Title: Unnecessary Roughness (4/11)

Author: Romantique

Email:

Classification: Eric/Tami Pairing.

Rating: M for suggestive, non-explicit adult themes.

Summary: After accepting the District's offer of Head Coach of the East Dillon Lions, the new contract continues to test Coach Taylor's patience and his pride.

Disclaimer: Friday Night Lights fan fiction occurs at the end of Season 3 and is a Prequel to Season 4 which has yet to air.

Legal: These characters do not belong to me. I'm just a fan and have not made a dime. Please email me to obtain permission to post.

In Route to East Dillon High

Monday, June 8th

6 p.m.

Over the weekend, Eric contacted both Zach and Mia with his proposal of offering private lessons, at no cost to them, in lieu of the morning Driver Ed class. Both students and their guardians were very receptive and agreeable to the idea. In addition, both students agreed to begin whittling away at the large, time consuming project beginning on Monday evening. Eric managed to reduce his driving class load by 25 percent by weeding out students who could not comply with the practice requirements. He used the extra time on campus in the morning to take care of his ever-growing coaching responsibilities.

That evening after grabbing a quick drive-thru bite to eat, Eric drove to the East Dillon High entrance to find his driving student, Mia Wagner, waiting for him. It was fast becoming dark and the unlit entrance looked deserted and unsafe. He thought the District must be conserving on electricity; they were cutting back on everything else. He lowered the automatic window on the passenger side of his car and said, "Why don't you get in. We're gonna to find a better lit place for your first lesson."

The young high school junior girl climbed in and closed the door. "Coach Taylor, I really appreciate you doing this for me. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't offered to take me out driving in your car."

With the interior lights on, Mia couldn't help but notice her instructor was not wearing his football cap. He had a very nice head of dark, boyishly tousled hair. He was still wearing his kaki shorts and Lion's polo shirt from practice.

"Yeah, well. I can't do this for everyone. My wife and I decided we would commit to help 2 drivin' students this summer who do not have cars, and you are one of the two." He wanted to make sure he got his story straight with her from the very beginning.

Eric drove to the nearest Target store parking lot. "I probably should explain something. We're tryin' this for the summer to see how it goes. So, I'd appreciate you not tellin' any of your friends that this will continue next summer. I mean, we'll have to see how it goes. It's an experiment." The more he talked, the deeper in it he felt himself going.

"No problem, Coach," Mia smiled. She was happy she was going to learn how to drive. This represented freedom to her.

Eric pulled into a parking space under a light on the perimeter of the lot, put the car in "Park," and turned off the ignition.

"Okay, lets trade seats," Eric said.

As they crossed paths in the front of the car in the headlights, Mia couldn't help but think that her instructor smelled of freshly mowed grass.

Mia climbed into the driver's seat and clamped on her seat belt. Her short frame made it to where she was nowhere close to anything.

Eric began the lesson. "Okay, the first thing you're going to want to do is to adjust your seat so that you can reach and see everything you need. There are controls to your left near the bottom of your seat. You're going to want to bring the seat forward so you can reach the pedals and so you can see out your mirrors."

The young girl played with the controls until she was sitting right for her height.

"Good," he said. "Now, next, you want to adjust your rearview mirror so that it's right for you. And the same with your side mirrors. There is a button on your door near the window to adjust the side mirrors.

Mia spent some time getting the mirrors adjusted just right.

"That's good. Now tonight, our assignment is to go over all the controls. He proceeded to have her try each and every button and lever until she was familiar with the car.

Next, he pulled out the car into a straight lane in an empty corner of the lot. Then, he had her get in and turn on the ignition. He had her drive the car in circles to get used to the steering and the turn signals. As the evening progressed, he taught her how to brake, make turns, and back out of a parking space.

"We actually covered a lot for your first lesson," he said. "Tomorrow, we'll do a quick review of what we covered and then, I'm takin' you out on the streets."

"Wow. That was so much fun." Mia smiled. She was surprised at how fast she was catching on. She couldn't help but wonder if years of playing video driving games and driving go carts helped her learn to steer.

