It's Different for Girls

Season 1 – Episode #10

Disclaimer: This episode was created by Peter Berg and written by Andy Miller. Recognizable dialogue is his, but italics are my flashbacks.

Guest Reviewers: Thank you for taking the time to post something. I appreciate that someone is reading.

Naguabo: I totally forgot about that line from the last episode. I wish I would have included it. And after seeing the season 2 finale, it seems that Mo was definitely not over what happened between them.

ICanStopAnytime: Thanks for the lengthy update. I am sorry you have trouble envisioning Eric this way. I admit that I may have taken it too far.

A/N: I apologize for the time it took to update. I hope the length makes up for it.

Eric arrived home about an hour after Tami and Julie from the Gatlin game. The Taylor women rode home in silence. Julie was busy fantasizing about the fact that Matt Saracen just kissed her and Tami was quiet, not knowing what to say about the kiss that she witnessed from the stands.

As soon as Julie stepped foot in the house, she went straight toward her room and closed the door behind her. Tami overheard her on the phone with Lois, recounting the events. Tami wondered if Julie even cared that she could hear her entire conversation. That thought spurred another horrifying thought. How much did Julie hear of the going ons in her own bedroom?

By the time Eric got home, Tami started to drift off on the couch. The sound of the front door and his footsteps stirred her and she sat upright.

"Hey Hon. Good game."

Eric put his bag down on the table and walked over to kiss her. As he sat down next to her, Tami changed her position to face him, squaring her shoulders and pulling one leg up to her chest. Eric rubbed his eyes, but he could feel her stare. "What's up?"

"Nothing." She didn't want to blurt out her concerns. She wanted him to unwind. "How was the ride home? "

"Uneventful." He stopped rubbing his eyes, and looked at her again. "What's up?"

Tami smiled, loving how he knew her. She took one of her hands and stroked his cheek. "You look tired."

"I'm not too tired." He said with a wink.

"You might be after I tell you this." She took a deep breath and then came out with it. "I saw Matt kiss Julie on the field tonight." When Eric didn't react, she continued. "On the mouth. Like a real kiss."

"What did Julie do?"

"She seemed surprised, and then sort of ran away."

"Maybe she didn't want him to do that." Eric said, not being able to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Maybe she didn't know what to do." Tami countered.

Eric started rubbing his face again. "Why did he have to do that? In public like that? God, Tami. I'm not built for this."

"You?"

"Yeah, me. Her father." Eric thought about the boy he once was, always kissing girls in public. He never even thought of any of those girls' parents.

"Karma." Tami stated, reading his thoughts. "You used to kiss girls in public all the time."

"Not the ones I cared about."

Tami smiled knowing he was talking about her and how she desperately begged him to keep the beginning of their relationship quiet. He interrupted her thoughts. "If I only knew you were watching…."

He next morning on their drive to school, Eric was listening to Sammy Meade talking about how Eric should formulate his team this upcoming Friday.

"Can we please listen to something other than football?" Julie said, breaking the silence.

"No!" Eric thrived on listening to people talk about him. It motivated him to prove them wrong.

"It's giving me a headache."

"Yes we can, baby. Want me to sing? I'd love to sing." Tami interjected.

"No, please!" Eric really wanted to listen to Sammy Meade.

"I'll be gone on Saturday." Julie announced, not caring about what her parents were going to say about it.

"Where are you going on Saturday?" Tami glanced nervously over at Eric.

"There's this music festival at Belton Lake. Matt's going to take me."

"You're not going out with Matt on Saturday."

"We agreed that I get one date a weekend."

"Yeah, well how do you think you are going to get out to Belton Lake?"

"Landry is going to take us."

Tami hated the way Julie all of sudden thought she had all the answers. "Who is Landry?"

"That Lance kid." Eric said, knowing exactly who she was talking about. The only things he knew about Lance was that he was always hanging around Matt and he was not a football player.

"You're not going to Belton Lake with Lance." Tami didn't care who this kid was. She didn't know him. That was all that mattered.

"You won't be going out with Matt Saracen on Saturday because Matt Saracen is going to be with me at the cheerleading thing."

"Are you serious?" Julie figured Matt knew nothing about this. God, her dad was annoying.

"Yes, I am. We're all going. It's the cheerleading divisional championship."

Tami laughed at him. "No, it's not. It's the cheerleading classic."

