After Friday Night [Friday Night Lights]

Four - Clarity

The apartment is clean; the dishes are washed, Brynn's toys are in their baskets, the floor is swept... somewhat.  Matt paces around to see if anything else needs fixing - even though he's not sure why he cares, it's Julie.  Brynn is napping even though it's six-fifty in the afternoon.  This means she will be up most of the night but he doesn't mind, he knows that he won't be able to sleep after Julie leaves.  

There's a knock on the door and his heart starts to race.  Opening the door, he sees Julie clutching onto her pocketbook strap.  She looks gorgeous, she always does to him.  Her brown hair is in waves and she's wearing a cream colored sweater with dark skinny jeans and booties.  Letting her in, he tries to find a way to breathe.  He needs to be strong tonight and not let her win so easily like she always does.  "Where's Brynn?" Julie asks, looking around the quiet apartment.  "Oh, she's sleeping." Matt says.  Julie gives him a small smile.  "At seven?"

He nods his head once and leads them to the charcoal colored couch.  Sitting down, Matt starts the conversation.  "I don't understand why you left... and I don't think I ever will... but there's gotta be a better reason other than you being 'scared'.  I was scared too, did you not take that into consideration?" his voice is soft, not hard like Julie expected.  Swallowing, she looks him in the eye and sees hurt, feeling more guilty than before, she says, "I know, and i'm so sorry, Matt.  I really am.  I don't know... I just freaked out and thought that leaving would be a good idea.  It was stupid and i'm guilty but i'm really sorry." she sounds genuine.

"Did you tell your parents?" he asks, even though he knows the answer.  She shakes her head and her lip quivers.  He can tell she's really regretting what she done but that doesn't change what happened.  They sit in silence as Matt tries to wrap his head around everything.  "Where did you go?" he asks, unsure if he wants to know the answer.  She sniffles and wipes her eyes.  "Seattle."

Matt's eyes grow wide.  "You went all the way to Seattle?  What's in Seattle?" his voice rising.  She starts to cry and try to explain herself.  "I don't know, I thought it would be a good place to get some clarity but it wasn't... Matt, please forgive me. I love you, I want to come home." she's begging him.

Standing up, he tries to process the information.  She flew all the way to Seattle just to get 'clarity' because she was 'scared'.  Putting his hands on his head, he paces back and forth.  Taking deep breaths, he stops and looks at Julie who's looking at him with pleading eyes.  

"I need time to think.  You left me, Julie.  You left without a single word and you show up randomly with a lame excuse saying you went to Seattle for clarity."

"I know, Matt.  I-"

She's cut off by Brynn's crying and they both look in the direction of the baby's room.  Looking back to each other, Julie recognizes it's her cue to leave.  "I need time." Matt says before walking to Brynn's room.  Picking her up from the crib, he hears the apartment door shut and once again, he's left with his thoughts.

********************

Lyla slams the trunk of the rental car and hugs her mother before climbing in and heading back to the airport.  The short visit has been anything but pleasant and a small part of her is relieved to be flying back to Nashville today.  Starting the car and driving through the town, her chest feels tight as she stops at a red light.

"Is this what I want?  To go back to Nashville?" she asks herself silently.  A few months after she had moved to Nashville, she felt uneasy and wanted to come home. Thinking she was just homesick, she sucked it and went through college and found the job at Syryer Magazine.  Yes, she thought of Tim daily but she did her best to ignore it, especially when she was around Brock.  

After seeing Tim these past few days, she's come to admit that she does still have the feelings for Tim she once had when she was a teenager living in Dillon - and the feelings have amplified.  Seeing him for the first time in five years, looking sexier than she remembered, she came to the conclusion that her life in Nashville was her running away from the life she really wanted.  Picking her cellphone up from the console, she dials a number and waits for her call to be answered.  Turning down the small side-street on her left, a confident smile grows on her face.

When the person she has reached answers the phone, she replies:

"We need to talk."

********************

It's been hours since she left and he wonders if she's coming home for the night.  There's no doubt in his mind that she picked up Gracie from school, he knew she didn't expect him too.  There was a small moment of hope that he would get in his truck and go find her at her spot she runs off too when she needs to get away.  But the sad part is: he has no clue what that spot would be.

Eric sits on the couch anxiously awaiting the arrival of his wife and child.  With the tv off and no sound in the house, he's drowned in his thoughts.  He loves his wife, doesn't she know that?  He didn't give off any sign to Mallory, didn't he?  Maybe he needed to be more strict and no be so carefree around her but she was the only one he felt like understood her.  He thought they were just friends, I mean, she just graduated college...  

He knows what he has to do.  Something has got to change and he's the one that has to make the change, even though it's going to hurt like hell.