Author's Note: This story is still somewhat moving slow, what can I say you gotta kinda get the background of things going before the real drama can happen, so I hope there are still some readers out there. I assure you the action should pick up soon, thanks for your interest in it!

Special Thanks: To you reviewers out there who have taken the time to read and reply to me. I appreciate it so much. Reid, asnowybunny, and Elizabethxanne, thanks for responding. Your kind words help me out! Thanks again!

Disclaimer: Still don't own them, please don't sue!

Timeline: Right around after Coach Taylor gets issued with the lawsuit from the Street family and when Julie begins to hang out with Tyra, but before where we are currently in the series.

Friction: Chapter Two

Eric tried so hard that night to go to sleep, to close his eyes tightly and not think about everything that was on his mind. It was still raining that evening, the rain pounding on a nearby window was a constant reminder to him about the horrible practice the Panthers had that afternoon. Tami still hadn't come to bed but the house was silent, she was probably still sitting on the couch, reading.

He quickly rolled over, facing inward to where his wife normally lay beside him, this time only revealing cold sheets. Why did he have to feel so miserable? All of the anger and frustration he was feeling was something that came with his job, a job that he used to love to wake up to every morning but now dreaded it.

Life was a lot more simple when he wasn't the head of things but never in a million years would he turn down the job of being a head coach, it was just something that he seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to. So many of the athletes on the team turned to him as a father figure, Buddy Garrity was breathing down his neck and so bad did he just want to punch his lights out, and then of course his team and the state playoffs. Worst of all and the main thing on his mind was his daughter Julie and the crowd she had started to hang out with. He was a bit surprised about how much his innocent child had changed so quickly, but this was all new to him along with everything else going on.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to jump, but he rolled over yet again, seeing his wife sitting on the edge of the bed. He stayed quiet, hoping she'd speak first.

"Eric, you want to talk about anything?"

He ran his hands over his hair, only seeing the silhouette of his wife in the moonlight. He didn't want her to know all of the frustration he was going through. For some reason he had this idea in his head that he had to look like a strong person all of the time, a man that never got discouraged from a challenge presented to him.

"No, I'm just tired and I didn't want to argue." The minute he said that he knew his wife would see right through that; she could always tell when he was trying to make excuses.

She looked away and down at the floor. "You didn't even want to stay up for when Julie got home? You said yourself that you never see her."

"I wasn't sure how late she'd be."

"Eric, being tired is not the problem. You are always tired during football season, but never this cranky all of the time. I'm just trying to help out, you know? Be your friend."

He grabbed her hand, squeezing it. It was always comforting to know that you had the support you had at your home, no matter the circumstances. They didn't care if you won or lost, they didn't care about your style and techniques, they loved you for the person you were, not how your win loss record looked.

"It's just been a tough week. I'll get over it like I do everything else." He sat up, leaning in for a small kiss on the lips. "Thanks for caring."

The next morning proved to be more promising, the gray clouds had drifted off but it was hot and muggy, the humidity reaching around 95. Deep puddles had formed in the low lying areas of streets and ditches and the ground was moist from the saturation of the pure liquid that had fallen from the sky all day yesterday. Eric sat silently at his desk, thinking up new drills and ways to get the team pumped up for their next practice that afternoon.

He felt like he had ADHD or something, he'd go to write and it felt as if someone was turning the channel in his mind. One minute he'd be thinking about the drill, the next it was something totally random. He stared at the picture frame that contained a photograph of his family that was sitting adjacent to him next to a mound of paperwork. It had been taken about 4 months back, right after he had found out he'd be the new head coach for the 2006-2007 football season, back when things were a little more simple.

Licking his lips and adjusting the baseball cap on his head, he pushed down the led of the pencil onto the paper but this time it wasn't his mind that interrupted him, it was Buddy Garrity who knocked and allowed himself in.

"Eric, you got a minute?" He sat down across from him, not even allowing him to answer.

Coach stared at him a moment, trying to hid his annoyance. "Hey Buddy, I'm kinda busy right now."

"Oh aren't we all?" He gave a small laugh, pulling the door too as if he was ready to talk about something-top secret. "I hear that the team didn't have a good practice yesterday."
Eric leaned back in his chair, causing it to squeak a little bit from the ware and tear it had been encountering. He folded his arms across his chest, waiting for Buddy to continue, even better he was hoping he'd just get up and leave. The last thing he wanted or in fact needed was this cocky man in his office.

Taking note to Eric's silence, he spoke again. "The boosters are worried that the boys are losing focus, hell maybe it's you that's losing focus."

"The boosters think that or you are? Don't hide behind the boosters, if it's just you say it." He didn't care if Buddy was the leader of the booster club, it was a lame excuse he'd use on him all the time about concerns he had.