"Well, I didn't read the whole email, but it's important and we are all going."

"Um, let me think about that. Pass. Cheerleading is even more pointless than football."

Julie's teenage sarcasm was increasing with time and Eric hated it. "That's a sexist, a sexist remark you just made. They support us every weekend and now it's time for us to support them. That's what's going to happen. End of conversation."

"You people are sick and I want my own car."

"She wants her own car." Tami said smiling. Who was this kid with the attitude?

"Dream on kid!"

Before practice, Eric was in his office going over drills and plays. He loved this part of his day. He loved the planning, but he also listened in on his boys. He got to know the inner workings of their lives without having to intrude, without asking any questions. He always wrapped up his coach's meeting 15 minutes before the boys arrived so he can situate himself in his office and go unnoticed. For some reason, they never thought he could hear them, or maybe they just didn't care. Eric felt like this was an advantage for him. He didn't use the information for any reason other than to make sure that those boys were bonding. And they did in that room – over football, over school, over sports and, of course, over girls.

Then it happened.

As the boys were suiting up, Eric heard Riggins busting balls about Smash and some girl. Then he heard the name "Julie" and he knew with Matt's newly formed relationship, they were talking about his daughter. He was afraid to do nothing, but afraid to interrupt. He didn't want these hormonal teenagers talking about his little girl, but he didn't want to blow his cover. The family man in him spoke louder and he got up out of his chair and stood in the doorway.

First, he heard Bradley throw out a bet regarding some girl Smash was interested in against Matt with his Julie. It's wasn't like they didn't know who Julie was, Eric thought. Brad referred to her as "Coach's daughter". That infuriated him even more. His boys were to be gentleman, especially when it concerned his daughter. He didn't want them to treat girls like this, but he knew it happened. He knew what he did when he was in high school. He couldn't stomach Julie being one of those girls.

Matt locked eyes with him, but with Smash's back facing the office, he had no idea Coach was there. "How 'bout it Matty? You think you could get the V-chip out of Julie before I can work my magic?"

Two thoughts crossed Eric's mind. The first was that Matt better handle this quick or he was going to kill Smash. The second was that his daughter was a virgin. He figured, but the confirmation felt good.

Matt made eyes toward the office, giving Smash the signal to turn and face Coach. Smash played it off, but Eric was pissed. He thought he taught them better than to disrespect his family.

Eric finally walked in the room and approached Bradley first. "Come here!" Eric knew Bradley was usually the ring leader with these conversations. He pulled Bradley's jersey and whispered vehemently in his ear. "If I hear you bring up my daughter in this locker room again, you are finished. Do you hear me?" He pushed Bradley away and turned to Smash and Matt. He was at a loss of words. He was so angry and he didn't need Matt getting any ideas from Smash on how to treat his daughter. He pointed a scolding finger at them, not needing words to express himself and walked away.

When Coach was out of ear shot, Smash spoke first. "Damn Matty, I'm going to easily win this bet now because Coach is never going to let you near his daughter."

"I didn't take on the bet."

That night at dinner, Eric was quiet. Tami didn't say anything to him in front of Julie. She knew Eric liked his space. He went into his office, which was actually the third bedroom that they converted into his space. When they first moved here, he would stay late at school using the network computers and getting home way too late. He would constantly be eating a heated up dinner, never having that dinner time conversation that Tami thought was so important. It was Tami's idea to set up a home office.

Eric walked through the door as it was close to nine o'clock. He put his bag down by the door and threw his hat and keys on the counter next to his plastic wrapped dinner plate. Tami was sitting at the kitchen table going through some files, looking up at him as he approached her.

"Sorry I'm late." He leaned in for a kiss. He knew to always kiss his wife hello and goodbye. It was another thing his father taught him. He could remember his father saying that no matter how hungry, tired or in a rush you are, you always greet your wife. It was something that stuck with him.

She stroked his cheek, noticing the wear and tear this job is doing to him. "You looked exhausted. There's a plate on the counter for you. Just has to be heated."

"Thanks." He said walking back toward the kitchen. "I am sorry."

"Babe, you can't go on like this. We can't go on like this. I miss the days of us being able to sit down to eat together."

Eric heated his plate in the microwave and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. "I know, but I don't want to have to do that stuff at home. I don't want to think about work when I'm here with you and with Julie."

"Yeah, but what if we came up with a compromise? Because I have to tell you, I miss going to bed together too."

