A/N:This is my entry for the WA Never in a Million Years contest. I really wanted to do this contest because I thought that the topic was really intriguing. I was somewhat nervous entering thus contest because I am the queen of low confidence, but I decided to get out of my comfort zone and enter a contest. This is an alternate ending to Tim's storyline in the final season.

To the judges and readers not from the FNL fandom: I know I picked a super uncommon fandom, but writing FNL is where my heart is. I relate to these characters and enjoy writing them so much. I hope that I have written it in a way that you can be fandom blind and still understand.

Prompt: Never in a Million Years

"Texas Forever" was Tim Riggins catchphrase. He started saying it when he was in the 6th grade. His grand plan for his life was to piggyback off of his best friend Jason Street's NFL paycheck, when Jason got drafted to play for the Dallas Cowboys, and they would own a hunting ranch together. That dream went into flames when Jason Street sustained an injury, which paralyzed him from the waist down, in the middle of one of their high school football games.

Then, Lyla Garrity - his highschool girlfriend - came into his life. Lyla gave him a new dream, and a new life. He was once a teenage alcoholic, he spent his free time drinking and partying. He was pretty lucky his liver wasn't shot by the time he graduated high school, and he was lucky to even graduate. He had also been know as the guy to have a good time with. He used being a star player on the football team to his advantage to get girls and have his homework done by those girls.

Lyla changed him. Lyla convinced him to tone down the drinking and even helped get him accepted into San Antonio State on a football scholarship, but that went up into flames too when Lyla got accepted into her dream college, Vanderbilt, and Tim let her go. He didn't regret that decision, but when Lyla left for Tennessee, so did his will to be in college and play college football. So he dropped out, returned to his home town of Dillon, and began working in his brothers garage.

That was his next dream, to work along side his brother in their new business Riggins Rigs. He even bought himself a couple acres of land and began planning to build a house. After Billy, Tim's older brother, got married and began expanding his family, he was in a pinch for extra money. Billy decided to turn the garage into a chop shop and hid it from Tim. When Tim eventually found out, he was against the idea - after all, it was illegal! When Billy explained his reasoning behind operating the chop shop, Tim caved and helped his brother out.

One night when Tim was working after hours on the newest car that had been brought in, the police raided the establishment and busted their secret operation. Tim saw how stressed Billy was during the whole situation, and he compared their lives. Billy had a wife and son he had to provide for while Tim just had himself. So he lit another dream on fire and turned himself in. Tim took the fall for Billy's operation and spent eleven long months in prison.

Tim began to question his catchphrase. Texas forever? It seems like all my dreams here in Texas go up in flames... He thought to himself one afternoon in his lonesome prison cell. He wondered how he was going to get a job now, this would stain his record that was once clean - besides a few speeding tickets. Dillon was a small town, word had probably spread within hours of him turning himself in.

Midway through his sentencing, he was told he could get out early for good behavior if he got character witnesses to testify. Billy had scrounged up some people to speak on behalf of Tim to convince the court that he deserved to get an early release.

His brother had recently payed him a visit, during which he informed him that his old high school coach, Eric Taylor, and his ex-girlfriend Lyla Garrity's dad, Buddy, would be speaking on his behalf. Tim knew Coach Taylor would speak highly of him, Coach Taylor had always thought he was a good kid and even visited him in prison. The Buddy Garrity part worried him a little bit. Buddy hadn't always been Tim's biggest cheerleader. On the football field, Buddy backed him 110%. When it came to dating his daughter, now that was a different story.

As the day for Tim's parole hearing inched closer, Tim became more anxious of what Buddy would say. When the day finally arrived for his hearing, Tim was somewhat nervous. Nervous about what Billy would say, nervous about what Buddy would say, nervous about his future, nervous about what the committee would rule, the list of what he was nervous about could go on, and on, and on.

He shifted in his seat next to his lawyer when Buddy stood before parole committee. Here we go... He thought. Hello 11 more lonesome months in prison... He let his head hang down and focused on his shoes.

"I've known this young man since before he hit puberty," Buddy started. "And this young man has done a lot of things wrong." Tim shook his head. Just great... "I've seen him do a dozen things wrong, but let me tell you something right now. He is not a bad young man, and he's certainly not a criminal. He doesn't need to be in this system," Buddy continued. Ok, not that bad, Tim thought to himself. "He dated my daughter for years, and we took him in like family, so he's like family to me," Tim smiled thinking back to the days he and Lyla dated. How is Lyla? He wondered as he made a mental note to ask Buddy about his ex afterwards. "And I could tell you this kid right here has got more heart than almost any person I know. And I can promise you that when you let him out, he will have a full-time job working for me. And I can guarantee you that nothing like this will ever happen again. Thank you," Buddy finished. That didn't go nearly as bad as I thought it would.

