A/N: Based on characters and situations created by Peter Berg, David Nivens and Brian Grazer and owned by NBC Universal. Added 6/25.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

"After the Ball is Over"

Chapter 10

Tyra cried until she couldn't cry any more. And then she reminded herself that crying never got anybody anywhere, at least it had never worked for her before. So she took a deep breath and wiped her eyes and sat back on her haunches. She turned to rise just as the front door opened and moonlight poured in.

"Tyra," said Billy shortly.

"Hey," she said in what she hoped was a cheerful voice. Her throat was dry but the raw skin under her eyes felt much worse. She hoped Billy either wouldn't notice or that he wouldn't say anything if he did. She bravely met his gaze.

"What's up."

She took a deep, shuddering breath and said calmly, "You tell me. It's Thursday night. Is this normal for him?"

"What?" Billy looked to see Tim passed out on the couch.

"Shit." Swore Billy. "Damn it, Tim," he said, raking a hand through his hair and turning to stare at the wall. He met Tyra's gaze. "Aw shit." He ran his hand over his mouth and held his chin in his hands, arms crossed over his chest. He regarded his younger brother, guilt and worry all over his face.

"All right, help me. Help me get him up Tyra. Here, stand over there, and then just be ready." Billy got close to the couch and leaned towards Tim and wrapped his arms around him and pulled him up.

Billy drove his shoulder into Tim's stomach and with some effort, heaved Tim over his shoulder and stumbled a bit. "Get out of the way!" he yelled at Tyra. He began plodding towards Tim's bedroom. Tyra followed behind him.

"Dammit Billy. Put me down. I'm not a kid." Tim stirred.

Billy didn't answer him. "Get a glass of water Tyra, and there's some aspirin in the cupboard to the right of the sink. Grab a couple, and bring them in here will ya?"

"Billy," slurred Tim, "Billy…"

Billy carried Tim into the bedroom and shrugged him off his back and onto the bed. Billy stretched as Tim rolled onto the mattress and started laughing drunkenly.

His laughter just as quickly turned to tears. Tim lunged for his brother and clumsily pulled him down to his side.

Tyra appeared in the doorway. She was watching wide eyed with concern as Billy sat next to Tim.

But Tim spoke first. "Billy, Billy please," he urged his brother. Tyra handed Billy the aspirin and water.

"All right, look lil' bro. You're in bed, you're gonna go to sleep, and you're gonna feel like shit tomorrow. So take this now, and drink," he put the aspirin into Tim's hand and showed him the glass of water. Tim could barely sit up but he managed to swallow the pills down. "Now drink. I want you to drink."

Tim followed his brother's instructions until Billy pulled the glass away.

"OK Timmy." Said Billy, and turned to Tyra. Tim's breathing became heavy. Billy grabbed the trash can and put it by the bed next to Tim. They both stared at Tim in silence. Billy pulled a blanket over his brother's unconscious body.

Tyra looked at Billy, questioning.

Billy frowned. "Damn it. Maybe this isn't a good idea." He muttered to himself.

Tyra cocked her head and looked at Billy oddly.

"Tyra, you probably don't want to sleep in here tonight. Who knows what he's gonna do."

"Yeah, you know what, you're right. I think I'll go home."

"You OK?" asked Billy, noticing her puffy eyes and swollen cheeks.

"Yeah. I'm OK." She answered. "Well, thanks for…well thanks. I'll see ya around."

Billy looked like he was about to ask her a question, and then thought better of it. He pursed his lips instead to hold back his thoughts.

"See ya," he answered her, and shut the door behind her.

--

Tyra wasn't prepared for what she saw when she arrived at home. The front door was wide open, and when she stepped inside she was shocked at the condition the house was in. Bob and her mom had obviously had an all out brawl right there in the kitchen and also in the living room.

It looked like the house had been picked up, shaken up and set back down. Nothing was in its place. Her eyes widened when she saw the brown stains on the carpet. Blood. She made a face and looked away to the couch. The large picture mirror that hung behind it was shattered. It reflected the complete chaos, the little thin slivers of the lives inside that were slowly being sliced up and pulled apart.

Tyra sighed. She was so tired. She'd had enough for one day. She was not going to deal with picking up the pieces tonight. She closed the front door, locked it, and stumbled towards her bedroom.