This got his attention. "What sort of compromise?" He carried his plate over to the table and took a seat adjacent to her. "I'd love to hear how we can formulate a plan for that."

She smiled, loving how he would do anything to make time for her, for them. "Well, what if you came home after practice and player meetings and had dinner with us. Then we can set up the guest bedroom into an office and you can do a solid two hours of work afterwards. Then at least you are home and I can help you create the boundaries."

"Two hours? No interruptions?" He didn't think this was possible. He set his fork down, staring at her intently.

She smiled wickedly at him. "You won't mind my interruptions, but I promise they will only come when your two hours are up."

He laughed a good hearty laugh. It was like music to hear ears because she hadn't heard it in so long. "I think I'm going to like this arrangement."

"Yeah?"

He leaned in close to her, but stopped short so she would meet him half way. "Yeah."

She leaned in and met his lips. Before he had the chance to deepen the kiss, she pulled away. "You want me to interrupt your dinner right now?"

He laughed again. It felt good to be home.

Tami waited until Eric came to bed to ask him what's been plaguing his mind all night. Tami was settled under the covers reading a book when Eric passed through the doorway and headed straight to the bathroom. Moments later he came out in his boxers and a t-shirt, looking at her as he circled the foot of their bed. "What are you still doing up?"

"I'm waiting for the perfect moment to ask you what's going on. Why are you so quiet?"

He pulled back the covers on his side of the bed, but before letting himself crawl in, he put his hands on his hips and tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling. He drew a deep breath, wish he could find the words on the sheet rock above him. When he looked back at her, he noticed the concern in her eyes. "It's not bad." He clarified. "It just happened. Today, it finally happened."

"What happened?" She said, sitting up a little.

"Julie." He took a seat at the edge of the bed, his back the only thing visible to her. "The boys were talking about her in the locker room."

"What?" She sat all the way up, speaking the back of his head. "You heard them? What'd they say?"

"Nothing about her specifically, but I heard her name. I thought I was going to kill those boys."

Tami wanted the whole recount which he gave, including the "v-chip" comment from Smash. When he was done, he folded his hands in his lap, staring as them as he continued. "I don't want them talking about her like she is an object, a conquest. She is a smart, beautiful, sensitive, sweet young girl and…."

Tami climbed out of the covers completely and edged her way to sit next to him. She took his fidgeting hands in hers. "She's not going to be young forever, but I am glad they didn't reveal something about her that we wouldn't be happy about. I'm happy about that."

"It's only going to get worse if she and Matt continue on. Those boys are going to give Matt a hard time because she's my daughter and I am going to want to kill him." Eric raised his eyes to hers. "Kill him, Tami. I felt like I could have strangled all of them today."

"Weren't you the one telling me this wasn't a big deal? That Matt was a good kid?"

"Yeah, but I didn't figure on this part. I didn't think about all the outside, influencing forces. I didn't think of the Riggins and Smashes of the world telling Matt what to do."

Tami decided to take it in a different direction. "Did Mo give you pointers with me?"

"What? No. Why would you say that?"

"Who's to say that Matt…."

Before Tami could get her sentence out, Eric interrupted. "Let me stop you before you say something like you have compared the two of us over the years." Curiosity got the best of him. "Have you? Been Comparing? Because if you have been? All this time? I'm going to be sick."

Tami ignored his momentarily insanity. "I think Matt is his own person. I don't think Matt is going to be influenced by them." She placed a hand on his chin, turning his face toward her forcing eye contact. "You weren't taking pointers from Mo on what my wants and needs were. I mean that emotionally and physically. I know that."

Tami could tell Eric was thinking about Mo and her relationship with him, even after all these years. She wanted to bring him back on track. "The only thing we can do is teach Julie how to respect herself and teach her the way she should behave in most situations. "

She placed a soothing hand on his back to ease the tension. "I know that. I know." He said it as a way to end this conversation. Tami knew how to read him well.

"Get some sleep, babe. There's no sense in worrying about this right now. She is here, safe and under our roof. There's no need to worry right now. Not tonight, anyway."

He kissed her quickly, not thinking of anything else other than his little girl.

During lunch at school the next day, Tami noticed Lyla getting abused by some stoner kids trying to get a rise out of her as a result of her recent behavior. She hated seeing Lyla, who was a good kid, having such a hard time. It reminded her of why she wanted to keep her relationship with Eric a secret.