After Buddy's statement, the parole comittee dismissed themselves and allowed Tim some time to thank his character witnesses.

"Thank you both for coming," Tim thanked Buddy and Coach Taylor.

"You are very welcome son, now I've gotta get going. See you soon and hopefully you'll be released," Coach Taylor replied, extending his hand for Tim to shake.

"Thanks Coach," He mumbled. Coach Taylor left, leaving him alone with Buddy Garrity. "Thank you for speaking," He thanks Buddy.

"You're welcome Tim, it wasn't very hard to talk so highly of you. And I mean what I said, I will have you a job when you get out," Buddy replied.

"How's Lyla doing?" Tim asked, deciding not to dance around the question that had been on his mind since Buddy mentioned her in his speech.

"She's doing pretty good. She's busy with college, but she really likes it. She made a lot of new friends and really enjoys her school," Buddy answered. His answer felt like a knife piercing Tim's chest. Lyla had a new life now, one without Tim in it. He was happy that she was happy, but it hurt knowing he wasn't part of what was making her happy.

"That good, well thanks again for coming," Tim replied, seeing the guard walk toward him - a sign that it was time for him to go.

"Your welcome Tim, see you soon," Buddy returned as the guard put cuffs on Tim and escorted him to the the vehicle that would be transporting him back to the prison. Tim sighed and watched out the window as he was driven back to the all too familiar prison.

Over the course of the next three months, Tim was released on good behavior and struggled to fit back in the small town of Dillon. He couldn't go to the grocery store, or even the Landing Strip - the local strip club where he had once been a frequent visitor - without feeling like he was being judged. He swore people looked at him different.

In the tiny football obsessed town of Dillon, Texas, former and current players were worshiped. Before being arrested, fans would spot him in public and reminisce about big wins Tim had helped achieve, but recently fans avoided talking to him. He worked a few shifts at Buddy's Bar and Grill, but even there he felt like the customers judged him. He suddenly felt out of place in the town he said he'd never leave. A couple weeks before Christmas, he was bartending when a familiar voice entered the bar.

"Hey Sarah is my dad in?" The familiar voice asked one of the waitresses.

"I think I saw him in the back," The waitress politely responded. Tim had his back turned away from the entrance, but he would know that voice anywhere.

"Tim?" The voice asked, noticing Tim's distinctive long brown hair.

"Lyla," He greeted in shock, turning around to face the very familiar voice.

"Hey! I didn't know you worked here," She replied. She knew she would eventually run into Tim, but she wasn't expecting it to be this soon.

"Yeah your dad gave me this job after I, um... well.." Tim struggled to get the words "went to prison" out. She knew that he had been convinced because they exchanged letters back and forth over the course of his first month as an inmate, but there was just something different about saying it to someones face, especially when you loved that someone. After the first month or so, letters to each other became few and far between. Buddy had informed Lyla about his release, but not that fact that he had employed her ex-boyfriend.

"Well, it's good to see you. Have you seen my dad?" Lyla asked, changing the subject to something less awkward for Tim.

"I think he's in the back," Tim answered. "Just go through that door right here," He added, pointing the the doors that led to the back portion of the bar and grill. As quickly as she had showed up, Lyla vanished to the back of the building. Good one Tim! You totally ruined it for yourself by bringing up the fact that you're a criminal. He threw the rag he had been holding in his hand onto the counter out of anger and tended to the rest of his customers. A few minutes later, Buddy and Lyla emerged from the back room.

"Tim, Lyla and I are heading to the apartment. Do you mind locking up?" Buddy asked.

"No sir," Tim politely answered.

"Ok, just bring the keys when you come to the apartment," Buddy instructed. Lyla sent her dad a confused look. "I've been letting him stay with me," Buddy explained.

