Disclaimer: I don't own anything here (except for Al) and am just doing this for fun and to pass the long months until Season 4.

Al woke up early on Monday morning. In truth, she hadn't slept much since Friday. Tim hadn't called or texted either her or Billy all weekend. On Sunday evening, she called Jason, but he also hadn't heard from Tim.

She forced herself to feel hopeful. Tim might be angry and he might be hurt, but he had never been irresponsible about work. In the last two and a half years, he'd only missed three days when he got the flu last year. However Tim might be feeling about Al right now, he would never let Billy down.

At work, she was grateful when the first customer dropped off his car, a Toyota that just needed a general service. She got straight to work, relieved to have something to do that required only a little focus and not much thought. She worked with half-an-eye on the door, hoping that Tim would arrive soon.

Around 7.30, the door swung open and Bruno jumped to his feet and raced toward the door. Al looked up, but from her vantage point, all she could see was Bruno. She knew from the way the dog's tail swept back and forth, that it wasn't Tim. If it had been Tim, the dog's tail would have swung in great, happy loops – Helicopter Tail. She sighed and stood up, expecting to see another customer.

"D'Andre? What are you doing here?"

"Tim called me on Friday night. Said he had to go away for a bit and asked if I would cover this week for him."

"The whole week?"

He nodded. "Yeah, he didn't know how long he'd be gone. Where is he, anyway?"

"Well, thank you for filling in for him. Can you pick up here for me – I'm just letting the oil drain now." Al gave him a tight smile and went into Billy's office before D'Andre had a chance to answer.

She sat at Billy's desk and went through the interview notes from last week, narrowing down the applicants to seven. She'd have second interviews with them this week and then Billy could do the final approval interviews. He was happy to mostly leave the hiring decisions to her, as long as he could veto if he didn't agree with her.

She thought about calling Principal Taylor but realized it would be better if she went in. She knew D'Andre was skipping school to cover for Tim and she wanted to talk to Tami about that. Tim had been trying to be responsible, but clearly didn't see how asking interns to skip school could endanger the internship program.

She put her head down on Billy's desk and tried to keep it together. She'd floated through the weekend in a daze of worry and regret, but she really had expected Tim to at least come to work. That he'd found a temporary replacement seemed to indicate that he planned to stay gone for a while.

The sounds of someone clearing his throat caused her to look up. Billy was standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"You okay, Al?"

She shook her head.

"He's not here?"

Al stood up and headed for the door. "No – he sent D'Andre in to cover for him. I have to go up to the school to talk to Principal Taylor. Be back in about an hour, I'd guess."

Billy stepped out of the doorway to let Al pass, putting a hand lightly on her shoulder but saying nothing. She looked up and tried to smile, but had to look away before she cried. She decided her only goal was to get through this day without falling apart. She could fall apart when she got home.

She got in her truck and headed over to the high school, where classes had just started. A few stragglers remained in the hallway. Al walked briskly to the main office and asked to talk to the principal. The secretary disappeared into the back hallway and then came back minutes later, motioning for Al to come in.

Al greeted Tami as she took a seat across the narrow desk from her.

"Al, nice to see you. Isn't this a pleasant surprise? What can I do for you today?" Tami smiled and Al tried to relax.

"Couple of things, first, here's a list of the students we want to have second interviews with," Al said as she handed over a sheet of paper. "I'll contact them and set up interviews for Wednesday, if we could do them like last time, here at the school during school hours. Say about a half hour each?"

Tami nodded. "Of course, no problem. Thanks for letting me know."

"Final interviews then will be Friday, with Billy at the garage after school."

"Sounds good." Tami's tone was level but her face was questioning. She knew Al wouldn't come all the way over to the school just to discuss routine administrative matters.

"Second thing, D'Andre isn't in school today because he's working at the garage to cover for Tim. I realize this is completely unacceptable and inappropriate. Won't happen again but we really kind of need him today. I'll reschedule our appointments this week so he won't need to skip school to help Tim out."

Tami's mouth seemed to be wanting to ask different questions than her brain. She stumbled over her words a little as she tried to nod reassuringly. "Well, thanks for letting me know."

"And last, I guess, if you could pass a message onto Coach. Tim might call him, but then again, he might not think of it, so if you could just tell Coach not to expect Tim for golf on Saturday..." Al's voice grew softer and more strained until her sentenced just trailed off.

"Al, honey, is everything, well clearly, everything is not okay....anything you want to talk about?"

Al shook her head sadly. "I did something with the best intentions, but I didn't discuss it with Tim first. Now....now he's just gone. Been gone since Friday and I don't know here he is and when....or even if....he's coming back."

"Oh hon. Let me tell you something. Over the years I've gotten to watch him grow up. Tim Riggins, he might be a lot of things but one of the things I know for sure is that he's loyal to the ones he loves. And he loves you."

Al looked up, fearing that she was probably not going to get through this conversation without crying.

"You have faith in that man, he'll be back. And he will give you a chance to work things out."

Al nodded and stood up. "Thank you."

She stood there uncertainly for a few beats, wanting to say more but not knowing what to say. Finally she gave Tami a small wave and left to return to the garage to wait for Tim.