She was so afraid to ruin her reputation. She knew dating Eric would make her look like a total whore. She was so faithful to Mo for so long and he was the one that hurt her. He humiliated her. Tami was smarter to think that dating Eric would be okay with the teenage population of Dillon. Every one of those girls wanted Eric and her scooping him up would just piss them off to no end. She almost wished she didn't fall for Eric so hard and so fast.

Eric never cared what people thought. He always had that confidence about him that annoyed her when they first met. She had mistaken it as arrogance, but later learned he just really had a ton of confidence. It wasn't cocky and it wasn't arrogant. It was admirable and it was sexy.

After their first date, Eric had asked her to go to a party at one of his teammate's house. Tami politely declined, but Eric didn't fully understand.

"Did you not have a good time the other night?" He was confused. He thought it went well, but maybe he pushed the physical part of their relationship too far. "I'm sorry if I upset you. It's hard to keep my hands to myself with you."

"It's not that. I like that you are interested."

"Then why won't you come to the party?

"It's just…." She didn't know how to explain it without sounding insulting. "I don't know if I have it in me to face everyone…with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The rigid line formed as he pursed his lips together. He tried to remain calm and give her the opportunity to explain.

"It's just…."

"Are you embarrassed of me or something?"

"No." She quickly replied. "I guess I'm just embarrassed of the situation."

"And what situation is that?" He couldn't help think it was him.

"Mo and I were together for months. What happened between us…what he did to me….is something that I will never forget. I feel like that betrayal is going to stick with me forever. He played me for a fool and it seems that everyone knew it, but me."

"What does that have to do with us?"

"Do you really want to have this conversation?" She tried to back pedal. "Because if we have this conversation, my honesty is going to cause a huge fight between us and that is not my intention."

"Well, now you have to be honest with me. You can't say something like that and expect me to just forget it." He urged her to move forward with her words. "Trust me that I won't intentionally react poorly. Give me a chance."

She thought that this was serious conversation for the two of them to be having after only having one date. Maybe that is why this conversation needed to happen. "I don't want anyone to know about us because I don't want to be judged as a fool once again."

"What…."

She tried to explain. "Eric, you have broken a lot of girls' hearts and I'm sure that everyone is going to think I am falling for yet another football player who is just going to play me for the fool."

Eric tried to fully digest what she was saying. He didn't agree with a word of what she was saying, but wanted to understand why she was saying it. "Is that what you think I am doing? Or eventually going to do?"

"No." She said too quickly. "I hope not. But I don't want to show up to a party where everyone is going to tell me that I shouldn't trust you when ultimately you haven't given me any reason not to trust you. Does that make sense?"

Eric didn't care what other people thought. He knew that the guys would be making all sorts of "sloppy second" jokes to Eric, but he could easily get past them. Why couldn't she get past the judgment? "Sure. I get it. Eventually though Tami, you will have to face those people. We will have to face them together."

"I know, but not yet. I want whatever is happening here to be between just you and me and no one else. I don't want Mo taunting you either. It's too soon for all of that. Don't you think?"

At dinner that night, Tami sat with Eric at the dinner table, recounted what she saw happen to Lyla in the cafeteria. Although Eric never wanted to deal with the emotional onset of teenage drama, she still told him the story. He didn't know how to tell his wife that he didn't care about Tim Riggins love life.

She shuffled a deck of cards and he finished his dinner. He was just trying to formulate the words when the doorbell rang distracting him what would probably been an argument. "Go see who that is." She ordered.

Eric walked down the corridor, happy for the interruption until he swung open the door.

Matt.

The boy who was after his Julie.

He was dressed in something other than sweats or a football jersey. Eric couldn't keep the look of annoyance off his face. Why was he here? After what he heard in the locker room, did Matt really think this was the best way to approach dating his daughter? Coming over unannounced? On a school night?

"Hey Sir." He broke the awkward silence. He saw Tami and addressed her as well. "Ma'am. I was just wondering…" He started to take a few steps forward, walking through the doorway, but Eric held his position. He was not giving Matt any room to come in further. Eric looked as his feet, wondering what the hell this kid was thinking. "I was just wondering if …" Matt realized at that moment that he is not exactly invited in. "Oh sorry. I was wondering if Julie was here."

Eric then heard Julie's voice from behind. "Hey Matt. Hey Dad." She leaned passed Eric and reached for Matt's hand, something Eric did not like. "Umm, me and Matt are going to watch some TV."

