Roger stood in the mirror of the loft's tiny bathroom and brushed his dark golden curls. They were now so long that they brushed his shoulders gracefully. It was strange; the ex-rockstar had never liked longer hair. Said that it made a musician look like a poser if they had too much hair. Then she came along…
"Roger!" Mark called out through the loft. It was nearly empty so his call echoed through it. "Roger?"
A door opened and a spiky blond head poked out. "Mark do you have any fucking idea what time it is?" Roger snapped.
"Uh, yeah. It's two in the afternoon. Normal people are out and about. Come on man, you promised that you were going to hang out with Maureen and me today. She's been living here for three weeks and you've barely spoken to her." Mark said back.
It was true. Roger kept ridiculous hours and the only time he interacted with his best friend's new girlfriend was when they were vying for the bathroom. Mark had convinced him that he had to do something with them sometime, so they decided on a late lunch.
"Fine." The musician huffed. "Give me five minutes to get ready."
Maureen gave him a disgusted look from the couch. "What?" Roger asked. "I showered last night."
She shook her head. "If you had more hair then it would take you longer to get ready." Maureen asserted.
"Please." Roger scoffed. "I could have hair to my ass and still be ready in five minutes flat."
Maureen shook her head harder, her own hair, streaked through with purple, catching the sunlight. "No. Your hair is your crowning glory Roger. The care of it should come before almost everything else. When someone checks you out they start at the top. And what's at the top Pookie?" she looked at Mark.
"Um, the hair?" he guessed.
"Exactly." Maureen said.
Roger rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Like I said, no matter how much hair I have I can still be ready in five minutes flat."
"Wanna bet?" Maureen asked.
"Not everyone is as obsessed with their appearance as you are Mo." Roger retorted and Mark through him an incredulous look. This, coming from the guy who took three hours doing his eyeliner before a show. "What do I get if I win?"
Maureen looked around. "I'll buy groceries and clean the bathroom for a month." She suggested.
Roger raised his eyebrows. "Hefty stakes. And if you win?"
"You let me teach you all about proper hair care. No more of this 'I'll just run my fingers through it shit."
"Deal." Roger accepted. He crossed the room to shake Maureen's hand.
Mark gave him a bemused look. "How exactly do you plan to grow this hair to your ass?"
Roger shrugged. "My hair grows like crazy. I have to cut it like every week to keep it this short."
Those cuttings stopped that day. By the time Maureen had been living with them for two months Roger's hair was brushing his shoulders. It had been so long since he'd had it longer that Roger had forgotten how curly his hair was, and how much he loved the feel of it against the back of his neck when he walked.
The bet wasn't put to the test until one day when Collins came back from MIT for fall break. He and Mark were supposed to meet him at the Life Café at five. Roger had taken a nap and didn't wake up until 4:52.
"No problem." He thought. He was already dressed, he could be out the door and at the Life by 5:02, and Collins was always late anyway. Roger went into the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. He'd just run his fingers through his hair…
"I-I can't do it." Roger whispered to himself. His hair was tousled from sleep and sticking up all over the place. He looked around frantically and found a hairbrush belonging to Maureen lying by the sink. Roger grabbed it and attacked his hair.
He brushed and teased until finally his hair lay in a gleaming golden mass. Roger sighed happily and walked out into the main room of the loft. He checked the clock; sure that he still wasn't that late. 6:12, the digital clock read. The musician sighed, grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.
When he arrived at the café, everyone looked up expectantly. "Way to be on time to welcome me back man." Collins quipped. "Where were you?"
"Probably sleeping." Mark snickered.
Only Maureen said nothing. She smiled in approval at the state of Roger's hair. "So when do you want to go shopping, my pupil?" she asked cackling maniacally.
From that day forward Roger only trimmed his hair about half an inch or so and he went shopping for hair care products with Maureen once a week when funds allowed.
"Thanks a lot Mo." Mark said one day. "Now I never get to use the bathroom."
Maureen eyed her boyfriend's head. "You know Pookie, your hair could use some work too…"
A/N: I love Roger/Adam and I love him with longer hair. It's about 4:30 am here and I was struck by the sudden compulsion to write. Unfortunately it wasn't the compulsion to write chapters for my other stories. I need ideas people!!! Writer's block is a bitch.