Long Away (Queen Fanfiction)

Chapter Twelve

That morning I'm awoken by Freddie. It's pretty early, and I'm exhausted.

"What do you want?" I grumble.

"Why is Roger asleep on the sofa?"

"It's too early to be alive."

"Not really, dear. It's eight o'clock in the morning. Did you get enough sleep?"

"No."

My eyelids droop and I fight to keep them open. I end up letting them win, rolling over and shutting my eyes. I can feel Freddie gently shaking me awake.

"Roxanne. Wake up, darling, I asked you something," he says.

"What did you ask?" I respond grumpily.

"I asked why Roger is asleep on the sofa."

"Oh... uhh... I dunno," I lie. Although I'm very tired, I'm aware of staying up with him last night and I know I probably shouldn't say anything.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Maybe he went to get water and got too tired to go back upstairs."

"Right. Do you want to get out of bed yet?"

I nod, using all the strength I have to roll off the bed, landing on Freddie's feet. He laughs and helps me up, leading me into the living room where Roger is sound asleep on the couch. I push his head up so he is sitting up straight. I take a seat beside him as he jerks awake.

"Oh," he says, his voice raspier than usual from tiredness, "I fell asleep here?"

"I guess," I tell him.

"Fred?" he calls to Freddie who went off to the kitchen to fix himself some tea.

"Yes?"

"Do we have studio today?"

"Yes, I think so."

Roger lets out a loud groan and sinks into the couch.

"Roxanne?" he asks, turning his head to me. "Wanna go to a bar with me tonight?"

I smile. "Sounds great."

Just as I finish my sentence, a sleepy Brian with a rat's nest of hair on his head stumbles into the room.

"Morning, Bri!" I say.

"Hi, love." He starts to walk away, but then spins back over to me. "Do you have plans tonight?"

Roger and I exchange looks.

"I... I made plans with her tonight," Roger shakily explains. "I'm sorry."

The expression on Brian's face changes from confident to crushed in just a matter of seconds. "Oh," he mumbles.

I get up and give him a hug as an apology, sealing it with a kiss on the cheek. "Maybe tomorrow we can do something, okay?" I say.

"Sure." He manages a little smile. "I'm going to go to my room. I'll see you before I go."

"Don't be like that, Brian!" I whine, grabbing his arm. He ignores me and continues to walk to his room. I follow him and slip past the door right before he closes it.

He plumps onto his bed and turns away from me.

"If it bothers you this much I won't go tonight," I say, turning him to face me and leaving my hands on his shoulders.

"Where's he taking you?" he questions, struggling to meet my eyes.

"Just a bar."

"Aww, but Roxanne. You love going to bars. I can't take that away from you. Go have fun, don't worry about me."

"I can't have fun if you're sulking at home."

"Please just go," he begs. 

"I won't. I'll blow it off. Roger'll understand, I promise."

"Alright. We'll do something tonight then."

"What do you want to do?" I say.

"It's up to you, Rox."

"Do you want to kick everyone out and stay home, maybe just talk and listen to music or something? It would be fun"

He grins. "Sounds like a plan."

Telling Roger I'm spending the evening with Brian will be extremely hard. It will be so difficult to look into his big beautiful eyes and let him down. To be honest, I'm beginning think we're perfect for each other. Yet, at the same time, I feel something for Brian. Maybe I should kiss him tonight and see how I feel.