Tyra tossed and turned all night. She didn't sleep very well, knowing she was in the house all alone and Bob the bastard could be lurking outside her window. She finally fell into an exhausted slumber early in the morning. She was startled awake when she heard a truck pulling into her driveway, crunching on the gravel. She opened her eyes, and pulled the curtain aside to see a black pickup pull up to the house in the morning light. Tim? What did he want?

She got out of bed and stumbled into the living room. The whole house shuddered as Tim pounded on the door. "I'm coming!" she hollered and she carefully made her way to the entry. She swung the door open and stepped aside to let Tim in.

And there he was. Tim stood on her porch in his devil may you care attitude. And he was helped out by the jeans, boots, sheep skinned lined jacket, sunglasses and the way his hair hung in thick locks across his face. "Hey," he greeted her gruffly, and stepped inside.

"What'd you want Tim?" She closed the door behind him and then stood before him, arms crossed over her chest.

"What the hell happened in here?"

Tim looked at her carefully and took off his sunglasses when she didn't respond. Rather, she just stood and stared at him. His eyes were clear. "I just wanted to make sure you were OK. You weren't answering your phone, and Billy told me you'd left last night, and he said you were kind of upset, so I just thought …"

Tyra stood and started picking up the room. She wasn't buying it. "Yeah, well think again Tim. Once again, I needed you yesterday and you were nowhere to be found." She accused him.

"Whatdya mean? I fell asleep on the couch waiting up for you."

She stood on the couch to take down the large mirror that was behind the couch. Tim moved to help her. She turned to look at him as they pulled the mirror off the wall.

"Don't bullshit me Tim. You were passed out on the couch when I got to your house. And I'd been trying to reach you all day long. So don't tell me you were waiting for me. That's a load of crap." She spat at him. Together, they set the shattered mirror on the floor.

"Tyra, slow up, alright?" he said slowly and deliberately.

Tyra turned her back on him and sat down on the couch. Tim crossed to stand in front of her. "Look Tim, it's been a rough eighteen hours OK? My mom's in the hospital after that asshole Bob beat her within an inch of her life, and now I've got to clean this place up before I go back to Odessa to spend the day with her in the ICU. Oh, and by the way, I have no idea, no friggin' clue how we are going to pay for all this. Oh and did I mention Bob the bastard is running loose out there…just like nothing happened!"

"She's in the hospital? What happened?"

"I told you, Bob the bastard happened. She's in ICU."

"Who the hell is Bob? And is she OK?"

"No Tim, she's not OK. She's in a coma and they don't know when she's going to come out of it."

"Look Tyra, I'm sorry. Billy told me something that got me kind of upset, and I…"

Tyra stopped in the middle of uprighting an end table.

"Look Tim, I've had it up to here with your excuses. All right? They're falling on deaf ears. In case you haven't noticed, I've got other things to worry about."

Tim sighed. "All right. I'm sorry you couldn't get a hold of me yesterday." Tim paused, and cleared his throat. "Can I give you a hand here?" he asked tiredly.

"Well, yeah. But aren't you going to school?" she asked him.

"Are you?" he looked over at her.

"No dumbass, I already told you I got to go to Odessa to spend the day with my mom. What if she wakes up and I'm not there?"

Tim grunted. "You want some company?" he asked her.

"I don't know. Depends on whether they're sober or not."

Tim sighed heavily. "Billy's moving to Louisiana."

Tyra stopped in the middle of picking up shards of broken glass from the couch. "What?" she asked sharply. "You're moving where?"

"No Tyra, I'm not. Billy is." He looked away.

Tyra frowned and looked at him, puzzled.

"What for?"

"I don't know. Guess he's had it with Dillon."

Tyra bit her lip and looked down at the floor.

"So what, he's just, up and leaving, and going where?" she asked him quietly.

"Some little place in Louisiana. He got a job there."

"Tim, that don't make any sense. I mean… Tim…" her voice trailed off, concerned.

"Yeah. He's going. Leaving." Tim cleared his throat roughly.

"That's right Tyra." His voice sounded strained when it whispered to her, "You're all I've got," he met her gaze; pleading, softly. She caught her breath.

Tyra's eyebrows raised. Was he serious? "What was that Tim? You know, I don't know if you remember, but we're not together anymore," she threw it into his face. And then she instantly felt worse and wished that she could take it back! Her heart was sinking, sinking into her chest.