"You did really well tonight, Mia. Now, let's trade places, and I'll drop you off back at the school. Is someone pickin' you up?" he asked as he rounded the front of the car.

Once inside, Mia uttered, "Uh, no." She was embarrassed, putting on her seatbelt on the passenger side. "There's no one to pick me up. We don't have a car."

"Oh," Eric felt stupid. This is what Tami meant when she said he was sometimes insensitive. He felt doubly stupid when he bumped his knee on the steering wheel while readjusting the seat to fit his much longer legs. Of course she wouldn't have a ride. He quickly readjusted the seat and mirrors back to his settings. "I'll drop you off at your house, okay?"

"You don't have to do that," Mia said. His offer made her even more embarrassed. She didn't want him to see where she lived.

All he could think was that this girl was about the same age as his daughter. "I don't leave young ladies out in the dark, alone at night. It's not safe."

Reluctantly, Mia gave him directions to where she lived. He drove about 5 miles out of town going into a very rural part of town. After a few directed turns, he was soon at the entrance of a trailer park.

"You can let me off here," she replied.

He looked around. Except for the small light at the entrance of the park, it was dark all around. "Are you sure? Do you live far into the park?

"Oh, no. I'm just over there." And the young girl pointed off in the distance.

"Would you like me to pick you up right here tomorrow? 6 p.m. sharp?" he asked.

She was amazed when he showed her absolutely no judgment. He was less "coach-like" and more one-on-one than he had been in the class, such a nice man. "Are you sure? That would be awesome."

Eric matter-of-factly said, "Alright, then, I'll see you right here tomorrow, Mia."

He waited, as she walked off into the darkness.

Heading home, he was already planning the next day in his head. Later, as he turned in the driveway, he could see that Tami was already home. He was curious to see how her driving lesson went.

"Hey, Babe," he called upon entering the house.

"Hi, Honey. In here," she called from Gracie's room. Tami was putting pajamas on their baby girl.

Eric walked into the room, kissed his wife, and then bent down to kiss Gracie.

"How are my girls?" he asked, keeping his voice down. It appeared Gracie was entering the home stretch to "night-night."

"Gracie Belle had a wonderful day. She played at daycare and had snacks and played with her friends," Tami voice was lilting to her baby.

"Did you have a big day, Gracie?" Eric asked and kissed her on the cheek again. Turning to his wife, he asked, "Hey. How did your lesson go?"

"It went just fine. Zach is a very nice young man, very polite, very grateful for the help," she explained. "How was yours?"

"Pretty much the same," he answered as he took off his cap and ran his fingers through his hair. "The only thing of note is that I'm going to pick up and drop off Mia at her house from now on. By now, it was pitch dark at the high school, not safe for her to be waitin' there alone."

"Well, we got two hours driving time down, with 58 more to go," Tami recapped, "but at least we got it started."

"The time we spend with them on the weekends will get that 58 hours knocked down to size," Eric nodded to himself, wondering what he had gotten them into.

Tami picked up her baby and placed her in her crib. "But only if they continue to do well."

Eric nodded, but trying to say optimistic. "With us teachin' them, of course they're gonna do well."

East Dillon Acres Trailer Park

Monday, June 29th

6 p.m.

Eric and Tami were now several weeks into tutoring the student drivers. Eric arrived at the trailer park to pick up Mia for her next lesson.

"So what am I going to be covering tonight, Coach Taylor?" Mia asked as she clamped on her seatbelt.

"Tonight, we're goin' out on the Expressway. Among other things, you're gonna learn how to safely pass a vehicle," he explained, trying to whittle away at the long checklist they needed to cover.

Eric directed Mia onto the East bound onramp. He then instructed her to pass a vehicle using the far left hand lane. She signaled and passed a Honda CRV with no problem. Then, from the center lane, she passed a VW Beetle. After a time, she proceeded driving in the center lane behind a semi truck.

"Should I pass the truck?" she asked.

"No, you don't ever want to go against a semi," Eric said. "It's never worth it. Put on your right turn signal and pull into the right lane."

