Faking It • Queen FanFiction

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 29

Eyes slowly peeling open and mind recognising that it was now daytime, Bernie stretched, sprawled in her bed. However, she was unable to stretch all the way as her arms and legs met a lump in the bed beside her. What the hell? Putting her hand slowly against it, she realised that it was just her high boots. She'd put them there last night after picking them up from the floor after throwing them at the door. Aka: Roger. "Ugh," she groaned groggily, remembering how embarrassingly she'd acted around Roger last night. She'd seriously stormed away from him before shutting herself in her room like a little girl throwing a tantrum? Yes, she seriously did.

Meanwhile, in the living room lay Roger, still sound asleep with his legs draping over the side of the sofa. He'd slept rather uncomfortably, but it was better than staying in Bernie's bed with her. Merely thirteen hours ago he would've been delighted to share her bed, but now it seemed downright inappropriate, now that he had full comprehension of how uncomfortable she was with his flirtatiousness. It was vital, for the sake of their friendship, that he take it down a notch, which he already knew wasn't going to be easy. But he'd try, for her.

Padding through to the living room where Roger was in only her sleepwear (Queen t-shirt and the same pyjama bottoms as last night), Bernie stood over the sofa and just remained still for a moment, watching him sleep. Not in a weird, sinister way, more in a contemplative way. After watching his chest rhythmically rise and fall, his fingertips twitch slightly and how his face sat so calmly whilst he slept, she decided that she liked him better that way. He was a lot quieter.

Leaving him to sleep, Bernie made them both a cup of tea and sat solitarily on the stool at the kitchen counter, sipping from her flowered mug. Sipping and thinking. Deciding that yes she did like Roger, but there was no way in hell she wanted to do anything about it. He was much too amorous for her liking and she despised the way in which he treated women. Plus, she was afraid to trust another man again after being with Holden and was more interested in pursuing a career than bothering about boys.

Even after finishing her tea and both washing and drying her mug up, Roger was still not awake, so she decided to just go in the shower and leave him zonked out on the sofa, letting his tea go cold. With a bit of luck, he'd take a sip from it and realise it was stone cold. Unfortunately, the bathroom lock was broken, so her only barrier to keep the door shut from outsiders was vigilance. Cautiously, she undressed herself and stepped into the shower cubicle, which was sparkly clean after her and Flo dedicated an entire day to making sure the mouldy room became spotless. The tiles had never looked cleaner, nor did the metal taps dazzle so bright without a single watermark.

Halfway through her shower, Bernie heard a knock on the door. Not the bathroom door, the door of the flat. She racked her brain over whomever it could possibly be, fearing perhaps Holden, then remembered... oh, shit. Brian was coming round this morning to take her back to his to say a proper goodbye to him and Chrissie before they left for Rockfield. And who would be answering the door? Roger would. To Brian, who was already suspicious. How terrible would that look?

Taking immediate action in a fruitless attempt to stop what she knew was about to unfold, she scrambled with the shower knobs, trying desperately to shut off the shower but somehow switching it to cold, engulfing herself in icy water with a scream. This would undoubtedly raise the attention from Roger, so she continued to dart around the bathroom and throw a towel around herself in a wrap, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Then she crashed through to the living room, but it was too late. Brian was standing in the doorway, mouth agape, with Roger on the other side. She couldn't see his face, his back was to her. However, she could see Brian's face and it made her want to cower back inside the bathroom. His face was crimson, eyes bulging and mouth slightly parted in confusion.

Only now did she realise what she looked like - an absolute mess. Her flaming hair was tied into a messy bun, barefooted with only her grey towel around her and dripping wet. The different looks on each of the men's faces left her horror-stricken: Brian's no less livid than it was originally and Roger's supposedly calm, but with an unmistakeable look of lust. She knew there was no way he was going to neglect his feelings at the snap of her fingers.

Heat prickled at her eyes and her arms instinctively wrapped around herself, even though she knew the towel was secure. Even then, her breasts weren't completely covered and both Brian and Roger had a clear view of her cleavage. Deciding not to hang around, her legs bolted her back into the bathroom before her brain had time to tell her to do so. Brian had every confidence that he knew what was going on, but Roger was left clueless and Bernie was more than happy to let him be.

Inside the bathroom, she scrubbed herself vigorously dry with the towel that was previously covering her body and threw on her clothes for the day clumsily, fighting the stuffiness in her nose all the while. She peered at her reflection in the mirror, disappointed at the sight of the bags under her eyes and lack of light in her green irises. But she'd have to do.

Roger and Brian sat motionless and silent on the opposite ends of the sofa, Roger with his arms crossed adamantly. "Hi," Bernie seated herself on the edge of the coffee table to address them both, feeling a lot more confident in her jeans and t-shirt. "Look, I know this looks bad on my part. Awful, in fact, but there is a reason. I promise."

"Best explain yourself well, Bernie...please." Brian willed there to be an alternative answer than 'I'm shagging your best friend behind your back', and luckily there was, because she most certainly was not having a secret love affair with the drummer of Queen, no matter how much she had seriously considered it.

"So obviously you know about how I'm using Roger as my fake-boyfriend" - an "oi!" came from Roger at this, but Bernie shushed him - "to ward off Holden. Well, he's suspecting the truth, he thinks that Roger indeed isn't my boyfriend. So to counteract him, I had Roger round for the night, just to prove a point to Holden. And believe me, we kept ourselves to ourselves."

This seemed like a suitable explanation to Brian, who nodded his head and put his hand to his chin wisely, milling it over. "Alright. I believe you. But I've said it once and I'll say it again," he turned to face Roger, fire in his eyes, "if you so much as lay a finger on Bernie, you'll be drumming with your feet, you hear me?" Roger nodded.

"Perfect."

17/12/22