He couldn't take this anymore. Was there something wrong with him? Before, he could settle down anywhere he moved. He had to of course, get used to his home, community, etc. and coach. But this was different. This time it was for her job and not his job. Maybe if he just hung in there for a few more years, he'd bring up going back home. Not Philadelphia. The place he would always truly call home.
Texas
You'd think he would settle down just like his wife did, but he was still lingering on to the place he left years ago. The people he left five years ago and the memories. Five years and he still wasn't used to Philly. Five years, two State titles later and he still wasn't as proud of them as he did with his two Texas ones. Five years and he still compared every damn thing to Texas. Five years and he wasn't giving back on going home, because Philadelphia would never be home for him, no matter how hard he tried. He tried to like the scenery, but cars bustling down the highway wasn't better than the open fields of Texas. He tried to like the people, but they were all boring and had their own couples groups. He tried to really love his highschool team, after all he won two State titles, but he didn't feel the connection he had with the teams he coached in Texas. Besides, football in Pennsylvania was nothing like the thrill of Texas. They didn't even have Friday Night Lights! Games were played on Monday afternoons! And there wasn't a lot of highschool football attention so the rings didn't measure up to the ones he won in Dillon.
He loved his wife, he truly did. He loved his family and he loved football. That was all his life ever revolved around; family and football. He realized his life needed one more thing; it needed Texas. Eric Taylor, no matter how hard he tried, would only love Texas. Texas Forever right? You can never do wrong in Texas and Eric only wanted Texas. He didn't want to let go five years ago, but he had to. There wasn't a night that went by without him thinking on moving back. Texas defined Eric Taylor; always had and always will.
Eric lay in bed, he decided to turn in early today. His team, the Pioneers, had a bye week this week so he decided all the football plays, practices and film could wait until the next day. Right now, he just needed sleep. He had a long day with Gracie Belle. She was getting so big and just turned eight. Eric was drifting off to sleep, putting his arm to the other side. After years and years of marriage, it was an automatic reflex and sometimes he didn't even realize he did it. What struck him was that when he put his arm out, he felt coldness from the other side. He turned over and remembered that Tami was working late today. Said she had some last-minute office things to do and she wouldn't be home for dinner or to tuck Gracie in. Seems like she had a lot of last-minute office work lately.
Man, he thought, what's happened to my life. Five years ago, I was a two-time Texas State Champ, and almost signed a five-year contract with the Panthers. Five years. That was how long he's been in Philly too. He never told Tami, but he often wondered how different his life would be if the past five years was spent in Dillon and not Philly. He would've seen Vince play his senior year, Tinker too and heck even Buddy Jr. He lost touch with a lot of the players he coached in Dillon, but they always wrote him and he looked up the Dillon News sometimes. He's been married to Tami for just over 25 years. Usually, the bigger the anniversary number, the stronger the relationship. So why did he feel like his marriage was falling apart here in the East Coast and was strong in the West?
That night, Eric couldn't sleep. Tami came home a little before 12 and slipped in bed. He pretended to sleep because he truly wasn't in the mood for Tami to start apologizing how late she was. Much to his dismay, that became a routine. Eric going to work, picking Gracie from school, cooking dinner, helping Gracie with her homework, going over football plays, tucking Gracie to bed and himself turning in since there was no point on waiting for her. Tami would call and say she had office stuff and then she'd slip into bed and be up before the crack of dawn.
He missed Tami. It felt like he never saw her. He hated that routine and tried to tell her multiple times that Gracie needed her mother, but she waved him off and told him to be patient and she would try to get home early. When they first came, she was very busy like she was now. It got better in the middle of the 2nd year until the beginning of the 4th until one of the assistants got reassigned and she had a bigger workload. He'd miss the days when he got home from coaching the Lions/Panthers and she had dinner ready and he would eat with his family. Then him and her would have a glass of wine and just talk about what was going on. He missed the days when he truly knew she had his back and wouldn't bail on him. That's happened to him a couple of times in Philly;her promising to come to things and cancelling at the last-minute because something came up at work.
He remembered when she first started to call and say she couldn't make it to dinner. At first, he would wait up for her. He even sat outside with a beer waiting, but soon the nights got longer and the days got colder. He tried so hard to not make it a routine that Gracie never saw her mother. The only measly good thing coming out of it, was Gracie loved him. Not saying Julie didn't, but Gracie looked up to everything Daddy did. Julie was more quiet, a mommy's little girl, but she spent her days reading and being by herself and talking to Mommy. Gracie wanted to be just like Daddy and she was interested in football! Eric nearly fell over when Gracie asked to go to football practice instead of stay home with the sitter.
So Gracie was closer to her father than Julie was. Julie was starting to talk more to her father though, since her mother was never around. It seemed like Tami Taylor was in denial and she kept drifting away from her family. He couldn't remember the last time they made love or they had a passionate kiss. Just a quick peck to the lips and flying out the door.
Eric always had a bad feeling about Philly, he felt something really bad was going to happen, something he didn't know if he could handle. And Eric's conscience was always right. Always. When he started coaching Jason at the early stages of the teenage years, he had a hutch that the kid would be the best QB in the country. When Tim went to jail, he had a hutch that he didn't do the crime. When Julie came home from college and crashed her car, he had a hutch that she was lying and hiding something. It was his sixth sense. And this time, he wished his sixth sense wasn't telling him bad things were coming, and they were going to hit him when he was already down.
He rolled onto his back, certain his wife was asleep. Please God. Let us go back to Texas. Where we belong.
Author's Note: First chapter is short, the other chapters will be longer, this is just to set the mood and tone that even though they've been in Philly for five years, Eric can't let go of Texas. And believe me, he's tried and tried, but it's hard because Tami is barely ever there. Don't forget to review. I don't plan on this fanfiction to have a dark ending where the Taylor's split up, I don't think I could even handle writing that, let alone read that.