A/N- I wasn't sure if I was ever going to write any more to this story, but I purposely left it open just in case inspiration ever struck. There will probably be another chapter or two coming soon. I suddenly feel the urge to fill in the season-gap completely…

Chapter 2:

He didn't show up for church.

Lyla should feel victorious. Tim finally listened to her. He finally got the message. After all the months of trying to wear her down, all the months of subtly reminding her what she was missing… he had finally given up. Victory was hers!

So why did victory feel more like defeat?

Lyla sits in the school cafeteria pretending to study for finals.

She didn't start out pretending, but within seconds of Tim's entrance into the room her concentration was irreversibly shattered. He didn't appear to notice her as he casually joked around with his buddies.

Just a few weeks ago she was all he would have noticed.

He is avoiding her- that much is obvious. It is impossible to avoid her completely. It isn't a very big school, after all. It isn't even a very big town. She had spotted him here and there, but hadn't spoken to him in nearly three weeks. Tim is quite skilled at making himself scarce. No more church appearances. Skipping school even more frequently than he normally did. In the event that he walked by her in the hallway, eye contact was never made and his pace was quickened.

She tried not to let it bother her, but felt his absence potently. How could she not? He had been going out of his way to be a key player in her life for months on end. And, truthfully, she couldn't remember a time when he wasn't a part of her life in some way. She missed him. Yet, she couldn't be angry with him for staying away. He was only doing what she had insisted.

Why don't you just move on?

She thought about the last time she saw him—the night at the lake. Such a small moment in their vast history. The stolen kiss that was barely a kiss at all. Compared to other moments in their sordid past that moment shouldn't have mattered at all. But, suddenly it felt important. It felt like he had been bidding her goodbye.

His timing couldn't be worse.

So much had happened between then and now. Maybe not externally, but internally she felt like she'd completed an epic journey. And it had changed her. It had brought her to a place of acceptance that she hadn't felt in ages.

She accepted that her relationship with Chris was going nowhere, so she ended it. Officially. He told her that his family would be disappointed, as they were completely smitten with her in every way. The slight pang of guilt caused by that statement subsided quickly. She liked Chris' family, but she couldn't revolve her entire relationship around them.

The feeling of being single again washed over her and felt a whole lot like relief.

She accepted some other things as well. She accepted that she would never be the perfect Christian, but that didn't make her a bad person. She accepted that she couldn't change the past, but decided not to let that inform her future. She accepted that Tim's feelings for her weren't as unrequited as she let him believe.

She had spent so long denying those feelings—being ashamed of them, being scared of them- it had become second nature to insist they weren't there at all. But, she knew they had been there for quite a while. Now that time had passed and the dust had settled, were there any more good reasons to push him away?

She and Jason had both moved on, away from each other. Everyone moved on. It was only natural.

Tim had remained steadfast. He hadn't wanted to end things with her last year; he wanted something to start all over this year. He wouldn't give up. Couldn't give up, or so he claimed.

Until now.

Terrible timing, indeed.

Tim is seated with his back to her. She has the sinking feeling that he knows she is behind him and purposely chose to face the opposite direction. She debates on whether to make a discreet exit from the room or if she should make the effort to go and talk to him. Surely she is as much to blame for letting him avoid her, than he is for actually doing it. Things shouldn't be weird between them. Despite whatever they were, or are, or could possibly be; they were always friends. They always cared…

A bleach-bottle blonde named Robin beelines over to Tim's lunch table, catching Lyla's eye. She is leaning over Tim, carefully keeping her cleavage at his eye level. She was his rally girl at one point or another. Lyla knows enough to assume that she has also been in his bed. The thought makes her stomach clench.

And just like that she is reminded why she had spent so much time pushing him away. Reminded that sometimes the things you desire aren't necessarily good for you. No matter how tempting they could be.

Lyla pouts to herself, swallowing her feelings of jealousy. This is exactly why she had stayed with Chris for so long, because he saved her from this. He saved her from herself. He kept her from wandering down the path that leads to a teenage-alcoholic who refuses to take anything seriously. School is a joke. Relationships are nonexistent. How could that path not lead to hurt? Again.

Lyla reluctantly reminds herself that Tim had never hurt her. In an ironic twist, she had been the one to hurt him. He had never made her feel disposable, even when she begged him to do exactly that. No, instead, she was the one to cast him aside, while he did the exact opposite.

How long had he been in love with her before he finally said it to her face?

Lyla watches Tim nod politely at the tiny blonde girl who is shamelessly flirting—probably offering to write his term papers or something more scandalous. Most rally-girls moved on to bigger and better things once the football season came to a close, but exceptions seemed to be made for Tim. Judging by his body language, he is giving Robin the attention she so desperately wants. It's typical. He is always happy to oblige in the flirting department, whether he's interested or not.

Maybe it's better that she hasn't seen much of him lately. The current floorshow is agitating her more than she'd like to admit. Not to mention that it has really put a damper on her studying. With finals rapidly approaching, she can't afford to let herself get distracted. Everyone knows that junior year grades are the ones most important for college admissions.

Robin finally prances off, taking one of Tim's textbooks along with her. Obviously, their conversation had involved some sort of trade of goods and services. Lyla shakes her head in disappointment and begins gathering up her own books.

It's none of her business. He's none of her business. She needs to focus on her own life and put Tim Riggins out of her head.

As she leaves the room, she doesn't see his eyes follow her out the door.

She's still the only thing he notices.