Tim tossed his hair back and suddenly advanced towards her. She couldn't have gotten away if she'd wanted to. But she tried. She backee up as fast as she could, and stopped when her back hit the wall. And then she shuddered when his hard body crashed into hers. He pressed her into the wall, and met her steady gaze. Oh my god, she thought. She was quivering. His hands grasped her wrists and held them one on each side.

He took her lips and hungrily kissed her. And he didn't hold back. His hands left her wrists and cupped her chin, tilted her head, inched forward until his pelvis met hers. He kissed her with such passion, such abandon. And as he ravaged her mouth, his right hand crept up her waist to cup her heavy breast in his palm, his thumb waiting to touch. He stopped to look into her eyes. When she met his gaze she was lost in him.

"Tim, we can't do this," she was barely able to whisper.

"Why not Tyra, you tell me one good reason." He asked her, and pushed his hips to hers. He held her there, pinned. His lips captured hers. She couldn't pull away. Instead she arched her back and got a good grasp of his shoulders.

"Because it won't do us any good," she tossed out when he pulled away.

She made the mistake of looking into his eyes again. His hand ran down her leg to slowly bend and lift it up to circle his waist. His hand then ran all the way down, squeezing and rubbing her leg from her ankle to her ass. He smiled when her breath caught.

He lifted her other leg to circle his waist so he and the wall supported her weight. His lips left hers to nuzzle and nip the length of her neck.

"That's not a good enough reason, Tyra. And besides, it's not true. But I've got a better reason," he added.

He picked her up and carried her over to the couch. He sat down and settled her on his lap. His hands came to the back of her neck where he tangled his fingers into her hair.

"Because I want to bury myself in you, Tyra." He breathed up into her mouth.

His lips took hers again, and damn him, damn him. She couldn't get enough of him. His hands moved to hold her buttocks and pull her down on to him while he pushed up into her softness and rocked her hips over his. She couldn't help it. She shuddered. He moaned into her mouth and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I need you Tyra."

Dear Lord, I need you too, she thought, and kissed him with everything she had. The delicious friction he was creating was making her hotter with every second, and she threw aside her last bit of reserve. She let him know with just one kiss that she needed him as much as he needed her. She ran her hands through his hair and grabbed tightly to his shoulders and ground down upon him. "God Tyra," he breathed hard and pushed up.

The front door rattled, someone was knocking on it from the other side. "Tyra, honey, it's Tami Taylor. Tyra?"

"Damn it," groaned Tim.

The knocking continued. There was a brief pause. "Tyra, I'm comin' in."

They both froze, and Tim softly cursed again.

They leapt apart and jumped to their feet when the front door opened. Tami stepped inside, unaware of the interruption she had caused.

"Oh hey Tim." She closed the front door behind her. "That's awfully nice of you to come over here and help Tyra. I imagine she's told you all about it."

Tim cleared his throat, put his hands on his hips and met her gaze. "Yes ma'am. That's all we've been able to talk about."

"Well, Tyra, look. I wanted to stop by, see if there was anything you needed." She stopped, and stepped close to say only to Tyra in a lowered voice, "Now I know you've been staying over at Tim's, but honey, you shouldn't be staying there. Now, if you can't stay here, I want you to stay with us, OK? Now honey, I don't blame you one bit for not wanting to stay out here all by yourself. I've got the guest bedroom all made up. You just say the word."

Tyra didn't trust herself to speak, so she nodded her head instead.

Tami turned to Tim. "And Tim that goes for you too, honey. Your brother stopped by last night. Now you're welcome any time, and I mean, any time but I'm going to expect you to come on over for family dinner every Wednesday, and Sunday night all right, and if you don't show up I'm calling in the cavalry, is that clear? 6:00 Tim. And don't be late."

"Yes ma'am," responded Tim.

Tami turned to Tyra again. "So now I imagine you're going to spend the day at the hospital, is that right?" asked Tami.

Tyra nodded her head again. Somehow having Tami Taylor show up at her doorstep brought reality to the forefront. She started to feel her throat clench, and her chest tighten.

"And Tim, you're going to school?"

Tim looked over at Tyra. "Well, ma'am, I guess that's up to Tyra here. I offered to spend the day with her, seeing as how she's got to clean this place up, and go to the hospital and all. Thought she might appreciate a hand to help her out."

"Well Tim, that's awfully thoughtful of you, but don't you think you'd be better off in school?" asked Tami.