"Oh," Lyla answered. "Well, I guess I'll see you later," She awkwardly added as they turned to walk out of the bar. Jeeze, she couldn't sound any less interested in me, Tim thought. Tim finished out the night working at the bar and locked up like he had told Buddy he would. He got in his Black Chevy and drove to the apartment complex. He put his truck in park and quietly unlocked the door to Buddy's apartment. It was nearing one am and he didn't want to wake Lyla or Buddy. He quietly crept into the room he had been staying in only to find Lyla Garrity curled up in the bed. He tried to open the drawer holding his clean clothes without waking her, but he was unsuccessful. She rolled over and looked up at him with her big brown eyes, her chocolate hair sprayed across the black sheets.

"Sorry," He mumbled.

"I wasn't asleep," She answered.

"I'm gonna go sleep on the couch," He told her after grabbing a handful of clean clothes.

"I missed you Tim," She admitted, causing Tim to stop in his tracks. She missed me?

"I missed you too," He genuinely replied. It was nothing but the truth, many times while in solitary confinement he found his mind wandering about his beautiful ex-girlfrind. Now Tim didn't usually day dream about his exes, but Lyla was different. Tim couldn't move on.

"I'm sorry I didn't write you more," She apologized.

"It's no big deal," He shrugged. "Night," He added, putting an end to the conversation that was awkward for both parties.

"So you're letting him stay here?" Tim was awoken the next morning by Lyla's voice questioning Buddy in the kitchen area of the small apartment.

"Well he's just having a rough time right now," Buddy replied. "Him and Billy aren't really on the best terms and I had a spare bedroom." Tim faked being asleep to hear what else the father daughter duo had to say. "He just made a mistake Lyla, he's still the same Tim you dated in high school," Buddy added.

"Since when are you his biggest supporter?" Lyla asked him. It was true, back when Lyla and Tim were dating Buddy didn't have much use for him off the field. Then he saw how Tim let Lyla live her dream of attending Vanderbilt and he realized his judgement of Tim was wrong. Tim didn't want Lyla for the pleasure, he truly loved her. Buddy Garrity had never seen a boy so loyal to his daughter.

"I've always liked Tim," Buddy answered. Lyla chuckled.

"On the football field there was no doubt, but you hated when him and I dated," Lyla stated.

"I guess he just grew on me," Buddy responded. "Now the football boosters are having a golf fundraiser, so I've gotta go. I promise we will get dinner at somewhere good tomorrow!" Buddy told her, leaving the apartment. Tim waited a little while before revealing he was awake. After a couple minutes, he sat up on the couch and stretched.

"Morning Tim," Lyla greeted him in that signature Lyla Garrity cheery tone. "I've made some coffee, do you want a cup?"

"I'm good," He replied trying to shake the tired from his voice.

"What? You use to love coffee," Lyla responded.

"Prison will change a person," He responded grimly. Tim liked his coffee with sugar and creamer in it, but the prison only serves black coffee so Tim abandoned drinking it all together. Lyla picked up on this dark post-prison version of Tim. She searched for the words, but she didn't really know what to say.

"I don't think any different of you Tim," Lyla finally told him. "You made a mistake, people make mistakes all the time."

"Billy made the mistake, I just covered his ass," Tim corrected.

"What?" Lyla asked in a confused tone.

"It was Billy's idea to run the chop shop, I was against it all along. When we got caught his son had just been born, so I took the blame," Tim admitted.

"Tim... that's so selfless..." Lyla replied, what Tim was confessing reminded her of the selfless boy who let her move states away to live her dream.

"No it's just plain stupid," Tim said as he shook his head.

"No Tim, that's selfless. You have always put other people before yourself and that is the thing I love the most about you. You went to jail for Billy and you let me live my dream."

"How is Vanderbilt?" Tim asked, changing the subject.

"It's good," She replied with her signature Lyla Garrity smile.

"I'm glad," Tim responded with a smile of his own.

"But sometimes I miss it here, and I miss you," She confessed.

"You got any plans today?" Tim asked her.

"No, dad has some golf tournament."

"I've gotta check my cattle today," He explained. "Do you wanna come?" He asked, Lyla sat there and contemplated going. "Kit Kat is out there," He added, hoping to convince her by reminding her of the Riggins brother's beloved Longhorn who Lyla also had a soft spot for.

"Ok, I'll go," She caved. "I miss that big guy." They climbed in Tim's truck and started for his property. That sat in silence, except for the quite chatter on the staticky radio. "So when did you get yourself a herd of Longhorns?" She asked when they pulled up to his pasture which was home to his small herd of Longhorn cattle.

"I bought a few when I bought the land," He explained as they got out of the truck and leaned against the metal gate that led to the property.

"It's a beautiful place," She complimented.

