Faking It • Queen FanFiction

Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 58

"Anything, Birdie," Roger said and sat beside her as she detached herself from his arms and perched on the edge of the neatly made bed.

"Urrr...." everything inside of her wanted to just get the truth out there now that she had committed to telling him, but she just couldn't. She didn't know why exactly, it was like somebody was closing a door in that part of her brain, bolting it shut. "Well... um, please just don't touch my arse or boobs. Please." Bernie could have kicked herself. Why, why hadn't she just ripped off the plaster. WHY?! Biting on her bottom lip, she had to resist the urge to throw a temper tantrum at her own reluctance to talk about her problems.

"Don't do that, it'll bleed," Roger gently pulled her lower lip away from the grasp of her teeth and lingered his hand on her chin. He stifled a laugh, "that's a shame, I'm an arse lad, but don't worry, I promise I won't until you say I can."

Heaving a sigh of relief she didn't know she'd been holding, Bernie closed her eyes momentarily before briefly hugging him. He kissed her temple and she got up, remembering what she went into the bedroom for in the first place. Then she remembered what they were initially arguing about, but she couldn't find it in her to be angry again. He'd apologised, admitted to being wrong, then took the consideration to care for her, even when she thought that her attitude was infantile and pathetic. On her way out, pad in hand, she couldn't help herself and made a final comment. "Oh yeah, disparage my period again and I'll end you. Bye!"

Standing now, Roger just smiled to himself and peered out the window, watching sight of Kingsley crossing the sunlit yard.  Truth betold, Bernie confused him a lot with the way in which her entire demeanour could change so quickly, but he had a faint inkling that it could have something to do with a certain landlord of hers...

Although he was barely keeping himself together, he really liked Bernie, she wasn't like any other woman he'd been with. She had boundaries, a broad personality and an acute sense of humour. She dressed how she liked, not how society liked, and when she entered a room it lit up and the people in it belonged to her, not the other way around. She knew what she wanted and how to get it, which Roger found terribly attractive, as well as the way she carried herself. It was absolutely tragic that somebody like Holden had to be the one to tear down the empire Bernie had built for herself, especially at the times when it clearly mattered the most to her.

Realising everything that Bernie was and the way it made him feel, Roger decided to continue to build their connection. For a while he'd been searching for somebody to perhaps settle down with, even though he loved his touring lifestyle. Bernie ticked all the boxes; in his eyes, she was perfect. Yes she had flaws, like everybody else, but they only made him like her more. He wasn't sure how much longer he could wait for sex though, the energy was rising and rising with nowhere to go. But maybe that was just a sacrifice he'd have to make, as it didn't look like him and Bernie would be doing anything like that anytime soon. Besides, he didn't want to if she wasn't ready and was willing to wait for the right time.

The rest of the time at Rockfield farm was better than Bernie and the band could have imagined. The songs were coming along nicely, with minimal arguments in the refreshing countryside environment. Brian especially loved it and almost didn't want to stay cooped up in the studio. Mostly, the weather had been dry, but there had been the odd days of rain here and there.

One afternoon at the end of the fourth week at Rockfield, Bernie came in to the studio to ask if anybody wanted a cuppa. When she entered, she found Roger alone in the booth with the rest of the band, Roy and Paul on the panel. Roger stood solitarily, headphones on, surrounded by noise reducers so that his singing wouldn't echo around him. Beside her, Brian clicked record on the tape and Roger opened his mouth wide, taking a deep breath before wailing into the microphone.

"GALILEO!" He cried, roaring the name as high as his vocals could muster. Not wanting to make her presence known to him, Bernie stuck her hand over her mouth to suppress an uncontrollable bout of laughter. Queen, however, had sullen faces and Freddie sighed deeply, shaking his head.

"Higher." He said simply, signalling for Brian to press record again.

"GALILEO!" Roger screamed again, deafeningly high. It all became less funny and soon Bernie understood why nobody else was laughing. God knew how many takes they'd done before she came in, but in the five minutes she stood there for, Roger was made to do six more do-overs, each one higher than the last.

"Brian," Bernie whispered in his ear, moving his curls out of the way with her left hand so he could hear. "Who's Galileo?"

Brian paused. He had a wise expression on his face with the hint of a humble smile before giving Freddie a sideways glance and whispering back: "no idea."

Later on, when Roger was all Galileo-ed out and Freddie was satisfied, along with some more of the song being finished up, everybody was making their way back towards the house with the sunset to their backs. An orange and pink glow was cast across the yard and in the hubbub of inspired chatter lingering in the air, Roger managed to pull Bernie away from listening to what Roy had to say about Brian's guitar solo placement. All good things, of course.

"Birdie!" Roger whispered and together they backtracked, managing to slip behind the stables without anybody noticing. In the absence of suitable sunlight, he was unable to catch sight of Bernie's eyes, so instead cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly, putting one hand on her waist once they'd established a rhythm. There was something about his kisses that soothed her and in the past few days she'd found herself wondering what would happen if things were to go further than kissing... but it was one of those things that she couldn't imagine until it was actually happening.

"So I was thinking," Roger sighed sometime later once they were breathless from kissing, which rapidly evolved into a make-out session in no time at all. "When we're back home, perhaps we could go on a proper date? Obviously we can't right now as it'd raise suspicion and I'm just so fucking busy.... but soon?"

"I never thought you'd bloody well ask," Bernie rolled her eyes with a smile that was invisible to him in the engulfing darkness. So instead she showed her approval through her actions by giving him a soft kiss on his smiling lips. She brought her hands to his face to draw him closer, but sprung away from him when she felt something brush under her fingers. "What the fuck!"

"Yeah, what the fuck Birdie?" Roger simply laughed, missing her lips.

"Oh my good god. Don't tell me..." Moving his hair back, she felt his upper jaw bones and thick hair grazed over her fingers. "Look Meddows, if you want a date, those sidies are gunna have to go," she smirked to herself and planted a heavy, lingering kiss on his lips before slipping away into the dullness that enveloped her in the distance. Taking a moment to recover himself, Roger tailed shortly after her.

17/3/23