XXXIX

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"Time for a road trip!" Mary yelled out when she stepped into my and Roger's apartment. She put her bags down and almost danced around the living room. Delilah and I laughed at her. She was excited, and I couldn't blame her. We all were.

We all decided to meet here because this was the closest to the way we needed to go. It was an hour and a half drive to Ridge Farm Studios. Mary, Chrissie, and I had agreed to drive half an hour each. Delilah wanted to drive too, but we didn't want her to (she wasn't the best at it). We had three stops, enough to recover, and not one of us would be tired when we arrived. That was the plan.

I couldn't wait to see Roger. Yesterday, we called and he asked if I had any plans. I didn't want to lie to him, so I said that I had planned an adventure day with Mary – not saying that Delilah and Chrissie were also involved. That was the case. He told me to have fun, but not too much fun (if he had told me in real life, he'd probably add a wink in there).

Yesterday was my last workday. After coming home, I packed all of my best outfits. I ate the last food we had in the fridge, to make sure that there wasn't anything mouldy when I got back. This morning, after waking up bright and early, I spent enough time in the shower washing my body and hair and shaving.

"Let's go, I can't wait any longer," I said. That was true, I couldn't wait for more hours than I already had to. I was sure that I was going to jump Roger when we got there.

We all grabbed our bags, hauled them out of the apartment, and then downstairs into the car. I went up one more time to get the snacks from the kitchen and lock the door. Mary drove the first half-hour, which was the toughest. We had to get out of the city. The tiny streets of London were not a joy to drive through.

Soon enough, we got on the freeway and the real fun started. We sang along to the radio while occasionally chatting about everything and nothing. Delilah at one point admitted that last week on the phone with Deaky, she almost spilt our plan. That shocked me since I had been the weak link of this team from the beginning.

"Is he onto us now?" Mary asked while switching lanes.

"No, don't worry about that. I played it cool," Del reassured us. I wasn't reassured though.

"But what if he told Roger? Or even worse: Brian? My brother always knows what's going on," I stressed. Mary quietly laughed at me. She always thought my stress side was something funny to her. "I'm serious!"

"There is nothing we can do about that now," Chrissie said to me. She patted my knee. She was right. I had no control over these things. I breathed in and out slowly.

We reached our first stop faster than we planned. Traffic wasn't that bad after all. We sat at a picnic table outside and ate some cookies while having a cup of tea in the thermos that Delilah packed. Then we got back on the road, and it was Chrissie her time to drive. Arguably, the best driver we had.

The countryside was beautiful to drive through. There were lots to see, from the mountains to all the little farms we passed. This was a lot different from London. I loved going to the countryside with my parents when I was younger. Dad used to drive two hours to our aunts' house every year. They had a big yard that Brian and I played for hours in. It was one of my favourite childhood memories.

I drove the last half hour, which was arguably the hardest. We got lost in the middle of nowhere and it took us an hour to figure out where we were and how we got to Ridge Farm. Mary wasn't the best at reading the map, but Delilah gladly took over and we got there eventually.

Ridge Farm wasn't small, but it wasn't big either. It had three buildings. One of them was a house, and I guessed this was where everyone was staying. The other two buildings must be a recording studio and rehearsing room. I had been in the studio before when they were recording their other albums, but I was never there for long. Roger would get distracted and Brian always sent me away.

I parked the car on the side, next to one of the vans that I knew belonged to the band. When we all stepped out, I looked at my boots. Mud covered them instantly. I looked around, smelling the cow shit. God, Roger wasn't kidding when he said it reeked here. Mary handed me my coat from the backseat and I put it on, nuzzling my face into the collar.

We heard muffled sounds of music coming from one of the buildings. Delilah and Chrissie took the lead, walking towards the sound. I started to get a nervous feeling in my stomach knowing I was going to see Roger anytime now. I couldn't wait to feel his arms around me and breathe in his familiar smell.

"Why am I nervous?" Mary asked the question I also had. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. There was nothing to be nervous about. This was going to be the best surprise ever.

The music in the barn stopped just as we approached the front door. Chrissie knocked on it twice. There was some shuffling on the other side and then the door opened. We stood face to face with Deaky, who stared at us open-mouthed. Delilah smiled from ear to ear when she saw him. I had to laugh at his surprised expression. Of course, he had never seen this coming.

"You guys are never going to believe this," he said, looking over. I assumed he was talking to the other men.

"What?" I heard Brian say. I heard some movements and then two other heads appeared. My brother and Freddie.

Freddie let himself fall into Mary her arms immediately. I could Brian was confused about whether to hug me or Chrissie, but she made that decision for him. I wondered where Roger was, but that question was answered quickly. There was loud stumbling before he appeared in the doorway. He pushed away Delilah and Deaky to get to me.

"My girl," he softly said when wrapping his arms around me. I almost wanted to cry when I breathed in his familiar scent. This was where I felt the safest. Where I was right at home.

The world kind of stopped when he held me in his arms. I couldn't hear anything else or focus on anything around me. He buried his face into my neck, pressing his lips to my skin. His hair tickled my neck, but I didn't mind. Then he moved back and cupped my face, pressing his lips against mine.

Our mouths moulded together, moving in sync. Gosh, kissing him was my favourite thing in the entire world. I let my hands move over his shoulders and get tangled in his hair. It was a mess, of course, I hadn't expected anything else.

Nobody broke our bubble. When we pulled away from each other, I looked to the side to see that the other had already gone inside. It was just us standing outside right now. I looked back at my husband, falling right in his ocean blue eyes. They looked back at me with something I hadn't seen before; relief.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you," he softly said. He brushed the brown curls out of my face and smiled at me. I had indeed no idea, but I was beginning to figure out how much.

"You didn't expect anything?" I asked, motioning to the surprise. I was sure that Delilah her screw-up had outed us.

He laughed. "No, nothing. None of us did."

'We pulled it off pretty well then, huh?" I beamed proudly. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed another kiss to my lips. I couldn't get enough of this man. Never. "We should get inside," I murmured against his lips.

He hummed in agreement, but neither of us made a move to go inside. Or to break up the kiss we were in. I didn't want this moment to end. That feeling happened a lot to me when I was with Roger. I had the same one on our wedding day.

We broke loose and he grabbed my hand, leading me inside. There was a small hallway we walked through that led to the studio. Before we reached the doorway, he pulled me back. My back hit his chest with a loud thud, and I felt his lips against my ear.

"Wait till we get in bed tonight, then I'll show you how much I really missed you," he whispered in my ear. Suddenly, I couldn't wait until tonight.


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happy update! i am writing this from my new laptop. i still have to get used to the new keyboard; but so far it has been a much needed improvement.

i hope you enjoyed this chapter. stay tuned for some amazing roger and lotus content (also, is there a shipname?)

xxx

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