minnie." He jumped onto the other bed and woke Mindy up. He still couldn't properly pronounce all of his words and Mindy's name happened to be one of them.
Mindy rubbed her eyes and sat up. She took Tate into her arms as he climbed on her. "Hey, boy. You're gettin' heavy, you know that?"
"I not heavy." He exclaimed before bursting out into laughter as she tickled his sides.
"Oh, yes you are!" She got up when he twisted out of her grasp. Before heading into the tiny bathroom she looked at her sister, who still had the deer caught in headlights look on her face. "Hey... you okay?"
"Yeah." Lie. "Yeah, let's, uh... get ready and stuff." Her tone clearly gave her away but Mindy let her be anyway. Tyra stared at nothing for a few moments. She didn't blink until her eyes felt like they were on fire. "Alright, Tate. Get your butt over here." She got him into some fresh undies and clothes before she started getting herself presentable.
Mindy took forever in the shower so she stepped outside and took a breath of Texas air. It wasn't as suffocating as it was last night but it was still weird being back. It was still pretty rural where they were, she could literally see cows from the door step. Rural. They were probably just an hour outside of Austin and it was nearly another hour after that until they were in that little Texas town she ran from.
Had it really already been that long? Of course it had, Tate was nearing four years old already and she, herself, had turned twenty-one a few months back. Her birthday was just a few weeks before Tim's. He was twenty-one now, too. She wondered about him as she stood alone outside. Wondered about what he had been up to for the last few years. How was he? Was he still with Julie? Was he even in Dillon anymore? The last time she checked, he was living pretty happily at the Taylor's house. The last question weighed heavily on her mind until Mindy popped her head out of the room.
"Hey, are you showerin' or what?"
Tyra shook her head. "I'll shower at mom's house." After her sister went back inside, she thought about how weird if felt to call her old house just her mom's place now. That was her home. The home she chose to up and leave, though. The home that probably wouldn't feel like home anyway. She went inside after a few more minuets of staring out at the sky and got their things ready to go.
When they were out on the road, she let Mindy drive the rest of the way. Her mind was too full to focus on one thing, such as driving. They stopped at McDonald's for some breakfast since it was still early enough and set out to Dillon. She sat in the back with Tate as they got closer to the city. When Austin came into view, she could see that more skyscrapers had been installed over the years. With more condos and office buildings, the little city was sure growing.
There was a little traffic on I-35 so Tyra pointed out a few important buildings to Tate. The Capital building, the giant Frost Bank, the Frank Erwin Center. Those were just a few places they could see from the highway. Everything about going back home saddened her. Tate was born and raised in Baton Rouge and had never stepped foot in Texas until yesterday afternoon. So, he wasn't raised here like she was. The fact that she'd be facing many old friends after all these years didn't sound as appealing as one might think, either. Her decision would follow her everywhere she went in this state and she needed to get used to that.
In Louisiana, it was like she was a different person. Nobody knew her history or any of the things she'd done. She tried to justify it in telling herself she needed the fresh start. What she really needed, was Tim by her side helping and watching their son grow up.
Mindy was a great helper and aunt to Tate, but it just wasn't the kind of relationship he would have with Tim. Their father, not to mention Tim's parents, cut out when they were young, so she should have stayed and let Tate's life be different. He would have had both parents right by his side, at least she hoped he would have. Sure, Tim did seem alright about having the child but who knows what would have happened when the baby actually came. He could have split just as easily, if not easier, than she did. If Tim would have done what she did, she didn't think she would ever forgive him for abandoning them. But that's not how things played out and now she didn't know if she could ever forgive herself.
After exiting the highway quite a few miles back. The edge of town started coming into view. She felt a little better about going back home. Her mother was there and after so many years of taking care of her baby, she wanted some motherly love of her own. She couldn't hardly wait to see her mother's joy of having her girls back and seeing Tate in person for the first time. She saw him but only in pictures or over video calls that they had on occasion. Tyra knew the waterworks were going to happen for all the grown ups when they got there.
It wasn't until she saw the outline of that familiar Texas shaped sign that she knew they were back. Her life in Louisiana was over and she would be starting over in her hometown where she at least knew some people.
'Welcome To Dillon'
The Collette sisters both watched the sign as they passed it. It was almost a culture shock to be back in a tiny town compared to the city they were just residing in. It was hard to imagine that she still knew almost every detail about this place. She sure knew when she didn't recognize something, too. The population number had increased by a few thousand people so naturally, just like Austin, it was growing. That wasn't the only thing new. They re-opened West Dillon High and now had two different schools representing their town.
She felt like a kid in a candy store with the way she was eyeing her old town. Picking out all the things she could that were different as they drove through town. The familiar things tugged at her heart strings the closer they got to her mother's. She wanted to cry and show her emotions, but at the same time, Tyra felt like she didn't deserve to feel the way she did. She chose to leave it all behind. She caused the pain that she was now feeling, but that others had probably been feeling for years. How was she going to make it up to the people of her past? Mainly, how would she ever make up four long years without Tate to Tim? She couldn't stop the same questions running through her head over and over again. All the realizations had fully hit her by the time they were slowing down to pull into their old driveway.
Mindy stopped the car but neither of the sisters made a move toward getting out. It was strange and they both felt it. It had felt like the right thing to do while back in Louisiana and on the road, but now... now felt like the calm before the storm.
thank you for the read. review if you'd like. :)
i hope this is as interesting a plot as i think it is.
more to come... lemme know whatcha think!
heavily Tim/Tyra based with other main characters.
The Taylor's make their appearance next chapter no worries.
chapter title inspired by:
Ran Off In The Night - Echosmith
songs used in chapter:
On My Own - Catcall
Nothing's Wrong - Echosmith
Broken Bones - The Holidays