"If that's okay?" Matt noticed Coach wasn't happy and knew that maybe Julie didn't tell him he was coming over.

When Eric turned to Tami for help, she gave him the "what are we supposed to do now" look. Tami figured it was best to give Julie and not embarrass her until they figured out how to handle this together.

Tami grabbed the cards and Eric's plate and retreated in to their bedroom. Eric thought this was ridiculous.

"Why am I eating my dinner on my bed? This is crazy!"

"Julie didn't seem surprised that he was here." Tami figured Julie invited him.

After he ate, Eric brought his plate into the kitchen, as an excuse to get a glimpse of what they were doing. When he returned Tami gave him a knowing look.

"What?" He feigned innocence.

"You can't keep going out there."

"Why? It's my house!"

"She lives here too. Let's play cards to keep you r mind off of them."

Playing cards didn't work. Eric was standing, not being able to imagine anything that would be okay with him going on out there. Tami noticed he was agitated. "Honey, stop pacing please."

"What do you suppose their doing in there?" He spoke his mind, wanting Tami to desparately share his worry.

"Probably having sex." She knew that wasn't true, but knew her comment would strike a nerve with Eric. She drew another card and started to giggle.

He looked up from his hand, staring at her incredulously. "That's not funny."

"Well, it's a little bit funny."

"It's not funny!" He said again.

"Sit down and play cards." Tami continued to ignore his irrational behavior.

"I don't like the fact that he just shows up here. That's not right."

"Well, I don't necessarily like it much either."

Eric folded his cards up and turnaround, heading for the door.

"Where you going?"

"I'm going out there."

"Come back here right now." She scolded.

"I'm going to go out there. I'll be back in a second. I'm going to get something to drink."

Who was he kidding? "Don't go out there. Don't…." She pleaded with little success. He was gone.

When he walked down the hallway, he saw the lights off and Julie and Matt under a blanket. He knew the blanket trick. He knew it well!

Eric turned on the lights. "How we doing out here?"

"Good, we're just watching TV." Matt nervously responded.

"What's with the blanket?" He was smarter than this kid. "Who told you, you could get a blanket?"

"It's cold in here." Julie defended.

"That's because I like to keep the AC low." Why was she arguing with him?

"Yeah, hence the blanket."

Eric decided to change the subject. "How much longer to the program's over, honey?"

"Dad…"

"It's a school night, honey." He sang, disclosing is uncomfortableness with Matt being here.

"It's nine o'clock, Dad." Julie was annoyed.

"Yeah, but I should probably get home anyway though." Matt took Coach's presence as a cue to leave.

"N-n-n-no, no. You really don't have to."

"No, I really don't like to leave my grandma home at night, so it probably better…" He trailed off. He picked up his coat and he turned to Coach. "Would you tell your wife…." He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Tami emerge from the hallway. "Goodnight Mrs. Taylor."

Eric wedged himself between Julie and Matt, not intending to move. Matt awkwardly shook Julie's hand saying that he would see her at school.

Once Matt was safely out of the house, Julie gave Eric a death stare. "Thanks!"

As she passed her mom, Tami understood Julie's aggression. "Sorry, babe." She reconciled.

Julie slammed the door to her bedroom, clearly upset with Eric. Tami looked at Eric expectantly, waiting for him to explain himself.

"They had a blanket!"

"You're an idiot."

"I'm an idiot? Don't you know what happens under blankets?"

"Are you serious?"

"Like I can't see what the blanket would be covering?" He was partially talking to Tami and partially talking to himself.

"Are you serious?" She repeated.

"Are you? With defending this?" He grabbed the blanket and held it up to her, just in case she didn't know he was upset over the blanket.

"You're so scared right now you can't even hear yourself." She paused letting that sink in. "You have an embarrassed daughter in that room, who you just mortified in front of the first boy she ever had over here! Way to go coach!"

"Please tell me you know what he was trying to do?"

"I know what it may have looked like to you. I know what it could have led to. Yes. I know." She didn't want to yell at him for his behavior. He wasn't a child. She softened her voice. "Eric, we need her to feel comfortable bring friends here. I don't want her to feel like she has to sneak out every second of the day."

He squinted his eyes, communicating he didn't fully understand. "That's not our Julie."