Tim looked over at Tyra again, seeking her opinion. "With all due respect ma'am, what Tyra's going through means a lot more to me than missing a day of class. It's her call." He nodded to Tyra.

Tyra looked over at Tami, but didn't say a word.

"All right, you two. I'll take care of it, let your teachers know."

"Thanks. I'll appreciate the company." She said somewhat weakly.

"All right, well. I've got an hour. What say we clean this place up. Where's your trash can at, honey?"

An hour later, the difference was complete. The three of them completely re set the house. Everything that was broken was thrown out, everything that was upside down was put aright.

"There," said Tami, "OK kids. You better get moving. Visiting hours start at eleven don't they? You'd best hurry."

She looked at them.

"Now Tyra, don't be speeding, you know that sheriff over in Odessa is a mean son of a gun. And Tyra," she called from the window, "turn on your damn phone."

Tyra bit her lip and raised her eyebrows as she followed Tim outside to the driveway. Tim swung open the passenger door for her with a smile, and then got behind the wheel of his truck with Tyra sitting next to him in the passenger seat.

They pulled out of the driveway, a cloud of dust following behind them when they turned off onto the dirt road. He turned to look at her.

"Timing is everything Tim, everything." She shook her head in mock regret.

"Yeah thanks I know. I get that a lot." He grinned ruefully.

--

Jason swore tightly under his breath. "I don't believe this!"

"What son, what is it?" asked his Mom. Jason was over visiting with his parents, and he'd gotten a text message from his voicemail service. He played the message and by the end of it he was so mad his face was beet red and sweat beads were pooling at his temples.

"This is such BULLSHIT!" he yelled angrily.

"JASON!! What has gotten IN TO YOU!?" shouted his Mom.

"Mom, I'm sorry, I just, I can't believe this! That was the Texas State High School League. They… those bastards… they fired me!"

"Slow down Jason. Take a deep breath. Now start over. What happened?"

Jason exhaled. His voice returned to normal. "I just can't believe it."

"Can't believe what, honey?" she asked him, and knelt beside him.

"They are asking for my resignation as assistant coach. Apparently the requirements of the position include a high school diploma. It's pretty funny how they didn't mention that fact leading up to the state tournament."

"What? Why? What do they care? And can they do that?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, I guess they can. And they said that if I cooperate and resign within forty-eight hours of receiving this letter, they won't even consider bringing this up before the Texas Athletic Advisory Board as to whether or not this breach will have a further impact on the current state championship title held by the Panthers." His voice was rising and he was getting upset all over again.

"OK, slow down honey. What about Coach Taylor?"

"What about him? He's working for the college now, Mom."

Jason's mom sighed heavily, and she reached over to stroke his hair. "Well, maybe, in a roundabout way, this is not such a bad thing." His mother looked him in the eye.

"You miss school. You miss your friends. You know that you do." She pursed her lips, and continued earnestly, "It's not a bad idea. You could move back in here, graduate with your class. It's probably not too late. I think that's a wonderful idea. With some tutoring, well, who knows. It's worth looking into."

"Mom I tried that already. It didn't work out, remember?" he asked her tightly.

"No Jason. What I remember is that you had a hard time. And you gave up."

He turned his head sharply to glare at her.

"You have no right, mom, no idea. You can't imagine what it was like." He managed to get this out from behind his clenched teeth.

"I'm your mother, Jason Austin Street, so don't you think you can tell me what I have a right to do or not to do. I deserve more than that from my son. THAT is my right."

"Sorry Mom. I'm sorry. You're right. It's just. I don't want to go back there, Mom." He looked defeated. He looked up at her. His pain was there to see.

"Well, honey, you didn't really give it a chance the last time did you? If you can look at me and tell me with honesty in your heart that you tried and you just can't do it again, well, then, we'll see what we can do to find out about some alternative program or something. Because I know you'd love college son. That's a dream your father and I still have for you. But you know honey, you'll never be able to tackle that if you can't tackle this first."

Jason felt tears well up in his eyes. "All right mom. I'll give it another shot. I'll go back to Dillon. I'll go back to school."

"That's my boy. There he is." She said proudly, and kissed him on the head, held him in her arms.

Jason smiled, closed his eyes and hugged her back. And he reminded himself that the chair didn't mean he always won. Not around here. He wiped his eye and thanked god for his parents.

--

A/N: OK, so what do you think? Please send me a review and let me know!