The young driver did as she was told. After she changed lanes, she and Eric could now see the semi was riding in tandem behind two other semis. After driving down the road for a few minutes, without signaling, the semi suddenly slowed down and started coming over into their lane on top of them. The young driver began to panic.

"Mia, stay with me." Eric looked in his side mirror and saw that no one was behind them. Then, very calmly, Eric talked her through. "Gently press on your break and slow down. Easy on the brake. Now, put your right turn signal on and pull over to the right off the road and onto the shoulder. Easy."

Once again, Mia did exactly as she was instructed.

"Good," he encouraged her. "Now, come to a smooth stop," he said.

The car eventually came to a stop, and the truck now fully in the right lane moved out of sight. Mia put the car in 'Park.' Then, she put her hands up to her face. "Oh, my God!" she exclaimed. The girl was shaken. "I'm so sorry."

"That wasn't your fault, Mia." Eric reassured her. "You didn't do anything wrong. This car was either in the other driver's blind spot or the driver wasn't payin' attention to the side mirror. He didn't even signal before changin' lanes." After a moment, he said, "You did great, Mia."

Then, Eric looked over at his student. She was visibly shaken by what had just happened.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"I don't think I want to drive anymore," she said, hanging her head. Her long straight brown hair hid her face.

Eric was silent for a moment. "I know that scared you, but this is just like bein' thrown off a horse. You've got to get right back on it and drive," he said, again sounding more like a coach than a driving teacher.

Mia began to cry. "I can't, she said." She unbuckled her seat belt, covered her face with her hands, and began to cry.

Although Eric was accustomed to crying females at home, he wasn't accustomed to dealing with crying females at school.

"Mia, come on. You've got to get a grip here," he said.

Still sobbing, she turned towards Eric and grabbed his left arm and began crying on his shoulder. Taken aback, he turned his head towards her and tried to gently pull her away from him. As he pushed her back a little ways, she looked up and proceeded to kiss him full on the mouth. His mouth was closed and his eyes were open in the dark, but she managed to get her tongue past his unsuspecting lips and across his teeth before he could stop her.

Her lipstick tasted like some kind of sweet, fruity concoction. He forcefully grabbed her by the shoulders, picking up her small frame, and putting her back into her seat. Just as forcefully, he said, "No!"

The look of shock on her face matched his as passing headlight illuminated their car, except hers was tearstained. "I really like you," she protested. "We could hook up."

Eric's jaw was clenched. "I have a daughter your age. I don't want to embarrass you or anything, but I've got to be very clear here. A relationship between a student and a teacher is 100 percent inappropriate and illegal."

"No one would have to know, Eric," she said. "There's no one home at my house."

"That's Coach Taylor," Eric was alarmed. How dare she call him by his first name! "You only address me as Coach Taylor. It's a matter of respect. I have treated you with nothin' but respect, and I expect to be treated the same way."

"No one would have to know, Coach Taylor," she said, her tears had stopped. She continued to be very persistent.

Mia began to pull up her grey tank top and over her head, exposing her midriff. For a 16 year old girl, she was very developed. Eric grabbed her arms and stopped her, and he held her so that she had to look at his face.

"You're not gonna to do this," he berated her. "I'm a happily married man, very much in love with my wife. I'd never cheat on her. I'd never have an inappropriate relationship with a student."

After a beat, he added, "Mia, where's your self-respect?"

The young girl broke eye contact. "Maybe I don't have any."

"Look," Eric said, moving further away from her. He had his hand on the handle of his door. "I need to drive you home. And you and I need to get passed this."

And he proceeded to trade places with her. He drove to the trailer park in silence and left her where he had picked her up only a couple of hours before. "I'll pick you up tomorrow evenin'. I don't ever want to see anything like this out of you again, Mia. Understood?" And he stared her down.

She returned the stare, until she finally nodded her head.

The drive home was a long one as Eric replayed what just happened over and over again in his head, trying to affirm he had done nothing to provoke the incident.

To be continued ...