"Hon, she is growing up and if she takes after me, she is not going to listen to us at all. We have to give her some freedoms under this roof so she doesn't take those freedoms further in a car or under the bleachers."

"Don't say that."

"She's fifteen, Eric. She's not a baby anymore."

Eric went to bed that night and realized that Tami was probably right. Why was that? Why was she always right? He needed to loosen the reigns a bit with Julie and learn to trust Matt. Wasn't he just telling Tami that Matt was a good kid?

After practice the next day, Matt knocked on his office door. Eric on the phone, but signaled him to come in. As Eric listened to a voicemail, he held up his pointer finger nonverbally telling Matt to give him a second. As he hung up the phone, Eric couldn't keep the aggravated tone out of his voice. "What?" He was having trouble controlling his tone. He knew he needed to be a coach, be there for his players. Maybe Matt was there about something football related.

"I need to talk to you for a minute." Matt started, taking control of the conversation.

"Go ahead."

"Look, I don't want this whole thing to be awkward."

Eric swallowed hard. "You don't want what to be awkward?" No such luck! He was here about Julie.

"This whole thing between Julie and I…"

"Julie and me." He corrected. He did that often – corrected people's grammar. He felt like it gave him power, especially when he felt like he needed some power.

"Huh?"

"It's Julie and me. It's a common mistake. Go ahead." Eric said, rushing him along.

"Right. It's just…well, look, I'm kind of sensing that…I'm sensing that you have a problem with it."

"You're sensing right."

Instead of stopping right there and respecting Eric's opinion on the matter, Matt continued. This really, really pissed Eric off. "We're both interested in each other, okay? And I'm not going to stop seeing her because of you or because of anybody else."

Was this kid kidding? Where was that boy from a few weeks back that was afraid of his own shadow? Where was the boy that he took on the field to teach him to yell the plays over the loudspeaker. Where was he? This was not the same kid. That kid would have respected his words when he said that he sensed right. He was not happy about Julie dating. He was not happy that Julie was dating him. He was not happy that her name was being tossed around in the locker room. He was not happy! And now, this new confident kid says he doesn't care what he thinks. "Saracen, stop right there. If I don't want you seeing my daughter, you're not going to see my daughter."

"No, you don't understand…"

"You can go now."

No, I don't think you heard what I said."

"You can go now!"

As Matt walked out, Eric folded his arms, more angry than ever. He called Tami, not knowing where else to turn. After the second ring, she picked up. "Hello?"

"Matt just demanded I be okay with him seeing Julie."

"Demanded?" She couldn't imagine Matt demanding anything.

"Who the hell does this kid thinks he is? I'm the father. He's supposed to respect what I say."

"Maybe you should talk to Julie?" Tami suggested.

"And say what? Hey Julie, don't date Matt. He doesn't like what I have to say?" He said sarcastically. "That'll make it worse."

"Are you done?" Tami hated when he got like this.

He knew it too. "Yeah. I'm done."

It felt like the drama never stopped. The next morning Julie came into the kitchen before school announcing that not only does she have a ride to school, but she is also going to the movies with Matt on Saturday. Did he not get his point across with Matt yesterday? Why was this kid pushing him?

As they watched Julie pull away in Landry's car, Tami knew the look she saw in Eric's eyes. He was steaming. "Tell you what I am going to do is I'm going to have a talk with that boy."

"You're going to have a talk with Matt Saracen?"

"Yeah, I'm going to have a Matt chat is what I'm going to do. I'm going to have a little Matt chat."

"Oh that sounds like a truly terrible idea." Tami pointed out, knowing how much humiliation that would cause Julie.

"Tami, that kid is pushing me. I'm going to push him right back."

"Maybe Julie initiated it." She thought it could be her daughter stirring the pot. She is her mother's daughter.

"I don't want him using her to piss me off."

"Is that what you think? Really think? Or can you possibly be upset that she has found another man in her life to look up to?"

"It's him. It's all him." He turned around and walked back into the house, formulating a plan in his head of how handle this.

Eric tried to think about the fact that Matt has no regard for the respect of elders. He has been the man of his house for years. He never has to answer to anyone. How would he know how to act to parental figures? Maybe he should take care of this more subtly.

Eric called Matt into his office before homeroom and decided distraction was his best game plan. He gave Matt a lot of game tape to watch over the weekend.

Divergence. Definitely the way to go.

"You want me to do this over the weekend?"

