Summer Of '75 (Roger Taylor/Queen)

Chapter 10

Amelia's P.O.V.

Death. That was what I felt like right now.

I'd made the horrible mistake of getting drunk on a Sunday night (something I'd never been stupid enough to do before) with work the next day, and now I was suffering from my decision. Currently sat at one of the outdoor tables outside the door of cafe on my lunch break, I started nodding off as the gentle breeze and the sound of the birds chirping soon put me to sleep. Even the occasional car driving past didn't wake me. We'd been rushed off our feet all day - I don't think we'd gone for more than five minutes without an empty table. Right now, luckily, the cafe was empty, but I knew it wouldn't last long as the next flock of tourists could arrive at any moment. All I needed was a break before that occurred. However, my moment of slumber was soon over when I heard footsteps approach the table and a shadow looming over me.

'Amelia!' Charlotte tried to wake me as she shook my shoulder roughly, 'Lee, wake up!'

'Huh?' was all I murmured, as I rubbed my eyes once I was awake. She looked down at me with disbelief.

'What is wrong with you today? You keep falling asleep everywhere you go.' she commented.

I looked at her, dazed, 'Nothing. I'm...I'm just tired.'

Unfortunately this wasn't a valid reason for my state of lethargy as Charlotte just crossed her arms, suspicion evident on her voice, 'Nah, this is more than just a late night. You're hungover, aren't you?'

Shrugging, I realised that I wasn't going to get out of this, 'Maybe.'

Charlotte rolled her eyes and put the cup of coffee she'd taken outside earlier in front of me, 'Then you'll be needing this more than I do.' and then sat down at opposite side of tbe table, 'So, who were you partying with last night? I see you didn't invite me.'

I held the cup of coffee in my hands, 'Charlotte, the only reason why I didn't invite you was because it was, well, a night out with someone.'

'Really?' Charlotte's eyes widened, a small smirk appearing on her face, 'I wonder who that was?'

I shifted in my chair uncomfortably, refusing to say a word.

'So you can go out on dates with the members of Queen, but I'm not even allowed to meet them? Talk about unjust.'

'I already told you, you will get to meet them before they leave, I promise,' I defended, aware of how much it would mean to her. 'And it wasn't a proper 'date', just a drink at the pub.'

'It looks like it was a bit more than just one drink to me.' Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

I sighed, 'Alright, things got out a bit out of hand, I admit. Roger challenged me to a drinking game - which I won, by the way - and as you can imagine, the rest is a bit hazy.'

Charlotte looked at me, confused, 'You don't remember a thing?'

I took a sip from my coffee and sat there for a moment, trying to regain my memories from last night, 'Not really. Well, I can vaguely recall leaving the pub and parts of the walk home. Oh my god, I forgot - we were singing John Denver songs the whole way back to the farm at the top of our lungs - it was hilarious! It was a good thing it wasn't a street full of houses we were walking along, that would have been embarrassing.'

Laughing loudly, Charlotte said, 'Sounds like you had an interesting night.'

'Yeah, it was. When we got home was rather interesting as well. Roger fell on the stairs, I remember that and...oh god.'

'What?' she looked at me concerned.

'I completely forgot....he tried to kiss me.'

'He didn't?!' Charlotte exclaimed, putting a hand over her mouth, 'Did you kiss him?'

'No, no. Of course not.' I shook my head, 'It wouldn't have been appropriate.'

'I would have given anything to be in your shoes then - I would have pounced on him! You definitely missed an golden opportunity there.'

'Well, you would do that, Char! And we did have a lot fun, even though I now feel like shit afterwards.' I nodded. There was short silence between us before Charlotte spoke up again.

'So, do you like Roger then?' she asked.

Surprised by her question, I sat there unsure of what to say,. I shrugged, 'I don't know. '

'It's okay for you to like him even just a little bit, Lee. If you have feelings, the worst thing you can do is pretend you don't have any.' she told.

She had a point, I guess. I didn't want to push aside any potential feelings I might have for Roger. But I didn't know for certain if what I did feel was genuine, or just a silly crush. He was a lovely guy, there was no disputing that. But I'd still only known him for barely a fortnight - it takes much longer than that to build up real feelings for someone. I just didn't want to rush into anything and make myself look like a fool.

'Even if I did like Roger, it would never work.' I told her. 'He's in a band who are just getting more and more popular by the day.'

'But you don't know that.' Charlotte said. 'Maybe this is the time in his life where he needs some stability, when things are getting more hectic. Besides, he obviously likes you. I mean, he tried to kiss you, for gods sake!'

'That was just the drink taking control of his actions,' I chuckled, 'And I dunno, it's too early to be making assumptions. I do like him, but I'd still be happy to just to be his friend, if that's how things it were to pan out.'

'Is it how you really want things to pan out?' Charlotte asked.

'Like I said, I'm not entirely sure what I feel for him yet - this isn't a film where people fall in love with someone after meeting them the day before. This is real life. And I might not even see him again when he leaves; I don't want to build my hopes up.'

'Whatever you think is right,' Charlotte shrugged.

The two of us talked for a little while longer but our chatting was interrupted by Mrs. Harold appearing at the door.

'Lunch break's over, girls. Back to work.' she told us with a hand on her hip.

'Alright, Mum, we'll be right there.' Charlotte sighed as we got up, before putting our work aprons back on and heading back inside. Charlotte turned to me whilst we made our way in and whispered.

'Remember my advice - don't deny any feelings if you might have. I know you don't want to jump straight in, but don't let your stubbornness get in the way of your happiness either.'

My eyes darted in her direction, an unamused expression on my face at first; but I couldn't help but smile. Charlotte always gave me the best advice. She always seemed to be able to sort out my life and know what to do when I didn't. She encouraged me when I doubted myself and sometimes I really needed that - as you've just seen. I couldn't ask for a better best friend.

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Hello again!

Sorry this is quite short and didn't include the band themselves but it's another filler chapter tbh. Hope you like it anyway and as always a vote/comment would be lovely.

Thank you!

- Anna :-)