Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing of Friday Night LIghts
AN: This is my first foray into FNL fanfiction. It was inspired by my own abundantly shedding hair and a conversation I had with my brother once in high school.
Tim had never lived with a girl before. Sure, he had been around plenty of girls, but they had never really stayed for very long. Not even Tyra who had been his only "girlfriend" had ever hung around for long. That was why he was so surprised about the hair. The hair that seemed to be everywhere.
He was doing some situps in the living room one day when he noticed that he had several long blonde hairs on his shirt. He frowned and brushed them off before deciding that he should continue the work out outside.
Later that afternoon he noticed even more hair in the bathroom; in the shower, on the floor- it was everywhere he turned. He couldn't seem to escape the hair.
He thought that if the hair was dark like the coach's hair he might've thought the old man was going bald. But he knew there was only one person in the Taylor house with long blonde hair like that. It was the one he shared a bathroom with- Julie. He was actually a little worried that Julie might be going bald.
Over the past few days and living with the Taylors, he had become a little bit protective of Julie. Hair attacks aside, hanging out with her was sort of how he always imagined hanging out with a younger sister would be. He hadn't thought about that since he was little kid, but now that he was here, he couldn't stop just thinking of her as a sister.
So he watched her, looking for signs that her hair was falling out. That would be the worst nightmare for a lot of girls that he knew, so he was concerned for her. He thought that he was watching her discretely, that she didn't notice the curious and sometimes slightly repulsed looks he would give her (repulsed because he had just pulled a massive hair clog out of the drain of the shower).
Until one day Julie Taylor had had enough of Tim Riggins' stare.
"What are you looking at?" Julie practically snarled at him one day when they were left alone in the house. Tim blinked at her surprised by both the question and the hostility.
"Nothing." He muttered and turned away idly flipping the TV channels looking out for football. Julie gave an exasperated sigh.
"You've been looking at me like I'm something gross on the bottom of your shoe almost since you moved in here." She plopped down next to him on the couch, but Tim's gaze remained focused on the TV. Julie made another noise of frustration before poking him hard in the side and grabbing the remote from his hand when his defenses were down.
"Hey!" Tim objected and reached to take the remote back.
"Nuh-uh." Julie said before sliding the remote under the couch and crossing her arms defiantly. Tim looked at her in disbelief.
"Coach is gonna get you." He claimed.
"I'll get it after you talk." She said. Tim remained silent, the only indication that he even heard what she said was to cross his arms. "Why do you keep looking at me like I'm some sort of alien."
Julie crossed her arms and they sat on the couch facing each other with their arms crossed, staring at each in complete silence. MORE HERE
"Please, just tell me. What's wrong with me?" Julie asked, unable to keep the tears out of her voice. Tim felt bad. He hadn't realized it would upset her this much.
"I'm worried that you're losing your hair." Tim mumbled at last. The truly worried look on Tim's face was enough to stop Julie's tears in their tracks. After a beat, she started to laugh. Tim blushed, embarrassed by her laughter. "What?"
Julie couldn't answer for a while. She was clutching her sides and laughing hysterically. Tears were running down her face, but now they weren't because she was upset, but because she was laughing so hard. Her face was red and some of her hair had started to stick to her face as she was laughing so much. Tim was a little bit startled by this sudden mood swing. He didn't know how anyone could switch gears so fast.
"Tim, seriously?" Julie managed to ask once she was able to breathe again.
"Well yeah. I was just worried. Going to Dillon High bald would be hard." He said with a shrug. Julie giggled again at his assessment, but bit her lip to stop another laughing fit when she saw that he had been genuinely worried about her and was now embarrassed because of her laughter. She patted his arm before getting down flat on the floor and searching for the remote. After a moment she found it and handed it to him.
"Here." She said holding the remote out to him. When Tim made no move to take the remote, she sighed and turned Sportscenter back on. He slowly turned to the TV and they sat watching the program for a moment before Julie spoke again. "Tim, it's normal for girls to sort of shed their hair like that." He didn't reply and Julie felt like she should say something else, starting to feel bad about laughing at him. "Thanks for looking out for me though."
Tim only grunted in reply and Julie was thinking that maybe she should say something else, maybe she should apologize for laughing even though it was completely hilarious that he was worried about her going bald. But, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tim smile before he reached over and tugged on a lock of her hair. She smiled satisfied and turned back to the TV. With a huff directed towards the football game that was on the screen, she reached out for a magazine from the coffee table.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tim watched Julie become engrossed in whatever magazine she was reading as he watched football on TV. It felt natural for the two of them to be sitting there together, just relaxing. It was a new feeling for him but it just felt right. It felt like he was finally part of a family.
AN: Let me know what you think!