"Yeah it is," He agreed. "I was thinkin' of putting the house up there on that hill," He told her as he pointed to a large open hill.

"That's the perfect place for a house," She complimented, looking at him with her big brown eyes and a bright, warm smile. Tim felt that spark he once felt for her light and leaned in for a kiss. When their lips met, Lyla pulled back. "Tim... No... We can't..." He looked to the pasture to make sure all as cattle were accounted for as he internally kicked himself. Lyla retreated back to his truck. Damn it Tim, you really screwed it up this time! Lyla's too good for a criminal. He reluctantly climbed back in his truck, not ready to face the awkwardness that was now between them.

"Your right Lyla, we can't do this. You deserve better," He responded as he started the engine and started to drive back to Buddy's apartment. He was internally kicking himself, he really thought he had felt something between them.

"Tim that's not-" Lyla tried to explain before Tim interrupted her.

"No Lyla, you deserve better," Tim interrupted.

When they returned to Buddy's apartment, Tim began packed some of his belongings into a bag.

"Tim, what are you doing?" Lyla asked when she noticed what he was doing.

"I'm going to stay at the motel," He replied as he threw a pair of jeans in the bag.

"No, you don't have to do that!" She said reaching out to take ahold of his arm. He stopped what he was doing and looked her in her big brown eyes.

"You don't deserve a screw up," He told her as he removed her small hand from his muscular arm.

"That's not what I mean Tim... Please stay," She begged as he pushed past her and left the apartment.

He made his way to the rundown Dillon motel and checked into a room. He sat down on the bed that he was sure was infested with bedbugs and dug through his duffel bag. He pulled out a wrinkled up flyer he had been given his last week in prison. It was a informational brochure about careers in the Alaskan pipeline. Tim had been considering pursuing this opportunity lately. All his dreams in Texas had gone up in flames, so maybe it was time to leave. In the 6th grade, he had vowed he would never leave Dillon, Texas. That was before his best friend got paralyzed, before the love of his life moved away to college, and before he took the fall for his brother's idiotic business venture. He could start fresh in Alaska, not have everyone in town judge him.

He was broken by his thoughts when there was a knock on the hotel room door. He got up and looked through the peep hole where he was greeted by Lyla Garrity's beautiful face. Gah Tim, quit thinking of her like that! You're not good enough for her and she doesn't want you anyways! He opened the door and looked into those brown eyes he loved so much.

"Tim can we talk?" She asked. "Please," She begged when she got no response from him.

"Yeah, come in," He finally caved. Lyla followed Tim into the hotel room where the stood facing each other. He followed her eyes, which were focused on the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline brochure. She never said anything, she just reached for the brochure and began flipping through it.

"I'm thinkin' of moving to Alaska," Tim confessed.

"What are you going to do there?" Lyla asked, eyes never leaving the brochure.

"Work on the pipelines," He replied.

"Why Tim?" Lyla asked. "What happened to 'Texas Forever'?" She asked, reminding him of his catchphrase.

"There's nothing left for me in Texas," He responded, sitting down on the hotel bed.

"Billy? Your land?"

"Billy and I haven't been on the best terms since I got out of prison," Tim answered. "And I can sell the land."

"But Tim, Alaska?"

"Every dream I've had here has went up in flames. Jason got paralyzed, you left, and I went to prison."

"So move to Tennessee with me," Lyla blurted out. A wave of shock flooded Tim's face.

"But... I thought you said you 'couldn't do this again'?"

"I can't do long distance, it was too much. But if you move to Tennessee, it could happen," She explained. "Look Tim, I still love you. When I moved, it broke me. It was so hard to look at other men and even think about dating anyone besides you, Tim."

"I love you too, Lyla Garrity," Tim told her as he approach her and leaned into a kiss. This time she didn't push away, she passionately kissed him back.

"Does that mean?"

"Yeah, I'll move to Tennessee after my parole is up," Tim confirmed with a wide smile as he wrapped Lyla in his arms.

6 Months Later

Tim Riggins unpacked his bags from his truck, which was still sporting his Texas tags, and brought them into the new apartment he and Lyla would be sharing. 6th grade Tim Riggins might be disappointed in his decision, as it goes against his motto "Texas Forever", but sometimes love and life experiences make you do crazy things.

Hope ya'll enjoyed this! If you are from the WA forum and haven't seen this show, I would definitely recommend it. Thank you to all my readers as well as the judges from the contest! Don't be surprised if I rewrite this as a full length story!