A Man For All Seasons (Queen or Freddie Mercury Fanfic)

26. Nobody

John

The lift across the lobby chimes once. Rudy and I turn our heads to see Danny bounce out like a grinning rubber ball. "Hey, you guys," he chirps as soon as he sees us standing together near the exit. "Konnichiwa, I mean."

"Hello, again." I greet him. "Are the others coming down?"

"Mom will in a minute, don't know about Freddie," Danny replies. "She said to go ahead and load the car back up though. Here's the keys."

I nod. "Rudy, would you mind waiting for them here while we do that?"

Respectfully he bows his head, staying behind as I walk outside with Danny, each dragging our one small bag behind us.

To be honest, I'm not sure about Freddie myself. I recall the way he kept facing away from me when I came back to collect my things, as well as how abruptly he shut himself in the bathroom after I asked what was the matter. For all I know, he might still be in there moping. What- or should I say, who- brought it about, however, is much less of a mystery. Granted, I'm merely assuming it involves Julia, I haven't had the chance to confirm anything. But either way, I hope Freddie has whatever's troubling him sorted by the time he comes down- and that Julia's given thought to the things I said to her as well.

That reminds me. In hindsight, I really should have wagged my finger in both their faces, rather than only hers, about their late-night liaisons. After all, it was Freddie who went to her looking for love, not vice versa; what's more, if there's one thing I know about Freddie, it's that he never takes a "no" with much grace. Perhaps I will mention it to him too, for Julia's sake, once we are a little further down the road and his current bad temper has subsided.

Unless, of course, she's already beaten me to it, I speculate, popping open the trunk of Julia's car. Maybe Julia told Freddie, and that's why he's behaving so.

A wave of relief washes over me at the thought, followed swiftly by shame. Naturally I don't want to be the one who breaks the news to him, intentionally or not, of his illn- I mean, the reason Queen ultimately crumbled. But the longer he's here, living day to day in total ignorance, the crueler my silence becomes. Worse still, thanks in part to Brian and Roger, Freddie's become painfully aware of how little I (and Julia, too, but right now I'm only discussing myself) have shared with him about his future. Something tells me that he will not be satisfied with the crumbs we've been throwing him much longer, nor will he be content with our excuse that it's all for his protection.

As much as it terrifies me to admit, somehow Freddie is going to find out. It's just a question of when and how.

Danny taps my shoulder. "Uncle John, you okay?"

I nod briskly, sliding my overnight bag as far into the trunk as it will go. "Sorry, I was just thinking."

"About them?" he asks, pointing up at a random window on the third floor.

I pull the trunk closed. "Sort of."

"Me too. I think they had another fight or something." His shoulders droop a bit. "But it's okay. They'll get over it soon."

Don't be too sure, my boy.

"Hey, here they come- or one comes, anyway," Danny announces, suddenly beaming from ear to ear as he waves at whoever is joining us. "Ohayou again!"

Turning from the car, I'm somewhat startled to see that's it's Freddie moving toward us. His face is unreadable due in large part to his aviators, which at this hour of the morning are still quite unnecessary, but the haughty lift of his chin and taut line of his mouth offer fairly sound clues of how he's feeling. I swallow hard.