"That's right. Is that a problem?" He played dumb, pretending to know nothing of what Julie told him this morning.

"I kind of had plans with Julie this weekend."

"Oh. Well, I wasn't aware of that. But I do know that you are QB1 of the Dillon Panthers and this team's got a damn good chance at making the playoffs so I'm sure you'll prioritize."

"Yes sir."

Eric felt think he won that battle. He knew there would be more, but he won this one!

As the boys loaded on to the bus for their away game, he realized Smash was not on the bus. "Crawley, go in and see if you find Smash."

While he waited at the doorstep of the bus, he noticed Matt looking at the game tapes. Those game tapes were going to keep them apart. He was glad his planned worked.

When Crawley came back, Eric asked, "Where the hell is he?"

"He's in the hall. Talking to some girl."

"What girl?" Eric really didn't care, but it was very unlike Smash to be late.

"Waverly, I think."

"Ah." Eric recognized that name from the locker room. She was the one giving Smash the run around, which he certainly wasn't used to. Crawley got on the bus, but Eric felt the need to wait for him. When Smash came out to load on the bus, Eric stopped him, putting a hand to his chest. "Can't be late, Brian."

"Sorry Coach. This girl is playin' with my head. Got me spinning my wheels."

Eric smirked. "I know that feeling son."

"On the real?" Smash could never imagine Coach ever spinning his wheels.

"You've seen my wife. You think that was easy?" Eric smirked, just enough to let Smash know he was revealing something about himself.

"No. Probably not, sir."

"It wasn't. But the hard ones…" Eric said, leaning in a bit. "They're the ones. They're the ones that are the most intriguing."

Smash laughed and climbed onto the bus. Eric loved those moments he had with his boys. They didn't come often, but he knew those were the moments that would stick with them forever.

The next morning, Eric left early for golf. He rarely got to play so he took Buddy's offer to meet him at the country club. A few hours later Tami found herself alone, waiting for Eric to return so they could go to the cheerleading thing.

Julie took off earlier, heading to Matt's house to help him with some game tape.

"Wait. What?" Tami thought Eric handled this. At least that is what Eric disclosed to her late last night.

"I'm going over to Matt's. Dad apparently gave Matt a weekend assignment to keep us apart, so I am going to help him."

Tami had a million questions in her head. Eric didn't have the type of Matt-chat she thought he was going to have. "Is Matt's grandmother going to be home? I don't want you over there without an adult in the house."

"His grandmother is always there, mom." Julie started to gather her things, but said something that made Tami realize that she is growing up. "You have to trust me at some point."

Tami knew that was true. They have to trust not only in Julie but in themselves that they did a decent job at raising a good kid who made good decisions. Tami hoped she would make better decisions than she, herself made.

When Eric finally arrived, Tami told him where Julie was. "Apparently your Matt-chat didn't go as well as you expected. Oh and she wanted me to tell you to go right strong ISO when you're in the nickel package. Apparently they have a corner that's short and slow. So your daughter is now into football which is another thing you got going for ya."

"She said that?" Eric was impressed.

"Mmhm."

"She said it like that?"

"Good job, Coach."

Eric always wished that Julie would have taken an interest in football. Maybe having Matt around would have some positive effects. One being that Julie was out of the house more. "I have to take a shower. Why don't you join me?"

She laughed at his audacity. "We have to go."

She kissed him quickly trying to dismiss the ideas circling in Eric's head.

"We have the house to ourselves." He made a second attempt.

"We have to go." She said again.

"We can be a little late." A third attempt.

"We can? You? Mr. 15 minutes early everywhere?"

He came closer to her and circled her waist with a muscular arm. "You can make me late anytime you want."

She wiggled out of his grasp. "Nice try!"

When they arrived, they hadn't missed anything and Eric made sure to complain that she rushed him out of the house. "See, they always do the individual competitions first."

Tami whispered, "If you wanted time with me this morning, you should have forgone golfing."

"Don't do that." He shook his head to make a point. "Make statements after the fact. I hate when you do that."

"It's my one power." She teased.

As they took their seats, Eric spotted Julie with Matt. At least he could keep his eyes on them. He stared at his little girl leaning against his replacement. A part of him felt sick inside, but the greater part knew that Matt wasn't a bad kid. He needed to be put in his place at times, but he was just as innocent as Julie in certain ways. Now he just had to figure out a way to keep him like that.

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