"Okay, I'm worried that everyone's attention span is dwindling."

"Well quite frankly Buddy, I don't think it's any of your business. I appreciate the support you bring to this team but I assure you we are on top of doing what needs to be done. As I said a few minutes ago, I'm a little busy right now, we can talk about this later."

Buddy stood up, adjusting his jacket as he did. "You bet we will."

Coach Taylor watched as he made his exit, then let out a long sigh after he was completely gone. The planning for practice that afternoon would have to be put on hold, his mind was so jumbled up he couldn't even hear himself think.

Julie Taylor really hadn't noticed much about her dad and his change in attitude about things. But then again, she hadn't been home a lot and she wasn't really paying attention to him despite the fact that she probably should have been. She made it home at about 4:15 and was surprised that her mother was already home. Usually she was home after 5:00, staying after school to help students on things.

"Hey mom, what are you doing home so early?"

"I didn't have any appointments with anyone so I got out of there as quick as I could. I've just been exhausted."

Julie nodded as she rummaged through the refrigerator. Pulling out a gallon jug of orange juice, she poured a glass and drank it down.

"Can I go see a movie with Matt tonight?"

Tami arched her eyebrow as she leaned over the bar. She wasn't sure if Julie cared about ever seeing her dad or if she really wasn't keeping up with it. She shook her head and patted the stool beside her, inviting Julie to sit next to her. Eric hadn't admitted that he was totally upset about it, but his little blow up the night before was enough evidence for her to try and fix it.

"I think you should stay home and spend some time with us tonight."

Julie's facial expression was enough for Tami to break in again before she could throw a fit about it.

"You have been going out every night this week, I can't remember the last time you actually had a sit down meal with us. What's the shame in wanting to stay home every now and then? Believe me when you get older you are going to be wishing for quiet evenings at home."

Julie frowned, folding her arms over her chest. "Yeah, but not with my parents! I already told him I could go mom."

"Then I guess you better cancel it, because you are staying home tonight." She wanted to ask Julie if she had noticed anything about her dad but she left it alone at the moment. It was pretty evident that the only answers she'd get from her daughter at the moment were short one-word answers with teenage attitude behind them.

"Gentlemen, I hope we can have a much more improved practice this afternoon. Let's have fun today!" He paced back and forth in front of his team. "Maybe a little more football and a little less conditioning, the choice is yours. 1st string on the line, let's make this perfect!"

The coaches all stood to the side, observing the drills being run. Coach Taylor took notice to spectators watching, one of them of course was Buddy Garrity standing on the sideline as if he were part of the coaching staff. He wanted to kick him off the field so bad, but he if he did that then he'd have to tell everyone else watching to leave and that was unnecessary.

"Let's run 38 double action cross, 1st string!"

The play was sloppy but Riggins gained about 7 yards on the carry. It of course was not good enough for Coach; it seemed about the only thing that would make him happy was sheer perfection, something that of course could not be mastered by humans.

"That play should've been 6 on the scoreboard. What happened Riggins?"

Winded and out of breath, Riggins approached him, pointing to his blockers. "My line didn't block for me."

Eric shook his head. "No, no, you failed to see the gaps! I guess you boys are in to running. You better clean it up!"

Some mumbles from behind the huddle were spoken, but out of the coach's earshot.

"What is coach's problem?"

"He's making football suck. This isn't fun."

Luckily the practice ran a tad bit smoother after that, and at around 5:30 they called it a day. Coach Taylor could breath a little easier but still was not exactly thrilled about the way his team was playing, not at the level of competition they were in.

The smell of chicken could be smelled from the front porch as Eric walked into the house, smiling at his wife who was in the kitchen cooking something that put him in a better mood. He walked to her, giving her a small kiss and lifting the lid off of the pot on the stove.

"Mmm, something smells delicious."

"I'm making chicken and dumplings. Julie is in her room if you want to see her."

"I guess I better hurry before she makes her exit for the evening."

"She'll be staying here tonight, I thought a nice meal together would be just what the doctor ordered."

The meal was great, the family time was excellent, and for the first time in several weeks Eric could honestly say that he felt wonderful. He got to actually talk to Julie, he laughed, and they all caught up on life in general. He still didn't let it slip that he was stressed out about things, but little did he know that it would soon be revealed to most people, not just a suspicion. His mind was basically a time bomb that was ticking, and the more he kept it bottled up inside the more it built up, ready to explode and boil over into a huge mess.

Right now all he knew was that he was happy, all the frustrations and stress from the weeks before was not present, but not gone away either.

TBC….

Please let me know if I should continue, thanks!